• Spring

Summer 2003

• President's Memo: What Have We Learned?
• Editorial: A New Name on the Masthead
• NYSALB Directors Elected
• NYSALB Committee Chairs Announced
• From Assemblywoman Sandy Galef
• From Senator Hugh Farley
• Communicating With Legislators
• Advocates Win History-Making Vote On Library Aid
• What's Your Library Board's IQ
• Susan Keitel, Executive Director of NYLA, To Retire
• Velma Moore Award
• A Rural Public Library Looks To Online Commerce
• Library Circuit: The Olean Public Library
• The "Cybermobile"
• NYSALB Board & TRUSTEE Ownership

By Dr. Norman J. Jacknis, NYSALB President

As citizens of New York, as taxpayers and, especially as library trustees, we have seen a tumultuous spring.  For the first time in more than twenty years, the State Legislature overrode the Governor's veto of its previously passed budget.  Such an action is very rare – there was another override in 1976 and then one hundred and three years before that.

As you may remember that after years of mere stagnation in supporting libraries, the Governor proposed this year to cut funding by 15%.  Among other things, this would have had devastating effects on the library systems of which all of our individual libraries are part and to whom they turn for services that would otherwise be too costly for them to provide individually.  The on-line services that have become so popular in our communities would have been severely curtailed.

As it turned out in May, the Senate voted unanimously to restore the funding for libraries in the State budget.  In the Assembly, the vote was 115 yeas and 34 nays – more than enough to override the veto and assure the restoration of funds.  Especially gratifying is that no other issue received more supportive votes than library aid restoration.

What had been a bleak picture for libraries earlier in the year turned out as well as it probably could have turned out in a year of the worst fiscal crisis in New York State since before World War II.

How did this minor miracle occur?  What have we learned from it?

First, libraries really are popular with the voters, which is something we have known from our experience and from the evidence of materials like the Zogby poll.

Second, the library community can be politically effective when all of its elements – trustees, advocates, and professional librarians – work vigorously and together.

Third, trustees can make the crucial difference.  The turnouts at and success of the various advocacy workshops around the State (which NYSALB co-sponsored) demonstrated support to legislators near their home districts.  And let’s not forget the rally and speeches in Albany, in which library trustees were involved.

Fourth, there are still legislators who either do not really believe in providing even basic financial support for libraries or who are so easily led by their leader that they would abandon their support for libraries or whose behavior cannot otherwise be fathomed.  Fortunately, the members of the Assembly who voted against libraries is as short as it is inexplicable: Acampora, Bacalles, Barclay, Barraga, Brown, Burling, Butler, Calhoun, Conte, Crouch, Errigo, Ferrara, Finch, Fitzpatrick, Hayes, Hooker, Kolb, Labriola, McDonald, Mills, Mirones, Nesbitt, Oaks, Ortloff, Reilich, Sayward, Stephens, Straniere, Tedisco, Townsend, Warner, Winner, Wirth, and Young.

It is clear that under the right circumstances, the continual stream of “I love libraries” that we hear from legislators can actually be turned into positive bi-partisan action.  But our work is not done.

The general question in Albany is how long the Legislature will be able to maintain its backbone.  As the leaders of our library communities, we can do our part to shore up this historic demonstration of willpower to support libraries.

I ask each of you to contact your State Senator to thank him or her for this support.  If your member of the Assembly was also in the majority supporting libraries, please do the same for that house of the legislature.  And, if your member of the Assembly is on the list of those who did not support libraries, it is important to make sure that person knows this action did not go unnoticed.  These are simple and quick responses we can take now, which we hope will also help next year when the fiscal situation is not likely to be much better.

To discuss these and other concerns with your fellow trustees, sign up for the NYSALB email discussion group by sending an email to join-nysalb@www.watpa.org or write directly to me at norm@jacknis.com. Thank you.

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By Sam Patton, NYSALB Trustee and Associate Editor TRUSTEE

A new name on the Masthead!  Sam Patton, NYSALB Trustee and Associate Editor.  

