Kansas
Library Association Council Meeting Minutes – January 27, 2006,
Antioch Branch of the Johnson
County Library, Merriam,
KS.
Present:
Rosanne Siemens, Executive Director; Tim Rogers, KLA President; Jane Hatch,
Education Foundation President and KLA Finance Chair; Connie Doeden, Continuing
Education Committee Chair and KPLACE Chair; Michelle Swain, 1st Vice
President; Andrew Mangels, Membership Chair; Susan Taylor, PALS Chair; Margaret
Knecht, KSHS and KLA Archivist; Jane Kelsey, KSHS and GODORT Chair; Jennifer
Dalton, Children’s Section Chair; Jason Coleman, KLIRT Chair; Hans Fischer, KLTA
Chair; Cindi Hickey, IF Task Force and KanEd Rep; Robert Banks, ALA Councilor;
Kim Beets, PLS Chair; Bob Walter, Parliamentarian; Susan Moyer, MPLA Rep; Carol
Levers, SRRT Chair; Brenda Hough, Newsletter Board; Laura DeBaun, ALA Membership
Chair; Mickey Coalwell, visitor; Marc Galbraith, State Library.
I. Call to Order and Introductions:
President Tim Rogers called the meeting to order at 10:05 a.m.
A quorum was declared present.
II. Member Comments:
There were no member comments.
III. Remarks from Council Members:
There were no council member comments.
IV.
President’s Report:
Tim announced that Leroy Gattin will be leaving his position at Hutchinson
Public Library and also as Tri-Conference Treasurer.
KLA will be looking at the way Tri-Conference is planned and executed in the
future. Anne Liebst has resigned as
KLA Webmaster, effective April 30.
There will be a Finance Committee meeting today after Council to discuss the
2006-07 budget.
The program for today is a presentation regarding Kan-ed and libraries.
Tim will draft thank you letters and appreciation gifts to Anne and Leroy for
their service to KLA.
V. Executive Director’s Report:
Rosanne stated that the Governmental Affairs Committee has been preparing for
Library Legislative Day. She has
been out of the KLA office for nearly two months due to repairs and remodeling
by the Topeka-Shawnee County Public Library.
Please let her know if something was missed during this time period.
The KLA Educational Foundation is making plans for tri-Conference.
50% of pledged funds have been received and 20% of the total goal so far has
been pledged. KLA Finance Committee
will be setting the 2006-07 budget for approval at the
April meeting.
VI. Consent Agenda:
Minutes from October 28, 2005 Meeting
Agenda Approval
Financial Report
Committee Reports
Section Reports
Roundtable Reports
Tim asked if anyone wanted to remove something
form the consent agenda for consideration. Hearing
none, he then asked if there was anything to add.
Rob Banks added an ALA Councilor report that
ALA plans to put a dues increase before members and will
be discussing dues structure.
he also reported that he enjoyed attending Council very much.
Laura DeBaun reported that ALA
materials have been ordered for Tri-Conference.
A motion was made to accept the consent agenda with the added reports.
(Jane Hatch, Susan Moyer seconded).
Motion passed unanimously.
VII. PROGRAM – Kan-ed:
Rosanne reviewed the actions taken so far by the Governmental Affairs Committee
(GAC) to understand the commitment of Kan-ed to library concerns and priorities.
A letter was sent to Hal Gardner.
Then a meeting took place in December among library leaders and Kan-ed
administration to discuss statewide databases and connectivity subsidies.
Marianne Reed (KU) and Cindy Hickey (State
Library) are KLA representatives to the Kan-ed Users Advisory Council (UAC).
Kan-ed leadership has called meetings without notifying UAC or the library
representatives. The most recent
UAC meeting was very tense. The UAC
meeting scheduled for Feb 3 is supposed to contain an agenda item for members to
vote on funding priorities, which could put some statewide database funding in
jeopardy. Hal Gardner has asked UAC
what programs or services they would vote on to discontinue.
Since the moratorium announced in January regarding subsidies for library
connectivity, the loss of statewide databases would essentially mean that Kan-ed
is providing no service to libraries.
Only 20% of Kan-ed members are on the Internet2 “backbone” although this is
where the majority of Kan-ed money is spent.
Marianne and Cindy detailed the critical issues
that they see regarding libraries and Kan-ed.
The UAC has been told that their role is advisory only.
They do not get to see or approve of any budget expenditures, and there is
concern about how budget decisions are made and if these decisions are in
fact in fulfillment of the statutory requirements and stated mission of Kan-ed.
The next UAC meting is on Feb. 3 at 9:30 a.m. in the
Curtis Building, 5th
floor, in Topeka.
All Kan-ed members are invited to attend and speak during the Member Comments
section of the agenda.
Rosanne announced that on Feb. 8 Reggie
Robinson, the Chair of the Board of Regents, has invited library leaders to
discuss Kan-ed issues. Jane hatch
asked Council members to get a list of their questions and concerns to her
before then and she will bring them to the meeting.
