EFFICIENCIES AT THE OREGON STATE LIBRARY: 2006

The following table documents twelve major efficiencies that have been achieved by the State Library in three different areas:

• $408,010 in estimated annual efficiency savings at the State Library.
• $982,516 in estimated efficiency savings that accrue to state agencies.
• $19.8 million in estimated efficiencies that accrue to local libraries and school districts.

One hundred and one years ago, when the State Library was founded, we adopted a motto: “The best reading for the greatest number at the least cost.” Efficiency was at the core of our mission then, and it still is today. If Oregon did not have a State Library, individual state agencies would have to replicate our information resources and our role of providing permanent public access to the publications of state government. If we didn’t have a State Library, local public, academic, and school libraries would have very limited ability to collaborate and save money. If we didn’t have a State Library, every local public library, under the Americans With Disabilities Act, would have to replicate talking book and Braille services in their local community.

The State Library is proud to share these recent examples of our long-standing commitment to efficiency.

Short Description of Efficiency	Program Affected	Who/What Impacted (internal and external)	Description of Savings	Amount of Savings - if applicable (Include units and time period)
Shared Catalog/Circulation System with Willamette University and the State of Oregon Law Library	Government Research and Electronic Services	All users of the State Library collections.	Instead of having our own standalone computer system for our library catalog, circulation system, and acquisitions system, we share a computer system with Willamette University (Hatfield Library and Law Library) and the State of Oregon Law Library (Judicial Dept.). Not only does this save all the libraries a significant amount of money to host and maintain the computer system, it makes it easy for our users to access the collections of any of the four libraries.	If the State Library were to staff, host, and pay annual software maintenance costs on its own automated library system, the annual cost is estimated to be $83,250. The annual cost of our participation in the Hatfield Library Consortium shared automated system is currently $21,178.
Student Worker Program	Government Research and Electronic Services	All users of the State Library collections.	In 2005 the Government Research and Electronic Services team reorganized to replace a retiring State Library Specialist 1 with two part-time seasonal Student Office Worker positions. Since that time the Library has worked successfully with Salem-area colleges and universities to hire qualified student workers.	We estimate that the use of two seasonal Student Office Workers instead of a full-time State Library Specialist 1 generates annual savings of approximately $11,700.
State Library Mailing List Service for State Agencies	Government Research and Electronic Services	All state agencies, the Legislature, and their customers.	As of May 15, 2006, the State Library hosted 527 electronic mailing lists ("listservs") to state agencies and the Legislature. Subscribers to all of the lists totaled 241,180. There is great efficiency in having one mailing list service for all agencies, rather than duplicating the hardware and software needed in multiple agencies. In addition, many thousands of dollars are saved with no-cost email communication as opposed to other more costly forms of communication (e. g., printing and mailing).	If the 42 agencies currently using the service were to duplicate the hardware, software and staffing that the State Library provides for electronic mailing lists the annual cost is estimated at $866,250. Currently the annual cost for the Library to provide this service is approximately $20,625.
eClips Daily News Service	Government Research and Electronic Services	All state agencies and the Legislature.	In late 2005 the State Library launched eClips, a daily news service providing coverage of all news and opinions relevant to the work of state government that appears in the Oregonian, Statesman-Journal, Register Guard, and Mail Tribune newspapers. An email of headlines and links to the full new articles appears every working day at 8:30 a.m. This service can create savings by replacing other costly news services and print subscriptions.	If the 59 agencies that currently have staff subscribed to the service duplicated the staff effort of selecting and distributing articles, the annual cost is estimated at $139,291. The current annual cost to the Library is approximately $2,400.
Braille Book Fulfillment from the Utah State Library	Talking Book and Braille Services	Users of Braille books from Talking Book and Braille Services.	In July, 2005, the State Library began to fill orders for Braille books from the largest Braille book collection in the world at the Utah State Library. Orders received are sent electronically to Salt Lake City and are shipped within 24 hours. Savings are achieved by our being able to give away our own Braille book collection that comprised over 23,000 volumes and occupied approximately 4,458 square feet of shelving. Response from customers has been positive. Books take only one or two days longer to arrive from Salt Lake City than they took to arrive from Salem.	The annual cost of space in the State Library Building to shelve the Braille collection that we no longer have was approximately $25,143. The annual cost of the new order fulfillment contract with the Utah State Library is approximately $9,120.
