News & Updates from the Rural Libraries Round Table  

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Election News

At the RLRT General Meeting on November 2nd, the members present unanimously elected the following candidates to our Board: These positions are effective immediately.

Vice President, President Elect 2021-2023: Keturah Cappadonia

Secretary 2021-2023: Karen Ash

Member-at-Large 2021-2023: Vince Sperrazza

CONGRATULATIONS to all!

 

Minutes for the Annual Meeting are on the Communications tab above or on Minutes tab from the Board tab. 

 

RLRT Board 2021 - 2022

President: Michelle La Voie, Olean Public Library                 ( director@oleanlibrary.org)

Vice-President: Keturah Cappadonia, Southern Tier Library System

Treasurer: Debby Emerson, Wadsworth Library, Geneseo

Secretary: Karen Ash, Angelica Free Library

Immediate Past President: Rebecca Budinger-Mulhearn . Avon Free Library

Member-at-Large: Vince Sperrazza, Clayville Library Association

 

CANDIDATE DETAILS

 

Vice President 2021-2024

Keturah Cappadonia - Keturah is the Outreach Consultant for the Southern Tier Library System, where she works with 48 small and rural libraries in a five county area of New York State's Appalachia region. Keturah coordinates system-wide library activities specific to targeted outreach services, supports correctional facility and county jail library services, and establishes and maintains partnerships with other organizations to support community needs.

Keturah previously served as the Director of the Coudersport Public Library in Pennsylvania, and as a Children's Librarian at the David A. Howe Public Library in Wellsville, NY. She serves as a Councilor-at-Large on ALA Council, and is a member of the ALA Council Orientation Committee and the ALA's Rural, Native, and Tribal Libraries of All Kinds Committee. She is also a member of NYLA's Correctional Outreach Resource Team Roundtable and NYLA's Library Access Roundtable. She is also the Vice-President of the Board of Trustees for the South Central Regional Library Council. Keturah holds an MLS from the University of Pittsburgh and an MA from the University of Rochester.

 

Secretary 2021-2023

Karen Ash - Karen is a founding member and current chair of the Friends of the Angelica Free Library.  In May, she presented on her group’s use of social media
during the pandemic for NYLA’s Friends of Libraries Section (FLS) inaugural “Connections” webinar and will reprise and expand on this subject during the FLS Annual Membership Meeting in November. 

Karen holds degrees in Communications, Marketing, and Public Administration. After a satisfying career in both the corporate and non-profit sectors, she settled in Allegany County where she and her husband established two small businesses. Now retired, she funnels her energy, education, and experience into volunteer service. In the past thirty years she has served on numerous local and state-wide NPO boards, has co-founded three organizations and, with your support, looks forward to contributing to the growth and success of the RLRT as its next Secretary.

 

Member-at-Large 2021-2023

 

Vince Sperrazza - Vince is a trustee of the Clayville Library Association, part of the Mid York Library System, as well as a member of FLS and LTAS. He is currently the RLRT newsletter editor and maintains the webpage through NYLA. 

For 33 years, Vince was a science teacher at Mount Markham Middle School in southern Herkimer County. During that time he served roles in the Mount Markham Teachers Association ranging from newsletter editor to local president. In addition, Vince is currently a member of the Adirondack Railroad Board of Directors, serving as Chairperson of the board’s Marketing Committee.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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There ARE openings coming up on the RLRT Board!

 

A note from our RLRT President

Greetings RLRT members!

 

Please mark your calendars - the Annual Meeting of the Rural Libraries Round Table will be held virtually (via Zoom) on Tuesday, November 2nd (Election Day!) at 3 PM.

 

The RLRT executive board election will take place at this meeting for the positions of Vice President, Secretary, and Member-at-Large.

 

The Zoom link, agenda, and additional reports and materials will be sent out in advance of the meeting. Stay tuned! We hope to see you there!

