Chairman Waters called the meeting to order at 8:31 a.m., welcomed everyone to the meeting, and turned the meeting over to Tracy Kuhn Lash who administered the Oath of Office to Commissioner Givens who was reappointed to the Commission in June by Governor Greg Abbott for a term to expire September 28, 2021. No other action required. Chairman Waters congratulated Commissioner Givens on his reappointment.

Welcome, introductions, and general announcements.

Alice McAfee introduced her colleague Rosalind Hunt. Chairman Waters introduced Courtney Hjaltman and Louellen Lowe and thanked them for being present. He welcomed three new commissioners, Arthur Mann, David Garza, and Darryl Tocker, recently appointed to the Commission, and said he is looking forward to working with them. He also welcomed back Commissioners Holt and Wong.

Consideration of commemorative resolutions.

Mark Smith presented a resolution for the Houston Archeological Society for their extensive work on researching and analyzing the Andy Kyle projectile point collection at the Sam Houston Regional Library and Resource Center. He said the Society was a great help with this project as well as in other areas during the Center’s renovation and their extensive work in evaluating the collection is greatly appreciated by the Agency. Commissioner Wong moved to approve the resolution. Commissioner Givens seconded. Motion passed unanimously.

Approve minutes of June 3 and 4, 2018 Commission Meetings.

Commissioner Holt moved to approve the June 3, 2018 commission minutes. Commissioner Givens seconded. Motion passed unanimously. Commissioner Holt moved to approve the June 4, 2018 commission minutes. Commissioner Givens seconded. Motion passed unanimously.

Public Comment.  Susan Mann presented two resolutions in support of the Texas State Library and Archives Commission passed by the Texas Library Association’s Executive Board in July. The resolutions support TSLAC’s budget request and the Sunset recommendation to continue the Agency for another 12 years. Chairman Waters said the commission really appreciates TLA’s support and thanked her for the two resolutions. Commissioners Wong and Givens thanked Ms. Mann for her support. Ava Smith introduced Mary Beth Wise who just arrived to start a three-day site visit of the Talking Book Program. Chairman Waters welcomed Ms. Wise and said the Talking Book Program is one of TSLAC’s gems and a wonderful asset to Texas. He said commissioners always receive many positive comments about the program. Ms. Wise said that the Texas program is a gem in the national network in its leadership in service and innovation. In response to questions from Commissioner Holt, Ms. Wise briefed the Commission on innovations that NLS is developing including to deliver content more quickly to patrons and moving toward duplication on demand rather than storing large amounts of books.

Conflict of interest disclosures. No conflicts were disclosed.

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

Organization of the commission; regarding vice chairman, subcommittee appointments, and liaison to the Friends of Libraries and Archives of Texas.

Chairman Waters said that now the Commission has a full roster of seven commissioners and needs to be organized. Noting that Commission rules provide that a Vice Chair of the Commission be elected, Chairman Waters nominated Larry Holt to be Vice Chair of the Commission. Commissioner Givens seconded. After a roll call vote, motion passed unanimously.

Chairman Waters said he would like to organize three committees, the Audit Committee as provided by rules, an Archives and Records Committee and a Libraries and Talking Book Committee, as follows:

Archives and Records Committee
Larry Holt, Chair
David Garza
Lynwood Givens

Libraries and Talking Book Committee
Martha Wong, Chair
Arthur Mann
Darryl Tocker

Chairman Waters said it is the Commission’s tradition to welcome all commissioners to committee meetings. Some meetings are held prior to full commission meeting such as the Audit Committee and all committee meetings will be posted to the Texas Register. Vice Chair Holt inquired about holding committee meetings telephonically. Alice McAfee said if a meeting is posted to the Texas Register then it cannot be conducted by telephone. She said she would explore if these committees are structured according to commission rules. 

Chairman Waters asked Commissioner Tocker to serve as liaison to the Agency’s designated nonprofit support group, Friends of Libraries and Archives of Texas, and Commissioner Tocker agreed.

