9th Annual Fall Into Books Conference

The 9th Annual Fall into Books Children's and Teen Literature Conference will be held on Friday, November 2, 2007 at the Mt. St. Alphonsus Retreat Center on Route 9W in Esopus.

We are very excited to announce the featured speaker will be the outstanding Richard Peck. His A Year Down Yonder won the 2001 Newbery Medal, and its prequel, A Long Way from Chicago, was a National Book Award finalist and a Newbery Honor Book. In addition, Patricia Eyer, school/public librarian, will speak about using Kamishibai story theater as a gateway to reading. Each participant will take part in two book discussion groups of their choice as well as have an opportunity to buy Richard Peck's books ahead of time or at the conference, to be signed by him. Other local authors who will be present, selling and signing, include Alan Lewis, Karen Orloff and Pam Schembri.

This is a great opportunity for all youth services staff to hear some great speakers, take part in stimulating discussions with colleagues, gather new ideas and generally re-energize themselves networking with other librarians. More information, registration and lodging forms are included in the delivery with this week’s Bulletin and available online through the MHLS Youth Services site, under Dates to Save, at http://midhudson.org/department/youth/main.htm The early bird registration is $55 before August 10, $65 after - a definite bargain. This event is sponsored jointly by MHLS, RCLS and the BOCES School Library Systems from Dutchess, Orange-Ulster, Rockland, Sullivan and Ulster counties.

MHLS Announcements
MHLS is once again offering libraries the opportunity to place bulk orders of delivery slips. This is done twice a year. Libraries can order anywhere from 1,000 – 20,000 through this order form. Forms are due to MHLS, attn: Kerstin Cruger by Friday, June 22nd. The order form is accessible at: http://midhudson.org/action_memos/main.htm)


Marketing, Advocacy & Funding
The MHLS Friends Support Group will have their quarterly meeting at the newly constructed Town of Esopus Library on Wednesday, July 18th from 6:00 – 8:00pm. A tour of the new facility will be offered. The topic of the workshop will be Book Sales - from once a year to on-going to online:
· Get ideas
· Hear from those who have done it
· Discuss and share challenges and solutions
The Town of Esopus Library is located at 128 Canal Street P.O. Box 1167 Port Ewen, NY 12466. A light dinner will be served at this event. Registration is required. Register one of 2 ways:
· http://midhudson.org, then click on Calendar
· call 845.471.6060 x46

Resource Sharing & Millennium
At the June 7th Director’s Association the following Resource Sharing Advisory Committee recommendations were approved:
· Hold pages to be moved after 36 hours, rather than 24.
· A new item status will be created - "Missing in Transit," that member library staff would put in manually after an item was still in transit after 2 weeks if they wish to trap the missing statuses separately.
· Pending holds will be limited to two years. After that they will become an expired hold. This global setting will only affect holds placed after the date implemented. MHLS will remove old holds in the process of editing and deleting bibliographic records.
· The Resource Sharing Standards document will now be updated quarterly, rather than 2x’s a year.

Access the Resource Sharing Standards document at http://midhudson.org then Resource Sharing & Millennium or get there directly at http://midhudson.org/resource/General/RSstandards.htm. Please note that it is to everyone’s advantage that all library staff that work with Millennium be familiar with this document.

Reference & Collection Development
The Spring/Summer 2007 issue of The Central Library Bulletin focuses on helping novice genealogists begin researching their family trees. The Bulletin offers tips for locating the information genealogists ask for most often. The issue provides suggestions for your print genealogy collection, as well as links to the websites most useful to genealogists. Useful Tools and Training Tips will arm your staff with the information they'll need to ably assist those patrons digging for their family roots. A copy is being sent to each library in today’s delivery and is available online at http://midhudson.org then Reference & Collection Development or get there directly at http://midhudson.org/CL/enews/vol1_iss2.pdf

Programming
Grant for Speakers: New York Council for the Humanities - Speakers in the Humanities Program Launched in 1983, the Speakers in the Humanities program brings the best in humanities scholarship to thousands of people at hundreds of cultural organizations in virtually every corner of New York. To host a lecture in your town, just select a topic, contact the Speaker, and apply for funding through the Council. Speakers events must be open to the public and free of charge. If your application is successful, the Council covers the cost of the Speaker's honorarium and travel expenses. How to apply to host a lecture: http://www.nyhumanities.org/speakers/.

Youth Services
2007 ALA Notable Books Banquets for MHLS Libraries: This spring MHLS collaborated with Dutchess, Ulster and Questar BOCES School Library Systems to offer booktalks based on the ALA 2007 Notable Children’s and Teen Books. This event serves several purposes: offers librarians an opportunity to hear about and see these award winning titles; presents a networking opportunity for local school/public librarians; models good book talking techniques; gives librarians input for making sound collection development decisions. The book talks are presented by Randall Enos, Youth Services Consultant at RCLS and Julie Baxter, Director and Head of Youth Services at Moffatt Library in Washingtonville.
· On March 29, over 60 Ulster County librarians and teachers gathered at the Ulster BOCES Conference Center for the Ulster County Notable Book Banquet. Librarians from 3 of the 17 public libraries and teachers and librarians from each school district attended.
· On April 12 in the MHLS Auditorium, librarians from 12 Dutchess County public libraries and 28 school librarians and teachers also heard Randall Enos and Julie Baxter present the ALA Notable Book Talks.
· A third Book Banquet took place on May 16 at the East Greenbush Library. This first attempt to offer the event for the MHLS libraries in Columbia and Greene counties was facilitated by partnering with both Upper Hudson Public Library System and Questar BOCES SLS. Nine public library staff from Columbia and Greene counties attended, along with a few school librarians. All agreed it was an event that should be offered each year.
From these networking opportunities can come some great collaborations, such as sharing storytelling and crafts to entertain students while parents attend parent/teacher conferences, sharing in the creation of up-to-date summer reading lists and generally encouraging young people to love reading year round.

Trustee Resources
“Your Public Vote – A Jumpstart Guide to Success” from the MHLS Getting to Yes Project is now available online and in print through the MHLS Online Material Request Form. This publication is designed for boards considering a public vote or who are looking for new ways to ensure success. While this guide serves as a strong introduction to the public vote process for libraries, a number of additional resources are available to assist member libraries with the particulars of their votes. These are fully described in Part 5 of the guide, Additional Resources Available to Help You with Your Vote. Get to the Online Material Request Form from the MHLS home page: http://midhudson.org (scroll to the bottom) or get there directly at http://midhudson.org/forms/material_request.htm

Administration & Management
Please review your library’s 2006 Annual Report data within the next week before we go to press: http://midhudson.org/annual_reports/2006/main.htm

Job Openings
Need to place a job ad in the MHLS Bulletin? Just email your job ad to bulletin@midhudson.org. MHLS Bulletin editor, Rebekkah Smith Aldrich, can also help you post your job ad to NYLINE and to area library school listservs.

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.