Spring 2001Page 2

From the Director...

What difference do federal Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA) funds make? That is a question the Nebraska Library Commission hopes to answer as a result of a dialogue Commission staff will facilitate over the next year. Besides filling a requirement of the LSTA, the Library Commission expects the results of this activity to help assess the results of the LSTA program and shape the revision of the Nebraska long-range plan for library services.

will provide the Library Commission with valuable planning and needs assessment information to develop goals and priorities.

The Institute of Museum and Library Services, the federal agency that administers the LSTA, asked state library agencies to submit plans for evaluating the five year LSTA funding period. In considering how this might be accomplished, a strategy was developed that will send Commission staff to each of Nebraska's public libraries over a ten month period beginning in April 2001.

In the coming months, Library Commission staff members will visit Nebraska libraries to ask about the use of LSTA funds and their perceived benefit to individual libraries and their communities. For libraries that have received LSTA grants, the Commission would like to know what difference, if any, the funds made. In addition, it is hoped that the library visits will offer a chance to talk with library employees, trustees, and community members about local issues, ideas, plans, and needs. Many Nebraska libraries have not received LSTA grants directly, but participate in services supported through LSTA funds. For these libraries, the Commission will seek to find out how other Library Commission supported services may have made a difference in local library services.

Federal library program funds have been an important source of aid to Nebraska library services since the 1950s. The federal program has evolved and changed over the years. With the prospect of a reauthorization of the Library Services and Technology Act in 2001, it is expected that the federal library program will continue to make a positive difference in Nebraska communities well into the future. (See related article on page 7.)

Rod Wagner

State Advisory Council Appointments Made

Re-Appointments (3 year terms)

Mo Khamouna, Library Director, Nebraska College of Technical Agriculture
Tom Schmitz, Librarian, Lincoln Regional Center
Jane Wall, Media Specialist, Grand Island High School

New Appointments (3 year terms)

Margaret (Maggie) Harding, Coordinator, Libraries for the 21^st Century and Executive Director, Nebraska Library Association (Crete)
John Seyfarth, Information Systems Manager, Sump Library (Papillion)
Kay Schmid, Director, Hruska Memorial Library (David City)
Jeff Yost, Vice President, Nebraska Community Foundation (Lincoln)

The latest council minutes and upcoming meeting agendas are available on the Library Commission home page, see <nlc.nebraska.gov>, search on Council Minutes or Council Agendas.

NEBASE Annual Meetings Scheduled

NEBASE has scheduled two annual meetings for 2001. NEBASE Annual Meeting 2001-West will be held at the Gering Civic Center on Friday, May 4. NEBASE Annual Meeting 2001-East will be held at the Lincoln Cornhusker

hotel on Thursday, September 20. Details of the meetings are still being arranged. For more information contact Jeannette Powell, 402-471-7740, 800-307-2665, or e-mail.

NCompass is a quarterly publication of the Nebraska Library Commission, The Atrium, 1200 N St., Suite 120, Lincoln, NE 68508-2023. Phone: 402-471-2045 or 800-307-2665 (in Nebraska only).
Fax: 402-471-2083. ISSN: 1075-9719.
Director: Rod Wagner
Editor: Mary Jo Ryan
Design and Production: Valerie Dayton
Web Conversion: Cynthia Hobbs
Staff: Jacqueline Crocker, Mary Geibel, Janet Greser, Cynthia Hobbs
Home Page: nlc.nebraska.gov

Nebraska Library Commissioners: Karen Warner, Norfolk, term expires 2003; Robert King, Holdrege, term expires 2003; Wally Seiler, Alliance, term expires 2001; Richard Jussel, Kearney, term expires 2001; Velma Sims, Fremont, term expires 2001; Kristen Rogge, Johnson, term expires 2002; Commission meetings are held the second Friday of every other month, or as scheduled by public action of the board.

Preparation of this newsletter was supported in part by funds allocated through the Library Services and Technology Act administered by the United States Institute of Museum and Library Services.

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