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Cheery Greetings,
SCRLC’s 60th Annual Meeting. Join us for SCRLC’s 60th Meeting on Tuesday, October 20, 2026 at 9:30 a.m. – 2:30 p.m. at the Corning Museum of Glass! If you work in one of our member organizations in any capacity, you are invited! If you are not a SCRLC member, you, too, are invited for a day of learning, conversation, and inspiration.
Our theme, Through Fire: Libraries in Times of Transformation, invites us to consider how we can transform todays challenges into opportunities to create communities that are stronger, even more connected, and places where everyone feels a sense of inclusion and belonging.
Our keynote speaker, Dr. Claire Wardle from Cornell University, will present Trust in Transition: Libraries in the Context of Our Contemporary Information Ecosystem. “We're living through rapid technological and social change. The rise of AI, shifting information habits, the changing role of gatekeepers are reshaping how communities know what to trust. Drawing on her research into information ecosystems, Dr. Wardle asks what's genuinely shifting beneath us, and what remains constant. She makes the case that libraries and cultural institutions are uniquely positioned to help communities navigate this uncertainty if they are willing to rethink how trust operates today.”
We’ll also hear from our State Library, plus several SCRLC members will present Lightning Talks (details on the registration page). At the annual business meeting, six Trustees will be voted in.
Come for the speakers, the conversation, the beautiful setting, or simply the opportunity to spend a day with colleagues from across the region.
You will also have a pass to the museum to join our guided tour, or to visit the exhibits on your own. The latest exhibit is Tough Stuff: Women in the American Glass Studio. And, as an added bonus, it’s glass pumpkin season! The Museum’s beautiful hand-blown glass pumpkins will be in the gift shop, so you can take a little piece of the season home with you, if you are so inclined!
REGISTER HERE
We hope to see you!
Annual Awards Reminder! There is a bit over a week left to nominate a colleague for an award. Click here to nominate--the deadline is Monday, October 5 at 5 p.m.
SCRLC’s Board of Trustees met on September 25 for a retreat and meeting. The retreat provided an opportunity to learn more about each other’s sectors. Board members considered such questions as the bright spots in their types of organizations, challenges they are facing, opportunities, and what SCRLC should be paying attention to.
Across member type, there are commonalities, e.g., the need to address AI or budget/staffing concerns. Fewer international visitors and students are affecting both our campuses and museums. Consolidated services among hospitals and school "regionalization," e.g., consolidation of administrative services including school boards and superintendents are worrisome. Another school library concern is “binning,” i.e., using literal bins for books in broad subject category for the younger classes rather than having them on a shelf in an organized system like Dewey or LC, or “genrefication” for middle and high school collections—much like in a bookshop with broad thematic categories.
The bright spots across member type are engaging events, plus their communities--from those who join the library in standing up to challenges, to students who are being careful and mindful in their use of AI. As one of the public library system Board members said, "the creativity, adaptability, and continued community support” of their members give them a lot of hope for the future. I feel the same way about SCRLC’s membership. We all have our challenges, but there are also bright spots that give us hope. And every day, you, our member, sustain that hope through the important work you do for your community however “community” is defined--even in challenging circumstances. Your creativity, dedication, and willingness to keep showing up and finding creative ways to serve inspire us all.
Digital Equity/National Digital Inclusion Week October 4-10. As you know, SCRLC is part of the leadership team for the Southern Tier Digital Equity Coalition. The 5 consultants that were hired under the auspices of the ConnectAll Technical Assistance Grant have completed their work. Visit the STDEC website to see what has been accomplished. Of course, STDEC will continue to build and add materials to the website, due to the nature of websites and digital equity.
The following information comes from the National Digital Inclusion Alliance: "As Digital Inclusion Week 2026 kicks off October 4-10, the Building for Digital Equity webinar series returns with a timely question: with federal support for digital equity work in retreat, what does it actually take to keep this work alive, growing, and reaching people at the local level?
"On October 8 at 3 pm ET the hour-long livestream — titled “Sustain, Empower, Evolve: Planting Local Seeds for Digital Equity” — will be co-hosted by the Institute for Local Self Reliance’s (ILSR) Community Broadband Networks Initiative and the National Digital Inclusion Alliance (NDIA), the latest in the popular on-going webinar series, sponsored by UTOPIA Fiber.
"Registration for the event is now open here."
This is all for today! I wish you a nice weekend.
Yours in partnership,
Mary-Carol
Mary-Carol Lindbloom
Executive Director
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