Our Favorite Community Projects of 2018

We wanted to take a minute to give a shout out to a few of our libraries that created some of our favorite community projects of 2018! From music to cookbooks to local history and beyond, we love seeing how they have utilized BiblioBoard’s community engagement tools to Create, Share, and Discover wonderfully unique local content. Read on to see how their collections have developed!

We Solve Problems Essay Contest

Supported by Geauga County Public Library

Tricentennial Archives

Supported by BiblioTech: Bexar County’s Digital Public Library

Picture Atlantic

Supported by Atlantic Public Library

Pocket City Music Preserve

Supported by Evansville Vanderburgh Public Library

Twinsburg Library Loves to Cook

Supported by Twinsburg Public Library

Graphic Novel Making Contest

Supported by San Jose Public Library

Have ideas for your own community project? Get started by setting up a Custom Submission Page. It only takes a few minutes to take the first step to get unique, local content into your library!

Soon to Be Famous Illinois Author Project

2018 STBF finalists L to R  - Edward S. Beidas for Sarah’s Heart, Heather Bentley for Sweetest Heartbreak, LeAnn Morgan for Morwen Cottage

Congratulations to BK Parent, the first YA winner of Minnesota’s state Indie Author Project Awards.  We library people are high fiving in Illinois for you. What a thrill to see talented self-published authors being celebrated in other states via their libraries.

As most people know, libraries have been around thousands of years ensuring that books were available for those who want to read them.   Over the centuries libraries have evolved from providing scarce print books to the few who could read, to a literal onslaught of printed tomes of every genre for slews of readers.

The Soon to Be Famous Illinois Author Project embraces this legacy and it’s still all about libraries getting great books to patrons.  

We libraries in Illinois are no longer waiting for the big 5 publishers to select all the quality authors we can offer to our readers.  Illinois libraries have cut that ribbon and opened the curated self-published eBook freeway to get excellent books to readers.  From 2014 through 2018, Illinois librarians have worked collaboratively to select quality author finalists and winners.  All along the way, it is all about connecting local authors to local libraries and library staffers connecting across the state.

The announcements have been a stellar event.  Committee members talk about the quality Illinois self-published authors and the authors describe the essential role that libraries have played in their lives.  Here is the 2018 event that we streamed live so that people throughout the state and world could experience the excitement.

The STBF Author winners have been –

2014 - Joanne Zienty - The Things We Save

2015 - Michael Alan Peck - The Commons Book I: The Journeyman

2016 - Geralyn Hesslau Magrady - Lines

2017 - Daniel Rosenberg - The Towers Still Stand

2018 – Heather Bentley – Sweetest Heartbreak

Thank you BiblioLabs for being at the forefront of this movement with technology and energy. Our partnership with BiblioLabs has enabled us to lift the project to the next level - offering a prize, a review, and an important avenue to our readers through their BiblioBoard Library platform through the Reaching Across Illinois Library System.  You might have caught us on webinars or at conference presentations these past few years as we have continually extolled the virtues of this self-published ecosystem.  So we are thrilled that a number of library professionals in other states have joined in this Indie Author Project movement.

The ride just keeps getting more fun as we are now accepting entries to the new 2018 Manuscript Contest which will be curated once again by librarians. The winner will receive line editing and cover art help (thank you BiblioLabs) and an automatic entry into the second round of the 2019 Soon to Be Famous book contest.

The way we offer great books to readers continues to shift as platforms are added, gain or diminish.  The Soon to Be Famous Illinois author project is all about libraries not staying in their traditional lane.  It’s about librarians carving out a new road together that connects authors to libraries and books to readers. 

By Denise Raleigh, Gail Borden Public Library District

For the Soon to Be Famous committee that also includes– Julie Stam, Eisenhower Public Library District; Sue Wilsey, Helen Plum Public Library; Nikki Zimmermann, Reaching Across Illinois Library System; Eva Baggili, Chicago Ridge Public Library; Jeffrey Fisher, Fountaindale Public Library; Carol Kania Morency, ret. Mount Prospect Public Library; Kate Buckson, La Grange Park Public Library; Lucy Tarabour, Clarendon Hills Public Library

How Librarians are Changing the Future of Books

The Indie Author Project is helping thousands of librarians and authors create their own future and control their own destiny

Last week I had the pleasure of attending the award ceremony for the first state Indie Author Project Awards at the Minnesota Library Association conference. The indie / self-published book award is run by local librarians as part of the statewide MN Writes | MN Reads program. MN Writes | MN Reads is one of many new library community engagement program models that are ensuring a strong role for librarians in the digital future.

