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LSTA Advisory Committee Minutes
November 17-18, 2004


Comfort Inn / Madison, WI

Wednesday, November 17, 2004


Members present: Rebecca Berger, Walter Burkhalter, Anne Iwata, Mindy King, Sandra Lockett, Jessica MacPhail, Fred Marini, Ida Nemec, David Polodna, Rhonda Puntney, Kathleen Setter, Veronica Thompson, Edward Van Gemert

Members absent: None

DLTCL staff present: Bob Bocher, Peg Branson, Mary Clark, Mike Cross, Sally Drew, Rick Grobschmidt, Barb Huntington, Kate Bugher, Al Zimmerman, (Neah Lohr and Donna Steffan attended the Thursday session)

Call to Order and Introductions

Branson called the meeting to order at 10:08 A.M.. After welcoming committee members and introductions, she indicated Richard Grobschmidt would be joining the meeting later.

Review of Agenda
The agenda was reviewed and Branson explained that the public hearing part of the meeting would be held at the end of the meeting because input from applicants for grants currently under consideration is not allowed at this point in the process. Grobschmidt's comments were rescheduled for when he joined the meeting.

Minutes of March 2004 Meeting
Van Gemert moved and Polodna seconded approval of the minutes. Motion carried unanimously.

LSTA Coordinator's Report

Peg Branson reported that the federal budget was not yet set. Indications are that it would be dealt with soon and that LSTA could increase by as much as $200,000. However, earmarked projects could reduce the amount available for state grants and lower Wisconsin's share.

2005 LSTA Application and Overview of Applications

Branson reviewed the packet of materials provided to members and the category summaries for 2005 applications.

Procedures for Discussion of LSTA Grants Categories and Conflict of Interest Policy
Branson said the grant recommendation process would begin with a review of all categories, but without funding recommendation at this time. She reviewed the Policy on Conflict of Interest contained in the LSTA Information and Guidelines. Summarizing, she stated that Advisory Committee members may not participate in the discussion of, or make motions regarding, or vote on any proposed grant if the member is an employee or board member of the applicant. However, it is not considered a conflict of interest for library employees or board members of system member libraries to comment on or vote on any of their system's grant proposals.

2005 Budget Issues and Guidelines

Branson reviewed the Draft LSTA Budget for 2005 handout pointing out that $3,340,000 was available for distribution and that the total staff funding recommendation were $545,000 less than this amount and could be considered as unassigned. She said the State Superintendent usually accepts the recommendation of the Advisory Committee, but that she may modify any recommendation.

Discussion and Review of LSTA Application 2005

Discussion began with an explanation from Zimmerman for the changes in budget totals for division operating programs. He said that all federal programs administered by the division are charged a fixed cost calculated by the Department of Public Instruction. The actual fixed cost charges for the Reference and Loan Library LSTA programs proved to be significantly higher that the estimates provided by the DPI Business Office for the committee last spring. Other division LSTA program budgets were reduced to correct for these increases so that the total request for all division LSTA projects is the same as originally budgeted.

--  Reference and Loan

The Reference and Loan LSTA Resource Sharing budget was presented by Sally Drew. She said that other than the change in fixed cost charges there had been no changes in staff or purpose and the project remained the same as originally presented last spring. Van Gemert asked about the BadgerLink position. Drew described the responsibilities as involving user authentication and tech support as well as working with the four BadgerLink vendors.

--  State Resource Contracts

Drew reported on the department's state biennial budget request for state resource library contracts. LSTA funding would be used in the first six months of calendar 2005 to bridge the funding gap before the start of the next biennium. The state budget request is for restoration of the contracts to original FY2003 level of funding. This request was submitted even though budget instructions to the department required an overall 10 percent cut in department operating programs. She added that we do not expect to use LSTA funds for this purpose after June 30, 2005. Iwata asked what the implications were if the state funding was not provided. Drew responded that how a lower amount of funds would be divided hadn't been decided yet. Iwata asked about current service cuts. Drew said there have been cuts in service from the Milwaukee Public Library and the State Historical Society. Some public library requests to area campus libraries have been filled without charge. Van Gemert asked who was not charging. Drew said that she did not have a list of those campuses that were not charging, but that the UW-Madison campus and the State Historical Society were charging. Clark said that WILS charges for access to those libraries and that we don't know if the campuses will continue free service.

