NORTHVILLE DISTRICT LIBRARY BOARD OF TRUSTEES
Regular Meeting Minutes
Thursday, July 24, 2008 – 7:30 p.m.
Northville District Library Carlo Meeting Room
1. Chairperson Robert Sochacki called the
Regular Meeting to order at 7:35 p.m.
1.1 Roll Call - Present:
Trustees Robert Sochacki, Jean Hansen, Peggy Koppy, Deborah Stanifer,
Joe Corriveau, Alan Somershoe and Judy Sherman. Also
present: Julie Herrin, Director; Judith Williams,
Administrative Assistant; and guests Paul Snyder, President of NDL
Friends; Jim Morché, Friends Member; Denise LaMotte and Al Smitley,
library staff members.
Absent: Anne Mannisto, Assistant Director.
1.2 Approval of the Agenda:
MOTION: Jean Hansen made a motion to accept the agenda as
presented. Peggy Koppy seconded the motion. Motion
passed.
1.3 Approval of the Regular Board Meeting
minutes June 26, 2008: MOTION: Jean Hansen made a motion to
accept the minutes as corrected. Peggy Koppy seconded the
motion. Motion passed.
1.4 Citizen Comments: Jim
Morché commented on the lack of security in the Library on books, CDs
and DVDs. He stated that he had walked out the door without
checking items out as a test and no alarm sounded. Julie
Herrin acknowledged that the security system is, in fact, turned
off. It has not worked properly since the very beginning, so
rather than continuing to purchase the expensive security strips, the
system was disarmed. The security gates provide a perception
of security. The purchase of an RFID system is planned and
will change the situation. Julie stated that the Library
suffers greater loss from checked out items not being returned than
from theft. DVDs and CDs cannot be protected in this way as
nothing can be put on the disk.
Library Staff member Denise LaMotte reported that the NDLEA
representative had received the copy of the Unit II agreement from
Steve Schultz the day after the last Board meeting. She also
expressed thanks to the Friends of the Library and Julie for the summer
treats they have supplied for the staff.
2. Correspondence: Julie Herrin
shared a card from Plante & Moran announcing that Chris Jones,
the CPA who works on the Library Audit, had been elected partner at
Plante & Moran.
3. Director’s Report:
Statistics: The circulation statistics for June 2008 are up
by 11% over last year. Julie also reported that the Library
continues to set new records with circulation of 3,000 per day
checkouts. Remote catalog use is strong with 2,559 accesses;
in addition to 3,852 people who renewed materials via
iBistro. Julie reported that some of the data base statistics
were incomplete. Use of the Youth Computers is almost as high
as last year.
Youth Programming: Registration for the Summer Reading
Program has reached 886. Children may continue to register
until the end of July and check-in for prizes continues for 2 weeks in
August. There have been 11 programs so far this month for
Summer Reading with a total of 771 attendees. Attendance
figures were higher last summer due to coverage in Metro Parent
Magazine, which drew people from a greater geographic area.
This year’s advertising was limited to the immediate local surrounding
area.
Adult Programming: The Adult Summer Reading Program has 144
registered participants. Adult programs included the program
on Tiger Stadium with 24 attendees; the Foreign Film with 12; and the
monthly Book Discussion with 13. There were 39.75 volunteer
hours from our regular volunteers this month.
Teen Programming: The Teen Summer Reading Program has 179
registrants. The Funky Sock Monkey program had 34
participants. The Library Arcade hosted 29 teen gamers and 4
parents. There were 14 teens and 3 volunteers who
participated in The Story Morph Program where they illustrated and
wrote a short story. The Teen Corps has volunteered 70.5
hours during June.
Staff: Julie reported that Patricia Garavoglia, Adult
Services Librarian, has returned from the ALA Conference in California
with much information to share with staff. We are losing
Computer Page Kevin Wayne, who will be attending the University of
Michigan this fall. The position will be posted and the
interview process will begin in August to replace him. Our
two newest Librarians have begun taking desk time, which is helping to
alleviate some of the stress. Anne and Michael are both on
vacation this week.
