October 1, 2019

Next Executive Board Meeting

The next LLNJ Board meeting will be held on Thursday, October 17, starting at 2:30 at the Talking Book & Braille Center, 2300 Stuyvesant Avenue, Trenton.

Interim Executive Director Search

The Executive Board will hire an Interim Executive Director for up to 28 hours per week to start approximately on December 10, 2019 for a period of up to at least six months at a rate of $65 per hour. Kathy Schalk-Greene, LibraryLinkNJ’s current Executive Director, is retiring on December 31.

Permanent Executive Director Search

The Board also will be working with consultant Abby Straus, of Maverick & Boutique, to help the Board explore the future vision and services of LibraryLinkNJ by strategic planning that will involve the library community of New Jersey. The consultant will also assist in drafting a job posting for the permanent Executive Director. It’s anticipated that advertising for new Executive Director will be posted starting in January 2020.

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.

Have it All: Networking, Practical Advice & More with
MentorNJ Networking Event

Register now to secure your spot! Open to all library staff and library school students!

Thursday, November 7, 2019 | 10:00 am - 3:30 pm
(Morning refreshments & a catered lunch will be provided)
@ Monroe Township Library (Middlesex County)

A day that is dedicated exclusively to networking and celebrating the profession
Come and join this MentorNJ in-person networking event!

Event Highlights

10:00 - 10:45 am
Sign-in & Networking
Keeping It Current with Your Professional Network
Meet wonderful NJ library mentors and mentees
(Refreshments will be served!)

10:45 - 11:00 am
Greetings & Introduction

11:00 am - 12:30 pm
Preparing for Your Librarian Job Search
presented by Kae Bara Kratcha
Entrepreneurship & Social Science Librarian at Columbia University Libraries

12:30 - 1:30 pm
Lunch & Networking
Enjoy the networking time with your colleagues and make new friends!
(A catered lunch will be served!)

1:30 - 3:15 pm
NetWORK it! - An exciting, interactive guide to making professional connections
presented by Morgan Taylor, Head of Adult Services, Princeton Public Library &
Erin Hughes, Children’s Librarian, Carlstadt Public Library

3:15 - 3:30 pm
Closing

For the full schedule of the event and other details, please go to the event page:
https://librarylinknj.org/content/mentornj-person-networking-event-2019

Registration is limited. Register soon to secure your spot!


MentorNJ Small Meet-ups

Going Fine Free Meet-up:

  • Wednesday, October 23rd, 10am-12pm
    @ Gloucester County Library Mullica Hill Branch (Meeting Room B)
    389 Wolfert Station Road, Mullica Hill, NJ 08062
  • Hosted by Ralph Bingham, Director, Gloucester County Library System 
Going Fine Free

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!

Technology Meet-ups:

Register now for the upcoming MentorNJ Technology Meet-ups! These particular meetups focus on technology in libraries, so from ILS systems, to social media, to IT issues, to makerspaces, to workshops and tech sessions, and much more, any topic related to technology and libraries is fair game. These meetups are for staff at any library type, and any staff level working with or interested in technology and particularly technology in libraries.

Site hosts at each location work with dbaldwin [at] piscatawaylibrary.org (Doug Baldwin), Head of Technology at the Piscataway Public Library, to moderate discussions at each event:

Tech meet-ups
  • Friday, October 11, 2019, 10am-12pm
    • @ Ocean County College (1 College Dr, Toms River, NJ 08754)
    • jwallace [at] ocean.edu (John Wallance), Emerging Technologies & Systems Librarian
  • Friday, December 20, 2019, 10am-12pm
    • @ Hunterdon County Library - North County Branch (65 Halstead St, Clinton, NJ 08809)
    • sjanosik [at] hclibrary.us (Sandy Janosik), Adult Services Librarian
  • Friday, February 7, 2020, 10am-12pm
    • @ Burlington County Library - Main Branch (5 Pioneer Blvd, Westhampton, NJ 08060)
    • cnemphos [at] bcls.lib.nj.us (Christina Nemphos), Youth Services coordinator
  • Friday, April 3, 2020, 10am-12pm
    • @ Livingston Public Library (10 Robert H Harp Dr, Livingston, NJ 07039)
    • joseph.emery [at] livingston.bccls.org (Joseph Emery), Adult Services Librarian

Please use the registration form to attend.

What is MentorNJ Small Meet-up?

This is an opportunity for local librarians and library staff to get together in an informal way and discuss issues and topics related to our daily work. MentorNJ encourages library staff to host or attend a NJ Library Meetup(s) so you can do more of what matters to you and meet colleagues near you who share your interests. Learn from others, and share your insights on targeted topics.

Anyone can host a meet-up and promote it online on the MentorNJ Meet-Up page. Everyone is invited to any meet-up with topics that are of their interest. Please find more about how you can promote your hosting meetup on the MentorNJ meetup page.

If you have missed our past 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).

If you have any questions about MentorNJ meetups, please contact our meetup coordinators:

On-Site, On-Demand Staff Development
– FY20 (July 1, 2019 - June 30, 2020) Offer for All Members of LibraryLinkNJ

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.
  • You have to book a program directly with a vendor/consultant, and then fill out the Subsidy Request Form.
  • 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.

The subsidy requests are filling up fast! If you are considering to request for a subsidy, please act soon!
Don’t wait until the subsidy request deadline! You can plan now for a program through May 15, 2020!

For all the details on how this service works, go to The On-Site, On-Demand Page.

If you have any questions, please contact Mi-Sun Lyu, lyu [at] librarylinknj.org.