August 26, 2019
Members appointed to Executive Board Committees
To have a broad range of voices on Committees, the Executive Board decided to have more representation on the Nominations, Membership and Bylaws Committees.
Allen McGinley, Teaneck Public Library (Bergen county) and Ralph Bingham, Gloucester County Library system were appointed to the Nominations Committee.
Janet Marler, Ocean County College Library, Michael Maziekien, Cranford Public Library (Union county), and Will Porter, Sussex County Library were appointed to the Bylaws Committee. Robert Keith was appointed a Committee liaison from the New Jersey State Library.
Members will be appointed to the Membership Committee at future Board meetings.
New Lay Representative Appointed
The Executive Board appointed Karen Cohen, Library Trustee of the Mount Laurel Library which is a municipal library in Burlington County, to be a Lay Representative to fill the unexpired term of Rick Vander Wende, who resigned from the Board in July. This term will end June 30, 2020.
Ms. Cohen served as a Trustee since 2013 and as the Treasurer since 2014. In that capacity she meets with the Auditor to review findings of the financial issues and review best practices. Being a Trustee has been very rewarding since she enjoys public service and she has renewed her commitment of 5 years with another term. In addition to service as Trustee, she is a member of the Friends of the Mount Laurel Library, a fundraising organization which holds sales several times a year to benefit the library with additional funds for uses such as Museum Passes, equipment and programming. Serving in both capacities enables her to be a liaison to both groups.
Bylaws Amendment Approved by State Librarian
The Bylaws amendment, Article X, Finances, f "Beginning, January 1, 2020 no fee or cost share required of LLNJ Members may increase by more than 2% in any fiscal year," passed by the Membership at the June 5 Membership Meeting was approved by the New Jersey State Librarian, Mary Chute.
Next Board Meeting
The next LLNJ Board meeting will be held on Thursday, September 19, starting at 2:30 at a location to be announced.
Invoices for the Delivery Cost Share are being sent during the summer and fall. Information about the policy and amounts for individual libraries can be found at the Cost Share page on our website.
A Delivery Task Force will advise the Executive Board on the FY20 Delivery Study, the next Request for Proposal for Delivery Services in 2020, and future cost sharing for delivery.
On-Site, On-Demand Staff Development
– FY20 (July 1, 2019 - June 30, 2020) Offer for All Members of LibraryLinkNJ
New Programs Added!
LibraryLinkNJ Provides a Subsidy of Up to $500 for a Staff Development Program Held at Your Library
Let us Help You Make a Difference!
Ongoing professional education is essential in the work lives of all staff members, and we want to make it as efficient and cost-effective as possible. We will subsidize up to $500 of the cost of one staff development workshop a year for participating member libraries of all types. The On-Site, On-Demand Staff Development program directly supports our strategic goal of providing opportunities for staff to acquire new skills, advance their learning and grow professionally.
Key Points:
- Members are not limited to a specific menu of on-site training options. We provide a variety of suggested options for your convenience.
- You may either choose a workshop from our Suggested Programs & Consultants List or work with other vendors/consultants.
- LibraryLinkNJ offers a subsidy of up to $500 for each approved request.
- There is a limited budget for this service, so please submit requests early.
We are excited to introduce four new programs with Joanne Roukens to the FY2020 Suggested Programs and Consultants List this month! Please check out the full list of our excellent consultants this year, as Sophie Brookover, Heather Craven, and Cindy Czesak have joined our list of Suggested Programs and Consultants.
For all the details on how this service works, go to The On-Site, On-Demand Page.
Deadline for submitting a request for a subsidy is Friday, April 10, 2020.
Deadline for holding a LLNJ subsidized staff development program is Friday, May 15, 2020.
If you have any questions, please contact Mi-Sun Lyu, lyu [at] librarylinknj.org.
MentorNJ Small Meetups
MentorNJ Meetups are an opportunity for interested library staff, at any level, to get together informally and discuss issues, ask questions, seek guidance, and learn more about various different topics related to libraries and library work. Register now for the following upcoming MentorNJ Meetup!
Going Fine Free Meet-up
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- More libraries are going fine free throughout the country, and are you (or is your library) interested in joining the movement? MentorNJ is hosting a meet-up to talk about 'Going Fine Free'. Linda Devlin, Director, and David Lisa, Associate Director, from the Camden County Library System will join the meet-up as guest experts. The Camden County Library System eliminated fines for all overdue items as of July 1. Please come and join this timely conversation, and use the online form to register!
If you have missed our past Tech meet-ups, all meeting notes are documented in real time and shared with attendees, as well as made publicly available on the past meetups list (where you can find archived notes from the past meetings).
Would you like to host a small meetup at your library, or to attend any upcoming meetups? Please find more about how you can promote your hosting meetup on the MentorNJ meetup page.
If you have any questions about MentorNJ meetups, please contact our meetup coordinators:
- Doug Baldwin, Head of Technology, Piscataway Public Library
- Ralph Bingham, Director, Gloucester County Library System
SAVE THE DATE: MentorNJ In-Person Networking Event
- Date: Thursday, November 7, 2019 (Morning refreshments & lunch will be provided)
- Location: Monroe Township Public Library (Middlesex County)
- Theme of the Day: All about Professional/Career Development
- Have your headshots done for your resume or social media profiles with a professional photographer for free!
More information including the event schedule, programs, registration information, etc. will be announced soon!