Spring Trustee Education Series

Twice a year, in the Spring and Fall, MHLS offers member library trustees a chance to learn more about what it means to serve on a public library board of trustees. Feedback has indicated that after participating in the MHLS Trustee Education Series trustees have felt more confident in their role as a trustee, better able to understand the issues brought before them at meetings and more knowledgeable about where to go for help in the future. (Don't forget the added incentive of a $50.00 to libraries if at least one of their trustees attends a MHLS Essential or Advanced Trustee Education Session in 2006! The System will mail checks based on attendance.)

Trustee Essential Education Sessions
· Monday, April 3rd, Starr Library (Rhinebeck), 6:00-8:00pm
· Saturday, April 22nd, Catskill Public Library, 10:00am-12:00pm
· Monday, April 24th, Mahopac Library, 6:00-8:00pm
Essential sessions are designed to educate public library trustees in:
· background and structure of libraries in NY
· roles and functions of a board
· running effective meetings

Advanced Trustee Education Sessions: Building Community Support for Your Library
· Wednesday, May 10th, MHLS Auditorium, 6:00-8:00pm
· Saturday, May 20th, Hudson Area Association Library, 10:00am-12:00pm
Advanced sessions are designed to focus on issues benefiting and affecting libraries in our system.

Register one of 3 ways for Trustee Education:
1. http://midhudson.org, then click on Calendar
2. http://www.midhudson.org/evanced/lib/eventcalendar.asp
3. call 845.471.6060 x46

MHLS Announcements
Attention all Member Libraries: This is a reminder that this Wednesday, March 15th, is the deadline to submit Expense Claim Forms for the first Tri-Annual Reimbursement 2006. This will also be the last chance to turn in Claims under the 2005 Incentive Program. Please be sure to use the appropriate forms for your claims. Forms and procedures can be found on the MHLS web page at http://midhudson.org/admin/budgeting/main.htm
If you have any questions please call Doris Formby at x10.

Today is Library Lobby Day! If you are not in Albany today please take 5 minutes out of your day to be part of a "virtual march" on Albany by contacting your NYS legislators in their Albany office. Phone numbers for all legislators are available through the "Advocacy Central" link at http://midhudson.org or use the New York Library Association's "Become a Library Advocate" button [see above] on the MHLS home page to send a fax immediately!

Professional Development
County-based training from the Central Reference Library: Staff at Adriance Memorial Library, the Central Reference Library of MHLS, will provide training in each county in 2006. Directors may choose any of the following topics for presentation in their counties.
· Customer Service: Training focuses on staff/patron interaction, with an emphasis on commitment to a service culture. Staff will acquire active listening skills and tips for handling conflict.
· Readers' Advisory: Training focuses on moving staff from "on the fly" reading recommendations to a structured, successful readers' advisory program. Staff will learn the key elements to providing readers' advisory service, and how to judge a book's "appeal factors" to successfully suggest books patrons might enjoy.
· Electronic Resources: Training focuses on creating staff awareness of HomeACCESS resources. Training may include in-depth training on selected resources and the OPAC. Staff will gain familiarity with the electronic resources available in the library and off-site, and acquire a deeper understanding of online catalog features.
To confirm a date and location for training in your county, please contact Sue Hermans, Coordinator of Central Library Services at 845.485.3445 x3321 or shermans@poklib.org.

On Tuesday, March 28th at 7:00pm Leslie Burger, the president-elect of the American Library Association, will be in the area to speak about the USA PATRIOT Act at a meeting of the Lower Hudson Valley Chapter of the New York Civil Liberties Union. The speech will take place at the White Plains Public Library [http://www.wppl.lib.ny.us/].

"What Can You Do With a Scanner?" is the topic of the March meeting of the Dutchess County Genealogical Society. Bernie Rudberg will discuss what a scanner is and how it works; types of scanners; and things you can do with scanned image files (display them on your computer screen; print them; make copies; and transmit them). He'll demonstrate various ways that genealogists can use scanners in their research, and discuss software packages that can help. He'll also discuss working with images from digital cameras. 7:30pm on Tuesday, March 21st, at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints on Spackenkill Road in Poughkeepsie. The meeting is open to the public. If Spackenkill Schools are closed, the meeting will be canceled.

Preservation Workshops in May: In May MHLS will host one of the three workshops on preservation that the New York State Library, Division of Library Development, has coordinated as part of its membership with the Northeast Document Conservation Center (NEDCC) in Andover, Massachusetts. Preservation of Scrapbooks will be held on May 16th from 9:00am - 4:30pm (with a one-hour break for lunch.) The workshop will be held in the MHLS Auditorium (105 Market St., Poughkeepsie). The $12 fee includes lunch. Instructor: Deb Wender, Director of Book Conservation, NEDCC. Scrapbooks and albums present some of the most complex conservation and reformatting challenges to staff of the cultural institutions in which they are held. Composed of varying materials adhered to often acidic pages, albums and scrapbooks frequently need to be reformatted in order to preserve the intellectual information. Discussion will focus on:
· Selection and preparation for reformatting
· Structures, types of materials, and methods of attachment and their implications for preservation and conservation
· In-house, low-cost preservation strategies
This workshop is designed for staff members interested in preservation options for scrapbooks and will address conservation and reformatting issues that arise when dealing with these unique books. Participants are invited to bring examples for examination and discussion during the last segment of the workshop. Class size is limited to 20 students. To register (and for information about this workshop and the other two workshops offered: Integrated Pest Management and Surviving a Disaster: A Hands-on Recovery Workshop), visit http://www.nysl.nysed.gov/libdev/cp/workshop.htm.

Resource Sharing & Millennium
The MHLS Computer Operations Department provides information on networking and other issues related to technology in your library. Take a look at the new article now posted on their department page, "Computer Networking & Routing" [http://support.midhudson.org]. Routing is an important part of your network that might create problems like slowness, limited access and discontinuance. If you need further info on this or other issues please email mtoufali@midhudson.org or call 845.471.3440.

Youth Services
Access the Young Adult Library Services journal through HomeACCESS: You can access all the articles about graphic novels in the Summer 2005 Young Adult Library Services journal by going to your library's HomeACCESS link, type in your library card number, click on the first link under Magazines, then click on the Publication button. Type in Young Adult Library Services and then click on the Summer 2005 issue. You should be able to read and even print any article you wish to save.

Job Openings
Library director: Hudson Area Association Library is seeking a full-time Library Director. Salary: $40,000 depending on experience, plus benefits. Supervise small staff and volunteers in historic building in the City of Hudson, a mecca for the arts in the Hudson Valley.

MHLS recommends that the minimum starting salary of a full or part-time librarian with an MLS degree be at least equal to that of a teacher with a master's degree in the same community.

The MHLS Bulletin welcomes submissions from member libraries at bulletin@midhudson.org. The MHLS Bulletin is available on line at http://midhudson.org/bulletins/main.htm.