Read More

Reflecting on ALA Annual

Wow. Just, wow.

It’s been 6+ years of really hard work to get to this point, and this is just the beginning. For those that were with us in New Orleans for this year’s American Library Association Conference, I hope you felt as many good vibes as we did. Not only was New Orleans filled with a ton of culture (and LOTS of great food!), but the support from the library community was overwhelming. We got to meet so many of you in person, whether you’re current customers or (hopefully) future ones, the conversations were flowing and so much inspiration and positivity were shared.

Anyway, enough about my own excitement :) I wanted to share a recap of some of the great things we had going on during ALA (and still do!) so you can share in the Community Engagement movement with us.

We partnered with OverDrive earlier this year to bring even more exposure to the best-of-the-best indie eBooks in our system. As always, all of our locally-published titles are available on BiblioBoard Library for unlimited use with no checkouts, waitlists, or holds, but now they’re also available to libraries that have OverDrive as well! The deadline to enroll in this program is July 31, so visit the OverDrive marketplace to add this collection for free before time runs out! You’ll have access to these 50 curated titles until July 31, 2019 (and we’re currently working on an extended plan, so please bear with us!).

Just to show you how successful other libraries have already been with this collection, here’s what Catherine Royalty, Los Angeles Public Library Acquisitions Manager, had to say about it:

In a span of just 28 days, June 7 - July 5, LAPL has already seen over 550 circulations on these titles. Clearly, they’re loving this curated collection!

To learn more about our indie author services, go here. And be sure to visit your OverDrive marketplace to add this collection to your library for free before July 31, 2018!

This contest, which has been extended to accept submissions through July 27, has seen tremendous engagement so far. We decided to extend the deadline by three weeks to give even more authors the opportunity to submit their books for inclusion. If you’re an author in California, Kentucky, Minnesota, Missouri, Ohio, Virginia, or Wisconsin, submit your eBook for a chance to win an amazing package of prizes!

Or, if you’re a library in a state that’s not currently participating, let us know and we’d love to have you join in for next year’s contests!

Another huge hit at ALA this year was our new tote bags. Well, guess what? If you weren’t able to snag one from us, they’re now available for purchase online! Just visit our BiblioMarket for totes, tees, and so much more of your faves.

With so many great things in the works right now, I could continue on and on but I think I’ve given you enough reading material for one day :) Someone has to create all those pretty graphics and marketing materials around here, so until next time – #createsharediscover

Alissa Bankowski Brand Manager + Resident Poster Maker

Statewide Indie Author Projects: The Basics

This past April saw the kickoff of seven statewide contests that are seeking Young Adult and Adult Fiction by indie authors. Winners in each category will be recognized as the top self-published books in each respective state, as judged by librarians.

Here are the states that are currently participating:

Submissions for this contest will close on June 30th, 2018.

Why are authors participating?

For indie authors, these contests are a fantastic way to elevate their careers and business. Along with the accolade of the award and its perks, being recognized by librarians creates credibility and visibility in the growing marketplace of digital content and self-published books. Winning authors will reach hundreds, if not thousands, of new readers via the library, and can also leverage being an award-winning author for additional marketing opportunities.

The winners of this contest will receive*:

*Some states have additional awards for their contest. Visit your state’s individual submission page for more info.

Each book that is submitted to the contest must be:

Indie authors in participating states that are interested in this contest can submit at indieauthorproject.librariescreate.com/[YourStateHere]. There is no fee to submit.

Writers may also be interested in submitting their eBook(s) to SELF-e, which places local writers into all SELF-e participating libraries in their state. Writers who submit to SELF-e can also easily submit to a respective state’s contest during the submission process.

Libraries interested in getting involved with their state’s contest, or starting their own, can email info@biblioboard.com for more information.

Announced: 2018 BCALA EBook Literary Awards Winners

The Black Caucus of the American Library Association (BCALA) recently announced the winners of their 2018 Self-Publishing Literary Awards. The awards, powered by SELF-e, honor the best self-published ebooks by an African American author in the U.S. in the genres of fiction and poetry.  

FICTION: Sunshine in the Delta by Erica Marisa Sandifer  

Neeyla is a young girl from a family of sharecroppers, and has only known poverty and dysfunction. Determined to break the cycle, she decides to take a job "in town" as the help to make her own money. Sandifer currently works at Turnrow Book Company and hopes to inspire other writers and citizens for generations to come.