 

Sincerely,

Michelle La Voie

RLRT President

 

 

 

 

 

Existing Board and Election Information

 

President: Michelle La Voie (director@oleanlibrary.org)
Vice-President: - vacant –

Treasurer: Annie Miller (AMiller@sals.edu)
Secretary: Debby Emerson(demerson@pls-net.org)

Immediate Past President: Rebecca Budinger-Mulhearn (rbudinger@pls-net.org)

 

 

Are rural libraries important to you?

Please think about joining our RLRT Board.

Open positions are:

 

Notes:

Michelle has agreed to stay on for one more year as President to try to achieve some continuity among the board.

 

Current Treasurer Annie Miller is retiring, and Debby Emerson has agreed to take over as Treasurer.

 

 

RLRT Annual Meeting - virtual

Tuesday, November 2 at 3:00 pm via Zoom.

This is where you VOTE for Board members!

Watch for more information.

 

RLRT Booth at NYLA Conference in Syracuse:

Exhibit hours are 10:30 am – 5:00 pm on Thursday November 4, and 8:00 am – 12 noon on Friday, November 5.

 

Reminder: Are you sure you’re an RLRT member?

If you’re unsure, please check your membership profile at NYLA.org. Join!

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News:URGENT!!!

From: Michelle La Voie, RLRT President
Sent: Tuesday, June 8, 2021 5:28 PM
To: RLRT-Rural Libraries Roundtable <nyla-rlrt@lm.list.nyla.org>
Subject: Election for RLRT officers (URGENT!)
Importance: High

 

Hello RLRT members!

 

I am writing to ask if any members are interested in running for any of the following officer positions in the upcoming RLRT elections:

 

President

Vice-President

Treasurer

Secretary

 

If you would like your name placed on the ballot for any of these positions, please let me know no later than 2 PM Friday, June 11th. E-mail me directly at director@oleanlibrary.org, as I have been having problems seeing posts on the RLRT listserv. Please be sure to indicate the position for which you wish to run.

 

I apologize for the short turn-around time. I have also not been getting messages on this, so the first I learned of this was today. What a mess.

 

I hope there are some members interested in taking on a leading role in our Rural Libraries Round Table! Thanks for your consideration.

 

Sincerely,

Michelle

 

 

Michelle La Voie, Executive Director

Olean Public Library

134 N. 2nd Street

Olean, NY 14760

Phone: 716-372-0200, ext. 2029

Fax: 716-372-8651

 

 

 

 

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New: under the Communications tab above, find back issues of the RLRT newsletters.

NYLA Friends of Libraries Section Seeks Small Rural Library Participation in 2021 Survey!

FLS is gathering data that will help them better assist Friends groups serving small rural libraries throughout New York State. They want to help ensure the long-term success of these volunteers, and your input will help them accomplish this goal!

FLS defines “small” in relation to the population of the library’s potential service area (generally 10,000 or fewer residents) and/or libraries that are distant from an urbanized area. The size of the Friends group roster is unimportant as far as survey participation is concerned. FLS welcomes any library or Friends group that identifies as rural and/or small to complete the survey.

The survey is available here: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/BHL389H; it is also posted on the FLS homepage, www.nyla.org/friends, where people can also read more about their work. If you prefer a paper copy of the survey, it can be downloaded from the FLS homepage.

All Friends groups that respond to the survey will be entered into a drawing for a free one-year organizational membership in FLS/NYLA, a $50 value! Multiple survey replies from various group members are acceptable and would be appreciated, but the group’s name will only be placed in the drawing once. Responses are being accepted through Wednesday, March 31, 2021.

FLS’s mission is to create a network to connect and inspire Friends groups in all types of libraries to support the New York library community. Thank you for assisting them in their work by taking the time to participate in this survey and by encouraging your members to do so as well!

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About Rural Libraries Round Table

The purpose of the NYLA Rural Libraries Roundtable is to enable librarians, library managers, friends and trustees of rural libraries to keep in touch with each other as well as assist NYLA in its mission and goals.

This roundtable is designed to be of interest to libraries of all types including public, school, rural libraries, special and corporate, and small academic libraries.
 
Defining characteristics of “rural libraries”:
 

The roundtable is able to serve these functions:

 

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 For comments, suggestions, or questions contact RLRT member Vince Sperrazza at vksperr@gmail.com.