Library Leaders Want Public Input on the Sullivan Center

Apologies for the lapse in posting on this blog. Looking at this month's meetings a month ago, it was listed that the annual meeting was being held on June 18 at Franchesco's. Checking back a couple weeks later and it was still listed as such. Then yesterday's Rockford Register Star ran a story about how library leaders want public input on the Sullivan Center. Apparently the meeting was changed from Franchesco's on the 18th to the 25th at the East Branch. I'm not sure when the switch was made and though it's great that they changed it to a more appropriate day and time, it was confusing to those who wanted to go but saw the previous (incorrect) information. If anyone has information about the meeting day/time switch, please email saveourrockfordlibrary@gmail.com .

A few words on the article--it's wonderful that the library board is seeking public input on the Sullivan Center before proceeding. SOL sees it as a victory that the message of seeking public input before making major library-altering decisions has resonated with the board. The board's new consciousness about the necessity of asking what the public wants and needs is exactly why SOL now stands for Support Our Public Library. Hearing that Rock River's lease was also renewed is another victory, considering it was slated to close, but the outcry was loud enough to make board members reconsider the decision. In these instances, the board is listening to the voices of the community and SOL thanks them for doing so.

Now for a word on the Sullivan Center, Mr. Logli is quoted in the Rockford Register Star article as saying, “I understand there is some concern that program numbers are down. It seems whatever we can do to improve the setting for programs and the type and variety of programs would be just what we need to bring those numbers back up.” It is certainly true that the programming numbers have dropped significantly. The problem with programming is not where the programs are held or necessarily the type of programs being offered, but the unfortunate cease of printed programming advertisements. There are no more paper Explorers and no programming fliers available for patrons to take home--to inform them of upcoming programs and to act as reminders. For patrons who do not have computer access at home--a significant portion of the population--they cannot learn about programs unless they are at the library logged into the digital Explorer in the bottom corner of the library's website. Can you guess how low the computer class attendance is? The real reason for the drop in programming numbers needs to be brought to the attention of the library board. SOL will make sure to check in about July's meeting days and times and post them on this blog. We'll need a strong showing at the next meeting to thank the board for the work they are doing, but also to address these programming concerns.

The last Board Meeting

There is a nice guest column in the Rock River Times by Mike Korn this week that sums up what happened at the April 23 library board meeting. The comment about the examples given for weeded books was well put. After the meeting, a used book seller said that she bought a fairly new beautiful set of Shakespeare books at the used book sale that looked like they had never been checked out. She mentioned that just because a book hasn't been circulated, does not mean it has not been pulled off the shelf and used. The focus on all the outdated medical textbooks made the outcry about the weeding seem silly. (Did anyone see the Bruce Quast cartoon in Sunday's paper?)

A point of clarification from Mike Korn's guest column about the violations of The Open Meetings Act: Logli stated at the meeting that the Open Meetings Act was never violated, but that is simply not true. The link to the act is above for anyone who wants to read it, but the provision that we know for a fact has been broken read as follows, "In addition, a public body that has a website that the full-time staff of the public body maintains shall post notice on its website of all meetings of the governing body of the public body." The Rockford Public Library did not follow this provision, not just once, but multiple times as Rachel stated at the last board meeting.
A staff member brought it up in a monthly meeting beginning last fall (2011) that the incorrect meeting time and location was listed on the website. (The website stated meetings were held at Main at 6pm, when they were actually held at the East branch at 5:30.) During the January board meeting this fact was brought up by several of the public speakers and the information was corrected.
However, the committee meetings were not listed in March on the website. It is suspected that other provisions of the Open Meetings Act may have also been violated (such as the one that states meeting notices must be posted at the location of the meeting and one other location) but this has not been confirmed.
Regardless, it is true that the Open Meetings Act has been violated repeatedly this past year, and yes, Rachel did state that when the board president is the former state's attorney this fact is embarrassing, even unforgivable. "Unforgivable" was perhaps not the correct word choice and "inexcusable" should have been used instead.
After hearing about Daniel Ross receiving threats, it is important to SOL that the dialogue about the library and the library board is civil and does not incite people, so Rachel wishes she could change the adjective "unforgivable," to the more accurate "embarrassing." SOL's mission has been to inform the public about the current situation with the Rockford Public Library and has never been to be adversaries with the library director or board members.

