Monday Briefing - November 22, 2021

Last Chance: System Satisfaction Survey

A few people have reached out asking if they have already completed the System Satisfaction Survey, here's a list of everyone who has filled it out so far: Arcade Free Library, Bristol Library, Caledonia Library Association, Cordelia A. Greene Library, Gorham Free Library, Livonia Public Library, Macedon Public Library, Mount Morris Library, Newark Public Library, Ontario Public Library, Palmyra Community Library, Perry Public Library, Stevens Memorial Community Library, Victor Farmington Library, and Williamson Free Public Library.

If you haven't had an opportunity to complete the survey yet, it would be fantastic if you could by next Monday. Thank you!

Click here to complete the 2021 System Satisfaction Survey

Open Meeting Law Updates

Online Board Meeting

Boards may continue to meet online until January 15, 2022. I will let you all know if this is extended past this date.

Documents Under Discussion

Documents under discussion at your board meeting must be made available at least 24-hours before the meeting.

Posting Minutes Online

Meeting Minutes must be posted online within two weeks of your board meeting. This changes the previous language that said they needed to be "made available upon request."

On November 8, 2021, the Governor signed into law Chapter 587 of the Laws of 2021 which amends the Open Meetings Law to require agencies that maintain a website and use a high-speed internet connection to post meeting minutes on its website within two weeks of the date of the date of the meeting, or within one week of an executive session. It further states: “unabridged video recordings or unabridged audio recordings or unabridged written transcripts may be deemed to be meeting minutes. Nothing in this section shall require the creation of minutes if the public body would not otherwise take them.”

Source: https://opengovernment.ny.gov/system/files/documents/2021/11/fall-2021-updates-to-the-open-meetings-law.pdf

Tax Cap Compliance

To help keep all the Tax Cap information in one place I've added an OWWL Docs Tax Cap page to Members Web.

Keep in mind that all libraries with a public vote (even if you're not going for an increase) need to file annually with the Office of the State Comptroller. There is a fair amount of information on the page mentioned above, but if you need help the OSC helpline is your best bet. They can be reached by email (localgov@osc.state.ny.us) or their Help Line (518-408-4934).

Upcoming Advocacy Visits

Assemblyman Jeff Gallahan, December 20, 2021, at 1:00 PM, District Office, 70 Elizabeth Blackwell St., Geneva, NY 14456

Senator Pam Helming (Chief of Staff, Jesse Wolf-Gould), December 20, 2021, at 11:30 AM via Zoom (link will be sent out to Directors soon).

Senator George Borrello, December 21, 2021, at 10:00 AM via Zoom (link will be sent out to Directors soon).

Senator Patrick Gallivan, December 8, 2021, at 10:30 AM via Zoom (link will be sent out to Directors soon), Monroe County will also attend.

Meetings are updated on the Library Advocacy 2022 OWWL Docs page.

Review of State Aid for Library Construction from State of the System Meeting

Updates from DLD:

• Chapter 563 of Laws of 2021 amends Education Law 273-a to permanently extend the time period for State Aid for Library Construction from three years to four years.
  • Applies to construction projects funded as part of the FY 2021 cycle and all future funding cycles.
  • FY 2019 and FY 2020 cycles already received an additional twelve months per Chapter 120 of the Laws of New York 2020 (passed during/because of COVID).
• FY 2022 (applications submitted this past fall) corrections coming soon! I (Suzanne) will reach out to any libraries that need to make any edits and/or provide additional information. (Corrections are very, very, very common so it's totally ok if your library needs corrections.)

Looking ahead:

• Construction Aid OWWL Docs page has been updated including a timeline for the FY 2023 application process and funding cycle.
• Upcoming Directors and Trustee Workshops:
  • Facilities Planning for Your Library Monday, December 6, 2021 at 5:00 PM
  • State Aid for Library Construction Info Session Monday, January 10, 2022 at 5:00 PM

NYLA Position Statement on the Defense of Intellectual Freedom

The New York Library Association (NYLA) reaffirms its commitment to protecting and upholding intellectual freedom and the freedom to read. We advocate for the rights of all patrons to access information on a variety of topics and viewpoints without restrictions, which is a fundamental act of participation in a democracy.

