SCLS Annual Plan 2005

The South Central Library System is composed of Adams, Columbia, Dane, Green, Portage, Sauk and Wood Counties. These counties include more than 750,000 people, with the majority residing in Dane County. System population density ranges from sparse rural settlement to dense urban concentration. There is wide and growing ethnic diversity, especially in urban areas. Municipalities vary greatly in size, from villages with populations well under a thousand, to the city of Madison, which includes about 29% of the entire population of the system. There are strong municipal public libraries, many of which have existed for a century or more, in all of our member counties. The South Central area also contains an extensive network of several hundred other libraries of all kinds, the largest being the major library complex on the campus of the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Dane County has offered a high level of public library service and support since the mid-1960s. Sauk, Green and Columbia Counties have greatly strengthened their service levels in recent years, but there is still some disparity between public library support in those counties and that in Dane. Adams and Portage Counties have consolidated county library services, except for the independent library in the village of Amherst in Portage County and the independent library in the Town of Rome in Adams County. Wood County has several strong medium-sized public libraries and a tradition of interlibrary cooperation within the county. All residents of the seven counties have reasonable access to good library service.

Describe significant needs and problems that influenced the development of this and other system plans.

We critically need system aids of at least the 10% level to be passed by the Legislature and signed by the Governor in the 2006-2007 budget bill. In 2003, we had a 3.75% cut and flat funding in 2004 and 2005. We must continue to cope with incredible increases in demand for library service currently being experienced by our members, without the resources at the system level to support these services. Our consulting staff and library support personnel are stretched to the limit trying to help our libraries respond effectively to technological and social changes, as well as to help them obtain the additional resources required just to deliver the increased levels of basic service demanded by the public. In a few short years, interlibrary loan in our area has grown from fewer than 100,000 transactions a year to more than one million seven hundred and fifty thousand, and we have become a major lender to the rest of the state. Our delivery trucks pick up and deliver more than 8 million items per year among libraries in our system area alone, and the load is growing at a rate of almost 17% per year. Our LINK automated system is scheduled for a major upgrade in 2006. Sharing the costs of delivery and automation has strained the resources of our member libraries to the limit. Additional system dollars are desperately needed.

In addition to the substantial increases required in system funding levels, there are also other key needs that must be addressed. The BadgerLink project for the provision of online databases must be continued on a more solid funding basis, as must our own programs for the provision of online content at the local level. Also, legislation to reimburse libraries directly for the materials they circulate and/or interlibrary loan to non-residents is required to help resolve the many property tax inequities and border funding problems both in our area and throughout the state, and to help individual libraries improve the general quality of library service available to all our citizens.

The requirements and reportage necessary to justify the receipt and expenditure of state aids are often time-consuming when viewed from our local perspective. We recognize, however, the necessity for the high degree of accountability required for essential increases in funding, and the need for the Division for Libraries, Technology and Community Learning to collect data and monitor activities in support of their quest for those funds. None of our libraries are the quiet civic monuments they were often thought to be only a few decades ago. Today we live in a world where those with information prosper and those without fail, at an impossibly high cost to us all. The libraries of South Central are vital and dynamic institutions that serve a wide and growing range of the populace ranging from the private citizen to the business community. We claim, and believe that we can prove, first, that our libraries and our system serve a vital social need; second, that they are doing an excellent job of carrying out the tasks set out for them by the legislature within the constraints of the funds available; and finally, that adequate system funding and the accompanying improvement of the quality of library and informational service to Wisconsin residents that this funding would bring are required both to maintain and to enhance the quality of the future for our people and our state.

Describe the planning environment and process under which this and other system plans were developed. (List additional system planning documents with the period covered and attach any planning documents which have not previously been provided to the division.)

The basic element in our system planning environment consists of our member libraries themselves. All are strongly encouraged to continuously measure the needs of the publics they serve and their success at meeting these needs, and to reflect their findings in a formal plan. Most of our public library members meet regularly on a county-by-county basis and discuss issues of concern to them. Our multitype members have a wide variety of types and frequencies of local and area meetings involving their special interests and groups. Each month, we have a Public Library Advisory Committee meeting to bring public library issues together. This group has permanent members representing our larger public libraries and elected members representing the rest. The Public Library Advisory Committee reviews system services and activities related to key statutory provisions throughout the year, and reviews the entire annual system plan each fall before it is submitted to DLTCL. Every other month during the school year, we also have a meeting of our Multitype Advisory Library Committee, which is structured in much the same way as is the Public Library Advisory Committee, but represents the concerns of our multitype system members. There is membership overlap between these two committees to ensure that effective communication occurs. The Multitype Advisory Library Committee is charged to review the multitype portion of our Long Range Plan. These two committees are advisory to the System Director, but also appear on the System Board agenda so that they may advise the System Board directly at any board meeting. These advisory committees create and phase out subcommittees as required. Current subcommittees include Interlibrary Loan, Delivery Advisory, Continuing Education, Reference, Youth Services, Service to Special Users, Public Relations, and (as a joint committee with our automated consortia) Technology. The Service to Special Users group reviews the special user portion of our annual plan and has been responsible for the creation of our separate Plan for Service to Special Users, the most recent version of which is on file with DLTCL. This Plan for Service to Special Users will be updated in 2004. Also on file is our Youth Services Plan, which also amplifies the provisions of the long-range plan.

