Meeting Minutes, Chili Public Library Board of Trustees Meeting, Approved

September 25, 2007

Board of Trustees:   Ed Schuler (President), Glenda Melville (Vice-President), James Lechner

(Treasurer), Charles Havens, Judith Kharbas, Christina Reece, James Myers

Library Director: Jeff Baker

Town Liaison:  Michael Slattery, present.

President Schuler convened the meeting at 6:00 PM.  Ms. Melville absent.

Approved minutes of  August 28, 2007 meeting by six in favor, none opposed. 

Approved abstract:  $26,346.36 by six in favor, none opposed.

Approved the meeting agenda by six in favor, none opposed.

Communications

Guests/Public:

None.

Town Board Liaison: 

Mr. Slattery suggested that it would be good that the Library board present its budget proposal at a Town Board meeting.

Friends Representative:

Ms. Eisley noted the upcoming book sale October 12 and 13; the Shipwrecks program October 17  and the annual meeting.

Director’s Report – September, 2007

 

General Information:

·        CPL Statistics – Distribution of monthly CPL statistics.  Circulation and reference requests up by 5 and 4% respectively year on year, door count down 3% and programs down substantially.  The program count was affected by rain on the day of the truck and tractor show which is the major August event. Increase program events noted, 25 compared to 16 in 2006.

·        Circulation and Reference Staff Meetings – Friday, October 5^th at 9:00.

·        CPL Full Staff Meeting – Friday, November 2^nd at 9:00 – Ed Schuler to attend.

·        Friends of the CPL Board Meeting – Tuesday, October 9^th at 6:30 pm – Jim Lechner to attend.

·        Staff Shelving Unit:  David Tyler is making a new shelving unit in the staff area to replace a broken shelf and add to the staff shelving space available.

·         Internet Terminals:   Four computers have been added to the public area, making for a total of 24 public computers.  Parents can now access the Internet from the Children’s area and the teen area has two additional computers.  To better provide reference service, two public Internet terminals by the reference desk have been designated as 30 minute short term terminals.

·        Optelec Magnifier:   A desk-top magnifier that was in the staff area is now on a table to the left of the fireplace in the public area.  This piece of equipment enhances images from print material for those individuals with low vision. 

·         Community Material - Community material for patron pick up has been moved to a display table in the lobby.   This makes the material easier for patrons to find, and frees up space for an Adult Programs display area within the library.

·        CPL Coffee Card:  CPL is now offering to interested patrons a "CPL Coffee Card".  For $5.00 one can purchase a card and use it to get 6 cups of coffee or tea.        

·        YA Nonfiction  Book Display:  A new YA nonfiction book display is now in the teen area in the stand-alone bookcase next to the teen magazines. 

·        CPL Memorial Fund:  Noted local artist Kathy Hunt is donating a portion of the proceeds from the sale of her note cards displayed within the library to the Memorial Fund.  Donations in the amount of $365 have been made to the Memorial Fund in memory of Margaret Grogan, who once worked as a clerk at the library. 

·        Volunteer:  Autumn Haag has been volunteering at CPL since mid-August.  She has received her MLS at the University of Toronto and has been working on several projects.

·        Comment Card:  To provide better feedback from the community a CPL Comment Card has been created and will be made available for both public and staff.

·        Staff Training:  To improve staff workflow and better assist patrons, three staff training sessions have been arranged.  Stephen Dresbach, Technology Instructor at SUNY Geneseo will be teaching selected staff on the new features of Microsoft Excel 2007, PowerPoint 2007, and Word 2007.  Training will occur October 4, 2007, December 7, 2007, and February 1, 2008 when the library is closed for Circulation and Reference Staff meetings. 

Follow Up Items: 

·        Alesi Grant:  The Chili Public Library has so far received $2,500 of the $10,000 Senator Alesi grant for the 2007 MCLS support services increase. 

·        Gateway Computers:  The Gateway computers have been returned making available the small conference room for meetings.

·        Color printer Usage:  Responding to a question from Mr. Reddick in the August meeting, there have been 252 color pages generated and 2,700 black pages since its installation in mid July.

State News

·         Nothing new to report

System News

·         Nothing new to report

Committee Reports

Budget           

The CPL budget proposal was reviewed: Supervisor Logel, Councilmen Slattery and Schulmerich and Councilwoman Ignatowski present.  The presentation and line item budget proposal presented are on file.  The thrust of the presentation is two fold: CPL has a very small collection and few adult programs relative to its peer libraries.  In the short run CPL asked for staff additions to run programs and in the long run asked for the initiation of the process to expand the facility to both support more meetings and to expand the collection

Points raised in the discussion and action items associated:

• Program advertising opportunities exist in the Chili Recreation program and the High School continuing education publications:  Mr. Baker to investigate feasibility and evaluate usefulness.
• Discussion on utilization of high school and Roberts Wesleyan libraries to support CPL:
  • There was general agreement that the security procedures in place at public schools would preclude general public use of a school library.
  • Relative to RWC, a survey of recent library circulation at CPL against the RWC collection revealed only a few per cent of  the titles desired at RWC. In addition, it was learned that the one meeting room at the Golisano Library is their Board Room indicating limits on the opportunity for general public meeting space. With that said, there is some potential for collaboration and Mr. Baker is to pursue the mechanism and its communication to CPL patrons.
• Supervisor Logel asked for a list of CPL employees, salaries and benefits.  Subsequent to the public meeting, Mr. Baker  satisfied this request after it was determined the information was subject to freedom of information laws. 
• The question of the need for an independent yearly CPL audit was answered by  Supervisor Logel: required as a nonprofit 501C organization.  Mr. Baker to work with Ms. O’Meara to develop the most cost effective path possibly leveraging use of the Town auditor.

Personnel

Ms. Kharbas reported a meeting held August 31, one additional meeting is needed to complete the work and will be scheduled.

Long Range Planning

Activities completed for 2007.

Old Business

Mr. Lechner reported the HVAC rebalancing is 98% complete with noted improvement in the comfort level in the library in the recent hot weather. Mr. Carr is pursuing further work on the HVAC system relative to maintenance and further improvement.

New Business

Mr. Baker introduced a new documentation process for personnel changes at CPL by providing a statement of personnel changes to the CPL Board for review.

Mr. Lechner  reported that the CD approved in the last meeting for renewal was increased by $5,000.00 transferred from the general account.

Comments from Guests

Mr. Reddick:

• CPL’s budget proposal presentation was well made, supported Mr. Slattery’s recommendation to present at the Town Board meeting,
• Pursuing grants for expansion is a good idea: what’s to lose?
• The Town Board appears to be penalizing CPL future budgets for receiving state grants in the past.
• Supported that RWC will not be of significant help to CPL,  high schools would be impossible.
• Proposed building programs for the Town as a whole need to be more forward looking and integrated than seem to have been in the past. 

Mr. Schuler closed the meeting at 8:15 PM.

Next meeting date/time:  October 23, 2007 at 6:00 PM in the CPL Multi Purpose Room.    

Executive Session

An Executive Session was held for discussion of a personnel matter. No action required or taken.