Brief ILL outage Tue 10/27 10pm

The NHAIS ILL System will be offline briefly tonight (Tuesday, Oct. 27) starting at 10 o'clock for software updates. Only behind-the-scenes functions are affected so you won't notice anything different Wednesday morning.

In case anyone is wondering - how to quickly see which libraries around the state serve a similar population size

With thanks to my colleague here at the NHSL, Jen Finch, head of reference and go-to for all things library statistical 🙂

Someone asked me how to quickly see which libraries serve a similarly sized population. Here are the steps:

1. Go here: Library Statistics | NH State Library

2. Scroll down below the photo

3. Download 2025 Complete Library Statistics (or just take this link, but I wanted you to know where to find it on the NHLS website for future reference)  https://www.nhsl.dncr.nh.gov/sites/g/files/ehbemt726/files/documents/2025-complete-library-stats.xlsx

4. Choose the first tab, "Outlet Data"

5. Sort Column J "Population of the Legal Service Area"

       6. Find your library in the sorted list and you'll see which others serve close to the same population size.

Deb Baker
Adult & Youth Services Consultant
New Hampshire State Library

ILL van route update

Beginning on November 2, delivery directly to libraries that are listed on “North Country” routes will resume. The planned routes are available at the bottom of this [message]. We will also post them to the NHSL website as soon as we can.

Thank you for bearing with us. We will do our best to fulfill all ILL routes in the months ahead, but I want to share that we are still operating without one of our full‑time drivers. As a result, there may be some unavoidable juggling. Thank you in advance for your continued patience and understanding. As ever, our goal is to provide the best service to our public libraires.

Finally, I would like to single out the work of one particular NHSL staff person who has gone well above and beyond “other duties as assigned.” Diana Sklader has been instrumental in figuring how to make the hub routes work and how to return to door-to-door delivery, all while driving more than her fair share of van routes. THANK YOU, Diana!!!

All my best and TGIF,

Mindy Atwood
Administrator of Library Operations :: Assistant State Librarian
New Hampshire State Library 

Tuesday
15 Stops
 
Center Sandwich
Tamworth
Chocorua
Madison
Conway
North Conway
Jackson
Bartlett
Bethlehem
Franconia
Lincoln
North Woodstock
Thornton
Campton
Plymouth

Wednesday
13 Stops
 
Dalton
Whitefield
Jefferson
Lancaster
Groveton
Stratford
Colebrook
Errol
WMCC - Berlin
Berlin
Gorham
Randolph
Twin Mountain


Thursday
14 Stops
 
Plymouth
Rumney
Wentworth
Warren
Lyme
Orford
Piermont
Haverhill
North Haverhill
Woodsville
Monroe
Bath
Lisbon
Littleton

NHAIS ILL and the PHP Advisory

The vulnerabilities to PHP sites announced yesterday by the NSA have been addressed on the NHAIS ILL system. We were notified yesterday by Soutron Global (the company that now owns Auto-Graphics and which hosts our ShareIt software) that there was an issue and that they were addressing it: 

"We have identified a security vulnerability in PHP, a component used by SHAREit including for features such as cover images (jacket art). We are treating this as a priority and are applying the fix across our hosted service now. No action is needed from you."

Today we were notified that all is well: 

"All SHAREit and VERSO sites, SaaS and remotely hosted, are now running versions that include the needed PHP vulnerability fixes. The team identified every affected product and server, developed a fix and plan, and updated every affected environment within a day of the disclosure. No action is needed from customers."

 

2026 Public Library Technology Survey

We have been asked to make New Hampshire public libraries aware that the 2026 Public Library Technology Survey administered by the Public Library Association (PLA) is now open and to share the following:

“This year’s survey explores current and emerging trends in public library technology capacity, building on the findings from the 2020 and the 2023 surveys. Questions on the 2026 survey cover resources for patrons, technology infrastructure, digital literacy assistance and programming, and technology staff and budget; with a special section on Artificial Intelligence. Your participation will allow PLA to share nationally representative data with the field, policymakers, funders, and the media showing the scope of valuable services libraries provide to their communities.

All public libraries are invited to participate in PLA’s annual surveys. Log into your library’s free Benchmark account to complete the survey. One person should submit the survey on behalf of their library – often that’s the library director, administrator, or data coordinator. [A reference copy of the survey is available for preview.] Libraries that complete this year’s survey will be entered into a drawing to win group registration for a live or on-demand, fee-based PLA webinar.

The survey closes December 15, 2026. Take a few minutes to contribute to the national conversation about public libraries as key partners in the work of bridging the digital divide and advancing digital equity in their communities. All inquiries and assistance required to access your library’s Benchmark account should be directed to the project team at plabenchmark@ala.org.

Survey results will be released next summer via summary report, conference presentations, and online webinar. Each year’s survey report spotlights specific results, providing resources and illustrating how and why the data collected from these national surveys can be applied to and benefit your library. More information is available via the survey launch press release or from the PLA Surveys and Data page.”

Thank you,
 
Mindy Atwood
Administrator of Library Operations :: Assistant State Librarian
New Hampshire State Library
N.H. Department of Natural & Cultural Resources
20 Park Street :: Concord, NH  03301
603-271-2393 (w) :: 603-573-6402 (m)
mindy.atwood@dncr.nh.gov
nhsl.dncr.nh.gov

ILL notes icon

In the past week we've seen notes icons in the NHAIS ILL System disappear and reappear. This behavior has been observed mostly in the Will Supply/In Process status list but may occur elsewhere, too. It's been reported to Auto-Graphics, which is looking into it.

In one case, a library reported getting an error message after clicking on Acknowledge Notes for a request in Shipped status. Being unable to see the note, Undo Shipped was used to change the status back to Pending, which made the note accessible again. 

2025 Library Statistics -- correction made

Yesterday I discovered an error on the Services tab of the 2025 Complete Library Statistics Excel document posted to the NHSL website. Somehow, I managed to leave out an entire column of data when calculating the Grand Total – All Program Attendance (found in column AS of the Services tab). The result was that everyone’s program attendee numbers were falling short. ☹

I’ve fixed this error and the corrected file has been uploaded to the NHSL site, replacing the incorrect version. It’s available on the Library Statistics page (https://www.nhsl.dncr.nh.gov/librarians-library-staff/library-statistics). If you’ve saved a local copy of the original file for yourself, please download this updated version and use it instead.

I deeply apologize for any inconvenience or confusion the data omission may have caused. Please let me know if you have any questions.

Sincerely,

Jennifer M. Finch (she/her)
Supervisor, Reference & Information Services and State Data Coordinator
New Hampshire State Library
N.H. Department of Natural & Cultural Resources
20 Park St.
Concord, NH 03301
Office: 603-271-2060
Ref Desk: 603-271-2144
Jennifer.M.Finch@dncr.nh.gov