- Monday, November 6, 2017 – Nacogdoches, TX
- Monday and Tuesday, February 12 and 13, 2018 – Liberty, TX
- Tuesday, April 3, 2018 – Dallas, TX (at the Texas Library Association Annual Conference)
- Monday, June 4, 2018 – Austin, TX
- August meeting date  - to be decided at a later date.

Review and approve contracts greater than $100,000, and contract renewals and amendments.

Jelain Chubb requested authority to amend and extend a contract with Exhibits Concepts, Inc. not to exceed $75,000 and until December 31, 2017. The original contract amount of $500,000 was signed in December 2016 and runs through October 31, 2017. The amendment will allow for additional design and display elements at the Sam Houston Center. Vice Chair Carr moved to approve. Commissioner Wong seconded. Motion passed unanimously.

Ms. Chubb requested approval to increase an existing Purchase Order with Thomson Reuters West Group for the Texas Administrative Code serial subscription by $10,000 for a total revised amount of $43,145.60 to provide sufficient funds for the remainder of the FY17 fiscal year due to rising costs. Vice Chair Carr moved to approve the increase. Commissioner Holt seconded. Motion passed unanimously.

Deborah Littrell requested approval of a contract for E-rate application support for the Libraries Connecting Texas broadband project not to exceed $500,000 for a period from September 1, 2017 through August 31, 2019. The 85^th Legislature appropriated $1 million to TSLAC to assist Texas public libraries in acquiring high speed broadband internet access by leveraging E-rate discounts to help finance the cost in underserved areas of the state. Ms. Littrell said that the agency had gone through a competitive bid process, identified three vendors who have been asked to return their best and final offer, and from these a vendor will be selected that will provide the best value to the state. The vendor will assist up to 100 libraries in applying for the E-rate program. In response to a question from Chairman Waters, Ms. Littrell said the remaining $500,000 would fund the anticipated increases in internet service costs to libraries for one year.

After a discussion about conflicts of interest, Chairman Waters said he promised everyone a break at 10:00 a.m., recessed the meeting and called it back to order at 10:10 a.m. and asked the commission for its pleasure on this contract.

Commissioner Givens moved to approve the contract. Vice Chair Carr seconded. Alice McAfee suggested Commissioner Givens add a point to his motion that once the contract is awarded, staff will contact commissioners to determine they have no conflicts of interest. Commissioner Givens agreed. Motion passed unanimously.

Ms. Littrell requested approval for a two-year contract with OCLC’s WorldCat Database and Navigator Interlibrary Loan (ILL) system not to exceed $2,125,869.55 for FY2018 and not to exceed $2,189,059.06 or $4,314,928.61 for the two year period. This contract is funded with federal funds from the Library Services and Technology Act grant administered by TSLAC and is contingent on federal funds continuing. Ms. Littrell answered questions about how the agency would respond if federal funds go away. Depending on the timing, there would be significant questions about what programs could continue.

Vice Chair Carr moved to approve the contract. Commissioner Wong seconded. Chairman Waters noted that the agency is currently in the federal budget and that this is a huge and important program in the state. Commissioner Holt said this is an absolute core program for the agency and Vice Chair Carr agreed. Mark Smith said in talking to libraries statewide this is a priority to them. Responding to a question from Commissioner Givens, Ms. Littrell said the agency has the funding for the first year of the contract but the second year is contingent on future Congressional funding. Motion passed unanimously.

Ms. Littrell requested approval to renew electronic resource contracts for the TexShare database program as follows:

Ms. Littrell noted that in the next fiscal year the agency will embark on a major rebid of TexShare core databases. Vice Chair Carr moved to approve the contract renewals. Commissioner Givens seconded. Motion passed unanimously.

Ms. Littrell requested approval to renew the contract with the TexQuest Program Educational Partner, Education Service Center 20, for a total amount of $273,181.75 for the contract period September 1, 2017 through August 31, 2018, representing a 3% increase. Vice Chair Carr moved to approve the contract. Commissioner Holt seconded. Motion passed unanimously.

Ms. Littrell requested approval of a contract with Amigos/TExpress not to exceed $138,833 for FY2018 to cover the management of the TExpress courier service. One of the benefits of this service is that Amigos interacts with courier services in other states which gives Texas libraries sending and receiving materials from a broad range of institutions and states. Vice Chair Carr moved to approve. Commissioner Wong seconded. Commissioner Wong noted that the contract is a very nice savings and she appreciates it. Motion passed unanimously.

Ms. Littrell requested approval of a contract renewal with Enfold Systems, Inc. for the Ploud library websites for a total of $85,885 for the contract period September 1, 2017 – August 31, 2018. Vice Chair Carr moved to approve. Commissioner Holt seconded. Motion passed unanimously.

Ms. Littrell requested a contract renewal with Catapult Systems LLC for the Microsoft Dynamics CRM support which is the online grant management system for the division’s grants. Contract amount is not to exceed $49,915 for one year, September 1, 2017 – August 31, 2018. Vice Chair Carr moved to approve. Commissioner Givens seconded. Motion passed unanimously.

Donna Osborne requested approval for the following contract renewals:

Vice Chair Carr moved to approve the contract renewals. Commissioner Wong seconded. Motion passed unanimously.

