Friends Support Group

The Friends Support Group will meet on Wednesday, January 30th from 5:00 - 7:00pm at the Starr Library in Rhinebeck (68 West Market St.). [Snow date: January 31st] Directions are included on the backside of the workshop announcement.

Topic: Recruitment, Retention & Revitalization

This support group has been created as a forum for member library Friends to come together and share information. Issues, problems and solutions will be on the table for all to learn from each other.

Discuss challenges and solutions
· Share your questions, solutions and tips
· Learn from your peers

Registration is required. Register one of 2 ways:
1) http://midhudson.org, then click on Calendar
2) Call 845.471.6060 x46

Bad weather the day of the event?
Find out if there is a cancellation by calling 845.471.6060 x29.

MHLS Announcements
Delivery Department Reminders:
· Write out the full name of the library location you are routing an item to. There are many overlapping initials (examples: “P.V.” could be Putnam Valley or Pleasant Valley; “Morton” could be Pine Hill or Rhinecliff...)
· Please remember to attach the "Non-Bin Form" to any materials going through MHLS Delivery Service that do not fit in the regular bins. The form is available on the MHLS Delivery Department site: http://midhudson.org/department/delivery/member_library_responsibilities.htm. Such items would be computers, children's department materials, audio-visual equipment, rotating collections, Book Club in a Bag kits, etc. that do not fit in the bin. Materials will not be picked up unless this form is attached.
· Provide a clear path to the boxes in your building.
· Let MHLS know if your locks or alarm codes change.
· Shovel your walkways for delivery.
Questions can be directed to Tom Finnigan, Delivery Supervisor at x44 or tfinnigan@midhudson.org.


MHLS Libraries
Ulster County Libraries’ Advocacy Efforts Pay Off: The Ulster County Legislature passed a 2008 budget that included $75,000 for libraries. The funding for libraries has been in question over the past two years due to the funding woes of the county, but library advocates in the county stepped up and made the case for support, saving libraries from zeroing out in the budget. The libraries coordinated communication to the community and county legislators about how county funds given to libraries are used – doing demonstrations of the electronic resources purchased, testifying to the Ways and Means Committee and adding a section to the UCLA page about the funding: http://www.ulsterlibraries.org/budget.htm.

The Howland Public Library in Beacon has received a $1,000 grant from the Ann and Abe Effron Fund through the Community Foundation of Dutchess County. The grant will be used to help fund a teen program.

The Plattekill Library has received $500 grant from the Dutchess County Arts Council for a Butterfly Art & Storytelling workshop to be held for five weeks next summer. The program will be conducted by Maraleen Manos-Jones, a Butterfly expert, who will conduct the classes for young children. They will learn about the different stages of butterflies through art and music, cumulating with a performance for family, friends, and the community.

Professional Development
The Columbia/Greene/Ulster Youth Services meeting will be held on Monday, January 14 from 10-12 at the Palenville Branch Library. Attendees will share ideas, new titles they've purchased, hear what's new at MHLS and network to better serve young people in these 3 counties. Please register on the MHLS calendar at http://www.midhudson.org/evanced/lib/eventcalendar.asp

Your public library can grow its own librarians with a little help from PLA’s pilot program, the “Grow Your Own @ your library” Institutional Scholarship. The Public Library Association (PLA) will award nine public libraries with a lump sum of $8,000 each to be distributed to as many of their employees as they choose for the purpose of working toward obtaining an MLS - $6,500 is to be used directly for payment of tuition at an ALA-accredited library school; $1,500 is to be used to support attendance for one or more of the selected scholarship recipients to attend a PLA-sponsored continuing education event such as the 2009 PLA Spring Symposium. Learn more at
http://plablog.org/2007/11/grow-your-own librarians.html

Programming
EZ Library Programs for All Ages
Do a search on Google for "library programs" and the MHLS EZ Library Program Database comes up first! Now with over 620 programs this searchable database has become popular all over the country. [http://midhudson.org/ezprogram/]

Programs are submitted by library staff who have implemented the program or by system staff who have heard about a great program from outside the area. Programs are "cataloged" with information like topic, audience, cost, supplies needed, books and websites that would help with the planning of the workshop, etc.

You can search the database by topic, audience, program type, cost or a combination of the four. You can also search by keyword. There are programs for all ages in the database - not just kids programs! Here are some of the newest ideas from the database:

For adults: eBay Day at the Library, Collecting Memories, Master Gardener Presentations (from each county's Cooperative Extension), Resource Fair for Early Child Educators, Expectant Parents Program

For families: Participatory Stories, Earth Day, Quilts-Black History Month, Pet Shows at the Library, Chocolate Day

For Seniors: Housing Options for Seniors, Arthritis Self-Help Course, Conversation Salons

For teens: Manga Drawing Club, Runescape Tournaments, Urban Legends, Useless Trivia Game

This is just a (very) small selection of what you'll find when you search the MHLS EZ Library Program Database. Discover something perfect for your community today!

Chase’s Calendar of Events (ISBN: 978-0-07-148903-4), available in print and on CD-ROM, offers lots of idea for planning programs around. The Marketing Library Services Newsletter highlights a few selections each issue and in their November/December 2007 edition noted that:
· The United Nations has declared 2008 the International Year of Planet Earth. Great reason to jump on the bandwagon, learn more at http://www.un.org.
· January 2008 is National Clean Up Your Computer Month – patrons will love you if you address this often bewildering subject before their computer crashes…
· February is National Bird Feeding Month, great time to display books related to birds! http://www.birdfeeding.org
· February 3-9 is Children’s Authors & Illustrators Week: http://www.childrensauthorsnetwork.com

Youth Services
New York’s 2007 Statewide Summer Reading Program Reaches 1.35 Million Children & Teens! State Librarian and Assistant Commissioner for Libraries Janet M. Welch announced that over 1.35 million children and teens throughout New York State participated in the 2007 New York State Summer Reading Program at their local libraries. This represents a statewide increase of 10% over 2006 and is on target for the participation goal of 1.5 million by 2010. Kids are reading for fun during the summer months and that summer reading is associated with academic success. Studies have shown that children who read during their summer vacation perform better in the fall when school resumes. The New York Statewide Summer Reading Program website links to studies that support the value of summer reading: http://www.nysl.nysed.gov/libdev/summer/research.htm

Great Interactive Software for Kids: The Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC), a division of the American Library Association (ALA), has selected its Fall 2007 list of Great Interactive Software for Kids (GISK), which recognizes high-quality computer programs and digital media for children 14 years of age and younger. The selected products are:
· 1701 AD. www.aspyr.com. Ages 10 and up.
· Anime Studio. www.e-frontier.com. Ages 10 and up.
· Big Brain Academy. www.nintendo.com. Ages 6 and up.
· Collage Machine. www.protozone.net. All ages.
· Crazy Machines 1.5. www.viva-media.com. Ages 6 and up.
· KaleidoDraw. www.protozone.net. All ages.
· Kaleidopix. www.protozone.net. All ages.
· Nancy Drew: The Creature of Kapu Cave. www.herinteractive.com. Ages 10 and up.
· Sid Meier's Railroads. http://firaxis.com. Ages 6 and up.
· Snapshot Adventures: Secret of Bird Island. www.largeanimal.com. All ages.

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.