Director Briefing - July 11, 2022

Small Libraries Summer Symposium

I would like to offer an enormous thank you to everyone who was able to attend the Small Libraries Summer Symposium last week. We had a great time hosting and people seemed to enjoy what they got out of the event. We're not sure if this will become a regular occurrence, but it was great to have everyone here in person.

An Introduction to Funding Your Library

During Friday's Small Libraries Summer Symposium, Brian Hildreth (STLS) and I presented funding options for libraries using district models. Districts (School Districts, Association Districts, and Legislative Districts) continue to be the preferred method of library funding since they are considered sustainable and offer the public election of trustees. If you and your board would like to discuss funding options, please let me know. I am happy to take a look at the specific opportunities, challenges, and pathways in your area to see what can be done.

Also, it is now more important than ever to consider correcting overlapping funding because Senate Bill S7857A (a study on double taxation in libraries) has passed the Senate and Assembly.

Here are the slides from Friday if you are interested in taking a look - An Introduction to Funding Your Library Slide Deck.pdf

Strategic Planning Cohort 2023

I am putting together a program that will support the activities and development of long-range/strategic plans for libraries. Directors, Board Presidents, and Planning Committee Chairs will be invited to join monthly meetings to go over gathering community input, drafting the plan, and implementing evaluation metrics. If your library is interested, let me know and I will add you to my list. The plan is to have a kick-off in early 2023.

How are your Bylaws looking?

We talk a lot about making sure your policies are in place and reviewed every five years, but we don't always mention bylaws and how they need to be reviewed just as frequently. Now is a good time to take a look at the date they were last reviewed and decide if changes need to be made. Here is a Word document version of the sample bylaws found in the Trustee Handbook - Sample Bylaws.docx

Welcome New Directors

We have two new directors that you may have not met yet. First, Kathleen Phillips, has taken the helm at the Bloomfield Public Library. Second, Jordan Schneider is in charge of the Red Jacket Community Library. A big welcome to both new directors. With any luck, we'll all get to say "hello" at a meeting in the future.

A Letter on Book Challenges

Last week I sent a letter to our eight legislators on Book Challenges in Public Libraries. I received three extremely positive responses from both Senators and Assemblymembers. The biggest question was whether or not challenges are happening locally or if it is primarily isolated instances across the country. Through explanations of our concerns it seems that if a Book Challenge becomes an issue, we'll have some support. NYLA is working on a broader Intellectual Freedom campaign that will help communicate this further to the public. If you find yourself in a Book Challenge situation, I am happy to help.

2022.07.07 Book Challenges in Libraries - Senator Borrello.pdf