We are pleased
to announce that at last Saturday’s meeting, the WVLS Board of Trustees signed
a contract with Innovative Interfaces to be the vendor for our shared online
catalog, V-Cat.
The V-Cat
Council’s Migration Committee, whose charge it was to study integrated library
systems and bring a recommendation to the V-Cat Council and to the WVLS Board,
are to be commended for their hard work and dedication to the project. Members include: Mary Dunn, Chair (Tomahawk Public Library);
Ellie Schwartz (T.B. Scott Library, Merrill); Garrett Erickson and Mary Stachowiak
(Marathon County Public Library); Julie Beloungy (Thorp Public Library); Pat
Reich (Jean M. Thomsen Memorial Library, Stetsonville); Ed Hughes (Rhinelander
District Library); and WVLS staff members Inese Christman, Joshua Klingbeil,
Juanita Thomas and Ann Mroczenski.
The magnitude
of this project will require a sustained and significant amount of work by
V-Cat members and WVLS staff over the next 5-6 months. However, plans are in the works to ensure a
successful and efficient transition from the current Horizon software to
Innovative.
Within the next
few days, V-Cat Administrator Inese Christman will be in contact with the
vendor to discuss the project, and be introduced to the vendor’s implementation
team. Once a project calendar is
established, Christman will assign responsibilities to representatives of the
Migration Committee’s Implementation Teams, and share updates with the V-Cat
Council when appropriate.
Staff News
The last
update mentioned WVLS would be posting the mail clerk position that will be
vacated by retiring KATHY LEITZA at
the end of June. Since that update, WVLS
decided that it would be in our best interest to add hours to part-time
staffers rather than hire a new employee.
Also, WVLS has
secured another intern! UW-Madison
School of Libraries and Information Studies student KYLE SCHULZ will start his 120-hour practicum on Wednesday,
June 6th, and will work two 6-hour days each week for ten weeks. His work will be centered on V-Cat-related
projects.
Projects
2012 System Survey – Thoughts Still Welcome
In the last
update we announced to our members that the Wisconsin Valley Library Service
would be interested in your assessment and ideas for the future of system
services, and to complete an online survey by May 18th.
That
deadline has passed but we have not yet received comments from many of our
public libraries. So, we are extending
the deadline to complete the survey to Friday,
June 1st. The survey is available at https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/2012systemsurvey (If a paper copy of the survey is preferred, please contact the WVLS office.)
Colleagues
who have not yet completed the survey are encouraged to take the survey. You
may not have answers for every question, but you do have an opinion about the
services and programs provided by the system.
This biennium saw a 10% reduction in funding for systems and the future doesn’t
look hopeful for any increases. The next
few years will be more important than ever for the WVLS board and staff, and we
will need all the help you can give us to design the future for libraries in
the WVLS area. And your thoughts, while
always welcome, are especially welcome now.
WVLS Agreements with Member Counties and
Member Libraries
With the changes
in statutory language - i.e. the elimination of the Maintenance of
Effort/Maintenance of Membership Support requirement – there is a need to
revise and renew WVLS agreements with participating libraries and
counties.
Draft copies
of revised agreements will be shared with the WVLS Board of Trustees at their
next meeting. Once approved, copies of
the agreements will be sent to public library directors and chairs of all WVLS
county library boards for signatures.
Upcoming Events
·
May 22 – Wisconsin Public Library Consortium
(WPLC) Board meeting – South Central Library System,
Madison and via GoToMeeting.
·
May 28 – Memorial Day - WVLS office closed.
·
May 30 – WVLS Executive Committee meeting, Marathon County Public Library (MCPL).
· May 30 – WiLS Peer Council Spring Meeting - Pyle Center, Madison.
· June 5 - VOTE!
· June 7 - WVLS V-Cat Council meeting - MCPL.
· June 7 - V-Cat Migration Committee meeting - MCPL.
· June 14 - V-Cat Cooperative Circulation Committee meeting - MCPL.
· June 21 - V-Cat Bib Committee meeting - MCPL.
· July 13 - Council on Library and Network Development (COLAND) meeting - Hartford Public Library.
·
July 26 – WVLS Collection Development Committee
meeting – MCPL.
·
July 26 – WVLS Collection Development Committee
meeting – MCPL.
·
August 2 – WVLS V-Cat Council meeting – Minocqua Public Library
·
August 4 – WVLS Board of Trustees meeting –
MCPL.
·
August 14 – WVLS Reference/IT Workshop – MCPL.
Have a safe
and happy holiday weekend!
Marla
Sepnafski, Director
WISCONSIN
VALLEY LIBRARY SERVICE
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