Shared Collection of Downloadable Audiobooks	Talking Book and Braille Services	Users of downloadable audiobooks from Talking Book and Braille Services.	In late 2005, Talking Book and Braille Services began to offer downloads of audiobooks to our users through a collaborative arrangement with libraries for the blind in Illinois, Colorado, New Hampshire, and Delaware. The five libraries came together to purchase the collection and to make all the books available on one website. The vendor agreed to waive all start-up costs and ongoing website maintenance costs for the experimental project. Currently about 200 TBABS users are downloading audiobooks from the new service.	In the current fiscal year, our cost to participate in the five-state shared downloadable audiobook collection was $8,600. Were we to attempt to replicate the same service on our own, the estimated cost would have been approximately $70,000.
Donations to Talking Book and Braille Services	Talking Book and Braille Services	Users of Talking Book and Braille Services.	Talking Book and Braille Services is continuing with an aggressive fund development program, including two annual solicitations of our customers and other supporters of the program. In addition we receive memorial gifts and occasional bequests. This activity helps to build an endowment fund and provide for program enhancements like the downloadable audiobook service described above.	In the 2005-06 fiscal year, our fund development efforts for Talking Book and Braille Services raised $92,437.
Statewide Database Licensing Program	Library Development Services	Users of the State Library and of all public, academic and school libraries in Oregon.	The State Library continues to license the EBSCO suite of high-quality library information databases, covering periodical articles, business information, health information, and other subject areas. In addition, the Library licenses the Newsbank Oregonian database. These licenses provide this information for all K-12 public and private school students, all college and university students, and nearly all public library users in the state at huge cost savings. This makes the databases affordable for all libraries and gives Oregonians more equitable access to high-quality library databases.	If all public, academic, and school libraries in the state were to purchase the EBSCO database on their own, the vendor estimates that the combined cost would be $10.7 million compared to the cost for 2005-06 of $769,737.
Oregon School Library Information System	Library Development Services	All K-12 students in public and private schools.	The State Library makes a grant to the Oregon Educational Media Association to provide the Oregon School Library Information System <oslis.org>, a "virtual library" for all K-12 students in the state. The website, which is accessible from school and from home, contains licensed databases at appropriate reading levels for students, plus tutorials for students on how to do research. There are also extensive curriculum materials for teachers. OEMA partners with the Information School at the University of Washington which provides site hosting and development services.	If 198 individual school districts in Oregon were to develop "virtual library" websites for their students, the cost is estimated at $9.9 million per year compared to the annual cost of the Oregon School Library Information System at a cost of approximately $220,000 per year.
Staying Connected Grant	Library Development Services	Users of Oregon public libraries.	In 2005 the State Library applied for and was awarded a "Staying Connected" grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation in the amount of $185,120. $145,120 will be used to increase the capacity for public access computing in public and tribal libraries in the state and $40,000 will be used to provide library technology training to library staff throughout the state. 234 new high quality PCs will be purchased for public and tribal libraries. Public libraries will match the Gates funds with local funds.	The Library was able to use $145,120 from the Gates Foundation to leverage another $134,320 from local governments to increase capacity in public libraries for public access computing in libraries throughout the state.
Library2Go	Library Development Services	Users of Oregon public libraries.	In February, 2006, a consortium of the eight largest public libraries and public library federations, led by the State Library, launched Library2Go, a shared collection of downloadable audiobooks. The State Library showed the public libraries how to work with the vendor to share the start-up costs and ongoing maintenance costs and to purchase a shared collection. In 2007, participation in Library2Go will be extended to all Oregon libraries.	By bringing together public librarians from the eight largest libraries in the state and facilitating a process that led to their decision to use their own money to bring up a statewide shared downloadable audiobook service, the State Library avoided having to use about $85,000 of our funds to start this project.
Library Volunteers	All units of the State Library	Users of the State Library	In 2005-06 the State Library's volunteers worked a total of 10,715 hours. This is the equivalent of an extra 5.2 FTE. Volunteers provide essential support for Talking Book and Braille Services and for our genealogy research services, among other important contributions in all areas of the library.	If the State Library had to replace the 10,683 hours of volunteer labor with paid labor in the past 12 months, we estimate the cost to the State would be $135,295.