SCHOAM! for September 2026

Special Collections, Historical Organizations, Archives & Museums

in short: News | Grants | Ideas | Events | Webinars | Jobs

News from SCRLC

SCRLC Annual Meeting in Corning

Our 60th annual meeting will be at the incomparable Corning Museum of Glass on Oct. 20 from 9:30 am to 2:30 pm, and you're invited! Join us for a keynote from Claire Wardle, who will talk about the role of libraries in these unpleasantly-unprecedented times of rampant misinformation, plus a brief talk from the state librarian and lightning talks from peers in the region. There will be a very delicious lunch, a quick business meeting, and then a presentation and tour of the museum. Seriously, you don't want to miss this!

New Collection: Seneca County City Directories

This collection was made possible by an SCRLC Digitization Grant to Waterloo Library & Historical Society, with help from the Seneca Falls Historical Society to fill in collection gaps.

New Collection: Chemung County Women’s Suffrage Collection

Archivist Rachel Dworkin put this collection together to include the records of the Woman Suffrage Party of Chemung County, photographs of local suffragists, advertisements from the 1915 New York State suffrage campaign, and various writings by Chemung County authors on the topic of women’s suffrage, both for and against.

Grants & Assistance

Local Government Records Management Improvement Funds

Counties, cities, towns, villages, school districts, or similar agencies with local government records can apply for grants to do disaster management projects, document conversion, file management, and more. See last year's awards for a sense of what these grants typically cover. SCRLC can serve as a digitization vendor for you! Just email me.

CLIR's Digitizing Hidden Collections: Amplifying Unheard Voices

Applications are due on Oct. 20 to digitize materials about underrepresented people.

Lawrence Foundation

This opportunity was listed in the NYS Assembly's Grant Action News. Libraries are eligible to apply for $5,000 to $10,000 awards by Oct. 31. They cover human services, the environment, and disaster relief projects, but not typically any events or equipment. It seems like a good funding source for the sustainability idea listed below, incidentally.

ICYMI: Community Foundation's Elmo M. Royce Fund

If you serve residents of Schuyler County, apply on a rolling basis by Oct. 5; you'll hear back in about six weeks.

Ideas & Inspiration

DHPSNY Survey

DHSPNY has a short survey for you to fill out by Sept. 22.

New York Study of Public and Private Museums Report

This statewide "census" of all chartered museums in New York was conducted by Empire State Development, NYSCA, NYS Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation, NYS Department of State, and NYSED. This is full of information for benchmarking what you do.

Amazon, AI, and The Case of the Book-Gobbler

Last month, a company called 404 Media sent an Airtag in a rare book they sold and traced it to an Amazon facility where workers (reputedly) destructively scan books for the sake of AI-training. Several outlets, including Inc, Forbes and Ars Technica have reported on this and Amazon has given them all the same lame non-answer. Snopes has left the story "unrated."

Alternatives to Google

Thanks to the Four County Library System for sharing this article comparing the pros and cons of different search engines now that Google has announced its AI summary will soon replace the list of search results entirely.

Free Data Bloom for Technical Skills

University of Rochester Libraries is once again offering a series of online workshops open to everyone, all about how to manage, interpret, and visualize data using different kinds of tools. I've attended a few of these sessions in the past and while one was way above my skill level and needs, another of the programs was super helpful, so sign up for what looks good to you!

Freedom 2027 CNY

Derrick Pratt of the Erie Canal Museum in Syracuse led a meeting two weeks ago for people interested in coordinating the bicentennial celebration of New York's abolition of slavery. Derrick is part of the Underground Railroad Consortium of New York, which you can read about here. They have some interesting webinar recordings on the home page to check out and a mailing list to sign up for. The CNY meeting participants represented organizations from Auburn to Utica, and Derrick set up a Google form for committee volunteers. It was not clear to me if there are any similar regional groups set up yet for the Southern Tier, Finger Lakes or Northern Catskills. If you know of something in the works, please let me know!

🌳Sustainability Idea: Native Lawns

There's an upcoming webinar on Sept. 16 about transitioning a grass lawn to a meadow from Wild Ones, an organization that promotes native plants and ecosystems. Native lawns and natural meadows can require less work than typical turf grass, and the result is beautiful, wildlife-friendly, and maybe more historically accurate for your property. If you're interested in seeing a native lawn in action, Cornell's example (pictured) is open to the public and they give lots of advice for trying it on your own land.

