- Michlib-l - liblists.org

UPRLC 2024 Annual Conference - Sponsorship and Vendor Opportunities
by Dillon Geshel 09 Feb '24

09 Feb '24

Good Morning! I am excited to share that we are recruiting sponsors and vendors for our UPRLC Annual Conference 2024 in Escanaba. The conference theme is Bold Library Futures and will take place on September 25 - 26 at the Heirman Center on the campus of Bay Community College. Our vendor hall will be open for attendees all day on Thursday, September 26. Please help us spread the word! If you know of any organizations or companies that would like to participate as a vendor and/or sponsor the event, please share this opportunity with them. The attached PDF includes details on sponsorship rates, benefits, a vendor/sponsor sign-up form and more. Vendors and sponsors can also use the link below to register and pay online: https://form.jotform.com/240394230564150 Please let me know if you have any questions! Thank you, Dillon -- Dillon Geshel, Director Superiorland Library Cooperative 1615 Presque Isle, Marquette MI (906) 228 7697 Ext.1 Visit our website at www.superiorlandlibrary.org<http://www.superiorlandlibrary.org/> [cid:7782aad1-559a-486d-a431-e5aafdfe5c79]

1 0

Call for Proposals - UPRLC 2024 Annual Conference in Escanaba
by Dillon Geshel 09 Feb '24

09 Feb '24

Good morning, I am excited to share the UPRLC 2024 Annual Conference call for proposals! This year’s theme is Bold Library Futures, and the conference will be held at the Joseph Heirman University Center on the campus of Bay College in Escanaba on September 25th and 26th. We invite proposals for Breakout Sessions at this year’s UPRLC Annual Conference. This year we are looking for new ideas, programs, and sessions that help us explore a bold and positive future for our libraries. The past several years have been challenging, and we’re setting our sights on where libraries will go next in service to their patrons, staff and communities. We are looking for proposals that will elevate the ideas in our areas of special interest which include: * Artificial intelligence * The library as community center * Library access in a post-pandemic world * Shifting customer service expectations and boundaries * Tackling personal and professional burnout Each breakout session should be approximately 45-50 minutes long. The UPRLC Annual Conference registration fee will be waived for all those presenting a breakout session at the meeting. To submit a program for review, please fill out a proposal submission form at this link: https://form.jotform.com/240394558704159 by Friday, May 17th. Please submit your proposal and help us create Bold Library Futures! Thank you! Dillon -- Dillon Geshel, Director Superiorland Library Cooperative 1615 Presque Isle, Marquette MI (906) 228 7697 Ext.1 Visit our website at www.superiorlandlibrary.org<http://www.superiorlandlibrary.org/> [cid:c7176e68-e87e-4f84-a972-c933716bf611]

1 0

Nominations for Michigan Humanities Awards are open!
by Estee Schlenner 09 Feb '24

09 Feb '24

Good morning! Michigan Humanities is excited to announce that the nominations for the 2024 Michigan Humanities Awards are open; we invite you to make a nomination or share this opportunity with your networks. Our annual awards program recognizes and celebrates one organization and two individuals who are champions of public humanities. The deadline for nominations is March 1. Recipients of the Humanities Champion of the Year and Outstanding Humanities Organization awards receive $2,500 to use towards a celebration in their community or a project supporting their work. The recipient of the Erik Jones Reading Champion Award receives a $2,500 honorarium. For more information, please visit michiganhumanities.org. Descriptions of the award categories and links to nomination forms are listed below. Erik Jones Reading Champion Award This award recognizes an individual who has significantly supported the development of literacy and a passion for reading in Michigan. Make a nomination here: https://forms.gle/oWqArEFFqZ3bz7xh8 Humanities Champion of the Year This award recognizes the person whose contributions resulted in outstanding public humanities impact in their community and in our state. Examples are teachers, scholars, librarians, historians, or volunteers who have creatively and successfully brought humanities to the public forum. Make a nomination here: https://forms.gle/PhjGpxZb7bncHKbH6 Outstanding Humanities Organization Outstanding Humanities Organization recognizes organizations that have made a lasting contribution to the enjoyment of public and accessible humanities programming in Michigan. They may have brought to life a book, humanities project, historical project, discussion, or other humanities programs, serving their community and our state. Make a nomination here: https://forms.gle/PhjGpxZb7bncHKbH6 Please reach out with any questions! We look forward to receiving your nominations. Warmly, Estee Estee Schlenner (she/her) Communications Officer Michigan Humanities 2364 Woodlake Drive, Suite 100 Okemos, MI 48864 (517) 372-7770 ext. 665