Since South Central operates a shared automated and resource sharing system, there are many special contractual relationships between SCLS and our centrally automated member libraries. The special concerns of these automated libraries are addressed by membership in a group called LINK (Library Interchange Network). The LINK project is overseen by a Directors’ Council made up of the directors of the automated libraries, and has several subcommittees that deal with subjects ranging from database preparation and upkeep to the annual LINK budget. LINK meets every other month, and minutes of these meetings are supplied to the System Board before each board meeting. Although many LINK concerns are technical in nature, they also frequently address overall system automation policy concerns. These concerns are also brought before the advisory committees and the System Board as required, because many of them are pertinent to libraries that are not automated through the LINK project.

Our last major planning activity was completed in 2000. Most objectives included in that plan have been completed or incorporated into this annual service plan. We are due for a new strategic planning effort in 2005. The Public Library Advisory Committee and SCLS staff and Board have begun “planning to plan” discussions about how to approach that effort.

System staff maintains constant contact with member libraries on an individual basis as well as through the groups indicated above. Staff also direct, conduct and/or participate in special studies of many sorts; recent topics included delivery volume counts, continuing education workshop topics, rankings of desired electronic products and interviews with libraries interested in taking part in the Telus project. These studies are often part of larger planning processes directed at specific statutory requirements and/or areas of member library need. Monthly administration and staff meetings (supplemented by brief weekly departmental information sharing sessions) bring our own house together. Our communications with our members include an online bi-weekly newsletter and the wide dissemination of information of all sorts pertinent to system operations through email and our web pages (as well as in hard copy as required). Additionally, our staff consults frequently with the staff of the Division for Libraries, Technology, and Community Learning and with other professionals in our field.

The final element in our planning process is our System Board. This Board meets monthly and has standing subcommittees for Budget and Finance, Personnel, Bylaws, Facilities, Advocacy and Emerging Issues. The Board receives and reviews all the completed planning data from members and staff, and has the final authority over all system policies and documents that are submitted to the Division for Libraries, Technology and Community Learning.

The South Central Library System has a complex planning environment because we have a large membership with diverse needs. Topics such as shared automation and youth services receive consideration by groups designed specifically to deal with these subjects. Other groups consider wide-ranging policy issues, including the results of these specialized processes as well as all the other issues that the system is charged to consider. Since we have a large number of both public library and multitype members, we must be cognizant of the need for proper representation in all our areas of endeavor. Our solutions to the problems we face are often necessarily multi-layered and organizationally diverse, but there are certain basic principles that are always observed. Everyone has a voice in the proceedings and a forum to question decisions or actions with which they do not agree. And, with luck, the South Central Library System will ultimately act in a way that will ensure the greatest good for the greatest number, in keeping with the statutes under which it is organized. The plan before you, therefore, does not represent the thought of any single system member subgroup. It is instead the summation of the results of many ongoing processes involving the entire membership of the system.

Central to our planning environment is our mission statement, which consists of our 100-year plan, our basic system principles and a summary statement of system purpose. Since all our services and activities are constantly evaluated against this backdrop, these planning elements are included here.

"THE SOUTH CENTRAL LIBRARY SYSTEM: FOR A HUNDRED YEARS: 1990-2090""

Libraries are surprisingly ancient human institutions, having been in the business of conserving and disseminating much of the information upon which our civilization is based for several millennia. Even the comparatively recent American public library tradition is now well over 200 years old. Yet despite this evidence for the longevity of libraries and the continuing value of the information they provide, most modern library mission statements and service plans only scratch the surface of the future, as if one to five years were all libraries really had to worry about. This kind of planning effort serves a vital immediate need, especially where funding processes are concerned, but a total focus on the "trees" rather than the "forest" may actually limit rather than enhance what we will be able to achieve in the years and decades to come.

Our staff, member libraries, and Board of Trustees considered these issues over several months. The following long-range mission statement was adopted in July of 1989. It is intended to serve as a broad background within which our other planning efforts will take place and against which our service programs will be measured. It is reconsidered annually and revised as required.

1. INFORMATIONAL RESOURCES AND SERVICES: By the year 2090, the South Central Library System and its members will make freely available to each area resident a complete selection of the informational resources and services needed or desired by that resident for the purposes of education, recreation, and the acquisition of knowledge.

2. PUBLIC USE: The South Central Library System and its members will regularly inform every resident of our area of the full range of library and informational resources and services available to them, and will seek to ensure, by the year 2090, that each resident makes extensive and regular use of these resources and services as a basic and integral part of everyday life.

3. PUBLIC ACCESS: By the year 2090, the South Central Library System and its members will ensure free and open access for every area resident not only to all library and informational materials located within our geographic area, but also to all such informational resources as our residents shall need or desire that are located outside our area, regardless of where such location shall be.

4. FREEDOM OF INFORMATION: For the duration of this plan, the South Central Library System and its members will ensure that all area residents have easy and protected access to the widest possible range of information on every side of every question and issue before our society, no matter what governmental or popular views, sentiments, or restrictions concerning any of these issues shall from time to time come to prevail.

