From jim.b.scheppke at state.or.us Thu Apr 9 12:17:16 2009 From: jim.b.scheppke at state.or.us (Jim Scheppke) Date: Thu, 09 Apr 2009 12:17:16 -0700 Subject: [PL-Directors] 30% General Fund Reduction Scenario for 2009-11 Message-ID: Dear Directors: As you know, the State of Oregon is facing an enormous problem in being able to balance the state budget in the upcoming 2009-11 biennium. The State Library has already had our budget hearing, but no decisions on our budget have been made. On May 15th, the State Economist will release his latest revenue forecast. The Ways and Means Committee of the Legislature is trying to prepare for the worst while they await the May forecast. On March 13th the Legislative Fiscal Office requested all agencies to submit plans to reduce the portion of their base budgets funded by the General Fund by 30%. The State Library?s base budget proposal for the 2009-11 biennium includes General Funds totaling $3,493,861. Included in that is $1,531,331 for the Ready to Read Grant program, an amount equivalent to $1 per child per year. Also included is $1,423,977 for Talking Book and Braille Services (TBABS). The remaining General Funds pay for one staff position in Library Development and a portion of staff costs in Library Administration. A 30% reduction to the base budget funded by the General Fund in 2009-11 would total $1,048,158. In the plan proposed by the State Library, the first $83,890 reduction would be made by shifting one staff position in Talking Book and Braille Services from General Funds to Other Funds, using accumulated interest from the TBABS Endowment Fund to fund this position in both years of the biennium. The remaining $964,268 reduction would be made by reducing funding for the Ready to Read Grant program by 63%, to 597,063, equivalent to 37? per child per year. This plan, which was due in the Legislative Fiscal Office on March 27th, is subject to approval by the State Library Board of Trustees at their meeting on April 20th. It is important for you to understand that this plan constitutes a ?worst-case scenario? at this point. Our plan, along with plans from all other state agencies that have General Funds as part of their budgets have been posted on the Legislature?s website (http://www.leg.state.or.us/comm/lfo/). The Ways and Means Committee is planning a series of hearings around the state in late April to take public input on the agency reduction plans. I encourage you to attend one of these meetings if you are concerned about reductions to the Ready to Read Grant Program. Attached to this email is a spreadsheet we have prepared that estimates every public library?s Ready to Read Grant for the upcoming 2009-10 fiscal year. There are two tabs on the spreadsheet, one for the current level funding of $1 per child per year and one for the ?worst-case scenario? funding at 37? per child per year. I have also attached an FAQ about this that hopefully will answer some of your questions. I hope you will consult the spreadsheet and the FAQ. If you still have questions, please feel free to call or email me. --> Jim Jim Scheppke, State Librarian Oregon State Library 250 Winter St. NE Salem, OR 97301 503-378-4367 (fax) 503-585-8059 jim.b.scheppke at state.or.us -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: Ready to Read Grant Estimates.xls Type: application/x-msexcel Size: 143360 bytes Desc: not available URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: 30% Reduction FAQ.doc Type: application/msword Size: 98816 bytes Desc: not available URL: From jim.b.scheppke at state.or.us Fri Apr 10 08:03:41 2009 From: jim.b.scheppke at state.or.us (Jim Scheppke) Date: Fri, 10 Apr 2009 08:03:41 -0700 Subject: [PL-Directors] Public Hearings on the State Budget Message-ID: Dear Directors: The Ways and Means Committee has announced their hearings on the state budget that I mentioned in my email yesterday. Here they are: **** The Joint Committee on Ways and Means will be holding a series of public hearings in different communities in Oregon to take public input on the agency proposed reduction lists, as posted below. April 20th ? Lincoln City Lincoln City Cultural Center 6:00 ? 9:00 p.m. April 21st ? Portland Portland Community College Cascade Campus Moriarty Arts and Humanities Building Auditorium 6:00 ? 9:00 p.m. April 23rd ? Salem State Capitol, Hearing Room F (Video links to communities TBD) 6:00 ? 9:00 p.m. April 29th ? Bend Location TBD 6:00 ? 9:00 p.m. April 30th ? Ashland Southern Oregon University Stevenson Union, Rogue River Room 6:00 ? 9:00 p.m. May 1st ? Eugene University of Oregon Prince Lucien Campbell Hall, Room 180 1:00 ? 