Library AssemblyMinutes: September 25, 2012

Present: Kate Anderson (unofficial recorder); Jack Batterson; Rachel Brekhus; Laura Buck (chair); Shannon Cary (guest); Jim Cogswell; June DeWeese; Dana Houston; PT Martin; Libby Myre; Ashley Nelson; Ann Riley; Sheena Waggoner

Minutes

1. Minutes from Library Assembly 8/28/12
   1. No additional changes. Laura will send to Shannon for NewsNotes

1. Update from Staff Representative Committee (SRC)—Shannon Cary
   1. Based on survey administered by PT Martin, over ½ of respondents felt that the current SRC held little or no value to them. However, respondents did feel classified staff needed a way to express concerns and provide input. Therefore, the charge of SRC needs to be revised.
   2. Shannon Cary, Bette Stuart, and Tammy Green are looking at other libraries and will be meeting with the MULAC executive committee to discuss how MULAC was developed and structured.
   3. Jim is very much in favor of SRC and supports these efforts. MULAC can serve as a model for a classified staff group. Any successful group like this takes commitment.
   4. Discussions are still in the beginning stages. Have a suggestion or question? Contact Shannon, Bette, or Tammy

1. Director Announcements –Jim Cogswell
   1. Annual Review with Provost Foster (note: this review is separate from the 360 evaluation deans undergo every three years). See Jim’s report to Provost Foster below.
      1. i.      Because of space limitations from the Provost, not every activity can be highlighted.
      2. ii.      While Provost was unaware of e-Learning initiative and split-funding of positions, he was supportive of these efforts. Provost applauded the Libraries’ efforts in succession planning.
      3. iii.      For upcoming Centennial of Ellis Library, Provost encouraged Jim to integrate celebration with larger institutional goals and initiatives.
2. SWOT Analysis
   1. i.      Jim took part in a SWOT analysis on Aug 29. Approximately 150 faculty, administrators, and (a few) students looked at Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats in 16 different areas of importance to the MU campus – topics cut across disciplinary boundaries (e.g., infrastructure; fundraising)
   2. ii.      Report is forthcoming
3. UM Press Update
   1. i.      Jim will serve as ex-officio on the advisory board. This group has not yet met.
4. Position Descriptions and Job Ads for Open Vacancies (question from floor)
   1. i.      June asked that PDs and ads for the HR position and the RAIS position be posted to NewsNotes/distributed to all staff
   2. ii.      Information available: http://mulibraries.missouri.edu/staff/admin/jobopps.htm
5. Update on Info Commons 2 (question from floor)
   1. i.      Rachel asked for update on timing of construction. Jim will contact facilities to make sure work in that area (1^st floor Ellis near elevator) is NOT done during finals week
6. Development (question for floor)
   1. i.      PT asked about possibilities for different kinds of development, including renting of space. MU Libraries has to abide by campus rules and the space is owned by the University, so probably not a possibility
   2. Staff Website Subcommittee Charge – Jim Cogswell
      1. Jim presented a formal charge. With inclusion of an “organizational” element, the charge reads as follows:

Charge to Subcommittee of Library Assembly to Oversee Staff Website

Overview of group:

• Name of group: Staff Website Subcommittee
• 2-3 Library Assembly members, staggered terms
• members have basic knowledge of web-based information, broad knowledge of MU Libraries

Principal responsibility: Oversee content and organization of the Staff Webpages

• ensure content is accurate, authoritative and current
• assign areas of webpage for review/revision by specific units or individuals
• recommend to Web Advisory Group additions/changes to Staff Web content

Subcommittee serves as point of contact for revisions and updates to content

• any library staff member may suggest revisions or corrections to subcommittee
• subcommittee submits reports to Library Assembly about proposed reviews/revisions
• Library Assembly approves any major changes or additions proposed

Subcommittee hands off approved changes/revisions to Web Advisory Group for implementation

