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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1997-11-11 MinutesBOARD OF DIRECTORS MEETING FAYETTEVILLE PUBLIC LIBRARY November 11, 1997 Present: Board members: Nancy Hendricks, Maury Roberts, Steve Singleton, Mark Burdette, Michael Thomas, Library Director: Louise Schaper, Library personnel: June Jefferson, Lolly Maxey, Lynaire Hartsell, Lynn Stewart, Mary Jo Godfrey, Carolyn Diemente, and ORL Director: Karen Duree. I. Call to order: Thomas called the meeting to order at 4:OOpm in the meeting room of the,Fayetteville Public Library. • II. Approval of minutes: Burdette moved to accept the minutes and Singleton seconded. Thomas pointed out a few grammatical changes that he wanted made in the text. Item IV of the minutes was a consideration of a request made by Linda Harrison to extend the term of her life insurance which was discussed in Executive Session. According to the City Personnel Office, a person must be an employee of the Library to qualify for any insurance. Ms. Harrison is eligible for 18 months of COBRA, and must be accepted in any subsequent insurance she applies for. Thomas reported that the Friends Book Sale made $2200. In the Executive Session called after the last meeting, Burdette moved to return to regular session and Roberts seconded, and it was adjourned at 6:30. All voted AYE to accept the minutes with the changes discussed. III. Correspondence/Clippings Thomas commented favorably on the display featuring Roberta Fulbright, Ernie Deane, Walter Lemke, and Fred Starr, and the newspaper release written by Jefferson. Jefferson said that Mrs. Ernie Deane and her children came by to see the display and enjoyed it Thomas presented the terms of the Otwell will: (1) income shall be used as determined by the Board of Trustees, (2) distribution shall only be made to acquire assets that serve over a long period of time such as land, buildings, books, and equipment, (3) Board of Directors shall report the distribution in the annual report - Jefferson said the City considers our monthly financial statement and minutes in lieu of an annual report- or published annually in a newspaper having a circulation of the city of Fayetteville stating the amount of the earnings of the gifts of Dr. & Mrs. Harry C. Otwell. Thomas stated that he had the original copy of the will. Jefferson reported that auditors require that we have the original document as received from the attorney in the library's files. IV. Librarian's Reports A. Statistical and Financial Report: Jefferson presented the statistical and financial reports. Jefferson said the volunteer hours were up, even though there were fewer hours reported for the Friends Book Sale. The Friends are looking at their records to determine if these hours were under -reported. Thomas asked what the A-V Gifts was, and Jefferson said it was the 1910 census. Burdette asked if the reimbursement could be tied more directly to the cost. Jefferson and Hartsell commented on the past procedure for submitting invoices for reimbursement. The census comes in several shipments, each with a separate invoice, and the precedent has been to invoice the A & P in the final quarter of the year. However, after discussion with the City and representatives of the A & P commission this year, it has been determined that invoices can be submitted as received for more timely reimbursement. A formal verification of the award amount in the form of A & P minutes has also been received and placed in the files. B. Report on the Automation Project: Stewart reported that we went on-line on Monday November 3. We are only using half of the OPAC's (Online Public Access Catalog) at this time. We have paid for user licenses for 13 sessions on the Book Catalog at any one time, and we have been averaging 16-19. When we have this many sessions open and a smaller library tries to open the Book Catalog, they are unable to do so. This was a potential problem that was discussed previously, and Duree had suggested at that time to wait and see what happened when we go online. Maxey said we now see that we don't have enough licenses, and the situation needs to be re-evaluated. Duree said she changed the keyboard time-out on the staff terminals to 5 minutes. This means that if there is no activity on a terminal for 5 minutes it will log off. When the staff person returns, they will have to log back on. Duree said this will eliminate having computers logged on and not being used. However, when we get all the OPAC's up, we will probably consistently use more than the 13 licenses we paid for. She said if we buy more while we are still on the original contract we will get a reduced price of $1045 per license. The list price is $1900. This is a one-time cost. Duree said the study that was done at the beginning of this project suggested that FPL would need 21 licenses. We cut it back to 13, and now find that is not enough. The consensus of the staff was that we need at least 8 more licenses. Singleton moved to approve up to 10 more user licenses, Roberts seconded, and all voted AYE. Thomas commented on the large piece of paper that is given as a receipt by the new system. Hartsell said that was the biggest complaint we have had. We are working on trying to come up with a different way of handling this, but the software we have now won't allow us to use paper that is perforated into smaller sections. Hartsell said we tell patrons that the library buys recycled paper for the receipts, and we recycle all the paper in the library