CTLS Board of Directors

CTLS Newsletter September 2012 No. 116

The Next Chapter for CTLS

September 1, 2012 signals the beginning of a new chapter for CTLS, Inc. Our nonprofit corporation, established in 2005, is stepping out of the shadow of the Texas State Library and accepting the challenges of a self-sustaining, membership driven organization. CTLS is truly connecting Texas libraries statewide. Response from around the state has been a bit remarkable. As of early September, 93 libraries have sent in membership pledges to CTLS for 2013. Of these 93 libraries, 30 are located in regions that no longer have a system office. The new mem-bership profile consists of libraries from the Sabine River (Newton County) to the Rio Grande (Presidio, Laredo, Edinburg, Zapata, Rio Grande City, and Pharr). New members joining from the Gulf Coast include Galveston, Bay City, Victoria, Portland, Palacios, Port Lavaca, and Kingsville. Comanche, formerly of the Big Country Library System, is our western most member. One third of the libraries from outside the traditional boundaries of CTLS have joined as of September 6. The response from the 2012 membership cohort has been especially strong. Seventy-six percent (76%) of the 82 libraries comprising the 2012 member-ship of CTLS have joined. This commitment to the continuation of the sys-tem is very gratifying given the financial sacrifice that many libraries are making to join CTLS. The Board, Long Range Planning Committee, and staff recognize that it is not easy in this tough funding climate for libraries to come up with “new” money for any purpose. Libraries are asked to pay for services that have always been free or have had a nominal cost. The transition from an open and easily accessible support system to a fee-for-services model has been and will continue to difficult. Texas libraries and librarians are a resilient and determined lot. The dissolu-tion of the 10 regional systems presents many challenges that the Texas li-brary community is more than capable of taking on. As we build relationships and partnerships with libraries all over Texas, we will remember that libraries are stronger together than apart. Distance may separate us but our mission is the same. Libraries can and will continue to make a difference in the lives of Texans. Welcome aboard, CTLS Libraries! Together we will make our motto a reality - Connecting Texas Libraries Statewide.

Peggy Gibson Chair Larry Ringer Vice Chair Lyle Thormann Secretary Eileen Altmiller Treasurer Barbara Crossno At Large Lynne Holle At Large

IN THIS ISSUE:

The Next Chapter for CTLS Page 1

The Beginning and the End

of the Tang Program Page 2

News You Can Use

Page 3

Youth News Page 4 - 5

TANG Tech Tips

Page 6 - 7

Library Book Drops Page 7

CTLS Calendar & Staff

Directory Page 8

From the Executive Director By Pat Tuohy

The Beginning and End of the TANG Program in Texas

One of the most innovative ideas to come out the Texas State Library since the start of the Library Systems in the 1970s was the TANG program. TANG was the acronym for Technical Assistance Negotiated Grant program which first emerged at the State Library in 1998 in time for the start of fiscal 1999. This program was the brainchild of then-Systems Coordinator Patty Davis. Patty’s role in developing and pushing out this program to the 10 systems was significant and her efforts were to have a profound impact on library technol-ogy statewide. Ms. Davis structured the program so that every Library System in the state would be able to hire a hands-on computer tech support person to assist libraries with the implementation and maintenance of local computer systems. The TANG program emerged as a technology safety net for the hundreds of small Texas librar-ies that did not have reliable technical support for their increasingly complex networked systems. Without the “911” assistance provided by the tal-ented and patient TANG staff, the many under-funded and rurally isolated libraries across Texas would have never been able to acquire, install, and maintain their electronic connections with the world.

In CTLS, the TANG technician was always the most popular person in the office. At the Septem-ber and January membership meetings, crowds would form around this individual and librarians would compete to sit next to him (or her) at lunch. This pattern of personal popularity was replicated in other regions around the state. For almost 14 years, these TANG specialists contributed an enormous amount to the development of libraries in Texas. Without their patience and persever-ance, the electronic infrastructure of small librar-ies in Texas would not be where it is today. With the termination of the TANG program, these many individuals should be recognized by name and system affiliation and honored for their hard work over the years. Unfortunately, no central da-tabase of these wonderful people exists except in memory. But at least we can recognize the out-standing staffs that have helped CTLS libraries become the reliable technology leaders in their communities. Each of these individuals has made unique contributions. For this we thank them and honor their service to Texas libraries. Marvin Perez 1998 to 2005

Mike Buras 2005 to 2009 Holly Gordon 2009 to 2011 Zak Roussel 2011 to 2012

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Past and present CTLS staff members.

