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MINUTES
OCPL Board of Trustees’ Meeting
July 11, 2007
Central Library, Board Room
4:00 p.m.
ATTENDING: G. Biesiada, H. Bonner, H. J. Hubert, A. Hugo, J. Kianka, R. Strauss, A. Lombardi, R. Strauss, J. Suddaby, K. Wojslaw
ABSENT: D. Lankes, S. Jones
ALSO PRESENT: J. M. Latham, K. McCaffrey, G. Cox, D. Bendig, S. Jensen, J. Kalkbrenner, E. Loftus, D. Milcarek, R. NaPier, K. Park, E. Kochian, S. Kushner
Ms. Wojslaw called the meeting to order at 4:00 p.m.
WELCOME: Ms. Wojslaw introduced the newest board member Aaron Hugo.
WELCOME Ms. Wojslaw welcomed everyone and introduced the Board’s two newest members, Ginny Biesiada and Anita Lombardi. Everyone went around the room to introduce themselves.
APPROVAL OF MINUTES Mr. Strauss moved for approval of the minutes of the June 13, 2007 meeting
Mr. Bonner seconded, the motion carried unanimously.
ACTION ITEMS
Resolution: 07-15
Mr. Hubert moved the following resolution:
Resolved, That the OCPL Board of Trustees approves the proposed fall hours for Beauchamp and Mundy Branch libraries effective September 4, 2007:
Beauchamp Branch |
Mundy Branch |
||
Monday |
10-6 | Monday |
10-6 |
Tuesday |
9-8:30 | Tuesday |
9-8:30 |
Wednesday |
9-6 | Wednesday |
9-8:30 |
Thursday |
9-8:30 | Thursday |
10-6 |
Friday |
10-6 | Friday |
9-5 |
Saturday |
9-5 | Saturday |
9-5 |
Mr. Bonner seconded, a discussion followed.
Dr. Latham mentioned that there is always a change in hours between summer and fall. The staff was asked this time to come up with schedules that they thought would be more representative of community needs, while at the same time addressing the needs of the staff. This is a pilot project in terms of how to adjust the branch hours to the needs of the community. These are the recommendations by the staff that they would like to try. The amount of hours open is the same for Beauchamp and one hour less for Mundy.
The motion carried unanimously.
Resolution: 07-20
Mr. Strauss moved the following resolution:
Resolved, That the OCPL Board of Trustees approves a fine amnesty to remove barriers to the use of OCPL Central and branch libraries for adult learners who participate in the “Tutor/Teacher Library Connections”, a NYS Adult Literacy Services grant project that runs from July 1, 2007 through June 30, 2009. Participants who fulfill grant requirements will have their total accrued fines waived and;
be it further resolved, That these adult learners will incur no fines on items they return which have been declared lost, but charges for lost items that are not returned will not be affected by the amnesty.
Mr. Kianka seconded, there was a brief discussion.
Dr. Latham explained this is in response to the grant, issued from the adult literacy grant from the State. We received 48,000 for a two-year timeframe to develop an adult literacy program. Since people often don’t come back into the library because they have accrued fines, we would like to eliminate that barrier. They would still be accountable for items that are lost, but the fines they have accrued on returned materials would not block them from using other library materials.
The motion carried unanimously.
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR'S REPORT
Dr. Latham reported on the following:
Old Business
a) Mundy Update
Dr. Latham reported that the library only had five incidents reports within the last month, which indicated that the changes that have been implemented have had some positive impact.
She reported on the meeting that was held on July 10th with Deputy Chief Fowler, from the Syracuse Police Department; the TOPS Unit; Ms. Park, Mundy branch manager; Ms. Loftus; Dr. Latham; Securitas; new guard; and Ms. Hanna, and Jim Albanese from the County. They discussed three main topics: Children in the library, how and when to contact the police, and police supporting branch libraries.
The police were concerned with young children coming into the library unattended and suggested anyone under the age of twelve should be required to be escorted by adults. They suggested if they couldn’t be escorted that we require permission slips for children to be in the library or at the very least have some contact information for families in case of an emergency. They discussed what we would do about children whose parents would not provide permission or information, but they suggested trying to get the information anyway. The TOPS officers expressed concern that any staff person working for the city or the county be liable in a civil suit should any harm come to a child directly using the library. Dr. Latham has posed this question to the State library for their response to this issue. Mr. Kochian would like the law department to weigh in on this concern. Dr. Latham mentioned that this was also referred back to the county law department.
