Dream Grant News
We reached the end of the Dream Grant on June 30, 2016, and after 27 months of hard work on the part of Transitional members, Barcoding SWAT teams, barcoding buddies, and SHARE staff, we can happily report that while our original goal was to add 40 members to SHARE through support from the Dream Grant, we were actually able to add 77. At this point, 42 of those libraries are live on Polaris, with more going live prior to school starting in August. Five more are ready to start barcoding, and 30 are in the process of barcoding their collections.
But those aren’t all of the statistics! Approximately 470,000 items have been added to the SHARE collection. Income from member fees has increased significantly—and hopefully enough to justify not raising member fees for one more year, as previously approved by the SHARE membership.
And when asked if the effort to join SHARE was worth the time and energy, these are some of the responses received from Transitional members:
Oh my. One of the most satisfying aspects of it, is that Selmaville's collection is valid based on the items requested. When I weeded the collection last summer, I made some hasty decisions that have paid off. Libraries are requesting classic books like those by Jesse Stuart and 50 year old biographies. The collection does seem more manageable. I am able to get newly purchased items into circulation much more quickly. The only fall-out seems to be the decision we made about $25.00 for lost book. I will work through that though.
Yes! My students are borrowing and reading more than ever. They are so excited by all the books they have access to now. Since we don't have a public library in our town, I am glad that I can give them a taste of all the things libraries can do for them, so they will be motivated to seek them out after graduation.
Yes! I have been working toward getting automated for 8 years. With the reorganizing of the library systems and funding I was finally able to jump on board and get our small library automated. The grant offered help to barcode all of our items, which was a Godsend!
One piece of evidence I can share is that in years past, using a manual circulation setup, I would have between 50-150 missing books at the end of the year to try to reclaim or get reimbursement. Today, with one school day left, and fingers crossed for more returns to come tomorrow, I only have 20.
Was it worth it? YES!!! It was overwhelming and tedious to barcode everything but now that it's done, it's great. We're still learning but last week we had a new patron who applied for a card and the look on her face when we said Oh, you moved here from Granite City, it was the icing on the cake. Everyday we're learning something new
While the Dream Grant is over, adding member to SHARE is not. Now that we’ve survived that onslaught of new members, SHARE staff will be reaching out to other ILLINET members with the offer to join in on the fun of being the largest library automation consortium in North America!
SHARE Website Overhaul Underway
Several IT and SHARE staff are working on a new improved SHARE website, which will be unveiled later this month. Among other things, the new site will include the newly revised SHARE Operational Guidelines, in a searchable format. It is our hope that the new and improved website will be easier to use, and include the latest information about SHARE that our members need to be aware of.
Dates to take note of
Please note that when we encourage you to sign up for an event in L2—whether it’s a training session, a chat, or a meeting—there’s a reason! For public libraries, when you have to determine your CE hours for the IPLAR, if you’ve signed up for all of the events you’ve attended, they will show up on your CE report. The same is true for all other library types—you just have other reasons for using that information.
| Date | Time | Event | Location |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tuesday, July 12 | 9 to 11 | SHARE Catalogers Training Session | Adobe Connect |
| Tuesday, July 12 | 10 to 12 | Members Matter | Morrison-Talbott Library & VTEL |
| Wednesday, July 13 | 1 to 2 | SHARE Chat with the IT staff | Adobe Connect |
| Thursday, July 14 | 9:30 to 12:30 | Barcoding I (Searching and Matching) | Metropolis Public Library |
| Thursday, July 14 | 1:30 to 4:30 | Barcoding II (Creating, Editing, Deleting Item Records) | Metropolis Public Library |
| Friday, July 15 | 10 to 12 | SHARE Bibliographic and Cataloging Standards Committee meeting | VTEL |
| Wednesday, July 20 | 10:00 | SHARE Fee/Finance/Policy Committee meeting | Effingham Public Library |
| Wednesday, July 20 | 1 to 2 | SHARE Chat with the Circulation and Resource Sharing Specialists | Adobe Connect |
| Thursday, July 21 | 12:30 | SHARE Executive Council meeting | IHLS Edwardsville |
| Tuesday, July 26 | 1 to 3 | SHARE Circulation Forum | O'Fallon Public Library |
| Wednesday, July 27 | 9:30 to 4 | Cataloging Workday | Mascoutah Public Library |
| Wednesday, July 27 | 1 to 2 | SHARE Chat with the Bib Services staff discussing Cataloging, Barcoding, Serials & Record Sets | Adobe Connect |
Be sure to sign up for events of interest to you on L2!