This is new territory for me.  In all the years I have spent lecturing, teaching in academic and industrial environments, and in volunteer service and public office, most of my presentations have been oral and not written.  So if I were at a meeting with you, I'd undoubtedly be able to express myself verbally more easily than in writing.  

And as I take my first step in trying to follow Ed Field's hard work in keeping TRUSTEE going over the past 8 1/2 years, I'm already more appreciative of his efforts and attention to all the little details of putting together even a relatively small publication.  So, my first thought is to express my gratitude to all those who make it possible: Ed himself, all of you who have supported TRUSTEE by writing for us, giving of your time; all of the people who do the typing, layout, checking, preparation, printing and mailing so you can get your copies.

As library Trustees, you all find your plates overflowing, more so now than in the past.  From concerns over the Patriot Act, to problems with funding in an uncertain economy, and picking your way among the many thorny problems which the Internet, newer media, and growing demands from the patrons we serve, we may feel we are so busy firefighting that we don't have time for more reflective consideration of longer term issues.  I used to hear the expression "When you are up to your armpits in alligators, it's hard to remember that your job is to drain the swamp!" Or as Yogi Barra (I think) is reported to have said, "Life is what happens while you are planning something else!"

My hope for the next year or so is that you will all have a chance to put aside or delegate to competent staff some of the day to day or month to month concerns, and begin to try to look farther into the future.

What changes would you make in the basic structure of your library? How would you put into place a long-tem disaster-recovery plan?  What will your community demographics be in 5 years? In 10 years? How can we use the rapidly evolving communication technology to better serve our public?  How can we work more amicably with the political world that controls so much of our funding? I'm sure some of you have some ideas in these areas.  

Write to me -- we can all learn from the experience and ideas of our members who come from widely different areas, and much varied backgrounds.  And I will do my best to listen, and together we can keep TRUSTEE interesting, relevant, useful, and maybe even provocative!  I look forward to hearing from you!

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by Tina Thompson, NYSALB Director and 1st Vice-President

Two new trustees and three incumbents were elected as directors to the New York State Association of Library Boards during the NYSALB Annual Meeting Saturday, May 3rd at Tarrytown's Westchester Marriott.

Joseph Provoncha, Vice-president of the Schroon Lake Public Library Board, was elected to a first term. He served as the past President of the Clinton, Essex, Franklin Library System Board. Mr. Provoncha is the Essex County Clerk.

Jack Taylor, who currently serves as President of the Fluvanna Free Library, Jamestown, was also elected to his first NYSALB term. Mr. Taylor, a retired insurance agent, was first elected to the Fluvanna Board in 1997. He volunteers about twenty hours each week at his library.

Three trustees will be returning for their second three year terms.

Erin Apostol, a retired teacher English and computer teacher for the Albany Public Schools, is a member of the Upper Hudson Library System Board. She is a 2nd Vice-president for the NYSALB Board and chairs the Legislation and Policy Committee. She currently works part-time for the Albany County BOCES Adult Education Program.

Judge David Krogmann is a member of the Board of Directors of the Crandall Public Library in Glens Falls where he has served as trustee for the past 21 years. He is a former Board President. He is a Judge for the City of Glens Falls. David serves on NYSALB's Legislation and Policy Committee.

Richard Strauss became a member of the Jordan Free Library Board in 1995 and has served as its President since 1996. He is also a member of the Onondaga County Public Library System Advisory Council and has served as its President since 1999. Additionally, he serves on the Central New York Library Resource Council Legislative Committee. As the current NYSALB Treasurer, Dick chairs the Budget and Finance Committee and serves on the Membership and Nominating Committees.

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The following NYSALB board members have been selected to serve as committee chairs for the period 2003-2004. NYSALB board members serve as a public service and do not receive any remuneration.

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We have started off our first year together with a major victory in the fight for state dollars.  Working with libraries throughout the state, the bi-partisan budget of the Assembly and Senate restored all of the Governor's $13.3 million cuts to libraries.  This means that libraries throughout the state will receive a total of $88.9 million for general library services.

