De-Stress Your Mess! Feeling stressed and overwhelmed? We hear your concerns about dealing with difficult patrons and stress in the post-pandemic world. Join the Diverse & Underserved Populations Committee in an informal and safe environment to share your concerns and suggestions with your colleagues. What happens here, stays here!! All staff (non-directors) dealing with the public are welcome to attend. Meeting link will be provided the day before the meeting. We’re offering three sessions, so please register for whichever one works best for you. Register Mon. Sept. 20 2-3PM Register Tues. Sept. 28 7-8PM Register Thurs. Sept. 30 10-11AM Ignite Your Programming with Sparks! Wednesday, September 29 | 10:00am via Webex Register Now! To make sure that this program is a success, we need your help! The BCCLS Adult Services Committee will be partnering with PALS Plus to host Ignite Your Programming with Sparks. It’s a great opportunity to network with and share ideas with colleagues both in our local libraries and neighboring communities. Ignite Your Programming with Sparks is designed to be a fast-paced brainstorming session for all programming staff, focusing on in-house, low-cost, and community-led programs. As we transition from virtual programs, to outdoor programming, hybrid programming, and in-person programs we want to give staff the opportunity to share programming ideas including tips and tricks as to what has worked well and what hasn’t. Youth Services staff is also welcome to attend! This workshop will also cover programming that bridges the age gaps, including family and all age events. We know there are a lot of you out there providing fun and interesting programming for your patrons every day and we would love for you to share your great ideas. All you need to do is submit your program ideas and join us on Webex to speak about what you did, how you did it, and how much your patrons loved it. Simple, right? But also a powerful resource for your colleagues.Please submit your program ideas (include promo materials if you have them) through this Google Form (https://forms.gle/BMEBPWpdQmoZX5YB6) by Monday, September 13, and we will reserve you a 3 minute time slot. We promise it’s going to be low pressure and fun. Best, Jessica Bielen BCCLS Adult Services Committee Chair Diversity, Equity and Inclusion – A Webinar The BCCLS Diverse & Underserved Populations Committee is pleased to invite our library colleagues, trustees, and Friends to participate in Diversity, Equity & Inclusion, a virtual program customized for our library community that will provide skills and tools for effective communication, aiding in the creation of a culture of empathy, cohesiveness and understanding. The session will help attendees: Explore past, present and future cultural beliefs and behaviors Learn how to cultivate fresh and meaningful workplace relationships Develop techniques that support maximizing personal and professional goals and results For your convenience, the program will be offered on September 30 and again on October 13. Please open the attached flyer and register for your preferred date. We look forward to a stimulating and productive event! FINAL_Diversity-Equity-and-Inclusion-Event-FlyerDownload Department Head Meetup Hour: Youth Services Join us for the Member Services Department Head Meetup series. We will be hosting a virtual meeting each month for BCCLS Department Heads and Managers. We will rotate each month’s focus between Adult Services & Circulation and Youth Services, but all department heads are welcome at all meetings. Here are the additional sessions that have been added: October 15th at 10am – Circulation November 19th at 10am – Adult Services December 17th at 10am – Youth Services Why Attend? Bounce ideas off other department heads Ask questions and get advice Find out what others in similar positions are doing to meet similar challenges Friday, September 17th 10:00-11:00 AM Register Now! If you are a department head and would like to join the DEPTHEAD Google group to receive these emails and to ask questions and share ideas with other department heads in between meetups, please click on this link and “Join Group” https://groups.google.com/a/bccls.org/g/deptheads Geidi Named after the black planet in Dune, four year old house-rabbit, Geidi (Prime) plays in her ball pit. Geidi loves a banana slice before bed. From the President August 2021 The “Beloved” BCCLS Scholarship Program Have you seen the news lately? I will be more specific, are you caught up on the feel good stories section? If you are, you saw that New Jersey announced names of significant figures to replace the geographical names of the rest areas dotting the Garden State Parkway. It is a bold move as most of the nation is name shaming these days as statues, schools, teams and the like have been named after