5. INFORMATION EXPERTISE: By the year 2090, the South Central Library System and its members will ensure that every resident of our area has free and ready access to the professional services of highly-qualified information providers able to direct those residents to the widest possible range of information services, sources, materials, and discrete elements of knowledge required to meet their individual needs.

6. PRESERVATION OF KNOWLEDGE: For the duration of this plan, the South Central Library System and its members will ensure that there is readily available within our area informational materials representing enough of the basic core of human knowledge to re-establish effectively functioning human society in the event that natural or other catastrophic events destroy existing human social institutions as we know them.

Our "100 Year Plan" attempts to define in broad historical strokes what SCLS and its member libraries are attempting to achieve in our society. On a more immediate level, it is also necessary to define the system's unique role in this undertaking, especially in relationship to our member libraries and the governmental units that underlie them. The core principles concerned with system and member library role definition were first adopted by the Board of Trustees of the South Central Library System in August 1981. The latest revision of these principles, which appears below, was created during our most recent long range planning process and adopted by the Board on August 14, 2000.

1. Every member library must have a voice in the planning and governance of the South Central Library System (SCLS) and clear opportunities for input into system direction, management, and service priorities. Every member library has an accompanying responsibility to participate in these planning and governance processes.

2. SCLS and member libraries will attempt to clearly communicate library issues to all stakeholders.

3. SCLS is a community of libraries that differ from each other in many ways. SCLS must be designed so as to offer something of value to all its members, to respect diversity, and to engender mutual respect among members and between members and system staff. Because of this diversity, SCLS may have different structural relationships with different counties within the system. To the extent feasible, each county should have the primary responsibility for determining the general nature of that relationship.

4. SCLS exists to make its members stronger. To this end, SCLS will concentrate on providing services to and through its member libraries rather than directly to the public. An exception to this principle may occur when an existing agency cannot deliver a needed service, or when the system can provide the service in a substantially more effective manner.

5. SCLS should be a trailblazer, an innovator, and a catalyst. SCLS should initiate projects and then empower local libraries to continue them. System funds must in no way replace local efforts for established services.

6. SCLS, as a whole, must be greater than the sum of its parts. The services provided to each member library must be of greater value than that member could achieve by simply spending its own share of the funds separately.

7. SCLS must operate within the framework of statutory requirements while striving to meet member needs.

The third and final portion of our mission statement consists of a brief mission statement against which all system plans, programs, and activities can be measured. This was also revised during our recent planning process. Simply stated, the mission of the South Central Library System is to help member libraries provide the best possible service to the public.

This three-part statement is, of course, subordinate to the language of the statutes. It is based on a shared and evolving understanding of local needs and resources, and is intended to assist us in carrying out our statutory responsibilities in an efficient and effective manner.

It is also necessary to note that many of the elements contained in these various statements are based on a current "shared" consciousness of what public libraries are, and what they do. Rapid changes in the fields of automation and information, however, challenge many of our current assumptions about public libraries. SCLS staff and member libraries constantly attempt to address these issues, and will continue to do so for the foreseeable future. In short, the South Central Library System is anything but a finished product. In recognition of this fact, if you want to know where South Central is going in the future, then we can only advise you to "watch this space!"

S.43.24(2) For a public library system to qualify for and maintain its eligibility for state aid under this section it shall ensure that all of the following are provided:

__X_ (a) Written agreements to provide, to any resident of the system area, the same library services, on the same terms, that are provided to the residents of the municipality or county that established the member library, except for the group programming preference authorized under s. 43.15 (4) (c) 4., and to provide for the interlibrary loan of materials among all participating public libraries, as evidenced by agreements with those libraries.

__X_ A copy of the agreement with a list of all members signing it will be provided to the division by January 15.

1. Member libraries will be encouraged to adhere to the system principle of full service access [s.43.24 (2)(a)], as this is a basic statutory condition of system membership as well as the foundation of a good public library system.

2. SCLS staff, member libraries, and trustees will actively work toward maintenance of this principle through seeking full statutory system funding in order to reimburse member libraries with the combination of goods and services required to convince them to maintain this access.

3. SCLS staff, member libraries, and trustees will further attempt to obtain such other state funding and legislation as will convince member libraries to maintain their system membership.

4. The written agreement between SCLS and the member libraries is reviewed annually by PLAC and, if necessary, updated. It is understood that the written agreement with members may not include requirements that exceed the provisions of the statutes.

_X_ (b) Backup reference, information and interlibrary loan services from the system resource library, including the development of and access to specialized collections, as evidenced by a written agreement with that library.

_X__ A signed copy of the resource library agreement will be provided to the division by January 15.

__X_ S.43.24(2)(d) Referral or routing of reference and interlibrary loan requests from libraries within the system to libraries within and outside the system

1. Help member libraries fund and operate a shared automated system (LINK) to enhance resource sharing throughout the South Central area and to maintain a shared database of member library bibliographic records and holdings. SCLS will continue to provide in-kind services to LINK ranging from business, personnel, and general management services to public relations support and undertake other tasks needed to ensure that the migration to a new generation of automated system might be undertaken during 2006.

2. Continue the SCLS annual contribution to LINK. In keeping with the LINK contract, SCLS will continue to contribute to LINK an amount which will increase from year to year by the Consumer Price Index (urban) or the annual percentage increase in system aids, whichever is smaller.

