Nebraska Library Commission - Minutes
Nebraska Library Commission
July 9, 2004
MINUTES
The Nebraska Library Commission held its regular meeting
Friday, July 9, 2004, beginning at 9:30 a.m., at the Nebraska Library
Commission. 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 9:50
a.m. Members present: Jean Ahrens, Patrick Gross, Mary Nelson, Kristen Rogge,
Velma Sims-Shipley and Carol Spencer. Staff present: Rod Wagner, Maria
Medrano-Nehls, Mary Jo Ryan and Pam Scott. Guest: Kathy Tooker.
Approval of Agenda: A motion was made to approve
the agenda. Motion carried on roll call vote: Jean Ahrens - aye; Patrick Gross
- aye; Kristen Rogge - aye; Velma Sims-Shipley - aye; Mary Nelson - aye; and
Carol Spencer - aye. Motion approved.
Approval of the Minutes (May 14, 2004): A motion
was made to approve the March 2004 meeting minutes. Motion carried on roll
call vote: Patrick Gross - aye; Kristen Rogge - aye; Velma Sims-Shipley - aye;
Mary Nelson - aye; Carol Spencer - aye and Jean Ahrens - aye. Motion
approved.
PUBLIC FORUM
Kathy Tooker reported that the regional library system
administrators are hosting a Library Leadership Institute reunion on August 6
for the first two leadership groups. The topic will be Ethics and
Enlightenment. A training day will also be held on September 9 for regional
library system board members. Systems are working with the Commission on a
public library trustee survey. The survey will be sent to every trustee in the
state. Those completing the survey will receive two continuing education
credits. The surveys will be reviewed by Library Commission staff and system
administrators to assist in developing new continuing education for library
trustees.
Correspondence
and Communication
Rod Wagner stated that he received a letter from Frank
Cylke, Director of the National Library Service for the Blind and Physical
Handicapped. Kurt Cylke and Jean Moss recently visited the Commission to meet
with Commission staff about National Library Service plans to convert to
digital talking books. The letter is a follow-up to their visit. Rod stated
the Commission's Talking Book and Braille Service was among the first
libraries to convert to digital recording.
Chair's Report
and Commissioners' Comments
Kristen Rogge reported that she made a phone call
regarding the "Right to Read" legislation (U.S. House of Representatives) to
no avail. The legislation failed by one vote. Congressman Bereuter did not
vote for the legislation.
Mary Nelson reported that she participated in two recent
library related activities. She attended the Republican Valley Library System
annual meeting in Red Cloud. Mary stated that she, Richard Miller and Pam
Scott attended the 2004 Municipal Accounting and Finance Conference in
Kearney. Mary said that the conference was very informative. She said that it
was important that the Library Commission was represented; many people stopped
by and picked up books that the Commission was distributing. Some of the
smaller towns were interested in what it would take to get a library in their
community. Richard, Pam and Mary spoke about the importance of the library.
Mary attended a session which reviewed legislation. Two items were mentioned
that would be of value to libraries, one was LB 939 which requires filing of
local interagency agreements and LB936 which changes the date that libraries
report to their cities.
Pat Gross reported that he recently retired and is
enjoying his retirement.
Velma Sims-Shipley reported that Ann Stephens, Director
of the Keene Memorial Library in Fremont, writes a monthly news article for
the local paper. Ann does a lot to entice the community to use the library
through her articles. John C. Fremont days will be held July 17 & 18. The
FRIENDS of the library will hold a "Lemonade on the Lawn" event during John C.
Fremont days. Velma shared a newsletter published by the library FRIENDS.
This year Fremont is called the "Big Fish of the Platte." The town
commissioned an artist to paint fish on plaster and give them clever names.
The city developed a fishing guide of places where you can see the fish on
display. The fish located in front of the library is named Huck Fin.
Carol Spencer introduced herself and stated that her home
is in Broken Bow. She has served on both the library board and library
foundation. The summer reading program is currently being held at the library.
The library has a book review club that meets every other month.
Jean Ahrens introduced herself and said that she lives in
Scottsbluff and has taught for 36 years at Western Nebraska Community College.
Jean is president of the library FRIENDS group. The Scottsbluff Public Library
is currently holding its summer reading program. Scottsbluff hopes to expand
its public library in the future. Every other year the Panhandle Library
System has an author who visits libraries within the region. The authors vary
among those who write for children, young adult and adult audiences. This
year's author is Carole Nelson
Douglas, a best selling author of 37 novels including the
Irene Adler series and the hard-boiled Midnight Louie.
Director's
Report
Rod Wagner
welcomed new Commission members Carol Spencer and Jean Ahrens.
