Georgia Public Library Service news, Vol. 8, no. 1 (Aug. 2010 )

A newsletter for friends and employees of Georgia's public libraries

volume 8, issue 1 I August 2010

Staff Staff

Georgians help make National Library Advocacy Day a success

Nearly two dozen Georgia library
advocates braved the sweltering temperatures in Washington, D.C., on June 29 to take part in the American Library Association (ALA) Library Advocacy Day rally on Capitol Hill. With more than 1,600 ALA members from across the country participating, the 2010 rally was the largest federal advocacy event in the organization's history.
ALA President Camila Alire opened the rally by emphasizing the main goals of the day: to encourage Congress to increase Library Services and Technology Act funding to $300 million for FY2011 and to include support for school librarians in the reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act.

Carterette (left) and Stanley
"We had representation here from school librarians, public librarians, academic librarians and trustees," said Carol Stanley, president

of the Georgia Library Association. "We wore our red vote-for-libraries T-shirts and visited different congressional offices to meet with staff or with our elected officials in person."
"I was proud to be in D.C. to represent Georgia's public libraries," said Pat Carterette, director of continuing education for GPLS. "Advocacy Day was well-planned and executed. It was the perfect opportunity for librarians to stand up and have their voices heard at the national level and to demonstrate their commitment, belief and passion for libraries. In addition, the red T-shirts worn by participants not only made a fashion statement, but made quite an impression on lawmakers and the public, too." I

Nearly 4,500 enter for chance to win $5,529 in college savings
On June 16 at Cobb County's Central Library in Marietta,
first lady Mary Perdue joined representatives from the Path2College 529 Plan and Georgia's public libraries to encourage children to get involved in the Make a Splash Save for College Sweepstakes and to encourage youngsters to continue reading throughout the summer.

"In order to better prepare our state's children for a lifetime of success, instilling fundamental values, such as the love of reading, is vital," said Perdue. "Reading is a great way for families to spend time together, and as children grow and are able to read on their own, it opens up a world of imagination for them year-round."

First lady Mary Perdue reads to her grandchildren, Elizabeth and Jack Ghioto, in the Marietta library.

As of July 21, almost 4,500 Georgia children were already making a splash in the Summer Reading Program by entering the sweepstakes, which concluded July 31. Next month, one lucky Summer Reading Program participant will win the grand prize of $5,529 toward a
See Path2College, page 3

NEWS IN BRIEF



Carrie Zieger has been named

director of the Griffin-based Flint

River Regional Library. She was

previously director of the Coastal

Plain Regional

Library in Tifton.

Zieger replaces

Walter Murphy,

who retired in

July following 44

years of service

to Georgia

libraries. Coastal

Zieger

Plain's assistant director for

branch services, Kathy Griffis, has

been named that system's interim

director. Flint River serves citizens in

Butts, Fayette, Lamar, Monroe, Pike

and Spalding counties. Coastal Plain

serves those in Berrien, Cook, Irwin,

Tift and Turner counties.

South Georgia Regional Library in Valdosta has named Kelly Lenz, assistant director of public services, as its interim director.

Billy Tripp, assistant director for Peach Public Libraries (PPL) in Fort Valley, has earned his specialist degree in library and information science from the University of South Carolina in Columbia. Susan Halbedel, PPL's Byron branch manager, has earned her Master of Science degree in library and information studies from Florida State University.

Denise Auger

Campaign won the National Association of Counties' 2010 Achievement Award in the volunteer category and also its Best of Category Award. The yearlong program offered young library patrons an opportunity to practice their writing skills by composing letters of friendship and support to the children of deployed military personnel. The program was developed in conjunction with President Barack Obama's "United We Serve" initiative. More than 200 children wrote letters during the campaign.
For its work on the Tifton-Tift County Public Library, Valdosta-based S.C. Barker Construction Company won first place in the renovation category and a merit award for best sustainable practices at the 2010 Associated General Contractors "Build Georgia" Awards.
The Athens Regional Library System has received a $2,000 Picturing America Programming Grant from the American Library Association and the National Endowment for the Humanities.

Georgia author Karin Slaughter will appear at the 2010 National Book Festival Sept. 25. Organized and sponsored by the Library of Congress, the event will be held on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. GPLS will again sponsor and staff Georgia's table in the Pavilion of States.
The 12th annual Georgia Literary Festival in 2010 will be held Oct. 22-23 in Statesboro. This year's festival is sponsored by the Georgia Center for the Book, the Georgia Humanities Council, the Statesboro Regional Library and Georgia
Southern University. I
Libraries cooperate for happy Father's Day
In early June, an anonymous-but-
regular supporter of the FitzgeraldBen Hill County Library contacted Director Sandy Hester to ask if a relatively last-minute donation of four tickets to this year's U.S. Open golf tournament could be put to good use by someone who would take children to the event. Hester, wanting to help, but realizing that time was short and the event would be nearly 3,000 miles away, immediately contacted the Monterey Public Library, close to where the tournament would be held in Pebble Beach, Calif.

