Maine Library Commission Minutes, May 9, 2007
The Maine Library Commission met at the Maine State Library on Wednesday, May 9, 2007 at 1:10 p.m.
Members present: Inese Gruber, Barbara Harness, Moorehead Kennedy, Barbara McDade, Elizabeth Moran, Steve Podgajny, Joyce Rumery.
Members absent: Karl Aromaa, Gretchen Asam, Charles Campo, Charles Cawley, Suzanne Finn, Steve Nichols, Glenna Nowell, Jamie Ritter.
Also in attendance: Karl Beiser, Dean Corner, Bonnie Dwyer, Linda Lord, Gary Nichols, Sylvia Norton.
Elizabeth Moran presided in the absence of Steve Nichols and Jamie Ritter.
A quorum not being present, the March 27, 2007 minutes were held over for approval at the September 10, 2007 meeting.
- Consultant’s Report (Dwyer)
Valerie Osborne will assume her duties full-time as the NMLD consultant on June 1, 2007.
This year’s annual public library director’s institute will be held on June 12.
The Maine Library Excellence Awards, which include a $500 award, will begin accepting new applications in the summer.
Libraries interested in learning new ideas on how to better use their interior space should apply for “library makeover” awards. Design specialists will offer tips on interior decorating and expertise on arranging furnishings and equipment.
A recurring need of small libraries is funds to pay for travel expenses.
- Legislation (Gary)
The Cultural Building Task Force (LD 1876) will be make two recommendations to the State and Local Government Committee on Friday, May 11 at 11 a.m. Those include the renovation and expansion of the current building OR construction a new building.
The New Century Grants are now part of the governor’s $2million bond proposal that will be submitted to the voters in November.
Consideration of LD 1793 is delayed until the budget is formally approved. The Democrat’s have proposed either $125,000 for databases or $250,000 for both databases and delivery.
- MSLN Project (Linda)
Conversion of DSL libraries to T1 lines is in process. A number of high bandwidth usage libraries are receiving a second T-1 line. Increasing the bandwidth at schools is being studied as it is expected that all high school students will be receiving laptops in the next year or so.
- Maine InfoNet (Karl)
Barbara McDade has agreed to become the interim director of Maine InfoNet on June 1, 2007. The Maine InfoNet CEO position will be advertised in May with the goal of having a new hire on board by September.
The Minerva authority file is being cleaned up; Minerva, MSL and InfoNet have signed a new memo of understanding on how Minerva is to be governed.
SOLAR Express is the first automation step for small libraries as an introduction to full SOLAR membership. Express libraries cannot loan materials but they can borrow from ARRC libraries.
- Future of Libraries Conference (Linda)
This conference, sponsored by the New Jersey State Library, discussed and described what the libraries of the future might look like and how they should consider delivering information and services.
- School Libraries and Legislation (Sylvia)
MASL is distributing a position paper showing the impact of school librarians on educational attainment. It will also describe what role school libraries play in the use of state-funded resources such as MARVEL and MaineCat.
- Washington Legislative Day (Gary)
On May 2, a delegation of Maine librarians (Joyce Rumery, Pam Turner, Jamie Ritter, Barbara McDade, Linda Lord and Gary Nichols) met with Maine’s Congressional delegation, with the exception of Senator Snowe. The agenda focused on the LSTA funding increase that is in the President’s budget; copyright and fair use; Internet privacy; E-rate; net neutrality; broadband deployment; and No Child Left Behind.
FOLUSA (Friends of Libraries USA) and the American Library Association presented Senator Collins with the 2007 Public Service Award for her commitment to federal funding for libraries. Both Gary and Linda participated in this event.
- State Government Evaluation Review (Gary)
The Maine Library Commission and MSL are scheduled to go through this process. Each agency must submit a program evaluation report.
Next meeting of the Commission is Monday, September 10 at 1 p.m. at MSL.
Meeting adjourned at 3:11 p.m.