POETRY: The New Lynchings by Adisa Ajamu 

From 2015 to now, Ajamu has published 7 books of poetry varying in content from love, heartbreak, the uplifting of the black community, depression and many others. This collection of poems speaks to the constant struggle for equality and liberation in the African American community.

This is the third time BCALA has held this innovative contest. The recipients will receive their awards during the 2018 American Library Association Annual Conference on June 24 in New Orleans, LA.

The BCALA Self-Publishing Literary Awards have already proven to be a powerful player in the publishing world: one of the award’s inaugural winners, L. Penelope, has since signed with St. Martin’s Press, a subsitorary of Macmillan. The publisher released her award-winning novel Song of Blood and Stone earlier this month.

Customer FAQ: SELF-e Select On OverDrive

On June 1st, the indie author + public library revolution expands as OverDrive announces a pilot program called SELF-e Select on OverDrive. SELF-e Select on OverDrive includes a handpicked sampler collection of ~50 titles from the various SELF-e Select modules. 

If you currently use OverDrive as an eBook platform, your library will receive a message from them about adding the collection, which will be available as part of the one-year pilot between June 1, 2018 – July 31, 2019. All titles are available to patrons under OverDrive’s Simultaneous Use model, with no waitlists or holds.

Will I still be able to offer my SELF-e collection on BiblioBoard Library?

Yes, nothing changes in regard to delivering local content on BiblioBoard. You can still use geolocation to reach every member of your community and send people to BiblioBoard from MARC and discovery layer integrations. Nothing changes.

Will my other BiblioBoard Library collections be available on OverDrive?

No, this pilot is limited specifically to the ~50 books in the SELF-e Select on OverDrive collection.

Is it required that I sign up for the pilot?

No, you are not required to sign up for the pilot.

How were these titles selected?

The SELF-e Select on OverDrive eBooks were selected based on awards, popularity and ratings.

What happens at the end of the pilot?

We are not sure yet. The pilot is being put together to see what kind of interest patrons have in these curated indie author titles on OverDrive. As the program begins to integrate into libraries, we will share news and updates.

Will libraries and authors get usage data for the books read on OverDrive?

Yes.

Just Announced: Illinois Author Project Unpublished Manuscript Contest

The “Soon To Be Famous” Illinois Author Project—which has awarded the best self-published book in Illinois for five years—has announced a new contest to find the best, unpublished manuscript in Illinois. The statewide self-published contest was the first of its kind, and the Illinois Author Project is now once again leading the way with this new contest. 

Open to any unpublished manuscript from an Illinois resident, the winner will receive professional line editing and professional cover art design services, valued at $10,000.

Submissions open in October 2018, with the winner being announced in April 2019.

Know a writer or writers groups in Illinois? Be sure to check out the Soon To Be Famous website for updates come October. This is a great opportunity for a local writer to have a professional-level manuscript to pitch to publishers or self-publish through a program like SELF-e.

Submissions for both the new manuscript contest and the existing “Soon To Be Famous” self-published contest are made possible by BiblioBoard. Libraries can learn more about Custom Submission Pages and library-driven contests by visiting the BiblioBoard website or contacting libraryrelations@biblioboard.com.

A Better Submission Process For Library-Driven Contests

Forward-thinking libraries know that programming through the library is essential to be a viable resource to the community. Through these community engagement efforts, libraries have the ability to bring together all kinds of groups and interests, engage new patrons and go beyond the typical assumptions of what a library can do.

One such way that libraries are engaging with their communities through programming is with library-driven contests. For example, the Soon To Be Famous contest in Illinois is open to any self-published author in the state, and offers a cash prize, print book sales in Illinois libraries, and marketing support—including a statewide library tour for the winning novelist.

These contests are a great way to accomplish library goals: they engage local writers, bring attention of their work to local readers and create credibility for the winners. Contests can also call for artwork, music, video and short form content such as short stories and poetry.

However, the submission process for both libraries and those who submit can have inefficiencies. This is particularly true for libraries who often collect submissions through e-mail, which results in having to compile the metadata, organize the entry files, then pass along to judges.

BiblioBoard has made it easier to accomplish community engagement goals by making library-driven contests more fluid from start to finish with Customized Submission Pages.

These pages help make the submission process easy, efficient and require very little effort to set up. When your contest comes to an end, anyone can be granted access to submissions to begin judging or vetting with a shared username and password.

