2. Announcements--Michael Scott reported that the University's Presidential Commission on University Governance, Chaired by Caroline Whitacre, has submitted its final report to the President. It will be given to the Senate Steering Committee and Faculty Council and then to all existing Committees for review and comment. [The Report is now available on the University's Web site.] One of the recommendations in the report concerns the establishment of an Information Access and Learning Technology Council, which would subsume the current Library Council and Bookstore Committee and also include oversight of emerging distance learning activities. Concern was expressed over the loss of identity for the Libraries, but there was recognition of the potential advantages of incorporating various information access and technology activities.

The remaining Library Council meetings for Winter Quarter will be held on February 12 and March 12. The membership will be surveyed again at the beginning of Spring Quarter to identify the best time for the remaining meetings of the year.

3. Restoration/Renovation of Main Library--A Request for Proposal (RFP) for an Architectural Feasibility Study was issued during Fall Quarter, and a total of nine proposals were received, of which five were identified to be interviewed. A pre-interview meeting was held with those firms for the purpose of familiarizing the assembled architects, planners, and engineers to the physical challenges they would face and to introduce them to the vision the Libraries' has for the future. At that meeting Wes Boomgaarden gave a slide presentation, with accompanying narrative, and he reprised that presentation at this meeting for the benefit of Library Council.

The interview meetings were held on January 10, and following those meetings, the team of URS/Shepley, Bulfinch, Richardson, and Abbott (SBRA) was selected to perform the Study. SBRA has been involved with well over 100 library building/renovation projects during the past 15 years, including buildings at Harvard, Yale, Columbia, Duke, Indiana and Notre Dame; further information is available on their homepage. There will be a meeting on February 1 to work out the schedule and process for the Study which will begin in February; it is anticipated that their report will be received before the end of the calendar year.

In addition to the Architectural Feasibility Study, activity is also progressing on the next step in the overall renovation project, which is the official acceptance as a capital project for the 2003-2004 biennium. The renovation of Main Library is on the short list of capital projects being considered, and Joe Branin will be making a presentation to the 2003-2004 Capital Budget Space Facilities Committee tomorrow, January 23rd.

In addition to the plans being made for the long term restoration/renovation of Main Library, short term renovation projects are also being undertaken. Some of these are purely cosmetic--refurbishing of the lobby area, recarpeting, painting, cleaning, providing new signage, refinishing furniture, providing study spaces in the Stacks, and improving the security in the building by having a uniformed security presence in the building evenings and weekends. As a more long term effort preparatory to the full blown renovation in the future, the collections housed in the building are being reevaluated in an effort to move as much material as possible to the Book Depository. The current module at the Depository is 90-95% full, and ground breaking for the second module is scheduled for March/April of this year.

The Council members present expressed their continued interest in helping in any way they can with the restoration/renovation project. Their best efforts may be directed toward insuring adequate input and support from faculty and students via town meetings, focus groups, etc. Any help with fund raising would also be gladly accepted.

3. Scholarly Communication--Paper copies of two documents that are available on the Web were distributed to the attendees: Principles for Emerging systems of Scholarly Publishing and Declaring Independence: A Guide to Creating Community-Controlled Science Journals. Additional information on this subject is available at www.arl.org/scomm and www.arl.org/sparc. The latter is the Web site for the Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition (SPARC), which, as defined on their Web site, is "a worldwide alliance of research institutions, libraries, and organizations that encourages competition in the scholarly communications market. SPARC introduces new solutions to scientific journal publishing, facilitates the use of technology to expand access, and partners with publishers that bring top-quality, low-cost research to a greater audience. SPARC strives to return science to scientists." The Ohio State University is a founding member of SPARC. Council members were urged to look over the information available in these various Web sites, as this subject is one to which we will return in the future.

4. The meeting was adjourned at 4:55 p.m.

Elizabeth Sawyers for
Joseph J. Branin