Trustee Essentials

Trustees looking for a clear summary of the essential elements of being a library trustee will want to register for one of the May sessions of
Essential Trustee Duties and Responsibilities.

· Thursday, May 7 from 6pm - 8pm at MHLS Auditorium (105 Market Street, Poughkeepsie)
· Saturday, May 16 from 10am - 12pm at Kingston Library (55 Franklin Street, Kingston)

Presented by Josh Cohen, MHLS Executive Director; Rebekkah Smith Aldrich, MHLS Coordinator of Member Information and Merribeth Advocate, MHLS Outreach & Education Coordinator. This workshop is especially for new board members, but open to all. Library board members looking for essential, baseline information to increase their effectiveness in serving on a library board will benefit from attending this session.

Attendees will learn effective ways to carry out the nine essential library trustee duties and responsibilities (everything the library board does either falls within one of these duties or is done in support of them). Note: these sessions feature the updated content that was introduced last year.

There is a $100.00 incentive grant to libraries if they send at least three trustees in 2009 to a MHLS trustee essentials and/or advanced workshop. The
System will mail checks based on attendance. Registration is required. Register online at http://calendar.midhudson.org or call 845.471.6060
x246. Light food will be served. View the Workshop Notice at http://midhudson.org/ce/2009/trustee_spring.pdf

Comments from last year's attendees about MHLS Essential Trustee Duties and Responsibilities:
- "I expected this to be very dry & frankly a bit boring. Not so. It was absolutely enlightening. Enjoyed it & learned a lot. Thanks so much!"
- "Now I have a much better understanding of my role as a trustee!"
- "This is very helpful to me as a new board member who doesn't even know the questions yet, let alone the answers!"

MHLS Announcements
NYS Budget & Library Funding: As the Bulletin goes to press this week here's what we know about library funding in the NYS budget:
· $8 million cut to library aid.
· $14 million for public library construction is in the budget.
We have heard from a number of our Senators that they are fighting to get the rest of library aid restored so stay tuned…

We are pleased to introduce Robert Drake, the newest addition to the Computer Operations & Technical Support Department! Robert has taken on the position of Network Specialist, a position formerly held by Sanjay Dabhi who has left MHLS to begin his own consulting firm. Robert has a background in network administration and security as well as web development and is energized by the variety of work done through the Computer Operations department on behalf of member libraries. We hope you will welcome him as he gets up to speed on the intricacies of Millennium and library work while answering the Tech Support Hotline!

Reminder - Next week is National Library Week, which is also the week of the Barnes & Noble Bookfair to benefit the MHLS Battle of the Books. Please step up efforts to distribute the Bookfair vouchers to your patrons (shown left). Also, please plan to join in the fun at the stores next week as many of "our own" showcase their talents: Audrey Willis of the Grinnell Library in Wappingers Falls is the lead singer of the MondoRAJ jazz quartet performing Thursday, April 16th at 8:00pm at the Poughkeepsie Barnes & Noble Store. Saugerties trustee (and actor and college professor!), Janet Carter will demonstrate her storytelling skills with "Across the Generations" on Tuesday, April 14th at 4:30pm at the Kingston Barnes & Noble Store. And don't miss our friend and local author Marshall Karp (our keynote speaker at last year's Friends Matter dinner) as he talks about his new book, Flipping Out, on Thursday, April 16th at 7:00pm at the Kingston Barnes & Noble Store - he's a lot of fun and good for a few laughs at least! Don't forget - you can email vouchers or flyers with store events and a voucher to patrons using the links available at http://midhudson.org/bookfair.htm

Two local booksellers have joined in with the idea of a benefit for libraries during National Library Week. They are both offering the same deal as the Barnes & Noble Stores - 10% of proceeds to the Battle of the Books program when you present their voucher - also available at http://midhudson.org/bookfair.htm:

· Merritt Books (Red Hook & Millbrook) http://www.merrittbooks.com/
· Blackwood & Brouwer (Kinderhook) http://www.kinderhookconnection.com/bbbltd/

Marketing, Advocacy & Funding
Shhh…Here's a great little tool for producing a quick pie chart or graph to represent data about your library - it might be designed for kids but we won't tell if you won't!
Source: National Center for Education Statistics: http://nces.ed.gov/nceskids/createagraph/default.aspx

Reference & Collection Development
Reminder: Changes to the database offerings from NOVELny went live last week, which meant changes to the offerings in HOMEACCESS for every member library. The new databases from NOVELny are:
· Grolier Encyclopedia Americana
· Grolier Multimedia Encyclopedia
· Grolier New Book of Knowledge
· Proquest Platinum
Visits http://midhudson.org/collection/databases.htm to see all of the databases every member library has through HOMEACCESS. Included there is information about what NOVELny databases ended, what are continuing and the new ones being added.

Programming
The Mahopac Public Library is offering timely and targeted workshops for their community in April. They are calling it the "Survival Series" and will be presented by the incomparable Helen LiMarzi, the Director of the Job Information Center @Mahopac Public Library: "Overcoming Obstacles When You Lose Your Job - Learn how to assess your skills, determine realistic expectations, market yourself, utilize free resources, battle rejection, and more."

Youth Services
The Flip Out @ Your Library Workshop has been rescheduled to Thursday, April 23rd from 1:00 - 4:00pm in the MHLS Auditorium. Learn how to use the Flip Mino video camera with young people in short filmmaking projects for summer reading. This workshop ties directly to the $300 mini-grant MHLS is offering this year to help you enhance your summer programs so if you wish to apply, attending the workshop is a very good idea. Register online at http://calendar.midhudson.org

Job Openings
The Mid-Hudson Library System is seeking a dynamic, service-oriented individual for the challenging full-time position of Youth Services & Community Connections Coordinator.

Ideal candidate will be responsible for developing programs and practices associated with quality youth services and community-based programs for adults that connect member libraries with their community; developing marketing strategies and materials to promote libraries in the Hudson Valley; and providing expertise, training, and consultative services for member libraries.

An MLS from an ALA-accredited library program is preferred, strong candidates willing to get an MLS may be considered. Salary range: low to mid 40s. Review of applications will begin immediately and continue until the position is filled. Submit letter of interest, resume, and contact information for at least three professional references to: Personnel Manager, Mid-Hudson Library System, 103 Market Street, Poughkeepsie, NY 12601.
http://midhudson.org

PAGE 3: "Around the System - Lobby Day"

PAGE 4: April 2009 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.