NORTHVILLE DISTRICT LIBRARY BOARD OF TRUSTEES
Regular Meeting Minutes
Thursday, December 20, 2007 – 7:30 p.m.
Northville District Library Carlo Meeting Room
1. Chairperson Alan Somershoe called the
Regular Meeting to order at 7:35 p.m.
1.1 Roll Call - Present:
Trustees Alan Somershoe, Jean Hansen, Peggy Koppy, Deborah Stanifer,
Robert Sochacki, Joe Corriveau and Judy Sherman. Also
present: Julie Herrin, Director; Anne Mannisto, Assistant
Director; Judith Williams, Administrative Assistant; Jim Morché,
President of the Friends; Denise LaMotte and Al Smitley, library staff;
and Fred Timpner, Executive Director of Michigan Association
of Public Employees (M.A.P.E.).
Absent: None.
1.2 Approval of the Agenda:
MOTION: Peggy Koppy made a motion to accept the
agenda. Robert Sochacki seconded the motion. Motion
passed.
1.3 Approval of the Regular Board Meeting
minutes November 15, 2007: MOTION: Jean Hansen made a motion
to accept the minutes of the November 15th meeting as
corrected. Deborah seconded the motion. Motion
passed.
1.4 The revised minutes for the Regular
Board Meeting of October 25th were presented to the Board for review
and approval. MOTION: Deborah Stanifer made a
motion to accept the corrected minutes, Jean Hansen seconded the
motion. Motion passed.
1.5 Correspondence: Julie
Herrin shared the letter received from Old Village School thanking the
Library for its co-sponsorship of the recent Book Fair. She
also shared a letter from local attorney David E. Jerome, who, in lieu
of sending cards and gifts this year, has made a contribution of $250
to the Library in memory of Adelaide Schmidt. Julie also
presented a Special Tribute from Representative Marc Corriveau, given
to the Library on its achievement of Enhanced Status in the Michigan
Quality Services Audit Checklist. The final correspondence
was from members of the First Lego League competition, thanking Judith
for her time. They won a trophy for their presentation on the
Library Building at the competition.
2. Citizens’ Comments: Denise
LaMotte thanked the Board of Trustees for the Holiday Luncheon held on
Wednesday, December 12th. Trustees Peggy Koppy, Deborah
Stanifer and Jean Hansen hosted the event with Julie, Anne and Judith
assisting. Chair Alan Somershoe and Vice Chair Robert
Sochacki also joined the gathering of staff members who enjoyed a
wonderful meal in a festive setting in the Carlo Meeting Room.
Denise then introduced Mr. Fred Timpner, Executive Director of the
Michigan Association of Public Employees who will be representing the
Northville District Library Employees Association. He spoke
briefly about his optimism for a positive working relationship between
the Library Administration, the Board of Trustees and the NDLEA.
3. Director’s Report:
Statistics: The statistics for November 2007 show an increase
of 2.72% in circulation over November 2006. Database usage
for the month is high at 770 remote and 564 internal
accesses. Areas that continue to show growth are Wireless use
( the highest ever at 387) and Catalog usage (at 2,628 for this month).
Youth Programming: There are fewer programs as we get closer
to the holidays. Youth Storytimes are between sessions at
this time. The Magic Show had 97 attendees. Holiday
Crafts had 35 participants. 95 Amerman Elementary First Grade
Students visited that Library for a tour. There is an
afternoon Movie with Munchies scheduled for the school holiday break on
December 27th.
Adult Programming: The Internet Classes had 8 at the Basics
and 4 at the Internet Search Tips class. The Adult Book
Discussion hosted 14.
Teen Services: The Sock Monkey craft had 33
participants. This very popular program was a repeat of the
extremely successful summer program.
Services: Teen volunteers from the High School Rotary
Interact Club will be assisting the one-on-one computer tutoring
program.
Staff: Julie Herrin reported that Jeannine Davidson, Head of
Adult Services, is planning to return to work on January
14th. She will start out working part-time for the first
couple of weeks and will move to full-time as her strength
increases. This month volunteers contributed 40 hours of
assistance to the Library.
Public Relations: Julie reported that new signage has been
ordered for the Library. The product selected will be very
flexible, allowing for the growth and relocation of collections that
the old signage did not.
