New Chapter in Bea Lebal’s Life
            Bea worked for the next seventeen years as the director of the D.C. Everest High School Library in Schofield, where she introduced technology to the school library.  When T.B. Scott Free Library in Merrill was looking for a director in 1988, Bea decided that she was ready for  a career change.

As Director of T.B. Scott Free Library for the last twenty years, Bea has had a huge impact on that community and how it utilizes its library services.  Shortly after coming to Merrill, she convinced the Library Board and the City of Merrill to fund a Dynix online catalog system for T. B. Scott Free Library.  That system eventually became the cornerstone for the WVLS V-Cat online catalog and circulation system that today links over twenty libraries in 7 counties. Bea then worked  with the Library Board and other community leaders to build an addition that doubled the size of the library.             In 2007, Bea was awarded the Wisconsin Library Association’s (WLA’s) Muriel Fuller award for improving community access to library resources, developing collaborations with local organizations to promote library services, and other contributions to library services that benefit users. The T.B. Scott Free Library was named WLA’s Library of the Year in 2002.

            At the end of December 2008, Bea is retiring from the T.B. Scott Free Library.  She and her husband, Larry, plan on staying in the Merrill area and will continue to be active participants in the Historical Society, their church (Bea is choir director/accompanist and an organist), and other community groups. They are both avid readers and will be frequent library visitors (“Of course!”).  Bea also hopes to have more time to play her piano and entertain their cat, Callie.

          Throughout her career, Bea has been a strong advocate for libraries and feels that, now more than ever, they play a critical role in their communities.  She is proud to have been part of the library community and says, “I’m so appreciative of the support I’ve received from colleagues over the years.”

            We wish Bea much joy as she turns the page to new endeavors and we know that this new chapter of her life will be as rich and rewarding as the previous one.

Congratulations and Best Wishes!

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Best Wishes to Wabeno Library Director Radloff
            After a “really good” six years as library director of the Wabeno Public Library, Lois Radloff is retiring and starting to plan for future travels.  Lois’s philosophy of library service has been that “you must enjoy the people!” 

            Lois has a Master of Arts degree from UW-Milwaukee and a B.S. from UW-Platteville.  Her background includes working in an office for 13 years, and she has also been a Junior High English teacher for 13 years.   She enjoys reading and looks forward to sewing and visiting her local library on occasion.  Her current favorite book is The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer - “because it is a well written book of letters that includes a little history and a little romance.”

Congratulations and Best Wishes!

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Wisconsin Library Association Conference 2008 Scholarship Report
            Julie Beloungy, Director of the Thorp Public Library, attended the 2008 WLA conference as a WVLS Wessler Scholar.  She wanted to share the following report:

            After attending my first Wisconsin Library Association (WLA) conference, I am convinced that I will be returning year after year.  It was a great conference and I attended many informative sessions.  I brought back great ideas to improve all areas of our library, but focused primarily on the research and reference aspect of library services. 

            BadgerLink Update! – The state funded information database offers access to any Wisconsin resident through secure Internet Authentication, IP Address, library card access, or individual username and password.  Federated Searching (a simultaneous search of multiple online databases) is the latest improvement to BadgerLink as well as updates to EBSCO and Lit Finder.  All are meant to be more user-friendly with a simplified interface and more precise searching results.  Another developing relationship will be between BadgerLink and Google Scholar.  Users are so familiar with Google searching that this will be a way to link the familiarity of Google with the information resources available through BadgerLink.

            Challenges for Reference Excellence: Realities and Possibilities – This session was both fun and informative.  Marie L. Radford, a widely known and respected associate professor at Rutgers University, offered some great ideas for keeping reference services excellent.  She reported on how quickly technology is changing reference service, for good and bad.  Patrons now expect immediate responses through phone, email, face-to-face, and live chat (instant messaging).  For a library to keep up in all of these reference areas, it is a formidable task, but essential to sustain the library’s viability.  Ms. Radford did a short skit on some of the negative stereotypes that hurt the reference librarian’s image, but then offered suggestions to avoid those negative results.  Don’t let staff get burned out, offer flexibility in scheduling, avoid generational wars (between old staffers and new or young staff), and always remember – Excellence is a choice!  Librarians must push into uncharted waters and embrace change, and just as important, don’t forget to evaluate the results.

            With all these sessions, it was reiterated how important customer service is to successful reference.  Keeping up to date on changing technology was another common theme.  All of these ideas are possible to accomplish in both large and small libraries, and I hope to implement as many as possible. It may not all happen at once, but with quality conferences and learning opportunities like this one, it keeps us moving in the right direction.
(Julie Beloungy, Thorp Public Library Director)

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WLA 2008 Conference Pictures

Annette Miller with Mary Dunn (Tomahawk Public Library) receiving the Frances De Usabel Outreach Award from Laurie Magee, Chair of the WLA Outreach Services Roundtable.	Annette Miller, winner of the Frances De Usabel Award.
Doug Lay – WLA Trustee of the Year	Carol and Doug Lay
Jim Backus, WVLS Trustee, having a good time at the awards banquet.	Heather Eldred (WVLS Director Emerita), Marla Sepnafski (WVLS Director), Doug (WVLS Trustee) and his wife, Carol Lay, enjoying the awards banquet.

(Thanks to Heather Eldred (WVLS Director Emerita) for these photos.)

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What’s Out and What’s In?
            Wessler Scholar Mike Hartkopf, (Customer Service Manager at the Marathon County Public Library), attended the “Back in Circulation” Conference and shares another report with us: 

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CONTINUING EDUCATION

The Wisconsin Valley Library Service Presents . . .

Bandwidth and Beyond: 
Technology Network Fundamentals

            John Pederson, Maddy Covelli, and Don Kasprzak of WiscNet will provide an overview of how this nonprofit, membership-based association of public and private organizations provides access to worldwide information and computing resources. They will talk about bandwidth in Wisconsin libraries and share with us the nuts and bolts of network equipment and what impact this has on our Internet connectivity. 

(Scheduled right after the V-Cat Council Meeting and Potluck Lunch) 

12:30 am - 3:00 pm   

Overview of WiscNet
The Big Picture of Big Networking
The “How-to” Types of Things & Troubleshooting Tips
Questions & Answers and Sharing of Information  

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The Wisconsin Valley Library Service Presents . . .

Wisconsin Open Meetings Law
Online via OPAL @Your Computer (with Headset and Microphone)
Thursday, December 18, 2008
                9:50 a.m. – 11:30 a.m.

Bruce A. Olsen is an Assistant Attorney General in the State Programs, Administration, and Revenue Unit of the Wisconsin Department of Justice. He received his undergraduate degree from the Univ. of Minnesota-Twin Cities, his master’s degree from Princeton University, and his law degree from the Univ. of Wisconsin Law School.  His practice emphases include administrative law, constitutional litigation, and the open meetings law.  Prior to joining the Dept. of Justice in 1981, he served as a law clerk for the Wisconsin Court of Appeals Judge Paul C. Gartzke. 

9:50 am - 11:30 am           Presentation via OPAL (and supporting written materials) aims to provide attendees with a workable understanding of the law, by explaining fundamental principles and addressing recurring questions. The topics will include the following:

 

·         What entities are “governmental bodies” subject to the open meetings law?

·         What communications are “meetings” subject to the requirements of the open meeting law?

·         What is required if the open meeting law applies?

·         When is it permissible to convene in closed session?

·         Who enforces the open meetings law and what are its penalties?

Please register by Monday, December 15, 2008. Certified public library directors will be able to receive 1.5 contact hours. If you have questions or comments about this event, please contact Inese Christman at 715-261-7256 or fill out the form below.

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