Director’s Report

October  2010

 

In August the Marshall Public Library requested reimbursement from the Waterloo Public Library for serving residents of the city of Waterloo.  Waterloo is in Jefferson County and the Mid-Wisconsin Federated Library System (MWFLS).  Changes to Wisconsin Statutes 43.12 in 2006 require adjacent counties to reimburse libraries for usage by residents who do not maintain a library, but not for those residents of municipalities with a library.  Waterloo declined to make any payment.  Consequently, Marshall has decided to require Waterloo residents to purchase an annual card at $50.00 per family to use the Marshall library.  This will become effective January 1, 2011.

 

Under Wisconsin Statutes 43.17(11) if a library refuses to honor the library cards from an adjacent library system, representatives from the two library systems must meet annually to “discuss the resulting lack of services to the affected borrowers and the costs of providing such services.”  There are two other libraries within SCLS that have similar situations:  Marshfield which charges Marathon County residents for cards, and Mount Horeb which charges municipalities in Iowa County for cards.   SCLS already has meetings regarding these two situations, and will add a meeting with MWFLS for the Marshall situation.  Cheryl Becker staffs these meetings. 

 

On another topic, Cheryl was asked by the Poynette Library Director, Kris Daugherty, to visit with the library board and review:  requirements for system membership, library board powers and duties, relationship between the library, board, and municipality.  After the meeting, Kris Daugherty sent the following email:

 

Dear Cheryl,

On behalf of the Poynette Area Public Library Trustees and Staff, I'd like to thank you for taking the time to prepare and present information for our Open Forum.  You did an excellent job of explaining the State Statutes, membership in the South Central Library System consortium, and the relationship between the Library Board, the Library Director and the Village.  I liked the way you used the Annual Report as the outline for delineating the State Statutes, and your concise synopsis of each item.  The handouts are an important resource for reference, too, and I have already referred to them several times since our meeting.

I'm only sorry that more of the Village Trustees weren't in attendance, because your valuable information needs to be understood by all parties involved.

Thank you so much for your advocacy, your knowledge, and your expertise in sharing vital information in a non-threatening, easily-understood manner.  Personally, you have made a difference in my life as a library director and I appreciate all that you have done to enhance my education and job performance.


Sincerely,
Kris

 

Beth Moss has been selected by the Madison Public Library Board to replace Maya Cole as the school district representative.  She has been contacted and welcomed to the SCLS Board.  She may attend meetings immediately but is ineligible to vote until formally approved by the Dane County Board of Supervisors.  While preparing a new  packet of orientation materials, I added additional information to the existing packet.  I have included Chapter 16 from the Trustee Essentials: A Handbook for Wisconsin Public Library Trustees published by the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction.  The handbook has not been included for many years as part of board orientation but as I work with Beth, I may pull out sections to share with her.  I will then include the new sections in the board packets.

 

At the beginning of the November board meeting you will receive a copy of the SCLS By-Laws with revisions proposed by the By-Laws Committee.  These revisions will reflect the changes in the SCLS governance structure.  The board should review them in November with a board vote to take place at the December board meeting.

 

Taking advantage of the wonderful fall weather, I have been visiting members that are located in tree splendor areas:  Adams, Amherst, Baraboo, Deerfield, Lodi, Marshall, North Freedom, Portage and Wisconsin Dells. 

 

I also met several library directors at the October 21st Learning Day held at the Lussier Family Heritage Center.  Learning Day has replaced the former annual meeting.  The inaugural theme was Trails to Innovation: Embracing Change, Enjoying the Adventure.  The morning speaker was Jennifer Reddemann with The Change Process: It's all about Personal Change.  The afternoon included an advocacy discussion led by Mark Ibach and small group discussions focusing on service areas.  There were 33 participants. 

 

Respectfully submitted,

 

 

 

Martha Van Pelt