NEW: Preservation grants for collection assessment! Apply now!!

California Preservation Assessment Project (CPAP) Guidelines for Application

Funding: 10 awards of collection preservation assessments in FY 2011/12

Application deadline: Friday, January 27, 2012 (and, if additional awards are available, Friday, March 30, 2012)

The California Preservation Assessment Project, managed by the California Preservation Program, is designed to help small and mid-sized libraries and archives plan improvements in care for their permanent and historical collections. All institutions (libraries, archives, museums, parks, and historical societies) in California with library and archival collections and that provide free public access are eligible to apply. Permanent and historical collections appropriate for assessment include books and journals, archives and manuscripts, prints and photographs, moving images, sound recordings, architectural and cartographic records, and digital materials.

A preservation assessment of the collections, including scope and scale of preservation needs as well as recommendations, is an essential first step to create a plan for enhanced collection care. Further, preservation assessments often are a required step preliminary to preservation grant funding. Consequently, CPAP was created to assist California institutions plan programs and projects to meet preservation needs of their collections.

For application and selection process, please see attached or visit: http://www.calpreservation.org/services/cpap.html

A to Z Databases update

Many thanks to the libraries who participated in the Product Review for A to Z Databases.  The final review with scores and vendor responses is on our website under Products --> Product Reviews.  Alternatively, you can download it directly using this link: http://www.califa.org/uploadfiles/AtoZreview.doc

Please note that a trial is still available until December 1, and there are threshold discounts for anyone who signs up before December 15 (to be billed in January).  The trial info is on our site - califa.org-->members-->internal documents (you will need to sign in with your Califa login and password).  All our trial information is on that Members Only page.  If you would like a quote, or need more info, please let me know.

Finally, many of you had questions after the webinars, and Christine sent the following answers, as well as some updates on changes that were just made. 

First, the changes as of November 16 (from Christine at A to Z):

I haven’t typed up an official press release, but wanted to let you know that we have made these changes last night and are now in AtoZdatabases.com:

-          Added 8 million email addresses in the detailed business database.

-          Now display up to 100 executives in the detailed business listing.

-          Added the capability to search for interests/hobbies/lifestyles within the 220 million residential database.  There are 135 categories to select by.

-          We are on track to have the mobile application done in January 2012. 

And second, the responses to the questions that came up in the webinar (again, from Christine):

  I wanted to attach some information from questions that came up over the last two webinars.  If you can forward onto those who registered with you or out to the whole group, I would appreciate it.   While we are adding this additional language to our homepage on New Businesses, New Movers and New Homeowners, I wanted everyone to know how we gather the information.  I have attached it below.

-            There was a question about the email addresses that we will be adding to the database.  I have been told there are no generic company emails, just individual addresses.

-           I mentioned how the email addresses will be a view only.  I asked a bit further about this.  Right now this is an executive decision and will see if this will change.   I did confirm that you would be able to highlight the data to paste it into a spreadsheet/email.  I will let you know more as we make it available.    

-           There was a question about being able to search by fax numbers.  I attempted this with the group and it didn’t work.   When I discussed with our programmer, I was told the intent is to allow this.  They will look into and change so that patrons will be able to search by fax numbers.

New Businesses

New Businesses are acquired through multiple sources including state Secretary of State filings and new phone connect records.  When a business is in the process of establishing itself, state laws require that documents be filed with the Secretary of State’s office in that state.  These records are made available to the general public and are obtained and incorporated into the New Business Database.  New phone connect information is provided by local phone companies whenever a new phone number is connected.  Each week, these two sources are combined into the New Business Database.

New Movers

New Movers are acquired through multiple sources including register of deeds records and new phone connect records.  When someone purchases a new home, the transaction is recorded at the local county register of deeds’ office.  In the majority of states, these records are made available to the general public and are obtained and incorporated into the New Mover Database.  New phone connect information is provided by local phone companies whenever a new phone number is connected.  Approximately 82% of the records in the New Mover Database are sourced by telephone connect information with the remaining 82% coming from deed filing records.  On average, records in the new mover file have been in their homes for 3 to 12 weeks when they are made available to customers with most being there for between 30 and 60 days.

New Homeowners

New Homeowner information is provided by county register of deeds offices in most of the 50 United States.  As properties are bought and sold, the deed for the property, containing the purchaser’s name, the sale price and sale date, has to be recorded by the county government.  In most states, these records are considered public information and are made available to the general public.  However, the state law in several states does not require the recorder’s office to make sales related information available to the public, including the sales price and sales date of the property.  As a result, the number of new homeowner records in these states may be low.  In addition, each county reports their deed information on a different schedule.  Some counties report every week, some counties report once a month and some counties report whenever it is most convenient for them.  This can result in a wide range of purchase dates being made available each week and fluctuations in counts in each county from week to week.

congrats to SFPL

Congrats to SFPL as one of the 12 libraries selected nationwide!!!!