With the increasing number of challenges, especially for books regarding race and LGBTQ+ communities, New York’s school libraries and librarians are being pressured to censor and restrict access to information. Parents have the right to set restrictions for their own children, but no person or group has the right to deny access to all readers. This principle applies equally to the free access of information in other types of libraries as well.

Libraries are unique institutions of education and knowledge that provide information with impartiality and balance. Library materials are carefully selected by professionally trained librarians to represent a broad range of ideas and opinions and appeal to the needs and interests of all members of their communities. In a democratic society, partisan disagreements cannot dictate the decision to remove such materials.

Therefore, the New York Library Association stands firmly opposed to the restriction, removal, and/or censorship of books and other library materials in an attempt to limit the freedom to read or obstruct intellectual freedom.

Adopted by NYLA Council
November 18, 2021

Source: https://www.nyla.org/nyla-position-statement-on-the-defense-of-intellectual-freedom/?menukey=nyla

Thank you, Rebecca, for emailing this out last week.

Trustee Handbook Book Club Recordings

If you missed either of the last two Trustee Handbook Book Club sessions you can view the recordings by visiting https://midhudson.org/trusteebookclub/.

RRLC Member Value Report

Each year the Rochester Regional Library Council publishes a value report for their member organizations. Below is the 2020-2021 report.

2020-2021 Pioneer Library System Member Value Report.pdf

DLD November Updates

New Laws Affecting Libraries

• Chapter 563, “Technical Amendments” (S6511/A7021): signed into law by Governor Hochul on November 3, 2021. A no cost technical amendment to Education Law 273 simplifying complex funding formulas for certain programs. Also amends Education Law 273-a (State Aid for Library Construction) to extend the time allowed for project completion to four years. For details see the NYLINE-P email that was sent on November 16, 2021. There will be a presentation the technical amendments at the November 18 PLS Zoom meeting.
• Chapter 627,”90/10” (S5753-A/A7060-A): signed into law by Governor Hochul on November 15, 2021. This law provides no more than fifty percent f the total funds appropriated to a library system may be used to support the total costs for projects receiving state aid in excess of seventy-five percent of the total approved costs.
• For more information on these new laws and the many newly enacted laws in 2021 that impact libraries and library systems please see the State Library’s website: https://www.nysl.nysed.gov/libdev/2021leg.htm. Here you will find the chapter and bill numbers, a brief description and links to the bill text and memo.

Ron's Notes: These amendments will help us by giving flexibility to the categorical aid we receive from the state.

Federal Funding for Libraries – ARPA Update

• The guidelines are posted on the State Library’s webpage at https://nysl.nysed.gov./libdev/arpa/index.html. Contact your 3Rs for more information on their plans for the digital inclusion and library/museum partnership components. The 3Rs applications are due to the State Library on November 18.

Ron's Notes: We're working with RRLC on using ARPA funds for Assistive Technology grants, a Digital Navigator program, and the privacy pods for telehealth programs.

CARES Act Subawards

• All FS-10-Fs have been received and have been submitted for payment.
• Thank you to everyone for all the hard work carrying out your projects and reporting on what was done!

Ron's Notes: We're all set with this one. Libraries received money for projects to support safe work environments during COVID.

2021-2026 Library System Five-Year Plan of Service

• The PLS 2022-2026 Five-Year Library System Plan of Service was due October 1, 2021. Twenty-one systems have submitted plans and eleven plans have been approved. If you have not submitted, please do so as soon as possible. Questions about the Plan of Service may be directed to your regional liaison.

Ron's Notes: We're all set on this one too. Plan of Service 2022-2026 has been submitted and approved.

