U.S. Citizenship & Immigration Services information

(post received from Ted Albers)

I am Ted Albers, a Community Relations officer with the U.S. Citizenship & Immigration Services (USCIS) in Burlington Vermont. USCIS is the immigration-benefit and service branch of the Federal Government.

You may be aware of some of the hard-copy and online resources that
USCIS produces for immigrants who are preparing for the citizenship test. These materials are helpful to ESL and Civics educators as well. These resources are detailed on the websites below.

For libraries, the “Citizenship Toolkit” is probably the most useful. It is free if a library or non-profit organization registers for it online ($73 if purchased through the Government Printing Office).

Even if a library does not serve many immigrants, the Toolkit is helpful
for social-service providers, students and others as it helps in understanding the legal immigration and citizenship process and requirements.
Read more→

U.S. Citizenship & Immigration Services information

(post received from Ted Albers)
I am Ted Albers, a Community Relations officer with the U.S. Citizenship & Immigration Services (USCIS) in Burlington Vermont. USCIS is the immigration-benefit and service branch of the Federal Government.
You may be aware of some of the hard-copy and online resources that
USCIS produces for immigrants who are preparing for the citizenship test. These materials are helpful to ESL and Civics educators as well. These resources are detailed on the websites below.
For libraries, the “Citizenship Toolkit” is probably the most useful. It is free if a library or non-profit organization registers for it online ($73 if purchased through the Government Printing Office).
Even if a library does not serve many immigrants, the Toolkit is helpful
for social-service providers, students and others as it helps in understanding the legal immigration and citizenship process and requirements.
Read more→

ACRL/NEC Leadership Workshop

ACRL/NEC is happy to announce a unique professional development opportunity for our members.

On Friday, April 30th, we will present the workshop, “Learning to Lead: an introduction,” at Bryant University, Smithfield, Rhode Island. This workshop is limited to 24 participants and will be presented by leaders in the ACRL/New England Chapter at minimal cost.

http://www.acrlnec.org/leadership.php

We hope to see you there!
Barbara Kenney, President
ACRL/New England Chapter

Douglas Announces Gates Foundation Grant for Public Libraries

State of Vermont: OFFICE OF THE GOVERNOR

For Immediate Release:
December 29, 2009

Contact:  Dennise R. Casey
(802) 828-3333

Montpelier, Vt. – Governor Jim Douglas today announced that the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has established a critical grant partnership with the Vermont Department of Libraries and the Vermont Telecommunications Authority (VTA)  to help public libraries compete for federal broadband stimulus funds made available through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.  VTA, in collaboration with the Department of Libraries, plans to submit an application to the National Telecommunications and Information Administration’s (NTIA) Broadband Technology Opportunities Program (BTOP) in early 2010.

Read more→

GoodSearch/GoodShop for Generating Funds

From a post by Teresa F. on the VLA Listserv:

Non-profits across the country are getting donations from web searches made through GoodSearch (a Yahoo search engine)and online purchases made through GoodShop (which connects to regular online retailers). The trick is getting your patrons to go through the GoodSearch/GoodShop sites to search or shop.

A number of Vermont organizations are already listed as beneficiaries. If your organization does not care to be listed, perhaps your own searches and purchases could benefit the charity of your choice. Go to http://www.goodsearch.com for more information, including coverage of the service by national media, lists of nonprofits currently enrolled, FAQs, etc. The donation check comes just once a year in December, for activity from the previous October through September.

If it were me, I’d change the library default browser to this browser and explain to patrons why to use it…it may even carry over into their home searching.

Helen

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) Educational Materials for Citizenship

From: Ted Albers, a community relations officer with the U.S. Citizenship & Immigration Services (USCIS) in South Burlington. USCIS is the immigration-benefit and services arm of the Federal Government.

You may or may not be aware of some of the hard-copy and online resources that USCIS produces for immigrants who are preparing for the citizenship test. These materials are helpful to ESL and Civics educators as well. These resources are detailed on the websites below.

For libraries, the “Citizenship Toolkit” is probably the most useful for a library, and is a free resource if you register online (it costs $73 if purchased through the Government Printing Office). Even if a library does not serve immigrants, the Toolkit is helpful to social-service providers, students and others for understanding the legal immigration process.

________________________________

To learn about the contents of the Toolkit, and to register, please visit this website:
http://www.citizenshiptoolkit.gov/

Find the online civics and citizenship toolkit here:
http://www.uscis.gov/citizenship/organizations/civics-and-citizenship-toolkit

Find individual study materials for the Citizenship test (the ‘New test’) here. Most of these materials are in the Toolkit.
http://www.uscis.gov/newtest

A “Welcome to the US” guide in many languages is available here.
www.uscis.gov/newimmigrants

A host of other relevant resources are here:
http://www.welcometousa.gov/

For libraries that are in a position to purchase civics and English language materials:
http://bookstore.gpo.gov/collections/const-cit-day.jsp

ALA “American Dream” Resources are here:
http://www.americandreamtoolkit.org/

You can request a 1MB PDF file of a handbook Expanding ESL, Civics and Citizenship Education in Your Community by emailing me a ted.albers@dhs.gov

Ted Albers, USCIS Community Relations, Northeast Regional Office, South Burlington, VT
802-660-5007 Desk