NORTHVILLE DISTRICT LIBRARY BOARD OF TRUSTEES
Regular Meeting Minutes
Thursday, May 24, 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, Deborah Stanifer, Peggy Koppy, Jean Hansen,
and Judy Sherman. Also present: Julie Herrin, Director; Anne
Mannisto, Assistant Director; Judith Williams, Administrative
Assistant; and Jim Morché, President of the Friends. Visitors present:
Staff Member Denise LaMotte.
Absent: Robert Sochacki and Joe Corriveau
1.2 Approval of the Agenda:
MOTION: Jean Hansen made a motion to accept the agenda as
presented. Judy Sherman seconded the motion. Motion passed.
1.3 Approval of the Regular Board Meeting minutes of April 26, 2007:
MOTION: Jean Hansen made a motion to accept the minutes of the
April 26th meeting with one correction. Peggy Koppy seconded the
motion. Motion passed.
Anne Mannisto distributed inserts for
the Board of Trustees’ Policy Manuals, as well as copies of a report on
the Special Meeting on the Strategic Plan – Space Task Force
recommendations that was held on Wednesday, May 16th.
1.4 Correspondence:
Julie Herrin distributed invitations to the Trustee Dinner sponsored by
the Public Library Trustee Association of Oakland County on June 13th
in Rochester Hills. She noted that the Library would pay for any
of the Trustees who wished to attend. Peggy Koppy and Deborah
Stanifer expressed interest in attending to hear State Librarian Nancy
Robertson speak. Julie also passed around a Thank you note to the
Library from Arbor Hospice for allowing their Volunteer Appreciation
Luncheon to be held in the Library. Julie informed that Board
that the Library, as a pool member, has received a reimbursement from
the MMRMA.
2. Citizens’ Comments: None.
3. Director’s Report:
Statistics:
Julie reported that circulation continues this year’s trend of single
digit increases. The Door Count statistics are still unreliable
and a new door counter is still being investigated. Wireless use
increased by 61 users. Database access from remote locations is
double the in-library use. Computer use and Catalog use dropped
this month.
Youth Programming: 19 events had 396
participants. The Mother’s Day craft had 53 while 116 attended
the Farm Lady program. There were two tour groups from Main
Street School at the library this month.
Adult Programming:
The Adult Book Discussion hosted 16 this month. The program on
the Holocaust drew an audience of 75. Both scheduled Internet
Classes for the month were cancelled due to low registration. The
program on the Motor City Mafia had 67 in attendance. Saturday
Computer Tutors assisted 5 people with one-on-one help.
Teen Services: The Teen Book Discussion had 7 participants this month.
Collection:
The Entertainment VHS and DVD videos are now being interfiled.
This will allow patrons to be spread out over a larger area while
browsing the collection. The DVDs of TV shows have been changed
from a 3 loan period limit to 7 days, as many of these are collections
of several shows or a complete season of episodes which couldn’t be
viewed in the 3 day time limit. In preparation for the changes to
the upper-level shelving that is scheduled for later this summer, the
Adult and Youth Books on Tape collections have been weeded, with items
that have not circulated for a year being pulled from the
collection. The Adult Books on Tape that have been pulled are
being offered to local assisted living facilities. Any that are
not taken by these organizations will be donated to the Friends for the
Used Book Sale.
Staff: Jeannine Davidson, Head
of Adult Services, and Patricia Garavoglia, Adult Services Librarian,
attended the annual Fantastic Fiction workshop in Lansing this month.
Facility:
There were 39 groups using the Meeting Room in April and 34 groups (to
date) in May. Juliana Cerra will have a proposal for additional
enhancements to the north end of the Library in early June, and is
moving forward with plans to add ornamental grasses to the area in
front of the air intake guard rail within the myrtle
bed.
TLN: TLN is facing a $500,000
funding shortfall for this fiscal year due to the state budget
crisis. Currently, there is no director for TLN and the Steering
Committee has recommended not hiring anyone for the remainder of this
fiscal year. The iBistro catalog is a menu service, which means
it is a “pay as you go” service for the Libraries. TLN hosts the
library’s web site, email and telecommunications line. TLN will
utilize its fund balance for the remainder of this fiscal year and
should have a plan in place by June for next year’s financial
needs. Member libraries will be asked to cover more of the costs
for delivery, the shared ILL system, and cataloging.
Technology:
The staff email is being moved from TLN servers to an off site
vendor. There may also be a new host for our web page or the
website may need to be hosted independently by NDL.
PR:
The summer issue of the newsletter will go out in early June. The
Lion’s Club sponsored Grade School Peace Posters, which have been on
display in the Library again this year, will be removed by the end of
the month.
4. Friends Report: Jim
Morché reported that the Friends had received Thank you notes from the
Library staff for the daily treats during National Library Week and for
the Friends’ assistance with the Battle of the Books. Jim is
seeking a manager for the Friends Gift Shop and hopes to have someone
in place soon. He reported that he made many positive contacts
and found much support for the Friends of the Library at the Chamber of
Commerce TGIF gathering in April. The Friends will host a Patrons
Appreciation Ice Cream Social on Saturday, July 14 from 1 p.m. to 3
p.m. Several programs are being planned and dates being selected
for the fall season. An audit of the Friends financial activities
as required by IRS will be done in early June by local CPA Lee
Holland. Finally, everything is in place for the Spring Book
Sale, May 31 through June 3.
5. Budget and Finance Review: Deborah Stanifer
5.1
The Board was given copies of the Financial Reports for the Debt and
the Reserve Fund, in addition to the Operating Fund. Deborah
reviewed the Financial Reports for April and reported that everything
is on track for where we are in this fiscal year. The Reserve
Fund reflects the allocations for Facilities Preservation, the
Strategic Plan, and funding for the purchase of the RFID system, as
well as interest earned on the monies held within the fund.
5.2 MOTION: Deborah Stanifer made a
motion to approve payment of the Northville District Library bills over
$1,000 for May 2007 as presented to the Board. Jean Hansen
seconded the motion. Motion passed.
6. Strategic Plan:
Julie announced that a draft of the final report on the Strategic Plan
had been received from Bill Schroer; however, time limitations didn’t
allow for a review and completion, and it will therefore be held until
the next Board Meeting. Julie noted that progress is being made
in some areas of the Strategic Plan, but that some items have been
detoured, or at least placed on hold due to the unknown changes that
will be taking place with TLN. Plans are being made for the
Teacher Open House in August 2008 and a Flow Chart of the current
Website has been created to assist in the design of a new
Website. The reorientation of the Main Level shelving is being
scheduled for late August, with the library being closed for 2 days
during the process and reopening with the coffee cart in the fireplace
reading area.
7. Announcements and Comments:
Jim Morché stated that volunteers were needed to assist with the Spring Book Sale.
The
next scheduled Board of Trustees Regular Meeting is Thursday, June 28,
2007 at 7:30 p.m. in the Carlo Meeting Room of Northville District
Library.
9. MOTION: Peggy Koppy
made a motion to adjourn. Deborah Stanifer seconded the
motion. The meeting was adjourned at 8:30 p.m.
Respectfully Submitted,
Judy Sherman
jw: 5/30/07