3. In order to facilitate ease of access to all member library resources for all SCLS patrons, continue to work toward LINK membership (or connectivity between LINK and automated systems operated by non-LINK member libraries) for all system member libraries.

4. Continue to provide our system resource library with the necessary funding to provide backup reference, information and interlibrary loan services on behalf of all our member libraries.

5. Continue the pilot project begun in 2004 to utilize OCLC WorldCat where appropriate for interlibrary loan activities.

6. Continue to provide an incentive for the efforts of those libraries that are net lenders by reimbursing member public libraries for ILL net lending, as budgeted.

9. Continue to provide online full-text resources and authentication services so that these and other resources, such as BadgerLink, are readily available to area residents.

11. Maintain an online ILL web page and procedures manual, and continue to provide other support required to enable effective interlibrary loan service.

1. Continue ongoing automation planning and development processes to enhance capacity and capabilities of the automated system and network for resource sharing purposes and for access to selected information, particularly full-text, through the Internet. Prepare for major system upgrade to take place in 2006.

2. Work toward creating a group catalog on OCLC to improve resource sharing and connectivity within SCLS.

3. Continue to provide virtual reference services and closely monitor changes resulting from OCLC acquisitions of the 24/7 Reference Consortium.

_X_ S.43.24(2)(e) In-service training for participating public library personnel and trustees.

1. Conduct workshops for member library staff and trustees, and help libraries to develop their own training and staff development plans.

2. Maintain a calendar of CE events, and provide information on CE opportunities offered by other organizations.

3. Provide scholarships and grants for member library staff and trustees to attend continuing education events.

4. Subscribe to and route various library periodicals and services on behalf of member libraries that cannot afford to do this on an individual basis.

5. Assist member librarians in the statutory certification and re-certification processes.

6. Continue to provide hands-on training concerning Excel for budgeting, databases, web design, Internet usage and other topics that may be useful to our member libraries. Work with selected member libraries as they develop ways to effectively provide instruction to the public.

7. Encourage library trustee education and development by paying annual Wisconsin Library Association dues for public library trustees within the SCLS area who indicate interest. Reimburse expenses of SCLS Board members selected to attend WLA Annual Conferences and other special trustee events.

8. Enhance system-wide networking by sponsoring an annual gathering for librarians, trustees, and officials concerned with all types of libraries in the South Central area.

9. Encourage member library participation in the broader Wisconsin library community by paying a share toward annual Wisconsin Library Association dues for all public library directors or their designees within the SCLS area. Enhance ability of member librarians to attend WLA Annual Conferences and other special conference events through our continuing education scholarship fund.

10. Continue to support the formation of informal member library roundtables or peer groups to discuss issues of interest to the members.

11. Continue to make use of video conferencing, teleconferencing and electronic dissemination of information. Work to increase the use of communications technology and schedule training and selected meetings in other regional locations. Continue to offer videoconferencing and audio conferencing attendance options where appropriate for meetings. SCLS will continue to investigate telecommunications for delivering CE workshops.

12. SCLS will continue to videotape continuing education sessions available, when the presenter has given permission, provide lists of titles to members on the website, and report to PLAC on the level of use of these tapes annually.

13. SCLS will continue to offer a mobile, wireless training lab to all SCLS member libraries.

14. Continue to maintain a professional collection for system and member library staff, trustees and library friends.

15. Continue to offer direct training and continuing education opportunities for library staff and trustees concerning local advocacy (examples include how to be a library advocate; issue forums/briefings; budget presentations).

16. Continue to develop a virtual professional collection accessible through the SCLS website.

1. SCLS staff will work with member libraries to find ways to raise computer competency levels in 2005.

X_ S. 43.24 (2)(fm) Electronic delivery of information and physical delivery of library materials to participating libraries.

1. Continue, in partnership with member libraries, to maintain and enhance an effective interlibrary loan system.

2. Continue to maintain and enhance our in-system interlibrary van delivery service and to operate our in-system van delivery service at the highest possible levels of efficiency and effectiveness. Explore service levels, funding sources, and member library service practices as delivery volume continues to grow.

3. Continue and expand the role of SCLS as an intersystem delivery agent, connecting public library systems and academic libraries in Wisconsin for the purposes of resource sharing. Pursue contractual agreements and other funding as required to support this service.

4. Continue to provide and market the LINK Express service to non-public library agencies.

5. Promote the use of email and web pages as the primary intra-system electronic communication tools. Maintain appropriate electronic discussion lists or blogs for specific member groups.

6. Continue to encourage member libraries to make full use of the online informational products funded by the state as well as those funded by SCLS in cooperation with member libraries.

7. Continue to encourage and enable remote access to the library materials and electronic services offered by the state, the system, the LINK consortium and other member libraries.

8. Continue to work with TEACH and other agencies as appropriate to ensure that SCLS member libraries have adequate telecommunications access and capabilities.

2. Continue to implement delivery “Best Practices” in SCLS delivery and in member libraries.

3. After the automation upgrade, revisit the idea of a pilot program for home delivery of materials on a cost recovery basis in cooperation with the Madison Public Library.

_X__ A copy of the agreement with adjacent systems with a list of all systems signing the agreement will be provided to the division by January 15.

