Nebraska Library Commission - Minutes
Nebraska Library Commission
July 14, 2006
MINUTES
The Nebraska Library Commission held its regular
meeting Friday, July 14, 2006, 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.
site.
Chair Velma Sims-Shipley called the meeting to order
at 9:30 a.m. Members present: Jean Ahrens, John Dale, Pat Gross, Velma
Sims-Shipley, and Carol Spencer. Staff present: Rod Wagner, Maria
Medrano-Nehls, Dave Oertli, and Shannon Behrhorst.
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; Velma Sims-Shipley - aye; and
Carol Spencer - aye. Motion approved.
Approval of the Minutes
(May 19, 2006): A motion
was made and seconded to approve the May 2006 meeting minutes. Motion
carried on roll call vote: John Dale - aye; Pat Gross-aye; Velma
Sims-Shipley - aye; Carol Spencer - aye; and Jean Ahrens - aye. Motion
approved.
PUBLIC FORUM
There was no public participation.
Correspondence and Communication
Rod Wagner stated that the Commission continues to
receive notes from students in library science education expressing
appreciation for the scholarships.
Chair's Report and Commissioners' Comments
Chair Velma Sims-Shipley reported the John C. Fremont
Days will take place this weekend. The Fremont public library will host an
event called Lemonade on the Lawn with Bill Kloefkorn reading a poem he
wrote for Fremont's sesquicentennial celebration.
Jean Ahrens reported that the Scottsbluff public
library is preparing for its big fundraiser in September. They are also
celebrating Oregon Trail Days. Alliance hosted the Chautauqua and the
library was involved with the event. The Panhandle Library System will be
hosting author Judy Schachner.
Pat Gross reported that the summer reading program in
Wayne has been very active. The library friends group has grown and been
helpful. The Ponca library has completed renovation and the new addition.
Carol Spencer reported that Broken Bow's summer
reading program is going well. They have had several different animals visit
the library to go with this year's theme -
Paws, Claws, Scales and Tales.
In June, the city sent out a survey regarding city services. The library
rated at the top. Author Alex Kava will be visiting the library in September
for the One Book - One Nebraska program.
John has been appointed to the Public Service
Commission's Universal Service Fund Advisory Board. Mary Johns, Lincoln City
Libraries Assistant Director, is leaving her position. Lincoln City
Libraries' budget is very tight; staff cuts have been listed in the new
budget which will go into effect in September. Lincoln City Libraries has
had very good summer reading program attendance. John will be traveling with
Lincoln City Libraries staff and board members to Des Moines, Iowa, to visit
the new main library.
Director's Report
Rod Wagner reported there have been recent library
grand opening events in Lyons and Wahoo. The new library in Waterloo is
completed but there have been some negotiations going on for the village to
accept the library. The library was built with funds from the Robinson
family foundation. The foundation will also provide an endowment for a
portion of the library's on-going operating funds. A stipulation states that
the village commits to support the library. They hope to reach agreement
soon so that the new library can be opened.
Personnel
Rod Wagner reported that Devra
Dragos was chosen as the Nebraska Library Commission's Employee of the Year.
Devra is a great asset to the Commission. Her principal duty is Cataloger
but she has many other duties including consulting, training, the NLC's
online catalog, and assisting libraries throughout the state with
cataloging, metadata and digitization related issues.
Scott Sholz was selected as the Commission's Supervisor
of the Year. Scott works in the Talking Book and Braille Service. Scott has
been with the Commission about a year and brought some background, talents
and capabilities that weren't called for in the job. His job is largely
related to managing the circulation activities in the Talking Book and
Braille Service. This involves the daily routines of locating, preparing and
sending cassette books and the in-coming return of books, their handling and
shelving. Scott is also a musician and has brought his extensive recording
expertise to the Commission. In this respect, he lends assistance to the
TBBS recording activities. Scott's recognition for this award is also due
to his contributions and effectiveness in assisting in other areas and his
great rapport with co-workers and staff he supervises.
Recruitment is underway to fill the three vacation
positions in the Library Development unit. The continuing education
coordinator position that was recently vacated by Pam Scott has been
advertised with the closing date for applications set for July 24th.
Interviews are being scheduled for filling the staff assistant position
recently held by Jacque Crocker. The third position was previously
advertised without success and so the position requirements have been
re-worked and the job title has been changed to Technology Innovation
Librarian. Applications have been sought for review beginning July 31.
State Advisory Council on Libraries
Rod Wagner
reported that the last State Advisory Council on Libraries met on Monday,
July 10, at North Platte High School. Patty Birch, NPHS librarian / media
specialist and SACL member, hosted the meeting. The meeting was well
attended. Cecelia Lawrence, North Platte Public Library Director, spoke
about library service related activities in North Platte including the need
for a new public library facility. The Council agreed to send letters to
members of the Legislature's Appropriations Committee to thank them for
their support of the Library Commission's mid-biennium budget request (2006
legislative session). The Council also approved a resolution to promote
competitive and affordable broadband internet services for rural areas and
libraries. The resolution addresses LB 645, enacted by the Legislature,
which prevents local governments and other public entities (public power
districts) from becoming internet service providers. The council appointed
a committee to work with Commission staff to devise a process to evaluate
Nebraska's LSTA program. The intention is to review the past five years.
The five-year evaluation report is due in March 2007. The five-year
evaluation also relates to Nebraska's LSTA Long Range Plan. The Advisory
Council will meet next on November 3 at Love Library, University of
Nebraska-Lincoln.
Trustee Projects
The Ad Hoc Committee that
Maggie Harding, Nebraska Library Association, formed to improve relations
between public library boards and their village/city elected officials, is
planning several regional meetings that will be called Dinner & Dialogue
sessions. This is to encourage library trustees and town council member
attendance. Tentative plans are holding these the third week of September
with locations of Fort Robinson or Chadron, North Platte, Norfolk and
Brownville. Martha Gadberry will be facilitating these sessions.
21st Century Librarians' Project
Ten scholarships for students involved in master's degree in library science
programs have been approved. The mentoring part of the project is moving
forward with a group recruited to work with students involved in library
science education programs. Cynthia Taylor, who is working on this project,
has shown the library career video to high school and college students and
at regional library system annual meetings to get feedback for the program.
The final version is expected to be ready to show at the NLA-NEMA conference
in October.
ALA Conference
Rod Wagner and a few other NLC
staff attended the June conference in New Orleans. Former U.S. Secretary of
State Madaline Albright spoke at the opening session. First Lady Laura Bush
was at the conference and spoke at a program about school libraries. There
were many author sessions, including a panel discussion of the effects of
the hurricane on the people, culture and future of New Orleans. Conference
attendance was good and the facilities and services were more than adequate.
Gates Foundation Grants
Funds were recently
distributed to libraries that were identified in high poverty level
communities for hardware upgrades and replacements.
Richard Miller is working on the Internet Activity
grants to identify and offer help to about 60 libraries that either
currently do not have an internet connection or are using a dial-up
connection. The grants will help them pay for high speed internet
connections. The new Technology Innovation Librarian position will
initially be funded from Gates Foundation grant funds. There is hope that
the Gates Foundation will continue its support for libraries. The state
library agencies across the country intend to approach the Foundation to
propose goals and strategies for continuation of the foundation's support
for library services.
Outside the Borders Project
The Outside the
Borders project is administered by the Illinois State Library through an
Institute of Museum and Library Services national leadership grant. The
Illinois State Library asked Nebraska and Arizona to participate in this
project. The project will bring librarians from outside the United States to
visit, study and learn about U.S. libraries. The expected date for the
institute to come to Nebraska is fall 2007 with perhaps about 20
international librarians participating. The Illinois program has had
librarians from Columbia, Chile, other South American countries, Japan,
Russia, and other European countries. For the Nebraska visit, the
international librarians will be matched with an equal number of Nebraska
librarians according to their patron base (i.e. urban communities, rural
communities, public and academic). The Mortenson Center at the University
of Illinois Urbana-Champaign is the primary group leading this project. The
Mortenson Center specializes in working with librarians from other
countries. The Nebraska Library Commission will receive funding from the
grant to support project activities in Nebraska.
