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Public Library Advisory Committee (PLAC)
Minutes

Thursday, April 5, 2007
SCLS Administration

Present:          Belongia, Bosben, Calef, Dimick, Jensen, Morrill, Palmer, Stack, Unruh, Yurgil

CALL TO ORDER:  D. Calef called the meeting to order at 10:07 a.m.   

CHANGES/ADDITIONS TO THE AGENDA: Add Database Price Structure to Other Business.

MINUTES: P. Bosben moved approval of the February 1, 2007 minutes.  M. Palmer seconded.  Motion carried.

SYSTEM DIRECTOR’S REPORT:

Stef noted the Governor’s budget included an increase in system funding of 4% for the first year of the biennium and 4% for the second, which should keep us about even at 8% of local expenditures.  Increased funds were included for statewide resource sharing contracts, but we have been cut off from those contracts because we moved to OCLC for ILL.  The same is true for other systems which made the move to OCLC.  This will be discussed at the COLAND meeting in May.

System Celebration is scheduled for Thursday, September 20th at Sweet Sophies in Waunakee – nomination forms are online.

The Madison Community Foundation would like to give $25,000 to 12 Dane County Libraries that have worked with the foundation in the past.  The focus of the funding is geared toward increasing library collections.

The Library Electronic Resources Support Specialist interviews are scheduled for April 16 and 17.  Four candidates will be interviewed.

Bob Blitzke had back surgery and is doing well.  He expects/hopes to be back to work in 8-10 weeks.

The LSTA Grant funds were released in March and we are working on new projects which will be funded by the grant.  We also started working on the OverDrive grant which will provide funding to buy more titles and help with support for patrons of the Regional Library for the Blind.  The OverDrive video service was launched in early March, although SCLS hasn’t officially announced it or publicized it.  The reason for this is that we are in the process of creating FAQ materials and also because the content is so small (only 162 titles, many kids and instructional titles).

An agenda for the Annual meeting is being reviewed by the committee and should be up on the web as well as the registration form in the next couple of days.

The library value calculator and the “Speak Up for Your Library” form are available on the web.  The calculator allows patrons to calculate the retail worth of items they borrow or use.  The page encourages patrons to submit the value they calculate along with a library story.

Cheryl, Jean and Shawn spoke at the WEMA conference.  It was a good opportunity for SCLS to work with WEMA.

The new wireless lab is about ready to go.

The video surveillance CE has been scheduled for April 25th.

The school visit video for SLP is available for member libraries.  Peter Hamon and John DeBacher did a great job!

COMMITTEE REPORTS:
 

1. Joint Technology Committee:  Meet in April
2. Interlibrary Loan Committee: Meet in April
3. Reference Committee: Met in March.  The Online Reader’s Advisory project in up and running.  Results from the test preparation products were reviewed and the committee will revisit the topic in June to make a final decision if they will recommend anything new for purchase.  The genealogy databases will also be reviewed in May.  The Rosetta Stone trial is currently available (but only for 15 days).  Go to http://www.scls.info/pro to check it out.  The committee decided to focus on various products for homework help in the next round of reviews after June.
4. Multitype: Met April 3rd.
5. Youth Services:  Everyone is gearing up for SLP.
6. Outreach: No report.
7. PR Committee:  Met March 9th.  The committee is working on database promotion with the concept of doing so by subject rather than just product name. 
8. Delivery Advisory Committee:  Did not meet.

OTHER BUSINESS:

1. Bridges Out of Poverty: Next Steps – The February workshop was very well received, so another CE, with the same presenter, has been scheduled for April 23 and 24, 2008 at the Pyle Center.
2. Set PLAC meeting dates for 2007 – PLAC will not be meeting in May or July.
3. Database Price Structure – It was agreed that better promotion is needed to encourage more use, but that the structure is okay and will continue for 2008.

DISCUSSION TOPIC:

P. Bosben noted AllState Insurance is creating a call center in the vacant Land’s End building in Cross Plains.  It will create 200 jobs in the community with pay rates starting at $10 - $11/hour.
The Sequoya Branch broke ground and there will be a ceremony April 25th.  It is anticipated the branch will be open for business as a “green” building next April.

Meeting adjourned at 10:48 a.m.                             

The next meeting will be June 7, 2007

Heidi Moe, Recorder

For more information about the Public Library Advisory Committee, contact Heidi Moe.

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