Nebraska Library Commission - Minutes
Nebraska Library Commission
May 13, 2005
MINUTES
The Nebraska Library Commission held its
regular meeting Friday, May 13, 2005, at the Nebraska Library Commission,
Lincoln. Notice of the meeting was submitted to local newspapers (Lincoln
Journal Star, Omaha World Herald), and posted on the Nebraska Library
Commission Web site.
Chair Kristen Rogge called the meeting to order at 9:30
a.m. Members present: Jean Ahrens, Patrick Gross, Mary Nelson, Velma
Sims-Shipley, Carol Spencer and Kristen Rogge. Staff present: Rod Wagner,
Maria Medrano-Nehls, Shannon Behrhorst and Beth Goble. Guests: Kathy Tooker.
Approval of Agenda: A motion was made to approve
the agenda. Rod Wagner asked that the state employee pay policy be added to
the agenda. Motion carried on roll call vote: Jean Ahrens - aye; Pat Gross -
aye; Mary Nelson - aye; Kristen Rogge - aye; Velma Sims-Shipley - aye; and
Carol Spencer. Motion approved.
Approval of the Minutes (March 11, 2005): A motion
was made to approve the March 2005 meeting minutes. Motion carried on roll
call vote: Pat Gross - aye; Mary Nelson - aye; Kristen Rogge - aye; Velma
Sims-Shipley - aye; Carol Spencer - aye; and Jean Ahrens - aye. Motion
approved.
PUBLIC FORUM
Kathy Tooker reported that the regional library systems
will host a Bricks and Boards workshop on June 13 in Seward and that the
Nebraska Library Leadership Institute will be held July 25-29. There are 31
applicants for the Leadership Institute. Regional library systems are planning
their annual meetings. There are two new library directors in the eastern
library system: Francine Canfield at the Ralston public library and Jennifer
Jaznyka at the Gretna public library.
Kathy Tooker added that there is a new library to be
built in Waterloo as a gift from Ed and Donna Robinson. The Robinsons are
including funds for an endowment, not enough to support the library but enough
to provide extra things. They are also attempting to stipulate in a foundation
that they are setting up for the library that the city must support the
library at an adequate funding level or the city won 't receive funds from the
endowment. Wahoo is in the process of raising money for a new library. Wahoo
received a U.S. Dept. of Agriculture loan. A planning workshop was recently
held and 11 of the 32 libraries in the eastern library system represented at
the workshop mentioned building, remodeling or expansion.
Correspondence
and Communication
Rod Wagner shared a thank you note from Sherry Hausmann
for the MLS scholarship she received. Rod noted a letter sent to Senator Flood
for his efforts on LB217. LB217 will allow local government units to partner
in bond financing for capital projects such as facilities and information
technology. Public libraries are included as eligible entities. Rod mentioned
that Sally Snyder received a message from Kim Bolan Taney; the Teen Spaces
workshop presenter at last year 's NLA spring meetings. The Commission had a
great response to the program from public and school librarians. Sally shared
responses with Kim. Kim is including Nebraska Teen Space project examples in
an article she is writing for the School Library Journal.
Chair 's Report
and Commissioners ' Comments
Mary Nelson reported that Holdrege public library has a
new Director - Pam Sortee from Loveland, CO. The Republican Valley Library
System has hired Sherry Houston as the new
System Administrator. Mary attended the Public Library/TUFS spring meeting in
North Platte and said it was one of the best that she has attended.
Carol Spencer reported that she will be attending the
Meridian Library System annual meeting in June. The meeting will be in Red
Cloud and will include a guided tour of Willa Cather 's Red Cloud. The Nebraska
Humanities Council is sponsoring a program called Key Ingredients which
will be hosted at the Broken Bow museum. The library will host programs
related to the display.
Jean Ahrens reported that libraries are gearing up for
summer reading programs; the Scottsbluff public library had a ribbon cutting
event to celebrate its new teen spaces area. The Scottsbluff public library is
in the beginning stages of an expansion project.
Pat Gross reported that Wayne public library has a new
teen space area with incredible art work that the youth have made. The display
has garnered quite a bit of attention.
Velma Sims-Shipley reported that the Fremont public
library has lost several key library employees but there are some good
applicants. Fremont held a One Book - One State book discussion. Fremont held
its annual book sale and made over $14,000.
Kris Rogge stated that the Brownville book festival was a
great success. Kris mentioned that Brownsville would like to partner with the
Auburn public library to digitize historical items. Kris said her time serving
as a Commissioner has been a wonderful experience. She has learned a lot and
has met wonderful people.
