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2003 Minutes

January	April	July	October
February	May	August	November
March	June	September	December

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Minutes of the Regular Monthly Meeting of the

Anderson City, Anderson, Stony Creek and Union Townships Public Library Board of Trustees

January 15, 2003

Trustees Present

Charles Lacey, President

Joni Brinkman, Vice President

Ann Teague, Secretary

Rhea Parshall, Treasurer

Bill Surbaugh,  Paul Muething,  Stan Kilburn

 

Trustees Absent

None

Staff Present

Marsha Grove, Library Director

Sarah Later, Assistant Director

Lova Gay, Recording Secretary

Tonya Carman, Business Office Manager

Russ Jones,  Carolyn Metz, Donna Brown, Beth Oljace, Linda Funk, Melanie Johnson, Becky Gremes, Ann Weigand, Sarah Swift, Tony Fort, Jerry Beeman, Martha Green, David Gillaspy, Leota Jones, Sheila Love

 

Others Present

Jim Freeman, Library Attorney

Ginger Slaven,  Madison County Literacy Coalition

Karen Nelson, Madison County Literacy Coalition

 

 

President Lacey called the meeting to order at 4:15 p.m. in the Board Room of the Main Building.

The first item on the agenda was the presentation of the Director=s Award. Marsha presented the award to Russ Jones, Maintenance Manager. This award is presented to an employee who models service excellence in every aspect of his/her work on a daily basis or who has done exemplary work on a special project as part of a team effort. This award is a certificate and $10. Marsha said Russ has streamlined his department and has extensive knowledge and technical skills, all of which has resulted in saving the library thousands of dollars.

 

A motion was made by Bill Surbaugh to have the entire Board act as a committee of the whole to make a selection for an Interim Director. Joni Brinkman seconded the motion, it carried unanimously.

 

At this time the Board went into Executive Session.

 

When the regular meeting was once again convened, a motion was made by Joni Brinkman to move Sarah Later into the position of Interim Director. The motion was seconded by Bill Surbaugh. Motion carried unanimously. Her salary will be announced at the February Board meeting. The Board has the utmost confidence that Sarah will continue to do the fine job she has done toward the continued growth of the library.

 

A motion was made by Bill Surbaugh and seconded by Paul Muething to increase the salary of the Director by 3% effective on her hire in date which was January 14. This is the same increase staff received. Motion carried.

 

A motion was made by Paul Muething and seconded by Joni Brinkman to approve the minutes of the regular meeting held December 18, 2002 as circulated. Motion carried.

 

President Lacey then presented Marsha with a desk set in recognition of her accomplishments and as a sign of their personal esteem for her and a reminder of all the personal relationships she will leave behind. A small plaque on it read AIn appreciation of your visionary leadership.@ Marsha told the Board how much she appreciated them giving her a chance with her first Library Director position. She also said that the staff have just been tremendous in what they have been able to accomplish. She said that in Champaign if they only do 2/3 of what we have done here in Anderson it will be a tremendous success.

 

Rhea Parshall has examined the bills and found them to be in order subject to an outside audit and made a motion to accept the claims for payment as published. Bill Surbaugh  seconded the motion, carried unanimously. Bill Surbaugh asked for clarification about the $185,000 transferred into LIRF. This money has been budgeted but it has not been encumbered.

 

A motion was made by Bill Surbaugh and seconded by Joni Brinkman to approve the list presented of certain bills to be paid between Board meetings. Motion carried unanimously.

 

President Lacey appointed the following people to the Nominating Committee; Rhea Parshall, chair, Stan Kilburn and Ann Teague. They will present a slate of Board officers at the February meeting. He then appointed a Search Committee to hire a new Director. This committee is Bill Surbaugh, chair, Paul Muething and Rhea Parshall. The search for a new Director will probably take 4-6 months.

 

Next on the agenda was the annual review of library policies. There were very few changes this year. In the Meeting Room Policy a sentence was added that Bixby=s can provide catering to meeting room groups and the line AThis policy is subject to modification at the discretion of the library.@ The wrong copy of the policy was given to the Board but 2 more changes were added to the new policy; the library does not supply carts for meeting room customers to use and groups who want into the building early will have to pay a $100 fee. Other policy changes include the fee increase in the PLAC and non-resident cards. Bill Surbaugh would like it added to the policy that non-residents who pay property taxes in the library district have the same benefits as resident cardholders. Marsha said we do honor that and we can add it to the policy. She then presented a new policy for approval by the Board. It is the Art Collection Acquisition Policy. This would cover miscellaneous art work people want to donate to the library that the library may not want. She also presented a new policy recommended by the Indiana Room staff on research requests. This would allow the library to charge people who live outside Madison County $10 for reference research. Bill Surbaugh said this would be broadening the scope of services to people who are not taxpayers in the library district and he feels we need to adopt this policy to charge non-residents of the library district, not Madison County residents. Beth Oljace said we are one of the last libraries to do genealogy research only for costs incurred, and she feels even though we need to bring our practices into line with other libraries it will bring some bad will if we start charging other Madison County residents. Bill said we have an obligation to staff time and to our constituents and cannot have bad will with them. Stan Kilburn stated he would like to think about this and also discuss the PLAC card issue at the same time this is put on the agenda.  Marsha recommends making it all library card holders and not just people who live in the district. Bill Surbaugh moved that the meeting room policy, PLAC card policy, Library Card Registration Policy and the Art Collection Acquisition Policy be adopted as presented. Paul Muething seconded, motion carried. The PLAC issue and Research Policy should be put on the agenda in February or March. Bill Surbaugh mentioned that Jim Freeman is working on the PLAC issue and the sub committee for this will meet following his research and bring a report forth to the Board.

 

Sarah Later presented the Five Year Plan, 2002 accomplishments. She said staff are amazing and they have done a fantastic job of implementing this plan. There is one change on the accomplishments. There are 41,593 cardholders which is 55.6% of the population. There are 4 staff members currently attending Library School. APL staff are regarded as some of the best and are asked to go to other libraries and conferences to do presentations. Bill Surbaugh asked if we received the RSVP grant this year. Yes we did. He also thinks we need to re-evaluate the number of people who are in a class, the figures seem to be low. One reason the Genealogy classes are so small is due to a lack of computers in the Indiana Room.

 

Carolyn Metz gave a Circulation Department report. The entire collection is up 52,425 items over last year and the circulation stats are up every month in 2002 over 2001. The record for 2002 has already been broken on January 2, 2003. In addition to continuous coverage of the front desk, circulation staff shelve materials, remove labels, change status of 14 day materials, complete library card applications, record phone numbers on Telecirc, process change of addresses and phone numbers, and mend items.

 

Sarah Swift gave a report on Literacy Services. There were 3 new tutors trained in November. There are 4 training sessions planned for 2003. There are 49 current tutor pairs. There are 8 students on a waiting list. She is working on weeding and cataloging the Literacy collection. The Madison County Literacy Coalition gives help to people throughout the county and have been extremely supportive of Sarah=s work. She said that most of the students who come to the program have a kindergarten through 5^th or 6^th grade reading level. There are also 6 English as a Second Language classes held here at the library.

 

Marsha gave her Director=s report with information on all departments. She said that APL is in very good financial shape with an operating balance of $1.5 million. She distributed a census/circulation chart. Stony Creek Township has the 2^nd highest circ per capita of our district. The area right around the library has the highest circulation per capita. Even the lowest area has increased in circulation. There has been an 88% increase in total circ per capita in the 5 years Marsha has been here. She spoke very highly of the Board and the staff to make this happen. APL is at 15.8% and the national average is 8.3% circ per capita. In other items, the Halon tanks have been removed from the Indiana Room. Alice Milley came to work on Christmas Eve to make sure the new release of the automation system was running properly. One of the new features available is a courtesy email reminder that is sent 2 days before a customer=s materials are due. In legislative news Marsha reported that Teri Austin, from Anderson, is now on the Ways and Means Committee of the state legislation. Marsha has talked to her about the funding for INSPIRE and the funding for T1 lines installation. Bixby=s @ the Library will have their grand opening on January 21. Bill Surbaugh presented the following resolution on behalf of the Board. AI would like to have a resolution as a statement of thanks to Marsha to reflect our appreciation of the  five years she has been here in service to this library and this community. The Board also recognizes the leadership and vision she has given us and we are most appreciative of that. She has strengthened our library staff and left us with a staff better than when she started and we, in the next few years, will look forward to working with those people. We appreciate the growth in our library services and the completion of the remodeling project. We are most proud of the effort that you, the staff and our community have made to provide library services to all of us.@

 

Chuck asked for comments from the floor. David Gillaspy stated that he appreciated the leadership that Marsha has shown to the library and to the staff. She is a good business woman, she is a good director, and a lot of the staff will miss her greatly. A motion was made by Stan Kilburn and seconded by Bill Surbaugh to adjourn. The regular meeting was adjourned at 6:30 p.m.

 

 

 

Respectfully submitted,

Secretary,

Anderson Public Library

Board of Trustees

____________________________________________________________________

(Return to the Top)

Minutes of the Regular Monthly Meeting of the

Anderson City, Anderson, Stony Creek and Union Townships Public Library Board of Trustees

February 19, 2003

Trustees Present

Charles Lacey, President

Ann Teague, Secretary

Rhea Parshall, Treasurer

Bill Surbaugh,  Paul Muething,  Stan Kilburn

 

Trustees Absent

Joni Brinkman, Vice President

Staff Present

Sarah Later, Interim Director

Lova Gay, Recording Secretary

Tonya Carman, Business Office Manager

Russ Jones,  Carolyn Metz,  Linda Funk,  Melanie Johnson,  Becky Gremes,  Ann Weigand,  Martha Green,  Sheila Love,  Elaine Mathews,  Nancy Lee,  Frank Lucas,  Marcia Murphy

 

Others Present

Jim Freeman, Library Attorney

Greg Boston, AU student

President Lacey called the meeting to order at 4:15 p.m. in the Board Room of the Main Building. He added a few items to the agenda; Capital Projects Plan and funding, motion pertaining to the Interim Director=s salary, and a report from the Library Director Search Committee.

 

A motion was made by Rhea Parshall and seconded by Paul Muething to approve the minutes of the regular meeting held January 15, 2003 as circulated. Motion carried. A motion was made by Bill Surbaugh and seconded by Ann Teague to approve the minutes of the Board of Finance meeting also held January 15, 2003. Motion carried.

 

President Lacey then read a card the Board received from Marsha Grove thanking them for the desk set they gave her when she left as Director of APL.