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

Donna Osborne requested renewal of a $522,802 interagency contract with the Department of Information Services. Commissioner Givens moved to approve the contract and Commissioner Wong seconded. Motion passed unanimously.

Ms. Osborne requested renewal of a $281,377.20 contract with Education Service Center Region 20 to provide support for TexQuest databases. Commissioner Givens moved to approve the contract and Vice Chair Holt seconded. Motion passed unanimously.

Ms. Osborne requested renewal of a $375,000 interagency contract with the Texas Facilities Commission for facilities management and maintenance at the State Records Center. Commissioner Givens moved to approve the contract and Vice Chair Holt seconded. Motion passed unanimously.

Ms. Osborne requested renewal of a $65,995 contract with Spacesaver Systems Inc. dba Infolinx for the annual technical support and maintenance of the TexLinx System. Commissioner Wong moved to approve the contract and Commissioner Mann seconded. Motion passed unanimously.

Ms. Osborne requested renewal of a $5,000 subscription service jobber contract with WT Cox Information Systems, Inc. Commissioner Wong moved to approve the contract and Commissioner Tocker seconded. Motion passed unanimously.

Ms. Osborne requested renewal of a $6,000 contract renewal with Alliance Work Partners for the agency’s Employee Assistance Program. Vice Chair Holt moved to approve the contract and Commissioner Tocker seconded. Motion passed unanimously.

Ms. Osborne requested renewal of a $175,000 contract with TSLAC’s State and Local Records Management Division to store archival records at the State Records Center. Commissioner Mann moved to approve the contract and Commissioner Wong seconded. Motion passed unanimously.

Ms. Osborne requested approval of a $49,800 contract renewal with Catapult Systems for technical support of the agency’s grant management system. Commissioner Wong moved to approve the contract and Commissioner Garza seconded. Motion passed unanimously.

Ms. Osborne requested renewal of a $25,000 contract with TIBH for mowing at the Sam Houston Regional Library and Research Center in Liberty. Commissioner Wong moved to approve the contract and Commissioner Givens seconded. Motion passed unanimously.

Ms. Osborne requested approval to renew a $25,000 contract with TIBH for destruction services of state agency records. Commissioner Mann moved to approve the renewal and Commissioner Wong seconded. Motion passed unanimously.

Ms. Osborne requested approval to renew a $75,443 contract with SIRSI Corporation for the electronic catalog system used by the agency. Commissioner Tocker moved to approve the renewal and Commissioner Wong seconded. Motion passed unanimously.

Ms. Osborne requested approval to renew a $50,796 contract with Data Management for subscription and hosting services for the Talking Book Program’s automated system for FY19. Vice Chair Holt moved approval and Commissioner Wong seconded. Motion passed unanimously.

Ms. Osborne requested renewal of an $80,990 contract for FY19 with Enfold Systems for the Ploud annual subscription for library websites for small rural libraries. Commissioner Wong moved approval and Commissioner Garza seconded. Motion passed unanimously.

Ms. Osborne requested renewal of the annual online access and hosting fees with ProQuest for databases owned by TSLAC. These databases are Sanborn Maps, 20th Century American Poetry and 20th Century English Poetry. Commissioner Mann moved approval and Commissioner Wong seconded. Motion passed unanimously.

Ms. Osborne requested renewal of a $10,000 contract with Rupert and Associates, P.C., for their work to prepare the agency’s 2018 Annual Financial Report. Commissioner Wong moved approval and Commissioner Givens seconded. Motion passed unanimously.

Ms. Osborne requested approval to renew a $75,864 contract with Preservica, Inc., for TSLAC’s annual subscription to house the Texas Digital Archives including 12 TB of data plus 25 additional TB data with the option to add additional storage as needed, not to exceed $12,767 during FY19. Commissioner Wong moved to approve the renewal and Vice Chair Holt seconded. Motion passed unanimously.

Ms. Osborne requested renewal of an $8,000 contract with IndexData LLC for the online tool for TexShare database authentication. Commissioner Garza moved to approve the renewal and Commissioner Mann seconded. Motion passed unanimously.

Jennifer Peters requested a six-month extension on an existing contract with ProQuest, LLC for HeritageQuest genealogical databases in the amount of $197,670 from October 1, 2018 through March 31, 2019. Commissioner Mann moved to approve the contract extension and Commissioner Tocker seconded. Commissioner Givens and Wong expressed concern about granting the extension. Mark Smith said that state contract rules have made the process of bringing contracts for commission approval more time consuming and complicated. Motion passed unanimously.

Ms. Peters requested approval of TExpress Courier contract subsidies not to exceed $150,000 for FY2019. Vice Chair Holt moved to approve the contract and Commissioner Wong seconded. Motion passed unanimously.

Ms. Peters requested approval to renew the contract with OCLC not to exceed $2,189,059.06 for the WorldCat Navigator program for statewide interlibrary loan for FY19. Commissioner Givens moved to approve the contract and Commissioner Wong seconded. Motion passed unanimously.

Report on Sunset Review.

Gloria Meraz provided the Sunset Advisory Commission staff report and the agency’s response noting the report’s most important outcome is the recommendation to continue TSLAC for another 12 years without any organizational changes. Although she is gratified that Sunset staff recognized the professionalism of TSLAC staff and that they amended some of their original recommendations, she was disappointed that the report indicated Sunset staff did not fully understand TSLAC’s responsibilities. She also provided a report on how staff will implement Sunset recommendations with regard to the archival backlog, the agency’s process for dealing with Public Information Act requests, records management issues and grants management issues. No action required.

Mark Smith thanked Ms. Meraz for leading the agency’s effort during the Sunset process, said he appreciates Sunset Commission recommendations as well as the wide support from agency stakeholder groups particularly the Texas Library Association, Texas State Historical Association and the general public. Commissioner Wong thanked ASL Meraz and Director Smith for their work and leadership in getting through the process.  Director Smith said the next step in the Sunset review process will be on August 29 and 30 when the agency will appear before the Sunset Advisory Commission. Chairman Waters asked all commissioners to attend the hearing if possible.

At 10:12 a.m. Chairman Waters called for a break and reconvened the meeting at 10:25 a.m.

Approval of Legislative Appropriations Request for FY 2020-2021.

Chairman Waters said approval of the Legislative Appropriations Request is one of the Commission’s most important actions and said he would hold a vote on each exceptional item after staff presentations to determine which exceptional items will be included in the LAR. He said after the vote, each Commissioner will prioritize the exceptional items to determine their order in the LAR.

Mark Smith said the LAR is due to the LBB by Friday and thanked the administrative team and in particular Donna Osborne for their work preparing the LAR and for Ms. Osborne’s long hours in steering staff through the budget process. He said the agency’s total request is $60.3 million, and $26 million in general revenue funding and $38 million in exceptional items which is very large for the agency owing to two capital items for records and archival storage. He noted that agencies were asked to prepare 10 percent cuts in 2.5 percent increments which is a little over $3 million for TSLAC and those cuts are proposed across the agency but primarily in databases for libraries. He then walked the Commission through each exceptional item (listed below) and he and staff responded to questions and issues raised by the Commission.

Exceptional Item 1 – Safeguard state records and ensure transparency of state government
Exceptional Item 2 – Cybersecurity for state resources
Exceptional Item 3 – Cost effective access to E-books
Exceptional Item 4 – Targeted salary increases
Exceptional Item 5 – Infopower Outreach Project
Exceptional Item 6 – PIA responsiveness

At 11:30 a.m. Chairman Waters recessed the meeting for lunch and reconvened at 12:00 p.m.

Report of the Director and Librarian.