Director 's
Report
Personnel - Rod Wagner reported that Michael Norval
recently left his position in TBBS to work for the Nebraska Department of
Corrections. Traci Robison will replace Michael. Scott Sholz was recently
hired to fill the vacant Talking Book and Braille Service circulation
coordinator position; this position has been vacant since Cherie Longmuir left
to become the Panhandle Library System Coordinator. The Research Assistant
position for the IMLS grant project was offered to one of the applicants. The
individual accepted, but withdrew soon after as a result of another offer. The
position was then offered to one of the other candidates. She has accepted the
position and will begin work in June. Applications have also been received for
the Library Technology Consultant position. The next step will be to go
through the applications and arrange interviews.
Biennium Budget and Legislative Issues - Rod Wagner noted
the budget information included in the meeting packets. The spreadsheet
provides details of the Appropriation Committee 's recommendations for the
Nebraska Library Commission. The committee included additional funds for
library materials, additional funds for Department of Administrative Services '
fees and additional funds to cover database license fee increases. State aid
funds were not increased in the biennium appropriation. There are three weeks
left in the legislative session. Most of the time will be taken up with the
state budget and priority bills.
LB 645 - This legislative bill concerns telecommunication
services companies, Nebraska public utilities and local governments and
provision of telecommunication services by public entities. The bill would
preclude local government entities from providing telecommunication services.
This might affect the Papillion public library. The Papillion library provides
community internet services. The bill may not pass this session. If not, it
will carry over to the next session beginning in 2006.
Nebraska Publications Clearinghouse - Beth Goble reported
that the Nebraska Library Commission is one of fourteen federal depositories
in the state. The Commission operates the Nebraska Publications Clearinghouse
(state publications depository). The Federal Depository Library Program is
managed by the US Government Printing Office (GPO). The GPO is in its eighth
year of transition from print distribution to a digital documents program. The
GPO estimates that 95% of government publications are now online. The GPO is
planning to go strictly to digital and will undertake a comprehensive
harvesting program with software that will harvest publications off other
federal agencies websites. The GPO would then archive and catalog the
publications and create a national collection of US government publications
consisting of a digital library available on the internet. The GPO would also
retrospectively scan federal publications since the beginning of the republic.
The GPO will also have a dark archive that will house all the print materials.
This project is causing some anxiety for large academic
libraries that are designated regional depository libraries. The regional
depositories receive GPO distributed publications and keep them in perpetuity.
Under consideration is an allowance to depositories for print-in demand.
Inevitably, we are looking at very few print items to be distributed. The GPO
will expect depositories to access the GPO online catalog or add reference to
our own catalog for public use. A couple of years ago, the Library Commission
reduced its selection of GPO publications down below two percent of the
documents available through the depository system. This choice was based on
use patterns and needs, and the close-by availability of the regional
depository at UNL Love Library. The GPO 's plans should not have much effect on
the Library Commission. Commission staff has weeded the federal documents
collection extensively and will have an OCLC catalog reference for every
federal document still in the collection.
The Commission is also responsible for Nebraska state
documents - a very popular program. Transitions similar to federal documents
are occurring at the state level. Bonnie Henzel, State Documents Librarian,
just claimed over 200 publications on the internet that had never been sent to
the Commission in print. State agencies that post on the web are supposed to
send the Commission publications in hard-copy format. The Commission receives
about 4000 documents a year in print. About 10% of these are filmed on
microfiche and sent to the fourteen state depository libraries. The camera at
the State Records Management Office broke and has not been repaired. The SRMO
has indicated that the camera will not be repaired. Thus, the Publications
Clearinghouse has discontinued sending microfiche to depository libraries. The
Commission will continue to have a single microfiche made for archival
purposes. The SRMO has the capability to receive digital files. We plan to
download state documents that would have been microfilmed to a Commission
server and add stable URLs that won 't change. This will provide a permanent
address that will be incorporated into the OCLC cataloging records. The state
document depositories will receive a monthly electronic alert with a list of
new titles received.
Beth Goble reported that the Publications Clearinghouse
is currently involved in an interesting digitization initiative - the Nebraska
Public Documents Digitization project. The Commission has a collection of old
Nebraska documents starting in the 1870 's. It includes a collection of
official reports of Nebraska 's new government. The documents librarian from
the University of Nebraska at Omaha is spearheading a project to digitize the
collection. The New York public library has a set of the documents on
microfiche. The Nebraska State Historical Society received a grant from the
Library Commission to purchase the microfilm from New York, with permission to
digitize records from the microfilm. UNL Love library staff will digitize the
records host a website and provide a searchable collection. The Commission has
also given a grant to UNL Love library to pay for half of the digitization
cost for the microfilm. The microfilm doesn 't start until 1890. Those
agencies, including NLC, with older documents will inventory what we have and
seek a grant to have them digitized.
