Vol.21-09 | 3.2.21
Advocates Unite!
MHLS would like to thank all library advocates who made the time to help with state-level advocacy efforts last week. From attending meetings with legislators, to increasing the profile of libraries advocacy goals through social media, to making phone calls to connect with advisors to legislators – the MHLS library community has been doing a great job!

Many MHLS area legislators have signed on to budget letters that endorse the library community’s budget goals:
  • $123.1 million for library aid 
  • $45 million for State Aid for Library Construction 

Legislators were happy to help with the Petition Bill (S4430/A5456) which has already passed the Assembly and will be voted on this week in Senate. This bill helps both libraries seeking to get on the ballot in November for municipal ballot votes (414 votes) and aspiring trustees of school district public libraries by lowering the number of signatures needed to 25 for 2021 considering the pandemic.

We also heard widespread support for the vaccination of public library workers but an acknowledgement that that decision is in the hands of the Governor.
Advocacy outreach will continue through the budget season, which wraps up on April 1st, and the legislative season, which wraps up mid-June. Stay tuned for specific calls of action that will be time sensitive. This is a unique year and the pace at which conversations and decisions are happening does not look like other years.
Screen Shot
Senator Sue Serino (pictured top left) shows her support for our libraries.
Assemblymember Chris Tague (pictured second row) gives the thumbs up to our members message of Invest in Libraries.
MHLS Libraries
The Putnam County Library Association (PCLA) recently released their 2020 Annual Report for their stakeholders. The report included an overview from each of the eight libraries as well as a collection of countywide statistics. From the report, “Our libraries kept serving Putnam County throughout the pandemic. Connecting in different, but meaningful ways.” View the entire PCLA report.
Professional Development
Join us for the latest MHLS Reimagining Library Services Series: Collaborations and Partnerships on March 24th at 10:00 am. Working with an organization in your community or a neighboring library can help both parties provide better services than they could alone. At this workshop, we'll cover strategies for finding, developing and maintaining collaborations that increase the reach and capacity of your library, and hear from libraries that have built effective, worthwhile relationships. Registration is open through the MHLS Calendar.
Resource Sharing & Sierra
REMINDER: In the third week of March the MHLS cataloging department will suppress all items that have a status of ‘Lost & Paid’, ‘Discard’ or ‘Claims returned’, which have not been updated for 3 months. The items will not be deleted. Changing the annual report code to “n – suppress”, simply keeps them from displaying in the public catalog.
Sustainable Libraries
On February 17th Krista Hersdorfer, Child Nutrition Program Specialist at Hunger Solutions NY, was joined by Dede Farabaugh, Director at the Putnam Valley Free Library, for a presentation on the different ways libraries can partner with organizations to help feed patrons and resources available that libraries can connect their patrons to address food insecurity. Partnership programs include community-supported food pantries and summer lunch programs modified to meet community needs during COVID, and resources for patrons include the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), Women, Infants, and Children (WIC), Pandemic Electronic Benefit Transfer (P-EBT) programs, all of which have seen significant development in recent years and in the wake of COVID to reduce barriers to their accessing and use. Libraries working to address hunger in their community should visit the Hunger Solutions website, or contact Library Sustainability Coordinator, Casey Conlin. Libraries and staff can access a recording of this program as well as a recording of the Reimagining Library Services: Libraries Addressing Food Scarcity program from September 2020.
Programming
The next OverDrive Big Library Read kicks off on April 5th with the eBook, The Art of Taking It Easy by Dr. Brian King. OverDrive has created marketing materials you can use to get your community excited about the no waitlists, no holds, nationwide Big Library Read including social graphics, a poster, and press release template.
Trustee Resources
The adjustments to NYS Open Meetings Law to allow for online meetings have been extended to March 24th, 2021 by executive order. There were no alterations to the provisions that allow for online open meetings, meetings still need to be accessible to the public, recorded and transcribed.
Administration & Management
Library Freedom Project is pleased to present a free, five-part virtual series on Health Literacy & Privacy in a Pandemic World. This series is offered in partnership with the Cherry Hill Public Library, the Chinese American Librarians Association, and the Network of the National Library of Medicine. The first session begins on March 5th at 1:00 pm and the series ends on April 2nd. Registration is free and open to library workers in all types of institutions.
In the News