 

Rhea Parshall has examined the bills and found them to be in order subject to an outside audit and made a motion to accept the claims for payment as published. Paul Muething seconded the motion. Stan Kilburn asked about the legal fees claim from Sansberry,  Dickman, Freeman and Builta. Jim Freeman said this included work he has done on the lease with Bixby=s, the PLAC project, the Lapel roof issue, the consortium with Muncie and Marion and other miscellaneous items. Stan asked that these charges be billed monthly on an itemized claim by project. Jim Freeman said he would be glad to do that. Stan also asked about the claim from 3M. This is our service agreement and it is an annual charge. Paul Muething asked about the claim for Info USA Marketing, Inc. This is an online database that is used very heavily by the Reference staff. This is an annual subscription. He also asked about the claim for International Entertainment Bureau. This is an honorarium for an author coming here for National Library Week. This is paid for from the interest from the Garriott Gift through the Madison County Community Foundation. Ann Teague asked if all programming is paid for from this source. No, the Friends of the Library gave $25,000 this year which pays for most of the programming. Bill Surbaugh asked if the claim to Manpower is a final charge. Yes it is. He also asked if any of the computers we purchased are laptops or flat screens. No, they are not. The motion to pay the claims as presented carried unanimously. Bill Surbaugh commented that we should get our tax distribution on time but that is not guaranteed. He feels that we should watch how and when we spend money on discretionary items and we might want to put them off until the 3^rd quarter. Tonya mentioned that Indiana Bond Bank will offer an emergency loan to any governmental agency who might experience a shortage of cash. Bill mentioned that the tax distribution will effect timing, not the budget.

 

 

Sarah asked for direction from the Board regarding the Capital Projects Plan. The Board needs to vote next month on advertising this plan. The main focus of the plan is the expansion of the Lapel Branch. There is a little over $211,000 a year budgeted for capital projects. Bill Surbaugh said it made sense to just let the money accumulate. Stan mentioned thinking about the life of the Lapel roof and not put a new one on and then tear it off in a year or two to add on to the building. Rhea Parshall made a motion to form a committee to look into the capital projects funding and devise a plan for the expansion of the Lapel Branch. Sarah said that the Capital Projects plan is only a 3 year plan but we can say it is for additional improvements for the facility. Jim Freeman can find no record of a survey or title work ever being done on the Lapel building. He has ordered the title work to be done and he has talked to a surveyor about doing an ALTA survey. We should have both of these around the 1^st of March. Jim will petition the town

for the vacating of the alley on the property. He then will have the documents prepared and recorded. The motion to form the committee was seconded by Ann Teague. For the purpose of the deadline Sarah can just let the money build up until we get closer to time to use it. Jim Freeman said he thought the Board should also take into consideration purchasing the property on the south side of the building. The vote was taken and did not pass. It was the consensus of the Board to allow the money to accumulate into the Capital Projects Fund.  After Jim Freeman gets the legal work done this will be brought back to the table.

 

On behalf of the Nominating Committee, Rhea Parshall presented the following slate of officers for 2003; Paul Muething, President; Joni Brinkman, Vice President; Ann Teague, Secretary; and Rhea Parshall, Treasurer. She made a motion to accept this slate as presented. Bill Surbaugh seconded, motion carried unanimously. Bill Surbaugh gave a vote of thanks to the current officers and to assure the new officers that the members of the Board will work with them effectively. Rhea Parshall and Stan Kilburn thanked Chuck for the excellent job he has done the last 2 years as President.

 

A motion was made by Rhea Parshall and seconded by Bill Surbaugh to accept the Resolution pertaining to the Executive Session held January 15, 2003. Motion carried.

 

A motion was made by Bill Surbaugh to approve an annual salary of $71,000 for Sarah Later, Interim Director. This will become effective 2/4/03 and continue until a new Director is hired. Rhea Parshall seconded, motion carried unanimously.

 

Tonya Carman presented a resolution from National City Bank allowing her to view the library=s bank statement on-line. This is only to view the statement, no transactions will be done this way. We will still receive a statement from the bank, this is only a convenience. Jim Freeman thinks this will be an asset to the library. A motion was made by Paul Muething and seconded by Stan Kilburn to approve this resolution. Motion carried unanimously. Jim Freeman suggested that every year or so we open a new checking account and let the old one run through to clear the account. Tonya said she would look into this.

 

Bill Surbaugh reported that the Search Committee has met once. He has also talked to Linda Funk a number of times and thanked her for all her assistance. The Director=s job description has been updated, letters have been written to all the libraries in the Midwest who have recently done a search for a new Director inviting them to send names of any candidates who were high on their list so we might invite them to apply here. On-line advertising will be done soon. The advertised recommended salary range will be $65,000 to $75,000. He hopes to have applications in by March 15. The committee has asked Linda to join them as a non-voting member and they will also invite 2 managers to join. They also welcome input from library staff and the rest of the board members. The Search Committee will give a monthly report to the Board until a new Director is in place. If any managers would like to review the applications received they will be available in Linda Funk=s office.

 

Stan Kilburn would like for a New Business item to be added to the agenda each month. This opens up time for added discussion of various items. It is not made to echo every question the Board may have but will be used for new and important business. This will be added under Other Action Items.

 

Linda Funk gave a Human Resources report. She gave a Powerpoint presentation which focused on each department and how staff have contributed to the success of APL. In 2002 we had 87 total staff members. There are 7 staff with 20 or more years of service, 5 with 15 and above, 9 with 10 plus and 39 staff with at least 5 years of service. Ann Teague would like to know what the top reason was for staff turnover. Linda does not track this. Linda gave credit to Milissa Daugherty in Children=s for putting the presentation together for her.

 

Sarah gave her Director=s report with information on all departments. She said that the last couple of weeks have been a lot of fun for her and a large part of that is due to the awesome staff we have and she thanked the Board for the opportunity they have given her. She attended the Indiana Library Federation Legislative day and had lunch with Senator Tim Lanane and Representative Terri Austin to discuss INSPIRE funding. The House has already approved this $6,000,000 and it has gone to the State Senate. Health insurance renewal will be voted on next month. Bids have gone out for that. Andrew Carnegie nominations are due in March. Paul said the Board should also get input from staff. Sarah will announce this at staff meeting tomorrow and have staff give her any recommendations they might have. Frank Lucas talked about a serious server issue we had which resulted in a complete Adown@ of both the internal and external web site. It took 3 staff 3 2 days to repair it and recover data. Frank requested a back-up system last year but funds were not available. He feels we need to pursue purchasing this immediately.  Sarah said all the money spent so far to replace computers, to make them compatible with the new Horizon system, has come from LIRF. The Board asked Frank to have a cost figure ready at the next meeting. Paul said he feels like this is a critical issue and funds should be authorized right away. Bill Surbaugh recommended Frank and Sarah go ahead and purchase the system needed. Sarah reported that she had talked with one of the trustees from Muncie and they are thrilled with the consortium. Bill Surbaugh mentioned that Ivy Tech is located in Anderson, Muncie, and Marion and they should be asked to also join the consortium. Sarah thanked the Maintenance staff for all their hard work keeping the snow and ice cleared. Russ Jones mentioned that the spikes on the roof will only stop ice, not snow. The Board asked him to look at alternatives to the snow guards. He could even approach the architects to help with this. Sarah reported that last week the Literacy department trained 18 new tutors.

 

Chuck asked for comments from the floor. Bill Surbaugh said he thinks the Board should once again look at the internet filtering process. It has been a year since it has been implemented. He also thinks we should review our Collection Development Policy. Sarah said that she reviews all the policies in December and makes recommendations to the Board in January for any changes she feels needs to be made. Tonya Carman mentioned that Weight Watchers @ Work started last week and she thanked the Board for implementing that for us. Ann Teague asked how Bixby=s is doing. Sarah thinks they are doing very well and we have received next month=s rent check a couple of days early. Russ Jones stated that adding on to the Lapel branch on the north or south side will not effect any work that will be done to the roof before that time.

 

Chuck Lacey stated that he has appreciated the two years he has served as president of the board and he feels certain that Paul is a very competent person to take over the duties. He also said he feels Sarah is doing a fine job and the board appreciates what she is doing. A motion was made by Stan Kilburn and seconded by Ann Teague to adjourn. The meeting was adjourned at 5:55 p.m.

 

 

 

Respectfully submitted,

Secretary,

Anderson Public Library

Board of Trustees

____________________________________________________________________

(Return to the Top)

Minutes of the Regular Monthly Meeting of the

Anderson City, Anderson, Stony Creek and Union Townships Public Library Board of Trustees

March 19, 2003

Trustees Present

Paul Muething, President

Joni Brinkman, Vice President

Ann Teague, Secretary

Rhea Parshall, Treasurer

Bill Surbaugh, Stan Kilburn

 

Trustees Absent

None

Staff Present

Sarah Later, Interim Director

Lova Gay, Recording Secretary

Tonya Carman,  Business Office Manager

Russ Jones, Sheila Love, Linda Funk, Melanie Johnson, Becky Gremes, Martha Green, Elaine Collins, Marcia Murphy, Tony Fort, Sarah Swift, Dave Coburn, Debra Bailey, Michelle Crowe

 

Others Present

Jim Freeman, Library Attorney

President Muething called the meeting to order at 4:15 p.m. in the Delaware Room of the Main Building.

 

A motion was made by Rhea Parshall and seconded by Bill Surbaugh to approve the minutes of the regular meeting held February 19, 2003 as circulated. Sarah Later had an amendment to the minutes. It had been reported that there were no flat screen or laptop computers purchased. However, there was a laptop in the bills last month that had been part of the budget request for this year. Bill Surbaugh said he thought the Board should be asked before any more flat screens or laptops were bought whether it is in the budget or not. Ann had asked at the last meeting about the reasons for staff turnover. Linda has supplied that information to her. It will be supplied to any Board member who wants to see it. Motion to approve the minutes carried.

 

Rhea Parshall has examined the bills and found them to be in order subject to an outside audit and made a motion to accept the claims for payment as published. Chuck Lacey  seconded the motion. Chuck asked about the LIRF financial report. The number on the financial report is ending February 28. The claims for March are not included in this figure. He also asked if the 3M maintenance fee is an annual one. Yes it is. He also wondered why claim #1538 to Gentry=s was not paid for out of LIRF. This was for a coat closet for the 1^st floor staff work room and was not part of the LIRF renovation. Bill Surbaugh asked if the claim to Arlington Computers was for any flat screens or laptops. Not to Sarah=s knowledge. He also asked about the claim for task chairs. This was part of the LIRF budget. He asked if the chairs from the old Carnegie Room are being used. The new chairs are task chairs on wheels for staff. Ann asked about the Credit Union Card Center claim. This is for the Corporate Visa card. This bill is paid out of the operating budget and can be paid from any line item. Chuck asked about the $3,000 claim for postage. This is for the postage machine and lasts approximately 3 months. Chuck asked about the air handler claim. Russ Jones explained that this was the rest of the money for the new controls ($8,000 was paid last year). Bill Surbaugh asked how much Unique Management has brought in. Sarah reported that we paid $1,600 out to them but they have brought in $14,596.80 in cash and $23,643.33 worth of materials returned. Paul Muething mentioned that he noticed Bookmobile repairs are becoming more frequent. He asked that in the future months the Board have a report on the conditions of the bookmobiles and if they should start planning on something in the future. Bill Surbaugh said he would be voting yea to the claims with the exception of the dues to ILF and ALA. Motion carried.

