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Contact Us
The MHLS Bulletin welcomes submissions from member libraries.
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Libraries Support Communities
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 Extraordinary times calls for extraordinary leadership.
Leadership at its best is much more than intellect, it is an emotional and visceral connection. We are fortunate to see an extraordinary response to the COVID-19 crisis throughout the entire Mid-Hudson System. Our dedicated professionals at MHLS, local library boards, directors and staff all are stepping up to make a difference in their communities.
I have heard and seen some amazing stories about how local libraries are keeping community connections and serving our patrons. Every library director I have spoken to tells me about their calls with patrons to check on their well-being. I have seen creative remote learning and classes being offered for all ages. There are virtual clubs, book discussion groups and children's reading circles. Meditation classes help us cope, book discussion groups feed our minds, and access to a world of films draws our families together.
The Mid-Hudson Library System board is proud of each of our libraries. Libraries are the heart and soul of our communities. We will truly get through this together!
The New York Library Association has put together a toolkit to help your library celebrate National Library Week. You can access the calendar of themed days and social media templates for #NYLibraryWeek at
https://www.nyla.org/nylibraryweek-campaign/
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MHLS Announcements
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The temporary suspension of MHLS Delivery & ILL Services has been extended through May 15, 2020
in line with the Governor's latest announcement. For resources and information related to library services during the pandemic, including updates from MHLS and the list of member library building closures, visit our
COVID-19 Resources page
.
If your
closed dates
have changed please let us know. Member library directors should use
this online form
to update your closure dates and don't forget to put a ticket in to
[email protected]
to change your closed dates.
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Here are just a few examples of how MHLS member libraries are connecting with and
supporting
their local communities.
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Claverack Free Library staff have
been making calls to their patrons as part of a wellness check and received this thank you via Facebook.
Clinton Community Library asked patrons to share photos of their kids enjoying virtual storytime. The library responded by posting this love letter on their Facebook page.
Hudson Area Library offers a virtual Reference Desk to the community.
Kent Public Library is offering help with and promoting the importance of the Census.
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Professional Development
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At the Social Media and Community Connections webinar on April 10th, Carol Fortier, Library Director of the Beekman Library, shared her work partnering with community organizations to connect with people in the community through phone calls, and MHLS Library Sustainability Coordinator, Casey Conlin, reviewed tools libraries can use to organize and deliver their social media efforts. The second event in this series, Social Media Best Practices was held on April 15th. More than 60 library staff members from across the system met online to learn about social media best practices and shared their observations about current social media trends. Attendees learned about tips for measuring virtual program attendance, social media posting frequency, how and where to create quality social media content, and more.
Recordings of the webinars, a basic script for making wellness check-in calls, templates for organizing social media schedules and social media images
and text that your library can use
are available at
midhudson.org/covid19
.
On Wednesday, April 29th from 10:00-11:00am, we will meet to discuss the Future of the 2020 Summer Reading Program. This event is for all member library staff who are involved with the Summer Reading Program. At this event, we will be discussing:
- The goals of the summer reading program
- Ideas for virtual summer reading programs
- Online reading platforms like READSquared
Please register for this session through the
MHLS calendar
. If you have questions about this program, please contact Courtney Wimmers, MHLS Outreach & Engagement Specialist at
[email protected]
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Resource Sharing & Sierra
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Please note there are a limited number of available licenses to the Sierra web client.
Only 50 licenses are available for simultaneous use system wide. This is a grievance MHLS has taken up with Innovative and was brought to the new management as a critical pain point. Access is limited, so please log off when you are not actively using the Sierra client.
If you require more constant and reliable access, member library directors may request that a home external IP be whitelisted. To request this service please open a ticket with
[email protected]
.
Thomas O'Connell, MHLS ILP Operations Supervisor will be offering Sierra Lunchtime Webinars
beginning at 12:00pm all next week. Each day covers a different topic:
You can register for any of these sessions through the
MHLS calendar
.
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 Census Delays Field Activities to June 1, 2020
to protect the health and safety of the American public and Census employees, implement guidance from authorities regarding COVID-19, and ensure a complete and accurate count of all communities.
The deadline for self-response to the Census is extended from July 31, 2020 to October 31, 2020.
Update Leave operations
where Census takers drop off invitations to respond and paper questionnaires at the front doors of households while updating the addresses, which is the initial contact strategy for many households in rural areas and households with P.O. Boxes, will be postponed from March 15 - April 17 to June 13 - July 9.
Nonresponse Follow-up
, where Census takers interview households in person to get Census responses will be postponed from May 13, - July 31 to August 11 - October 31.
There's no need to wait for a Census taker to visit you house or deliver your response questionnaire
if you have access to phone or internet; the Census can be completed quickly using your home address online at
2020Census.gov
or by calling 844-330-2020. Libraries can help get everyone counted by reminding people that responding to the Census means money for schools, roads, public services, government representation and more. For ready-to-use resources to promote the Census visit
midhudson.org/Census
. How does your community stack up against the rest of the U.S.? Visit the Census Response Map at
https://bit.ly/2XD68nt
for an up-to-date report on responses in your town.
 Help get the word out to your community about the latest updates on absentee voting. Executive Order 202.15 allows voters who are affected by COVID-19 pandemic and wish to apply to vote by absentee ballot to utilize the absentee ballot application (PDF) and check the box for "Temporary illness or physical disability" with no requirement for in-person signature or appearance to be able to access an absentee ballot. Applications for absentee ballots may be made by mail, email, fax or in person. Applications for elections conducted after June 23rd revert to the original process, unless further modified by an executive order or by law.
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 The New York State Library is pleased to offer READsquared at NO COST to public libraries statewide.
READsquared is an online reading program solution. This powerful application offers customization and configuration of CSLP-themed summer reading programs and other reading and learning programs throughout the year, as well as readers' advisory tools for all ages and all reading levels. To learn more about this product or to sign-up please visit
http://www.summerreadingnys.org/readsquared/
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Administration & Management
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On Tuesday May 5th the Directors Association - Workshop Meeting will be held online from 10:00am-12:00pm. The topic will be Decision Center for Directors
, presented by Laurie Shedrick, MHLS Assistant Director / Technology Operations Manager. Decision Center offers the opportunity to review data to inform decisions on collection management and even policies and procedure development. This workshop explores Decision Center and Sierra data, in general, to empower administrators to use the collection data and data created in transactions to inform planning their library's future collection and resource allocation.
Please register for this session through the
MHLS calendar
.
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