Recent News

In observance of Labor Day, the SELCO office will be closed on Monday, September 6.  There will be no Automation Support that day.  Also, there will be no delivery service on Monday - a regular Monday delivery schedule will take place on Tuesday that week.  Delivery to schools will begin on Wednesday, September 8.

SELCO officially welcomes Sherry Mooers to Minnesota  as the new Library Director in Lake City.  Sherry has more than 12 years of library management experience, including 7.5 years as a library director.  Her work experiences also include management of a non-profit organization and coordinating a state task force in 43 counties.  Sherry holds a Masters in Library and Information Science from Kent State University.  In 2007 Sherry was honored by her peers in the Mississippi Library Association with the Outstanding Library Achievement Award and again in 2008 with MLA’s Public Relations Award.

Ann Hutton and Sherry Mooers

Ann Hutton, SELCO Executive Director, visited Sherry on August 25 and kicked--off a series of orientation sessions outlining SELCO organizational structure and services.  Ann’s visit will be followed up with information about technology and information services shared by Donovan Lambright, Automation Librarian.  SELCO Assistant Director, Michael Scott, will continue the discussion with Sherry within the next few weeks offering information about children’s and adult programming support, training and library advocacy.

Welcome Sherry Mooers!

On August 23, 2010, SELCO implemented an email user alert service available from MnLINK.  Now, your library patrons who use MnLINK and have a valid email address in their Horizon patron record will receive an email alert when a MnLINK request is unable to be filled (non-supplied) by a participating MnLINK library.  This alert will allow your library patrons to receive information about any of their MnLINK requests that are unfilled and will cut down on the amount of paper you receive from us via your Delivery tub!  For more information, check out this document posted to SELCO's Interlibrary Loan page that explains this change.

Four scholarship recipients will attend the annual conference for the Minnesota Library Association (MLA) this fall.  The conference will be held in Rochester, October 6-8, 2010.  Each winner has agreed to share impressions of the conference via the SELCO Librarian .  The 2010 SELCO-MLA Scholarship winners are:

•  Bonnie Adams, Kasson Public Library
•  Tara Johnson, Lanesboro Public Library
•  Rhonda Barnes, LeRoy Public Library
•  Brian Lind, Rochester Public Library

Today was the first day that the new notices forms were used for the 24 libraries that have SELCO process their notices. 434 print notices were generated, folded and stamped for mailing this afternoon, in addition to the 1272 notices and pre-overdue notices emailed out to patrons. Photos of the new equipment and staff in action are on our flickr account .

A new post went up on Friday on the Online Catalog page outlining several enhancements coming to the catalog in the coming weeks.  Along with a new interface for links to resources such as MnLink and My Accounts are a number of new links, including the Suggest a Title webform and local resources for individual Online Libraries.  Check it out.

9:59 AM -- Our problems are now resolved and Online Libraries should be able to connect normally to Horizon now.

Thank you for your patience this morning.

9:36 AM --  We are experiencing technical problems preventing Online Libraries from accessing Horizon.  SELCO staff are in the office working on a resolution.  Updates will be posted here as well as in email to Online Library Directors and Automation Contacts.

As anyone who entered the SELCO building last winter will remember, everyone had to navigate icicles dangling from the roof and skate on the icy sidewalk.  With the encouragement of our insurance provider and the approval of the SELCO/SELS Board of Directors, SELCO undertakes a small remodeling job. 

The project will shift the front door 90 degrees from the current south-facing entrance to the west side under the existing covered walkway.  (Interestingly, the original building plans had the door under the walkway facing west.)  The shallow overhang over the front door makes for a very wet entrance on a rainy day and, as experienced each winter, a slippery escapade when there is snow and ice.  Throughout the years we have added eave troughs, investigated heat--tape, re-directed downspouts, seasonally adjust and re-adjusted eave troughs, caulked and re-caulked the crack between eave trough and soffit.  Despite setting out orange cones to alert people to the conditions, we still had numerous falls.

Work began on Monday, August 2, with the removal of the Nova Brick which will be reused.  Excavation equipment arrived this morning so construction begins in earnest. Using signboards borrowed from several public libraries, there is information directing visitors to the east side delivery door which will be the temporary entrance during construction.  The remodeling project should take 4 – 6 weeks.

SELCO will add new photos to the SELCO Front Door Remodel Project 2010 on Flickr so you can follow the progress.

The National Poetry Slam (NPS) is the largest team performance poetry event in the world. Teams from all over North America, as well as other countries will be in St. Paul for a week of poetry, revelry and competition.  A great opportunity to check out SELCO's recently released poetry anthology - Poetic Strokes.

Buckham Memorial Library Youth Services Librarian Frances Veit has an article in the Summer 2010 issue of Young Adult Library Services (YALS), the official journal of the Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA).  The article, Absolutely True Experiences of Two New Librarians:  The Importance of Popular Literature in Educating Young Adult Librarians, offers tips for new YA librarians, examines the critical nature of including popular lit in grad school, and lists some great resources for popular literature selection.  Frances and her graduate school friend, Fumiko Osada, co-wrote the article.  Way to go, Frances!!

SELCO will offer ten scholarships to defray basic costs to attend the annual Minnesota Library Association (MLA) conference at the Mayo Civic Center in Rochester, MN on October 6-8, 2010.  The application deadline for those interested in being considered as a scholaraship recipient will be Friday, August 20, 2010 at 12:00 noon.  For more information, click here or complete SELCO's online scholarship web form .

Just a reminder that Art and Culture Live! Community Collaboration grant applications are due on the 25th of every month for consideration in the following month's round of grants. The deadline for August applications is July 25, which is this coming Sunday. If you're planning on submitting an online application, please remember that all supplemental materials, including signatures and partner letters are also due on the 25th.

What this means is that your materials must be at the SELCO office or postmarked no later than the monthly due date in order to be eligible for consideration. When the deadline falls on a Sunday, you'll need to be sure that those documents are postmarked the day before (Saturday the 24th) in order to remain eligible for funding. Also, as of July 1st, 2010 (the start of our Fiscal Year 2011), all applications for Community Collaboration grants must include at least one partner organization. For more information, please visit the Community Collaboration page, or contact Abbey Thompson-Chapel .