Reference Summit 2007

Register now for the MHLS Reference Summit 2007: "Take 2 Aspirin and call your librarian." Thursday, September 27 from 10:00am – 1:00pm (includes lunch), at the Mid-Hudson Library System Auditorium (105 Market Street, Poughkeepsie).

Presented by Jo-Ann Benedetti, who has developed several consumer health reference classes for the National Library of Medicine, which are currently taught across the country. She is the Manager of Information and Outreach Services for the Upper Hudson Library System.

Learn how to respond to health questions from patrons and build your health reference skills! All front desk staff will benefit from attending this presentation.

Bring your information challenges, needs and issues for our roundtable discussion, facilitated by Merribeth Advocate, Outreach & Education Coordinator over lunch.

This Reference Summit is the first of an annual program designed to bring public library front desk staff together to enhance their ability to answer patrons questions, and discuss their needs for support in this area.

Register through the MHLS web calendar at
http://www.midhudson.org/evanced/lib/eventcalendar.asp

MHLS Libraries
Congratulations to the Mahopac Public Library, they have received a grant for $29,659 through the NY State Library Adult Literacy Services Program for 2007-2009. Through their project, Opening Doors: Workforce Empowerment through Literacy Education, the library, in partnership with the Putnam/ Northern Westchester Women’s Resource Center and Literacy Volunteers of Putnam County will deliver a series of workshops for the clients of the Women’s Resource Center. The center’s clients are victims of or witness to domestic violence and/or sexual assault. The workshop series, led by a trained facilitator, will help the clients develop literacy and computer skills, job search strategies, and interview skills so that they can attain a measure of security and independence in their lives

Margaret Menard has been promoted the position of Assistant Library Director II at the Kingston Library. As the Assistant Library Director, Menard will be in charge of the day–to-day public service operations of the library. Menard was hired in November of 2004 as Librarian III, Reference and Technology. In this position, she has redesigned the Library’s Web site, reorganized and improved the local history room, and successfully authored a grant adding current medical books to the Library’s collection. Menard earned her Master of Library Science Degree from Southern State Connecticut University. She will soon enter into a post- Master’s certificate program for a public library administrator’s certificate.

In the middle of June, Philmont Library's Interim Librarian Karen Garafalo challenged the Village of Philmont to “read a ton” during the summer. In just six weeks that challenge was met. Patrons young and old read books and when they brought them back to the Philmont Public library, the books were weighed and a tally made. Villagers could keep track of the increasing weight by checking the sign in front of the library or by watching the animals that came out on the lawn as their weight was met by their weight in books. Mongo the monkey appeared within one day of the challenge, weighing in at 25 pounds. Tarfari the Tiger (300 pounds), Zulu the Zebra (700 pounds) and Jumo the Giraffe (1,200 pounds) followed as Philmont continued to read. The final animal, Embuto the one-Ton Elephant, was gently placed on the lawn by Vonda and Tim Teaney on Tuesday, July 31, 2007, marking the end of a successful Summer Read.

Professional Development
Training for New Staff:
- Orientation for New Library Staff of the year will be offered on Wednesday, September 26th from 10:00am - noon. Designed for new library staff and volunteers, but open to all who would like to attend, this workshop provides introductory, baseline information about working effectively in a public library and in the Mid-Hudson Library System. The workshop will cover:
· The role of the public library in our communities
· How your library fits into the NYS library structure
· Your role as a library representative
· Helping patrons find what they want
· Overview of the online catalog, HomeACCESS databases and interlibrary loan
· System wide resource sharing concepts and issues
- Following the Orientation, Circulation Essentials will be offered from 1:00 - 3:00pm so you can get the basics in Millennium Circulation. Circ Essentials is designed for new library staff, but open to all who would like to attend. This workshop provides introductory, baseline information about Millennium including common circulation and patron data entry tasks.

Register for each workshop individually through the MHLS web calendar: http://www.midhudson.org/evanced/lib/eventcalendar.asp

Marketing, Advocacy & Funding
Did you know that September 30-October 6 is the last week to register to vote in November's U.S. general elections?
· NYS Voter registration forms are available on the NYS Board of Elections web site at http://www.elections.state.ny.us/.
· The Mahopac Library has added this graphic from ALA to their home page:

· Check out the article “Libraries Lead the Way for Voter Registration Services” by Judy Hoffman from the January/February 2006 Marketing Library Services Newsletter to find out how the North Suburban Library System in Illinois ran an award-winning voter registration project: http://www.infotoday.com/mls/jan06/hoffman.shtml

October 14-20 is National Food Bank Week – a great opportunity to have a “food for fines” type of amnesty program. To find food banks in your area, search by zip code at http://www.secondharvest.org. [Source: Marketing Library Services, July/August 2007]

Trustee Resources
The first session of Trustee Essentials for the fall is this Saturday from 10:00am – 12:00pm at the Hudson Area Association Library. The second, and final fall session, will be held on Monday, September 17th from 6:00-8:00pm at the MHLS Auditorium (105 Market Street, Poughkeepsie). Advanced Trustee sessions will be held in October, this year’s topic: Smart Growth for Your Library. Register through the MHLS web calendar at
http://www.midhudson.org/evanced/lib/eventcalendar.asp

Administration & Management
Librarian Salary Survey reports median librarian salary up 2.8 percent: Results from the 2007 edition of the “ALA-APA Salary Survey: Librarian - Public and Academic” and “ALA-APA Salary Survey: Non-MLS - Public and Academic” are now available. Analysis of data from more than 800 public and academic libraries showed the mean salary for librarians with ALA-accredited Master’s Degrees increased 2.8 percent from 2006, up $1,550 to $57,809. The median ALA MLS salary was $53,000. Salaries ranged from $22,048 to $225,000. [Source: American Library Association, http://www.ala.org]

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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.