Home → About MSL → Maine Library Commission → Minutes Jan 5, 2009

Maine Library Commission Minutes, January 5, 2009

The Maine Library Commission met at the Maine State Library on Monday, January 5, 2009 at 1:03 pm.

Members present: Karl Aromaa, Charles Campo, Inese Gruber, Barbara Harness, Moorhead Kennedy, Molly Larson, Barbara McDade, Elizabeth Moran, Steve Nichols, Steve Podgajny, Jamie Ritter, and Joyce Rumery.

Members absent: Gretchen Asam, Charles Cawley

Also present: Anna Carr (NMLD Board), Dean Corner, Janet Cowen (SMLD Board), Shirley Helfrich, Linda Lord, Sylvia Norton, Valerie Osborne, Susan Preece (CMLD board) , James Jackson Sanborn, Mary Ann Thibodeau (NMLD Board) Susan Trent (SMLD Board), Don Wismer (Department of Secretary of State), Stephanie Zurinski.

Minutes:

On a motion by Nichols, seconded by Moran, the minutes of the November 3, 2008 meeting were approved unanimously.

Commission Chair:

Jamie Ritter reported on the status of the vacant State Librarian position. With the state government hiring freeze, we cannot advertise this position. The job description, salary range, and ad text have been settled and are ready to go when the freeze is lifted.

The Commission will be focused on strategic planning this year. Planning topics will include the role of the Commission; how to define the State Library; what kind of library should the MSL be? These will be important to discuss and define so that the Commission can serve these constituencies: state agencies, libraries, and the citizens of Maine (including the disabled, communities with no libraries, communities with established libraries).

Three subcommittees will be established in the near future to represent these constituencies. Mike Kennedy volunteered to head the subcommittee on libraries.

Rulemaking:

The Commission’s interest in the subject centered on Maine’s public library minimum standards and the benefits that public libraries receive through the State Library. Don Wismer from the Secretary of State’s office gave a detailed presentation on the nuts and bolts of rulemaking for state agencies and commissions. He noted that LD 2, giving the Commission the authority to create rules, has been submitted to the Legislature.

The entire rulemaking process can be found on the Secretary of State’s web page.

Interlibrary Loan Delivery Contract:

Dean reported that the current three-year delivery contract expires at the end of June 2009. An RFP for bids will be submitted in January. Suggestions for contract language and stipulations have been requested from the University of Maine system and Colby, Bates, and Bowdoin.

Dean responded to a question about a low bidder that cost made up 40% of the criteria evaluation. References and a proven customer complaint mechanism constituted the remainder of the criteria. A contract would not be awarded solely on the basis of being the low bidder.

Another question focused on whether the breadth of delivery coverage should be one of the criteria. Dean responded that the ability to provide delivery to the entire state (excluding island libraries) was included as part of the scope of the contract.

Consultants’ Reports:

Valerie Osborne (NMLD) reported that her district has been awarded a $4,000 grant from Maine Charities to bring in a nationally known specialist on reader’s advisory. Public libraries from across the state would be eligible to attend this presentation.

Shirley Helfrich (SMLD) reported on the Maine Literary Map’s print and online versions. A new Portland Press Herald blog has been established to discuss the books set in Maine that were entered on the Literary Map. The winner of the statewide contest for the most popular Maine book was Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout. This title will be the first blog discussion book and will be followed the two runners-up and a different monthly selection afterwards.

Stephanie Zurinski (CMLD) is working on a new SCOOP contract. SCOOP is a cooperative purchasing arrangement for libraries to buy furnishings, equipment and library materials.

Susan Preece (CMLD Board) reported that the chairs and co-chairs of each District have been meeting as a committee to assess what the libraries of all districts need. The committee intends to communicate and plan across district boundaries. It will also focus on how the Commission and the State Library can best serve libraries in the field.

Maine InfoNet:

James Sanborn stated that the work on the Innovative Interfaces vendor contract for the state’s integrated library system is nearly finalized. The remaining outstanding issue was the 8% COLA that Triple I assessed. This has been reduced to no more than 5% and future increases will be capped.

MIN has received a $4,000 grant from the Maine Communities Foundation that will be applied to the statewide downloadable audio project. Libraries opting into the project have contributed about $45,000 in dues which will be used toward the purchase of downloadable audio books. This project expects to go live in January 2009.

James reported that Maine InfoNet is investigating partnership opportunities with other groups for grant projects. One of these is an endeavor to provide an encoded archival description of manuscript collections so the items in the collections can be searched from remote locations. Interested parties include Bowdoin, Bates, Colby, Maine Historical Society, University of New England, University of Maine, and the State Archives.

A second partnership involves the University of Maine at Orono and the sharing of local geospatial data on the Web.

Another project involves the Maine and Vermont Folklife Centers, the Maine State Archives, and other archival organizations in Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont. The aim of this project centers on digitizing audios of state arts and culture and oral histories.

Maine Library Commission vacancies:

The Governor’s Office contacted the State Library about 3 vacancies (2 At-Large seats and 1 Handicapped seat) and 5 members (Aromaa, Asam, Gruber, Moran and Ritter) whose terms have expired.

The Nominating Committee will meet to explore potential candidates for the three vacancies.

Acting Director’s Report:

Linda attended a COSLINE (Council of State Library Agencies in the Northeast) meeting. Several New England state libraries (New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont) are interested in developing core competencies for librarians, especially for those with little or no library experience that find themselves running a library.

MSL wants to retain its membership in WebJunction but is hoping to do so at the bargain rate it initially signed up at.

MSL does not have a children’s consultant on its staff and found that this is one of the busiest employees at other regional state library agencies. MSL is interested in contracting with children’s consultants from neighboring states for workshops or training.

The Governor’s Office wanted a list of library construction projects in Maine that were ready-to-go for an economic stimulus report from Maine to Washington. In December 2008, 41 libraries reported construction/renovation needs totaling $41,508,750.

The public libraries’ annual reports for 2008 will be due by April 2009. The statistical data from these reports are submitted to the Institute for Museum and Library Services in Washington.

Other Business:

Shirley Helfrich announced that Maine Libraries Week is January 11-17 this year.

Dean mentioned that all newly elected legislators have received their own library cards and brochures promoting the State Library and MARVEL.

Executive Session:

The Commission voted to go into executive session to discuss a personnel matter at 2:50 pm.

The Commission voted to leave executive session at 3:15 pm.

During the session, the Commission voted unanimously to approve the hiring of a contract employee to work twenty hours per week through June 2009 to perform very specific administrative tasks under the direct supervision of the acting State Librarian.