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RAILS Operational Report | October 2016 1

October 21, 2016

TO: RAILS Board of Directors FROM: RAILS staff ABOUT: RAILS service and operations report—October 2016 Major sections in this report correspond to the goals in the RAILS strategic plan (https://www.railslibraries.info/about/strategic-plan).

Resource Sharing

Delivery • The delivery focus remains on streamlining and improving ILDS (Illinois Library Delivery Service).

o RAILS continues to meet every other week with Illinois Heartland Library System (IHLS) and the Consortium of Academic and Research Libraries in Illinois (CARLI) to resolve service issues. Additional steps in the planning stage include RAILS assuming responsibility for more of the shuttles between hubs. Staff is also investigating costs for outsourcing some of the shuttle runs.

o On October 3, RAILS assumed responsibility for delivering to the 65 ILDS locations previously served by Continental Transportation Solutions. The first two days of the conversion were difficult due to routes running longer than expected and a staffing shortage due to illness. Adjustments were made quickly to provide on-time deliveries by the third day.

• The second FY2017 statistical sampling of delivery volume took place October 10–14, 2016. Results are currently being compiled and analyzed.

E-book Projects • On October 19 during the Illinois Library Association conference, RAILS introduced the new BiblioBoard

platform that is being made available to Illinois residents through a RAILS beta project. Several collections are being hosted on this platform, including a collection from Recovering the Classics (which features public domain classics from world literature, with modern cover images), as well as collections from the Bodleian Library and the BiblioBoard Core. The platform is also used for Popup Picks, a collaborative effort with BiblioLabs and the Chicago-based Independent Publishers Group (IPG). Popup Picks is a quarterly online mobile publication that includes science fiction, young adult, travel, humor, self-help, graphic novels, and other e-books curated by expert Illinois librarians. All e-books on the BiblioBoard platform are available to all residents of Illinois for unlimited simultaneous use. The platform is geolocated, and no login is required for using any of these collections. For additional information, see the RAILS website at https://www.railslibraries.info/services/eread-illinois.

• Natalie DeJonghe, Veronda Pitchford, and several RAILS members from school and public libraries are testing the new browser reader for the Baker & Taylor Axis 360 platform. When this browser reader is released, it will provide eRead Illinois access on Chromebooks, thus allowing eRead Illinois to better serve the Illinois school market. Many schools now have one-to-one Chromebook programs, where each student has a Chromebook. The browser reader is expected to be available by the end of 2016.

• See the attached report for eRead Illinois Axis 360 statistics. • Live and webinar trainings are ongoing and listed at http://www.librarylearning.info.

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Group Purchases and Discounts • RAILS is investigating software to support a potential museum pass program. On September 20, Dee

Brennan, Amanda Musacchio, Veronda Pitchford, and Wesley Smith met with Robert Anderson from Quipu Group via webinar for a demonstration of Quipu Group’s ePASS software. ePASS is specifically designed to support museum pass programs.

• Ten RAILS libraries are currently participating in the Gale Career Online High School group purchase program. Over 100 patrons from all participating libraries have submitted their applications for an opportunity to earn their high school diplomas. Each participating library has a limited number of scholarships and will be interviewing the candidates to ensure they have the necessary technology and educational background and are ready to earn their diploma online. This program is seeing early success. On September 27, library staff learned how to interview potential participants in the online high school degree program during an in-person training at the RAILS Burr Ridge service center. Gail Borden Public Library District in Elgin is one of the RAILS members taking advantage of the group purchase and was featured in a September 22 Daily Herald article (available at http://www.dailyherald.com/article/20160922/news/160929522). The article mentions RAILS, the group purchase offer, and the other RAILS libraries taking advantage of the offer.

• On October 4 and 5, RAILS hosted in-person training for the nine RAILS libraries currently participating in the RAILS Communico group purchase. Thirty people completed the training. Communico is a unified platform that lets libraries manage their website, events, room bookings, and digital signage; for additional information, see the Communico website at http://communico.co.