--  Public Library Development

Mike Cross reported on the requests for public library development LSTA projects. The Library Technology project supports Bob Bocher's position and provides funds for the statewide meeting for system technology staff. He described Bocher's involvement in the federal e-rate program including acting as chair of the ALA E-rate Taskforce. He reported that the Library Development project provided funding for 80 percent of his position, for Barb Huntington's position, for summer library program support, for the statewide special needs consultant meeting, and for support of electronic data collection. Zimmerman explained that delays in the bidding process had resulted in carrying forward the electronic forms revision planned for 2004 to 2005.

--  WISCAT

Mary Clark reported that there were no changes to the WISCAT project since last spring except for the previously described unanticipated increases in fix cost charges. She reported that new software has made enhanced WISCAT ILL features available and that increased training is planned for 2005 using WisLine Web. Clark said the patron initiated interlibrary loan request project will continue into 2005 for those in the initial pilot project. She reported the Library and Information Technology Advisory Committee (LITAC) suggested this project be continued for those libraries already in it and new libraries up to the originally planned 60 libraries.

Clark said the WISCAT budget keeps the license fee for 2005 at $150, the same as for 2004, even though there will be a decrease in the number of libraries participating. The decrease is because of the withdrawal of the South Central Library System. About 30 new schools joined as more schools develop library technology plans. Rebecca Berger asked about fees and pointed out that libraries need to know about increases as early as possible. Sondra Lockett asked for the total number of WISCAT users by type of library and who has bought the license. Clark said about 750 libraries had paid. Iwata asked how many users are school libraries. Clark responded that about half of the districts and a third of the buildings are participating, but that numbers are hard to track because schools are consolidating services so that 20 past libraries may be three today.

Van Gemert asked how the SRLAAW ILL report fit with the WISCAT request for next year. Clark said there is little impact for 2005 and that nothing in that report is in conflict with WISCAT plans for 2005. Van Gemert asked, 'With respect to SRLAAW, what should we be mindful of next.' Clark repeated that nothing from SRLAAW is in conflict with WISCAT for 2005 and then reviewed some of the SRLAAW report points including the request that the division negotiate with OCLC. Van Gemert asked if the report didn't recommend discontinuing WISCAT. Drew responded by saying WISCAT may use different vendors and that an effort would be made to review what people want and what is available.

She added that people have also requested discussion of other scenarios and other types of statewide systems, and these are still on the table. She said that the division has to go out for a re-bid in 2006, that OCLC will be given an opportunity to make a proposal, and that it would be reviewed. In the meantime, an RFI would be sent in 2005 to gather information on what is really available and what the options cost. She said that there is not now agreement in the library community on what should be done next and that 2005 and 2006 activities will involve a systematic review of multiple options to assure that various technologies can do what has been assumed or promised. For example, for the last several years, many people have requested implementation of technology using Z39.50 technology. The Division has begun to implement Z39.50, but just as it appears that some of the expectations may be met, some people now want to consider other technologies. We need to determine if there is still interest in Z39.50 and give it a fair examination.

Polodna asked if the committee set fees for WISCAT and Branson replied that it did. Drew said the fee would stay the same for 2005 unless it was changed at the March, 2005 meeting. Iwata felt the Z39.50 technology would take a lot of work to be fully functional. Clark thought Z39.50 worked well computer to computer, but that the human interface was not easy to use because it is not always useful for a user to look up shelf status when creating a rota as the status may change when the request gets to that library. Branson said we may want to encourage fewer automation systems through mergers.

Speaking to the impact of the SRLAAW report, Ida Nemec said that Northern Waters Library Service could not absorb a change to OCLC, so LSTA would have to help. Branson said we were not suggesting changing anything for 2005, but that the committee should get ready to discuss this in March. Fred Marini asked how much was being lost with the South Central withdrawal. He also asked if other systems were dropping and what trends had been noticed. Clark said 55 South Central public libraries have dropped for 2005, but that WISCAT had picked up schools. She said there were no indications that others would be dropping out. Drew said she had contacted all system directors to determine what they planned to do and sent out a summary of the responses. She said that some systems said they are interested in using OCLC as a supplemental ILL system, but no one else has said they will go solely with OCLC. She added that this is the current status, but there will be more discussion of options next spring. Kathleen Setter asked what South Central was doing for ILL. Clark said they are using OCLC exclusively. Drew said South Central asked RLL and other systems to send and receive requests through OCLC and a few will do so. RLL could not cover SCLS costs for sending requests directly to state contracting libraries because requests to Milwaukee Public Library and WiLS are being screened to stay within budget limits. RLL is sending some OCLC ILL to South Central as well as other sources.

