Pacific Northwest Library Association

PNLA Quarterly, Vol. 62 No.4 Summer 1998

Reports from PNLA States and Provinces

ALASKA

Sue Sherif
Alaska Representative

People

Ann Symons of Juneau has assumed the position of President of the American Library Association. She took office at the Annual Conference of ALA in Washington, DC in June, where proud Alaskans filled a table at her inauguration gala.

The Alaska Library Association has elected Kay Myers to serve as PNLA Representative for the term which runs from August 1998 to August 2000. Kay is a member of the Youth Services Department at the Anchorage Municipal Library and has long been active in PNLA with the Young Readers Choice Award.

In July, the University of Alaska Fairbanks Rasmuson Library will greet a new director, David Bantz. Dr. Bantz was most recently Assistant Vice President for Learning and Information Technology with the University of Wisconsin system. Previously he was at the University of Chicago and Dartmouth College.

Kay Jabusch of Wrangell Public Library has been elected by Alaskan public librarians to serve as representative on the Governor's Advisory Council on Libraries. Linda Masterson of Anchorage is the school library representative, and Juli Braund-Allen of Anchorage is the special libraries representative.

Georgine N. Olson of the Fairbanks North Star Borough Public Library is editor of and contributor to a new Haworth Press publication Fiction Acquisition/Fiction Management: Education and Training. The 1998 publication is appearing simultaneously as the current issue of the journal Acquisition Librarian, Number 19, 1998.

Ann Symons is a contributor to Children and the Interent: Guidelines for Developing Public Library Policy (1998), a publication of the American Library Trustee Association, the Association for Library Service to Children, and the Public Library Association.

The Audrey P. Kolb Public Library Service awards for 1997 and 1998 were presented at the March AkLA Annual Conference in Ketchikan. Chris Weiss of Petersburg Public Library and Nancy Gustavson of the Kettleson Memorial Library in Sitka were the recipients.

Also honored at the conference were Tiki Levinson, who was named the Alaska Association of School Librarian's School Librarian of the Year, and Bonnie Cavanaugh, who received the Linda Barrett Service Award from AkASL. Levinson is with the Bristol Bay School District, and Cavanaugh is with the Matanuska-Susitna Borough School District.

AkLA honorary life memberships were extended to Phyllis Davis, David Hales, Barbara Maclean, Dee J. McKenna, Judith F. Monroe, and William H. Smith in recognition of their significant contributions to library service in Alaska.

Assuming the new position of retiree will be Marvin Falk and Sherry Abrams, both of the Rasmuson Library at the University of Alaska Fairbanks. Also retiring is Charlotte Hatfield of the University of Alaska Kodiak Campus. Rebecca Moorman leaves the University of Alaska Southeast in Juneau for a new position at the American University in Saipan. Earl Shumaker, Government Publications Librarian at the University of Alaska Fairbanks, resigned at the end of the academic year.

Della Matthis of the Alaska State Library Anchorage has been honored for past service by the Alaska Society for Technology in Education. Della can take a portion of the credit that 47 school districts and 29 public libraries, as well as 16 school/community libraries, have certified technology plans in place.

June Pinnell-Stephens has contributed her expertise and passion to the creation of the draft document "Libraries and American Values," a project initiated by Ann Symons as part of her ALA presidential program.

News

Membership in the Alaska Library Association has increased by 29%, according to Bob Andrel, AkLA Executive Secretary. Corporate and individual membership increases are responsible for the overall increase, while there has been a drop in the number of associate members. A reduction in individual membership fees and the distribution of library directories only to libraries that are institutional members of AkLA seem to be the chief causes of the increase.

The Circumpolar Roundtable of AkLA is making plans to attend the Northern Libraries Colloquy in Reykjavik, Iceland in September, 1998.

Public library grand openings marked the spring and summer months all over Alaska. Opening for the first time were the Gustavus Public Library and the Barrow community library in a joint facility with the North Slope Cultural Center. July was the date for the ceremonial opening of the Fairbanks North Star Borough Public Library's newly renovated Noel Wien Library. Opening in the fall will be a new research library at the Geophysical Institute at the University of Alaska Fairbanks.

The Executive Council of AkLA adopted a new plan for the revival of its publication, Newspoke. Formerly a joint publication of the Alaska State Library and the organization, the newsletter will be professionally redesigned and published bi-monthly in the near term with the possibility of increasing publication to a monthly schedule later. The ALA and PNLA representatives of AkLA, along with the AkLA President, will assume the major reporting duties, and an editor, who will be compensated with conference registration and travel to the annual board face-to-face meeting, will be responsible for editing and layout. The Executive Secretary will be responsible for distribution.

