• The date for using the Union Catalog and ILL system has been extended. Using email for ILLs that can be placed in TLC will now end on December 13th. ILL requests should be placed and filled in TLC beginning December 16th. Please reach out to libraryservices@wswheboces.org with any questions or if you need help.

• NYLA has posted their 2025 Advocacy Initiatives. Check them out here!

• Calling all Librarians! We want to hear from you about the awesome things you are doing in your library. Please consider presenting at our January CC meeting on January 14th. Apply here by December 13th.

Each day of December we will post a gingerbread man in disguise as a character from a popular book or media source. Students are challenged to guess the character for a simple prize (candy cane, chocolate kiss, etc.). We kicked it off with a gingerbread character decorating event this morning that all of our Guide Rooms were invited to- I had 8 groups attend, and it was a fun and festive start. Our previous daily challenges have included a "Riddle of the Day" and for "Gnovember" we had a scavenger hunt for the gnome each day, which was based on clues that required them to use the library catalog and explore the physical library space.

Hi folks! We've had the ILL page of our LibGuides hidden for a while, but it's visible again. Our LibGuides are also a great place to look for all kinds of things. I'm working on some tutorial kinds of stuff that will be on here soon. In the meantime, here's a snapshot of some of the things you can find here, if you haven't looked lately:

• Electronic Resources--databases, ebooks, library.fyi
• Library Automation--Our services, TLC (holler if you need the password for this page), Union Catalog, ILLs, and a link to Follett resources for Destiny users (we do not provide PD/support for Follett, so this is a shortcut to what Follett provides for PD and webinars)
  
• ​Professional Learning--Links to Frontline, ESIFC, Standards, and lots of Educational Resources (including a Ready-to-Use Classroom Resources LibGuide)
  
• ​Battle of the Books
• Help--This is a good place to look for BEDS info, Data Privacy, Advocacy resources, and Copyright resources

Check out this information S'more on the Union Catalog and Filling ILLs.

We know that we learn best from our colleagues. With that in mind, our January Communication Coordinator meeting will be devoted to learning from each other. An agenda with presentations will be sent out in January before the meeting.

If you are interested in presenting, please fill out this survey by December 13th.

As always, this workshop is open to all librarians regardless of being a CC.

Date: January 14, 2025

Time: 8:00 am - 3:00 pm

Location: Ballard Road Conference Center

Register: https://www.mylearningplan.com/WebReg/ActivityProfile.asp?D=18589&I=4959106

More information to come. Space is limited so register early.

As always, this workshop is open to all librarians regardless of being a CC.

Date: April 2, 2025

Time: 8:30 am - 3:00 pm

Location: Ballard Road Conference Center

Register: https://www.mylearningplan.com/WebReg/ActivityProfile.asp?D=18589&I=4959110

Topic: TBD, but we will also celebrate our retirees and our School Librarian and Administrator of the Year Awardees.

Date: May 15, 2025

Time: 8:00 am - 3:00 pm

Location: Ballard Road Conference Center

Register: https://www.mylearningplan.com/WebReg/ActivityProfile.asp?D=18589&I=4959120

The Regional BOCES School Library Systems are collaborating to bring you multiple book studies this year. Please see the attachment below for information. These book studies are limited to 20 participants so you will want to register early.

Kerrie Burch, School Library System Director

Karin Howansky, School Library Media Specialist

Laurie Doyle, Information Processing Specialist

Deb Massa, Information Processing Specialist