MHLS Turns 50!

The 50th Annual Meeting of the Mid-Hudson Library System will be held on Friday, October 2nd at the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park.

The day will begin with an informational session from 9:00 - 9:30am with Josh, Merribeth and Rebekkah who will be presenting "Meet the New Patron Friendly Online Catalog". At 9:45 a.m. the Business Meeting will begin. This will include the election of three trustees to the MHLS Board, the presentation of staff service awards and recognition of Directors Association Chairs and Steering Committees. In addition, some special programming is scheduled to honor the System's 50 years of service to its member libraries.

Following the conclusion of business, Guest Speaker, Karen Hyman, Executive Director of the South Jersey Regional Library Cooperative, will talk about "Do libraries rock? Some more than others…" Karen has worked in public libraries as a State Library Consultant and as Executive Director of the South Jersey Regional Library Cooperative where she develops services for 600 member libraries. Her 12-step Reinventing Your Library programs have been a feature at every Public Library Association Conference since 2000 and have been presented at library conferences, staff days and trustee workshops in 39 states/provinces in the U.S. and Canada.

Lunch will follow at 11:30am in the Ristorante Caterina De' Medici.

RSVP's for the Annual Meeting are due Friday, September 18th, with payment for up to three (3) attendees per library. Make sure to coordinate with your trustees and staff. A waiting list will be kept. Questions regarding registration should be directed to Doris Formby at ext. 210 or dformby@midhudson.org.

MHLS Libraries
Today in your delivery is a copy of the award winning final report of New York's Spanish Language Outreach program: Spanish Language Outreach Connects New York's Libraries with Communities. In it you will find ideas and success stories from libraries across the State for engaging community leaders, designing new library services and attracting Spanish speakers into public libraries. Eight MHLS member libraries, two MHLS correctional facility libraries and MHLS Outreach & Education Coordinator Merribeth Advocate were highlighted for engaging in a range of activities - from expanding Spanish-language collections, bilingual story hours, ESL classes for adults to hiring bilingual staff, developing bilingual signage in the library and a focus group to reveal very local information about a library's Spanish-speaking community's needs:

- Howland Public Library (Beacon)
- Chatham Public Library
- Kent Public Library
- Kinderhook Memorial Library
- Marlboro Free Library
- Patterson Library
- Plattekill Public Library
- Grinnell Library Association (Wappingers Falls)
- Fishkill Correctional Facility Library
- Greene Correctional Facility Library

The project was funded by the Gates Foundation. This final report, which was prepared by the New York State Library and then made beautiful by our very own Print Services Manager, Deb Begley who did the layout and design, received a 2008 New York State Document Award from the New York Library Association's Government Information Roundtable. More information, including this report in electronic form, is available at http://www.nysl.nysed.gov/libdev/gateslib/spanish/finalrpt.htm.

Marketing, Advocacy & Funding
Sign-up for the Constant Contact Support Group email list - with close to 20 MHLS libraries using Constant Contact as their enewsletter of choice we thought it would be helpful if they have a quick way to shoot out a question to others using the product. To sign-up email Rebekkah Smith Aldrich, MHLS Coordinator of Member Information: rsmith@midhudson.org

Reference & Collection Development
At the last Small Libraries Roundtable, held at the Claverack Library in July, the group discussed WilsonWeb as a collection development and weeding tool. All MHLS member libraries have access to WilsonWeb through the MHLS web site: http://midhudson.org then Reference & Collection Development then WilsonWeb, or get there directly at http://midhudson.org/collection/main.htm.
Contact Sue Hermans, Central Reference Library Services Coordinator for the Poughkeepsie Public Library District for the ID/password for WilsonWeb: shermans@poklib.org.

Tips from Sue for using WilsonWeb:
Use the Advanced Search page and select the lists of core titles and
- Search by Dewey range, reading level, best-selling or best-reviewed; and
- Find titles by topic/genre in fiction, or by subject in non-fiction.
As you select titles, you can read reviews. We have the graphic novel module, so you can do collection development by reading level to separate the adult subject matter from the juvenile.

Included in the WilsonWeb database:

- Public Library Core Collection: Fiction, Selection Guide delivers information on thousands of works of fiction for adults, either written in or translated into English. Entries provide complete bibliographic data, price, a descriptive annotation, notes about related works, and evaluative quotations from a review when available.
- Public Library Core Collection: Nonfiction, Selection Guide lists works published in the United States, or published in Canada or the United Kingdom and distributed in the United States. The database is continuously expanded with recent extensive revisions in the areas of health, science and technology, personal finance, sports, cooking and gardening, and handicrafts. Biography, poetry and literary criticism continue to receive comprehensive treatment. Reference works in all subject fields are included. Entries provide complete bibliographic data, price, subject headings, a descriptive annotation, and evaluative quotations from a review when available, plus information on electronic editions of works where available.
- Graphic Novels Core Collection highlights approximately 2,000 recommended titles with descriptive and evaluative annotations (including review excerpts and awards the title has won), plus cover art. Standards for rating material by age appropriateness are strictly applied, plus all titles are searchable by author, title, subject, genre, and grade level. Entries link to additional review excerpts from Wilson's Book Review Digest Plus database.

Administration & Management
Labor Law Poster: MHLS Business Office Manager Linda Vittone recommends: StateandFederalPoster.com for a space saving labor law poster. You can get just the New York labor law poster ($12.90) or a combined New York State and Federal labor law poster ($18.95).

Job Openings
Columbia Greene Community College is seeking a part-time Technical Assistant Library II (possibly two positions) to work Sundays, 1:00 - 5:00pm and/or every other Saturday, 1:00 - 5:00pm. Responsibilities include: managing the circulation desk, reference work, guiding patrons with the use of online catalog, databases, collection and equipment. Candidate must have Associate's degree, previous experience working in libraries or is currently seeking an MLS, the ability to deal effectively with a wide range of students, college/public personnel, and basis computer skills. $12.70/hour. Send cover letter, resume and contact information of three professional references to: Human Resources, CGCC, 4400 Rte 23, Hudson, NY 12534 or via email HR@sunycgcc.edu

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.