• On October 12, Amanda Musacchio and Veronda Pitchford participated in a webinar demonstration of PatronLink. PatronLink provides libraries with the market data and tools to analyze community data and connect with community members (including those who don’t use the library) to expand library service throughout the community. This product is being considered for the RAILS vendor discount program.

LLSAPs and Other Consortia • During its first meeting on September 9, the RAILS Cataloging Working Group brainstormed tactics for

meeting the charge, and while acknowledging several critical issues, decided to focus first on investigations of best practices and training. The group expects that these investigations will dovetail with other topics such as core competencies, record quality, and world languages cataloging, and ultimately lead to a set of recommendations for consideration by RAILS staff and the Consortia Committee. Small subgroups have met to discuss and assemble preliminary recommendations for the next meeting of the full working group on November 11, 2016.

• Four libraries have received RAILS LLSAP membership grants, totaling $39,448, following the first application deadline for FY2017.

o Johnsburg Public Library District will upgrade its PrairieCat membership from Union List to Fully Participating ($20,660 award).

o Neponset Public Library ($7,316), Knoxville Public Library ($7,505), and Williamsfield Public Library District ($3,967) will all join RSA.

This grant program, now in its third fiscal year, covers the startup costs for RAILS libraries that wish to join one of the four current LLSAPs (MAGIC, PrairieCat, RSA, and SWAN). In FY2015 and FY2016, 29 libraries received a total of $766,314 to join PrairieCat, RSA, and SWAN.

• At its meeting on October 17, the Consortia Committee discussed a process and support model for new LLSAPs. In an effort to expand support for shared catalog consortia in the RAILS service area, RAILS has established a process for independent consortia to become LLSAPs and receive system support. This includes financial support and/or in-kind services and the ability for potential consortial member libraries to apply for RAILS LLSAP membership grants. The process includes an application and

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RAILS Operational Report | October 2016 3

development of a contract for support. Timing of the application and contract process is still under discussion.

• As Dee Brennan noted during the September RAILS Board meeting, reports from the LLSAPs will no longer be included in the monthly operational report. Instead, the RAILS Board will receive a copy of the quarterly consortial reports to the Consortia Committee. The Consortia Committee met on October 17, 2016, so a consortial report is included in this month’s Board meeting packet.

Access to Information

Illinois Talking Book Outreach Center • September and October are ITBOC’s busiest months for outreach events.

o September 21—Hult Center for Healthy Living’s Annual Senior Health Fair. Peoria. Exhibit. o September 22—Senior Health Fair. Pleasant Hill Residence. Girard. Exhibit. o September 26—Danville Public Library Low Vision Fair. Danville. Exhibit. o October 15—Disability Resource Expo. Champaign. Exhibit. o October 18, 19, 20—Illinois Library Association Conference. Rosemont. ITBOC’s key message

was, “Be a talking book ambassador! Help us get the message out.” It was a team effort to get all the handouts written, copied, and put into packets and to set up the schedule of talking book staff in the booth.

Member Engagement

Communications • In the latest Sparks podcast episode, Dee talked with Sylvia Norton, Executive Director of the American

Association of School Librarians, and Megan Cusick, Grassroots Specialist at the American Library Association’s Office for Library Advocacy, about the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA). Topics included the status of the legislation in Illinois and why it is critical for library staff from all types of libraries to work together to support school libraries. The podcast is available at https://www.railslibraries.info/sparks.

• On October 19 and 20, RAILS had an exhibit booth at the Illinois Library Association (ILA) conference. Details on this and other RAILS activities at ILA were published on the RAILS website and in RAILS E-News.

• RAILS will have an exhibit booth (#406) at the Illinois School Library Media Association (ISLMA) conference on November 3–5 at the Tinley Park Convention Center. Full details on RAILS activities at the ISLMA conference are available on the RAILS website at https://www.railslibraries.info/ISLMA16.