Jessica MacPhail noted that the WISCAT vendor costs were different on the budget sheet from the narrative description. Branson said the final correct amount would be inserted on the budget sheet. Iwata said WILS was investigating OCLC pricing and so were public libraries. She felt getting our act together statewide for OCLC is important to getting the best price. The statewide impact of budget cuts also has to be considered. Marini said that the WILS board will look into a statewide plan for OCLC and that they are looking at Illinois and trying to get a better rate from OCLC. Drew said that she had asked Kathy Schneider for information about the WILS request. She added that it took two years for Illinois to negotiate a deal and OCLC had offered a fixed price. Drew said she was also pursuing information on OCLC costs, adding that we are looking at a lot of vendor's products and quotes so we will be better able to refine costs and consider functionality questions.

Branson asked what WILS was doing. Marini said Schneider was talking with Illinois and other OCLC users. He added that there are things WILS can't do, but WILS could be a OCLC conduit for the state. He suggested Drew work with Schneider on this. Drew said WILS didn't have to do bids and that current OCLC libraries can try for a better deal, but a statewide contract is a different thing. She said we would need to put in more funds to get coverage beyond the current users. A full state contract will need additional funding to make it work. How much we will need is the big question. Who will pay what is the bigger question. She said that we need better information to make a decision.

Polodna asked who was covered in the division's RFI. Drew said we would include all libraries involved in resource sharing. Marini said the consensus was that current OCLC user costs would remain the same, but that more services would be provided. Iwata asked Drew how she was deciding what to ask for in the RFI. Drew said she was getting information from LITAC, COLAND, the ILL study focus groups, and the ILL survey. MacPhail asked what the timelines were. Drew said 2005 was for gathering information and in 2006 the bid process would begin with current planning leaving time for implementation. The effective date would be January 2007. She added that if we wanted to speed things up, we could re-bid earlier. She said that we don't know what the interlibrary loan needs assessment study data will show and we may change radically what we do after 2006, but we don't want to leave any gaps in service as we change. Branson said the March 2005 meeting would involve planning groups and the LSTA funding role. Branson said this would be important for 2006 and the March 2005 meeting, but that it wouldn't impact 2005 plans.

Veronica Thompson asked if we knew how many schools were involved with WISCAT. Clark said 30 schools joined in 2004. Thompson asked if they were primary or elementary. Clark said consolidation of elementary is reducing the count. New school libraries are high school libraries, probably because of offered features. She thought schools seemed more interested in resource sharing where in the past they were interested in retrospective conversion.

The morning session ended.

Richard Grobschmidt joined the meeting for the afternoon session. He welcomed the members of the advisory committee, thanked them for their work, and said the State Superintendent sincerely appreciated the advice she received from them. He then highlighted the library related sections of the DPI biennial budget request including the funding of public library systems at 13 percent and increased funding for BadgerLink. He reminded the group that BadgerLink was a very successful program that had been started with LSTA funding.

The review of the 2005 grant application then resumed.

--  Public Library System Technology Projects

Bob Bocher reported that system technology block grants were very popular with systems and pointed out that systems won't spend funds for Internet costs due to CIPA. Using the handout provided to members, he described how systems will use LSTA funds in 2005. Van Gemert noted that systems were spending funds for Gale and asked if BadgerLink had considered buying Gale. Drew said that Gale had provided a proposal during the last bid process, but that we couldn't afford everything contained in the vendor bid.

--  Shared Automated Systems

Bocher reported that six applications were received this year for the shared automated system category. Twenty-two public libraries will be joining shared systems if all are funded. Automation systems will be merged in the Indianhead, Waukesha and Mid-Wisconsin systems. This will save systems money and will make resource sharing easier. This category helps libraries make the leap to shared systems by paying for part of the cost. He estimated 80 percent of the population will be in shared system areas by the end of the grant period. He pointed out that this category will end after 2007, although the part of it to encourage mergers of systems may remain.

