Draft General Meeting Minutes

COSLA

2005 Midwinter Meeting

Friday, January 14, 2005

Salem Athenaeum

Salem, Massachusetts

Draft General Meeting Minutes

Members Present:

Call to Order/Welcome

President Wells called the meeting to order at 1:00pm EST.

President’s Report – GladysAnn Wells

Wells reported that she and Rudd attended an ALA leadership meeting the previous night. The leadership meeting began about 10 years ago with only a few associations participating. Now all associations related to ALA participate. A listserve is being established for the executive directors and leadership of the participating organizations. The COSLA Board will participate on the list. During the meeting, six issues were identified as facing all of the organizations. The issues are advocacy, international relations, recruitment and retention of staff, diversity of staff, open access to information, and leadership development. All of the organizations will develop a description for each issue. A whitepaper will be written based on the descriptions. Members should send thoughts on the issues to Wells.

Wells reported she sent a letter to IMLS on behalf of COSLA regarding the appropriation of funds from museum services to library services in the LSTA. Bolt noted ALA would never request that funding be taken away from other services to be given to libraries.

Wells reported a letter was sent to NLS. The letter to NCES was not sent. Wells will work with J.D. Waggoner to draft the letter to NCES.

Wells reported she was unable to pull together a model legislationpiece from the legislation provided by different states because the legislation was too varied from state to state.

Wells reported COSLA received an invitation from Jose-Marie Griffiths,Dean of theSchool of Information and Library Science at theUniversity of North Carolina at Chapel Hill,to participate in a comprehensivestudy on the future of librarians in the workforce. The goal of the study is to develop an understanding of the future needs of the workforce, the current needs, and effective strategies for recruitment and retention of library staff. COSLA has been given a place on the Advisory Board of the study. Wells will sit on the Board. The first meeting of the Advisory Board will take place Monday from 2:00pm-5:00pm. Wells isn’t able to attend the meeting but Jane Kolbe will attend and will take notes. Wells will forward the notes to COSLA.

Wells reported the Board discussed the listserves at their meeting that morning and decided to have AMR bring a list of people on the listserve to every Annual Meeting. AMR can also provide the list to anyone that requests it. AMR will research to determine exactly how the listserves work and will get Wells or Nichols approval before posting an outside message to the listserves. Wells reminded liaisons that the organizations they serve should send all correspondences through them. Wells reminded the membership that if they copy someone on a message and a member hits “reply to all”, the subsequent message will go to everyone that was copied on the original message. Members should take this into consideration prior to copying someone on a message and when replying to a message.

Wells reported COSLA received an invitation through Parker to have a liaison to the National Forum on Information Literacy (NFIL). The Board established a liaison during their meeting earlier that day. Bolt reported she had been serving as the liaison. Either Bolt or Irene Padilla has been attending the meetings. The next meeting is January 28, 2005 in Washington, D.C. and neither Bolt nor Padilla can attend. Wells will appoint someone to serve as the liaison before Bolt retires in May and will find someone to attend the January meeting. COSLA members should let Wells or Nichols know if they are interested in serving as the liaison. NOTE: Suzanne Miller will serve as the NIFL liaison.

Wells reported ALA has created a Task Force to the Washington Conference on Aging. The next meeting of the task force meeting takes place today. Another meeting will take place at the summer meeting on Friday, June 24, 2005. The conference is at the end of October. Stephanie Gerding from Arizona will sit in on the meeting. Arizona is hosting one of the forums on February 25, 2005 and a hearing on March 15th. Rudd noted the Task Force’s chair is Allan Kleiman.

Members and guests were introduced. John Adams,Librarian of the Salem Athenaeum, gave a history of the Athenaeum.

Wells reported Amy Owen, former Utah State Librarian, is serving on the IMLS Board. Parker purchased a purse for members to put notes into to congratulate Owen on her appointment to the IMLS Board.

Bolt reported Brenda Hainer from the University of Colorado is conducting a survey on the social networking of State Librarians and the effect it has on library funding. The Colorado State Library is conducting a nationwide search for a new State Librarian. The person will be identified before Bolt leaves. Bolt shared some personal reflections about her time with COSLA. Nichols recognized Bolt for her commitment and leadership to COSLA and presented her with a gift.

Nichols recognized Smith for his service to COSLA and congratulated him on his move to IMLS. Smith was presented with a gift.

Wells recognized Heiser for her support of COSLA and presented her with a certificate in recognition of her efforts.

