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SCRLC offices will be closed Tuesday, December 24 through Wednesday, January 1 for our annual holiday break.
May you have a peaceful and happy holiday season!
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Cheery Friday Greetings!
At our recent Plan of Service meeting, as an ice breaker we were asked if we liked winter and what we liked best. I grew up on ice rinks and ski slopes, but said that these days, my favorite thing about winter is when it is all over. And that it was a time to reflect--which I have been doing on my remarks! I actually appreciate winter and have been enjoying hiking and playing snow Frisbee with the new puppy, who is still working out what snow is. I also appreciate the return of the light and the gradually increasing minutes and hours that the sun is above the horizon--even if we cannot always see it around here!
It truly is a time of reflection, though, perhaps on the past year, and on what we hope to accomplish in the one ahead, personally and professionally. At SCRLC, we will create a new Plan of Service, which is very exciting! Winter is also when we review our SCRLC Work Plan, which is derived from our Plan of Service.
I also reflected on how a string of cold, snowy, and icy days gives me hope that climate change, the “insoluble problem” of our time will indeed be solved before it’s too late (from Senator Tammy Baldwin’s 2009 Smith College commencement address: “Far too often, our greatest challenges are portrayed as insoluble problems” – and even in 2009 she saw climate change as the insoluble problem we must work on). At last week’s December 13th meeting, the SCRLC Board of Trustees agreed that SCRLC should join the Sustainable Libraries Initiative, so this will comprise some of our work in 2025.
As you look ahead to this next year, both for your professional development and for your organization, how can SCRLC help?
Is there specific training that you're not seeing offered that we could arrange? Are you in an academic library and need access to more eBooks? Perhaps check out the Empire State Library Network’s Academic Overdrive. Do you need a focus group? SCRLC can work with up to two members per year. Do you need legal advice? SCRLC funds members’ Ask the Lawyer questions. Would you like an in-person networking gathering in your area? SCRLC can facilitate. Let me know! Would you like to apply for a digitization grant? The application is now open! Always feel free to reach out to any of us with questions, concerns, or ideas.
I wish you a peaceful, happy, and safe holiday season! I look forward to connecting with you in the New Year!
Yours in partnership,
Mary-Carol Lindbloom
Executive Director
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The books and other media that made our year a little brighter. | |
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SCRLC 2025 Digitization Grants- Applications are now open!
The Empire State Library Network and the University of Albany Libraries have announced the award of a nearly $250,000 IMLS grant for their ArcLight Integration Project. This project will enhance EmpireADC.org, a statewide repository for archival finding aids. The grant will integrate materials from digital collections into those online finding aids.
In case you missed it, here are the Recently Asked Questions to Ask The Lawyer.
Tompkins County Public Library had a ribbon cutting to unveil their new Narcan vending machine purchased with funding from a opioid settlement. More information here.
The closure of Wells College and the impact on the community was the focus of this Chronicle of Higher Education article, "When Gown Leaves Town."
SUNY Delhi will be hosting the annual SUNYLA Conference June 18-20, 2025. The Call for Proposals is open.
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MEMBER SPOTLIGHT
on Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, Justice, and Accessibility
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Simone Clunie, Assistant Head of Cataloging/Metadata at Binghamton University recently partcipated in a Scholarly Attachment at the University of the West Indies in Mona, Jamaica.
Simone shares more about the experience below.
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"I visited Mona Library November 25-29, 2024. A librarian from UWI’s Western Campus serendipitously influenced this happening when I met her at the SUNYLA annual conference in June. I contacted the Campus Librarian of the Mona Library, Dr. Paulette Kerr, who generously accepted my proposal to visit for a week to observe cataloging operations in the library as well as general library operations. A schedule was prepared before my arrival, set for Monday through Thursday, 9 am-3 pm. My week started with a conversation with the Interim Campus Librarian on Monday morning. The rest of the day I met with library departments and staff. In Technical Services, my first stop was Acquisitions then the Cataloging department. In each department, I sat with staff as they demonstrated their workflows and processes for how library resources are handled in each department. The rest of the week involved visits to Public Services, Digital Strategies & Collections, and West Indies & Special Collections. Thursday afternoon ended with a discussion with the Deputy Librarian. On Friday, I had a shorter day that consisted of visits to each of the 3 branch locations on the campus that included tours and discussions with their Heads. As part of my visit, I gave a presentation about Binghamton University Libraries on Wednesday afternoon, which was well received. Being in an international setting to observe how an academic library operates in its local environment with specific contextual concerns was very informative. Seeing our similarities across geographic and cultural boundaries with concerns for budgets, staffing, and library space was also refreshing. Everyone was very gracious with their time, given from very busy schedules, and I had a wonderful time. I highly recommend looking into this kind of professional activity as a way to expand our knowledge and experiences of libraries outside the North American context." | |
Events produced by the eight other library councils in the Empire State Library Network are open for SCRLC members to attend. | | |
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Dyslexia-Friendly Libraries was presented by Nan Carmack and Rebecca Warner on December 3, 2024.
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This is a second round of our smallest collections from the last year or two. These collections all have fewer than 20 items, but sometimes that's all you need to represent a subject. | |
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New Collection: Seneca Falls DAR Scrapbook 1896-1999
A scrapbook created by former Seneca Falls Town Historian Roberta Halden, all about the Daughters of the American Revolution Sa-go-ye-wat-ha chapter.
New Collection: Osborne & Metcalf Collection
Two families were intricately tied to the development of Auburn, NY: the Osbornes and the Metcalfs. The Osbornes (like Eliza Wright Osborne and Thomas Mott Osborne) were influential in reform and activism. We hope this collection from the Cayuga County Historian's Office will grow, but in the meantime, we wanted to make sure the families were represented on NY Heritage, if even with just a few objects.
New Collection: Land Office Legers
Originally digitized by Griffin Bates, who has now taken the role of Steuben County Historian and shares space in the Magee House with the Steuben County Historical Society, this ledger includes some of the earliest property information about the Pulteney Estate. The book is formally titled "Land Office Leger," and that misspelled title carries over to its digital surrogate.
New Collection: Auburn Old Home Week Parade, 1906
A small collection of a parade in 1906 through downtown Auburn, showing main streets and buildings.
New Collection: Spencer Firefighters
Photographs from Tioga County of the Spencer Chemical Company and their Fire Pump from around 1900. Happily, one photo is paired with a typed list of identified men.
New Collection: Churches of Caroline
Photos of churches and church gatherings in Caroline, a rural community in Tompkins County.
New Collection: Workers of Broome County
Photos from an industrious city of the 20th century, showing boot factory workers, cigar factory workers, paving company workers, the public market at Endicott-Johnson, and a workshop for the disabled.
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