Contents:
News | Executive Director | Training | Special Offers | MeL | RIDES
After a thorough process, which included a nationwide search, two rounds of interviews, and feedback from staff and members, the MCLS Board of Directors was not able to successfully fill the Executive Director position. "Naturally, we are disappointed with the outcome of this search," said Eva Davis, MCLS Board President. "We remain committed to recruiting the best candidate and are confident that we'll find the right person." The Board will re-start the search process in November and expects to fill the job in early 2019. Randy Dykhuis, current Executive Director, has agreed to stay through March.
After over 23 years of service to the Michigan Library Consortium and Midwest Collaborative for Library Services as the Executive Director, Randy Dykhuis will be retiring at the end of March 2019. We are going to miss Randy and we know you will, too. Make sure to say goodbye to him at one of the following events:
Share your photos and memories of Randy, as well as best wishes, on our photo-sharing website or you can email your photos and memories to Heather Ladiski at ladiskih@mcls.org.
For those who would like to make a monetary contribution in honor of Randy’s retirement, you may do so by donating to The American Battlefield Trust and/or The Nature Conservancy.
Nancy Kirkpatrick, Associate Director at MCLS, has announced that she will be the next Executive Director of OhioNET in Columbus, Ohio. She begins her new job on Jan. 3, 2019. Nancy joined MCLS in February 2015 as the Manager of Group Purchasing and was named Associate Director in December 2015. Prior to joining MCLS, she was library director at Marian University in Indianapolis.
Mark your calendars for the MCLS Annual Membership Meeting to take place from 10-11am Eastern (9-10am Central) on Friday, Nov. 16. Join us via Zoom online meeting software. This year's meeting will feature reports from MCLS President Eva Davis, MCLS Executive Director Randy Dykhuis, and MCLS Treasurer (and Audit Committee Chair) Edra Waterman. There is no cost to attend. All you need to do is go to: https://zoom.us/j/809276187 just prior to the meeting start time to view. You will need to download the free Zoom software onto your computer if you have never used Zoom before, so please allow for an extra fifteen minutes or so. You can find instructions and tips for attending a Zoom meeting here: Online Tips for Attendees
The 2018 election of MCLS Board members was held in September. The following individuals were elected to fill the five open seats.
Each representative will serve a three-year term, beginning Jan. 1, 2019 and concluding Dec. 31, 2021.
Congratulations to everyone who was elected!
MCLS is sponsoring a Harwood Public Innovators Lab in Indianapolis, IN March 5-7, 2019. The Lab will be held at Indiana Wesleyan University - Indianapolis North campus. MCLS will fully fund tuition for the training, as well as lodging and some meals during the training, for up to 50 staff from Indiana libraries. The Harwood Public Innovators Lab is a 2.5-day experience to help you and your organization learn what it means to Turn Outward – to use the community, not your conference room, as your reference point for choices and action. Participation in the lab will also include follow-up coaching calls to further support the cohort of attendees post-training.
These funds are being made available through a grant program established by the MCLS Board of Directors from the proceeds of the sale of the former INCOLSA building.
Interested libraries must complete an application form by 5pm Eastern (4pm Central), Nov. 30, 2018.
Read more and download application>>
Fall conferences are in full swing! The Indiana Library Federation (ILF) Annual Conference is in Indianapolis, Nov. 12-14, and we'll be at booth #61. Stop by and say "Hi" to MCLS staff! We will also be participating in the ILF Strategic Planning Pre-conference.
Whether your library is a current member of MCLS or not, we'd love to see you and chat about how we can support you as you support your community. Stop by for give-aways, a drawing for free MCLS webinars, and much more fun. We look forward to seeing you in Indianapolis!
As a result of a successful Linked Data Summit held in March 2017, MCLS facilitated the formation of a multi-state Linked Data for Libraries Users Group. The purpose of the group is for staff of libraries to discuss the latest developments in Linked Data and the implications for libraries, share experiences, explore new products, and raise awareness.
