Final Recommendations of the Wisconsin Public Library Legislation and Funding Task Force

Final Recommendations

August 15, 2002

The following recommendations will be forwarded to the State Superintendent for consideration and possible action. The recommendations are arranged by potential packages for advancement, with the DPI to determine their final form.

Package 1 recommendations. Items recommended for inclusion in the 2003-2005 DPI biennial budget request:

That the current statutory language requiring the DPI to submit a budget request for public library system funding equal to 13% of statewide local library expenditures be replaced with language to the following effect. (See Issue Paper #13 on Public Library System Funding for background information.)

The DPI shall submit a request for funding totaling not less than the 13% index level for library funding, with the total amount determined by the DPI in consultation with public library systems and member public libraries.
The budget should include funding necessary to maintain and improve system services and to fund such centralized statewide programs as determined by the DPI in consultation with public library systems and member public libraries.
Each system shall be required to provide a plan indicating how its share of the state aids requested shall be spent to improve local library services.
The centralized programs shall have priority if actual funding above current levels does not equal the amount requested.

That the DPI request state funding in the 2003-2005 biennial budget to cover the cost of statewide public library system backbone delivery services ($360,000 in 2003/2004 and $390,000 in 2004/2005), with the funding to be provided from within the 13% index level amount. (See Issue Paper #14 on Statewide Delivery of Library Materials for background information.)
That the DPI request Universal Service Fund funding of BadgerLink magazines, newspapers, and reference materials through the contracts with EBSCO and ProQuest, and that increased funding be requested for additional resources such as the following. (See Issue Paper #16 on Statewide Access to Electronic Resources for background information.)

Grolier encyclopedia package (New Book of Knowledge, Grolier Multimedia Encyclopedia, Encyclopedia Americana, Nueva enciclopedia Cumbre en linea [Spanish-language encyclopedia])
TeachingBooks (web site specializing in children’s literature)
SIRS Discoverer
OCLC WorldCat
SIRS Researcher
Lit Finder (Access to poems, essays, and stories)

Package 2 recommendations. Legislative items relating to public library system reform to be introduced by DPI:

Prohibit the creation of additional public library systems. (See Issue Paper #6 on Library System Size and Organization for background information.)
Change the statutes to state that if, because of the withdrawal or realignment of participating municipalities or counties, a public library system has a population under 200,000 (currently 100,000), the remaining parts of the system shall realign with an existing system within 2 years after the date on which the population falls below 200,000. (See Issue Paper #6 on Library System Size and Organization for background information.)
Encourage the merging of public library systems by making the only requirement for merger the approval of the participating county boards of both of the public library systems to be included in the merged system. (See Issue Paper #6 on Library System Size and Organization for background information.)
Require that as a condition of library system membership a public library pay the certified head librarian for a minimum of 10 regularly scheduled hours per week of work in the library building during time the library is open to the public. This would be required by January 1 of the year after the effective date of this legislation. (The Task Force recommends that this item be deferred until after legislative approval of the biennial budget.) (See Issue Paper #3 on Requirements for Library System Membership for background information.)
Require that as a condition of library system membership a public library provide a public library facility open to the public a minimum annual average of 25 hours per week by the year 2006. (The Task Force recommends that this item be deferred until after legislative approval of the biennial budget.) (See Issue Paper #3 on Requirements for Library System Membership for background information.)
Require that as a condition of library system membership a public library annually spend a minimum of one third of the minimum amount recommended in Wisconsin Public Library Standards (this would amount to $3,333) on library materials (including electronic materials) by the year 2006. (The Task Force recommends that this item be deferred until after legislative approval of the biennial budget.) (See Issue Paper #3 on Requirements for Library System Membership for background information.)
Allow a public library system board to adopt a plan requiring their participating public libraries to compensate other participating public libraries for crossover lending of library materials. If a plan is adopted by the public library system board for this purpose, it would be incorporated into the written agreement between each participating public library and the public library system board. The per-transaction level of compensation required under the intermunicipal lending of library materials reimbursement plan could not exceed the actual costs of providing the services. (See Issue Paper #10 on Crossover Library Usage for background information.)
Change the statutes to provide an exemption to the “same service” system membership requirement for remote access to electronic databases. (See Issue Paper #12 on Public Library System Services and System Resource Libraries for background information.)

