State Librarian's Report

July 26, 2004

This report is prepared bi-monthly in conjunction with the regular meetings of the Connecticut State Library Board. Items to be routinely covered include the following: the significant activities of the State Librarian and the staff, significant administrative decisions affecting the operation of the Library, status reports regarding in-progress activities, information regarding external events having an impact on the Library, media coverage of the Library, and information of general interest to the members of the Board.

The following report by the State Librarian, which will be included in the minutes of the July 26, 2004 meeting of the Board, covers the period of May 25, 2004, through July 25, 2004.

FINANCIAL REPORT

PERSONNEL REPORT
Vacancies (State Funded)
None

Vacancies (Federal Funds)
None

POSITIONS FILLED SINCE LAST REPORT

OTHER

OFFICE OF THE STATE LIBRARIAN
Events following Governor Rowland's Resignation
Following the announcement of Governor Rowland's resignation, I contacted his Chief of Staff and the Lt. Governor's office to offer our assistance in the orderly transition of files to the Archives. Eunice DiBella, Public Records Administrator, Mark Jones, State Archivist, and I met with staff in both offices and worked out arrangements for the transfer of some records and advised that those files that might be needed by the new administration and in the on going federal investigation be kept at the Capitol. Mr Jones has continued to track this.

I also contacted the House Select Committee of Inquiry. Subsequently, State Archivist Mark Jones, Government Information Unit Head Julie Schwartz, and Law Legislative Unit Head Denise Jernigan met with Laura Jordan, attorney for the House Democrats and Mary Ann O'Neill, attorney for the House Republicans. There are the equivalent of 330 boxes of scanned records subpoenaed by the Committee from State Agencies. There are also 50 - 75 boxes of paper records from DOT that arrived later and were not scanned. The law firm working for the Committee scanned the papers and produced the only index based on agency source and Bates numbers. Electronic access will provide the initial public access to the papers. Additionally the Archives will receive the Committee's administrative files and video of the depositions and public hearings.

Goals for 2004-2006
The managers and I have established the following agency goals for the next two years.

• To increase the visibility of the State Library within the three branches of government, constituent groups, the media, and the general public.
• To stabilize the agency in light of budget reduction and personnel losses.
• To provide high quality, cost effective services that meet the needs of our customers.
• To provide a supportive work environment for all staff.
• To foster productive collaborations with other state and municipal agencies, libraries, educational institutions, museums and other cultural organizations, and the private sector.

I have been working with each of them to establish divisional objectives for each goal.

American Association of Law Librarians
I was privileged to attend this year's annual meeting of the American Association of Law Librarians (AALL), which was held in Boston. The AALL Chapter VIP (Valuable Invited Participant) Program presents an opportunity for chapters to invite special guests from their area's legal, governmental or information communities to participate in AALL's Annual Meeting. They are encouraged to select non-AALL members to participate in the educational experiences and networking that take place at our yearly gathering. The Southern New England Law Librarians (SNELLA) invited me to be their VIP. Members of SNELLA served as my guides at various meetings and events introducing me to librarians and speakers. I was one of six VIPs from around the country. Attending the program allowed me to learn of the various issues facing law libraries of all types. All of the programs I attended had wide applicability and I returned with many ideas. I also had an opportunity to meet the Public Printer (he runs the Government Printing Office) and the Superintendent of Documents. She is responsible for operating, among other things, the Federal Library Depository Program. The State Library is a regional depository and will be affected long term if the strategic plan that the Public Printer and the Superintendent of Documents are developing.

State Library Building
This summer, Judicial will be undertaking a variety of projects relating to the building. The exterior of the building is being power washed, the front steps reset, the front doors cleaned, and the dentil work checked and repaired as necessary. During much of this time, the front entrance will be closed. All visitors are being directed to the South Entrance.

Professional Activities
Attended meetings of the ACLB Leadership Conference Planning Committee, Aging Opportunities Initiative, Coltsville National Park Study, Commission on Educational Technology, Connecticut History Online Project Management Committee, Connecticut Library Association Executive Board, Connecticut Library Association Legislative Committee, Connecticut Library Consortium, and the Fairfield County Library Administrators Group.

