[R2R-OR] Ready to Read and State Library transformation update

Mon Mar 24 09:56:01 PDT 2014

Hello! At the bottom of this email is a letter that the State Librarian sent to all library directors and published in the most recent OLA Hotline newsletter. I know some R2R key contacts don't subscribe to the OLA Hotline so I am forwarding the letter to you via this list. Most importantly, the State Librarian's letter explains that the Ready to Read Grant should see a slight increase for the 2014-2015 grant cycle!

I would also like to remind you that the Ready to Read Grant will not be changing dramatically this year (the 2014-2015 Grant cycle). The only change you will see this year is that we will be going back to the December 1st deadline for final reports because the extended deadline didn't reduce the number of late reports and the amount of time I need to compile all the reports into the Annual Report to the Legislature by my deadline.

In addition, I gave a recap of why the Ready to Read Grant will be changing at OLA's Children's Services Division meeting a few weeks ago. Many of you were unable to attend so I would like to share it with you now.

The Governor and Legislature are changing the way they think about the state budget. They are now thinking of it in terms of "What outcomes can we buy with state money?" Like many of your governing bodies, the State is facing increasingly tighter budgets year after year. The Governor and Legislature have to make tough decisions about what to fund and what not to fund. This means they have started saying "If the organization we buy outcomes from can't deliver them, then we'll buy the outcomes we want from another organization."

During the 2013 Legislative Session the State Library requested an increase in Ready to Read funding based on keeping the amount of money per child the same, but increasing the age range from 0-14 to 0-17. The Legislature increased Ready to Read funding almost to the amount we requested, but recommended that we rethink the grant program-change the name, align it better with statewide education goals, and propose expanding it through age 17-and come back with a new grant proposal in 2015.

As a result, the State Library convened a task force to re-imagine the Ready to Read Grant as the Legislature recommended and to use the outcome based evaluation model the state is moving towards.

It's important to remember that the money you receive from the State Library is state general funds. The state is essentially paying public libraries for a service. In the past they didn't clearly define what they wanted to get from that service, but those times are changing. Fortunately, library staff make up half of the task force that will recommend what those changes should be. Last week the task force reviewed your feedback on the proposed grant and will be incorporating some of that feedback into their recommendation.

After the draft proposal is finalized, the State Library plans to roll out a communications plan to the library community about the proposed changes to the grant and work with you to ensure as smooth of a transition as possible.

Please let me know if you have any questions.

Thank you,
Katie

Katie Anderson, Library Development Services
* Youth Services Consultant * Oregon Center for the Book Coordinator *
Oregon State Library, 250 Winter St. NE, Salem, OR 97301
katie.anderson at state.or.us<mailto:katie.anderson at state.or.us>, 503-378-2528

MESSAGE FROM THE STATE LIBRARIAN
March 14, 2014

The 2014 Legislative Session has been completed and there are a couple of items that will impact the State Library and our transformation process that I want to share with you.

You may remember that in the last session, the Legislature held back 2% of every agency's general fund dollars.  I'm happy to report that the 2014 Legislature restored 57% of that holdback.   The $18,616 that was restored to our budget will be used for 2014-15 Ready-to-Read grants.

As a reminder of the timeline of reorganization activities to date:

During the 2011 Legislative session the Workgroup on Libraries and Archives in Oregon State Government was established in response to Budget Note #1 of Senate Bill 5521, which requested that the Oregon Governor's Office, Secretary of State, and Chief Justice jointly develop options pertaining to the consolidation and improvement of library and archives services.  That work resulted in http://library.state.or.us/repository/2012/201201310755152/  a report to the Joint Committee on Ways and Means in the 2012 Session that outlined a number of recommendations to be implemented over several years.

In January of 2013 a reorganization committee was formed that included OSL staff and stakeholders, with assistance from the office of the Chief Operating Officer. At the conclusion of the 2013 Legislative session the State Library had the following note attached to their budget bill (HB 5022):

The State Library and the Department of Administrative Services are directed to submit to the Legislature in February of 2014 a detailed strategic business plan for the reorganization of the State Library. The two agencies are directed to report to the Joint Committee on Ways and Means throughout the interim on the reorganization planning efforts. Additionally, the State Library is directed to hold vacant any current or future vacated or unfilled positions until the Legislature in 2014 approves a reorganization plan for the agency.

At that point, the State Library, working with the office of the COO, engaged the consulting firm Mass Ingenuity to oversee the transformation project. This project is fully documented on this website http://www.oregon.gov/osl/Pages/OregonStateLibraryTransformation.aspx . The result of this work was the Oregon State Library Transformation Project Report to the Interim Joint Committee on Ways and Means which was submitted to the Interim Subcommittee on General Government of the Joint Ways and Means Committee.

The Interim Subcommittee on General Government responded with a http://www.oregon.gov/osl/Transformation/Final%20Library%20Reorganization%20Report-2013.11.06.pdf report, created by Senator Steiner-Hayward and Representative Nathanson that outlined changes to be implemented by the State Library, State of Oregon Law Library, State Archives, and Oregon Historical Society.  The office of the COO provided two project managers to work with the four principal organizations on implementation planning.

In the February 2014 Session:

The Co-Chairs of the Joint Committee on Ways and Means will be establishing a Legislative workgroup "to modernize the delivery of state library services by improving access to public information, eliminating duplicative services and costs, increasing utilization of digital resources, and increasing collaborative partnerships across entities. The workgroup shall recommend draft legislation for introduction in the 2015 legislative session for the reorganization of state library services, which should, where possible; incorporate national best practices pertaining to library reorganizations."

The membership of that work group will be decided by the Co-Chairs and will include "Legislative members, and other members chosen to represent the interests of state library service users and employees."  I will share information about the membership of the work group as soon as it is announced. There will be an opportunity for public input and I will keep you apprised of that as well.

Since the Legislative session has ended, I am taking this opportunity to take a vacation to Denmark. I will be out of the office from March 17th through March 27th and will provide an update when I return.

MaryKay Dahlgreen
Oregon State Librarian
503-378-4367
marykay.dahlgreen at state.or.us<mailto:marykay.dahlgreen at state.or.us>
http://oregon.gov/osl

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