2006 Annual Meeting

Approximately 150 library directors, trustees, and staff members attended the System's 47th Annual Meeting in the Danny Kaye Theater of the Conrad Hilton Library at the Culinary Institute of America, Hyde Park on Friday, October 6th.

At 9:45am Board President, Camilla von Bergen, called the meeting to order and welcomed and introduced Board members, trustees, and staff.

Ronald P. Oppen, member of the Board's Election Committee, then conducted the election of four trustees to the MHLS Board:
Greene County: Geralynn Demarest (5-year term, 2007 - 2011)
Ulster County: Michael Minor (5-year term, 2007 - 2011)
Putnam County: Patricia Miller (5-year term, 2007 - 2011) & Martin Miller (2-year term, 2006 - 2008)

Josh Cohen presented service awards to the following employees:
15 Years:
Thomas Finnigan, Delivery & Media/AV Supervisor
John Plambeck, Offset Press Operator
Mohamed Toufali, Director of Computer Operation
5 Years:
Kerstin Cruger, Public Service Team Assistant

Barbara N. Lindsley received special recognition for her 33 years of service to area school and public libraries. Barbara will retire at the end of the year from the MHLS Health Information Project.

President von Bergen thanked departing MHLS Board member Ronald Oppen and presented him with a parting gift.

Josh Cohen addressed the group, sharing two major challenges faced by MHLS and its members and how the upcoming MHLS Plan of Service (2007 - 2011) will address these challenges:
-MHLS will work to develop a coordinated marketing plan to help find ways to educate the public about what we have, help community leaders see the value of libraries to their community, and show people that the small amount of tax money spent on libraries brings huge returns.
-MHLS will offer even more continuing education in the coming years to help member library staff handle technology changes, find answers quickly, and deal with a wide range of patron attitudes and behavior.

Patricia Miller, Chair of the Trustee Services Committee, then presented certificates to the recipients of the County Trustee Success Story Awards. The trustees awarded $200 for their libraries were:
Columbia County: Robert Soto, Hudson Area Association Library
Dutchess County: John Bickford, Hyde Park Free Library
Greene County: Suzanne Palmer, D.R. Evarts Library (Athens)
Putnam County: Donald Haney, Kent Public Library
Ulster County: Judy Casimir, Thomas Heffernan, Janice Heffernan, & Joanne Martignoni

Keynote speaker Gerald Nichols' speech, Using Metrics to Market Your Library, urged library trustees to listen to library customers. He cited customer satisfaction as the #1 metric to measure success. He stressed the importance of branding the library and library programs and the significance of making your building an inviting place for library patrons and for all who drive by your building in the community.

Lunch was served in the Catarina de Medici Ristorante and guests enjoyed a period of informal networking and conversation.

 

MHLS Announcements
The following libraries will all receive a grant through the 2006 MHLS Incentive Program to help offset the costs of sending staff to the New York Library Association (NYLA) Conference in November:
Howland Public Library (Beacon)
Brewster Public Library
Cairo Public Library
Julia L. Butterfield Memorial Library (Cold Spring)
Heermance Memorial Library (Coxsackie)
Dover Plains Library
Desmond Fish Library (Garrison)
Hyde Park Free Library
Kent Public Library
Kinderhook Memorial Library
Kingston Library
LaGrange Association Library
Mahopac Public Library
Marlboro Free Library
Patterson Library
Pawling Free Library
Pleasant Valley Library
Poughkeepsie Public Library District
Saugerties Public Library
Town of Esopus Library
Town of Ulster Library

Workshop Postponed: The Graphic Novels @ your Library Workshop scheduled on Wednesday, October 18th in the MHLS Auditorium has been postponed due to a last minute scheduling conflict with the presenter. This program will be rescheduled for sometime next year.

 

Professional Development
Federated Searching Workshop, Tuesday, October 17, 2006 from 9:00am - 1:00pm at the Southeastern NY Library Resources Council located at 21. S. Elting Corners Rd. in Highland, NY. Registration is required for this session as space is limited to 30 people. There is no fee for this program. Contact: Judy Fishetti at judyf@senylrc.org or call SENYLRC at 845.883.9065. Online Registration: http://reg.senylrc.org/index.html. WALDO and SENYLRC are co-sponsoring an upcoming vendor demonstration on Federated Searching, they have invited both WebFeat and Serials Solutions to present their federated search tools.

This Fall at the Poughkeepsie Public Library District's Foundation Center Cooperating Collection:
- Prospect Research Presentation
Friday, November 3, 2006, from 2:00-4:00pm
Learn how to raise money from individuals for your nonprofit organization. The Director of Vassar College's Development Office will present the basics of Prospect research - the process of identifying persons who may be interested in giving to your organization.
- Foundation Directory On Line Workshops
Friday, October 20, 2006 from 10:00am - 12:00pm
Wednesday, December 13, 2006, from 10:00am - 12:00pm
Learn to use Foundation Directory Professional On Line, the Foundation Center's complete searchable database of over 80,000 grantmakers in the U.S., and leave the workshop with a list of potential funders for your organization. Bring ideas for searches. You may print search results or download the results onto a USB flash memory.

All workshops take place in Adriance's Meeting Room in the Library at 93 Market Street. Pre-registration is required. To pre-register for the workshops use the Programs & Events Adult cyber-calendar at http://www.poklib.org or contact Joy Matusiewicz at jmatusiewicz@poklib.org or 845.485.3445 x3324.

 

Resource Sharing & Millennium
Teleforms FAQs: Automated Systems Manager Laurie Shedrick has prepared the current pricing information for Teleforms along with the answers to some of the Frequently Asked Questions she's had: http://midhudson.org/resource/tforms.pdf

 

Programming
A new Book Club in a Bag (BCB) kit is available thanks to the Dover Plains Library: The Ladies of Garrison Gardens. Complete with 10 copies of the title and discussion questions to help any book group get started. For a complete list of available titles visit one of these links:
BCB for Library Staff: http://midhudson.org/program/BCB/staff.htm
BCB for Library Patrons: http://midhudson.org/program/BCB/main.htm

Member Libraries are welcome to submit items of interest and job openings to the MHLS Bulletin: bulletin@midhudson.org. The MHLS Bulletin is available on line at http://midhudson.org/bulletins/main.htm.