2026-01-22 Tri-Council Meeting

2026-01-22 Tri-Council Meeting

 Date

January 22, 10-11 AM EST

Location

 Participants

@Caitlin Stewart @Tom Cramer @Alexis Manheim @Charlotte Whitt @Christie Thomas @Christopher Spalding @Kevin Day @Hkaplanian @Jeremy Huff @Ingolf Kuss @Jenn Colt @Jennifer Eustis @Julian Ladisch @Kirstin Kemner-Heek @Kristin Martin @Lisa McColl @Maccabee Levine @Martin Scholz @Martina Tumulla @Olamide Kolawole @Peter Murray @Shelley Doljack @Thomas Trutt @Tod Olson @Wayne Schneider @Autumn Faulkner @Christie Thomas

 Discussion topics

  • Roundup of progress on initiatives raised at WolfCon Kansas City and subsequent council discussions from October 2025.

  • Funding considerations regarding the proposed Community-Directed Development Framework

 

 

Item

Presenter

Notes

 

Item

Presenter

Notes

 

Technical Council Update

Jenn Colt

Licensing Subgroup

  • Completed significant work on licensing questions that were blocking module reviews

  • Elamide built automated license-checking tool currently in testing phase

  • Strong group effort from Maccabee, Olamide, Kevin, and Peter

Support Periods

  • Julian led discussion on calculating support periods

  • New method approved that relies on underlying technology support periods rather than hand-waving

  • Response to knock-on effects from Trillium delay

Ongoing Activities

  • Two existing module reviews currently in process

  • Regular updates from Eureka adopters (Craig provides updates)

  • Participation in metrics working group

  • Established goal to review previously accepted modules

Future Work

  • Reconnecting with CDDF efforts after holiday break - will work with Jeremy on specific tasks

  • Brainstorming improvements to WolfCon developer experience (developer track, more developer collaboration space)

 

Product Council Update

Jeremy Huff

PC goals this year

  • Continue to refine community prioritization process and Jira dashboard

  • Attempt a lightweight DIP process (as outlined in the proposed CDDF)

  • Improve PC communication around releases, clarify PC role/relationship with release management process

Recent activity

  • Formed subgroups around each of the above goals, reports below

  • Implementing a 3-month trial of calendar calming week at the end of each month, encouraging SIGs and others in FOLIO community to consider the same

  • Revising SIG update timelines to quarterly reports

  • Considering the creation of a PC newsletter to improve communication with community

 

PC Community Priorities Subgroup

Alexis Manheim, Caitlin Stewart

  • Dashboard live on wiki and populated by SIGs

  • Building processes for maintenance and documentation

  • Creating designated PC role to manage dashboard long-term

  • Two subgroups:

    • Documentation, best practices, and communication (Lisa, Autumn, Alexis)

    • PC-level ranked list from SIG priorities (Caitlin, Todd)

  • Learning from feedback that single ranked list of granular features is difficult - pivoting to higher-level investment areas

 

PC Community Directed Development Subgroup

Jeremy Huff

Near-term deliverables:

  • Minimally viable DIP process to PC for feedback (originally Feb 26, moved to March)

  • Meet with CC regarding community development team (March target)

  • Process for designating folio components as community or participating

Longer-term deliverables:

  • Mature DIP rollout plan (May)

  • Comprehensive CDDF roadmap (June, group termination)

  • Presentation at WolfCon

Coordination request: Seeking to establish monthly cross-council meetings with anyone working on CDD initiatives in TC or CC

 

PC Release Management & Communication Subgroup

Autumn Faulkner

Focus areas:

  • (1) Seeking a better understanding of PC’s current role in release management and how to improve PC engagement; recommendations for changes or improvements one of our deliverables

    • Will be working with Oleksii and RMS group

    • Hope to complete environmental scan of all release management processes by March or so

  • (2) Better communication and outreach from PC around software releases; deliverable will be a communication plan for PC to maintain

    • Started experimenting with updates for regular library workers (brief, accessible, layperson-friendly)

    • POs have recognized a similar need and have drafted updates of a similar nature; instead of reinventing the wheel, subgroup will follow their lead and offer support

  • Target for all deliverables is May or June

 

CC Update

Tom Cramer

Line Items Contribution (Pass-Through Proposal)

  • Model developed after 2025 DC summit for hosted service providers to add optional invoice items

  • Final draft circulated to all players in late 2024

  • Currently dormant - no consensus among hosted service providers

  • May revive with more clarity on funding flows and allocation

  • Update from Christopher: Still percolating, conversation continues between finance/PM/sales teams

Membership Value Proposition

  • Goal: Expand FOLIO membership for more contributors and resources

  • Current differentiation is just logo size on website

  • Brainstormed 13-14 options, four most promising:

    1. Opportunity to influence development (requires building funding capacity)

    2. Access to technical expertise from member institutions

    3. Specialized troubleshooting support (like Data Curation Network model)

    4. Training materials and resources for new staff and latest features

Metrics and Instrumentation

  • Cross-council initiative convened by Jen Colt

  • Group includes Jen, Tom, Christy, and Sean Nicholson

  • Goal: Better measurement of FOLIO community and software ("if you don't measure it, you can't manage it")

  • Developing proto dashboard

  • Requesting input from experts across community on important metrics

Future Membership Initiatives

  • Finalize membership value discussions

  • Revisit membership tiers (original structure was guesswork, now have more information)

  • Launch membership campaign to ~300 adopter institutions (small percentage currently formal members)

  • Timeline: Second half of fiscal year (2027 membership drive)

 

Funding and Community-Directed Development

General discussion

Key Questions Raised

  • Chicken-and-egg problem: CDDF structure held up by lack of funding, but funding held up by lack of structure

  • Could CDDF move forward without new funding using existing institutional developer resources?

Historical Context

  • Previous community development team (Prokofievich) included both grant-funded and in-kind developer contributions

  • Texas A&M and Michigan State contributed in-kind resources

  • Challenges with rotating/part-time institutional resources vs. full-time dedicated resources

  • Grant funding (Mellon Foundation) provided stability and accountability framework

Considerations for Moving Forward

  • Two pathways needed: crowdsourced institutional development AND contracted work through raised funds

  • CDDF accounts for both approaches

  • Need compelling structure/blueprint before fundraising

  • Tension between desire to fund vendor maintenance work and administrative overhead concerns

  • Significant learning curve for new FOLIO developers

  • Maintenance work less appealing than new features for institutional contributions

Suggested Approaches

  • Universities fund initial sparkly new features, community maintains ongoing work

  • Link community priorities with CDDF - many institutions contribute to cross-board priorities

  • CDD Framework could solve multiple issues including membership value proposition

Paywall Considerations

  • Question raised about what services should be behind membership paywall

  • ArchiveSpace mentioned as potential model

 

Next steps

 

  • Continue discussion in Tri-Council Slack channel

  • Working groups proceed with stated timelines

  • Cross-council coordination on CDD initiatives

 

 

 

 

 Action items

 Decisions