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MINUTES
OCPL Board of Trustees’ Meeting
Wednesday, December 12, 2007
Tully Free Library
12 State Street
4:00 p.m.
ATTENDING: G. Biesiada, H.J. Hubert, J. Kianka, A. Lombardi, R. Strauss, S. Jones, J. Suddaby, K. Wojslaw
ABSENT: H. Bonner, A. Hugo,
ALSO PRESENT: J. M. Latham, K. McCaffrey, S. Carmer, G.
Cox, K., Chave, K.
Park, S.
Kushner, L. Tickner, D. Milcarek, R. NaPier, D. Bendig, H. Sammons,
S. Bond, E. Dailey, E. Kochian, D. Headd, J. Kalkbrenner, M. Mignano, E. Loftus, L. Shepard Scott
Mr. Strauss called the meeting to order at 4:00 p.m.
APPROVAL OF MINUTES Mr. Hubert moved for approval of the minutes of the October 10, 2007 minutes.
Ms. Biesiada seconded, the motion carried unanimously.
Ms. Suddaby moved for approval of the minutes of the November 14, 2007 meeting.
Mr. Kianka seconded, the motion carried unanimously.
ACTION ITEMS
Resolution: 07-30
Mr. Hubert moved the following resolution:
Resolved, That the OCPL Board of Trustees elects Dick Strauss to the office of President; Ginny Biesiada to the office of Vice-President; H.J. Hubert to the office of Secretary; and Jay Kianka to the office of Treasurer of OCPL Board of Trustees for the year 2008
Ms. Lombardi seconded, the motion carried unanimously
Resolution: 07-31
Mr. Hubert moved the following resolution:
Resolved, That the OCPL Board of Trustees approves the expenditure of $500 from the Smith-Hawley Fund for the 2008 membership to NYSALB.
Ms. Jones, seconded, the motion carried unanimously
Resolution: 07-32
Mr. Hubert moved the following resolution:
Resolved, That the OCPL Board of Trustees approves the expenditure of $500 from the Trustees’ Endowment Fund for the 2008 Ossie Golden/Trustees’ Award ($400) and reception ($100).
Ms. Biesiada seconded, a brief discussion followed.
Amended:
Resolved, That the OCPL Board of Trustees approves the expenditure of $500 from the Smith Hawley Fund for the 2008 Golden/Trustees’ Award ($400) and reception ($100).
Mr. Kianka seconded, the motion carried unanimously
Resolution: 07-33
Ms. Biesiada moved the following resolution:
Resolved, That the OCPL Board of Trustees approves the expenditure of $250 from the Trustees’ Endowment Fund for Retirement/Service Awards.
Ms. Lombardi seconded, a brief discussion followed.
Amended:
Resolved, That the OCPL Board of Trustees approves the expenditure of $500 from the Smith Hawley Fund for Retirement/Service Awards.
Mr. Kianka seconded, the motion carried unanimously.
Resolution: 07-34
Mr. Kianka moved the following resolution:
Resolved, That the OCPL Board of Trustees authorizes transfer of funds of $5,000 from the OCPL Endowment Fund to the Executive Director’s Discretionary Account.
Ms. Jones seconded, a brief discussion followed.
Amended:
Resolved, That the OCPL Board of Trustees authorizes the transfer of funds of $5,000 from the Smith Hawley Fund to the Executive Director’s Discretionary Account.
Ms. Jones seconded the amendment, the motion carried unanimously
Resolution: 07-35
Resolved, That the OCPL Board of Trustees approves the reappointment of the OCPL executive director.
Resolution has been tabled.
Resolution: 07-36
Ms. Biesiada moved the following resolution
Resolved, That the OCPL Board of Trustees approves the proposed fall hours for White Branch Library effective January 2, 2008:
White Branch
Monday 9-7
Tuesday 9-7
Wednesday 9-7
Thursday 9-7
Friday 9-5
Saturday 9-5
Mr. Kianka seconded, a brief discussion followed.
