Climate Resilience Hubs Info Session
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Everywhere in the U.S., the effects of climate change are becoming increasingly visible in unexpected and dangerous ways - and we can only expect to see this pattern intensify in the future. All kinds of organizations can have a hand in building up shared resilience against disasters and extreme weather events - but starting out alone, it can be difficult to find your footing and what role you can play.
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Communities Responding to Extreme Weather, or CREW, is an organization working to prepare people for extreme weather while building resilience to future disaster, and an important part of that goal is the Climate Resilience Hub program. Any community institution can become a hub, receiving support from CREW and joining a network of other organizations also working towards resilience.
If you’re interested in how becoming a resilience hub could help your library further its sustainability work or build up connections with your community, join Colin Battis, CREW’s coordinator for Climate Resilience Hubs on May 4th at 2:00 pm for an info session and Q&A about the hub program. This event is open to MHLS member library directors and staff. Register today to reserve your seat.
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The MHLS Board met on Saturday, March 12th and:
- Adopted a MHLS Trustee Continuing Education Policy that will match the new requirements for member library trustees to annually take two-hours of continuing education related to the roles and responsibilities of a trustee;
- Adopted Public Comment procedures for their meetings;
- Approved the 2022 Priorities for Funding and Economically Disadvantaged Community Definition for the purposes of administering the State Aid for Library Construction Program;
- Reviewed goals for each board committee as advised by the MHLS Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Working Group;
- Approved the System’s Annual Report to the State;
- Approved four member libraries’ variance requests; and
- Named the Poughkeepsie Journal as the System’s newspaper of record.
After the meeting, an orientation session for new and newer system trustees was held. All Board packets and minutes of the MHLS Board are available at https://board.midhudson.org/. The next regularly scheduled meeting of the MHLS Board is on Thursday, May 12 th at 10:00 am.
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REMINDER: The Sierra, Encore, and Decision Center server will be moving to the ProQuest data services center. The Decision Center server move will be completed on March 23rd. Sierra’s move will include scheduled downtime on March 30th between 3:00 am and 6:00 am. The domain name midhudsonlibraries.org will not change. All vendors have been notified of the move and should be prepared to authenticate their services from the new IP address as soon as the Sierra services are restored. On March 30th, barring any problems, Sierra services should resume without any noticeable changes.
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The Highland Public Library recently launched their new Seed Library in partnership with the Hudson Valley Seed Company located in Accord, NY. Hudson Valley Seed company is famous for their artful seed pack envelopes and quality heirloom and pollinator seeds. Library patrons are entitled to take up to five seed packet while supplies last.
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Highland Public Library’s new Seed Library
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Reserve your spot for Brooklyn Public Library’s fourth annual Early Childhood Symposium. This year, they will explore Disability and Intersectionality in Early Childhood Classrooms in a series of three workshops. The first online workshop Teaching Disability Justice with We Move Together will take place on May 5th at 3:30 pm. This session is free, but registration is required.
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Resource Sharing & Sierra
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The Reciprocal Lending Agreement (RLA) expanded access in OverDrive and Libby is now active! Patrons now have access to additional resources through the Upper Hudson Library System (UHLS) collection. Instructions for accessing the extended collection are available for both the Libby app, as well as the OverDrive website. More information can be found on the MHLS Knowledge Base.
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REMINDER: In the last 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.
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The Senate and Assembly have released their one-house budget proposals. Both houses included increases in funding for libraries. Over the next two weeks, the Governor and members of the legislature will discuss each proposal, identify areas that can be amended, and ultimately, find a compromise of the three original proposals.
Assembly:
- Library Aid $106.1M
- Library Construction $34M
- DEI Funding $1.2M
- Release of $150K Love Your Library Fund
- Digital Inclusion Grant $30M
Senate:
- Library Aid $123.1M
- Library Construction $45M
- DEI Funding $1.2M
- Release of $150K Love Your Library Fund for the Summer Reading Program
- Digital Inclusion Grant $30M
The New York Library Association (NYLA) has asked the library community to take action in these final weeks to make our budget requests a reality. Send a message to your legislators today through the NYLA Online Advocacy Center.
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New York State Senator Sean Ryan, chair of the Senate Libraries Committee, seeks nominations for outstanding librarians from across New York. He will recognize outstanding librarians who go above and beyond to serve their communities during National Library Week, which begins Sunday, April 3 rd. One librarian will be selected from each of the state’s 10 regions. Each honoree will receive special recognition and a framed New York State Senate proclamation.
To nominate a librarian, individuals should fill out the nomination form found on Ryan's website submit it along with a letter describing why the nominee should be selected to ryan@nysenate.gov by Friday, April 1 st.
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Reference & Collection Development
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The New York State Library is pleased to announce that the current collection of NOVELny (New York Online Virtual Electronic Library) statewide e-resources will be extended for an additional year through June 30th, 2023. Barring unforeseen circumstances and pending availability of funds, the databases will be available July 1 st, 2022 through June 30 th, 2023. The databases are freely available to over 5,900 public, school, academic and special libraries currently registered for NOVELny. For a brief description of each e-resource, please see the descriptions on the NOVELny site.
