News for Directors

I recently updated the service population estimates for OWLS member libraries.  These latest estimates are based on 2007 circulation figures and 2007 DOA population estimates.  The Estimating Service Population (L4L) page explains the methodologies used to calculate the different service population numbers.

The 2007 Outagamie County and Waupaca County circulation matrices are now posted on the OWLS Statistics page.  Each county's circulation matrix shows the circulation by every library in the county to every jurisdiction in the county that doesn't operate a library.  A county's circulation matrix provides a detailed breakdown of the circulation for which the county reimburses its municipal libraries, i.e., it's the circulation used for the annual budget request.  If you're curious about how much each of your surrounding towns use your library, you'll want to take a look.

At their May meeting, the OWLS Board approved 2009 county budget requests.  The budget requests were developed in accordance with the methodology contained in the respective county plans.  There is more information about county planning and funding in the L4L section of OWLSweb.info.  The specifics of the requests can be found on the 2009 County Budgets page.  This page will be updated regularly until the 2009 county budgets are adopted by Outagamie County and Waupaca County this Fall.

Have you heard that Wisconsin public libraries return $4.06 for each dollar of taxpayer investment or that the state's public libraries contribute over three-quarters of a billion dollars annually to the state's economy?

These findings are among those included in The Economic Contribution of Wisconsin Public Libraries to the Economy of Wisconsin, which was released on May 1st.  The study was conducted by Madison-based NorthStar Economics, Inc.  The Executive Summary and the entire study are available online.

A news release template (MS Word) is available for local libraries to customize and distribute to area media.  Also available is a PDF-format slide presentation presented by David Ward, President of NorthStar Economics as the keynote address to the Wisconsin Association of Public Libraries on May 1, 2008.

Last year the Legislative Audit Bureau was charged with conducting a best practices review of public library services in Wisconsin.  The final report was issued today and can be found on Legislative Audit Bureau web site.  The full report and a shorter report of just the highlights are available.  You can also listen to a podcast of the highlights.

I'd recommend that you read the highlights and at least skim the full report.  I plan to distribute a copy of the highlights to the OWLS Board, and I'd recommend that you do the same with your boards.  I'd be interested to hear your comments about the review, especially about what the LAB has determined to be "best practices."

Today I discovered that the recently posted 2007 Circulation Summary was not 100% correct. Specifically, the data contained in the Counties Adjacent to OWLS section of the report (i.e., the second page) was incorrect. The other three pages of the report were correct. I have made all the necessary corrections and have posted the corrected version on OWLSweb.

This May COLAND is sponsoring a Strategic Visioning Summit to begin creating a new vision to address the challenges facing Wisconsin libraries.  It's been 10 years since the last visioning conference, and that conference resulted in the creation of BadgerLink.  It's possible that this conference would result in another initiative that would be submitted by the State Superintendent as part of the next biennial budget process.

The Summit will be by invitation only and limited in size.  However, COLAND is seeking input from as many people as possible.  I encourage each of you to be part of this process by answering the questions posted online by COLAND.  You might also consider discussing the questions with your board and submitting answers as a group.  You should also feel free to link to these questions from your web pages.

Also, please let the rest of us know if you will be attending the Summit so we can share our thoughts with you.

I recently posted the 2007 Circulation Summary for OWLS member libraries on OWLSweb.  This summary reports the circulation from all OWLS libraries to local residents and various categories of non-residents.  The total system circulation increased by 5.0% in 2007, with 13 libraries experiencing circulation increases and 3 libraries experiencing decreases.  One of the most interesting facts about 2007 circulation is that non-resident circulation grew at a higher rate than resident circulation, reversing the trend of the previous two years.  Please share any observations you might have, and let me know if you have any questions.

As contracting parties, OWLS and its member libraries have specific obligations to each other.  One of those obligations is to share essential documents.  Our membership agreement calls for us to exchange board meeting agendas, board meeting minutes, and any board-approved planning documents.  That's why member library directors receive an email with OWLS Board minutes and agenda attached each month.  We also post all of our plans on the web and announce their availability to you.

A big "Thank You" to all the libraries that are regularly sending me board documents.  I appreciate getting them, and I always find them interesting and informative.  If you haven't been sending board documents to me, please add me to your regular distribution list.  My preference is to receive them electronically.  I don't save them, and sending them electronically may save a few trees.  However, if paper is easier, that's okay too.  Thanks!

I wanted to let everyone know that I have decided not to fill the Continuing Education and Consulting Librarian position at this time.  This position, which was formerly held by Leslie, was just created last year, and, in retrospect, I don’t think that it met all of our expectations. While Leslie did a fine job with continuing education and special projects, I’m not sure that the position was designed correctly to best meet our needs.

I’ll be working with the staff and the Personnel Committee of the Board to reassess our staffing priorities.  For the time being, responsibility for continuing education will be shared among OWLS professional staff, and other key responsibilities have been distributed among various staff members.