Michael Borges leaving as NYLA Executive Director

Yesterday, NYLA Council accepted with regret, the resignation of Michael Borges, NYLA Executive Director for the past eight years. He will be moving on to become the Executive Director of the New York State Association of School Business Officials. His last day with NYLA is on March 9. The Council has appointed Jeremy Johannesen Interim Executive Director.

The Council wants to hear from the members about what it wants from its Executive Director, before, we begin to find a replacement. A current job description is included and we encourage all interested members to contact me or your Section leadership or Councilor at Large to express any opinions you may have about this important job. The Council and its Executive Committee will take it all into consideration as we plan to announce the search in April.

A list of the Council members and their contact information (section presidents, councilors at large and others) is available here.

I, along with the entire Council, thank Mike for his dedication to libraries in New York State and wish him well in his new endeavor.

Matt Bollerman, NYLA President, 2011-2012
***
The goal of the Executive Director is to implement programs and activities approved by the Association to ensure that the objectives of the Association are attained, plans fulfilled, and member needs met, by fulfilling duties in the following areas:
Role of Chief Executive Officer Supervision
• Plan, formulate, and recommend to the Executive Board basic policies and programs
which further the objectives of the Association, and participate in the formulation of new policies.
• Develop procedures to implement the general policies established by Council.
• Execute all decisions of Council as appropriate.
• Adeptly motivate and collaborate with the members to achieve economical and productive performance of the Association’s activities.
• Ensure that the Council, the Executive Board and officers are kept fully informed on the conditions and operations of the Association, and on all important factors influencing them.
• Execute contracts and commitments authorized by Council.
• Participate in the development and implementation of fund-raising activities.
• Attend all meetings of the Council and Executive Board, and the annual conference.
• Attend other meetings as deemed necessary in consultation with the officers of the
Association.
Communications
• Assist in the planning and execution of all communications to the general membership, including general mailings and newsletters.
• Answer or refer all correspondence.
• Arrange for all Executive Board, Council and Business meetings, notify members, and prepare the agenda in consultation with appropriate officer.
• Speak for the Association to the media.
• Serve as Executive editor of all Association publications.
• Oversee staff efforts at maintaining the content, structure, and look of the Association website.
• In tandem with the appropriate Association committees, plan and coordinate Association public relations programs.
Association Membership
• Promote interest and active participation in the Association’s activities.
• Help to plan and organize membership promotion and retention programs, evaluate results and recommend policies, procedures and action to achieve membership goals.
Annual Conference
• Oversee all annual conference activities.
• Oversee all contract negotiations.
• Under the direction of the NYLA President, identify and negotiate high-profile speakers.
• Investigate and view conference sites and make recommendations to Council.
• Oversee staff efforts involved with managing the conference budget on all arrangements in order to meet financial objectives.
• Plan the annual Membership Meeting at Conference.
Role of a Liaison
• Provide necessary liaison to sections, roundtables, and committees to enable them to perform their functions effectively.
• Maintain relationships with national and state library associations, consortia, systems, and other state and local agencies within the library community of New York state.
Advocacy
• Represent the Association and its legislative priorities to the Legislative and Executive branches of government.
• Define and implement a grassroots lobbying strategy.
• Monitor legislative and regulatory activities which relate to librarianship .
• Review bills in the Legislature and determine positions as appropriate.
• Work with the appropriate NYLA units to coordinate the Association’s response to
legislative issues.
• Serve as a resource to legislative members and staff on library issues.
• Monitor legislative hearings, write testimony, and present it when appropriate.
• Write legislative pieces for the Bulletin, Nyline, and the NYLA website.
• Maintain an awareness of federal issues that affect libraries and respond when necessary.
• Maintain the institutional memory of NYLA’s legislative history.
Management Responsibilities
• Personnel
• Recruit, hire, train, evaluate, and when necessary, terminate Association staff.
• Clearly define staff duties, establish performance standards and work schedules, conduct performance reviews and maintain competitive salary structure.
• Administer employee benefits programs.
Finances
• Develop and recommend an annual budget in conjunction with the Finance Committee.
• Operate the Association within the annual budget as approved by Council.
• Ensure that all funds, physical assets, and other property of the Association are
appropriately safeguarded and administered, and maintain Association financial records.
Records
• Maintain official minutes of Council, Executive Board and other official meetings of the Association.
• Provide security for all files, legal documents, memberships and mailing lists.
• Maintain statistical membership records and produce timely reports.
• Oversee the preparation of manuals and reports as deemed important.
• Transfer historical documents to the State Library Archives when appropriate.
...Carry out other general responsibilities as may be delegated by Council.

