TexShare Task Force Meeting Summary 10-8-03

TexShare Task Force on Database Fees
Meeting Summary
October 8, 2003

Members present: Sue Phillips; Rob Strong; Larry Hardesty; Martha Tandy; Brenda Branch; Willie Braudaway (for Katherine McMurrey), Beverley Shirley; Deborah Littrell; Eva Poole; Ann Mason; Russlene Waukechon; Kathy Hoffman

The Task Force decided that:

The task force will reopen discussion on any and all issues involved in determining a fee structure.
The task force will also review a number of library statistics before recommending a long-term fee structure, including but not limited to:
- Per capita funding
- Operating expenditures
- Materials expenditures
- Academic FTE counts
- Public library population served numbers
- Type of library

The Task Force’s discussion indicated:

There are some academic libraries that support a very specific curriculum that may require special consideration in the long-term fee structure
In the current fee structure, some fee groups include a number of libraries with different demographic and financial situations than the other libraries in those groups. A long-term fee structure should minimize this type of inconsistency.
A few small public libraries have expressed a problem reconciling their database use with their fee amounts. Several regional library systems have been working with these small public libraries to help them understand the importance of the databases as a resource and to help them find ways to pay their fees.