Leibell Wins Outstanding Advocate Award

Senator Vincent Leibell is the 2007 recipient of the Outstanding Advocate of Libraries Award from the New York Library Association (NYLA). Senator Leibell has represented the 40th Senate District since 1994, which covers all of Putnam County and parts of Dutchess and Westchester Counties. The Senator serves on the Senate's Subcommittee on Libraries and has been a staunch supporter and friend of libraries both in his district and statewide. Senator Leibell has been a tireless advocate for libraries among his colleagues in the Senate and has been a key player in the Legislature's successful efforts to increase funding for libraries over the past three years.

"I am honored to be the recipient of this award. Libraries are such an integral part of our communities and provide a wonderful resource for all residents to use. I will continue to support not only the local libraries in my district, but all of those throughout the state."-Senator Leibell.

MHLS Announcements
Earlier this month all seven of the correctional facility libraries in the MHLS area met in the MHLS Auditorium to discuss collection development, technology implementation and continuing education plans for the upcoming year. Under the NYS Public Library System Services to State Correctional Facility Libraries Aid Program, MHLS works with the NYS Department of Corrections (DOCS) Library Services and the correctional facility librarians to supplement library services for inmates by providing them with broader access to library materials, services and the statewide library network. These libraries are currently serving a total resident population of over 8,600 inmates.
· Mary Jeanne Perlmutter and Linda Klimchak from DOCS Library Services discussed the installation of new computers in the correctional facility libraries that will be used for Follett cataloging and OPAC stations.
· Correctional facility libraries do not have access to the Internet, so rely on assistance for subject searches and reference questions that cannot be answered from their print collections. Sue Hermans from PPLD attended in support of reference needs.
· Kit Kassel from MHLS ILL Department and Lena Smolon from MHLS Outreach participated in discussions about authors that are popular with inmates and trends in commonly requested materials.
· Merribeth Advocate, MHLS Outreach & Education Coordinator, showed the group relevant materials from a new section of WebJunction that provides resources for Services for Incarcerated People.

MHLS will be closed:
· Thursday, November 22nd: no deliveries
· Friday, November 23rd: there will be deliveries

MHLS Libraries
New Directors:
· Bonnie Snyder is the new director of the Haines Falls Free Library.
· Terry Sennett is the new director of the Clinton Community Library.

Professional Development
Two Workshops for New Staff in December:
1) Orientation for New Library Staff of the year will be offered on Monday, December 17th 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
2) 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. The workshop will cover:
· Patron Records: how, when and why we create patron records
· Checkin / Checkin for the book drop
· Checkout: Dealing with it all - from pop-up messages to missing parts
· Holds: How they work and what you need to know to keep on top of the process
· Fines and fees: How fines work, how to create and add manual fines, waiving fines and fine history
· Printing notices: Pages, bills, overdues, hold pickup
· Entering items at the circ desk
· Neat tricks - things to save you time and work!
Register for each workshop individually through the MHLS web calendar: http://www.midhudson.org/evanced/lib/eventcalendar.asp

Resource Sharing & Millennium
2008 Closed Dates: 2008 will be here before you know it. It is time to get the dates your library will be closed in 2008 in to Laurie [lshedrick@midhudson.org] to be entered into the Millennium closed dates table. The dates must be submitted to MHLS at least four weeks prior to the end of the year for most libraries.

Marketing, Advocacy & Funding
Spanish Media Outlet Contact Info now available on the MHLS Marketing & PR Resources page: http://midhudson.org then Marketing, Advocacy & Funding then Marketing & PR then Media Contacts or get there directly at http://midhudson.org/funding/marketing/media_contacts.htm#spanish

Everyday Advocacy Webinar: Each month the Rural Library Sustainability project presents an hour-long webinar related to the work of sustaining rural and small libraries. On November 29th, at 2:00pm join the project online for Everyday Library Advocacy. “Advocating for your library does not have to be a strategically planned large-scale event. Advocacy can and should happen every day. [Learn] how you can turn your customer service policy, internal and external communication plans, and networking agenda into advocacy tools that work for you every day of the year.” Instructions for joining this free webinar in addition to archives of past webinars at Rural In Focus: http://webjunction.org/do/Navigation?category=13496

Reference & Collection Development
Fall 2007 Central Library Bulletin Focuses on Legal Questions: You can find the new issue of the Central Library Bulletin at http://www.midhudson.org on the Reference and Collection Development page. Or, click on http://midhudson.org/CL/enews/voi1_iss3.pdf to get there directly. The current issue offers information which may help you help your patrons answer their legal questions. The Training Spotlight in this issue highlights OPAC training. If you'd like to schedule training in your library, please contact Sue Hermans, Coordinator, Central Library Services, Poughkeepsie Public Library District at 845.485.3445 x332 or shermans@poklib.org.

New to HOMEACCESS: EBSCO's Science Reference Center, funded by NOVELNY: "Science Reference Center is a comprehensive research database that provides easy access to a multitude of full text science-specific content. Designed to support middle and high school curriculum, Science Reference Center encompasses all disciplines of science. Biology, chemistry, earth, space, life, physical, and environmental sciences are covered as well as health and medicine, science in society, science as inquiry, history of science, technology, scientists, and wildlife. Science Reference Center provides 639 full text titles from reference books, encyclopedias, periodicals, newspapers, biographies and images."
Learn about this database through a NOVELny Online Databases Training Session:
The New York State Library is pleased to announce that online training sessions ("webinars") for the EBSCO Publishing content included in the NOVELny pilot project will be offered at no charge to all libraries. Emphasis will be on Science Reference Center, the newest database to NOVELny, and webinars will cover features and functionalities common to all EBSCO databases. The first two webinars are scheduled for
· January 11, 2008 (Friday) at 1:00 pm EST,
· February 19, 2008 (Tuesday) at 2:00 pm EST.
Pre-registration is required. To register or request further information on the webinars, contact David Fiske at the State Library, Division of Library Development by calling 518.486.4857 or by email at dfiske@mail.nysed.gov.

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.