Rosanne also stated that there is a bill being considered to add the Juvenile
Justice Department to the Kan-ed constituency groups.
Monday, Jan. 30 there will be a hearing of the Senate Ways & Means Committee,
and KLA has been invited to testify.
Tim Rogers and Rosanne Siemens will attend for KLA.
Marianne and Cindy continued the discussion of
Kan-ed and library issues. A motion
will be made to table the issue of budget cuts if it comes up, in order to have
more time to study the matter. A
concern about KanGuard filter funding was answered by Marc Galbraith, who said
that Hal has verbally stated that this will be paid by Kan-ed.
Tim stated that we have to be careful in expressing our concerns regarding
Kan-ed, because we do not want to give the impression that libraries do not want
or need the services that Kan-ed offers.
Other comments about the lack of communication, the positive comments received
about the statewide databases, and the concerns about Kan-ed budget priorities
were made. Cindy reiterated that of
all the Kan-ed services, statewide databases are direct to the citizens of
Kansas, as opposed to smaller or targeted constituency groups.
Jane and Rosanne reminded Council members of the statutory requirements of
Kan-ed to get 75% of libraries connected.
In answer to a question about the Kan-ed
Delegate Assembly, Rob answered that at the last DA meeting, they were told that
their role was also only advisory, and essentially they decided that regular
meetings were not necessary, so there are no Delegate Assembly meetings schedule
for the near future.
Marianne and Cindy presented a “Statement to
the User Advisory Council of Kan-ed” from the Library representatives to the
UAC, which includes Christie Brandau, State Librarian.
Council members reviewed and then edited the statement.
After some additional comments regarding Kan-ed, it was moved to endorse the
“Statement” as edited to present to the UAC at the next meeting (Laura DeBaun,
Rob Banks second). Motion passed
unanimously.
VIII. New Business:
Council approved a
motion to ratify the KLA Executive Committee action to join the Coalition for a
Prosperous Kansas, a group opposed to TABOR and other similar legislative budget
restrictions (Hans Fischer, Jane Kelsey second).
Motion passed unanimously. Rob
banks related that ALA Council has had discussions on opposing similar
legislation nationwide and supporting states who are fighting this same issue.
Nominating
Committee report is not ready to present at council.
It will be communicated over e-mail to Council members.
Rosanne reminded
everyone of Library Legislative Day on Feb. 16th in Topeka.
The push card of legislative priorities has been distributed and token gifts for
legislators have been purchased, a small booklight.
IX. Old Business:
Tim discussed the work of committees who are
addressing various other issues.
Membership issues are still being worked on, particularly communicating the
existing benefits of KLA membership.
Ideas to do a study of the economic impact of public libraries are shifting to
focus more on users views of libraries and their opinions of what libraries are
and what they should be.
Bylaws changes were presented for the second
time to Council by Bob Walter. The
draft includes editorial comments in italics regarding issues or other areas to
examine in the future that will not be presented to members for voting.
It was moved to approve the changes to the bylaws to go to KLA membership for a
vote (Connie Doeden, Kim Beets second).
Motion passed unanimously.
Cindy presented the recommendations to Council
from the Intellectual Freedom Task Force for establishment of responsibility for
keeping the manual updated and making sure IF issues are communicated widely.
No action by Council.
Rosanne shared an e-mail for the State
Librarian regarding Standards for Public Libraries.
Standards were updated in 2005 but have not been released pending further
revision, but Christie now feels that they should be released as an interim set
of standards until a more fuller review can take place.
After a brief discussion, Council reached consensus to agree with the State
Librarian and to work together on the next revision of the State Standards for
Public Libraries. A motion was made
to correspond with the State Librarian to release the 2005 revision to the
Standards (Jane Kelsey, Kim Beets second).
Motion passed unanimously.
A motion was made to authorize the KLA
President to create a special committee to revise the Public Library Standards
(Susan Moyer, Rob Banks second).
Motion passed unanimously.
X.
Final Announcements:
Marc reviewed news from the State Library.
A bill to combine the State Library advisory Commission and the Kansas Library
Network Board will be forthcoming.
Budget hearings are next week.
Questions have come to the State Library regarding filtering, but no bill has
been presented. No action has
happened regarding the sales tax obligations of Friends groups in Kansas.
Hans suggested that something special be done
for Leroy at Tri-Conference. Tim
will take care of the arrangements.
Michelle briefly reviewed preparations for
Tri-Conference and reminded Council that a preliminary program will not be
mailed but is available on the web site.
A suggestion was made to invite the Oklahoma library association to attend our
conference in Wichita, since it is the closest state bordering that city.
Tim will send out an invitation.
The next meeting will be April 5 at the Century
II Convention Center during Tri-Conference.
XI.
Adjournment: The meeting was
recessed pending presentation of the Nominating Committee report.
Respectfully submitted, Michelle R. Swain, 1st
Vice-President & Recording Secretary
