Monday Briefing - November 15, 2021

PLSDAC Follow-Up

Thanks to everyone who was able to participate in Friday's PLDAC Meeting . A few follow-up items are below.

Central Library Budget and OverDrive Magazines

The System Board and PLSDAC approved the amended 2021 and proposed 2022 Central Library Budgets. This week they will hopefully be approved by Central Library then we can move forward on purchasing OverDrive Magazines.

System Satisfaction Survey

When you have a moment, if you could please complete the 2021 System Satisfaction Survey that would be fantastic! We are required by the State to run this survey annually. This is the last year under the 2017-2021 Plan of Service. Next year we will be using the updated one we approved this year. I'll send a reminder out a few more times.

First Amendment Audits in Libraries

Back in the Monday Briefing on May 17, 2021, I wrote the following…

If you remember, back in October 2019 there was "[a] loosely organized social media campaign to 'audit' government spaces and agencies for alleged First Amendment violations..." (Source: https://www.oif.ala.org/oif/?p=18859). Public Libraries were targeted all over the State and there seems to be a resurgence of this practice in some areas. To my knowledge, there have not been new instances across our four counties, however, colleagues from other Systems have claimed that a few libraries have been experiencing these "First Amendment Audits." The concentration of these instances seem to be clustered around Long Island and the surrounding counties, but we should be on alert just in case it makes it way to our System.

Since then, this issue seems to be coming back. I have contacted Stephanie Cole Adams to draft guidance similar to the Masking in Libraries information distributed last week. I will let you know as soon as that is ready to distribute.

In-District Advocacy

I have been contacting our representatives to schedule in-district Adovacy visits for FY 2022. As they are scheduled I add them to the https://docs.owwl.org/Community/LibraryAdvocacy2022 page.

So far I have…

1. Assemblyman Jeff Gallahan, 131st District, December 20, 2021 at 1:00 PM at District Office in Geneva.
2. Senator George Borrello, 57th District, December 21, 2021 at 10:00 AM via Zoom.
3. Senator Patrick Gallivan, 59th District, December 8, 2021 at 10:30 AM via Zoom, Monroe County will also attend.

I will keep the Docs Advocacy page updated as I schedule more.

My plan is to cover state-wide funding initiatives for 2022 then hand it over to directors to talk about local programming and situations happening in your communities.

Upcoming Trustee Workshops

• Trustee Handbook Book Club - Tuesday, November 16 at 5:00 PM
• Facility Planning for your Library - Monday, December 6, at 5:00 PM

Trustee Workshops and Resources can be found by visiting https://docs.owwl.org/Community/TrusteeEducation.

Evergreen Updates from Dan and Kathryn

Hold limit adjusted to 20 holds

As discussed at PLSDAC on Friday, the hold limit is back to 20 holds per patron in Evergreen. The OPAC banner may take another 24 hours to update if it hasn't changed already; the actual limit change in Evergreen took effect on Friday.

ICYMI: Please enter your 2022 closed dates

Please add your 2022 closed dates in Evergreen as soon as possible to make sure that future checkouts aren't impacted.

Your closed dates are mostly holidays when your library won't be open. If applicable, you may also have to add closed dates for Summer Saturdays (if you are typically open on Saturdays during most of the year but not during the summer). Adding closed dates affects future checkouts' due dates and overdue fine accruals.

Please review this OWWL Docs page before adding any closed dates. Please email evergreen@pls-net.org if you have any questions or if you would like a walkthrough on how to add your 2022 closed dates.

OWWL Libraries Program Calendar (LibCal)

The OWWL Libraries Program Calendar (LibCal) is a low-cost, online calendar solution that has been especially helpful over the past 18 months as so much of library programming and promotion has gone virtual. It has also been beneficial for OWWL Libraries to collectively come together to promote their offerings to community members.

This year, 26 OWWL Libraries are participating in the OWWL Libraries Program Calendar (LibCal), and we would love to see that number increase! To learn more about the calendar, visit https://docs.owwl.org/Members/LibCal

The cost for 2022 is $42/library and subscribing libraries will be billed by PLS in mid-late November

If your library will be subscribing to use LibCal in 2022, please complete this commitment form by Friday, November 19, 2021.

New subscribers will be contacted by Andrea to get their calendar set up shortly after November 19th.

Questions regarding LibCal can be sent to Andrea (asnyder@pls-net.org)

Vaccine Clinics from Suzanne

Libraries are a large part of daily life for many children and their families. As a result, libraries are uniquely positioned to assist in delivering COVID-19 vaccines to their communities especially now that children ages 5-11 are eligible. To learn more about hosting a vaccination clinic at your library, reach out to your county's health department:

Livingston County Department of Health
Jennifer Rodriguez, Public Health Director
jrodriguez@co.livingston.ny.us
585-243-7270

Ontario County Community Health Services
Mary Beer, MPH, Public Health Director
mary.beer@ontariocountyny.gov
585-396-4354

Wayne County Public Health Service
Kerry VanAuken. Deputy Director
kvanauken@co.wayne.ny.us
Diane M. Devlin, Director of Public Health
ddevlin@co.wayne.ny.us
315-946-5683

Wyoming County Health Department
Greg Collins, Health Commissioner
gcollins@wyomingco.net
585-734-3766

Click here to learn more about COVID-19 Vaccination Planning and Partnerships from the CDC.

Make Your Writing Clearer and More Persuasive from HBR

Helpful post from the Harvard Business Review.

We’re all writers. Whether we’re penning books, articles, reports, or even emails, our success at work depends in large part on how well we can communicate our thoughts. Here are three ways to make your writing more persuasive and impressive: Read your writing out loud. It might feel tedious, but this step will help you hear how your sentences sound. As you read, you’ll begin to realize which sentences can be edited for brevity or clarity, or where you’ve said too much when one sentence is good enough to explain a concept. Read other people’s writing. When you do, pay attention to when you lose focus or get confused. This will help you avoid those same pitfalls in your own writing. Get to the point. Most of us tend to use the opening of any piece of writing to sort out the point we’re trying to make. Try this trick: Delete the first couple of sentences or paragraphs and see if that makes your piece sharper. This tip is adapted from “5 Surprising Tips to Help You Write Like a Pro,” by Amantha Imber.