Channel Weekly, Vol. 16, No. 24, March 27, 2014

1. Act 157 amends library county payments to consolidated counties
2. Early literacy symposium a success
3. FCC holds workshop on rural broadband
4. BadgerLink Resource of the Week: Copyright and BadgerLink resources
5. Website of the Week: Geography from Space
6. Calendar
=================================================

1. ACT 157 AMENDS LIBRARY COUNTY PAYMENTS TO CONSOLIDATED COUNTIES

On Thursday, March 27, Governor Scott Walker signed Assembly Bill 288, relating to municipal and consolidated library funding. The bill is now 2013 Act 157, and the governor's memo describes the bill as eliminating an inequality "in library service by allowing counties to bill adjacent counties for services provided regardless of whether that county has a consolidated public library."

The change to Wisconsin Stats. 43.12, "County payment for library services," resulted from an amendment to the original bill proposed by 56th Assembly District Representative Dave Murphy to address regional issues, but was amended after the library community raised concerns. A committee appointed by WLA President Krista Ross developed recommendations to address those concerns and submitted them to Rep. Murphy's office for consideration.

The Wisconsin Legislative Council described the development of the final bill in a memo published February 27:
Current Law: Under current law, a county that does not maintain a consolidated public library for the county must make a library service payment to each public library in the county, and to each public library in an adjacent county, for use of library services by residents of the county who are not residents of a municipality that maintains a public library.

2013 Assembly Bill 288: Assembly Bill 288 (the bill) provides that a county must make a library service payment to each public library in an adjacent county, whether or not it maintains a consolidated public library for the county.

Assembly Substitute Amendment 1: Under Assembly Substitute Amendment 1, before a county that maintains a consolidated public library may bill an adjacent county for a library service payment, the county must provide a notice of its intent to bill. In addition, the substitute amendment provides that a county that maintains a consolidated public library that bills an adjacent county for a library service payment may be billed by any adjacent county for a modified library service payment. The amount of the modified library service payment is based on the number of library loans made by the billing library to residents who are not residents of a municipality that contains a branch of the consolidated library.

The bill history, including links to the amendment, can be found here: http://docs.legis.wisconsin.gov/2013/proposals/ab288
2013 Act 157 is available here: http://docs.legis.wisconsin.gov/2013/related/acts/157

Currently, only two consolidated county libraries have previously requested payments from adjacent counties. The DPI's Division for Libraries and Technology (DLT) has notified those two counties of the need to notify libraries in adjacent counties by April 1, 2014, if they intend to request payments from those counties under the revised s. 43.12. The new law allows that libraries so notified may then bill the consolidated county, but only for service to residents of municipalities of the consolidated county who live in municipalities without a library or library branch.

Changes to Chapter 43 of the Wisconsin Statutes will not be compiled by the Legislative Reference Bureau until later this spring; by mid-April, the Division for Libraries and Technology will amend its instructions and FAQs on county payments to libraries to reflect the changes and announce the availability of the new documentation in Channel Weekly.


2. EARLY LITERACY SYMPOSIUM A SUCCESS

The 2014 Growing Wisconsin Readers Early Literacy Symposium took place on Friday, March 21 in Stevens Point and was hosted by DPIs Public Library Development Team. Over 200 public librarians, child care providers, PK-3 educators, and other early childhood advocates engaged in a daylong dialog about young children, technology, and early literacy inspired by five distinct presentations. Check out the "Symposium Spotlight" posts on the Growing Wisconsin Readers blog to learn more about the topics discussed: http://blog.growingwisconsinreaders.org/ View the Growing Wisconsin Readers website to review materials and handouts from the presenters: http://growingwisconsinreaders.org/librarians#symposium


3. FCC HOLDS WORKSHOP ON RURAL BROADBAND

On March 19, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) held a Rural Broadband Workshop. According to the FCC's website, the workshop "focused on the importance of broadband in rural America and included presentations designed to elicit information to help develop ‘ideas about how to structure experiments that will inform our policy decisions regarding the deployment of next generation networks in rural, high-cost areas.'"

The workshop featured a panel discussion on how broadband deployment and adoption affects an area's economic, healthcare, and, most importantly, educational benefits. The panelists also discussed the role that states play, and how states will meet the challenges they face in providing broadband to rural areas.

To view the workshop and for more information click here: http://www.fcc.gov/events/rural-broadband-workshop.


4. BADGERLINK RESOURCE OF THE WEEK

Do you have questions about copyright and BadgerLink resources? Go to http://www.badgerlink.net/help/copyright to review how licensed BadgerLink materials can be used.


5. Website of the Week

Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum -- http://airandspace.si.edu/explore-and-learn/geography-from-space/index.cfm -- In mid-November of each year, as part of Geography Awareness Week, the National Air and Space Museum hosts the Geography from Space quiz. This webpage features links to quizzes from years past so visitors can test their geography skills.


6. CALENDAR

April 2, 2014 – Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA) Advisory Committee Meeting, DeForest

April 30-May 2, 2014 – Wisconsin Association of Academic Librarians (WAAL) annual conference, Wisconsin Dells
May 7-9, 2014 – Wisconsin Association of Public Libraries (WAPL) annual conference, Sheboygan

May 16, 2014 – Council on Library and Network Development (COLAND) meeting, Madison

May 16, 2014 -- Special Services Consultants Meeting, Madison

October 2, 2014 – Annual Youth Services Liaisons Meeting, DeForest

October 3, 2014 – Annual System Continuing Education and Certification Consultants Meeting, DeForest

November 19, 2014 - Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA) Advisory Committee Meeting, DeForest

==================================================
To access previous issues of Channel Weekly, or to subscribe or unsubscribe,
go to: http://channel.dpi.wi.gov/
==================================================


Roslyn M. Wise
Editor, Channel Weekly
Department of Public Instruction
Division for Libraries and Technology
PO Box 7841
Madison, WI 53707-7841
Phone: (608) 266-6439
FAX: (608) 267-9207
For questions about this information, contact Roslyn Wise (608) 266-6439