Rally the Troops!

The New York Library Association (NYLA) will be holding two rallies to oppose further cuts in Library Aid.

The first rally will occur at the NYLA Conference on Saturday, November 8th at 12:15 (right before the Farewell Luncheon) outside the Saratoga Springs Civic Center. Local media will be invited and a press release sent out to get coverage in the Sunday papers.

The second rally will occur on Tuesday, November 18th at 1:00pm, the day of the scheduled Special Legislative Session in Albany. Paperwork has been submitted to the NYS Office of General Services to reserve the East Capitol Park/Steps to hold the rally as well as a public demonstration permit from the City of Albany. MHLS will attempt to facilitate carpooling that day so let us know if you are planning to go: rsmith@midhudson.org.

Also NYLA will be posting a letter on their website [http://www.nyla.org] for library advocates to send/fax/email to their Legislators and the Governor opposing any further cuts in library funding. Attendees at the NYLA Conference will have an opportunity to use the Internet Cafe to send letters while they are in Saratoga Springs.

MHLS will be arranging meetings in legislative district offices between now and November 18th urging legislators to oppose any further cuts in library funding citing three main talking points:

1) Library usage is up and now is not the time to cut library funding.
2) Library aid has already been cut twice and now it is time for others to shoulder their fair share of the burden.
3) Libraries are part of educational system and are providing lifelong learning to people of all ages as we strive to improve student academic achievement and retool our workforce for the Digital Age economy.

NYLA's 2009 Budget Priorities can be found at http://www.nyla.org/ under Headlines.

Professional Development
Training for New Staff: Register now for the November 3rd workshops: Orientation for New Library Staff and Millennium Circulation Essentials at the MHLS Auditorium (105 Market Street, Poughkeepsie). Both programs are designed for new library staff and volunteers, but open to all who would like to attend. Register through the MHLS web calendar at http://calendar.midhudson.org
10:00am - noon: Orientation for New Library Staff
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 library structure of NYS
· 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
Presented by Josh Cohen - MHLS Executive Director, Rebekkah Smith Aldrich - MHLS Coordinator of Member Information and Merribeth Advocate - MHLS Outreach & Education Coordinator.
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1:00 - 3:00pm: Millennium Circulation Essentials
This workshop provides introductory, baseline information about Millennium including common circulation & 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, fine history
· Printing notices: Pages, bills, overdues, hold pickup
· Entering items at the circ desk
· Neat tricks-things to save you time and work!
Presented by Laurie Shedrick, MHLS Automated Systems Manager

Resource Sharing & Millennium
Your Pick-Up Location Rules! The Director's Association has voted to change the way we determine how long an item checks out, how much the daily fine is (if any), what the maximum fine will be (if any), and how many times it can be renewed: It will soon be defined by where the item is checked out and not by who owns it. This should make things simpler for library staff and patrons. Here's what you need to know to prepare for this upcoming change:
· Since all items checked out at your library will use your rules, items sharing the same itype will be due on the same day. You mostly only need to know your own rules!
· If your library does not normally circulate a certain itype (wii games for example), a generic rule will be in place to accommodate that. (see the attached list).
· Labeling may not be correct. For example a short loan book may circulate 14 days at the owning library and be labeled as such, but if your loan rules allow only 7 days the item will check out for only 7 days.
· If your library does not charge daily late fees, items checked out at your location will no longer accrue fines.
· Circulation notices (Overdues and Bills) will be based on and reflect the practices of the lending agency.
You can review your library's loan rules in Millennium by clicking on the top toolbar, then select Admin then Parameters then Circulation then Loan Rule Determiner table. Locate your library's 3-letter code and then look for the itype. VIP, or ptype 4, patrons have different rules (no fines) applied. Look up the rule # by choosing loan rules instead of loan rule determiner table. Questions? Contact Laurie at x21 or lshedrick@midhudson.org. [Please note: This feature will be turned on very soon. Notification will be posted to the Millennium list.]

New Scopes Available in the Online Catalog: Our catalog has been "re-scoped." This means that we have new indexes that we can search the catalog by. The new scopes include: All Adult, All YA, All Juv & YA, Videorecording, Print Material, Audio Books and Mixed Media, and available online. There are some data entry issues to be cleared up before these indexes get sorted to their more logical homes on the list (near the top), so for now you can locate them at the bottom of the "Locations" drop down list in the online catalog.

2009 Closed Dates: Please submit your 2009 closed dates. These include all scheduled closings for holidays, staff development, repairs, or any other time your circulation services are suspended. The dates should be submitted by the last week of
November in order for Millennium to calculate your due dates accurately. Submit the dates to Laurie Shedrick: email lshedrick@midhudson.org; Fax: 845.454.5940 or in the delivery to MHLS Attn: Laurie Shedrick.

Marketing, Advocacy & Funding
"Charitable giving usually dips during recessions, but it doesn't fall as sharply as the economy. People who are able to give more will double what they gave last year, knowing others won't be able to contribute."
- Claire Gaudiani of the Heyman Center for Philanthropy and Fundraising at New York University ["The New Face of Giving, USA TODAY, 10.7.08]

Job Openings
The Pleasant Valley Library is looking for a part time bookkeeper, roughly 6 hours a week, $15/hour. Duties include writing checks, making deposits, and a familiarity with QuickBooks for data entry and reports. Please contact library director Daniela Pulice via email at danielapulice@hotmail.com

The Grinnell Library located in the Village of Wappinger's Falls, is seeking a Library Office Assistant to work approximately 20-25- hours per week. Job Description: The Library Office Assistant under the direction of Library administrative staff will work to maintain the organization and orderliness of the director's office and will be engaged in the following activities: accounts receivable, file maintenance, scheduling and payroll as well as other administrative support tasks as needed. Some direct interaction with patrons at the circulation desk and/or reference desk is required. Applicants must have the ability to work a flexible schedule including evenings and weekends. Requirements: Applicants must have high school diploma and strong computer skills (Microsoft Office Suite). Previous office and or library experience a plus. Salary based on experience. Please send a resume with a cover letter that includes the names of three professional references to Grinnell Library, Attention: Library Director, 2642 East Main Street, Wappingers Falls, NY 12590, or e-mail glsearch@gmail.com

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.