Friday Follow-up: New Director in Town and Foundation Grant Recipients

This has been a stellar week for meeting with member libraries. I enjoyed my visits to both the Wayland and Hammondsport libraries to discuss connecting their libraries to robust broadband Internet through the Southern Tier Network. Both library boards and their directors were great hosts. I have yet to meet a library board that doesn’t go over and beyond to make me feel welcome. It always confirms my belief this is New York’s greatest library system.

I equally appreciated my time talking, eating and celebrating with member librarians who received grant awards through the Foundation for Southern Tier Libraries. The Foundation made available 9 awards on Wednesday totaling $9,628. These grants will support high impact outreach projects to Southern Tier communities. This year’s winners included the libraries of Alfred, Canisteo, Cuba, Friendship, Prattsburgh, Pulteney, Southeast Steuben County, Wellsville and Whitesville.

Lastly, I liked meeting with Justin Zeh, library director at Avoca. Justin is STLS’ newest member library director and serves as source of inspiration for where libraries are going in the Southern Tier. Justin has joined us with previous library experience working in both academic and public libraries. He also presently works at the Dansville Public Library in the Pioneer Library System.

It’s always difficult to balance the conversation when meeting directors for the first time. There are so many things you want to tell them about what will unfold in the coming months, but you also just want to get to know them and connect with their interests. I valued Justin’s honesty about wanting to make library work his career. This isn’t something you always hear from rural library directors. I was certain after leaving the Avoca Library last night that it is a library to watch.

There is one other highlight I would like to share from this week. The Rural Libraries Round Table (RLRT) of the New York Library Association sent a letter to the NYLA Council asking for support to advocate for alternative ways to address Minimum Standards specific to the appointment of a library director. Although this doesn’t always impact our library system, there are instances where it can have negative implications on the way our local libraries choose to employ a qualified library director.

I hope member libraries can take a moment to review RLRT’s stance on this issue, and feel comfortable reaching out to STLS if there is ever a concern about meeting this Minimum Standard. The Division of Library Development is currently reviewing the Minimum Standards, so now is a good time to take an interest. I look forward to writing more about this matter in the near future. In the meantime, please consider reading this solid statement.

Thank you STLS for your continued support and many efforts. Have a great April weekend, and may the sun shine on your communities!