News Monthly Newsletter January/February 2004	Contents: Whatever Happened to Jeff Simpson? - Michael S. Lucas State Library Board Retreat Report Pirates In The Rare Book Room - Cynthia McLaughlin Fretwell Downing Users Group Report - Angela Thomas New Jewel At Kent State - Ruth Metcalf

Whatever Happened to Jeff Simpson?

Michael S. Lucas State Librarian

I wonder what happened to Jeff Simpson.

Jeff was ahead of me at Toronto High School. He was an excellent athlete, much admired for his skill on the football field and the basketball court. Like me, he was a South End guy.

One fine spring day near the end of my freshman year in high school, I was at the local blacktop basketball court with a bunch of my buddies. Jeff walked by, and being a nice guy - and finding a bouncing basketball irresistible - he stopped to shoot a few hoops with us lowly underclassmen.

There was the usual teenage male banter. Because we were on a basketball court that banter focused on athletics, rather than girls. (In reality, we knew a great deal more about the former than the latter, though it was fun to pretend otherwise.) At some point in all this trivial jawing, one of my compatriots averred that, while I wasn't much of an athlete, I got really good grades.

If I recall, this was not spoken in a tone of admiration.

At that point, Jeff said something that caused conversations to stop in mid-sentence, basketballs to hang in mid-air, and breaths to bate: "You know, his good grades will take him a lot farther than our being able to play football and basketball will take most of us."

Now, as someone whose vertical was minimal and whose main manifestation of hand-eye coordination was getting food from plate to mouth (and not always neatly and cleanly), I suddenly felt whole and justified.

More importantly, time has proven Jeff right. Those grades and the discipline they inspired led me (eventually) to my tenure as State Librarian, a tenure that will end on June 30, 2004, with my retirement.

So, wherever Jeff Simpson is today, I owe him a debt of gratitude. Much to my comfort and relief, time has proven him right.

State Library Board Retreat Report

At the State Library Board Retreat, Lucille Hastings took the oath of office after being re-appointed to the Board by the State Board of Education.

Roger Verny, Deputy State Librarian, announced that Ohio was one of 18 states nationally to receive a Gates Foundation Staying Connected grant. Six Ohio libraries will use the grant money to update and replace public access computers. The Board approved a grant of $21,574 for the Toledo-Lucas County Public Library to start the computer replacement process.

The Staying Connect grants are used to purchase public access computing equipment for libraries that have populations living in areas of persistent poverty. Ann Baines, Board member, asked how the "areas of persistent poverty" were determined. The Gates Foundation has a methodology to make that determination.

Mr. Verny led a review of the State Library's mission and vision statements included in the 2002-2007 Strategic Plan (http://winslo.state.oh.us/stratpln.html). First the Board considered the changes in the environment that have occurred since the Strategic Plan was first written. A few of the changes listed were: Less funding/money; Greater use and knowledge of the technologies available; and Moving to a customer focussed environment. Then the group looked at the internal and external vision statements, discussing whether the statements should be changed and how.

Dennis Van Sickle, head of the new Labor and Government Relations Department, discussed the department's role in implementing the Library's goals.

Russell Crabtree, Holy Cow Consultants, reviewed the process used by the State Library / Regional Library Systems task force to discuss the incorporation of the regional library systems into the State Library. It was decided that such an incorporation would be neither feasible nor desirable. The task force recommended a study to look at the vision, purpose, and services of the Regional Systems.

After discussion, the Board decided that no study would be conducted. Instead, they decided to take a free market approach to the Regional Library Systems, in that the Board would be open to service based grant proposals from the regionals.

The Board also reviewed the State Library's budget priorities and strategy. Diane Fink, Head of Fiscal Services, discussed how the 2006 - 2007 budget will be developed, based on guidelines from the Office of Budget and Management. A few of the budget priorities discussed were: Educating decision makers; Updating technology for internal users; Maintaining outreach to user groups; Continuing to integrate the library community; and Collection development. Strategies discussed included: Finding partners and determining which services are the most important.

The Board discussed Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA) grant priorities and the future direction of the grant program. Missy Lodge, Program Administrator, led a review of the progress on the goals listed in the LSTA 5 Year Plan 2003-2007 (http://winslo.state.oh.us/publib/lsta5yr.html). The Board reviewed the LSTA grant approval process and agreed that one Board member should attend grant review Team Leader sessions. After discussion, the Board expressed concern about funding LSTA proposals that are in direct competition with SLO projects. They directed the LSTA Advisory Council to review this issue and develop a recommendation. The Board also discussed the promotion of successful grant projects.

