In this Month’s News Updates:

  • FY2023 Legislative Agenda

    The MA Board of Library Commissioners (MBLC) released their FY2023 Legislative Agenda:

    “No matter where you live or where you’re from, how much you earn, what your ability or age, how you identify, or who you love, Massachusetts libraries are in your corner. Effective and efficient, we’re leveraged pandemic-related funding to tackle some of the challenges facing the Commonwealth, and we’re not done yet. Increased funding to State Aid to Public Libraries (7000-9501) and State Aid to Regional Libraries (7000-9401) will help us keep going.”

    View the full budget request and affiliate info sheets, including the MA Library System’s info sheet on the MBLC’s Legislative Agenda website: https://mblclegislativeagenda.com

    Sarah and Rob on the road

    Sarah Sogigian (MLS) and Rob Favini (MBLC) have been on the road visiting libraries. They’ve had a blast on these road trips, visiting with our member libraries and learning more about their work during the pandemic. They are booking their calendars for more visits; let them know if you’d like them to stop by. They would love to hear and to see all that you are doing to support your communities.

    They will work with you to find a mutually appropriate date and time and will adhere to all safety guidelines. They are also available for virtual visits!

    Contact:
    Sarah Sogigian – sarah@masslibsystem.org
    Rob Favini – Robert.favini@state.ma.us

    Commonwealth eBook Collection

    The Commonwealth eBook Collections (CEC) OverDrive K-12 Shared Sora Collection program finished 2021 with a huge milestone. For the first time, the program reached and exceeded 1 million checkouts for the year! The OverDrive K-12 Shared Sora Collection ranks #1 in New England, and 3rd in both the US and World for OverDrive school shared collections.

    Thanks to additional state and federal funding, participating schools can also now request extra copies of curriculum titles here: https://masslibsystem.libwizard.com/f/ceccurr

    Program enrollment remains open to MLS member schools. Begin the enrollment process here: https://masslibsystem.libwizard.com/f/cecenroll2022.

    State-wide Database Procurement

    The joint MLS and MBLC statewide database procurement process is continuing on pace. The procurement team is composed of MLS and MBLC database support staff as well as a nine-member advisory group. The joint MLS and MBLC committee has seen presentations by nine vendors proposing 91 products. The committee is now working on the evaluation process, which will run through February with open public trials to be announced soon. A special thanks to the advisory members and our partners at the MBLC, especially Kate Butler, MBLC Electronic Services Specialist, who is managing this complex project.

    MLS Live 2022

    Our MLS Live series is an opportunity to join MLS Executive Director Sarah Sogigian and Membership Manager Amanda Fauver, to discuss a different MLS related topic each quarter. We’ll also provide a brief update on what’s happening at MLS.

    We’ll be hosting these sessions via Zoom 4 times a year, for an hour each. Registration, along with dates and topics, can be found on our Event Calendar. Our first MLS LIVE of 2022 will be on April 1st discussing Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Accessibility Topics (DEI).

    This series will offer attendees the opportunity to learn about and engage with MLS Leadership.

    Attendees will also have the opportunity to ask questions about these topics either using the chat feature in Zoom or by emailing sarah@masslibsystem.org  in advance of the session (please note: this session will be recorded. Attendees will be muted to preserve audio quality). Sessions will be hosted on Zoom and recorded; we invite you to participate by attending the live session or watch the recording on your own time.

    This series connects to our Action Plan S.I.1, G.1

    New England Summer Summit 2022

    Join your neighbors for the first New England-wide Summer Summit on Friday, March 4th! This is a day-long, free, virtual event hosted by all six New England states. We kick off with keynote bestselling children’s author Adam Gidwitz, and launch into sessions from each of our region’s states. There will be children’s topics and sessions on families and adults – summer reading is for all!

    • Keynote- Adam Gidwitz
    • Session 1 Play-Based Learning in Libraries (NH)
    • Session 2: Bree Drapa Running a SR program as a solo librarian (VT)
    • Session 3 Kristine Oulman Geocaching at the Library (CT)
    • Session 4: Nature Journaling (RI)
    • Session 5: How to incorporate STEM into summer programming (ME)
    • PRE RECORDED: Session 6: StoryWalk Best Practices (MA)

    To register visit the CT Library Calendar: https://cslib.libcal.com/event/8872924

    Host a COVID-19 Mobile Clinic and Community Conversation at Your Library

    Interested in hosting a COVID-19 mobile clinic or community conversation at your library?  In this interview, we’ll hear from the Massachusetts Department of Public Health about resources and services available for your library to support vaccine equity. Read on

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