• Web Advisory Group consults with Subcommittee if follow-up is required

1. Members: June DeWeese; Sheena Waggoner; Rachel Brekhus (new member)

1. Department Announcements
   1. HSL/Vet Med (Laura): New electrical outlets and data ports in vet med! Number of computers will increase in number from 4 to 10. Three laptops now available for check-out in HSL.
   2. LMT (Deb): Search for Human Resources Manager has been posted to two academic listserv’s as well as on the MU Job postings site. Applications will be accepted through October 15. They’ve received 35 applications, and the committee is in the process of sorting through those and ranking them. If all goes well, candidate interviews will begin in mid to late October. Jim noted that he hopes to have the HR manager begin around the first of the year.
   3. Administration (Sheena): Nathan’s last day was the 20^th. Steve Hammer has started. Online student application form is working well.
   4. MULAC (Kate): Chris Montgomery, grant writing consultant, spoke to MULAC about her services. Best thing is to contact her early on in process to be connected to right people and resources. Looking at how best to give input to LMT on staffing plan.
   5. Branches (Ashley): at Engineering, they’re talking with students to gauge areas of interest (very informal)
   6. Ellis Reference (Rachel): teaching is continuing apace:  FIGs; Eng 1000s; McNair Scholars; International Student Workshops. Instructors have been training on BlackBoard Collaborate. Anne Barker is spearheading the Digital Humanities Colloquia.
   7. Security (Dana): Ellis Library 1^st floor women’s restroom is open! Working out a few problems. Mirrors are on backorder.
   8. LTS (PT): 14 new security cameras being installed in Ellis this week. Ivy (HSL) is learning book-eye scanner. ILLiad upgrade complete. Doubling size of moloch for digitization needs. VPN changing. Use the ticket system for questions (http://trac.lib.missouri.edu). Thermal printer for physical processing. Web cameras for 159 for online meetings. Working with DoIT on thin clients that, um, “spawn.” IE patch will be pushed out tomorrow am.
   9. Ellis Access Services (June): getting new laptops and iPads for checkout. High-demand items!
   10. LMT (Ann): Remember the United Way launch!

For next time…Need to elect official recorder.

July 20, 2012

 

To:                   Brian Foster, Provost

From:               Jim Cogswell, Director of Libraries

Subject:           Annual Review, FY12

 

Per your letter of June 7, I am submitting a review of major accomplishments related to the goals discussed in last year’s evaluation, anticipated goals for the coming year, and a brief review of budget plans for FY13.

 

MU Libraries Top Achievements, FY12

The singular achievement of the past year followed what we earnestly hope will be a single event in the history of the MU Libraries – the arson attack on Ellis Library in September. I have never been so proud of the staff of the Libraries, or more grateful for the support of the University community, as I was in the days following this disaster. The effects of the fire, and the successful recovery from it, have been documented elsewhere so I will not take time to report further in this review.

A summary of other noteworthy achievements, grouped within the four strategic directions of the Libraries, follows:

1. 1. Integrate the Libraries more fully into the teaching, research, service and economic development missions of the University.

In October, the Research and Information Services (RAIS) Division began a collaborative effort with Vice Provost for Undergraduate Studies, Jim Spain, to coordinate e-Learning instruction efforts across campus. We hired a librarian on contract (split-funded through the MU Libraries and the Office of the Vice-Provost for Undergraduate Studies) to integrate instructional services for Mizzou Online and all distance-learners. A detailed report on progress in this area was issued this month.

With this split-funded e-learning position as a model, we are creating Clinical Medical Librarian positions for both the Medical School and the School of Veterinary Medicine. Neil Olson has agreed to fund one-half of the latter position for up to three years, and we are expecting to have a search underway by September. Plans for the Medical School position await the arrival of the new dean.

 

1. 2. Develop and implement strategies to improve collections and services.

A primary focus of the past year was addressing Strategic Goal 3, Objective 11, of the “One Mizzou” campus plan. Over the course of the year, the Library Committee and the Library Assessment Advisory Committee conducted surveys of students and faculty, developing measures to track use of resources and quality of services. A report, initially anticipated in June, is expected to be available in August to both the Libraries Management Team and the Library Committee summarizing conclusions and recommending areas in need of attention.

A second focus was library development, specifically the hire of a new Director of Development, and Nathan Marticke joined the library staff in March. Nathan brings ten years of fundraising experience in both small and large academic institutions to this position. With a new Vice Chancellor for Development and Alumni Relations starting work this month, we are eager to undertake a new level of fundraising for the MU Libraries with a major library celebration at the height of the MU campus campaign in 2015. (See below.)

1. 3. Develop and implement strategies to improve staff resources and space/facilities.

In May, the MU Libraries long-term HR Director resigned to take a position at the University of Iowa. Leo Agnew had spent the past thirteen creating quality programs in staff training, diversity and organizational development. We have a search underway to find his replacement, but it will be difficult to find someone as talented and creative as he.