Amended:
Resolved, That the OCPL Board of Trustees approves the proposed hours for White Branch Library effective January 2, 2008:White Branch
Monday 9-7
Tuesday 9-7
Wednesday 9-7
Thursday 9-7
Friday 9-5
Saturday 9-5
Mr. Kianka seconded the amendment, the motion carried unanimously.
Resolution: 07-37
Resolved, That the OCPL Board of Trustees approves the proposed revision in SWCC hours for the month of December, due to staff shortages.
Taken off the table
Resolution: 07-38
Mr. Hubert moved the following resolution:
Resolved, that the OCPL Board of Trustees approves the expenditure from the Slocum Trust Endowment fund of up to $4,600 to purchase Reading Rainbow for the Children’s World and up to $7,000 for materials to support family literacy.
Ms. Biesiada seconded, a brief discussion followed.
Amended:
Resolved, that the OCPL Board of Trustees approves the expenditure from the Slocum Trust Endowment fund of up to $4,600 to purchase Reading Rainbow for the Children’s World.
Mr. Kianka seconded, the motion carried unanimously
Resolution: 07-39
Mr. Kianka moved the following resolution:
Resolved, that the OCPL Board of Trustees approves the expenditure from the Slocum Trust Endowment fund of up to $7,000 for materials to support family literacy within the Children’s World.
Mr. Hubert seconded, the motion carried unanimously
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR'S REPORT
Dr. Latham updated the Board on the following topics:
a) Roof
Dr. Latham mentioned that the leaks are worse and the press has been involved. Flaum management has refused to repair the roof as the County has not paid condominium fees for the past several years. We have suggested repairing the roof and billing or suing the galleries for the costs, but that has not moved forward as yet. The County has pressed Messenger Associates about the outstanding roof issues, but the Galleries’ lawyer has yet to respond.
The costs of the roof are now becoming compounded by material damage and potential mold damage. Dr. Latham has requested a meeting with the budget department and the county executive office to determine how we should move forward at this point.
Ms. Carmer further explained the condo agreement, which states that the County would pay common fees once the Galleries has and keeps seventy-five percent of their space filled by retail.
b) Security
Dr. Latham and Ms. Loftus met with Securitas representatives about alternative strategies for private security coverage, particularly as it affects Mundy Branch. The County Law department suggested a higher-level guard, but after discussion with the security team, we will attempt a pair of guards at Mundy. The Library will also work on creating a schedule that will enable us to draw on full-time, permanent guards for the branches.
Securitas drafted a “tips and strategies” sheet for working with the young patrons of Mundy Branch, in particular, but recognizing that all of our libraries have challenges that require patience and equanimity. The Library will also provide our own de-escalation training for the fulltime guards, so everyone is operating from the same set of principles.
A memo will also be released addressing the issue of incident reports. In collaboration with the County Law department we arranged for de-escalation training for library staff, providing them with another tool in dealing with difficult situations. In the course of the training it was determined that some staff believed they are not to fill out or submit incident reports, so we are issuing an extended explanation of how, when, and why to submit incident reports to the administration.
c) SU
Dr. Latham attended several meetings with faculty and staff of Syracuse University.
Dr. Murali Venkatesh, who worked on the South Side Initiative at Beauchamp last year, has secured a small Kaufman grant through SU to expand the wireless service at Beauchamp and Betts. His students have worked have worked on the project and hope to eventually create a wireless canopy along the South Salina corridor.
Dr. Latham also met with Dr. Kingma, Assistant Provost, who will be working with Dr. Venkatesh and her as they pursue a planning grant for an IMLS project, which would build on the Library’s wireless strategy.
Dr. Latham met with Ms. Littlejohn, coordinator for the South Side initiative, so they could clarify the role of the Beauchamp Library in the SU outreach plan. Even though many people have expressed an interest in this initiative, they have determined that it is best to keep those projects that involve the libraries smaller and more manageable.
d) Governor’s Budget
On November 27th, Dr. Latham was among those community leaders who expressed their needs to the Governor’s listening team on budgetary needs. She emphasized the value of libraries in those communities, which face economic and social challenges. The Library was able to follow-up at the CLRC legislative breakfast, where they presented the more standardized agenda. A number of our staff participated in the breakfast, which was held in LaFayette.
e) Polaris Debriefing
As a follow-up to the debriefing of the members and branch library managers concerning the Polaris rollout, on December 3rd, they met with all the vendors and contractors for their perspective. It generated a valuable overview of the process, while raising some questions about how and why some things happened. One remaining idssue- the price of additional clients licenses – was still unresolved. Polaris has since determined that they will not be reducing the costs of those licenses for those libraries wishing to add more client processes.
