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MINUTES
OCPL Board of Trustees’ Meeting
Wednesday, November 14, 2007
Betts Branch Library
4862 S. Salina Street
4:00 p.m.
ATTENDING: G. Biesiada, J. Kianka, A. Lombardi, R. Strauss, S. Jones, J. Suddaby
ABSENT: H.J. Hubert, H. Bonner, A. Hugo, K. Wojslaw
ALSO PRESENT: J. M. Latham, K. McCaffrey, S. Carmer, G. Cox, D. Bendig, D. Headd, H. Sammons, S. Considine, R. NaPier, D. Milcarek, E. Loftus, J. Kalkbrenner
Mr. Strauss called the meeting to order at 4:00 p.m. and thanked everyone in attendance.
APPROVAL OF MINUTES
Due to a lack of a quorum, the approval of the minutes from the October 10, 2007 meeting have been tabled until the December meeting
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR'S REPORT
Dr. Latham reviewed the handouts she gave the Board regarding REPORT her professional activities she has attended since the last board meeting.
She attended the following conferences, seminars, and meetings:
Old Business
a) Polaris Update
Dr. Latham spoke about the weekly Polaris meetings that included all the involved parties of the Polaris rollout. The rollout went as scheduled on October 23rd. They experienced some difficulties with volume. The problem appears to be resolved, with Polaris providing the upgrade with no additional cost. They are still in the negotiating process for the cost of additional client licenses for member libraries.
Dr. Latham congratulated everyone involved on the successful implementation of the new ILS. Dr. Latham would like to suggest is that as a way to recognize the staff that the Board considers paying for the lunches on Staff Development Day. The Board felt that was a wonderful idea and applauded the staff for all their efforts. Dr. Latham also mentioned that there will be a debriefing meeting of the vendors involved in the project.
b) Banned Books Event Update
Banned Books celebration had another successful year.
Senator DeFrancisco and Assemblyman Stirpe both attended. A copy of the reading list was distributed to the Board. Dr. Latham congratulated Ms. Loftus and the members of the committee.
c) Local History/Genealogy Brochure
Dr. Latham distributed a draft of the informational brochure on Local History/Genealogy. Dr. Latham would like to have this printed by supplemental state funds.
d) 2010 Initiative
A follow-up meeting was held with members of the 2010 committee and a representative from the Hawthorne Group. Central will work out a new schedule to improve service hours for the public and bring a proposal back to the Administration. This is an out growth from the public survey that was done by KS & R last year.
e) Family Literacy Grant
Dr Latham mentioned that even though the family literacy grant wasn’t funded, Ms. Keller and Ms. Kalkbrenner are working on purchasing the support materials requested through the grant.
f) System Meet
On November 7th, Suburban Directors, Branch Managers, and Central staff attended the 3rd meeting of the year. Dr. Latham provided the Board with the attendance list. The following topics were discussed:
As directed by the Board, Dr. Latham is in the process of scheduling a meeting with the Suburban Library Directors. They have not been able to establish a date for that meeting at this point.
g) CNY Reads Luncheon
The CNY Reads luncheon with FOCL author, Tracey Kidder was made possible through a partnership with FOCL, OCPL, and SU.
h) DeFrancisco Grants
The next round of approved grants were announced.
i) Incident Review Committee
An over view of the incidents reports for the previous month indicates that activity is again increasing at the Mundy Branch Library. An overview of the incidents was provided to the Board.
j) Personnel
Three Librarian ones were promoted to Librarian twos this past month.
Elyse Meltz - Paine Branch
Susan Bond – Hazard Branch
Ossie Edwards – Betts Branch
As a result, OCPL will be hiring three more Librarian ones, for a total of five.
k) Government Relations
The Ways and Means Committee has tabled the approval of the 135,000 in state supplemental funds. We are attempting to schedule a meeting with the county attorney’s office in order to discover why the Committee believes it can act in such a manner relative to state funds. The primary barrier is the allocation for some of these funds for a community awareness campaign for all the libraries within the county. Members of the committee believe that state funds should be used to offset local allocations.
