NORTHVILLE DISTRICT LIBRARY BOARD OF TRUSTEES
Regular Meeting Minutes
Thursday, April 26, 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, Robert Sochacki, Deborah Stanifer, Peggy Koppy, Jean Hansen,
Judy Sherman, and Joe Corriveau. Also present: Anne Mannisto,
Assistant Director; Judith Williams, Administrative Assistant; and Jim
Morché, President of the Friends. Visitors present:
Suzanne Schimanski-Gross, Teen Services Librarian; and Denise LaMotte,
Reference Clerk.
Absent: Julie Herrin, Director
1.2 Approval of the Agenda:
MOTION: Jean Hansen made a motion to accept the agenda as
presented. Deborah Stanifer seconded the motion. Motion
passed.
1.3 Approval of the Regular Board Meeting minutes of March 22, 2007:
MOTION: Robert Sochacki made a motion to accept the minutes of
the March 22nd meeting. Peggy Koppy seconded the motion.
Motion passed.
1.4 Correspondence: Anne Mannisto
reported that a letter had been received from Juliana Cerra, the master
gardener working on the Library garden. Juliana is proposing
projects to enhance the aesthetics of the planting areas around the
Library. A copy of her letter will be emailed to the Trustees and
the proposal will be reviewed by the Facilities Committee. Judith
noted that some of the projects would need to be planned in May to
correspond with the planting season and that perhaps the Facilities
Committee could briefly meet prior to the May 16th Expansion
Planning Review meeting. Anne also noted a thank you letter from
Jim Morché for the staff assistance at the Friends Annual
Meeting on March 15th.
2. Citizens’ Comments: Suzanne
Schimanski-Gross spoke briefly about the success of the Battle of the
Books which was held on Tuesday, April 24 at 7 p.m. at the Northville
High School. She expressed her delight with the number of teams
participating and wants to see this event become an annual Library
sponsored activity.
3. Director’s Report: In Julie Herrin’s absence, Anne Mannisto presented the Directors Report.
Statistics: Anne reported that the March circulation was
up almost 3% over last year at this time. Wireless use continues
to increase. Database accesses from remote locations were 1,222,
while use within the Library was 709. Rosetta Stone continues to
be a smash hit with over 400 remote usages. The Door Count
statistics are unreliable and a new door counter is being investigated.
Youth Programming: 35 different events were planned for
this past month including two special programs. The Spring Break
Movies ‘n Munchies hosted 89 and Vicki Gasko had 81
attendees. The Little Me Storytime had 63 in attendance.
The Evening Family Storytime had 23 participants. The 16 regular
Tot Storytimes have 26 children attending each session, while the 10
Storytimes for 4s, 5s, and Ks have 20 children each. There were
two tour groups at the library this month: the Early Child Development
group and a Daisy Troop each had 19 visitors.
Adult Programming: The Adult Book Discussion hosted 16
this month. The movie on April 13 had an audience of 13 with a
discussion following the movie The Adult Department held two
Internet Classes, with attendance of 7 and 9, and 4 Saturday tutors
assisted 5 people with one-on-one help. The Outreach visits this
month totaled 7, reaching 136 seniors and 3 homebound visits.
Teen Services: The Battle of the Books final competition
held on Tuesday, April 24 at the High School Cafeteria was a great
success. 39 teams competed. Prizes were given for the best
team costume, as well as the 3 highest scoring teams. The Teen
Book Discussion had 8 participants this month.
Collection: The Youth Department is adding Playaways to
the Youth Audiobook area. 40 titles have been purchased with the
$2,000 contribution from the Friends of the Library and they will be
available in May.
Public relations: The Newsletter covering summer programs will be mailed in early June.
Facility: The Library has leased a new photocopy machine
that is also a fax machine and a scanner. It has been networked
to all of the staff computers. A new screen has been installed in
the “B” portion of the Carlo Meeting Room. This will
provide more flexibility to groups reserving the meeting rooms.
TLN: State Budget cuts to Library Cooperatives.
State Aid to Libraries will most likely be cut by 50% this fiscal
year. This will result in a direct loss to the Northville
District Library of about $10,000 this year\. However, The Library
Network will be hit very hard by this budget cut. State Aid
covers many of their administrative costs. Member libraries will
be asked to cover more of the costs for delivery, the shared system,
and cataloging. These increased costs will impact the budgets of
all of the member libraries.
4. Friends Report: Jim Morché
reported that the Friends provided daily treats for Library Staff
during National Library Week. The Friends annual membership drive
is underway. Jim distributed Friends Membership applications for
the Trustees who are not yet members of the Friends. The Friends
had the Library Display Case during April to promote membership.
Jim announced that he would be speaking at the Northville Chamber of
Commerce Meeting on Friday morning, April 27th. The Friends are
hosting an Appreciation Tea for the volunteers who help in the Gift
Shop, Book Cellar and Book Carts on the afternoon of June 16 in the
Carlo Room. The Friends are currently looking for a manager for
the Gift Shop. Plans are being made for a Country Music program
in October, a chorale group in December and fiddle music for St
Patrick’s Day, 2008. The Friends Newsletter was mailed in
mid-April. Sandy Walts will become the editor for the September
issue. The Friends Finance Committee is exploring issues
including banking options and long-term investments.
5. Strategic Plan Report: Anne Mannisto
reported that the final report on the Strategic Plan from Bill Schroer
has been delayed so that it can be reviewed with Julie when she returns
from medical leave. She distributed copies of the proposal of
expansion possibilities prepared by Duce Simmons for the Facilities
Task Force, as well as a copy of the final Space Task Force
recommendation for the Trustees to review prior to the special meeting
scheduled on May 16th.
6. Budget and Finance Review: Deborah Stanifer
6.1 MOTION: Deborah Stanifer made a
motion to approve payment of the Northville District Library bills over
$1,000 for April 2007 as presented to the Board. Judy Sherman
seconded the motion. Motion passed.
6.2 Deborah reviewed the Financial Reports for
March and reported that this budget year is 1/3 complete. She
noted that almost all of the Library’s revenue has been
received. We are not anticipating any more State Aid this
year. The next Finance Committee is scheduled for Tuesday, May
22, at 5:00 p.m.
7. Announcements and Comments:
Peggy Koppy inquired as to what the Library would be doing to honor the
volunteers who help the Library. Anne responded that we would be
hosting an evening event on August 21 with an array of deserts, as we
did last year. Peggy questioned if we knew what other libraries
did to recognize their volunteers and suggested that we needed to do
more than we are currently doing. Suggestions included
spotlighting volunteers on our website, newsletter, or electronic
information board in the Library. She also suggested that
personal phone calls be made as follow-up to the invitations to the
August event.
The next scheduled Board of Trustees Regular Meeting is Thursday, May
24, 2007 at 7:30 p.m. in the Carlo Meeting Room of Northville District
Library.
9. MOTION: Robert Sochacki made a motion
to adjourn. Peggy Koppy seconded the motion. The meeting
was adjourned at 9:00 p.m.
Respectfully Submitted,
Judy Sherman
jw: 5/4/07