 

The San Francisco Public Library along with its partners, Bay Area Video Coalition, California Academy of Sciences, and KQED, will begin planning for a new Teen Center/Learning Lab, which will include both physical spaces as well as a shared virtual platform. The planning process will engage numerous organizations and youth leaders in a series of workshops and pilot activities, creating a vision for participatory learning, a citywide model for collaboration, a conceptual design for a Teen Center, and a sustainability plan. By leveraging the expertise and resources of four leading organizations in the city, the library’s goal is to bridge the digital divide in San Francisco’s youth community; promote digital media literacy; convert digital media consumers to producers and media makers and innovators; develop leaders in civic engagement, social change, and community; create a sustainable partnership model; and prepare youth for the technology job market of the future.

Legislative Update

TO:               CLA MEMBERS, SYSTEMS, NETWORK CONTACTS

FROM:           Mike Dillon, CLA Lobbyist
                    Christina DiCaro, CLA Lobbyist

RE:                 News From the Capitol


LAO REVENUE FORECAST COULD MEAN “TRIGGER CUTS”

Today the State’s respected non-partisan Legislative Analyst released his
highly anticipated revenue forecast that will be used to evaluate whether or
not the so-called “Budget Trigger” will be pulled in the New Year. As you will
recall from our previous memos to the field, the “Budget Trigger,” AB 121
(statutes of 2011) was created during the 2011 Budget negotiations to serve as
a balancing mechanism should $4 billion in anticipated state revenues not
materialize. (The trigger was also seen as a way to assure bond holders and
investors that California was taking a serious approach to solving its chronic
Budget challenges.) The trigger is comprised of two different “Tiers” and cuts
to programs delineated in those tiers would be imposed if revenues lagged.
What is at stake – and now very much at risk – for public libraries is close
to $16 million in state library funding that could be completely eliminated
should the “Tier 1 trigger” be pulled by the Governor.

Under the AB 121 legislation: “No later than December 15, 2011, the Director
of Finance shall forecast General Fund revenues for the 2011-12 fiscal year
and shall determine whether that revenue forecast or the Legislative Analyst’s
November 2011 General Fund forecast is higher. The Director of Finance shall
notify the Joint Legislative Budget Committee of the determination and the
amount of the higher forecast. If the higher revenue forecast determined
pursuant to subdivision (a) projects General Fund revenues for the 2011-12
fiscal year of less than $87,452,500,000, the Director of Finance shall do all
of the following on or after January 1, 2011…” What then follows is a list of
the items that could be cut effective January 1, including all remaining state
funding for library services – thus eliminating all funding for the CLSA, PLF,
and literacy programs. Federal funds would also be seriously at risk.

As you can imagine, the Legislative Analyst’s Office forecast (and the soon-
to-be revealed Department of Finance’s forecast) is a complex assessment using
factors such as wages, dividends, auto sales, mortgage rates, housing permits,
inflation, unemployment, personal income, and Capital gains. In the LAO’s
report released today, they note that the “economic recovery has been slower
than expected” and they project “continuation of this slow, arduous recovery,
with California’s unemployment rate remaining above 10 percent through mid
2014 and above 8 percent through the end of 2017.” The Analyst expects
revenues to be approximately $3 billion short of the anticipated $4 billion
figure associated with the trigger, and compounded by an additional revenue
shortfall of $10 billion for Budget year 2012-13 (mostly due to K-14 education
guarantees and repaying the $2 billion in property taxes borrowed from local
government in 2009) – leaving the state “with a year-end deficit of about $13
billion, absent any additional budgetary corrections.” The LAO also assumes
that the state will be unable to capture savings in areas previously scored
for savings such as in Medi-Cal and redevelopment (currently being litigated)
and in departmental efficiencies.

Thus, the LAO assumes that all “Tier One” reductions (public libraries, UC and
CSU budgets, In Home Support Services, preschool funding, developmental
services, etc. totaling about $600 million) would be enacted, and then 3/4ths
of the “Tier Two” cuts would be implemented, which would require K-12 schools
to make reductions in school bus transportation, shorten the school year, as
well as a reduction to the community colleges budget. The LAO then adds:

“The ultimate magnitude of the trigger cuts will be determined by the
administration after it compares our revenue forecast with its December
forecast. The higher of the two forecasts will be used to determine the level
of reductions. (The administration may implement less than the maximum amount
of trigger cuts. Our forecast, however, assumes the maximum amount of trigger
cuts based on our forecasted revenue levels.)”


