C J R L C  UPDATE

Program Coordinator's Notes

    Our Tech Challenge has been rolling along, picking up participants. Several people have told me that they’re pleased to have this “push” to expand their technological horizons.

    The Challenge officially ends on May 24th at our Membership meeting, so there’s still time to join! Click on the link to the Challenge on our Home Page and see what it’s all about. Don’t worry about whether you’ll finish — the point is to learn something new.

    You can see the list of blogs that Challenge participants have created at the InfoLit Committee Blog. You’ll be impressed, as I am, with their variety and creativity.

    We’ve scheduled an RSS workshop at CJRLC on April 10th from 3:00 to 5:00 to help you get one part of the Challenge completed. Jessica Adler, Ocean County Library is the presenter at this hands-on program. You’ll leave with an aggregator account of your own. It’s a great way to keep up with library news and technology. The workshop’s called RSS -- What’s It All About? The cost is $20.00; call the office to register. Space is limited to 15.

Book Repair Workshop
on May 16

    Give new life to your worn books by learning basic repair techniques with Kim Avagliano, Monmouth County Library, in our popular workshop.

    The location is the Lakewood branch of Ocean County Library, from 12:00 to 3:00. The $35.00 fee includes a packet of supplies to take back to your library. Call the office to register. Limited to 20 participants.

Phyllis’s Favorites for April

BUBL Information Service
http://bubl.ac.uk/

Busy Teachers' WebSite K-12
http://www.ceismc.gatech.
edu/busyt/homepg.html

Cybersmart Curriculum – Research (K-8)
http://www.cybersmartcurriculum.org/lesson_plans/
http://www.cybersmartcurriculum.org/online_res/

The Dynamic Earth
http://www.mnh.si.edu/earth/

The Gilder Lehrman Institute of AmHist
http://www.gilderlehrman.org
For Teachers and Students: Modules on Major Topics in American History
http://www.gilderlehrman.org/
teachers/modules.html

IEEE Virtual Museum
http://www.ieee-virtual-museum.org/

KidsKonnect
http://www.kidskonnect.com/SubjectIndexHome.html
http://www.kidskonnect.com/AlphabetizedList.html

LitLinks
http://www.bedfordstmartins.com/
litlinks/home.htm
http://www.bedfordstmartins.com/
litlinks/periods/index.htm

Number2.com: Free SAT Test Prep and Vocabulary Builder
http://www.number2.com/

NY Public Library: Best of the Web
http://www.nypl.org/links/index.cfm

The TimePage: Cycles in United States History
http://www.timepage.org/

U.S. National Zoo Animal Index
http://nationalzoo.si.edu/Animals/AnimalIndex/

You Quote It, You Note It!
http://library.acadiau.ca/tutorials/plagiarism/
http://library.acadiau.ca/tutorials/

Editor’s Note: To subscribe to an email list of selected daily websites 5 days/week, email Phyllis above.

Monmouth Librarians has announced their scholarship winner for this year: Elizabeth McDermott, a Rutgers SCILS student who also works at Brielle PL. Congratulations, Elizabeth! She’ll receive the award at the annual luncheon on June 15th at The Mill in Spring Lake.

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Grayson Barber is a First Amendment lawyer in Princeton who represents libraries on first amendment issues at no charge. You may want to post the following information to use in case of a privacy issue: Phone: 609-921-0391, and web: www.graysonbarber,com. She has often been a consultant and presenter for NJLA and SLA.

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The big news is that the future looks brighter for the New Jersey Knowledge Initiative and the four major free statewide databases funded by the NJKI. The Governor’s FY2008 budget recommends funding to continue the NJKI at the same level for one year.

After a brief celebration, strategizing began to ensure that NJKI funding stays in the budget throughout the legislative review. Go to the advocacy toolkit at the NJ State Library website for lots of help to get you started as an advocate for this great initiative! Remember, RefUSA comes to us only through the NJKI funding!

Getting to Know Becky Lucas

    Our new lay representative on CJRLC’s Board came to NJ from the wide open spaces of Wyoming and Montana where she spent her childhood.

    After getting a BS degree in Psychology from the University of Montana, Becky worked as the assistant director for a small, non-profit art museum in Kalispell. She was in charge of volunteers, fund raising, and assisted the director in program management.

    Marriage brought her to Pennsylvania, then New Jersey, where she became a full-time mother of a son, Brinton, and a daughter, Avery. Never one to sit idle, Becky served on the Parent Council at Rumson Country Day School, with two years as president, managing a board of 6-7 members and overseeing the

volunteer committees of the entire parent body. She also served on the Long Range Planning Committee for the school and sat on the Education Committee.

    For the past four years, Becky has been the Executive Director for Literacy Volunteers of Monmouth County, an affiliate of the national ProLiteracy America. Literacy Volunteers believes that “the ability to read and write is critical to personal freedom and the maintenance of a democratic society” and trains volunteers to tutor one-on-one in basic literacy and conversational English for non-native speakers.

    Becky’s outside interests include cooking, travel, reading, visiting museums, meeting all kinds of people, and spending time with her Welsh Corgi, Charlie.

    She is delighted to serve on CJRLC’s Board since it dovetails nicely with her commitment to literacy. She feels that “libraries are an absolute connection to literacy.” Welcome to the Board, Becky!

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