Showing posts with label library. Show all posts
Showing posts with label library. Show all posts

Thursday, August 26, 2021

LOUD LIBRARIANS LEAD! - August Blog Interview with Kate Kosior, Cheyenne Chontos, and Scottie Bruch (South Dakota State Library)

New South Dakota State Library employees share more about themselves! Meet Kate, Cheyenne and Scottie.



10 Things About You

1. What three words describe you best?

  • Kate: Spontaneous, Hilarious, Kind
  • Cheyenne: Social, Driven, and Empathetic
  • Scottie: Organized, Creative, and Extroverted-Introvert

2. How would you title your autobiography?

  • K: Well, That Wasn't Supposed to Happen
  • C: Rad Looks and a Stack of Books
  • S: "An Unexpected Adventure" because that's what my life seems to be. Growing up, I never imagined that I would someday be a world adventure traveler - backpacking in the Italian Alps, capsizing a canoe in a remote Alaskan river, skydiving in Las Vegas, almost dying on a glacier in Canada. But here I am! The life of a librarian, right?!

3. What would you do if you won the lottery?

  • K: Travel, travel, and more travel!
  • C: I would definitely spoil my cat with some new toys and treats, and I would spoil myself and my husband with a fun vacation and lots of great food.
  • S: I've always said that if I won the lottery, I would buy back all of the buildings on Main Street Sturgis that have been purchased by out-of-state Rally vendors that are only in town for 3 weeks of the year. I would renovate and repurpose those beautiful old buildings and sell them to local business owners who have the best interests of our community at heart. And of course, with my remaining winnings, I would travel more and buy vacation homes around the world!
Woman, teen girl, and man pose with a Davy Crocket mascot

Kate Kosior, Braille & Talking Book Department Manager



4. Which superpower would you like to have?

  • K: The ability to teleport humans and objects anywhere I wanted
  • C: I have always wanted to be able to teleport. Imagine how much easier it would be to travel!
  • S: If I could have a superpower, I think I would want the power to heal.

5. Where would you go in a time machine?

  • K: I would really, really, really like to go see the dinosaurs
  • C: Because I have been reading and watching the Bridgerton series, I have to say Regency-era London, but only if I could be part of high society.
  • S: This is going to come off as super cheesy, but I wouldn't want to travel anywhere in a time machine. I like to live in the present moment … not the past or future.

6. What song do you have to sing a long with when you hear it?

  • K: "Summer of '69" by Bryan Adams
  • C: I have so many! My top ones are "Toxic" by Britney Spears, "Macho Man" by The Village People, and the entire album Sour by Oliva Rodrigo.
  • S: All.the.songs. Just not in front of anyone! I mostly love modern folk music, though, and Brett Dennen is one of my favorite artists.
Graduation photo of woman with husband

Cheyenne Chontos, Library Technology Coordinator



7. What is a tradition that your family has?

  • K: My fiancĂ©, daughter, and I get Chinese food and watch Christmas Vacation the weekend before Christmas
  • C: Except for my youngest brother, we all owe the same color Subaru! My middle brother has an Outback, my mom has an Ascent, I have a Legacy, and my husband just bought an Ascent.
  • S: When my husband and I travel with our two boys (both now teenagers), we do a "Cheers" to toast something great...or not so great (see above about almost dying on a glacier in Canada) that happened that day.

8. What do you binge watch?

  • K: British television! I love it all. Right now, we are blasting through Line of Duty
  • C: This summer I have been watching a ton of horror movies! I just finished watching the Fear Street series, based on the R.L. Stine books, on Netflix, and I loved every creepy, thrilling second.
  • S: I'm currently not binge watching anything in particular, but I do love to binge!
Family photo of woman, man, and two teen boys

Scottie Bruch, School Library Technology Coordinator



9. Where would you go on vacation?

  • K: The beach! We are hoping to go to Belize next year, and I love Myrtle Beach. My daughter and I went to the Dominican Republic in February and loved it.
  • C: I love a vacation anywhere warm where I can be by the pool or the beach. My two favorite places are Orlando and Las Vegas.
  • S: I am lucky enough to have a husband who loves to travel and is a superb travel planner, so that is a main priority for us and just about the only thing we spend money on. But, I have never been to the South Pacific, so I would love to get to Australia, New Zealand, and Indonesia!

10. What do you love to learn about?

  • K: Baking, which I took up during the pandemic quarantine. Now I'm taking classes and really learning the art of baking correctly.
  • C: I love to learn about American history. I really enjoy reading Doris Kearns Goodwin for nonfiction, and for historical fiction with a ton of great facts I enjoy reading Beverly Jenkins. Also, anything involving ghosts or the supernatural!
  • S: I consider myself a lifelong learner and am open to learning about anything and everything! I'm very open-minded and tend to see things from all angles, so learning from a non-biased source (if possible!) is really important to me. I do love all things yoga, mindfulness, and wellness-related, though!

See more Loud Librarians Lead at library.sd.gov.

Thursday, October 15, 2020

Use the E’s to Craft an E-ffective Presentation

The E's of Libraries makes it easy to put together a persuasive presentation for any type of audience: Your commissioners, school administrators, service clubs. The E's help you target your message to the interests of prospective supporters.

Pick a couple of these E's that match your audience's interests: Education, Employment, Entrepreneurship, Empowerment, and Engagement for Everyone, Everywhere. Then highlight the programs and services your library does well in those areas. For example, "Our library supports Education for Everyone through storytimes that support early literacy, K-12 programs that fight summer slide, and research resources for adult learners."

Here are two resources that will show you how to spin the good things your library does into a memorable presentation.

Visit the American Library Association's E's of Libraries webpage.

Check out this title from the State Library's professional collection: Proving Your Library's Value: Persuasive, Organized, and Memorable Messaging by Alan Fishel and Jillian Wentworth, ©2020.

book cover of Proving Your Library's Value Persuasive Organized and Memorable Messaging


Thursday, August 20, 2020

New comparative library data from the Public Libraries Survey (your annual report) is available

Man looking at big screen of analytics and data

Public library 2019 data files with selected financial and service statistics, per capita and other key ratios for all South Dakota public libraries is posted on our SDSL Resource Guides.

Use these self-service statistical files to prepare reports for your library board and budget meetings and for benchmarking your library’s performance against your “peers.”

Remember that data from all elements contained in the annual Public Libraries Survey are available for your use. Contact the State Library Data Coordinator for assistance in accessing additional information from the annual reports.