Finally, there was also a wonderful guest column in Sunday's Rockford Register Star by Amy Orvis if you missed it.

Should Libraries Get Out of the eBook Business?

Here's a link to an extremely interesting and worthwhile article:

http://librarianbyday.net/2012/03/07/should-libraries-get-out-of-the-ebook-business

Necessary Evil? Random House Triples Prices Of Library E-Books [TechCrunch]

Here's an interesting article about how Random House is tripling the price of e-books for libraries:

http://techcrunch.com/2012/03/02/necessary-evil-random-house-triples-prices-of-library-e-books/

Also, speaking of articles, the next print issue of American Libraries magazine will include an article about Rockford's library fiasco!

The blog posts and local news pieces on the library have slowed down, but the library is still on our radar. It's time to recharge so we're refreshed and ready to fight any more bogus proposals. Stay tuned.

E-readers to circulate

Yesterday's paper had an article about how the library will be circulating e-readers.

Some thoughts on the circulation of e-readers... These devices are breakable. A former RPL staff member mentioned that the library loans out laptops to teens for use in the library and that even after a year of this, many of the computers were broken and had missing buttons. (Again, these laptops never left the building! What would happen to them if they did?)

RPL is purchasing 60 Kindles (vs. 10 Sony PRS-T1s). To check out a book from the library one must have an Amazon account. It is worth noting that when checking out an e-book for a Kindle, because one must log onto Amazon, what is being checked out and read is information "on" the Internet. Amazon keeps a record of this information. Library records have always been private and so privacy is compromised with the use of Kindle devices.

Finally, it is likely that like the new Playaview screens, there will be a bright orange label warning patrons that if this device is lost, stolen, or damaged the patron will be responsible to pay a replacement fee of $125 (or more?) It seems as if that may stop a person from checking one out. A person might think, "Hey, that's two weeks of groceries. I can't afford to take the risk." So how many of those Playaviews get circulated? How many e-reader devices will?

Again, we need to tell our library board that the community wants to have input on our public library and how our tax dollars are spent. The meeting is one week away. Please try to show up for next week's meeting-- Monday, February 27 at 5:30pm at the East branch library in the community room. Hope to see you there!

Upcoming meetings-- Mark your calendars

From the RPL website... there are three meetings coming up in the next couple weeks. Mark your calendars.

The Program Planning and Service Policy Committee is scheduled to meet on Tuesday, February 21 at 7:30 a.m. in Meeting Room C at the main library [use Mulberry Street entrance]. The Financial Planning and Properties Committee is scheduled to meet on Wednesday, February 22 at 11:45 a.m. in the Friends of Rockford Public Library Community Room at the East Branch Library. The Executive Committee will meet on Monday, February 27 at 5:00 p.m. followed by the Board of Trustees meeting at 5:30 p.m. in the Friends of RPL Community Room at the East Branch Library.

We do need another large showing at the Board meeting on the 27th. If you'd like to speak, you may contact Kathy Hughes ahead of time to reserve your spot. (815-987-6603)

Also, if you missed the Rockford Register Star's article this week about the library, here is the link:
http://www.rrstar.com/news/yourtown/rockford/x720912297/Rockford-Public-Library-faceoff-is-also-about-fate-of-staff

"In Defense of Paper Books"

Posting this link might fuel the SOL is against e-books rumors, but here is a wonderful essay that raises some interesting points. Andre Vltchek's "In Defense of Paper Books" provides some food for thought. Here's the link:
http://www.counterpunch.org/2012/02/07/in-defense-of-paper-books/