Facilities: Julie reported that the major reorganization of
the Adult Services staff workroom and storage areas will continue
through the summer. The professional organizer will be
assisting staff on a one to one basis to better organize their work
areas, once the initial clean out stage is accomplished.
PR and Community: Mel Cat will not begin until January
2009. The Library Newsletter will be published again in early
September. Karen Fehl is beginning to assume the Public
Relations Librarian duties, assisting with the Newsletter and working
on the new sign project. Julie and Michael are beginning to
work with Digital Services Librarian Sarah Stopera on the Website and
Electronic Panel Display.
4. Friends Report: Friends
President Paul Snyder inquired as to any response from DTE regarding
the unsightly hole along Cady Street. Jim Morché has made
contact with a customer rep from DTE regarding the situation, with the
promise of resolution soon. Jim wrote a letter of
commendation for Jeannine Davidson and asked that it be added to her
personnel file. He also inquired about posters to promote
Michigan Asparagus and about the recently extended and expanded Patriot
Act being displayed in the Library. The Board expressed
concern that they be able to approve the posting of any items that may
be political. Julie Herrin indicated that this is covered in
the posting policy. Paul reported that Jim Morché and Anne
Mannisto attended a meeting on the Library Endowment. He
reminded the Board of the upcoming Used Book Sale beginning September
25, and offered Hillers Scrip Card participation to the
Board. He reported that the Friends held a meeting regarding
the space issues in the Library and are seeking a recycle center for
books that can’t be sold. Paul asked if the professional
organizer might be able to provide some pro-bono assistance to the
Friends to improve the efficiency of their areas in the
Library. Paul reported that the Friends Newsletter has been
sent out.
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 July 2008, as presented to the
Board. Jean Hansen seconded the motion. Motion
passed.
5.2 Deborah distributed copies of the
Financial Report for the Operating Fund for June. Expenses
and revenue are on track with 58% of the Fiscal Year
reflected. Private Donations in memory of Adelaide Schmidt
have now exceeded $2,500.
5.3 The draft of the Budget for the
2008-2009 Fiscal Year was distributed to the Board members.
The Township’s reported 2% decrease in revenue has been factored into
the Budget in line items that can be decreased without making a
significant impact on the daily operations of the Library at this
time. The Board questioned the effect of changes to the
Library’s taxing authority if the Northville State Hospital property is
declared a “Brownfield”, as clean-up costs are shared by taxing
municipalities. Julie will investigate this issue.
The Board discussed whether they wanted to hold the Public Hearing on
the 2008-2009 Budget in August or allow an additional month for review
of the proposed Budget by waiting until September. The Board
determined that the Public Hearing should be held at 7:00 p.m. prior to
the regular Board Meeting on August 28.
MOTION: Resolution 8-02 was read and passed unanimously via a
roll call vote. The Legal Notice for the Public Hearing will
be placed in the Northville Record as required.
6. Committee Reports: None
7. Announcements and Comments:
The Finance Committee Meeting for August was scheduled for Tuesday,
August 26 at 10:00 a.m., with the location within the Library to be
determined.
The next regular meeting will be at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, August 28,
2008, in the Carlo Meeting Room, following the Public Hearing on the
2008-2009 Budget scheduled for 7:00 p.m. that evening.
Judith distributed copies of the Policies approved via second reading
at the June Board meeting along with copies of the Table of Contents
and a new Cover Page to the Board Members to update their copies of the
Policy Manual.
Copies of the Friends Membership Roster were also distributed to the
Library Board Members.
9. MOTION: Alan Somershoe made
a motion that the Regular July meeting of the Board of Trustees be
adjourned. Peggy Koppy seconded the motion. Motion
passed. The meeting was adjourned at 8:50 p.m.
Respectfully Submitted,
Joe Corriveau
JW 7/8/08