Any Hope?

On October 27, we had a lengthy meeting with the Director of the Department of
Finance, Ana Matosantos to plead our case, asking her and the Governor to
“save libraries from the trigger.” We explained to her in great detail the
critical need to maintaining the funding for the CLSA, literacy program, and
PLF. Subsequent to that meeting, we have also been meeting with key staff for
the leadership and Budget Committees, inquiring as to the options before the
Governor and Legislature. We discussed the particulars in some length at our
presentation in Pasadena last Friday at the CLA Conference, but it is
important to note that while the “trigger” could be pulled, there may also be
some alternatives that could be explored between the Governor and the
leadership. We will be working very hard to ensure that library funding is a
part of those discussions and we will keep you updated as talks progress.
Certainly revenue increases are also not off the table, with the LAO’s report
suggesting: “Given the potential consequences from the types of expenditure
reductions discussed above, the Legislature will also want to consider revenue
increases. For instance, the Governor has stated his desire to have certain
increases in as yet unspecified taxes on the November 2012 ballot. We would
recommend the Legislature continue to review tax expenditure programs and
reconsider various proposals….”

Write the Governor

Please take a moment today to write the Governor and request that he spare
public libraries from the “trigger.” Please cite examples of what the
elimination of the CLSA, the literacy program, and the PLF would mean to your
library. He will need to receive hundreds of letters as soon as possible for
it to have the desired impact. Thank you for your help.

The Honorable Edmund G. Brown, Jr.
Governor, State of California
State Capitol, Room 1173
Sacramento, CA. 95814

Or fax your letter to the Governor: (916) 558-3160.

For additional information on how to cc’ your letters to the legislative
leadership, please visit the CLA website (cla-net.org) and click on our
November 8th memo.


Carol Simmons
Executive Director
California Library Association
2471 Flores Street
San Mateo, CA  94403
650-376-0886
650-539-2341 (fax)
csimmons@cla-net.org
www.cla-net.org

TO: Cooperative Systems 

FROM: Gerry Maginnity 

I need your help in distributing this information.  Please distribute far and wide. If you know anyone that might be interested they can call me for more info.

The Library Development Services Bureau of the California State Library is recruiting  Library Programs Consultants (LPC) to provide leadership to California libraries. In order to do this we need to establish a list of qualified candidates to fill vacancies over the next year or so.  

While our most immediate need is in the area of children and youth services, we hope to be able to fill other needs over time. Basically, Library Programs Consultants provide leadership to libraries on the creation and coordination of statewide and local library programs and develop, review, analyze, and monitor grant programs.

Below are some great stories of what we’re doing for California libraries. Please consider joining our team!

• Develop what libraries will look like in 10 years.  What new programs or services will meet the changing needs of California communities?  We monitor trends and community needs to create cutting-edge services and programs to keep our libraries vital.
• Work with and be inspired by library staff, volunteers and supporters who are all committed to ensuring their local libraries are a place of pride and a community center for learning, gathering and sharing.
• Help bring statewide summer reading programs to over half-a-million people.
• Cross-pollinate great ideas and programs from one part of the state to another.  Working from a statewide vantage point allows you to share resources and best practices throughout CA and help libraries collaborate and mentor each other. 
• Put your passion for libraries into action.  You get to work with all kinds of libraries in all kinds of communities as well as explore potential partnerships with a wide range of public and private organizations. Plus you get to design creative, forward-thinking initiatives that support and inspire library innovation statewide.
• Be lucky enough to work with a remarkable group of library professionals who provide consumer health information and serve everyone from families with very young children to midlife adults and older.
• Help gather the statistical data that illustrate how CA public libraries are providing a wide variety of services everyday to millions of registered borrowers.
• Partner with national organizations and programs to bring additional resources to California libraries and the communities they serve.
• Help develop information resources and services for California tribes, encourage partnerships between rural public libraries and tribal libraries, and promote historically accurate and culturally sensitive resources for all communities.
• Be a part of the California Center for the Book and participate in the annual National Book Festival in Washington, DC.

CLA update

  
TO:                  CLA MEMBERS/ SYSTEMS/ NETWORK CONTACTS

FROM:           Mike Dillon, CLA Lobbyist
                      Christina DiCaro, CLA Lobbyist
 RE:                News From The Capitol
 

LIBRARY FUNDING IN JEOPARDY – YOUR HELP IS NEEDED!