1. Maintain full access to library services across system boundaries where feasible. SCLS staff will continue to pursue negotiations with other Wisconsin public library systems to enable full access to library services across system boundaries within the limitations of current economic structures and agreements.

2. SCLS staff, member libraries, and trustees will actively work toward efforts to solve border problems on a statewide basis through the enactment of legislation providing funds for, or compelling payment of, legitimate reimbursement to libraries for the provision of non-resident service.

_X__ S. 43.24(2)(h) Professional consultant services to participating public libraries.

1. Continue to provide consulting/coordinating services and information to member libraries in areas including, but not limited to, public library administration and governance, adult services, youth services, library automation, building and remodeling, technical services, interlibrary loan and resource sharing, staff development (certification, CE, etc.), orientation for new directors and youth services librarians, establishment and maintenance of library Friends groups, intellectual freedom, local and county planning and evaluation, standards, collection development, legal issues, public relations and advocacy, Internet usage and resources, reference and information services, special needs, new technologies, multitype activities, delivery and communications, marketing and business partnerships, reportage to the state, grant opportunities and procedures, and pretty much whatever else any member needs to operate effectively.

2. Provide consulting service for local and county budgets (i.e., explaining types of budgets, recommending sources of supporting documents, grant sources and budget formats); it remains the responsibility of local and county libraries to determine funding needs and to administer these budgets.

3. Continue to provide grant support services to member libraries, including resources to identify grant sources as well as grant writing assistance and review.

4. Selectively coordinate group grant applications and serve as project managers as appropriate.

5. Continue to make available a politically savvy consultant (someone to run problems by, offer sage advice on what to say and how to say it, but not be the spokesperson for the member library).

6. Actively assist member libraries with the process of coping with change and obtaining the resources required to fulfill their evolving missions including assisting member libraries in seeking adequate and fair staff compensation, and adequate and fair funding both for their own local operations and for the services they provide to customers residing outside their local service areas.

7. Continue to review consultant/coordinator and library support services in keeping with the expressed and changing needs of our member libraries, and assist and advise library staffs and board members as they encounter challenges and opportunities.

8. SCLS will maintain the web lists delineating the specific areas of expertise of existing staff.

9. Each member library will continue to designate a contact person for each area of service coordination provided by South Central and inform appropriate SCLS staff of any changes in a timely manner.

10. SCLS will initiate contact with new staff to provide an overview of services and will ensure that the coordinators maintain contact with designated contact persons on a no-less-than-annual basis by phone or in person, checking to remind the contact of the services provided and to keep the lines of communication open.

11. SCLS member services and library staff contacts will continue to be available in an expanded SCLS directory and/or on the web site.

12. SCLS will assist member libraries in conducting focus groups and other marketing research to assess patrons' needs, wishes, and expectations for library materials and services.

13. In cooperation with the appropriate committees, South Central staff will analyze their collective strengths and will seek to establish business relationships with outside experts to complement the available "in-house" skills. Particular attention will be paid to the areas of marketing and promotion, fundraising, foundation development, and political environments.

15. Budget system funds to be used in cases where an outside consultation will benefit multiple libraries or provide a transferable learning experience for a system employee. These outside consultants will also be made available to local libraries at local expense.

16. Provide help for member libraries in establishing a fundraising arm and information on local foundation development and related laws.

1. SCLS will increase cooperative marketing activities to ensure that the public is aware of electronic products and new library technologies available for their use.

2. SCLS will provide or facilitate use of marketing consultants and/or help provide funding and access to such consultants, to enable development of the marketing components of strategic plans. The system annual expenditures will include the availability of outside consultants to provide advice on project scope, method and promotion for local libraries.

_X__ S.43.24(2)(k) Promotion and facilitation of library service to users with special needs.

1. The Services to Special Users group will work together to identify needs, goals and objectives for creating new, innovative library services for patrons with special needs.

4. Identify special needs topic areas for CE and include special needs in other CE presentations as appropriate and as desired by members.

5. Offer assistance when requested in the remodeling/new building planning process to include accessibility features.

6. Consider procurement of killer robots to speed along our plan for complete world domination.

7. Explore technological adaptations for special users and recommend appropriate products to member libraries.

8. Continue to explore and institute means by which the LINK online catalog and shared automated system, as well as other electronic services provided by member libraries, can be easily accessed by customers with special needs.

10. In partnership with members, continue to update and maintain a Special Needs web page.

1. Work with member libraries in special outreach efforts to populations for whom English is not the first language.

_X__ S.43.24(2)(L) Cooperation and continuous planning with other types of libraries in the system area which results in agreements with those libraries for the appropriate sharing of library resources to benefit the clientele of all libraries in the system area.

_X__ The system will have agreements with other types of libraries, or if the system participates in a cooperation agreement with a multitype organization to meet the purposes of this goal, there is established a clear link between the system and the individual members of the multitype organization. A copy of the agreement with a list of all signing libraries will be provided to the division by January 15.

_X__ Other types of libraries in the system area have an oportunity to review and comment on the plan.

1. Provide a portion of a consultant’s time to work with the multitype libraries through MALC to coordinate planning and activities.

2. Provide a multitype electronic discussion list for the dissemination of information on SCLS services, continuing education programs and specific multitype activities.