 

Next on the agenda was the Resolution Relative to Advance Draw. Twice a year we are allowed to ask the County Treasurer for an advance draw on our tax money. If they have the funds available they issue a draw to us. Bill Surbaugh made a motion to accept this resolution. Rhea Parshall seconded. Carried unanimously. Bill Surbaugh said with the probability of late payment of the tax draw to us he would move that the Board adopt a resolution for prudent cash management and that any capital and discretionary purchases be put on hold until after we receive the spring tax draw. Chuck Lacey seconded the motion. This does not have to be in the form of a resolution. Rhea said she thought we had a very good history of spending taxpayer money prudently. There is some capital projects work currently being done such as new carpet and painting in the Administrative Area. Bill said he is only talking about incurring no further purchases until after the tax money is received. Sarah said we need to go ahead and purchase new computers to support the new Horizon equipment for the collaboration which goes Alive@ August 1. Bill is only talking about discretionary things to be delayed. He said that even the Indiana Bond Bank could run out of money. Every governmental unit in the State has this problem. Stan Kilburn asked Sarah how she feels about all of this. She said she feels we are always very careful about what we purchase with taxpayer money. She feels we need to continue purchasing books because that is what our customers want and need. She hopes the Board continues to trust the staff to do what they have been doing for the last several years. Her and Tonya are attending a session next week about the reassessments and Bond Bank that is put on by the State Library. Bill said it was not a matter of trust, rather an issue of not getting our money until July 15 or worst case scenario until December 15. Stan said he thought this was a good trial time for Sarah Later in her Interim Director=s job. Chuck Lacey said he seconded the motion because he did not know that there was new carpet and painting in the Administrative Area and he thought this was the type of thing that should be put off until after the tax draw is received. Bill restated the motion, AI would move that the Board adopt a motion that all capital and discretionary funds that are not necessary for current operation of the library cease until such time that we get our traditional tax draw.@ Chuck Lacey again seconded the motion. The vote was taken, 3 yes and 4 no. Motion did not pass.

 

Tonya presented Resolutions from Madison Community Bank and National City Bank to change the names on our accounts signature cards to the current President and Treasurer of the Board, Paul Muething and Rhea Parshall. This is a bookkeeping procedure that needs to be done whenever these officers change. A motion was made by Chuck Lacey and seconded by Ann Teague to authorize these names on the library=s cash management accounts and safe deposit box. Motion carried.

 

Next on the agenda was the renewal of the Health Insurance. Sarah and Tonya are recommending Option 2 of the paperwork that was sent to the Board. This includes increases to staff of office co-pays from $15-$20, prescription drugs co-pays from $10/$20/$35 to $15/$25/$40, and a coinsurance limit increased to $2000. Bill Surbaugh complimented Sarah and the staff for all the hard work that went into this proposal. Rhea Parshall made a motion to accept this proposal. Joni Brinkman seconded. Chuck Lacey commented that this was still an increase of 3.4% over budget (or about $9,000). Bill Surbaugh said we would pick up at least this much in savings from the maintenance fee of the automation system and he thought we would be fine. The vote was taken, carried unanimously.

 

The Library Capital Projects Plan needs to be approved for advertising. If the Board approves the plan, the public hearing will be next month and then it will go to the County Council for approval to collect the tax. Stan feels that a committee should be formed to evaluate what is needed at Lapel. We have no way of knowing the correct cost of doing the addition to the branch and the plan can definitely be changed and modified. The only part of the plan that is advertised is the budget part. Bill Surbaugh would like the cost to be changed to unknown and the reference to an elevator be taken out. It is too far out to be drawing up plans, we need to get the money first. This plan is only a start on that process. Bill Surbaugh made a motion to advertise the Library Capital Projects Plan. Joni Brinkman seconded, motion carried.

 

Russ Jones presented 2 quotes to install the variable frequency drive controllers for the heating/air conditioning system. This will make the air flow in the building run only as needed, not constantly. If he orders the controllers before March 31 from Vasey the cost will be $11,850, after that it will cost $14,846. This also includes a 2 year warranty. Russ feels they will pay for themselves in 2 years and after that we are only saving money. Rhea asked if this was something we have to have right now. Russ said no, but we need to have it in order to control air flow in each office. If each area has its own damper the main handler would be able to control air flow. This way areas could be shut down when the library is not open, thus saving money. Bill Surbaugh asked if this equipment is compatible if we would have to buy a new air handler. Russ said the air handler would never have to be replaced, only rebuilt. Russ has money in his budget to cover the purchase of this system. Rhea Parshall moved to purchase these controllers. Bill Surbaugh seconded. Bill asked that Russ also get a quote from Lehman=s which is a local company. He modified his motion to reflect purchasing from Lehman=s if they give us as good or better quote.   Stan Kilburn asked why we would purchase this now? The Board is sending a mixed message by asking staff to put off any unnecessary purchases and then approving this system. The vote was taken. It was 6 yes and 1 no, vote carried by majority.

 

Next on the agenda was the Vision Athena Grant. Vision Athena provides two-way interactive video distance learning for schools, libraries and rural health care facilities. Several staff spoke on the benefits becoming a part of this network. Michelle Crowe said from a PR standpoint this is technology that will provide a Ahalo effect@ around our services and she feels this will help the overall mission of the library to remain a top notch facility. She mentioned being able to have famous authors via this network in the room interacting with people and yet not have to pay travel fees or expenses. Sarah Swift said that she feels it would be a great way to interact with other groups through video conferencing. She feels she could use it for higher ESL classes in a non-threatening environment. It would also give tutors around the state a way to communicate. Debra Bailey talked about training for local Day Care staff. APL staff could attend and/or present workshops without the expense of travel. Anderson Community Schools only has this available at the Middle School level which means students in the elementary schools do not have the benefits of all the wonderful programming this service could bring to them. Linda Funk mentioned that APL staff present workshops to other libraries. There is always an opportunity for them to do these workshops but the travel expense sometimes does not allow them to go. With Vision Athena our staff could present more workshops and could also provide information on how we do some of our training, such as computer classes. Elaine Mathews said 2 of the programs Reference staff have developed and offered, Selling on Ebay and How to Write and Create Greeting Cards, are very popular with our customers. With this new technology we could present them at other libraries and perhaps have them show us some of their more popular programs that we could present here. She said she feels it would also be invaluable to home school students and people who work with at-risk youth. It could lead to town meetings with our Legislators in Washington, D.C., the opportunities are endless. Sarah reported that with this grant the equipment is free. It is a package of about $35,000. SBC supplies and installs fiber optics to the building and a 3 year help desk and maintenance agreement is included. There is a monthly connect fee, 20 hours per month for $840. However, with our e-rate discount this cost would be $336 per month. Marion Public Library=s Board has approved it and they would like to be a partner with us on the grant. Muncie Public Library already has it. Sarah feels this would be a good way to meet regarding the consortium partnership. She asked the Board for approval to proceed with the paperwork to apply for this grant. She can also apply for a grant from SBC for the 1^st year of connect charges. She feels very strongly that this technology helps fulfill our mission. Bill Surbaugh made a motion for Sarah to proceed. Rhea Parshall seconded the motion. Stan Kilburn asked who maintains the equipment. A 3 year maintenance agreement is included and staff can look for more grant money to continue this. Motion carried unanimously.

 

President Muething said he would like to have more time before he appoints the Personnel and Budget Committees. Paul said he would like authorization to have a consultant speak to the board on budgeting and conflict resolution. It was the consensus of the Board to get this consultant. It was also decided to keep the Personnel Committee and the Budget Committee as one instead of 2 separate groups. Paul will name the committee next month.

 

Sarah has received 2 nominations for the Carnegie Award, Dave Bucove and Marsha Grove. After some discussion, it was decided to table this until April.

 

Bill Surbaugh gave a report from the Search Committee. He thanked Linda Funk for all her help. The Director=s job opening has been posted widely within the Midwest. Bill has contacted libraries who have had strong candidates apply recently. So far 8 applications have been received. Evaluations of the candidates are being done by the committee members. If any of the Board members would like to see the resumes they are welcome to do so. The deadline has been extended until March 31.

 

Marcia Murphy and Elaine Collins gave a Powerpoint presentation which focused on the BOOST program. Day Care services are now done by the Children=s Department. They feel it is very important to focus not only on the children at the day cares but also the staff. Children in Madison County scored about 20% below  the national average in reading. Most of them do not have the skills necessary such as knowing how to turn pages and reading from left to right. The BOOST program targets babies and pre-school children. They also plan to reach teachers and parents. All the school districts in the county have worked together through a grant from the Lilly Foundation on how to make children grades K through 3 more successful. Marcia said she always hears AWhat about the children who are not yet in school?@ She feels this program can defiantly fill in that gap. The $18,000 grant was received though United Way. Our current collaborators are Gateway, WIPB, United Way, Head Start, and the library=s Literacy Department but other partners will be brought in. This program has the potential to reach more children, parents and day care providers but more staff are needed. There is also a need for a library vehicle to use instead of staff having to use their own car. Elaine is looking for grant money to possibly purchase one for the library. Staff are very crowded in their work area and need more office space. Marcia said the Children=s Department needs a commitment from the library board to consider their needs and help promote their services. Paul Muething said he can=t think of anything more important than the children in our community. The Children=s Department only has one volunteer.

 

Sarah gave her Director=s report with information on all departments. She handed out stats comparing APL to Muncie Public Library. We are above them in all areas. The Literacy program has no waiting list for matching students with tutors. She reminded the Board that Philip Gulley will be here April 8 and seats will be saved for Board members who would like to attend. Some of the stats are down for February. A big part of this was due to the bad weather.

 

Paul said he would be sending out a form for Sarah=s appraisal which is due in April. Joni said she thought it was too early to evaluate Sarah in the interim position and she feels like it would be better to do it in about 6 months. It was the consensus of the Board to wait for awhile.

 

Paul asked for comments from the floor. Being none, a motion was made by Rhea Parshall and seconded by Bill Surbaugh to adjourn. The meeting was adjourned at 6:45 p.m.