The Board discussed the databases that were purchased with LSTA funds and questioned how they were being used. Jay Burton, Head, Library Programs and Development, trains librarians in using the databases. He said patrons want information when they need it. The library staff is key in educating patrons about the available databases and their use.

Carl J. Stich, Jr., Board member, will be leaving the State Library Board in December 2004. The Board discussed the nomination process for new members of the Board. Currently, the request for nominations goes out by electronic means, with letters to legislators, public and academic libraries and library associations. The Board discussed that if the location of the nominee will be an issue, that should be mentioned in the request for nomination.

Board discussed and agreed that a Board member should attend Talking Books Consumer Advisory Council meetings.

Michael S. Lucas, State Librarian, reviewed the activities grid for the Library Futures Initiative, a comprehensive review of the future of public library service. The State Library would be responsible for heading three initiatives: the establishment of a statewide 24/7 virtual reference service; creation of a statewide library card; and establishing a statewide adaptive technology initiative. Steps have already been taken to establish the 24/7 virtual reference service and the adaptive technology initiative. Mr. Lucas indicated to the Board that the statewide library card is the third priority among the three activities. However, within the next few months he will appoint a working group to address the issue.

Pete Bates, Information Systems and Technology Director, updated the Board on the current status of MORE, the statewide resource sharing project. Currently, there are 135 libraries of various types using the MORE system. The new software release 2.6 is due in the Spring 2004 and will improve searching and processing speed.

The next State Library Board meeting will be Thursday, March 25 at 1:00 in Columbus.

For the minutes of State Library Board meetings, go to http://winslo.state.oh.us/boardmin.html.

Pirates In The Rare Book Room The Rare Book Room holds an array of interesting stories.

Cindy McLaughlin Deputy State Librarian for Library Services

The Rare Book Room at the State Library contains over 7,000 books. Beginning when the Library was established in 1817, many of the first books purchased remain in the Rare Book Room today. Others have found their way into the collection because they are too old, too fragile or too valuable to remain in the general collection.

The Rare Book Room has a multiplicity of materials that have been purchased to support those in state government and are representative of the development of the state and the world as a whole.

Travel around the world is an example of the topics covered. One of the truly rare books is a series on the voyage of the HMS Challenger, a British ship that was sent to the Pacific in the early 1800's to explore the islands and people. It is easy to understand why these books would have been of interest: An Authentic Narrative of the Loss of the American Brig Commerce, by James Riley, 1818; and An Authentic Narrative of the Shipwreck and Suffering of Mrs. Eliza Bradley, by Mrs. Eliza Bradley, 1823.

While today pirate stories seem fictitious and entertaining, they were a reality in the 1800's and not a pleasant one. Piracy was prevalent from the 1500s into the 1800s. Not only did the pirates rob ships, but they also captured the crews and passengers for slavery.

Ships' crews and passengers were not the only ones that were at risk. Pirates traveled as far north as Ireland to raid seaside villages. European governments and after its independence, the United States, appropriated funds to buy back their citizens from the pirates.

Captain John Riley and Eliza Bradley were two such individuals. Their accounts of their capture and treatment are very similar. They traveled long distances inland to villages and cities where they were ultimately sold back to their countries. Their captors realized that they would benefit from keeping their captives alive, but only alive. They walked the long distances in the hot desert, were fed meagerly, and made to work very hard.

Mrs. Bradley was separated from her husband. He eventually regained his freedom and was able to rescue her.

While Captain Riley's first book describes his experience during his capture, his second, Sequel to Riley's Narrative described his life after he was rescued. This is of interest as well but for very different reasons.

Upon his return to the United States, Captain Riley was appointed to a post in Washington by his friend the U.S. Consul at Morocco. After a short period of time he thought that a trip west might help his weakened physical condition. In the spring of 1818 he traveled west through Ohio to Kentucky. When he returned to Washington in 1819 he received an appointment of deputy surveyor. He was furnished with recommendations for this appointment by the Honorable Josiah Meigs, Commissioner of the General Land office and his nephew, the Honorable Return Jonathan Meigs, Post Master General.

In May, 1820, Captain Riley moved his family to Chillicothe, Ohio and began surveying on the Auglaize river. In the Fall of that year he purchased land and built his home for his family near the rapids of the St. Mary's river. In October of 1823 he was elected to the General Assembly for Darke and Shelby counties. During his session all the statute laws of the state were revised. New counties were established, the canal policy was promoted and major advances in the school system were made.

