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Members Present:
Chair Mark McKenney, Ann Crawford, Deborah Barchi, Donna Good, Alice
Barrows, Donald Deignan, Phyllis Harnick, Jay Litman, Peter Deekle, Tovah Reis,
Mary Cummings, Joan Ankner, Rose Ellen Reynolds, William Allen
Members Absent:
Dennis Cheek, Joshua Teverow, Cristina Amedeo
The minutes of the April 15, 2002 meeting were approved.
Ms. Parent stated that the FY2002 LSTA sub grants, (the LORI Grants and Literacy Grants,) fall under the final year of the current 5-year Plan and will be effective July 1, 2002 - June 30, 2003. Ms. Carlson stated that up to $57,000 was made available in LSTA funds for LORI grant awards. Six applications totaling $106,000 were received and reviewed by a special committee. Four grants were awarded totaling $49,764. Instead of awarding the full $57,000 the committee recommended that some funds be used to offer grant writing classes and that OLIS provide guidelines and a training program for indexing local newspapers. Up to $57,000 is available for Literacy Grants. OLIS staff member Ann Piascik is coordinating the program. Two applications have been received. The deadline for applications was June 7, and awards will be announced on June 28.
The Department of Administration has given its approval for the Hope Library (Scituate) construction project. The Hope Library applied for 25% reimbursement instead of 50% reimbursement, with the projected cost of the entire project estimated to be about $130,000. The project is expected to cost the state approximately $11,500 in FY 04.
Ms. Mellor discussed the necessity of the change to Regulation 3.10 of the Public Library Construction/Renovation Reimbursement Program as outlined in the distributed material.
The Library Board of Rhode Island moved seconded, and unanimously approved a change in Construction Reimbursement Regulation 3.10 to clarify procedures for the final audit of public library construction projects.The new wording states, "At the completion of the project the State of Rhode Island Department of Administration or its designee shall perform an audit in accordance with the funding principles established by the Office of Library and Information Services." This replaces former wording stating, "At the completion of the project the library shall submit an independent audit to the Office of Library and Information Services, in accordance with their instructions."
Ms. Parent announced two amendments to the state budget made by the House Finance Committee affecting OLIS and the libraries it serves. Amendment #21 provides $200,000 for an "Inter-Library CLAN Van", and is expected to become a line item in the OLIS budget for delivery service. Amendment #23 provides an additional $314,217 in public library aid funding for FY2003 and will be distributed to libraries that currently receive less than 25% of local appropriations. The effect of the increase for the cities and towns is listed in State Grants for Libraries Fiscal Year 2003. Although Governor Almond vetoed the entire State Budget on June 6, the General Assembly is expected to reconvene during the latter part of the week of June10 to override the veto.
Wright Logistics has been awarded the new five-year delivery contract. Costs in the new five-year contract for delivery service are expected to run slightly less than the existing contract. The new contract calls for payment of $5.75 for regularly scheduled stops year- round, and $7.25 per stop for a newly instituted, "delivery on demand" (DOD) service. The former contract was at $6.00 per stop during the school year, and $6.50/stop in the summer. The new contract goes into effect July 1, 2002.
Ms. Perry reported that approximately $350,000 is available for Rhode Island public libraries under the Gates Foundation Library Grant Program. In the not-yet final list issued by Gates, twenty libraries are eligible for full grant amounts while other libraries may purchase computers. The final list of eligible public libraries will be sent to OLIS in August. The application process will take place in September. OLIS is encouraging all public libraries to apply. The program provides a computer lab to the state to be located in a public library for computer training. Mr. Deignan expressed concern that adaptive equipment, which he characterized as not costly, is not addressed in the Gates program. Mr. Deignan suggested that libraries add adaptive equipment to their applications as long as it does not harm the libraries chances for an award. Ms. Perry suggested that libraries consider adding adaptive equipment as an addendum to the application. She added that Gates has been asked about this in the past, and has issued a response which she will look up and convey to the Board. OLIS will sponsor a conference call for eligible public libraries in September and will raise the issue of adaptive equipment as a concern of the Library Board.
