Directors from a broad cross section
of Michigan academic libraries met on April 8, 1999 at the University of
Detroit Mercy to discuss issues of mutual concern and to explore the
possibilities for creating an overall organizational structure for
Michigan academic libraries. The meeting was convened as a result of a
less formal gathering of academic library leaders which was held at the
fall Michigan Library Association conference. The April meeting was
planned by a committee consisting of two representatives each from the
independent colleges and universities, the community colleges, and the
state supported universities.
The formation meeting had four stated purposes:
- To have the frank discussions that
would allow the group to find its collective voice and become proactive
on common ground issues
- To agree on the key initiatives that MALC believes will make a difference
- To begin the action planning that will move those initiative forward
- To further clarify MALC’s mission, values, and goals
Facilitator, Penny Griffith, was used
to help identify aspirations and impediments to move the group to
consensus on action. The beginning task included assessing current
reality and an environmental scan, in terms of what was working/what was
missing. As a result of these discussions, the group compiled a list of
thirty-five outside forces impacting libraries. The forces ranged from
rising costs, the consolidation of vendors, and the impact of K-12
education to the ownership of intellectual property, and Y2K. After
further discussion, the most significant trends and developments
identified were:
- Technology and the pace of technological change
- Distance learning
- Increasing capabilities of the web
- The market place, competition and the new for-profits
- Demographics, especially the growth of non-traditional students
- Collection balance, the shift from print to electronic
- Politics: state leadership and funding
An additional task was to “see
success,” the vision piece of the day. Images of the future were tested
from an outside perspective (student, faculty, taxpayer, president) with
images ranging from very specific to broad. Gradually, the shape of a
strong state organization and effective voice began to form where this
body would:
- be a coordinating body for academic
libraries that works closely with MLC (Michigan Library Consortium),
MLA (Michigan Library Association), and the Library of Michigan and acts
as an advocate for academic libraries in Michigan
- establish credibility with the state by presenting a unified voice and maximizing joint resources
- have a structure (governance body) in place to offer funding and incentives to build and share resources and services
- be an effective, dynamic
organization that maximizes student and faculty access to information
resources and minimizes costs, is flexible and adaptable to change and
ready to move on opportunities.
Once the group had come to agreement
on organizational shape and purpose, MALC tackled the common ground
initiatives needed to bring the vision into reality. These were
identified as:
- strong organization
- open access
- cooperative purchasing
- linked catalogs
- document delivery
In general discussion by the whole
group, the first was judged to be the most immediately important. There
was consensus on the basics:
- each institution should be willing to commit dollars and times
- a pool of operating funds will be needed to cover expenses
- WMU would be interim fiscal agent
- structure: council of six composed of two members each of the three groups
- terms of office: two, staggered terms
- each of the three organizations should choose their council representatives
- actual formation of organization would occur in November
- action teams will be formed to address each of the initiatives
- present Planning Committee will plan and facilitate November meeting
- actions teams will provide the content for the November meeting
Action team leaders were identified as:
- Strong organization: Margaret Auer, David Jensen
- Open access: Ann Walaskay, Larry Zysk
- Cooperative purchasing: Bob Houbeck, Bettina Meyer
- Linked catalogs: Kevin Brandon, Randy Dykhuis
- Document delivery: John Kondelik, Tim Richards
The charge to action team leaders was
to form a committee and develop recommendations which included short
and long term goals, action steps and outcome measures (evidence of
success).
Click below to download the Executive Committee Membership History.