How e-book reading changes reading behavior

Here's a short, interesting article about research done that sought to "understand the effect of an e-reader on the amount and types of verbal interaction between child and parent."

http://www.readingrockets.org/blog/48881/?utm_source=Twitter

Link to Andrew Strong's guest column

There's an excellent guest column by Andrew Strong in this week's Rock River Times in response to Ted Biondo's piece from the Register Star (which the library administration laid out at the board meeting for people to take along with other e-book propaganda). Please check it out:

http://rockrivertimes.com/2012/02/01/guest-column-biondo%e2%80%99s-misconceptions-on-the-purpose-of-the-library/

Library Journal Article

Library Journal wrote an article about what's happening in Rockford. Here's the link:

http://www.thedigitalshift.com/2012/01/ebooks/in-one-community-residents-challenge-library-spending-on-ebooks/

LibraryCity.org

David H. Rothman, Co-founder and Editor-Publisher of  LibraryCity.org contacted SOL to explain that though he runs an e-book related site and supports digitalization of libraries, he is opposed to the plans set before the board. He wrote an article about the Rockford debate that can be found here: http://librarycity.org/?p=3332

There are a lot of interesting articles about the digital divide, the idea of a national digital library system, and more with the opportunity to post and/or share essays.

Link to Article

Marilyn Johnson wrote a book called This Book Is Overdue, which is a tribute to librarians and how they are needed now in the age of Google more than ever. (Hear that? Librarians--and we would include librarian assistants here--do much more than give directions to the restroom.) She wrote an article on her blog about cuts to libraries across the country and mentioned that Novak's proposals are the unkindest of them all. It's a great article and worth checking out:

http://www.thisbookisoverdue.com/This_Book_Is_Overdue/Blog/Entries/2012/1/19_The_Unkindest_Cut.html

Story on WNIJ... with comments from SOL

For those of you who missed this morning's story on WNIJ, here is a link. (It is about a minute longer than the piece that aired so even if you heard it, you may want to listen again and/or read the transcript.)

http://www.wnij.org/post/leaked-document-angers-rockford-public-library-fans

SOL would like to respond to the assertion that the board asked Novak to put together these plans (that aren't plans...???) SOL does not have information as to the context of the first plan, but will try to uncover this information. However, SOL is aware that the board was asked to vote on the second plan at the last board meeting in November. The board, thankfully, did not agree to do so without first reading the plan. But Novak indeed was pushing for its implementation, so the idea that they were intended to be "theoretical" is likely a safe sound bite.

SOL believes that the board and Novak are backpedaling. Our voices are being heard and they can feel our anger. But what would have happened if we had not spoken up? SOL is not so sure that the public would have been invited to have this discussion. Logli states that the plans were made to generate discussion, but if this was true, why were they not made public? Why was the second plan stamped 'confidential'? When, if at all, would the public have been informed? Novak told the board when he gave them the first plan that they would revisit it in the new year. With so much secrecy surrounding the plans and it now being the new year, SOL felt it was our responsibility to the community to unveil the documents and share them with the public.

Even though the board is trying to mollify us, we still need to attend the board meeting, perhaps now more than ever. We are being heard, but we need to show them just how many people stand against these plans. If we back off now, they'll think that it wasn't so important to us. Let's show them how important it is!

Articles Out Today to Check Out...

There are four great articles that were published today that are worth checking out... Three spectacular guest columns are in the Rock River Times-- Amy Orvis's "Public Input Needed on Rockford Public Library Decisions," Kara Anderson's "Books Should be the Focus of the Library," and Emily Klonicki's "Libraries Walk Fine Line Balancing E-book Investments." Pick up a copy of the Rock River Times or read it online:
http://rockrivertimes.com/

Also, the story was picked up by American Libraries magazine. Here's the link to the article:
http://americanlibrariesmagazine.org/news/01182012/emphasis-ebooks-stirs-community-outcry-illinois