• RAILS will have an exhibit table during the November 10 evening reception at the Health Science Librarians of Illinois conference in St. Charles. Approximately 50 health science and academic librarians are expected to attend the annual conference.

• RAILS has three new mailing lists for members to use for networking and sharing best practices: Adult Education, Community Engagement, and Middle Managers. A complete list of RAILS mailing lists is available at https://www.railslibraries.info/membership/email-lists.

• A total of 133 people registered for the September 29 RAILS member update. Topics included the RAILS new multitype collaborative grants, a membership standards update, the LINC and MAGIC migration to SWAN, the new RAILS website, and opportunities for engaging with RAILS at the Illinois Library Association conference. The next member update will be Tuesday, December 13, from 1:30–3:30 p.m.

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Membership Changes and Issues • On October 14, Dee Brennan and Veronda Pitchford did a presentation on the draft system membership

standards to the Tri-County Directors networking group at Odell Public Library District.

Networking Events • Twenty-five people attended the networking event on September 24 at Quincy Public Library. This event

was held prior to the RAILS board meeting. It was a great opportunity for members, staff, and RAILS board members to network.

• RAILS hosted a Face to Face networking breakfast on October 19 at the Illinois Library Association annual conference. RAILS staff and members facilitated talk tables on topics such as community engagement, ESSA (Every Student Succeeds Act), makerspaces, rural libraries, and many others.

• The next RAILS networking event will be a lunch with members, staff, and RAILS board members held at the RAILS Coal Valley service center on October 28 at 11:30 a.m. prior to the RAILS board meeting.

Member Visits • See the attached report for statistics on member visits during September 2016.

Continuing Education and Consulting Services

Continuing Education • See the attached report for statistics on recent RAILS continuing education events. • Two networking groups received RAILS CE grants during the second award period. The Rural Directors

networking group was awarded a grant to fund its training event on rural library needs, which will be held in April 2017 at the Brimfield Public Library District. The Central Illinois Regional Children’s Librarians (CIRCL) networking group also received a grant to support its storytelling training program, which will be held at the Washington District Library in April 2017.

• Approximately 50 school media specialists attended the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) workshop on September 24. This workshop was offered in-person at the RAILS Burr Ridge office and at videoconference locations throughout RAILS and Illinois Heartland Library System. The workshop was recorded and is now available through the RAILS CE Archives at https://www.railslibraries.info/services/ce-archives.

• On October 11, Joe Filapek and Jane Plass had a conference call with Emily Pfotenhauer and Melissa Mclimans from Wisconsin Library Services (WiLS) to exchange ideas about digitization training and consulting.

• Upcoming CE events include workshops on STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) programming presented by staff from Fermilab (November 4 and 10), the Management Association’s webinar on the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) changes on November 8, and a webinar on better serving the LGBTQIA community on November 9.

Consulting • On October 6, Dee Brennan and Joe Filapek met with Julie Tappendorf of Ancel Glink law firm to review

the RAILS FOIA hotline service. In its first six months, the hotline has been used twenty times by both IHLS and RAILS members for a variety of questions. With consensus that the hotline has been working well for both parties, RAILS will continue to offer this service. It was promoted at the ILA conference.

• Joe Filapek, Jane Plass, and Anne Slaughter are investigating a white paper project focused on website design. This project would involve the analysis of 10–15 library websites, leading to a series of best practices and recommendations that would be shared with all RAILS members. RAILS may begin seeking libraries interested in participating as early as December 2016.

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Leadership and Innovation • Veronda Pitchford was appointed to the 2017 Book Expo America (BEA) Conference Advisory

Committee. The first planning meeting/conference call was held on September 21. • On September 26, the Illinois State Library received a $25,000 Sparks! Ignition Grant for Libraries from

the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) to develop additional “Spectra Kits” and provide training on using the kits. Natalie DeJonghe was part of Team Spectra, which created the original kits during the last ILEAD USA session. She will work with her team to create the additional kits and to plan and implement the training.