They also suggested an escalation plan for children who are acting out in the library. Parents will be notified first, if that information was provided. If not, they would call a TOPS officer, unless there is a physical confrontation involved; in that case 911 would be called. They raised the issue of when to contact Department of Social Services, which is being investigated. They also raised the issue of police contact with the branch libraries. Dr. Latham’s concern coming out of that meeting was that there was no commitment on part of the police department to be actively present in libraries at any given point in time, unless the Library was willing to pay for police presence. At one point the library paid for overtime police to patrol the libraries. The Syracuse Police Department was the one to discontinue that service and said they would provide regular patrol hours to be a presence in the libraries. Unfortunately, that is not happening and it is a remaining issue that still needs to be addressed.
All the security measures that have been put in place are working. We had an incident where we had two children who at 10:00 p.m on July 10th broke a window at Mundy. Security cameras helped identify the children who broke the window. TOPS officers contacted the parents about the incident and secured commitments to pay back the replacement cost of the windows.
Mr. Hubert asked from a policy perspective if it makes sense to be focusing our efforts on developing rules that specifically apply to a particular branch or does it make more sense for us to be developing an across the board policy. He suggested a form letter that spells out a specific conduct that happened on an occasion and because of that the person is no longer welcome in the library and if they show up again it is considered to be a trespass and then you can call police. This could be used for adults and children alike. Ms. Wojslaw mentioned that we have a barring procedure in place. Dr. Latham discussed this issue of a patron who was barred and had a serious behavior problem (threatening). If comes in first thing in the morning and they call the police and the police don’t respond, what do they do then? That is what they hoped to get out of July 10th meeting that was called by Chief Miguel. Mr. Hubert addressing the possibility of the sheriff’s office being of assistance as opposed to just the city police.
Dr. Latham feels the library has taken significant steps. We are dealing with some authorities who don’t see the issues in the library the same way we see them. Mr. Hubert asked if the sheriff’s office also has jurisdiction over the library. Mr. Kochian explained that it is really city property, and they may have an agreement between them. Dr. Latham mentioned that a retired sheriff is now doing security for the Mundy branch Library, under separate contract. Mr. Kochian sees that reading the incident reports is that patrons at Mundy are getting poorer treatment because they don’t have a safe library to visit, they can get intimidated by kids that are acting out. Dr. Latham noted that the library has all the steps in place, but what they don’t have is authority behind the procedures. She thinks the frustration that the staff feels is that 90% of the time we have a perfect library here and 10% of the time something acts up and we can’t impact that 10%. Dr. Latham observed that Mundy in the morning is a very traditional library like any other library. You go during in the afternoon and it’s a completely different environment; it’s crowded, jammed, busy, and noisy because of the structure of the building. All the activity enters the ceiling.
Mr. Hubert referred to an article that he read about a library closing some branches. Dr. Latham said it was in Morrisville, NJ. She mentioned that they banned children from library after a certain period of time. There was community uproar, saying you can’t eliminate children from a library. What happened was the community came up with more money, so they could address some of the issues that were emerging in that community.
Dr. Latham has spoken to some of the people she uses as consultants and the recommendation is Syracuse has got to come up with more money to address the issue. Dr. Latham is aware that there is a reporter that is working on an article regarding the incidents at Mundy. Mr. Bonner asked if she anticipates it to be a positive or negative article. Dr. Latham stated that based on the reporters past history, she feels it will have a negative cast on the library.
Ms. Lombardi understands that the library itself has procedures in place, but that the problem is coming from the local enforcement agency. The enforcement agency doesn’t feel we need to have extra patrol outside their regularly patrol schedules, but they are not doing so on a regular basis. Mr. Bonner, acting as the devil’s advocate, noted that with crime and other things that are occurring, rambunctious children in the library doesn’t sound life threatening as opposed to taking police off street patrol, which a number of the people in the community are debating. Dr. Latham thinks that is part of the issue, they don’t see that incidents that occur in the library as a rising the same level as the street crime.
Ms. Wojslaw commented that libraries are not ‘set-up’ for this type of issues. Mr. Hubert questioned if there were other incidents of the like. Dr. Latham noted that Mundy has a pattern of intense problems that rise above the level normal of problems. Mr. Hubert asked if she felt that there may be some employees that just don’t want to work at that branch. Dr. Latham does feel that there are safety issues. Mr. Hubert asked about moving staff around. Dr. Latham said that has been done, along with hiring someone from the community, a Spanish-speaking staff person and clerk of color. We been very intentional to reaching out to the community and bringing people in to work right there in the library. She feels that has made a difference. They have hired just for the summer a school librarian that knows some of the children. There are a few true behavior problems.