 

 

Respectfully submitted,

Secretary,

Anderson Public Library

Board of Trustees

____________________________________________________________________

(Return to the Top)

Minutes of the Regular Monthly Meeting of the

Anderson City, Anderson, Stony Creek and Union Townships Public Library Board of Trustees

April 16, 2003

Trustees Present

Paul Muething, President

Joni Brinkman, Vice President

Ann Teague, Secretary

Rhea Parshall, Treasurer

Bill Surbaugh, Stan Kilburn

 

Trustees Absent

None

Staff Present

Sarah Later, Interim Director

Lova Gay, Recording Secretary

Tonya Carman, Business Office Manager

Russ Jones, Sheila Love, Linda Funk, Melanie Johnson, Becky Gremes, Martha Green, Elaine Mathews, Frank Lucas, Carolyn Metz, Alice Milley

 

 

Others Present

Jim Freeman, Library Attorney

3 students from Highland High School Government Class

President Muething called the meeting to order at 4:25 p.m. in the Board Room of the Main Building. He said he had the privilege of attending the Philip Gulley program and was amazed that there were so many people (over 250) here. He wanted to compliment Michelle Crowe for organizing such a wonderful library event. He also praised Martha Green and Brad Howell for the special programs they have done at Lapel.

 

A motion was made by Bill Surbaugh and seconded by Joni Brinkman to approve the minutes of the regular meeting held March 19, 2003 as circulated. Motion to approve the minutes carried.

 

Rhea Parshall has examined the bills and found them to be in order subject to an outside audit and made a motion to accept the claims for payment as published. Joni Brinkman  seconded the motion. There were several questions about the claims. Stan Kilburn asked about the claim to Gentry=s. This was for chair railing in the café area. The tables and chairs were tearing up the walls. Chuck Lacey asked about the high amount for books and materials this month. The person who does the billing was off last month so this was a two month bill. Ann Teague wondered why the bill for Caswell and Son Cleaning is never the same. They are paid a set amount of money for each night they clean so it varies by the number of days in the month, library closings, etc. Chuck asked about the claim to Kirby Risk and what percentage of retrofitting lights has been done. Russ said it is at least 98% done. Russ said he also buys other electrical supplies from Kirby Risk such as fan motors. Bill Surbaugh said since the claim for Baker and Taylor exceeds the $25,000 rule set by the State Board of Accounts are we getting 3 bids for that service? Tonya thinks there is a waiver for books and materials. She will check on this. Chuck asked about the claim to Ruth=s Fabrics. This is for re-upholstering the chairs in the Indiana Room and the Administration area and was paid for out of LIRF. Paul asked about the claim for patron bags. These are the bags customers use to carry materials. Bill asked about the claim to American Fundware. This is an annual fee for our accounting software. Motion to pay the claims carried.

 

Stan Kilburn had a couple of comments regarding the budget. He said last year there were 5 new part-time positions approved. He asked if these have all been filled. Yes they have. He then asked about the new part-time position in the Business Office. Sarah explained that since Extension Services has cut the number of Community Bookmobile stops there are 20 extra hours in that department that she moved to the Business Office. It was an oversight on her part not to ask for this position last year and this is a way to correct that. Stan also asked for an update on the report as to how much money was brought in and how much was spent at the Lapel Branch. Sarah will provide that report to him.

 

A motion was made by Chuck Lacey and seconded by Bill Surbaugh to adopt the library=s Capital Projects Fund Plan. Motion carried unanimously.

 

Sarah presented a letter of commitment, to be sent to INCOLSA, supporting funding for INSPIRE for the rest of 2003. All libraries in Indiana are asked commit to pay this fee in order to retain INSPIRE database access which has always been free. APL=s portion would be $4,000 or less. INCOLSA has asked the State Legislature for 6 million dollars in funding for this. So far this has been cut to 4.9 million dollars. Bill Surbaugh said he feels this is one of the best things the State Library is doing. This money will come from the books and materials budget. Bill then made a motion to permit Sarah to sign this letter of commitment. Rhea Parshall seconded, motion carried unanimously.

 

The library needs to move ahead with the purchase of new computers so we can be ready for the Horizon upgrade. Frank Lucas recommends we buy 9 thin clients for placement in public areas at Main and 7 flat panel displays for Lapel public computers. About 6 months ago the estimate he gave for this was $19,690. He has done a lot of research since then and the prices have come down on these integrated units which include the monitor, keyboard, and mouse all in one package. The same package now would cost around $12,593. Rhea Parshall said we have to move ahead with this to be ready to go Alive@ August 1 with the new system and made a motion to approve Frank=s recommendation. Joni Brinkman seconded the motion. Bill asked Frank if he has done comparison shopping. Yes, he has and is always looking for the best price. Motion carried.

 

Last month Paul had asked for a report on the repairs on bookmobiles. Since 1999 the repair costs have been $25,380 for 3 vehicles. Sarah recommends selling the 1990 bookmobile since it has not been on the road for over a year and we are still carrying insurance on it. All of the library services are done from the shared bookmobile. The mileage put on this shared truck annually is around 4,716 miles. Joni Brinkman made a motion to sell the 1990 bookmobile. Rhea Parshall seconded. Sarah recommends giving it to the Friends to sell. Joni amended her motion to give this truck to the Friends. Jim Freeman said to make sure we have the Friends get insurance on it and get the title transferred. He also said the APL logo should be taken off of it. Motion carried unanimously.

 

A motion was made by Chuck Lacey and seconded by Rhea Parshall to present the Carnegie Award to the late Dave Bucove. Bill Surbaugh mentioned that Mr. Bucove was Director of APL for 15 years and was responsible for the library moving from the old Carnegie building to our current location. He was also very much involved in the community. Motion was carried unanimously. His widow will be contacted to see if she can accept the award in his honor at the May meeting.

 

Paul appointed the following Board members to the Budget/Personnel Committee. Rhea Parshall, chair, Joni Brinkman, and Bill Surbaugh. Paul has invited a consultant to the next meeting to discuss how her company works with non-profit boards.

 

Bill Surbaugh gave a report from the Search Committee. They are meeting tomorrow afternoon. They have read the resumes and rated the candidates. They will now invite the top candidates to do a video conference and/or invite them here. He said they have some very good candidates and the committee has a reasonably close consensus who the top candidates are. It was the consensus of the board that the person hired must have an MLS degree. If any of the Board members would like to see the resumes they are welcome to do so.

 

Frank Lucas reported that the Tech Team has looked into the Internet connections in the café area. It is on a virtual network and goes through our router so our filtering system is on it. The team also reported that the Cybrarian system is working very well.

 

Alice Milley distributed a time line for the Horizon Amigration@ which goes live August 1. She is working very hard right now on learning how to access the new system. Muncie Public Library will be 1^st to go live since they house the server, Marion will be 2^nd since they are the smallest, and APL will be 3^rd. Security training and system administration training has started and other training for staff is scheduled in May and June. There will be a person from Provo, Utah here to help with any problems that might come up. Sarah thanked Alice for all the hard work she has done so far with this project.

 

Sarah gave her Director=s report with information on all departments. She announced that Michelle Crowe and Stephanie Striegel received the Sara Laughlin Marketing Award at the ILF banquet for successful and creative marketing efforts. APL staff Steve Cooper, Marcia Murphy, Edra Waterman and Sarah Swift all presented workshops to other librarians at the ILF conference. Staff Development Day is Friday, May 16. Board members are welcome to attend.

 

Stan Kilburn is concerned about the situation with the property tax distribution. He said he wants to make sure that APL employees always receive their paychecks and that there is money available for maintenance on the facilities. He would like to make sure there is another avenue for borrowing money from the Indiana Bond Bank. We should hear from the Bond Bank within the next couple of weeks if we can get our money from them. If not, one of the local banks should be contacted to see about borrowing from them. The Board again directed Sarah to eliminate all non-essential expenditures until tax monies are received. Sarah assured them we are doing this.

 

Paul mentioned he has a meeting with the owners of Bixby=s for a six month review of the lease with them. He encourages the board and staff to let him know of any comments they have about the café, good or bad, before the May 23 meeting.

 

Paul asked for comments from the floor. Being none, a motion was made by Chuck Lacey and seconded by Rhea Parshall to adjourn. The meeting was adjourned at 6:05 p.m.

 

Respectfully submitted,

Secretary,

Anderson Public Library

Board of Trustees

____________________________________________________________________

(Return to the Top)

Minutes of the Regular Monthly Meeting of the Anderson City,

Anderson, Stony Creek and Union Townships Public Library

Board of Trustees

May 21, 2003

Trustees Present

Paul Muething, President

Joni Brinkman, Vice President

Rhea Parshall, Treasurer

Bill Surbaugh, Stan Kilburn, Mary Rock, Chuck Lacey

Trustees Absent

None

Staff Present

Sarah Later, Interim Director

Lova Gay, Recording Secretary

Tonya Carman, Business Office Manager

Russ Jones, Sheila Love, Linda Funk, Melanie Johnson, Marcia Murphy, Michelle Crowe, Judy Kratzner, Leota Jones, Carolyn Metz,

Elaine Mathews, Edra Waterman, Ann Weigand, Alice Milley, Beth Oljace

Others Present

Jim Freeman, Library Attorney

Susan Bucove

Sally Wood

Frank Wood

Georgetta Roudebush

Dan Dykes, County Council

Dr. Barbara Weaver Smith and Dan Melymuk, Smith Weaver Smith

President Muething called the meeting to order at 4:15 p.m. in the Board Room of the Main Building.

The first item on the agenda was the presentation of the Andrew Carnegie Award to David Bucove. Mr. Bucove was Director of Anderson Public Library from 1969 to 1992. Paul read a very nice tribute to Mr. Bucove which told of the many contributions he made not only to the library but to the city of Anderson. Paul presented the award to David=s widow, Susan who spoke of how much he loved this library and the staff.

Paul introduced the newest Board member Mary Rock. She is a RN, local attorney, wife, and mother of 4 children.

With the end of Ann Teague=s term on the Board, a new Board Secretary needs to be elected. Paul Muething nominated and made a motion for Chuck Lacey to fill that position. Rhea Parshall seconded, carried unanimously.

