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Cheery Friday Greetings,
Do you have new colleagues? Please encourage them to subscribe to SCRLC-L (contact Diane Capalongo) and to the newsletter via Constant Contact. We would love to have them engage with SCRLC through participating in our events, programs & services, or committees.
OCLC FirstSearch/WorldCat and Other Electronic Subscriptions. SCRLC provides member access to an OCLC FirstSearch/WorldCat subscription. In some cases, member libraries have inadvertently established their own subscriptions and, as a result, lost access to the SCRLC-provided service. This can occur if FirstSearch is mistakenly added to a library’s individual OCLC invoice and staff are unaware that access is already provided through SCRLC, potentially resulting in unnecessary costs. Please contact Claire or me if you have any questions as to whether your library receives FirstSearch through SCRLC or not--or with any other e-questions!
SCRLC also offers access to the Literary Reference Source. While we periodically consider replacing it with a more general database offering, we seek to avoid duplicating resources that overlap with those available through NOVELny, and there is a core group of libraries for which this is an essential resource.
See the Electronic Resources section of our website for more information about all of the electronic resources available to full members, including Candid. Candid is sponsored by the Empire State Library Network (ESLN) and is freely available to all direct SCRLC members, full and affiliate alike.
Speaking of ESLN, SCRLC members also have access to a wide range of ESLN programs and services. Much of our online programming is developed collaboratively with the other ESLN councils, allowing us to offer a wider selection of opportunities.
For academic libraries, Academic OverDrive may be an especially appealing eBook collaborative. All SCRLC members can take advantage of the Ask the Lawyer service, which has been in operation for nearly 10 years. Even for libraries that already have legal counsel, this service provides valuable expertise on library-specific issues.
There is also a statewide virtual reference collaborative, AskUs 24/7, which has been in operation since the early 2000s. Currently, seven SCRLC libraries participate. Any member--or component public or school library--with a degreed librarian able to contribute reference hours can join. Participation rates are reasonable.
To learn more about these and other opportunities, please visit the ESLN website.
At its most recent meeting, SCRLC’s Board of Trustees approved the five-year 2026-2031 Plan of Service. The plan will be submitted to the New York State Library once the new reporting platform (which will also support annual reports) becomes available. Results from the membership survey and regional conversations are available in the Plan of Service section of our website, as is the 2026–2031 Plan of Service itself. Of course, once the Plan is approved by the New York State Library, we will develop a more readable version that also includes the Trends data.
Advocacy. This continues to be a great time to reach out to our legislators, including leadership and the Governor’s office. If calling the governor’s office, rather than leaving voicemail, choose the option to talk to someone. They are there during regular working hours and actually pick up.
Here is the New York Library Association’s one-minute advocacy link. If you do not have time to craft a message or to visit our advocacy page to find an email address for your legislators, this is still a valuable option--it contributes to overall volume. The tradeoff is that it does build relationships and even if you personalize the form letter, your message may not stand out. That said, volume is still important, especially when a vote is approaching—which is the current situation. A reminder that after in-person or Zoom visits, calling is more effective that emailing, which is more effective that the forms.
Assembly One-House Budget:
- State Aid for Libraries: $109.3M—ask them to adopt the Senate’s figure
- Library Construction Aid: $70M—yes--advocate for this
- NOVELny: $3M—ask for $3.1M like the Senate
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School Library Materials Aid per pupil: Does not include—ask them for $11.33 like the Senate. That link goes to the legislative priorities to read more about this.
- Office of Cultural Education Fee: $12M (NOTE: These funds support the State Library, State Archives, State Museum, Public Broadcasting Program, and the Summer School of the Arts.)—yes!
Senate One-House Budget:
- State Aid for Libraries: $114.67M—yes!
- Library Construction Aid: $54M—ask them to adopt the Assembly’s $70M
- NOVELny: $3.1M—yes!
- School Library Materials Aid per pupil: $11.33—yes!
- Office of Cultural Education Fee: $12M—yes!
Reminder--Proposed Executive Budget:
- State Aid for Libraries: $104.7M
- Library Construction Aid: $34M
- NOVELny: $3M
- School Library Materials Aid per pupil: Unknown
- Office of Cultural Education Fee: $12M
Reminder--Current Year’s (2026) Enacted Budget:
- State Aid for Libraries: $106.325M
- Library Construction Aid: $44M
- NOVELny: $3M
- School Library Materials Aid per pupil: $6.25
- Office of Cultural Education Fee: Not included.
To contact leadership:
The Senate Library Committee members are located here. Siela A. Bynoe is the Chair. In the Assembly, Robert C. Carroll chairs the Standing Committee on Libraries and Education Technology. Carl E. Heastie is Speaker of the Assembly. Andrea Stewart-Cousins is Senate Pro Tempore and Majority Leader. The Governor’s contact information is here. Scroll down for the phone number.
On the federal level…. the proposed federal budget FY 2027 was released on April 3. It eliminates funding for the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) and the Innovative Approaches to Literacy (IAL) school library program. Last year, library advocacy worked to increase library funding; once again, the American Library Association urges library advocates to contact their Congressmembers to support IMLS and IAL funding. By the way, that link goes to Senators—they only have until April 17 to sign on to the "Dear Appropriator" letter. For more ways to advocate at the federal level, visit ALA’s Show Up for Our Libraries webpage.
National Library Week kicks off on April 19! Many—if not most—of you will be celebrating with special programs and activities, and we’d love to highlight your efforts in an upcoming newsletter. Please consider sending along a photo or two, along with a brief description of your event. Was it a hit? How many people (and perhaps a few non-human guests!) attended? Llamas? Owls? Other special visitors? We can’t wait to see—and share—what you’ve been up to. Thank you!
Yours in partnership,
Mary-Carol
Mary-Carol Lindbloom
Executive Director
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