BOARD ENDORSES NEW PLAN FOR THE FEDERAL DEPOSITORY LIBRARY PROGRAM
The State Library Board, at their meeting on February 7th, approved in concept a new partnership to collaboratively manage the Federal Depository Library Program in Oregon. Since 1972, the Millar Library at Portland State University has been the Regional Federal Depository Library for Oregon and has acquired and made available all printed Federal documents. Last year, PSU University Librarian Helen Spalding began to work with the State Librarian and the Documents Interest Group of Oregon (DIGOR) on a new plan that would share the collecting responsibilities among the State Library, PSU, the University of Oregon and Oregon State Universities. Under this plan the State Library would assume the role of coordinating the overall program and serving as the liaison to the Government Printing Office. Spalding and the State Librarian both met with Judith Russell, the Superintendent of Documents, in January to discuss the plan and found her to be very supportive. Following the Board action on February 7th, the directors of the four libraries met on February 14th. They agreed to move ahead with a memorandum of understanding that the four libraries would enter into to provide the basis for the new partnership over the next several years. The directors will try to finalize the memorandum by May.
FUNDING FOR OSLIS 2.0 APPROVED
In other action at their February 7th meeting, the State Library Board agreed to a Library Services and Technology Act Advisory Council recommendation to use $68,900 in FFY 2006 LSTA funds to create a new version of the Oregon School Library Information System that will launch this fall. The current version of OSLIS is about two years old. OSLIS 2.0, as it is being called, will run on a content management system and will include some new features as well as a new design. The Board also approved an LSTA Advisory Council recommendation to begin to use approximately $36,000 in LSTA funds annually to provide information technology staff support for Library Development Services projects like Plinkit and OSLIS. The Board also approved a staff proposal to create an advisory council for Government Research and Electronic Services, and they heard a report from Inga Deckert of the State Treasurer’s Office and Patty Sorensen, School Library Consultant, about “Reading is an Investment” a new program to increase financial literacy among elementary school students in Oregon. Sorensen assisted Deckert and her colleagues at the Treasurer’s office to successfully launch the project this past fall. The next meeting of the State Library Board will be held at the Corvallis-Benton County Library on April 18th.
REGISTRATION IS OPEN FOR RURAL LIBRARY SUSTAINABILITY WORKSHOPS
The Oregon State Library in conjunction with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and WebJunction is pleased to announce a full-day workshop focusing on technology and sustainability for small and rural libraries. This one-day workshop will be offered twice in Oregon:
April 18, 2007 in Corvallis as a pre-conference event to OLA.
May 5, 2007 in northeastern Oregon as a post-conference event to EOLA
(exact location to be announced soon).
Registration is FREE and limited to the first 20 libraries per workshop. Priority will be given to libraries that register one staff AND one board/trustee member. Participants will be reimbursed for one night's lodging and possibly more (travel, substitute staff, OLA conference registration as applicable) – additional information is available at the Oregon State Library website.
The goal of these workshops is to support the efforts of rural and small libraries (those serving 25,000 or fewer patrons) in developing and implementing community-specific action plans for sustaining public access computing. Libraries are encouraged to send the director or other staff member AND a trustee/board member. Each workshop will focus on issues and challenges that have been identified by rural library staff as obstacles in sustaining public access computing. The program will encourage rural library staff to take practical action on sustainability issues within their communities. Participants will return to their libraries with ideas, information, resources, and action plans. Contact Darci Hanning, 503-378-2527 with questions.
PUBLIC ACCESS COMPUTING IN PUBLIC LIBRARIES TRAININGS OFFERED
The Oregon State Library will offer the following training related to public access computing in public libraries as the training portion of our Gates Foundation Staying Connected Grant. The State Library will again work with Infopeople to provide the following trainings:
Public Access Computing Best Practices
Hermiston Public Library April 11,2007
TBA (in the Metro area) April 12, 2007
Increase Your Computer Competency-Practical Tips and Tricks
Blue Mountain Community College in Pendleton May 15, 2007
WCCLS Headquarters in Hillsboro May 16, 2007
Genealogy Resources on the Internet
Blue Mountain Community College in Pendleton June 4, 2007
More detailed information on the trainings and registration will be available online in the near future. For more information contact MaryKay Dahlgreen, 503-378-5012.
