Greetings and Happy FY24!
With the start of a new fiscal year, I wanted to send out a message about an important State Library update as well as some upcoming action items you should be aware of.
The State Library Realigns Under DAS
First, as of July 1, the State Library is now officially part of the Department of Administrative Services (DAS). We are joined by a portion of the State Historical Society of Iowa to become an enterprise under DAS. These changes come as part of the state government reorganization bill that was passed by the Legislature and signed by the Governor in April.
What does this mean for our day-to-day operations and how will libraries be impacted? Short answer: nothing changes! Rest assured, we will continue to offer our services, programs, and resources as we always have, with the goal of improving library service in Iowa.
Survey on State Library Programs & Resources
On Monday, July 10, we will send out a link to a survey that asks about your satisfaction levels with some of the programs, resources, and tools offered by the State Library. The survey should take about 15 minutes to complete and your response will be anonymous. Library directors as well as staff are invited to participate.
Your feedback will help us gauge success and identify potential improvements that would benefit libraries and Iowans. Responses will also be used to report on our federally funded programs and resources as required by the Institute of Museum and Library Services.
The survey will be open Monday, July 10 through Monday, July 31. Thank you in advance for your participation and feedback!
Iowa Library Directory Review & Updates
Some necessary housekeeping is overdue for the Iowa Library Directory. On Monday, July 17, directors will receive an email from Toni Blair containing your library’s current directory information. If any of the information is outdated or inaccurate, or if your board membership has changed, please follow the instructions in the email to log in to the directory with your library’s credentials and update the information.
We rely on you to help maintain this important resource for accurate information about Iowa’s libraries; thank you for your assistance!
Space Utilization Grants to Open this Fall
Finally, a note about our Space Utilization Grants. These grants allocate federal funds to provide Iowa public libraries reimbursement of up to $3,000 for consulting services on better utilization of the existing library space. Typically, we’ve opened the grants up in conjunction with the new fiscal year. However, this year we are in the process of exploring a new system to manage and track the grants. As a result, the grant application will not be available until this fall.
Keep an eye on the webpage below, as well as the Monday Morning Eye Opener and Library Talk, for an announcement to be made on the opening of the grant period.
That concludes this update; feel free to reach out with any questions or feedback to me or any other State Library staff member. Enjoy the rest of your summer!
Sincerely,
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