Nichols congratulated Joslin and Brandau on their new positions. Wells reported the Board decided to recognize retired members and invite them to send their contact information to AMR so they can be kept apprised of COSLA information. If members have contact information for retired members please forward the information to AMR. Boughton announced that former Wyoming State Librarian Wayne Johnson was elected to the Wyoming State Senate.

Report from the Secretary – Michael York

Yorkpresented the minutes from the October 2004 meeting. Yorkmoved to approve the minutes with one minor addition. Mulkey seconded the motion. Hearing no further discussion, Wells called for a vote. The motion passed.

Report from the Treasurer – Peggy Rudd

Rudd reported asurplus in the COSLA accounts. Tucker reported that finance reports are posted to the website after the Board approves the report.

Legislative Committee Report – Christie Brandau

Brandau reported the legislative committee approved a legislative agenda. Bolt shared the agenda with ALA’s legislative committee. Bolt reported ALA was pleased COSLA shared their legislative agenda with them. ALA’s legislative committee would like to have a State Librarian serve on the committee. ALA offered a few editorial commentson the agenda.

Brandau noted the committee discussed adding a bullet to the LSTA section of the legislative agenda that states “Support funding for strong and timely statistical information.” Parker voiced concerns that adding the bullet would lock COSLA into a position that supports NCES. Rudd explained that support of statistical information bullet resultedfromALA’sconcern that NCES may receive a $1.5 billion cut to its budget. If their budget is cut, library programs would probably be eliminated. The purpose of the bullet is to show COSLA’s support for a federally funded means of collecting of data. COSLA should be noted as supporting NCES because it currently is the only means of gathering the data. In the event the budget cut is passed, COSLA will want to demonstrate its support for NCES so library programs aren’t eliminated. There is no back up to NCES if the funding is lost. Wiggin suggested the bullet be placed under issues to monitor. Walsh noted the bullet could be covered under the “support the role of IMLS in library, recruitment, statistics and workforce development.” Parker noted 36 states are currently using private contractors to gather their statistical data. Chute noted that IMLS is not lobbying to take the program from NCES but IMLS is willing to be a back up in the event NCES looses funding. Yelich noted that since the issue is very important to COSLA members, a resolution should be passed in support of the gathering of statistical data. Veatch noted that COSLA considers it vitally important that the federal government be involved with the collection of the data. Bolt suggested COSLA both pass a resolution and include it in the legislative agenda. Brandau noted the support of statistical data is included on the fifth bullet of the COSLA legislative principles. Wegner noted because the legislative session is staring soon, COSLA needs to approve the legislative agenda as soon as possible. Brandau suggested the agenda be approved and any additional follow-up can be done at the May meeting. Brandau noted under issues to monitor, the HeadStart re-authorization will be added and the DO-IT program will be added under digitization. COSLA members agreed through a general consensus to adopt the legislative agenda.

Wegner reported ALA is concerned about LSTA funding and wants to remind everyone to talk to their Senators and Representatives, particularly Republicans. ALA hand deliveredletters to legislators regarding ALA Legislative Days. The State of the Union address is February 2 and the President’s budget will be announced February 6th. ALAis conducting a survey on the affects of the USA PATRIOT Act on libraries. The survey is confidential. All academic libraries received the survey. ALA is also working with a group of journalists on an event called Sunshine Week. The event recognizes that libraries and the media are critical to informing citizens on governmental issues.

Wells reported that COSLA is the only national association that doesn’t contribute to the shared legal capacity. Wells noted the 4 reasons COSLA hasn’t contributed: the cost is $25,000; some COSLA members pay dues with federal funds; COSLA has never been asked and COSLA had never thought through needing to donate money.

Continuing Education – Susan McVey

McVey reported in the Board meeting Veatch suggested that the Fall Meeting continuing education session be held on the LSTA 5 year plan and evaluation. Veatch noted that since so many Chiefs are new and haven’t been through the process it might be helpful to teach them and be a refresher course for the Chiefs that have been through the process. Members will send feedback to McVey on continuing education ideas.

ALA/Gates Foundation –Ken Wiggin

Wiggin reported Keith Fiels may attend the May meeting. ALA is soliciting comments on its strategic plan. The plan includes a grass roots effort that may be of concern to some. The 2005 election of ALA officers will be conducted electronically. The polls open March 15th. ALA is purchasing a new Washington Office with endowment funds.

Wiggin reported he and Nichols met with the Gates Foundation on Monday. The partnership grant recipients were announced yesterday. The day on which they were announced was an inconvenience because most Chiefs were out of the office attending the ALA Midwinter. Wells reported she had been contacted prior to her departure to Boston to discuss the date the announcement was made. Mulkey noted he was able to give quotes and sound bites to be used when the announcement is made.

