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Members Present:
Chair Mark McKenney, Alice Barrows, Donna Good, Rose Ellen Reynolds, Tovah Reis, Leslie McDonough, Cristina Amedeo, Jay Litman, Peter Deekle, Donald Deignan

Members Absent:
Deborah Barchi, Joan Ankner, William Allen, Joshua Teverow, Phyllis Harnick, Mary Cummings

Present from the Office of Library and Information Services (OLIS):
Anne Parent, Beth Perry, Donna DiMichele, Karen Mellor, Laurie Scialabba

Observers:
Ann Crawford, Cross' Mills Public Library; Joan Ress Reeves; Dale Thompson, Providence Public Library

The meeting convened at 4:35 p.m.

I. MINUTES OF THE PREVIOUS MEETING

The revised minutes of the January 21, 2003 meeting were unanimously approved. The revision had added the name of Ms. Mellor as having also served on the RARI Committee along with Ms. DiMichele.

II. REPORT OF ADMINISTRATION

Two organizational charts of Library Programs that had been prepared per request of COSLA were distributed for informational purposes.

The Museum & Library Services Act, H.R. 13, has been reported out favorably from the Committee on Education and the Workforce. Congressman Kennedy did sign on as co-sponsor. Congressman Langevin was one of the first co-sponsors. Senator Reed introduced similar legislation in the Senate as S 238 and Senator Chafee has co-sponsored. These bills are for reauthorization of LSTA. The Senate bill calls for an appropriation level of $350,000,000, while the House version’s appropriation would be $210,000,000.

A copy of the proposed legislation to fund the public library construction program was distributed. Several RILA representatives, along with Chair McKenney and Ms. Parent met with Representative Dennigan to discuss the initiative. The proposed legislation will be given a bill number this week. RILA continues to be concerned about grant-in-aid funding. The Governor’s Budget is expected to be made public on March 5.

There has been no news on the future of OLIS under the new administration. In an effort to be proactive about the effectiveness of Library Programs, staff has begun to solicit brief informal testimonials from library staff, especially those that can point to the ultimate effect of the service. A notebook of letters received thus far was passed around for review.

The LORI Website has undergone a facelift and a major technological upgrade. The drop-down menu navigation system has returned. Users should note that the extensions of all files have changed from lori.state.ri.us to lori.ri.gov.

A new Continuing Education schedule for March through June will be posted on the LORI site shortly. Using MEDLINEplus, a Free Health Information Database, offered at a time convenient for school librarians, and Leading a Book Discussion Group, with a special segment on Wish You Well are two noteworthy programs on the schedule. A special afternoon Excel class will be offered by the Providence Public Library to accommodate school librarians and others whose schedules do not permit morning classes.

The USA Patriot Act: A LORI Toolkit of Resources was distributed. All libraries will be affected by the Patriot Act. OLIS along with RILA co-sponsored the Patriot Act Teleconference. Ms. DiMichele reported that the LORI Committee is developing a new Interlibrary Loan Code. It will be distributed electronically and training will be offered. LORI Standards are undergoing revision and will be published on the LORI website. The LORI Committee will be a focus group for the RI Council on the Humanities for an online encyclopedia.

Ms. Perry reported on the “ASK A LIBRARIAN” email Reference service. The Providence Public Library will provide responses to library and government questions from the portal website, via the SRRC contract. A copy of the website was distributed.

III. CHAIRPERSON’S REPORT

Chair McKenney reported that, as commented earlier, he had met with Representative Dennigan along with other library supporters about the proposed legislation, and also spoke to her at the COLA Annual Meeting. Fellow legislators were in attendance at the COLA Annual Meeting as Representative Dennigan was awarded COLA’s “Sweetheart of the Year” Award.

Chair McKenney will send a letter to Robert J. Higgins, Director of Administration, requesting a meeting.

IV. COMMITTEE REPORTS

Committee on Planning and Budget
No report.

Committee on Legislation
A listing of House Finance Committee Members and Senate Finance Committee members were distributed. Projects & Proposed Projects (thru FY 2008), Signed Agreements, Applications, & Proposed Projects, and a chart, Library Construction Reimbursement Funding, 2001-2008 were distributed. Ms. Mellor discussed the information received from the OLIS survey. Ms. Reynolds discussed the proposed legislation on funding for the public library construction program. RILA will handle public relations.

The motion introduced at the recommendation of the Committee that the Library Board of Rhode Island support the draft legislation being introduced and seek mirror legislation in the Senate was made and unanimously withdrawn so that these could be moved separately.

It was moved, accepted and unanimously approved that the Library Board of Rhode Island support the draft legislation in the House.

It was moved, accepted and unanimously approved that the Library Board of Rhode Island encourage mirror legislation in the Senate.

The Library Board will transmit approval of the two motions.

Proposed legislation, S 231, An Act Establishing the State Department of Information Technology, was distributed. Ms. Perry reported that this bill would remove Information Technology from under the Office of Library and Information Services. There is a slight mention of libraries on page 4. The IRMB is looking at this proposed legislation. A copy of a job description developed by the IRMB for the Chief Information Officer position was distributed.

Ms. Perry reported that H 5712, An Act Relating to Public Utilities and Carriers – Accessible Electronic Information Act, would provide funding for newspapers in digital form for blind and disabled individuals through a rate charge on telephone bills. IMLS provided a leadership grant last year. There is no current funding for this service. The Office of Social and Rehabilitation Services under the Department of Human Services would administer the fund. Mr. Deignan stated that a one-cent increase in the TTY rate has been proposed.

Committee on Public Relations
The committee met today. Ms. Reis will report at the next Library Board meeting and will discuss items with Ms. Parent.

V. UNFINISHED BUSINESS

An update of Appendix F of the Public Library Construction Reimbursement Program, “Current caps and priorities established by the Library Board of RI”, which includes the 10% cap on architect fees as approved by the Library Board at the January meeting was distributed.

VI. NEW BUSINESS

Mr. Deekle gave a report on the declining budgetary resources in academic libraries in public higher educational institutions and the impact of this on the academic library network, as well as economic conditions in Rhode Island.

The National Library Legislative Day sponsored by the American Library Association will be held May 11-13, 2003 in Washington, D.C. Library organizations in Rhode Island have been contacted by Ms. Scialabba to see if they wish to send a representative.

VII. PUBLIC COMMENT

Mr. Deekle noted that IMLS Director Robert Martin is seeking input from business and industry leaders regarding public library services.

VIII. AGENDA FOR FUTURE MEETINGS

The next meeting has been scheduled for Tuesday, March 18, 2003 at 4:30 P.M. at the Department of Administration.

The meeting adjourned at 6:05 P.M.