News from CSL

All State Library facilities will be closed on:
Thursday, December 24, 2009, for the statewide furlough day
Friday, December 25 & Saturday, December 26, 2009     for the Christmas holiday
Friday, January 1 & Saturday, January 2, 2010     for the New Year’s Day holiday

Regular hours and the full holiday schedule can be found at http://www.cslib.org/hours.htm

The Connecticut Library Association and the Connecticut State Library are pleased to announce that the winners of the 2010 Excellence in Public Library Service Awards are the Essex Library Association and the Fairfield Public Library.

Public libraries from across Connecticut were nominated for the awards which were judged on:
• Service to their community
• Creativity and innovation
• Leadership in creating programs that can be emulated by other libraries
• Developing services that will affect the future of the library and their community

A panel of 3 judges from outside Connecticut reviewed these remarkable nominations and while they were impressed with all of the nominees when they took into account these factors Essex and Fairfield emerged as winners.

Essex won in the category of a community with less than a population of 15,000 for their program GirlZone. The GirlZone Girls’ Self-Esteem Group was designed as an 8 week series of workshops for girls between the ages of 13 and 17 to combat the injurious effects of low self-esteem and emotional distress among adolescent girls.

GirlZone was funded by a grant from the Middlesex Community   Foundation. The program topics covered positive body image, nutrition, inner and outer beauty, etiquette, job interview techniques, internet safety and clothes sense – all of which speak directly to the special needs of young women. Guest presenters, drawn from business, fashion, medicine and others were all experts in their fields with experience helping young women find the best in themselves.

The program is an unqualified success. Girls who arrived in cliques, left with new friends. Girls who came along found a circle of caring peers whom they learned to trust. Girls whose low self-esteem had made them shy, blossomed before the library staff’s eyes. Even those who came in defiant or withdrawn were totally engaged by the program’s end. All of them graduated as stronger and more confident young women.

Fairfield’s Jobs 2009 program won them the award for excellence in the over 15,000 population category. This series   of programs was conceived in response to the sudden economic downturn that resulted in widespread layoffs in Fairfield County and throughout Connecticut. At a minimal cost to the library, they developed a series of weekly programs that partner the library with area professionals speaking on a wide variety of employment topics as well as live and virtual networking groups that offer ongoing support and direction for job seekers.

The program has reached over 2000 library users at programs and networking groups plus has had over 2200 hits on the podcasts for programs along with a Linkedin group of over 45. The program covered all aspects of the job search and enabled the library to forge partnerships with local businesses and professionals. It also had a positive effect on the perception of the library and its funding needs by the public.

The goal of the program continues to be to provide all possible assistance to support residents in what is often a protracted jog search process. Many attendees at programs have told the library that job searching is often a solitary discouraging process and that the weekly Jobs 2009 programs, networking groups and podcasts have helped to keep them upbeat, focused, and informed about the latest trends in the job market. The program is very low cost (all the presenters are free), focused on timely, in-demand topics and depends on the willingness of area business and agencies to partner with the library in a high profile example of community support. It is yet another example of how libraries truly can make a difference.

Essex and Fairfield will receive their awards at the April 2010 Connecticut Library Association Conference. They will present a program on both their projects at the conference as well. The Friends of Connecticut Libraries and the Association of Connecticut Library Boards are partners with CLA and the State Library in presenting these awards.

Are you & your library ready for “Snapshot: One day in the life of Connecticut libraries”? It’s coming up on Thursday, February 18, 2010, which will be here before you know it!

Snapshot: One day in the life of Connecticut libraries is a project of the Connecticut Library Association, the Connecticut State Library and the Connecticut Library Consortium.

Its purpose? To capture the impact that Connecticut libraries have on their communities on a typical day.

