Quick Answers

Earlier this year over 100 member library staff helped contribute to the Quick Answers for Library Patrons on the Go! web site as part of the Staying Connected II Grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation awarded to the Mid-Hudson Library System.

The goal of the Quick Answers site is to save you time and to help you delight your patrons - even those who are novices to online searching.

Quick Answers [http://midhudson.org/answers/] pools answers to frequently asked reference questions. Rather than each individual library maintaining a list of links they refer to, now we have a holding pen for the wisdom of hundreds of library staff in the MHLS service area that we can all benefit from. Answers are currently organized into four categories:
· Smart Buying
· Healthy Living
· Personal Finance, Business & Legal
· Find a Job

From the Quick Answers site you can also access the MHLS Central Reference Library’s Useful Links, the MHLS Health Information Project’s Consumer Health Resources, Resources for Living in the Hudson Valley and Career & Employment Information from the MHLS Workforce project and the Internet Public Library.

We welcome submissions from library staff of a new FAQ to consider adding. Submit at http://midhudson.org/answers/staff.htm

If you manage your own web page and want to add this resource you can grab the graphic shown above from the list of standardized buttons and graphics available on the MHLS web site at: http://midhudson.org/admin/web/buttons.htm [Members with MHLS-managed web sites already have this resource linked to their web site.]


MHLS Announcements
MHLS will be closed Monday, November 12th. There will be delivery.

Reminder: November 15th is the deadline to send in claims under the MHLS Incentive Program for payment in the next incentive checks.
-Two changes have recently been made to this year's Incentive Program thanks to the one-time funding increase received from NYS:
- If your library chose Package B, please be aware that the grant amount for Programming support has been increased to $250 per library for this year.
- Those libraries which had submitted a letter of intent to attend this year’s NYLA conference, but have not submitted proof of attendance yet need to do so before November 15th. The total amount awarded has been increased to $5,000 and will be equally divided among those libraries.
Please call Doris Formby at extension 10 or e-mail to dformby@midhudson.org if you have any questions or need help filing your claim. You may also look up information and print claim sheets at http://midhudson.org/admin/budgeting/main.php

Professional Development
Miss any recent workshop @ MHLS? Request the handouts:
- Leading, Maintaining & Reinvigorating a Book Discussion Group
- Marketing Made Simple
- Endowing Your Library
- FRIENDS MATTER
- Financial Management
Email Rebekkah at rsmith@midhudson.org to request any of these handouts.

Youth Services
The 2008 Summer Reading manuals will be in the MHLS delivery boxes the week of November 5th. The children’s and teen manuals are bundled together, plus there are 2 CDs with clipart and other information. Each library has already received a copy of the Highsmith/Upstart incentive catalog. If you have questions, contact Kerstin Cruger at kcruger@midhudson.org. [2008 themes: Catch the Reading Bug (kids) and Metamorphosis @ Your Library(teens)]

More than 6,000 teen readers across the country chose “New Moon” by Stephenie Meyer as their favorite book in the annual Teens' Top Ten (TTT) vote, sponsored by the Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA). The online vote took place during Teen Read Week, October 14-20, with the second entry in Meyer's popular vampire romance series winning easily. 2007 Teens' Top Ten:
1. New Moon by Stephenie Meyer (Hachette Book Group USA/Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, 2006).
2. Just Listen by Sarah Dessen (Viking Children's Books, 2006)
3. How to Ruin a Summer Vacation by Simone Elkeles (Flux, 2006).
4. Maximum Ride: School's Out - Forever by James Patterson (Hachette Book Group USA/Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, 2006).
5. Firegirl by Tony Abbott (Hachette Book Group USA/Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, 2006).
6. All Hallows Eve (13 Stories) by Vivian Vande Velde (Harcourt, 2006).
7. Life As We Knew It by Susan Beth Pfeffer (Harcourt, 2006).
8. River Secrets by Shannon Hale (Bloomsbury, 2006).
9. Bad Kitty by Michele Jaffe (HarperCollins, 2006).
10. Road of the Dead by Kevin Brooks (Chicken House, 2006).

Administration & Management
The Fall 2007 edition of JLAMS, the Journal of the Library Administration and Management Section of the New York Library Association is now available online at
http://www.nyla.org/index.php?page_id=62. JLAMS provides a valuable outlet for the dissemination of articles, academic papers and essays of interest to administrators and managers of all types of libraries. Also available on the LAMS web site:
· LAMS del.icio.us Bookmarks List
· Handouts from the 2007 LAMS NYLA Presentations:
- Don’t Want to Talk About It: Uncomfortable Management Situations (co-presented by Josh Cohen, MHLS Executive Director)
- Creative Communication: Using Web 2.0 as a Management Tool (co-presented by Frank Rees, Assistant Director of the Howland Public Library in Beacon & Rebekkah Smith Aldrich, MHLS Coordinator of Member Information)
- Talking “IT”
- Creating Effective Teams
JLAMS and LAMS NYLA Conference offerings are made possible by NYLA membership. LAMS receives funding based upon the number of people who select LAMS as their primary NYLA section, as well as by those who pay an additional $5.00 to add LAMS as a secondary section. Please keep this in mind when renewing your NYLA membership.

The Joy of Computing Cookbook from the MaintainIT Project is now available free for download online at: http://maintainitproject.org/cookbooks
Chapters include:
Meal Plan 1: Focusing on Your Ingredients for Success - Learn how to develop a technology plan that keeps your computers humming and your patrons happy.
Meal Plan 2: Meat and Potato Patron Computers - Learn practical maintenance techniques, such as how to lock down your computer and keep them virus free!
Meal Plan 3: Volunteers for the Kitchen - Learn how volunteers can improve the services you provide!
Meal Plan 4: Computer Culinary Academy - Getting the Technology Training You Need - Training is more than a class. Learn how to develop a plan to keep your staff on top--and ahead--of your technology.
Meal Plan 5: Future Menus for Library Technology Services - Take time to consider the future and your library's place in it.
Appendix A: Library Spotlight--Tips & Techniques - Read real stories from libraries on creative ways to keep computers available to the public.
This resource is linked on the MHLS web site at: http://midhudson.org then Administration & Management then Technology. Thanks to Kinderhook trustee, Christian Sweningsen for sharing this resource.

Job Openings
The Grinnell Library of Wappingers Falls, is seeking a part-time circulation desk clerk to work approximately 15 hours per week. Requirements: Applicants should possess strong customer service skills, be comfortable using computers, have a high school diploma, and the ability to work a flexible schedule which includes morning, evening and weekend shifts. Hourly wage commensurate with experience. Please send a resume and cover letter to Grinnell Library, Attention: Library Director, 2642 East Main Street, Wappingers Falls, NY 12590, or e-mail glsearch@gmail.com

PAGE 3: "Around the System for October 2007"

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

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.

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.