Free Tax Help at the Library

APL should be your first stop for income tax assistance and resources this tax season.

On select days from Feb. 4 through April 14, the Main Library at 161 Washington Avenue will offer free federal income tax preparation for people with an annual household income limit of $50,000. The income tax preparation services are provided by APL's partners-volunteers from the Internal Revenue Service Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) program and the AARP Tax-Aide program. For more information about the free tax services available at the Main Library, call the Reference Department at 427-4303.

Last year, APL's tax program filed more than 1,200 returns for local residents resulting in over $1.6 million in federal refunds back to the community.

Here is the schedule of free income tax assistance programs available at the Main Library:


Walk-In Tax Assistance
Saturdays from Feb. 4 through April 14
10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Assistance is on a walk-in basis only. No appointments or reservations will be taken.


Appointment-Based Tax Assistance
Wednesdays from Feb. 8 through April 11
Assistance is available by appointment only. Call the Reference Desk at 427-4303 to schedule an appointment.

In addition to the tax preparation services available at the Main Library, most Albany Public Library locations stock basic federal and New York State income tax forms for individual tax filers. Librarians are helpful in connecting people to information that will help answer their tax questions. And, the library's website has a special section dedicated to tax information.

A new Google Crisis Response project

Google Public Alerts is a platform designed to bring you relevant emergency alerts when and where you’re searching for them.

If a major weather event is headed for your area, you might go online to search for the information you need: What’s happening? Where and when will it strike? How severe will it be? What resources are available to help?

More HERE.

2012 Dream Big READ! Summer Reading at New York Libraries

The 2012 Audio (radio spot) promoting Summer Reading at New York Libraries, "Dream big READ!", is now available for download from summerreadingnys.org. Click on “audio and video spots (in the blue box).

Use these fun, foot-tapping music downloads to enhance summer reading experiences at libraries, at home, or anywhere. Play them for your children as they get ready to visit the library or sit down to read a book. Add them to your blogs, podcasts and websites. Enjoy them as a download to your computer.
You can also send these summer reading promotional spots to your local radio stations for broadcast –a short “script” of text about your library can be added to the end.
The 30-second spot is available in both English and Spanish.

11th annual Underground Railroad Public History Conference

The Underground Railroad Turned On Its Head: Old Themes, New Directions and its relationship with us today

The 11th annual Underground Railroad Public History Conference
Organized by Underground Railroad History Project of the Capital Region, Inc.
Co-sponsored by Russell Sage College and Rensselaer County Historical Society

April 13-15, 2012

Registration materials are available at www.ugrworkshop.com.

Don't miss this historic event
Choose from the 'a la carte' menu of tours, workshops, concert, receptions, and
art exhibit
Step into the experience of Spectres Of Liberty - The Ghost of Liberty Church

Register early - reserve your place - pass the word on

"The gold standard of Underground Railroad conferences" (Fergus Bordewich,
author of Bound for Canaan)

Questions? email info@ugrworkshop.com or call 518-432-4432

The mystery of Scotland's secret sculptor

A graffiti artist called Banksy became famous around the globe in the 1990s after secretly leaving his art work on walls across London. Now Scotland has its own secret artist.

Keith Wallace reports from Edinburgh on the delicate sculptures made from books which have been appearing in cultural establishments across the city.

Plastic: Why credit is better than debit cards

Firing up that credit card doesn't have to mean piling on the debt. Here's how charging it can help.