MINUTES
IOWA COMMISSION OF LIBRARIES
Date: December 4, 2014
10:00 am – 2:00 pm
Location: Ola Babcock Building, Des Moines, IA
Room 372
Present: Dan Boice, Rhonda Ketels, Pat Laas, Brandie Ledford, Larry Marquardt, Tom Martin, Betsy
Thompson, Dale Vande Haar
Absent: David Boyd
Staff: Barb Corson, Steve Cox, Fran Fessler, Nancy Medema, Alan Schmitz, Michael Scott, Annette Wetteland
Guests: Rebecca Funke
Boice called the meeting to order at 10:03 a.m.
1.0 Set Agenda
Boice asked for approval of the agenda. Motion by Martin to approve; seconded by Laas. Motion carried.
2.0 Minutes
Boice asked for approval of the October 22 minutes. Pat Laas mentioned she was not present at the October 22
meeting as noted in the minutes. Boice asked that a correction be made to the minutes. Minutes approved with
corrections.
Marquardt asked for a correction to the August minutes. The meeting of the Midwest Chapter of the Medical
Library Association will be in Des Moines in 2016, not 2015, as stated in the minutes. Also, the Midwest
Chapter is co-hosting with the Midcontinental Chapter, not the Continental Chapter. Marquardt made a motion
to amend the August 13 minutes as stated; seconded by Laas. Motion carried.
Boice asked Scott and Medema for an update about Carol Simmons, secretary to the Commission. Medema
explained that Simmons injured her foot while helping at the Summer Reading Workshop in Waterloo. She had
surgery and is expected to be on medical leave for 6-9 weeks.
Ledford arrived at 10:15 a.m.
3.0 Financial report
Cox reviewed the state and federal financial reports. He explained the various categories on the state side. The
State Library received notice from the Department of Administrative Services that management underestimated
the cost of 2015 employee insurance premiums. There will be a 21% increase instead of the 10% that had been
estimated, resulting in an extra $17,000 charge for insurance. This can be covered by salary savings. The
Federal side is on target. He reviewed the Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA) funding timelines from
FY10 through FY15. There was an increase of $52,000 in 2014. Boice asked about the federal appropriations.
Cox explained that states need to match funds, and the extra funds received last year became available because
some states did not meet their match.
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4.0 Communications
A. Special Reports
1. Advisory Panel Report - Rebecca Funke
Funke reported that the Advisory Panel met on November 19 and had some very good discussions.
2. LSTA Annual Report - Nancy Medema
Medema is working on the LSTA annual report that is due December 31. The strategic plan has
been approved by LSTA and this year a new framework is in place and the reporting guidelines
have changed. LSTA is focusing on reporting outcomes in addition to outputs. Medema is asking
for more library stories and how LSTA funding has benefited patrons. LSTA funds have been used
for a large print book rotation managed by the Decorah Public Library, and space planning grants,
among other things. Medema and Scott will be attending a two day training meeting in April.
Webinars are also scheduled. Changes take effect FY16. Changes may also need to be made to the
strategic plan.
3. Demo of new IaLS website – Alan Schmitz
Schmitz gave a demonstration of the new IaLS website. Right now the IaLS home page, Center for
the Book and HealthInfoIowa sites have been moved to the new theme. IPO, Iowa Heritage Digital
Collections, and the Iowa Library Commons will be migrated later. Technology money was used to
hire a contractor and designer to come up with a new theme. The new website is more interactive,
has an animated carousel and supports streaming video and audio. The software is much the same
as before but it is faster and more information can be accessed from the homepage. The focus has
been on getting all the content moved over, fixing visual glitches, and getting rid of old data. The
web team will continue meeting to make improvements to the website. Technology money was also
used to upgrade the PLOW website themes.
B. Commission Reports
Ledford: Reported that the Carroll City Council does not want to build a new library or renovate the
current building. Results from a community survey also show that the community is not interested in
any change and Ledford is not very optimistic that a bond issue would pass. Ledford plans to do a
makeover of the teen and youth areas to make better use of the space. The library’s foundation has
money available to use for this purpose. She also plans to hire a space planner and continue to make
some long range plans for the library. She said she received good advice from Misty Gray, IaLS SW
Consultant. Ledford said they will also be doing Planning for Results.
