CARLI Board Meeting Minutes - September 19, 2025

In-person and Via Zoom

Attendance:  Stefanie Bluemle (Augustana College), Michelle Boule-Smith (North Central College), Carolyn Ciesla (Elmhurst University), Anne Craig (CARLI), Jan Figa (Governors State University), Marlee Graser (Southern Illinois University Edwardsville), Terra Jacobson (Moraine Valley Community College), Brian Keith (Eastern Illinois University), Dennis Krieb (Lewis and Clark Community College), Greg McCormick (Illinois State Library), Geoff Pettys (Southern Illinois University School of Medicine), Pattie Piotrowski (University of Illinois Springfield), Amanda Pippitt (Millikin University), Morgann Quilty (Parkland Community College), and Rachelle Stivers (Heartland Community College).

Guests: Sarah Zehr Gantz (University of Illinois System), Katy Aronoff (Clarivate), Tom Hall (Clarivate), Kaitlyn O’Malley (Clarivate), and Mike Richens (Clarivate)

Staff Attending: Margaret Chambers, Diane Day, Jessica Gibson, Michele Leigh, Jennifer Masciadrelli, Nicole Swanson, and Jenny Taylor.

Decisions

• Minutes of the June 13, 2025, Governance Board meeting were approved prior to the meeting.
• The Field Museum of Natural History was approved as a new I-Share Participant via email vote prior to the September meeting. 
• Board member Terra Jacobson will represent CARLI on the Library Accessibility Alliance Steering Committee.
• The Board approved the formation of an Advocacy Task Force. Board members Stefanie Bluemle (Augustana College), Marlee Graser (Southern Illinois University Edwardsville), and Dennis Krieb (Lewis and Clark Community College) will serve on the Task Force. The task force will present their report to the Board at the March 2026 meeting.
• The Board endorsed the statement Free Speech Needs Free Libraries.
• The Board reaffirmed the CARLI Reserve Funding Principles originally approved by the Board in March 2019. The Funding Principles establish two purposes for the reserve funds:
  • Hold in reserve an amount equal to the migration costs of I-Share Next for the next I-Share system with a 1.5% annual increase beginning in FY20.
  • Hold in reserve an amount equal to six months of CARLI’s UI System Office appropriation.
• The Board approved the addition of a temporary Funding Principle:
  • Retain the excess reserve fund balance through FY 2028 to provide ongoing support for Open Educational Resources projects, gap funding for the Aggregated Database Package, and to enhance resource sharing. These expenditures would be subject to approval of the CARLI Governance Board.
• The Board approved $300,000 in funding for a new OER grant program to be administered in concert with the CARLI OER Committee.
• The meeting was adjourned at 1:55 p.m.

Announcements

• The search has begun for a Senior Director for CARLI to replace Anne Craig upon her retirement in December 2025.
• The Board welcomed new members; Michelle Boule Smith (North Central College), Jan Figa (Governors State University), Marlee Graser (Southern Illinois University Edwardsville), Terra Jacobson (Moraine Valley Community College), and Amanda Pippitt (Millikin University). 
• CARLI has joined the Library Accessibility Alliance, a collaborative effort that promotes equitable access to library services and electronic resources.
• The Field Museum of Natural History and the Chicago History Museum will go live in I-Share in June 2026. 
• In August, CARLI offered $42,130 in supplemental funding for previous Illinois SCOERs awardees
• Since FY21 CARLI members have been invited to participate in 607 total programs offered by all consortia participating in the Professional Development Alliance (PDA.) 105 CARLI-hosted webinars have benefited 12,350 PDA registrants. 
• In July, CARLI held Soaring with Open Educational Resources: Furthering the Role of Cooperative Development in OER, a two-day conference at the I Hotel in Champaign.
• Registration is open for the CARLI Annual Meeting, 20th Anniversary, and Annual CARLI Directors’ Meeting being held October 21 at the I Hotel Illinois Conference Center in Champaign. A virtual option will be available for the Annual Meeting. 
• CARLI staff are planning to write a Request for Information (RFI) to explore new options for aggregated database packages.
• CARLI staff are working to finalize contracts with Sage and American Chemical Society.
• CARLI staff are planning to open the selection system for calendar year selections in early October and plan to close in mid-November.

Tasks Assigned

• CARLI staff will follow up with other academic libraries and consortia to find out more about their experiences and challenges in implementing and using Rapido for resource sharing. The information will be presented to the Board at their December 2025 meeting.
• CARLI staff will issue a call for volunteers to identify library staff to serve on the Library Accessibility Alliance action committees. 
• CARLI staff will seek two non-Board members to serve on the Advocacy Task Force.
• CARLI staff will post the approved statement “Free Speech Needs Free Libraries” to the CARLI website.

Upcoming Meetings

• 2025–2026 Board meetings (CARLI Office, Champaign)
  • Friday, December 5, 2025 
  • Friday, March 6, 2026 
  • Friday, June 12, 2026

• 2025–2026 Executive Committee meetings (via Zoom): 
  • Wednesday, November 19, 2025 
  • Wednesday, February 25, 2026
  • Wednesday, June 3, 2026

• 2025 Governing Directors Meeting, I Hotel, Champaign
  • Tuesday, October 21

• 2025 CARLI Annual Meeting, I Hotel, Champaign
  • Tuesday, October 21