--  Shared Automated System Study

Bocher explained that the basic idea for this study had been to determine how much public library systems are spending on shared automated systems and that the study's scope had been expanded. He referred to the handout provided to committee members and went through the bullet points on what would be expected from the study. These included determining the total spent on integrated library systems, optimum size, and the feasibility of larger regional shared systems or statewide operation of a shared system.

Branson asked the committee if the study was appropriate as planned. Van Gemert said the academic library model may be available for study and multi-type possibilities could be examined. Bocher said that there may be some savings in using one system like UW's and that the timing was good in terms of the WISCAT re-bid. Cross said the study would include the cost of a statewide system. MacPhail thought this would save taxpayers money and result in a better product. Bocher said we could try to get a limited number of venders on a state bid list, or for the long term, we could go for one vendor for the state. Burkhalter asked who we would pick if we had to pick for 2005 and Bocher replied that that would be a difficult choice right now. Van Gemert said the Voyager system was only possible because the University System paid, but wondered what the value of the OPAC would be in the future because that depends on where system integration is going.

Polodna said public libraries spend too much time studying who and that it would be better to pick one and go with it. Setter said she would like a brief overview to see if the one system option would even be possible. Lockett suggested we look at what other states have done to see if their experiences could help us. Bocher said we should look at states similar to Wisconsin and suggested we look at Illinois and Minnesota and their planning efforts. Drew said we can't just spend a lot of money without a very good guess at who could handle the entire state. We need to look at all the options and data in an unbiased manner. Drew said we have to consider optimal size and ask if it is possible to do or if it is politically feasible.

Branson asked who would do the study. Bocher said it would be put out for bid. Iwata asked if public library system plans had information we could use. Bocher said the technology costs were difficult to get at from system plans. MacPhail said automation system governance should be considered as an issue.

--  Digitization ' Newspapers

Drew reported that the State Historical Society and Heritage negotiations were nearly done and that the newspaper digitization project was almost ready to start. She reported that the State Historical Society newspaper microfilm, maybe up to 1920, will go into this package. After that section is completed it may be necessary to make selective choices because there is so much material. She said the Library of Congress also has federal dollars to digitize newspapers and that the State Historical Society may be trying to get into the larger project with them.

Iwata asked what digitization involved. Drew said the vendor would put the newspaper microfilm into machine readable form for public use and that it would be made available over the Web. She added that some of the digitization may take additional work depending on the condition of the microfilm. Iwata asked who would own the files. Drew replied that they would remain in the public domain and the State Historical Society will get copies from Heritage for their own use. Iwata asked what Heritage got out of this. Drew said that they get an expanded collection, but that they may have to change their business model after the Library of Congress project gets up and running. Iwata asked how the national effort would be carried out. Drew said she didn't know.

Lockett asked if the scope of the collection included minority representation. Drew said the Heritage niche was for very old material and that minority representation was difficult to know. Lockett said genealogy for minorities is important. Drew said it all depended on what was in the State Historical Society collection.

--  Access to State Government Publications

Bocher said the State Historical Society will select the most frequently requested state government documents and will catalog approximately 7,000 of them. This retrospective conversion will make the material more accessible. Iwata asked Van Gemert what he thought about the cost per item. Van Gemert said cost looked good and he had no problem with them. He thought this budget was better prepared than on their earlier request.

--  Delivery Projects

Drew said the delivery project is a continuation of what has been done in the past with funds for the Northern Waters Library System and a subsidy for the delivery backbone provided by the South Central Library System. The amounts are $61,600 for South Central delivery and $15,000 for Northern Waters. (Page 17 in the red book handout should be correct to these amounts.) The Milwaukee County Federated Library System funding provided in 2004 is not continued for 2005.

--  Special Needs Youth Plan Update

Huntington said the division would like to update the current special needs youth plan publication to make it an informational resource. It would be a ready reference for special cases of special needs and would include a breakdown by age. It would identify resource at the local, state, and national level. Lockett asked what the cost of the original publication was. Huntington replied that the cost was about $12,000 because we needed editing help and publication preparation.