Happening in the Neighborhood

Broome

• Binghamton University Libraries has unveiled some upgrades to their Science and Bartle Library, as seen in this blog post. On the second floor of Bartle, the BU Archives has opened a new exhibit, Design + Function, with visual works from the collections.
• George F. Johnson Library is gearing up for their book sale, Sept. 12, and the Broome County Public Library is gearing up for theirs on Sept. 17-19.
• SUNY Broome librarian Jess Petrylak has been visiting buildings around campus this summer to inventory artwork for the SUNY Broome Art Collection.

Cayuga

• Historian Larry Bell of the Howland Stone Store Museum will present at the Equal Rights Heritage Center in Auburn on Saturday, Sept. 12 at 10 am about the recently discovered photograph of young Harriet Tubman.
• Howland Stone Store Museum will have the Sherwood Treasures Market on Sept. 12. They'll host Anthony Gero on Black New Yorkers in the War of 1812 on Sept. 27 and Shirley Egan (President of the Aurora Ledyard Historical Society) will present on David Thomas, "A Most Useful Man" on Oct. 11.
• Mary Lovell (my sister-in-law!) will give a presentation at Seymour Library about how HistoryForge can be used to visualize Auburn's business district in 1876. Not that I'm biased, but you should all definitely come: Sept. 24 at 6 pm.
• The Seward House Museum is hosting a Girl Scout day this Saturday, Sept. 12 for Cadettes and Seniors. My Girl Scout attended last year and had a great time! SHM will have another Girl Scout day on Sept. 26 for Brownies and Juniors. On Sept. 24, SHM will host Derrick Pratt of the Erie Canal Museum for a lunchtime lecture about immigration on the Erie Canal.
• The Canal Society of NYS will have a presentation about Benedict Arnold on Sept. 26.
• The Cayuga Museum has sold out of its presentation and performance with Yolanda F. Johnson: A Spirituals Experience in the Thompson Memorial A. M. E. Zion Church. On Sept. 19, three curators of Sa:gwáyoˀ Gayogo̱hó:nǫˀ/Cayuga People, We Returned will talk about their work on the exhibit, which is shared between the Schweinfurth Art Center and the Cayuga Museum. Annaliese Meck, whose name you may know through the National Park Service or her historical clothing expertise, will do a Hidden Histories Pop Up program for kids and families at Cayuga Museum, all about Chinese soldiers in the American Civil War.

Chemung

• Chemung County Historical Society is getting ready for their immensely popular ghost walks. I *really* appreciated CCHS's blog post this week about AI and historical research: Don't Ask AI. It was written by Rachel Dworkin, a human person.
• Steele Library is hosting a virtual program with Allyson Maughan for genealogists on Sept. 15 at 6 pm.

Chenango

• Guernsey Memorial Library in Norwich is having their fall book sale this weekend, to align with the popular Colorscape Chenango Arts Festival.
• The Chenango County Historical Society has events planned for Colorscape weekend, too: the Historic Architecture in the Chenango County Seat walking tour with Bryan McCracken and Local Treasures Revealed: Living Among History with Will MacGuire. Using some of the Chenango250 funding, CCHS's Jessica Moquin has brought back Community Art with Airigami, in which participants can create a collaborative mural of the Haudenosaunee Flag in honor of "America's First Allies."

Cortland

• Cortland County Historical Society has new exhibits up: Music in Our Lives, The Art of Living and America at 250. CCHS is hosting a bookbinding workshop on Sept. 19 and lots of walking tours in October. On Oct. 10, Grace Brown Farm family members will bring Grace Brown and Chester Gillette memorabilia to CCHS for a one-day display. You might recognize the names from An American Tragedy or A Place in the Sun.

Delaware

• Congratulations to Tim Duerden for Delaware County Historical Association's big IMLS grant! DCHA will receive $151,675 toward HVAC equipment in their new 8,000 sq. ft. facility, for which construction should begin next summer. Yet more congratulations to Tim, because he's finished a new book, Escape from the Sugar House. There will be a launch party on Sept. 12 at 1 pm. DCHA will also host a quilt show starting Sept. 19.
• Hanford Mills Museum will host the Dan Rion Memorial Antique Engine Jamboree this weekend. HMM's Trees and Timber Festival will be held on Oct. 10, with a demonstration of logs going through the hydropower mill. HMM is planning a Historic Cooking for Kids Workshop on Oct. 24 in which kids will prepare a farmhouse lunch on a wood fired cookstove. How cool!

Otsego

• SUNY Oneonta's Milne Library has opened their Milne Library Scholar Program applications. Students design their own research or creative project with direct help from the librarians throughout.
• Fenimore Art Museum will host Food for Thought: Native Basketry in the Thaw Collection on Oct. 14, which will include a luncheon.
• Swart-Wilcox House Museum has wrapped up their successful Sunday lecture series. They'll be open to Oneonta High School alumni during the Homecoming Weekend in October, and they hope to have the new barn ready for dedication on Sunday, Oct. 18 at 1 pm. SWHM is again participating in Mohawk Valley Gives. Any donations made on Sept. 18 at www.givemv.org will enter a raffle that will benefit a lucky organization.