We also lost an important position in the personnel line at Central during the budget process. The Ways and Means Committee, eliminated an unfilled Clerk I position (assigned to the service center), due to a recent promotion. This reduction in staff will have a negative impact on service delivery to the branches and suburban libraries, as it will take longer to pull hold requests and process the holds for delivery. Mr. Meyer was under the impression that the efficiencies of the Polaris system would make it possible to streamline staff.
DEPUTY DIRECTOR'S REPORT
Memorandum of Understanding
Ms. McCaffrey mentioned that she and Ms. Mignano met with the County Law Department. The law department is in the process of making some language changes to the document. The Board had questions and expressed some concerns regarding how the cost allocations piece would be determined. If the Committee can’t reach an agreement on how to decide this cost, would the Board have to institute the formula on how to determine the cost? Ms. McCaffrey responded that it could come to that, but they would like to see what an outside consultant would come up with first. The Board questioned the cost of the consultant. Dr. Latham feels that since the initiative originally came from the County, that they would probably absorb the cost. Dr. Latham mentioned if needed, they can always revert to the formula the state uses in figuring out the distribution of state funding.
Staff Reports
Budget Update
In response to Mr. Strauss’ request for a monthly report of the status of the budget, Ms. Carmer presented a draft report and asked for feedback from the Board regarding the format and detail of the report. The report includes salaries, materials, and all other non-personnel expense, which are the direct appropriations. They also have an interdepartmental expense, which includes the employee benefits and the overhead expenses that are included in the budget that OCPL has no control over.
Ms. Carmer mentioned that she has to provide a quarterly forecast for the budget office and she reports that forecast to the board within the same timeline. Dr. Latham mentioned that future reports would also include grants.
COMMUNICATIONS
Finance
Mr. Kianka mentioned the committee has begun to look at other financial institutions, so they can move their investments to a more mutually satisfactory investment house.
Foundation
Mr. Kianka did receive a response from the IRS regarding their 501(c)3 status. The IRS was requesting clarification on one item; Mr. Kiana sent that information to them. He should be hearing back from them within the next three weeks.
The Foundation did receive some funds from the Gifford Foundation to help support Mr. Kochian’s summer project.
Management, Recruitment, Development
Ms. Jones confirmed the nominations for the 2008 slate of officers. Mr. Strauss mentioned that they are looking for two nominations for board members
PRESIDENT’S REPORT
Mr. Strauss asked the Board members to review the objectives and the evaluation form of the executive director. He requested the board to forward their evaluations to him and he will compile all the recommendations.
Mr. Strauss mentioned that it is his understanding that the reappointment of the executive director needs to be done every three years. Mr. Strauss wanted to apprise the Board of this and a resolution will be brought to the December board meeting.
OCSL
Ms. Considine reported on how thankful OCSL is to Ms. Bendig, TS staff, and the training staff during the ILS transition.
Memorandum of Understanding- as independently governed entities they are looking forward to working towards a memorandum that moves the relationship forward and they are really looking forward to being able to bring it to their individual boards for approval.
Mr. Strauss inquired if their was anything the Board can do to move this forward from the law department.
OTHER
Ms. McCaffrey mentioned that five systems did not apply for any state construction funds under the $14 million dollar project. Therefore, they have reallocated the funds with $50,000 coming to OCPL, divided equally between Marcellus and Fayetteville libraries.
FOCL;
FOCL announced their gift of $42,000 to the Central Library.
OCPL ADVISORY
COUNCIL;
Mr. Strauss mentioned at their last quarterly meeting they presented
Mary Durkin with the “Trustee of the Year” award. They also voted on their 2008 slate of officers. They are: Adria Ripka, President; Dave Kenna, Vice-president; and Dick Strauss as Secretary.
OTHER
OCPL staff is having their holiday luncheon on Thursday, December 13th from 12-2 p.m. and the OCPL Board of Trustees is invited.
ADJOURNMENT
Ms. Biesiada moved to adjourn the meeting.
Mr. Strauss adjourned the meeting at 5:00 p.m.
Next meeting is December 12, 2007 at 4:00 p.m. in the Central library.
Respectfully submitted,
Gail M. Cox
Administrative Aide