On August 15, 2019, 84 people from the NEKLS region attended the 2019 Annual Assembly. Here are a few photos from the day.

Annual Business Meeting

During the business meeting, 60 representatives voted to approve the 2020 System Budget. Here is a copy of the 2020 System Plan and the 2020 Budget.

Five people were elected to fill roles on the Executive Board. They are:

• Dan Glynn, Doniphan County Representative
• Brandy Robben, Jefferson County Representative
• Ashley Creek, Leavenworth County Representative
• Jack Granath, Wyandotte County Representative
• Sean Bird, At-Large Representative

Also during the business meeting, the following officers were announced:

• Sean Bird, President
• Brandy Robben, Vice-President
• Sarah Walker-Hitt, Treasurer
• Emily Burgdorf, Secretary

Laura’s Presentation

Super Volunteer Recognition Ceremony

Each year, we take time to honor some outstanding volunteers who share their time with NEKLS libraries, and with their communities. This year the selection committee chose to honor six volunteers from three libraries.

The volunteers were our guests for lunch and they were called forward during the ceremony to receive an award from the System Director, Laura DeBaun. The Nominating libraries received a small grant to thank them for fostering excellent volunteerism in their communities.

Super Volunteer Presentation

Annual Assembly Continuing Education

Lee Rainie, Director of Internet and Technology Research at Pew Research Center, presented Trust, Facts, and Democracy: How Libraries Fit into the Biggest Issues of These Times.

Lee Rainie’s Presentation

Thursday, August 15th 2019

9am-2pm (Registration begins at 8:30am)

Maceli’s Banquet Hall, Downtown Lawrence, KS

Parking Information

Agenda

The Annual Assembly is a gathering of all NEKLS member libraries to approve the budget, elect system board members, and discuss system business. Libraries need to have their System Representative present at the Annual Assembly in order to vote.

The cost is $15 per person, which includes breakfast and lunch. To pay in advance, mail a check to the NEKLS office, or call the office to charge to a credit card. Cash, checks and credit cards will be accepted the day of the event.

Our guest speaker for this year is Lee Rainie, Director of Internet and Technology Research at Pew Research Center.

Under Lee’s leadership, the Center has issued more than 650 reports based on its surveys that examine people’s online activities and the Internet’s role in their lives. The American Sociological Association gave Rainie its award for “excellence in the reporting on social issues” in 2014 and described his work as the “most authoritative source of reliable data on the use and impact of the internet and mobile connectivity.”

Learn more about Lee at: https://www.pewresearch.org/staff/lee-rainie/

If you still need to register for the event, please fill out this form: http://bit.ly/NEKLS2019assembly

The registration deadline is Tuesday, July 30th, 2019

Feel free to email Jessi if you have any questions, or concerns.

The video recording of the recent Trustee Training event, Meeting with a Purpose, is now available. If you would like to use it to meet your Trustee Training Accreditation requirement, follow these steps:

• Have (print or digital) copies of handouts available for all viewers. You can find all of the handouts at the Trustee Training 2019 Wrap Up page.
• Watch the video, Meeting with a Purpose.
• Discuss with colleagues and/or your library’s director.
• Please email Jessi to verify your attendance. You must contact her for your library to receive credit for your attendance.

NEKLS has a limited number of printed handout packets available. If you would like to have some sent to your library, let Jessi or Anna know.

To access the video online, use either link:

https://vimeo.com/343753935 password: TT2019

https://youtu.be/rhRoq0dffZs

If you prefer to watch on DVD, request a copy through Next Search Catalog.

Boards may also choose alternate forms of training. For more information on completing the education requirement, see the NEKLS Trustee Information web page.

To comply with the Accreditation Standards, each board must have at least a quorum of its members complete approved training by September 15, 2019. NEKLS staff will notify directors when their boards have satisfied the requirement. In the meantime, we welcome your questions.

Thank you to the 111 trustees who attended this year’s training! It was wonderful to see so many of you taking steps to become even better board members!

If you were unable to attend, we recorded the Saturday session and will make an announcement when the video is ready.

Either way, here are the resources from the day.

Links:

Presentation Slides

Kansas Public Library Trustee Manual

Kansas Public Library Handbook

KOMA/KORA brochure

Roberts Rule of Order cheat sheet

Public Library Board Members – Job Description

Board and Director Roles

Five Leadership Roles for Library Trustees (Article from Urban Libraries Council)

New Board Member Orientation: A Checklist for Directors

Loyalty Oath/ Affirmation & Statement of Substantial Interest

Sample Meeting Agenda – Board

Sample Meeting Agenda – Public

Public Library Boards – The Essentials from NEKLS

Model Board meeting documents:

• Script
• Board packet cover sheet
• Board packet
• Questions to consider

Pictured – a book from our collection that covers digital copyright pretty comprehensively.
One thing that many of our libraries like to do is get their local yearbooks digitized by the folks down in OK. This is a cool service, but the next thing that our libraries want to do is put those files up on their websites. I’ve gotten a few questions about how to do this and I always ask “who has the copyright to these files”. Many times, the person asking the question can’t answer that one right away. Generally, the publisher of the yearbook – unless it’s from 1923 or before – has the copyright and could object via lawsuit to those images being posted on a library’s site. There are some subtleties to this – it’s not 100% black and white and the general legalities are covered nicely at The Legal Genealogist. If your local school published those yearbooks locally, you could be in luck – just ask and they’ll likely give their permission (get that in writing though – you want to be able to show that when future administrators come asking). If Jostens or one of the big yearbook companies published it, though, you might not be as lucky – they could still be selling those digital files and would not appreciate them being made available on the web without payment. Either way – whenever you put an image on the web, think about copyright and who owns that image and whether you have any rights to post it. As always, ask us if you have questions!