ilovelibraries.org

New ALA Advocacy web site targets public audience.

The web site strives to increase the visibility of today's library, as well as about the issues facing libraries in communities throughout the country.

"The idea behind ilovelibraries.org is simple." said 2006-2007 ALA President Leslie Burger, who made the Web site one of the top initiatives of her presidential year. "We want to reach out to people who use and love libraries and offer them a chance to get involved in the health and vitality of America's libraries."

The site will contain a variety of features designed to attract - and hold the attention of -- library lovers of all kinds: reviews of new and award-winning books, fast-breaking library news, library spotlights, a "find a library" feature, blogs and news feeds, as well as library related links on YouTube and flickr. Interactive software will allow users to share their library stories, connect with other library lovers, and contact Congress about library issues.

MHLS Announcements
MHLS will be closed Wednesday, July 4th. There will be no deliveries.

MHLS Libraries
The Big Read comes to two MHLS member libraries! The Hudson Area Association Library and the Poughkeepsie Public Library District have been chosen by the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) to take part in the second cycle of Big Read Grants. The Big Read, launched nationally in October 2006 by the NEA, in partnership with the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) and Arts Midwest, encourages literary reading by asking communities to come together to read and discuss one book. Mrs. Laura Bush is the honorary chair of the Big Read. The Hudson Area Association Library will facilitate the Big read around Fahrenheit 451 and the Poughkeepsie Public Library District chose To Kill a Mockingbird. “By joining the Big Read, these cities and towns are showing that reading is necessary to the cultural, civic, even economic fabric of their communities," said NEA Chairman Dana Gioia. "Yes, this is about reading, but it's also about getting people to leave their homes and offices, unplug themselves for a few hours, and enjoy the pleasures of literature with their neighbors." The Big Read is the Largest Federal Literature Program Since The W.P.A. To learn more, visit http://www.neabigread.org/.

Third and fourth grade students of Mrs. Hopf, Ms. Smith, Mrs. Burkhalter, and Mrs. Kleinke at Cahill Elementary School in Saugerties held an all day read-a-thon to benefit the children's collection of the Saugerties Public Library. Stephanie McElrath, children's library program assistant, visited the school during the read-a-thon and promoted the 2007 Summer Reading Program, Get a Clue@ Your Library!

The Chatham Public Library has used a grant of $500 from the Wassermann-Streit Y’diyah Memorial Fund of Berkshire Taconic Community Foundation to buy films and books relating to the Jewish tradition.

Midge Quick, director of the NorthEast-Millerton Library was nominated for the first ever BookPage Spotlight Award. BookPage is a monthly book review distributed nationwide by more than 2,000 bookstores and libraries [http://www.bookpage.com/].


Marketing, Advocacy & Funding
Reaching the local Spanish-speaking Community: The free monthly publication “La Voz” (The Voice) is a widely distributed Spanish newsletter, published by Bard College and edited by Mariel Fiori. La Voz contains news articles, advocacy issues and creative writing. Ms. Fiori has invited member libraries to announce their programs or events in La Voz. Submissions may be in English or Spanish. The deadline for submissions is the 20th of the month prior to publication. If your library would like to publicize an event or program in La Voz, you may email Mariel Fiori at fiori@bard.edu, or mail to: La Voz, Bard College, P.O. Box 5000, Annandale-on-Hudson, NY 12504.

Reference & Collection Development
Central Library Stumped pads are now available through the MHLS Online Materials Request Form: The MHLS Central Reference Library, the Adriance Memorial Library (AML) of the Poughkeepsie Public Library District, provides reference support for all member libraries. Member libraries or patrons can call the AML reference desk for help with reference questions after exhausting the resources in your library.
1. AML reference librarians are available Monday-Thursday 9-9, Friday and Saturday 9-5, and Sunday 1-5. Call 845.485.3445 x3303, or 800.804.0092.
2. AML provides Stumped pads to member libraries with handy tear-off sheets that provide patrons directly with the contact information for the AML reference desk. Request additional Stumped pads through the MHLS Online Material Request Form at http://midhudson.org (or get there directly at http://midhudson.org/forms/material_request.htm)
3. For more in-depth reference support, patrons may submit their request on a Subject Search Form, which is sent to AML by their home library. These forms are also available through the Online Material Request Form.


Programming
Follow the Clues! Seventeen MHLS member libraries are doing “letterboxing” (also known as “The Outdoor Treasure Hunting Pastime) as part of their summer reading programs. Here's the basic idea:
· Someone hides a waterproof box containing at least a logbook and a carved rubber stamp, and perhaps other goodies.
· The hider then usually writes directions to the box (called "clues" or "the map"), which can be straightforward, cryptic, or any degree in between. Often the clues involve map coordinates or compass bearings from landmarks, but they don't have to.
· Once the clues are written, hunters in possession of the clues attempt to find the box. In addition to the clue and any maps or tools needed to solve it, the hunter should carry at least a pencil, his personal rubber stamp, an inkpad, and his personal logbook.
· When the hunter successfully deciphers the clue and finds the box, he stamps the logbook in the box with his personal stamp, and stamps his personal logbook with the box's stamp.
· The box's logbook keeps a record of all its visitors, and the hunters keep a record of all the boxes they have found, in their personal logbooks.
Learn more at http://www.letterboxing.org. To see a list of area libraries participating and to read the clues, visit the MHLS Youth Services page: http://midhudson.org/Letterboxing/main.htm

Youth Services
Intellectual Freedom for Kids: ALSC has just released Kids, Know Your Rights! A Young Person’s Guide to Intellectual Freedom. This four-page, full-color, PDF brochure is free to download and speaks directly to kids in grades 5 and up, using simplified, kid-friendly language to tackle such difficult, abstract ideas as challenges to the First Amendment, how censorship affects children, and how they can defend their right to read, privacy and confidentiality, and respecting the opinions of others. Access the brochure online at: http://www.ala.org/ala/alsc/alscpubs/KidsKnowYourRights.pdf.

PAGE 3: "Around the System for June 2007"

PAGE 4: July 2007Calendar: http://www.midhudson.org/evanced/lib/eventcalendar.asp

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.