April 1, 2026
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Indiana library jobs
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In the news
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Upcoming workshops and important dates
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2026 Difference is You Conference date announced; award nominations being accepted
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Featured Indiana State Library kit: 'Colors'
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NICCL roundtable scheduled for April 10
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Memories, signatures and football: The high school yearbook
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Avon-Washington Township Public Library to present 20th annual ArtScape
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This week's new Indiana library jobs |
Children’s Librarian
Bloomfield-Eastern Greene County Public Library
Accounting Professional
La Porte County Public Library
Programming Coordinator
St. Joseph County Public Library
Adult Services Librarian
Tippecanoe County Public Library |
| Those who would like their Indiana library job posting to be listed in the Wednesday Word must submit the position and its description to the Indiana State Library. Click here for submission guidelines and to submit. |
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Email news links for inclusion in the Wednesday Word's "In the news" section.
To be featured in the Wednesday Word, please email a press release and a photo. |
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Indiana State Library's blog for weekly posts covering all aspects of the State Library.
Indiana library employees who would like to contribute a guest blog, please send an email with an idea. |
Miss an issue of the Wednesday Word?
Back issues of the Wednesday Word are available here. |
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Free training for librarians and library employees on LinkedIn Learning |
The Indiana Library Passport, a creative digital experience that encourages everyone to visit libraries across the Hoosier state, is open to Indiana residents and outside visitors alike. The passport has more than 170 libraries and branches to explore.
Read more about the passport here. Libraries interested in joining the Indiana Library Passport – free of cost – should contact the communications director at the Indiana State Library. |
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2026 Difference is You Conference date announced; award nominations being accepted |
The Professional Development Committee of the Indiana State Library has announced Friday, Sept. 25, as the date for the 2026 installment of the annual Difference is You conference. The conference is the only statewide event designed especially for library support staff and non-MLS librarians. However, all are welcome to attend. The conference will take place from 9 a.m.-3:45 p.m. at the Indiana State Library in downtown Indianapolis.
The theme of this year’s Difference is You Conference is “Rooted in Connections: Reaching out in Service.” The committee hopes that attendees will develop and cultivate what they learn at this event and that they can expand upon that knowledge at their own library. The committee also encourages libraries to register staff as a group for a team-building outing.
Information about registration will be released at a later date.
Nominations for the Difference is You Award are now open and must be submitted by Friday, May 8. The Difference is You Award is presented annually to celebrate library workers who inspire their communities. Two nominations may be submitted by one person. Click here to make a nomination.
Click here for more information about the conference. The full conference schedule will be released at a later date and will be available on the conference website.
Please contact Paula Newcom, conference committee co-chair, with any questions about the 2026 Difference is You Conference.
The Indiana State Library is located at 315 W. Ohio St. in Indianapolis. |
Featured Indiana State Library kit: 'Colors' |
The Indiana State Library’s Indiana Young Readers Center provides five types of kits for use by public library youth librarians and teachers across the state: Book Club kits, LEGO kits, DUPLO kits, Storytime kits and Indiana Escape Experience kits. Every other week, the Wednesday Word will feature one of these kits.
This week's featured kit is the "Colors" storytime kit. The kit includes seven books about color, a music CD, transparent panels and a hand puppet. Children can experiment with transparent color panels to explore colors in light. The mouse hand puppet accompanies the book "Mouse Paint" by Ellen Stoll Walsh. Colorful bean bags and a felt set of colored shapes on a backdrop also come with the kit. Every kit includes a teacher’s or librarian’s guide full of ideas for use with groups of children.
"The kit focuses on colors around us. We just had St. Patrick’s Day and celebrated all things green. This kit is a fun choice for any group,” said Tammie Buchanan, Indiana Young Readers Center librarian at the Indiana State Library.
Read more about the kits here.
Kits can be ordered and delivered via InfoExpress. Please contact Tammie Buchanan with any questions about reserving the kits. |
NICCL roundtable scheduled for April 10 |
The Networking and Innovation for Community-Centered Libraries (NICCL) group has scheduled its next IT roundtable for Friday, April 10. The roundtable will be hosted, in person, at the Indianapolis Public Library's Library Services Center from 10 a.m.-12 p.m. There is also an option to attend virtually.
