• Spring

Spring 2008

• Helping Libraries Serve Persons with Disabilities
• President’s Memo…you expect me to do what!!!
• Library Advocacy Day
• State Librarian Janet Martin Welch Will Retire This Spring
• Library Numbers Impresive
• From the Editor’s Desk
• Ramp Up Reading with the 2008 Statewide Summer Reading Program
• Censorship or Freedom of Inquiry?

Governor David Paterson, New York State’s first legally blind Governor, has never let his disability define him or hold him back. The new Governor is well known as an intelligent, hard-working, and dedicated public servant who just happens to use certain coping techniques to overcome his sensory impairment.

Nonetheless, with the visibility of his leadership roles, the Governor has become something of a de facto spokesperson for persons with disabilities. It is in this capacity that he has cited an extraordinary statistic: “71% of blind people and 90% of deaf people in this country are unemployed.” What a waste of talent! As the Governor continued, “Maybe one of them could figure out a cure for cancer, but we can’t get them into the workplace. The educational proficiency of the disabled surpasses the national education average, and yet we have these horrible unemployment rates in those communities.”

Libraries, as “the people’s university,” have long served persons with disabilities. We are promoting legislation which will help to expand libraries’ resources for these services.The omnibus New York Library Initiative Act (State Education Department Program Bill #26), which we will be introducing on behalf of the Board of Regents, provides explicit State aid increases for regional programs serving the blind and physically handicapped. A total of $800,000 in added aid would be allocated among programs in New York City, Long Island, and the State Talking Book and Braille Library in Albany, which serves upstate.

The Library Initiative Act also includes $10 million to maintain a permanent Statewide internet library, building on the existing NOVELNY program. Adaptive technologies can often assist persons with disabilities to access information resources.

Assembly member Paulin has introduced legislation (S.7020/A.6303A) which clarifies laws prohibiting discrimination against persons with disabilities. This bill would require that public entities not only provide access to their facilities, but, unless it would create an undue hardship, affirmatively ensure equal opportunities for all persons to receive services and participate in public programs and activities. It also offers consistency for libraries and other public entities who are attempting to serve persons with disabilities by placing existing federal definitions in State law.
Senator Farley is proposing another potential resource to enhance services for persons with disabilities by enabling small library construction projects to receive low-cost loans from the State Dormitory Authority (S.1684A/A.6256A). Small projects, such as adding an access ramp to an older library building, can provide large returns in expanded services.

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Yes, trustee as an advocate.  As I see the snow building in upstate New York, I know that NYLA’s “lobby” day will be coming.  I’m a lobby day junky.  This was my 13th consecutive trip to Albany to meet our local legislators.  Yes, for me it means getting up at some ungodly hour of the morning to catch a bus at the local thruway park and ride.  Yes it means seeing the sunrise over Little Falls.  Yes it means being “strip” searched on the way into the legislative office building.  It means “running” up 8,500 flights of stairs in order to make your next meeting, just hoping someone in the stairwell knows CPR in order to revive a slightly tubby “old” guy as he has cardiac arrest.  But, that is just the beginning of the fun.

In our library world one of our untapped resources remains you, our trustees.  I know fear of speaking in front of others ranks well above death, large ferocious dust bunnies, and flying.  But advocacy is really easy if you are prepared.  I’ve heard individuals say, “ I don’t know how to beg for money.”  Well, advocacy is not begging for money.  Advocacy is telling your story. 

Each one of us should have a success story about our library.  We all know individuals who have used the resources at our library to get a job, complete a term paper, learned to connect with grandchildren via e-mail.  We all know of the successes of our library.  That extra story hour we added for the day care and home school children, the money we received to have local symphony ensembles perform, the local artist who is able for the first time to display his/her work, and the quiet individual who loved the library so much that the library was remembered in his/her will.
Each one of us should know the vision for our library.  Whether it’s adding that new wing, enhancing the children’s collection, or just providing opportunities to the seemingly large “mob” of teenagers being teenagers who join us each afternoon after school lets out.

We should prepare as a board and as individual trustees our 30 second elevator speech, our 2 minute what’s happening at the library speech, and our 5 minute let’s get down to brass tacks talk. 

Advocacy is not begging.  Advocacy is telling our story to anyone who will listen.  Obviously we should tailor our presentation to the audience; still the facts remain the same.

