Summer 2009
President’s Memo
By MaryEllen O’Connor, NYSALB Board President
It is with great energy and much enthusiasm that I begin my year as NYSALB Board President! It truly is an honor for me to serve trustees in such a visible leadership role.
Unlike librarians who are specifically educated, trained and employed by libraries; trustees are volunteers who bring different levels of education, a variety of occupations, and a unique set of decision making skills to their library boards.
When you think of the word LIBRARY many connective words pop up: warm and fuzzy, free, story time, great memories, etc. But in reality, a library is a business and trustees are charged with the fiscal responsibility to ensure that the library doors stay open.
And, like a business, trustees are responsible for creating policies which will positively affect the daily operation of the libraries, and guarantee the safety of its buildings, staff and patrons.
When I was elected a trustee of the Albany Public Library in 2002, I didn’t have a clue as to what a trustee’s position was all about, but I did know that I wanted to help the library. In fact, the trustees who were elected with me had to “hit the ground running” because the plans to build two new branches and renovate three branches were already under discussion.
What a learning curve I experienced! Every time an opportunity came along to attend any kind of trustee training I took advantage of it. To me, education is the key to responsible decision making, and I wanted to make the best decisions for my library.
Over the next year, I’m hoping to build on the past successes of NYSALB and to be able to grow our organization as the primary resource for trustees in New York State. Through this newsletter and our website, I will be able to keep you informed of our progress. Until then…
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The Library Circuit
Sam Patton, Editor, TRUSTEE
What is the longest time you have experienced between an item “going missing” from your library and its surprising return?
How would you feel about 23 years ? And to top that, how about a lapse of 145 years?
First, a bit of history. In 1864, Union General David Hunter raided Lexington, Virginia, shelling and burning part of the Virginia Military Institute, and burning and looting Washington College.
Among other damage, several books were taken during the raid. The first to be returned was accompanied by a letter dated January 20, 1887 from a Kansas swine farmer named C.S. Day, who wrote the following to the college president, which was pasted in the front of the book:
“The day after the occupation of Lexington by Genl Hunter in 1864, I picked up in camp ‘Precious Faith,’ published in London in 1675, and the name of Thomas Edward Evans, Washington College, April 14, 1814, inscribed on inside page of Cover. The book is well preserved and complete. In looking over a number of mementos of the late war, recently, I thought may be you would like this book returned to your library where I have no doubt it came from. If I am correct in thinking so please inform me and I will return same with pleasure.”
The book was returned and is now part of Leyburn Library’s Special Collections, and the only book in the collection printed before the eighteenth century.
The second book, volume one of “History of the War in the Peninsula and in the South of France, 1807-1814,” by W.F.P. Napier, took an even longer journey. It was taken by one C.S. Gates, who wrote in the book, “This book was taken from the Military Institute at Lexington Virginia in June 1864 when General Hunter was on his Lynchburg raid. The Institution was burned by the order of Gen. Hunter. The remains of Gen. Stonewall Jackson rest in the cemetery at this place.”
The book was passed down in the Gates family, eventually going to Mike Dau, once a coach at Wake Forest College. Dau took the book to Harry Goodheart, a dealer in Tyron, North Carolina. The dealer was an alumnus of Washington & Lee, and he contacted the W&L library. Finally, the book was returned to W&L in May of this year, and reunited with volume two.
This story is based on articles appearing in the Lexington News-Gazette, Lexington, Virginia on April 22 and May 27, 2009, with permission of the publisher. The photographs are from Washington & Lee University, kindly sent to me by Karin R. O’Callaghan, Office Manager, Friends of the Library Coordinator, University Library, Washington and Lee University.
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2009 Velma Moore Award to Southeast Steuben Public Library Trustees
Rita Reissig, NYSALB Board Member
This year’s award was presented to the original board of trustees from the Corning Public Library, now known as the Southeast Steuben County Library.
