Talking Books Advisory Council Meeting Minutes 9-8-16

Talking Books Advisory Council Meeting Minutes September 8, 2016

Present: John Brown, Patty Cuno, Christie Joachim, Melissa Krueck, Don McCollum, Theresa Powell, Mike Tobias, Mary Lee Turner, Susan Westin

Absent: MaryKay Dahlgreen, Joel Henderson, Scott McCallum, Jeanne-Marie Moore, Jane Salisbury, Richard Turner

Meeting convened at 10:03 AM; Susan chaired the meeting due to the absence of the chair and vice chair.

Changes to the Agenda - Did not hear the State Librarian’s Report due to MaryKay’s absence.

Approval of Previous Minutes - No edits. - Mary Lee moved to approve minutes, Mike seconded. Approved.

Fund Development Report - 2016 Spring Appeal raised $19,191 which is comparable to last year. - 2017 Large Print Calendar will ship to patrons on September 12th. - There are no new members to add to the donor board for 2016. Donors must exceed the $10K in contributions in order to be added. - The Endowment Fund has surpassed the $2M mark! - Talking Books is participating in the Charitable Fund Kickoff campaign on September 14th to increase awareness and solicit donations.

Program Manager Report - The Budget for 2017-19 was submitted. The Governor’s budget is released in early December. Factors impacting the budget include the Governor’s election and what measures are passed. - There will be an opening for the Government Services Division Program Manager position which will be posted shortly. - Currently working on the Operational Plan for 2016-17 which will include developing a new logo and branding to better unify the library divisions. Additionally, we are considering changing the name of the Oregon State Library to distinguish ourselves from Oregon State University. - Researching ways to improve access and create a more inviting layout of the library due to the unique design of the older building. - Joel has streamlined and improved the Talking Book Website. Check it out and get us your feedback! We are also working on improving the State Library website. - National Library Service (NLS) will now send out refreshable Braille readers along with audio readers. This is a two year process with procurement of machines not yet determined. This would be a free service to patrons. - League of Women Voters pamphlets will come out in October. - American Council of the Blind and National Federation of the Blind conferences are occurring on the same weekend this year. Talking Books is working to ensure there is representation at both conferences. - Advisory Council Member Changes: o Fill Scott McCallum’s vacancy o Jane Salisbury’s, Public Library, term will end this year o Jeanne Marie’s position will be determined by the ACB president at the end of the year - The Patron Centric Cartridge project is in the early stages with equipment arriving in the next few months and receiving a software upgrade. We will start with a small pilot to test the concept. Note: Patron Centric Cartridges are assigned to patrons and tailored to their preferences. - Requested feedback on sending out birthday postcards to patrons over 80 years old. They would be addressed by Delta Gamma volunteers. o Majority of the group voiced that they usually toss out birthday cards received from companies and think it might come across as more junk mail. A few mentioned it has the possibility of being positive. o Suggestion to send an email instead, but not everyone has access to email. o Group decided they would be willing to support a one year test of the idea if the postcard could be printed in size 26 bold font.

Donation Portal Upgrades - The public can donate to the Talking Book and Braille Library online via the website, however, the options are limited to the expendable or endowment fund and it is not in a user friendly format. We want to increase the functionality to include donations for calendars (and where to mail it), in honor or memory (with the ability to send a card). This alleviates many issues, primarily saving time since the patron would not have to call the help desk to explain their donation. In order to make upgrades, we have to work with the state vendor, NIC-USA, with the initial estimate of approximately $7K to complete the work. The balance within the expendable fund: if we add in this cost, we would still be at $195K. o Would most likely recoup the investment due to getting more donations if it is easier to use. o Group was in agreement that it is a good strategy and good use of funds. o Mary Lee moved to utilize funds, not to exceed $10K, to make the donation page updates so that it is more user friendly, Patty seconded. No other comments/discussion. Approved. o It will go before the State Library Board in the fall.

Open Forum - Concerns raised that the voter’s pamphlets may not reach patrons in time for the elections. o The delivery of the pamphlets is tied to League of Women’s Voters timeline. We are doing our best to have a quick turnaround time. - Concerns raised about the cards on the cartridges being taped down. o Susan will investigate why this might be happening and who may be responsible. - Christie was able to download BARD, however, her browse books function was not working. o Options are to give our staff a call and we can help and we are offering a BARD training at the library. o Susan will send out the dates for the training on BARD for mobile devices.

Next Meeting Date - November 17, 2016, 10 AM - If there is no new business, we will cancel the meeting 2 weeks in advance.

The meeting adjourned at 10:59 AM