Happy Holidays From MHLS

2008 Highlights

Advocacy Success
· 88% of member libraries' budget votes passed
· County funding maintained or increased in all five counties
· One-time $14 million State Aid for Public Library Construction included in NYS Budget
· 20% state funding proposed cut avoided
[Stay tuned: 18% cut proposed for 2009. Save the Date: Library Lobby Day @Albany: Tuesday, March 10th]

Award Winning Projects
· Kids' Catalog wins 2008 Be Innovative Award [http://gigcat.midhudson.org:90/search~S2]
· Health Information Project (HIP) wins 2008 Joseph F. Shubert Library Excellence Award [http://hip.midhudson.org/]

Delivery Department
· The delivery staff saw a 15% increase in volume through the MHLS Delivery system.

Continuing Education
· Adult Programmer Users Group launched
· Roundtable for New Directors launched
· Board Leadership Begins with You
· Helping Your Patrons Easily, Effectively and with Expertise
· Help Your Patrons Find Books They Will Love
· Master the Power of the OPAC!
· Library Security that Works! with Black Belt Librarian Warren Graham
· 1st graduating class in the MHLS area from the Long Island University Palmer Institute for Public Library Organization & Management's Public Library Administrators Program

Trustee Resources
· New Trustee Essentials Curriculum launched
· Over 100 trustees from 70% of member libraries attended Trustee Essentials
· Advanced Trustee Sessions: Ten Obstacles to Board Effectiveness
· More than 60 new sample policies were added to the MHLS Sample Public Library Policies & Policy Development Tips page in the Trustee Resources area of midhudson.org
· Across the Board got back to basics with issues on: Roles & Responsibilities, Open Meetings Law & Freedom of Information Law, Community Communications, and The Worth of Your Library.

Millennium
· New release results in customizable delivery slips and hold shelf slips
· Due dates are now determined by where a patron picks up their items
· New scopes added for YA, Adult and special material types
· Patrons can access full-text magazine and newspaper articles found in HOMEACCESS through the OPAC
· New itype for "Gaming" added
· Top Ten Data Entry Errors training attended by 97% of member libraries

Youth Services
· Over 100 teens from 15 member libraries representing all five counties participated in the 4th annual Battle of the Books
· 10th Annual Fall into Books Children's and Teen Literature Conference
· Gaming mini-grants and workshop offered for the Summer Reading Program
· Workshop highlights: Notable Book Banquets in Dutchess, Putnam and Ulster Counties, 2nd Annual Table Talks, Serving Homeschool Families, Connecting Boys with Books workshop with Michael Sullivan & Better Book Discussions for Children and Teens workshop

Marketing & Programs
· Building Your Base Toolkit Launched [http://midhudson.org/byb/], highlights include:
· 4 Steps to Effective Targeting
· Sample targeting materials
· Fresh programming ideas and resources
· Tips for communicating better with your patrons online
· New HOMEACCESS interface launched, including county-based portal versions to help with county funding advocacy
· Newsletter Service for members launched
· Libraries... Here to Help bilingual (double sided: English/Spanish) bookmark
· Friends Recognition Dinner event during National Friends of Libraries week with keynote speaker, author Marshall Karp
· EZ Library Program Database tops 700 programs [http://support.midhudson.org/ezprogram/ezprogram.htm]