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October 12 and 13. Authors, workshops, presentations, book signings, and food! Visit the Waupaca Book Festival web site for a complete list of authors and events.

"Free Speech and Banned Books" presented by Chris Crutcher
Monday, April 12, 2010, 11:00 AM - 1:00 PM

Location: Appleton Public Library Meeting Rooms
Sponsored by: Fox Valley Library Council for members

11:00am - Noon: Presentation
Noon - 1:00pm: Lunch

RSVP to Sue Vater Olsen (svater@mail.owls.lib.wi.us) with the following:
1) Attending both presentation and lunch or presentation only
2) Vegetarian or non-vegetarian lunch
3) Any special needs

(1 contact hours for recertification)

Time is running out! Be sure to sign up for the bus trip to the ALA exhibits by June 22nd. We have stops scheduled to leave from Appleton, Oshkosh, and Fond du Lac, and the cost is a mere $10 per person. Get all the details and the registration form here.

This trip is in danger of being canceled if enough people don't sign up, so please, register soon if you have been thinking about going and just haven't sign up yet!

Wednesday, April 22nd, 2009 is Earth Day. How will you be celebrating? Add your plans to the Earth Day Network or just visit to see what others will be up to. Try a keyword search on "library" while you're there.

And while you're at it, why not start reading the blog Going Green @ Your Library. The posts include practical tips and other info for libraries and beyond. I highly recommend it!

Here's wishing you a wonderful Earth Day! Post what your library will be up to on Earth Day in the comments or share what your library or community has employed for green practices recently.

> contributed by Beth

"Every child needs a safe place to fall - a place where he or she can explore things without worrying about failure and judgment. A library is one of those places. In a library you can learn by following your own nose, which is very different from someone telling you what you should learn. Once a kid learns a library is hers, to use as she wants, the world opens up., I've seen it happen. It happened to me."

~ Grammy-winning singer, songwriter, and storyteller, Bill Harley

Children's Book Week is coming up May 11-17, 2009. What will your library be doing to celebrate? If you need some ideas, check out ALA's Kids! @ Your Library Campaign Tool Kit. The kit includes programming ideas, downloadable PSAs, quotes, logos and line art, and more. Additional resources are available at Children's Book Week - be sure to click on the "For Teachers, Librarians, and Booksellers" box.



> contributed by Beth

Seems like this month is busier than ever! April celebrates National Poetry Month and includes the following events to boot, just to name a few:

• National Library Week: April 12-18
• Fox Cities Book Festival: April 14-19
  
• Earth Day: April 22

Will you be celebrating any of these events? Add a comment to share what you'll be doing at your library.

The library is a quiet place.
Angels and gods huddled
In dark unopened books.
The great secret lies
On some shelf Miss Jones
Passes every day on her rounds.

~ excerpt from "In the Library," a poem by Charles Simic

> contributed by Beth

OWLS, Fox Valley Library Council, and Winnefox Library System are hosting a bus trip to the ALA annual conference exhibits on Tuesday, July 14th Monday, July 13th. More information about the trip, costs, and a registration form are available at http://extranet.winnefox.org/ala2009.

Note: The site recommends purchasing a $25 "exhibits only" badge. It's fine if you do that right away, but you might want to wait a bit before purchasing. The last time we took a bus down for the exhibits, a vendor ended up offering exhibit passes for free. If I hear about this happening again, I'll be sure to share the information here and on the registration page.

> contributed by Beth

We'll be celebrating National Library Week soon, April 12th through the 18th! We'll be providing some cool reusable InfoSoup book bags for all OWLS libraries to give away to patrons that week (to be handed out at the next AAC meeting), so start thinking about creative ways to share them. Here are a few ideas:

• Give to them away to the first people checking out materials in your library until they run out.
• Give them to fine-free patrons.
• Give them to patrons who pay off their fines.
• Give them to patrons who are willing to be recorded on video, sharing "Why I love my library."
• Give them to the crabbiest patrons (kill more flies with honey, kind of idea...)

I'm sure you'll be able to think of loads of more creative ways to give away the bags. Post your ideas in the comments!

You might want to order some free merchandise from the Campaign for Wisconsin Libraries to hand out during National Library Week, as well. All merchandise is free and will be sent to you via the SCLS delivery system. Check out the order form [pdf], print it, then fax it to 608-245-3646 or just call 608-245-3645 to order direct. The materials are made available by the WLA Foundation with the intention of helping spread the word about the value and importance of all Wisconsin libraries.

> contributed by Beth

The National Education Association (NEA) sponsors Read Across America annually, and March 2nd, 2009 brings its 12th year of celebration. Read Across America takes place on or near the birthday of Dr. Seuss each year and simply asks that the day be spent with every child reading in the company of a caring adult. Their web site provides links to resources and materials for your use, including posters and booklists.

Check out this video promoting the event:



Will you be celebrating at your library?

> contributed by Beth

Celebrate YALSA's third annual Teen Tech Week, March 8-14! This year's theme is "Press Play @ Your Library."

Why celebrate?

Teens, in order to gain the skills necessary to compete in today's job market, need access to digital and online information and trained professionals who can help them use these resources effectively, efficiently and ethically. Librarians and educators know this and work with teens on a regular basis to ensure they develop these skills. Teen Tech Week is a chance for libraries to throw open their physical & virtual doors and show their communities all the great things they're doing for teens with technology.

Here's more about the idea behind this year's theme:

Teen Tech Week 2009, which will be celebrated March 8-14, is about connecting teens with different technologies, especially those available through the library. Teens can literally press play on digital devices such as mp3 players, DVD players, gaming controllers and more. Press Play @ the library can be interpreted broadly to make it work for you in your own library. One way to interpret the theme is to emphasize the word "play." Play can be about teens creating and sharing their own content for the fun of it, like videos, music, and digital artwork. Play through games can be encouraged with tournaments, tech trivia contests, and video games. The theme can also take a more educational direction. Teens can "press play" on various digital devices to learn more about the world around them. They can press play to watch film documentaries, listen to an audiobook, get online homework help, learn a new language and more. YALSA encourages librarians and educators to be creative and take the theme in a direction that works for them and their teens!

For more information, visit the Teen Tech Week page on YALSA's web site. And remember that OWLS has lots of tech tools for you to borrow to use with your teens! Check out 'Casting @ OWLS for more info. Plenty of help using the 'casting kit is available if you need it, so please don't hesitate to ask.

> contributed by Beth