Ongoing Advocacy!

The proposed elimination of Kan-ed, introduced by House Bill 2390, took the library community by surprise. It was a wake -up call for us. Many of our public libraries in SWKLS are reliant upon the Kan-ed 2.0, either the T- 1 or 3mg connection. This level of internet service simply did not exist in equitable means throughout our sys- tem before Kan-ed 2.0. Our SWiftnet consortia catalog and system of facilitated lending depends upon a fast connection. The patrons at your libraries expect to access multiple web-based applications which require a cer- tain level of internet speed. The T-1 is now considered to be a minimum standard for a broadband connection and we don‘t even know if a T-1 would be available to purchase in some of our areas if the Kan-ed 2.0 network were to vanish.

The library community in Kansas as well as hospital, school, and academic communities rallied to encourage legislators to recognize the value of using the Kansas Universal Service Fund (KUSF) to fund Kan-ed services. The KUSF is a tax of approximately 25 cents which appears on the phone bill. We wrote letters, made phone calls, and testified about the significance of those services in our region. Although Kan-ed is not funded out of the state general fund, the legislature references Kan-ed funding in the state‘s budget. The budget which passed the legislature noted $6 million from Kansas Universal Service Funds for Kan-ed rather than the $10 million which Kan-ed had been receiving through the KUSF. The 40% decrease in Kan-ed‘s budget takes effect on July 1, 2011. We don‘t know at this point in time how the loss will be managed by Kan-ed.

Our advocacy work is ongoing for Kan-ed and, as always, for library funding. Even if you don‘t feel that your library or community will be directly affected by cuts to or the loss of Kan-ed, you probably will be affected indirectly: your regional hospital may not have access to the telemedicine network, EMResource, your schools may lose their distance education connection, your staff and patrons may lose access to quality databases, and a loss in internet connection speed to your neighbors means a weakening in the regional and statewide resource sharing network. Somehow, we‘ll need to make up the difference or live without minimum services. And all of this is coming at a time when many libraries are fighting for level budgets while some have suffered severe cuts in funding.

Considering the trend in budget cuts and subsequent losses in service, we think the time is right for the State Library to launch the Geek the Library campaign in Kansas. Geek is designed to open the door to a discussion about how libraries are funded. A presentation on the campaign was given at our spring assembly and most of the librarians present indicated an interest in participating. At the very least, we‘ll all need to know what the campaign is about because people in southwest Kansas will start hearing of it soon. Thanks to Sara Mc, we‘ll have a Geek article in the July issue of The Legend, the free glossy magazine which is widely distributed in south- west Kansas. We‘re working on sponsorship opportunities with our regional public radio station so we can reach our entire area. Geek-related billboards will be positioned in southwest Kansas soon. And, please re- member that SWKLS will be offering advocacy grants again this year to help you with your Geek plans. Through all the discussion about Kan-ed, it became clear that the library community, including SWKLS, must have an ongoing dialog with government officials—not just around budget time and not just within the frame- work of the legislative session. A great way to keep the discussion going is to send a note of thanks – now -- to those legislators who supported Kan-ed.

    CONTINUING EDUCATION GRANTS

The importance of training and education to Southwest Kansas Libraries System member libraries has been consistently recognized and expressed by member library directors and boards, system board members, staff and administration. It is fitting that SWKLS budgets funds to offer grants to supplement what libraries are able to provide, in financial support for southwest Kansas library employees and trustees who want to take advantage of educational programs. The grants provide financial aid toward improving the library skills of the recipient and enabling him/her to become better informed about library management and services. Personnel and trustees of taxing county libraries and libraries contracting for two or more services including Continuing Education and Training are eligible to apply. SWKLS offers two types of continuing education grants.
Continuing Education Grant Application Form