OHIO LIBRARIES Opportunity Awaits!

1. OHIO LIBRARIESOpportunity Awaits! • Ohio has many resources available to its residents that are easily accessed, relevant to students, families, and their communities, and, best of all, are FREE to use! • This presentation will acquaint you with these free resources; it will show you how to access, explore, and utilize them to their fullest advantage.

2. @your libraryThe Campaign for America’s Libraries • http://www.atyourlibrary.org/ • A public website for the American Library Association’s public awareness campaign – The Campaign for America’s Libraries. • Provides information and recommended resources that can be found at your local public library. • There is a wealth of information, resources, articles, library links, and blogs to peruse and ponder.

3. Who funds @your library? • The following statement gives credit for @your library’s funding resource: “This new venture would not have happened without seed money from Carnegie Corporation of New York and without the leadership of its president Vartan Gregorian, a true friend of libraries (“About Us,” 2009).”

4. The State Library of Ohio • http://www.library.ohio.gov/ • The State Library of Ohio serves the state government and all other libraries in Ohio. • It leads and collaborates with many innovative programs that support our increasingly global economy. • It also oversees the federal Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA) grant program. • Resources: http://www.library.ohio.gov/Marketing/Resources

5. The State Library of Ohio: Budget Development

6. Libraries Connect Ohio • http://www.librariesconnectohio.org/ • A partnership of libraries and organizations working together to help build the Ohio Web Library core collection of information resources. • Principal partners include INFOhio, OhioLINK, OPLIN, and The State Library of Ohio. • Other organizations involved include ALAO, OELMA, and OLC.

7. Ohio Web Library • http://www.ohioweblibrary.org/ • The Ohio Web Library is a virtual library that is being developed through the collaborative efforts of Libraries Connect Ohio. According to its website, these are the resources available: • Ohio Students -- Get help with your homework, find research sources for term papers, or explore topics of personal interest. • Teachers and Professors -- Use resources to support your teaching, engage students and enhance your professional development. • Employees and Business Owners -- Find reliable business information, access trade journals and keep current on industry trends. • All Ohio residents -- Stay current with world events, professional news and topics of personal interest (“About Ohio Web Library,” 2008).

8. Funding Ohio Web Library • Libraries Connect Ohio is taxpayer-funded through a combination of state and federal taxes. • Ohio Web Library is funded by the federal Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA) grant through the State Library of Ohio. • Approximately $1.5 million per year • INFOhio, OhioLINK, and OPLIN • Approximately $3 million per year from their budgets (“About Ohio Web Library,” 2008).

9. Ohio’s Online Reference Service • http://www.knowitnow.org/ • Receive 24x7 reference services from a real reference librarian • Homeworknow and Readthisnow are also available through this portal. • Service provided by the State Library of Ohio and libraries throughout the state. • See http://www.knowitnow.org/participation.php for a list of participating libraries.

10. Funding for KnowItNow24x7 • Funding is through a LSTA grant from the federal Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMCS) awarded by the State Library of Ohio. • KnowItNow24x7 is available to all Ohio residents free of charge. • Questions? Refer to http://www.knowitnow.org/about.php

11. INFOhio • http://www.infohio.org/ • INFOhio (Information Network for Ohio Schools) is Ohio’s virtual K-12 library. It provides: • Electronic resources • Instructional development for teachers • School library automation • INFOhio’s resources are available, free of charge, to K-12 students, educators, and parents either through school or with a school-provided username and password (for home access).

12. Sample Resources from INFOhio • Students: • http://www.infohio.org/ER/ERcore.asp • Contains a listing of all of INFOhio’s available electronic resources. A username/password is required to access these from home. • Parents and educators: • http://www.infohio.org/Toolkit.html • Contains various supplies and resources to ensure academic success. • Educators: • http://www.infohio.org/UC/UCRev.html • Aligns curriculum resources to Ohio Standards for more effective classroom instruction.