Nebraska Memories - Shannon Behrhorst reported that the
Nebraska Memories project is proceeding nicely. The software is loaded and has
been tested with Polley Music Library items at Lincoln City Libraries. Several
libraries have received LSTA grants for their digitization projects. Some of
the grants are collaborative, including organizations in partnership with a
public library. Network Service staff have been visiting libraries that
received LSTA digitization project grants to consult on how to proceed on
projects, project timelines and training needs. Network Services staff members
are currently providing metadata training and will provide digitization and
scanning training on July 14 and 15 in Walton. The ContentDM software is being
upgraded. Thus, staff has delayed customizing the software until the end of
the month. Staff will provide training on the software at the end of the
summer. Commission staff will also assist libraries that may have objects to
include in Nebraska memories but too few to warrant adding the objects
directly. In these situations, Commission staff will scan the objects. Library
staff will only need to create catalog records for the items. It is hoped that
by next spring several projects will be completed and successful.
Special Grants and Projects - Rod Wagner distributed a
document with budget information and a list of special projects staff are
working on to complete the fiscal year. The list includes grants and contracts
for public documents digitization, Dollars for Data, Nebraska Memories, and
interlibrary loan grants. Also included is a demonstration project to document
processes and experiences of two libraries that will move from stand-alone
automated systems to the One Nebraska Library Consortium (managed by the
Norfolk Public Library). A Consortium goal is to include additional libraries.
Current participants include the Norfolk and Columbus public libraries, and
the Northeast and Central Community college libraries. Grant funds will be
provided to add the Wayne and South Sioux City public libraries in to the
Consortium. Other projects include funds for an NET production of a poetry
event held in Kearney involving Ted Kooser, Bill Kloefkorn and some newer
Nebraska poets. This project will include production of DVDs and curriculum
materials for use in schools and libraries. Funds are also being provided to
revise and publish the Nebraska Public Library Trustee Manual.
Gates Foundation Grants to State Library Agencies - Rod
Wagner reported that WebJunction has received grants that will involve the
Nebraska Library Commission and other state library agencies. WebJunction is a
web-based service created by OCLC under contract with the Gates Foundation.
WebJunction received an IMLS grant to create a national clearinghouse for
education and training opportunities. The other WebJunction grants were
awarded from the Gates Foundation to develop a rural library sustainability
program and a Spanish language outreach program. The WebJunction staff wants
to work with state library agencies to provide training for rural library
staff in public access computing. The second activity is a Spanish language
outreach program. This project is intended for libraries that serve Spanish
speaking individuals. The programs will be carried out over the next couple of
years. Nebraska will be among the first state library agencies to participate
in the rural library sustainability program.
Western Council of State Libraries Meeting - Rod Wagner
reported that Western Council meeting was held in Glenwood Springs, Colorado.
The first day was devoted to presentations on digital library initiatives;
Nebraska Memories was one of the presentations. The other part of the meeting
was devoted to discussion of the Western Council 's three year Institute of
Museum and Library Services grant - The Continuum of Library Education project
targets library workers in the 21 western states. The emphasis is on providing
education for the many library workers who do not have professional library
science education. An aspect of the project is reciprocity among state library
agencies in recognizing librarian certification. Nebraska has lot to offer
other western states. Less than half of the western state library agencies
have certification programs. Educational offerings in Nebraska, including the
new library technical assistant courses, training provided by the Commission,
regional library systems and the Nebraska Library Association all contribute
to a variety of educational opportunities for library workers.
Chief Officer 's of State Library Agency Meeting - Rod
Wagner reported that the meeting was held on May 2nd prior to
National Legislative Day. Included were reports from the American Library
Association, the Institute of Museum and Libraries Services, and the National
Commission on Libraries and Information Science. Dr. Robert Martin, Director
of the Institute of Museum and Library Services, is completing his term in
July and cannot be re-appointed. His interim replacement will probably be Mary
Chute, Deputy Director for Library Services.
National Library Legislative Day - Rod Wagner stated that
he, Velma Sims-Shipley, Kathy Tooker, Mary Reiman, and Brenda Ealey were
Nebraska library representatives who attended National Legislative Day.
Legislative Day activities included a full day briefing on issues including
appropriations, intellectual property, the USA PATRIOT Act, government
publications, and more. The Nebraska group visited with staff in each of the
Nebraska Congressional offices.
Community College: Library Technical Assistant Courses -
Rod Wagner reported that Pam Scott has been visiting administrative staff at
community colleges in western Nebraska regarding the LTA program. Jean Ahrens
stated that WNCC will start a class this August.