2020 Census Update

• The State Library has created 2020 Census Population and Land Area Data charts using the 2020 US Census Data provided by the US Census Bureau for public library and 3Rs library systems. The charts were sent in a NYLINE announcement on November 4.
• Per the provisions of Education Law, the State Education Department will use these official decennials 2020 Census populations and land area (square miles) to calculate Library Aid for the library systems.
• DLD anticipates that the 2020 Census will be used for the first time in State FY 2022/2023 to calculate State funding allocations.
• The State Library’s 2020 Census Implementation Team continues to work on determining the official 2020 Census populations for the chartered service areas of New York’s 757 public and association libraries and will share this data with the library systems once that work is complete. In addition to populating the
• Library Aid formulas, the 2020 Census data will also be used to populate public library system and local library annual reports beginning with the 2022 Annual Reports due to the State Library in Spring 2023.
• An announcement from the State Library will be made when the 2020 Census populations for all public libraries in the State are determined and finalized.

Ron's Notes: The 2020 Census will have an impact on our State Aid, however, we're estimating it won't result in too much of a cut from our overall aid.

State Aid for Library Construction

• FY2022 (0386-22). The LD Grants online system closed on Wednesday, October 6 for project applications. 225 applications were received.
• FY2021 (0386-21-****) projects. The public notification of these awards was given on Wednesday, September 15 via NYLINE. There were 135 awards. Emails went to the individual libraries, and new for this year, to the PLS Construction Contact(s) that were entered on the applications forms. The State Library has approved all payment paperwork and libraries should have received their first payment of 90%. These projects are now eligible for a fourth year per Chapter 563 of the Laws of 2021.
• FY2020 projects (0386-20-****). These projects are eligible for a fourth year, through June 30, 2023.
• FY2019 projects (0386-19) are eligible for an additional “twelve months” per Chapter 120 of the Laws of New York 2020 (a fourth year). Projects must close by June 30, 2022.
• Legislation on increasing the length of time given for construction projects from three years to four years was signed by Governor Hochul on November 3 as Chapter 563 of the Laws of 2021.
• Chapter 627 (S5753-A/A7060-A): signed into law by Governor Hochul on November 15, 2021. This law provides no more than fifty percent f the total funds appropriated to a library system may be used to support the total costs for projects receiving state aid in excess of seventy-five percent of the total approved costs.

Ron's Notes: If you need help navigating your closeout year, just let us know. We'll help you figure it out.

E-rate/Emergency Connectivity Fund (ECF)

• The FY2022 filing window dates have not yet been set by the FCC, but are expected to be in mid-January 2022 through mid/late March 2022. The Eligible Services List has not yet been approved by the FCC but will be available on the USAC website once approved:https://www.usac.org/e-rate/applicant-process/before-you-begin/eligible-services-list/
• The America Rescue Plan Act set aside $7.171 billion for ECF. There have been two windows to apply. The second filing window closed on October 13.

Ron's Notes: We're figuring out the next year of E-Rate. We opted not to apply for the Emergency Connectivity Fund, it was too restrictive and labor-intensive to justify the funding.

Adult Literacy/Family Literacy Library Services Program

• Year 3 (July 1, 2021-June 30, 2022) projects may change as Governor Hochul signed the “technical amendments” bill on November 3. (Chapter 563 of the Laws of New York 2021) included the movement of adult and family literacy funds into the Coordinated Outreach program. Each library system will determine for themselves if the funds will continue to be spent on the original adult and family literacy projects, or used more generally for eligible expenses in Coordinated Outreach. We ask you to share with your program managers for the adult and family literacy projects the information on how your system will spend these funds.
• The Year 3 appropriations are included in the LD Grants portal and at
  • https://www.nysl.nysed.gov/libdev/stateaid/21_22/adultlit.htm
  • https://www.nysl.nysed.gov/libdev/stateaid/21_22/familylit.htm

Ron's Notes: These are funds that will be rolled into our Outreach budget in future funding years. We're excited about this since it will make the process of spending money on these populations much easier.

