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Contact Us
The MHLS Bulletin welcomes submissions from member libraries.
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 Earlier in 2020, our eMagazine vendor,
RBdigital was purchased by our eBook vendor, OverDrive. With only weeks before our eMagazine contract renewal, OverDrive decided not to honor the renewal under the RBDigital terms. Up until that point we had been instructed to prepare our order as we usually do, using the RBDigital order form. OverDrive instead determined they would only renew our contract in their new eMagazine bundle, which was more than double the cost we had budgeted to pay. This during a year where the budgets had been cut significantly by the state and future budgets are uncertain.
Laurie Shedrick, MHLS Technology Operations Manager / Assistant Director led the negotiation with OverDrive to purchase the bundled eMagazines, which will result in a large increase in the number of eMagazines (from 125 to 3,000 titles) that will be available to patrons in 2021. This was made possible by an increased financial contribution towards this collection from the Central Library Development Aid/Central Book Aid budget overseen by the Central Library/Collection Development Advisory Committee of the MHLS Directors Association as well as the continuation of contributions from the county library associations in Columbia, Greene, Putnam, and Ulster and three generous member libraries who also contribute toward this collection.
More information about the expanded collection will be available in January. OverDrive reports the integration of this collection into the OverDrive platforms, including the Libby app, will take place at the end of January. All titles will continue to have the back issues that we currently own while in the RBDigital platform. Once the collection is moved to OverDrive's Libby app the new collection of titles will include the current issue plus a rolling 3-year backlog, where publishers allow. Titles in RBDigital that do not exist in OverDrive will no longer be accessible.
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MHLS Announcements
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The Board of the Mid-Hudson Library System met on Saturday, December 12th, 2020 and:
- Passed resolutions to recognize the service of two departing trustees, Columbia County representative, Sharon Davis, and Putnam County representative, Robert Culp.
- Passed a resolution acknowledging the service of Linda Vittone, MHLS Financial Manager & Personnel Officer in acknowledgement of her retirement this month:
- "NOW THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that the Board of the Mid-Hudson Library System hereby expresses its profound gratitude to Ms. Vittone for her service to the organization, for her sound advice and valued counsel, all of which has enhanced the future of our organization and our ability to serve our member libraries."
- Passed a resolution to express their gratitude to MHLS Facilities Operations Manager, Chris Herron for his service during the pandemic:
- "NOW THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that the Board of the Mid-Hudson Library System hereby expresses its gratitude to Mr. Herron for his service to the organization, for his sound advice during the pandemic, and for his superior work on behalf of our organization."
- Approved the 2021 Slate of Officers:
- President, Ric Swierat
- Vice President, Barry Ramage
- Treasurer, Mark Wilson
- Secretary, Stuart Auchincloss
- Member-at-Large: Priscilla Goldfarb
- Adopted the 2021 Action Plan;
- Approved the development timeline for the 2022-2026 Plan of Service;
- Adopted their 2021 Rules & Procedures;
- Discussed the finances of the system considering the 22.6% cut for fiscal year 2020 and projected cuts in 2021 due to the pandemic. Approved a 2021 budget with an acknowledged deficit after discussing tactics to balance the budget during 2021.
- Discussed the work of the MHLS Racial Equity Working Group and the focus areas of board education, policy review, communications assessment, and board development/recruitment efforts.
- Approved the standing committees for 2021.
Throughout the meeting, MHLS trustees thanked the MHLS staff for their guidance and perseverance in the face of the pandemic and ensuing fiscal crisis caused by the pandemic.
 Library Sustainability Intern Amy Smith has completed her MHLS internship! Amy's work was invaluable in helping surface solutions for MHLS member libraries to support their communities in the face of a never-before-seen global pandemic. Amy's real-life experience at the Red Hook Public Library and beyond helped to contribute to the Reimagining Library Services series - led by Casey Conlin, MHLS Library Sustainability Coordinator, which highlights member libraries addressing food scarcity, programming, services, and broadband connectivity in their communities, as well as homeschooling programs, and the statewide program The Great Give Back. Casey shared that, "Amy really stepped up as our Library Sustainability Intern contributing and even leading a number of webinars and online information sessions. We wish her the best of luck with the rest of her academic and professional career."
MHLS will be closed on Friday, December 25th and Friday, January 1st. There will be no deliveries and the MHLS ticket system will not be monitored.
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 Marlboro Free Library collected donations at the beginning of December for the annual gift drive for the Mental Health Association (MHA) in Ulster County. These donations are distributed to individuals who are currently living in a MHA residence or are involved in one of MHA's community-based programs. For many this will be the only gift they receive this year.
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Professional Development
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Southeastern NY Library Resources Council 6th Annual SENYCon is happening online on Friday, April 9th, 2021. SENYCon is a collection of presentations from member library workers for member library workers. It is a place for you to showcase your ideas both big and small. You can use the forum to practice future presentations, deliver encore presentations, or simply share work that you think will help others in the field. Following up on the success of last year's pivot to online, this event will be online from the start. If you have a unique idea, clever work-hack, best practice, or just want to practice your presentation skills, you are invited to submit your proposal now using this form. Southeastern's Continuing Education Committee will review the proposals and decide which ones will be selected to be part of another diverse and engaging day. The deadline for proposals is Wednesday, January 6th, 2021.