people or groups whose moral character, in some cases long overdue, is under a microscope. It is back to the drawing board for those communities, team owners, politicians and boards. Yet in a celebration of New Jersey Day, the headline broke about what we can look forward to during our next road trip through the Garden State. The reporters noted that Bruce Springsteen politely declined the offer. He was born to run, but apparently not to the restroom. However, he commends and supports the work of the New Jersey Hall of Fame, the group overseeing the revamp. It reminded me of the recent anonymous donor to our scholarship fund. If you missed the announcement at the July Executive Board meeting – in the feel good stories section of the meeting – the fund received two one-time $8,500 scholarships to be doled out to 2022 awardees. Quite a windfall for a fund that relies heavily on its annual event which was cancelled last year and may be scaled back this fall. Much like Bruce Springsteen, the donor wanted no spotlight but showed emphatic support. If you read the full list of notables, you would see that Springsteen’s polite decline was the gain for librarians everywhere, but mostly here. There will be Judy Blume and Toni Morrison outposts. Two prolific writers, one a Nobel Prize Winner … and, in my best Adam Sandler voice, “both Jersey!” As a child, I remember traveling the New Jersey Turnpike and asking questions about the people who emblazoned the buildings in which I refueled with a candy bar. I asked my parents of course; the only pre-Google option in those days. My father, a voracious reader, was at-the-ready to particularly chat up James Fenimore Cooper, Joyce Kilmer and Walt Whitman. Our family road trips sounded great – eh? Anyways, I think travelers along the GSP may ask similar questions and hopefully their car companions can share good anecdotes about these people that called the 3rd state their home. Which circles me back to the BCCLS Scholarship Program. So many of our scholarships are named after individuals that made a mark on our consortium. Some, so many years ago, we rely on the seasoned members among us to recount the tales. And as time goes by, one we will have new awards established, anonymous or otherwise. Please continue to support the program by directly donating, encouraging colleagues to apply for the assistance and attend the fundraising events. And always be searching for that next BCCLS Land professional to have a scholarship created in his/her honor. As the stewards of this amazing program, I hope the yet- to-be-named awards will give us all the feels. Like how my fellow passengers will feel when I blurt out, “whoa we’re half-way there!” when I reach the Jon Bon Jovi rest stop on my way to NJLA next spring. And promise me that you will see to it that this endowment, like my family road trips, will go on forever! Cobalt – August 2021 LIBRARY NEWS, PANDEMIC INNOVATIONS, AND MORE! Millburn The Millburn Library launched its new website on Mon 8/2/2021. The URL is the same but the content and appearance is all new. www.millburnlibrary.org The Millburn Library has advertised for bids for an upcoming renovation. The MFPL expects to close for renovation starting in October and reopen in January. The library plans to open a pop-up site in the township to offer temporary “express” services while the main building is closed for renovation. Paramus Paramus has combined its World Language and Adult Services Departments. Matthew Mitchel is the Adult Services Supervisor. The Paramus Reid Branch Library has been named 201 Magazine’s Best in Bergen Public Library. Staff Updates Leslie Taylor Danielle Cesena Englewood Livingston Reference Librarian Head of Library Technology and Community Outreach Cynthia Cole Angela Lattanzi Englewood Paramus Circulation Assistant Assistant Financial Manager Lynn Reiff Hyeran Chang Englewood Paramus Reference Librarian Adult Services Librarian Jennie Pu Lisa Sedita Hoboken Paramus Director Circulation Supervisor Barabara Abbamont Hanna Blatt Paramus Paramus Assistant Financial Manager Adult Services Librarian Retired after 20 years of service Retired after 35 years of service Valerie Danhart Paramus and Westwood Circulation Supervisor Retired after 35 years of service Buy a Plant, Donate to BCCLS Green for green! Did you know that you can make a purchase valued at $50 or more at the Metropolitan Plant & Flower Exchange, and Metropolitan will donate $10 to the BCCLS Scholarship Fund? Just download and complete the form below, and present it at the time of your purchase. Thank you for supporting the BCCLS Scholarship Fund! View Form Library Subscriptions Lynda and Mango and Gale, oh my! Did you know that many BCCLS libraries provide eResources in addition to the eSources available to all BCCLS patrons? Check them out by clicking the button below.