Director Briefing - August 21, 2023

High Priority: Windows 10 Computers End of Life from Kelsy

The following email applies to desktop computers. Stay tuned for an email about laptops at a later date.

Did you know that Windows 10 is reaching its End of Support in October 2025? That may seem far away, but it will be here before we know it. End of Support means that Microsoft will stop releasing important security updates for Windows 10 computers, leaving them vulnerable to malware and other cyberattacks.

Some computers currently running Windows 10 may be eligible to upgrade to Windows 11 for free. It's important that eligible computers are upgraded to Windows 11 and ineligible computers are replaced by November 2025.

Ineligible Computers

Below is an image of five desktop models that are ineligible for a Windows 11 upgrade. They include:

• Any HP EliteDesk
• Dell Optiplex 3010
• Dell Optiplex 3020
• Dell Optiplex 7050 (please note that the Dell Optiplex 7050 and 7060 look very similar; the 7060 models are eligible for a Windows 11 upgrade. Check the front of the tower for the model number)

(Click on the image to increase size)

If you have any of these models being used in your library, they must be replaced by November 2025.

OWWL Library System offers convenient computer purchasing at New York State contract pricing. For more information about the benefits of purchasing computers through the System, follow this link.

If you have any questions about the age of your computers or their eligibility for a Windows 11 upgrade, please open a ticket by emailing support@owwl.org.

Please share this email with the appropriate staff at your library (technology staff, staff who order computers, etc.).

Book Challenge Review Committee

Last week under the OWWL Library System Board Meeting Follow-Up, a report from the Book Challenge Review Committee was approved by the System Board.

Book Challenge Committee Review - This Book is Gay by Juno Dawson.pdf

Library Directors, System Staff, and System Trustees participated in developing and approving this review. The goal is to continue to produce these reports on highly challenged titles so your board can use them as a starting point should a challenge arise at your library.

The next report will be written on All Boys Aren't Blue by George M. Johnson. This is a timely title since it is one of the five titles recently removed from the Clyde-Savannah Central School District by a vote of the School Board.

Another step I would like to take at the System is to purchase commonly challenged books and house them at OWWLHQ to ensure they are available for holds. We're also using System funds to purchase commonly challenged titles for our OverDrive collection.

This work does not seem to be ending any time soon, so if you would like to help in some way, please let me know.

Save the Date: OWWL Library System Annual Meeting

Our Annual Meeting is scheduled for October 11, 2023. We have booked Stephanie Cole Adams to talk about legal issues surrounding libraries. Cole is the System's attorney, and the voice behind the WNYLRC Ask the Lawyer service. More information will be coming out, but for now, you are welcome to register .

Trustee Handbook Book Club Recording Available

Last week was the Trustee Handbook Book Club on Strategic Planning. If your Trustees would like to watch the recording and have it count towards their required Trustee education, the link is below.

Strategic Planning (Tuesday, August 15, 2023) | Recording Available Here

Resources:

• Meeting NYS Minimum Standards: Long-Range Plan
• Sample Planning Process Outlines, Trustee Handbook
• Libraries Transforming Communities (ALA)
• Project Outcome (PLA)
• Example Plans
  • Hauppauge Public Library

Comptroller DiNapoli and William Glasgall Op-Ed

I know I bring up the OSC an awful lot and many of you are probably sick of hearing me talk about Thomas DiNapoli, but this Op-Ed in his most recent email newsletter gets to the heart of what we're trying to do as libraries. The OSC is looking primarily for financial and policy compliance. But in this article, it talks about transparency and how many local governments are trying to make sure that federal and state spending is transparent, sustainable, and benefiting their communities. When it comes to libraries, we're included in the definition of "local governments" and there are so many really great resources available to help our organizations be as transparent as possible.

The Ravitch Way: Trying Times Call for Transparency and Accountability

The Bond Buyer published an op-ed this week from Comptroller DiNapoli and William Glasgall, Senior Director, Public Finance, at the Volcker Alliance, a nonprofit based in New York City. An excerpt of the op-ed is below.

In 2020 and 2021, the federal government sent an unprecedented amount of money to states and localities to blunt the impact of lockdowns and other COVID-19 pandemic-related challenges.

The New York State Comptroller's office issued a report showing that the surge in federal spending in federal fiscal year 2020 meant that every State had a positive balance of payments — the dollars sent to the federal government compared with the amount given back — for the first time in recent memory.

As State and local governments continue to spend down federal funds, legislators, advocates, and others are now asking very important questions: How have these funds been used? How do State and local finances look in the aftermath of the pandemic? Has fiscal federalism entered a new era, and will State budget practices be transformed along with it? At the core of these questions is one main issue: transparency.

Read Full Op-Ed