Michael over at Tame the Web shared a link to a video he was a part of a few years ago. This is an excellent way to:

1.  Show off how cool your library staff is
2.  Show your community that the library is approachable
3.  Celebrate library staff as individuals and as a group for they are the face of your library.

Go, watch it, enjoy! Then, as Michael suggests, steal this idea. Grab a video camera and celebrate your staff!

Jenn Riley has a very informative post about Using Grant Money for Technology Projects over at the TechEssence.Info blog.  Jenn says,

“Grants offer attractive opportunities for carrying out technology initiatives that might not otherwise be possible for libraries. But grant money isn’t truly free money. The additional opportunities for libraries afforded by grants require time, effort, and commitment.”

Jenn offers some great advice,

“The key to a successful technology grant project is to match funding opportunities to institutional priorities. Don’t chase grant money just because it’s there, and don’t tailor your project to a specific grant program just to get the money. Instead, develop ideas for technology projects you want to do based on your library’s mission.”

I would like to welcome the readers of the 2020 Vision blog to this space. For the past year the Idaho Library Futures Conference Steering Committee, ICFL staff, and the Idaho library community have been conversing about the future of libraries at the 2020 Vision blog. As the library community incorporates the 2020 Vision into their plans, the time has come to officially merge the spirit of the 2020 Vision into this blog space.

Welcome to the ICFL Blog and please make yourself at home, comment on posts, and feel free to send ideas for blog postings to me or other ICFL staff. I’m looking forward to the conversations ahead for the Idaho library community.

We're moving closer to the launch of the e-branch project!

At the end of October and beginning of November the Idaho Commission for Libraries will provide training sessions across the state. Sign up! Each library that attends a session will have an e-branch site to work on - with the intent that they'll leave the workshop with a ready-to-launch site.

Last week I had the opportunity to meet with some folks at OCLC. Yes, AT OCLC, in Ohio. It was my first visit to the OCLC headquarters, and I’d like to thankthe amazing staff there for welcoming us and making us feel so comfortable. The main purpose of the visit was to talk about marketing library services, but I learned a few interesting tidbits on the side.