I was the guest speaker at the SNELLA annual meeting. I was a panelist on an arts funding program sponsored by Congressman Shays at the Aldrich Museum in Ridgefield. I spoke about the library funding programs of the Institute of Museum and Library Services and the State Library.

In addition, Mary Louise Jensen and I attended the groundbreaking for the Bethel Public Library's renovation and expansion.

INFORMATION SERVICES DIVISION

Reference Services
The Information Services Council recently reviewed the policy on school groups visiting the Library. School groups of middle school age are allowed to visit if they are separated into small groups with an adult leader. Large groups that are disruptive may have to be asked to leave.

Due to the departure of the staff assigned, retrieval of offsite archives and library materials for use by patrons and staff ceased for a few weeks. One of the positions has now been refilled, and retrievals will resume as soon as training is completed.

Outreach
Preservation Librarian Jane Cullinane gave a presentation on Preservation Basics at a class for Town Clerks on May 13.

History & Genealogy Unit Head Richard Roberts gave a presentation to the CT Ancestry Professional Society on Sunday, May 16. The Society gave $100 to the Connecticut Heritage Foundation and gave us two issues of Connecticut Ancestry that we were missing.

History & Genealogy Reference Librarian Carolyn Picciano gave a tour to a group from Ellington on May 10.

History & Genealogy Office Assistant Kevin Johnson gave William Webb presentations at Roosevelt Middle School in New Britain on May 17, at Thomas Hooker School in Meriden on May 14, at Orchard Hill School in South Windsor on May 18, at the Pomfret School on May 22, and at the McClean Home on June 11.

On June 8, Mr. Johnson attended and performed at a book signing with Diane Smith for her new book Summer in Connecticut at the Pump House in Bushnell Park. There is a section about Mr. Johnson and his William Webb performance in the book.

Mr. Johnson also did a William Webb performance as a part of a program "Salute to America" at Tanglewood on May 30.

Law/Legislative Reference Librarian Janis Lefkowitz gave a tour to new interns at the Attorney General's office on June 10.

Government Documents Librarian Nancy Peluso visited the Ferguson Library depository in Stamford on June 22.

Press mentions:
The Hartford Courant printed an article about the closing of the front steps of the Library for the rest of the summer for repairs.

Space
Carpeting has been installed in the Bill Room, and the Law Office and outer Law Office. A stand-alone air conditioner is now installed in L701.

Collections
Two missing flight lines of aerial photos from 1965 were found in the Probate Vault. Also, some 1970 and 1975 photos were found at Van Block. These will now be made available to patrons.

Last fiscal year all binding for non-state government materials had to be halted due to lack of funding in the OE budget. Items placed on hold then are now being prepared to be sent out.

The Collection Management Unit obtained 7 copies of the Extra Edition to the Hartford Courant issued on June 21st about Governor Rowland's resignation from office.

Library Automation
In honor of the 150th Anniversary of the Library, Ms. Peluso has created an online Web Exhibit about the History of CSL from 1854-1909. She completed the Exhibit using Microsoft FrontPage and ContentDM for the images. The Exhibit, http://www.cslib.org/cslpre1909.htm, is linked from the New & Noteworthy section, and the About CSL - History section of the CSL Webpage.

Other new items on the CSL Webpage are a new pathfinder on Connecticut's Governors, the List of Public Acts effective July 1st, and the O'Neill papers finding aid.

As the gubernatorial transition occurred, the Dept. of Information Technology requested that CSL provide continuing access to Governor Rowland's pages, as these would be replaced by Governor Rell's on the state website. The Library also recognized the need to preserve Rowland's pages as part of the historical record. In response, over 300 of Governor Rowland's web pages have been `captured', cataloged, and permanently stored in the Connecticut Digital Archive. Cataloging records that link to the archived objects have been created for the Governor, Lieutenant Governor, and Lieutenant Governor Pro Tem, providing subject and title access to the pages.

This effort has demonstrated the need for a coherent approach to the preservation of state electronic information by the State Library, as the Library's preservation of publications of state agencies continues to overlap into the area of public records management.

