Nebraska Library Commission - Minutes
Nebraska Library Commission
November 4, 2005
MINUTES
The Nebraska Library Commission held its regular meeting
Friday, November 4, 2005, 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 Homepage.
Chair Velma Sims-Shipley called the meeting to order at
9:30 a.m. Members present: John Dale, Mary Nelson, Velma Sims-Shipley, and
Carol Spencer. Staff present: Rod Wagner, and Maria Medrano-Nehls.
Approval of Agenda:
A motion was made to approve
the agenda. Motion carried on roll call vote: John Dale - aye; Mary Nelson -
aye; Velma Sims-Shipley - aye; and Carol Spencer - aye; Motion approved.
Approval of the Minutes (Sept. 9, 2005):
A motion
was made to approve the September 2005 meeting minutes. Motion carried on roll
call vote: Mary Nelson - aye; Velma Sims-Shipley - aye; Carol Spencer - aye;
and John Dale - aye. Motion approved.
PUBLIC FORUM
There was no public comment.
Correspondence and Communication
Rod Wagner noted a letter received from Lieutenant
Governor Rick Sheehy regarding the Nebraska Information Technology Commission
(NITC). The letter highlighted the August NITC meeting. Sheehy's letter
mentions the results from the joint meeting of the State Government,
Education, and Community Councils and the Technical Panel. The joint meeting
resulted in a set of priority policy issues for further exploration. Those
attending the meeting were invited to participate in work groups organized to
address the priority policy issues. Rod expressed interest in having Library
Commission representation in two of the policy issues work groups.
Chair's Report and Commissioners' Comments
Velma Sims-Shipley reported that the Fremont public
library contracted with a printing company to publish a small newspaper called
the Book Page. The paper costs $2,400 per year for 1000 copies per
month and features articles about books, authors and library services. Laura
England is the new Assistant Director at the Fremont public library. Fremont
also had a new wireless network installed.
Carol Spencer reported that Broken Bow residents will be
voting on a local sales tax increase.
John Dale reported that the Lincoln City Libraries board
held a meeting on September 20th regarding a new main library. The
board used the new Seattle public library as a model for discussion. The
Seattle library is considered a destination library not just a place to get a
book. Seattle's new library indicates that a downtown library can help keep a
city's downtown area alive and have an economic effect. John attended both
days of the NLA/NEMA conference and felt this was one of the finest
conferences held by the two associations. John recently attended a Southeast
Library System board meeting and found it most interesting. The Lincoln City
Libraries is considering a wireless network and is studying the booking system
for the computer labs.
Mary Nelson reported that she too enjoyed the NLA/NEMA
conference. She attended the session on sales tax and learned that Holdrege's
library has not been following the appropriate measures at their booksale.
Because of what she learned the Friends group held its book sale and asked for
free will donations instead of a set price. They made three times more than
they ever had before. Mary recently visited the Lexington public library and
will help move books to the new library. Holdrege public library is currently
working on a long range plan.
Director's Report
Rod Wagner reported that he was in McCook recently for a
meeting with the McCook public library foundation board. The McCook library
foundation received a gift of one million dollars for a library expansion. At
the meeting, one of the board members mentioned that the McCook city attorney
told library representatives that they can't sell library books because the
books are public property. John Dale said Lincoln has to make special
arrangements with the city surplus office for its book sales.
NLA/NEMA Conference - Rod Wagner reported that several
Commission staff members gave presentations at the conference. The Commission
sponsored Martha Choe as one of the conference keynote speakers. Choe is
Executive Director of the Foundation's Global Library Program. Choe visited
the Greenwood public library while in Nebraska and also talked with several
rural public librarians at a breakfast meeting that was arranged with the help
of Richard Miller and Pam Scott. Beth Goble is the NLA president-elect. One of
her duties is to co-chair the conference program committee. Beth has already
arranged for one of next year's keynote speakers - Nancy Pearl. Ms. Pearl is
well known and a popular speaker and author. She's a former Seattle public
library librarian and is frequently heard on National Public Radio. Nancy is
the person who initiated the city-wide book discussion program - "Seattle
Reads."
Consumer Health Information Symposium - Rod Wagner
reported that the Nebraska Library Commission, University of Nebraska Medical
Center Library of Medicine, and Nebraska Health & Human Services System are
partnering to host a consumer health information symposium in North Platte.
Libraries were invited to organize teams composed of representatives from the
public library, hospital, and other community organizations involved in health
related activities with the idea that through the symposium they would
initiate a local consumer health information project. It was noted that health
topics are the most sought information on the internet and at libraries.
One Book - One Nebraska - Rod Wagner reported that the
Nebraska Library Commission and the Nebraska Humanities Council co-hosted a
lunch meeting on August 23 for people involved in the One Book - One Nebraska
project during the past year. The meeting was held to thank the Cather
Foundation for its initiative and leadership in starting the statewide book
discussion project. The meeting was also intended to share ideas about a
future One Book - One Nebraska project. As a result of the meeting, the Mari
Sandoz Society has expressed interest in leading the project in 2007, possibly
using Mari Sandoz's book Crazy Horse for reading and discussion. The
Southeast Library System is interested in facilitating a 2006 statewide book
discussion.
Nebraska Book Festival - Rod Wagner reported that the
book festival was held in Lincoln last month (October 7 & 8). The festival was
well attended. Many came to hear Ted Kooser's keynote presentation. Bill
Kloefkorn was the luncheon speaker and was the recipient of the Mildred
Bennett Award. Nebraska Wesleyan University representatives have expressed
interest in continuing to have a role in the book festival. The Nebraska
Center for the Book has decided to select a permanent location for the
festival instead of moving it around to different locations. A recommendation
has been made that the festival be held in Lincoln the next three years.