• At PrairieCat’s well-attended PUG (PrairieCat User Group) Day on September 30, Anne Slaughter and Carolyn Coulter presented on social media tools and strategies for libraries. The presentation was offered twice; a total of 49 persons attended.

• On October 11, Veronda Pitchford attended the Our Voices advisory council conference call/meeting. The Our Voices initiative seeks to promote the growth of diverse, quality content in library collections (http://ourvoiceschicago.ala.org).

• On October 13, Natalie DeJonghe participated in a conference call to review ALA Annual program proposals as a member of the Library and Information Technology Association (LITA) Programming Committee for the 2017 LITA conference.

• As a member of the ILA Program Committee, Rose Chenoweth monitored seven programs during the ILA annual conference on October 18–20.

Organizational Excellence

Human Resources • RAILS had four new hires (Douglas King, System Coordinator–RSA; Tarrah Reed, Driver; Christopher

Erickson, Sorter; and Stephen Becker, Driver) and two terminations since the September operations report (Robert Vela, Driver and Marc Ricci, Driver). (Terminations refer to all persons leaving RAILS employment for any reason, including resignations and retirements.)

• Recruitment for delivery remains at the forefront as RAILS continues to hire staff to accommodate route changes for the Illinois Library Delivery Service (ILDS).

• The performance management team plans to share the new performance management documents with focus groups of RAILS staff to determine what, if any, additional changes need to be made to the documents.

• All pay adjustments associated with the new compensation structure, budgeted pay increases, and retroactive pay have been implemented.

Information Technology • RAILS is planning a beta test of software that will work with the SirsiDynix Symphony integrated library

system to print delivery labels. Marcin Trudy at Oak Lawn Public library developed the software and has tested it at Oak Lawn and a few SWAN libraries, but additional testing by other consortia using Symphony is needed. Future plans include developing similar software for Innovative Interfaces’ Sierra and Polari software. Benefits of this project include less library staff time spent on labeling, more legible labels (printed rather than handwritten), thus improving sorting speed and accuracy, and the long-term potential for increased automation through use of a destination barcode.

• The core router at the Burr Ridge location will be replaced in October. The current router has served RAILS well but will no longer be supported by the manufacturer after October.

• The bandwidth at Burr Ridge and Bolingbrook will be upgraded by early November. Benefits include increased ability to work on the RAILS disaster recovery initiative, more bandwidth for replication of

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RAILS Operational Report | October 2016 6

services to the state’s Springfield data center, and availability of essential services even if there is an outage in Burr Ridge.

• IT successfully upgraded the RAILS email Exchange service to allow for high availability and redundancy in the coming months. In conjunction with a server at the Central Management Services (CMS) data center, RAILS staff will be able to send and receive email even if one of the data centers (Springfield or Burr Ridge) were to experience an outage.

Professional Development • As Dee Brennan noted at the September RAILS Board meeting, staff attendance at conferences, etc. will

no longer be included in the operational report.

Stewardship

Administration and Finance • The audited financial statements for RAILS, PrairieCat, and MAGIC have been issued, and the audits are

completed. The SWAN and RSA LLP audits are in their final stages, and the annual financial reports are expected to be issued soon. All audits progressed very smoothly, and there were no auditor findings.

Document 7.3.2

Confirmed LibrariesRAILS 381IHLS 23Other 2Total 406

Confirmed Libraries by Type Academic Public School Special TotalRAILS 18 242 114 7 381IHLS 3 8 12 0 23Other 2 2Total 21 250 126 9 406Adoption Rate by Type (RAILS members only) 13% 59% 20% 5% 31%

Confirmed Population Served Academic Public School Special TotalRAILS 48,727 3,867,650 136,730 11,882 4,064,989IHLS 4,224 140,913 17,294 0 162,431Other 68,563 68,563Total 52,951 4,008,563 154,024 80,445 4,295,983