Mark Smith provided a written report on TSLAC activities and initiatives and added the following notes and announcements:

• The agency’s broadband project, Libraries Connecting Texas, funded by $1 million from the state legislature, had a target of helping 100 libraries in the biennium but has helped 84 libraries and increased connection speeds by 970 percent. He said that only one-fourth of funds has been spent so staff are hoping to continue the project longer than the biennium.
• Implementation of the Talking Book Program’s automation solution, WebREADS, was very successful and very smooth especially considering how long the old system was in use and how staff enjoyed using it. Commissioner Givens congratulated staff on that successful implementation.
•Director Smith will appear before a Joint Budget Hearing on Sept. 6 to present the agency’s LAR and answer questions.

Discussion of future commission meeting dates.

Mark Smith reviewed future meeting dates that had been set and asked the Commission to set a meeting for June. After discussion, the Commission set a meeting on Monday, June 10, 2019 in Austin.

Authorization to propose rule review pursuant to Texas Government Code 20001.039 of 13 TAC Chapter 8, TexShare Library Consortium; Authorization to post proposed amendments to 13 TAC 8.1, 8.3, 8.4, and 8.5.

Jennifer Peters requested approval to post rule review of 13 TAC Chapter 8, TexShare Library Consortium and to post proposed amendments to 13 TAC 8.1, 8.3, 8.4, and 8.5. Commissioner Givens moved to approve and Commissioner Mann seconded. Motion passed unanimously.

Approval of annual FY 2019 competitive grant awards:

Jennifer Peters introduced Erica McCormick who handles all aspects of the library grants noting that the agency had record numbers of applicants and awards in the past two years. Ms. Peters requested approval for Impact, Special Project, Cooperation, Texas Reads and TexTreasures grants to libraries for State Fiscal Year 2019. Program costs for the grants are funded with federal funds from the Library Services and Technology Act grant administered by TSLAC.

The following Special Project grants were approved unanimously with Commissioner Wong moving approval and Commissioner Holt seconding:

The following Cooperation Grants were approved unanimously with Commissioner Mann moving approval and Commissioner Wong seconding:

Jennifer Peters requested appointment of Jill Donegan, Director of the Tom Green County Library System in San Angelo, to the Library Systems Act Advisory Board to fill a position vacated by John Trischitti who had completed two terms on the board.  Commissioner Wong moved to approve the appointment and Commissioner Mann seconded. Vice Chair Holt thanked the outgoing board member for his work on the board and said the Commission could not function without the board’s help.  Motion passed unanimously.

Approval of appointments to the TexShare Advisory Board.

Jennifer Peters requested approval of the following appointments to the TexShare Advisory Board:

Appointments for a first term:
• Federico Salas-Isnardi, Chief Executive Officer, Literacy Texas, Public Member
• Mikail McIntosh-Doty, Director, Library Services, Concordia University, Academic Library Member
• Jennifer Rike, Librarian at Timberview High School, Mansfield ISD, K-12 Library member

Appointment for a second term:
• Karen Blankenship, Director, Lee Davis Library, San Jacinto College, Community College Member

Vice Chair Holt moved to approve the appointments and Commissioner Wong seconded. Motion passed unanimously.

At this point in the meeting Chairman Waters returned to Agenda Item 9. Donna Osborne noted the contract amount for Catapult Systems was in error and should have been $49,915. Commissioner Givens moved to approve the increased amount and Commissioner Mann seconded.  Motion passed unanimously.

Report on agency expenditures summary.

Donna Osborne provided a written report on agency expenditures and responded to questions regarding the report. No action required.

Executive Session under the Open Meetings Act. The commission may meet in Executive Session on any item listed above if authorized by the Texas Open Meetings Act, Texas Government Code, Chapter 551.  

The Commission did not meet in Executive Session.

There being no further business to come before the commission, Chairman Waters adjourned the meeting at 12:56 p.m.