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Resource Sharing & Sierra
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REMINDER: On the first of the year (January 1st) 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.
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Media Literacy in the Library: A Guide for Library Practitioners contains information, program ideas and conversation starters on topics like misinformation and disinformation; architecture of the internet; civics; media landscape and economics; and media creation and engagement. The guide also explores ways to "meet patrons where they are" by integrating media literacy into reference interactions and existing programs. Download the guide for free here. A series of free one-hour webinars led by project advisors will explore concepts from the guide.
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 The Ethnic & Multicultural Information Exchange Round Table (EMIERT) of the American Library Association seeks nominations for the 2020 EMIERT Distinguished Librarian Award. The EMIERT Distinguished Librarian Award recognizes significant accomplishments in library services that are national or international in scope and that include improving, spreading, and promoting multicultural services in libraries. The emphasis on the award is on multicultural/multiethnic as distinguished from multilingual. The nominees should fulfill the following criteria:
- Nominees must have a Master of Library Science degree from an ALA-accredited institution
- Nominees should demonstrate significant accomplishments in library services that are national or international in scope, and that includes improving, spreading, and promoting multicultural librarianship
- Nominees will be selected based on the relationship of candidates' contribution to the purpose of the award - leadership in serving the community by significant collection building and outreach services, developing creative multicultural materials and programs, etc.
Submitted materials should include the completed nomination webform and a copy of the nominee's resume or curriculum vitae. To submit a nomination visit http://www.ala.org/rt/emiert. The 2020 award application deadline is Monday, January 6th, 2021.
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Reference & Collection Development
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 The NYS Multiple Systems Navigator website is built for youth, parents, family members and caregivers that rely on supports from multiple child and family serving systems. It was built to reduce frustration often experienced by individuals when trying to find needed information from multiple websites. We think that librarians across New York State could potentially help many people by directing them to this rich web resource. For promotional bookmarks and posters in both English and Spanish visit msnavigator.org/promotion.
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 The Public Library Association (PLA) and Microsoft are teaming up to promote tools for libraries to support job seekers in growth careers. Since 2018, PLA and Microsoft have been collaborating to help libraries, often in rural communities, secure needed equipment such as hotspots, connect families to low-cost internet plans, and offer programs to teach community members technology skills. With Microsoft's generous support, PLA's newest initiative will focus on connecting community members to online training and certifications that can lead to new and improved employment in the post-COVID economy. PLA encourages public library staff to learn about, promote and incorporate into programming the new learning paths, low-cost certifications, and other tools being offered by Microsoft, LinkedIn Learning, and GitHub. These include:
- LinkedIn Learning's new learning pathways, free through March 2021, that are aligned to ten jobs that are in-demand and positioned to grow in the future, including customer service specialist and graphic designer.
- Free LinkedIn Learning courses focused on soft skills, such as teamwork, effective listening, and diversity and inclusion.
- Microsoft Learn's free and in-depth technical learning content, as well as GitHub Learning Lab's practice tools, also aligned with in-demand jobs; and
- Industry-recognized Microsoft Certifications, which are being offered at reduced cost when scheduled before December 31st, 2020 and completed before March 31st, 2021.
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The 2020 online MHLS Trustee Education Series has ended but you can still view all the workshops on the MHLS YouTube Channel.
Keep a look out for the announcement in the MHS Bulletin of the 2021 online MHLS Trustee Education Series spring schedule!
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Administration & Management
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The New York State (NYS) Minimum Wage Increase for workers north of Westchester County, will reach $12.50 on December 31st, 2020 and increase to $15 on an indexed schedule to be set by the Director of the Division of Budget in consultation with the Department of Labor. Starting 2021, the annual increases will be published by the Commissioner of Labor on or before October 1st. They will be based on percentage increases determined by the Director of the Division of Budget, based on economic indices, including the Consumer Price Index. For more information, please visit https://on.ny.gov/.
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 REMINDER: The NY State Archives revised and consolidated its local government records retention and disposition schedules and issued a single, comprehensive retention schedule for all types of local governments including public libraries - municipal, special district, and school district libraries. The new schedule, Retention and Disposition Schedule for New York Local Government Records (LGS-1), supersedes and replaces the CO-2, MU-1, MI-1, and ED-1 Schedules. Public Libraries must adopt LGS-1 by January 1st, 2021. The new schedule and a model resolution for the adoption of the schedule are accessible online at http://www.archives.nysed.gov/records/.
New REALM toolkit resources are available to help support the interpretation and use of REALM laboratory research. These downloadable visual aids, videos, checklists, and documents can be found on the OCLC REALM Project Public Library Toolkit page.
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