Advocacy is knowing who are the people who make decisions.  Regardless of whether we are from small towns and small libraries, or big cities and big libraries we should all know who are members of the school board, the district superintendent, the mayor, the town supervisor, the village, town, and city legislature, our state assembly representative, our state senator, and the governor.  Not only should we know who we are, they should know who they are.  They should know your name and that you are a library supporter.  That’s real success.

How do you do this?  Simply go visit them, invite them to ALL of your library’s events.  Have them read at a story hour.  Take pictures; share the pictures with the local media.  Tell them your library’s story.

Often time we are so engrossed in our day to day activity that we forget to share our greatness with individuals who can provide some real benefits to our libraries.

I hope to see you at NYSALB’s Trustee Institute in Saratoga, so you will be able to share with us your library’s successes.

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Over 1,000 Supporters in Albany

By the carloads and busloads, library advocates and supporters came to Albany to talk to their legislators about library funding.  There was a record turnout - 1,008 library advocates descended on Albany in a day filled with energy, excitement and hope and 88 legislators joined them for our Lobby Day breakfast, met with advocates, and had their photo taken for the NYLA READ posters.

Both the Senate and the Assembly have agreed that they will restore the $5 million that was not included in the Governor’s budget. In a difficult year economically, our legislators have recognized the value of libraries and library systems. Although the news is good, it is not a done deal. Governor Paterson must approve it and the Senate/Assembly must agree on how to pay for it. Only because of library advocates could this have happened.

This information is from NYLA’s Kathy Miller, who chairs their Legislative Committee. And we should all be proud and supportive of the Library Trustees and Friends who made the trip.  We are the unpaid volunteers whose presence is especially valuable.  Legislators have often told me how much it means to them to see us there in Albany.

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After much deliberation and reflection, I have decided to retire from my position as State Librarian and Assistant Commissioner for Libraries this spring.

I will depart with a great sense of satisfaction over the progress and achievements of the State Library and New York’s library community during my tenure. None of these would have been possible without the cooperation and collaboration of many individuals and groups, including the Regents, our loyal friends of libraries in the legislature, my colleagues in the Education Department, State Library staff and library leaders and organizations throughout the state.

Here at the State Library, we have undergone a major renovation of the Research Library; enhanced the Talking Book and Braille Library, which performs such an important function for the disabled; and added important historical materials to Manuscripts and Special Collections.A series of grants from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has brought more than $20 million to aid public-access computing in public libraries statewide and train staff and users in technology skills. New York’s libraries received E-rate discounts of over $18.4 million in 2007, the highest annual amount awarded in the 10 years of the program.

A substantial grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services has contributed to the recruitment of a new generation of librarians who represent and are equipped to serve their diverse communities.

Participation in the Statewide Summer Reading Program has soared to more than 1.3 million children. Since 1999, 35 public library districts have been created, and local public library service has been extended to more than 300,000 New Yorkers who previously had none.

Successful advocacy efforts of individuals and groups across the state have helped to obtain legislative approval for new funding for public library construction grants, increased aid for the library systems, and a small but important increase in school library materials aid.This progress is built on the visionary work of the Regents Commission on Library Services, led by Abby Milstein and Frank Macchiarola; the commitment of Commissioner Richard Mills; and the tireless efforts of Regent Jim Dawson.

I do leave with important objectives not yet met, including state funding for the Statewide Internet Library, building on the successful NOVELNY pilot project, and Saturday hours for the public at the Research Library. I also see an ongoing need to increase ethnic diversity and bring an infusion of younger staff members to the State Library.

My library career has been rich and varied. It started during my undergraduate years at Bucknell University, when I helped with library surveys that my father, Lowell Martin, was conducting across the country and around the world. It later included corporate research library, school library, public library, and academic library work, and then Director of the Rochester Regional Library Council. It has been a privilege to serve in leadership positions in the New York Library Association and the American Library Association.

I feel a great sense of satisfaction in being the first woman to serve as New York State Librarian. Although I haven’t succeeded in meeting all my goals for New York’s libraries, my grandchild in Virginia provides a strong incentive to leave my position this year. Hayden Robert Hart is nearly one year old, and I’ve seen very little of him so far. My family has always been a three-generation one, and closeness between grandparents and grandchildren has been an important part of growing up. My husband and I will settle in Virginia near our daughter and her family.

