Today Rockford Public Library began circulating Kindles today and SOL has been asked to comment.
SOL supports RPL's decision to circulate this small number of Kindles as described in the above linked story-- as a "soft launch" to test circulation policies and get feedback from patrons. Having e-readers that patrons can check out does help bridge the digital divide and help patrons access RPL's large e-book collection (some of which are not available in print format).
SOL is hopeful that in the upcoming months, the RPL board and administration will listen to patron feedback about the circulating e-readers. There are some concerns that Kindles are the wrong e-reader since one major publisher does not allow libraries to lend on these devices, but does on others such as the Nook. Others are concerned that an e-reader is too fragile and breakable to even circulate at all. As long as the circulation of e-readers is done slowly and thoughtfully (and is not done to justify a further increase in the e-book budget) this "soft launch" could mark a positive future for the Rockford Public Library and its commitment to serving the community's needs.
As spoken of previously, this site (though the domain will stay the same) is now called Support Our Rockford Library as we hope to move forward working to support RPL and its endeavors.
Thursday, May 17, 2012
Tuesday, May 15, 2012
Meetings this month
| The Financial Planning and Properties Committee is scheduled to meet on Wednesday, May 16 at 11:45 a.m. in the Friends of RPL Community Room at the East Branch Library. |
We hope everyone can make it.
Wednesday, May 2, 2012
The last Board Meeting
There is a nice guest column in the Rock River Times by Mike Korn this week that sums up what happened at the April 23 library board meeting. The comment about the examples given for weeded books was well put. After the meeting, a used book seller said that she bought a fairly new beautiful set of Shakespeare books at the used book sale that looked like they had never been checked out. She mentioned that just because a book hasn't been circulated, does not mean it has not been pulled off the shelf and used. The focus on all the outdated medical textbooks made the outcry about the weeding seem silly. (Did anyone see the Bruce Quast cartoon in Sunday's paper?)
A point of clarification from Mike Korn's guest column about the violations of The Open Meetings Act: Logli stated at the meeting that the Open Meetings Act was never violated, but that is simply not true. The link to the act is above for anyone who wants to read it, but the provision that we know for a fact has been broken read as follows, "In addition, a public body that has a website that the full-time staff of the public body maintains shall post notice on its website of all meetings of the governing body of the public body." The Rockford Public Library did not follow this provision, not just once, but multiple times as Rachel stated at the last board meeting.
A staff member brought it up in a monthly meeting beginning last fall (2011) that the incorrect meeting time and location was listed on the website. (The website stated meetings were held at Main at 6pm, when they were actually held at the East branch at 5:30.) During the January board meeting this fact was brought up by several of the public speakers and the information was corrected.
However, the committee meetings were not listed in March on the website. It is suspected that other provisions of the Open Meetings Act may have also been violated (such as the one that states meeting notices must be posted at the location of the meeting and one other location) but this has not been confirmed.
Regardless, it is true that the Open Meetings Act has been violated repeatedly this past year, and yes, Rachel did state that when the board president is the former state's attorney this fact is embarrassing, even unforgivable. "Unforgivable" was perhaps not the correct word choice and "inexcusable" should have been used instead.
After hearing about Daniel Ross receiving threats, it is important to SOL that the dialogue about the library and the library board is civil and does not incite people, so Rachel wishes she could change the adjective "unforgivable," to the more accurate "embarrassing." SOL's mission has been to inform the public about the current situation with the Rockford Public Library and has never been to be adversaries with the library director or board members.
Finally, there was also a wonderful guest column in Sunday's Rockford Register Star by Amy Orvis if you missed it.
A point of clarification from Mike Korn's guest column about the violations of The Open Meetings Act: Logli stated at the meeting that the Open Meetings Act was never violated, but that is simply not true. The link to the act is above for anyone who wants to read it, but the provision that we know for a fact has been broken read as follows, "In addition, a public body that has a website that the full-time staff of the public body maintains shall post notice on its website of all meetings of the governing body of the public body." The Rockford Public Library did not follow this provision, not just once, but multiple times as Rachel stated at the last board meeting.
A staff member brought it up in a monthly meeting beginning last fall (2011) that the incorrect meeting time and location was listed on the website. (The website stated meetings were held at Main at 6pm, when they were actually held at the East branch at 5:30.) During the January board meeting this fact was brought up by several of the public speakers and the information was corrected.
However, the committee meetings were not listed in March on the website. It is suspected that other provisions of the Open Meetings Act may have also been violated (such as the one that states meeting notices must be posted at the location of the meeting and one other location) but this has not been confirmed.
Regardless, it is true that the Open Meetings Act has been violated repeatedly this past year, and yes, Rachel did state that when the board president is the former state's attorney this fact is embarrassing, even unforgivable. "Unforgivable" was perhaps not the correct word choice and "inexcusable" should have been used instead.
After hearing about Daniel Ross receiving threats, it is important to SOL that the dialogue about the library and the library board is civil and does not incite people, so Rachel wishes she could change the adjective "unforgivable," to the more accurate "embarrassing." SOL's mission has been to inform the public about the current situation with the Rockford Public Library and has never been to be adversaries with the library director or board members.
Finally, there was also a wonderful guest column in Sunday's Rockford Register Star by Amy Orvis if you missed it.
Thursday, April 19, 2012
RPL purging books...
At the meeting Monday night several people expressed interest in holding a rally about the disappearing books to be held this Saturday. The idea of the rally will be to get community support for the issue and also to raise awareness. One individual called the news stations to give them the story about Frank taking books off shelves after hours. Channel 13 did a short piece on it this morning. You can watch the clip or read the article here. Unfortunately, the issue was truly not explored. It appears as if the station called the administration office and asked for them to respond to the allegations instead of investigating the issue themselves.
