MLA Participates in Public Consultation on Adult Literacy Act
Background
On November 8th, 2007 the
Government of Manitoba passed an adult literacy act becoming the first
province in the country to do so. The Adult Literacy Act affirms the
contribution that high literacy levels make to the economic and social
health of the province and makes provisions for annual funding of
literacy programs under a Manitoba Adult Literacy Program (MALP).
The MLA is supportive of the legislation as a whole, but regrets that
libraries received one word of mention in the Act and, as such, were not
recognized as integral partners in the province’s literacy landscape.
In the related discussion paper produced by the Province libraries
receive no mention.
The MLA presented its views at a public consultation session in Winnipeg
held on June 16th, 2008. The Association argued that libraries’
resources and services constitute significant value-added factors for
literacy groups, in addition to supporting related goals of lifelong and
intergenerational learning and providing socially inclusive spaces.
Three key recommendations were made and can be read in the submission
paper found below.
Now is your time to be heard!
The strategy related to the Act –
including the specific terms of funding arrangements, related reporting
and measurement of the overall success of the MALP – is still in the
development process. The Province has hosted or proposed a series of
public consultation sessions in Winkler, The Pas, Thompson, Brandon and
Winnipeg.
The MLA remains in contact with provincial officials regarding the strategy. We are
here to assist libraries and library systems throughout the province
communicate their perspectives on this issue – now is the time to make
your voices heard!
Please send any input or questions to either:
Carolyn Minor (President): northwest@hotmail.com
or Monique Woroniak (Advocacy and Promotions Director): mworoniak@winnipeg.ca
Related links:
Read MLA’s submission
Read the Adult Literacy Act
Read the province’s Discussion Paper
WPL nominates IMPAC Dublin Literary Award winner
The
Manitoba Library Association congratulates the Winnipeg Public Library
on its successful nomination of this year’s International IMPAC Dublin Literary
Award. The IMPAC is the largest literary prize for a single work of
fiction published in the English language. This year De Niro’s Game by
Montreal writer Rawi Hage bested 136 other nominees in a contest that
saw nominations from 162 public libraries representing 122 cities in 45
countries. Well done colleagues!
Read the Winnipeg Free Press article.
Winners Selected for the 2008 MLA Library Innovation of the Year
Award
The Manitoba Library Association is very pleased to
announce that the winners of the 2008 Library Innovation of the Year
Award are the Winnipeg Public Library’s Booked teen website, and the
Info Long Term Care current awareness service maintained by Laurie
Blanchard of the J.W. Crane Memorial Library, Deer Lodge Centre.
BOOKED teen website
Winnipeg Public Library
The Winnipeg Public
Library’s new teen website BOOKED was launched on February
25, 2008, with a focus on providing an engaging and relevant online
destination for youth that will contribute to increased Library use by
teens. The website is an interactive place for teens to contribute their
own original content, book reviews, photography, top-10 lists and poll
ideas. The project was undertaken in partnership with members of the
Library’s Youth Advisory Council consisting of teens recruited from
areas throughout Winnipeg. Since the launch on February 25,
BOOKED has received visits from 3,340 unique visitors:
nearly 1,000 more visits than for all of 2007!
http://wpl-teens.winnipeg.ca
Info Long Term Care Current Awareness Service
Laurie
Blanchard, Outreach Librarian, Long Term Care
J. W. Crane Memorial
Library, Deer Lodge Centre
University of Manitoba Health Sciences
Libraries
The Info Long Term Care current
awareness service alerts healthcare professionals working in geriatrics
to relevant and useful websites, resources, journal literature, and new
books available through the J.W. Crane Memorial Library. The J.W. Crane
Memorial Library has been a long-standing provider of information on
aging and long-term care, and Laurie Blanchard set out to devise a new
way of delivering that information beyond its primary clientele. Through
the use of a weblog interface, RSS and social bookmarking tools, Laurie
has created a rich and authoritative ‘portal’ with targeted content from
evidence-based sources for users around the world seeking information on
geriatrics and long-term care. Since its launch in October 2007,
Info Long Term Care has received in excess of 4,000
visitors with an average of 90 visits per week.
http://infoltc.blogspot.com
Professional Development that doesn't Break the Bank
Would
you like to know more about the many opportunities and resources
available for keeping current and informed? The Manitoba Library
Association sponsored a session at the PLS 2007 Conference: Igniting
Innovation on how you can get more for your professional development
buck. Many of the sites and resources highlighted offer access to
leading speakers in the profession, and are free of charge.
The session was presented by Carolyn Minor, Sherri Vokey and Kathleen
Williams.
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