You should know that this item received more votes from legislators than all of the 119 line item votes cast to override the Governor's vetoes and reinstate budget cuts.

The proposed cuts would have been disastrous for our libraries because it would have resulted in the loss of matching federal dollars.  If the cuts went through, we would also have lost 15% of the federal money for library funding, with the resulting cuts in grants to libraries, summer reading programs, and NOVEL.

You deserve the credit for our success.  You have been good advocates, drumming and marching through the Legislative Office Building and onto the steps of the Capitol.  It was exciting to see the strong rally by hundreds of library supporters that was the first of its kind.  It made a big difference, as did your follow-up letters thanking legislators for restoring the $13.3 million in library aid.

This is no time to be complacent because we may have another budget battle on our hands next year, if the economy does not rebound.  It is so important that you develop a personal working relationship with your state legislators. I urge you to be constantly proactive by involving your legislative representatives in your library activities, asking them to read to kids in your summer reading programs, speak at events on site, and doing all that it takes to get legislators familiar with the important role that you play in your communities.

I have always had a special relationship with libraries, first as a second and third grade teacher in Virginia and New York, and later as a trustee of my local public library in Ossining.  And now I am so proud to be the chair of the Assembly Committee on Libraries and Education Technology and to work with a great support group.  All of our efforts will hopefully have a positive impact on libraries and library services in the years to come.

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Adopting the first objective of the medical community, New York's 2003-04 State Budget attempts to "do no harm" to libraries and library systems.   As passed by the Legislature, the Budget restores library funding to last year's level, which represents full funding of the statutory aid formula.  

This is good!

It heads in the right direction, restoring aid instead of cutting.  The original Executive Budget proposed a fifteen percent ($13.3 million) cut in library aid.   And New York was not alone.   California's Governor proposed to cut his state's major library aid program by almost ninety-seven percent (to $1 million from $31.5 million), and to impose a $5 fee on interlibrary loans.  

Certainly it is symbolic.   Faced with massive funding cuts, the Legislature's fiscal committees placed library aid restoration at the top of their priorities for education.   Trustees should have no qualms about asking local governments -- which provide ninety percent of funding for public libraries -- to keep libraries high on their budget priorities.  

And, in spite of  a year marked by multi-billion-dollar shortfalls, it is the second largest Legislative addition to a Governor's library aid proposal in New York's history.  

But, while the restoration does no harm, neither does it improve matters.  We are still working from an aid formula established over a decade ago.  And although many libraries have coped by using growth in alternate sources of funding, those library systems which rely primarily on State aid are being slowly strangled.  

I still believe that solutions such as automatic annual cost-of-living increases in State library aid (S.3995/A.8355) or a Constitutional amendment creating a right to library services (S.738/A.4838) would serve us well in times of fiscal restraint as well as in times of plenty.  

In my last column I welcomed Assemblywoman Sandy Galef, the incoming Chair of the Assembly Committee on Libraries and Education Technology, as a new and very active supporter of libraries.   It has been a pleasure working with Assemblywoman Galef during the Legislative Session.  

This time, I bid farewell to two of our State's most passionate and effective advocates for libraries.   Susan Lehman Keitel, Director of the New York Library Association (NYLA), is retiring after many years of public service, including a stint on the Senate staff.   And, NYSALB Trustee and TRUSTEE newsletter editor Ed Field has fallen victim to term limitations.  

Ed consistently challenged me, and other TRUSTEE contributors, to provoke your thoughts as we work together in support of libraries.   I'm sure that Susan and Ed will continue as library advocates, and I look forward to working with Sam Patton, the TRUSTEE's incoming editor, and with NYLA's staff.

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(From Healthcare Association of NYS)

Personal letters to legislators can make a differenceŠespecially if they concern an issue current to the legislator's focus or agenda. You can get some hints on what motivates your legislators from various state "intelligence reports."  Since state lawmakers receive hundreds of letters per year, you must differentiate your letter from the rest.  The following are suggestions to keep in mind when writing a legislator.