Package 3 recommendations. Legislative Items relating to county and municipal library organization and funding reform to be introduced by DPI:

Require that a city or village in a county with a county library must first obtain county board and county library board approval before establishment of a library if the municipality lies wholly within the county. (See Issue Paper #8 on County Library Organizations for background information.)
Require that any city or village must first obtain county board approval before establishment of a library or joint library within the county. Also require the library system to prepare an impact statement. (See Issue Paper #8 on County Library Organizations for background information.)
Require that joint library agreements provide for review and adjustment of the number of library board appointments allocated to each participant within one year of the publication of population figures from the federal decennial census. (See Issue Paper #5 on Joint Libraries for background information.)
Require that any new joint library agreement call for each participant in the joint library to support the joint library at the equivalent of a uniform library levy rate per $1000 of equalized assessed value (EAV), but maintain total funding at a level not lower than the average of the previous three years. Also require that the agreement provide a procedure for adjustment of that levy rate at least every three years. (See Issue Paper #5 on Joint Libraries for background information.)
Require that joint library agreements provide that one of the participant organizations agree to act as the fiscal agent for the library, handle the payroll and benefit administration for library staff, pay library insurance costs, and handle library financial record-keeping and auditing. Documented costs for providing these services can be included toward the participant's required financial support for the library. (See Issue Paper #5 on Joint Libraries for background information.)
Require that joint library agreements provide a procedure for dissolution of assets in case the joint library is dissolved. (See Issue Paper #5 on Joint Libraries for background information.)
Replace the terminology “consolidated county library” with the terminology “county library.” Define “county library” as an entity that is operated by the county, maintains a collection of materials, is open to the public, has a paid staff, operates one or more facilities, and receives support from county funds. (See Issue Paper #8 on County Library Organizations for background information.)
Define a “county library service” as an entity that provides library and library support services using paid regular employees but does not operate a library facility open to the public. (See Issue Paper #8 on County Library Organizations for background information.)
Establish an entity called a "county library council." Define “county library council” as a council that provides library support services without employing paid regular employees. An existing county library board that meets this definition would thereafter be legally termed a county library council. Provide that a county library council have exclusive control of all funds provided by or to the county for library purposes. (Under current statutes, a county library board has this legal authority, which would be retained by a "county library council" under this alternative.) (See Issue Paper #8 on County Library Organizations for background information.)
Provide that the 70% minimum reimbursement responsibility for counties be extended to use of libraries in adjacent counties including adjacent counties across system borders (excluding the Milwaukee County Federated Library System). (See Issue Paper #4 on Library Usage Across County Borders for background information.)
Allow county library plans to require crossover library use reimbursements. A county library plan could include a provision requiring that a municipality located in whole or part within the county that operates a public library compensate libraries in other municipalities located in whole or part within the county for crossover lending of library materials. The per-transaction level of compensation required under the plan could not exceed the actual costs of providing the services. A municipality would be required to provide the compensation for crossover lending of library materials according to the formula in the county library plan in order to exempt itself from the county library tax. (See Issue Paper #10 on Crossover Library Usage for background information.)

Package 4 recommendations. General technical and nonsubstantive legislative items to be introduced by DPI:

