Mango Goes Live

HOMEACCESS now includes Mango Languages online language-learning system. Mango is free of charge to patrons, and offers a "fun, fast and convenient" solution to our community's growing language learning needs.

Mango's online language learning system focuses on teaching actual conversation skills for a wide variety of languages. Each lesson combines real-life situations and audio from native speakers with an easy-to-follow interface and simple, clear instructions. Because it's completely web based, library patrons can learn anywhere they have an internet connection - at the library, a coffee shop, or even at home in bed. Mango claims patrons will be speaking a new language after just one lesson!

Mango Languages currently offers 12 language courses: Brazilian Portuguese, Spanish, Japanese, French, German, Italian, Greek, Russian, Mandarin Chinese, ESL for Polish speakers, ESL for Spanish speakers, and ESL for Brazilian Portuguese speakers.

Bookmarks to promote this new resource to your patrons are included in this week's delivery to your library along with this issue of the Bulletin.

MHLS Announcements
MHLS will be closed Friday, July 3rd, there will be deliveries on this day. There will be no deliveries on Saturday, July 4th.

Professional Development
Be an "Emerging Leader": American Library Association (ALA) is now accepting applications for the 2010 class of Emerging Leaders. The program is designed to enable approximately 100 library workers to get on the fast track to ALA and professional leadership. Participants are given the opportunity to work on a variety of projects, network with peers and get an inside look into the ALA structure and activities. The deadline to apply is July 31st. Application: http://www.ala.org/cfapps/emergingleaders/

Marketing, Advocacy & Funding
The MHLS Friends Support Groups's Fundraising Idea Exchange, held last week @MHLS, was a lot of fun! Friends from 8 groups came together and shared what has worked in their community and ideas they are considering. A great moment at the meeting was the story of the Hyde Park Free Library's Friends Group who, after hearing the idea at a MHLS Friends Support Group (FSG) meeting last year, tried a Moveable Feast event modeled after the Friends of the Heermance Memorial Library (Coxsackie)'s event. This event has people hosting dinners for 6-8 in their homes, tickets are sold ($40/per person); the ticketholders gather together at the library or a designated (beautiful home) location to get started with appetizers and find out their "table assignment" for dinner. After dinner they meet up at the library for dessert. The Hyde Park Free Library cleared $3,000 through this event earlier this year. To see a list of ideas generated at the FSG meeting visit the MHLS Fundraising Resources page: http://midhudson.org Marketing, Advocacy & Funding then Fundraising or get there directly at http://midhudson.org/funding/fundraising/ideas.htm

Reference & Collection Development
HOMEACCESS Webinar Rescheduled: This NOVELny online training sessions may be viewed for free from your computer. Registration is required: http://novelnewyork.org/training.php#online
Health and Wellness Resource Center Database: July 14, 2009 from 10:00 - 11:00am OR August 3 from 2:00 - 3:00pm: This training covers GALE Health & Wellness Resource Center, which has become the "go-to" medical reference in libraries everywhere by providing easy-to-find answers via an intuitive and customizable interface. The new and updated Health & Wellness Resource Center, with its Alternative Health Module, includes even more references, full-text journals and the new Disease Profiler module.

Programming
Earlier this month the Julia L. Butterfield Library in Cold Spring held their annual Big Truck Day. Kids (and a few adults!) climbed onto dump trucks, fire trucks, ambulances, back hoes and more. The library coupled the event with games, prizes and refreshments.

Youth Services
The 2009 NYS Summer Reading Program, "Be Creative," has been officially launched by New York State Education Commissioner Richard P. Mills! "These days, families can't afford to buy all the books they might want to read," said Commissioner Mills. "Kids today need arm loads of books - not just for learning, but for inspiring their creative minds, and just to pass the time on a summer day." Mills noted that the New York Statewide Summer Reading Program has grown significantly over the past decade, reaching more than 1.5 million children at more than 1,100 sites. "Our Summer Reading Program is helping to keep books - and the local public library - at the center of a child's summer life". Community libraries continue to play a major role in fostering literacy, especially for those most in need of assistance in developing literacy skills, according to a 2001 study by the Pennsylvania Library Association. The study also concluded that public library reading programs play an important role in the overall reading achievement of children who otherwise lack access to books and other reading materials in their daily lives.

Trustee Resources
The Summer 2009 issue of Across the Board, the Mid-Hudson Library System's quarterly trustee newsletter was mailed directly to all member library trustees and directors last week. This quarter's issue is a "Guide to the MHLS web site."This issue and an archive of past issues are available at http://midhudson.org Trustee Resources then Across The Board Archives or get there directly at http://midhudson.org/trustee/system/atb.php

Administration & Management
The Small Libraries Roundtable will meet at the Claverack Free Library on Thursday, July 16th from 10:00am - 12:00pm. This users group is designed for the administrators of small libraries (3FTE or less). The purpose of the group is to discuss the issues surrounding running a small library. Our topic at this session will be Collection Development & Acquisitions. The workshop will cover:
- Developing a Collection Your Community Wants
- Collection Management (Inventory, Weeding & Marketing)
- Purchasing Best Practices
Register online at http://calendar.midhudson.org/

Know Your Contractor: The NYS Office of the Attorney General provides tools to make informed decisions when it comes to hiring a contractor. You can search to see which contractors have been subject to legal action, and which contractors have had substantiated consumer complaints filed against them. Additionally, you can access helpful tips that will assist in selecting a reputable contractor, and links to state and county agencies which offer consumer assistance and the ability to check the status of a contractor's license: http://www.nyknowyourcontractor.com/cfmqstaticdocs/

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.