Staff Reports:
Liz Loftus- Welch Allyn Grant- Mundy Branch
Ms. Loftus reported that Ms. Park, Mundy branch manager completed a grant application for a request of $98,000 for a computer lab.
COMMUNICATIONS
Finance
Mr. Kianka met with Ms. Carmer to review the quarterly budget.
Mr. Kianka and a few other Board members met with Alliance Bank in regards to the Board’s portfolio. Mr. Kianka received suggestions on other institutions and names he can contact for advice.
Foundation
Mr. Kianka mentioned that they did receive their 501(c) 3. They met with FOCL to coordinate with FOCL on who the Foundation can approach for fundraising. The first function they are looking at is a St. Patrick’s Day Fundraiser.
Mr. Kianka mentioned that the OCPL President would be presenting a request to forward a loan to the Foundation for a part-time Development Officer position. Mr. Strauss went into further detail on this and stated that the Foundation would be presenting the OCPL Board with the request that defines the position, their expectations, and their goals.
Government Relations
Mr. Strauss and Mr. Kianka met with Mr. Stanczyk and Mr. Strauss and Dr. Latham met with Mr. Meyer both from the County Legislature. He felt both meetings were very productive. The Committee’s goal for 2008 is to try to engage the County Legislature more actively than in the past.
Management, Recruitment, Development
The Committee is in the process of putting together an performance appraisal for the executive director.
PRESIDENT'S REPORT
Mr. Strauss presented Ms. Wojslaw with a Stickley clock in appreciation of her years of dedicated service as an OCPL Board member and president.
OTHER
Ms. Biesiada referred back to the roof leaks and if there is a game plan on how to address this issue. Dr. Latham reported that there is a memo from Mr. Mareane, Mr. Kochian, and Mr. Mack that addresses the strategy that they would like to consider in moving forward. They will be meeting with Ashley McGraw architects to review the roof as it stands now and what we can do now. Since it is winter, not much can be accomplished at this time.
Mr. Kochian gave more background information to the Board on the situation.
Mr. Strauss mentioned that Ms. Headd has a brief questionnaire for the Board members to fill out about themselves. The Library would like to issue a special OCPL Update (staff newsletter) that would introduce the Board to the staff.
Mr. Strauss asked the Board to review the Board committee and library liaison lists. Within the next year or two Mr. Strauss and Dr. Latham are planning on visiting each suburban library to meet with each director and their board president.
OCSL
Mr. Kushner asked that once the liaison list is established, if he could have a copy to give out at their next OCSL director’s meeting.
Mr. Kushner gave an update on the CLRC legislative breakfast that was hosted in the LaFayette town hall meeting room.
Dr. Latham attended their last meeting. They discussed future strategies, collaboration on Sharepoint and establishing a marketing committee.
They are still working on Polaris in aligning policy with technology.
Katy Benson is the newly appointed director for the Maxwell
OCPL AND ADVISORY COUNCIL
Mr. Strauss asked if there were any other Board members would
would like to represent the OCPL Board at their quarterly meetings.
The next meeting is scheduled for January 8th at the Central library.
EXECUTIVE SESSION
At 5:15 Ms. Lombardi moved to go into executive session in relation to the Executive Director’s evaluation.
Ms. Biesiada seconded, the motion carried unanimously.
At 6:30 p.m., Ms. Jones moved to adjourn executive session and reconvene into open session.
Mr. Kianka seconded, the motion carried unanimously.
No action was taken in open session
ADJOURNMENT
Ms. Biesiada moved to adjourn the meeting.
Mr. Strauss adjourned the meeting at 6:35 p.m.
Next meeting is January 9th at 4:00 p.m. in the Central library.
Respectfully submitted,
Gail M. Cox
Administrative Aide