Brownville Book Festival - Rod Wagner observed that the
Brownville festival, held April 22-23, was a great event. The festival
includes a variety of presentations and activities celebrating writing, books
and music.
One Book - One State Project - Rod Wagner reported that
the project appeared to be a success, at least for a number of communities
that participated. The Cather Foundation did a great job preparing and
providing resources. Project partners made significant contributions to the
success of the program. Libraries that participated were praised for their
creativity and efforts. The Library Commission has received encouragement to
support future One Book - One State activities. Rod said that he will be
asking the Nebraska Humanities Council to join with the Library Commission to
convene a meeting of representatives of the partner organizations to assess
this year 's project and potential for future statewide book discussion
activities. Jean Ahrens stated that Scottsbluff and Gering public libraries
would like to do a one book - two towns project.
2005 Nebraska Book Festival - Rod Wagner reported that
the festival will be held October 7 & 8, and will be hosted by Nebraska
Wesleyan University. Most of the activities will be held on the NWU campus.
Some of the activities will be held in downtown Lincoln, including a festival
reception and film showing. The theme for the festival is Local Wonders.
Ted Kooser will be the keynote speaker and Bruce Cole, Chair for the National
Endowment for the Humanities, has been invited to be the luncheon speaker. The
Nebraska Book Awards will be presented.
ALA/ALTA National Library Advocacy Honor Roll - Rod
Wagner reported that state library agencies were asked to coordinate the
selection of individuals or organizations that have been outstanding in their
library advocacy efforts. Each state can select up to three individuals or
groups for recognition. A committee consisting of Brenda Ealey (President,
Nebraska Library Association), Maggie Harding (Executive Director, Nebraska
Library Association) and Rod Wagner met and considered nominations. The
Nebraska honorees selected include Wally Seiler (former member of the Nebraska
Library Commission, State Advisory Council on Libraries, Alliance Library
Board, and Alliance Library Foundation, and current chair of the NLA
Intellectual Freedom Committee), Doug Roesemann (President, ReferenceUSA, and
Vice-President/President-Elect of Friends of Libraries USA), and Kathy Tooker
(Eastern Library System Administrator, chair of the NLA Legislative Committee
and Nebraska Library Legislative Day, and a past president of the Nebraska
Library Association). The advocacy honorees will be recognized at a banquet
during the ALA conference in Chicago on June 24.
Financial
Report
Rod Wagner reported that expenditures are in line with
budgeted amounts.
Unfinished
Business
There was no unfinished business.
New Business
July Meeting Plans - Jean Ahrens reported that the July
meeting will be held in Scottsbluff at Western Nebraska Community College.
Jean, Nancy Escamilla and Cherie Longmuir have planned a special dinner event
for Thursday evening. Jean distributed information on places to visit and
events while in western Nebraska. Jean provided information on Oregon Trail
Days which will be going on the weekend of the Commission and Council
meetings. Sleeping rooms have been reserved for both July 14 & 15.
FY 2005 - 2006 State Employee Pay Policies - Rod Wagner
reported that State of Nebraska pay policies for contract and non-contract
employees provide for a 3% pay increase on July 1, 2005. Agency heads need
approval of their appointing authorities to receive the pay increase. Rod
requested a 3% pay increase effective July 1 consistent with state employee
pay policies for FY 2005. A motion was made to approve a 3% pay increase
effective July 1, 2005 for Rod Wagner. Motion carried on a roll call vote:
Mary Nelson - aye; Kristen Rogge - aye; Velma Sims-Shipley - aye; Carol
Spencer - aye; Jean Ahrens - aye; and Patrick Gross - aye. Motion approved.
Out-of-State Travel - Rod Wagner requested approval to
attend a COSLA meeting on June 24 and the ALA annual conference July 24-27 in
Chicago. A motion was made to approve the out-of-state travel request. Motion
carried on a roll call vote: Kristen Rogge - aye; Velma Sims-Shipley - aye;
Carol Spencer - aye; Jean Ahrens - aye; Patrick Gross - aye; and Mary Nelson.
Motion approved.
Special Recognition - Rod Wagner thanked Kristen Rogge
for her two terms on the Nebraska Library Commission. Rod stated that Kristen
has been very positive, supportive, and interested in library issues. She has
been a joy to work with and has been a great Commissioner. Kris was presented
with a Nebraska Admiralship and a plaque in recognition of her contributions
on the Library Commission and service to the State of Nebraska.
Adjournment
Chair Rogge adjourned the meeting at 12:10 p.m.
___________________________
Maria Medrano-Nehls, Secretary
All attachments are available upon request. If you would like a copy,
please contact Sue Biltoft at the Nebraska Library Commission,
800-307-2665 or 402-471-2045.