HIP Wins 2008 Shubert Award

The MHLS Health Information Project (HIP) has won the 2008 Joseph F. Shubert Library Excellence Award. This award is given annually to recognize the achievements of libraries and library consortia in New York State. The award honors libraries or library consortia that have taken significant steps within the past two years to improve the quality of library service to users.

For the past ten years HIP has been providing consumer health and substance abuse prevention information addressing issues of concern to teens, their families, educators and agencies. HIP is funded by the New York State Office of Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Services (OASAS) and in part by Dutchess County government.

HIP Coordinator Bobbi Clapp credits the 17 MHLS member libraries that have served as HIP Centers over the years, "These libraries have helped to facilitate a one-of-a-kind prevention-based program in New York libraries," said Bobbi, "Creating a nonjudgmental environment for teens to help other teens deal with issues important to them has been the key to our success."

Learn more at http://hip.midhudson.org/.

This year's Shubert Award Committee was enthusiastic in its decision to honor the HIP as an excellent example of "the spirit of the Shubert award." The award, along with a check for $1,000 made possible by EBSCO Information Services, will be presented at NYLA's Annual Conference and Awards Banquet in Saratoga Springs.

MHLS Announcements
Friends of MHLS member libraries have been invited to join us for our annual event to thank them for all the hard work they devote to member libraries! This year the FRIENDS MATTER Dinner will be coupled with the quarterly Friends Support Group meeting. Please register for each event separately.

4:00 - 6:00pm: The Friends Support Group will talk about best practices for Friends publicity - bring your brochures, fundraising materials, program flyers and a print out of your web page if you have one! Facilitated by Rebekkah Smith Aldrich, MHLS Coordinator of Member Information.

6:00 - 8:00pm: FRIENDS MATTER Dinner Friends will enjoy dinner on the house as a thank you from the Mid-Hudson Library System!

Special Guest Speaker: Local author Marshall Karp will be in attendance! A dedicated library lover and mystery writer, Marshall will join us at dinner to talk about his experiences as a writer and his love of libraries. Be sure to check out his books: The Rabbit Factory and Bloodthirsty [http://gigcat.midhudson.org/]
Be-A-Character-In-A-Future-Book giveaway! Marshall is offering the chance for an attendee at this year's FRIENDS MATTER dinner to be a character his next book!

Friends should register for one or both of the session using one of the following 3 options:
1. Online: http://calendar.midhudson.org
2. By phone: 845.471.6060 x46
3. Using the registration form enclosed with this week's Bulletin or downloadable online at http://midhudson.org/ce/FSG_FM.pdf

Space is limited so help your Friends register early!
Questions? Contact Rebekkah Smith Aldrich, MHLS Coordinator of Member Information at rsmith@midhudson.org or x39.

Last week each library received two lime green-covered copies of the 2007 Mid-Hudson Library System Statistical Report. An additional copy of the report will be mailed to all Board Presidents this week. If your library would like more than the three copies mentioned above, additional copies may be purchased for $5 each through the form accompanying your copies or through the link at http://midhudson.org/annual_reports/2007/main.htm (scroll to the bottom of the page)

MHLS Libraries
MHLS welcomes Susan Totter as the new director of the Dover Plains Library.

The LaGrange Library was recently featured in the Poughkeepsie Journal for reaching out to "Baby Boomers" in the community. Library director Lisa Karim conducted a Baby Boomer Social to find out from the source what services this generation is seeking, Lisa also used the meeting as an opportunity to promote existing services the library is offering.

The Kinderhook Memorial Library has received four grants recently:
-$1,805 from the Berkshire Taconic Community Foundation's Fund for Columbia County towards buying a new outdoor book return.
-$3,000 in unrestricted funds from the Hudson River Bank & Trust Company Foundation
-$1,300 from the Decentralization Program of the NYS Council on the Arts for a series of performances and workshops at the library and
-$1,000 from Stewart's Holiday Match in support of youth programming

Two other Columbia County libraries also received grants from the Berkshire Taconic Community Foundation's Fund for Columbia County:
· Hudson Area Association Library received $2,000 to develop the Local History Room into a resource that meets the needs of patrons and to make its contents available online.
· Roeliff Jansen Community Library received $3,000 to prepare for building a new library that uses green technology.
The next deadline for grant applications for the Fund for Columbia County is April 1, 2009. For more info go to http://www.berkshiretaconic.org/grantseekers

Resource Sharing & Millennium
SAM Users Group to meet Tuesday, October 21st: Designed for library staff where SAM is currently installed or those interested in implementing SAM. [SAM (Smart Access Management) is software that manages your public computers. Patrons are limited to a determined session time and /or daily time limits. Patrons pre-pay for printing through their patron accounts using SAM.] This instance of the Users Group, presented by Laurie Shedrick, will focus on Troubleshooting SAM in the areas of patron login, printing, display, sessions and other issues attendees bring to the table! Register online for the Tuesday, October 21st session being held at the MHLS Auditorium from 10:00am - 12:00pm: http://calendar.midhudson.org/

Marketing, Advocacy & Funding
New national poll shows library card registration reaches historic high: Three-quarters of library cardholders visited their local libraries in past year. 68 percent of Americans have a library card, up 5 percent since 2006. Survey results indicate that this is the greatest number of Americans with library cards since the American Library Association (ALA) started to measure library card usage in 1990. Other interesting results of this Harris Interactive Poll:
· Almost all Americans (92 percent) say they view their local library as an important education resource.
· Seven of 10 agreed their local library is a pillar of the community (72 percent), a community center (71 percent), a family destination (70 percent) and a cultural center (69 percent).
· Even those who do not have a library card express satisfaction with their libraries. 40 percent are extremely or very satisfied while 21 percent are somewhat satisfied.
[Read more from the survey results at http://www.harrisinteractive.com/harris_poll/index.asp?PID=949]

Trustee Resources
The fall issue of Across the Board, the MHLS quarterly newsletter for Trustees, has been sent to all member library trustees. The topic is "Community Communications" and covers some basics (read: required under NYS Minimum Standards for Public Libraries) along with some simple ways to get the word out about the library as a trustee. Also included in this issue is the On-Demand Consultation & Training menu for trustees from MHLS - available online at http://midhudson.org/trustee/consulting.htm and attached to this week's Bulletin. Access the current issue of Across the Board and all past issues online at http://midhudson.org/trustee/system/atb.php

PAGE 3: On-Demand Consultation & Training menu for trustees from MHLS

PAGE 4: October 2008 Calendar http://calendar.midhudson.org/

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.