Three public libraries have been recognized for making a difference in their community with the LibraryAware Community Award. Please see details below and let me know if you have any questions.

Lisa

Library Journal and NoveList Announce
The LibraryAware Community Award Winners
~ Public Libraries in Canton MI, Skokie IL and Hartford CT are Recognized for Making a Difference in Their Communities and the Cities and Towns That Support Them ~

BIRMINGHAM, Ala./IPSWICH, Mass. — March 27, 2013 — Canton Public Library in Michigan was today announced the winner for the first-ever LibraryAware Community Award with Skokie Public Library in Illinois taking second place and Hartford Public Library in Connecticut taking third place. The LibraryAware Community Award recognizes cities and towns and their libraries, or library systems, that have demonstrated their ability to make the community aware of what the library can do for them—and have delivered on that promise. The award is given by Library Journal and underwritten by LibraryAware™, a product of the NoveList division of EBSCO.

The LibraryAware Community Award highlights the value that communities throughout the United States and Canada derive from their libraries and focuses on the outcomes of work by libraries—through the development of effective programs, services, partnerships, and communications—that result in better communities and an increased understanding of how libraries contribute to a community’s well-being. Criteria for the award included any and all components that create a LibraryAware community: strategic planning, marketing, outreach, partnerships, and programs, product, or service development.

LibraryAware Product Lead Nancy Dowd says each one of the libraries should be very proud of this recognition. “Each of these libraries has gone above and beyond to connect with their communities. They have bridged the gap between library and community and have ignited a successful and long-lasting relationship between the two.”

Canton Public Library Director Eva Davis says it is a tremendous honor to receive this award. “We are elated to receive the inaugural LibraryAware award. Our staff works hard to know our community and anticipate their changing needs and the library’s board of trustees guides us with a patron-based vision and the financial stewardship necessary to help us offer viable, relevant programs and services. Receiving the LibraryAware award is validation of our efforts to connect our community and we are honored to be chosen.”

“Ultimately, what stood out to the LJ editors and to our panel of judges is the scope of Canton’s outreach efforts, programming, and partnership initiatives. Combined, these three things satisfy patrons and create powerful and meaningful community relations,” says Michael Kelley, editor in chief of Library Journal.

Submissions were judged by the following library and community experts:
• Ron Carlee, COO, ICMA (International City/County Management Association)
• Deborah Jacobs, Director, Global Libraries Initiative, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
• Jorge Martinez, Director, Information Systems/Project Lead, Knight Library Initiative on Universal Wireless Access, John S. and James L. Knight Foundation

City or town officials as well as the library director in Canton, Skokie and Hartford will soon be presented the LibraryAware Community Award. Each city or town will receive a plaque identifying it as a “LibraryAware” community. Canton Public Library will receive $10,000, with Skokie Public Library receiving $7500, and Hartford Public Library receiving $5,000.

The winners are also featured in an article in Library Journal. The LibraryAware Community Award will be given annually to a community of any size and its library during National Library Week.

About Library Aware
LibraryAware is available as a subscription service to libraries. Uses for the LibraryAware program include a full range of marketing and communication channels including email blasts, e-newsletters, flyers, bookmarks, brochures, website inserts, letters, invitations, and social media. Learn more about LibraryAware at: www.libraryaware.com.

About EBSCO
EBSCO is the producer of EBSCOhost®, the world's premier for-fee online research service, including full-text databases, subject indexes, point-of-care medical reference, historical digital archives, and e-books. The company provides more than 375 databases and nearly 380,000 e-books. Through a library of tens of thousands of full-text journals and magazines from renowned publishers, EBSCO serves the content needs of all researchers (Academic, Medical, K-12, Public Library, Corporate, Government, etc.). EBSCO is also the provider of EBSCO Discovery Service™ (EDS), which provides each institution with a fast, single search box for its entire collection, offering deeper indexing and more full-text searching of journals and magazines than any other discovery service (www.ebscohost.com/discovery). For more information, visit the EBSCO Web site at: www.ebsco.com. EBSCO is a division of EBSCO Industries Inc., one of the largest privately held companies in the United States.

