March 26, 2021

Present: Dr. Almquist, Michael Saar, Adam Nemmers (Arts & Sciences, Chair), Brielle Frost (COFAC),

              Mary Sizemore (LIT), Katherine Sprott (Education & Human Development)

Absent: Mark Mengerink (Arts & Sciences), Kaprecia Carter (SGA)

Special Guest: None

 The meeting was called to order at 9:05 a.m.

 APPROVAL OF MINUTES

• Adam Nemmers moved that the minutes be adopted, and Katherine Sprott seconded the motion. The minutes were unanimously approved.

LIBRARY DEAN ANNOUNCEMENTS

• Library Personnel
  • Tracey Alsye Jordan, Head of Reference, will be hired April 1. She has extensive experience from ASU and has taught in universities ranging from Florida to Arkansas.  Dr. Jordan has many ideas for improving Reference Services. 
  • Kelly Withrow, Head of Cataloging and Metadata was hired in mid-March.
  • There are currently three open faculty positions: University Archivist, Instruction Librarian, Head of Technical Services.
• Library Building Projects
  • The sprinkler system project is underway. The gas lines are being relocated.  The first floor staff and faculty office have been moved to the 6^th  The library will remain open during construction.  The construction will be completed a floor at a time.  The project is coming under budget allowing the library to rebuild all elevators.
  • There is a 75-million-dollar renovation project, which includes the Mary and John Gray Library building, Carl Parker building and some other areas on-campus. Lamar University is asking for bonding authority from the legislature.  The library building has not had any substantial work done since 1976.  Almquist has proposed to have an experienced architect in academic libraries involved in the renovation.  The library will be involved from users, employees, and professions.
• Library Digital Resources
  • Due to COVID-19, digital resources have increased. The library received additional funding to purchase the JSTOR collections 1-6 and a large set of digital repositories for journal archives.  The JSTOR collection purchases will continue as new content is released.  Almquist plans on purchasing collections 7-9, 13, and 14.  There are currently 15 collections in JSTOR.  The new collections purchased are equivalent to a more research-oriented university.  The new collections will free space in the stacks. 
  • The library purchased several magazine archives to provide useful content for researchers. The purchases included architectural digest, magazine antiques, art news, art in America, esquire, the Atlantic, fortune, and life magazine.  The library will purchase more magazine archives.
• Elsevier
  • Elsevier has been a big question mark with many academic libraries throughout the state. The libraries have banded together in what is called the Texas Coalition to negotiate pricing due to large cost increases and other issues.  This has been a global movement. The Elsevier contract expired on December 31, 2020.  Elsevier access has remained available as we have been negotiating. 

AGENDA ITEMS

• LibQual+ Survey (Michael Saar)
  • Michael will present the results of the LibQual+ Survey at the Fall 2021 meeting.

OTHER

• Small Group Study Rooms (Library Dean)
  • Almquist stated that the library renovated two small group study rooms last year. One study room is loft-style with a drop ceiling, large monitor, banquette seating, and comfortable space.  The other study room is arranged for a standard meeting space. The library Dean hopes to have the rooms used by Fall 2021 semester.
• Member Terms
  • The following members’ terms:

NEW BUSNESS

• Library Stairwells
  • A member of the committee inquired about the library stairwell reaching the meeting areas on the top floors. There are currently four stairwells in each corner of the building that go up to the 8^th  There are issues with the stairwells that are being addressed. 
• Next Library Committee Meeting
  • The next meeting will be arranged in September 2021.

The meeting was adjourned at 9:45 a.m.