A motion was made by Bill Surbaugh and seconded by Joni Brinkman to approve the minutes of the Library Capital Projects Fund Plan public meeting held April 16, 2003. Sarah Later had an amendment to these minutes. When she attended the County Council meeting to have the LCPF approved, the Council had some questions about the plan. In the minutes of the library=s public hearing it states ABill Surbaugh said that when the renovation for the main building was started the Board dropped the operating tax rate by the same amount as the capital projects tax rate so there was zero impact on the taxpayers. This was the intent of the motion that the Board adopted 2 2 years ago.@ After doing research, Sarah presented a chart that showed the operating tax rate was not dropped. Bill said that was the intent of the motion he made at that time. He said it was made at the special meeting held when it was discovered that the wording was not accurate on the bidding process application for renovation. After researching the minutes of past meetings, Sarah could not find where a motion was ever made to do what is stated in the April 16, 2003 minutes. Bill said at that meeting he made a motion to up the maximum tax rate by the amount that they could have asked the County Council for, temporarily, until we can borrow from ourselves, so to speak, and not go back for Capital Projects money in the future until we got ourselves paid back and then we would ask for Capital Projects money and reduce the operating rate by the commensurate amount which is 1.3 cents now. It was 0.4 cents then. The minutes from that special meeting (August 30, 2000) state Athe Board reaffirms that in 2002 and 2003 the money that they would have asked for in capital projects be put back in the operating tax levy until we have accumulated current balance in the operating fund.@ Sarah said we have done that. There was $852,000 in the operating fund then and we now have over a million dollars. Bill said the intent was not to ask for capital projects money but to artificially fund it out of our operating balance. Chuck asked if this discussion was intended to change the minutes. Paul said we need to clarify this matter and the minutes of last month=s meeting will need to be amended. They will be amended in the minutes of today=s meeting. Bill said if he remembered correctly the intent of the motion, passed unanimously, was the combined rate, capital and operating, would be adjusted up and down to start with a base of 0. He feels the chart does not reflect that. He agrees that the minutes of last month=s meeting do not read right. It was decided that Bill and Sarah would draft an amendment to the minutes. A motion was made by Bill and seconded by Joni to table these minutes for approval at the June meeting. Carried.

A motion was made by Rhea Parshall and seconded by Chuck Lacey to approve the minutes of the regular meeting held April 16, 2003. Stan Kilburn asked Sarah if she has had time to get the report he asked for regarding the revenue and expenditures for Lapel. Sarah is working on it but it isn=t finished yet. Jim Freeman said the land work and title work should all be done by July 15. Chuck had a wording change on the minutes. On page 3, first paragraph the sentence reads AHe would like to make sure there is another avenue for borrowing money from the Indiana Bond Bank.@ That sentence was corrected to read AHe would like to make sure there is another avenue for borrowing money other than the Indiana Bond Bank.@

Bill Surbaugh asked Sarah about the INSPIRE funding that was approved at the meeting last month. He wonders what will happen if the other libraries in Indiana don=t pay their part of this fee. He feels like APL should not have to foot the bill for the libraries who choose not to fund this. He feels like it was the intent of the board to only pay our share, not everyone else=s share. Sarah said the Executive Committee for INCOLSA was meeting today and they are working that out. Bill feels it should be everyone pays or no one pays. Motion to approve the minutes as corrected carried.

Paul introduced Dr. Barbara Weaver Smith, President of the consulting firm, Smith Weaver Smith. Paul has asked her to address the board on how her firm might help them on matters of consensus decisions and advise them on the cost of this service. Her firm works extensively with non profit boards and they have a philosophy that states, the board=s fiduciary responsibility is not to save money but to turn money into mission. She presented 2 different options for the board to consider. Chuck mentioned that the library board is in charge of taxpayer money and are always responsible to the taxpayer through various agencies. Dr. Smith said they have a 2 hour presentation called Mission and Money they could present to the board and/or citizens and library staff. This would cost $1,500. They also do a 4 hour workshop on the topic Leadership for 21^st Century Non-Profit Boards. This workshop costs $5,000. She said they also do a full strategic planning session, and that price is negotiable. She said the board may even want to include other non profit boards, representatives of the schools, and community government, customers, and staff. She will provide a formal proposal for Paul and the board will act on this at a later date.

Rhea has examined the bills and found them to be in order subject to a outside audit and made a motion to accept the claims for payment as published. Joni Brinkman seconded this motion. Chuck Lacey asked about the bill to Baker and Taylor. He said this month=s claim was almost as much as last month=s, which was a 2 month bill. He wants to make sure we are within the book budget. Tonya said as of April 30 we had only used 28% of the book budget. Sarah mentioned that spring and fall are very busy times for books to be published and Edra Waterman, Acquisitions Librarian, assured the board that they are very careful about staying within the book budget. Bill Surbaugh mentioned there were a lot of vendors that are not local and he wonders why we are not using local vendors when we can. An example he mentioned was Boyce Forms. This is the only vendor who deals in State Board of Accounts forms and we have to buy from them. Staff do try to go with local vendors if the price is comparable. Paul commented that the philosophy is to buy local whenever it makes good sense to do so. Bill asked about the claim to Commercial Movers. They moved the shelving, with the books still on it, in the Indiana Room so new carpet could be laid. Bill feels this should not be charged to LIRF since it was not a line item in the LIRF budget. Tonya said it was charged to LIRF because it was part of renovation but it can be moved to the operating fund if the Board desires. If it is taken from the operating fund something else will have to be cut. We will not go over budget on LIRF. Bill said it is fine to leave it where it is. Stan said he feels when the Board looks over the financial report they should take into consideration that staff know who is reliable and they know product quality. He feels staff should get credit for knowing who to purchase from. Sarah thanked Stan and assured the Board that staff do struggle with decisions and search out the best prices knowing they are dealing with taxpayer money. Motion to pay the bills carried unanimously.

Tonya presented the Resolution from the Indiana Bond Bank. We have been approved for 1.2 million dollars. We will receive the funds on June 12. The interest will be lower than 6.5%. Bill Surbaugh made a motion to approve this resolution. Rhea Parshall seconded the motion. The Board thanked Tonya for doing a very good job with this. Motion carried unanimously.

A motion was made by Rhea Parshall and seconded by Joni Brinkman to close the library on May 21, 2004 for Staff Development Day. Carried.

Sarah, Tonya, and Joni attended the County Council meeting last Tuesday with the request for Capital Projects. After reviewing the minutes of the public hearing the Council wanted assurance that the library would not raise their tax rate. Sarah could not promise this to them so the plan was tabled until June. Sarah said Capital Projects are for libraries who are at their maximum tax levy and want to receive extra funds. Since we are not at the maximum levy we really do not need to do a Capital Projects tax. We can do the same thing through LIRF by setting money aside and save up for the addition to Lapel. That is Sarah=s recommendation to the Board. Joni Brinkman made a motion to withdraw the library=s Capital Projects Fund Plan request for this year. Bill Surbaugh thinks this is a good idea and seconded the motion. It was carried unanimously.

Terri Bruner, President of the Friends, had to leave but said she would come back to give her report at a later date. Paul recognized all the work the Friends do for the library.

Judy Kratzner gave her report on RSVP. She thanked Paul for attending a couple of their council meetings. She feels the senior population is a growing asset to the community. She mentioned the great work Marianne Cochran does for the program. Judy has been learning the Aon-line@ financial and progress reports and she has found that to be a good experience. They are encouraging family volunteerism. Volunteer hours are up but the number of volunteers is down. She also wanted to report they are within budget.

Bill Surbaugh gave a report on the Director=s Search Committee. There are 3 candidates who will be interviewed. These will take place on June 3, 4, and 5 with questions from managers, a tour of all facilities and in the evening dinner and interview with the Board. Joni asked how long after this will they make the decision? Bill said they should have an Executive Session very shortly after the interviews are finished to discuss the candidates. They will all be asked the same questions. Chuck would like a question asked about the salary expectations. Stan asked what will happen if the person chosen does not agree with the salary set by the Board. The salary range published was $65,000-$75,000 based on qualifications so they are aware of this issue. A question about salary expectations was asked in the first round of interviews. Bill said one of the top candidates interviewed at that time was eliminated because of their salary expectations. Chuck said he would like to ask if they are comfortable with the salary range that was published. Bill will work with Linda and give the Board members a list of questions to review. They scheduled an Executive Session for 4:15 on Tuesday, June 10 to discuss the candidates and hopefully arrive at a consensus to vote on at the June board meeting. The meetings with the candidates will be posted as an Executive Session. It was also decided to tape the questions and answers for Joni since she will not be able to attend the interviews. She will listen to them and be present for the June 10 meeting. Chuck asked how soon after would the new director report to work. This depends on the Board=s request and the availability of the new person.

Sarah gave her Director=s report with information on all departments. She mentioned that the grand opening for the newly renovated Indiana Room will be June 10. The Café Committee is going to meet with the owners of Bixby=s for a 6 month review of the lease Friday. Paul asked if any of the members had comments for him to take to this meeting. All the comments heard have been very positive ones. Sarah asked the Board if they would help promote the summer reading program. The state has the money to pay for our T1 line 7-1-03 through 6-30-04. Joni asked about the consultant service. She feels that since the budget process is drawing near they need to make a decision about what they are going to do. Joni feels the 1^st option, the 2 hour session, would work for what the board needs. She made a motion to have Dr. Barbara Weaver Smith do the 2 hour program on Mission and Money at a cost of $1,500. Bill Surbaugh seconded the motion. There was some discussion as to where the money would come from to pay for this. The vote was taken. It was 6 yes and one no. Motion carried by majority. Bill asked for Sarah to comment on INSPIRE. There was once again discussion about APL funding this for other libraries. Sarah feels strongly that all the large libraries will pay their share. She also feels there are small libraries who cannot afford to do this and we should step up and be able to help them. Melanie Johnson said if INSPIRE does not exist we would spend much, much more than $4,000 to replicate all the information it offers. Sarah said if we don=t pay our portion and we lose access we will be punishing our community.

Paul asked for comments from the floor. Tonya mentioned that the first round of Weight Watchers @ Work is over and staff have lost a total of 207 pounds. A motion was made by Rhea Parshall and seconded by Mary Rock to adjourn. The meeting was adjourned at 6:30 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,

Secretary,

Anderson Public Library

Board of Trustees

____________________________________________________________________

(Return to the Top)

Paul asked if we could be liable if we do the work and someone gets hurt on the new ramp. Jim Freeman said no since the library owns to the center of the street, subject to a right-of-way, with rights to upgrade as long as it meets city codes and standards. He told Russ to make sure the contractor who does the work is bonded. A motion was made by Chuck Lacey and seconded by Rhea Parshall to go ahead and repair this ramp per Russ=s recommendation. Bill Surbaugh has a concern about the signs in front of the building. Since 12^th Street is now a two-way street he would like to see something to remind our customers to look both ways. Russ will see if he can find something. Motion to fix the handicap ramp carried unanimously.

 

Next on the agenda was a review of the library=s Purchasing Policy. Paul had asked that this policy be included in the packets for board review. He would like for members to look at the policy and he will put it on the agenda for the July meeting for any changes or discussion of the policy.

 

A motion was made by Bill Surbaugh and seconded by Joni Brinkman to accept the Resolution for the Executive Sessions held June 3, 4, 5, and 10, 2003. Carried.