Consumer
Health Information Award - State Library Agencies
were asked to work with the U.S. National Commission on Libraries and
Information Science (NCLIS) to seek nominations for recognition of libraries
providing consumer health information. Each state will have a library selected
for the award. The Library Commission sought nominations. As a result, the
University of Nebraska Medical Center, McGoogan Library of Medicine, was
selected as the Nebraska nominee. The award will be presented later in the
summer or fall. The Library of Medicine has provided consumer health
information services for many years. The Library Commission helped start the
program with Library Services and Construction Act Title I funds, and
continued support for several years.
Smartest Card Initiative - Mary
Jo Ryan distributed materials regarding the "Smartest Card" campaign. Mary Jo
stated that plans are to launch this campaign in September. Postcards have
been mailed to library directors, branch managers and regional library system
administrators. This is a national campaign sponsored by the Public Library
Association (a division of the American Library Association) and dove-tails
with the American Library Association's @ your libraryâ„¢ marketing campaign.
The slogan for the campaign is "The Smartest Card Get It, Use It @ your
libraryâ„¢. The PLA has asked state libraries to work with public library
directors to determine how to use the campaign information. The PLA encouraged
states to ask their Governor to help promote the campaign in September, which
is public library card month. One suggestion was to present the Governor with
a large cardboard library card. If he doesn't have a library card, present him
with one. Public libraries may want to do something similar with their elected
officials.
Key audiences for the Smartest
Card campaign are: external audiences of family and influentials and the
internal audience of librarians. Librarians and library staff should be sales
persons for the library and, hopefully, will say "get a card, use it, tell
your friends". There are also ads produced by the ABC television network that
can be played on local ABC affiliate stations free of charge.
Personnel - Rod Wagner stated
that Dave Eckmann, a member of the TBBS staff, was selected as the Library
Commission's 2004 Employee of the Year. Shannon Behrhorst, Network
Services/NEBASE Director, was selected as the Library Commission's 2004
Manager of the Year.
Public Library Guidelines - Rod
Wagner stated that Kit Keller has made the final edits to the public library
accreditation guidelines document following Library Commission action at the
May Commission meeting. Kit is preparing a letter to be mailed to public
libraries that are due for accreditation this year. Ann Stephens, Director of
the Keene Memorial Library (Fremont), sent a letter expressing her
appreciation for the good work that Kit did in handling the process, being
available, attending meetings and working closely with librarians in revising
the public library guidelines. Kristen Rogge stated that she felt Kit did a
great job revising the guidelines.
Rod stated that re-licensing
the Bibliostat Connect database is under consideration. BiblioStat Connect is
a companion product to Collect, the program that is used to collect and
compile Nebraska public library statistics, and that is part of a national
library data collection program. Connect is useful for a variety of data
comparisons, planning, and analysis purposes. Under the license, Nebraska
public libraries, regional library systems, and Commission staff will have
access to Collect.
Chief Officers of State Library
Agencies Meeting (COSLA) - Rod Wagner stated that he recently attended the
COSLA meeting that preceded the ALA conference in Orlando. Most of the
meeting was devoted to planning for COSLA's annual meeting to be held in Rapid
City; SD, in October. Rod stated that Representative Oberstar (MN) is
interested in federal legislation and funding for library construction. All
state libraries have been asked to provide estimates of library construction
needs and costs.
The Institute of Museum and
Library Services will be awarding a grant for a national study on libraries
and the workforce. IMLS has issued a Request for Proposals (RFP)
for the study and has received six applications. State libraries will assist
by providing data for their state.
Rod said we are still waiting
for announcement of the IMLS "Librarians for the 21st Century"
grants. An announcement is expected before the end of July. The Library
Commission's application submitted last year received positive comments from
grant application reviewers and was recommended for funding. Funding was
increased to $20 million this year, compared to $10 million last year,
allowing more applications to be funded.
American Library Association
Annual Conference - Rod stated that the ALA conference was held in Orlando, FL,
this year. The 2005 annual conference will be held in Chicago. Rod stated
that he chairs the ALA/ASCLA Standards Review Committee. This committee
oversees the standards that are being developed or revised by ASCLA sections.
One of the standards revision projects is for services to the blind and
physical handicapped.
Summer Events - Rod Wagner
stated that the Regional Library Systems and the Library Commission will be
presenting workshops across the state policies later this month on personnel
laws. Richard Miller is the leader for this project.
The first course for the
Library Technical Assistant program will be offered
this fall by Metropolitan Community College. A number of people have expressed
interest in the course. Becky Pasco will teach this introductory course.
The Nebraska Book Festival will
be held September 17 & 18 at the University of Nebraska at Kearney. The
Festival is hosted by the University of Nebraska at Kearney and sponsored by
the Nebraska Humanities Council, the Nebraska Center for the Book, UNK,
Kearney Public Library, and the Nebraska Library Commission.
The Nebraska Library
Association/Nebraska Educational Media Association (NLA/NEMA) conference will
be held October 6-8 in Grand Island.