Transforming Teen Services/T3 Initiative

• There continues to be high interest in this training and the State Library is working with our team of T3 trainers to coordinate additional sessions on the various T3 modules. The YALSA/COSLA IMLS grant ends in December 2021, but options are being explored to continue to offer T3 training beyond that date. Details will be shared with systems and library staff when they are available.
• Want to find out more about what T3 involves? A T3 presentation was offered at the 2021 spring NYLA/YSS virtual conference and can be found on the recently updated T3 landing page here.
• 42 library staff throughout the state have been training in the T3 Connected Learning module
• IMProving Assessment of Computational Thinking in Libraries

Ready to Read at New York Libraries

• Supercharged Storytimes training – two additional fall sessions are taking place and more are planned for spring 2022. Session 1 concluded on October 12, and Session 2 begins on October 25. Please remind staff to fully participate if they are accepted into one of these trainings OR notify the trainer if their situation changes and they are unable to attend. Certificates of completion will only be given to participants who attend all sessions. Find the Supercharged Storytimes page at http://www.nysl.nysed.gov/libdev/earlylit/ssa/training.htm
• A very successful and well attended webinar on StoryWalks (R) was held on November 9. The archived recording and slides will be available soon at https://www.nysl.nysed.gov/libdev/webinars/index.html
• View previous webinars offered by the State Library: Virtual and In-Person Programming for Infants and OurStoryBridge were recently added along with other recorded and archived webinars that are now available. Do you have a great idea or suggestion for a future webinar? Planning is underway for 2022 webinars, so please let us know.
• The One More Story resource on the DayByDayNY Family Literacy Calendar has two new books each day! Please remind your libraries to promote this valuable FREE resource provided by the State Library to their library users and communities.

Summer Reading at New York Libraries

• Libraries are busy planning for Summer Reading 2022 and Oceans of Possibilities! The 2022 Manuals have shipped out to systems. The access code for the 2022 online manual has been distributed to Youth Services Consultants and can be shared with all library staff who do summer programming for all age levels. See the 2022 poster images by artist Sophie Blackall at https://www.nysl.nysed.gov/libdev/summer/archives.htm
• REMINDER: It’s not too early to reach out to schools and school libraries in your region to begin a conversation about working together on Summer Reading.
• The 2021 Teen Video Challenge results were recently announced by CSLP and New York state had 4 winning entries from teens and public libraries in the state! See the winning videos and find out which libraries and systems were represented by going to the TVC link at www.summerreadingnys.org Congratulations to all of the winners!
• Updates from CSLP: the slogan for 2024 is “Adventure Begins at Your Library”; the theme for 2025 will be Art. CSLP has made significant changes to their web site to make it more stable. A major change for schools and school libraries is that they no longer need a CSLP login to access materials on the site at www.cslpreads.org but they DO still need to partner with their local public library to gain access to online manual materials including graphics and program resources. Tutorials on the new and improved site and the 2022 manual are being planned by CSLP and will be shared later this fall.
• The READsquared product will continue to be available to public libraries in the state through December 2022. Libraries not using READsquared and the mobile app can still sign up for their free account to use the product for their reading programs. The State Library is currently working on renewing the mobile app for the coming year so it will be available to libraries through the end of the contract (December 2022).
• Summer wrap-up sessions for READsquared libraries in NY took place in October. Recordings are posted on the READsquared page of the Summer Reading site at https://www.summerreadingnys.org/readsquared/
• Please remind staff that they can always reach out to the READsquared support team by emailing support@r2stg.zohosupport.com. There is also a support knowledgebase that is a valuable resource available to library staff 24/7.
• A new flyer is available to help promote the Programs and Performers database: https://www.nysl.nysed.gov/libdev/summer/resource.htm
• Save the date of December 2nd! CSLP is hosting a FREE national Summer Reading conference for all library staff in member states! Many exciting Summer Reading related programs and sessions are planned. Registration is open so library staff can sign up now! Information and details about planned sessions have been shared on NYLINE lists and can also be found at the following link https://www.cslpreads.org/summer-symposium/
• Summer Meals – After experiencing a significant decrease in library participation in 2020 due to COVID, the Summer Meals program has made a strong comeback in 2021! Hunger Solutions New York reports that 39 library sites were approved to serve summer meals this year, and we hope to see that number go up again in 2022. If you have any questions, please reach out to Krista Hesdorfer by emailing Krista at krista.hesdorfer@hungersolutionsny.org
• The State Library truly appreciates the efforts of all public and school libraries and systems as they continue to meet the daunting challenges of offering Summer Reading during a pandemic and time of continued uncertainty. We know libraries will continue to rise to the occasion to keep students engaged and learning all through the year. Do you have an inspirational story or photo to share from a 2021 Summer Reading program or event? Please send photos and/or stories to nyslyouth@nysed.gov and include the name and location of your library as well as a contact person for follow up if needed.