 

Indiana Code mandates that the Internet Acceptable Use and Safety Policy is reviewed annually. Frank Lucas reported that the Tech Team has reviewed this policy, found it to be in compliance with all the set guidelines, and the team recommends no changes at this time. Paul thanked Frank for reviewing this policy. Bill asked Frank how many times the filtering system is overridden by staff for customers. Frank said it is minimal, probably 2 or 3 times a month. Bill also asked about people using their own laptops at the library. Frank said they have to plug into our ports and so it all goes through our routers with the filtering on it. Managers and a few other key personnel are the only ones who can override the filter. We have had very few complaints about the filtering system. Most people don=t even know it is there. A motion does not need to be made unless the Board wants to change something in the policy. It will be noted on the policy that it was reviewed by the Board, today=s date. The filtering system is also located on all the computers at Lapel.

 

Bill Surbaugh, as Chair of the Search Committee, gave a report on the selection of a new library director. He thanked Paul, Rhea, Nancy Lee, Melanie Johnson, and Linda Funk for serving on the Committee. They worked very diligently on this search. Bill also thanked each Board member for the candid discussion they had with each other at the June 10 Executive Session. He said in all the years he has served on the board this is the best discussion of the library=s business he has ever been a part of. Bill said the Committee puts forward the names of Sarah Later and Michael Sawyer for consideration for the position of Director. Paul asked the Board to vote by raising their right hand. The vote was taken alphabetically, first on Sarah Later. It was a unanimous vote to offer Sarah this position. Paul said he knew this process has been hard on her. Stan thanked Sarah for doing such a good job during this interim period. Sarah thanked the Board and the entire staff and said she could not have done such a good job without all of them. Sarah=s bio will be given to Ken de la Bastide. Paul thanked Bill and the Committee for all their hard work.

 

Paul thanked Nancy Lee for the hospitality of the Lapel staff. Nancy gave her report by using a slide presentation. She reported that computer use at Lapel is up, adult usage up 424% and children=s usage is up 346% over 1996. Door count is up 105% and circulation is up 110%. Several businesses in Lapel have given prizes for the Summer Reading Program. Nancy said they have a need for more staff and more technical expertise at Lapel.

 

Sarah gave her Director=s report with information on all departments. She thanked the Board and said she looks forward to working with them to keep APL moving forward. We will not be able to advertise the 2004 budget until August. Sarah recommends having a special meeting on August 7 or 8 to approve advertising this budget. It will be advertised on August 14 and August 21. The public hearing can then be held on August 27. It is Sarah=s recommendation to move the regular monthly meeting from August 20 to August 27 in order to have both meetings that day. It was the consensus of the Board to meet Thursday, August 7 at 4:15 to advertise the 2004 budget and to move the regular meeting to August 27. Sarah reported that there are enough grant and state funds to pay for INSPIRE through the end of June 2004. Tonya has requested a refund of the $4,000 approved by the board, which has already been sent. Bill said in his judgement we shouldn=t subsidize other libraries for this service. He feels we should ask INCOLSA to consider this. Summer reading statistics are very good so far. There are 237 adults, 114 teens, and 1,325 children signed up. Children=s programs have also been very well attended this summer. We have received the money from the Indiana Bond Bank. It is in our account.

 

Paul Muething congratulated Debra Bailey, Elaine Collins, and Karen Gardner for receiving their MLS degrees. He also said he attended one of the Summer Writing Series and enjoyed it very much. He congratulated the Indiana Room staff for the job they do and he enjoyed attending the renovation open house.

 

Paul asked for comments from the floor. Ken said he would like for us to send a preview of programs we are having to the Herald Bulletin so they can run more stories on some of the bigger programs we have. He also complimented the staff at Lapel. Chuck asked how the owners of Bixby=s feel after they have been here 6 months. A report from the Café Committee meeting with them will be on the agenda next month.

A motion was made by Rhea Parshall and seconded by Bill Surbaugh to adjourn. The meeting was adjourned at 5:20 p.m.

 

 

Respectfully submitted,

Secretary,

Anderson Public Library

Board of Trustees

____________________________________________________________________

(Return to the Top)

Minutes of the Regular Monthly Meeting of the

Next on the agenda was the review of the Purchasing Policy. One of the items Paul has heard about from board members is whether or not library staff are at liberty to make decisions on vendors. Are there restrictions they have to abide by? Rhea feels that the library has been very good at hiring very competent people for each staff position. We should have confidence that they are going to do the right thing. She mentioned how much money Russ has saved the library by doing things himself instead of having to hire outside people to do them. Bill feels the 2^nd sentence in the 2^nd paragraph should be changed to read; a diligent effort will always be made to secure vendors within the library district who offer competitive pricing, acceptable quality and service. Sarah said staff always look for the best price when ordering things such as supplies and she wants to make sure the Board thinks it is alright for staff to continue to do this on their own. Rhea thinks reviewing this policy once a year is a good thing. Paul feels it is the responsibility of the library staff to enforce this policy. The Board feels that the word service should be added at the end of that sentence. Rhea Parshall made a motion to amend the Purchasing Policy with the addition of the word service to that sentence. Joni Brinkman seconded, motion carried. Bill would like for the minutes to reflect that staff should be diligent in looking at local vendors who can deliver quality goods and service.

 

A motion was made by Bill Surbaugh to approve the Resolution pertaining to the Executive Sessions held June 16 and June 24. Joni Brinkman seconded, carried unanimously.

 

Melanie gave a review of the 6 month accomplishments toward the 5 Year Plan. Library staff have been very busy, very successful, and are very proud. Some of the highlights include; the number of @ Your Library newsletters that are mailed has already exceeded the goal for the year; the goal for feature articles in the Herald-Bulletin was 12 and there have already been 26 published; the Indiana Room has accomplished 500% of their goal to reach community groups; children=s programming is way over goal so far; there have been 2,131 teens reached with teen programs; even though there have been no grants approved yet staff are still looking for grant opportunities. Also, 64% of the people in the library district have library cards. Melanie thanked the Board for their support. Bill suggested that the 5 Year Plan have a goal concerning the collaboration with the CAPE program. Marcia is a member of the Sustainability Committee for CAPE. They are trying to get all the libraries in Madison County to support the message of reading 20 minutes a day to your child. The 5 Year Plan is done in the fall and CAPE will be added to the 2004-2009 plan.

 

The Café Committee, Sarah, and Scott Green met on May 23 for a 6 month evaluation of Bixby=s @ the Library. The library and the owners of Bixby=s are very happy with the agreement and want to continue the relationship. They are working on a few issues that have come up.

 

Elaine Mathews gave a report on the Reference Department. She reported that during Sarah Swift=s 6 months as Literacy Coordinator she has done a lot of things. She went through all the Literacy files, supplies and collections. She has added 29 tutors to the program. The Reference staff have been very productive in several areas. The attendance at their computer classes has been very sparse so they have decided to focus on teaching groups instead of individuals who might want to learn various things. In 2002 they had 19,601 customer interactions. Elaine had very nice things to say about each one of the Reference staff. They have been working very hard to save money on resources. They have cancelled subscriptions to certain databases that are no longer helpful. This is due in part to the wonderful resources available through INSPIRE. Some of the new databases are; Learn a Test which allows customers to take practice tests such as the Civil Service Test, Automotive References which is automotive manuals on-line, and Oxford on-line reference which is a collection of many reference books. Customers will soon be able to access many of our databases from home through Horizon. The Reference staff are investigating implementing AReference Chat@ with other libraries. Rhea Parshall asked if teens are comfortable asking for help in Reference. Elaine said they seem to be. Bill Surbaugh asked if the SAT test was available on the Learn a Test database. Elaine doesn=t know but she will check and get back to him. Paul suggested they keep statistics on INSPIRE use in case we have to pay for this next year.

 

Sarah gave her Director=s report with information on all departments. Summer reading is going very well with 224 adults, 154 teens, and 2,276 children participating. She has attended the New Directors Workshop at the State Library. We have 3 teens placed at APL through the Urban League=s Summer Youth Program. They are doing a very good job helping out in Children=s, Extension Services, and Community Relations. APL will host the ILF District 8 Conference next fall. We are very excited about this since we will be able to show off our library to other library staff in the state. Paul mentioned that he has seen Sarah on the local cable channel promoting the library.

 

Paul asked for comments from the floor. Being none, a motion was made by Bill Surbaugh and seconded by Rhea Parshall to adjourn. The meeting was adjourned at 5:25 p.m.

 

 

Respectfully submitted,

Secretary,

Anderson Public Library

Board of Trustees

____________________________________________________________________

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She said it would be very difficult to track expenses exactly. He said he just wants to make sure the taxpayers of Stony Creek Township get their fair share. Sarah said she believes Lapel, the Bookmobiles and Main are one agency. She is working with Nancy to make sure our branch is where we should be. He thanked Tonya and Sarah for the figures they gave him. Motion to pay the bills carried unanimously.

 

Next on the agenda was the PERF Resolution. Tonya explained that the Indiana General Assembly passed a law enabling all public employees to invest up to an additional 10% of their salary into their PERF account. It has now gotten approval from the IRS to be pre-tax dollars. This resolution allows the library to collect these pre-tax funds for staff and send them to PERF. A motion was made by Bill Surbaugh and seconded by Joni Brinkman to approve this resolution. Motion carried.

 

The Insurance Advisory Committee met Monday to discuss health care insurance. Since St. John=s hospital no longer takes Aetna insurance it has been decided to switch carriers. United Health Care has offered coverage to APL staff. This is a very similar plan to what we had with Aetna. However, it is cheaper, which will save the library and the staff money. They also are giving us a 2.5% discount for signing by Sept. 1. United Health Care is the largest insurance provider in the country. Sarah and Tonya have let staff know of the developments every step of the way with Aetna. Bill Ehrlich will provide staff a letter to give providers until their new cards are received. The price quoted by United Health Care is set through 8/04. The renewal comes at a much better time of year for the budgetary process. Stan thanked the Insurance Committee for all their work. A motion was made by Chuck Lacey and seconded by Bill Surbaugh to accept the recommendation of the Insurance Advisory Committee and change health insurance coverage to United Health Care. Bill commented that this is a guarantee of full underwriting. This is a one year contract. Tonya commented that our group has become much more favorable for coverage in the last two years. Motion to switch to United Health Care carried.

 

Rob Sparks, from Bixby=s, would like to hang a neon Espresso/Cappuccino sign in the North window of Bixby=s. He feels this will draw more attention to the fact that the café is here. Rob thanked Liza for helping him with promotion. They are going to put an OPEN sign on their kiosk also. A motion was made by Rhea Parshall and seconded by Bill Surbaugh to approve the sign. Chuck would like to make sure this is hung with the supervision of library staff. Motion carried. Rob also mentioned that they are looking for an employee discount program for staff.

