Recently in professional development Category

The University of Wisconsin-Green Bay is offering Spanish Immersion for Professionals August 6-10 on campus. The program is designed for professionals such as customer service representatives, call center employees, hospitality workers, social workers, bankers, teachers and health care workers. Students will participate in language classes by skill level as determined by an online pretest.

Registration is due by Monday, July 23rd.

Visit the web site for details or call (800) 621-2313.

Easy Information Sources for ESL, Adult Learners, & New Readers
by Rosemarie Riechel
Find it in InfoSoup

Riechel recommends meeting the information needs of adults with special needs by using the children's nonfiction collection. This book contains an annotated bibliography of over 250 children's nonfiction titles that meet Riechel's criteria for use by adult new readers. These criteria include:

• Content that is clear, concise, and presented with authority
• Vocabulary that is simple and jargon-free, but not childish
• Extensive and sophisticated illustrations with captions and labels
• Adult-appropriate cover, title, print size, and dimensions
• Table of contents, glossary, index, and bibliography included

In addition to selection guidelines, Riechel also discusses the reference interview with the adult new reader, and housing and promoting the collection.

Most of Riechel's recommended titles can be found in InfoSoup. Contact Bradley if you would like a list that includes authors, titles, reading levels, and catalog links.

WebJunction is hosting a free two-day online conference, Technology Essentials 2010, focused on practical and timely strategies for leveraging technology to help you in a wide range of library services and operations, including:

• Staff training
• Marketing
• Outreach, funding, advocacy
• Services and programming
• Technology planning
• Virtual libraries
• Your library's web presence

Registration enables you to attend both days of the conference but you can attend as few or as many of the sessions as you are able. View the details and registration here:
http://www.webjunction.org/conferences/-/articles/content/86891033

The Wisconsin Library Association (WLA) has programs and services to support people who work in and support all types of libraries. Are you a member? Consider joining today! WLA membership benefits include:

• Up-to-the-minute legislative and advocacy information and support.
• Connections with library professionals and other leaders.
• Tools to help you meet professional challenges.
• and much more!

I have samples of the WLA newsletter available, along with $10 discounts for new members. Contact me if you'd like a newsletter and/or discount code, and don't forget to register for the fall conference soon! If you'd like more information about WLA, visit their website.

> contributed by Beth

The Association for Rural and Small Libraries has moved its resource collection onto the WebJunction site. Now libraries can access rural library-focused webinars, staff training, newsletters and community-building message boards online anytime. There is something for everyone, so please check it out. Most sections contain great links to librarian-created content and best practices. My favorite is the Rural Brainstorms where you can find notes about funding, training, advocacy taken by rural librarians at workshops and conferences across the country.

Is this information useful to you? What topics would you like to see the site cover?

>> contributed by Leslie

Project Play registration opens up in about a month, and I can't wait to get it kicked off in September! If you haven't explored the wiki yet to see what the project is all about, please take a look and let me know if you have any questions.

I recently ran across an article by Roy Tennant that I thought tied in nicely with one of Project Play's goals, which is to "empower and encourage people to take responsibility for their own lifelong learning." Tennant's article, "Three Hard Things," talks about taking time to learn and trying new things, but also highlights that you may need to decide to stop doing something, too.

I hope you'll all take a leap with Project Play this Fall, because you never know... you just might play more, learn more, and fear less!

>> contributed by Beth

Manager Tools is a swell resource for managers and staff alike. The founders’ goal is improving management and leadership skills using action-oriented style. Want to know how to write a thank you note, host a staff meeting or ask staff for feedback (about you)? There’s a podcast for that! There are also blog posts, discussion forums and book recommendations. Members can (and do) post comments and share their favorite management techniques. Some content is available without registration but access to most content requires free membership.

>> contributed by Leslie