Meanwhile, Karen Crane, State Library Director, has been publishing a weekly online news bulletin on the AkLA e-list.

Well-loved Alaskan painter and lithographer Fred Machetanz will earn additional respect as a filmmaker thanks to a $30,346 grant to the Alaska Film Archives of the University of Alaska. The grant from the National Historical Publications and Records Commission will allow preservation and public access to footage filmed by Machetanz and his wife Sara in the years before statehood beginning in 1947. Edited film and 200 reels of raw footage are included in the archive. Susan Griggs, Alaska and Polar Regions Librarian at University of Alaska Fairbanks, reports that the edited films "are delightful reminders of the romance of Alaska in the 1950's." The project will provide bibliographic access through SLED (http://sled.alaska.edu), and videotape copies will be available through interlibrary loan.

Dissatisfaction with interlibrary loan was cited as a defense when a well-respected Fairbanks meteorologist spoke to the Anchorage Daily News in the matter of his apparent appropriation of 29 volumes of rare climatological data from the University of Alaska Anchorage Climate Data Archive. The Fairbanks Daily News Miner got a slightly different story. The alleged perpetrator described his abduction of the valuable documents to his local newspaper as a sort of "Robin Hood" act: he thought that the materials would be better used in Fairbanks, and he intended to "donate" them to the University of Alaska Fairbanks Rasmuson Library. A hotel bellman broke the case when he read newspaper accounts of the robbery and remembered helping a hotel guest Fed Ex similar volumes to the guest's Fairbanks office. University of Alaska Fairbanks police recovered the volumes in question at the meteorologist's home.

Alaskan libraries saw good outcome of their lobbying efforts in this year's legislative session. The Public Library Law was approved by the legislature to give Alaska a basic legal framework for the establishment and recognition of public libraries for the first time. State Library and SLED were funded without the cuts, threatened or real, that had characterized the budget process in the last few years. In addition, the legislature added funds for statewide online database licensing. A committee to evaluate and select possible databases was immediately formed and is at work. The State Library is funding a re-design of the popular web doorway, SLED. The statewide advisory committee reorganized the site, and a professional design firm will give the site a new look. Look for the revised SLED at http://sled.alaska.edu in the fall.

A group now referred to as the "Alliance" signed a memorandum of agreement to purchase cooperatively OPAC and circulation services from DRA. The Alliance includes the North Slope Borough, the UAF Rasmuson Library and its remote campus sites, the Fairbanks North Star borough Public Library and School District, the Juneau Public Library, Juneau-Douglas High School, Alyeska Central School, the University of Alaska Southeast, and the Alaska State Library. With the Anchorage Municipal Libraries already a DRA client, Alaska is one step closer to a dream of a widespread multi-type union system envisioned when automation of libraries appeared in Alaska in the 1970's. As libraries went online in the 70's and 80's, some local multi-type cooperation was achieved, but in the first decades of automation all the major libraries in the state chose different vendors. This agreement represents over two years of concerted effort and negotiations by the participating libraries. At press time, the contract with DRA is still under negotiation, but it is anticipated that these negotiations will be completed in the summer.

ALBERTA

No news available for this issue.

BRITISH COLUMBIA

Frieda Wiebe
British Columbia Representative

People

Penny Grant has been appointed to the position of Library Director of the Vancouver Island Regional Library System. Penny was the former Director of Public Services for the VIRL.

Neil Campbell has accepted the position of University Library for the University of Northern British Columbia in Prince George. Neil is returning to B.C. from his most recent position as Law Librarian and faculty member at the University of Manitoba. His position at UNBC begins on June 29th. Meanwhile, Darrell Bailie, who was the Systems Librarian at UNBC has accepted a temporary position as Head of the Education Library at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver.

Patricia Burt has been appointed to the Library Director position at the University College of the Fraser Valley. She comes to B.C. from Algoma University College in Ontario, and replaces Betty Harris, who retired last Fall and who is a long time member of PNLA.

And lastly, I will be on a 3-year leave from my position as College Librarian at Capilano College in North Vancouver to become Library Director for the Higher Colleges of Technology in the United Arab Emirates.

