Best Western East Towne Suites / Madison, WI
Wednesday, November 13, 2002
Members present: Alan Engelbert, James Gollata, Ken Hall, Mindy
LaBonte, Pam Nyberg Kiesner, Karen Krueger, Kathleen Setter, Edward Van Gemert
Members absent: Doug Lay, Sandra Lockett, Sandi Szafranski
Staff and others present: Cal Potter, Larry Nix, Sally Drew, Bob
Bocher, Peg Branson, Mike Cross, Barb Huntington, Al Zimmerman, Mary Clark
Call to Order
Branson called the meeting to order at 10:05 a.m.
Welcome and Opening Remarks
Potter thanked the committee members for their volunteer time and service.
He noted that the DPI has recently absorbed about 13.5% in cuts in state
funding, which has left the agency more dependent on federal dollars. He also
reviewed the current status of congressional activity on LSTA reauthorization
and appropriation.
Potter gave special thanks to committee members who will be ending their
terms at the end of 2002: James Gollata, Ken Hall, and Pam Nyberg Kiesner.
Review of the Agenda
Branson briefly reviewed the agenda. She noted that at the end of
tomorrow's session we would like comments and/or preliminary suggestions for
LSTA activities for 2004.
Minutes of March, 2002 Meeting
Kiesner moved approval of the March 2002 minutes as presented. Seconded by
Gollata. Motion carried.
LSTA Coordinator's Report
Branson reported that LSTA has not yet been reauthorized by Congress and
reported that a federal LSTA budget is yet to be approved by Congress. It is
not yet known when Congress will act on these issues. Federal programs are now
running on continuing resolutions. The current conventional wisdom is that
LSTA will ultimately be funded at about the current level. Grant awards for
next year will probably need to be made contingent on receipt of federal
funding.
Branson and Potter also discussed the maintenance of effort law requiring
states to maintain their support for library programs at a minimum of the
average of the previous three years or face ratable reductions in LSTA
funding. Wisconsin will be able to meet the maintenance of effort requirement
in 2002. If there are additional cuts in state funds for library programs, it
may be difficult to meet the requirement in 2003.
Branson reported that we have moved to an online LSTA grant application
form for this year and it worked well for most applicants. A few applicants
had problems which we hope to avoid through improvements to be made before
next year's process. The LSTA application reviewers used an online rating form
this year and reported that they liked the new system. Additional online forms
are under development.
LSTA Evaluation (1997-2002), Plan for LSTA Program (2003-2007), and
Proposed Format for Progress Report for 2003-2007
Branson reported that the Wisconsin LSTA Evaluation for 1997-2002 was
submitted in April, 2002 and has been accepted by the IMLS. She also reported
that the LSTA Plan for 2003 - 2007 was submitted in July was approved by the
IMLS in September. Branson discussed the old LSTA purposes and the proposed
new LSTA purposes and discussed how this affected the Wisconsin LSTA Plan. If
the final LSTA legislation contains major changes, we may have to redo parts
of the plan. Nix and Branson noted that the change from LSCA to LSTA opened up
the program to all types of libraries. Branson reviewed the proposed format
for a LSTA Plan Progress Report Form.
2003 LSTA Applications
Branson presented a summary of the funds budgeted and funds requested in
each of the LSTA categories for 2003.
Branson then discussed the procedures that will be followed for discussion
of the 2003 applications, and the conflict of interest policy. Branson noted
that the committee will have a total of $2,928,000 to work with for 2003. This
amount includes estimated carryover from 2002 of $128,000.
Discussion and Review Of 2003 LSTA Applications
State Library Agency Categories--General
Potter reported that the DPI faces increasing financial pressure. Since
1992, the DPI has gone from 290 GPR funded positions to 110 GPR funded
positions today in the downtown offices. Many DPI positions and services have
been retained only by moving the positions to federal funding. He commented
that many DLTCL services funded with LSTA funds should be funded with state
funds, but the reality is that the legislature does not appropriate enough
state funds to allow the Division to carry out these programs without LSTA
support. Without LSTA funding, these services would not be funded at all.