A part of the positive outreach strategy, the library has partnered with the Food Bank to bring in lunches. This is an area of intense poverty. If we engage the community, the community will help to address the solutions. She feels that is element that is yet missing. Bea Gonzalez is arranging a community meeting. This is the one focus that has been missing, because we had to focus on getting staff hired, getting schedules done, getting them trained. We have sent staff to youth services training, Bridges Over Poverty training, and we’ve done some real active consciousness raising. The Library has been intensely proactive.
Mr. Kianka inquired about having a letter ready in order to respond to the forthcoming article. Dr. Latham mentioned that they are all ready working on it.
New Business
a)Personnel
Ms. Park reported on the full and part-time vacancies and the process to fill them.
b)Central Tours
Dr. Latham announced the dates that the Central Library will be giving tours for any and all trustees within the OCPL system who may be interested in attending. Mr. Strauss inquired about the possibility of touring branches in the future.
c)Polaris Update
Ms. Bendig reviewed the handout of the Polaris implementation timeline.
Deputy Director Report
a) Youth Behavior Agreement
Ms. McCaffrey reviewed the draft Youth Behavior Agreement. The Board discussed the draft agreement and made some recommendations. At the Board’s request, Ms. McCaffrey will send the Board OCPL’s barring procedures and the revised Youth Behavior Agreement. It will be then be used at a couple of locations as a trial.
COMMUNICATIONS
Finance
Resolution: 07-21
Mr. Kianka gave an update on the Board accounts.
Mr. Kianka made a motion on the following resolution:
Resolved, That the OCPL Board of Trustees approves to add Jay Kianka, OCPL Board Treasurer and retain, Joyce M. Latham, Executive Director; Kate McCaffrey, Deputy Director: Elizabeth Loftus, Administrator for Branch Services; Sally Jensen, Director of Administrative Services; and Cheryl Tinozzi, Account Clerk II as a staff person of the Onondaga County Public Library authorized to sign checks drawn on the following OCPL Trustee accounts (below):
Be it further resolved, the transfer of Trustees checking account funds to the Trustees savings account effective July 11, 2007.
Mr. Strauss seconded, the motion carried unanimously.
Foundation Mr. Kochian reported on the sponsored Liverpool Library string quartet concert event. There are more concert events scheduled at various library locations within the next few weeks.
Other reports
OCSL Meeting
Mr. Hugo attended the OCSL meeting to speak to the group about overall awareness and a positioning campaign for the library. He asked if they had a certain dollar amount what could be done and what are the best ways to maneuver that dollar amount.
Banned Books Event
Mr. Strauss mentioned that the Banned Books event will take place on October 3rd.
PRESIDENT’S REPORT
Ms. Wojslaw asked the Board to review the Board Committee and the Board Member Liaison lists and get back to her on their preferences.
OCSL
Mr. Kushner reported that Mr. Hugo attended the OCSL meeting to discuss marketing strategies and Ms. Wojslaw attended as a guest. The directors agreed to suspend the System Services Committee, while the Memorandum of Understanding Committee is still in place. Dr. Latham reported that the Memorandum of Understanding Committee is working on an outline agreed services and contributed practices between OCPL System and the member libraries. Mr. Kushner added that it is a contract that once completed would be signed by each member library Board and OCPL.
Mr. Kushner expressed appreciation that Ms. Bendig has been available to attend their monthly meetings to keep them updated on the new integrated library system.
OCPL ADVISORY
COUNCIL
Mr. Strauss mentioned they are accepting nominations for the Trustee of the Year award. Their annual meeting has been scheduled for September 10th.
Mr. Strauss will be offering Trustee training at the Manlius Library on September 12th or 13th for any Trustees who may be interested in attending.
FOCL
Ms. Loftus attended their last meeting and met their newest members. She reported on CNY Reads and Ms. Zimmer from the OCPL Foundation spoke with FOCL on the Foundation’s mission and reassured them that there would be no conflict between them and FOCL’s mission.
Literacy Parade
Mr. Kochian commented on how successful the 2nd Annual “Light A Candle for Literacy Parade was that was held on June 2nd.
ADJOURNMENT
Mr. Strauss moved to adjourn the meeting.
Ms. Wojslaw adjourned the meeting at 5:40 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Gail M. Cox
Administrative Aide