CARLI Board Meeting Minutes - December 5, 2025

In-person and Via Zoom

Attendance:  Stefanie Bluemle (Augustana College), Michelle Boule-Smith (North Central College), Carolyn Ciesla (Elmhurst University), Anne Craig (CARLI), 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), Laurie Blandino (CARLI Senior Director Designate), and Gina Parsons-Diamond (ACRL)

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

Absent: Jan Figa, Governors State University

Decisions

• Minutes of the September 19, 2025, Governance Board meeting were approved prior to the meeting.
• The Board approved funding for a subscription to ACRL Discover Benchmark: Library Metrics & Trends to all interested CARLI member libraries for a minimum of two years.
• The Board approved the CARLI staff recommendation not to purchase Rapido for all I-Share members at this time.
• The Board approved the request to extend the timeline for the Advocacy Task Force report to June 2026.
• The Board approved the proposed changes to the Open Educational Resources committee charge.
• The meeting adjourned at 1:25 p.m.

Announcements

• The Board welcomed incoming Director Designate Laurie Blondino.  Blondino will begin at CARLI on December 8. This was the final Board meeting for Senior Director Anne Craig. The Board and the System Office leadership expressed their gratitude for her service.
• The CARLI Annual Meeting, on October 21, 2025, was attended by almost 170 staff from CARLI member libraries and vendor sponsors.
• The CARLI staff are reviewing the feedback from Annual Meeting talk tables to identify opportunities for CARLI.
• CARLI staff and the CARLI OER Committee are developing a protocol, application, and rubric for a new round of OER grants to be offered in Spring 2026. The $300,000 in funding will be provided by CARLI.
• CARLI staff are preparing a webinar series intended to facilitate discussions about why free speech is important to libraries.
• Trinity International University and Trinity Christian College will close by June 2026.
• The Field Museum of Natural History and Chicago History Museum will join I-Share in 2026.
• The Library Accessibility Alliance (LAA) agreement with the Big 10 Academic Alliance is finalized. CARLI staff as well as staff from CARLI member libraries are participating on several LAA committees.
• Debbie Campbell will be the new co-Principal Investigator on the CCALLS grant. 
• The consortial ebooks program now provides perpetual access to a collection of 9,640 ebook titles.
• E-resources staff are negotiating contracts with American Chemical Society and Sage.
• The Request for Information (RFI) for an aggregated database was posted.
• Beginning in FY27, the 24-hour turnaround time in the ILDS delivery agreements with IHLS and RAILS will be changed to 48 hours.
• CARLI staff and CARLI members attended ILA Legislative Meetups held across Illinois to offer support and information about OER.
• CARLI, in collaboration with our 15 Professional Development Alliance partners, have presented 61 free, continuing education webinars from August 1 through December 2, 2025.

Tasks Assigned:

• CARLI staff will research solutions to address resource sharing in the upcoming year and report back to the Board.
• CARLI staff will conduct a member survey to determine I-Share libraries’ current interlibrary loan processes, costs, and needs.
• CARLI staff will approach OCLC to inquire about improved pricing for group and individual services.
• CARLI will continue to reach out to other library consortia and other higher education groups to advocate for the inclusion of libraries in accreditation standards.
• CARLI staff will discuss options and next steps for the aggregated database collection information received from vendors during the RFI.
• CARLI staff will present a proposal for spending down the CARLI reserve funds at the March Governance Board meeting. The proposal will include ebooks and Celus.

Upcoming Meetings

• 2025–2026 Board meetings (CARLI Office, Champaign)
  • Friday, March 6, 2026
  • Friday, June 12, 2026
     
• 2025–2026 Executive Committee meetings (via Zoom):
  • Wednesday, February 25, 2026
  • Wednesday, June 3, 2026

• 2026 Governing Directors Meeting, I Hotel, Champaign
  • Tuesday, November 10

• 2026 CARLI Annual Meeting, I Hotel, Champaign
  • Tuesday, November 10