SirsiDynix Announces Finalists in Building Better Communities Awards!

Lansing Public Library made it to the finals in the SirsiDynix Building Better Communities Award Contest! I got the pre-notification yesterday, but wasn't allowed to blog about it until the press release came out this afternoon.

w00t!

Impressive and diverse list of 15 finalists.
Only 5 will win.
Good luck & best wishes to all of the finalists.

Unfortunately, I won't get to meet any of you, as ALA just isn't in the budget this year.

The nomination packet details how each library is using technology to build a better community, and is definitely a showcase for innovative ideas. (note: the nomination forms have been edited to remove personal information, and may not reflect the exact nomination submission.)

In our award application, I mentioned some of the bloggers who have posted about and/or mentioned in presentations the cool things we're doing at Lansing. This probably helped us make it to the finals.

A special thank you goes out to Kathryn Deiss, Jenny Levine, Michael Stephens, and Greg Schwartz. And also, thanks to Aaron for unknowingly inspiring the launch of our IM service at LPL, as I thought, if Aaron can, what's stopping us?

The extra push to continue moving forward was due to my attendance at the first Zephyr-sponsored presentation, when they invited Stephen Abram to MLS last June. At that meeting Kathryn spoke of her dream that Zephyr projects would inspire, and result in national recognition for innovation. An extra thank you to the entire Zephyr team for scheduling that presentation!!!