Texas State Library and Archives Commission
April 19, 2017

Minutes

The Texas State Library and Archives Commission met on Wednesday, April 19, 2017, at the the Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center, 900 E. Market Street, San Antonio, Texas.

1. Welcome, introductions, and general announcements.
   
   Chairman Waters called the meeting to order at 8:30 a.m. and welcomed everyone to San Antonio and to the meeting. He informed the commission that because of the recent resignation of Wm. Scott McAfee from the commission all commission committees are abolished until more commissioners are appointed by the governor. Business previously considered by committees will be taken up at regular commission meetings. He noted that Deborah Littrell will be retiring at the end of August and commended her on her service to the agency. He added that she will be missed by the commission and the library community.
    
2. Approve minutes of February 6, 2017 Commission Meeting.
   
   Vice Chair Carr moved to approve the minutes of the February 6, 2017 Commission meeting with one correction. Commissioner Wong seconded. Motion passed.

3. Public Comment.
   
   Wendy Woodland welcomed the commission to the 2017 Texas Library Association Annual Conference noting that over 6,000 librarians registered for the conference. She added that 300 educational sessions will be presented and 500 exhibitors will display products and services during the conference.

4. Conflict of interest disclosures.  No conflicts of interest were disclosed.

5. Review of consent agenda: non-substantive corrections in other agenda items such as spelling, numbering, punctuation, grammar, or other revisions. No corrections were needed.

6. Review and approve Internal Audit Report on Purchasing and HUB Compliance.
   
   Kimberley Lopez-Gonzalez presented the Audit Report on Purchasing and HUB Compliance. Vice Chair Carr moved to accept the report. Commissioner Wong seconded. Motion passed.

7. Review and approve acceptance of grants, and gifts greater than $500, including a gift of $5,324.00 from CCATT Holdings LLC; and a gift of $90,202.00 from the Atascosito Historical Society.
   
   Donna Osborne requested approval for a gift of $5,324 from CCATT Holdings LLC and a gift of $90,202 from the Atascosito Historical Society. Vice Chair Carr moved to accept the gifts. Commissioner Givens seconded. Motion passed.

8. Review and approve contracts greater than $100,000, and contract renewals and amendments.
   
   Deborah Littrell requested approval to renew core TexShare online database contracts for one year with EBSCO, Gale-Cengage, Learning Express, and ProQuest , totaling $7,693,773.24. Vice Chair Carr moved to approve. Commissioner Wong seconded.
   
   Commissioner Givens expressed concerns about a nine-month decline in usage levels in the EBSCO databases and also that the vendor asked for a four percent increase. Ms. Littrell said changes in technology at local libraries particularly at some larger urban libraries have affected the reporting for this product and that staff have been working with the vendor and the libraries to resolve. Ms. Littrell said the price increase was part of the original contract negotiation for the statewide contract. Mark Smith said these databases represent a core research tool for academic and public libraries. Commissioner Givens asked to separate the Ebsco database from the motion. Vice Chair Carr said she understood his concern but declined to amend her motion.
   
   After further discussion, Chairman Waters called for a roll call vote. Motion passed 4-1 with Commissioner Givens voting against. Chairman Waters said he would visit with EBSCO in the conference exhibit hall after the meeting to inform them of the split vote and commission concerns.
   
   Ms. Littrell requested approval to renew TexSelect online database contracts with EBSCO, Encyclopaedia Britannica, Gale Cengage, ProQuest, and RAND for one year. The agency negotiates the contract but no state funds are expended for TexSelect resources. Commissioner Givens moved approval. Vice Chair Carr seconded. Motion passed.
   
   Ms. Littrell requested approval to renew the online database contract with Gale-Cengage Learning for the TexQuest K-12 program for one year in the amount of $1,500,000. Commissioner Givens moved to approve the contract. Vice Chair Carr seconded. Motion passed.
   
   Ms. Littrell requested approval to renew online database contracts with EBSCO E-books, Encyclopaedia Britannica E-STAX, and ProQuest SIRS for the TexQuest K-12 program for one year totaling $598,071. Commissioner Givens moved to approve. Vice Chair Carr seconded. Motion passed.
   
   Ms. Littrell requested approval to renew the online database contract with Encyclopaedia Britannica for the TexQuest K-12 program for one year in the amount of $1,000,000. Vice Chair Carr moved to approve. Commissioner Givens seconded. Motion passed.
   
   Ms. Littrell requested approval to renew the online database contracts for the TexQuest and TexShare programs with Gale-Cengage Learning Science in Context and TeachingBooks.net for one year totaling $989,590. Commissioner Givens moved to approve. Vice Chair Carr seconded. Motion passed.
   
   Jelain Chubb requested approval to contract with the agency’s State and Local Records Management Division for storage and records retrieval services at the State Records Center not to exceed $138,000 for FY17. Commissioner Holt moved to approve. Vice Chair Carr seconded. Motion passed.
   