1 0

5K Race Fundraisers?
by Wendy Chapman 08 Feb '24

08 Feb '24

Hello all, Our library has been tossing around the idea of hosting a 5K Race for a fundraiser this summer and we are wondering what things we should consider. The following is a list of questions I've come up with so far: 1) What might be a reasonable estimate of the expected profit? 2) Have you timed your races or advertised them as a fun run? If timed, what company are you using for the timing? We are located in the extreme southwest corner of Michigan so distance may be a factor. Expected cost? 3) Have local businesses sponsored the event? If so, what would you recommend the sponsor levels to be and what is included at each level? 4) Do you provide an aid station at the halfway point with beverages or recovery beverages/snacks at the finish line? Maybe both? 5) What are your top age group prizes? Library swag? I appreciate in advance any advice you may have. Many thanks in advance! Wendy Wendy L. Chapman LoT Coordinator Buchanan District Library 269.695.3681 Ext. 16 *www.buchananlibrary.org <http://www.buchananlibrary.org>* <http://www.avg.com/email-signature?utm_medium=email&utm_source=link&utm_cam…> Virus-free.www.avg.com <http://www.avg.com/email-signature?utm_medium=email&utm_source=link&utm_cam…> <#DAB4FAD8-2DD7-40BB-A1B8-4E2AA1F9FDF2>

1 0

QuickBooks Premiere Pro desktop
by EMAIL TEAM 08 Feb '24

08 Feb '24

Dear Librarians, If you use Intuit QuickBooks Desktop Pro it will still be continued. You do not have to move to online if you choose not to. it will not be available for new subscribers. I talked with the Intuit representative yesterday. Stephanie Daniels, Director Vanderlyn Community Center & Hartford Public Library 12 Church Street Hartford, MI 49057(269)588-5103http://www.hartfordpl.michlibrary.org/

3 2

JDL Open Branch Manager Position-Eastern Branch
by Wayne, Danah 08 Feb '24

08 Feb '24

JDL is looking for an outgoing positive leader to join our Branch Manager Team. Our organization is dedicated to our diversity journey and believe it should be openly discussed and celebrated as we strive to create an open and safe space full of respect where everyone can bring their whole selves to work every day. The Eastern Branch is JDL's third largest branch in both size and circulation. This branch was renovated in 2023 and is beautiful! The staff consists of two full time Library Assistant II's and seven part time Library Assistants and serves a diverse community with open hours seven days a week. The Branch Manager, along with their team, manages the collection and provides engaging programs and outreach to support the needs of the community. Our Branch Managers are encouraged to participate in work groups, take part in their own professional development as well as that of their staff, and be a valuable resource to the admin team. Benefits include: * Health Insurance * Pension * Sick, Vacation, Personal time * Holidays * Employee Assistance Program * Assurity Voluntary Insurance Options * MERS 457 Cover Letter Required Please apply by February 7, 2024 Apply here: 6140061:Career Search (entertimeonline.com)<https://secure6.entertimeonline.com/ta/6140061.careers?CareersSearch> Danah D Wayne (she/her) Human Resources Manager Jackson District Library O: 517-905-1306 C: 517-936-7576 F: 517- 780-4744 wayned(a)myjdl.com<mailto:wayned@myjdl.com> [cid:image001.png@01DA52BD.4D467290]