Towards this effort, there will be a virtual All Users Group Meeting on Wednesday, Nov. 7 from 3-4pm Eastern (2-3pm Central). For more information on the All Users Group meeting, including how to join the Users Group and attend the virtual meeting, visit Linked Data for Libraries Users Group.
We are pleased to announce that Chippewa River District Library in Mount Pleasant, MI has selected Midwest Collaborative for Library Services (MCLS) to deliver consulting services to their board, staff, and community in developing a comprehensive strategic plan. Our work with Chippewa River District Library will commence in April 2019.
The MCLS office will be closed the following days for the 2018 holiday season:
Thu, Nov 22
Fri, Nov 23
Mon, Dec 24
Tue, Dec 25
Tue, Jan 1
Happy Holidays!
Notes from the Executive DirectorIt’s my last newsletter article. Come January, for the first time in 36 years, I won’t have any official affiliation with a library science program, a library, a library vendor, or a consortium. How odd is that?
My consortium director career started in August 1995 when I became Executive Director for the Michigan Library Consortium. It was a particularly low point for MLC. Member libraries were unhappy. The Board was jumpy. The staff was demoralized. Just the kind of new job everyone wants to walk into.
Visit our MCLS Store for the full Winter/Spring 2019 semester of training workshop offerings. We have several brand-new workshops this semester, along with our standard cataloging classes, repeated offerings of our five Soft Skills introduction courses (which are free to our members!), and much more.
For more information, visit our upcoming workshops and events page. If you have any questions, please contact training@mcls.org.
Credo recently announced the creation of a Learning Tools product family in an effort to offer libraries choices beyond their highly-acclaimed InfoLit Modules. The InfoLit Modules will now be called Instruct, and users will be allowed to choose between information literacy and critical thinking content packages or a combination of both. The brand-new view features a collection of 60+ ACRL-aligned instructional videos to support library teaching around information literacy, critical thinking, communication, and other crucial 21st century foundational skills.
MCLS and The University of Chicago Press have partnered to offer member libraries a deeply discounted price on the Complete Chicago Package, which includes 81 journals from a wide range of academic disciplines. Upon acceptance of the offer, UCP will turn on free access for the remainder of 2018.
Benefits:
If you would like more information or a quote for the Complete Chicago Package, contact Chrystal Pickell at services@mcls.org or (800) 530-9019 ext 401.
MCLS is forming a MeLCat Resource Sharing Policy Review Task Force to examine the current policies. The 12-member task force will reflect the diversity of libraries participating in MeLCat and will meet for a full day in-person session followed, if necessary, by a wrap-up meeting that can be attended in-person or virtually. Dates will be set after the selection of task force members. The task force will make recommendations to the MeLCat Resource Sharing Advisory Committee, who will determine if revisions to the MeLCat Resource Sharing Policy should be submitted to the State Librarian. If you are interested in serving on the Task Force, email Debbi Schaubman at schaubmand@mcls.org by Nov. 8.
To let us know if you need assistance with anything, email us at melcathelp@mcls.org.
On Oct. 1, 2018, MeL switched from Gale to EBSCO as the primary eResource vendor. MeL now has access to over 70 eResources! If you experience any access issues or have any questions at all about the MeL eResources, please don’t hesitate to contact meldatabaseshelp@mcls.org.
MeLCat is a statewide multi-type library resource sharing program. MeL was made possible in part by the Institute of Museum and Library Services. Additional funding is provided by the State of Michigan and the Library of Michigan Foundation.
The RIDES Advisory Committee met on Oct. 16 to discuss and recommend upcoming adjustments to the RIDES Policy. Watch your email for updates!
There will be no RIDES delivery service the following days:
Thu, Nov 22
Tue, Dec 25
Tue, Jan 1
RIDES questions and comments should be submitted with the RIDES Assistance form at https://mcls.org/rideshelp.