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The 2022 PR Xchange Awards Competition recognizes the very best promotional materials produced by libraries in the past year. The PR Xchange Awards Competition is sponsored by Core, a division of the American Library Association (ALA). This year’s competition will recognize original materials produced during the 2020 and 2021 calendar years. Winning entries will receive awards and be displayed at the PR Xchange Event during the 2022 ALA Annual Conference in Washington, D.C. Materials should be submitted by April 15 th, 2022.
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The Committee on Open Government released a memo on March 17 th that indicates the adjustments to Open Meetings Law that allow for remote meetings has been extended through April 15th, 2022.
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Kristin O’Neill, Assistant Director of the Committee on Open Government, will present an online program, Freedom of Information Law training, on Thursday, March 24th at 10:00am. The program will consist of a one-hour overview of the statute, followed by 30 minutes of a question-and-answer period. Pre-registration is required. This NYS program is limited to 500 participants.
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Administration & Management
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U.S. Senators Schumer and Gillibrand have posted applications for Earmark funding for FY2023. Earmark funding, formally called Congressionally Directed Spending, goes directly to the entity designated by Congress for the specified project. Deadline for applications is April 10th, 2022.
Earmarks can fund specific, one-time projects (not ongoing expenses like annual operating expenses). Last year, two-thirds of the library projects were for renovation or construction; other library projects included telehealth, early literacy, STEM, higher education, and historical digitization. Recipients included school, academic, public, and state libraries. Most of the project amounts were between $50,000 to $1,000,000.
Last year, Congress revived the practice of including earmarks in its appropriations bills after a 10-year absence. In the draft fiscal year 2022 appropriations bills, American Library Association identified 31 projects involving libraries, totaling more than $34 million in funding.
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On Tuesday, April 19th at 2:00 pm join MHLS Library Sustainability Coordinator Casey Conlin for an information session on Applying for Funds Through the State Aid for Library Construction Program. This webinar is designed for Mid-Hudson Library System member library directors and trustees who would like an introduction to the New York State Aid for Public Library Construction Grant Program and an orientation for how to take the first step to apply in the new grant cycle – the submission of the MHLS Action Memo reporting a library’s construction needs and intent to apply for a grant.
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Library Director, Catskill Public Library
The Catskill Public Library, with its branch in Palenville, is seeking applicants for the position of Library Director. Our Catskill building is housed in a 1901 Carnegie Building in the village of Catskill, home to the Thomas Cole National Historic Site. Our Palenville Branch is located in Palenville, NY, known for being the first art colony in the USA. We are a School District Public Library, currently with an annual operating budget of $913,325.
The successful candidate will hold a Master of Library Science or a Master of Library and Information Science from an ALA-accredited program. This position is Civil Service Library Director I or II (dependent upon experience) with a minimum of ten years of experience as a librarian, five of these in administration/management. Your experience should include a broad background in management, administration and human resources, operations, fundraising, and finance, as well as a thorough knowledge of library services, collection development, and operations.
The ideal candidate will welcome the challenge of guiding the library through a strategic planning process, embracing principles of diversity, equity, inclusion, and access. We are seeking a director committed to expanding the role of the library in our community and effecting positive change through collaborative programming with Catskill’s many cultural and civic organizations.
This is a Provisional Civil Service Position. The complete Civil Service job description will be given to you during your interview and is available any time on request.
In addition to the above, the candidate should have a demonstrated interest in professional development through workshops, conferences, and participation in continuing education.
Essential Responsibilities:
- Manage Staff by selecting, training, supervising and evaluating, fostering a team environment
- Supervise all library services, operations, activities, programs and outreach
- Oversee the development of the Library’s collection with a focus on community input
- Oversee and control the expenditures of funds according to approved Financial Policies
- Keep up to date with new technology in order to monitor and enhance library services
- Prepare annual reports for the state and community, and an analysis of same to define areas of strength and weakness
Programs & Outreach:
- Begin working with Community Organizations to find and serve our residents
- Grant writing to achieve these goals
- Collaborate with our community to develop year-round library events and programs
- Supervise (pre-release) public relations and marketing materials
Board of Trustees:
- Work closely with our Trustees and community members on committees and projects, especially in the development and implementation of short and long-range planning.
- Review current policies and make recommendations for change to the Trustees
- Prepare and present to the Trustees the annual budget
- Prepare reports and participate in monthly Trustee meetings
Essential Traits:
- The ability to create a welcoming environment for our patrons, recognizing that each building has its own individual style and needs
- Excellent oral and written communication skills
- A willingness to continually reach out to the community, asking what is needed from the Library and how we can fulfill those needs
- Proficiency with social media, Sierra software, internet, and digital communications.
- A “Yes we can” attitude, with a strong emphasis on staff team building
- Starting salary will be commensurate with experience. Individual health, vision, and dental insurance, participation in the NYSLR retirement program, and generous vacation, personal and sick leave allowance are included.
As an equal opportunity employer, all qualified applications will be considered.
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