Canadian Library Association (CLA) /British Columbia Library Association (BCLA) Conference

The CLA held its 53rd annual conference and trade show in Victoria, June 17-21, 1998. The conference attracted over 1,100 delegates and was a highly successful event.

The BCLA held its Annual General Meeting and Awards Luncheon in conjunction with the conference. A showcase featuring British Columbia libraries and their new and innovative projects attracted a great deal of attention. In addition the BCLA "Bibliothique" sold a variety of nifty library-type gifts to shoppers in the crowd. British Columbia librarians and libraries were the recipients of numerous awards at the conference. Betty Harris received a merit award for her years of service to the profession and to the Community & Technical College Libraries section of the Canadian Association of College & University Libraries.

The BCLA awards ceremony recognized a variety of achievements in several categories: Suzanne Dodson of UBC received the Honorary Lifetime Membership Award in recognition for her long-standing contribution to BCLA and to library service in British Columbia. Deb deBruijn of the Electronic Library Network and Janice Linton of the Pacific AIDS Resource Centre Library received Achievement in Library Service Awards in recognition of their substantial contributions to librarianship and library service in the B.C. Squamish Public Library received a Merit Award for outstanding achievement in architectural design and planning of their new library. Richmond Public Library received a Merit Award for excellence in their program "Internet Training, Education and Services." Christian Kruse of Sechelt Public Library received the President's Award for service to the Association. The Honourable Jenny Kwan, Minister of Municipal Affairs, received a citation in appreciation for the public libraries support received from the Ministry through its Library Services Branch.

BCLA

The BCLA office will move to a new location in downtown Vancouver on June 25th. We have concluded negotiations with the People's Law School to rent office space within their premises. This will give BCLA access to a classroom for workshops and other activities. Additionally it will be more central and accessible via transit.

Through the provincial government "Communities Connect" funding, the BCLA is able to re-create in a Web-based environment and expand Focus: the Directory of Library Services in British Columbia. Work on the project is well underway with Joel Minion as the project coordinator.

In addition to its other member benefits, BCLA is now partnering with another bookstore, the Book Warehouse, to offer 10% discounts on most titles to BCLA members. Negotiations are underway with booksellers located in other regions of the province.

The BCLA recently added its name to a long list of groups opposed to the Multilateral Agreement on Investment (MAI) and wrote a letter to the Prime Minister urging the Canadian government to refrain from signing.

A recent announcement that the B.C. Ferry Corporation intended to downgrade B.C. content by 20% in the selection of books available for sale on British Columbia's passenger ferries had BCLA writing another letter of protest. We understand that as a result of the variety of concerns raised by a number of groups, the new contract has not yet been finalized.

The new BCLA executive board was acclaimed at our AGM on June 20th. Members of the executive board are: President Greg Buss, Richmond Public Library; Vice-President Sybil Harrison, Fraser Valley Regional Library; Past President Ron Clancy, New Westminster Public Library; Treasurer Todd Mundle, Simon Fraser University; Assistant Treasurer Robert Gore, Kwantlen University College; Director (2 year) Anita Cocchia, Electronic Library Network; Director (2 year) Jacqueline Bradshaw, Langara College; Director (1 year) Ann Goodhart, West Vancouver Public Library; Director (1 year) Deb deBruijn, Electronic Library Network; Membership Secretary Sylvia Roberts, Simon Fraser University; Recording Secretary Jean Cockburn; Douglas College; Editor, BCLA Reporter Ted Benson, West Vancouver Public Library; ALPS section chair Melinda Baranie, Vancouver Community College; YAACS section Chair Andre Duval, Richmond Public Library; LSB Liaison Jim Looney, Library Services Branch. Sybil Harrison will be the BCLA representative to PNLA for the next two years.

As you can see, Ron Clancy has graciously agreed to stay on as Past President of BCLA while I pursue the desert adventure in the UAE. I am hoping to continue some aspects of the position of Past- President of BCLA via email, and I certainly mean to stay in touch with both BCLA and PNLA. I have enjoyed my stint as BCLA representative to PNLA and wish the Association all the best for the future.

IDAHO

Kevin Booe,
Idaho Representative News

The Idaho State Library conducted a state Futures Conference in May including public librarians, trustees, academic librarians, school librarians, and special librarians. The conference participants were charged with coming up with the vision of what libraries could be. Participants brainstormed ideas centered around the desired future for all types of libraries. The Idaho State Library will incorporate the ideas into the state's 5-year plan. Gardner Hanks, consultant with ISL, noted that several themes were dominant throughout the conference.

