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Cherry Friday Greetings,
I hope that your new year is off to a good start! There are several items to share with you today.
Advisory Committees. We currently have eight advisory committees, including the newly formed Coordinated Collection Develop Aid for Academic Libraries (CCDA) Advisory Committee—so new it doesn’t have a page yet! The other committees are:
Communication & Awareness (formerly Awareness & Advocacy—renamed per the 2026-2031 2026-2031 Plan of Service changes)
Digitization
Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, Justice, & Accessibility (DEIJA)
Educational Services
Hospital Library (HLSP)
Information Technology and Services (ACITS)
Resource Sharing
Serving on an advisory committee can be both rewarding and impactful. It is a great way to network while offering recommendations regarding regional and statewide programs, services, and policies. All committees would welcome additional members. If you are interested, please contact the SCRLC liaison listed on each committee page--or feel free to reach out to me directly.
Bibliographic & Referral Center (BARC) Update. We are very close to launching BARC, our in-house interlibrary service of last resort. After months of software configuration, procedural development, and testing, we are ready to begin training and open the service. Links to register for the upcoming training sessions are included below. While a recording will be available, we strongly encourage you to attend one of the sessions, if possible.
Library Advocacy Day. With legislators back in Albany, Library Advocacy Day is just a couple weeks away--Tuesday, February 3. Learn more about it and view the schedule of legislative visits at the New York Library Association’s Library Advocacy Day webpage.
NYLA will also host a Pre-Advocacy Day on Monday, February 2 at the New York State Museum and State Library. Registration is also available through the Library Advocacy Day webpage. Pre-Advocacy Day offers formal presentations, including: Responsible AI, Informed Citizens: Building Shared Resources (Christine Faraday); a prep session with NYLA’s Max Prime; Social Impact Storytelling for Libraries: An Advocacy and Fundraising Tool (Patricia Brigham), and several others. There will also be a behind-the-scenes tour of the State Library.
If you cannot attend Library Advocacy Day in person, there are still meaningful ways to advocate for libraries, e.g., postcards, phone calls, emails, and home office visits. If you want to attend on the 3rd and live in the Southern Tier, the Southern Tier Library System and Four County Library System are sponsoring a bus. Contact STLS if you are interested.
From NYLA: "Your voice during #LAD26 will benefit:
- Every New York library and citizen.
- Each library and system that receives direct state aid.
- The libraries and systems which receive indirect state aid in the form of cooperative services and shared programs from their library system.
- Legislators who need to understand how libraries can help them."
A reminder that NYLA legislative priorities include:
- $181.3M for State Aid for Libraries
- $175M for Library Construction Aid
- $3.1M for NOVELny
- $11.33/pupil for School Library Materials Aid
- $30/transaction Cultural Education Fee
Wells College. The Hiawatha Institute for Indigenous Knowledge has purchased Wells College. According to one news source the Institute plans to retain the Louis Jefferson Long Library’s books except for the children’s and rare book collections. We look forward to meeting with representatives from the Hiawatha Institute in the year ahead.
As always, thank you for the important work that you do each and every day.
Yours in partnership,
Mary-Carol
Mary-Carol Lindbloom
Executive Director
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