"Get Lost in the Library"

This is a simple, short, but powerful video done by kids and adults promoting the Austin Public Library. The little girl sitting the tree is adorable, and I especially love the guy in the business suit who says he schedules time to "Get Lost in the Library." (What a great slogan!)

Something like this could easily be done with a video camera or with a flip camera, and then linked to your website using youtube or blip.tv.

Karla's Reviews

Cowgirl Kate and Cocoa
by Erica Silverman

A Theodor Seuss Geisel Honor book from 2005, this beginning reader is the story of Cowgirl Kate and her horse Cocoa. Kate is a cowgirl "from the boots up" who loves her horse even when he is a lot of work - behaving like a child at times with Kate as the responsible parent... The first in a series of funny stories kids will enjoy reading for themselves.



If You Find a Rock
by Peggy Christian

Remember the joy of finding the perfect rock? Carrying it around in your pocket? Skipping it across the water? Marveling at its smoothness, its colors, its size or shape? Then you will love this book with its softly colored photographs of the natural world.

~ Karla Giraldéz, BCL, East Branch

Interested in submitting a review for Little Nic Bits?? Submit it to Jamie!

Bits from Barb

 Fall Preconference for 2010 SLP
The current plan is to have an SLP pre-conference workshop in October
2009 to introduce the 2010 SLP themes "Make a Splash-Read!" and "Make
Waves @ Your Library." The 2009 WLA Confernce will be held in Appleton.

DLTCL will not be offering a state incentive in 2009.


 Teen Services
Systems will be sponsoring Adolescent Literacy workshops beginning in
March 2009. These training opportunities involve co-sponsorships by all
the regional systems.
The workshop held at NFLS will be on March 18, 2009! 
If you cannot attend on this date,a workshop with the
same speakers will be held at the Waupaca Public Library on March 19. 


 Libri Foundation Awards
The Libri Foundation is currently accepting applications for its
2009 Book for Children grants.  The next deadline for applications is
April 15. The foundation has three application deadlines each year,  so
if you miss this one, applications are also accepted August 15th  and
January 15, 2009.


The Libri Foundation is a nationwide non-profit organization which
donates new, quality, hardcover children's books to small, rural public
libraries throughout the United States.  Since October 1990, the
Foundation has donated over $3,500,000 worth of new children's books to
more than 2,600 libraries in 48 states, including Alaska and Hawaii.


Libraries are qualified on an individual basis. In general,
county libraries should serve a population under 16,000 and town
libraries should serve a population under 10,000 (usually under 5,000)
Libraries should be in a rural area, have a limited operating budget, and 
an active children's department. Rural is usually considered to be at
least 30 miles from a city with a population over 40,000. Libraries with
total operating budgets over $150,000 and county libraries with total
operating budgets over $350,000 are rarely given grants.


A school library may apply only if it also serves as the public
library (i.e., it is open to everyone in the community, has some summer
hours, and there is no public library in town). A branch library may
apply if the community it is in meets the definition of rural. If the
branch library receives its funding from its parent institution, then the 
parent institution's total operating budget, not just the branch
library's total operating budget, must meet the budget guidelines.


Previous Books for Children grant recipients are eligible to
apply for another grant three years after the receipt of their last
grant. Libraries that do not fulfill all grant requirements, including
the final report, may not apply for another grant. Grants will be
awarded April 30th and August 31st. Application guidelines and
forms may be  downloaded from the Foundation's website.


For more information about The Libri Foundation or its Books for
Children program, please contact Ms. Barbara J. McKillip, President, The
Libri Foundation, P.O. Box 10246, Eugene, OR  97440; 541-747-9655
(phone); 541-747-4348 (fax); libri@librifoundation.org (email).  Normal
office hours are Monday-Friday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Pacific Time.

Upcoming UW-Madison Continuing Education Courses
Connecting Teens with the Best in New Teen Literature; February 23-April 5

Children, Technology, and the Library; March 9-April 3

Graphic Novels in the Library; March 11-April 8

Tutorial: Spanish for the Library; Begins the 1st of each month



Two Ways to Get an Estimated Reading Level

Reading Level Search on WISCAT
Reading Level Search is a new resource available in WISCAT to
assist K-12 educators, librarians, and parents, to find student
reading-level appropriate material in the WISCAT Union Catalog.  Look for 
the Reading Level Search tab at the top of the page.
      
Reading Level Search is based on the Accelerated Reader (AR),
Lexile, and Reading Counts reading study programs. The "Search For" text
box may be left blank when results showing all items is desired.  A
specific reading level may be selected or a range entered into the text
boxes.

For more details, please see the information sheet at
www.dpi.wi.gov/rll/wiscat/pdf/readinglevelsearch.pdf.
 If you have any questions about this or any WISCAT topic, please contact 
Vickie Long, WISCAT Training & Technical Support, Reference & Loan
Library  (608) 224-5394.


Testing Your "Readability"
Both Microsoft Word and WordPerfect have built in "readability"
tools. These tools analyze documents and return information such as the
grade level, difficulty, and the percentage of passive voice sentences.
Readability tools are touted as a way to improve writing for clarity and
comprehension.

To access the readability function in MS Word, go to Tools and
select Spelling and Grammar. Click on Options and check the box "Show
Readability Statistics." After running spell check, readability
statistics will be displayed.

WordPerfect's  readability tool appears to provides more analysis 
and a better display of results. In WordPerfect, it's possible to compare 
one document to the readability of another document. Writing samples of
Hemingway and the Gettysburg address are pre-loaded for comparison. See
Determining Reading Levels in WordPerfect 10 for step-by-step procedures.

Both MS Word and WordPerfect utilize the Flesch-Kincaid
Readability Test and grade level rating. See the Flesch-Kincaid test
entry in Wikipedia for more information about that formula
--from Tech Tip in Brief - Heidi Yelk in the December 2008 edition of
WSLL@ Your Service, an E-publication of the Wisconsin State Law Library


SYSTEM YOUTH LIAISON POSTING
Barbara Huntington, DLTCL
December 2008

Summary of Literacy Needs in Wisconsin

The Fall 2008 edition of "Literacy Matters," the newsletter for Wisconsin
Literacy, Inc., includes some interesting data on literacy needs in
Wisconsin. The article summarized data submitted by 49 literacy
agencies. Some of the highlights included:

* 24 of the 49 literacy providers have a waiting list of learners
waiting for a tutor.
* There are currently 662 learners on the waiting lists.
* There are 3,299 active volunteer tutors.
* In 2007-08 the number of volunteer tutoring hours was 230,121.
* The literacy providers served 9,910 Adult Basic Literacy learners 
in 2007-08.
* The literacy providers served 5,363 English as a Second Language 
learners in 2007-08.


* The total number of learners served was 15,273.
* 1,059 learners advanced at least one level on the National
Reporting System standards in reading, writing, speaking, listening,
or math.
* 803 literacy students completed their GED or high school
equivalency exams.
* 898 learners were able to keep their current jobs.
* 316 students got better jobs because of their improved literacy
skills.
* 43 students went on to post-secondary training or education.

~Barb Huntington

Books About Environment

Megan Schliesman said a new bibliography from the Cooperative
Children's Book Center (CCBC) highlights books for children and
teens about the environment:

Eco-Reading: Selected Books for Children and Teens about Our Earth
and the Environment is available on the CCBC web site.

Teen Read-alikes

Terra Fewless at Brown County's Southwest Branch posted some teen read-alike bookmarks on their blog.

Bookmarks are for Twilight, The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants and A Child Called It.

See the blog to download the bookmarks!