OREGON STATE LIBRARY
BOARD OF TRUSTEES MEETING
June 17, 2005
Tigard Public Library
Tigard, Oregon
Staff present: Jim Scheppke, Robin Speer, MaryKay Dahlgreen, Lee Rengert
Visitors: Ruthanne Lidman from TPL Board, Eva Calcagno from Washington County Cooperative Library Services, Barbara O’Neill from Washington County Cooperative Library Services, and Gary Sharp from the LSTA Advisory Council.
Chair Sullivan called the meeting to order at 9:45 am.
Minutes from the April 22, 2005 Board meeting were approved by the Chair.
The Executive Committee met on May 23, 2005. The minutes from the meeting were mailed to each Board member. The Nominating Committee met by phone and email. The committee members were Herbert, Hayden and Sullivan. The committee nominated Jim Hayden as Chair and Doug Henrichs as Vice-chair. No other nominees were presented. The Board voted unanimously to approve the recommendation of the committee.
Sullivan stated that one responsibility of the Vice-chair is to approve the time sheets and travel expense reports of the State Librarian. Henrichs will review the records for the past year and give a report at the August Board meeting.
Hayden reported that a press release was published in the American Libraries magazine regarding the promotion of MaryKay Dahlgreen to Program Manager for the Library Development Team.
Herbert reported that the library foundation board in Douglas County created a donor list years ago that resides at the library and is made available to all non-profit organizations for a small fee. It is a popular resource and options are being pursued for on-going ways to fund and maintain the resource.
Henrichs stated that a financial resource for small town libraries is to reach out to citizens who grew up in the community and moved elsewhere. This was a successful strategy for Milton-Freewater.
Sullivan reported that he and Scheppke attended the Sesquicentennial Planning meeting in Salem that is planning events for a commemoration of Oregon’s statehood in 2009. A possible activity for involvement by libraries is to have 1000 blank journals available at libraries across the state. Patrons could check out and write about day-to-day activities. The journals could be collected and displayed at the Oregon State Fair.
REPORTS OF THE STATE LIBRARIAN AND STAFF
Scheppke reported that the OSL Budget is still in process with two bills having passed in the House and Senate. The documents repository bill, HB 2118, the tribal libraries bill, HB 2674, and HB 2916 that eliminates the maintenance of effort provisions of the Ready to Read Grant program have all passed in the legislature. The assessment language clean-up bill, SB 577, is currently in the House Subcommittee on Education. Nan Heim learned from the chair of the committee that it will probably be passed out of committee soon. Representative Greg Smith’s idea to use an economic development grant fund as a resource for small town library facility up-grades will need research and preparation for possible recommendation to the Governor for the 2007 Legislative session.
In Talking Book and Braille Services (TBABS) Susan Westin has been promoted to be the new Program Manager effective August 1, 2005. The Government Research and Electronic Services (GRES) team registered 835 new state agency users in the month of May.
In Library Development, OSL has signed a five-year price agreement with NewsBank for the Oregonian database, to include a provision allowing participation by tribal libraries. Library Development sponsored two training sessions: Gates Train-the-Trainer and “Five Star Presentations.”
In Administration, Scheppke reported working with a group of public librarians to create a consortium to share a collection of downloadable audiobooks, working with OverDrive, Inc. The group includes public libraries from Multnomah County, Eugene, Salem, Washington County, Clackamas County, Jackson County, and Deschutes County.
Scheppke attended an interagency meeting with the Oregon Library Association (OLA) President-elect Leah Griffith to discuss how libraries can assist with the enrollment process for the new Medicare Prescription Drug Coverage which begins January 1, 2006. The plan involves registering over 500,000 eligible Oregonians within eight months. Libraries are being considered as a venue for meetings to educate the public, and register on the Web. Volunteers will be on hand to assist with the registration.
Recruitments to fill four librarian positions will begin this month. Yvonne Williams has been re-appointed to the Board of Trustees for a second term. Two candidates from Jackson County are being considered by the Governor’s staff to fill the vacancy left by Herbert. This decision may occur in the next few weeks.
Upcoming events include the exhibit of Photographs of the Columbia River and Oregon by Carleton Watkins to be at OSL July 11 through September 16, 2005, and the COSLA annual meeting of State Librarians to be held September 11-13, 2005.
The budget reports and quarterly performance reports begin on page 11 in the Board packet.
OPEN FORUM
Sullivan welcomed Eva Calagno and Barbara O’Neil from the Washington County Cooperative Library Services, and Ruthanne Lidman from TPL Board.
NEW BUSINESS:
Gary Sharp, representing the LSTA Advisory Council, reported that the Council met on May 20, 2005, and developed three recommendations to the Board relating to the LSTA grant program.
Libraries and other organizations submitted 22 new project proposals for FFY 2006 LSTA funding, and five current grantees submitted proposals for the next phases of their multi-year projects. The Council reviewed, discussed, and scored the proposals according to evaluation criteria. Based on the average scores, the Council made a determination about which projects to recommend for invitations for full grant applications. The Council recommends the Board invite 13 organizations to submit new grant applications.