 

Sarah gave her Director=s report with information on all departments. She thanked all the staff for the wonderful work they did during the Horizon migration. The representative from Dynix said it was a pleasure to work with the staff here. Summer reading was a very big success. There was an increase in all areas. Chuck asked why Sarah thought the teen increase was so high (326%). She gave credit to Samika Branham, Teen Librarian. Sarah is meeting soon with the Directors of Muncie and Marion to discuss the consortium. Sarah has set a goal for APL circulation to be 1,300,000 items in 2003. She has challenged the staff and would like to ask the Board to help with this goal by telling friends and neighbors about APL. Montie Manning will start as Assistant Director September 15. Stan Kilburn thanked Sarah for doing such a good job. She gave a lot of credit to staff.

 

Paul asked for comments from the floor. Bill Surbaugh said for public safety he thinks there should be a sign on both sides of 12^th Street reminding pedestrians to look both ways before they cross. Sarah and Russ will look into that. A motion was made by Bill Surbaugh and seconded by Rhea Parshall to adjourn. The meeting was adjourned at 5:05 p.m.

 

Respectfully submitted,

Secretary,

Anderson Public Library

Board of Trustees

____________________________________________________________________

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Melanie Johnson gave a report on Extension Services. She reported that they are responsible for Outreach service, community bookmobile service, jail service, and school service (18 schools). At the schools they have started the 4^th and 5^th grade Star Bags which will increase circulation figures for Extension by 2,160 items per month. We have joined with Lifestreams who deliver meals to home bound people. They are distributing our brochures and we have had very good response, averaging about 1 call per day inquiring about our services. Jail Service has been expanded to include the Bronnenberg Juvenile Centers. This summer the community bookmobile tested some new stops. As a result, 2 new permanent stops have been added. Stan asked who would have input on the purchase of the van. He suggested glass on both sides to provide better visibility. Several people will make the decision. Chuck asked about the age of the kids served at Bronnenberg. They range from 6-17.

 

Sarah gave her Director=s report with information on all departments. Alice, Frank, and Sarah met with the staff from Muncie and Marion to talk about Horizon. The upgrade has been scheduled for early November. Sarah thanked Tonya for all her work during the health insurance change. There were 156 people who attended the Baby Fair last weekend. The Vision Athena Grant has been received so we will be moving forward with that. Stan asked if we could find someone who could write grant applications. We apply for grants all the time but with the bad economy there is very little grant money available. Edra is doing a talk table called ASelecting for Results@ workshop on Collection Development at the PLA Conference in Seattle, Washington in 2004. This puts Anderson Public Library in the national spotlight. Chuck said that his son commented about seeing so much in the Indy Star about APL. Sarah said that we are getting wonderful PR with them and the Herald-Bulletin.

 

Paul asked for comments from the floor. Becky Gremes commented that she is a staff member, and a taxpayer. She feels that a merit raise would be an incentive to work harder. She is also disappointed that the Board did not approve a part time position in Circulation. Sarah mentioned that Customer Appreciation Day is Sunday, September 28. She would like for the Board members to stop in to greet customers.

 

Paul once again thanked Rhea, the Budget Committee, Sarah and all the staff for their hard work on the budget process. There were many difficult decisions made today but he feels it was in the best interest of the library and of the taxpayers.

 

A motion was made by Chuck Lacey to adjourn. The meeting was adjourned at 6:20 p.m.

 

 

 

Respectfully submitted,

Secretary,

Anderson Public Library

Board of Trustees

____________________________________________________________________

(Return to the Top)

Beth Oljace gave a report on the Indiana Room. She reminded everyone that when she gave last year=s report we were all in the basement because of a tornado warning. She related three stories of recent customers whom the Indiana Room had served. Sarah mentioned that she had asked Beth to write an article about the two new obituary databases they have available. That article was published in both Hotline, a national library publication and Focus, the ILF publication. Beth said they receive lots and lots of requests for obituaries every month. Paul asked Beth if she was totally happy with the renovation done to the Indiana Room. Beth replied yes, she was very happy with renovation and their customers seem happy with it also. She gives a lot of praise to her staff for all their wonderful customer service.

 

Sarah gave her Director=s report on all departments. She reported that we should hit 1,000,000 items checked out for the year sometime the middle of next week. Sarah thanked the Board for helping with Community Appreciation Day. She asked the Board to help promote the fall reading program. She said that she chose the mobile Vision Athena unit because we cannot leave the equipment in the meeting room when it is used by another group. There will be an additional charge for this type and it will come from furniture and equipment. Montie is settling in with his new job and we are very glad to have him here. Stan asked if Russ will be given training on the new Honeywell system. Yes, both he and Jerry will be trained on it. There will be different password levels for the rest of the Maintenance staff in order for them to be able to do some temperature adjustments.

 

Paul said that Joni Brinkman, Mary Rock and himself have updated the library Director evaluation forms. He thanked Linda Funk for putting it together on such short notice. He would like for the rest of the Board to take a look at it and get back with him with any comments or changes they might have within the next week. Sarah mentioned that by June she will not have had an appraisal for 26 months. Her evaluation will be done on the anniversary of her accepting the Director=s position which is in June.

 

Paul then asked from comments from the floor. Chuck asked how Bixby=s is doing. Sarah said they seem to be doing well. It seems to be a very good relationship between the library and them. Bill Surbaugh asked about the status of the sign on 12^th Street letting our customers know it is now a 2-way street. Russ has contacted the city and they are on the limit of signs they can have now. They have put arrows on the street showing that it is both ways. When Russ had the main lot resurfaced, he had split arrows put on the lot at the exit. Bill wants signs for the pedestrians so they will know to look both ways. Russ said we could put up 2-way traffic signs by the street. He will investigate this. Bill also mentioned that he noticed on the stats for this month the columns don=t add up. Sarah will have Alice check on this. There was some discussion on the issue of not putting an elevator in at Lapel. Stan wants to make sure we are ADA compliant. That will definitely be addressed when the expansion gets closer. Being no more comments, a motion was made by Bill Surbaugh to adjourn. Meeting adjourned at 5:00 p.m.

 

 

Respectfully submitted,

Secretary

Anderson Public Library

Board of Trustees

____________________________________________________________________

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Minutes of the Regular Monthly Meeting of the

Anderson City, Anderson, Stony Creek and Union Townships Public Library Board of Trustees

November 19, 2003

Trustees Present

Paul Muething, President

Joni Brinkman, Vice President

Rhea Parshall, Treasurer

Chuck Lacey, Secretary

Bill Surbaugh, Mary Rock, Stan Kilburn

 

Trustees Absent

None

Staff Present

Sarah Later, Director

Montie Manning, Assistant Director

Lova Gay, Recording Secretary

Tonya Carman, Business Office Manager

Russ Jones, Linda Manderson, Melanie Johnson, Frank Lucas, Martha Green, Dave Coburn, Sheila Love, Carolyn Metz

 

Others Present

None

President Muething called the meeting to order at 4:15 p.m. in the Board Room of the Main Library.

 

A motion was made by Bill Surbaugh and seconded by Chuck Lacey to approve the minutes of the regular meeting held October 15, 2003. Motion to approve the minutes carried.

 

Rhea has examined the bills, found them to be in order subject to an outside audit and made a motion to accept the claims for payment as published. Joni Brinkman seconded the motion. Stan mentioned that he had asked Sarah to mark on the claims which ones are yearly. Sarah has asked Tonya to start doing this. Bill Surbaugh said it would be nice to have a policy stating that we will allow bids for maintenance contracts. He thinks the higher priced (over $2,000) contracts should be evaluated every 2 years. Bill feels good internal controls dictate some policy in this area to protect the employees and the Board. Sarah will create a new policy and have it ready for the Board to review in January. Bill said the policy should be tiered based on the amount. Paul feels this is a staff responsibility, not the Board=s. Sarah will contact the State Library to research if there are any policies like this for other libraries. Chuck asked what the Sonic Wall is. This is a content and site filter for the library. Chuck wondered if we have had any reaction from customers about not being able to get to certain sites for research. Frank said we have had some problems but the sites are very easy to override and customers are pleased we can do this for them. Bill asked if we have ever used Amazon.com to search for books to purchase. The Reference staff does use it. Bill said they have a new search engine for phrases, etc. That particular feature is very new but the Reference staff will look into it. Motion to pay the bills carried unanimously.

 

Tonya gave a report on the Indiana Bond Bank Resolution. We borrowed from them earlier in the year because of the reassessment issue. Since Madison County has not issued their second tax payment notices, we expect no tax payment until after the 1^st of the year. The warrants to the Bond Bank are due December 31. They have come up with a new program which means APL can pay the interest owed on the previous warrants and issue new warrants to be paid when we get our tax installment after the 1^st of the year. The original amount was $1.2 million and the new ones will be the same amount. We aren=t borrowing for next year. A motion was made by Rhea Parshall and seconded by Joni Brinkman to approve this resolution. Carried.

 

Next on the agenda was the approval of the 2004-2006 Technology Plan. Frank Lucas gave an overview of this plan. This has to be approved by the Board and submitted to the State Library each year. Some of the changes are; goals and objectives that have been accomplished have been moved to current technology, a table of contents has been added, and the current technology inventory has been added. Paul asked about tuition reimbursement. Linda explained that we do have reimbursement with the following criteria; a 3.0 or better grade point average, proof of expenses, they have to stay employed here for a year after completion of the course and there is a $300 maximum. Paul said that is a very nice benefit. Chuck Lacey asked about the internet connections in Bixby=s and the study rooms. Are we keeping them? Yes, there have been no problems with them. Bill Surbaugh wants staff to consider the balancing of service to customers vs cost effectiveness. For example, class size in the computer classes. Frank mentioned that half of the CTC is open during classes and staff feel that the small class size is beneficial because the class is so interactive. We could not do a good job of teaching some of the topics with a larger class number. A motion was made by Joni Brinkman and seconded by Rhea Parshall to approve the Technology Plan. Motion carried.

 

Approval of the 2004 Goals and Objectives and the Long Range Plan was next on the agenda. Sarah pointed out that all the managers have worked on these documents. The Five Year Plan has been modified and divided into four sections; Customer Service, Communication and Community Education, Staff Training and Development, and Evaluation. Since we were already meeting most of the goals in the plan, the numbers have been increased. The Long Range Plan contains items we want to work towards but they will not be accomplished in 2004. Some of these projects will be funded by LIRF. Rhea asked about the Letter to the Editor from the Richland Township resident. Sarah has decided to wait before she responds to see if there are any other residents from that township who values what we provide to them and writes a letter. Chuck Lacey feels it would be beneficial to both the library and the residents for them to join the district. There should be some sort of program to better reach these residents without alienating other ones. Bill Surbaugh feels we need to establish a plan to market the library other than contacting the Township Trustees. We already have a core with our non-resident cardholders. Paul wondered if we could conduct a workshop to educate people on how to proceed with joining the library district. Rhea mentioned that children at Killbuck and College Corner do not receive library services. Chuck feels that the trustees should be a part of the plan and should be aware of what we are doing. Sarah will check with the State Library on procedures and guidelines of what we can do. Chuck asked if 2005 was a specific date for the Lapel expansion. Sarah wants time to study the situation at Lapel. She feels that circulation there is not what it could be. She wants the need to be very, very obvious for the project. Stan feels that the library should work with the Frankton-Lapel School Board and the Lapel Planning Commission so we would know what the growth potential is for the area. Bill would like the goals to mention more about grants we are working on. Even though the plan mentions writing grants six times a year, Sarah reminded the Board that we write them constantly. With the economy the way it is, most grants awarded in our community are for basic needs such as shelter, food banks, and medical care. Rhea and Chuck both commented on the effort to serve Latino families. Paul asked Sarah if she could include a report on grants each month in her Director=s report. She will be glad to do that. A motion was made by Chuck Lacey and seconded by Stan Kilburn to approve the 2004 Goals and Objectives and the Long Range Plan. Motion carried.

