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MHLS will be closed on Thursday, November 26th. There will be no deliveries or tech support.

MHLS will be closed on Friday, November 27th. There will be no deliveries. Technology staff will be available via the MHLS ticket system (techsupport@midhudson.org) from 8:30 AM to 4:30 PM to support system-wide Sierra Encore problems only. During these hours, tech support staff will be checking the ticket system periodically each hour and will address system-wide Innovative issues, sending tickets as necessary to Innovative, and posting to MHLS lists. Please note, phone and general issue support will not be available during this time.

Will your library take the MHLS Thanksgiving Challenge? The weeks leading up to Thanksgiving are an ideal time to encourage library stakeholders in your community to speak up for your library by writing letters to the editor of local papers and sharing posts on their Facebook pages expressing their thankfulness for the library.

The MHLS Thanksgiving Challenge asks each member library and Friends Group to:

• Find at least two people to write a letter to the editor or an editorial about how your library adds value to the community.
• Encourage your Facebook fans to share their love of the library through their Facebook posts – generating electronic word-of-mouth is just as valuable as good old fashioned word-of-mouth! Check out our special supplement, “Quotables, Graphics & Inspiration,” to this week’s MHLS Bulletin for ideas and a headstart!

Challenge accepted? Then let’s get started! Prepare yourself to help others help your library:

• Use the Library Value Calculator from the American Library Association (ALA) to provide dollar figures and talking points that help translate a community’s return on investment. This provides eye catching statistics that your supporters can use in their letters and posts.
• Make good use of the brand new Libraries Transform Toolkit from the American Library Association Check out their “10 Ways to Engage” tip sheet http://www.librariestransform.org/toolkit/

Last time around the Philmont Library “won” the challenge with close to half a dozen letters to the editor and fantastic levels of engagement on their Facebook page by asking why people were thankful for their library. Think you can beat that? We bet you can!

Be sure to send in links to letters that appear (or copies) and screen captures of your patrons Facebook declarations to Rebekkah @MHLS: rsmith@midhudson.org

Now patrons can check out eBooks and eAudiobooks for their choice of 7, 14 or 21 days through the MHLS Digital Download collection.

The 21-day loan is a new option, which was approved by the MHLS Directors Association at their October 6 meeting. This is a feature that patrons have asked for, especially the eAudiobook listeners, so spread the word!

Patrons can set their own lending period preference for each format by:

1. Going to https://mhls.overdrive.com/

2. Log into their account

3. Click on Settings

More information on how to change lending period options is available at http://tinyurl.com/ptxvtcb

Patrons, in many cases, can also return a title early, before the loan period is over (to free up space on their card for another download!) using the software or app that they used to download it. Learn more about returning titles at http://tinyurl.com/o3efh5r

This ‘help’ information is also available by going to https://mhls.overdrive.com/ and clicking on Help.

After the Annual Membership Meeting on Friday, October 16th the MHLS Board of Trustees met in the Vassar Room of the  Poughkeepsie Grand Hotel and Banquet Center, and: reported the number of items borrowed/loaned between MHLS member libraries is up 12%; critiqued the 56th Annual Membership Meeting; discussed the current status of the provision of