Ms. Parent reported that ALA National Library Legislative Day was a success. The Rhode Island Congressional delegation is very supportive of libraries' issues. LSTA reauthorization legislation has been approved in the House and has been introduced in the Senate. The base grant to each state is currently $340,000. The House bill called for $500,000 as a base grant, while the Senate version asks for $680,000. An increase in the base grant would be particularly helpful in smaller states.
None.
Chair McKenney sent a letter to House Finance Committee Chair Gordon Fox as indicated by the Library Board and presented it as testimony at the hearing on H 7732 An Act Making Appropriations for the Support of the State for Fiscal year Ending June 30, 2003, on April 17, 2002.
Chair McKenney and Ms. Parent met with Dr. Carl, Director of the Department of Administration, on the hiring of a Chief Information Officer and restoration of the M.L.S. requirement for the position. Dr. Carl indicated that filling the position will not occur at this time, and that the Board's concerns were understood.
Committee on Planning and Budget
No meeting was held. Ms. Parent explained that the new State accounting system,
RISAIL, has had numerous problems in its first year of operation, so year-to-date
expenditure reports have not been completed at this time. Additionally, the
amount of Federal funding that will be available in FY2003 is not yet known,
due to the pending reauthorization of LSTA in Congress.
Committee on Legislation
No meeting was held. Chair McKenney thanked Ms. Reynolds and the committee
for their hard work in supporting this year's legislative efforts, and especially
for the collaborative efforts with RILA and COLA in making this year's legislative
initiatives a cooperative project.
Committee on Public Relations
No meeting was held.
Ms. Parent reviewed the Outline of Draft LSTA 5-Year Plan 2003-2007 and the Rhode Island Library Needs Assessment 2003-2007. Mr. Allen remarked that a major report on adult literacy was published today. He suggested that the Plan make more of a direct reference to efforts to assist Spanish speakers, as the needs assessment points out the great increase in the Hispanic population.
Ms. Perry stated one different thrust of the draft Plan is the expansion of the Rhode Island Family Literacy Initiative. Ms. Parent stated that literacy grants would probably no longer be competitive grants.
Ms. Reis stated that the term "special libraries" does not refer to hospital
libraries. Ms. Reis supports the use of the term "health sciences libraries" as
a separate entity. She said also that health science librarians do not
all belong to the Special Library Association (SLA), and recommended that
ARIHSL be mentioned as well. Ms. Parent concurred. With reference to Goal
I., Objective A, 13) "Investigate…(2003-2007)", regarding virtual
reference, the suggestion was to change the dates to (2003-2004). With
reference to Goal III, Objective A, 4) regarding developing an annual
report format, it was suggested that if OLIS were to develop an annual
report consideration be given to including information about the libraries
it serves. June 24 is the final date for input to the draft Plan. The
next LBRI meeting is tentatively scheduled for Monday, July 1, 2002 at
4:30 P.M., at which time the final Plan will be approved. Chair McKenney
polled the Board members and determined by consensus that if no controversial
input is received from the library community requiring discussion by the
Board, the formal meeting will be canceled and an email vote will be scheduled
to approve the Plan.
Kathy Ellen Bullard suggested that in the Five-Year Long Range Plan, OLIS incorporate cooperation and collaboration with other state agencies such as the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education. Ms. Bullard also commended those who drafted the Plan on including libraries and museums in the Vision.
Ms. Reeves congratulated OLIS on the Five-Year Long Range Plan. Ms. Reeves also recognized the concerns expressed by Mr. Deignan, but wished to go on record as stating that the Gate Foundation Grant Program is a wonderful program that has done much to further access to computers in public libraries throughout the country.
The next meeting is scheduled for Monday July 1, 2002, at 4:30 P.M. at the Department of Administration. If the meeting is canceled, a notice will be distributed accordingly.
A meeting has been scheduled for Tuesday, September 17, 2002 at 4:30 P.M. at the Department of Administration.
The meeting adjourned at 6:15 P.M.
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