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MINUTES
OCPL Board of Trustees’ Meeting
March 7 , 2007
Lafayette Public Library
Rte 11 North
4:00 p.m.
ATTENDING: A. Hugo, J. Kianka, D. Lankes, R. Strauss, K. Wojslaw
ABSENT: H. Bonner, H. J. Hubert, S. Jones, P. Mautino, J. Suddaby
ALSO PRESENT: J. M. Latham, K. McCaffrey, G. Cox, D. Bendig, S. Jensen, J. Kalkbrenner, E. Loftus, D. Milcarek, R. NaPier, K. Park, S. Kushner
Ms. Wojslaw called the meeting to order at 4:00 p.m.
WELCOME: Ms. Wojslaw introduced the newest board member Aaron Hugo.
APPROVAL OF MINUTES: Due to a lack of quorum, the approval of the January 10, 2007 minutes
have been deferred to the April board meeting.
Note:
February 14, 2007 meeting was cancelled due to the weather.
PRESENTATION
Mr. Kushner gave a presentation on the LaFayette Public Library. He spoke about the library’s technology and how the suburban member libraries are working on collaborating in the purchase of their databases. Mr. Kushner expressed his interest and involvement with adult literacy.
Mr. Strauss inquired on the size of LaFayette’s budget. Mr. Kushner replied that they receive $120,000 all together. They are chartered to serve approximately 5,000 people and have 28,000 items in their collection.
Mr. Kushner briefly discussed the possibility of a library expansion.
ACTION ITEMS
Due to a lack of a quorum, the trustees empowered board executive committee to vote upon the following resolutions, which passed unanimously. The resolutions will then be ratified at the April meeting.
Resolution: 07-02
Resolved, That the OCPL Board of Trustees approves the Submission of the LSTA grant application for $15,000 to fund “Communication Improvement” for software and training related to Outlook and the design of an intranet and:
Be it further resolved, That the OCPL Board of Trustees approves the submission of the LSTA grant application for $11,630 to purchase supplies and provide funding for “Zoo to You” and “Moreland the Entertainer” programs for the 2007 Summer Reading Program.
Resolution: 07-03
Resolved, That the OCPL Board of Trustees approves the Submission of the application for Adult Literacy Library Services 2007-2009 Grant for $40,000.
Resolution: 07-04
Resolved, That the OCPL Board of Trustees approves the submission of the application for Family Literacy Library Services 2007-2009 Grant entitled “Raising a Reader” for $56,000.
The following resolution has been tabled until the April meeting.
Resolution: 07-01
Resolved, That the OCPL Board of Trustees approves a fine amnesty in order to remove barriers to the use of OCPL Central and branch libraries for children and teens enrolled in the 2007 Summer Reading Program who read and report on five books will have their total accrued fines waived and;
be it further resolved, That children and teens 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 and;
be it further resolved, That staff will make the necessary accommodations to enable children and teens with fines on their cards to participate in the Summer reading Program.
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR'S REPORT
Ms. Latham mentioned that the Report
to the Community has been outsourced this year, because the library lost their
Public Information Officer. She handed out a draft copy of the report and explained that it is not
an annual report. The annual report is submitted by department heads and has
all ready been sent over to the County
Executive’s office. This report
is the one that the Board is legally responsible for submitting to community.
The theme for the community the report is: Partnerships.
Ms. Latham updated the Board on the incident at Solvay and the release of public library records without a subpoena. She reviewed the civil law handouts as it pertains to library records. She concluded by stating that the library has no problem with releasing this information with a subpoena. Law enforcement will work collaboratively with us in order to obtain the information properly.
Ms. Latham reported on a legal issue concerning Local History/ Genealogy databases that have been downloaded by a patron and then placed on their own website.
Ms. Latham mentioned there is another legal issue that the library is trying to resolve, concerning patrons claiming to be covered by ADA regulations and bringing their dogs to the libraries. Therapy dogs are permitted under federal law, and the regulations require no proof of training as therapy dogs. However, it raises the question about whether we can require health records. How liable would the library be in the case of a dog bite? Ms. Latham has asked the law department to look into this for the library and seeing about instituting a requirement.
Mr. Strauss questioned if there is a policy in place for non-ADA assistant animals being in the library. Ms. McCaffrey mentioned that we do, it is listed in the library’s Code of Conduct.
