To combat the continuing rise in opioid-related deaths in New York State (NYS), laws were amended to allow NYS public libraries to participate in opioid overdose prevention programs by partnering with a New York State Department of Health (NYSDOH)-registered opioid overdose prevention programs. Public libraries that choose to participate and whose personnel are acting reasonably
Monthly Archives: December 2019
There is a new technique that can be used to spread misinformation called a “deepfake.” Deepfake videos are altered or produced by artificial intelligence-based technologies to make a seemingly real video of something that didn’t really happen. There are different strategies creators use such as Faceswap, which can seamlessly place someone in a place or
The American Library Association (ALA) continues to coordinate the #ebooksforall campaign in reaction to Macmillan’s embargo on selling new titles to libraries. On the MHLS OverDrive homepage, there is a message reading “Sign the petition demanding #ebooksforall.” This links to the ALA petition webpage, giving patrons the opportunity to educate themselves on this issue and
It has recently been announced that Innovative, Mid-Hudson Library System’s ILS software vendor, is being acquired by their largest competitor in the academic market, Ex Libris. Ex Libris, owned by ProQuest has a long history in the library software industry. The merger will take place early in 2020 and both companies are optimistic about the
REMINDER: The NYS Minimum Wage Increase for workers in New York State north of Westchester County, increases to $11.80 per hour effective December 31, 2019. The minimum wage will reach $12.50 on December 31, 2020 and increase to $15 on an indexed schedule to be set by the Director of the Division of Budget in
Earlier this year, Governor Cuomo signed into law legislation that provides new opportunities for libraries to take advantage of the State Aid for Library Construction program. Libraries that can demonstrate that the library’s service area is equal to or greater than the New York State average poverty rate using Federal Census data, and that the
On the first of the year all totals in the Year to Date Circulation (YTD) will be moved to Last Year circ (LYR), replacing the numbers stored there from the previous year. During the third week in January Patrons whose cards have been expired for 3+ years and fines less than $10 will be deleted.
NYLA Library Advocacy Day will be on Tuesday, February 25, 2020! Each year library advocates from across New York State converge on Albany to voice their support for funding and policies that benefit libraries. Your attendance can make a BIG impact. Join us for meetings with your NYS representatives to make the case that Libraries
The MHLS Annual Report Workshop for New Directors is designed for Directors who are new to submitting the NYS Annual Report with Bibliostat software but is open to all. The workshop will cover: Logging in to the software Entering your data Dealing with “Edit Checks” Writing “Notes” Submitting your report Three dates to choose from:
In January 2019, the American Library Association (ALA) passed a resolution on Monetary Library Fines as a Form of Social Inequity and established that “The American Library Association asserts that imposition of monetary library fines creates a barrier to the provision of library and information services.” Studies have shown that small fines do not have