September 2015

September 2016

July 2015 - September 2015

July 2016 - September 2016

PROJECT LIFETIME TOTAL**

Circulation 13,056 27,314 34,565 75,161 388,944 Average Circulation by Library* 31.23 67.28 82.69 185.13 957.99 New Unique Titles Added 746 339 1,786 763 29,394 Total New Items Added 746 339 1,786 765 30,086 Additional Copy Unique Titles 246 291 619 744 7,009 Total Additional Copy Items Added 386 483 872 1,216 9,841

*(Total circ for this period/ total Libraries enrolled) ** Total represents data from the start of eRead December 2013

eRead Illinois Monthly Axis 360 Statistics - September 2016

Sep-16

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Event Date Location Category FormatRequested via Training Request

Form AttendanceShared Collection Training September 13, 2016 Burr Ridge Service Center eRead Training GoToMeeting No 0Axis 360 Training September 20, 2016 Roycemore School (Evanston) eRead Training In-Person No 4Admin Site/Scoping Webinar September 27, 2016 Burr Ridge Service Center eRead Training GoToMeeting No 3Axis 360 Training September 28, 2016 Elizabeth Township Library eRead Training In-Person No 4Axis 360 Training and Petting Zoo September 29, 2016 York Township Public Library (Thomson) eRead Training In-Person No 9

Monthly Total 20

September 2016 eRead Illinois Events

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Month Renewals Quote Requests Site Visits Page ViewsSep-16 N/A 7 998 2,676

eReadIllinois.com Monthly Statistics - September 2016

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Networking EventsEvent Date Location AttendanceRAILS Networking Event at Quincy Public Library September 24, 2016 Quincy 25

Member VisitsLibrary Name Date Location Library TypeBlue Ridge CUSD #18 September 1, 2016 Farmer City SchoolLeRoy CUSD #2 September 1, 2016 LeRoy SchoolPontiac Public Library September 1, 2016 Pontiac PublicTrinity Medical Center September 1, 2016 Rock Island SpecialFox River Grove Public Library District September 2, 2016 Fox River Grove PublicMessenger Public Library of North Aurora September 2, 2016 North Aurora PublicQuincy Public Library September 2, 2016 Quincy PublicScott County CUSD #1 September 2, 2016 Winchester SchoolHenry-Senachwine CUD #5 September 7, 2016 Henry SchoolRockton School District #140 September 7, 2016 Rockton SchoolThermo Fisher Scientific September 7, 2016 Rockford SpecialHononegah Community High School District #207 September 8, 2016 Rockton SchoolOSF Saint Anthony Medical Center September 8, 2016 Rockford SpecialVirginia Community Unit #64 September 8, 2016 Virginia SchoolHavana CUSD #126 September 9, 2016 Havana SchoolBensenville Community Public Library District September 12, 2016 Bensenville PublicEl Paso Public Library September 12, 2016 El Paso PublicEl Paso-Gridley CUSD #11 September 12, 2016 El Paso SchoolGalena Public Library District September 12, 2016 Galena PublicNormal Public Library September 12, 2016 Normal PublicGalena Public Library District September 13, 2016 Galena PublicPresence Saint Francis Hospital September 13, 2016 Evanston SpecialWinnetka-Northfield Public Library District September 13, 2016 Winnetka PublicAlsip, Hazelgreen & Oak Lawn District #126 September 14, 2016 Alsip SchoolBensenville Community Public Library District September 14, 2016 Bensenville PublicDolton Public Library District September 14, 2016 Dolton PublicHometown Public Library September 14, 2016 Hometown PublicNew Lenox Public Library District September 14, 2016 New Lenox PublicWellness House September 14, 2016 Hinsdale SpecialOregon Public Library District September 15, 2016 Oregon PublicPeotone Public Library District September 15, 2016 Peotone PublicDolton School District #148 September 16, 2016 Riverdale SchoolLaSalle Public Library September 16, 2016 LaSalle PublicPeru Public Library September 16, 2016 Peru PublicPoplar Creek Public Library District September 16, 2016 Streamwood PublicRichard A. Mautino Memorial Library September 16, 2016 Spring Valley PublicEla Area Public Library District September 17, 2016 Lake Zurich PublicSchaumburg Township District Library September 19, 2016 Schaumburg PublicCoal City Public Library District September 20, 2016 Coal City PublicDeKalb Public Library September 20, 2016 DeKalb PublicDelavan SD #703 September 20, 2016 Delavan SchoolKaneville Public Library District September 20, 2016 Kaneville PublicBensenville Community Public Library District September 21, 2016 Bensenville PublicRoycemore School September 21, 2016 Evanston SchoolWestern CUSD #12 September 21, 2016 Barry SchoolDLA Piper US LLP September 22, 2016 Chicago SpecialDrinker Biddle & Reath LLP September 22, 2016 Chicago Special

