Maine Library Commission Minutes, May 4, 2009  

The Maine Library Commission met at the Maine State Library on Monday, May 4, 2009 at 1:00 pm.

Members present:  Debe Averill, Charlie Campo, Beth Edmonds, Inese Gruber, Barbara Harness, Mike Kennedy, Molly Larson, Barbara McDade, Steve Nichols, Jamie Ritter, and Joyce Rumery.

Also present:  Anna Carr, Dean Corner, Shirley Helfrich, Janet McKenney, Nikki Maounis, Melanie Mohney, Sylvia Norton, Peggy O’Kane, Valerie Osborne, Marie Pierce, Susan Preece, James Jackson Sanborn, Emily Schroeder, Sarah Stanton, Susan Trent, and Stephanie Zurinski.

Members absent:  Steve Podgajny.

Introduction:

Newest Commission member, Beth Edmonds, director of the Freeport Community Library and former speaker of the Maine State Senate, was introduced.

Nominating Committee:

On a motion by McDade and a second by Rumery, Beth Edmonds was elected as vice chair of the Commission succeeding Karl Aromaa.

Minutes:

On a motion by Nichols and a second by Edmonds, the minutes of the February 2 and March 9 meetings were approved.

Delivery Contract:

Dean reported that NCS Logistics from Scarborough had been awarded the delivery contract for statewide delivery of library materials.  NCS was not the lowest bidder but did tally the greatest number of points for customer service resolution, price, references, and attention to the specifics of the contract.          

The current delivery service, Velocity, has become delinquent servicing numerous libraries throughout the state.  The Commission expressed concern that Velocity might not be able to delivery all the library items in its warehouse before their contract expires.

Acting State Librarian’s Report:

Linda reported that as a result of the 2008 LSTA audit, the federal government needs a firm definition of who is eligible for LSTA funding.  She stated that any library that is listed in one of our directories is eligible.

Mike Kennedy recommended attaching the directories in print format to these minutes. 

Governor Baldacci has requested that the State budget for both 2010 and 2011 include 12 furlough days, the elimination of merit and longevity pay, and new employees paying a percentage of their health insurance premiums among other items.

The Cultural Affairs Council will be having a retreat to study how the cultural agencies should be administered in the future.  This is in response to the Legislature’s leaders' deliberations about the cultural agencies, their roles, management, and position in State government.

Interviews for the InfoNet systems training position, formerly held by Deb Hensler, are ongoing.

InfoNet:

James noted that the InfoNet Board approved new mission and vision statements. 

  • Mission:  Maine InfoNet connects the people of Maine to information and ideas through library cooperation.  
  • Vision: Maine libraries. Maine citizens. Connected.

Nelson Eubanks, the new Systems Manager, began work on April 20.

An agreement has been reached between Triple I and URSUS, Minerva, SOLAR, and MaineCat.  The contract has not been signed yet, however.

Warren Memorial Library in Westbrook has closed.  Its collection is being transferred to Walker Library, also in Westbrook.

MSL Outreach patrons have been properly coded so they can take advantage of the InfoNet Downloadable Books Library.

Consultants:

Stephanie and Valerie reported that there was a 93% of all public libraries submitted annual report data – this is the highest compliance rate.

Five libraries (Ellsworth, Southwest Harbor, Norway, Acton and Bingham) will be receiving library makeovers.

Trustee forums continue to be held throughout the state.

A joint district fall meeting in combination with the Maine Library Association will be held on October 30 in Augusta and feature Pat Wagner from Pattern Research, Inc. speaking about how to build a community, one hello at a time.

The public library director’s institute will be held June 9 in Auburn.

Linda announced that Shirley Helfrich is retiring as the SMLD consultant at the end of July.

Citizens’ Committee Report:

Inese reported that the committee’s focus was on the State Library’s role as a public library.  State libraries were surveyed to find how many circulated materials to the public and what types of collections they maintained.

Barbara McDade stated that the vast majority of state libraries do not purchase popular nonfiction materials.  They may and do have collections, for example genealogies, history, state authors (Idaho, Pennsylvania, Virginia).

Debe Averill focused on the state library as the library for libraries.  She found that many (Wyoming, Montana, Rhode Island) provided an array of services to libraries throughout their states and were open for researchers.  They often also had an objective to serve the underserved.  However, these had less of a public function than MSL.

Inese found that the emphasis of most state libraries was on their state and on materials about their states.  South Dakota had recently made the transition from a public library.

There followed a free-ranging discussion about the reallocation of MSL’s resources (staff and budget), the functions and collections of MSL and the descriptions of the publics it serves.  No decisions were arrived at but there was overall agreement to continue these discussions.

The Commission entered into executive session to discuss a personnel matter at 3:35 pm.  It exited this session at 3:45 pm and voted to adjourn the meeting at 3:50 pm.

Respectfully submitted,

Dean Corner