Each year, as part of National Chemistry Week, the American Chemical Society sponsors an illustrated poem contest for K-12 students in the United States. This year, National Chemistry Week occurs between Oct. 20-26.

All poems must be no more than 40 words, and in one of the following styles to be considered: haiku, limerick, ode, ABC poem, free verse, end rhyme and blank verse. Entries are judged based upon relevance to and incorporation of the yearly topic. This year's theme is "Picture Perfect Chemistry." All entries must be original works without aid from others. Physical drawings may be scanned or captured via camera and submitted digitally. Illustrations may be created using crayons, watercolors, other types of paint, colored pencils or markers.

“As the Indiana Young Readers Center librarian, anything that gets students excited about poetry and art is a win. You never know what experience might influence the future trajectory of a child’s life. Participating in a poetry or art contest having to do with chemistry could encourage students in various directions including art, reading, writing, math and science. So many good things!,” said Suzanne Walker of the Indiana State Library.

All poem submissions will first be judged at the local level in order to be considered for the national contest. The local first-place winners will advance to the national contest, which will be submitted by local coordinators. Illustrated poems must be submitted directly to the coordinators of their local contests. Click here to contact a local coordinator. Click here to read more about the contest, including the full set of rules and information about prizes.

The student submission deadline is Sunday, Oct. 27.

NATIONAL GENEALOGY ARCHIVES SERIES

Every year, the National Archives hosts the Genealogy Series, a free educational genealogy event broadcast on YouTube. The sessions offer family history research tools on federal records for all skill levels. Join thousands of family historians participating during the live event. Broadcasts of the program sessions will take place in May and June.

There will be one presentation each Tuesday at 1 p.m. Eastern Time from May 21 through June 25. Click here to learn about specific topics covered and to get the access links for the videos as they are released. Archived presentations from previous years can also be viewed.

For Indiana librarians seeking continuing education LEUs, the National Archives is on the pre-approved providers list. Document attendance by following the Policy on LEUs for Virtual Conferences and Live and Archived Webinars.

Event Details -

Wednesday, June 26th, 10:00am -12:00pm

(No need to travel to the Indiana State Library, you can attend from the comfort of your own library)

Please join us on a behind the scenes & public area tour of the Indiana State Library. Suzanne Walker will be taking us on this journey, Paula Newcom will be behind the camera and Courtney Brown will host and monitor the chat. This will be in real time and you will have the opportunity to ask questions of library staff as we walk through the different divisions. We will begin the journey at the public entrance on West Ohio Street. These are the places we will visit: Circulation; Indiana Historical Bureau; Genealogy; and Indiana Education Center. Next, we well walk up the Grand Staircase that leads to the beautiful Great Hall; History Reference Room; Author's Room; Young Reader's Center; Browsing Room & Manuscripts; Indiana Division and Reference; and Newspaper Room. We'll go behind the scenes to the stacks Cataloging division; Preservation Lab; and finish in the Administration office. Other ISL services will be highlighted in webinars this year: the new Imagination Library initiative (February 14) and the Talking Books & Braille Library (February 28) and will be eventually linked on our Archived Webinars webpage.

Suzanne Walker - Indiana Young Readers Center Librarian, Indiana State Library. Suzanne Walker
received her Master of Library Science from Indiana University. She is currently the Indiana Young Readers Center Librarian and Director of the Indiana Center for the Book, an affiliate of the Library of Congress. She coordinates Indiana’s Letters About Literature competition annually. Suzanne judged the National Arts and Humanities Youth Program Awards in 2013 and 2014 and the Indiana Poetry Out Loud competition in 2017. Most recently she was a judge for the 2020 and 2022 Indiana Authors Awards and the 2021 Lee Bennett Hopkins Poetry Award. She has presented for the American Library Association and numerous times at Indiana Library Federation’s District conferences, annual conferences, and youth conferences and is proud to have been interviewed about Indiana authors by NPR.

Paula Newcom is the Northeast Regional Coordinator for the Indiana State Library. Her experience in libraries for the past thirty-four years ranges from very small libraries to large county-wide systems. She has varied experience as Head of Youth Services (Crown Point Community Library); Reference Librarian and Webmaster (Marion Public Library in Grant County, Indiana); Audiovisual Services (Akron-Summit County Public Library in Ohio). She is a graduate of Indiana University with a B.A. in English and Film Studies. She obtained her Masters in Library Science from Indiana University.

Courtney Brown is the Indiana State Library’s Southeast Regional Coordinator. She received her Master of Library Science from Indiana University. In her current role, she works closely with libraries in Southeast Indiana, facilitates in-person and online trainings, and manages in-house and statewide projects. In the past, she served as chair of the Indiana Library Federation’s Read Alouds Too Good to Miss committee, and the Evergreen Indiana Patron Services Committee. She’s currently on the board of the American Library Association’s Learning Roundtable. She has an interest in technology in libraries, innovative community outreach, and graphic novels.

