Save the Date: CDLC’s (Virtual) Annual Meeting is the morning of Friday, April 30
A Message From the Director
Hi everyone, 

We hope you are doing well and looking forward to the Spring thaw (it’s coming, right?!)

We are on the home stretch of completing our five year Plan of Service, which will be brought to the CDLC Board for approval at the March Board meeting. We invite you to review the plan and to provide any feedback. Comments will be accepted through Friday March 5.

A recurring theme we have heard is the ongoing desire to learn, network and get together. We’ve gotten to know many of you better via Zoom over the past year and will continue to explore and offer ways to get together virtually. Online gatherings in March include:



  • A Cataloging Interest Group meeting on Wednesday, March 24 from 2:00 pm-3:00 pm, with an informal discussion about Library Carpentry with Mary Ann Warner, Schenectady County Public Library, who participated in this project.  


Connections
Our virtual Resource Sharing Symposium, organized by the Committee on Resource Sharing, is the morning of Wednesday, April 14. Registration will open soon. 

Welcome to our newest Collection Development Committee members: Kathryn Kosto is the Executive Director at the Albany County Historical Association and Samantha Berry-Sullivan is a librarian at SUNY Adirondack and has also worked for the Albany Public Library. They both bring unique perspectives to this committee. Welcome! 
Collections
Congratulations to our 2021 Regional Collection grant recipients. The CDLC Board approved seven projects totalling just under $20,000 in grants. Albany County Historical Association, Historic Cherry Hill, Maria College, miSci, Schenectady County Historical Society and Union College will be contributing unique digital collections to New York Heritage, while the Cheney Library in Hoosick Falls will contribute to NYS Historic Newspapers. 

Applications are currently being accepted for Documentary Heritage and Preservation Services for New York (DHPSNY)'s Spring 2021 Planning & Assessment Services Round and are due Friday, March 26. Their services consist of Archival Needs Assessments, Preservation Surveys, Condition Surveys, and Strategic Planning Assistance.  
The Capital New York Alliance for Response provides resources to care for your collection in the event of disaster. New co-chairs are Karen Kiorpes from the University at Albany and John Diefenderfer from the New York State Archives. Visit their website for resources and to join their mailing list. 
Member News
Congratulations to Shari Cuomo at SUNY Schenectady County Community College on receiving the 2020 Capital Area Library Assistants Outstanding Service Award. This is an annual award presented to a library assistant from our area to acknowledge outstanding service to their library and to the library community and is intended to promote the role and image of library assistants and support staff and recognize the importance of support staff in the library profession. 
Congratulations to Argyle Free Library, Berne Public Library, Caldwell Lake George Library, Cohoes Public Library and Schuylerville Public Library, who all received an American Library Association Libraries Transforming Communities: Focus on Small & Rural Libraries grant. ALA will distribute 450 more of these grants in 2021.


Union College’s digital collection, the Osmond D. Putnam Photograph Collection, which was added to New York Heritage, was highlighted in a recent Times Union article and chronicles the early days of the Adirondacks.
Statewide Collaborations
Partnering with the other regional library councils across the state, who collectively make up the Empire State Library Network (ESLN), these services/programs are available to CDLC members. Members can also attend other council and ESLN events, many of which are listed on our calendar. 

CDLC, in partnership with ESLN, is piloting an Ask the HR Expert service. Modeled after the successful Ask the Lawyer service, you can read more and submit your questions here. 

ESLN is sponsoring two online Census workshops. A Tour of the Census Website is Friday March 12 from 10:00 am-11:15 am and Census Essential: Understanding the American Community Survey and Decennial Data is Friday March 26 from 10:00 am-11:15 am. 
Computers in Libraries Connect 2021 is March 23-25, 2021. CDLC members are eligible to use the ESLN discount code on registration. Register with the code ESLNCIL21 to receive $100 off the cost of your pass.
ESLN, in collaboration with the New York School Library Systems Association, is presenting The PILLARS Symposium: Preparation, Information Literacy, Libraries, Academic Resources, and 21st Century Skills for Transitioning from Secondary School to College on July 7-9, 2021.
Your comments and suggestions are always welcome.

We look forward to seeing you online.

Kind Regards,