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Division of Library Development staff wish you and yours

a Safe and Happy New Year!

Announcing All CT Reads 2023 Titles!

2023 All CT Reads – Kids

Living with Viola by Rosena Fung

2023 All CT Reads – Teen

Hollow Fires by Samira Ahmed

2023 All CT Reads – Adult

The Final Revival of Opal & Nev by Dawnie Walton

Visit the All CT Reads website to see the shortlist titles!

All CT Reads is a year-long initiative to promote lifelong reading, learning, and connection that uses a rotating community committee structure to select one main book title and three shortlist book titles each calendar year for three age groups: children (ages 8-12), teens (ages 13-18), and adults. In addition to the books,

All CT Reads provides a supported programmatic structure built around the titles with room for individuality and creativity.

All CT Reads is an initiative of the Connecticut State Library Division of Library Development and partners with the Connecticut Library Consortium (CLC) and the Connecticut Association for School Librarians (CASL). All CT Reads is supported by a generous grant from EBSCO Information Services to the Connecticut Heritage Foundation.

All CT Reads 2023 Virtual Author Launch with Rosena Fung, Samira Ahmed, and Dawnie Walton

Thursday, January 12 | 5:00-6:30 pm

Register

Join us for an extra-special virtual launch with the authors of the 2023 All CT Reads primary selections. Each author will discuss their work and answer questions from our community.

Recording & Slides: Recordings will be available on the All CT Reads website.

Who should come: Everyone! Please share this with your patrons - they're invited to join the event too! You can add it to your library calendar and newsletter.

Accessibility: This webinar will be captioned. If you require another access service to participate fully, please use the Accommodation Request Form at least 7 days prior to the event.

About All CT Reads

All CT Reads is a year-long initiative to promote lifelong reading, learning, and connection that uses a rotating community committee structure to select one main book title and three shortlist book titles each calendar year for three age groups: children (ages 8-12), teens (ages 13-18), and adults. In addition to the books, All CT Reads provides a supported programmatic structure built around the titles with room for individuality and creativity.

Our Partners and Sponsors

All CT Reads is an initiative of the Connecticut State Library Division of Library Development and partners with the Connecticut Library Consortium (CLC) and the Connecticut Association for School Librarians (CASL).

All CT Reads is supported by a generous grant from EBSCO Information Services to the Connecticut Heritage Foundation.

Stay in the Loop!

Sign-up to stay connected! Find us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram with #AllCTReads!

New Discussion Sets!

Middletown Library Service Center Collections

The Middletown Library Service Center (MLSC) has many collection items worth knowing about, exploring, and of course, borrowing! We lend resources including picture books, non-fiction, and book discussion sets to public, school, and academic libraries throughout the state of Connecticut to help supplement collections or provide access to resources that otherwise might be out of reach.

Recently we’ve added to our book discussions sets! In our system, you’ll now find:



• Lupe Wong Won’t Dance by Donna Barba Higuera
• The Door of No Return by Kwame Alexander
• The Getaway by Lamar Giles
• Written in the Stars by Aisha Saeed

View all discussion sets that are available when planning class reads or book discussion titles.

Not sure how to request items? Don’t worry, we made a video!

Do you work in a school? Have your MLSC items sent to the public library of your choice. That can be the town your school is in or the town you live in - you pick!

DeliverIT route numbers can be found here

And remember, you can book items up to 365 days in advance and there are

NO LATE FEES! Happy Browsing!

With community funding and volunteers of all ages, the library launched an outdoor home for story-times, programs, demonstrations, music, cookouts and, most importantly, expanding how they serve the community.

CT Pages is a channel for sharing community engagement success stories by libraries with and for their communities. We partner with CT libraries to create and release short video conversations with the library staff who make things happen.

Do you have a creative program, service, activity, partnership, or project that you want to share with your library neighbors? We are always seeking submissions for consideration – Submit your idea!

This workshop covers Northstar Digital Literacy standards, assessments, curriculum, self-directed learning, and reporting. Participants will discover how to incorporate and implement digital literacy into their organizations using the Northstar features.

Join us and Comcast staff to learn about the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) so that you can help your community learn about and access this important benefit. 

The ACP provides qualified households with a credit of up to $30/month towards Internet and Mobile Services.

Registration information for the three remaining sessions is below:

Friday, January 6

9:00-10:00 am | Register

Friday, January 6

1:00-2:00 pm | Register

Friday, January 13

9:00-10:00 am | Register

The Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) is a federal program that helps many low-income households pay for broadband service and internet connected devices. The ACP is administered by the Universal Service Administrative Company (USAC) with oversight by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). 

After discussing design principles, participants will look at sample flyers and use the knowledge gained in this class to improve them. Participants are asked to “bring” a flyer from their library (a digital copy on your laptop is fine) for group discussion and design brainstorming.  

This training will cover the tasks needed to start using Northstar effectively and efficiently, including creating Learner Accounts; proctoring (in person and remote); running reports; accessing and using curricula; and resources available to subscribers.

This workshop will show participants how to present assessments and self-directed online learning to students and will discuss the Northstar curricula with participants as learners. Topics covered include guiding learners through assessments; proctoring review; explaining the student dashboard to learners; how to use Northstar self-directed Online Learning from a learner perspective; and an example of using the instructor-led curricula remotely.

In some professions, like medicine, it's rampant and has dangerous consequences. Learn what burnout is and isn't, why it's dangerous, and strategies and tools for addressing it.

In this workshop, you'll explore how to:

1. Recognize burnout and understand how it’s different from stress
2. Identify the causes, both internal and external
3. Own it and minimize burnout at work
4. Explore alternatives: why enjoying your job is an inside job
5. Decide what you want: realizing there are always choices

Designed especially for librarians and library staff, this interactive Zoom workshop will be your best New Year’s resolution. Don’t miss it!

These questions and more will be answered in this upcoming workshop provided by Libby Post, President/CEO of Communications Services, and a frequent CSL workshop facilitator.

Visit our calendar

Front Line Customer Service Course

With more than 1,000 views this past year, the CT State Library, Division of Library Development is pleased to announce that Andrew Sanderbeck’s self-paced, 6-week Front Line Customer Service course is being extended for your use until November 2023.

This course can be accessed through our Niche Academy platform in the Customer Service category. 

Questions? Reach out to Gail Hurley at Gail.Hurley@ct.gov.