1. The letter should be no longer than a page.  If your arguments can not be summarized in a page, attach a summary or set of talking points to the letter.
2. Summarize your argument and identify the issue in the first sentences.
3. State your case with a human face. When the message is personal and heartfelt, it is more likely to paint a picture that the legislator can remember and relate to.
4. Make the letter local. No matter the legislative level, develop facts on the local impact.
5. If possible, address the original letter to the state Capitol office.  Also send a copy to the legislator's local office.  That office is more likely to know you or your affiliation, and this may improve your ability to have an impact.
6. Include your address, telephone number and/or cell phone number with the letter.  It not only identifies you as a constituent, but also facilitates any follow-up the staff may want to perform.

Telephone Calls May Have Impact  Too!

Many of the suggestions for drafting a letter are equally applicable to calling your legislators.  There are some pointers that can assist in getting your message beyond the receptionist.  They include:

1. Use the direct-dial number for your legislator.   Directories containing legislator's names and their special or direct-dial phone numbers are usually available.  Special telephone numbers are often kept on file in the association office.
2. Talk to your legislator directly.  If this is not possible, find out who in his/her office handles the issue.  Talk directly to this person and offer your expertise as a resource.
3. Take a moment before your call to collect your thoughts and be direct.  Taking time during a call to establish an argument can lose the listener.
4. Put a human face on the issue.  If at all possible, refer to a local or personal example.  It will carry weight.
5. Be firm but polite.  Be firm to get past the receptionist; be polite to allow your message to be heard.

In some cases, where there is a short time period, faxes and telegrams to your elected officials may be warranted.  Many of the recommendations for letter writing and telephone calls can be tailored to these two methods of communications.  However, one note of caution: faxes and telegrams should only be used ONLY when the issue is critical and time is of the essence.

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By Valerie Chevrette, New York State Library

The hard work and persistence of trustees and other library advocates helped achieve a history-making vote in Albany when the Assembly and the Senate overrode the Executive veto of $13.3 million in library aid.  

Your Senators and Assembly members demonstrated their commitment to ensuring New Yorkers have the libraries and library services they need in the 21st century.  Letters and phone calls provide an excellent way to express gratitude to legislators for their support of library funding.  

The history-making legislative action in Albany is encouraging to the future of library funding.  Libraries are achieving the recognition they deserve as vital to education, business, and communities in New York State.

On the down side, the override of the Executive veto provides only flat funding for libraries.  Library use is surging, and New Yorkers need their libraries more than ever.  New Century Libraries, the visionary proposal from the Board of Regents, would provide much-needed new funding for libraries of all types.  In this time of fiscal crisis, New Century Libraries remains a top priority of the Regents.  

Now that library funding has been restored for the coming year, library advocates need to redouble their efforts to have the New Century Libraries legislation enacted.  

Library advocacy meetings in Clarence, Sachem, and Syracuse have helped build a network of support and action.  The coming year promises to be as challenging as ever, and future advocacy events will build on the momentum gained by library advocates.  

Watch for news of upcoming advocacy meetings and events.  Trustees are urged to join The ADVOCATE, a library advocacy listserv that provides a forum for sharing information, ideas, and calls-to-action.  To join the listserv contact David Dudek at Hobart and William Smith Colleges at dudek@hws.edu.

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By Susan Keitel, NYLA Executive Director

For us humans, intelligence comes in more than one form.   Some of us are practical, down-to-earth, doers of tasks.   Others are thinkers or dreamers who can envision the way things could be, or ought to be.   Among us as a group can be found actors, artists, athletes, poets, politicians, bakers, bankers, lawyers, lobbyists, librarians, and all manner of malingerers; and each of us can do some things better than we can do others.  

Library boards are groups of individual human beings, each of whom brings to the board table emotions, experiences, skills, and intelligence.  Coupled with each individual's patterns of working, there results on every library board a rich and complicated pool of talent in which decisions must be made, policies must be devised, and problems must be solved.  

Library boards are not families, although their members may occasionally grow fond of one another; neither are they tribes, where people willingly adhere to similar traditions and rituals.  Library boards are willy-nilly collections of folk whose agreed upon goal is  to direct and support the work of their library.  They must do this within the complex geography of their combined talents, eccentricities, egos, and ambitions, mapped in the particular situation of their individual library.   Small wonder that it is sometimes not so easy for a board to behave well and act productively.  