 

Montie gave a report on Output Measures, which were conducted in October. We have 99% customer satisfaction rate with 74% of our customers being very satisfied. We have a very high fill rate for customers getting their requested items within 7 days. The fill rate in AV has dropped down to 72%. This is mainly because our AV department=s reputation has grown into being a wonderful source for materials. As the usage has increased, so have the requests. Some of the materials customers want we have decided, for various reasons, not to buy. That is why this rate has come down. Carolyn does a very good job of selecting materials. The customer comments are also very favorable. Even though the AV rate is low, the system total is 95%. One of the factors involved is, if a customer comes in and requests a particular video and it is already checked out that is counted against the fill rate. This survey is designed to measure our collection. Stan would like to see something visual at Lapel to let their customers know they can also have access to everything at Main. Sarah reported that there were 520 new library cards issued in October. We are selling the library to our community. Bill asked if we have a policy on cell phones. Sarah has not written one. She prefers to handle such things through staff and feels this falls under the policy of general library disturbance. Security rarely gets calls about this.

 

Russ Jones gave his report on the Maintenance Department. We are building on the preventative maintenance program. Jerry is going to school to learn more about HVAC. Staff is doing more in-house which allows more money to be spent on upgrades. They are putting new lights in at Lapel to qualify for a rebate from Cinergy. The outside cleaning contractor only cleans the public areas. The HVAC upgrade is in place and training is in progress. Both he and Jerry worked with the contractor to put the upgrade in. Chuck asked about the status of the snow guards on the roof. Russ has some ideas of things to get but he has no prices on anything. We can block Main Street when the snow and ice begin to melt.

 

Dave Coburn gave a report on Security Services. There are 2 full-time staff and one part-time staff. They are responsible for ACT guidelines training, overseeing all drills, going to the post office and the bank, keeping key control inventory, filling out incident reports and doing lots of interaction with customers. Security is always here in the evenings and on the weekend.

 

Sarah gave her Director=s report with information on all departments. The elevator is finally repaired. The company had to get a part rebuilt. This was covered under the maintenance agreement. Legislator Terri Austin was one of the speakers at the ILF Legislative Workshop Sarah attended. She started off her talk by introducing Aher librarian@ and telling all about Aher wonderful library@ in Anderson. Sarah said it is always good to hear other people talk about the good things we do. Some of the legislation being considered requires Board members to be elected. Libraries are against this. Circulation use is up 25% for teen girls and 45% for teen boys. Chuck said the tax rate set by the board always requires a good look at what is best for the taxpayers if you don=t want someone else to have to approve it.

 

Paul and Sarah attend a non-profit workshop in Marion which was paid for by United Way. Paul mentioned the Sarbane=s-Oxley Act. This legislation covers the responsibilities of the Boards of for-profit companies. There is some talk about adjusting this to non-profit organizations. Paul said it very important to have a balance of personalities and skills on the Board. We are very lucky to already have this and Paul feels this Board is very accountable. At the workshop they also talked about Mission Statements. They recommend it be only one line. The Board By-Laws need to be reviewed and revised. The current copy will be included in December=s packet for review early next year. Sarah said the new mission statement will be part of strategic planning. It was recommended at the workshop the Board evaluate themselves. Sarah has distributed a short evaluation form about the meeting. Please fill it out before you leave. She also is now listing times on the agenda.

 

Paul asked for comments from the floor. He complimented the staff for all the newspaper articles that have been published. He thanked Frank, Russ, and Dave for their reports. He mentioned that the staff Christmas party is December 12 and the Board is invited. The Director=s evaluation form is complete. Paul also said he will be naming the Nominating Committee for next year=s Board officers at next month=s meeting.

 

A motion was made by Bill Surbaugh and seconded by Mary Rock to adjourn. The meeting was adjourned at 5:45 p.m.

 

Respectfully submitted,

Secretary,

Anderson Public Library

Board of Trustees

____________________________________________________________________

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Minutes of the Regular Monthly Meeting of the

Anderson City, Anderson, Stony Creek and Union Townships Public Library Board of Trustees

December 17, 2003

 

Trustees Present

Paul Muething, President

Joni Brinkman, Vice President

Rhea Parshall, Treasurer

Chuck Lacey, Secretary

Bill Surbaugh, Mary Rock, Stan Kilburn

 

Trustees Absent

None

Staff Present

Sarah Later, Director

Montie Manning, Assistant Director

Lova Gay, Recording Secretary

Tonya Carman, Business Office Manager

Linda Manderson, Frank Lucas, Russ Jones, Martha Green, Sheila Love, Stephanie Striegel, Liza Markle-Bell

 

Others Present

None

President Muething called the meeting to order at 4:15 p.m. in the Board Room of the Main Library.

 

A motion was made by Bill Surbaugh and seconded by Rhea Parshall to approve the minutes of the regular meeting held November 19, 2003. Chuck Lacey asked that, as a matter of clarification, the last sentence of the 2^nd page be changed to read AWe can block the east lane of Main Street when the snow and ice begin to melt if necessary.@ The correction was made and initialed by Chuck Lacey, Board Secretary. Motion to approve the minutes with this correction carried.

 

Rhea has examined the bills, found them to be in order subject to an outside audit and made a motion to accept the claims for payment as published. Bill Surbaugh seconded the motion. Chuck questioned one of the items on the report by fund page. He said under Books and Materials it looks like we will only use 94.8% of that budget. He wonders why we haven=t used that and what happens with that money. Paul said that would be brought up later on the agenda. Bill Surbaugh asked if the $7,250 bill from Vasey=s is part of the 2004 LIRF budget. No, this is for the computer to get us started with the new system. The LIRF budget is money for the VAV boxes. Paul asked about the claim to Insurance Solutions, Inc. for the Crime Policy Renewal. He wants to know if this is mandated by law. Tonya said it was recommended to have this coverage by the Insurance Advisory Committee. This covers theft and dishonesty of staff. This is an annual premium. Paul questioned if we really need this coverage. The Insurance Advisory Committee meets January 8. It will be put on the agenda for that meeting. Motion to pay the bills carried unanimously.

 

Tonya talked about the 2003 Transfer Resolution. This is simply a matter of taking money from line items that were underspent and transferring to line items that were overspent to zero out the line items. Bill Surbaugh made a motion to accept this resolution. Joni Brinkman seconded the motion. Carried.

 

Sarah would like to encumber the $33,432.49 left in the books and materials budget to Baker and Taylor to be spent next year. The money would be spent next year out of 2003 funds but invoiced in 2004. The price of materials keeps going up. A motion was made by Rhea Parshall and seconded by Joni Brinkman to encumber this money. Bill Surbaugh said it was a wise decision to spend all the money we have budgeted for this but not to exceed the budgeted amount. The motion was carried unanimously.

 

Next on the agenda was the Endowment Fund. Paul would like to explore the opportunity of increasing our endowment fund and getting the word out in the community. Chuck asked how this would be different than the money we have in the Madison County Community Foundation. He also wanted to know who would set up the endowment and who would maintain it. Bill Surbaugh said that the decision was made several years ago to put the funds in the Foundation because both the staff and the Board did not want to set up a separate foundation. Paul said there needs to be more community awareness that people can donate money to the library. Sarah said Liza and Stephanie could write an article for the paper to let people know that we accept donations. Everything goes to the Madison County Community Foundation now, but if the Board would give permission, we could have a general account that we could use specified donations for whatever the donors wishes were. Bill said legally and morally we have to follow the donor=s wishes as long as it falls in the collection policy. Unrestricted donations could still go to the Foundation. Chuck made a motion to retain the endowment fund system that we now have. If we don=t change things a motion is not needed. Bill suggested we contact Leslie White at the Foundation to get ideas on ways to increase our endowments. We also should contact Duane Cox at Community Hospital. Paul and Sarah will set up a meeting after the first of the year.

 

Sarah gave a report on unserved townships. She feels this will be a long term project. She found out we could bring in part of a township, not all of it. We could start with areas with the most people and ones who have been most vocal about joining the district. She feels we could invite people in these areas to an information meeting. The State Library will help with the process of bringing people into the library district when we are ready to do it. It is possible to have fractional districts of the townships pay library taxes. Bill Surbaugh feels we also need to look at the areas where our non-resident cardholders live. This is a very positive thing. We need to start a database now of names. It might be wise to ask people who come in if they would be willing to carry a petition. Staff and volunteers will be fully trained on this process before it starts.

 

Liza Markle-Bell gave her report on the Community Relations Department. One of the main words to describe this department is variety. Liza, Stephanie and Lova talked about what they do, what they accomplished in 2003, and what they are going to be doing in 2004. Some of the areas they work with are the Web site and Staffnet, the e-gram and newsletter, meetings rooms and customer service, programming and internal customer service and publicity and community relations.

 

Linda Manderson gave a report on the Wellness Committee. We have completed the 3^rd session of Weight Watchers @ Work and we have partnered with the Board of Health for a Step Into Fitness program. We did the health screening of staff again this year. The top risk factors found were cholesterol, diet, weight, and stress. The highest medical conditions were, allergies, high blood pressure, depression, and high cholesterol. United Health Care will provide speakers to come talk to staff at no charge so the library will not be paying for any health topic speakers.

 

Sarah gave her Director=s report with information on all departments. She will be giving a monthly report on the status of grants we have applied for. Bill Surbaugh would like for a column to be added that lists groups we are collaborating with on these grants. There were major problems with the air handler this month. Jerry and Russ fixed the problem and it did not cost any money. The audit is finished and went very well. Sarah commended Tonya and her staff for all the hard work they have done with the auditor here.

 

Paul asked for comments from the floor. Being none, a motion was made by Rhea Parshall and seconded by Joni Brinkman to adjourn. The meeting was adjourned at 5:45 p.m.

 

 

 

Respectfully submitted,

Secretary,

Anderson Public Library

Board of Trustees

____________________________________________________________________

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