About Library Journal
Founded in 1876, Library Journal (LJ) is one of the oldest and most respected publications covering the library field. More than 100,000 library directors, administrators, and staff in public, academic, and special libraries read LJ. Library Journal reviews more than 8,000 books, audiobooks, videos, databases, and web sites annually, and provides coverage of technology, management, policy, and other professional concerns. Visit www.libraryjournal.com.

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For more information, please contact:
Kathleen McEvoy
Public Relations Director
(800) 653-2726 ext. 2594
kmcevoy@ebsco.com

For 10 years, Ask Us 24/7 has been New York State’s “virtual reference desk,” allowing users to instantly chat with a librarian for research help any time of day, from any location.

In honor of the 10th anniversary year, Ask Us 24/7 will be holding commemorative activities including a series of Facebook posts on the service’s history and a contest for users, culminating in a “birthday” celebration at the New York Library Association conference in Niagara Falls in September. You can follow the activities by “liking” Ask Us 24/7 at www.facebook.com/askus247

The service was started in March of 2003 by the Western New York Library Resources Council (WNYLRC). Originally titled “Ask a Western New York Librarian,” it was staffed by seven area libraries. After a few months, the program joined a national cooperative of chatting libraries, allowing participants to offer 24-hour service, and being rebranded as Ask Us 24/7 in September 2003.

Throughout the past 10 years, Ask Us 24/7 has expanded to include participating libraries throughout New York State, now with 8 public library systems, 43 academic libraries, and one school library system. The other library councils in the NY3Rs association have joined WNYLRC in the management of the service. Each library contributes a certain number of hours weekly to staffing the cooperative service, and in return their patrons can access the chat form through their library’s website any time. This gives patrons direct access to a professional reference librarian 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

To find out if your library participates, check out the list at www.askus247.org. Or look for the Ask Us 24/7 logo on your library website.

As of January 1st this year, 173,869 chats have taken place through Ask Us 24/7, with over 100 transactions happening daily. Ask Us 24/7 would like to thank all of the libraries and librarians who have participated over the years, and we look forward to continued collaboration with libraries and patrons.

North Bethesda, MD, March 27, 2013- The South Sioux City Public Library, located in South Sioux City, NE, has joined the Pioneer Consortium and is now live on LibLime Koha 4.14 for all collection and patron management services.

The South Sioux City Public Library staff worked with LibLime Project Managers to migrate bibliographic, item, and patron data from their legacy ILS system. With the addition of the South Sioux City Public Library to the Pioneer Consortium, there are now over 1.5 million items and nearly 600,000 bibliographic records in the Pioneer LibLime Koha union catalog.

About the South Sioux City Public Library
Located just outside of Sioux City, Iowa, the South Sioux City Public Library in Nebraska strives to be an innovative and responsive community center that supports cultural programming, lifelong learning, literacy, and open access to the world of information and ideas, with a staff committed to excellence and personal service. The South Sioux City Public Library provides activities uniquely created and designed for young children, teenagers, adults, and seniors.

About the Pioneer Consortium
The Pioneer Consortium continues to expand the number of members that share the LibLime Koha union catalog. The successes of the early members of the consortium are noticed by more and more libraries around the state and the consortium membership continues to grow. One of the main attractions is access to the LibLime Koha union catalog.

About LibLime - PTFS
LibLime – PTFS is the global leader in providing support for the Koha open source ILS. Rather than sell software licenses for static, hard-to-customize software products, the PTFS LibLime Division educates libraries about the benefits of open source, enabling them to make choices about how best to provide their communities and staff with better technology services. The PTFS LibLime Division then facilitates deployment of Koha in libraries by providing outstanding consulting, development, implementation, and support/hosting for libraries of all types and sizes. PTFS is also the developer of the world’s leading content management software, ArchivalWare, and specializes in meeting library personnel staffing requirements, digitization, and metadata keying services. For more information, see http://liblime.com or http://ptfs.com or http://archivalware.net.