Given the diversity of people on every library board, how can boards be effective and smart?  What does it mean to have a smart library board?  If every library board were smart and efficient, how would our libraries improve?  There are deceptively simple answers to these questions.  

How can a library board be smart?  A board is smart when it assesses and values the contributions and talents of each of its members.   It is smart when it acknowledges its members' weaknesses without insult; and when it capitalizes on its members' strengths without undue favoritism.   A smart board is a civil board; it is a respectful board; it is a board that keeps its collective eye on the goal of great library service.  The board is smart when it learns, really learns, that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.  

What does it mean to have a smart library board?  It means that the bases are covered, whether they are the bases of library policy, fund-raising, financial accounting, public relations, law, advocacy, budgeting, real estate, or board and director evaluation.   Having a smart library board means that the public can rest easy and know that all is well, or all will be made well for the library if something untoward occurs.  A smart board knows how to work with an agenda, how to keep minutes, how to use committees, how to work with a Friends group, and how to stay out of trouble.   A smart library board knows what it doesn't know and fills in its gaps with diligence, inquiry, and intelligence.  

If all library boards were smart, would New York's libraries improve?  You bet!  There would be no lack of advocates in Albany or Washington for library funding; there would be no defeated bond issues at home.   Libraries would have enough books, computers, staff and space for everyone to be served.  Libraries would not only be loved, they would be acknowledged as strong and indispensable community resources whose funding needs would be dependably met.  

Because NYLA believes that smart library boards are one of the greatest assets a library can have, the Association is developing a new program of board evaluation.   A service offering evaluation of library boards, either on an ongoing or a one-time basis, done  by Association staff or consultants, will soon be available from NYLA.   For more information, please watch the NYLA website at <www.nyla.org> or you may call the office at 1-800-252-6952 and speak with the Executive Director.

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Susan Lehman Keitel, Executive Director of the New York Library Association will retire effective December 31, 2003.  Diane Courtney, President of NYLA, announced Keitel's retirement at the May 19th Council meeting of the New York Library Association, saying that Keitel had made a strong contribution to NYLA during the fourteen years she has been the NYLA ED.  Keitel's hiring represented a change of course for NYLA, as she was the first registered lobbyist NYLA had hired as Executive Director.  

"Without Susan, NYLA would not have been able to create such a strong and visible presence in Albany" says Courtney.  (New York's library community has just lobbied successfully to restore a 15% budget cut in the state budget, and the successful override of the Governor's veto of the restoration demonstrated high legislative support for libraries.)

During her tenure as Executive Director, Keitel instituted new policies and procedures for the NYLA office, oversaw the purchase and renovation of NYLA headquarters and carried out numerous public relations, fundraising and advocacy activities.  "Susan will definitely be a hard act to follow, and NYLA will miss her tremendously She has taught the library community of New York State so much about advocacy and training." Courtney said.  

Courtney will chair a search committee that will poll the NYLA membership to determine what emphases should be considered in the search.  Among the issues to be examined will be whether the MLS should be a requirement, and whether NYLA will again want its registered lobbyist to also serve as Executive Director.  

Fortunately, Susan has agreed to maintain close ties with NYLA, and they may include her continuing to provide the very popular workshops on Ethics, which she is currently presents both statewide and nationally.  Keitel, who is certified by the Institute of Global Ethics as a trainer in ethical fitness, will present an ALA Preconference on Ethics at ALA Toronto.  

Before coming to NYLA, Keitel was both Director of Board Development Services for the New York State School Boards Association, an organization for which she also served as lobbyist.  She also served as a policy and research analyst for the New York State Senate, Assembly and SUNY.

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It's time to submit your candidate(s) for the 2003 Velma Moore Award! Think about library community volunteers, library staffers, in fact anyone whom you believe has made an important difference to our library community, or who has traveled that extra mile to make things significantly better and or more effective for our libraries.  Submit his or her name with the relevant information and leave the rest up to NYSALB's Velma Moore committee.  