Technology: Michael has installed 3 new Internet computers
for the public. This brings the number of public Internet
workstations to 20, plus 2 Express and 3 Local History
computers. The Library is still researching digital microfilm
reader-printers and expects to make a decision on a replacement for the
current unreliable equipment very soon. The Library now has
Flash Drives available for the public to purchase at the Circulation
Desk. Michael located a source that allows us to sell these
Flash Drives for $8.00 each.
Collections: The Library is investigating substitutions for
Rosetta Stone, which will no longer be available beginning January 1,
2008.
Facilities: The Coffee Cart is now operational. It
is not a run-away success at this point, but it is also not a problem
operationally.
4. Friends Report: Jim Morché
reported that he had attended the Novi Gathering of Friends
Gala. This is an annual event they host for their members and
is held in a Toll Brothers model home that is decorated for the
holidays. Jim would like to do something similar for the
Northville Friends members. Jim would also like to add a
Friends membership application to the Library Newsletter, which is sent
to households throughout the entire community. Anne Mannisto
has agreed that this would be a good method to inform the community
about the Friends and increase the Friends membership. Jim
reported that he spoke with the management of two local funeral homes
about placing Gift Book Envelopes there for people who might want to
memorialize their friends or family members. The Friends have
decided not to hold a Spring Used Book Sale, since the on going sale of
used books is providing a better return than the conventional Used Book
Sale. Dates have been reserved for a Fall Used Book
Sale. Up-coming programs sponsored by the Friends include the
musical group “Picks and Sticks” on May 6, a presentation by the Yankee
Air Force Museum sometime close to Memorial Day, and a Vocal Arts
Ensemble from Ann Arbor performing in Renaissance costumes sometime
late next fall.
5. Budget and Finance Review:
Deborah Stanifer
5.1 MOTION: Treasurer, Deborah
Stanifer, made a motion to approve payment of the balance of Northville
District Library bills over $1,000 for November 2007 (due to the
earlier than usual November Board Meeting), and the Library’s bills to
date over $1,000 for December, as presented to the Board.
Robert Sochacki seconded the motion. Motion passed.
5.2 The Board was given draft copies of
the Financial Report for the Operating Fund for November.
Deborah noted that this is the last monthly financial report for the
2007 Fiscal Year. It is marked “DRAFT” until after Audit,
which is scheduled for early January. The payables for 2007
will be reconciled prior to the audit.
6. Committee Report: Policy
Committee.
The revised Policy on Conduct in the Library was presented for a second
reading. MOTION: Judy Sherman made a motion to
accept the second reading of the revised Policy on Conduct in the
Library. Jean Hansen seconded the motion. Motion
passed. The revised Policy on the Safety and Well-being of
Children was presented for a second reading.
MOTION: Judy Sherman made a motion to accept the revised
policy for the second reading. Jean Hansen seconded the
motion. Motion passed. Copies of the newly revised
policies will be added to the Policy Manuals and the Library’s website.
Facilities Committee: Robert Sochacki reported on the
Facilities Committee Meeting that was held prior to this Regular Board
Meeting. The topic of discussion was the proposed fire
suppression system for the server room. After much discussion
the committee decided to table this topic until next month in an effort
to secure additional information from other Class V Libraries and the
Township Public Safety Director Mr. John Werth. The Committee
members also stated that they would like to hear from Michael McEvoy as
to why he believes the installation of such a system is
necessary. The Board also wants to investigate the Risk
Avoidance Program Grant offered through the Michigan Municipal Risk
Management Authority. The Facilities Committee will meet
again next month at 7:00 p.m., prior to the January Regular Board
Meeting
7. Announcements and Comments:
The Finance Committee Meeting for January will be held at 10:00 a.m. on
January 23rd. At this meeting, the committee will also begin
developing 5 Year Budget Projections.
The next regular meeting will be at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, January 24,
2008, in the Carlo Meeting Room. Dates that the Library may
be closed in 2008 will be discussed at the January meeting.
8. MOTION: Alan Somershoe asked
for a motion to adjourn. Robert Sochacki made a motion to
adjourn. Peggy Koppy seconded the motion. The
meeting was adjourned at 8:45 p.m.
Respectfully Submitted,
Judy Sherman
jw: 1/3/2008