Nebraska Library Commission - Minutes
Nebraska Library Commission
September 21, 2007
MINUTES
The Nebraska Library Commission held its regular meeting
Friday, September 21, 2007, at the Nebraska Library Commission, Lincoln, NE. 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 John Dale called the meeting to order at 9:35 a.m.
Members present: Jean Ahrens, John Dale, Patrick Gross, Mary Nelson, Velma
Sims-Shipley, and Carol Spencer. Staff present: Rod Wagner, Maria
Medrano-Nehls, Dave Oertli, and Shannon White.
Approval of Agenda
A motion was made and
seconded to approve the agenda. Motion carried on roll call vote: Jean Ahrens
- aye; John Dale - aye; Pat Gross - aye; Mary Nelson - aye; Velma Sims-Shipley
- aye; and Carol Spencer. Motion approved.
Approval of the Minutes (July 13, 2007):
A motion
was made and seconded to approve the July 13, 2007 meeting minutes. Motion
carried on roll call vote: John Dale - aye; Pat Gross - aye; Mary Nelson -
aye; Velma Sims-Shipley - aye; Carol Spencer -aye; and Jean Ahrens - aye.
Motion approved.
PUBLIC FORUM
No public in attendance.
Correspondence and Communication
Rod Wagner stated that did not have any correspondence to
report. Rod said that he recently received information regarding an upcoming
event to recognize Bill Kloefkorn for his 25th year as a Nebraska
State Poet. A dinner and program will be held on October 6 to recognize Mr.
Kloefkorn.
Chair's Report and Commissioners' Comments
John Dale reported that he and his wife visited all three
Nebraska state colleges and looked at the building projects going on at the
campuses. John visited with Milton Wolf, Chadron State College Library
Director, on the visit to the Chadron State campus. Milton is working on
making the library a place for students to congregate instead of only visiting
when they need materials for assignments.
Mary Nelson reported that she entertained the Republican
Valley Library System board at her house. The Hastings public library recently
held its book sale and netted $20,000. Rescue Josh McGuire by Ben
Mikaelsen, was chosen as the One Book for Nebraska Kids. Ben will be visiting
several Nebraska communities, including Hastings and either Holdrege or
Hildreth. North Platte public library was recently remodeled its building.
Carol Spencer reported that Broken Bow public library
held a week long celebration of the library building's 35th
anniversary. Dr. Susanne George Bloomfield from the University of Nebraska at
Kearney did a presentation on Native American authors. The Custer County
Historical Museum is presenting the Smithsonian exhibit Between Fences.
Pat Gross reported that the Wayne public library recently
celebrated its 10th anniversary in its new building. The Wayne
public library had great summer reading program attendance.
Jean Ahrens - Scottsbluff public library sponsored the
Battle of the Bands again this summer. The program is for teens only and had
500 teens in attendance. There were so many bands that wanted to participate
that they had to turn some of them down due to time factors. The band members
must be teens in order for the band to enter. Jean stated that she has been
attending story time at the library with her granddaughter. Jean has always
tried to attend story time at least once a year because she teaches a
children's literature class and encourages her class to attend. Scottsbluff is
finally kicking off their library fund raising efforts for the building
addition. The Meet Me at the Park event will be held Sunday. The public
library recently held its book sale and raised close to $2,000.
Velma Sims-Shipley reported that Snyder recently
remodeled its public library and hosted an open house last Friday. The Omaha
public library has announced the winners of the Omaha Reads selection. The
winner for the children's selection is Charlotte's Web. Winner of the
adult section is The Singing and Dancing Daughters of God by
Omaha author, Timothy Schaffert. Velma stated
that Southeast Library System and Eastern Library System will host a fall
colloquium on November 29, with Michael Stephens presenting on Library 2.0.
Director's Report
Talking Book and Braille Services - Dave Oertli reported
that National Library Service (NLS) is part of the Library of Congress and is
the parent organization to the Talking Book Network and Nebraska is part of
the network. The plan is to start a conversion from audio tapes to a digital
format. The planning process has been in effect for 12-13 years. To make the
transition in four-years, $19.1 million dollars is needed. After debates from
both the House of Representatives and Senate, the FY 2008 appropriation for
the digital book conversion is $12.5 million. Final action has not been taken
on the appropriation. Due to the cut in dollars it will take six-years to make
the transition. There is still hope that the Senate will restore the amount to
the $19.1 million request amount. Dave stated that the digital players are to
be funded with 2007 funds and will be ready for distribution in 2008 but there
is not money for the digital talking books. The Nebraska Library Commission
expects to receive several hundred digital players in 2008.
