| Jim Scheppke (1991-present) |
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Jim Scheppke, the current State Librarian, began his tenure in 1991.
In 1991, the Board approved a mission change moving the Library away from acting as a public library for the citizens of Oregon, and towards becoming a special library that primarily met the information needs of state government employees.
In 1993, a Bill was passed in the Legislature to create a State Library assessment of state agencies for library services. This assessment replaced General Fund money, as well as Federal Library Services and Construction Act funds, in the State Library budget.
Also in the 1993 Legislature a bill was passed to change an existing program of state aid to public libraries to the Children Services Improvement Grant program, funded at 25¢ per child per year. Yet another bill passed that removed the statuatory mandate that the State Library provide public library services for Oregonians without a local public library.
Another request was made by DAS to the 1993 Legislative Assembly for $3,311,937 as part of the Capitol Construction Program for 1993-1995. In 1995 DAS began working with the State Library Board and staff members to plan the renovation project. By early 1998 DAS had settled on seven million dollars to renovate the State Library, construction began in September of 1998.
In 1997, the Children's Services Improvement Grant program was renamed the Ready to Read Grant program; funding was increased to 75¢ per child.
In 1999, the Information Resources Management Division of DAS leased rooms on the third floor of the library for their Statewide Technology Education Program Services (STEPS) to serve state employees. Also in that year, Web-Braille, downloadable Braille which can be printed or read with an electronic Braille reader, was first offered to Talking Book patrons.
At the close of 2000 the State Library Building renovation was completed. In addition to renovation of facilities and office spaces, the Oregon Arts Commission Percent for Arts program created original artwork by Oregon artists Dennis Cunningham, Margot Thompson and Kim Stafford for the various areas in the library.
In 2004, Talking Books started offering Unabridged, a service which allows TBABS patrons to download digital audio books to their hard drive, or transfer to MP3 players.
2005 was a landmark year for the State Library which celebrated its 100 year anniversary. That same year the Talking Books program removed Braille from their collection and began a partnership with the Utah State library to provide Braille to its patron’s.
Also in 2005, HB 2118 was signed which created the Oregon Documents Repository to collect and archive electronic Oregon Documents. The Repository went live in July of 2006.
In 2007, the State Library was designated the Regional Federal Depository Library. The State Library and the Oregon State Poetry Association (OSPA) agreed upon a MOU concerning a poetry collection housed at the State Library and an office for the Poet Laureate of Oregon.
Looking forward to the future, the state of Oregon will be celebrating 150 years of statehood in 2009.
To view historic photos from 1991-present follow the link below:
Photos 1991-present
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