RAILS Networking Events and Member Visits - September 2016

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Member VisitsLibrary Name Date Location Library TypeMessenger Public Library of North Aurora September 23, 2016 North Aurora PublicVernon Area Public Library District September 24, 2016 Lincolnshire PublicLaGrange South Elementary School District 105 September 26, 2016 LaGrange SchoolSaint Edward Central Catholic High School September 26, 2016 Elgin SchoolSchmaling Memorial Public Library District September 26, 2016 Fulton PublicCarol Stream Public Library September 27, 2016 Carol Stream PublicH.A. Peine District Library September 27, 2016 Minier PublicNational University of Health Sciences September 27, 2016 Lombard AcademicRockford Lutheran Schools September 27, 2016 Rockford SchoolUnited States Army Corps of Engineers September 27, 2016 Rock Island SpecialElizabeth Township Library September 28, 2016 Elizabeth PublicTheosophical Society in America September 28, 2016 Wheaton SpecialVillage of Avon Public Library September 28, 2016 Avon PublicBlandinsville-Hire Library District September 29, 2016 Blandinsville PublicIngalls Memorial Hospital September 29, 2016 Harvey SpecialYork Township Public Library September 29, 2016 Thomson Public

Total Visits: 63

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September 2016 Continuing Education EventsEvent Date Locations Category Format Attendance

Book Discussion Leadership Training September 13, 2016 Galena Public Library District Readers' Advisory In-person 7Job Descriptions: the Why, What, and How September 14, 2016 Burr Ridge service center Human Resources In-person 23

Coal Valley service center Videoconference 3East Peoria service center Videoconference 4New Lenox Public Library District Videoconference 7Quincy Public Library Videoconference 2Sycamore Public Library Videoconference 7Vernon Area Public Library District(Lincolnshire)

Videoconference 6

Total: 52Interlibrary Loan Training September 14, 2016 Blue Ridge CUSD #18 Interlibrary Loan Telephone 1Book Discussion Leadership Training September 15, 2016 Peotone Public Library District Readers' Advisory In-person 13Trustee Workshop: Keys to Running a More Successful Board Meeting

September 17, 2016 Ela Area Public Library District(Lake Zurich)

Board/Trustee Development

In-person 22

Book Discussion Leadership Training September 20, 2016 DeKalb Public Library Readers' Advisory In-person 25Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) workshop September 24, 2016 Burr Ridge service center School Libraries In-person 14

Coal Valley service center Videoconference 0East Peoria service center Videoconference 5IHLS service centers Videoconference 16Illinois Library Association (Chicago) Videoconference 2Sycamore Public Library Videoconference 7Vernon Area Public Library District(Lincolnshire)

Videoconference 13

Total: 57Genealogy Basics for Library Staff September 27, 2016 Online (GoToWebinar) Genealogy and Local

HistoryWebinar 51

Practical Management for Library Staff: The RISWS Approach for Effective Library Team Management

September 28, 2016 Online (GoToWebinar) Management Skills/Administration

Webinar 24

Monthly Total 252

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