NORTHVILLE DISTRICT
LIBRARY BOARD OF TRUSTEES
Regular Meeting Minutes
Thursday, November 20, 2008 – 7:30 p.m.
Northville District Library Carlo Meeting Room
1. Vice Chairperson Judy Sherman called
the Regular Meeting to order at 7:35 p.m.
1.1 Roll Call - Present:
Trustees Judy Sherman, Jean Hansen, Deborah Stanifer, Peggy Koppy, and
Alan Somershoe. Also present: Julie Herrin,
Director; Anne Mannisto, Assistant Director; Judith Williams,
Administrative Assistant; and guests Jim Morché, member of the NDL
Friends, Denise LaMotte and Al Smitley, library staff members.
Absent: Trustees Joe Corriveau. Chairman Robert
Sochacki was late arriving to the meeting.
1.2 Approval of the Agenda:
Julie Herrin requested the addition of an Executive Session following
the regular meeting for the purpose of discussing union contract
negotiations. MOTION: Jean Hansen made a motion to
accept the agenda as amended. Peggy Koppy seconded the
motion. Motion passed.
1.3 Approval of the Regular Board Meeting
Minutes for October 23, 2008: MOTION: Alan Somershoe moved to
accept the minutes as presented. Peggy Koppy seconded the
motion. Motion passed.
1.4 Citizen Comments: Julie
Herrin introduced Mike Postula, the new Adult Services Librarian, and
Sarah Stopera, the new Digital Services Librarian, to the Board of
Trustees. She related that Mike is now teaching the advanced
computer classes and developing his assigned collection, and that Sarah
is assisting Michael McEvoy with the development of the new Website and
the maintenance of the Electronic Display Panel.
Jim Morché submitted a proposal to amend the policy on the election of
Trustees. He read his proposal to the Board and was then
informed that this would be submitted to the Policy committee for
consideration.
Al Smitley inquired if staff members would be allowed to ask questions
regarding financial matters during the Financial Report of the Board
Meeting. He was informed that this would be allowed.
2. Correspondence: Julie
reported that she had received a letter from the Parks and Recreation
Director, Tracy Sincock, regarding the property that is to be
landscaped by DTE, stating that the Parks and Recreation Department had
no responsibility for the property and that the Library could proceed
as needed.
3. Director’s Report:
Statistics: Julie reported that there was a 23% increase in
Library circulation from October 2007 to October 2008. The
door count is level at 20,318 patrons over the last month.
Database usage was high with 695 remote clicks and 538 in-Library
accesses this month. The remote catalog was accessed 2,993
times this month. Internet usage continues to climb and the
wireless hotspot usage was 399 this month.
Youth Programming: There have been 23 programs this past
month with a total of 739 attendees. The Birds of Prey
program hosted 175. There have also been Library visits by
two classes from Ridgewood and one from Northville Christian.
Teen Programming: The Teen Book Discussion this month hosted
8 and the Library Arcade Rock Band had 25
participants.
Adult Programming: There were 13 attendees at the Adult Book
Discussion this month. The Internet Classes and tutoring had
a total of 22 this month. The program on the Civilian
Conservation Corps on October 21, had 78 attendees, while the program
on Identify Theft, presented by the Better Business Bureau, hosted
31. The Smugglers on the Straits program had 78 attendees.
Technology: Julie reported that Michael has installed a new
CD Rom server for the Youth Computers and it is now back on line;
however, the Library’s file server has crashed and will require
significant effort to get it up and operational again.
Staff: Julie reported that she, Anne, Jeannine, Sarah and
Mike attended MLA this year. This is the best attendance by
Library Staff in a very long time. Julie also attended the
groundbreaking ceremony at the Novi Public Library along with Judy
McIntosh, Head of the Circulation Department. Anne attended a
Directors Summit and Julie attended an Investment Briefing for the
Endowment at CFSEM. Several staff members attended a webinar
on the new Overdrive collection. There was also a webinar for
training on Booklist Online. There were 39 volunteer hours
this past month.
Facilities: Julie reported that she has contracted Chris
deBear of Library Design to assess the Youth Area due to the serious
lack of shelving space. This assessment, scheduled to begin
on Wednesday, December 3, will be similar to the problem solving that
Library Design did for the Library in the Adult Fiction area on the
upper level and the Non-fiction area on the lower level, which
increased shelving space by a significant percentage in both
areas. Progress is being made in the server room toward the
installation of the dry chemical fire suppression system.