Ms. Latham reported that NYLA Lobby Day is next week and a number of them are attending. One of the big possibilities that has been indicated is that there is some interest among the legislators moving the funding for NOVEL to a state funding stream. NOVEL databases are currently funded with LSTA funds.
Old Business
a) KS&R
Community Survey Report
Ms. Latham
reviewed KS & R’s findings and inquired how the Board would like to rollout
this information to the public. This project was in partnership with OCPL,
KS&R and CNY Community Foundation. The survey was created to help establish
a baseline understanding of how the Central library and branches is serving the
community of Syracuse.
b) 2010
Initiative Committee
Ms. Latham gave an update on what the committee’s concerns and what they would like to see happen.
The librarians are aware of strategies that are inclusive. These strategies focus on family literacy to support reading activities as opposed to focusing just on the child, in order to create within the family a reading environment. This committee is working on a family literacy grant. As part of the literacy strategy the staff asked Ms. Latham to promote the idea of doing way with fines associated with children’s materials. Ms. Latham supports this, but there are issues that need to be addressed before they would be able to move forward with this strategy.
How we should improve the look of the library facilities. One project we they are working on is to obtain standardized signage throughout the libraries.
We do have a volunteer who will try different service hours.
New Business
a)Tobacco-Free
Onondaga County
Ms. Latham
explained that the County is asking that we create a policy that would indicate
that the Board would not accept and invest in any funds from any tobacco
related companies.
b)Operating
Budget
Ms. Latham
reviewed the operating budget timeline. At the request of the Board, Mr.
Kochian, Mr. Mareane, Ms. Latham and representatives from the city have been
visiting and reviewing the branch facilities. They will create a plan on how to
improve each branch facility.
Ms. Wojslaw
would like Mr. Mareane or someone from DMB to come and explain the budget
process to the Board.
DEPUTY DIRECTOR'S REPORT
a) Staff
Development Plan
Ms. McCaffrey
mentioned that the Continuing Education Committee met in February and they have
added three new members and the committee still looking for one more
representative from the member libraries.
The Staff
Development Day theme is “Everybody Serves Youth”, which is based on a program
developed by the New York Public Library. This topic will help in determining
the keynote speaker and many of the daylong sessions.
They are also
looking into core competencies, which will incorporate into the performance
evaluation process.
b) Barrow’s
Update/Frames
Ms. McCaffrey
gave an updated report on alternate frame options for the digital reproduction
of the Village of Skaneateles. Ms. McCaffrey received quotes on three other frames. She
explained that no one has frames remotely close to that time period and that
the new frames will not appreciate in value, like the Barrow frame would once
it is restored.
Ms. McCaffrey
will present a resolution to the Board at the April meeting for the restoration
of the Barrow frame.
COMMUNICATIONS
Finance: Mr.
Kianka mentioned that the finance meeting with HSBC regarding setting up the
sweep account would soon be put in place. They are cleaning up some of the
accounts and working on the logistics of getting it established.
Government Relations: Mr.
Strauss reported on the committee’s accomplishments to date.
The
committee is discussing the possibility of having an annual meeting, more like
a reception in late April or early May.
Mr.
Strauss reminded everyone about Lobby Day in Albany on March 13th.
The
member directors had a letter writing campaign for the governor thanking him
for including the funding for libraries in his annual budget.
Foundation: Mr. Kianka
mentioned that the next Foundation meeting is scheduled for March 21st at 8:00 a.m. at TFG. Mr. Kochian has agreed to be a board member. They have a
couple of others who seem to be interested in joining. They are planning on having a board of
twelve for their first full meeting in June.
OCSL
Mr.
Kushner mentioned that Ms. Byrnes from the Jordan Library mentioned how pleased
they are with their five-day delivery.
Mr. Kushner
is crafting a letter on behalf of OCSL to send out to everyone involved in
acquiring the bond request for the Polaris implementation.
OCPL ADVISORY COMMITTEE
Mr. Strauss mentioned the committee meets quarterly. Their next meeting is in
April at the Manlius Library. They are working on some trustee training in May.
He gave a Trustee training presentation at the Pioneer library system.
NYSALB
is giving a workshop in Queens on May 4-5.
ADJOURNMENT
Mr. Lankes moved to adjourn the meeting.
Ms. Wojslaw
adjourned the meeting at 6:00 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Gail M. Cox
Administrative Aide