News You Can Use By Laurie Mahaffey

3

Texana for your Library Living in a state that borders the Gulf of Mexico, we will always have to be alert to hurricanes. A new book on Hurricane Ike, the storm that hit Galveston and Houston hard in September 2008, has been published by Texas A&M Press. Rice University professor Phillip Bedient edited Lessons from Hurricane Ike, which “really offers lessons, not just sen-sational photographs of wreckage and stories of heroism and tragedy.” At $35, it is a wise purchase for your collection. My Boys and Girls are In There is the story of the New London school explosion disaster. This event, which occurred on March 18, 1937 in East Texas, is “the worst school disaster in U. S. history.” Three hun-dred children, teachers, and school staff were killed. Also from Texas A&M Press, the book is $24.95 and was written by Ron Rozelle. Be-cause the explosion was caused by odorless natural gas, an unpleasant odor is now added to that gas so people will be aware of leaks. River of Contrasts, by Margie Crisp, is “an insight-filled travelogue, based on kayaking trips” the author and her husband took down the Colorado River from its beginning to its mouth in Matagorda County. If your library has John Graves’ classic Goodbye to a River, this book will be comparable, but 50 years newer and on a river that runs through vastly different terrain. Available from Amazon for $29.95, the book is published by River Books, sponsored by the River Systems Institute at Texas State University. Guide to Texas Grasses, by Robert B. Shaw, is $45 and covers “every variety of native, introduced, and ornamental Texas grass,” a whopping 670 species. This is an excellent resource for patrons concerned about shrinking water supplies and the need for more drought-resistant grass-es for their landscapes. Texas A&M Press is the publisher. Living Witness: Historic Trees of Texas, by Ralph Yznaga and Da-mon Waitt, documents 36 historic trees, from “the giant pecan that grew from the small tree” planted by Governor Hogg’s grave to Austin’s Trea-ty Oak, poisoned in 1989 and still struggling. A note of hope concludes the book: the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center in Austin is growing grafts from three historic Texas trees so that they can live on. This book is another Texas A&M Press publication and sells for $29.95. All of these books were favorably reviewed by Mike Cox, the Texana reviewer for the Austin American-Statesman, in the August 26, 2012 issue. It’s rare that books like this are reviewed in the national library periodicals, so that is why I try to spotlight ones of interest to member libraries. If you know of a local author who has written a book that is worthy of wide distribution, please let me know about it. Thanks!

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Youth News By Kim Lehman

September is Library Card Sign-up Month

Library Card Sign-up Month is a time to remind parents and children that a library card is the most important school supply of all. The American Library Association has free promotional tools to down-load including cover photos to post on your Facebook Page as well as print and audio PSA’s. http://www.ala.org/conferencesevents/celebrationweeks/card

Teen Read Week Start planning for Teen Read Week October 14-20. Register, get program ideas, publicity tools and so much more at http://teenreadweek.ning.com/.

National Library Week Grant

National Library Week is April 14 - 20, 2013. Why not plan ahead and apply for some funding to enrich the week? The Scholastic Library Pub-lishing National Library Week Grant is an annual $3,000 award open to U.S. libraries of all types. Deadline is Sept. 30, 2012. Judging Criteria Proposals must: • Incorporate the 2013 National Library Week theme, “Communities matter @ your library®.” • Uses the @ your library® brand according to registered trademark guidelines on all related promotional materials.

• Involve at least one other community organiza-tion. Additionally, proposals will be judged on the ba-sis of how well they meet other criteria, includ-ing: creativity, originality, clarity of planning and potential for generating widespread public visibil-ity and support for libraries. Commitment to on-going public awareness activities and allocation of resources (staff, materials, time) also are con-sidered. You can review last year’s winning application from Sacramento (Calif.) Public Library. For more information and an application go to: http://www.ala.org/conferencesevents/

Engineering is Elementary Don’t let the word “engineering” intimidate you. Engineering Adventures is being specifically designed to capitalize on the teamwork, community atmosphere, and creative thinking. The activities are specifically for 3rd-5th graders in out-of-school time settings like the library. To learn more, or to download the Bub-ble Bonanza unit, visit http://www.mos.org/eie/engineeringadventures/index.php

The Hop to It chapter has a bunch of very cool Rube Goldberg style videos.

