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Contact Us
The MHLS Bulletin welcomes submissions from member libraries.
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Fred Rogers, of Mister Rogers' Neighborhood fame, worked to deliver lessons on love, kindness and friendship. In times of trouble, to reassure children who were aware of frightening events in the news but were too young to fully understand their meaning, he told a story about when he was a boy and would see scary things on the news:
"My mother would say to me, 'Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.' To this day, especially in times of disaster, I remember my mother's words, and I am always comforted by realizing that there are still so many helpers - so many caring people in this world."
You are "the helpers."
You are working to keep libr
ary workers and the public safe by putting in the time and energy to write policies and develop procedures that respect public health guidance and human dignity.
You are helping to develop empathy, respect and understanding in communities across the Hudson Valley through your commitment to service and by upholding
the
core values of librarianship
.
You are giving a voice to traditionally marginalized voices through thoughtful collection development, program curation and meaningful community partnerships.
As we move into the next few weeks, I hope this reminder brings you strength, comfort and confidence. You are part of something wonderful: a cooperative network of like-minded people who are partners in creating a better future for all community members.
There's no doubt we've got work to do. So, let's do it: Respect local needs. Work together. Recognize and value diversity. Continue to help all be heard.
Be well,
Rebekkah Smith Aldrich
Executive Director, Mid-Hudson Library System
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MHLS Announcements
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Phase One:
A small group of MHLS public libraries (municipal public libraries, special district public libraries, and school district public libraries) have begun offering curbside pickup service based on previous authorization from New York State, which allowed public libraries to open for this service with 50% of the workforce on site. Last week, the Mid-Hudson region joined the Capital region in entering Phase One of the NY Forward Plan. Thanks to the determination of library advocates, and with support from Assemblymember Didi Barrett, our Regional Control Room representatives, and the New York Library Association, association libraries can now join public libraries in offering curbside service based on the following guidance: "Libraries that are operated by a not-for-profit or other non-governmental organization may perform curbside or "in-store" pickup once the region in which they are located reaches Phase 1 and may perform other "in-store" operations once the region in which they are located reaches Phase 2."
For libraries that have decided on a date to start curbside service please follow the two-step notification process below to expedite the necessary updates in the Sierra ILS and provide the essential info for MHLS to coordinate member library services:
- Please fill out this form to let us know your plans. The results will be posted here and used to calculate the number of libraries open for purposes of restarting delivery and systemwide holds.
- Please open a ticket with MHLS Tech Support (TechSupport@midhudson.org) at least one business day in advance of your desired curbside launch date so we can help you get ready.
All MHLS libraries should currently be developing plans to reopen using guidance from NY State in coordination with neighboring libraries. MHLS has put together several planning tools to assist your library with your preparation for a safe and organized reopening. All tools including the new checklist (included below) can be accessed on the MHLS COVID-19 site
https://midhudson.org/covid19/.
Reopening Checklist
- Procure
- Personal Protective Equipment (PPE)
- Supply of appropriate cleaning products
- Procedure
- Appoint COVID-19 coordinator
- Cleaning Protocols
- Employee Screening Procedure
- Cleaning Log
- Employee & Visitor Log
- Facility Prep
- Signage
- Social distancing markers
- Quarantine storage
- Safety Plan (see NYS Template)
- Communication Plan
- "Proactive Infection Plan" (see MHLS Template)
- Policies
- Pandemic
- Telecommuting
- Personnel
- Employee Dress
- Leave
- Patron Code of Conduct
- Meeting Room
- Computer Use
- Staff Training Plan
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Jeanne Mettler, supervisor of Town of Copake records an interview for the Oral History Project in April.