As noted in last year’s report, we are beginning to make changes in staffing allocations to accommodate succession planning. Over this summer, we will be making reassignments in the Veterinary Medical Library, and we have recently hired a new position to enable staffing changes in the Access Services Department of Ellis Library. In the next two years, we anticipate having perhaps five retirements among our senior librarians, and we are working proactively to manage those likely vacancies.

We are especially grateful to the Provost Office for continuing salary support for FY13. Fully one-half our permanent employees currently make less than $35,000 per year, and most of our academic librarians and archivists have salaries far below those of their ARL counterparts. With the two-percent salary pool, and the most-welcome added augmentation to that amount, we will be able to give most of our staff salary increases well above the two-percent level, and internal funding will help with equity adjustments for selected positions.

1. 4. Promote the MU Libraries by enhancing the content, quality and frequency of external communication about our mission and impact.

Our customary series of exhibits, lectures, performances and public programs continued. Among the highlights are the following:

• Exhibits included The Civil War in Missouri; Russian Historical Maps; One Hundred Years of Coming Home, as part of MU’s centennial celebration of Homecoming; Food Revolutions: Science and Nutrition 1700 – 1920, in March, 2012, in conjunction with the annual Life Sciences Symposium; and Dime Novels from Special Collections; and a History of the Olympic Games.
• Public events included programs on the New Madrid Earthquakes; Open Access; Copyright and Fair Use; the Pro Arte string quartet in performance; three separate programs for Black History Month; Poetry by Toi Derricotte; and a special program on the Holocaust which saw our largest single audience in the Ellis Colonnade.
• MU Libraries Federal Documents celebration. Not only did 2012 mark the 150^th anniversary of the Morrill Act, but it also signified 150 years of the MU Libraries as a federal documents depository. In fact, of the more than 1,200 depository libraries in the country, MU is the 15^th oldest. Rep. Blaine Leutkemeyer, UM President Tim Wolfe, and U.S. Superintendent of  Documents, Mary Alice Baish were among the dignitaries on hand in May to celebrate the event.
• Faculty Lecture Series continued with four lectures during the year, featuring Professors Doug Randall, Ingolf Gruen, Carol Ward and Laurel Wilson.

 

Major Initiatives for FY13

In the coming year, we will continue to pursue the four strategic directions enumerated above, along with the following areas of concentration:

1. Plan for Centennial of MU Libraries, 2015-16.

The building now known as Ellis Library, the first building on campus constructed to house the library collections of the University, opened to the public in the fall of 1915. The building was dedicated in January, 1916, with a formal ceremony in the central reading room located on the second floor. We are now in the initial stages of planning for a campuswide celebration of the first one hundred years of the MU Libraries. We hope to have a year-long series of programs and events to celebrate the enduring values of libraries and learning at the University of Missouri.

1. Pursuing a Student “Library Resources Fee.”

In last year’s budget review, I presented a goal of pursuing a student fee to provide direct support for library collections and services. Unfortunately, the Ellis Library fire derailed this effort until late in the spring semester. In May, a working group of library staff and students began meeting to develop a plan to enact a fee in support of library collections and services for students. Initially, the plan entailed having a referendum posed to students on the Columbia campus, but my counterparts on the three other campuses have asked to make this a system-wide proposal based on the model of the student Information Technology Fees (ITF). What’s more, I am convinced that if we were to hold such a referendum and it should fail, we would effectively doom any future action on the issue.

I propose that we take our case directly to the Board of Curators for their action. We need to get endorsements from student organizations on the four campuses (MSA, GPC and their counterparts on the other campuses; the ASUM; the Intercampus Student Council; campus graduate/undergraduate groups, etc.). We must provide statistics to demonstrate increased use of library resources, space and services and the need for more funding to provide this support. We should also have the same kind of letter-writing campaign that Xavier Billingsley mounted to lobby support during the state legislative session last year. I believe this strategy is the best course of action to secure a Library Resources Fee.

Budget Review

We are still bracing for a shortfall in our materials acquisition budget of as much as $400,000 by the end of FY13 and perhaps as much as $1million in FY14. It is possible that these deficits may be moderated if the sluggish economy holds in check the anticipated price escalations of commercial publishers, and there are signs that the Open Access movement and the Federal Research Public Access Act (FRPAA) legislation are beginning to have some effect. For example, in February, science publisher Elsevier withdrew its support for the publisher-backed Research Works Act (HR6399) after receiving intense opposition from authors, editors, and library consortia. However, it is clear that we must actively pursue a student library fee as a new revenue stream to address continuing budget pressures.

Jim Cogswell

Director of Libraries