Thank you to all who have made my time as State Librarian an immensely rewarding and worthwhile experience. I extend my very best wishes to you for the continued success of libraries in New York State.

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Through cooperation and collaboration, the New York State Library and our library and system partners across the state have accomplished a great deal in 2007. We have again met significant challenges and turned them into opportunities to improve library services to the people of New York.

It has been a year of extraordinary numbers. For example: a Clue @Your Library, the 2007 Statewide Summer Reading Program, attracted 1.35 million young participants, a 10-percent increase over summer 2006 and an increase of more than 15 percent in five of the public library systems.

New York’s libraries received E-rate discounts of over $18.4 million, the highest annual amount awarded in the 10 years of the program.

A new $5.6 million Gates Online Opportunities Hardware Grant will soon provide some 2,100 computer workstations and training support for more than 440 libraries and branches around the state.

Public libraries and systems received $14.8 million in grants for 256 public library construction projects for 20072008.
The Board of Regents approved 56 library charters.

NOVELNY pilot project/Statewide Internet Library annual searches totaled 25.6 million, and usage continues to grow; 5,500 libraries are registered for NOVELNY.

41 students will graduate with their MLS degrees this year as a result of the federally funded IMLS Making It Real! librarian recruitment grant, improving the diversity of the library workforce in New York State.

The Division of Library Development offered and/or sponsored 939 statewide education events attended by 8,776 people, including library staff, trustees, and others; for example, more than 756 library staff and trustees from across the state participated in 47 workshops offered by the Gates/WebJunction Spanish Language Outreach Program and the public library systems. The State Research Library led 214 tours and presentations, sponsored 40 programs for the public, and held 21 customized training classes both on- and offsite for community groups and staff of state agencies.
The State Research Library responded to 32,000 interlibrary loan requests, with 177,000 pages sent electronically; the Research Library joined LAND, Nylink’s rapid-delivery service for resource sharing among New York’s academic libraries, including all SUNY and CUNY institutions.

The State Research Library’s digitization project has scanned 84,667 pages of New York State documents as well as other non-copyrighted materials, and provides links to the digitized information through its online catalog.  A recently acquired high-speed book scanner, capable of scanning 1,200 pages an hour, has stepped up the production of content from the Research Library’s collections for availability on its website—e.g., a 14-volume set of the Sir William Johnson Papers, an important work for historians and educators, is now accessible from anywhere in the world.

The State Library’s Talking Book and Braille Library served 39,000 registered users with visual or reading disabilities; more than 68,000 titles on audio cassette or in Braille were available for loan for use on free playback equipment.
 The Research Library provided information to inmates in New York’s correctional facilities; 18,061 requests were completed for 2,228 inmates.

500 new users from across the state registered for a New York State Resident Borrower’s card this year, bringing the total number of registered borrowers under this program to 3,012. This program, open to all New Yorkers, represents about 20 percent of the total number of borrowers.Subscriptions to electronic journals for the Research Library’s online resources more than doubled from 10,000 to 23,000; customers used these resources more than 51,300 times either onsite or remotely; the number of onsite customers rose 5 percent (spurred by the use of 50 computers connecting to 100 databases in law, medicine, business, grants, and newspapers).

I am proud of New York’s library community and the collaborative spirit that you all demonstrate as we continue to develop innovative ways to serve New Yorkers. In the final days of 2007, please accept my thanks for your efforts.
Janet M. Welch, New York State Librarian and Assistant Commissioner for Libraries.

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It has been a turbulent quarter!  From our January meeting, through Lobby Day and a new Governor, it hasn’t been dull.  We will miss Janet Welch, who has been a consistent contributor, and always helpful, and certainly wish her well. 
We have a very full issue, which I hope you will find well worth reading.  And remember, if there is a subject you want to see here, please let me know, or if you want to write for your fellow trustees, contributions can always be arranged.
I will not be able to attend the Trustee Institute in Saratoga, but I encourage you to go.  Saratoga is lovely in the spring, and there is a very good program arranged.  I will be sorry to miss both seeing many of you there, and hearing the speakers.

