HIT: school/library cooperation

[Edith Fuller <efuller@TELEPORT.COM>]

A long-delayed HIT on the following question, which was posted back last
spring.

"Who among us is involved in a cooperative relationship, consortium, or
whatever you want to call it, between school libraries and public
libraries?

"Our school district is looking to talk briefly with schools about
the pros and cons of various kinds of relationships possible with
public libraries.  We're in the very early stages of exploring a
LSTA planning grant here."

We didn't get the LSTA planning grant, but appreciate the information we
gathered here.  I left the names and affiliations on the messages, thinking
that others might want to talk to those of us who are have joint catalogs
with public libraries.

Thanks. Edith.



+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Date: Tue, 09 Mar 1999 19:52:22 -0800
From: Victor K. Forsberg <PrincessA@worldnet.att.net>
To: Edith Fuller <efuller@TELEPORT.COM>
Subject: Re: GEN: school/library cooperation

You need to speak with Sally Kinsey or Frankie Lukasko here in Reno.
Sally is the Washoe Co. Library joint-use representative, and Frankie is
the Library Coordinator for the Washoe Co. School District.  We have
several facilities already, and the previous director of the Washoe Co.
Library (who is on the Presidential Library Committee--Martha Gould) is a
real expert on this.  The first facility was way out in Gerlach with the
public library and Gerlach high school. (I think about 11-12 years
ago!!).  We now have 6: Billinghurst Middle, Duncan Ele-Traner Middle,
Galena High, Gerlach High, Mendive Middle and Verdi Ele joint-use
libraries. Sally's number is 775-785-4007, her title is Youth Services
Coordinator for the Washoe Co. Library System.  Frankie's number is
775-333-5385 x 2, her title is Library Technology Coordinator for the
Washoe Co. School District.  Heidi is her sect.'s name, Frankie is
difficult to get on the phone.  Try email maybe
flukasko@washoe.k12.nv.us.  Washoe Co. School district has approx. 52,000
students with 80 schools.  And they have lots of experience with this
joint-use thing.  Contact me if you would like further info.
Nancy Forsberg, Librarian
Wooster High School
Reno, NV 89502 333-5100 x 247

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Date: Tue, 9 Mar 1999 23:16:05 EST
From: SWEENKS770@aol.com
To: efuller@teleport.com
Subject: Re: GEN: school/library cooperation

Greetings-
We have just formally joined with our public library. We really have been
joined before but now the formal joining is because the state library
department has said that if we do, they will finance this wonderful reference
and resource package and give it to both school libraries and public
libraries. It includes wonderful things like SIRS, AP wire photos, Groliers
Encyclopedia online, and ERIC files. All that we have to do is meet once a
year, make sure that if our teachers are going to do a big project that we
communicate this to the public library so that they can be prepared, and sign
our kids up for their summer reading program (which we already do). It took
some paper work and some tech stuff, but we should have all of our "goodies"
in a couple of months. Our Commonwealth libraries have been very generous.
Good luck!

Kathy Sweeney, Librarian
Titus Elementary School
Warrington, PA 18976   (just north of Philadelphia)

++++++++++++++++

Date: Wed, 10 Mar 1999 08:00:35 -0500
From: Cynthia Cassidy <ccassidy@gmrsd.com>
To: 'Edith Fuller' <efuller@TELEPORT.COM>
Subject: RE: school/library cooperation

Did you see this month's SLJ? There is an article on this subject by a
public library that does this.  Cynthia

Cynthia Cassidy
 Media Specialist & KidsConnect Volunteer
Great Meadows Middle School
Great Meadows, NJ 08865

++++++++++++++++++++++

Date: Wed, 10 Mar 1999 08:41:37 -0600
From: Jane Evers <jevers@comfrey.mntm.org>
To: Edith Fuller <efuller@TELEPORT.COM>
Subject: Re: GEN: school/library cooperation

We have just established a joint school/public library. We are a small town
(population 430) with a small independent k-12 school (185 students)and our
public and school libraries were destroyed in a tornado last spring.  We
are rebuilding the school which will house the combined libraries.  If you
have any questions I will try to answer them.  I can't tell you how it will
go because the building isn't completed and everything is temporary right
now.  We are holding school in a neighboring town as they had just closed
their school building. Good luck, let me know what you find out.  At this
time I would appreciate any suggestions I can get. Jane

+++++++++++++++++++

Date: Wed, 10 Mar 1999 10:00:31 -0600
From: Eliece Edge <medge@alvin.isd.tenet.edu>
To: Edith Fuller <efuller@TELEPORT.COM>
Subject: RE: Public Library Consortium

Hi Edith,

About 15 years ago, the public library system in our county wrote a
grant to create a consortium between all its branches in the various
towns and all the secondary school libraries in the county.  This
involved providing retrospective conversion for all the schools'
catalogs, one search station per school which gave us access to each
other's catalogs, and pick-up and delivery service 3 times a week.  All
of this took place before any of us were automated, so the information
was available to us through a CD-ROM program called "Le Pac" which was
updated once a year by Brodart.  There was no cost to the schools at
all.