3. Provide continuing education programs and other events as appropriate to multitype members on a free or cost recovery basis.

4. Contact non-members throughout the SCLS area regularly to encourage membership in SCLS.

5. Continue to ensure that the LINK online catalog and automated resource sharing system is extensively utilized, both on an individual and organizational basis, by multitype members for resource sharing purposes.

6. Continue to explore ways to make the resources of multitype member libraries more accessible to public library members.

7. Continue to provide delivery services to multitype members on a cost recovery basis.

8. Continue to provide direct cost recovery public relations, consulting and graphics services to multitype members, as feasible.

9. Explore further system brokerage of needed services or ways to direct member libraries to better sources of such services, and attempt to negotiate access to such services with their cooperation or on their behalf.

10. Invest funds for member libraries and agencies at their request in the state pooled investment fund to ensure that the best possible use is made of existing resources.

11. Cooperate as fully as possible with other kinds of libraries and CESAs on programs of mutual interest or benefit.

__X_ S.43.24(2)(m) Planning with the division and with participating public libraries and other types of libraries in the area in regard to library technology and the sharing of resources. By January 1, 2000, and every 5th January 1 thereafter, the public library system shall submit to the division a written plan for library technology and the sharing of resources.

_X_ Member public libraries and other types of libraries in the system area have had an opportunity to review and comment on the plan.

_X_ A copy of the written plan, including any revisions and amendments, for library technology and resource sharing is attached to this document.

1. Continue ongoing planning processes required to implement our shared automated system to its full developmental and operating potential. Publicize advantages and features, and provide information about how to use LINK to all area libraries, regardless of type.

2. Continue to explore and experiment with new directions in automation and technology of probable value to the ongoing and future operations and missions of our member libraries.

3. Continue to assist SCLS member public libraries that are not currently LINK members to become full LINK members, should they so desire, and participants in the full range of LINK Consortium services. Provide information/presentations concerning the advantages of joining LINK. Help libraries pursue grants and other funding for LINK start-up costs and local support for continuing expenditures.

4. Explore new methods of networking and resource sharing within our system and with other library systems throughout the state using advanced networking capabilities.

5. Continue planning processes required to establish electronic links to major library collections of other than LINK libraries within SCLS.

6. Use LSTA funds for a one-year test of Generations Online, a web-based software product used in libraries to introduct the Internet to seniors.

7. In 2003, SCLS implemented the Telus Library Online system to provide member libraries with an automated method to control the amount of time patrons can use workstations and to charge for printing from these workstations. Currently 185 workstations at 22 libraries or branches are managed using this system. The next step is to implement the print management module.

8. Continue to support the digitization of local history titles with LSTA funds and work with the Reference and Loan Library and the UW Digital content Group to mount previously digitized materials in the State of Wisconsin collection.

11. Encourage member libraries to maintain at least minimal levels of other technologies, including telephone, answering machine, fax machine, photocopier, computer and appropriate adaptive technologies.

12. Continue to provide the services of a technician for limited non-LINK hardware and software support.

13. Continue to support cooperative cataloging of materials through the LINK project.

14. Continue system-wide patron authentication services for improved remote access to all electronic products and services. Promote automated services as appropriate for remote users.

17. Conduct ongoing technology planning process and review and revise the 2005-2009 SCLS technology plan annually.

18. The "Unchained" or non-LINK libraries group begun in 2001 will be invited to meet as needed to identify any special shared interests, issues and concerns this group has that are not being addressed elsewhere and make proposals to PLAC about possible solutions.

__X_ S.43.24(2(i) Any other service programs designed to meet the needs of participating public libraries and the residents of the system area, as determined by the public library system board after consultation with participating public libraries.

__X_List each "other" service programs individually with ongoing activities and new or priority activities for the plan year under each program. For instance, if the system provides a bookmobile service program, list ongoing activities and new or priority activities for the bookmobile program. (Do not lump miscellaneous activities under a single "other" program.)

1. Continue to advocate the importance of programming as a primary way in which public library services are delivered to children and support a variety of programming efforts. Maintain a collection of program support materials as appropriate.

2. Continue Summer Library Program coordination, including an SLP workshop, and system funding support for SLP performers.

3. Coordinate and partially fund the purchase of SLP materials through the Division for Libraries, Technology, and Community Learning.

4. Fund children’s media collection, including public performance videos, through the system resource contract.

6. Encourage member libraries to perceive children as vital customers. Help libraries prove the importance of youth services to our society. Help empower youth librarians at the local, system and state level. Assist youth service librarians in being active in the political process.

7. Encourage libraries to provide open access to electronic information for children and teens. Provide CE opportunities and other information on issues related to children’s use of the Internet. Help libraries identify quality Internet sites for children. Encourage libraries to provide education and training to parents and children concerning effective and safe use of Internet resources.

8. Encourage library cooperation with schools, day care centers, and agencies serving children with special needs.

1. Continue to contract with our system resource library for the central purchase of requested items in high demand or not owned within the system area, and purchase and management of collections of special materials such as videos with public performance rights to strengthen the resources available to member libraries for interlibrary loan and programming purposes.

2. Continue to support and enhance online full-text and other electronic information that can be accessed by SCLS libraries and the publics they serve.

3. Continue to maintain a system collection of materials for loan consisting of professional materials concerning the library and information field.