The Board requested an explanation of the evaluation process. Sharp reported that each project was scored individually by each council member on a scale of 1 to 5 per criteria, with a total of five criteria. The members also indicated to “invite” or “do not invite” for each proposed project. A decision was made to recommend not inviting all proposed projects that received eight or more “do not invite” votes. The Newport application was not on the list due to the fact they received the needed funding from another source and withdrew their proposal. The Council is cautious not to use grant money to replace tax funding that should be handled locally. Feedback from the evaluation is provided for each applicant. The LSTA Advisory Council meeting minutes and all the Council comments are sent to each applicant. OSL provides workshops on LSTA grant writing at OLA meetings as well as individual help on-line and by phone. Scheppke stated there continues to be a need to provide clear guidelines and assistance for school library projects. Workshop programs have been presented at OEMA.
The LSTA Advisory Council recommends that $3,000 be budgeted to update and reprint 1,200 copies of the Handbook for Trustees of Oregon Public Libraries. The Board inquired as to where it currently is included in the budget. Scheppke responded that it would fall under “OSL Consulting Programs and Administration.”
The Board asked for clarification in the table on page 21 on two new projects that seem to be returning projects. Oregon Literacy, Inc. and National College of Naturopathic Medicine Library projects were considered along with the new proposals and the Council decided that an additional year would allow the projects to be completed.
The Board asked for clarification regarding the city of Oakridge request for funds to purchase computers before the city has committed to building a new library. Sharp replied that the Council felt that the planning for this project was incomplete. Also, the Council recommends that the city of Oakridge seek other sources for funding computers for a new building, such as from foundations.
The Oregon State University Libraries application does not indicate an in-kind contribution from OSU. Scheppke noted that OSU did not complete the form correctly, but that they do have in-kind contributions for this project. Sharp added that this project may be helpful for many libraries across the state. OSU proposes to create open source software and give it away to libraries at no cost.
The Board asked for clarification regarding the applications from the communities of Spray and Fossil. Scheppke responded that we funded a grant to Eastern Oregon University that would have added the Fossil library to the Pioneer Library System. In the meantime the Fossil library closed. The grant was changed to not include Fossil. We made a special grant to the Jefferson County Library District to study annexing Wheeler County. Fossil has indicated they do not want to join with Spray and Mitchell in a county library. Spray asked if they could go ahead and apply with an option to add Fossil in the future. Mitchell and Spray are currently in the Pioneer Library System and are interested in beginning a county library by pooling their resources. Fossil is not interested in participating at this time, although there is a group in Fossil that may be interested.
Sharp reported on an additional recommendation to grant the request from OEMA for a renewal of their grant to support the Oregon School Library Information System (OSLIS) project. The results of an email vote of the Council members was 9 in favor, 1 no vote, and 2 abstaining.
Hayden moved to accept all three recommendations from the LSTA Advisory Council and the request from OEMA regarding the OSLIS grant. Williams seconded. The motion passed unanimously.
Scheppke reported that the TBABS Advisory Council met on May 26, 2005, but did not have a quorum. However, the Council members present were briefed on two items of business and they gave feedback and suggestions to the staff. The TBABS Annual Donation Expenditure Plan for Program Enhancements and Solicitation and the TBABS Expenditure Cash Flow Analysis are presented on pages 33-36. Regarding the Internet Radio-Reading Information System (IRIS), the Board inquired as to how the cost compares to satellite service. The cost is about the same but with less choices. This is a more attractive alternative for older blind patrons. Regarding the Oregon Talking Book Project, Scheppke reported that the cost is about $2,000 per book to get a good quality digital talking book. The books will become a part of the national collection. Regarding Temporary Clerical Support, we may be able to interest interns and students from the Siletz and Grande Ronde Tribes, possibly generating long term interest in library careers. The Council members present were favorable to the State Librarian’s recommendations.
Henrichs moved to adopt the TBABS annual donation expenditure plan. Turner seconded. The motion passed unanimously.
Scheppke presented a recommendation that the Board authorize him to enter into a contract with the Utah State Library for Braille book service, from July 1, 2005 through June 30, 2007, and take other steps necessary to implement the staff plan to partner with the Utah State Library in providing Braille book services to TBABS patrons. We will continue to handle all customer service work for our patrons. Delivery time will take two days longer for our patrons. An advantage for our patrons is that the Utah State Library has the largest collection of Braille books in the world. Patrons that use a profile of their interests for selecting Braille books will no longer have that service. We will work with them to develop a list of books to meet their interests. Scheppke has received the support for this change from the major consumer organizations in the state. The TBABS staff has done an outstanding job with developing an action plan. A press release is ready to be sent out to newsletters, the Oregon State Penitentiary has agreed to send a work crew to box up the Braille books for shipping. The Braille books will be removed from shelves to avoid any rent payment. A few hundred of the books have been selected by Utah State Library. We need to offer all others to other regional libraries for the blind. Once we make this change, it is most likely non-reversible. Henrichs moved to approve the recommendation. Hayden seconded. The motion passed unanimously.
Rengert presented a recommendation for the Board to approve the proposed procedure, documents, and timeline for the annual evaluation of the State Librarian, pages 37-48. Williams moved to accept the recommendation. Hayden seconded. The motion passed unanimously.
Sullivan proposed to change the meeting location for the next two Board meetings. The schedule will be August 12, 2005 in Salem, and October 21, 2005 in Milton-Freewater. The Board Retreat will be December 8, 2005, and the Board meeting on December 9, 2005 both in Salem. The Board approved the changes.
The meeting adjourned at 12:40 pm.