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Cheery Friday Greetings,
I hope your June is off to a wonderful start and that you've had a chance to get outside and enjoy nature, take an evening walk, or simply appreciate these nearly perfect late-spring temperatures.
Of course, June is Pride Month! Christine has updated our DEIJA LibGuide to highlight Pride events happening throughout the region, so be sure to take a look below for more information.
For those of you near Skaneateles, Skan Pride 2026 is happening this weekend. While it's just outside the SCRLC region, they've planned a wonderful lineup of events and celebrations.
BARC Update. BARC—the Bibliographic & Referral Center—has now been up and running for three months!
A few highlights:
- As of yesterday, BARC has received 111 requests. Of those, 24 are currently in various stages of processing.
- The fill rate is 81.6%, which is good for an ILL service of last resort.
- Seventeen libraries have participated in BARC so far.
- The system continues to be easy to use and appears to be working smoothly.
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For libraries interested in learning more, a BARC training session will be held on June 23. While the session was initially organized for the Southern Tier Library System, other library workers are welcome to attend. If you are interested, email Christine.
- A reminder for current users: although this has only occurred once to date, materials received through BARC should be returned directly to the lending library rather than to SCRLC. Thank you! Also, please remember to keep your holdings and records up to date in Clio.
The Future Proofed Resource Sharing: Library of Things mini-conference, co-hosted by SCRLC and Central NY Library Resources Council, took place this past Wednesday, with 120 registrants and 74 in attendance. Many thanks to all of the presenters for an excellent program, including several SCRLC members:
- Casey Hobbie (Southern Tier Library System), "Behind the Scenes"
- Maggie Young (Chemung County Library District), part of "LoT Show & Tell"
- Jean Dolch and Emily Rose Meyers (Cornell University), "Accessibility"
Thank you to all for sharing your expertise and helping to make the event such a great afternoon of learning! Thanks also to our Christine Brown, one of the principle organizers, SCRLC’s Resource Sharing Advisory Committee, and to Sophie Friedman and her team at CLRC! Well done, everyone!
The Budget. When the SCRLC Board approved a preliminary budget at its May 22 meeting, we were hopeful that a budget amendment would be necessary due to increased state funding. Unfortunately, with state library aid increasing by just $70,000 statewide, we will be fortunate to see even a modest increase in SCRLC's 2026–2027 allocation, i.e. $500. Depending on how the various funding formulas are applied, the outcome could be even less favorable. Looking ahead, we expect this to be a challenging budget year. As a result, the scope of our grant programs and learning opportunities may be affected. There is some good news on the electronic resources front: EBSCO will be providing an additional resource at no cost. Stay tuned for more information about this and the other items discussed here in upcoming editions.
With the legislative session ending yesterday, we continue to monitor several legislative priorities that were coming down to the wire, including the Freedom to Read bill. We’ll share updates through the scrlc-l listserv as they become available.
Thank you to everyone who advocated for libraries across the region and New York State. While the outcome was disappointing in some respects, our collective efforts helped reverse the Governor’s proposed reduction to library aid. Funding was ultimately restored to this year's level, with an additional $70,000 statewide—a meaningful achievement that demonstrates the impact of sustained advocacy.
Yours in partnership,
Mary-Carol
Mary-Carol Lindbloom
Executive Director
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