As the years went on, we all began to become automated; the schools
mostly using Follett's Unison software.  I don't recall which software
the public branches went to, although I do know it is not Follett.

A couple of years ago, the county commissioners decided not to continue
the expense of annually updating the CD-ROM.  We now access the county
libraries' collections online through the Internet.  They do continue to
bring us books when we order them over the phone, although they don't
routinely come by three times a week anymore.  This still gives us
access to all the materials in the public library collections, but we
can't see the collections of other schools anymore.  However, the great
state of Texas now has a program called "Texas Library Connection" which
all public schools may join by simply applying and sending in their
databases on discs.  This allows for widespread interlibrary loans
throughout the state.  If you are interested in getting a closer look at
this program, go to: < http://www.tea.state.tx.us/technology/TLC/>

Eliece Edge, Librarian
Alvin Junior High School
Alvin, TX
<medge@alvin.isd.tenet.edu>

++++++++++++++++++

Date: Wed, 10 Mar 1999 11:18:02 -0600
From: Jane Prestebak <prestebak@heso.state.mn.us>
To: efuller@teleport.com
Subject: school/public libraries

You asked about schools and public libraries.  Our regional professional
org. just held a session on school public coop.  I will paste the meeting
summary at the end of this message.

Schools and public libraries are working together to add school records to
regional public library databases to have access to the MnLINK Gateway.
You can learn more about that project from:  www.mnlink.org

Perhaps this will help.

jane

Region 10 & 11 MEMO meeting focuses on school/public library cooperation,
February 25, 1999

The meeting was held at the Roseville branch of the Ramsey County Public
Library.  Jane Prestebak, K-12 Coordinator for the MnLINK project,
facilitated a panel discussion.  Panel members included John Bergeron,
Circulation Supervisor, Roseville branch, Ramsey County Libraries; Jeff
Stedman, Media & Technology Coordinator, Roseville Area Schools; Francine
Alt, Automation Coordinator, East Central Regional Library; David Cole,
Automation Coordinator, Great River Regional Library; and Karen Hibberd,
Media Generalist, Simley High School.

Each panelist described cooperative efforts going on in their region
between schools and public libraries.

Ramsey County Library started a program to distribute public library
materials to school libraries in 1994. The first school district to come on
board was North St. Paul. Since then three other districts in the county
have started using the service. Each school is assigned a barcode number
from the public library system. Schools can place holds for materials using
the Dynix*system. These materials are pulled and placed in a bin for each
district. Each district is responsible to pick up materials at their local
branch. Bergeron said the about half of the 54 schools involved have used
the system extensively. Of all the materials (2800) that were loaned only
three items have been lost.  He feels the project has been very successful
and "it is a pleasure working with school districts."

Roseville Area Schools sends district transportation to the Roseville
branch public library every day. Materials are delivered to the high school
and sorted for delivery to the middle and elementary schools the next day.
Gregg Martinson, Roseville High School, explained that this project has
really helped to fill in the holes in the collection made obvious by the
introduction of graduation standards. Roseville schools are exploring the
possibility of merging their databases into the Ramsey County Dynix system.
 This would allow materials in school libraries to be visible to public
library patrons and sharing could go both ways. This would allow Roseville
schools to develop the union catalog and providing gateway to MnLINK.
Stedman talked about the benefits of sharing materials--the "stone soup"
attitude in a recent MEMORandom editorial.

Aitkin High School and North Branch High School are preparing to join the
East Central Regional Library Dynix system (ECRL). When she was hired in
April, Francine Alt, said they planned to have the schools online by
September. One thing she has learned is that takes time to develop a
project like this--at least a year. The schools involved exported their
MARC records and send them to OCLC* for conversion. This took many months
and the conversion hit rate was not as high as they would have liked (50%).
After conversion the records are sent to Dynix who creates smart (with
authors and titles) barcodes for all unique items.  Schools want to be able
to see materials available in whole region.  One school wants students to
have the ability to place their own holds.  Students will have a separate
patron card for school for the school and their public library.

Great River Regional Library (GRRL) is working with two school districts,
Kimball and Sartell.  David Cole said that there conversion project is
nearing completion and schools will soon be fully online.  Schools will be
able to login to graphical user interface and see only holdings for their
own schools.  They can also expand their search to the whole region.  Using
funds from LSTG*, GRRL expanded their server capacity and converted the
school records using Dynix's Retrolink* program. They had an 85 percent hit
rate for conversion.  All school records were loaded into the system.  The
15 percent will be cleaned up as time permits.  In the process, school's
retained only their local call number and location. They will be using
Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH) for all records. Cole
emphasized that communication is a crucial factor in the success of the
project.  He developed a web page to communicate with schools about project
(www.griver.org/mnlink/).  He learned that school library media specialists
are very busy people. GRRL will probably continue to cataloging for the
schools.  Cole also emphasized that is important not to rush the process;
it is better to proceed carefully and not try to meet some deadline.  The
schools involved agreed that it has been rough ride, but very worthwhile.
Schools are almost ready to start circulating materials using the Dynix
system.  They have been running their old automation systems simultaneously
until the new system is put in place and tested.  You can search and
display school records on the MnLINK Gateway (www.mnlink.org) at this time,
 they do not display on the web interface of the GRRL.