In 1999 the Corning public library fell victim to difficult financial times and was ultimately forced to close. A group of dedicated trustees, Vernard Anderson, Margot Brown, Paul Danielson, Joseph Hurley, Roger Smith, Kristen Swain, Richard Weakland, and Graham Wightman rallied on behalf of the library. Working with local organizations, the group crafted an agreement to establish a new association library through a ten-year funding agreement with municipalities and foundation donations to renovate and bring the old building and collection back. Significant communication with legislators, community stakeholders, devoted library users and local media led to the opening of a new, renovated, and well-equipped library in December of 2000. The Velma Moore selection committee felt this group should be held as a model
for any community facing significant cuts in their public library service, which many libraries are now encountering.
Dale Wexell attended the Trustee Institute luncheon to accept the award, presented by Rita Reissig of the NYSALB Board.
The Velma Moore award was originally established in 1962 with a gift from the Moore family and has been awarded annually ever since. The award carries a monetary award of $750 for the library or library service of the winner’s choice. The award was established to honor the memory of Velma Moore, wife of former New York State Lt. Governor Frank C. Moore. Velma was one of the charter members of the Library Trustees Foundation, which later became know as NYSALB. For thirty-three years Mrs. Moore was a trustee of the Kenmore Public Library near Buffalo, New York.
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Changes in the NYSALB Board
Sam Patton, Editor
The NYSALB board limits members to not more than three terms, so Richard Strauss, our President since spring 2007, ended his nine years on the board, and
his term as President. His contributions to NYSALB and his fierce advocacy for libraries will be missed. Our new President is Mary Ellen O’Connor, President of the Board of the Albany Public Library.
Another member, Sam Leadly, of the Nioga Library System, has resigned. We will miss him, even after a short tenure.
We welcome a new member, Adria Ripka. She has been a member of the Board of the Salina Free Library in Mattydale, just outside of Syracuse, for about ten years. Before that she was a member of their Friends group. She is a native of Syracuse, and currently works as a Career Consultant for Onondaga County. She has a degree in Music History/Theory, but says she no longer performs or even plays the piano very much. Her hobbies include walking, reading and painting. She also volunteers with her local YMCA Folksmarch walking group.
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News from the State Library
From the Office of the State Librarian
Many of you had the opportunity to meet our New York State Librarian and Assistant Commissioner for Libraries Bernie Margolis at the 2009 Trustee Institute in Syracuse or during his travels around the State. For those of you who have not yet met Bernie and who are interested in what’s been going on in New York since he started his job in January 2009, you might want to visit the State Library website where he posts regular updates for the library community. Just go to: http://www.nysl.nysed.gov/library/about/statelibrarian.htm. If you would like to receive Bernie’s email updates directly, sign up for NYSALB’s Trustee Discussion Group. Instructions on how to sign up are posted at http://www.nysalb.org/ .
New Job Seeking Website
Throughout the state, New York’s public libraries are helping job seekers navigate a wealth of online job resources. The State Library has recently partnered with the Department of Labor to create a website that showcases many of the library and information centers people use in their employment searches. Visit:
http://www.nysl.nysed.gov/libdev/outreach/careers.htm
New York State Library Broadband Summit A Big Success!
The New York State Library, partnering with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, hosted a tremendously successful statewide Broadband Summit on June 3 and 4 at the Sagamore Conference Center in Bolton Landing as part of the State Library’s participation in the Gates Foundation Opportunity Online Broadband Grant Program. New York State is one of seven pilot states for this important program. The purpose of the summit, which was attended by some 280 people was to develop a sustainability plan that will enable New York State libraries to better serve New Yorkers with improved high-speed broadband connectivity.
The keynote speaker was Dr. Melodie Mayberry-Stewart, CIO and Director, NYS Governor’s Office for Technology.
The Summit brought together public libraries, public library systems, library leaders, other local and state level influencers, vendors and state agencies with the objective of making the general public and state lawmakers aware of the need for adequate broadband in New York’s public libraries. Some outcomes of the Summit are:
•Public libraries and influencers were able to collaborate around the need for improved connectivity and explore approaches towards sustainability
•Public libraries explored strategies to fund and sustain improved connectivity and now better understand how their role would fit into a statewide strategic broadband plan
•Strategic plans were discussed in order to plan for statewide infrastructure for improved broadband
•Tools were developed to communicate the importance of improved connectivity to NY State constituents, including policy makers.
