Public Services Committee Meeting: August 27, 2026

Zoom / Conference Call

Members attending: Kristen Blankenship, co-chair (University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign), Kelly Fisher, co-chair (Eureka College), Keva Kreeger (Newberry Library), Christine Kuffel (Harper College), Nichole Novak (Illinois Institute of Technology), Dawn Sterning (Prairie State College), Diana Sykes (Erikson Institute), Kate Tallman (Illinois State University), Ethan Walter (Heartland Community College)

CARLI Staff attending: Elizabeth Clarage, Amy Maroso

Decisions

• Minutes of June 17, 2026 approved.
• Meeting time of the second Thursday of each month at 2pm was chosen.
• Committee will be using Zoom as its meeting platform this year.
• Future minutes will be taken by members in alphabetical order by last name.
  • Minutes order:
    • September 10: Kate Tallman
    • October 8: Ethan Walter
    • November 12: Kristen Blankenship
    • December 10: Kelly Fisher
    • January 14: Keva Kreeger
    • February 11: Christine Kuffel
    • March 11: Nichole Novak
    • April 8: Dawn Sterning
    • May 13: Diana Sykes
    • June 10: Kate Tallman

Tasks Assigned

• Minutes taken by Diana Sykes.
• Next meeting’s minutes will tentatively be taken by Kate.
• Diana will start a spreadsheet for the Public Services Committee website “Other Topics” section review

Announcements

• Member Announcements:
  • Kelly Fisher (Eureka College): Our library's shelves are now erected in our new Student Success Center. The books will hopefully be moved back in this fall. The building opened in May.
  • Keva Kreeger (Newberry Library): Newberry Library is now offering appointments to all patrons. It is not required to have an appointment to visit the reading rooms as of right now, but patrons are welcome to make an appointment for a future visit!
• CARLI Announcements:
  • CARLI Annual Meeting, November 10, 2026, 10:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m.
    • The CARLI Annual Meeting is November 10 at the I Hotel in Champaign, IL. The theme of this year’s meeting is “advocacy.” If the committee has a proposal for one of the afternoon table talks, it will need to be submitted to CARLI by October 10. The committee can discuss any ideas for a table talk proposal at our September meeting.
    • Registration is available.
  • Sign up for other CARLI email lists.

Discussion

• Committee reviewed the Public Services Committee charge and guidelines.
• Committee reviewed the past committee work and projects.
• Committee needs to review the past committee projects in the “Other Topics” section of the Public Services Committee page and decide if we want to keep or remove them. Things that we want to keep need to be updated for accessibility. PDFs and PowerPoint slides are hard and can be time consuming to make accessible.
• Brainstormed ideas for the committee work this year:
  • Virtual panel showcase of unique, non-traditional collections; example, library of things
  • Panel of librarians from different types of institutions on hiring, training, and supervising student employees
  • Possible collaboration with OER committee as there are committee members that are working on CARLI Member OER Initiative projects.
  • Session where people showcase how they introduce students to their library spaces, i.e. orientations. This might spark ideas for others, share documentation (D+D, Escape Room, etc.) Could be good for late spring?

Next Meeting Dates and Deadlines

The Public Services Committee will next meet on Thursday, September 10th, 2026 at 2 p.m.

Committee Meetings:
September 10, 2026, minutes taken by: Kate Tallman
October 8, 2026, minutes taken by: Ethan Walter
November 12, 2026, minutes taken by: Kristen Blankenship
December 10, 2026, minutes taken by: Kelly Fisher
January 14, 2027, minutes taken by: Keva Kreeger
February 11, 2027, minutes taken by: Christine Kuffel
March 11, 2027, minutes taken by: Nichole Novak
April 8, 2027, minutes taken by: Dawn Sterning
May 13, 2027, minutes taken by: Diana Sykes
June 10, 2027, minutes taken by: Kate Tallman

Deadlines: