eMagazines are now available to all Mid-Hudson Library System member library cardholders!
Promotional materials, including bookmarks, fliers, posters, web buttons and more are available on the RBdigital web site
Now is a great time for directors and staff to review the MHLS Resource Sharing Standards approved by the Directors Association. These are the rules that all 66 member libraries agree to use to facilitate the amazing sharing network of the Mid-Hudson Library System: http://kb.midhudson.org
New York State Public Officer’s Law requires all public library trustees (but not association library trustees) to take an oath of office within 30 days of beginning their term of office. If a public library trustee does not properly complete and file an oath of office, the trustee’s position may be deemed vacant. For more information please see the Oaths of Office FAQ on the New York State Library’s web site
Take Your Child to the Library Day:
February 4, 2017
Regardless of population or economic status, your library serves children in your community. Take advantage of the positive PR this nation-wide celebration provides as you do more of what you already do so well!
What can you do to celebrate TYCttLD?
The possibilities are pretty much endless. Many libraries opt to have a special event, but you can simply highlight a program that you already do – or even just show off your library space. No matter your budget or staffing, there are many ways for your library to participate.
For ideas and promotional materials visit the New York Library Association’s TYCttLD page!
MHLS Delivery Services: As 2015 winds down we’d like to share some delivery numbers from the past year.
• A total of 23,700 individual delivery stops were made.
• Our delivery vans drove 200,750 miles this year, the equivalent of driving across the United States 58 times!
• 31,923 boxes came into MHLS headquarters which if stacked is equal to over 30 times the height of the Empire State Building!
• 1, 436,535 items were sorted and turned around at MHLS for delivery to member libraries.
This is all made possible by our member libraries generously sharing their resources among each other, the delivery drivers, and the material handlers at MHLS. Best wishes for 2016!
[MHLS Delivery Service’s Material Handler Staff are pictured above: John Barath, Chris McCann, Vinnie McCombs & Michael Tsahalis]
The Sustainability Initiative of the New York Library Association (NYLA-SI) has issued a white paper from their work in September 2015. The purpose of NYLA-SI is:
To create leadership and provide tools to mobilize libraries to think and act sustainably; In a way that builds awareness and consensus while inspiring action by members of the library community to own their role as sustainability leaders in their communities; So that communities thrive, bounce back from disruption and are infused with new and better life for everyone.
The MHLS Directors Association have voted to launch eMagazines for all member libraries beginning January 1, 2016! With the increasing popularity of library materials in downloadable format the MHLS Central Library/Collection Development Advisory Committee was tasked with exploring the possibility of offering eMagazines System-wide.
Based on the availability of funds, feedback to the subcommittee exploring this issue from product testers and the desire for member libraries to begin providing this service sooner rather than later, the Committee recommended that MHLS contract with Recorded Books to provide their “Zinio” for Libraries product System-wide. This proposal, along with the purchase of 90 initial magazine titles, was approved at the December 4th Directors Association Meeting.
Staff at member libraries have time to get a first look at this new product:
Promotional materials, including bookmarks, fliers, posters, web buttons and more are available on the RBdigital web site
Governor Cuomo is currently crafting his executive budget for the coming fiscal year which means that now is the right time for library advocates to speak up for library aid! Take 3 minutes out of your day to send a message to the Governor through the New York Library Association’s Online Advocacy Center.
A message from Jeremy Johannesen, Executive Director of the New York Library Association (NYLA):
We have not gotten any assurances that library funding is secure. In 2014, the last legislative election year, Governor Cuomo cut $4M in library aid as a negotiating tactic with the legislature. Now, with an upcoming election year, library aid is again subject to these same negotiating tactics. The $5M in extra funding we worked so hard to get during this year’s budget is uncertain at best. This is unacceptable.
TAKE ACTION NOW and tell the Governor that library aid should be INCREASED, not CUT. Use NYLA’s pre-drafted letter to voice your support for fully funding NYS Library Aid in the FY 2016-2017 Budget. After you submit your zip code you will have the opportunity to view and EDIT the pre-drafted letter. The NYLA OAC submits your message directly to the Governor’s inbox.
An archived version of the recent trustee webinar, The Role of Trustees in Planning and Evaluation: Effective Strategies to Utilize All Your Resources for Success, by Jerry Nichols is now available for viewing on the New York State Library’s web site.
This valuable resource joins the other archived webinars on this site such as:
At their December 5th meeting, the MHLS Board was very busy! They started off the meeting by recognizing retiring board members by passing resolutions recognizing Roland Patterson, Carolyn Profera, and Janet Schnitzer for 10 years of outstanding service on the MHLS Board of Trustees
They also elected the 2016 slate of officers:
o President: Camilla von Bergen
o Vice President: Mark Wilson
o Treasurer: Regina Morini
o Secretary: Lisa Baker Brill
o Board Member: John Dax
For a full report of the December 2015 MHLS Board meeting check out this week’s issue of the MHLS Bulletin.