WAYS AND MEANS COMMITTEE APPROVES STATE LIBRARY BUDGET
February was an active month for the State Library Board’s legislative agenda. Board members visited their legislators at the Oregon Library Association’s Legislative Day on February 7th. The Board advocated for SB 5523, the Governor’s Recommended Budget for the State Library and for HB 2116, the Governor’s bill to target the Ready to Read Grant program on early literacy and summer reading and provide for $1,000 minimum grants for small libraries. On February 9th, the House Education Committee held a hearing on HB 2116 and enthusiastically voted it to the House floor where it received near unanimous support on February 20th. The bill now moves to the Senate. Meanwhile, HB 5523 was heard by the Education Subcommittee of the Way and Means Committee on February 12th. SB 5523 provides for a 4.8% budget increase for the State Library in the 2007-09 biennium, including a 25% increase to the Ready to Read Grant program, restoring the program to the funding level of $1 per child per year and providing funds for the minimum grants that would be authorized by HB 2116. The Oregon Library Association testified in favor of SB 5523 at the hearing on February 12th. The following day the Subcommittee convened a worksession and passed SB 5523 to the full committee which approved the bill on February 23rd. The budget bill will now go to the House and Senate floors for final consideration by the entire Legislature.
LIBRARY LECTURE SERIES RESUMES MARCH 14
The State Library's Noon Lecture Series, now in its 2nd year, will begin its spring season this month on Wednesday, March 14th from 12-1 p.m. Oregon author William L. Sullivan, who is also a State Library Board member, will present a travelogue on hiking Oregon's history. This slide show is an armchair hiker’s tour of Oregon’s most scenic historic sites. Based on his outdoor guidebook, Hiking Oregon’s History, the presentation follows Lewis and Clark’s trail across Tillamook Head and traces Chief Joseph’s trail of tears through Hells Canyon. Also included are tips on dramatic hiking trails to fire lookouts, lighthouses, and gold mines, mixed in with anecdotes about trailside wildflowers and geology. In short, it’s a glimpse into Oregon’s largest museum – the great outdoors.
The Lecture Series is a brown bag event. Lunches and drinks will be for sale in the library lobby. The program is free and takes place in Room 103 on the first floor of the State Library building at 250 Winter Street NE in Salem.
OSL’S PHOTO WEBSITE GOES LIVE
After several years of photo scanning and record creation, a website of selected images from our photograph collection is now available at OSL Photo Collection. So far we have two photo exhibits ready for viewing – the Siegmund Collection of photographs taken in the Santiam Canyon area between 1889 and 1891, and an exhibit of buildings and street scenes from all over Oregon. We plan to create several more exhibits in 2007 so keep watching our OSL web site.
PLANNING A READING EVENT? TBABS IS A RESOURCE FOR ALTERNATIVE FORMATS
This year, many libraries will host special events and promotions designed to encourage reading as well as bring people together to discuss books and issues of interest within the community. If your library is hosting such an event, check with Talking Book and Braille Services about books available in alternative formats for readers with blindness, low vision or other disabilities. We can loan or locate a wide variety of popular books. Search our online catalog or call 800-452-0292 for assistance.
NUMBER OF SCHOOL LIBARIANS DOWN AGAIN
Data released by the Oregon Department of Education for the 2005-06
school year shows that the number of school librarians in the state declined
for the fourth year in a row to the lowest number ever in recent decades. As
of October 1, 2005, school districts reported only 412 school librarians to
serve 1,282 schools. That's 21 fewer librarians than was reported for the 2004-05
school year. Since 1980 the number of school librarians in Oregon schools has
decreased by 50%. At the same time the number of students in Oregon K-12 schools
has increased by 25%. In 1980 there was one school librarian for every 547 students
in Oregon schools. In 2005-06 there was one librarian for every 1,357 students.
Many schools in Oregon do not have a school librarian, and this is particularly
true for elementary schools.
ECHOES OF OREGON ON THE WEB
In 1987, the Oregon State Archives published Echoes of Oregon, a group of facsimiles and transcriptions of documents from territorial times, along with curriculum suggestions for use in high school history classes. You can now access Echoes of Oregon online. The documents were chosen "...because they provide a glimpse of how life was really lived by the men, women, and children who settled Oregon." They include proposed legislation regarding bounty hunters to a list, an arms inventory from 1855, and a divorce petition from 1858. Anyone interested in conditions during territorial times in Oregon will enjoy and learn from this website.
RURAL IN FOCUS WEBINAR SERIES CONTINUES
Monthly webinar series with a focus on rural libraries continues – save these dates!