4:00 p.m. **** If you are concerned about potential reductions to the Ready to Read Grant program, I encourage you to attend one of these meetings and inform the Committee about the importance of the program to your library. Better yet, have a trustee or other community member give testimony. Jim Scheppke, State Librarian Oregon State Library 250 Winter St. NE Salem, OR 97301 503-378-4367 (fax) 503-585-8059 jim.b.scheppke at state.or.us From jim.b.scheppke at state.or.us Mon Apr 13 16:41:48 2009 From: jim.b.scheppke at state.or.us (Jim Scheppke) Date: Mon, 13 Apr 2009 16:41:48 -0700 Subject: [PL-Directors] Official Announcement of Ways and Means Budget Hearings Message-ID: Dear Directors: Here is the official announcement of the Ways and Means Committee Public Hearings. They have added some meetings to the schedule (see below). Please plan to attend or send someone if you are concerned about reductions to the Ready to Read Grant program in 2009-11. --> Jim *************** Ways and Means Public Hearings Planned in Eight Cities Across Oregon Budget Information Now Available at www.Oregonbudget.gov (SALEM) ? Senator Margaret Carter and Representative Peter Buckley -- co-chairs of the Legislature?s Joint Ways and Means Committee ? announced today they will hold eight public budget hearings around the state over the last two weeks of April. The hearings will begin in Lincoln City on April 20 (see full schedule below) and will include stops in Pendleton, Ontario, Portland, Bend, Eugene and Ashland, as well as a hearing at the State Capitol where participants from Hood River will be able to participate via video conferencing. Members of the committee will also stop in Klamath Falls during their drive from the Bend hearing on April 29 on their way to Jackson County the following day. While there, they intend to fan out across Klamath Falls and meet individually with local citizens as they go about their day. ?We wanted to try something a bit different. So in Klamath Falls, rather that a formal public hearing, we?ll walk around town, visiting restaurants, City Hall and local businesses and ask people their opinion on the challenges facing us as we work our way out of this economic recession,? said Buckley (D-Ashland).??We want to hear what services are critical to folks in rural Oregon, as well as what matters most to the people in our larger population centers.?So please take this chance to come tell us how you feel.? ?The budget is not just a collection of spreadsheets. It?s a living, breathing document that has tremendous impact on the daily lives of the people our state? Carter (D-Portland) said. ?Oregonians from every corner of the state will have the opportunity to let us know what is important to them. From the Pacific to the Snake and from the Willamette Valley to the Columbia River Gorge we bring the budget process to the people we represent.? At each one of the public hearing, attendees will also receive a survey instrument, allowing them to make choices about proposed service cuts, potential revenue increases and other critical budget issues. Public hearings will be held 5:30 to 8 p.m. in Lincoln City on April 20, Portland from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. on April 21 and 5:30 p.m. Salem on April 23. The Salem hearing will include testimony from individuals in Hood River and McMinnville, who will go before the committee via video link. On Saturday, April 25, members of the Joint Ways and Means Committee will?be in Pendleton and Ontario to hear from local residents. The following week, the committee will hold official public hearings from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. in Bend on April 29 and Ashland on April 30 and a 1 to 4 p.m. hearing in Eugene May 1. Also this week, Buckley and Carter unveiled oregonbudget.gov, a new simplified internet address where Oregonians can find information on the state budget. The budget information, including proposals for potential service cuts provided by each state agency, was first released last week on the internet website of the Legislative Fiscal Office. ?While the information itself hasn?t changed, the new easy-to-remember web address will help more Oregonians connect to the budget process. Anyone in Oregon with a computer and an internet connection can go to www.oregonbudget.gov and see how the state?s $4 billion budget deficit will affect them,? Carter said. ?This is part of our efforts to have an open and transparent process. We want to make sure everyone knows the numbers we are working with, how we are constructing the budget and how we are responding to the needs and concerns expressed to us by Oregonians,? said Buckley. ?We want public input. The public hearings and the website are two ways we can meet that goal of openness. We know working our way out of the recession means we need a balanced approach. What we need now is public input on how to achieve that balance.? The schedule is as follows: Monday, April 20 Lincoln City Cultural Center 540 