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To: the LibFutures Steering Committee
From: the LORI Committee

December 20, 2004

A majority of the members of the LORI Committee participated in the “Back to the Future” Town Meeting held at Bryant University on December 6, 2004. The LORI Committee makes the following position statements, which are based on our observations at the Town Meeting and discussion at the December 14, 2004, LORI Committee meeting:

• The Committee agrees that the two top priorities emerging from the Town Meeting were:
  1. Establishment of a “one catalog for all.”
  2. Statewide purchasing and support of databases.
     
  This statement addresses these two priorities.
  
  
• In a July 2003, the LORI Committee endorsed the establishment of a state-wide virtual catalog. A letter to that effect was distributed by the Committee to the heads of Rhode Island library associations and networks, the executive directors of the networks, and the Library Board of Rhode Island. A copy of the letter is attached. The Committee is pleased to see that support for a “one catalog for all” was an outcome of the Town Meeting.
  
  
• In order to have a proper record of the Town Meeting, the Committee encourages the LibFutures Steering Committee to prepare a written report. This permanent record of the meeting will be a reference point for further work on the proposed initiatives.
  We suggest that the report include:
  1. A list of attendees
  2. A list of the statewide initiatives suggested by the participants. The list should be qualified, ordered in priority given by the town meeting participants.
     
     
• A press release about the Town Meeting is recommended to begin to generate public support for these important initiatives. To make the initiatives a reality, it is likely that full marketing campaign will be required. Such a campaign should be detailed and include realistic cost estimates for projects proposed. It should be directly aimed at residents of the state who will be the beneficiaries; the legislature who will be the appropriators; as well as to the librarians, trustees, and board members who will be the stewards of these initiatives.
  
  
• The Committee believes that to plan and implement the top two initiatives an equitable and effective administrative infrastructure would need to be established.

updated: 4/26/06
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