Gloria Meraz reported that the agency is on schedule for its 2019 Sunset Review Process noting that a survey of TSLAC’s stakeholders and constituents indicated overwhelming support for continuing the agency as well as validation for current services. She provided a final draft of the agency’s Self Evaluation Report as well as survey comments which will be presented to the Sunset Commission by August 31, 2017. Commissioners provided edits, suggestions, comments, and discussed various aspects of the report. No action required.

Commissioner Wong said she was very impressed with what the agency accomplishes with so small a staff, commending staff and noting that the agency’s work touches everyone in the state. Chairman Waters and Commissioner Givens suggested including an Executive Summary. Commissioner Givens suggested some type of commission endorsement for the review and requested also a list of changes the agency is seeking during the Sunset process to share with legislators. Commissioners and staff discussed concerns about certain records that are closed permanently or closed for long periods of time, a concern heard from a number of stakeholders. It was suggested that this topic be considered for an interim study. Mark Smith informed the commission of SB 28 currently in the legislative special session that could potentially delay the agency’s Sunset review if passed. The bill has only been heard in a Senate committee, however.

Mark Smith provided a written report to the commission on agency activities and initiatives since the last meeting and provided additional updates that included the agency’s busy summer involving many staff in training and testing the CAPPS Financial system which will go live August 14 with full implementation September 1. The agency also implemented CAPPS Recruit and plans to implement CAPPS Performance by the end of the year. He also reported that a contract has been signed for the Talking Book Program automation system which was approved at the last commission meeting. With the anticipated end to the Governor’s hiring freeze on August 31, the agency is interviewing and hoping to bring onboard as soon as possible after September 1, several critical positions including the IT Director, Youth Services Librarian, and a Purchaser. Jennifer Peters has already been hired to assume the Director position of Library Development and Networking on September 1. No action required on this item.

Craig Kelso introduced Sarah Jacobson who explained how Records Management Assistance staff arrive at proposed changes for a retention schedule, in this case, the retention schedule for School Districts which was last updated in 2011: through their consulting and training, staff receive comments, recommendations for changes, and research those as well as reviewing the legal citations, removing obsolete areas and redundancies. Staff also conferred with Vice Chair Carr and Commissioner Holt on the proposed changes and received suggestions from them as well as contacting the Texas Education Agency for comment. Because the SD schedule is one of the more complex, Ms. Jacobson stated staff would like more time to consider the changes, receive the input from TEA and go out for informal comment from local governments.

At this point in the meeting, legal counsel arrived and Chairman Waters called the commission into Executive Session at 11:13 a.m., pursuant to Texas Government Code, §551.071(1)(A), for consultation with legal counsel to discuss pending or contemplated administrative actions and pending or contemplated litigations including the Ambonare contract.

At 11:49 a.m., the commission returned to open session and Chairman Waters announced that no action was taken in closed session. Chairman Waters returned to Agenda Item 8 - Review and approve the internal audit on Sam Houston Research Center (Facilities and Cash Handling). Vice Chair Carr moved to approve the audit. Commissioner Wong seconded. Motion passed unanimously.

Chairman Waters recessed the meeting for lunch and reconvened the meeting at 12:26 p.m. at which time he returned to Agenda Item 13. Authorization to propose amended rule 13 TAC 7.125(a)(6), regarding local government records retention schedule SD (Records of public school districts).

 Commissioner Holt informed the commission that he and Vice Chair Carr had provided comments and suggestions to staff on the SD Schedule and based on staff’s recommendations, suggested that the schedule be considered at a future meeting after staff receive informal comments by contacting school district personnel and receiving the expected input from TEA. No action taken.

Craig Kelso requested authorization to repeal 13 TAC §§6.91-6.97 and adopt new rules, 13 TAX §§6.91-6.98 regarding creation, protection, maintenance, and storage of electronic state records by publication in the Texas Register. Vice Chair Carr moved to approve. Commissioner Wong seconded. Motion passed unanimously.

Approval of Library Systems Act Advisory Board appointments.

Deborah Littrell requested approval for the following appointments to the Library Systems Act Advisory Board:

New appointment: Mary Jo Guidice, Director of Dallas Public Library
Re-appointment for a second term: Denise Milton, Director, Jasper Public Library

Vice Chair Carr moved to approve the appointments. Commissioner Givens seconded. Motion passed unanimously.

The following Cooperation Grants for FY 2018 were approved unanimously by the commission with Vice Chair Carr moving to approve and Commissioner Wong seconding.

The following Texas Reads Grants for FY 2018 were approved unanimously by the commission with Vice Chair Carr moving to approve and Commissioner Wong seconding:

The following TexTreasures Grants for FY 2018 were approved unanimously by the commission with Commissioner Givens moving to approve and Vice Chair Carr seconding:

The following Impact Grants for FY 2018 were approved unanimously by the commission with Vice Chair Carr moving to approve and Commissioner Holt seconding:

Donna Osborne presented a report on agency financial information and responded to questions on the report. No action required.

There being no further business to come before the commission, Chairman Waters adjourned the meeting at 12:50 p.m.