South Dakota State Library’s Public Librarian Vlog

South Dakota State Library has created a vlog entitled Loud Librarians Lead where librarians from across the state are interviewed about what is happening at their library! Librarians are leading each other by sharing their hard work and educating viewers on a particular topic of their expertise.

LOUD LIBRARIANS LEAD: January 2021 with Misti B.

Misti Burns is the Library Director for Tripp County Library Grossenburg Memorial in Winner, SD. She has a bachelor's degree in finance through the honors program at the University of Wyoming. She worked for over 15 years in sales and marketing in Sioux Falls. In May 2011, she moved to Winner and focused on being a full-time mom and volunteer. When the library position became available in 2019, she was elated. Her love for reading, learning, and helping people of all ages makes working at the library a perfect match! Misti lives with her husband Chris and their three daughters, Taylor (high school senior), Brooke (6th grade), and Katie (3rd grade). In her spare time, she enjoys reading, spending time with family and friends, her dog Mya and her cat Num-Nums, watching a good documentary or inspirational movie, and teaching Sunday School.

Enjoy the premiere above, and for more links and information, visit Loud Librarians Lead at library.sd.gov.

Read Native 2021 Challenge

From the American Indian Library Association:

American Indian Library Association (AILA) invites you to participate in the inaugural reading challenge. With this challenge we support and recognize our Indigenous authors, scientists, legislators, storytellers, and creators throughout the year, not just during the national Native American Heritage month.

Throughout the year, find and read books and publications by and about Native Americans; visit tribal websites; search peer reviewed scholarly journals; visit Native-owned bookstores; and check with Native librarians for all of the best sources for learning more about Native Americans and Indigenous people around the world.

For more information, including how to participate and a listing of book categories for children and adults, see AILA's Read Native 2021 website.

Podcasts – They’re for Your Ears and Your Brain

from the desk of Alissa Adams, School Library Technology Coordinator…

Podcasts are all the rage. Just go to Apple podcasts or Spotify or any other access point and you'll find hundreds of thousands of podcasts. Literally.

Podcasts are free audio programs distributed over the Internet. They deliver spoken word episodes focused on a topic, theme, or storyline. They can be educational, informative, or just plain entertaining. All you need is a device like a smartphone or a computer and a decent set of headphones. You can stream podcast episodes if you have Internet connection or you can download them for when you don't. Even more, by subscribing to podcasts you can essentially curate your own radio station of sorts.

So when your eyes are weary, but your brain wants to be entertained or challenged, grab your phone, put in those earbuds, and listen to a podcast. Bonus: Listening frees you up to walk the dog, try out that new recipe, or do that vacuuming you've been putting off.

Looking for a library-related podcast? Try Call Number with American Libraries (formerly titled Dewey Decibel). Call Number is a long-standing, quality podcast for and about libraries from the American Library Association. You'll find a broad range of topics, thought-provoking interviews, and interesting ideas from the library community.

Here's one episode titled "Small and Rural Libraries" to get you started.

For a roundup of library-related podcasts visit this article from WebJunction, Book and Library-related Podcasts.

For help getting started or to recommend a podcast drop me a note at alissa.adams@state.sd.us.

Madison Public Library highlights BookFlix database in programming

For the past two years, Madison Public Library has created Winter Break Kits: 12 activities between the start of winter (Dec. 21) and the new year to keep kids occupied and learning. Each day correlates with a BookFlix option. The BookFlix database, provided for free by the SD State Library, is highlighted over and over in the activities. In 2020, the kit ended with a Noon Year's Eve party: a car parade and games (weather permitting) at Library Park.

Kits were designed for children in Junior Kindergarten to 5th grade, and the library provided bags which included all of the activities. Caregivers picked up the bags and took them home. Inside the bags were the 12 kits with instructions, supplies, and labels to keep the days in order.

"Every day includes ways to learn more about your activity or craft by going to the Madison Public Library website and reading online books from BookFlix."-from flyer included in the bag.

This is a great programming idea for any time of year! Contact Lisa [Lisa.Martin@cityofmadison.com] at the Madison PL if you have questions.

Here is an example of one of the activities and the tie-in to BookFlix.

Tails are Wagging for Summer Reading!

How will summer reading unfold at your library? Start plotting your tale at Jump Start! Virtual workshops will be provided by South Dakota State Library to explore the Collaborative Summer Library Program's manual. Discover potential activities and programs that align with the national summer theme "Tails and Tales" through workshop host videos.Learn about virtual programming, tips and adaptations with fellow librarians during a live Zoom session.

Librarians need to register prior to the event and can receive contact hours for attending and watching videos. Registration is limited for each workshop and attendees will be required to watch videos before attending Zoom gathering. Various workshop dates and times are offered to fit everyone's schedule.

Register Today

SDSL Digital Resources Course – Public Libraries

SDSL Digital Resources Course launches February 1-26th, 2021

An introductory course for SD public library staff that teaches how to access, retrieve, and share information using SDSL databases. By the end of this course, students will be able to:

• Identify, describe, and evaluate the different types of news, adult skill, and career electronic resources provided by the South Dakota State Library.
• Demonstrate the ability to provide user-centered reference services using the South Dakota State Library databases covered in this course.

This course's requirements include:

• This course is all online with several required Zoom meetups. Students must have access to computer and an internet connection.
• Students must register through the South Dakota State Library before completing this course. Students will receive 1 CEU after completing course.

The maximum capacity for this course is 20 students. Registration will open January 11th on the South Dakota State Library website and close noon on February 1st, or when max capacity has been reached.

Part 2 of this course will be held March 2021 and registration will open in February. We will cover genealogy, K-12, and scholarly resources.

2021 SD Legislative Session kicks off January 12

State Capitol Building in Pierre. Photo by Quynn Verhelst, 2020.

South Dakota will usher in the 2021 96th Legislative Session on Tuesday, January 12th. The first week will include the traditional State of the State, State of the Judiciary, and State of the Tribes messages.

Visit the SD State Library digital collections page to view historical State of the State and Inaugural Messages, plus the Judiciary and Tribes messages.

The SD Legislature website, sdlegislature.gov, has all of the information you need to know about current and historical legislators, House and Senate bills, session calendar, and a current list of SD Laws and Administrative Rules. Historical SD Codified Laws and Session Laws can be found at the SD State Library in paper and online at sdsdl-montage.auto-graphics.com. Look for the Featured Collections.

Live audio broadcasts of morning committee meetings and afternoon House and Senate sessions are provided by SD Public Broadcasting. Links are available at www.sd.net.