The Workforce Development Resources Workshop- Helping patrons who are searching and applying for jobs will be held in each county. Register now - don't miss the opportunity to attend locally!

System-wide MHLS member library computers are used over 1,000 times a week by people as part of finding a job, advancing careers or improving work related skills.

This workshop is good for anyone who works with the public. It will help you help your patrons use available library resources effectively to find employment, and those tools that can help make them more attractive to potential employers.

• Wednesday, October 23 | 1 pm - 3pm
  Patterson Library (1167 Route 311, Patterson 12563)        

• Monday, October 28 | 10am - 12pm
  Kingston Library (55 Franklin Street, Kingston 12401)    

• Monday, November 4 | 10am - 12pm
  Cairo Public Library (15 Railroad Avenue, Cairo 12413)   

• Wednesday, November 6 | 10am - 12pm
  Roeliff Jansen Community Library (9091 Route 22, Hillsdale 12529)    

•  Monday, November 18 | 10am - 12pm
  MHLS Auditorium (105 Market Street, Poughkeepsie 12601)

This workshop will cover:

• Overviews of the four databases every library has access to through HOMEACCESS that support Workforce Development ('JobNow!',
  'Gale Testing & Education Reference Center' and the new 'Cypress Resume' and 'Workforce Skills for 21st Century Success')   

• Places where job seekers can build essential basic computer skills (digital literacy) required in most modern workplaces    

• Tips to keep in mind when helping patrons format and construct resumes and fill out online job applications     

• Resources to answer questions about job listings, researching potential employers, and preparing for interviews

All workshops will be presented by Stephanie Harrison, Director of the Public Computer Center, and Deb Weltsch, Reference Librarian, both of the Poughkeepsie Public Library District, the Central Reference Library of the Mid-Hudson Library System.

The LaGrange Library marked Banned Books Week last week with a cool activity - patrons got their "mug shots" taken reading a banned book at the library!

Banned Books Week is an annual celebration put on by the American Library Association. ALA promotes the freedom to choose or the freedom to express one's opinions even if that opinion might be considered unorthodox or unpopular and stresses the importance of ensuring the availability of those viewpoints to all who wish to read them.

The Clinton Community Library's "Littlest Library in America" aka the "book booth" and the Friends of the Hudson Area Library's cookbook sales at the Hudson Farmer's Market are both featured in a new book from the International Federation of Library Associations (IFLA) "The Green Library - Die grüne Bibliothek: The challenge of environmental sustainability - Ökologische Nachhaltigkeit in der Praxis." Rebekkah Smith Aldrich, MHLS Coordinator for Library Sustainability, co-authored the chapter, "Sustainable Thinking: Passageway to Better Buildings, Budgets and Beyond," in which both are featured.

Great Web Sites for Kids (GWS) features links to high-quality websites of interest to children 14 years of age and younger, organized into diverse subject headings such as art; music; computers and technology; geography and maps; museums; mathematics; and much more. Each site entry includes a brief annotation and a grade-level rating. GWS users can also rate sites, save their favorites for easy access and share sites via social media and email. The Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC), a division of the American Library Association, has added more sites to Great Websites for Kids, its online resource containing hundreds of links to exceptional websites for children. The newly added sites are:

• BBC Primary History: www.bbc.co.uk/schools/primaryhistory/ 
• Kids.gov:  http://kids.usa.gov/   
• Smithsonian Kids: www.si.edu/Kids 
• Mi Héroe (Spanish site for My Hero Project): www.miheroe.org 
• Talking Glossary of Genetic Terms:  www.genome.gov/Glossary/   
• Walking with Dinosaurs:  www.walkingwithdinosaurs.com/dinosaurs/catalogue/ 

The Empire State Center for the Book is a participant in the national Letters About Literature program sponsored by the Library of Congress National Center for the Book. New York State students in grades 4-12 are eligible to participate in the program. The state winners go on to represent New York at the national level. The program has student readers write to an author living or dead describing how that author's work somehow changed the reader's view of the world or himself/herself.

There are three competition levels:
* Level 1 for grades 4-6
* Level 2 for grades 7-8 
* Level 3 for grades 9-12
Submission deadlines to the Library of Congress national program are:
Level 3: December 10, 2013
Levels 1 & 2: January 10, 2014

The winners and finalists will receive cash awards. The winners will be recognized at the New York State Writers Hall of Fame Gala on Tuesday, June 3, 2014, at the Princeton Club in New York City. National winners, announced in late April, receive additional cash prizes. For more information and guidelines, please visit http://www.read.gov/letters/. Contact Ellen Rubin, NYS Letters About Literature Coordinator, with any questions at: erubin@frontiernet.net  

The recording of the "Freedom of Information and Open Meetings Laws for Libraries" webinar is now available on the State Library's website at  http://www.nysl.nysed.gov/libdev/webinars/index.html. Bob Freeman, Executive Director of the NYS Committee on Open Government, provides an overview of the Freedom of Information and Open Meetings Laws and responds to questions.

A Tuesday's Tip from the Central Reference Library: "The NYS Office of Cyber Security (OCS) provides a monthly Cyber Security Tips Newsletter. Developed by the Multi-State Information Sharing and Analysis Center, it provides helpful cyber security tips. Please feel free to distribute this newsletter broadly throughout your library, and to share the information with your patrons. The goal is to distribute these tips to as many individuals as possible." -Deborah Weltsch, Librarian, Coordinator of Central Library Services, Poughkeepsie Public Library District