NYSL/PULISDO Reopening and Minimum Hours Committee

• With the announcement that effective January 1, 2022, only in building hours will be accepted for the purposes of minimum standards compliance, the NYLS/PULISDO Reopening Committee has completed its work. With assistance from New York’s 23 public library systems, the NYLS/PULISDO Reopening Committee collected and reviewed monthly snapshot data since November 2020. The monthly snapshot data was used by the Reopening Committee to make adjustments to Standard #7, Open Hours, to help all libraries achieve minimum open hours during the covid pandemic:
  • March 2020 to May 31, 2021 – hours open (Standard #7) waived due to COVID pandemic
  • June 1, 2021 to December 31, 2021 – minimum hours reinstituted, includes curbside and lobby hours.
  • January 1, 2022 – will include building hours only.
• A big thank you to Sarah Glogowski, Caroline Ashby, Jan Dekoff, Jeanine Doyle, Mary Jean Jakubowski, and Grace Riario for your service on the NYSL/PULISDO Reopening and Minimum Open Hours Committee.

Ron's Notes: Keep this in mind as we move into the new year.

Strategies to Assure Your Library’s Legal and Financial Stability

• Good progress is being made on publishing Strategies to Assure Your Library’s Legal and Financial Stability (aka “Library Toolkit”), updated and expanded for the New York State Library, Division of Library Development by Rebekkah Smith Aldrich and Jerry Nichols, to the DLD website. We anticipate that the Toolkit will be available in early December. “The purpose of the document is to convey not only the technical aspects of stabilizing library funding and governance structures, but, perhaps more importantly, the “lessons learned” over the past two decades by those trustees and library administrations who understand that they are responsible for the future of their institution long after they are gone.”

Ron's Notes: I read an early draft of this toolkit, it should be helpful when navigating library funding in the future. Once I review the released draft I'll plan on talking about it with all of you.

NYSL/Library Development Events and Upcoming Webinars

• Free Webinar Series: Digital Inclusion: What Every Library Needs to Know! Please join the New York State Library and the National Digital Alliance (NDIA) for series of information-rich training webinars aimed at increasing awareness and providing a deeper understanding of digital inclusion across New York State’s libraries and library systems. More information and a complete schedule is available at https://www.nysl.nysed.gov/libdev/arpa/webinars.htm.
  • Thursday, November 18, 11:00 AM – 12:30 PM: Partnerships and Coalitions.
  • Tuesday, January 11, 11:00 AM – 12:30 PM: Digital Navigators, Part 1.
  • Thursday, January 27, 11:00 AM – 12:30 PM: Digital Navigators, Part 2.
• New York State Library Public Program Online Events (All programs are free, virtual, and open to the public. Please share/promote with you member libraries.)
  • Tuesday, November 30, 11:00 AM – 12:00 PM: Made to Trade: The Centrality of Trade in the Origin Story of the United States.
  • Friday, December 17, 9:00 AM – 10:00 AM: Digital Equity Roundtable Conversation.