1 2

Rochester Hills Public Library Job Opening - Hourly Librarians
by Allison Sartwell 08 Feb '24

08 Feb '24

The Rochester Hills Public Library (RHPL) is searching for the next members of its librarian team. RHPL has openings for hourly librarians <https://rhpl.org/employment/> in its Youth, Outreach, and Adult Services departments. If customer service and reader's advisory is your passion and you want to work with a vibrant and innovative team, this is the position for you. Hourly librarians are provisional employees with variable hours and flexible scheduling, and are responsible for providing professional library information services to patrons of all ages. The Rochester Hills Public Library is located in downtown Rochester, MI and is part of The Library Network and Metro Net Consortium, and we utilize the Polaris ILS as our computer system. RHPL is an anchor in the community with a strong commitment to outreach and innovation. The mission of the RHPL is to empower people to explore and create with resources that enlighten, educate, entertain, and inform. If you are passionate about providing exceptional library service in a future-focused library system, we want you to apply and join our team! Open until filled. -- Allison Sartwell (she/her) Head of Adult Services Rochester Hills Public Library allison.sartwell(a)rhpl.org (248) 650-7132

1 0

Join us for an MCLS POP-UP Virtual Dialogue for small and rural library staff
by Lissa Krull 08 Feb '24

08 Feb '24

We had such a wonderfully collaborative conversation with small and rural Indiana and Michigan library staff in January, we wanted to keep the conversations going with a POP-UP Virtual Dialogue! We invite small and rural library staff to join us again on Wednesday, February 21 from 10:30 a.m. to noon Eastern (9:30-11:00 a.m. Central) as we dialogue around how we engage with and reach people in our communities. We all have a core contingent that use our libraries in various ways, but how do we go beyond our current patrons and supporters to reach others? MCLS Virtual Dialogues are not courses or webinars, but rather guided conversations with fellow library workers of different experience levels from all over Indiana and Michigan. They are a time to share your experiences and learn from each other. We hope to connect you with others who might be facing similar situations and can relate to your struggles and joys. We invite any staff member, of any role, in any small and rural library in Indiana or Michigan to join us on Zoom! Register today at 2024 MCLS Virtual Dialogue POP-UP Registration<https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZUvfuGpqz0uGdE76LqNjYH38b8rRpx0Os…>. Our Virtual Dialogues are designed to be as engaging and interactive as an in-person conversation. Participants should plan to have a microphone enabled and cameras on to participate. If you have any questions, please email us at engagement(a)mcls.org<mailto:engagement@mcls.org>. We look forward to connecting with you! Lissa Krull, MLS (she/her) Library Strategist Engagement, Consulting, and Training Midwest Collaborative for Library Services 517-481-2793 krulll(a)mcls.org<mailto:krulll@mcls.org> [cid:a02dd575-e035-44e7-80f7-9a2cac8a0da9] mcls.org<https://www.mcls.org/> | Facebook<https://www.facebook.com/mcls.org> | X<https://twitter.com/mclsorg> | LinkedIn<https://www.linkedin.com/company/midwest-collaborative-for-library-services>