Schuyler

• Schuyler County Historical Society, still closed for renovations on the brick tavern, has another Walkin' History program on Sept. 19 in Burdett. The Burdett historian, Marty Evans, will also present her research on Sullivan Campaign soldier diaries on Sept. 27 at the Burdett Fire Department.
• The International Motor Racing Research Center will host Cars & Coffee on Sept. 26.

Seneca

• Ovid's Edith B. Ford Memorial Library has a new Development and Marketing Associate, Rebecca Eastman, who is an avid metal detectorist and history buff. She's on the hunt for information about Thomas McCarthy of Covert, who served in the Union Army in the 148th and whose belt buckle she unearthed a few years ago. She found that after he died in Bath at the Soldiers Home, he was buried in the "Trumansburg Cemetery" - but she can't find his gravesite! If you might have information for her, please do reach out.
• Seneca Falls Library is seeking volunteers to help move books.
• Seneca Falls Historical Society is continuing its EEEK! program for kids, which features a history lesson, games, activities, and crafts. SFHS is hosting a cemetery walk this weekend, led by director Jonathan. Congratulations to Jonathan for his successful grant application; SFHS will receive $25,000 from IMLS!
• Waterloo Library & Historical Society is looking for images of the destruction caused by last week's tornado. WLHS and four other libraries will be participating in the Between the Lakes Book Sale Trail on Sept. 19. WLHS is also hosting a presentation about Fairground Racing at Maplegrove Speedway on Sept. 21.

Steuben

• Corning Community College has a new library website, that was built with student input and is accessible.
• Dr. Gary Emerson, the Schuyler County Historian, will speak about the Haudenosaunee in the Revolution at the Bath Fire Hall on Sept. 11.
• The Southeast Steuben County Library in Corning will feature a workshop on tree planting basics on Oct. 10 (amid a calendar full of other great programs!).
• Corning Museum of Glass is embracing pumpkin season, with lots of pumpkin hot glass demos and the Great Glass Pumpkin Experiment. Next month, they'll host the Empire Brick Con again, which I can personally confirm was a lot of fun last year.

Tompkins

• The Dryden Town Historical Society is preparing for Homestead Heritage Fair Day on Sept. 19.
• Ulysses Philomathic Library is preparing for their 45th Annual Meeting on Sept. 19, and they've made it a fun event open to the public.
• Tompkins County Public Library is looking for new Board of Trustees members. The library is participating in the Ithaca is Books festival, happening now through Sept. 13.
• Newfield Historical Society is preparing for their second annual yard sale, Sept. 11-12.
• The History Center in Tompkins County is still open for team registrations for their big (and literal) treasure hunt this weekend.
• Thanks to Historic Ithaca for highlighting the International Preservation Trades Workshop, which is next weekend in Medina, NY, between Rochester and Buffalo. It's a very hands-on workshop with a ton of interesting talks.

Yates

• Keuka College will have a presentation on the first ladies in honor of Constitution Day on Sept. 17.
• Yates County History Center will have a cemetery walk this Saturday. Director Tricia Noel has been publishing articles about "the other 250th" celebration: the founding of the Society of Universal Friends. YCHC is going to have a bus tour of the Friend's life on Oct. 3. YCHC is also still selling registration packages and sponsor opportunities for their golf tournament.

Zooms & Webinars Up Your Alley

[ACRL] U.S. Department of Ed. Proposed Rule to Revise Accreditation in Higher Education

Monday, Sept. 14 at 2 pm

[FAIC] C2C Care Caring for Born-Digital Collections: Digital Collection Management

Monday, Sept. 14 at 3 pm

NY250: Collaboration Opportunities from NYS Parks, Recreation &Historic Preservation

Tuesday, Sept. 15 at 2 pm

[Niche] Build a Training System, One Useful Program at a Time
Wednesday, Sept. 16 at 11 am

[CLRC] Is This for Real? Understanding AI Scams

Wednesday, Sept. 16 at 2 pm

[DHPSNY] Stories from the Field: Digital Preservation, Web and Community Archiving

Friday, Sept. 18 at 12 pm

[NLM] Heat, Health, and Disasters: The Role of Libraries

Tuesday, Sept. 22 at 2 pm

[WebJunction] How Gen Z use and don't use public libraries: New data and analysis