Formerly known as the Northern Indiana Computer Consortium for Libraries, NICCL is an organization composed of member libraries that meet quarterly for technology-based training and networking. Attendees are encouraged to share technology endeavors from their own libraries, as well as what they've seen in other libraries. The roundtable also offers an opportunity for attendees to ask technology-related questions to those in the group.
Attendees do not need to be members of NICCL, nor do they need to be on staff as a member of their library's IT department.
Please send an RSVP to Rich Weiland of the Adams Public Library System. The group will go to a local restaurant after the roundtable discussion. Those who would like to attend virtually via Teams should make note in their RSVP. A link to the online roundtable will be sent via email reply to those who send an RSVP.
Learn more about NICCL here.
The Library Services Center is located at 2450 N. Meridian St. in Indianapolis. A staff member from the Indianapolis Public Library will direct attendees to the meeting room. |
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Upcoming workshops and important dates |
What's Up Wednesday - The Teen Engagement Blueprint
When: April 8, 10-11 a.m.
Where: Online
U.S. 250 Trivia
When: April 14, 12-1 p.m.
Where: Indiana State Library
Youth Services Virtual Roundtable
When: April 15, 1:30-2:30 p.m.
Where: Online
Professional Development Roundtable
When: April 16, 2-3 p.m.
Where: Online
What's Up Wednesday - From Grant to Gathering Place: A Library Placemaking Journey
When: May 13, 10-11 a.m.
Where: Online
Webmaster Roundtable
When: May 19, 2-3 p.m.
Where: Online
2026 Public Library Budget Workshop
When: May 21, 9:30 a.m.-3 p.m.
Where: Indiana State Library
2026 Public Library Budget Workshop - Online
When: May 21, 9:30 a.m.-3 p.m.
Where: Online
What's Up Wednesday - Microsoft Teams for Libraries
When: May 27, 10-11 a.m.
Where: Online
Indiana State Library Lunch and Learn Series: Help with Statistical Research
When: June 9, 12-1 p.m.
Where: Indiana State Library and online | |
| Welcome to Digital Collection Highlights. Every other week, librarians at the Indiana State Library share images from the library's ever-growing digital collections. Visit the Digital Collections
page to view the latest additions. |
Memories, signatures and football: The high school yearbook |
The first high school and college yearbooks appeared in the mid-1880s and were primarily filled with essays and poems. They seldom contained photographs. As the use of photography became more popular, yearbooks morphed into the common format of today. The annuals documented the major events that happened during the school year, including basketball games, prom and group gatherings.
The volumes - that are sometimes quite hefty - also provide a glimpse of how things evolve over time. The changes in buildings, eyeglasses, sports scores, general fashion and hairstyles can all be viewed via yearbooks.
Among the Indiana State Library’s hosted digital collections, several focus on yearbooks. Most collections center on high school yearbooks, however some also include elementary volumes.
The Culver-Union Township and Plymouth High School yearbooks from Marshall County; the Garrett Public Library yearbooks from DeKalb County; and the
Royal Centre High School yearbooks from Cass County are some examples.
Some yearbooks exist in the Indiana State Library’s digital collection, contained in larger collections. A general search of Indiana Memory can be performed from the Indiana State Library’s website by clicking on the Indiana Memory button.
To learn more about yearbooks from local schools, researchers should contact their local library or historical society. To see what the Indiana State Library has in its physical collection, researchers can consult the library’s online database. |
| Avon-Washington Township Public Library to present 20th annual ArtScape |
| The Avon-Washington Township Public Library will present their 20th annual fundraising event, ArtScape @ Your Library on Saturday, April 18, from 7-9 p.m.
ArtScape, the library’s biggest fundraiser of the year, offers attendees the opportunity to bid on items in a silent auction and to purchase artwork from professional Indiana artists as well as talented students from Avon High School. Guests can enjoy music, hors d'oeuvres, desserts and conversations with the artists.
This year, money raised through ticket sales, sponsorships, donations and silent auction purchases will be used to purchase new furniture and engaging toys for the renovated play space in the library's Children’s Department.
Click here to purchase tickets and to read more about the event. |
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