Letter from CCL President Tim Karas | Council of Chief Librarians

CCL President, Tim Karas

Hello, we have made it to mid-terms. I am sure your libraries are abuzz with activity. This is the fuel that propels us forward.

At the October CCL Executive Board Meeting Evelyn Lord, Head Librarian, at Laney College was elected to the CCL Board. She will be representing the San Francisco/East Bay Region. Please join me in congratulating Evelyn.

Many Colleges are finalizing resource allocations for the academic year. There have been questions about Instructional Equipment and Library Materials (IELM) funding. Once again, the State budget included funding to support Colleges to purchase instructional equipment and library materials. We should be proud of this achievement, because several versions of the proposed budget did not include support for instructional equipment and library materials. However, there is an important distinction from previous years. There is a single allocation for physical plant (deferred maintenance) and IELM with local flexibility on splitting the funding. Within IELM library materials are not allocated a specific percentage; but are identified as on of the major categories that can be supported by these funds. As traditional, it is a local decision on the specific distribution of funds. This is an important source of funding for libraries as many depended on this funding to underwrite a majorly of their collection budgets.

In a further development College’s are being asked to submit five-year projections for instructional equipment and library materials. This report is due to the Chancellor’s Office in December 2014. The purpose of this document is to demonstrate the large unmet funding needs of the system. This type of document can be used with the Department of Finance to justify funding requests. It is similar to a process used by facilities to demonstrate resource needs.

Below are links from the Chancellor’s Office website listing the FY14/15 allocations, revised guidelines, and the 5 year instructional support plan.

FP 14-15: 2014-15 Physical Plant and Instruction Equipment Certification and Allocations (pdf)

Later this Fall you should receive information regarding the Annual Data Survey. This is a critical survey, which informs the Chancellor’s Office and the public on the use of our facilities, collections, and programs. CCL is working with the Chancellor’s Office to have college data from previous Annual Data Surveys aggregated and made available for examination and download.

Finally, please mark your calendars for the annual Deans, Directors and Department Chairs meeting in Sacramento on April 9-10, 2015. We are planning this free 2-day session to provide an exciting, valuable, and interesting program. We are here for you and want to support our collection of libraries in the best manner possible.

Please don't hesitate to contact me or one of the executive board members if you have ideas, questions, or solutions for the needs of community college libraries.

I recognize that our system is filled with passionate and caring professionals who want to continue making a difference for our students. I look forward to working together to make that difference. Thank you.

All the best,

Tim, CCL President