Vande Haar: Reported that the Iowa Association of School Librarians (IASL) has published a second
report this fall which showed the ratio of teacher-librarians to students in school districts. Out of the
339 school districts in the state, 313 reported. When the Iowa State Legislature added the requirement
that each school district must employ a teacher-librarian for that district, the legislators created an audit
form that specifically states what the library program should contain and what that teacher-librarian
should be doing to assist students and teachers with the intent that the Department of Education enforce
these audits. “Best Practice” was defined by the legislators as a ratio of 1 teacher-librarian to 300-350
students in the district, with “good practice” and “struggling to provide services” designations reflecting
a higher student to teacher-librarian ratio. These are the findings of the report:
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8 school districts said they are providing “best practice”
91 school districts said they are providing “good practice”
202 school districts have teacher-librarians struggling to address the needs in their districts
15 school districts have no teacher-librarian in the district
Vande Haar also reported that his school district is re-opening an elementary school that will need a new
collection. He is doing a cost analysis for this new library for his district’s facilities department.
Laas: Bettendorf Public Library has been offering many programs which have been very successful and
well attended. Summer activities included a weekly band concert. The library renovation is completed.
They added a 3-D printer in the Maker Space room and are in the process of writing a policy for using
the 3-D printer.
Ketels: Legislation mandates that all students be proficient in reading at the end of third grade. If not
they must attend summer school or repeat the grade. She and her staff are working with the Iowa
Reading Research Center on a Literacy Summit for next summer to address how to meet this
requirement and they will be asking for participation from libraries around the state.
Marquardt: Announced that the joint meeting of the Midwest Chapter/MLA and the Midcontinental
Chapter will be held in Des Moines, October 21- 25, 2016. This regional medical library event will be
held at the downtown Marriott. Pam Rees, Iowa Library Services, and Priya Shenoy, pharmacy librarian
at Drake University, are the Des Moines contacts. The Clive Public Library is trying to reach out and
get patrons more involved in the library with some the following activities: sponsoring an ugly sweater
contest, holding a holiday drive for Friends of the Animal Shelter and asking for pet supplies, promoting
“Tails of Tales” kids reading to therapy dogs, a LEGO Club for kids of ages 6-12, and showing movies
during school breaks.
Thompson: Continuing to work with the University of Iowa on an early literacy assessment and
encouraging children to read. Their youth services staff person is retiring at the end of January after 28
years. Staff health insurance premiums are going up but otherwise the Sioux City Public Library has a
stable budget. The “One Book, One Siouxland” title will be announced soon.
Martin: Library statistics have been going down at the Iowa City Public Library and they are thinking
of different ways to get people into the library. They have had various displays in the library which
have been popular.
Boice: A circulation clerk at the Carnegie Stout Public Library, Dubuque, has been arrested for
embezzling approximately $60,000. The Dubuque Area Library Consortium (DALINC) has built on the
success of their participation in the I-LEAD project. Having made equipment and expertise available to
member libraries, the group is now planning a workshop in the spring of 2015 designed to encourage
small organizations such as museums or archives to begin digitizing their records.
C. State Librarian’s Report
Scott: Has been on the job for three weeks and has met most of the staff and attended many meetings:
two staff meetings, the IaLS Advisory Panel, the Enrich Iowa Task Force, management training, and the
IaLS continuing education retreat. He and Corson met with Legislative Service Agency concerning the
budget. He also attended a meeting at the State Historical Society on a project to digitize Iowa
newspapers. The Historical Society has received a second grant for digitizing newspapers and now
needs to select and decide how many newspapers they can digitize. Upcoming: attend an Iowa Library
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Association (ILA) Executive Board meeting with Corson and meet with the ILA lobbyists. Scott said
he is very interested in governmental affairs and served as legislative chair of governmental affairs for
the Minnesota Library Association. He is making plans to attend the next COSLA meeting in Chicago.
