District Advisory Council Minutes
August 17, 2016
The meeting was held at the Wyalusing Public Library with the following in attendance:
Barbara McGary / James V. Brown Library and District AdministratorMary Campbell / Bradford County Library System
Alan Miller / Sullivan County Library
Josh Hudson / District
Diane Whitaker / Annie Halenbake Ross Library
June Houghtaling / District
Kathy Butler / Hughesville Area Public Library
Lydia Kegler / Bloomsburg Public Library
Leslie Wishard, / Potter Tioga Library System/Green Free Library
Jill Fecker / Degenstein Community Library
Ed Oberholtzer / Thomas Beaver Free Library
The meeting opened at 10:10 by June Houghtaling with Lydia Kegler, Chairperson.
Approval of Minutes
· The May 18, 2016 minutes were approved by Kathy Butler and Ed Oberholtzer.
State Updates
· County plans will be due Monday, October 17, 2016. Libraries should be receiving plans and templates. Coordination aid for 2016/2017 will remain the same amount as 2015/2016. No major changes are expected.
· The district received $3,000 dollars for STEM Maker kits from an LSTA grant that will be available for district libraries to use. They include the DASH Robot, Solar Rover, a Salt Powered Robot , a Creator Zone Tool Kit, a Forensics set and an Ozobot. A full list will be provided. They may be borrowed for on e month through ILL at James V. Brown.
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PALA Updates
· PA Forward will be launched statewide in October at the PaLA conference. New memory wristbands with new and edited material will be issued. The program will run for the calendar year from January through December 2017. Pilot libraries should be good for three years. June will be presenting at the conference on PA Forward on Tuesday afternoon of the conference. The biggest change is that submissions will be made through the PA Forward website and not through email.
· The new executive director for PaLA is Christi Buker . Brandi Hunter-Davenport will be in charge of PA Forward. As the project manager.
· PR marketing and media kits will be available. September is civic awareness month, October focuses on anti-bullying and November/December focuses on family history.
· West Branch is creating virtual programs where they use Zoom Pro to tape presentations which will be available online.
District Updates
· The District received 2 LSTA grants for continuing education. Over twenty people attended the Board of Trustees training with Pat Wagner. Extra materials form the program was dispersed to the libraries. Communication in the Workplace with Dr. Kass from Bloomsburg University was offered twice this summer once in June and August.
· Book repair workshops with Laura Spencer will be offered throughout the district. A workshop will be offered in Blossburg for Potter/Tioga and Sullivan Counties. Bradford County is scheduled for September 30, 2016 and one for Sunbury will be scheduled for October.
· The Continuing Education Committee will meet on August 23, 2016 at 1:00 pm.
· STEAM workshops are being planned for this fall.
· Josh Hudson was introduced. He is the new district IT person and can be reached at jhudson@jvbrown,edu.
· The Summer Reading survey is now open.
· The district received notification that they will receive $8000.00 less this year and are making adjustments to ensure that all services are still provided.
· The Friends Institute will be held on October 8, 2016 at the Grantville Holiday Inn with Sarah Jane Lowry being the keynote speaker. Further information will be released soon.
· A list of leadership and executive education programs that Bloomsburg University can conduct was provided. The committee will prioritize the list in order to offer the programs that best meet the needs of member libraries.
Library News
· Lock Haven completed their second year of their LEGO Robotics program and it went very well. They also had a 4 day book sale which raised $5000.00 . They also shared some PA Forward success stories.
· In Tioga County they completed the hiring of directors for all their libraries.
· At the Thomas Beaver Free Library they have a program that focuses on reluctant male readers being mentored by area teachers. Thirty students participated this year.
· Degenstein Community Library offered programming everyday this summer for children.
· Sullivan County is looking to purchase tablets or AWES for the children’s area.
· James V.Brown held a successful PM Exchange through the Chamber of Commerce with over 200 people attending.
Next Meeting: Wednesday, October 12, 2016, 10AM at the Rudy Gelnett Memorial Library in
Selinsgrove.