--  State Institution Coordination

Huntington said that a coordinator historically has been needed at corrections and that it remains necessary as DLTCL lacks the staff to coordinate these efforts from DPI. She reported that having representation at DOC had worked very well and that Vibeke Lehmann has done an excellent job.

--  Communication and Planning

Rick Grobschmidt reviewed the uses of the $25,000 budgeted for this category. He said the reduction of Channel in print, including reduced print distribution to libraries and greater use of the Web to communicate with the library community, had saved money.

--  ILL Needs Assessment

Drew said that funds were budgeted in the spring as a place holder for follow-up activities pending release of the ILL needs study. Drew reported that staff had decided that these funds would be better spent in the broader automation/technology statewide study. No funds were being requested for a ILL needs assessment follow-up at this time.

--  Public Library System Study

Cross said the public library system study is in progress at the UW Library School. He reported that the systems had been surveyed and that UW staff were analyzing the results. He reported that a second survey of system member libraries was being prepared and that the final report would include GIS information. He said that originally $10,000 had been requested for follow-up activities, but that it was now recommended that these funds be used for the broader automation and resource sharing study.

--   Public Library Directors Handbook

Cross said a handbook is especially needed for new directors in small communities and that the director's handbook will be modeled on the Trustee Essentials publication. He said that this handbook will list resources available that can be tapped as needed, and that it should therefore be useful to all directors. The original plan called for $3,000 for publication. Because of staff vacancies, Larry Nix was contracted to write the first ten chapters. The new public library development consultant will complete this document and it will be printed in 2005.

--  Public Library Standards Update

Cross reported that the standards draft was done and had been distributed at the WLA annual conference. He said the division is taking comments on the draft at this time and that $3,000 will be needed for printing in 2005.

--  School Library Impact Study

Kate Bugher described school library impact study as an examination of the relationship between a robust school library media program and student achievement. She said Wisconsin is unique in that we have an academic model that includes technology and that this model is not found in other states. She said this study will go farther than earlier studies and will look at additional content areas and grade levels. The approach for this study will be based on the RFI replies received by the division. She added the study will be coordinated by Instructional Media and Technology staff. She reviewed the summary of cost estimates provided in the handout describing this project.

Iwata asked how many RFIs have been received and Bugher replied that two had been received, both from established researchers, one from Texas and the other from Syracuse University. Iwata asked how many replies were expected from the RFP and Bugher said she thought maybe four. Drew described the bid evaluation process and said that outside reviewers and DPI staff could be included. Veronica Thompson asked about the Texas study. Bugher said that study was not comprehensive and only looked at 3rd grade and reading. She added that Texas has more state control of education.

--  LSTA Administration

Branson reviewed the LSTA administration costs and the $70,000 budgeted for indirect charges by DPI.

-Digitization-Local Resources (competitive)

Drew said the UW will be doing the digitization and meta tagging of local resources in cooperation with grantees. The UW will post the end results on the Web and anyone will be able to search across items to select what they want. In addition, each library will receive back its own high resolution copy. She reported that R and L staff held a meeting to explain to applicants how these projects would be carried out. She said that we received twice as many applications than were expected. She said some applicants worked with the UW and some were waiting to see if they got funded before making contact with the UW. She reported the applications were of mixed quality and that there was enough budgeted to fund them all. She said the reviewer scores suggest a cut off after the seventh ranked project and that that was the staff recommendation.

Polodna asked why the Department of Transportation application ranked so low. Drew said she thought that the DOT project did not demonstrate that they understood the level of work required to make this a successful project. She added that they didn't mention some of the project concepts and that they weren't clear about the size of some of the materials to be digitized.

Drew said we needed good models for future projects and that we haven't yet contacted any of the libraries to discuss potential problems. She reported that for the Oshkosh Public Library grant, there might be copyright issues related to several publications. She said that application 18, Appleton Digitization of Plat Books 2005, includes items published in 1942 and that they may need to get authorization to copy them. She pointed out that for application 24, Images of Lake Geneva, there is some confusion about the local matching funds. She said many of the projects wanted to put in in-kind matching funds rather than the payment to UW as required.