Dave mentioned the Library Commission's budget request
for $32,500 to purchase cartridges that are compatible to new digital players
so Nebraska's collection of our own studio books and magazines could be in the
new format. The funding request was not approved. Dave Oertli stated that he
felt we should wait until the next budget cycle to request funds for this
transition.
Dave stated that he and his staff have been busy
promoting TBBS services by having a display at the diabetes seminar in Omaha
and Holdrege, provided information to an Easter Seals program for disabled
farmers, sent packets to the Polo Survivor Organization, present to several
BIF chapters, placed articles in NLA and NEMA news, contact United Cerebral
Palsy of Nebraska, articles in the Library System newsletters, packets to
Multiple Sclerosis support letters, packets to rheumatologist and arthritis
specialist, packets to Muscular Dystrophy Association, packets to Nebraska
social workers, display at Plattsmouth high school, hand delivered 25
applications to Eye Care Associates, and presented to the University of
Nebraska Consortium of Libraries. Dave stated that he and his staff spend many
hours mailing information on the services available.
Network Services Update - Shannon White reported on the
OverDrive downloadable audio-book service. Omaha and Lincoln libraries are
OverDrive customers. For many libraries, the cost of Over Drive is too high.
The Nebraska Public Resource Library Group is interested in a group purchase
for this service. Twelve other libraries are interested in a group purchase
with the PRLG for the OverDrive service. Shannon said the service cost
includes $25,000 to setup the website. Books are purchased at an average cost
of about $40. OverDrive also offers e-books, videos, games and music. The NLC
will subsidize the group purchase to cover the cost of the annual maintenance
fee, develop the website and a portion of the start-up book purchases. The
participating libraries will be responsible for the annual fee. Borrowers must
be authenticated as a user of one of the participating libraries to check-out
books. Since some small libraries don't have authentication systems the
Commission will handle the authentication for them. The NLC will operate a
database server and libraries will provide the NLC with the patron information
for authentication.
Shannon distributed information
on Web 2.0 tools that small libraries can take advantage of. Shannon stated
that her staff has been providing training over the past year on these Web 2.0
tools. Shannon stated that the tools are free and allow users to develop
content with little technical expertise and technical knowledge. Libraries can
use these tools to develop their own websites.
Shannon stated that blogs are
easy to set-up and use. The blog software can be used in many ways; for
example Bennington library uses blog software for its website. The software is
easily downloaded and templates are provided to develop web pages. Online
forms allow for easy updating.
LibraryThing is a program for
cataloging books. Smaller libraries may be interested in using this resource
to catalogue their collections. LibraryThing provides for online searching. If
the library catalogues more the 200 books there is a $25 cost. A hand held
device can be used to scan items for $15. The hand held device allows scanning
of ISBN numbers and cataloging books. Book information can be readily obtained
from Amazon.com or the Library of Congress.
Delicious is a tool to mark
websites and blogs along with descriptive information about them. Instead of
creating a favorites list on a computer, Delicious can be used to save
favorites online so they can be accessed online from any computer. Some
libraries are using this to highlight reference sources.
Twitter is a "micro-blogging"
tool. The Library Commission is one of the state libraries using Twitter. As
an example, NLC reference staff post selected reference questions to indicate
the kind and scope of questions asked.
Flickr is a site that allows
uploading digital photos. Staff members use the program to post photos of
Commission events and activities. The Lincoln City libraries and Scribner
public library are a couple of libraries that hold classes on how to use
Flickr. Shannon stated that she and her staff have been teaching classes on
all of these Web 2.0 tools.
Personnel - Rod Wagner reported that Dave Eckmann moved
from the Talking Book and Braille Service to the reference and interlibrary
loan unit following Belinda Fanning's departure. Jenna Smith was hired to
replace Dave Eckmann in the TBBS.
Wagner reported that a resolution was achieved on the
state employees' salary matter. State employees should receive their pay raise
and back pay at the end of the month. Calculating pay changes for personnel
affected by the labor agreement was complicated due to the pay range
differences among positions. Doreen Kuhlmann and Sue Biltoft have been working
hard to make the necessary changes for the end-of-month payroll.
