Monthly Newsletter
June/July 2003
Serving State Government - Then & Now - Cindy McLaughlin
Services to State Government - Cheri Wilks
State Library Board Report
Supplemental Educational
Service Providers - Ruth Metcalf
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News Monthly Newsletter June/July 2003 |
Contents: Serving State Government - Then & Now - Cindy McLaughlin Services to State Government - Cheri Wilks State Library Board Report Supplemental Educational Service Providers - Ruth Metcalf |
Serving State Government -
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Cindy McLaughlin Deputy State Librarian for Library Services |
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When the State Library began in 1817, one of its functions was to serve State Government. Since then, other services have been established and abolished, but this function has remained a constant throughout the Library's existence.
The staff has used a variety of resources to assist them in finding information for their patrons. They may be asked a specific question, they may be asked for a list of materials about a particular subject, or they may be asked for a specific book. At first the librarians had only the materials at hand as their resources. But as library services evolved throughout the country, more and more information became available. While the staff can access materials from various other libraries' catalogs through such programs as OhioLINK and MORE, the State Library's collection is still developed to support the state government agencies. The Library's collection has changed as the focus of the agencies has changed during the past century and a half.
In the beginning, as Ohio was developing as a state the focus was toward very scholarly materials and British and European writings. The Library of Thomas Jefferson has been referenced more than once in descriptions of the early purchases for Ohio's State Library. Much effort was taken to set up reciprocal agreements with other states to share the collections of state documents as the state was developing its infrastructure. Publications were sent in return for copies of Ohio's state documents; such as executive documents, legislative journals, session laws, publications of commissions, bureaus, and agencies.
Newspaper was the Internet of the nineteenth century and great pains were taken to collect full sets of local papers from everywhere in Ohio. One of the first duties of the State Library was to collect materials relating to the history of the state. Early newspapers were the source of information about happenings throughout Ohio as it evolved as a state. Newspapers were purchased in order to receive complete collections and many donations were made, as owners were confident that the Library was sincere in its preservation efforts.
While the topics and formats may have changed |
As agriculture became a basis for the state's economy as well as the country's, the State Library focused its collection development on materials what would help state government in meeting the farmers' needs. Many publications were produced by the U.S. Agricultural Department and were obtained by the Library. Bulletins covered such topics as the alfalfa caterpillar, mosquitoes, foot and mouth disease, and how to pasteurize milk.
At the same time efforts were developing in South American trade and bulletins from the department of commerce were of interest to the local boards of trade and chambers of commerce. These bulletins from the federal government became part of our documents depository collection. The Documents Department cooperated as early as 1914 with the federal government in the local distribution of the government publications. Government Information Services as it is named today continues to receive government publications and works with other federal depositories in the state to insure that the government publications have local distribution.
After World War II the collection began reflecting the shift from an agricultural basis to an industrial one.
Now yet another shift has been made to respond to the current technology. Not only the titles but the format of the materials has changed. Information is now provided in microfilm, microfiche, CD-ROM, and online. Databases are available to support the library's collection in answering information requests from the various state agency staffs.
Often the State Library has provided state employees with direct access to these databases through their desktop computers. While the library is only open 8:00 am to 5:00 pm during the week, library patrons may access the system to use the databases and see if a particular book is available.
In 1903 the State Library purchased 2500 books and periodicals for $2,800. In 2003 the Library spent $55,500 to add 16,877 volumes to the collection. The 2003 titles look much different than those listed in 1903, just as state government in Ohio today looks much different than in did in 1903.
While the topics and formats may have changed over the past 185 years the mission of the State Library has remained to serve state government, Ohio's libraries and Ohio's citizens.
"It has been our aim to keep the State Library in the current of the progressive tendencies of the time."
Board of Library Commissioners, November 15, 1902
| Sample Titles 1903 |
Sample Titles 2003 |
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Services to State GovernmentWhat the State Library Has to Offer |
Cheri Wilks Library Consultant |
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I am the Library Consultant assigned to work with State of Ohio agencies. As of June 30, I became part of the Labor & Government Relations Department. It will be our job to market our resources and services to State of Ohio agencies. This is an important task. The State Library of Ohio is a treasure trove of resources such as: a repository of state and federal government documents, a founding member of OhioLINK network, which links the library catalogs of colleges and universities around the state, and a provider of free public access to the web.
At present, we are developing marketing strategies, presentations and training materials to use as tools in promoting the State Library of Ohio. Our top priority will be working with the Ohio General Assembly and later other state agencies.
The State Library is a |
At a recent sales and marketing seminar, someone said, "There is someone out there who needs us." Also in this workshop, we talked about being proactive, enthusiastic and believing in what we are doing. Later, all the participants were asked to list the 10 top benefits of using the State Library. Below is my list.
As you can see, I could not stop at 10. I believe in what we are doing. We have a lot to offer state agencies. If we tell (market) to them, then they will come (or use us).