“Spare Public Libraries From the Trigger!”

As CLA members and library supporters are aware, the 2011-12 Budget presented some very tough challenges for three major library programs – the California Library Services Act, the Public Library Foundation, and the state literacy program.  These programs continue to be in jeopardy, and now CLA needs your help again!  

In January, the Governor’s Budget proposed eliminating all state funding for these three programs ($30.4 million), but through heavy lobbying efforts and a strong grass roots showing from the library community, we were able to retain half of that funding ($15.2 million) to keep the three programs operational, by compromising with the legislature and Governor’s office. 

You will recall that, as part of the 2011-12 Budget agreement, the legislature adopted and the Governor signed AB 121, the so-called “Budget Trigger” bill.  This measure states that: 

“No later December 15, 2011, the Director of Finance shall forecast General Fund revenues for the 2011-12 fiscal year and shall determine whether that revenue forecast or the Legislative Analyst’s November 2011 General Fund forecast is higher. The Director of Finance shall notify the Joint Legislative Budget Committee of the determination and the amount of the higher forecast.  If the higher revenue forecast determined pursuant to subdivision (a) projects General Fund revenues for the 2011-12 fiscal year of less than $87,452,500,000, the Director of Finance shall do all of the following on or after January 1, 2011:…..”

What then follows the above language is a list of the items that could be cut, effective January 1, including all remaining state funding for library services (could zero out the $15.2 million), and thus, there would be no more state funding for the CLSA, PLF, or literacy.  The proposed public library cuts are on a list of reductions along with major cuts to UC and CSU, In Home Support Services, and juvenile justice programs, among others.

In a meeting we had last week with the Director of the Department of Finance she asserted that the legislation, AB 121, gives the Department very little flexibility and “wiggle room.”  In subsequently speaking with several key legislative staff members, they acknowledge that for groups (e.g. libraries) to be spared the impacts of the “trigger,” after the first of the year, they would have to be part of a larger, alternative compromise proposal.  If the trigger is pulled, there may be other options, including asking the legislature or the Governor to replace the $15.2 million during next year’s Budget deliberations.  For any of these efforts to work, pressure must be brought to bear by our strong grass roots library supporters.  While we will be working with legislators and Budget staff in the coming weeks and months to try to identify options and solutions, we need your help now.

We are asking CLA members and library supporters to do the following today:

1)    Write the Governor – mail a hard copy letter, or fax it, or email him

a)    cc’ the four legislative leaders on the letter you prepared for the Governor

b)    cc’ your own legislators on these letters

In your letters, please inform the Governor’s office that the cuts will have:

1)     Devastating impacts on local library services (Cite specifics.)

2)     Will dismantle the CLSA – the state’s cooperative loaning program to the point where libraries won’t share resources anymore and non-residents will either not be allowed to use services or will use them at significant cost (e.g. library cards of $75 or more)

3)    20,000 adult literacy learners may have nowhere else to turn for services.

4)    Approximately $15 million in federal funding – money that also funds the Braille and Talking Book library – could be lost. 

While we know that the holidays are busy times for everyone, we urge you to take a moment today to write the Governor (cc’ the leaders) and encourage him to “Spare Public Libraries From The Trigger.”   Please don’t wait until after the first of the year – that will, most assuredly, be too late.

Mail your letter to:
The Honorable Edmund G. Brown, Jr.
Governor, State of California
State Capitol, Room, 1173
Sacramento, CA.  95814

Or fax your letter to the Governor:  (916) 558-3160, or for instructions on how to email the Governor, please go to www.gov.ca.gov and click on the “contact” section.

CC’s to the following

The Honorable Darrell Steinberg                                     
Senate President pro Tempore
California State Senate
State Capitol, Room 205                                                    
Sacramento, CA.  95814
Or fax:  (916) 323-2263      

The Honorable Bob Dutton
Senate Minority Leader
California State Senate                                                     
State Capitol, Room 305
Sacramento, CA.  95814                                       
Or fax:  (916) 327-2272

The Honorable John A. Perez                                          
Speaker of the California State Assembly                     
State Capitol, Room 219                                                    
Sacramento, CA.  95814                                                   
Or fax:  (916) 319-2146      

The Honorable Connie Conway
Assembly Republican Leader
State Capitol, Room 3104
Sacramento, CA.  95814   
Or fax:  (916) 319-2134

Thank you for your help!