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In the newest MHLS Engage Webinar, Tamara Gaskell, director of the Roeliff Jansen Community Library talks about the library's collaborative Local Oral History Project. The library is working with Peter Cipkowski, the supervisor of the Town of Hillsdale, NY and local businesses and organizations to collect stories of their community during the pandemic. The goal of the project is to "record views of key members of the Roe-Jan community at this unique moment" in history. The library is collecting the interviews from their community members and sharing them on their website, new YouTube channel, and other social media pages. To view the Local Oral History Project webinar and other webinars in the Engage series, visit
https://midhudson.org/engage/.
 The Livingston Free Library had planned to do a Community Read in celebration of National Library Week in collaboration with the local school districts. The program, on the flora, fauna and tidal information on the Hudson River was to be presented by Maiija Liisa Niemisto, the Education Specialist of the Hudson River Estuary Program in Norrie Point. When the library contacted Maija (pictured above) to let her know the program had to be cancelled, she offered to read the children's book, River by Elisha Cooper from her canoe on the Hudson River. You can view the recording at
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Resource Sharing & Sierra
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Join MHLS ILP Operations Supervisor, Thomas O'Connell for the latest series of Sierra Lunchtime Webinars.
All events begin at noon.
You can register for any of these sessions through the
MHLS calendar
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Sustainable Libraries
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 The Great Give Back
is a day for libraries to provide opportunities for their patrons to participate in meaningful, service-oriented experiences, and shine a light on the great work libraries are doing in their evolving roles as community hubs and connectors. This year, The Great Give Back will be on Saturday, October 17th, and MHLS libraries have the opportunity to participate in this statewide effort for the second time. To learn more about The Great Give Back including how to participate and programming ideas you can watch the recorded webinar from May 21st available on demand at
https://midhudson.org/great-give-back/.
If your library is interested in participating in The Great Give Back this year, please fill out this brief form by June 30th.
If you have questions about The Great Give Back please contact MHLS Library Sustainability Coordinator, Casey Conlin,
cconlin@midhudson.org.
The deadline to submit nominations for the Daniel W. Casey Library Advocacy Award has been extended to Wednesday, July 1st.
The award, given by the Friends of Libraries Section (FLS) of NYLA honors a volunteer member or group from the library community whose efforts have contributed to the growth of libraries or Friends of the Library organizations. Application forms and information can be found at
https://www.nyla.org/.
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Reference & Collection Development
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The New York State Talking Book and Braille Library (TBBL) restarted its mail delivery service as of June 1st for TBBL patrons. Patrons are also encouraged to register for the free Braille and Audio Reading Download service (BARD), which provides immediate access to audio and electronic braille books, magazines, and music scores through Android, iOS, or Kindle devices, TBBL issued digital players, and other third-party devices. For more information, contact library staff at 1-800-342-3688 or tbbl@nysed.gov.
 The American Library Association (ALA) is pleased to partner with the Women's Suffrage Centennial Commission (WSCC) to distribute 6,000 women's suffrage youth book sets to libraries across the country. This generous donation celebrates the 100th anniversary of the ratification of the 19th amendment and highlights the importance of libraries as hubs of civic education and engagement. Public and school libraries are encouraged to apply for the book sets by June 15th. To access the application, visit
https://airtable.com/
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For more information about the project or questions about the application please contact Jazzy Celindro,
jcelindro@ala.org
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 The Public Library Association (PLA) released the Virtual Conference Author Interviews
that were recorded during the February conference in Nashville. You can listen to interviews with award-winning authors Kevin Wilson, Ann Patchett, and Alice Randall.
To access the audio recordings, visit
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The Trustee Roles & Responsibilities During Restarting Library Services webinar presented by MHLS Executive Director, Rebekkah Smith Aldrich took place on Wednesday, May 27th and reviewed the governance aspects of reopening libraries with the focus on risk management topics related to libraries' restart plans. You can access the recording of this webinar at
https://youtu.be/oOhveV3stME.
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Administration & Management
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The next MHLS Directors Association Meeting will be held online on Tuesday, June 10th. Directors must register for this event at
http://calendar.midhudson.org/
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