Deadline for this year's prestigious award, annually sponsored by NYSALB, is August 15, 2003.  

Remember: the award carries with it a $750 stipend to donate to the library or library service of the award winner's choice.  In addition, the winner will be presented with an attractive engraved personalized plaque to be presented at the annual NYLA/NYSALB Conference.  

The award was established in 1962 to honor the memory of Velma Moore who worked as a very effective library activist from 1947 to her death in 1961.  Mrs. Moore was one of the chartered members of the Library Trustees Foundation of New York (predecessor of today's NYSALB organization).  She served two terms as the Foundation President and also served as a trustee, for 33 years, of the Kenmore Public Library (near Buffalo, NY).  She was the wife of New York State Lieutenant Governor Frank C. Moore.  

Complete rules and nomination form for the Velma Moore competition are available from the NYSALB office.  Last year's Velma Moore winner was Mary Jo Ketchum, long time library advocate, former NYSALB trustee and past-president of the state-wide trustee's organization.  The award was presented to Mary Jo in recognition of her 22 years of service as a trustee and advocate for library service at the state, local and national levels.

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By Dan Theobald, i2i Communications

That's the attitude of the Woodland Public Library, which has opened an Internet shopping mall to help offset budget cuts related to the statewide recession.  

The venture, called Shop for the Library (www.shopforthelibrary.net), features more than 200 merchants, including popular sites such as amazon.com, ebay, and expedia.  Every purchase initiated through the Shop for the Library website generates a commission for the Woodland Public Library.  

"We have a clear choice in this economy - cut back or fight back," says library director Marie Bryan.  "We're fighting.  We received an LSTA grant to cover the costs of setting up Shop for the Library, and now all proceeds we raise will go to support services to the public."

Shop for the Library works with online merchants who agree to give the library a percentage -- between 2 and 55 percent -- of all sales referred from the Shop for the Library website.  "Folks pay the same price whether they go through Shop for the Library or directly to the merchant's website," says Bryan.  "So we're hoping library supporters will take an extra second or two and use the Shop for the Library portal."

Shop for the Library is the first public library fundraising campaign to feature multiple online merchants.  Other libraries have affiliated with individual online merchants such as amazon.com -- but no one has ever built a virtual mall with more than 200 merchants.

Bryan is particularly optimistic about the fundraising potential of the library's own boutique on Shop for the Library, which offers cards, posters, and apparel items based on images from local archives.  "People love browsing our Woodland history collection, and now they can buy greeting cards and T-shirts with some of our most popular images."  

Woodland's collection was created through Zazzle.com, an online venture that lets any organization or individual upload jpeg images (on which they own the copyright or from the public domain), and use them to create gift items.  Other libraries selling merchandise through Zazzle include the California History Collection of the California State Library and UC Berkeley's Bancroft Library.  

Shop for the Library is an online update of a fundraising strategy long employed by larger urban libraries - the on-site gift shop.  For smaller and rural libraries, however, brick-and-mortar gift shops are impractical due to a variety of factors, including lack of volunteer staffing, complexity of set-up and inventory management, and shortage of available space in the library.  

"We could never find space for a gift shop in our building, much less offer items from 200 merchants," says Bryan.  "But we've got plenty of room on the web."   

The Shop for the Library website and associated promotional materials were designed for easy adaptation by other public libraries, if the project proves successful in Woodland.  "There's no grant money right now to support expansion to other libraries," says Bryan.  "But we'd be glad to provide advice and counsel, along with access to our tools and templates, for any libraries wanting to build their own version of Shop."

Library supporters can find Shop for the Library at www.shopforthelibrary.net or via the Woodland Public Library's homepage at www.cityofwoodland.org/library.  

Shop for the Library is supported in whole or in part by the U.S. Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA), administered in California by the State Librarian.

Dan Theobald
Principal Consultant
i2i Communications
3716 16th Street
San Francisco, CA 94114
415-431-0329
FAX: 415-626-9499
dtheobald@i2icom.com
www.i2icom.com

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By Samuel Patton, NYSALB Trustee

A bit of library history ...