4. Continue PLAC/LINK study processes as needed (assessment of ILL borrowing, loaning, weeding, buying ratios, net lender compensation, local needs, effort) and ensure that the resulting data is shared with other appropriate SCLS committees.

6. Continue SCLS and member library cost-sharing arrangements for acquisition of selected electronic databases and other services.

1. Staff and member libraries together will continue to explore methods of measuring the value and effectiveness of library service at both the local and system level. These efforts will be tied to ongoing state and national processes in this area if possible. An ad hoc steering committee chaired by a member of PLAC will be appointed. Staff support will be provided and this effort will be integrated into our advocacy efforts.

2. Continue to market public libraries - their role, value, and importance. SCLS staff, in consultation with the Public Relations subcommittee of PLAC, will implement an annual marketing plan

3. Assist member libraries in developing and implementing marketing plans. Advise and support local marketing and publicity efforts.

4. Assist libraries to communicate effectively and work with decision makers and those who influence decisions.

5. SCLS staff will continue to share pertinent and applicable information gleaned from other national and/or local survey efforts about the perceived value of library service.

6. SCLS will continue to advocate on the state level for public library initiatives and communicate about political efforts by legislators. SCLS staff and members of PLAC, MALC, and the Advocacy Committee of the SCLS Board will actively seek out and disseminate information concerning the status and future of public library system funding and other state level library issues.

8. SCLS staff, members of PLAC, MALC, and the Advocacy Committee of the SCLS Board will continue to communicate with member libraries and trustees about the importance of system funding and other library issues to their own operations, and of the necessity of their participation in efforts to seek system funding and support for other library proposals from the state at adequate levels

9. Continue the ongoing program of encouraging and assisting libraries in the creation of the advocacy networks and databases required to effectively mobilize the public on behalf of our causes.

10 SCLS staff and members of PLAC, MALC, and the SCLS Board will actively pursue ongoing relationships with their legislators and will encourage member librarians and all SCLS area trustees to pursue similar long-term relationships. Members of the SCLS library community will also attempt to inform influential citizens and private sector agencies of library needs and events on an ongoing basis and attempt to interest these individuals and groups in various library causes, as appropriate.

12. SCLS staff and members of PLAC, MALC, and the Advocacy Committee of the SCLS Board will continue to explore the kinds of public/private library partnerships found in various other areas of the country.

13. SCLS staff will help member libraries that request this service to identify key community leaders and organizations, as well as strategies to develop and maintain relationships with these individuals and organizations and favorably dispose them toward libraries.

14. SCLS will help to provide statewide legislative leadership, particularly among other library systems.

15. Information concerning the legislative activities in other areas of the state will be sought out and reviewed by staff, PLAC, MALC, and the Advocacy Committee of the SCLS Board, and the best of these legislative activities will be utilized to improve our own legislative activities and advocacy networks.

16. The entire SCLS Library community will be encouraged to participate on a massive basis in a wide range of WLA legislative activities, centering on the WLA Legislative Day. Members of the SCLS Library community will also be encouraged to serve on the LD&L or LART and to communicate their legislative needs and concerns.

17. The SCLS Director and the Director of the Resource Library will continue to represent the interests of the SCLS library community in the deliberations of SRLAAW.

18. The System will continue to attempt to excel and demonstrate leadership in the political arena. SCLS is committed to the belief that in the political arena, if we wish to enjoy a successful future for libraries, we must build it with our own hands. Therefore, although the SCLS library community will gratefully accept and recognize the efforts of anyone that lead to political success for libraries, we will nevertheless never neglect any effort on our own part required to ensure that political success for SCLS libraries becomes reality.

19. SCLS will provide member public libraries with high-quality public relations assistance and promotional materials in a timely manner.

20. SCLS will continue to create and maintain directories of SCLS public libraries, hours, directions to libraries, etc.

22. SCLS staff will continue to help libraries develop and maintain attractive, effective web pages and provide training concerning how to evaluate needs and how best to utilize web pages.

23. Publish a newsletter and provide regularly updated information in electronic format through the SCLS Web page and appropriate electronic lists.

24. Continue the process of re-designing the SCLS web page and the associated web structure utilized by member libraries.

25. Explore and undertake projects that will enhance the general image of our member libraries, prove their value to society, and assist them in gaining needed resources for their current operations and future development.

26. Continue to provide advocacy training as needed and feasible.

29. Assist member libraries in the general marketing of their services and in the creation of partnerships with businesses and with other individuals and agencies.

1. Continue the pilot project to partner with libraries to realize income from unneeded library materials, equipment, etc. by selling it on the Internet.

2. Increase efforts to market the Library Emporium service to the library community in 2005.

1. Assist member libraries in conducting and evaluating studies of non-resident usage and in seeking fair and adequate compensation for this usage.

2. Continue to advise counties of the need and justification for the expenditure of local funds to equitably recompense municipalities for services provided both within counties and across county lines, and continue to work for passage of legislation as a long-term solution to this problem.

3. Make county service payments, create budgets, file reports, etc. on behalf of counties on a cost recovery basis as requested and as feasible.

4. Continue to advocate in the legislative arena for just compensation for library services offered to non-residents.

1. Build stronger relations between the SCLS Board and local library boards in order to increase the effectiveness of each.

