December+6,+2012

Council Meeting #2 Date: December 6, 2012 Time: 12:00 - 3:00pm Place: Brooklyn Public Library

**__Members in attendance:__** Linda Cuff (Chair), Christine Hatami (Secretary), Robert Farrell, Lauren Soucy, Margaret Dennehy, Sally Young, Arlene Dominguez, Maureen Hurley, Julia Chang, Andrea Vaughn **__SLS Office Staff in__** **__attendance__** : Ric Hasenyager, Melissa Jacobs Israel, Elizabeth Naylor-Gutierrez, Lynne Kresta Smith, Leanne Ellis, Olga Nesi

**__Agenda:__** Greetings and Introductions Announcements and Information New Business Projects of Council Members

Linda Cuff called the meeting to order and members introduced themselves. //Notes from the Chair// Andrea will be on leave from BPL. Jennifer Thompson will fill her place on the Council. As a result of the MyLibraryNYC program, a large number of libraries are in the process of being automated and weeded. We are organizing a weeding committee and looking for volunteers. Leanne reported that there are currently 950 schools in NYC on Destiny and a number of others are automated on other systems. About 20 – 25% of NYC schools are still not automated. //NYCSLS Updates// Elizabeth reported on the outcome of the Fall Conference. It was generally felt that the smaller venue was better and technology was better, with the exception of the auditorium. Approximately 600 librarians had registered but only 400 attended, largely due to Hurricane Sandy. Ric added that vendors were quite happy with the number of attendees and the set-up we provided for them. Lynne felt that the space made it easier for participants to move around. The location in uptown Manhattan was easy for most to locate. Robert reported that, as a presenter, he was happy with the attendance and location. Melissa reported that only two of the scheduled authors could not attend, though the caterers had some problems with delivery. Linda Cuff suggested that we consider all of the issues when booking the venue for next year. Elizabeth stated that we have all the specifications required, including a central conference space and break-out rooms. A discussion followed regarding the scheduling on Election Day, which is a time that librarians could be presenting at their schools when the whole staff is available. It was pointed out that principals may not be willing to release librarians on another day. Saturday workshops also present a number of issues for librarians. Elizabeth is looking for a new venue and will send out the specifications if anyone has a location in mind. Leanne reported that 298 schools are now participating in MyLibraryNYC. Teacher library cards are being distributed. Since the public libraries have now become DOE vendors, all staff visiting public schools are required to be fingerprinted. Andrea said that this will impact on all outreach programs, including summer reading, library card sign-ups, etc. Ric said that they are looking at different solutions and Leanne assured that the program would continue but partnerships may be limited. This issue of fingerprinting does not affect private or charter schools. Julia asked how public library staff should communicate with teachers and Ric replied that they could email or call the librarian or principal. While most participants are happy with the program, the main issue has been with registering for Destiny Passport. New documentation is being distributed to assist with that process. Also, new student cards will be available in January. An outside evaluator has been hired to look at statistics as well as student engagement and outcomes. The pilot was evaluated last year. Ric reported that not a single school library was damaged by Hurricane Sandy. Several groups and companies have offered funding to support the replacement of books lost when students were re-assigned to other schools. There are still eight schools that have not been able to return to their original building. Linda Cuff added an item to the agenda which was an update on CCD collections. Ric stated that funding will be distributed this year and that 54 collections will be updated with electronic titles. SLS is working on a new RFP for all existing collections, taking into account the need to be able to share among all systems. These collections will include mostly non-fiction e-books with unlimited, simultaneous access. A majority of the big publishers still refuse to sell e-books to libraries. Linda briefly described the position of Vice-Chair and called for volunteers, to which Arlene responded. The vote for Arlene to accept the position was unanimous. **Discussion** //Professional Development// Elizabeth stated that she continues to look for partners as well as venues for professional development sessions. Ric said that possible locations include public libraries and universities. Andrea offered space at NYPL, which is soon to be an official DOE educator. That will allow teachers to earn P credits for PD. Ric felt that this will encourage partnerships between teachers and librarians. An upcoming topic in consideration is for PD on the use of NOVEL databases, which are currently under-utilized. Elizabeth stated that this will be a starting point for future PD opportunities. Leanne added that the training could be done by the company or by SLS staff. Arlene asked if it would be possible to videotape and archive the sessions for online viewing. Elizabeth felt that could be a future consideration. Linda added that more specific topics such as working with ELL populations should be considered, and that these could be split for elementary and secondary teachers. PD will be open to teachers in private and parochial schools as well as public. schools. Olga added that schools without librarians could also participate. Elizabeth suggested that vendors be invited to attend the next Council meeting to discuss PD. // New Classification Systems // Lauren said that there is talk about eliminating Dewey as a standard classification system and replacing it with clustering. Melissa said that there needs to be a rationale for re-cataloging. Olga added that there needs to be consistency from building to building. **Projects of Council Members** //Fund for Public Schools// Arlene reported that 31 applications have been received for the Library Reach grant. Ten to twelve grants of $10,000 each will be awarded sometime before the holidays. The grant will fund technology including iPads, Smartboards, etc. Ric said that an additional 1.23 million will be provided by the DOE for automation. Currently, ninety applications have been received for the Family Reading Nights grant. The Fund is expecting to award seventy grants. A monthly newsletter and flyers will be created to publicize free events at public libraries. // Public Libraries // Andrea reported on the InfoCommons opening at BPL. There will be 75 seats with access to lap top computers. There will be 7 meeting rooms, one with video and music recording capabilities, a 3-D printer along with other learning labs. These will be open to the public and staffed by librarians, interns and volunteers beginning January 17th. Also, the new Brooklyn Visual Heritage site ( http://www.brooklynvisualheritage.org/) will contain all historic photos from many Brooklyn institutions on one online interface. It will include a searchable database of photos, ephemera and archives. Julia provided the current brochure of NYPL winter programs which includes 17 pages of resources for teachers. The new Teaching and Learning program will be back with a new director. They are also re-vamping the children’s website that will launch in mid-January with updated links, databases and teacher resources. // Graduate Schools // Robert gave an update on the DOE/CUNY collaboration. The A.Phillip Randolf School has been indentified as the site for PD for teachers and librarians. They are also developing a proposal to partner with OCLC regarding curriculum changes. In addition, they will be meeting with IMLS to propose a project to develop library leaders. Olga is in touch with Lehman to develop a focus on math education for specialized training sessions. This will be explored on other CUNY campuses to link schools of education with libraries. Lauren reported that her school is looking into developing an e-book collection. They will be hosting Jack Gantos in January for the 3rd to 6th graders and highlighting the journaling process. // School Libraries // Maureen reported that her school has just received a new lab with 32 computers. Sister Margaret reported that while the Archdiocese does not have a contact person for library programs, there is a library grant available. They have developed resource sharing with another school. They are launching One World Adventure which will feature skyping with a school in The Amazon Rain Forest. They are continuing their relationship with Walter Dean Myers who had come to visit their school with a PBS television crew. Sally reported that the newly renovated Forest Hills High School library opened. The official ribbon-cutting ceremony will be held December 19th at 11:30 AM.
 * Greetings and Introductions **
 * Announcements and Information **
 * New Business **

The meeting was adjourned at 3:01 PM. Next meeting: Wednesday, March 6th at the Mid-Manhattan Library Respectfully submitted by Christine Hatami