More information about the New York State Library’s participation in the Opportunity Online Broadband Grant Program is found at: http://www.nysl.nysed.gov/libdev/gateslib/broadbnd/
Summit reports, videos and other materials available at http://opportunityonline.org/snapshots/new_york/
Informal observations about the Broadband Summit are also available on the blog of Regents Advisory Council on Libraries member Jill Hurst-Wahl at: http://hurstassociates.blogspot.com/2009/06/for-new-yorkers-opportunity-online.html
http://hurstassociates.blogspot.com/2009/06/for-new-yorker-opportunity-online-day-2.html
State Library Needs Your Help - Bringing High Speed Broadband to New York’s Public Libraries!
Is your library’s bandwidth currently maxed out? Are your public access computers getting slower every day? Are your patrons complaining about not being able to view videos without annoying delays? Are you dreaming about the day when your library can go fiber? Are you interested in pursuing federal broadband stimulus funds for your library? If you would like to work with the State Library and others on efforts to bring high speed broadband connectivity to all of New York’s public libraries, please send an email to bband@mail.nysed.gov.
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From the Editor’s Desk
Sam Patton, TRUSTEE Editor
First, I have to apologize for the gross error in one headline in the last issue. I really do know how to spell “Dutch” - I just didn’t see the word as “Duth” in the headline until the issue was printed.
As always, I enjoyed our Trustee Institute, this time in Syracuse. I enjoyed hearing the speakers, and we thank them for taking time to be with us. It is always interesting to meet newcomers and renew other acquaintances. I used to go to many professional seminars and meetings, and still find that the casual conversations and informal discussions have almost the same value as the formal programs. The tour of the Library Game Lab was both amazing and fascinating. Dr. Scott Nicholson and his staff gave us a very interesting tour and demonstration. If you are curious about the Lab, browse to this site: http://gamelab.syr.edu/ where you can learn more and see some of the work. Thank you to all who were so gracious to me.
On the political front, our Senators in Albany are, collectively, the laughing stock of the state, except that tears are being shed in frustration over the complete shambles of State business that is not being done. The few Senators whom I have met appear to be knowledgeable and concerned, and are probably as frustrated as we are.
Unfortunately, cupidity, stupidity, greed and venality are not limited to one party. In my personal opinion, increasing taxes and fees will be counter productive. It is hard enough to get businesses to come to New York because of our higher labor costs, more rigid regulation by many agencies, taxes on wages, taxes on communications, taxes and fees on almost any activity that creates jobs. Our job as Trustees is to do our best to fund the valuable services our libraries provide, at a tax level that our communities can afford. The state seems to feel that they have to tax enough to fund all their pet projects, without regard to the tax burden imposed.
One item that has come up in our own library is the handling of long overdue books and materials and the unpaid fines. Some libraries have started using collection agencies for extreme cases. How do we balance the negative impact of a collection agency and the adverse publicity versus the need to recover or collect fees due the library? Our library tried a different approach some time ago. We went to our local court and got summonses issued to our worst offenders, to come to Town Court. After a hearing, and a lecture by the judge, it was amazing how many “lost” items were suddenly “found” again! There used to be a cartoon on our Director’s office door that portrayed two grungy, ill-clad, under-fed prisoners hanging in chains in a dungeon. One says to the other, “And how long was your book overdue?”
As in our “Library Circuit” item this month, there are tales of astonishing returns of items long missing. Does your library have a tale about recovering something gone for a very long time? We’d be glad to hear from you.
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Talking to New York Legislators
Sam Patton, Editor
The New York Library Association will hold their annual meeting in Niagara Falls October 14 through 17. One of the sessions is "Legislators and Library Leaders Speak out for Libraries," which will be from 9:45 AM to 11:00 AM Thursday, October 15. State Librarian Bernard Margolis and NYLA Legislative Committee Chair Kevin Verbesy will be on the panel, as will a representative of NYSALB.
We do not yet know which members of the State Legislature will be present, but expect quite a few.
If you have particular concerns or items for this panel, please let me or President O'Connor know, so we can better represent your concerns.
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