FINANCIAL REPORT
The fiscal year ended June 30 without any financial
difficulties. The May and June financial reports were included in the
meeting packet.
UNFINISHED BUSINESS
There was no unfinished business to report.
NEW BUSINESS
2007-2009 Biennium Budget Planning Process - Rod Wagner
presented an outline of factors and issues for consideration in the
preparation of the Library Commission's biennium budget request. There are
three major parts to the budget request. One part requires cost estimates
for continuing agency services at their current level. A second component
includes description of a new service initiative or expansion of a current
service, the basis or need, and a justification for the requested funds. A
third part is the modification requirement. Agencies must specify and
describe services that would be reduced or eliminated if state funds are
reduced to 95% of the current year appropriation level. The Commission's
LSTA funds have increased over the past few years and there is the
possibility for additional funds in the coming year. That's far from
certain, though, and won't be known prior to submission of the budget
request in September.
Dave Oertli reported that the Talking Book & Braille
Service will be converting to digital media from cassettes and there will be
some expense for equipment needs. The National Talking Book Program will
still be distributing new books on cassettes with flash memory formatted
books being introduced in 2008. By the year 2011, all new books will be
flash memory only. The studios and tape duplication areas currently have
digital equipment and can convert recordings to cassette for circulation.
Equipment needs for the FY2007-2009 biennium include $3,000 for the studios
and $4,000 for updates to the cassette duplicators. Another cost will be
the flash memory cartridges which currently cost $10.00 each, and the
estimation needed for the first phase of conversion is 4,000 cartridges for
this biennium and several thousand per year after that for the sizeable
collection of magazines and books recorded at the Commission.
Rod Wagner reported that a request will be proposed for
the biennium budget request to increase funding for NebraskAccess similar to
a request two years ago for added electronic resources that will be
available to all types of libraries, home use, public and private schools,
colleges and universities. An increase in state aid to public libraries
will also be proposed that will be used as incentives for libraries to
achieve the enhanced and excellent levels in the Guidelines for Public
Library Accreditation. Another request is included to supplement scholarship
funding for library science students.
Election of Chair
A motion was made and
seconded for the election of John Dale to the position of Chair. Motion
carried on a roll call vote: Patrick Gross - aye; Velma Sims-Shipley - aye;
Carol Spencer - aye; Jean Ahrens - aye; John Dale - abstain.
Election of Vice-Chair
A motion was made and
seconded for the election of Mary Nelson to the position of Vice-Chair.
Motion carried on a roll call vote: Velma Sims-Shipley-aye; Carol Spencer -
aye; Jean Ahrens - aye; John Dale - aye; Patrick Gross - aye.
Out-of-State Travel Request
Rod Wagner
requested approval to attend the Chief Officers of State Library Agencies
meeting in Little Rock, Arkansas, October 1-3, 2006 and the Western Council
of State Libraries meeting in Honolulu, Hawaii, October 15-17, 2006. A
motion was made and seconded to approve these travel requests. Motion
carried on a roll call vote: Carol Spencer - aye; Jean Ahrens - aye; John
Dale - aye; Patrick Gross - aye, Velma Sims-Shipley - aye.
September and November Commission Meetings
The next Commission meeting will be held Thursday, September 7, 2006 at the
Nebraska Library Commission office. The November meeting will be a joint
meeting with the State Advisory Council and will be held Friday, November 3rd
at the UNL Love Library.
Adjournment
Chair Sims-Shipley adjourned the meeting at 11:40 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.