Library districting continues to spread throughout Idaho. The towns of Challis and Stanley, Idaho in Custer County will put the formation of a library district on the ballot. Eastern Idaho has seen the formation of several library districts during the 1990's including Lemhi and Blackfoot districts. Also pending voter approval are the Jefferson County, Bingham County and Caribou County districts that will be placed on ballots within the next 15 months.

Funding approval for the statewide Z39.50 search engine was secured in May from the Idaho Council for Technology in Learning (ICTL). The search engine will allow anyone with a web browser to go to the LiLI web site and search Z39-compatiblie online public access catalogs in Idaho at one time. About 20 Idaho library catalogs, representing about 70 percent of the holdings in the state are now Z39-compatible. The ICTL action requires approval from the State Board of Education.

Kuna, Idaho, residents passed a library bond in May. Kuna residents will see a brand new public library, approximately 10,000 square feet built in their community next year. Kuna has had a joint school/community library for many years. The public library shared space with the high school library in Kuna's high school. The bond will add approximately $15.00 per month on property taxes for a $100,000 home.

Boise Mayor Brent Coles has dropped his idea to consolidate the Boise Parks and Recreation Department with the Boise Public Library. Coles said that the council nor the library board supported the move. Coles had estimated that the city would save approximately $100,000 per year through the consolidation. Critics of the plan said that it would add another layer of bureaucracy to the city and could threaten intellectual freedom. Library and Parks managers had drafted a proposal for the Council and the library board to read. Boise Public Library is still searching for a new director after former director, Lynn Melton's resignation in late January.

People

Bud James, the founder of the Stanley Community Library, passed away in March of this year. Also greatly missed in Idaho's library community are Clara Spiegel, who passed away in October and Elnora Seagle, who passed away in February . Both women helped found the Ketchum Community Library. PNLA members who attend the Sun Valley Conference will have the opportunity to see the Ketchum Community Library at this year's keynote address.

Katie Crill is the newly appointed librarian at the Priest River Public Library. Crill replaced Kathy Spitz as director who resigned to concentrate on her private computer business.

Conference News

Come to the conference in Sun Valley! Conference information is posted on the PNLA web page and the ILA web page. Visit the ILA web page site at http://www.idaholibraries.org to find out more about the conference and other ILA activities and plans.

In Memoriam (submitted by Grove Koger, Adult Services, Boise Public Library) Prominent Idaho librarian William F. Hayes died May 22, 1997. Bill served as director of Boise Public Library from 1966 to 1983, replacing Marion Bingham. Under Bill's direction, the library moved into new and greatly expanded quarters in 1973 and, in 1975, became one of the first libraries in the country to install an automated circulation system. Bill was president of the Pacific Northwest Library Association 1980-1981, served on the council of the American Library Association, and was active in Idaho Library Association affairs.

Bill was born December 25, 1931, in Carbon, Indiana. He served in the army in Alaska and Germany, subsequently earning a bachelor's degree in English from Fort Hays State University, Kansas, and a master's degree in librarianship from the University of Denver. Before coming to Idaho, he was employed as head of technical services and as assistant director of the Kokomo, Indiana, Public Library.

In addition to his work for libraries, Bill was active in the Miss Idaho pageant and several service clubs and organizations. Bill was lucky enough to receive a heart transplant in 1990, and went on to devote much of his time and energy to publicizing and encouraging organ donation activities. He is survived by his wife, Christine; his mother, Viola Hayes of Brazil, Indiana; three siblings; four children; and three grandchildren. He will be missed by his many friends and colleagues.

MONTANA

Gloria Langstaff,
Montana Representative

Montana Library Association (MLA)

Melisa Nicoud, Media Librarian at the University of Montana-Missoula, was the winner of the drawing at the PNLA information table during the MLA annual conference in April. She won a free registration for the Idaho Library Association/PNLA joint conference this August in Sun Valley, Idaho. She is also in charge of the PNLA CANS special interest group, so look for her at the conference and the local microbrewery.

During the MLA conference, Don Spritzer, Reference Librarian at the Missoula Public Library, requested librarians from around the state to send him pictures of their libraries for a display. The response was so good and the display was so impressive that the Montana State Library and the MLA Legislative Committee have asked to use the display during upcoming events. The library's foundation has donated money for reproducing the photographs and designing a traveling display.