Iwata asked who reviewed these applications. Branson said the division would release the names of reviewers if requested. Iwata pointed out that all of DOT's competition was with public libraries. Polodna said that to be funded LSTA purposes have to be met and that meta tagging is necessary for access. DOT seems more aimed at just digitization and not access. Nemec said quality is needed because these will be the models for future projects. Drew said it was very easy to underestimate the amount of staff effort needed to do a successful project. She found it took a high level of staff involvement. Marini thought DOT needed to focus on restoration and selection of what to digitize. Van Gemert said we must include more than just library collections and that we may need to promote this with other types of organizations. Drew said it takes a lot of effort in a short period of time. Iwata said there may be some organizational structural barriers at DOT to this project, but that DOT has a lot of good material worth digitizing. MacPhail said you can't just scan material in, and that you must take a good hard look at the project to do it right.

--  Early Learning Birth to Three

Huntington said that less had been requested than had been budgeted in the Early Learning Birth to Three category. She said she had talked to the youth liaison librarians about this and that they said many libraries are already doing projects like this. She added that many thought that public libraries hadn't waited for LSTA to do this because earlier training had emphasized that libraries could do it with available resources.

Setter asked if Huntington thought the applications were acceptable. Huntington said she hadn't read everything yet, but except for what might be a copyright problem with one, that they looked fine. Marini noted that the South Central grant had a budget for only contracted services and asked what the funds would be used for. Huntington replied that she wasn't sure. Marini said that maybe in the future local staff providing the service could be paid for extra duty so that existing staff could be used rather than contracting out. Huntington said she didn't believe South Central normally reimbursed local staffs for joint projects.

Adult, Family and Early Learning

Huntington said that in the Adult, Family and Early Learning category funding requests exceeded the amount available after the 9th ranked application. Huntington then reviewed the grants that were below the funding cutoff.

She considered as very good application13, Reaching People Through Library Services for Whom English is a Learned Language. She said it was directed toward GED attainment, that it made good use of the Web, and that it was being offered in Spanish. The project also tracked the number of users. Huntington was very favorable toward this project and considered it as a possible demonstration project, although it would need some clarification.

She described application 6, Giving Our Special Needs Children and Families a Chance, as a little vague, but as located in a high poverty area. She said that how the grant would be continued after the grant period wasn't clear, and that more information would be needed before this project could be funded.

She said application 7, Hedberg Literacy 2005, was targeted for Hispanics with the majority of the funding, over $19,000, going for salaries and that how it would be funded after the grant period needed to be addressed.

Huntington described application 4, Parenting and Literacy Skills, as a good project that could have been more clearly written. She said the application was lacking some basic information and had some problems with the budget and clarification would be needed.

Huntington then reviewed application 12, A Collaborative Approach to Marketing Library Services to ESL/Low literacy Populations. She said the systems proposing this project had adequate collections for the target audience, so they focused on the need to market what they had. She said that the application lacked a GED component and that the budget didn't address project activities. She felt the biggest problem was that they didn't ask the media to be a partner. She felt another major issue was that the proposal was geared to raising awareness, rather than literacy.

Branson asked if Huntington would recommend funding for the grants ranked 10 and above. Huntington explained the process for getting grants up to an acceptable level and said pending improvements the grants could be approved. Marini said a PSA could have been requested by Nicolet (for application 12).

Branson asked the committee to consider the issue of whether applications should be fixed so they can be funded or if they should be judged as submitted. Huntington said we don't ignore application problems.

Seniors/Disabilities

Huntington reviewed the individual grants in the Seniors/Disabilities category that fell below the funding cutoff in the application rankings. Application 49, Words of Wheels, was described as having minor problems with the budget, but with an excellent training component and very good partners. She described application 47, Library Services to Patrons at the End of Life, as designed to provide service to people who are terminally ill and to their families, and caregivers. The LSTA budget for application 43, Service to Seniors, included $5,000 for contracted services which was almost all of the federal funds requested. She said application 48, Project LOOP Menomonie, was targeted to persons with hearing loss. The library would install devices to assist persons with limited hearing ability. Huntington said she liked all of these projects.