In the near future, I will be visiting state agencies. To contact us and for more information, call (614) 644-7061.
At the July State Library Board meeting the State Library Board approved nine Library Services and Technology (LSTA) automation grants with a total federal award of $1,400,812. All of the projects will automate school library media centers using MultiLIS through INFOhio. This automation grant round will add an additional 179 school libraries to the INFOhio database.
Receiving awards were:
| Covington Exempted Village Schools | $18,465 |
| Evergreen Local School District | $19,828 |
| Hamilton/Clermont Cooperative Association (HCCA) | $57,388 |
| Metropolitan Educational Council Data Center (MEC) | $512,432 |
| Miami Trace Schools | $41,683 |
| Northeast Ohio Management Information Network (NEOMIN) | $83,817 |
| Northeast Ohio Network for Educational Technology (NEONET) | $407,174 |
| Ohio Mid-Eastern Regional Education Service Agency (OME-RESA) | $251,032 |
| Sebring Local Schools | $8,813 |
A detailed summary of the funded projects can be found at http://winslo.state.oh.us/publib/lstafunded.html.
After discussion at the June meeting the Board asked Library staff to discuss, and bring to the July meeting, methods of helping the Regional Library Systems, including the possibility of using federal funds for either the regional systems' technology positions or their training programs.
Michael S. Lucas, State Librarian, presented the Board with a list of the budgeted amounts he received from the regional library systems for those two categories. Mr. Lucas defined the numbers as "squishy" because each regional system defined their budgets differently. This made developing a plan to aid the systems difficult. After discussion, it was agreed that State Library staff would meet with the regional systems directors on August 18 to discuss alternatives to bring to the Board at the September meeting.
Joanne Limbach, of Limbach and Associates, reviewed the state budget process.
The Board approved the revised State Library Internet Acceptable Use Policy presented by Gretchen Persohn, head of Reference Services. Based on feedback from the Government Printing Office (GPO), two sentences were added to the policy to ensure that anyone doing research on government documents would not be blocked due to filtering or the patron's age. The Library's Internet Acceptable use Policy can be found at: http://winslo.state.oh.us/usepol.html
Diane Fink, head of Fiscal Services, reviewed the current State Library budget.
Bill Morris, Government Relations Manager, updated the Board on the status of the Ohio Administrative Code 3375-1-01 five year review. The rule concerns State Library administrative issues. Morris noted the wording changes that will be made from suggestions received since the last meeting. The rule will be filed electronically on the Register of Ohio once an electronic version is received from the Legislative Services Commission.
The next meeting of the State Library Board will be held Thursday, September 25 at 1:00 in Columbus.
For the minutes of State Library Board meetings, go to http://winslo.state.oh.us/boardmin.html.
Supplemental Educational Service ProvidersNo Child Left Behind Act Allows Libraries To Support Local Schools |
Ruth Metcalf Library Consultant |
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Many of you have heard about President Bush's No Child Left Behind legislation which was passed in 2001 to help support all children in their educational pursuits (http://www.ed.gov/offices/OESE/esea/index.html).
As part of this educational program, each state has developed methods to promote and implement No Child Left Behind. In Ohio, one of the aspects of the program is a provision for Supplemental Educational Service Providers (SESPs) (http://webapp1.ode.state.oh.us/Provider_Proposal/). Below is a list of eligible SESP's:
Entities eligible to apply to provide supplemental educational services may include, but are not limited to the following:
You will note that libraries are listed as eligible providers for the Ohio program. For example, a local public library could work with their local school system to develop a plan that would offer after school tutoring in reading. Another possibility might be to work with the local school to design a summer reading program that dovetails with the school's goals and objectives. Essentially, this program will be very different for every school district, but the local library must cooperate with the schools to participate.
Essentially, this program will be very different |
According to the Ohio Department of Education (ODE) website, the school is required to pay a per-child amount or the actual cost of the supplemental education service, whichever is less. So, there may be funding associated with this program.
At the ODE website, there are specific eligibility requirements given and there is an online application for this program (http://webapp1.ode.state.oh.us/provider_proposal/RFPForm.asp). Once a library applies and is accepted to participate in the program, they will be listed as an eligible provider at the ODE website. To see a county-by-county listing of eligible providers go to: http://webapp1.ode.state.oh.us/provider_proposal/lookup/ Most of the eligible providers at this time are schools. Local libraries could also be listed if we apply for the program.
We researched this program and a representative from ODE told us that libraries would need to align with the Academic Content Standards to apply for this program. These can be found at: http://www.ode.state.oh.us/academic_content_standards/ The representative told us that more than likely libraries would need only work with the English/Language Arts Content standards for this, since they would be working with reading and language arts. All of this could be delineated in the planning with the local school district.
The State Library sees this program as a viable method to promote education for at-risk families in your respective communities. We think that if a library is willing to do the following, they may be listed as an SESP:
We hope you will take advantage of this opportunity to work in concert with your local school district to support families in your area.
For further information on this program, contact:
