The Wednesday Word: News from the Indiana State Library

The Indiana State Historic Records Advisory Board (SHRAB) is offering a new grant opportunity for organizations that preserve and maintain historic collections of Indiana records. The Hoosier History Digitization Grants will be awarded to six (6) local entities that desire to digitize specific types of records that may currently be in jeopardy. Specifically, the grant program supports the conversation of indenture records, locally held early statehood records, African American-related government documents, and Civil War records into a digital format that can accessed online. The grant program is designed to enable local digitization experts to index and digitize Indiana’s culturally and historically significant records.

Each grantee is eligible for up to $5,000 and will be expected to provide a cash or in-kind match of at least 25 percent. This grant is open to local governments and nonprofits in Indiana that house and care for historic collections. The grantee must also ensure that the digitizing entity is based in the State of Indiana. Priority will be given to local units of government whose records may currently be in jeopardy. Applications are due to the SHRAB no later than June 15, 2011 and may be found online at shrab.in.gov. Grantees will be named July 20, 2011.

Young Hoosier Writers Honored in National Writing Contest

The Indiana Center for the Book honored 124 contest semifinalists and 16 finalists at the 2011 Letters About Literature Awards Ceremony held at the Indiana State Library in Indianapolis. Over 300 guests, including students and their teachers and family, attended the ceremony which was headlined by Helen Frost – an award-winning young adult poet and author from Fort Wayne.

Letters About Literature is a national reading-writing contest that asks students in grades 4-12 to write a personal letter to an author, explaining how his or her work changed their view of the world or themselves. Letters About Literature is sponsored by the Center for the Book in the Library of Congress, in partnership with Target Stores, and is administered statewide by the Indiana Center for the Book. The 16 finalists, including the author to which they wrote, are as follows:

Level I (grades 4-6)
1st Place: Dominic Rossi, Zionsville Middle School
2nd Place: Quinn Kennedy, Zionsville Middle School
3rd Place: Sunanda Prasad, Castle North (Newburgh) Middle School
Hon. Mention: Nia Rochon, Evansville Day School
Hon. Mention: Mia Lord, Riverside (Fishers) Intermediate School

Level II (grades 7-8)
1st Place: Evelin Arriaza, Hasten Hebrew Academy (Indianapolis)
2nd Place: Cassidy Ratliff, West Noble (Ligonier) Middle School
3rd Place: Chelsea Meeboer, Pittsboro
Hon. Mention: Christina Barnes, Zionsville West Middle School
Hon. Mention: Anat Berday-Saks, Hasten Hebrew Academy

Level III (grades 9-12)
1st Place: Hannah Chalmers, Crawfordsville High School
2nd Place: Nicole Tzenov, New Tech Academy (Fort Wayne)
3rd Place: Shelby Orange, Clinton Prairie (Frankfort) High School
Hon. Mention: Josh Levesque, Crawfordsville High School
Hon. Mention: Mary Eshelman, Logansport High School
Hon. Mention: Emily Shirar, Crawfordsville High School

These finalists all received GiftCards courtesy of Target® and the Indian Center for the Book. All semifinalists and finalists also received a certificate and a copy of one of two Helen Frost novels. Teachers Ms. Monica Plantan and Ms. Jenni East of Zionsville Middle School received the third-annual Letters About Literature Instructor of the Year Award.

Entries for the 2011/2012 contest will be accepted beginning this August. For more information about Letters about Literature, visit www.centerforthebook.org.

Join ALA for Virtual Library Legislative Day

The ALA is hosting Virtual Library Legislative Day, an opportunity for all library advocates to make their voices heard on a national level. For more information about Virtual Library Legislative Day, including talking points, a how-to webinar, and resources to find and contact your elected officials, visit www.ala.org/altaff or www.ilovelibraries.org.

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UPCOMING EVENTS & WORKSHOPS

ILF District Conferences
When: 8:30 AM (local time)
Where: Multiple Locations
5/12: District5/7
5/13: District 2
5/20: District 4

Gateway Training
When: May 5 @ 2:00-3:00 PM
Where: Live Online

Evergreen Indiana Annual Meeting & Conference
When: May 6 @ 9:00 AM-4:00
Where: Live Online

Gateway Training
When: May 10 @ 2:00-3:00 PM
Where: Live Online

Evergreen Indiana Reports/Admin Training
When: May 12 @ 10:00 AM
Where: Indiana State Library

Evergreen Indiana Introduction Cataloguing
When: May 12 @ 1:00-4:00 PM
Where: Indiana State Library

Advanced Cataloguing for Evergreen Indiana
When: May 17 @ 9:00 AM
Where: Alexandria-Monroe Public Library

Geek Indiana Libraries Workshop
When: May 18
Where: Indiana State Library

Institutional Libraries Spring Workshop
When: May 23 @ 9:30 AM
Where: Indiana State Library

Broadband in Indiana Public Libraries Summit
When: June 7
Where: Indiana State Library

AISLE Survive Conference
When: June 14
Where: Ben Davis HS - Indianapolis

View free LEU opportunities from LYRASIS & WJ-IN

© 2011 Indiana State Library. All rights reserved. The trademarks used herein are the trademarks of their respective owners.
Indiana State Library, 315 W. Ohio Street, Indianapolis, IN 46202. www.library.IN.gov

The Wednesday Word is a free publication of the Indiana State Library, distributed weekly in an electronic format.
Past issues are archived at the State Library's Newsroom.