September 27, 2018

Virtual Town Halls

To keep member libraries up to date on both the current state and potential future of LibraryLinkNJ’s budget and services, we are hosting virtual town hall meetings each month through March 2019.

Materials for the September 18 meeting are now available on the event’s page on our website. Materials include:

  • A recording of the virtual town hall meeting, held in Adobe Connect
  • Presentation slides from the meeting
  • A copy of questions submitted by participants

We encourage you to share these materials widely with colleagues at your home library, and to contact Kathy Schalk-Greene with follow-up questions as needed.

Outcomes/Action Items?

Dates for all future meetings are listed below. All meetings will run from 11 am to 12 noon. We will notify you via email blast that registration is open at least one week in advance of each meeting.

Future meeting dates:

  • Wednesday, October 17
  • Wednesday, November 7
  • Tuesday, December 11
  • Friday, January 11 
  • Wednesday, February 20
  • Tuesday, March 12

Based on your questions during our Virtual Town Halls, we have prepared an FAQ for easy reference. We will update it regularly as new questions arise, and as we have more information to share.

Advocacy Task Force Updates

The LibraryLinkNJ Advocacy Task Force has been meeting regularly with LLNJ Staff to develop strategies to secure stopgap funding to bridge our budget gap of $370,000.

For our meetings with state legislators and gubernatorial office staff, we need your LibraryLinkNJ Stories! Has a LibraryLinkNJ learning event made a difference in your career? Has your community benefited from winning funding through our Innovation Projects initiatives? Let us know! The more specific and detailed your story, the better.

We have put together an invitational meeting about the future of LibraryLinkNJ on October 15 with key library stakeholders from around the state. We will report on this meeting at the October 17 Virtual Town Hall meeting.

Delivery Updates

We have updated information to share with you regarding several aspects of the statewide delivery service: cost-sharing; the renewal of our contract with our vendor, TForce Final Mile; and the right to transfer this contract to another entity in the event of our dissolution.

Cost-Share Background
On June 13, 2018 at our Membership Meeting, the LibraryLinkNJ membership voted to approve a budget including a delivery cost share. This fee will be charged to libraries receiving statewide library delivery from LibraryLinkNJ for service from January 1 to June 30, 2019. As per an approved budget amendment, the bill per library receiving delivery for those 6 months cannot exceed $500.

How We Determined Libraries’ Estimated Share
The LibraryLinkNJ Delivery Task Force Cost-Share Team recommended two sliding scales, based on the number of stops paid for by LibraryLinkNJ (this excludes any extra stops a library may pay for individually) and that an estimated 5% fuel surcharge be included. The LibraryLinkNJ Executive Board approved both at their July 19, 2018 Board meeting.

The two sliding scales based on the number of delivery stops are:

  • 17% of total delivery costs for libraries receiving 1-3 stops per week from January - June 2019.
  • 27% of total delivery costs for libraries receiving 4-5 stops per week from January - June 2019.

The Billing Process

  • LibraryLinkNJ has sent out an estimated bill to participating member libraries for 1/1/19 - 6/30/19
  • The letter asks for a confirmation of a library’s understanding to be signed and returned to LibraryLinkNJ by 11/8/18
  • A final 2019 bill will be mailed to the delivery libraries no later than 12/17/18
  • Any questions from libraries can be directed to Kathy Schalk-Greene, Executive Director at LibraryLinkNJ, 732-752-7720, kathy [at] librarylinknj.org

Contract With TForce Final Mile 
The vendor for the Statewide Delivery Service is TForce Final Mile. This month, we renewed our contract with them for 2019. The contract will now expire on December 31, 2019. We have sought legal guidance regarding the status of the contract for Fiscal Year 2020. In the event that LibraryLinkNJ must dissolve in June 2019, we have the right to transfer the contract to another organization should LibraryLinkNJ go out of business in June 2019.

Social Media Consultations

As you know, we are working very hard to ensure that LibraryLinkNJ survives and thrives for years to come. At the same time, we’re making plans to wind down certain services in the event that we must dissolve.

Many of you have taken advantage of our customized Social Media Consultations service. We are regretfully bringing this service to a close at the end of December 2018. If we are able to continue operations beyond June 2019, we will resume providing this service by the end of March 2019.

We have a limited number of slots available between now and the end of December. If you would like to take advantage of this service before we sunset it, please complete the Social Media Consultation Request Form. Sophie Brookover, Program Coordinator & Social Media Manager, will respond and schedule as many libraries as possible for consultations.

CE Updates

Learn At Your Own Pace With Archived Webinars
LibraryLinkNJ webinars are available to you to review at your convenience. Some of our most recent sessions, archived on our website, are noted below:

Upcoming MentorNJ Events

MentorNJ Small Meet-ups:

As part of the MentorNJ Initiative, library staff in NJ are encouraged to organize and participate in small local meet-up sessions on a variety of themes.

This is an opportunity for local librarians and library staff to gather informally and discuss issues related to our daily work. MentorNJ encourages library staff to host or attend a NJ Library Meet-up(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.

Next month, Doug Baldwin (Piscataway Public Library) will host two technology meet-ups around the state:

Jonathan Upton (Old Bridge Public Library) will host an LGBTQ meet-up:

Find more information about the small meet-ups, including how you can host/promote or attend one, notes from past meet-ups, and the program coordinators’ contact info for questions at the meetups page on our website.

 

DO-IT Conference

OUR LIBRARIES SHOULD HAVE FEWER BARRIERS AND MORE INCLUSION. LET’S DO-IT TOGETHER.

Thursday, November 8, 2018, 9:30am-3:00pm
Raritan Valley Community College Conference Center
118 Lamington Rd, Branchburg, NJ 08876

The DO-IT Conference brings together library workers and disability advocates for a free, day-long conference focused on services to people with disabilities. You will come away with actionable steps and tools to improve inclusion at your library through programming, services, and resource-sharing.

Registration is free, and is filling quickly. Find more about Location, Parking, and Lunch Information.

This conference is brought to you by NJLA Diversity & Outreach Section, and is co-sponsored by MentorNJ, LibraryLinkNJ, New Jersey State Library, NJLA Professional Development Committee, and NJLA Leadership & Education Subcommittee.