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Ramp Up Reading with the 2008 Statewide Summer Reading Program

It’s time to get ready for the summer season, and the New York State Library is about to launch its Statewide Summer Reading Program for 2008 – CATCH THE READING BUG (grades K-6) and METAMORPHOSIS @ YOUR LIBRARY (teens).   

Library summer reading programs are vital to closing the achievement gap, and public libraries play an important role.  Research has shown that kids who participate in library summer reading programs don’t suffer the learning losses typical of the summer break.   Youngsters in less affluent communities where there are fewer opportunities to read and less exposure to books suffer greater losses than their counterparts in more affluent communities.  These losses add up year-by-year and are a major reason for growth in the academic gap between low-and high- income children.
Library programs like the 2008 New York Statewide Summer Reading Program let kids choose what they read and boost their learning potential. Studies show that reading for enjoyment helps children increase their vocabulary, fluency, and comprehension.  The New York State Education Department has lauded the New York State Library’s Statewide Summer Reading Program as an example of an effective voluntary summer reading program and urged schools to consider the program instead of required summer reading assignments.  It’s an elegant and cost effective way to help prevent reading losses and help close the achievement gap.  Students K-12, as well as preschoolers, are invited to participate.

Last year, more than 1.3 million youngsters participated in the program.  This year’s goal is to get even more kids reading.  Now is the time to begin working with your public library director to promote the program to kids and their parents.  For more information go to the New York State Library’s web site at www.nysl.nysed.gov and click on “Statewide Summer Reading.”

The New York State Library’s Statewide Summer Reading Program is funded by temporary federal LSTA funds granted to the New York State Library by the Federal Institute of Museum and Library Science.  The NEW YORK LIBRARY INITIATIVE, the 2008 – 09 Regents proposal for better support for libraries of all types, would provide ongoing support for literacy and reading programs, including the statewide summer reading program.  The NEW YORK LIBRARY INITIATIVE is currently a bill before the legislature and the Executive. For more information on, go to www.nysl.nysed.gov and point to “Statewide Summer Reading.”

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This was a headline in the January 17 issue of the Journal News, about a Putnam County Library. Here is a condensed version of the story, as reported.

MAHOPAC - Carmel police have seized unspecified items from the home of a  Southeast man charged with downloading child pornography from a computer at  the Mahopac Public Library. 

The suspect is charged with two  felonies. He is accused of downloading images of photos showing children, said  Putnam County District Attorney Adam Levy. He’d been viewing child-porn at the library for a year and a half, police  said. 

The library, meanwhile, is fast-tracking plans to update its Internet policy  and has formed a Community Task Force  that will include Library Director Patricia Kaufman, Carmel police, library board members,  and representatives from the Mahopac school district and the county Youth Bureau.  on Internet Use. The group will  consider Internet filters and review current policies and procedures, said  library Director Patricia Kaufman. 

Town Supervisor Ken Schmitt, a 26-year Carmel police veteran, said he was  pleased with the library’s immediate cooperation. 

More libraries are installing filters to prevent patrons’ inappropriate and  illegal use of computers, said Rick Schatz, president of the National  Coalition for the Protection of Children and Families, which is focused on  curbing access to pornography at libraries. 

“This is what happens,” he said. “The idea that closely monitoring a  computer is enough is obviously a joke,” referring to libraries having staff  members visually monitor computer use.

Open access to material and Internet services has been the subject of  library discussions across the nation, and at the center of a 2003  U.S. Supreme Court case. Library officials this week emphasized that the  Mahopac suspect was caught at the library, and that child pornography is  illegal and not a function of library services. 

The Mahopac library board has opposed filters up to now, saying they would  block some valuable information and slow computer operation. They are reconsidering that stance, officials said.  “I would ask the community to be mindful that, throughout the country,  libraries are faced with how to balance providing information the community  needs and wants with how to protect the public,” said board president Alice Walsh.  

Most local libraries have chosen not to have filters. In Greenburgh, the  debate resulted in installing filters on some children’s and young adult  computers, but not in the adult sections. 

“There are a lot of people who feel that filters are censorship,” said its  director, Eugenie Contrata. “But libraries are a limited public forum, and  we do have an obligation to provide an option and age-appropriate aterials. I commend the Mahopac library for having the courage to open the discussion  and tighten up fast.”

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