Cover letter to Chief Officers

October 1, 2007

Dear Chief Officer:

The purpose of this letter to request your participation in the State Library Agencies (StLA) Survey, conducted by the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS), for fiscal year (FY) 2007.

This annual survey is the 14th in a series of successful StLA surveys administered through a cooperative effort of the Chief Officers of State Library Agencies (COSLA), the U.S. Census Bureau (the data collection agent), and IMLS. IMLS is authorized to collect these data under the [insert IMLS authorization act title.] The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has approved this voluntary data collection through [insert end date of clearance.]

The FY 2007 StLA Survey is similar to last year.

The StLA Survey is a web-based application that may be accessed only by the staff person you designate as the Key Holder. The Key Holder will be responsible for the data submission. We strongly urge you to appoint the survey respondent as the Key Holder. Please designate the Key Holder now and e-mail the name to Cindy Sheckells at [email protected]. Also, please forward the enclosed materials and instructions to your Key Holder as soon as possible. To ensure the timeliness of the survey, we will contact you again if your Key Holder does not register within a few weeks.

Key dates on the FY 2007 StLA Survey schedule are:

• Survey information package mailed: October 1, 2007

• Registration/data collection begins: October 17, 2007

• John Lorenz Award due date: January 17, 2008*

• Survey close-out: February 15, 2008**

*The survey must be submitted by this date to receive the John Lorenz Award for Timely and

Accurate Submission of StLA Data.

**This is the final survey submission date.

As in past years, the Key Holder will request your sign-off of the survey data submission to certify its accuracy. Technical assistance for your data submission will be available from the StLA Help Desk at the Census Bureau. If you need any additional information or have any questions, please contact Cindy Sheckells at 1-800-451-6235 or at [email protected].

IMLS will provide tabulations of the final data in an E.D. Tabs report and in Supplemental Tables to the report that will be mailed to you as soon as they are available. These data products and the final data file will also be available over the Internet on the IMLS web site at http://imls.gov/XXXXXXX.

According to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, no person should be asked to respond to a collection of information unless it displays a valid OMB control number. The valid OMB control number for this information collection is 3137-XXXX. The time required to complete this information collection is estimated to average 11 hours per response, including the time to review instructions, search existing data resources, gather the data needed, and complete and review the information collection. If you have any comments concerning the accuracy of the time estimate or suggestions for improving the form, please write to: Institute of Museum and Library Services, 1800 M Street NW 9^th floor, Washington DC 20036-5802. If you have comments or concerns regarding the status of your individual submission of this form, write directly to Cindy Sheckells at U.S. Census Bureau, Washington, D.C. 20233 or at [email protected].

Thank you in advance for your cooperation in this very important effort.

Sincerely,

XXXXXX

Enclosure