January+5,2011

NYCSLS Council Council Meeting #3 Date: January 5, 2011 Time: 12:00 - 3:00pm Place: Brooklyn Public Library, Central Library


 * __Members in attendance __**: Kathy Steves, Christine Hatami, Beth St.John, Sally Young, Linda Williams Bowie, Arlene Dominguez, Sarah Hinkle, Andrea Vaughn, Bernardine Lowry-Crute, Maureen Hurley, Janna Robin
 * __SLS Office staff in attendance __**: Melissa Jacobs Israel, Elizabeth Naylor-Gutierrez, Lynne Kresta Smith, Leanne Ellis, Barbara Stripling

Questionnaire on Managing E-Resources
 * __Documents at meeting: __**

12:00 - 12:30 Eat and greet 12:30 - 12:45 Announcements and Information, Spring Meetings 12:45 - 2:30 Discussion of E-resources and NYCSLS's role 2:30 - 3:00 Projects of Council Members
 * __Agenda: __**

//<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;">Announcements and Information // <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;">Kathy opened the meeting and members introduced themselves.

//<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;">Spring Conference // <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;">Lynne reported that SLS is currently looking for space to hold the spring Exploratorium in lieu of the five borough meetings that have been held in past years. The Exploratorium will be a sharing of best practices in the field. An application will be developed for presenters and SLS will provide assistance with set-up and support for presentations, which will align with the Cycle of Inquiry. We can expect about 400 attendees and will need 40 - 50 presenters from every grade level. Barbara added that SLS would like to provide the flashdrive of all presentations including any handouts. Another idea is to have a table set up with ideas for librarians who may be involved in a library renovation. Melissa suggested the Bartos Forum in the Schwartzman Building of the NYPL with a tentative date of May 18th. Barbara added that there would be a session on summer reading with presentations by all three library systems.

<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;">Discussion was raised about an alternative for Open Source software. Leanne said that they were looking into the process of getting an RFI to find a vendor and other sources for funding. Barbara added that we may be able to latch onto capital funding from the DOE. Melissa said that they would be looking for vendors and other information at the ALA Midwinter conference. Barbara said that they were also looking at KOHA, another open source program. Leanne added that the start-up costs for the union catalogue would be less. And Barbara stated that SLS could pay the maintenance <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;">costs making it less expensive for each school.

//<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;">Digital Citizenship grant // <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;">There were 106 applicants for 76 spots. PD will be held on Jan, 24th, 25th and Feb. 2nd and 8th for the spring activity. Equipment will be distributed including a flip camera and projector as well as books on how to create the common craft videos. //<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;">New Yorkers Read grant // <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;">46 librarians received the grant which will begin activities on Jan 20th and 28th. //<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;">High School to College initiative // <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;">Barbara said that there would be a joint committee with CUNY librarians to determine what skills students need to transition from high school to college.

//<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;">E-Resources // <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;">E-books cannot be purchased under NYSTL funds because they are considered software. Barbara wondered if Follett may be able to get involved in this. Librarians are also struggling with issues of marketing and circulating e-books. Follett maintains e-books on their server. Gale charges fees for their e-books which creates procurement issues. Elizabeth directed members to the questionnaire which raised a number of questions regarding types of resources, access, control and skills needed, as well as necessary support. <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;">Janna reported that at NYPL, digital services are growing and being updated more often than books. E-resources are compatible with all reading devices except the Kindle, and can be downloaded to devices in the library or remotely. NYPL does not provide e-readers for circulation. Linda reported that there are currently 104 e-readers, which includes mobile phones. Barbara feels that the Council can provide guidance for schools on use of e-resources. <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;">Janna said that e-resources can be difficult to find in the NYPL catalog, requiring either a search under "e-resources" or at a separate site. A general discussion followed about the state of e-books, highlighting the fact that it is changing rapidly. Melissa asked whether e-books need to be weeded, how many copies does a library order, is there a waiting list, can books be returned early? Barbara said that e-books are housed at a remote server, not on the library server, and downloading a book at school is a problem because of limited bandwidth, creating an access issue. <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;">The use of Playaways was discussed and each member reported: Maureen said that batteries were a big expense, Bernardine said that teachers use them more than students, Christine said they do not purchase any, Beth said that her library had some, Kathy said they are used by the teachers in class for listening exercises. <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;">Janna felt that we need to figure out our reasons for wanting our students to have e-readers. Is it helpful for ESL students? For reluctant readers? Is it cheaper? She suggested that we may need a study to compare whether reading levels improve, adding that the best use of e-readers may be for textbooks. <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;">Barbara said that the skills needed for digital literacy are different. Navigational skills come into play, reading up and down as well as across the page. Other differences include using the table of contents, the index and page numbers. Common Reader's Workshop techniques may not be useful, such as highlighting passages and using post-its. Meta-cognitive skills will be applied differently. <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;">Janna added that without a book, how does a student implement the five-finger rule to determine if the book is a good fit, how big is the book, are there pictures? Do e-readers have browse-ability? Barbara stated that a pilot project was needed on e-books with a mini-grant to do action research, or possibly an incentive grant to get it started in schools. <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;">Linda suggested an e-readers bookclub. <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;">Elizabeth said that we should bring in some e-book vendors to ask these and other questions.

<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;">Christine asked a question about Charter Schools. As more Charters move into our buildings, what are the guidelines for their use of the library? Barbara responded that all schools must have a library and that Charter School students must have access to the library resources. The $6.25 must be spent according to regulations.

//<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;">Member reports // <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;">Queens Library has decided to hold off on all new purchases to prevent layoffs. Brooklyn Public will choose their summer reading titles from current holdings to save money. <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;">NYPL is trying to start Summer Reading earlier this year to include the school libraries. They are working with Public Television on the Picturing America grant. The American Place Theater program will lead with //The Glass Castle// for students on Jan. 27th followed by //Down These Mean Streets// on Feb. 24th. All performances will be held at the Stephen Schwartzman building. NYPL is also issuing a new educator card that will increase the number of books taken out, including class sets of novels for secondary students and non-fiction for elementary students. <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;">Arlene reported that 12 Library Read grants were awarded and that 26 schools will be involved in Family Read Nights at local branches. <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;">The minutes of the last meeting were approved. The meeting was adjourned at 3:00 PM.