   Donna Osborne requested approval for agency contracts that increased more than 10 percent of original contract amounts and contract extensions of more than six months. Vice Chair Carr moved approval. Commissioner Holt seconded. Motion passed.

9. Status report and discussion of TSLAC agency sunset review.
   
   Gloria Meraz informed the commission of activities and initiatives staff have taken in preparation for the agency’s upcoming Sunset Review including staff and stakeholder meetings, surveys, and discussions with legislators to begin the Self Evaluation Report process. She also provided a timeline for the review process. No action required.

10. Status report on LSTA evaluation.
    
    Deborah Littrell presented an independent evaluation of the agency’s five-year Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA) plan for FY2013-2017 as submitted to the Institute of Museum and Library Services noting that the evaluators found that the agency had met and achieved the plan’s goals except for one partially achieved goal. No action required.

11. Discussion of LSTA five-year plan.
    
    Deborah Littrell presented the timeline for the agency’s development of the next five-year plan for the federal Library Services and Technology Act Program. The final draft will be presented to the commission at the June 5, 2017 meeting so that the agency can meet the submission deadline to the Institute of Museum and Library Services by June 30, 2017. Ms. Littrell said the LSTA plan must identify key statewide needs that are not necessarily library needs and determine goals to meet those needs. The current plan needs are digital inclusion, literacy and educational attainment, and economic development.
    
    Chairman Waters recessed the meeting at 10:00 a.m. and called it back to order at 10:15 a.m. and returned to Agenda Item 11. Ms. Littrell asked the commission to inform her of any additional needs or issues that they would like to see addressed in the plan. No action required.

12. Report of the Director and Librarian.
    
    Mark Smith provided a written report of agency activities and initiatives, including an update on legislative meetings and bills agency staff are following. He also reported on the status of TSLAC’s waiver request to fill two crucial IT positions impacted by the governor’s hiring freeze. Since no word has been received from the governor’s office on that request the agency is on hold until the end of the fiscal year when the hiring freeze ends although Director Smith said agency staff are closing following a bill that would continue the hiring freeze. He said the agency intends to fill vacancies September 1, 2017 including the Director of Library Development and Networking upon Deborah Littrell’s retirement.
    
    At this point in the meeting, Chairman Waters took up Agenda Item 14.

14. Authorization to propose repeal and replacement of 13 TAC §6.91 - 6.97 regarding State Electronic Records Rules.
    
    Craig Kelso requested authorization to propose repeal and replacement of 13 TAC §6.91 – 6.97 regarding State Electronic Records Rules and Nanette Pfiester provided information on the process to rewrite the rules. Vice Chair Carr moved to approve. Commissioner Givens seconded. Motion passed.

15. Approval of preliminary records storage and imaging fee schedules for FY2018.
    
    Craig Kelso requested approval of the preliminary records storage and imaging fee schedules for FY 2018 to include fees for records storage, imaging microfilm services, and scanning services at the State Records Center. Vice Chair Carr moved to approve. Commissioner Wong seconded. Motion passed.
     
16. Report on agency expenditures summary.
    
    Donna Osborne provided a written report on agency finances and responded to commissioners’ questions. No action required.
    
    At this point in the meeting, Chairman Waters took up agenda item 13 and called the commission into Executive Session.

13. Executive Session under the Open Meetings Act, Texas Government Code, Chapter 551.
    
    The commission went into Executive Session at 11:05 a.m. pursuant to Texas Government Code, §551.071 to discuss pending or contemplated administrative actions, and pending or contemplated litigation or obtain advice of legal counsel on agenda items.
    
    The open meeting was resumed at 12:00 p.m. at which time Chairman Waters recessed the meeting for a 30 minute lunch break. At 12:30 p.m., Chairman Waters called the meeting back to order and returned to Agenda Item 8.

8. Review and approve contracts greater than $100,000, and contract renewals and amendments.
   
   Ava Smith requested approval to award a contract not to exceed $115,000 for the configuration and implementation of the WebREADS system application for use by the Texas Talking Book Program.
   
   After discussion, Commissioner Holt moved to approve the contract with the selected vendor not to exceed $115,000 contingent on the vendor agreeing that the dollar amount attributed to deliverables 2 and 3 be reversed and contingent upon NLS agreeing to the product configuration and future maintenance. Vice Chair Carr seconded. Motion passed unanimously 5-0 in a roll call vote.
   
   After discussing future meeting dates to discuss records retention schedules, the commission set Monday, November 6, 2017 for its fall meeting date in Liberty in order to view museum renovation and other upgrades at the Sam Houston Regional Library and Research Center.
   
   There being no further business to come before the commission, Chairman Waters adjourned the meeting at 1:23 p.m.