Library For the Blind and Physically Handicapped
LBPH Director Carol Taylor attended the National Library Service [for the Blind and Physically Handicapped] (NLS) Conference in South Dakota from May 1 through May 7. LBPH Assistant Director Gordon Reddick also attended.

Ms. Taylor gave the following presentations:

_ Staffed a LBPH booth at a regional senior health fair at Hamden Memorial Library on May 19.

_ LBPH presentation with Tom Grossi for BESB Senior Grant program, in Mansfield on May 24, and in Enfield on June 3.

_ LBPH presentation at Bethany Senior Center on June 7.

Ms. Taylor attended the following meetings:

_ A CRIS Board Meeting in Windsor, on May 26.

_ A meeting on "Library Services to Multilingual Populations", at the Danbury Public Library on June 2.

Ms. Taylor and Library Technical Assistant Paula McLean staffed a booth at the CT Society of Eye Physicians Conference at the Aqua Turf on June 11.

An article written by Vince Juliano about LSTA funding for LBPH was distributed at ALA Legislative Day in Washington, D.C. and is available on the ALA website at https://cs.ala.org/ra/lsta/success_Detail.cfm?ID=1057.

LBPH held a Volunteer Recognition reception for in-house volunteers on May 26.

LBPH has a volunteer working on the Sensory Garden as part of Community Service Hours.

Staff
Ms. Lynne Newell and Ms. Jane Cullinane attended the ALA Conference from July 24 through July 29 in Orlando, FL.

Ms. Denise Jernigan attended the NELLCO (New England Law Library Consortium) Directors' meeting in Maine from April 28-29.

Government Information Reference Librarian Nancy Lieffort attended a meeting of ConneCTKids on May 13.

Ms. Nancy Peluso attended a meeting of CT GODORT (Government Documents Round Table) at the University of Connecticut on May 14.

Law/Legislative Reference Librarian Hilary Frye attended a SNELLA (Southern New England Law Librarians) Board meeting on May 13. Ms. Frye also attended a NELLCO Licensing Subcommittee meeting in Boston on May 14. Ms. Frye and Ms. Jernigan attended a SNELLA Annual Meeting on June 3 at the Yankee Silversmith in Wallingford. Mr. Wiggin was asked to be the Chapter VIP at the American Association of Law Libraries Conference in Boston this summer.

IS Division staff wrote articles about the History of the Division for April Connector, http://www.cslib.org/connector/0404.pdf. Lynne Newell commended the staff for the excellence of the articles. The Connector is linked from "About CSL"-"Publications" on the CSL website.

Collection Management Unit Head Diane Pizzo and Serials Librarian Carol Trinchitella attended a workshop at the Wallingford Public Library on "How to Sell Books on the Internet".

Several Law Librarians were invited to a reception May 25th at the Officers Club in honor of Judge Satter and his new book, Under the Gold Dome. The book acknowledges the law library in several places. The book will be added to the Library collection.

In acknowledgment of the leading edge work done on metadata for the CT Digital Archive, Ms. Schwartz was asked to attend a Government Printing Office Meeting of Metadata Experts in Washington DC on June 14-16.

Personnel
Ruth Shapleigh-Brown has joined the Library staff as a part-time Office Assistant in the Law Unit. She partially replaces two Office Assistants whose positions were lost to the layoffs and budget reductions.

Two volunteers will begin working in the Preservation Unit. Andrea Zimmerman, an intern from the University of Pittsburgh, and Anna Sklyarkaya, a Russian émigré. Andrea Zimmerman will be doing basic book repair. Anna Sklyarkara was the head of restoration at the Russian Academy of Science. She will be working with maps and other projects.

DIVISION OF LIBRARY DEVELOPMENT

CTWebJunction
We're live! The new Ct.Webjunction.org site went live on June 26th. It includes content from the national Webjunction site as well as from the Division of Library Development. This site offers a wide-range of professional resources - LSTA grant information, E-Rate guidance, technology plan assistance, sample library policies, online courses on everything from Microsoft Word to Linux, a calendar of continuing education classes in Connecticut, message boards about issues of concern to the library community - and more. In the Fall, a community bulletin board capability will be added. Tom Newman, Middletown Library Service Center, directed the project for the division. You are encouraged to explore the site and send us your comments.