so the patron is encouraged to return the receipt with the book and we will recycle the paper. Jefferson presented the Board with a document which is a confirmation of the discussions with Bank of Oklahoma about our retirement plan. Our plan needed to be amended, and it was decided to used a prototype plan made by the Bank of Oklahoma at no extra charge to us. This plan states that the employer wishes to have employee participation in the investments, and that the employees are 100% vested upon participation in the plan. This eliminates the need to have a committee to decide what to do with the library part of the plan that is not vested. Thomas asked what the difference in cost would be to the library. Jefferson said that the Bank of Oklahoma said that the costs would be comparable to what we are paying now. Jefferson said this plan will take effect January 1. The Resolution to Amend the Retirement Plan was signed by Board President Michael Thomas upon agreement by the Board. V. Internet Policy Maxey presented the existing ORL Internet Policy and what the staff would Tike to see as -the FPL Policy. The ORL Policy will be in effect until the FPL Board adopts a policy for FPL. The FPL Policy was drafted after several staff members attended a workshop on internet policy at the ALA Conference. Maxey was asked how the usage would be policed. Maxey said the staff will be encouraged to be aware of what is on the screens and if someone pulls up objectionable material, the person will be asked to log off. Discussion continued about limiting use to people with a FPL Library card. It was decided since we are a public library, we shouldn't limit use to card holders. It was also decided at this time not to set a time limit, but this may need to be changed in the future. Discussion continued about censorship, what is objectionable, and who is to decide what is offensive. Duree said there is much discussion everywhere about censorship and the use of filters in the public library. She said the use of the Fortres program on the public access computers has made it impossible to put bookmarks on offensive sites. Schaper said she felt we needed a more defined policy. Roberts said that the Board should take the responsibility for making a policy that will support the staff. It was decided to make the Internet available, and get a report from the staff as to how the Board could make a policy that will be comfortable for the staff to enforce. It was decided to use the Regional policy until we have some experience and see if we really have a problem. VI. Trustee's/Committee Reports A. Treasurer's Report: Hendricks had no report. B. Alternative Funding Report: Singleton reported that he had sent a release to the Northwest Arkansas Times about the Charles Schwab gift and it should appear soon. C. Long-term planning: Roberts introduced discussion about a millage election. Duree reviewed election information; it would have to be a special election or we could tag onto another election, but we would need the money to finance it without using public finds. Also, we would most likely need to consider a county- wide millage because, otherwise, our relationship with the Regional library system would be subject to change. Duree said the $17.5 million library project in Fort Smith was a sales tax issue. There was discussion about the past support and lack of it throughout the county. D. Volunteers: Burdette had no report. Thomas asked Roberts to discuss with Schaper about making a policy about how the Friends of the Library are approached for anything out of the ordinary. Thomas said he thought any request to the Friends should have the prior approval of the Director and/or the Board. VII. Other Items Thomas reported it had been suggested that the Board talk with Elaine Longer of Longer Investments, who handles the investments of the fire and police departments, about plans for the Otwell bequest. He suggested hearing her ideas before making any decisions. • Downtown Dickson Enhancement Project: Schaper reported that since FPL marks the eastern border of the project, it would make sense for us to be a part of the decisions. If we were a part of the project, we might be featured more prominently in terms of things like lighting, signage, sidewalks, etc. The cost to be a member of the project is $150. Thomas said he felt that $150 was a lot of money, and that would be $150 less books. He suggested that the nonprofit groups within the area such as FPL and the Historical Society might be associate or consulting members. Hendricks said she is a member, and feels that they have some great long-range plans, but would not support FPL spending $150 to be a member. Roberts said he felt it might be an investment in community visibility. Schaper asked if the membership fee might come from the Friends or private donations. Schaper said that FPL could be the site of events that may be planned in conjunction with this project. Roberts moved to table joining the group right now and look for private money for the fee, Burdette seconded. Burdette, Singleton, Roberts, and Hendricks voted AYE, and Thomas voted NO. Maxey asked if the Children's Library was able to secure paint, could they paint the back wall of the Meeting Room behind the stage. The staff has agreed to donate their time to do the painting. The Board agreed. VIII. Adjournment Burdette moved to go into Executive Session to discuss a personnel matter, Roberts seconded, and the Board went into executive session at 6:25. Respectfully submitted by Carolyn Diemente.