Library Management Team (LMT) Meeting
5/29/2025 at 3:00 PM
Attendees: M. Gaunt, A. Huelsbergen, K. Peters, J. Pierce, S. Pryor, J. Thompson, K. Whatley
Support: N. Whyte

VP Updates (Kara)

Staff Development Committee Report (Kara and Kathy)
• Survey Results: Staff feel supported in pursuing training but need more curated opportunities.
• Newsletter Launch: A professional development newsletter was released, highlighting free online training options.
• Future Plans: Regular newsletters and a follow-up survey are planned. Ying led the initiative but will be stepping down; Rhonda is a likely candidate to take over.

Organizational Culture & Communication (Kara)
• Themes from Faculty Focus Group:
• Communication: Need for more transparency in decision-making and funding.
• Clarity: Clear workload expectations and promotion guidelines.
• Capacity: Concerns about staffing levels and workload distribution.
• Strategic Planning Tie-In: These issues will inform Year 1 goals under the sustainable revitalization priority.
• Concern Raised: Staff feel undervalued compared to faculty.
• Suggestions: Reframe SAG (Staff Advisory Group) as a staff-only body, with leadership roles and monthly meetings with MULAC (faculty group) leadership to improve communication and respect for staff. Weekly updates from Kara via Teams or email. Use of Teams channels (e.g., SAG) for feedback and discussion.

Facilities Feedback (Kara)
• Bookmark Café Space: Staff feedback sought on proposed overnight use. Suggestions so far include adding plants, varied seating, and vending machines. Concern raised about lack of gender-neutral restrooms on lower floor.

Action Items
• Finalize leadership for the Staff Development Committee (Kara)
• Establish regular updates via Teams or email (Kara)
• Reassess SAG’s structure and role (LMT)

Next LMT meeting is scheduled for Tues 6/10 at 2:00 PM

Library Management Team (LMT) Meeting

5/15/2025 at 2:00 PM

Attendees: S. Cary, M. Gaunt, A. Huelsbergen, K. Peters, J. Pierce, S. Pryor, E. Shaw, J. Thompson, K. Whatley
Support: N. Whyte

VP Updates (Kara)
Admin Office Reorganization (Kara)
• A shuffle of office spaces is planned to bring division heads closer together in the 104 Ellis office suite.
• Moving efforts are scheduled to begin in June with support from a student intern (Becca), and the actual relocations are expected in July.

Springer Nature Transformative Agreement (Kara)

• Kara attended the Springer Nature Library Advisory Board meeting 5/12-5/14.
• Issue with EBSCO delaying transition to transformative agreement until 2026.
• Springer Nature is ready to include the Libraries in the transformative agreement (TA) as early as July 2025.
• Kara will confirm with GWLA before pushing forward.

TA Manager Implementation (Kara)
• UMLC consortium is moving forward with TA Manager in ConsortiaManager.
• Benefits include that it tracks ROI on agreements, and authors can more easily check journal eligibility for open access.
• UMKC has agreed to participate.

Budget Adjustments & Staffing (Kara)
• The library will not fill the AUL for Health and Specialized Libraries position due to budget constraints.
• Diane Johnson’s role will be repurposed to Director of the Health Sciences Library.
• Canceling Portico and LOCKSS memberships is being considered to redirect funds toward wage improvements for staff. Memberships in WEST and SPARC will be maintained.
• Bookmark Café to be used as a 24-hour study space to reduce overnight staffing costs. Plans include adding printing and possibly a laptop vending machine. Security and access logistics are being worked out, including card swipe access and motion sensors.
Staffing Updates (Kathy)
• Recruitment underway for new Director of Health Sciences as well as a Library, Languages, Literatures, and Digital Humanities Librarian. Both job postings will be live momentarily. Director of HSL position will be advertised nationally.

Staff Compensation (Kara and Kathy)
• The increase in minimum wage will impact the FY26 budget.
• Reorganization and operational adjustments aim to address staff and librarian salary gaps.

Keycard Access & Facility Use (Kathy)
• Staff will retain keycard access during reduced summer public hours.
• Keycard schedules are customizable via Sheila. Supervisors should coordinate with Sheila for door schedules and access needs.
• Student access remains restricted unless granted temporarily.
• Discussions are ongoing about transitioning to mobile credentials.

Student Budgets (Kathy)
• Slight increase in student budget allocations for next year.
• Department heads should submit student budget needs to Kathy by end of next week.

Action Items
• Shannon to include a notice about upcoming committee calls in News Notes.
• Further discussion needed on student access policies and mobile credential adoption (LMT)

Next LMT meeting is scheduled for Thurs 5/29 at 3:00 PM