NE Hwy 101 Lincoln City 5:30 to 8 p.m. Tuesday, April 21 Portland Community College -Cascade Campus? Auditorium, Moriority Building 705 N. Killingsworth Street 6 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. Thursday, April 23 Oregon State Capitol Hearing Room F 900 Court Street NE Salem 5:30 to 8 p.m. Including Hood River via video link? Saturday, April 25 Pendleton Oregon National Guard Armory 2100 N.W. 56th Drive 10 a.m. to noon Saturday, April 25 Ontario Treasure Valley Community College 650 College Boulevard 3 to 5 p.m. (Mountain View or ontario time) Wednesday, April 29 Central Oregon Community College, Bend Cascades Hall Room 117 5:30 to 8 p.m.? Thursday, April 30 Southern Oregon University, Ashland Rogue River Room Stevenson Union 1250 Siskiyou Boulevard 5:30 p.m.?to?8:00 p.m. Friday, May 1 University of Oregon, Eugene Prince Lucien Campbell Hall (PLC 180) 1415 Kincaid Street 1 to 4 p.m. From jim.b.scheppke at state.or.us Tue Apr 28 11:42:33 2009 From: jim.b.scheppke at state.or.us (Jim Scheppke) Date: Tue, 28 Apr 2009 11:42:33 -0700 Subject: [PL-Directors] Partnership with Social Security In-Reply-To: <49ECD087.9020201@oltn.odl.state.ok.us> Message-ID: Dear Directors: The Social Security Administration is reaching out to public libraries in hopes that you might choose to partner with them on some new initiatives. I have been asked to pass along this information for your consideration. Please read the message below that I received from the President of the Chief Officers of State Library Agencies. --> Jim ******* Social Security is involved in a wide variety of new and important initiatives. They have asked libraries throughout the country to partner with them to share information about these initiatives with the American public. * Specifically, they have asked us to help promote their new national campaign Retire Online. It?s So Easy! This campaign features a new online retirement application that can be completed in as little as 15 minutes. The application is available online at www.socialsecurity.gov , and can easily be completed at any of our library computers. A brochure on the subject can be viewed at www.socialsecurity.gov/pubs/10522.pdf . * In May 2009, as a result of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, Social Security will distribute a one-time payment of $250 to over 55 million Social Security and Supplemental Security Income beneficiaries. A leaflet which discusses this in greater detail is available online at www.socialsecurity.gov/pubs/10519.pdf . * Later this year, Social Security will be launching their third annual Mother?s Day and Father?s Day campaigns promoting the Extra Help with Medicare prescription drug plan costs. The agency will keep us updated as to when these new outreach materials are available. Partnering with Social Security to promote these initiatives will benefit the populations we serve. One way you can do this is by linking to the agency?s website at www.socialsecurity.gov . Publishing articles about these initiatives in your newsletters or other publications is another method of getting this important information out. Finally, if you would like copies of the retire online or one-time payment brochures, or you need additional information from Social Security please e-mail Carolyn Houston at Carolyn.Houston at ssa.gov or call her at 410-965-7603. Please indicate the quantity desired (in units of 100) and where the publications should be shipped. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From mayberry_mary_l at oslmac.osl.state.or.us Wed Apr 29 10:51:35 2009 From: mayberry_mary_l at oslmac.osl.state.or.us (Mary Mayberry) Date: Wed, 29 Apr 2009 10:51:35 -0700 Subject: [PL-Directors] meeting at the coast Message-ID: <3C82C9BD-B7A1-4950-BCEB-9B7E908D8F71@oslmac.osl.state.or.us> This is just a reminder about the Public Library Director Meeting to be held here at the coast in May. On Friday, May 29th, you will be hosted by the fabulous new Seaside Public Library, and on Saturday, May 30th, you will take a small jaunt down the coast and be hosted by the equally fabulous new Tillamook County Library and Sara Charlton. I have already heard from several of you regarding your attendance, but I need to hear from the rest of you. So, please e-mail me so I can figure out details, plan lunch, reserve sun, and other stuff. I will be sending you all details, (agendas, maps, lunch menus, and stuff later as I hear from more of you). If any of you want, let me know I can mail you a Seaside Visitor's Guide to help you determine where to stay and what to do for fun (although I can't imagine anything more fun than a Library Director's meeting.) Thanks, Reita -- Reita Fackerell Seaside Public Library 1131 Broadway Seaside OR 97138 (503) 738-6742 -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: