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>> Richard Reyes Gavilan: My name is Richard
Reyes Gavilan.

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I'm the Executive Director of the DC Public
Library, and welcome.

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Welcome to DC, and welcome to this space.

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Just a couple of remarks that I prepared on
my way into work this morning to sort of maybe

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set the stage for the conversation, one of
my favorite aspects of library work involves

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reconciling the seemingly contradictory forces
that are always in play as we attempt to sort

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of deliver effective services, access vs.
ownership, outputs versus outcomes, transaction

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versus transformation, you know, these are
things that I'm always thinking about whenever

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we sort of allocate money for a certain program
or service.

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You know, my favorite one of these dichotomies
that I talk to staff all the time about are

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these two phrases from a couple of guys who
are not librarians, they’re no library workers,

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but they write a lot about libraries.

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One said at one point, maybe in a conference
or something, the space is the service, and

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he was talking about, you know, new and renovated
libraries and all the spaces that you can

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just sort of plug and play and libraries will
always be wonderful relevant and good by virtue

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of our new modernized buildings.

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The other said something that is sort of the
opposite of that.

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He said libraries are not their buildings,
and he was talking about this increasing push

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to add digital content that might make the
physical library obsolete, and he wasn't saying

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it in a bad way, but he was saying that so
much of what we're doing takes place outside

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of the walls of the physical library, and
I think about these two forces and how they

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sort of interplay all the time, and I think
about in what camp does this discussion that

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we're having this morning on the national
digital platform belong in, and I guess I

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would probably argue that it belongs in both.

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You know, on the one hand, what DPLA and others
are doing is really the embodiment of libraries

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are not their buildings, but on the other
hand, I think of all the content that feeds

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this platform and the ideal spaces in which
the content can be created and manipulated

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and discussed and re manipulated, and I start
thinking about bricks and mortar, and in this

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particular instance at MLK Library, I think
about Steel and Glass, which brings me a little

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bit to this building right here, because I
love talking about it.

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This is the Martin Luther King, Jr.

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Memorial Library, a place that was really
obsolete on the day that it opened in 1972,

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and you can see little bit about why that
is because of the building, or the room in

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which you’re sitting.

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We've actually been repurposing this room
for punk shows to support our DC punk archive,

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which we launched this year.

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(Applause.)

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>> Richard Reyes Gavilan: It's not the most
inspiring space, by any stretch of the imagination,

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but we're fixing all that, so the city has
committed $200 million to the modernization

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of this building, and we hope to get underway
late next year, and that is going to involve

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creating, really, the most spectacular destination
for learning that this city has ever seen,

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and I wish I had a lot of time because we've
got a lot of great renderings and a great

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architect from the Netherlands who's really
thinking this building through, but my favorite

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aspect is going to be how we can rethink our
special collections department.

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So, we've got a Washingtonian Department up
on the 3rd floor, and they collect a lot of

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great things, and they collect DC punk ephemera
and they collect a lot of newspapers and a

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lot of things, but there are a whole world
of other local history organizations, big

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and small, in the city, and I am actively
reaching out to them to say move in with us,

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if not physically, but spiritually, the historical
society of DC, the municipal archives, if

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we come together in one space, the amount
of content that we can put together is going

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to be just absolutely phenomenal.

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The digitization lab, the teaching, the discussion,
you know, it would be such a wonderful nucleus

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around which something like this digital platform
can really thrive.

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So, that's all I can say.

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I want to thank Maura Marx for moving this
conversation from New York City to just below

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my office.

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It makes things really convenient for me,
and I'm really looking forward to the day.

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Maura, I know how much work you put into these
things, so thank you so much, and the IMLS

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staff, just great work all around.

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Thanks again.

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(Applause.)

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>>Maura Marx: Thank you, Rich.

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Thank you for having us here.

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We love this room.

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We're going to be inspired by this room.

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I'm Maura Marx.

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I’m the acting director of the Institute
of Museum and Library Services, and on behalf

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of all of IMLS, our board member, Mary Minow,
my colleagues and I welcome you here today.

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We want to just thank you so much up front
for taking time out of your busy lives to

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join us in kicking off the first of three
such convenings that we'll have over the next

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several weeks, hopefully to talk about shared
priorities for libraries.

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This is the second year we're holding these
IMLS convenings.

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We found it so helpful last year to bring
a group like this together and have an intense

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conversation about our shared goals, and we're
counting on your active participation to make

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this year a success as well.

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Your contributions basically help us do our
work, and our work is to make smart, strategic

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investments in libraries so that the American
people have the best possible library services.

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I'd like to extend a special welcome to those
joining us on the live stream today.