Most Influential American Books

The Library of Congress just released their first list of the most influential American books. After reading the list, take the survey (5 min) and you can nominate a book you think should be on the list! Here are a few books from that list:

Where the Wild Things Are The Cat in the Hat Goodnight Moon The Snowy Day

http://www.loc.gov/bookfest/books-that-shaped-america

J. K. Rowling to Launch Harry Potter Reading Club Live Webcast – October 11 at 11:00am Central Time Children’s publisher Scholastic plans to launch the Harry Potter Reading Club, an online destination created to share the magical world of Harry Potter, with a live webcast on October 11 at noon Eastern time. Rowling will participate in a live virtual author visit to classrooms across America to discuss the world of Harry Potter, includ-ing the online website Pottermore. The webcast will take place live from Rowling’s hometown of Edinburgh, Scotland, and is the first time she has had the opportunity to answer questions from kids live since 2007. http://hpread.scholastic.com/

Poison Center Storytime The Poison Center of Central Texas is offering free storytimes to li-braries. This is what John Stevens from the Fairfield Public Library shared about the programs.

“I highly recommend Jennifer Watson from the Scott & White Poison Control group as a presenter to children. She showed up on time, had equipment that worked and used book reading (Five Little Monkeys) to introduce ideas and hold their atten-tion. She kept them involved and taught them many useful things about poisons. None of our children could identify Mr. Yuk! They can now. We got a nice write up in the local paper with pictures for this particular presentation.”

For more information contact Jennifer Watson at 254-724-7404 or jawatson(at)swmail.com

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My last newsletter article is all about tech support tips. By the time you read this article the TANG program will be over and I will be in Kentucky. It was nice working with everyone while I was here. I really enjoyed this job and working with all of you. Now you are probably wondering, what do I do if I need tech help? The best thing to do in any support situation is Don’t Panic, its not the end of the world. Also, help is still a phone call away. The Texas State Library and Ar-chives Commission recently an-nounced a new phone support ser-vice run by Premier Logitech. Tech-nical support experts, Adam Beatty, previously a TANG Consultant in North Texas, and Keith Dillard work exclusively to assist Texas librari-ans. Keith and Adam are on the phones from 8:00 am - 5:00 pm (Central Time) Monday through Fri-day. They provide hardware support, including questions on installation, upgrades, maintenance, and repairs; and answer questions about desk-tops, laptops, printers, scanners, and other hard-ware routinely found in libraries. They support common software programs, assist with basic net-work troubleshooting, answer questions about security and ad blocking utilities, and more! Con-tact Adam and Keith with your IT questions: 1-855-90-TSLAC (1.855.908.7522). This number is toll free. This support service from Premier Logitech does not include any onsite service. Before you call about any support problem you should always use Google to research the prob-lem. When you search put the product name or model number and a brief description of your problem. (example = E6410 laptop wifi does not work) Chances are that your problem is not unique and you will find info quickly on a support forum or blog with discussion or about the issue you are having or a very similar issue. You can also join these online forums or post on blogs and ask for help or help other users. Another thing you can do is contact the vendor of the hardware or software you need help with, be-

cause they are usually experts on their own products. A list of popular hardware and software vendors support websites is provided below. When you call or email you may need to have your invoice/order/serial numbers ready along with the model number of the equipment. If you need help with a computer re-lated issue they will also need to know what Operating system you are using. If you have this ready in advance the call will go much fast-er. You also need to know when your warranty or maintenance peri-od expires. If you are not currently under maintenance or warranty the phone support service may cost money. If you need something fixed right away the best option may be to pay for support from the manufacturer. This will typically

require a credit card. Some other Support Options are On Site Technician – Paid Service available to CTLS Level 2 members Level 2 CTLS members can call CTLS to arrange an onsite technician. The price is based on the specific details of the job, and CTLS will invoice you for services after the job is complete. Our technical services company can arrange a local technician for installation, troubleshooting, and repair of various hardware, software, and elec-tronic devices. You can also request a tech for a specific number of hours or an extended time pe-riod if you have a lot of different things to do. Drop Off PC Repair – This service is not provided by CTLS Check with PC repair shops in your local area for availability and pricing. One shop with multiple locations in Texas is Altex http://www.altex.com/computer-network-support-san-antonio-houston-dallas.aspx Paid Phone Tech Support Service – This service is not provided by CTLS

Continued on the next page...