• Presenters: Suzanne Walker, Paula Newcom & Courtney Brown / Indiana State Library

• Webinar date and time: Wednesday, June 26, 2024 / 10:00 am - 12:00 pm Eastern

• This webinar is eligible for 2 LEUs

• Register at: Click here to register

The Indiana State Library will make all reasonable modifications to policies and programs to ensure that people with disabilities have an equal opportunity to enjoy all of its programs, services, and activities. If you require an auxiliary aid or service for effective communication, or a modification of policies or procedures to participate in this program, service or activity of the Indiana State Library, please contact Michele Johnson, the Indiana State Library’s ADA Coordinator (micjohnson2@spd.in.gov or 463-271-5168). Notice of a needed accommodation should be provided as soon as possible to allow time for the State Library to arrange for the accommodation; however, notice of a needed accommodation must be provided to one of the above contacts no later than 48 hours in advance.

Limited seating available!  Bring your lunch and join us!

Indiana State Library Digital Collections

Presenter: Christopher Marshall, Digital Collections Coordinator for the Indiana Division

This session is an introduction to the Indiana State Library’s Digital Collections which include a vast range of gems such as historic state documents, rare manuscripts, and the vast collection of Indiana-related maps.

Where and when:

This is an in-person event in the Indiana State Library History Reference Room, May 9, 2024 12 p.m.-1 p.m.

Register here.

This lunch and learn will be eligible for 1 LEU.

Parking validation will be available for attendees who park in the Senate Avenue parking garage directly across from the library and bring their ticket in for validation.

Send questions to Stephanie Asberry at stasberry@library.in.gov.

The Indiana State Library will make all reasonable modifications to policies and programs to ensure that people with disabilities have an equal opportunity to enjoy all of its programs, services, and activities. If you require an auxiliary aid or service for effective communication, or a modification of policies or procedures to participate in this program, service or activity of the Indiana State Library, please contact Michele Johnson, the Indiana State Library’s ADA Coordinator (micjohnson2@spd.in.gov or 463-271-5168). Notice of a needed accommodation should be provided as soon as possible to allow time for the State Library to arrange for the accommodation; however, notice of a needed accommodation must be provided to one of the above contacts no later than 48 hours in advance.

Event Type(s): ISL Workshop

Presenter: Christopher Marshall, Digital Collections Coordinator for the Indiana State Library

Stephanie Asberry

(317) 232-3734

This year we have made a couple of changes!

    • The entrance will be at 140 N. Senate Avenue; this is much closer to the event than in the past.
    • Parking in the Indiana state government lot at the corner of Ohio Street and Senate Avenue will only be $10 for the event.

We have two speakers this year:

Christine M. Donmoyer, Ph.D. will be speaking about her book "Invisible Disability: Living with Macular Degeneration." Her book is a guide for newly-diagnosed AMD patients. It addresses the challenges that a patient faces in daily life. These challenges do have solutions as Donmoyer shares her insights from her unique patient perspective. She will be speaking at 10:30 a.m.

Julie Flaherty is a certified accessible travel advocate and specializes in accessible travel for individuals with disabilities and special needs. In her presentation, she will share stories about her travel adventures as a visually impaired traveler. She will also share her secrets to good travel. She will be speaking at 11:45 a.m.

The following vendors are planning to be in attendance:

Click here to read more. Please contact Judy Gray, Indiana Talking Books and Braille Library supervisor, with any questions about the Vision Expo.

On Thursday, Aug. 24 at the Indiana State Library, Gov. Eric J. Holcomb kicked off the statewide expansion of Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library, which gifts free, high quality, age-appropriate books to children from birth to age five on a monthly basis, regardless of family income. Gov. Holcomb announced Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library statewide expansion as part of his 2023 Next Level Agenda.

The goal of the statewide expansion is to make books available to children ages 0-5 in every zip code in Indiana. The program is free to enrolled children and will soon be available to more children and families in Indiana.

“I learned from a very young age that reading is the key to further education and opportunity ahead, long-term,” Holcomb said. “The very ability to read can transport children and adults alike to places they have never been and open doors they never knew existed. By making Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library available in every zip code, we are giving Hoosier children yet another personalized tool close to home they’ll need for literary success.”

On May 4, Holcomb signed legislation into law that allotted $6 million over the biennium, $2 million in the first year and $4 million in the second year, as part of a community share to expand the program to every zip code in the state.

"It takes a lot of great people working together to make this possible, and I want to thank Governor Holcomb, the Indiana General Assembly, State Librarian Jake Speer and all our local community partners across the state who helped make this dream a reality," Dolly Parton said.

The Indiana State Library will coordinate the program and provide the state’s match to interested organizations or individuals to become local program partners. Currently in Indiana, Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library is available in 54 counties and is partially available in eight counties, with expansion plans to fully cover the entire state – all 92 counties. Starting Sept. 1, current local Imagination Library partners will only pay 50% of their local program cost with the remaining 50% paid by the state.

“Early literacy is very important, and Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library program makes reading fun and exciting for children and their families,” said Jake Speer, Indiana State Librarian. “I’m thrilled to have the opportunity to work with existing and new partners in Indiana to get statewide coverage of this program.”

Click https://imaginationlibrary.com/ to see where the Imagination Library is currently available. Those interested, can enroll their child or sign up to be notified when a program comes to their community.