October 2006 - Commission Meeting Minutes

                            
Date:  October 16, 2006                                                                                                              Location: State Library of Iowa
11:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m.
East 12th and Grand
Des Moines, IA                                                                                               
Present:  Dale Ross, Jann Freed, Frank Sposeto, Monica Gohlinghorst, Dan Boice, Rita Martens, and David Boyd

Absent:  Pam Bradley

Guests:  Kim Kietzman, Administrator, Southeastern Library Services

Staff:  Mary Wegner, Annette Wetteland, Sandy Dixon, Barbara Corson, Steve Cox, Katherine Von Wald and Carol Simmons

1.0   Set Agenda

The agenda was set with one change.  A new item A was added to 7.0, Discussion Items:  “Key Challenges and Emerging Issues.”  Budget request update became item B and Town Meetings review item C.

2.0   Approve Minutes

        Freed moved to approve minutes, Sposeto seconded.  Motion carried

3.0   Financial Report

Cox reported that both state and federal budgets are on target for the year.  He provided a list of Iowa EBSCOhost library participants.  The financial report was accepted as reported.

4.0   Communications

     A.  Special Reports        

          1.  Iowa Center for the Book update – Katherine Von Wald, Coordinator

Von Wald reported that the 2007 All Iowa Reads (AIR) book was announced at the Iowa Library Association (ILA) Conference on October 13.  It is Splendid Solution:  Jonas Salk and the Conquest of Polio by Jeffrey Kluger. This is the first non-fiction AIR selection and also the first time AIR book does not have a specific Iowa or Midwest connection.  The selection committee feels that the book lends itself well to many discussion topics.   An ICN session with Dale Ross and Christie Vilsack reviewing the book will be held in January.  Von Wald reported that Letters About Literature (LAL) forms were sent to teachers and librarians.  Iowa judges this year are Level I:  Jerri Heid, Katherine Perkins, Marjorie Thomas, and Jan Busby; Level II:  Paula James, Pete Muir, and Jeannie Sheldon; and Level III:  Vicki Goldsmith, Debra Marquart, and Marcia Thompson.  She and Wetteland had a display about LAL at the Iowa Talented and Gifted conference in October.  The Center for the Book Web site will be moving to PLONE by the end of 2007.
 
     B.       Commission Reports

Boyd gave Commissioners a brochure titled “2006 Judicial Voter Guide” that contains information on Iowa’s judicial retention elections.  He noted the brochure is also available online.

Gohlinghorst reported attending a session with author Sara Paretsky.  She said she’d also met with ILA lobbyists Amy Campbell and Craig Patterson.

Martens said she is on a committee studying early literacy achievement.  She is also on the committee to plan standards for teacher-librarians.

Freed noted that Robin Martin, director of the Central College library in Pella, had been named ILA’s member of the year at the October conference in Council Bluffs.

Ross announced that Pam Bradley has resigned from the Commission.  Her resignation has been accepted and Wegner is working with the governor’s appointments staff person to fill the vacancy.

Ross said he thought there was a good turnout for the ILA conference.  He noted that keynote speaker Michael Stephens’ focus on the need for libraries to use new technology to connect with youth in their community was good.  He mentioned that the conference will be held in Coralville next year.

     C.  State Librarian’s Report

Corson reported that she, Wetteland and Beth Henning staffed the Iowa booth at the National Book Festival in Washington, D.C. where they greeted and provided Iowa information to thousands of visitors.  The Ombudsman’s Office in the Ola Babcock Miller Building hosted the National Ombudsman’s Association conference in Des Moines this year.  State Library staff gave many of the participants a tour of the building.  Corson said they were very impressed by the building.

Dixon informed the commission that today was the first of 28 PLOW (Putting Libraries on the Web) training workshops being presented around the state.  She also reported that Judy Jones, State Library consultant, is retiring at the end of the year and that her position will be filled.  Dixon said she recently participated in a roundtable discussion with members of the Iowa League of Cities in Coralville.  Wegner thanked Dixon for her work with the League saying it is a very positive collaboration.

Wegner reported that long-time law librarian, Linda Robertson, is retiring in December.  Current law librarians Mandy Easter and Cory Quist will be joined by Margaret Noon, library resources technician.

     D.  Library Service Areas Report -    Kim Kietzman, Southeastern Library Services

Kietzman told the Commission she had been administrator for SLSA for four and a half months and is very excited about her job.  She summarized her work with public libraries in her area.  She said she was grateful for the opportunity to attend the Iowa Library Association Leadership Institute last summer, which the State Library helped fund with a federal Library Services and Technology ACT grant.

5.0   Public Comment

None

6.0   Action Items

     A.  Appointment of Trustee to Southeastern Library Services Board

Dixon presented the application of Paulette Groet, from the Oskaloosa Public Library, for the Southeastern Library Services board of trustees.    Gohlinghorst moved to appoint her to the board, and Boice seconded. Motion carried.

     B.  Appointment of Commission of Libraries representative to Iowa Library Association Foundation

Ross, who is currently serving as the Commission’s representative to the Iowa Library Association Foundation, said that his appointment is effective until October 2007.  He also pointed out that the Commission’s representative to ILAF is not required to be serving as a member of the Commission of Libraries.  No action was needed.

7.0   Discussion Items

     A.      Key Challenges and Emerging Issues

Wegner said that she has been asked to write a brief document summarizing State Library key challenges and emerging issues, as part of a packet of transition materials being put together for the new governor.  She asked Commissioners for their ideas.  Suggestions included rapid changes in technology and the increased need for training and assistance for both staff and customers;  the wide variation in levels of local funding of libraries, which presents resource sharing challenges; under funding of Open Access and Access Plus which threatens library resource sharing;  the lingering perception by many that libraries are obsolete and no longer used and the need to change the image of libraries;  the graying of the library profession;  library privacy and intellectual freedom issues; state demographics and increasing financial stress on some smaller counties and small communities; how to promote information literacy for all Iowans; and State Library budget cuts which have made the State Library too dependent on federal funding for key programs.

     B.       State Library Budget Request Update

Wegner reviewed the budget requests for Enrich Iowa funding and for the State Library operating budget, which she has submitted to the Department of Management for the development of the governor’s budget proposal.  The governor’s office instructed all departments to request no more than modest increases.  Wegner requested an increase of $250,000 for Enrich Iowa funding, which would raise the Open Access reimbursement level from approximately 30 cents to 35 cents per transaction.  The Enrich Iowa budget request once again identified the goal of funding all of Enrich Iowa with general fund dollars, rather than partially from the general fund and partially from the Rebuild Iowa Infrastructure Fund.  Wegner requested an increase of $260,000 for the State Library operating budget.  The additional funds would be used to upgrade the State Data Center Web pages and to purchase additional e-library resources for Iowa libraries.  The State Library’s current budget is 15% less than its FY01 budget; if approved, the $260,000 would return the State Library to its FY01 funding level.

     C.       Review of Town Meetings

Dixon reported that seven Town Meetings were held in September with approximately 350 people attending.  Ross endorsed the importance of Town Meetings and the good relationships they build between the state and public libraries.  Dixon said the information and needs of Iowa’s libraries gained from Town Meetings will be useful when the State Library writes its next Library Services and Technology Act plan in 2007.

8.0   Adjournment

Gohlinghorst moved to adjourn the meeting at 2:00 p.m. Boyd seconded.  Motion carried.

NEXT MEETING:  11:00 a.m., Monday, December 18, 2006.  State Ombudsman’s Office, Miller Building, 1st floor west.

Submitted by:  Carol Simmons