Gates Foundation Library
Program - Rod Wagner stated that even though the Gates Foundation has ended
its program that provided software and computers to public libraries, the
Foundation plans to continue its support and service to libraries. The
Foundation is partnering with state library agencies through its "Staying
Connected" grants.
Meeting with Representatives of
the Nebraska Deaf Community - Staff of the Nebraska Library Commission
recently met with representatives of the Nebraska deaf community.
Alice Hagemeyer, a former
Nebraskan, librarian, and advocate for the deaf community, initiated the
meeting. Tanya Wendel, Director of the Nebraska Commission for the Deaf and
Hard of Hearing, two of Tanya's staff, and representatives of the Nebraska
Association for the Deaf attended the meeting. The meeting included discussion
of current and potential projects (a museum/library, displays, and
publications). The Nebraska Library Commission may be able to assist with some
of the projects, especially those providing information on the information
needs of the deaf community. The group would like to preserve historical
information especially information from the former Nebraska School for the
Deaf. There will be some work in digitizing the information. Digitization work
may be coordinated with the Omaha Public Library. The Nebraska Commission for
the Deaf and Hard of Hearing agreed to convene a task force to explore ideas
discussed at the meeting.
NLC Omnibase/Library
Information - Rod Wagner stated that Vern Buis, the Commission's computer
services director, has been working with Pam Scott to re-program the public
librarian certification database. Programming will result in many new
features and capabilities for managing and reporting data. Vern has made good
progress. Vern has also organized data gathered from public libraries to
import to the Commission's internal database (Omnibase) that provides library
information with everything from directory information, information on staff,
hours, contact information and statistical data about each Nebraska library.
Vern has done an excellent job on this project. Pam Scott stated that regional
library system staff will have access to the database in the near future once
remote access and security procedures have been worked out. A feature will
also be added to record library board member continuing education activities
for board certification.
Financial
Report
Rod Wagner stated that the May
report was included in the packet and the June report was distributed before
the meeting. June is the pertinent report since it is the last report for the
end of the fiscal year. Rod stated that the Commission came out reasonably
well considering budget cuts. Although the financial report shows funds that
haven't been spent, there are bills yet to be paid that count as part of FY
2004 expenditures. Funds not spent or encumbered carry over to the new fiscal
year since this is the first year of the current biennium.
Rod explained that
approximately 75% of the Commission's funding comes from state funds
appropriated by the Legislature and about 25% comes from the federal Library
Services and Technology Act. The Commission also receives funds from fees
charged for online computer services (OCLC).
Unfinished
Business
There was no unfinished business to discuss.
New Business
2005-2007 Biennium Budget Report - Rod Wagner stated that
the budget is due on or before September 15. There are three major parts to
the budget; the first is the agency's continuation request; the second is the
new/expanded request for any services that are new or provided at an increased
activity level; and the third part is the modification budget that requires
agencies to indicate services to be reduced in the event state fund
appropriations are reduced to 95% of the current fiscal year appropriation
level.. Staff members have started working on the budget.
FY 2005 Budget Outlook - Rod Wagner stated that a
Commission budget strategy has been to include budget requests for new
initiatives or increased state aid to libraries. This strategy resulted in
increased state aid funds in the late 1990s through the "Libraries for the 21st
Century campaign." This campaign proposed monies for licensing online
databases, increased public library aid, and expansions of other state aid
areas (children and youth services, financial aid for library science
education). The Commission was fortunate in receiving funding increases to
support statewide database licensing and expansion of other state aid
programs.
A focus this year will be on the expansion of public
library aid. The public library guidelines revision includes three categories
(essential, enhanced, and excellent). Additional public library aid funds will
offer incentives for libraries to reach the essential level, or to move beyond
the essential category to enhanced or excellent. The result is better library
services. Also under consideration is an additional and major online database
package of value to public, school, academic and special libraries.
Election of Chair
A motion was made to accept the nomination of Kristen
Rogge as Chair for the 2004-2005 year. Motion carried on roll call vote:
Nelson - aye; Rogge - abstain; Sims-Shipley - aye; Spencer - aye; Ahrens -
aye; and Gross - aye. Motion approved.
Election of Vice-Chair
A motion was made to accept the nomination of Velma
Sims-Shipley as Vice-Chair for the 2004-2005 year. Motion carried on roll call
vote: Rogge - aye; Sims-Shipley - abstain; Spencer - aye; Ahrens - aye; Gross
- aye; and Nelson - aye. Motion approved.
Directors Salary
A motion was made to approve a 2% salary increase
effective July 1, 2004, for Rod Wagner. Motion carried on roll call vote:
Sims-Shipley - aye; Spencer - aye; Ahrens - aye; Gross - aye; Nelson - aye;
and Rogge - aye. Motion approved.
Adjourn
Chair Rogge adjourned the meeting at 11:45 a.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.