His bad health sent him to New York where it was determined that the "sea air" would help. He became a ship captain again, sailing to Algiers for commerce. He continued to write about his trips, describing in detail the country, the people and their customs. He continued to sail until his health deteriorated and he headed for France. He returned to the United States in 1837 and found that economic conditions were very poor. At sixty he sailed again to promote trade with the north African countries. A few days after his ship set sailed, he died on March 13, 1840 and was buried at sea.

The Rare Book Room at the State Library holds a wide array of interesting stories. For further information about our Rare Book collection, contact Clara Ireland, Library Consultant, at 614/644-1972 or cireland@sloma.state.oh.us.

Fretwell Downing Users Group Report It really helped to know that we are not alone.

Angela Thomas MORE Project Manager

I attended an informal North America Fretwell Downing Users Group (NAFDUG) meeting at the ALA Midwinter Meeting in San Diego.

Fretwell Downing is the name of the third party software vendor for MORE, Ohio's statewide resource sharing project. The NAFDUG User Group discusses and requests changes to the software, based on their requirements. The meeting was considered "informal" because there was no official voting, mainly sharing information.

Several different state libraries and universities attended to represent their interests. I was able to present information about the Ohio MORE project to the other users. The users were particularly impressed and intrigued with our Principles of Cooperation. Some states thought it was a good idea to adopt and wished they had done this at the beginning of their project.

The meeting agenda consisted of discussing the new, coming upgrade. Some libraries have already upgraded and have learned some lessons that I will be able to bring back and implement. I also learned that if we had upgraded as we had planned, this would have caused great pain for our users, because a necessary feature was not included. We will now be upgrading to the next version instead.

The agenda also included discussing training and documentation for those who configure the software and for the end user. As a result of this discussion, I will be on a sub-committee to bring input for future projects. After this discussion, several libraries presented their projects. Issues, enhancements and inquiries were brought to the table. Not everything was resolved, but it was a good start.

It really helped to know that we are not alone. Most of the same challenges that we face for the MORE project are the same all over, such as working with different vendors, training geographically dispersed libraries, dealing with upgrades and changes to the software, and the list goes on.

The next formal meeting of NAFDUG will be held at the next ALA meeting. The meeting will include official voting for enhancements/requirements for future releases of software, election of officers, etc. I will gather all enhancements from Ohio users and represent them in the upcoming releases of software.

For information about the MORE statewide resource sharing project, contact Angela Thomas at (614) 995-9360 or athomas@sloma.state.oh.us.

New Jewel At Kent State Reinberger Center One Of A Kind

Ruth Metcalf Library Consultant

Last November Ruth Metcalf, Library Development Consultant at the State Library visited the new Reinberger Center for Children's Literature at Kent State University (KSU). Dr. Carolyn S. Brodie, Professor with the KSU School of Library and Information Science was excited and pleased as she showed the state-of-the-art facility.

The collection and center, built with a $240,000 grant from the Reinberger Foundation of Cleveland, is a wonderful addition to the library school that will benefit youth services specialists and school librarians for years to come.

The facility was formally opened at a dedication ceremony hosted by Kent State University President Carol Cartwright and attended by members of the Reinberger Foundation Board on September 29, 2003.

The 1800 square-foot facility features stuffed animals, low shelves filled with children's literature and properly proportioned tables and chairs. The center functions as a children's library, a technologically intensive classroom, and a distance learning facility with interactive video confer-encing capabilities.

The center includes a resource area that houses more than 6,000 children's and young adult books, materials, and resources, and a classroom setting featuring a wireless computer network installed with software and other resources used in children's, young adult, and school libraries.

Currently, five graduate classes meet in the room. The interactive videoconferencing capability allows Dr. Brodie and her associate, Dr. Greg Byerly, to transmit video and web-based courses to students in various locations around Ohio to complete an MLIS degree.

Dr. Brodie said that those who came to the open house earlier in November, were very impressed with the "feel" of the center. They all said it didn't feel like a classroom, but more like a library.

There are many implications for Ohio's local libraries in terms of the use of this space. Since the room has distance learning capability, children's librarians from around the state will benefit in the near future.

Ruth was pleased to be able to visit the center and she commended Dr. Brodie on her new facility. The Reinberger Center is an Ohio jewel that will offer many a chance to learn about the intricacies of service to children.

For additional information contact: Dr. Carolyn Brodie or Dr. Greg Byerly, Kent State School of Library and Information Science, 311 Library, Kent, Ohio 44242, (330) 672-2782.