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MALC Minutes
January 6, 2009

In Attendance
Jean Anderson, SCLS; Vicky Billings, Portage County Public Library; Peggy Smith, UW-Madison; Jennifer Friedman, Mendota Mental Health Institute; Tiffany Thiede, Verona Public Library, Richard MacDonald, Baraboo Public Library, Amy O'Shea, Wisconsin Veterans Museum, Julie Gores, MATC

Minutes

Minutes of the October 7, 2008 meeting were accepted without changes; approved by consensus.

Appointment of Chair

Richard MacDonald volunteered as chair (and also as note taker and time keeper).

SCLS Report
Jean Anderson, CE/Multitype Coordinator, reported the following:

• Library Legislative Day will be Tuesday, February 3, 2009.  Registration ended December 31, but you can still register via the WLA Website.  WLA will schedule appointments with legislators.
• Oregon and Poynette have new directors
• A new library catalog will be coming this year for LINK libraries.  SCLS/LINK will be moving to Koha, an open source catalog solution for LINKcat.
• If you have information you'd like to share with SCLS, please share that information with Mark Ibach and he'll put it in Online Update.
• Upcoming CE opportunities include: Brain Snacks and Play Dates, SLP Workshop.  Noted that MALC library staff may attend any CE activities.
  • SCLS has been using OPAL for a couple of years and it worked pretty well.  We're now using GoToWebinar which has some additional features not available in OPAL and we're really liking it!
• There are two LSTA grants for training that SCLS will be working on in 2009
  • Health information for the elderly and their caregivers (April 20 and 21)
  • Strategic Planning workshop (October 6)
• SCLS has new video conference equipment and added some new games to the Gaming packages (Mario Party, Big Brain Academy, and others).  Let Jean know if you have other suggestions.

MALC Scholarship, 2009 Discussion

• Guidelines were handed out and discussion followed about how to get more applicants
• Jean reviewed the guidelines and answered questions
• We talked about how to inform potential applicants about the scholarships
• The scholarships are $250 - normally one for in state and one for out-of-state; but for the last few years, we have used them both for out-of-state conferences; so we want to maintain flexibility
• Jean suggested we award 2 scholarships and not limit them to an in-state or out-of-state use.  She also suggested changing the deadline to March 31.
• The group agreed by consensus to those two suggestions

Future Directions for MALC

Jean reviewed some of the group's past activities such as a pizza party, walking tours of libraries, etc. We don't do these any more but they are still on the web site.  We meet four times a year - is that enough? Too many?

We are supposed to plan with other libraries and give advice to SCLS Board.

What else should we be doing? Different format? More people? Different format for meeting? Annual meeting for multi-types? Include a social aspect?  Discussion included all these things and more.

The group discussed sponsoring an annual meeting that would include some shorter presentations and a social activity such as lunch. We discussed using a combination of presenters who are librarians and who are from othe rprofessions.

Julie pointed out that the very nature of this group encourages collaborative efforts.

Jean explained MALC funding (actually the lack thereof). There is $5000 which is simply a fund balance from a previous separate committee of SCLS. The previous SCLS director used to replace MALC money, but there is no extra money now to do anything; with no way in sight to raise money. There is no MALC membership fee and no fee to attend CE, except for lunches. There is no state funding for multitype libraries through the systems.

Vicky pointed out that eventually all the money will be used for scholarships.

Julie added that we can always have a silent auction and raffle at our annual event.

As far as an annual meeting, Jean will put some potential ideas together and email them to us for comment. We will respond with our ideas and suggestions.  We need to guage interest to see how many people may want to attend.

Linking to SCLS databases from MALC libraries
This can be done by all SCLS member libraries - including Multitype libraries for quicker web access to 5 SCLS databases: HeritageQuest, LearningExpress, Literature Resource Center, NoveList, ReferenceUSA Business. Your patrons and staff can click through but will still need an SCLS member public library card to sign into the databases.  Beginning in 2009, two databases (ReferenceUSA and Chilton Library) are only available to members of subscribing libraries - not to SCLS as a whole. Please see the Online Resources by Name page for more details.

Sharing library news

Portage County Public Library: Vicky reported that Portage County is currently undergoing some construction to expand their young adult area.  It should be finished soon.

MMHI Library:  Jennifer reported her presentation at WLA went well.  They're starting a new book group for students in the tratment classes and are reading the Princess Bride.  The library inherited an historical collection from Mendota and are getting assistance from the Mendota Historical Society as most of the materials are pre-1900.

Verona Public Library: Tiffany reported that Verona is getting three new staff positions and have been working hard to fix some major electrical problems.

Baraboo Public Library: Richard reported that Baraboo is beginning a building program.

MATC:  Julie reported there are a few new positions at the MATC libraries: a half time administrative assistant and two part time positions at Watertown and Portage.  They are revamping their website, including a talking avatar to answer FAQs.  They recently donated to a local food pantry.  They're offering free coffee to students to promote a more welcoming environment - and they like it.  The college wants to do more community service and collaboration.

UW Business Library: Peggy reported that the School of Business has been fairly quiet lately as it's semester break. Classes begin at the end of January.  They're getting lots done during the down time and enjoying the recent addition to Grainger Hall and the new door to the library.

Final Notes

• Next time no videoconference (no room was available at Portage County), we will connect with Vicky via telephone.
• Do we want to skip our July meeting? Probably not due to the need to plan for an October annual meeting.
• Meeting adjourned at 11:17 a.m.

2009 MALC Meetings:

April 7, July 7 and October 6

Next Meeting
April 7, 2009 at 10:00 a.m.

Respectfully Submitted,
Richard MacDonald, Baraboo Public Library

For more information about Multitype Services, contact Jean Anderson.

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