Make plans now to attend the MLA/Mountain Plains Library Association joint conference at the Big Sky Resort (between Bozeman and Yellowstone Park) June 13-16, 1999. Speakers committed so far are Ted Turner, Terry Tempest Williams and Dorothy Broderick. Watch for more information about the conference beginning July 1, 1998 at www.mtlib.org.

Montana State Library

In April the Montana State Library sent out a survey for public library trustees to collect information about the usefulness and need for revision of the Montana Public Library Trustee Manual written and distributed in 1993. The survey also asked trustees to list topics on which they would like to receive training. Based on the results of the survey, MSL is planning workshops at six locations this fall.

The mission of the Law Revision Task Force is to make recommendations to the State Library Commission for consideration in the next legislative session. For the January 1999 session, the Task Force has recommended new statutes which would allow the creation of library districts. Communities would have another way to establish, fund and govern a library. The main diffferences would be that members of the Board of Trustees would be elected and have the power to levy. The Board would be autonomous. District boundaries would be created without regard to political boundaries. Electors could establish and dissolve districts.

The Networking Task Force is responsible for guiding State Library networking activities. Resource sharing within the state through interlibrary loan and out of state through statewide databases has been the priority this year. The Task Force is working with the MSL and the MLA ILL Interest Group to revise the ILL protocols and to develop training. It is the hope of the Task Force that by raising the ILL procedural knowledge and increasing access to journal databases that the resource load will begin to balance out among libraries in the state. The Task Force is also examining options of connecting all library catalogs through a central Z39.50 server and possible adding resources and databases through the server.

Sue Crispin has joined the MSL staff as the new Director of the Montana Natural Heritage Program. This program is operated by The Nature Conservancy under contract to the State Library, and continues a 14-year tradition as a model of successful public-private partnership. She brings 18 years of experience with Natural Heritage programs, beginning with the Michigan program, where she served for eight years as botanist and program coordinator. She also spent four years in Canada as director of the Conservancy's Canadian Heritage Task Force.

Library news

Voters of Teton County passed an initiative to form joint city-county libraries. Last year the county commissioners decided not to fund any public libraries as there were no records of them having been legally established. With an estimated 48% turnout, voters approved the library initiative 1,446 to 310.

Whitefish will hold its grand opening for its new cultural arts and library center July 4th. The new library will house 40,000 volumes, with room for 20,000 more. The city of 5,000 raised more than $2.5 million in private contributions, representing the equivalent of $5,000 for every man, woman and child in the community.

The Bozeman Public Library will be installing an Electronic Notification System. This system will deliver prerecorded messages to patrons about overdue and reserve materials by telephone. The system will free staff from having to make about 850 phone calls a month and thus give them more time to serve patrons.

OREGON

No news available for this issue.

WASHINGTON

Linda Pierce
Washington Representative Libraries and People

At the end of May the staff of the Betty M. Anderson Library at the Intercollegiate Center for Nursing Education retired their card catalog. The library collection is accessible to students through Griffin, the EWU/WSU joint automated catalog. The Griffin address is http://griffin.wsu.edu. The collection includes current and historical books in Spokane, as well as the collection the Reference Room at the College's Yakima satellite. The staff is preparing also for the implementation of the automated circulation system this fall. Bar-coding has been completed and training is taking place this summer.

With an Off the Shelf Technology Assistance and LSCA Title II grants, the Yakima Valley Regional Library System is installing public Internet access in all 19 community libraries. The System has also selected Polaris from Gaylord Information Systems for its new integrated library system. The System is also moving and renovating many of its branches. The Summitview Library has moved to a new building twice the size of the old one. The Southeast Yakima Library was moved to a larger space in the Southeast Yakima Community Center. The Zillah Library was expanded into a vacated barber shop next door and now has store front visibility. The White Swan Library was renovated with a grant from the Jan-Wen Corporation, and the Sunnyside Library was retrofitted for ADA compliance by the City of Sunnyside. Also repairs were made to both Terrace Heights and Selah as a result of snow damage.

The Washington State Library introduced Find-It! Washington on June 18. Find-It! Washington is the easiest and most powerful way to find government information in Washington State. Find-It! is a new, free of charge electronic service that gives citizens an information edge by cutting across governmental levels and jurisdictions to locate information and services offered by governmental units in Washington. More details about Find-It! can be found at the WAGILS website, http://find-it.wa. Libraries participating in the program are Fort Vancouver Regional Library, King County Library System, Spokane Public Library, Washington State Library and the Yakima Valley Regional Library.