Public Library Development: Statewide Technology
Nix explained that funds in this category support the Public Library
Technology Consultant position and related activities. He commented that Bob
Bocher (the Public Library Technology Consultant) works to help return
millions of dollars in outside funding to Wisconsin libraries, including
e-rate funding and the Gates Foundation grants. Nix noted that the increased
costs in this category are primarily due to a significant increase in the
fixed costs the DPI charges for each DPI staff position to fund information
technology support, utilities, etc.
Public Library Development: Targeted Services
Nix explained that funds in this category support the Public Library Youth
and Special Services Consultant position and a 1/2 FTE Program Assistant
position. The most significant change in this category is that it is now
provides partial funding (30%) for the position of Director of the Public
Library Development Team. Funds in this category are also used to support the
summer library program, the collection of public library statistics; and
statewide meetings of system special needs consultants, youth services
consultants, and continuing education consultants. Nix noted that of the
entire 7.7 FTE Public Library Development Team staff, 4.9 FTE are GPR funded
and 2.8 FTE are LSTA funded.
Reference and Loan: Statewide Library Resource Sharing Technology
Drew noted that this category combines two previous categories. Drew
reported that funding in this category supports the work of 8.95 FTE staff who
carry out tasks related to development, management, maintenance and use of
technology to provide interlibrary loan and reference services; BadgerLink
portal and full-text database support services; the Wisconsin Document
Depository Program, including access to electronic government publications
through the state portal; and the operation and maintenance of the automated
systems at the Reference and Loan Library, including the circulation and
automated booking systems. The most significant change in this category is
that it now provides partial funding (30%) for the position of Director of the
Reference and Loan Library.
Engelbert questioned the Reference and Loan decision to discontinue payment
of the fees charged by some out-of-state libraries that fill Wisconsin
interlibrary loan requests. He said that these charges have hit the Manitowoc
Calumet Library System hard. Drew noted that Reference and Loan used to pay up
to $10 of these charges, but discontinued the payments due to increasing costs
and decreased state funding.
DLTCL - Communication and Planning
Potter reviewed the use of funds in this category, which includes committee
travel, membership in COSLA, and expenses for printing and mailing Channel
and other publications. Potter noted the reduced level of funding requested in
this category for 2003.
LSTA Administration
Branson noted that the main expense in this category is the indirect charge
made against all programs administered by DPI. Other costs in this category
include meeting costs for the LSTA Advisory Committee and staff support in the
DPI federal aids and audits office. This category is limited to 4% of total
LSTA funding by federal regulation.
WISCAT/Linked Systems
Clark reported that the increase over the preliminary budget is mainly due
to a change in the formula used by the DPI to assess fixed costs to DPI
positions. The budget reflects a decreased cost for the software vendors
(Auto-Graphics and Fretwell-Downing) because this is the second year of the
contracts. The budget also reflects a slight increase in WISCNET server
hosting costs.
The budget includes $100,000 for OCLC archival tapes used to load new
holdings records into the WISCAT database ($10,000 of that total is for serial
holdings records). OCLC has significantly increased its charges for these
tapes over the last year, and further price increases are expected. The
budgeted amount will not cover the full costs of these tapes and will run out
by July 2003. Reference and Loan staff have been working with some of the OCLC
libraries to encourage them to tape load their holdings into WISCAT to save on
OCLC costs.
Extensive discussion ensued over the OCLC tape costs and alternatives such
as local tape loads and Z39.50 linking to library and library system catalogs.
Clark reported that a number of libraries are now adding their new holdings
via local tape loads, including, most recently, UW Madison. In addition,
holdings of four or five libraries and library systems are available for
searching through the Z39.50 gateway. Interlibrary loan can be conducted
through the gateway, but it is not as convenient. OWLS and WISCAT are
configured to allow placing interloan requests through the gateway. Some
committee members urged the consideration of incentives to encourage libraries
and systems to allow their catalogs to be accessed through the gateway. Others
expressed concern about the total cost of the WISCAT project.