Additionally, Customized Submission Pages can accept all different forms of media, from written work to music and video. These submission pages have been adopted over the past year for use in various library-driven contests. Check out the success stories below.

BiblioTech / Poetry On The Move

BiblioTech, San Antonio and Bexar County’s all-digital library, has used Geolocation and a Customized Submission Page to create a partnership with local public transit and a local poetry competition. Geolocation allows VIA bus riders to ‘drop in’ to a digital library via a custom URL. With BiblioTech’s Poetry On The Move contest, winning poems were not only added to the digital library but also physically featured inside the VIA buses themselves. This project started as a great community partnership between BiblioTech and VIA, but the submissions, which were initially taken via email, proved to be time consuming and inefficient. With a Customized Submission Page, BiblioTech was able to easily set up their contest, share a customized link to the form, and let the submissions roll in. Having this one page for everyone to use made it easy to submit which resulted in the contest getting more submissions than ever before. Read more.

GonzoFest / Literary Journalism Contest

GonzoFest celebrates the life of Hunter S. Thompson. For years, it was namely a day of music, but has since expanded by collaborating with The Louisville Free Public Library. The partnership includes a literary journalism contest, open to nationwide submissions for “gonzo”-style journalism, pioneered by Thompson. In the past, submissions were namely collected by e-mail in a very manual way. However, this year GonzoFest solely used a Customized Submission Page for entries and submissions nearly quadrupled. Read more.

The Black Caucus of The ALA / BCALA Self-Publishing Award

The Black Caucus of The American Library Association first introduced the BCALA Literary Awards in 1994 at The Second National Conference of African American Librarians. In 2015, an opportunity was realized for a new award: one that would expand the BCALA’s dedication to African American authors by way of growing interest in digital content and self-publishing: The BCALA Self-Publishing Award. The contest uses a Customized Submission Page and is seeing growing success: last year with 58 submissions and nearly doubling this year to 115. Read more.

Want to learn more about how Customized Submission Pages are helping libraries increase community engagement? E-mail libraryrelations@bibliolabs.com.

BiblioBoard To Bring Digital Library To TLA Conference

Library professionals and authors from around the country are set to converge in Dallas for the Texas Library Association Conference, April 3–6.

This year, BiblioBoard is working in partnership with the Texas Library Association and the conference’s Executive Director, Dana Braccia, to launch a geolocated Digital Library at the conference. Using the same geolocation technology that removes barriers to library content, attendees will be able to access this Digital Library on any device by visiting library.biblioboard.com, or through the TLA Conference app.

This Digital Library will be comprised of selected local Texas authors, Texas history and works from author panelists at this year’s TLA Conference—including David Lankes, winner of the American Library Association’s 2016 Ken Haycock Award for Promoting Librarianship.

Here’s a sneak peek at a few pieces to be featured in the geolocated Digital Library:

The Digital Library is setup up solely for easy access to local, multimedia content during the conference. Afterwards, not unlike flipping a light switch, it will be turned off—making the Geo-library unique only to those who attend the conference.

Libraries interested in Geolocation can e-mail libraryrelations@bibliolabs.com

Conferences interested in hosting their own geolocated Digital Library can reach us at info@bibliolabs.com.

BiblioBoard Integrates With Top ILS & Discovery Services

BiblioBoard Library offers patrons unlimited, multi-user access to library content and is now integrated with the following ILS/Discovery Services:

“In 2016, we launched BiblioBoard Open Access and open web discovery to increase global traffic and usage of OA materials on our platform and saw a huge uptick in engagement,” said Mitchell Davis, CEO of BiblioLabs. “In 2017, we have reached across the industry to ensure that our licensed resources are findable through the library’s own discovery layers. With unlimited multi-user access to eBooks, we have seen massive growth in materials usage as these partnerships have taken root. We look forward to the other integrations coming online more fully as we move into next year.”

BiblioBoard Reflection on 2017 + What’s Next

Moving into the New Year, we are grateful for the accomplishments our team has achieved in 2017. Over the last year, we made some of our biggest pushes for supporting libraries in the digital age, making BiblioBoard better than ever for libraries and patrons.

We Made It Easier To Create

One of our top priorities is for libraries and patrons to be able to create their own digital experience. Likewise, it should be easy for the community to create via their local library. Here’s how we amplified those tools:

We Made It Easier To Share

Thanks to customer feedback, our software development team has been working swiftly in the background to make it easier for libraries and patrons to share using BiblioBoard tools:

2017 also marked the third year of the SELF-e program, a partnership with Library Journal. SELF-e makes it easy for self-published authors to share their work to a statewide collection with the potential for national exposure.

