Advanced Trustee Education

MHLS 2009 Advanced Trustee Education Sessions: How to Deal with the Economic Situation.

Library board members interested in maximizing their value as trustees and increasing the success of their library board will benefit from attending this session. Appropriate for trustees who have been on the board for at least a year.

Hear from your peers how libraries are dealing with the economic situation in important areas including Budget, Programs and Planning. Discuss easy and effective ways to help your library and its patrons make the most of bad times. Facilitated by Josh Cohen - MHLS Executive Director, Rebekkah Smith Aldrich - MHLS Coordinator of Member Information
and Merribeth Advocate - MHLS Outreach & Education Coordinator. Light food will be served.

Three dates to choose from:
-Thursday, October 29, 6:00 - 8:00pm
Mahopac Library (668 Route 6, Mahopac)
-Thursday, November 5, 6:00 - 8:00pm
MHLS Auditorium (105 Market Street, Poughkeepsie)
-Saturday, November 7, 10:00am - 12:00pm
Germantown Library (31 Palatine Park Road, Germantown)

Registration is required. Register online at http://calendar.midhudson.org or call 845.471.6060 x246.

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.

MHLS Announcements
The 2009 New York Library Association Conference was held in Niagara Falls, NY last week. MHLS was well represented:
- Josh Cohen, MHLS Executive Director and 2009 NYLA President, set the theme of Peace, Love & Freedom for the conference.
- DJ Stern, Director of the Woodstock Public Library District was awarded the NYLA Outstanding Service to Libraries Award.
- Gillian Thorpe, Director of the Julie L. Butterfield Library in Cold Spring was a 2009 Dewey Fellow, which means her conference expenses were covered.
- Scott Jarzombek, Head of Youth Services at the Poughkeepsie Public Library District was awarded the Youth Services Section Pied Piper Award for his work at his former library - Albany Public Library - for "Computer Camp 2008."
- Rebekkah Smith Aldrich, MHLS Coordinator of Member Information, is now the 2009-2010 President of the Library Administration & Management Section (LAMS) of NYLA.
- MHLS Staff Presentations are available at http://midhudson.org:
o Building Your Base (&Your Budget) presented by Josh, Merribeth & Rebekkah
o Greening Your Library presented by Rebekkah

MHLS Libraries
Adriance Memorial Library of the Poughkeepsie Public Library District reopened Sunday, October 18th, 111 years to the day since the original dedication of the building. Hundreds of people joined folk singer Tom Chapin and his band for a Grand Opening Celebration this past Sunday. This major expansion project took two years and $15 million to complete. The addition boasts four floors, more than 30 public access computers, self-serve SAM stations to help patrons reserve a seat at the public access computers, a teen area with a big flat panel monitor for gaming and movies, a pre-school learning center, dedicated local history space, quiet study rooms, and face out shelving to help market the collection. MHLS congratulates PPLD Executive Director Tom Lawrence, his assistant directors Lauren Muffs and Janet Huen and the rest of their staff along with the Board of Trustees and the Friends of PPLD on this major accomplishment!

Professional Development
Reminders:
- Dealing with Reference Questions at the Circ Desk: Tuesday, October 27 from 10:00am - 12:00pm at the Germantown Library (31 Palatine Park Road, Germantown)
- HOMEACCESS Databases - a Train-the-Trainer session: Friday, October 30 from 10:00am - 12:00pm at the MHLS Auditorium (105 Market Street, Poughkeepsie)
Register for either session online at http://calendar.midhudson.org/

Resource Sharing & Millennium
Millennium Upgrade: After a rocky start last week we are now running release 2009A version 1.1. The upgrade scheduled for Tuesday, October 20th came a week early and bad files loaded in the preliminary process resulted in an emergency upload of the full release. There are no noticeable changes in this release; they are all behind the scenes. So far the upgrade seems to have added stability in the holds system. Some small issues popped up with transit and holdshelf slips, but they were easily fixed. If you notice any problems, please contact Laurie at 845.471.6060 x 221.

Marketing, Advocacy & Funding
Solutions for Hard Times: Cutting Costs and Improving Library Services - A Library Unconference: Friday, November 20, 2009, 9:00 am - 12:00pm at the Southeastern NY Library Resources Council, 21 S. Elting Corners Rd., Highland, NY 12528. Please register at: http://www.senylrc.org/reg/ Learning from peers is often the best way to learn. The "unconference" format allows the freedom to learn from others in attendance. There is no cost to participants - just time, energy, communication, expertise and engagement. Whoever comes is the right person and whatever happens is the only thing that could have happened. Discussion topics are chosen by the participants the day of the event. Librarians in the region were surveyed as to their top areas of concern when it comes to funding services in tough economic times, the top five responses were:
1) Reference on the cheap
2) Public Relations / Marketing
3) Databases
4) Training / Staff Development
5) Acquisitions / Collection Development
Due to the nature of an unconference, the final choices will be made by people attending. If you have questions about this program, please contact Judy Fischetti by email judyf@senylrc.org or phone 845.883.9065.

Reference & Collection Development
Status of Deaccessioning Legislation: Legislation designed to prevent museums and historical societies from selling off parts of their collections in order to pay bills and to maintain their buildings in times of financial hardships may have an impact on libraries. There is a current measure passed by the Regents that requires agencies to:
- Enumerate the specific criteria under which an institution may deaccession an item or material in its collection.
- Remove the option allowing an institution to designate a structure as a collections item.
- Specify that no proceeds from deaccessioning may be used for capital expenses, except to preserve, protect or care for an historic building previously designated as part of the institution's collection.
Although the measure is temporary and only applies to museums and historical societies, the legislature may force libraries to adopt similar deaccessioning rules permanently. During the 2009 Legislative Session bill A6959-A/S4584-A was introduced which, if passed, will make the Regents' temporary rule change permanent. Additionally, the bill will expand the deaccession requirements to cover libraries. NYLA is closely monitoring the legislation and has voiced its concerns with the legislation as it applies to libraries. The bill is not expected to see any further movement this year.

Job Openings
Part-time Clerk position at the Catskill Library: Must like working with public, have basic computer skills, and be flexible. 10-24 hours/week, some weeknights and weekends a must. Send your resume to Tracy Priest, Branch Manager at the Palenville Branch, by fax 518.678.9251, or email palenvillelibrary@hvc.rr.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