Several years ago, my wife and I were driving along the Southern Tier, on our way to Ann Arbor, Michigan.  We had planned on spending one night on the way and when we reached Olean, we started looking for a place to dine and lodging for the night.  While driving along South Union Street, we saw an imposing building, with a sign saying Old Library Restaurant, and it looked so much like the Carnegie libraries we all know about that we stopped to investigate.  

It turns out that the Old Library is not the current library, but has been a restaurant since about 1982.  So while the building no longer houses the library, I recommend a stop if you go that way in your travels.  Here is the story, thanks to Mary DiRisio of the Olean Public Library, The Old Library Restaurant, and the reference desk at the Prendergast Public Library in Jamestown.

The site was donated to the Library Association in 1889.  The then Mayor (and President of the Library Association) Mr.  W.H. Mandeville interested Andrew Carnegie in donating funds for the new library building.  The original grant of $25,000 was increased to $40,000 when Mr.  E.L. Tilton, who was Carnegie's architect, unveiled plans for the grand edifice.  The building was completed in May of 1910 as the Olean Public Library.  

By 1974 the library had outgrown the building and moved to larger quarters.  The Olean Historical Society and the local Department of the Aging used the building until 1979, and then in 1982 it was bought by the present owners.  The building was put on the NY State Registry of Historic Places on May 21, 1985 and placed on the National Register of Historic Places July 11, 1985.  The current owners have preserved unique features that are typical of Carnegie libraries: the rotunda, the plaque of Mr. Carnegie and the marble frieze.  They even went to the same brickyard in Pennsylvania where the original bricks were made when an addition was constructed as a kitchen for the restaurant.  

So even though you will not find the same amenities and services at the Old Library as you will at the current Olean Public Library, the building itself is a good reminder of what the classic Carnegie libraries looked like, and a credit to all who worked to preserve and restore it.

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The Greenburgh Public Library's Mobile Branch "Cybermobile" made a stop during NYSALB's 2002 TRUSTEE INSTITUTE . The program was held at the Westchester Marriott on May 3, 2003.  Tina Thompson, NYSALB's 1st Vice President, and other trustees attending the event, had an opportunity to tour the Cybermobile which features satellite access to the Internet.

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TRUSTEE is published by the New York State Association of Library Boards 388 Broadway (4th Floor) Albany, NY 12207 four times a year for $10.00 annually per subscriber.  Subscription  is a benefit of paid membership; cost of the subscription is covered by membership dues. Second class postage is paid at Albany, NY  and an additional mailing office USPS#010-872, ISSN:1085-3170.  Volume XIV  Issue #3, Postmaster: Please send address changes to NYSALB, 388 Broadway (4th Floor) Albany, NY 12207.

NYSALB
338 Broadway, 4th Floor
Albany, NY 12207
Phone: 518-434-5973 
Fax: 518-434-0072
Website: http://www.nysalb.org

EDITOR: Edwin M. Field, efield@catskill.net
ASSOCIATE EDITOR: Sam Patton, s.patton@computer.org
PRESIDENT: Norman J. Jacknis, norm@jacknis.com
1st VICE PRESIDENT: Martina Thompson
2nd VICE PRESIDENT: Erin Apostol
TREASURER: Richard Strauss
SECRETARY: Jane Sweet
ASSOCIATION MANAGER: Karen K. Dyer

DIRECTORS:
Erin Apostol, Albany
Edwin M. Field, Monticello
Joan Hurley, Horseheads
Dr. Norman J. Jacknis, Cortlandt Manor
David Bruce Krogmann, Glens Falls
George Manitzas, Freeport
Samuel Patton, Hopewell Junction
Francis Picart, Brentwood
Joseph Provoncha, North Hudson
Nancy Simaitis, Waverly
Richard Strauss, Memphis
Jane Sweet, Clarence
Dr. William Taber, Richfield Springs
Jack Taylor, Jamestown
Martina Thompson, Pittsford

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