State Advisory Council on Libraries - Rod Wagner reported
that the State Advisory Council on Libraries will meet at the Commission on
November 18. The agenda includes a report and discussion of the recruitment
and retention project, financial aid needs for library science education,
topics and issues for 2006 and discussion of future Gates Foundation grant
projects.
NETV/NLC Project - Rod Wagner reported that the Nebraska
Library Commission has worked with Nebraska Educational Telecommunications and
a few other organizations on a poetry program featuring Ted Kooser and other
Nebraska poets. Nebraska Educational Telecommunications produced the program
and it will be previewed at a screening at the Ross Theatre in Lincoln on
November 17. The program will be aired on NET in early December. A DVD of the
program and a poster will be sent to Nebraska schools and libraries. The DVD
includes discussion guides for use in junior and senior high schools.
Public Library Accreditation - Rod Wagner reported that
174 of the 275 public libraries have met the accreditation guidelines. This
number is up from the 165 libraries accredited last year.
COSLA and Western Council of State Libraries Meetings -
Rod Wagner reported that COSLA met in Salem, Oregon in mid-September. The
meeting was hosted by the Oregon State Library. Martha Choe from the Gates
Foundation spoke about the Foundation's programs and plans. The meeting
included a half day program on emergent literacy - library programs for
children to encourage and support early childhood education. Children and
young adult service librarians from the area spoke about different programs
they are providing.
Thinking Outside the Borders - Rod Wagner reported that
the Illinois State Library asked the Nebraska Library Commission and Arizona
State Library to partner with them in an Institute of Museum and Library
Services grant application for a project titled "Thinking Outside the Borders
- Library Leadership in a World Community." The project intends to bring
librarians from different countries and cultures together to promote greater
understanding and appreciation of the world community in which librarians
work. The Nebraska Library Commission is scheduled to host the Thinking
Outside the Borders institute in 2007.
Library Boards - Town Councils/ Village Boards - Rod
Wagner reported that the League of Nebraska Municipalities is considering
introduction of legislation again to allow town councils and village boards
the option of making their library board an advisory board or eliminating the
library board and have the town council assume the library board's
responsibilities.
Financial Report
The September financial report was included in meeting
packets. The October report was provided at the meeting. Velma Sims-Shipley
asked about expenditures for temporary staff and how often temporaries are
used. Rod Wagner replied that temporary personnel are sometimes employed when
a staff member is absent for an extended period of time, or in the event of a
special project. The Commission also has a temporary who works a few hours a
month helping with publications. Rod stated that travel expenses will be
higher because vehicle mileage reimbursement expenses will continue due to an
increase in reimbursement rates. Health insurance expenses will also increase
20% for both state employees and state agencies. The new federal fiscal year
began October 1st, but the LSTA appropriation has not been
determined for the fiscal year.
Unfinished Business
Library License Plate - Rod Wagner reported that a
handout with information from other states that have library license plates
was distributed before the meeting. Beverly Neth, Director of the Nebraska
Dept. of Motor Vehicles, provided information about specialty license plates
in Nebraska. In Nebraska, specialty plates must be authorized through state
legislation. The DMV is willing to work with anyone who wishes to request that
a specialty license plate be authorized. A portion of the revenue on the
specialty plate is allocated back to the organization. It was asked that this
topic be placed on the January agenda.
New Business
State Aid Formula - Rod Wagner reported that the state
aid payment formula needs to be adjusted to correspond to the funds
appropriated for the state aid to public libraries program. Information about
the program and the proposed formula were included in the Commission meeting
packets. Kit Keller's recommended that the break-off point be set at the 8,000
service population level. A factor is that in using the 5,000 service
population (previous formula), there is a small number of libraries that would
receive less than if the 8,000 population break-off point is used. A motion
was made to change the state aid formula using the 8,000 service population as
a break-off point for the base grant. Libraries serving populations less than
8,000 will receive a base payment plus a per capita payment. Motion carried on
roll call vote: Velma Sims-Shipley - aye; Carol Spencer - aye; John Dale -
aye; and Mary Nelson - aye. Motion approved.
Deficiency Appropriation Request - Rod Wagner reported on
a meeting with Glenda Willnerd from the Lincoln Public Schools and Gail
Formanack from the Omaha Public Schools. The meeting concerned a proposed
change in the Nebraska Department of Education's rules that will require all
public schools to have available for students an encyclopedia published within
the past five years. The encyclopedia can be in either hard-copy form or
electronic and accessible via network access. The rule change also requires
schools to purchase a set minimum of new books each year. The Commission has
wanted an encyclopedia offered for statewide use as part of the electronic
resources available through NebraskAccess. A budget deficiency request was
submitted to meet the DAS Budget Division's deadline for submitting requests.
The request was submitted in the amount of $325,000. This amount would cover
the estimated cost of the encyclopedia license and a few supplemental
electronic resources appropriate for use in grades K-8. The license would
provide for statewide coverage for use in schools, libraries and homes. A
motion was made to approve the deficiency appropriation request. Motion
carried on roll call vote: Carol Spencer - aye; John Dale - aye; Mary Nelson -
aye; and Velma Sims-Shipley - aye. Motion approved.
2006 Meeting Schedule - Rod Wagner suggested that the
Commission meetings continue to be held the 2nd Friday of the month
except for January. Future meeting dates are: January 6, 2006, March 10, 2006
and May 12, 2006.
Adjournment
Chair Velma Sims-Shipley adjourned the meeting at 11:05 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.