TANG TECH TIPS – Tech Support By Zak Roussel

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Continued from previous page...

Interesting

Book

Drops

Valley Mills Public Library

McGinley Memorial Public Library in McGregor This library is in a for-mer movie theater. The book drop is part of the ticket booth.

Goodbye and good luck Zak!

Another option is a paid phone support plan; one ex-ample is Geeksquad. With Geeksquad for $199 you get one year of unlimited phone and remote support, in-store help, and online chats. This includes virus removal, full diagnostics and repair of operating sys-tem and software issues for up to three computing de-vices. PC, Mac, or Tablet http://www.geeksquad.com/ This was simply used as an example of a well known paid service; there are many paid tech support ser-vices available and we suggest researching on your own.

Popular Hardware and

Software Vendor Support Sites

Dell = http://support.dell.com/ Microsoft = http://support.microsoft.com/ Apple = http://www.apple.com/support/ HP = http://www8.hp.com/us/en/contact-hp/phone-assist.html Linksys = http://homesupport.cisco.com/en-us/support Google = http://support.google.com/?hl=en Overdrive = http://www.overdrive.com/resources/drc/ Symantec = http://www.symantec.com/support/ Faronics = http://support.faronics.com/ Mozilla = http://support.mozilla.org/en-US/home Techsoup = http://www.techsoup.org/stock/contact/index.asp Adobe = http://helpx.adobe.com/support/ Java = http://www.java.com/en/download/help/index.xm Biblionix = http://www.biblionix.com/ Extended Support Site List at Tiger Direct http://www.tigerdirect.com/sectors/help/techsupport.asp

Round Top Community Library

Register for CTLS workshops and events online at www.ctls.net!

5

CTLS Calendar of Events

September 28 CTLS Fall Membership Meeting - Salado Civic Center 10:00 AM

September 28 Teen Scene At Your Library- Salado Civic Center 1:00 PM September 28 CTLS Board Meeting 1:00 PM November 2012 Strut Your Stuff: Marketing Your Collection TBA Locations TBA in the South Texas Area & Central Texas Area December 7, 2012 Performers’ Showcase Georgetown Public Library, Central Texas Area

CTLS, Inc.

Connecting Texas Libraries Statewide

CTLS Staff Directory Patricia Tuohy, Executive Director pat.tuohy@ctls.net Laurie Mahaffey, Deputy Director laurie.mahaffey@ctls.net Kim Lehman, Youth Services Specialist kim.lehman@ctls.net Katelyn Patterson, Office Coordinator katelyn.patterson@ctls.net

CTLS, Inc 5555 North Lamar Blvd, Suite L-115, Austin, TX 78751 Toll Free (800) 262 - 4431 Office (512) 583 - 0704 Fax (512) 583 - 0709

We look forward to hearing from you!

COST: Special discounted rates:

$25/person for member libraries and volunteers

$50/person for non-member libraries

SPONSOR: CTLS, Inc.

5555 N. Lamar Blvd., Suite L-115

Austin, TX 78751

QUESTIONS: Kim Lehman, 512-583-0704 or

REGISTER NOW @ WWW.CTLS.NET

CTLS, Inc. Presents

Looking for innovative programs, services, and

spaces for your teens? Library Director and teen

advocate Lisa Youngblood from the Harker

Heights Public Library brings to you a plethora of

ideas for establishing, reinventing, and/or rejuve-

nating your teen services. From collection must

haves to space absolute have-nots, choose small

and large changes that can make huge impacts in

your teen community. Learn to ask and listen to

your teens, to encourage library usage, and to

begin teen volunteer programs.

2.5 hours CPE credit

September 28,

2012

1:00—3:30 pm

Salado Civic Center 601 North Main Street

Salado, TX 76571

Teen Scene At

Your Library