Stevens County Rural Library District has hired Regan Robinson as its first director. Robinson began work in May. Robinson previously served as Director of the Westerly Public Library in Rhode Island. Robinson has also worked in Eastern Washington having been the Spokane County Library Districts Adult Collections Coordinator from 1984-1990. A graduate of the University of New Hampshire, Robinson received her Masters in Library Science from Simmons College in Boston and worked for the King County Library System from 1973-1984.

The Stevens County Rural Library District is gearing up for operation and will begin offering the first district library cards sometime this fall. For more information, visit the Stevens County Rural Library District website at http://www.stevcolib.org/.

Neva LeBlond Bequette, Library Director of the Mid-Columbia Library from 1949-1974, passed away in May at age 88. A graduate of the University of Washington, Bequette, she had previously worked in Washington at the Seattle Public Library (1934- 1936), Ellensburg Public Library (1936-1940), and Umatilla County Library (1944- 1948). She was a leader in Washington State in rural library development.

On March 10, 1998 Pasco voters approved a $750,000 bond to remodel and upgrade the current library which was built in 1961. Also in March, ground was broken for the new Kennewick Library which is scheduled to be completed in early 1999. The new 32,500 sf building is part of work to be done a result of a $5.9 million bond passed in 1996.

The Orcas Library District and the Orcas Island Historical Society joined together in a grant request to the recently formed Orcas Island Community Foundation seeking support for the purchase of county newspapers on microfilm back to 1906. $3,000 was awarded toward the $6,500 project. A reader/printer will be purchased as part of the award.

In April Gov. Gary Locke accompanied a class of first and second graders from Willard Elementary School on a field trip to the Downtown Branch of Spokane Public Library. The purpose of the trip was to ensure that each child had a library card and to stress the importance of reading.

The Seattle City Council has unanimously approved putting a $196.4 million library bond measure on the November 3 ballot. The Council approved the "Libraries for All" plan the total square footage of Seattle's neighborhood libraries would nearly double from 130,000 square feet to 236,000 square feet. Three neighborhood libraries would be added and six libraries replaced and 16 other branches enlarged, renovated or relocated. The plan also includes demolishing the old Central Library and replacing it with a new 350,000 square foot building in its current location. For more information about the bond measure visit the Seattle Public Library web site at http://www.spl.org.

Washing Library Association (WLA) and Legislative News

The WLA held its annual conference in Wenatchee, WA, April 15-18. The conference was a rousing success with members and with vendors. The Wenatchee Convention Center was a wonderful venue and topics covered at the meetings ranged from discussion of the personality types of library workers to e-rate workshops. The keynote speaker Shelia Bethel Murray was inspiring and Joy Neal, conference chair, did an outstanding job of coordination and planning.

At the conference the following awards were also given: CAYAS Award for Visionary Library Services to Youth, Eva Lusk, Spokane County Library Association; Distinguished Service as a Library Trustee, Ann Elliott, Pend Oreille County Library District; Distinguished Service by Library Friends Group, Toni Savalli, Spokane Public Library; President's Award, Michael Wirt, Spokane County Library District. The WLA Scholarship for Graduate Study was given to Kathy Bullene, distance education student, Library and Information Science, University of Arizona.

New members of the WLA Board were also introduced at the Annual Meeting. The new board members are; Secretary, Carol Gill Schuyler, Kitsap Regional Library; Coordinator of Communications, Mary Carr, Spokane Community College Library; Coordinator of Continuing Education, Diane Cowles, Seattle Public Library; and Conference Coordinator, 2000 conference, Susan Odencrantz, Tacoma Public Library.

At the conference a legislative update was also given at the business meeting. It was reported that Senate Bill 6599 was passed, it takes effect July 5, 1998 and exempts fundraising by Friends groups from taxation. The ongoing "Harmful to Minors" bill did not make it out of committee but will probably reappear in 1999. The State Librarian, Nancy Zussy reported that the State Library is actively involved with E-rate issues and that the Legislature approved funding for the GILS projects, a one time collection enhancement boost of $100,000, and database licensing continuation for an additional year.

The WLA Board met at its annual planning retreat June 4-5. The attendance of Board members, committee chairs and chairs of the interest groups made for an informative and productive meeting. Look for exciting happenings in WLA over the next year! Check out the WLA homepage at http://www.wla.org. The WLA Homepage also has the WLA online forum. This is a discussion venue for all members to discuss topics of interest to WLA and its members.

Back to Table of Contents