Friends of Connecticut Libraries
The Friends of Connecticut Libraries (FOCL) held their annual meeting on June 5, 2004 at the Russell Library in Middletown. Over 70 Friends attended to hear from the following award winning Friends:

· Friends of the Saxton B. Little Library, Columbia

· Friends of the Portland Library

· Friends of the Ridgefield Library

· Friends of the Russell Library, Middletown

· Judy and Norm Rabe, Friends of the Salem Library

· Caroline Stokes, Friends of the C. H. Booth Library, Newtown

· Shelley & Tom Hall, Friends of the Trumbull Library

Kendall Wiggin, Sharon Brettschneider and Mary Engels attended the meeting. Ms. Engels is the State Library liaison to FOCL.

On June 4, 2004 Mary Engels and Marge Storrs, FOCL President met with the Council of Connecticut Academic Library Directors to talk about Friends of academic libraries. Historically FOCL has focused on Friends of public libraries but is committed to providing support to Friends in academic settings as well. At this point there are only four academic Friends groups in CT but other college and university libraries are interested in forming groups and FOCL plans to assist them as they establish Friends.

Library Services and Technology Act Grants
The State Library has announced the availability of $40,000 in Library Services and Technology Act funding for grants for public library long-range planning. Grants of $3,000 to $10,000 will be awarded. The purpose of the grant is to assist public libraries with development of long-range plans. Priority will be given to libraries that use the PLA Planning for Results process and are planning a construction project in the next four years. Grant applications must be submitted by October 1, 2004 and will be brought to the November meeting of the State Library Board for approval. The grant period will be January 1, 2005 to December 31, 2005. The grant application is also available online as a downloadable Word file at http://ct.webjunction.org/do/Navigation?category=6211

Connecticard Task Force
The Connecticard Task Force has chosen Mary Jackson of the Association of Research Libraries (ARL) to conduct the cost study of non-resident loans. Ms. Jackson has conducted two national inter-library loan studies for ARL. She also worked with the State Library on the Connecticar study that led to the partial outsourcing of the service. The study will begin in August with an organizational meeting with the task force. The actual data gathering will begin in selected libraries in September. The task force hopes to have the study completed in time for the next legislative session.

Multilingual Communities
Stephen Cauffman and Mary Engels continue to work with libraries in multilingual and multicultural communities. On June 2, 2004 they organized a workshop at the Danbury Public Library to tour their language technology facility, view a demonstration of their ELLIS language software as well as to see their English as a Second Language collection. The group also participated in a web presentation on OCLC language sets. OCLC selects, acquires, catalogs, and ships non-English material to libraries that sign up for the service. Mary Engels has established an electronic discussion list for these libraries called Welcome, to foster discussion and the sharing of ideas, resources among library staff trying to reach non-English speakers in their communities. She also developed a section of the CT. Webjunction website about the State Library's support of services to multilingual communities. It can be found at: http://ct.webjunction.org/do/DisplayContent?id=6451

Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
The Connecticut State Library will be submitting a grant to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation for Sustainability of Public Access Computing. This grant opportunity has been made available to state libraries as a follow-up to the Public Access Computing grants. The three areas that are eligible for grants are technical support, training and computer replacements. The State Library is eligible for $163, 680. The grant is due on July 31^st.

Professional Activities
Stephen Cauffman and William Sullivan exhibited iCONN at the Homeschool Networking Fair at Middlesex Community College on Saturday, June 5 and at the Technology As a New Literacy Conference sponsored by the six Regional Educational Service Centers on June 28.

Kendall Wiggin and Mary Louise Jensen, Building Consultant, attended the groundbreaking ceremony on May28^th at the Bethel Public Library. Mary Louise Jensen also attended the groundbreaking ceremony on June 13^th at the Wilton Library Association.

Since the State Public Library Construction Grant program was budgeted $3.5 million for FY2005, Mary Louise Jensen repeated the State Public Library Construction Grant workshop twice at the Middletown Library Service Center on June 2^nd and 3^rd.