Helen Poyer, director of the Cobb County Public Library System, and Roxanne Magaw, library associate at its South Cobb branch, showcased the system's comprehensive staff development program at the American Library Association's 8th Annual Training Showcase in Washington, D.C., in June.
Atlanta-Fulton Public Library System's Children's Letter Writing

The Naturals
Gwinnett Braves baseball players Matt Young (left) and Cory Gearrin helped kick off this year's Summer Reading Program by making personal appearances at three Gwinnett County Public Library branches. More than 700 children attended the events, where the players read Dan Gutman's Casey Back at Bat and encouraged them to set aside time to read this summer.

"We were able to hold a surprise drawing for the tickets the following day at our Summer Reading Program kick-off party, and two local kids spent a day at this world-class event with a parent in tow," said Jeanne McCombs, special services coordinator at the Monterey library. "The Fitzgerald-Ben Hill County Library and its donor made a couple of dads and their children very happy this Father's Day!" I

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Georgia Public Library Service News August 2010

Staff

Farmers market helps Spout Springs library grow value
By launching a weekly farmers market at its Spout
Springs branch, the Hall County Library System has come up with a popular -- and colorful -- way of adding value for its patrons and for the community as a whole.

Each Thursday afternoon at 4 and continuing through 7, the library's parking lot is filled with hundreds of people who are drawn by bright yellow squash and corn, vibrant red tomatoes and strawberries, golden bags of fresh peaches and a dazzling array of greens. "At first, the vendors would sell out in an hour," said Al List, library assistant in charge of adult programming, "but after a few weeks, everyone has learned to judge the turnout and bring enough to meet, or almost meet, demand."

Sixteen to 18 local farmers now show up every week to sell everything from fresh fruits, vegetables and flowers to honey, baked goods and even goat's milk soap. The market is an extension of both the main Hall County Farmers Market in downtown Gainesville and of the library's series of "lunch and learn" programs with master
gardeners. An all-volunteer event, it was the brainchild of three local citizens -- Eleanor Coppedge, Annette Hendry and Ken Russell -- who, along with Hall County Cooperative Extension Coordinator Billy Skaggs, worked with the library to make it a reality.

James

"We advertised it through the library's Web page and through the

market's own Facebook page," explained Hendry. "Al-

though the grand opening was scheduled for June 24, it

actually began a few weeks earlier, when a couple of

vendors asked if they might go ahead and set up their

tents to sell the bumper spring strawberry crops that

would not last until the official opening date."

The library agreed to the early opening, and a star on the Flowery Branch event calendar was born.

Hendry (left) and List
More than 520 people attended opening day, and the library's Thursday patron counts have more than doubled -- regularly topping 1,000 -- since the market began. It's also drawing traffic to the library's popular Friendsoperated caf, which, in addition to being open throughout market hours, operates a tent in the market itself, selling slushies and other cold beverages.
"The community has been so receptive, it's amazing," said Branch Manager Leslie James. "To be able to forge community partnerships like this is always great for a library. But it is especially good for us, because we're still new ourselves. We've only been here two years, and the farmers market is helping us spread the word about the library and its other programs.
"Library card sign-ups have gone up in the past two months, and we are seeing people who were initially drawn by the farmers market come in on other days, too," Jones said. "It has been a win-win-win situation for us -- for the market, for the library and for our patrons."
The market will continue through the last Thursday in October, said List, "Then we'll start up again, bigger and even better, next spring." I

Path2College

Continued from page 1 Path2College 529 Plan account, managed by TIAA-CREF Tuition Financing Inc. The winner's library will also receive $1,000 to be used for its children's and teen's department. In addition, the library with the greatest number of entries and the library

system with the greatest percentage of users entered into the sweepstakes will each win $1,529 for materials and programming.
"Reading is such an important part of every child's education, and the earlier parents start, the better

foundation they have for the future," said Elaine Black, director of youth services for GPLS. "The same is true with college savings, and we are happy to partner with Path2College to give parents and children an incentive to read together and start thinking about saving for college." I

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August 2010 Georgia Public Library Service News

Staff

CONTACT US

Georgia Public Library Service 1800 Century Place, Suite 150 Atlanta, GA 30345-4304 404.235.7200 404.235.7201 fax www.georgialibraries.org

Lamar Veatch, state librarian

David Baker, editor

Georgia Public Library Service News (ISSN 1546-511X) is published bimonthly by the Georgia Public Library Service, the state agency that supports public libraries and works with them to improve the quality and variety of library services available to Georgia citizens of all ages.
This publication is made possible by a grant from the U.S. Institute of Museum and Library Services to the Georgia Public Library Service under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act.
Information presented in this newsletter will be provided in alternative formats on request. For more information about Georgia's libraries and literary events, or to post an event, visit our online calendar at www.georgialibraries.org

A welcoming ceremony
The doors of the new Augusta-Richmond County Public Library officially opened on June 25. Cutting the ceremonial ribbon are (from left): Jane Howington, Richmond County board president; Gary Swint, system director; B. J. Lester, East Central Georgia Regional Library board chair; Mary Terrell, former board member; State Rep. Barbara Sims (RAugusta); and Deke Copenhaver, mayor of Augusta. The $24 million, 95,000-squarefoot library was built using Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax revenues, a $2 million capital projects grant from the state and additional funding from the library foundation board's capital campaign. The library held a series of grand opening events, including author readings and a Richmond County fire truck display, between June 25 and July 2.

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