Library Technology Advisory Committee (LITAC)
Bocher reviewed the activities of this committee, which has included
discussion of the new WISCAT and WISCATILL systems and discussion of
enhancements to BadgerLink. Travel and other committee costs for about three
meetings are proposed to be funded using $5,000 in LSTA funds.
Library System Technology Projects
Bocher reported that this noncompetitive project awards funding on a
formula basis to each of the 17 systems that can be used for the following
general purposes: shared systems, Internet access, adaptive technologies or
other technology projects consistent with the Wisconsin Library
Technology Strategic Plan.
Shared Automated Systems
Bocher noted that this category is non-competitive for the first time.
Bocher reported that the Division received eight grants requesting a total of
$280,000 while the preliminary budget had allocated $350,000 to this category.
Bocher said that these grants will add a total of approximately 42 libraries
to shared systems.
Early Learning Conference and Workshops
Huntington reported that this project will fund a statewide conference on
early learning and the role of public libraries, and will fund 10 to 12
regional workshops on the same topics. Huntington noted that this project
advances some of the major goals of the State Superintendent.
State Institution Coordination
Huntington reported that these funds go toward support of an Institutions
Coordinator position in the Department of Corrections (DOC also provides
support for that position), a position responsible for planning and
coordinating the library services that are provided in the state's existing
and new correctional facilities and institutions. Potter noted the poor
budgets for Wisconsin prison library materials. Huntington also reported on
the high illiteracy rates in state and federal prisons.
Delivery Service
Drew reported that this category again has three purposes: supporting a
statewide delivery advisory committee, demonstrating delivery service within
the Northern Waters Library Service, and funding an offset of a projected 2003
deficit in revenue for the South Central Library System delivery service.
Adult, Family, and Early Literacy
Huntington reported that 27 applications were received in this category
with a total requested amount of $485,016, while $300,000 was in the
preliminary budget for this category. She noted that $300,000 would fund the
top 15 applications and a small part of the Vaughn Public Library's (Ashland)
Statewide Prime Time application. Huntington explained that the Ashland
grant is a project to extend the Prime Time Family Time Reading project to
many parts of Wisconsin. They hope to convince the Wisconsin Humanities
Council to adopt this as a Wisconsin program.
Web Portal for Wisconsin
Bocher reported that the goal of this project is to create a web portal
that would link to web contents of interest to Wisconsin residents. Such a
portal could reduce redundant efforts by libraries and library systems across
the state. A number of options for this project will be explored including the
possibility of a cooperative project of the Wisconsin library community and
the Librarians Index to the Internet (lii.org). It was noted that LSTA funding
is currently used for a 1/2 time FTE position for BadgerLink support, which is
partly used for this type of project.
At 2:20 p.m. Branson adjourned the meeting for the day.
Thursday, November 14, 2002
Members present: Alan Engelbert, James Gollata, Ken Hall, Mindy LaBonte,
Doug Lay, Pam Nyberg Kiesner, Karen Krueger, Kathleen Setter, Sandi Szafranski,
Edward Van Gemert
Members absent: Sandra Lockett,
Staff and others present: Cal Potter, Larry Nix, Sally Drew, Bob
Bocher, Peg Branson, Mike Cross, Barb Huntington, Al Zimmerman, Mary Clark
Call to Order
Branson called the meeting to order at 8:34 a.m.
Final Recommendations on Applications and Allocation of Funds
Motion by Engelbert to fund WISCAT at $696,900 [reducing the funding for
OCLC tapes to $10,000 to cover the cost of WULS (serials) tapes]. Seconded by
Hall. Considerable discussion ensued about the impact of such a reduction and
alternatives for making updated records available. The committee also
questioned the vision for the future of WISCAT. Drew said that the plan is to
continue a union catalog while at the same time implementing the Z39.50
linking project as an alternative for making holdings data available to
support interlibrary loan. Both projects will continue and be evaluated before
a long-term decision will be made.