2. Any decision on system expansion will follow a process responsive to member library needs as detailed in the SCLS 2000 Long-Range Plan adopted by the advisory committees and the SCLS Board.

3. The SCLS Board will continue to encourage open communication with member libraries and their boards. Library Directors will continue to be provided with the names, email and mail addresses and phone numbers of SCLS board members. Agendas and rosters are posted on the public SCLS web page. Both librarians and board members are encouraged to communicate regarding issues on the SCLS Board agenda prior to their meetings.

4. Libraries will continue to receive the SCLS Board mailing. Member library directors are encouraged to include information concerning SCLS on their monthly meeting agendas, as appropriate.

5. Each local library director will be encouraged to provide SCLS with a paper or email copy of their board minutes in order to improve communication.

6. SCLS will continue to maintain current information about the structure, appointment and decision-making processes, and reporting obligations of the SCLS Board, PLAC, LINK, MALC and their committees on the SCLS web site.

7. SCLS Board, PLAC, Multitype Advisory Library council (MALC) and Library Interchange Network (LINK) will maintain policy statements that state that the committees will:
-Meet at least once a year.
-Provide a liaison member to the parent body
-Publish agendas prior to meetings
-Publish minutes of all meetings
-Place agendas, minutes, etc. on the SCLS website in addition to e-lists
-Receive support from SCLS staff
-Publish how members are solicited/chosen
-Report to their appropriate group, i.e. SCLS Board, PLAC, MALC, LINK, as needed, but no less frequently than annually.

8. All committees shall be established through the action of and report to at least one of four bodies within SCLS, these being the SCLS Board, PLAC, MALC, or LINK. All committees shall be designated as either "standing" or "ad hoc." A charge shall be specified for each committee, as well as the makeup of the committee, the system of designating members to the committee, the terms of the committee members, and the SCLS staff member assigned to the committee. The SCLS Board and LINK shall establish all standing committees within their bylaws. PLAC will review the charges for its subcommittees annually.

9. Planning will be a joint project of the SCLS Board and PLAC, with MALC involvement. A review of the long-range plan will be conducted annually and a complete member-based update done on a schedule and by a method agreed to by PLAC and the SCLS Board.

10. Members and staff suggestions for plan revisions will be solicited as part of an annual survey process to be conducted in the first quarter of each year. The existing long range plan, along with any recommendations for revision, will continue to be submitted to PLAC, MALC, and the SCLS Board annually for possible inclusion as subject matter for the annual meeting and for such revisions as they shall deem necessary.

11. An annual system meeting will be held before June of each year to provide an opportunity for South Central and member libraries to gather to review its plan and discuss the future direction of services as well as ongoing concerns. A Planning Committee with system staff and member library representatives is responsible for publicizing the nature and importance of the annual meeting. South Central is responsible for gathering the input for the agenda from the members, for establishing a meeting date and location, for reporting on system activities as part of the meeting, and for publicizing the availability of funds through continuing education to subsidize travel expenses and substitute employee wages where necessary to enable participation by all. The member libraries responsibility is to give input for the meeting agenda, to solicit input from its trustees, and to send at least one knowledgeable staff member to represent the library at the meeting.

12. In future planning processes, SCLS will include the general area of multitype cooperation and services. Multitype participation will be encouraged in all major system planning processes where appropriate.

13. SCLS will maintain ongoing mechanisms for the evaluation and prioritization of services. Data from survey and evaluation processes will be submitted to PLAC for inclusion in the planning process.

14. Member libraries will continue to be encouraged on an ongoing basis to submit brief evaluation forms with regard to contacts with the system. Online forms are available for this purpose.

15. SCLS will refer to member libraries on an ongoing basis any staff suggestions for improving member interactions with the system.

16. The system and member libraries will continue to pursue new directions in service through the creation of, or participation in, consortia for the purposes of making the investigation or delivery of various services economically feasible. Consortia participation may be pursued in areas including, but not limited to: automation, delivery, continuing education, access to materials across system boundaries, investigation of new technologies and the provision of online electronic resources.

17. Continue involvement in library and related organizations at the regional, state, and national level to seek out information concerning new trends in our field and to share this information with member libraries, committees, etc.

18. Invest funds for member libraries, at their request, in the Local Government Pooled Investment Fund to ensure that the best possible use is made of existing resources.

19. Attempt to provide leadership, in partnership with member libraries and trustees, concerning not only how we can better undertake current objectives, but also where we should direct our efforts and resources in the future.

20. Play an active role in the development and enactment of policy and legislation at the local, regional, state and federal level.

21. Continue to seek the funds required to continue our operations at levels adequate to meet the needs of our members however and wherever we can. This may include endeavors as yet unexplored by Wisconsin’s public library systems, which we hope will at least be within the letter, if not the spirit, of the law.

22. Continue to dream… and to maintain a sense of humor in the face of occasional adversity.

__X_ The system will not expend more than 20 percent of the state aid projected to be received in the plan year for administration.

__X_ The 2004 system audit will be submitted to the division no later than October 15, 2005.

__X_ A copy of your public library system budget by service program category and fund source for the plan year is attached.

Annual Public Library System Plan and Certification of Intent to Comply for Calendar Year 2005