• Mini-Grants – funds Mid-Hudson Valley organizations interested in capacity building projects to improve administrative, governance, and/or programmatic functions. Mini-grants enable nonprofit board, staff, and volunteer leaders to develop new skills through consultant-led capacity-building activities, or through conferences, seminars, and other training opportunities.
• Strategic Restructuring – funds Mid-Hudson Valley organizations interested in exploring, planning, or integrating a formal relationship between two or more government entities or independent organizations. Opportunities and motivations for restructuring include competition from similar organizations, executive transition, geographic or program expansion opportunities, and significant shifts in the service delivery and/or funding environment.
• Cash Flow Loans – provides interest-free, short-term loans to Mid-Hudson Valley grantees. Cash Flow Loans are made on a first-come, first-served basis from a limited, revolving pool of funds. The Foundation will consider cash flow loans against fully approved government contracts and foundation or corporate grants. Loans generally range from $25,000 to $150,000 and are provided on a one-year term with no service charges.
• Professional Development Scholarships – offers individual program scholarships to Mid-Hudson Valley organizations interested in professional development opportunities for staff and board members. Professional development scholarships are available toward nonprofit finance, grantsmanship, and executive leadership programs to support nonprofit board and staff development and retention.

The Mid-Hudson Library System (MHLS) is holding our first ever Library Road Trip, beginning in June. This initiative encourages community members to visit the 70 library buildings of our member libraries during the program timeframe, from June 6 through October 18, 2025.

The MHLS Road Trip aims to achieve several key goals:

• Community Engagement: This program provides a fantastic opportunity for residents to explore the Hudson Valley, visit area libraries, discover local businesses, historic sites, and much more.
• Connecting People with Resources: By participating in the Road Trip, residents will gain a deeper understanding of the strength of the area library system and how it can improve their quality of life. With an MHLS library card, participants can access a wealth of resources for free.
• Spreading the Word: Road trippers are encouraged to share their experiences with others through social media and traditional word-of-mouth, helping to spread the word about the program and the ways that libraries are essential to the community.

MHLS staff has provided Road Trip graphics to be used on websites and social media to announce the program to your patrons and will add to these resources as the program progresses. See this folder to download current graphics.

Behind the scenes, we are also working on the following:

For frontline staff:

• Answers to Frequently Asked Questions
• Training materials, including a date to come for a live webinar with the MHLS Library Sustainability Team
• Materials distribution (maps, souvenir items, stamps) in May
• A staff-only Bingo sheet to encourage library workers to join in on the Road Trip

For the public:

• A website landing page on midhudson.org
• Official rules on how to participate
• Answers to Frequently Asked Questions
• A variety of publicity activities including media spots and a system-wide Library Road Trip press release

Additional details to know:

• The MHLS Library Road Trip logo and additional graphics have been created by local designer Abby Lessick.
• We are pleased to announce we have received a $6,000 grant from Central Hudson to underwrite the cost of printing the maps!

Thank you to the Road Trip Committee members who have helped us weed through the details to get to this point! We’re looking forward to sharing this program with all of you and our greater community in the Mid-Hudson region.

This year, the Mid-Hudson Library System (MHLS) is producing a series of events for library trustees and directors to help strengthen the financial future of your library.

This series is designed to meet directors and board members where they are, providing assistance for a range of developmental activities such as:

• Helping Association and Municipal Public Libraries to a pattern of annual votes;  
• Creating budget goals to address issues such as a living wage for staff, benefits, adequate funds for digital collections, programming or your facility
• Building an adequate reserve fund structure or
• Minimizing risk to your organization through adequate insurance coverage

All events for trustees count toward the NYS Trustee Education Requirement for 2025. 

414 Votes – Kick-off Meeting | Tuesday, April 29 | 10 – 11:30 AM | Online | Register here

This is the kickoff meeting for the 414 Vote Libraries Meetups. At this meetup we’ll be conducting a review of steps and check in with MHLS member library teams going for a 414 vote this year. We’ll share best practices and ensure your team is on track to hit all of the required milestones for a successful vote. This is an opportunity to learn from your peers also working on 414 vote campaigns this year.

This workshop is part of the MHLS Sustainable Funding & Trustee Education Series and is intended for MHLS member library trustees only. Attendance at this event can be applied toward the NYS Trustee Education Requirements.

New York State Public Officer’s Law §10 requires all public library trustees (but not association library trustees) to take and file an oath of office within 30 days of beginning their term of office. Public library trustees are public officers, and the oath of office is required to officially undertake and perform the duties of a public library trustee. If a public library trustee does not properly complete and file an oath of office, the trustee’s position may be deemed vacant. See Public Officer’s Law §30(1)(h). For more information about how and why the oath of office is administered, and where to properly file an oath of office, please see the Oaths of Office FAQ on the New York State Library website https://www.nysl.nysed.gov/libdev/trustees/oath.htm