August 2001

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Janet Decker To Be Honored The Adirondack Founder’s Award Ceremony will be honoring Janet Decker for her leadership and contributions of time and energy to the Adirondack Region through her work with the Saranac Lake Free Library, the North Country Reference and Research Resources Council, the Clinton Essex Library System and the Saranac Lake Improvement Society. The ceremony will be held at 3:00 p.m. on Aug. 16 at The Adirondack Museum in Blue Mountain Lake. Janet is a member of the Council’s Board of Trustees. Legislative Update The baseline budget recently approved by the New York State Legislature reduces total state aid for libraries by $5 million, compared to what was appropriated in the 2000-01 budget. Newspapers are reporting the Legislature will be meeting again in September to work on supplemental appropriations. All members of the library community are encouraged to contact their state senators and assembly persons and ask that libraries be included in supplemental appropriations. The New York Library Association and the NCRRR Council have endorsed the New Century Libraries initiative, which would substantially increase library aid for all kinds of libraries, launch NOVEL (New York’s Virtual Electronic Library), and assist libraries in new areas such as statewide delivery and access to electronic books and journals. The entire cost of the New Century Libraries initiative is $95 million, and this year would be a good year for the Legislature to make a substantial down payment toward that goal. UNYOC To Meet “Information Behavior and the Librarian’s Role: The Shape of Things to Come” is the topic of this year’s conference of the Upstate New York Ontario Chapter of the Medical Library Association. The event will be held October 3-5, 2001 at the Riveredge Resort Hotel in Alexandria Bay. A registration packet will be mailed out to all UNYOC members early this month. Information may also be found at the www.unyoc.org More information is available from Conference Committee Co-Chair Jeff Garvey at 315-785-4191, or through jgarvey@northnet.org