3/29/07 9:30-10:30 AM PDT
4/24/07 10:00-11:00 AM PDT
5/24/07 9:00- 10:00 AM PDT
6/18/07 9:00- 10:00 AM PDT
These online webinars are FREE and registration is not required. Instructions
for joining the Webinar are available here.
Upcoming topics will be announced shortly, be sure to check WebJunction's Rural
In Focus Webinar page for updates and archives of previous webinars.
I traveled to Ashland on February 2nd to meet with the Southern Oregon Library Federation and to hear for myself about the crisis that has engulfed public libraries in three southern Oregon counties. As you’ve no doubt heard by now, the expiration of the Secure Rural Schools and Community Self Determination Act last year has left 33 Oregon counties short $220 million in federal funds. Jackson, Josephine and Douglas counties are among the hardest hit. The Jackson County Library is still planning to close at the end of the day on April 6th. Last minute efforts to get a one year extension of the federal funding have been unsuccessful.
The only good news is that the Jackson County Commissioners have decided to put a library levy on the May ballot. This is the same measure that was defeated last November. There was some talk of lowering the proposed tax rate to try to attract more ‘yes’ votes, but the rate of $0.66 per $1,000 is unchanged, though the term of the levy was reduced from five years to three. It is hoped that the reality of the libraries closing in April will bring enough support out to pass the levy in May, in which case the library can reopen in June. I had breakfast with County Commissioner Dave Gilmour and asked him about all the options for reopening the library. He seems convinced that this is the best strategy for now, and I have to agree, though getting a double majority will be a challenge this May. County leaders like Commissioner Gilmour have not given up on an extension of the Federal funding. They can’t. Even if the library funding problem is solved by the voters in Jackson County in May, other important and mandated county services are still looking at a big reduction without the federal funds.
The situation in Josephine and Douglas counties is no less dire than in Jackson County. In Josephine County the Commissioners have chosen to put a large local option levy for public safety on the May ballot. If it passes, perhaps the library can be spared. Douglas County Library Director Max Leek reported at the SOLF meeting that they still did not know what reductions they might have to make, beginning later this year.
If there is any silver lining to this very dark cloud, it is the tremendous outpouring of support for the Jackson County Library that has occurred since the library closure plans were announced. On the Wednesday before I traveled to Ashland there had been a big rally attracting about 300 citizens and a three hour public hearing at the Board of Commissioners meeting. Commissioner Gilmour told me the hearing could have gone on much longer, and only one brave soul showed up to testify against plans to save the library. The Medford Mail Tribune has weighed in with one of the best editorials I have ever read urging renewed tax support for the library.
On my way home I stopped by the new Talent library that is nearly completed. Like all the new Jackson County Library facilities, it is beautifully designed and well-sited in a new civic center complex. It opened to the public at the end of February and will close about six weeks later. Touring the new library and hearing about how the community raised hundreds of thousands of dollars in extra funds to make their library all it can be, it’s hard to imagine that a majority of Talent voters, and voters throughout the county, will not step up to reopen their libraries this May. The Legislature may help to improve the turnout in the May election. This week they are talking about referring a measure to the May ballot to suspend the corporate kicker to help create a rainy day fund. Let’s hope that everything falls into place and that all 15 Jackson County Library branches can reopen their doors in June. – Jim Scheppke
Technical Assistance: 503-932-1004.
Library Development: 503-378-2525, MaryKay
Dahlgreen, Val Vogt, Darci
Hanning, Ann Reed, Patty
Sorensen, Katie Anderson.
Talking Book and Braille Services: 503-378-5389, Susan
Westin, Marcia Martin.
Government Research and Electronic Services: 503-378-5030, Robert
Hulshof-Schmidt.
State Librarian: 503-378-4367, Jim
Scheppke.
LTLO Editor: 503-378-2464, Robin
Speer.
Letter to Libraries Online is published monthly by the Oregon State Library. Editorial office: LTLO, Oregon State Library, 250 Winter St. NE, Salem, Oregon 97301-3950, 503-378-2464, editor: Robin Speer.
Letter to Libraries Online is available free of charge and is available only in electronic form on the publications page at the Oregon State Library's homepage: http://www.oregon.gov/OSL. Opinions expressed in the articles are those of the authors and not necessarily those of the Oregon State Library. News items or articles should be sent to Robin Speer, or mailed to LTLO, Oregon State Library, 250 Winter St. NE, Salem, Oregon 97301-3950.
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