Karen Hibberd described efforts in her community for collaboration between
the school district, the city, the public library, and a community college.
 All these groups have worked together to build a new public library that
will serve the community as a whole.  The new public library will include a
computer lab with 20 stations that will be open longer hours. The Simley
High School is just beginning the process of converting their database to
be loaded the Dakota County Dynix system.  Using LSTG funds, they will use
Retrolink to convert the records. Hibberd spoke enthusiastically about
their collaborative project to build better access to all community resources.

During the question and answer period, Colleen Wehling, from Oxbow Creek
Elementary School in Champlain, described her project working with the
Hennipin County Library. They started a collaborative project that connects
classrooms to the public library. Each classroom has library card and can
place holds for materials. They have hired a courier service to pick up and
deliver the materials.  During the last week of school public library comes
in and introduces the summer reading program.  A community group paid for a
terminal in the school library media center with the Kid's Catalog*
interface to the public library collection. Wehling said there was some
resistance when she first brought up the idea of working more closely with
the public library. There was a fear that the public library would take
over the school library, but the project has demonstrated that, working
together, the school and public libraries complement one another.


*Glossary and web site directory

LSTG: Library Site Technology Grant: this state grant fund made $3.5
million available for collaborative technology projects.  Most of these
funds were allocated to collaboratives seeking to load school library
database records onto regional systems.  Although this was not included in
the governor's budget MLA/MEMO is sponsoring legislation to renew this
funding. SF:  Check with multitype coordinator for current information.

LSTA: Library Services and Technology Act: this federal grant channel
through the Office of Library Development and Services (LDS) provides $2.8
million dollars for collaborative technology projects.  For more
information, contact Roger Sween, LDS, 651-582-8722

Dynix: this integrated automation system is used in 8 regional library
systems in Minnesota.  The system includes modules for an OPAC (online
catalog), a web catalog, circulation, cataloging, media booking, reserves,
etc.  For more information, see: http://www.amlibs.com/

Dynix Retrolink: this is Dynix's retrospective conversion service.
Conversion from both paper and electronic format is possible.  For more
information see: http://www.amlibs.com/product/retrolink/index.htm

OCLC: A large bibliographic utility providing conversion services. All PALS
libraries and many public libraries purchase their cataloging records from
OCLC. MINITEX coordinates OCLC services in Minnesota only, contact Carla
Dewey, 800-462-5348.

Kid's Catalog: this kid-friendly interface was designed by the CARL
Corporation, of library automation company.  Kid's Catalog is sold as a
front-end for a variety of automated systems.  For more information or
download a demo in either Mac or Windows format, see:
http://www.carl.org/pubaccess/KC.html

GRRL catalog: http://www.griver.org/#Connecting

ECRL catalog: http://ecrl.lib.mn.us/connect.html

Ramsey County library catalog: http://www.ramsey.lib.mn.us/catalog/catalog.htm

Jane Prestebak
The MnLINK Project
1450 Energy Park Dr., Suite 350
St. Paul, MN    55108-5227
prestebak@heso.state.mn.us
Phone:   (651) 642-0567, ex. 3723
Fax:         (651) 642-0675
http://www.mnlink.org

++++++++++++++++

Edith,
Hi!  I am fairly sure that Palo Alto Unified School District in Palo Alto,
CA is doing a public/school library partnership at the high school level.
You may want to give them a call.
Tina Nelson
District Librarian
Moreland School District
San Jose, CA

++++++++++++++++++++

By the end of the year we expect to be in a shared system with four other
public libraries; three of us are already Dynix & have our own barcode
sequences.  We'll just merge everything into one patron file.

Mark W. Arend
Beaver Dam Community Library
311 N. Spring St.                    Outside of a dog, a book is
Beaver Dam, Wisc. 53916                  man's best friend.  Inside of
(920) 887-4631  (fax 887-4633)           a dog it's too dark to read.
                                               --Groucho Marx
www.centuryinter.net/bdlib/

mailto:arend@centuryinter.net

++++++++++++++++++++++


Edith Fuller
Librarian, Professional Library
Portland Public Schools
P.O. Box 3107
Portland OR 97208

e-mail: efuller@pps.k12.or.us
Phone: +1 503 916 3406
FAX: +1 503 916 3296



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