13. INFOhio Funding • INFOhio is a state-funded resource. • The 2010-11 budget has recently been approved and is for the same amount as the 2009-10 budget. • The budget, $1.6 million, is a $400,000+ reduction from the 2008-09 budget, due to state-mandated funding cuts. • Due to budget constraints, some services may be limited or cut. INFOhio promises to do its best with what it has. See http://www.infohio.org/ABOUT/Announcements/20090728.html for more detailed information.

14. OhioLINK • http://www.ohiolink.edu/ • This is a site that might be especially interesting to 11th and 12th-graders and their parents. • OhioLINK is a consortium of 88 Ohio college and university libraries and the State Library of Ohio. • It serves over 600,000 students, faculty, and staff at 89 institutions of higher learning (“About the Ohio Library and Information Network,” 2009).

15. Funding for OhioLINK • The state of Ohio provides funding for OhioLINK. • The operating budget for 2008 was $7.39 million; the total capital budget for 2007 + 2008 was $8.9 million. • See the 2008 Snapshot report for an explanation of why OhioLINK remains an important investment even in difficult economic times: http://www.ohiolink.edu/about/snapshot2008.pdf

16. OPLIN • http://www.oplin.org/ • The Ohio Public Information Network (OPLIN) provides the following: • Broadband Internet connections and related information services to Ohio Public Libraries • Free Internet access through 251 independent local public library systems • Access to high-quality research databases not freely available on the world wide web (“About OPLIN,” 2008-2010)

17. OPLIN: Explore Ohio • This is a collection of Ohio-specific websites and links provided by OPLIN. • It is searchable by category or county. • Links are organized to make browsing fast and easy. • Site of the Month (February, 2010): The Teen Buckeye Book Award, http://www.bcbookaward.info/teens/index.html

18. OPLIN Funding and Logistical Support

19. Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County • http://www.cincinnatilibrary.org • Cincinnati’s public library system recorded the highest circulation in the country in 2008. • It’s resources include an easily-searched online public access catalog (OPAC), book reviews, book lists, research databases, ask-a-librarian chat, information about adult, child, and teen programming, and much more! • A current library card is required for access (Hamilton and limited surrounding counties).

20. Funding: The Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County • Libraries in Ohio are in trouble. The state made drastic cuts to the Public Library Fund in 2009 and will continue this trend in 2010 (“Library Funding,” 2010). • The Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County successfully ran a tax levy in November, 2009, which will generate $20 million in annual revenue beginning in 2010; this should help to offset the declining state revenue due to state budget cuts (“Library Funding,” 2010).

21. References @your library: the campaign for america's libraries. (2009). Retrieved from http://www.atyourlibrary.org/ Infohio: the information network for ohio schools. (2010, January 31). Retrieved from http://www.infohio.org/ Knowitnow24x7. (2010, January). Retrieved from http://www.knowitnow.org/about.php Libraries connect ohio. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.librariesconnectohio.org Ohio public library information network. (2008-2010). Retrieved from http://www.oplin.org/ Ohiolink. (2010). Retrieved from http://www.ohiolink.edu/ Ohio web library. (2010). Retrieved from http://www.ohioweblibrary.org/about.php#What_is_the_Ohio_ Web_Library_ The Public library of cincinnati and hamilton county. (2010). Retrieved from http://www.cincinnatilibrary.org/default.aspx State Library of ohio. (2010). Retrieved from http://www.library.ohio.gov/StateLibrarian/aboutus

22. Final Thoughts • Option #4 was the selected option for this project. • Target Audience: Ohio K-12 students and parents. • Purpose: To increase awareness of free resources, available to students and their families, that support student achievement and learning, both for academic and personal interest. • Surprising Insights: • The sheer number and complexity of free resources available to Ohioans. • Realization that these resources are sorely underused due to competition from the Internet and lack of awareness on the part of users. • Advertising and education concerning the use of these sites is imperative for teaching 21st Century Literacy skills.