Building Improvements
We have received notification from the State Education Department that the construction grant for the elevator project has received its final approval, with an anticipated initial disbursement of $417,757 in fairly short order.
SaratogaREADS!
I was happy to attend the capstone event of this year’s SaratogaREADS! season, and introduce Sy Montgomery for her engaging, entertaining, and informative talk about Soul of an Octopus. She was very generous with her time during the book signing following her presentation. Special thanks for the success of the event are due to Jamie Chabot, who did the lion’s share of the organization, and to the Friends of the Saratoga Springs Public Library, who organized the bookselling and offered financial support.
Public Library Association Conference
I was delighted to attend the Public Library Association Conference in Minneapolis, where the mood among the attendees was energetic and determined to provide library services in the face of many challenges. I was able to attend sessions about preparing for capital projects, and multiple sessions about inclusion in institutional messaging and programming. The highlights of the conference for me included multiple author and keynote sessions, including a conversation between Ann Patchett and Kate DiCamillo about their friendship, a luncheon event featuring Colson Whitehead discussing his life and writing career, an eye-opening presentation by Dr. Ruha Benjamin about the notions of inclusion and AI, a talk by chef and restauranteur Sean Sherman about indigenous foodways and opportunities for Native Americans, and an opening session featuring Bryan Stevenson, who is a person whose work and ideas I’ve admired for years, about his ongoing work with the Equal Justice Initiative.
Many of the program sessions were standing room only, and all were engaging and informative. Special congratulations to Jen Ferriss on her part in presenting a packed session about library sustainability initiatives!
Memorial Gifts
At 3pm on May 9, a small reception will be held in the New and Popular area to unveil a plaque to honor a gift to the library made in memory of Judy Schmelter. The $40,000 donation in Ms. Schmelter’s name came via the Friends, and will support the New & Popular Collection and Outreach Services.
SALS Annual Meeting
The SALS Annual Meeting will be held on Monday, May 18, at the Queensbury Hotel in Glens Falls, and will feature the Saratoga Springs Poet Laureate, Jay Rogoff. If you would like to attend, please let me know (along with your dinner preference) and I will RSVP for the library. RSVPs are due to SALS by May 8.
Positive Peace Conversation Facilitation
You may recall that I have recently participated in training by Mediators Beyond Borders, International, sponsored by Rotary International, to facilitate Positive Peace Conversations, which are structured, constructive dialogues aimed at building community, fostering understanding, and strengthening peacebuilding efforts, and meant to equip leaders to facilitate respectful discussions on challenging subjects. To date our cohort has helped to facilitate conversations among Rotarians, centered around the eight pillars of positive peace outlined by the Institute for Economics and Peace. We’ve added a community-oriented session about “The Free Flow of Information” as a library program on September 22, to coincide with Saratoga Peace Week activities.
Outreach and Impact
On a recent weekend, as I was returning from a Rotary District Conference in Syracuse, where I helped to facilitate a Positive Peace Conversation about “High Levels of Human Capital” with participants that included young people from around the world, I was struck by the impact of the work we as an institution have undertaken to expand our reach into the community and beyond, measured by our presence and participation in such events. In addition to the astounding array of outreach work performed by the Access and Outreach Department, that weekend, Jen Ferriss was in Charlotte, Vermont, helping to celebrate the Charlotte Library’s achievement of attaining sustainability certification, Gina Michelin was representing the Library at Skidmore College at the Sustainability Fair, and Adult Services Librarian Katie Ranno and Youth Services Librarians Kate Lambert and Laura Clark were representing the Library at the Autism Fair at Saratoga City Center.