The Connecticut State Library, the Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA) Coalition of Connecticut, Inc., and Connecticut Library ADA Committee, in collaboration with the New England ADA and Accessible IT Center, presented Open the Windows! A Workshop on Accessible Information Technology at the Middletown Library Service Center on May 18^th.

Sharon Brettschneider spoke at the July 21st meeting of the Northwestern Connecticut Library Directors Roundtable at the Cornwall Free Library. She spoke on the interaction of Library Staff, Trustees, and Friends.

ICONN

iCONN at the Durham Fair
The more than 220,000 visitors who make their way to the Durham Fair each year will now have an opportunity to learn about iCONN at an exhibit booth that will be staffed throughout the weekend of September 24-26, 2004. Mr. Sullivan and Mr. Cauffman are coordinating this event. The Durham Fair is both Connecticut's largest fair and also the largest fair in the country run by an all-volunteer staff. A special printing of 10,000 iCONN business cards is being prepared for this event and for similar events in the future. This effort is part of a broader effort to increase public awareness of iCONN so that Connecticut's residents can reap the full benefits of this valuable resource.

Cost Savings/Cost Avoidance in OCLC Fees
Our efforts to reduce the impact of OCLC rate increases on the reQuest budget will produce savings that in turn will help pay for the implementation startup costs of the new reQuest/iCONN system, and to increase public awareness of iCONN throughout the state. Our current rate is .252/record. Next year's rate will increase - even higher than previously expected - to .329/record. Had we not reduced the volume of work being handled by this service (by finding other ways to do it) in FY2004, we estimate that our cost in FY2005 would have increased from $89,461 in FY2003 to at least $128,988 (based on FY2003 volumes). Instead, we will be budgeting less than $30,000 for this service in FY2005, and have already reduced our FY2004 expenditures by $53,347. William Sullivan coordinated this effort. We thank the many contributing libraries that helped us to establish an alternative way of doing this work.

PUBLIC RECORDS ADMINISTRATION

On May 18 and June 17, Eunice DiBella and Don Ballinger attended meetings at the Department of Public Health to review records retention schedules. On June 15, Ms. DiBella and Mr. Ballinger met with Elena Albini, Director of Health Information Management, University of Connecticut Health Center, to review retention schedules for the Health Center.

On June 14, Ms. DiBella and LeAnn Johnson conducted inspections of the town clerk's vaults for the Town of Old Saybrook and the Town of Westbrook.

On June 17, Ms. DiBella attended a meeting of the Connecticut Title Association in New Haven. Eunice participated in a panel discussion concerning the electronic recording of land records.

On July 12, the Public Records Administrator sent out FY2005 Cycle 1 historic preservation grant award letters to 106 municipalities for a total of $916,156.

On July 14, Mr. Ballinger and Ms. DiBella met with representatives from the Department of Mental Retardation to discuss a records management program for the department.

STATE ARCHIVES
On May 19, Mark Jones gave Commissioner Linda Schwarz of the Department of Veterans Affairs and members of her staff a tour of the Van Block facility. He showed her the State Archives' images of the old Fitch's Soldiers Home in Darien.

On June 7, Mark attended an Encoded Archival Description Workshop (EAD) at NELINET headquarters in Massachusetts.

Assistant Archivist Bruce Stark submitted a grant application to the Connecticut Humanities Council on behalf of the Association for the Study of Connecticut History (ASCH) to help fund their November 6, 2004 conference at Manchester Community College on "The African American Experience in Connecticut." Bruce is program co-chair for this conference. He attended program committee meetings at Manchester Community College on June 10 and July 1.

Staff
At the end of May, Edward Gutierrez, Archives General Worker resigned. Ed worked for Archives and Public Records for the past four years, starting out on the Governor William A. O'Neill papers project while attending Trinity College as a graduate student in History. Ed was awarded his Masters degree this spring. Lissette Berrios was hired as a general worker in the archives unit and Alissa Kingston has joined our staff as a general worker for the summer assigned to the court records project.

Paul Starkowski was appointed to the position of Storekeeper Assistant, State Records Center in Rocky Hill. Paul had previously been a general worker at the Records Center. Michael Manson has been appointed to the position of Storekeeper for the Archives Unit. Michael was previously a general worker in the automation unit.