This should be completed by Christmas. Work is also scheduled
to begin on the DTE landscaping project, weather permitting.
Julie reported that two occasional chairs and the cushions in the
alcoves outside of the Meeting Room were reupholstered this
month.
Website: Julie stated that the Librarians are working on the
content pages for the Website and reported that the Friends have been
asked for content to be added to the Website also.
Newsletter: The Newsletter will be mailed out by the first of
December.
Endowment mailing: The solicitation letters for contributions
to the Library’s Endowment Fund have been mailed out for this calendar
year for year-end giving. Julie distributed copies of the
letter to the attending Board Members.
4. Friends Report: In the
absence of Friends President Paul Snyder, Jim Morché read a report from
the Friends. He reported that he and Paul had participated in
the “Paint the Town” project with downtown merchants and they are both
planning to attend the Novi Friends Gathering on December 5, and the
Northville Chamber of Commerce Holiday Open House on December
10. Paul and Jim attended a Board meeting of the Friends of
Michigan Libraries in November, at which Paul was elected a Director of
FOML. There will be a Coffee Hour for the Gift Store
volunteers on December 5 at 10:00 a.m., followed by a tour of the
Library. In lieu of the goodies that the Friends usually
bring to the Library staff for the holiday season, the Friends will be
making a donation of canned food to Northville Civic Concern, at the
suggestion of Library staff. Plans are in progress for 2009
programs on protecting children on the Internet and safeguarding data
on electronic devices. Both of these programs will be
presented by an employee of Microsoft Corp.
5. Budget and Finance Review:
5.1 MOTION: Treasurer Deborah
Stanifer made a motion to approve payment of the Northville District
Library bills over $1,000 for November 2008 as presented to the
Board. She noted that the $25,971.72 tax refund to Wayne
County on the List of Bills will require an adjustment to the 2008
Budget. Jean Hansen seconded the motion. Motion
passed.
5.2 Deborah distributed copies of the
Financial Report for the Operating Fund for October. With the
Fiscal Year now 92% complete, she reported that the interest income was
not going to make the estimated amount for this year.
5.3 Julie Herrin reported that she had
contacted the Treasurer of Northville Township regarding the decreased
tax revenue for 2010 that was reported in the newspaper and at last
month’s Board Meeting. The figures that Julie received
project a 2% decrease in tax revenue for 2009 from 2008, followed by
10% decreases in the next two years (2010 and 2011), and a 5%
decrease in 2012. The figures that Julie received
from the City of Northville for tax revenue reflect projected 6%
decreases each of the next 2 years, followed by a 3% decrease the
following year. The Board indicated a strong desire to
maintain the book budget at 12% of revenue to maintain our current
Quality Standard.
6. Committee Reports: In light
of new Revenue projections, the Board decided to re-evaluate the
Library’s current 5-year plan and scheduled a special Finance Committee
Meeting for 4:00 p.m. on Tuesday, December 2 in the Youth Activity
Room. The next regular Finance Committee Meeting will be
Tuesday, December 16, 2008, at 5:30 p.m. The meeting will be
held in the Youth Activity Room and will be followed by the Performance
Evaluation of the Director at 6:30 p.m.
7. Announcements and Comments:
The next regular meeting will be at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, December 18,
2008, in the Carlo Meeting Room. This meeting is scheduled
for the third Thursday due to the Christmas Holiday.
Julie announced that the U. S. Census Bureau will be using the Library
as a testing site for part-time jobs related to the 2010
census. There will be several dates over December and January
when the tests will be given in the Carlo Meeting Room as a service to
the community and an opportunity to educate test takers to other job
search options available through the Library.
8. MOTION: Jean Hansen made a
motion that the Regular November Meeting of the Board of Trustees be
adjourned to Executive Session to discuss contract
negotiations. Deborah Stanifer seconded the motion.
Motion passed. The meeting adjourned to Executive Session at
8:55 p.m.
Following the adjournment of the Executive Session, Peggy Koppy made a
motion to adjourn the Regular Meeting. Alan Somershoe
seconded the motion. The Regular November Meeting of the
Board of Trustees adjourned at 9:50 p.m.
Respectfully Submitted,
Joe Corriveau
JW 11/3/08