MINUTES

OCPL Board of Trustees’ Meeting
Wednesday, Feb.13, 2008
Mundy Branch Library
1204 S. Geddes Street
4:00 p.m.

ATTENDING: G. Biesiada, S. Jones, B. Fisher, H. Bonner, A. Lombardi, H. J. Hubert, R. Strauss, J. Kianka; J. Suddaby

ABSENT: A. Hugo

ALSO PRESENT: K McCaffrey,A. Rooney, S. Carmer, G. Cox, J. Park, E. Kochian, K. Park, D. Headd, H. Sammons, E. Loftus, S. Kushner

           

Mr. Strauss called the meeting to order at 4:00 p.m.

APPROVAL OF MINUTES

Ms. Biesiada moved the minutes of the January 9, 2008 Board meeting.

Ms. Lombardi seconded.  Ms. Jones name was added to the attending list. The motion carried unanimously.

PRESENTATION

Ms. Park, Mundy Branch Manager gave a presentation on services and challenges at Mundy Branch. She and her staff enjoy the children and teens and believe that they are successful to some extent in meeting their needs, but also said that they number of kids in the library at one time can be overwhelming.

Ms. Park reviewed early responses to a survey they are conducting with youth.  

Ms. McCaffrey expressed concern about the number of incidents that are happening there. Mundy typically accounts for more than half of all the incidents reported for the city libraries. They range from troublesome to potentially very serious.
                           
The Board asked what makes this particular branch different from the others. Ms. McCaffrey responded that location relative to neighborhood schools, poverty level, ethnic tensions, and the lack of youth facilities or community centers are factors.

Ms. Park stated that many of them just want attention. Some are in the library for 5-6 hours at a time.  Ms. McCaffrey mentioned and Ms. Park agreed that youth don’t have control over their emotions; they get angry, fight with each other and that spills over to everyone around them. Contract security guards are helpful, but have limited authority.  Many of the youth are savvy about the justice system and know that the security guards can’t do anything to them.

Ms. Park expressed appreciation for her staff, who serve as role models for the kids.  She believes that the library’s role must be clarified – traditional model or community center – and suggested some ways that the community center role could be enhanced. 

Mr. Kochian commended Ms. Park on her efforts and those of her staff. He stated the County Executive’s Office is here in support of the library system and in particular to support Ms. Park and the Mundy Branch. They are looking for partners that can help this branch effectively meet the needs of the community.

There was a lengthy discussion on the different situations occurring, what has been accomplished, and what needs to happen in order to keep staff and patrons safe while meeting the needs of the community.

Ms. McCaffrey stated that there is a small amount of money in the budget to hire a police officer. Ms. Loftus has been in touch with Chief Fowler on regarding availability and costs. The intention is to provide a police officer for peak usage hours. 

The group was in agreement that the County should begin to contact and work with the Syracuse Police Department.

ACTION ITEMS

Resolution: 08-06

Mr. Kianka moved the following resolution:

Resolved, That the OCPL Board of Trustees approves the recommendation from the Uniform Circulation Procedures Committee to allowing patrons to renew items online with fines of up to $50.00 on their card.

Mr. Hubert seconded, the motion carried unanimously.


Resolution: 08-07                

Mr. Hubert moved the following resolution:

Resolved, That the OCPL Board of Trustees approves the recommendation from the Uniform Circulation Procedures Committee to change the fine structure on children’s items from twenty-five cents a day to ten cents with a maximum fine of $5.00.

Mr. Kianka seconded, the motion carried unanimously.


Resolution: 08-08                 

Ms. Lombardi moved the following resolution:

         Resolved, That the OCPL Board of Trustees approves the submission of the LSTA grant application for $12,000 to purchase supplies and provide funding for “Zoo to You” and “Moreland the Entertainer” programs for the 2008 Summer Reading Program.

Ms. Suddaby seconded, the motion carried unanimously.

Resolution: 08-09                  

Ms. Suddaby moved the following resolution:

       Resolved, That the OCPL Board of Trustees approves the amended hours of Monday through Saturday 9:00 to 5: 00 p.m. at the Mundy Branch Library, effective February 14, 2008 through March 17, 2008. 

Ms. Suddaby seconded, a brief discussion followed.

                                         
Amended:
Resolved, That the OCPL Board of Trustees approves the Mundy Branch amended hours of Monday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday 9:00 to 5: 00 p.m., and Tuesday and Wednesday 9:00-7:00 p.m., effective February 14, 2008.

Resolution: 08-10                      

Ms. Jones moved the following the resolution:

Resolved, That the OCPL Board of Trustees approves the submission of the LSTA grant application for $22,100 to expand the accessibility to electronic information currently offered by Central’s STAR (Special Technologies and Adaptive Resources) program to selected OCPL Suburban libraries.

Ms. Biesiada seconded, the motion carried unanimously.

 

DEPUTY DIRECTOR'S REPORT

 Ms. McCaffrey attended a county department heads’ meeting with County Executive Joanie Mahoney on February 1st. She spoke about her Opportunity Agenda Action Plan, and the reports of her transition team task forces, which can be found at http://ongov.net/Forms/home.htmlLiteracy is one of her main initiatives. She asked that department heads set up a time for her to visit. 

New Business

Gates Grant
This is the last year that the Gates Foundation will provide public pc’s for libraries. The focus of the project is to train library directors and trustees in advocating effectively for technology funds. Based on demographic factors along with an automated evaluation of each library’s pc’s the following OCPL libraries were eligible: East Syracuse, NOPL at North Syracuse, Solvay, Salina Free, and Paine Branch.

Media Sorting Blitz
In order to address the very serious backlog in the sorting of media a sorting blitz was organized on Saturday, January 26th. Staff sorted the equivalent of 130 bins, and all of the materials were delivered on Monday.

Gifts
Ms. Weiss donated $1,000 to the Trustees Gift Fund.  $500 was donated to the Trustees Gift Fund, Mundy Branch from the NY Council for the Humanities on behalf of an SU doctoral student who worked as Mundy Branch Library’s facilitator on a grant project.


  
Old Business

Roof Update
On Saturday, February 2nd, Mr. DeCook was called in because two new roof leaks had opened up in the technical Services area. Over the weekend he spent a total of eight hours installing additional leak diverters and redirecting existing diverters. He reported the leaks to Galleries Security, and then to the Galleries Management. 

On Wednesday, February 6th Peter Larson of Ashley McGraw Architects, and Eric Gaines, engineer with Onondaga County, did a more thorough walk-through of the affected areas.  They looked above the ceiling to see how the leaks have been affecting electrical devices, piping and HVAC supports. They also went up on the roof.  Mr. Larson stated that the insulation as originally installed is not acceptable by today’s standards; more insulation will be required with a new roof.

Current insulation is now wet from the leaks, so we are now essentially heating and cooling the outside. He will submit a report by next week.

Ms. Carmer and Ms. McCaffrey met with County Attorney Gordon Cuffy and Chris Mack, from the law department to discuss a request from Galleries management that we close the front (inside) entrance to the library in the evenings that we are open, and have patrons use the auditorium entrance, which would reduce their costs. There are a number of obstacles to this proposal, including increased staff costs for the library, loss of access to the parking garage, and the loss of the auditorium as a programming space.

Other activities: