On Thursday 26 September, as part of Kohacon24, around 30 people in person and 8 online met and discussed the next steps for the Koha Project joining the Open Library Foundation (OLF) following the vote earlier this year. You can see a recording of the workshop on YouTube <https://youtu.be/7ls8ApQqXhE?si=7pGxtbsfBzArnoXn> in the Koha channel: https://www.youtube.com/@KohaILS You can read the original press release about the proposal for the vote and the background research document here: https://koha-community.org/koha-foundation-vote/ and see the vote result in this updated version <https://drive.google.com/file/d/1vhyP2UQWg23Xgy07e0fe_0_Yclw93nyl/view?usp=drive_link> of the research document.. The group discussed many of the tasks that need to be undertaken over the next few months to establish a new governance model for the Koha Project. These tasks include gathering (and addressing) any concerns about the foundation and suggestions about what, once established, the Governance Committee should eventually take care of in the long term and also drafting a voting system for decision making. The workshop group also discussed and agreed to form a preliminary and transitional Steering Group that would undertake many of these tasks. The Steering Group will also agree from within its number the three roles that are required legally for the Koha Project to form the 501(c)(3) - the type of non-profit organisation the Project will be - and join OLF. These roles are: - Project Manager - Treasurer - Secretary Those on the Steering Group who take on these roles will be doing so on a transitional basis until we agree a formal process for joining the future Governance Steering Group/Board/Committee and for voting people into these positions. It is envisaged, at this point, that the three people taking on these transitional roles will take these positions for no more than one year. Those present at the workshop then agreed to take volunteers from amongst the group who were willing to be part of the steering group. The following eleven people have volunteered: - Éric Bégin - inLibro, Canada - eric.begin@inlibro.com - MM @eric - Tomas Cohen Arazi - Theke, Argentina - tomascohen@theke.io - MM @tcohen - Nick Clemens - ByWater Solutions, USA - nick@bywatersolutions.com - MM @kidclamp - Aleisha Amohia - Catalyst, New Zealand - aleisha@catalyst.net.nz - MM @aleisha - David Cook - Prosentient Systems, Australia - dcook@prosentient.com.au - MM @dcook - George Williams - NEKLS, USA - gwilliams@nekls.org - @georgehwilliams - Thomas Dukleth - USA - td-koha-foundation@agogme.com - MM @thd - Andrew Auld - PTFS Europe, UK - andrew.auld@ptfs-europe.com - MM @aulda - Brendan Gallagher - ByWater Solutions, USA - brendan@bywatersolutions.com - MM @bag - Sonia Bouis - Université Lyon 3 and Kohala, France - sonia.bouis@univ-lyon3.fr - MM soniab - Peter-Paul Kloppenborg - BSZ, Germany - paul.kloppenborg@bsz-bw.de - MM @paulkloppenborg By the end of October 2024, this group is tasked with: - Agreeing on the three roles mentioned above - Agreeing a terms of reference for the group - Starting to discuss the tasks involved in establishing Koha as a Project in the OLF - Outlining a timeline for delivering those tasks. The group will, as part of its terms of reference, agree how frequently it will update the Koha community on progress and decisions, and also which decisions will need to be made by the wider community rather than just within the steering group. We are setting up an email address, foundation@koha-community.org, which will reach all of the members of the transitional steering group. If you have any questions at all, please do not hesitate to get in touch (though please give us until the start of October to get the email address established - contact anyone on the committee via the details above in the meantime if you have questions). -- Andrew Auld Commercial Director PTFS Europe [image: Phone icon] M: +44 7811 370104 | T: +44 1483 378728 ext. 1010 [image: Email icon] andrew.auld@ptfs-europe.com [image: Link icon] www.ptfs-europe.com Sign up for our Newsletter. <http://eepurl.com/dPjjkn> <http://www.linkedin.com/company/ptfs-europe-limited> <http://youtube.com/@PTFSEurope> [image: Click to open PTFS Europe webpage] <https://www.ptfs-europe.com>