Library Card Sign-Up Promotions

Cross reviewed the targeted population criteria for the library card sign-up promotion category. He noted that there was a bit of a gap in the reviewer rating scores after the 7th ranked grant, but that all were worthwhile projects. He mentioned two applications below the funding cutoff. Cross said that the Northern Waters and Southwest systems have very low registered borrower percentages. He said the application from the Northern Waters Library Service had a problem with its budget, but that the question had since been explained. He described the Southwest application as creative in its use of GIS software to locate potential users and to target promotional material. He thought this was a good project that may prove to be a good model for others. Iwata said that was an interesting approach.

With the discussion and review of LSTA applications for 2005 complete, Branson went over the next day's agenda and what had to be done. Iwata suggested that the application forms be changed so that the applicant and the proposal title appear at the top of the first page of the project description handout provided to the committee.

The meeting was adjourned for the day at 3:30 PM.

Thursday, November 18, 2004

8:30 a.m.

Final Recommendations on Applications and Allocation of Funds

Motion by Burkhalter to fund DLTCL'Reference and Loan at $626,600. Seconded by MacPhail. Motion carried.

Motion by Van Gemert to fund the State Resource Contracts at $20,000. Seconded by Polodna. Van Gemert inquired about the future of these contracts. The DPI budget request for the next biennium would restore funding back to the 2003 level. The future of these contracts depends largely on the actions of the Governor and legislature. Adequacy of funding will also depend on decisions by UW libraries regarding reimbursement. Motion carried.

Motion by Polodna to fund DLTCL'Library Development at $131,000. Seconded by Setter. Motion carried.

Motion by King to fund WISCAT at $657,700. Seconded by Marini. Motion carried.

Motion by Van Gemert to fund Shared Automated Systems at $325,000. Seconded by Marini. Motion carried. (Burkhalter, Iwata, and Polodna abstained.)

Motion by MacPhail to fund Library System Technology Projects at $375,000. Seconded by Berger. Motion carried. (Burkhalter, Polodna, and Iwata abstained.)

Motion by MacPhail to fund Shared Automated System Study at $32,000. Seconded by Setter. Motion carried. (Burkhalter and Polodna abstained.)

Motion by Lockett to fund Digitization Project'Newspapers at $15,000. Seconded by Puntney. Motion carried.

Motion by Van Gemert to fund Access to State Government Publications at $55,000. Seconded by Burkhalter. Motion carried.

Motion by Nemec to fund Delivery Projects'NWLS, SCLS-State at $76,600. Seconded by MacPhail. Motion carried. (Iwata abstained.)

Motion by Burkhalter to fund Special Needs Youth Plan at $10,000. Seconded by Polodna. Motion carried.

Motion by Polodna to fund State Institution Coordination at $25,000. Seconded by Puntney. Motion carried.

Motion by Marini to fund the School Library Impact Study at $80,000. Seconded by Thompson. Motion carried.

Motion by Burkhalter to fund DLTCL'Library Development: Library Improvement at $237,100. Seconded by Setter. Motion carried.

Motion by Nemec to fund the Library Directors Handbook at $3,000. Seconded by Setter. Motion carried.

Motion by Polodna to fund Library Standards at $3,000. Seconded by Berger. Motion carried.

Motion by King to fund DLTCL'Communication and Planning at $25,000. Seconded by Setter. Motion carried.

Motion by Burkhalter to fund LSTA Administration at $98,000. Seconded by Lockett. Motion carried.

Motion by Polodna to fund Early Learning Birth to Three at $99,328. Seconded by Setter. Motion carried. (Lockett and Iwata abstained.)

Motion by King to fund the seven highest ranked applications in the Digitization'Local Resources category at $21,353. Seconded by Marini. Considerable discussion ensued about the ability of the UW library staff and DLTCL staff to work with a greater number of projects, and the quality and value of the lower-ranked applications. Motion carried: Yes ' 7; No - 5. (Burkhalter abstained.)

Motion by MacPhail to fund the Department of Transportation (DOT) application in the Digitization'Local Resources category. Seconded by Iwata. A number of committee members expressed opposition to funding any applications out of rank order (the DOT application was rated 9th of 11 applications received). Others asked if it would be possible for DLTCL staff to work with the DOT (and others) to improve the project for possible funding next year. The possibility of a future separate category for state government documents was also raised. Motion failed: Yes ' 3; No-10.

