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Cheery Friday Greetings,
Last Friday marked our annual meetingâthank you to everyone who participated, and special thanks to Rachel Dworkin for the wonderful tour of the Chemung County Historical Society! It was great to see so many attendees stay for the tour. Hereâs a quick recap of the dayâs highlights:
Program
Talima Aaron delivered an engaging and informative presentation on the life of abolitionist John W. Jones and the origins of the museum dedicated to his legacy. Many of us left eager to visit the John W. Jones Museum when it reopens. Talimaâs presentation was followed by an enlightening tour of the historic Park Church, founded by abolitionists including Samuel Clemenâs in-laws, the Langdons. Thank you to Jenny Monroe for the tour!
Business Meeting
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Board Election: Fantasia Thorne-Ortiz of the Northeast College of Health Sciences was elected to the Board of Trustees.
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Dues Schedule: Voting members approved the 2026/27â2028/29 dues schedule, which allow the Board to increase dues by up to 3% per year for the next three fiscal years. A new student membership category was also approved at $15 per year.
Awards
Four awards were presented:
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Excellence in Action: Katy Galvin, Technical Services and Collections Manager, Center for Mark Twain Studies, Elmira College
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Prism Award for Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, Justice, and Accessibility: Hornell Public Library
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SCRLC Spirit Award: Karin Wikoff, newly retired Electronic and Technical Services Librarian, Ithaca College; Board Member of the Aurora-Ledyard Historical Society; SCRLC Board Member; Plan of Service Design Team; and Membership Dues & Fees Task Group. Karin has served on several committees over the years and was once an SCRLC intern while in library school.
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Community Engagement: Binghamton University Libraries (presented in absentia)
The draft meeting minutes are now available in the Council Documents section of our website. Theyâll be officially approved at next yearâs annual meetingâwhich will mark our 60th membership meeting!
Before the annual meeting, the Board of Trustees convened briefly and approved the membership of the Basket Historical Society of the Upper Delaware Valley. Welcome to our newest member!
That wraps up our annual meeting recap! Wishing everyone a fun and safe Halloweenâmay your evening be filled only with treats!
Yours in partnership,
Mary-Carol
Mary-Carol Lindbloom
Executive Director
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The Friends of the Seymour Public Library are hosting a "Mystery Loves Company" Author Expo at the Cayuga Museum of History & Art's Carriage House Theater on Saturday, November 1st.
Kristin Gosch, Executive Director of the Cayuga Museum of History & Art is receiving a "40 under Forty award" from CNY Business Journal. These awards recognize 40 ambitious, hard-working, civic-minded individuals, who are under the age of 40, who have excelled in the workplace and in the community.
Congratulations to Jeremy Dibbell and Aleshia Huber of Binghamton University Libraries on their SUNY Chancellor's Award for Excellence in Librarianship. And congratulations to Jen Embree on her 2025 SUNYLA Excellence in Scholarship Award.
Cornell University Library receives 1.75 million in state funding for library renovations.
Finger Lakes Library System, Four County Library System, and Southern Tier Library System, along with other systems have collaborated on a day of virtual learning. Gather & Grow 2025: Sowing Seeds of Inspiration, Growing Stronger Libraries will be held on December 5.
In case you missed it, we shared news of SCRLC's 2025 Award Winners.
| | SPOTLIGHT ON SUSTAINABILITY | | | | |
The Edith B. Ford Memorial Library in Ovid recently updated their outdoor reading trail. They will be adding local plants in the Spring to attract pollinators and they plan to circulate the NNLM Pollinator Kit they received from SCRLC in a raffle earlier this year, which could be used on the trail.
| | SUNY Oneonta: Michelle Hendley, Head of Collection Development, Resource Management, and Sharing, presented âLibraries Liberating Landfill: James M. Milne Library's Strategies to Reduce Waste and other Sustainable Practicesâ at the Urban Space and Social Life Conference, held in June at the Indigenous Learning and Sharing Center at Laurentian University, in Ontario. The accompanying paper explored the library's commitment to sustainability, provided a historical overview of libraries' sustainability engagement, and showcased activities and strategies implemented by Milne library staff to support the university's sustainability goals. Sarah Rhodes, Head of Information Literacy and Academic Engagement and the library's Sustainability Team Coordinator, served as co-author and contributed insights to the team's sustainability initiatives. | | |
59th Annual Meeting of the Membership
The Park Church, Elmira
October 24
| | Our keynote speaker, Talima Aaron, President of the Board of the John W. Jones Museum. | | | Jenny Monroe from the Park Church gave us a tour of the church, highlighting it's abolitionist history and connections to Mark Twain's family. | |  | Rachel Dworkin, Archivist at the Chemung County Historical Society gave us a behind the scenes tour of the museum after we had visited their exhibits, including the traveling exhibit from the Smithsonian, Voices and Votes: Democracy in America. | | | Events produced by the eight other library councils in the Empire State Library Network are open for SCRLC members to attend. | | | | |