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Last year, we had over 800 participants that
way, which was really awesome, so I'm hoping

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we have a great, active group again today.

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You can still actively participate via Twitter.

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Our hashtag for today is IMLS focus.

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That’s hash tag IMLS Focus.

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We will be monitoring the tweets, and we'll
feed them to moderators throughout the day,

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so if you have comments or questions, please
do pipe up, because we'll get you on the record

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there.

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At last year's national digital platform convening,
a common theme emerged, which was that we

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stand atop about 20 years of experimentation
and innovation in digital libraries and that

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now was the moment for us together to decide
which of the results were the most viable

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and most promising and to work together to
build those out to focus on improving and

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connecting those pieces.

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We heard that we should double down and unite
forces in aiming to bring fragmented pieces

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of infrastructure, content, tools and services
together into a national digital platform.

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We and other funders were challenged to work
more closely together and to require that

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applicants would demonstrate how they fit
in with pieces of the existing infrastructure,

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such as the DPLA, the Haughty Trust, or the
digital preservation network.

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I'm happy to report that we've made some progress
since then at IMLS.

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We created a funding priority for the national
digital platform with much more specific guidelines

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than in the past.

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We recently made the first round of awards
focused on strengthening collaborations and

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building out infrastructure, and we have another
batch in process as we speak.

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I think it's useful to point out that this
idea of a national digital platform is resonating

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beyond the library community.

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The president's 2016 budget request for IMLS
includes a targeted increase for this priority,

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specifically an additional $8.8 million supports
a national digital platform, it's not passed

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yet, which would be funded by the National
Leadership Grants Program for libraries at

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the level of $5.3 million and for museums
at the level of $3.5 million.

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This potential $8.8 million increase, I think,
demonstrates the timeliness of this vision.

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Back to our progress at IMLS.

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We hired Trevor Owens.

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Where are you, Trevor?(Applause.)

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>>Maura Marx: Yay.

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He's now senior program officer for the national
digital platform at IMLS, and he together

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with our amazing and talented staff members,
Emily Reynolds, Terry Devo, Kim Okahara, and

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Katie Murray, of course, put together today's
program.

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So, we have a team lead, and we're going to
continue to build agency expertise in this

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area.

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We also have a working definition of national
digital platform.

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A lot of people want to know, what do you
mean by national digital platform?

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So, we have that working definition, and we're
looking for your help in refining it.

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We need to scope out components as well as
gaps, but that's going to be addressed in

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the first session.

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So, before we get ahead of ourselves, I just
want to do one more thing.

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I want to recognize, again, for the benefit
of our friends joining us online, some of

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the organizations and partners who are here
today so that people know who's having this

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conversation.

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Several of our key library associations are
here.

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We have the American Library Association,
ALA, the Urban Library's Council, CASLA, the

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Chief Officer of State Library Agencies are
here, state librarian Ken Wigan from Connecticut,

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also the Digital Library Federation, the DLF,
CNI, Clifford, OCLC, whom we really neglected

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to invite last year through a big mistake,
and so we have several OCLC members here today

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and we're very, very happy about that.

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Clear is here.

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I saw Chuck briefly.

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Ithica SNR, Marcum is here, the DPLA is here,
the Haughty Trust, the Pop Up Archive, History

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Pen.

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We look forward to your input.

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We also welcome several funders and organizations
who care deeply about the work of libraries,

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including the Melon Foundation, the Kale Austin
Foundation of Brewster, the Internet Archive,

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the Aspen Institute, the National Endowment
for the Humanities, the NHPRC.

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Thank you all for joining us.

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Like last year, we're delighted to welcome
our colleagues from other federal institutions.

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The National Archives is here, the archivist
will join us around noon today.

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The Smithsonian, the Library of Congress,
David Mow is here.

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I think Robert Movin in coming too.

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We look forward to your participation.

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So, there are many wonderful colleagues here.

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I'm sorry I can't name you all, but we're
thrilled to have such a group together.

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The only funny thing is that no one has grown
up because no one wants to sit in the front

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row like the old days.

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Okay, time for some housekeeping notes.

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There's coffee out there.

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There's a room where coffee and lunch will
be served.

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The restrooms are back near the elevator that
you came in on.

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I'll remind you that we are looking for your
active contributions to this discussion, so

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please speak into the microphones when you
participate.

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We have people around the room holding mics.

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Please say your name and your organization
so that we can get that on the record, and

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with that, it's time to introduce our first
session.

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I'm going to ask Trevor to come up to the
podium and introduce the panel.

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Alright.

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Thanks very much.

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(Applause.)