Bolt reported ALA’s legislative committee has established an outreach committee. A letter has been mailed to State Librarians that requests they appoint a national coordinator in their state. The state coordinators would be responsible for finding experts in different fields so any requests for letters could be directed to the expert thereby relieving some of the pressure on Chiefs who are bombarded with requests for letters in response to issues. WebJunction has received three grants totaling anywhere from $10 - $12 million dollars. All states are supported under these grants.

NCLIS – Beth Fitzsimmons

Bolt reported a new NCLIS Liaison is needed due to her impending retirement. Members should contact Wells if they are interested in the position. Fitzsimmons thanked the thirty-seven states that participated in the NCLIS Health Awards. NCLIS will be compiling a best practices document from the award submissions. Fitzsimmons introduced Trudi Bellardo, NCLIS Interim Director, and Guy St. Clair who worked on the health awards. Fitzsimmons invited COSLA members to attend a gala on May 2nd at the National Agriculture Library. A new initiative will be announced at the gala.

Fitzsimmons reported the purpose of the health award was to involve libraries in solving the unhealthy lifestyle problem in America. NCLIS wants to educate the public on where to go for consumer health information. There is a critical need for this information and a practical way to meet the need in libraries. Part of NCLIS’s statutory responsibility is to provide the President and Congress policy advice.

St. Clair reported the programs submitted for the health award were outstanding and NCLIS was very pleased with the efforts of libraries regarding consumer health. St. Clair thanked COSLA for its members’ efforts in promoting the award. He focuses mostly on the communications for NCLIS. A report called The New NCLIS is available on the NCLIS website. The report helps explain NCLIS’s purpose. The document is available for distribution. St. Clair distributed a survey on the health awards and asked COSLA members for feedback. The survey can be forwarded to interested participants. NCLIS continues to work with strategic partners and commissioners. Rudd thanked Bob Molyneux for his work on the statistics. Bellardonoted there is an article in the January edition of the American Libraries about Molyneux. Bellardo stated she was looking forward to working with COSLA.

Fitzsimmons noted that NCLIS’s focus will be on the initiative that will be introduced at the May 2nd gala. The initiative will be a much larger award then the health award. The criteria will be announced on May 2nd. Nominations will be due in January of 2006. Bolt noted the longer lead time for the award will hopefully lead to an increase in the number of applicants. Fitzsimmons noted that 2004 award recipients will eligible for the new award. Maier reported he and Mitchell had drafted a new set of criteria for the health award. The criteria will be shared with NCLIS at their meeting tomorrow. COSLA members should send comments on the criteria to Maier. Fitzsimmons noted the new award’s criteria would not be announced prior to May 2nd. NCLIS will help with selecting one winner from each state. Ten national winners will be chosen out of the state winners. The criteria for the new award will include a specific time frame of when the program took place. Bolt noted that it will be helpful to have state awards. The criteria of the award should include the level of use and the impact of use. Fitzsimmons noted NCLIS is considering making the health award a biennial award. The consumer health award was a result of the interest of a Commissioner. NCLIS reviewed four major national issues and consumer health was chosen.

IMLS – Lamar Veatch

Veatch noted Rudd was mentioned in the book “Worse then Watergate” regarding her involvement in the release of President Bush’s papers when he was Governor of Texas. Veatch acknowledged Smith on his new position with IMLS. The state grant awards are currently being processed. The tables will be out next week and then the awards will be mailed. There will be a WebWise Conference in Washington, D.C. February 17-18. A reception will take place on Capitol Hill on February 16. The installation of the IMLS Board will take place at the reception.

Veatch reported the LSTA 5 year evaluation ad hoc committee met to revise and refine the evaluation and plan. Cooper, Maier, Wegner, Wiggin, Parker, Hildreth, Norman, Scheppke and Veatch are on the committee. IMLS provides the performance measures to OMB as a requirement of GRPA in order to demonstrate the effectiveness of LSTA funding in increasing library services and the impact on customers as a result of the funding. It is difficult to evaluate the performance of LSTA funding because each state uses the funds differently. COSLA is working with IMLS to create appropriate performance measures. The re-authorization of LSTA is due in 2009. On Sunday, May 1 the committee will meet again to finalize the measures and review the 5 year evaluation. The deadline for the 5 year evaluation is March 2007 and the deadline for the 5 year plan if July 2007.