REPORT OF THE DIRECTOR

Winnefox Library System

Wednesday, May 31, 2006

 

 

RECORDS RETENTION SCHEDULE                  Exhibit A. in this month’s board packet is a

schedule for the retention and disposal of

records created by public library systems that was approved for statewide use by the Wisconsin Public Records Board in February.  It is the work of a statewide committee that included Winnefox Administrative Services Coordinator Julie Schmude.  Once the library system board adopts the schedule, notification of its adoption must be submitted and accepted by the State Historical Society of Wisconsin and the Wisconsin Public Records Board.  This done, the Winnefox will be able to dispose of documents without prior approval by the State Historical Society of Wisconsin.  Before approval of this schedule, a library system had to file its own retention schedule with the Wisconsin Public Records Board and to obtain a waiver from the State Historical Society in order to dispose of records without prior approval.  Discussion.  Action Requested: adopt records retention schedule.

 

2007 MARQUETTE COUNTY                                Exhibit B. contains 2007 - 2011 Agreement

AGREEMENT AND PLAN                                     and Plan of Library Service as approved by

                                                                                     the Marquette County Board on April 18,

                                                                                    2006.  Changes from the 2002 - 2006 Agreement and Plan are indicated with deleted text struck through and added text underlined.  Discussion.  Action Requested:  approve the Agreement and Plan.

 

WINNEFOX 2006 BUDGET                                    Exhibit C. contains the letter from

                                                                                    Rick Grobschmidt accompanying our second System Aids check.  It represents $219,930 for a total of $879,718 for 2006 that is 5% more than we received in 2005.  Despite this increase, the amount of System Aids hovers at 8% of the amount spent by local government on library service in Wisconsin – significantly below the 13% statutory benchmark set out for DPI budget requests.  Discussion.  Action Requested:  none.

 

MISCELLANEOUS REPORTS -

·        Report of System Activities: Mark Arend’s latest report of system highlights is included as Exhibit D.

·        Act 420: On Friday, May 19, 2006, Governor Doyle signed legislation that makes a number of changes to Wisconsin law governing public libraries and public library systems.  Mark Arend’s report on the highlights of the new law are included as Exhibit E.

·        Dishonesty / Errors & Omissions Insurance: At the March 29, 2006 Winnefox Library System Board meeting, a discussion took place about Trustees’ exposure to liability for decisions of the board.  Mark Arend surveyed other Wisconsin public library systems about staff dishonesty coverage.  His summary of findings is included as Exhibit F.  Mark also inquired with the Winnefox counties about coverage of board appointees by county errors & omissions policies, and the three counties that have responded so far—Fond du Lac, Waushara, and Winnebago—have confirmed that their appointees are covered under the county’s policy.

 

 

Winnefox Library System                                                                                  May 31, 2006 Executive Director’s Report                                                                                                Page 2

 

·        Common School Fund:  At the last meeting a question was raised about current legislation affecting the Common School Fund, the state fund that is devoted to purchasing books for school libraries.  Mark has drafted a short report which is included as Exhibit G.

·        Continuing Education Activities

Ž    Mark Arend and I attended the Public Library Association 11th National Conference in Boston, MA from March 22 – 24, 2006.  My conference report is included as Exhibit H.  Mark’s conference report is included as Exhibit I.

Ž    Mark Arend and I attended the System and Resource Library Administrators Association of Wisconsin (SRLAAW) on May 3, 2006 and I attended the Wisconsin Association of Public Libraries (WAPL) Spring Conference from May 4-5, 2006.  My report of both events is included as Exhibit J.

·        Director Activities: During April, I received an orientation to my role as a system director from Mike Cross and Al Zimmerman of the Division for Libraries, Technology and Community Learning in Madison.  I toured and attended board meetings in Neenah (April 19, 2006) and Omro (May 22, 2006).  I toured and visited with member library directors in Markesan and Oakfield on April 21, 2006.

·        The State of America’s Libraries: The Executive Summary of the American Library Association’s first annual report of this kind is included as Exhibit K.  The Executive Summary and the entire report may be viewed at http://www.ala.org/ala/pressreleases2006/march2006/stateoflibraries.htm

·        Perceptions of Libraries and Information Resources (2005):  The conclusions derived from an international survey developed by the OCLC Market Research team and carried out by Harris Interactive, Inc. are included in this month’s board packet as Exhibit L.  3,300 individuals in five countries were surveyed in June of 2005 in order to learn more about their use of libraries, awareness and use of electronic resources, perceived utility of librarians versus Internet search engines as information resources, willingness to pay for information services, and primary associations when thinking of libraries (the “Library” brand).  The report is available online at http://www.oclc.org/reports/2005perceptions.htm.

 

 

Respectfully submitted,

 

 

 

 

Jeff Gilderson-Duwe

Executive Director