Category Archives: General News-Home Page

Social Media Tune-Up: Little Tweaks That Make a Difference webinar
Tuesday, December 6^th
10:00 – 11:30am
Presented by Sophie Brookover, Program Coordinator & Social Media Manager for LibraryLibraryNK.

This workshop is appropriate for library staff and Friends Groups.

Has Facebook’s algorithm got you down? Want to get to the next level on Instagram? Thinking about how to really connect with your library’s community in social spaces? Join library social media omnivore and inveterate tip-giver Sophie Brookover for a session that’ll help you capitalize on your successes, address your challenges, and get you thinking about where to go from where you are right now.

For more information and to register please use the MHLS Online Calendar.

Read all about it! Check out this week’s Bulletin to find out why more than 150 people attended the 57th MHLS Annual Membership Meeting!

Last week MHLS staff successfully worked with Innovative Interfaces Inc. (III) to migrate our Sierra data and installation from California to an upgraded data center facility here in New York.

This change allowed Innovative and MHLS staff to upgrade the underlying operating system, improve the system’s security, and put support and library staff within the same time zone.

Final quirks are being ironed out, but the transition appears to have made the system faster for staff and patrons alike. Any lingering issues should be reported, as always, to techsupport@midhudson.org

Congratulations to the “Goldfish Mafia” Battle of the Books team from Beekman Library (shown above), who took first place and became the champions of the 12^th annual MHLS Battle of the Books. The regional literary contest took place at Columbia-Greene Community College in Hudson, NY, on Sept. 17^th. Kingston Library’s team, “Hardcore Kingston Hardcovers” came in second, and the Pleasant Valley/LaGrange Library team, the “Flaming Marshmallows” came in third.

The New York Library Association’s Library Use Value Calculator has been updated and now includes two new values thanks to the MHLS Marketing Advisory Committee:

• eMagazines Downloaded
• WiFi Connection

The election of MHLS trustees will be an item of business at the MHLS Annual Membership Meeting.

MHLS is governed by a fifteen-member board, three trustees from each of the five counties served.

Procedures for Election of Trustees:
Article II. Nominations:

Section 2.01 -The county library association of each county for which a trustee is to be elected shall meet for the purpose of selecting a candidate from their county to nominate at the MHLS Annual Membership Meeting. The chair of the county library association shall submit to the MHLS Executive Director one name for each county vacancy no later than two months prior to the Annual Membership Meeting.

Section 4.03 – Each member library is a voting unit having one vote.

Five MHLS Board of Trustee vacancies are to be filled for terms commencing in January 2017. To read the bios of the nominees check out this week’s MHLS Bulletin.

MHLS has purchased a one year subscription to Library Elf Premium Service for all member libraries based on recommendations from the MHLS Resource Sharing Advisory Committee and MHLS Directors Association. Patrons who sign up with Library Elf through their library’s website can easily keep track of:
• Due dates
• Overdue materials
• Requested items ready for pickup

Patrons can choose:
• Notifications via text or email
• Customizable dates of notification
• Consolidated notifications
• Manage more than one library account

MHLS encourages all library staff members to familiarize themselves with this new service! Acquaint yourself with the available features of Library Elf. Additional details can be found on the Elf FAQ. For any questions or to have the Library Elf link added to your MHLS hosted website, please contact techsupport@midhudson.org

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All libraries are now able to offer free access to ConsumerReports.org to their patrons!

If your library website is managed by MHLS, MHLS Tech Support has added the link to this resource to your library website. They have also added it to the county eResources/HOMEACCESS pages.

Promotional Materials & Graphics:
Promo Materials
Graphics
(select “ConsumrReports.org” from list you see at each link)

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Engage! Webinar Series now available “on demand”! Community Engagement is the biggest trend in libraries today. To help member libraries learn more about what it is, how it’s done and what it looks like in real life MHLS Staff have created a new webinar series available at your convenience through the supporting web page: https://midhudson.org/engage

At this web page you will find five archived webinars:

• Community Engagement Works! The kick-off webinar to the series presented by MHLS Coordinator for Library Sustainability, Rebekkah Smith Aldrich
• Phoenicia Rising, an interview with Elizabeth Potter, director of the award-winning Phoenicia Library
• Democracy in Action, a presentation by 2016 Library Journal Mover & Shaker, Erica Freudenberger, director of the award-winning Red Hook Public Library
• Outside the Library, an interview with Julie Kelsall-Dempsey, director of the Highland Public Library and current President of the Ulster County Library Association
• DIY Coding Program, a presentation by Jen McCreery, Director, and Pam McClusky, Cybrarian, of the Desmond-Fish Library in Garrison
  

MHLS Trustees Myrna Sameth, Stuart Auchincloss and Lynne Ridgeway (l-r) – all of whom represent the libraries of Ulster County on the MHLS Board – recently visited the Phoencia Library to “talk shop” and get a tour of the library.

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