Tuesday, Sept. 22 at 3 pm

Who Wrote What? Measuring the Hidden Cost of Author Disambiguation

Wednesday, Sept. 23 at 10 am

[CLRC] Beyond the Desk – Building Intentional Student Employee Programs

Wednesday, Sept. 23 at 11 am

[NLM] Ready NOW: A Framework for Disaster Response in Libraries

Wednesday, Sept. 23 at 11 am

[NYSL] His Soul Marches On: The John Brown Farm State Historic Site

Wednesday, Sept. 23 at 12 pm

[METRO] Building Reading Communities That Last

Wednesday, Sept. 23 at 1 pm

[Niche] Mastering Difficult Conversations

Wednesday, Sept. 23 at 2 pm

[ASERL] From Onsite to Offsite: Surfacing Workflows and Policies for Remote Storage

Wednesday, Sept. 23 at 3 pm

[LILRC] Reflective Leadership: Developing Clear Expectations and Stronger Teams

Thursday, Sept. 24 at 11 am

[NYSL] For NOVELny: Build Your Own Escape Room

Thursday, Sept. 24 at 2 pm

[NLM] Creating Data Management Plans With DMP Tool

Monday, Sept. 28 at 2 pm

[ESLN] New York State Coordinated Collection Development

Tuesday, Sept. 29 at 10 am

[NNYLN] Collection Management System Demo: CatalogIt with Historic Saranac Lake

Tuesday, Sept. 29 at 1 pm

[NNYLN] An Introduction to NYS Historic Newspapers

Wednesday, Sept. 30 at 10 am

What Do Users Want? Exploring Discovery Analytics with Python and AI 

Wednesday, Sept. 30 at 2 pm

[NYSL] NY250: Commemorating Local History Through Historic Markers

Tuesday, Oct. 6 at 11 am

[NYSL] Maximizing NOVELny: Gale Resources for Librarians

Tuesday, Oct. 6 at 2 pm

[ALA] Navigating Eco-Anxiety for Ourselves and Our Students

Wednesday, Oct. 7 at 7 pm

[LILRC] AI Panel Discussion - Using AI in the Library

Thursday, Oct. 8 at 10 am

[Choice] Robert Reich on His Love of Teaching and The Last Class documentary

Thursday, Oct. 8 at 11:30 am

[NNYLN] Beyond the Headlines: Advanced Features of NYS Historic Newspapers

Tuesday, Oct. 13 at 10 am

[Choice] Ask the CISO: Navigating Security, Access, and Collaboration in Academic Libraries – an SNSI Security Summit

Tuesday, Oct. 13 at 11 am

In-Person Events & Save-the-Dates

• APHNYS || Sept. 28-30 | Utica, NY
• NYS Digital Equity Network Annual Conference || Sept. 29 | Albany
• New York Genealogical and Historical Society Summit || Oct. 2 | Online
• Digital Library Forum || Oct. 14-15 | Online
• Ex Libris Northeast User Group (ENUG) Annual Conference || Oct. 15-16 | Binghamton
• GHHN Annual Conference || Oct. 27 | Yonkers
• DigitalTransitions Roundtable || Oct. 29-30 | Online
• NYLA || Nov. 4-7 | Saratoga Springs

Recordings & Follow-up Resources

• Wikipedia in the Age of AI  - This was interesting! There was a lot of discussion about one particular tool, Pangram, that Wiki uses to detect writing by AI.
• Beyond the Search Bar: Teaching Algorithmic Literacy in Library Instruction
• Under Pressure: Values, Constraint, and the Strategy Gap in the Ithaka S+R 2025 US Library Survey

Openings in the Field

• Museum Education Assistant at the Seward House Museum (Auburn)
• Libraries Postdoctoral Associate in Open Data at Binghamton University
• Libraries Postdoctoral Associate in Health Informatics at Binghamton University
• PRODiG+ Fellow: Libraries' Postdoctoral Associate in Info Analytics, Assessment, and User Experience at Binghamton University
• Executive Director - Museum Operations and Fundraising at the Finger Lakes Boating Museum (Hammondsport)
• Library Assistant 2 at SUNY Cobleskill (Schoharie Co.)
• Academic Librarian at Roberts Wesleyan University (Rochester)
• Reference Librarian (PT) at Mohawk Valley Community College (Utica)
• Associate Director of Access Services at Colgate University (Madison Co.)
• Digital Archivist at Colgate University (Madison Co.)
• University Archivist at Colgate University (Madison Co.)
• Teaching Assistant - Library at Moravia Central School District (Cayuga Co.)
• Collections & Exhibitions Assistant at the Everson Museum of Art (Syracuse)