Some committee members suggested the need for an outside evaluation of
WISCAT and the future of interlibrary loan in Wisconsin. Some committee
members emphasized the importance of consideration of the needs of school
libraries and small public libraries.
Motion carried (Gollata abstained).
Motion by Hall to fund DLTCL - Reference and Loan at $585,600. Seconded by
Krueger. Englebert suggested adding funding to cover payment of the fees
charged by some out-of-state libraries that fill Wisconsin interlibrary loan
requests, but after discussion, no motion was made. Motion carried.
Motion by Krueger to fund DLTCL - Library Development: Statewide Library
Technology at $131,200. Seconded by Setter. Motion carried.
Motion by Kiesner to fund DLTCL - Library Development: Library Improvement at
$204,800 and DLTCL - Communication and Planning at $30,000. Seconded by Van
Gemert. Motion carried.
Motion by Hall to fund Literacy at $293,403, the Early Learning
Conference/Workshops at $20,000, and State Institution Coordination at
$25,000. Seconded by Krueger.
Motion by Setter to amend the motion by increasing funding for the Literacy
grants to $355,849 (which would allow for funding of the Vaughn Public Library
grant). Seconded by Szafranski. Motion to amend failed (Engelbert, Kiesner and
Hall abstained).
Original motion carried.
Motion by Engelbert to fund LSTA Administration at $97,100. Seconded by
Gollata. Motion carried.
Motion by Setter to fund Delivery - Projects at $60,200. Seconded by LaBonte.
Motion carried.
Motion by Hall to fund Delivery - State Committee at $2,500. Motion carried.
Motion by Krueger to fund Library System Technology Projects at $344,200.
Seconded by Engelbert. Motion carried.
Motion by Hall to fund the Library Technology Committee (LITAC) at $5,000.
Seconded by Van Gemert. Motion carried.
Motion by Van Gemert to fund Shared Automated Systems at $280,000. Seconded
by LaBonte. Motion carried.
Motion by Krueger to fund the Web Portal project at $35,900. Seconded by
Hall. Questions were raised about staffing and on-going costs of this project.
Bocher said a number of options can be considered and a more developed project
will be presented at the March 2003 LSTA Advisory Committee meeting. Motion
carried.
Motion by Kiesner to fund the Vaughn Public Library Statewide Prime Time
project at $62,446. Seconded by Setter. Motion carried (Hall abstained).
Motion by Hall to use some of the remaining $53,571 to study the future of
interlibrary loan and shared systems in Wisconsin, promote the linking
project, and have the DLTCL come back to the LSTA Advisory Committee in March
2003 with a proposal. Seconded by Engelbert. Many comments and questions were
made by committee members and DLTCL staff concerning the future of WISCAT,
shared systems, obstacles to the use of Z39.50, the role of LITAC, and the
need for a shared vision of the future of resource sharing among Wisconsin
libraries.
Motion carried.
Final Comments
Branson encouraged comments on future uses of LSTA funds in Wisconsin.
Setter spoke in favor of more competitive grant categories. Hall spoke in
favor of continued use of noncompetitive categories. Nix commented on a number
of suggestions from the Wisconsin Library Legislation and Funding Task Force
on the use of LSTA funds. These suggestions will be further reviewed at the
March 2003 meeting. Hall suggested that at future meetings the committee
members be sure to air all proposed ideas before starting to vote on those
ideas. Szafranski suggested more multitype projects. Huntington spoke of the
importance of projects that support the agenda of the State Superintendent
such as special needs projects and projects that help children. She noted that
the vast majority of interlibrary loan is not used to benefit children.
Kiesner spoke in favor of the use of LSTA funds for literacy projects.
Krueger thanked Potter for his many years of service to the state and his
positive impact on state education and library issues.
After farewells and thanks, the committee adjourned at 11:40 a.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
February 2003
For questions about this information, contact Robert F. Bocher (608) 266-2127
Last updated on 2/25/2008 12:38:24 PM
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