Wednesday, June 20, 2007

new books 6/20/07

The Board Building Cycle: Nine steps to finding, recruiting, and engaging nonprofit board members. 2nd ed. Lakey, Berit M. Boardsource, Washington DC, 2007. isbn 1-58686-093-3 658.422 Lakey 2nd ed.
This concise, well-illustrated book includes such gems as a board orientation guide and checklist, and case studies along with pithy advice.


Recommended Reference Books for Small and Medium-sized Libraries and Media Centers. 2007 edition. Libraries Unlimited, Westport Conn., 2007 isbn978-1-59158-526-8 011.02 Recom 2007
This work includes book reviews from the American Reference Books Annual, a nationally known work that reviews not only books, but also CD-ROMs and Internet sites published in the U.S. and Canada. This work contains recommended sources that would be of interest for small libraries. Critical comments and comparisons with other sources are included.

Monday, June 18, 2007

Newbery and Caldecott Awards 2007 (book)



















Association for Library Service to Children. (2007). Newbery and Caldecott Awards: A guide to the medal and honor books. Chicago: American Library Association.

The 2007 edition is out! This has a brief description of the awards, the selection committees, and history. It also includes an annotated bibliography of the award winners and honor books by year.

Preschool favorites: 35 storytimes kids love (book)

Briggs, D. (2007). Preschool favorites: 35 storytimes kids love. Chicago: American Library Association.

Each of the 35 storytime themes has a booklist of 10-12 read-alouds, several songs/rhymes/finger plays, activities like dance or dramatic play, music on CD/cassette, craft ideas, and reproducible black-line masters that can be used for flannel board characters, finger puppets, coloring and anything you can think of.

Thursday, June 14, 2007

Serving Teens Through Readers' Advisory (book)

Booth, H. (2007). Serving Teens Through Readers' Advisory. Chicago: American Library Association.

Covers topics such as how to approach teens, conducting reference interviews with teens, teen appeal, what to do if you haven’t read a teen book since you were a teen, readers’ advisory and homework, how to suggest books to parents looking for something to bring home to their teen, how to create resource lists for the rest of the staff, and several book lists.

Friday, June 8, 2007

Governance series put out by the National Center for Nonprofit Boards

The State Library now has the entire Governance series put out by the National Center for Nonprofit Boards!

Governance Series #1 - Ten Basic Responsibilities of Nonprofit Boards by Richard T. Ingram, 2003 658.422 Board3
Ingram explores the 10 core areas of board responsibility. Share with board members these basic responsibilities, including determining mission and purpose, ensuring effective planning, and participating in fundraising. You'll find that this is an ideal reference for drafting job descriptions, assessing board performance, and orienting board members.
Governance Series #2 - Financial Responsibilities of Nonprofit Boards by Andrew S. Lang, 2007 658.15 Lang
Provide your board members with an understanding of their financial responsibilities, including an overview of financial oversight and ways to ensure against risk. Written in non-technical language, Financial Responsibilities of Nonprofit Boards by Andrew S. Lang will help your board understand financial planning, the IRS Form 990, and the audit process. Also included are financial board and staff job descriptions and charts on essential financial documents and reports, including due dates and filing procedures.

Governance Series #3 -Structures and Practices of Nonprofit Boards by Charles F. Dambach, 2003 658.422 Damba
Looking for ways to improve efficiency? Help your board members keep long-term goals and board development at the forefront of their work. Included in Structures and Practices of Nonprofit Boards by Charles F. Dambach are practical guidelines on structural issues such as running meetings, committee structure, and term limits. Improve the way your board works by increasing flexibility and improving interpersonal relationships.

Governance Series #4 - Fundraising Responsibilities of Nonprofit Boards by James M. Greenfield, 2003 658.15224 GreenF
Discover why fundraising is important and why board members should be involved. Included in Fundraising Responsibilities of Nonprofit Boards by James M. Greenfield are practical suggestions for board members in direction, planning, and oversight of fundraising. Help your board succeed in the three phases of fundraising — cultivation, solicitation, and stewardship.

Governance Series #5 - Legal Responsibilities of Nonprofit Boards by Bruce R. Hopkins, 2007 346.73064 Hopki
All board members should understand their legal responsibilities, including when and how they can be held personally liable and what type of oversight they should provide. Discover the essential information that board members should know to protect themselves and their organization. Written in non-technical language, the Legal Responsibilities of Nonprofit Boards by Bruce R. Hopkins provides legal concepts and definitions, as well as a detailed discussion on ethics.

Governance Series #6 - The Nonprofit Board's Role in Setting and Advancing the Mission by Kay Sprinkel Grace, 2003 658.422 Grace
The Nonprofit Board's Role in Setting and Advancing the Mission by Kay Sprinkel Grace shows how board members can actively contribute to the creation of mission as well as communicate the mission and purpose to the community. Discover how your board can actively partner with organizational staff to implement mission and supporting policies.

Governance Series #7 - The Nonprofit Board's Role in Planning and Evaluation by John A. Yankey and Amy McClellan, 2003 658.4012 Yanke
Strategic planning and outcome measurement are important issues for every nonprofit board. The Nonprofit Board's Role in Planning and Evaluation by John A. Yankey and Amy McClellan explains how your board should be involved in strategic planning and how that plan should link to outcomes measurement. Discover different options for measuring organizational effectiveness and how to analyze both the organization and specific programs.

Governance Series #8 - How to Help Your Board Govern More and Manage Less by Richard P. Chait, 2003 658.422 Chait
Is your board managing instead of governing? Understanding this distinction will increase your board's ability to work effectively. Discover how your board can successfully work with staff, and how this dynamic changes as the size of your organization's staff changes.

Governance Series #9 - Leadership Roles in Nonprofit Governance by Robert L. Gale, 2003 658.42 Gale
Robert L. Gale clarifies the difference in the roles of the chief executive and board chair and provides suggestions for how this partnership can be strengthened. Discover how this leadership can effectively work with the governance committee to facilitate board development.

Monday, June 4, 2007

Your Public Library (DVD, Brochure)

No community can afford to lose its public library and the technology services it provides. To help, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is making available two new tools, entitled Keeping Your Community Connected, that can help advocate for libraries:
  • Video
    Show an eight-minute DVD to launch conversations with local government and community partners.

  • Brochure
    Circulate a related brochure that includes persuasive statistics, library patron stories, and a call to action for community members and leaders.

Both of these items are available for loan from the Oregon State Library OR you can request your own set directly from the Gates Foundation by clicking on the link below. Please provide the following information in the body of your email:

  1. Your name
  2. Your job title or role in the community (e.g. librarian, city council member)
  3. Your mailing address (Please note, we cannot ship to post office (P.O.) boxes)
  4. The name of your public library
  5. Your phone number

Order by email: USlibraries@gatesfoundation.org