1 0

Info on ACH Payments
by Tracy Logan 08 Feb '24

08 Feb '24

Thank you so much to everyone who replied to my inquiry about processing ACH payments. I received a lot of information! It will be very helpful moving forward. I have compiled the responses below. I also received some policies and forms as attachments. I have those if you are interested. Thanks again! You are all so lovely. What a great profession! 1. The only regular ACH debit we typically authorize is for our payroll processing company. However, their software development team had a big screw-up a month ago and debited us for over $224,000 in error. They corrected it the same day, but it shook our confidence in the security of ACH. As of this morning we have instituted ACH Positive Pay with our primary bank, which is making me feel much more comfortable. If a larger amount than we typically allow is presented, we have the option to stop the payment. 2. First you need to have a board-approved Electronic transactions policy. Ours states the board approves a list of vendors authorized to receive ACH payments, and they review and approve that list at least once a year. Procedurally, invoices we want to pay via ACH go through the same process as checks. Our AP person puts them in Quickbooks, prints a list for the check run that I review and approve, then she prints the checks. Anything on that list that we want to pay via ACH instead of a check, she does not print a check but instead she fills out the ACH authorization form (attached). Two board members sign the checks and the ACH forms. The ACH form authorizes me to go into our bank account to initiate the payment, which per bank procedure is released by a separate library employee. Then the employee who releases the payment goes back into Quickbooks to mark the item as paid via ACH. Reports of all checks and ACH payments are included in the board packet for final approval. The struggle we have had is that not all vendors are set up to accept ACH payments in which we push the money to them like a direct deposit. They want us to give them the library’s bank account number so they can pull the money out. We don’t do that. Those vendors are stuck getting a paper check. 3. Our board approved specified accounts for ACH payments. We use Quickbooks, these bills and payments are entered as usual with check number "ACH". These are included in our Check Detail report as part of the treasury report that is approved by the board each month. 4. In DeWitt, we paid many things by either ACH or automatic payment. We were trying too cut down on written checks whenever possible. We developed a written library policy with the assistance of Foster Swift. Once the policy was approved, our procedure was: Whenever we wanted to pay a vendor through ACH, it first had to be approved by the Board. Approval for the ACH to that vendor wad added as an agenda item for the next meeting. Once the Board approved the vendor, we would set up the payment. ACH payments would then be listed on the financial reports each money like other payables (and approved like a check). If the auditors had questions about an ACH, they would go back to Board minutes and verify that the Board had approved ACH payment to that vendor. 5. We had to put an ACH Policy into place before we could move to ACH transactions for paying bills (or offering direct deposit!) was an ACH policy. We followed a template - it's here if you'd like to look at it - https://drive.google.com/file/d/1HaFvPGFYSI2L8XvQoYF75sMb35kiHTte/view?usp=… As far as process & approvals go, in my own experience(s), when we pay bills online we still have to create a voucher/paper trail for it. My board approves it after the fact. We use a service called SignNow for e-signatures, and I can go back and pull out any voucher at any time if there's a question from a member, vendor or board member - the service saves/archives them for us, and my admin also has the paper versions that get audited and live with our permanent financials. Going with ACH transactions cuts down on checks being sent by mail, but it definitely does not cut down on the overall use of paper. When I worked at Lapeer, we had a Finance Committee (Board treasurer and another board member) that would meet ahead of the scheduled board meeting to go over the "post audits" - the bills that had already been paid, to double check & verify numbers, and to authorize & pay the current bills - we did a lot of check signing and initialing on those days. I don't know if they still use that system or if they have changed things up, but it worked well at the time - I'm sure there were efficiencies to be found at some point along the way. Also in my experience, auditors don't care what you do or how you do it, as long as they can find what they need at audit time. It's when they can't find proof or documentation or the policy that supports the proof/documentation that things get complicated. 6. We are just in the process of transitioning to ACH payments. We use Chase bank, and they have an electronic payment system called Cashflow 360, which is powered by Bill.com. We have tried to duplicate the approvals process we have in place for regular checks, which require the approval of two signers from our bank account. There are three of us in our Admin department who are signers: the Operations Manager, Assistant Manager, and myself. In a nutshell, our Financial Coordinator receives the invoices and enters them into Cashflow 360. To enter the bills, she just has to forward the electronic invoice to our Chase inbox, or scan and upload. Cashflow 360 has AI features, and it will actually populate fields and seems to be improving in accuracy the more we use it, which is totally mind-blowing to me! Once everything is entered and coded, two of the three signers need to login in and review the payments, then click a button to approve. Once that happens, the payments are submitted. If we don’t have ACH info for the vendor, the bank mails them a check, similar to how you might pay a bill from your own bank’s website. We will provide a report for our board to approve in our consent agenda, just like a check register. 