This year, SELF-e received over 1,300 submissions from around the world, including 47 states, Washington, D.C. and seven Canadian provinces.

Biblio Spotlight: Soon To Be Famous Illinois Author Project

Passionate librarians want to support local writers in their area. Likewise, writers know that having librarians advocate for your work can be a huge leg up when it comes to getting your book in front of a larger audience. But if you’re an author—especially a self-published author—how do you get your work into the library? If you’re a librarian, how can you ensure that the self-published books in your collection are held to a high standard?

The Soon To Be Famous Illinois Author Project has found a way to answer both of these questions, while also advancing the careers of self-published authors.

First bestowed in 2014, the Soon To Be Famous Award was a savvy reaction by library marketing professionals in Illinois to actively position libraries as a resource for local writers in an era of eBooks and increasing interest in self-publishing. To qualify, a self-published author is nominated by a local librarian and his/her eBook is then judged by a statewide committee comprised of librarians.

Biblio Spotlight: BiblioTech’s Public Transit Strategy

Earlier this month, BiblioTech, the all-digital library in Bexar County, Texas, joined over a dozen other libraries in a launch of Geolocation authentication technology.

Having beta-tested Geolocation over the past year, BiblioTech is finding new ways to make it even easier for citizens of the Greater San Antonio area to access the library’s digital content. In practical terms, Geolocation authentication allows for libraries to promote a URL to anyone in their service area that he/she can plugin to his or her smartphone, tablet or laptop and immediately start reading.

This simple link sharing creates opportunities to partner up with public entities, like public transit.

Two custom URLs are now being advertised on San Antonio’s public bus service, VIA: one targeted to adult readers, the other to younger readers.

“Our objective was a simple one,” said BiblioTech Executive Director, Laura Cole, “We wanted to meet the library patron in their everyday activities – because we can. A critical element of our mission is to promote reading as recreation and the regular, or even occasional bus ride presents us with an opportunity to enhance your day. VIA’s Wi-Fi service allows us to do that...The patron can enjoy reading immediately.”  

Biblio Spotlight: Aaron Barnhart

Aaron Barnhart is a true community leader and an advocate for learning, teaching and developing self-publishing. Over the past three years, Barnhart has been building a relationship with Mid-Continent Public Library, which serves three counties near Kansas City, Missouri.

His relationship with MCPL began when the library approached him and his wife—co-founders of the history-based press Quindaro Press—about leading local history courses.

“But in discussions with staff I knew they were starting to develop their curriculum and were looking for someone to teach self-publishing,” said Barnhart.

It was then that he began teaching classes twice a year at Woodneath Library, the home of MCPL’s Story Center.

BIBLIOSUMMIT 2017: MEET THE PANELISTS

BiblioLabs is thrilled to host the fifth installment of BiblioSummit: Cities + Libraries this year in our hometown of Charleston, SC on Tuesday, November 7. The annual event brings together top minds from libraries, publishing and technology to have a conversation about how libraries are conquering the digital space, and what to expect next.

COUNT ME IN!

HOW LIBRARIES ARE THRIVING IN THE DIGITAL WORLD

In this panel discussion, contributors will speak about the future of libraries in the digital landscape: how to adapt in a world dominated by giant media corporations with new models for community engagement, and how these new digital strategies can be inclusive for the entire community.

Announcing BiblioSummit: Cities + Libraries 2017

BiblioLabs is excited to announce that BiblioSummit will take place in Charleston, SC on November 7. The half-day event will be the fifth installment of BiblioSummit, expanding this year into the tech incubator Flagship 2 of The Charleston Digital Corridor, the perfect venue for discussing how libraries are conquering the digital space.

Register Now

SPECIAL GUEST: MARCUS AMAKER, CHARLESTON’S POET LAUREATE

Before and between panels, attendees will be treated to performances by Marcus Amaker, who was deemed Charleston’s first-ever poet laureate in 2016. Watch Marcus perform at Charleston TEDx with legendary jazz musician Quentin Baxter here.

The event will include both breakfast and lunch, with an opening welcome from Scott Watson, Executive Director of The City of Charleston Office of Cultural Affairs, and closing comments from Ernest Andrade, Executive Director of The Charleston Digital Corridor Foundation.