Motion by Marini to fund all ten applications in the Seniors / Sensory Disabilities category for the requested funding total of $103,316 with the provision that Barb Huntington work with the four lowest ranked applications to resolve any problems. Seconded by Setter. Polodna suggested a uniform methodology for analyzing all of the special needs categories. Burkhalter noted the significant ratings gap after the 7th rated application. Motion carried: Yes ' 7; No ' 4. (Puntney abstained.)

Motion by Burkhalter to fund Literacy at $183,585. Seconded by Polodna. Motion carried. (Puntney and Lockett abstained.)

Motion by Nemec to fund Library Card Sign-Up at $77,507. Seconded by Setter. Motion carried. (Lockett and MacPhail abstained.)

Motion by MacPhail to add $59,911 to Delivery to decrease the formula costs to library systems. Seconded by Van Gemert. Some thought it would be better to reserve the funds for next year; some thought this service should be funded with state funds. Motion failed: Yes ' 3; No ' 9.

Motion by Setter to add $59,911 into System Technology Projects. Seconded by MacPhail. Motion carried: Yes ' 4; No ' 3. (Burkhalter, Polodna, Iwata, and Puntney abstained.)

Consideration of Preliminary Categories for 2006.

The committee had a preliminary discussion of issues and categories for 2006, including:

--Continuation/multiple-year grants. The committee discussed grants awarded multiple times and what constitutes on-going funding. DLTCL encourages multiple-year applications grants to come in with a new/different angle, rather than continuations of previous projects. Applicants and grant application reviewers need to know what to expect and the applications and category language should reflect our expectations. Applications should reflect previous projects.

--Some libraries are better at grant writing than others. Is there something we can do to help small libraries (e.g., NCAA-type rating system).

--Should system applications be separate from library applications.

--Combine Early Learning and Literacy.

--Digitization 'If we have a limit in terms of the number of projects, we should inform applicants. Matching component was hard to deal with. Consider giving grants only to new libraries (no repeat libraries) and to state agencies.

Interlibrary Loan Needs Assessment Update

Jeff Russell of Russell Consulting provided an update on the ILL Needs Assessment project. He said the overall response rate of 56% to the survey was good. He said five focus groups were held as follows: 1) school librarians in conjunction with the WEMA conference in the spring; 2) public library system staff; 3) public librarians; 4) special librarians; and 5) academic librarians. The latter three were held via WisLine Web. Russell reviewed selective preliminary data from the survey and focus groups and explained how to interpret the charts in the report. He said Russell Consulting would include a general or executive summary in the final report, but it will be up to the library community to interpret the data and look for trends and patterns. He said he hopes the information is useful to the library community and will be helpful in making decisions. The final report will be available in January.

Public Hearing

Only one letter was received as part of the public hearing. Alan Engelbert, director of the Manitowoc Public Library and Manitowoc-Calumet Library System, said LSTA funds should not be used fund a school library impact study because 14 other state studies have been done in the last five years and have demonstrated convincingly the benefits of school libraries and school library media programs.

Final Comments and Adjournment

Grobschmidt thanked the members of the committee for their participation. He expressed his appreciation and that of the state superintendent for the four members of the committee who completed three years of service on the committee: Kathy Setter, Ed Van Gemert, Mindy King, and Sandra Lockett. Van Gemert said he enjoyed being on the committee and the opportunity to be a 'good library citizen.' He said he was excited about digitization and enhanced BadgerLink content. He said ILL has become such a small part of what we do and wanted the most efficient and productive tool used. King appreciated that special libraries were invited and would like to see a resolution to the ILL issues. Setter said the committee needs to keep the small libraries in mind and wondered whether OCLC was a viable alternative for the vast majority of small libraries. Lockett enjoyed being on the committee and said she didn't want to see competition between large and small libraries, all are important. She appreciated the opportunity to represent urban libraries which have unique needs.

The meeting adjourned at 2:30 p.m.


Peg Branson
LSTA Program Coordinator
Division for Libraries and Community Learning
Public Library Development
125 South Webster Street, P.O. Box 7841
Madison, WI 53707-07841
(608) 266-2413
peg.branson@dpi.wi.gov

LSTA Website

March 2005


For questions about this information, contact Robert F. Bocher (608) 266-2127

Last updated on 2/25/2008 12:38:28 PM