Corson: Introduced Brianna Glenn, the new library resources technician at the law library. Brianna,
who began November 7, was the former library director at De Soto. Pam Rees has added six new
collections to Iowa Digital Heritage Collection. The Enrich Iowa Task Force met and reviewed
concerns expressed from the first meeting. The group would like to make improvements to SILO
interlibrary loan to make it more interactive. Corson invited everyone to stop on the second floor to
look at the beautiful oak bench in the rotunda alcove. The bench was original to the Miller Building,
but was moved out when the Historical Society moved to its new building. After being in storage for
years it found its way back to Miller Building. The Legislative Services Agency had funds available to
refinish it. She noted that the IaLS Advisory Panel was very pleased with the agency’s new website. A
Miniature Book Collection is on display on the first floor through December.
Krob: A new census website is in the works and plans are to have it ready in March. Krob said he
hopes to demonstrate it to the Commission at their next meeting. New 2014 state population figures are
expected to be out in March 2015 and will be available on the website. He explained the structure of the
census bureau, and agencies where people can go for information other than the website. He is in the
process of getting ready to implement new software to present the census information and is also
updating reports.
Medema: IaLS received 15 free LEGO kits that were to be given away to libraries. A short application
was created and 149 libraries applied. Scott drew the winning libraries in a random drawing. Five
applicants were interviewed for the NW library resources technician position in Sioux City. Staff
consultants met for their annual continuing education retreat and to plan for 2015 courses. They
discussed self-paced or just-in-time learning. Topics suggested: annual survey, digital primer, Be the
Boss project-HR focused, budgeting, employee issues, writing policies, a trustee workshop multisession program, a cataloging class, the .27 cent levy, how to process and understand E-rate and the
changes coming, teen and adult programming, how to digitize collections, and Learning Express. Staff
are making plans to promote the Iowa Library Commons and are working on a RFP for new e-resource
software.
5.0 Public Comment
None
6.0 Action Items
A. Set dates for 2015 meetings
The following dates and times were set: March 19, 9 a.m. – 1 p.m.; June 5, 10 a.m. – 2 p.m., August 6,
10 a.m. – 2 p.m., October 14, 10 a.m. – 2 p.m., and December 3, 10 a.m. – 2 p.m.
Members will meet at 2 p.m. on March 18 for ILA Legislative Day in the Capitol.
7.0 Discussion Items
A. Enrich Iowa Review Task Force
Corson: The task force had their second meeting on November 20. They talked about improvements to
the state-wide interlibrary loan program, specifically what to do since the Ohio-based consortium we
hoped to partner with to develop an Evergreen resource delivery module has backed out. Mary
Heinzman, the facilitator, organized the ideas gathered from the last meeting and these were reviewed.
The end goal is to find out if Enrich Iowa money is being spent in the most efficient way. Members
discussed the Locator; agreements and record keeping; noted that funding is inadequate; discussed
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whether the Enrich Iowa money is divided among the three programs in the optimal way; and the notion
that Open Access may be confusing. Members asked for several types of statistics which they will
analyze. They intend to develop a survey for libraries asking for input about the Enrich Iowa program
to get broad input. The Iowa Code and Administrative Code language was reviewed, and the only thing
that it mandates is that the money be given to the libraries.
B. ILA Legislative Agenda
Scott passed out a copy of the ILA legislative agenda. Of particular concern is the tax roll back that
could have a big effect on city budgets starting in 2017. Scott will discuss this with the ILA lobbyists
and let the Commission members know what they recommend.
C. Commissioner Terms:
Terms for Boice, Martin, and Marquardt will expire April 30, 2015. Boice and Martin have decided not
to apply for third terms. Marquardt will apply for a second term. Ledford will take over as Commission
Chairperson for the June 5, 2015 meeting.
Adjournment
Boice adjourned the meeting at 1:30 p.m.
Next Meeting: March 19, 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m., Room 300, Miller Building, Des Moines
Respectfully submitted by Fran Fessler, Secretary 2
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