You will find all the resources you and your library will need to participate on Thursday, February 18, 2010 at http://snapshotctlib.wordpress.com/

State Librarian Kendall Wiggin has announced that due to the worsening budget situation and with little chance to replace public service staff that retired earlier this year, the State Library will stay closed to the public on Mondays indefinitely. The Library’s hours are Tuesday – Friday 9-5, Saturday 9-2. Wiggin noted that the Museum of Connecticut History will remain open on Mondays. The Museum’s hours are Monday – Friday 9-4 and Saturday 9-3.

The Connecticut State Library will be closed on Thursday, Nov. 26th, Friday, Nov. 27th and Saturday, Nov. 28th for the Thanksgiving Day holiday and statewide furlough day. The Museum of Connecticut History will be closed Nov 26th and 28th, but will be open during its regular hours on Friday the 27th. Regular hours will resume for both the Library and the Museum the following week.

The Association for the Study of Connecticut History (ASCH), the Connecticut State Library, the Connecticut Militia Heritage Committee, and Manchester Community College will offer a conference about “Connecticut At War” on Friday, Nov. 13 & Saturday, Nov. 14. Speakers from various organizations will be featured and will discuss the different experiences of Connecticut people with wars spanning more than 350 years.

The conference begins on Friday, Nov. 13 at 11:30 a.m. at the Connecticut State Library, 231 Capitol Avenue in Hartford with an opening program featuring Tom Callinan, Connecticut’s “1st Official State Troubadour,” and Kevin Johnson, with his moving portrayal of a former slave, “Jordan Freeman: The Fight to Set a People Free.” The program continues with a presentation from keynote speaker David Corrigan, from the Museum of Connecticut History on the 100th anniversary of the Governor William A. O’Neill State Armory.

Tours of the Colt Collection at the Museum of Connecticut History and the Civil War monuments on the Capitol grounds will also be provided. A plenary session on the Connecticut National Guard and Operations Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom will also be featured, concluding with a reception at the Officers’ Club of Connecticut.

On Saturday, Nov. 14, the program begins at 8:45 a.m. at Manchester Community College with a welcome from Dr. Gena Glickman, president of MCC, and Dr. Guocun Yang, president of ASCH and professor of history at MCC. The program will continue with a presentation from keynote speaker Col. Richard Welch, Connecticut Army National Guard, on “Advising the Afghan National Army.” Researchers will discuss a variety of war-related topics from the 17th to the 21st centuries. Concurrent sessions include 17th century warfare, the French and Indian War, the American Revolution, the War of 1812, the Civil War, World Wars I and II, the Vietnam War, the Cold War, and the 21st century conflicts.

Lunch and refreshments will be provided by the MCC Hospitality Industry Association. Friday registration fees; $15; Saturday registration fees for members of ASCH, CMHC and CSL, and employees of MCC, $40; Saturday non-member $45; Saturday students, $30.

For more information on the ASCH conference or to register, contact Professor Guocun Yang at 860-512-2782 or gyang@mcc.commnet.edu. To view the entire schedule of events, visit www.mcc.commnet.edu/events.

The Connecticut State Library will be closed on Wednesday, November 11, for the Veterans Day holiday. Regular hours will resume on Thursday, November 12.

The Connecticut State Library is pleased to announce the availability of approximately $125,000 in Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA) funding for grants in seven categories. Program grant awards will range between $3,000 and $25,000. See the LSTA page for applications, deadline, workshop information, program categories, and application guidelines. LSTA funds are provided through the Institute of Museum and Library Services, the primary source of federal support for the nation’s 123,000 libraries and 17,500 museums. The Institute’s mission is to create strong libraries and museums that connect people to information and ideas.

Connecticut Legislative Histories-Landmark Series.

“An Act Concerning Lethal Injection, Proportionality Review of Death Sentences and Murder of a Child”

“An Act Concerning Product Liability Actions”

“An Act Concerning Revision and Codification of the Substantive Criminal Law” a/k/a “The Penal Code”

“An Act Concerning the Death Penalty” 1973

An Act Concerning the Death Penalty” 1995