FY2010 Key Holder Letter

October 1, 2010

Dear StLA Key Holder:
Congratulations on being named Key Holder for the State Library Agencies (StLA) Survey for fiscal year
(FY) 2010. You will play an important role in this national data collection effort. This data is vital to
advancing library services in the United States, which is the core mission of the Institute of Museum and
Library Services (IMLS). We look forward to working with the library community to keep this program
strong.
Background
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This annual survey is the 17 in a series of successful StLA surveys administered through a cooperative
effort with the Chief Officers of State Library Agencies (COSLA), the U.S. Census Bureau (data collection
agent), and the Institute of Museum and Library Services. IMLS is authorized to collect these data under
the Museum and Library Services Act of 2003 as stated in section 210, Analysis of Impact of Museum
and Library Services.
Survey Content and Data Collection Schedule
The FY 2010 StLA Survey content is similar to last year. We expanded question 14 to a break-out of FTE
by position: ALA-MLS Librarians, Non ALA-MLS & Non MLS Librarians, and Other Professional and Non
Professional Staff. We deleted item 231 CD-ROM union catalog and item 233 Telnet gateway of question
27.
As in past years, many items are completed for you with prior-year responses when the data are not
expected to change annually. However, please update any information that has changed.
The web-based survey application has been redesigned but the functionality works similar to last year.
The User Guide provides a general overview of how the web application works.
Key dates on the FY 2010 StLA Survey schedule are:
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Registration/data collection begins:
John Lorenz Award due date:
Survey close-out:

Wednesday, October 13, 2010
Wednesday, January 12, 2011*
Wednesday, February 16, 2011**

*All surveys submitted by this date will receive the John Lorenz Award for Timely and Accurate
Submission of StLA Data.
**This is the final survey submission date.
Key Holder’s Responsibility
As Key Holder, you are responsible for your state’s data submission. This packet contains the following
information to help you register and submit data for your agency:
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Key Holder Certificate: This document contains the Web address for registration and data collection,
key survey dates, your StLA user ID and password, and StLA Help Desk information. Please keep
this document in a safe place, and do not share your user ID or password with anyone.

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User Guide: This document contains important information for proper use of the web-based StLA
Survey system. The guide is also available on-line under the help.

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State Librarian Certification Form: This document certifies the accuracy of your data submission.
There are two options (1) electronic certification. A message will be sent to your State Librarian’s email address once you have submitted your data. The State Librarian can certify online by selecting
on a link within the e-mail. You will be informed immediately via e-mail if the State Librarian uses this
method. Or, (2) you can fax the signed certification form to Dominic Beamer at 866-394-0138.

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FY 2010 StLA Survey: This is an informational copy of the survey only and should not be filled out
and returned.

Your first step is to register as the StLA Key Holder. Please register by November 4, 2010 to enable
identification of all Key Holders and to eliminate unnecessary follow-up by the Census Bureau in
this regard. The registration site asks for specific contact information that will be used by the Census
Bureau in all further contacts with your StLA during this data collection. The Census Bureau will review
your submission and contact you about any questionable data.
IMLS will provide tabulations of the final data in a report and a copy will be mailed to you as soon as they
are available. The final data file and related data products will be available on the IMLS Web site at
http:/// www.imls.gov/statistics.
According to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, no person should be asked to respond to a collection
of information unless such collection displays a valid OMB control number. The valid OMB control
number for this information collection is 3137-0072. The time required to complete this information
collection is estimated to average 26 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 this
form, please write directly to [email protected]. If you have comments or concerns regarding the
status of your individual submission of this form, please write directly to [email protected]. The
Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has approved this voluntary data collection through September
30, 2010.
If have any questions regarding this data collection, please contact the StLA Help desk at
[email protected] or 1-800-451-6235. We look forward to receiving your FY 2010 StLA data
submission, and I thank you in advance for your time and effort in completing this important survey.
Sincerely,

Carlos A. Manjarrez
Associate Deputy Director for Research and Statistics

Enclosures:

Key Holder Certificate
User Guide
State Librarian Certification
State Library Agencies Survey