7. We don't have a lot of items that we ACH for, but for the most part, we pre-approve payments for a number of ACH transactions before the beginning of our fiscal year. This includes payroll, payroll taxes, one utility company, and one other thing I can't think of at the moment. They are also included in my list of checks made in my board packets every month which the board "approves." We did have a situation, before the utility company was on our pre-approved list, where we had our treasurer (who is a second signer on our checks) initial it before the due date and when it actually went through and was charged. 8. We have a very simple system that I have used for the past five years in my role here with Lapeer District Library. It was taught to me in my orientation training. We print out a physical copy of all our bills. When I pay a bill, I take the printed copy of the bill and use that information to put the details into Quickbooks. I have a log sheet where that bill is numbered to correspond to that same number in Quickbooks. That number is also written in the upper right hand corner of each bill I process. Prior to a board meeting, all of my totals are tallied up on my cover log sheet and it is clipped to the front of the pile of bills. My director double checks to make sure all is in order. I then proceed to copy them for the board packets. The board treasurer and finance committee meet right before our board meetings. They review the financials and then approve them for the record. In this presentation they are able to see all charges and dates items were paid. The results will be affirmed and approved during the board meeting. This system has worked for our library system because we are a Class 6 library and this is manageable. 9. We currently have limited ACH payments related to payroll – direct deposits, taxes withheld and miscellaneous payroll deductions. We have a debit block on our checking account and these companies are set up as “allowable” with maximum dollar amount withdrawals. The related invoices are processed in our financial software (BS&A) and approved by the appropriate department head or director. The system approval is what we use as our approval for the ACH payments. We are fortunate in that we remit payment for all expenditures approved within our annual budget and provide our board with a monthly check register for them to see the activity and question anything that looks suspicious. We discussed more secure payment methods with our Commercial Banker and recently obtained a purchasing card. We will use the purchasing card to make as many online payments as we can, such as library materials purchases and DTE, but we will not use it for vendors that charge a fee. We are just in the beginning stages, so we also need to update our procedures. We are also looking into utilizing our banks online payment service. This is all new to us, but I do look forward to running some thoughts by our auditors next week to see if they will provide us some direction in regards to best practices for internal controls in these circumstances. 10. We are a class 4 library and do the following for all types of payments: Bill comes in. Reviewed by either AD or Director for accuracy. The opposite person enters bill into Quickbooks—this gives our small organization a separation of duties for accounting standards. The physical bill is annotated with budget line payment comes from, date of payment, and account payment comes out of. The Secretary and Treasurer are signers and must approve all bills (though the treasurer said if they ever can’t come soon enough, they will sign after the fact). Either one stops by when there are a few bills to pay and signs check and initials the bill paperwork. Then the Director will either mail the paper check or set up an ACH payment through our bank. I will update the quickbooks entry with the ACH confirmation number we get from our bank. Then, we scan the paper bill into a folder to be given to our auditor at end of year. I have attached a sample of a bill for you. As far as auditors go, we use Siegfried Crandall and they are enormously helpful in answering questions….just a thought for your future. Please note, we do our own payroll and bookkeeping in-house. My predecessor stayed a couple extra months to train me and the new AD on our library’s accounting procedures. We save a lot of money this way. I have had to learn the chart of accounts from the state of Michigan, but totally worth it. -- Tracy Logan Library Director Cadillac Wexford Public Library 411 S. Lake Street Cadillac, MI 49601 231-775-6541 logant(a)cadillaclibrary.org

1 0

Puppet collections
by Gale Forster 08 Feb '24

08 Feb '24

We have a circulating puppet collection, which we RFID tag with a hang tag off the puppet. We recently acquired a new sorter system, and the hang tag is causing some difficulty, when the puppets are feed through the machine. My question is if you have a puppet collection and a sorter system what your method of RFID tagging puppets. You can email me direct with suggestion. Gale Forster Circulation Supervisor Technical Processing Canton Public Library 734-397-0999 ext. 1319 Forsterg(a)cantonpl.org

1 0