Change the statutes so that any "capital outlay" funding by the county not be included in calculation of the levy rate required for municipal exemption from the county library levy, using the following definition of "capital outlay": "any items classified as capital outlay in accordance with the county's accounting practices, except that library collection expenditures may not be considered as capital outlay." (See Issue Paper #1 on Municipal Exemption from the County Library Tax for background information.)
Change the statutes to allow single-county library system boards to have 7 to 20 members. (See Issue Paper #2 on Public Library System Governance for background information.)
Clarify the statutes concerning the use of county funding for shared services. (See Issue Paper #17 on Other Public Library and Public Library System Statutory Revisions, Item 1, for background information.)
Make it clear that capital costs are excluded from the maintenance-of-effort requirements for county and municipal library participation in a library system. (See Issue Paper #17 on Other Public Library and Public Library System Statutory Revisions, Item 3, for background information.)
Clarify the statutory requirements for cross-system-border library usage and the ability of a library to deny this type of use. (See Issue Paper #17 on Other Public Library and Public Library System Statutory Revisions, Item 4, for background information.)
Extend the required time frame allowed for the election of officers by a library board. (See Issue Paper #17 on Other Public Library and Public Library System Statutory Revisions, Item 6, for background information.)
Change the statutes to allow for a streamlined procedure for the approval of library expenditures for salaries, benefits, and other recurrent expenditures. (See Issue Paper #17 on Other Public Library and Public Library System Statutory Revisions, Item 7, for background information.)
Make it clear that the library annual report must report on all funds under library board control. (See Issue Paper #17 on Other Public Library and Public Library System Statutory Revisions, Item 8, for background information.)
Clarify the allowable investments for library board-held funds. (See Issue Paper #17 on Other Public Library and Public Library System Statutory Revisions, Item 9, for background information.)
Extend the ability of counties to appoint members to municipal library boards based on the level of county support provided to the library. (See Issue Paper #17 on Other Public Library and Public Library System Statutory Revisions, Item 10, for background information.)
Remove two irrelevant dates from the statutes. (See Issue Paper #17 on Other Public Library and Public Library System Statutory Revisions, Items 2 and 5, for background information.)

Package 5 recommendation. Legislation enabling the creation of district public libraries to be introduced by an individual legislator or legislators. (See Issue Paper #9 on District Public Libraries for background information.)

Package 6 recommendations. Items not requiring legislative action that will be recommended to the DLTCL and/or other statewide library organizations:

That the DLTCL provide written guidance to library systems on the development and use of public library advisory committees to the system. (See Issue Paper #2 on Public Library System Governance for background information.)
That reduction in the number of public library systems be encouraged through the award of LSTA funding. (See Issue Paper #6 on Library System Size and Organization for background information.)
That the creation of public library districts be encouraged by using LSTA funds for planning grants and for incentives. (See Issue Paper #9 on District Public Libraries for background information.)
That the DLTCL explore the feasibility of developing a statewide shared automated system for public libraries to be funded through either state or federal subsidies and/or cooperative purchasing. (See Issue Paper #12 on Public Library System Services and System Resource Libraries for background information.)
That the development of multi-system zones of library cooperation and planning be encouraged through state policies, LSTA funding, interlibrary loan protocols, and linking or merging of automation systems. (See Issue Paper #12 on Public Library System Services and System Resource Libraries for background information.)
That the DPI establish a task force to review the current and "triggered" state aid distribution formulas. (See Issue Paper #13 on State Public Library System Funding for background information.)
That the Reference and Loan Library continue to experiment with limited extended reference and “chat” software without creating a statewide program at this time. (See Issue Paper #15 on Extended Statewide Reference Services for background information.)
That the Reference and Loan Library take part in and evaluate the WiLS QuestionPoint demonstration over the next 18 months. (See Issue Paper #15 on Extended Statewide Reference Services for background information.)
That the DPI adopt a policy to encourage that by the year 2004 all public library systems have a minimum population of 300,000 or include at least four counties. (See Issue Paper #6 on Library System Size and Organization for background information.)

Additional information related to the Task Force's work is available through the Task Force Web Page or by contacting:
Mike Cross, Director of Public Library Development
State Division for Libraries, Technology, and Community Learning
Public Library Development
125 S. Webster St., P.O. Box 7841, Madison WI 53707-7841
608-267-9225, fax 608-266-2529
michael.cross@dpi.wi.gov

For questions about this information, contact Michael H. Cross (608) 267-9225

Last updated on 2/25/2008 9:06:07 AM