Thinking Outside the Borders - The institute will be held
October 22-26. The participants include eight librarians from foreign
countries, presenters, a group of Nebraska librarians, some Commission staff,
and representatives from the Mortenson Center for International Librarianship
located at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. The participants
will spend a few days in Lincoln before traveling on to the NLA - NEMA
conference in Kearney.
Office Space Lease Renewal - Rod Wagner stated that staff
members are working with the Department of Administrative Services Building
Division and Atrium building management on the renewal and extension of the
office space lease. Several meetings have been held with the building owner
representatives and their architect to discuss space improvements and
updating. The improvements are under discussion to be incorporated in
recognition of extending the lease up to ten years.
One Book One Nebraska Program - Rod Wagner stated that
the University of Nebraska Press will be involved in planning and promoting
Bill Kloefkorn's book, Restoring the Burnt Child. The UNP is the book
publisher.
Nebraska Book Festival - Rod Wagner reported that the
festival will be held the last weekend of October, beginning on October 26.
The festival activities will be held in several downtown area facilities
including the State Capitol. The Nebraska Book Awards will be presented during
the festival in a session at the Capitol building. The Mildred Bennett award
will be presented during the festival luncheon.
IMLS visit to Nebraska Library Commission - Rod Wagner
reported that Laurie Brooks, Institute of Museum and Library Services Senior
Program Officer, visited this week. One day was spent visiting with Library
Commission staff about federal library programs and visiting Polley Music
Library at Lincoln City Libraries. Polley Music Library was instrumental in
helping to develop the Nebraska Memories digital library. Rod also traveled
with Laurie Brooks to the Southeast Library System office, the Grand Island
Public Library and the York Public Library. These site visits represented LSTA
funded projects. The Grand Island Public Library has received a number of LSTA
and state grants. A current grant is funding a RFID (radio frequency
identification) project to manage the library collection, track inventory, and
track checkouts. The York public library recently completed a re-design of
their space for a teen area through a Library Commission grant.
State Advisory Council on Libraries - Rod Wagner reported
that the State Advisory Council on Libraries met in July at the University of
Nebraska at Omaha Alumni Center. The meeting included a discussion on the LSTA
long-range plan regional meetings and some of the common issues brought up at
the public meetings. The meeting included a tour of the recently expanded UNO
library and renovation work underway on the original building. The next State
Advisory Council on Libraries meeting will be held on November 16 at the Grand
Island public library.
FINANCIAL REPORT
The July and August financial reports were included in
the meeting packet. Rod Wagner stated that some expenditures are made early in
the year for the full year (e.g., subscriptions, memberships) and indicate a
high percentage of category expenditure in comparison to the percentage of the
fiscal year completed.
UNFINISHED BUSINESS
Library Services and Technology Long Range Plan - Rod
Wagner reported edit changes are being made to the plan due to an e-mail
message received from IMLS about the use of LSTA monies for educational
activities. The IMLS has decided that LSTA funds used for educational
activities must be tied to one or more of the six LSTA purposes. The NLC
five-year plan included a separate goal for education. Educational activities
were reviewed and re-located under the two remaining goals. Other state
library agencies have also had to revise their plans based on this
requirement. A suggestion offered by the IMLS is to include a statement
acknowledging that some activities in the plan are paid for from state funds.
That is the case in Nebraska's plan and should satisfy IMLS requirements for
the five-year plan.
NEW BUSINESS
Deficiency Budget Request - Rod Wagner stated he listed
this item on the agenda as a possible funding request for flash memory
cartridges for TBBS. Given the timetable for the digital talking book program,
the funding request can be deferred for consideration in the 2009 - 2011
biennium budget request.
NLA/NEMA Conference - Rod Wagner reported that the
NLA/NEMA conference will be held October 24-26 in Kearney.
Travel Request - Rod Wagner requested permission to
attend a meeting sponsored by the Institute of Museum and Library Services
from October 30 through November 2, 2008, in Washington D.C. This meeting will
update state library agency personnel on the LSTA state programs
administration. A motion and second was made to approve Rod Wagner's travel
request. Motion carried on roll call vote: Velma Sims-Shipley - aye; Carol
Spencer - aye; Jean Ahrens - aye; John Dale - aye; Patrick Gross - aye; and
Mary Nelson - aye.
Adjournment
Chair John Dale adjourned the meeting at 12:15 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.