On a positive note, it was reported that the Budget and Finance committee meeting had some interesting parts... First, regarding the leasing of the top two floors of Main, Frank responded, "That's off the table...not that it was even on the table." Eiger-Lab and Embry Riddle were both interested in leasing the two floors, but apparently something has fallen through with both of these two.
Rock River's lease was also discussed. Rockton Center's lease (with taxes) is about $60,000 a year, but Rock River's is $100,000 so they are in the process of negotiating to see if they can get a lower rate.
Again, we'll need a strong showing at this month's board meeting. The meeting will be held on Monday, April 23 at 6pm at Main. (They changed the time at the last meeting from 5:30 to 6pm since some board members had a hard time getting to the meeting so soon after work. The Main location is temporary as the room at East is being used for another purpose that night.) Please try to come.
Also, don't forget about the rally on this Saturday, April 21. It'll be at the Main library from 10am-12pm. Feel free to bring signs about the problem of the disappearing books as that is the focus of the rally.
On a positive note, it was reported that the Budget and Finance committee meeting had some interesting parts... First, regarding the leasing of the top two floors of Main, Frank responded, "That's off the table...not that it was even on the table." Eiger-Lab and Embry Riddle were both interested in leasing the two floors, but apparently something has fallen through with both of these two.
Rock River's lease was also discussed. Rockton Center's lease (with taxes) is about $60,000 a year, but Rock River's is $100,000 so they are in the process of negotiating to see if they can get a lower rate.
Again, we'll need a strong showing at this month's board meeting. The meeting will be held on Monday, April 23 at 6pm at Main. (They changed the time at the last meeting from 5:30 to 6pm since some board members had a hard time getting to the meeting so soon after work. The Main location is temporary as the room at East is being used for another purpose that night.) Please try to come.
Also, don't forget about the rally on this Saturday, April 21. It'll be at the Main library from 10am-12pm. Feel free to bring signs about the problem of the disappearing books as that is the focus of the rally.
Friday, April 13, 2012
Meeting this Monday at Bookworm
Due to the problems of the massive weeding, the movement forward with the Sullivan Center, and the board's disregard of the Open Meetings Act, it seems advisable to get some of us together prior to the next board meeting to discuss our next steps.
For those who are able to come, we'll meet at the Bookworm Cafe at the East branch library on Monday, April 16 at 6pm. Please spread the word.
For those who are able to come, we'll meet at the Bookworm Cafe at the East branch library on Monday, April 16 at 6pm. Please spread the word.
Monday, April 2, 2012
Concern about Proposals Being Implemented
There has been some weeding done at the library. No big deal, right? All libraries do weeding. And the books go into the used book shop/ sale and then the money the used books bring in just goes back to the library, right?
What if that's not what was happening?
What if that's not what was happening?
There are many rumblings about Frank Novak himself doing the weeding. There is a policy in place about what criteria is used to weed books and the policy states that there should be a second opinion given before any books are discarded. There is concern that this procedure is not being followed as it was reported that Frank gave directions to throw books away without letting any staff or the Friends of the Library see. Why the secrecy? Was it because these were perfectly good books?
In the last month, representatives from businesses have been given tours of the top two floors of the Main library.
So the question many of us are asking is this: If the proposals were merely "theoretical" why the secret weeding? Why are there prospective renters looking at the second and third floors? Massive weeding and renting out the 2nd and 3rd floors are both objectives of the proposals. So many people are concerned that Frank is slinking ahead to work to get them implemented.
In the last month, representatives from businesses have been given tours of the top two floors of the Main library.
So the question many of us are asking is this: If the proposals were merely "theoretical" why the secret weeding? Why are there prospective renters looking at the second and third floors? Massive weeding and renting out the 2nd and 3rd floors are both objectives of the proposals. So many people are concerned that Frank is slinking ahead to work to get them implemented.
Saturday, March 24, 2012
The Importance of Monday Night's Meeting
The committee meeting that was rescheduled for yesterday did not take place, likely because it too would have been in violation of the Open Meetings Act. (Thankfully it seems like they may start taking that seriously.) The committee meeting's agenda was posted at the East branch, but interestingly it was a new agenda that did not contain the Sullivan Center, Rock River's lease, or Sunday hours. (Hmm... something is fishy.)
If you did not see the news, the library union took a no confidence vote in director Frank Novak's leadership. From the confidential proposals to the violations of the Open Meetings Act, it is clear that the direction Novak wants to take the library does not consider the needs and wants of the community. (The Open Meetings Act violations pre-date this blog. The meetings listed an incorrect time and location on the website and agendas are still frequently not posted on the website. Thankfully, Monday's agenda is posted.)
It is important we have a strong showing at Monday's board meeting. The community needs to stand with the dedicated library staff as they address the board on why they have no confidence in Frank Novak's leadership. Please come (and bring a friend!) this Monday, March 26 at 5:30pm at the East branch library in the Community Room. Hope to see you there!
If you did not see the news, the library union took a no confidence vote in director Frank Novak's leadership. From the confidential proposals to the violations of the Open Meetings Act, it is clear that the direction Novak wants to take the library does not consider the needs and wants of the community. (The Open Meetings Act violations pre-date this blog. The meetings listed an incorrect time and location on the website and agendas are still frequently not posted on the website. Thankfully, Monday's agenda is posted.)
It is important we have a strong showing at Monday's board meeting. The community needs to stand with the dedicated library staff as they address the board on why they have no confidence in Frank Novak's leadership. Please come (and bring a friend!) this Monday, March 26 at 5:30pm at the East branch library in the Community Room. Hope to see you there!
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