CALL TO ORDER AND APPROVAL OF AGENDA
The regular meeting of the Rochester Public Library Board of Trustees Meeting was called to order by Dick Hall.
Members present: Jerry Balm, Ed Haskell, Betty Hutchins, Dick Hall, Tonya Holt & Dave Nelson
Members absent: Chris Colby, Naomi Lipsky & Steve McMaster
Staff present: Audrey Betcher, Library Director; Carrie Farrow, Head of Circulation Division; Jean Jahn, Head of Automaton Services; Louise Moe, Head of Reference Services; Rebecca Splittstoesser, Head of Technical Services; Beth Warfield, Head of Children's Division; Purna Gurung, Office Services Coordinator.
Others present: Al Dollerschell, Friends of Rochester Public Library; Jeff Peterson, Post Bulletin.
APPROVAL OF MINUTES
Ed Haskell moved, Jerry Balm second to approve the meeting minutes from July 16, 2003. Motion approved.
APPROVAL OF BILLS
There were no unusual bills for the month. Audrey reminded the Board that the bill for the chiller repair would be significant. The repair to date will cost about $15,000 and an additional $10,000 to fix the leak in the steam bundle. The Maintenance budget is somewhat underspent, which will help us cover some of the expenses. We are currently looking at a labor agreement with Thermal Technologies, which might cover the labor portion of the steam bundle repair work. Ed asked if we could use reserves to pay for some of the repairs. Audrey replied that it might be an option if the repair would cause us to go over budget. We don't expect that to be the case.
Ed Haskell moved, Dave Nelson second to approve the bills as submitted. Motion approved.
MONTHLY REPORT
Ed Haskell moved, Jerry Balm second to approve the May 2003 monthly report as submitted. Motion approved.
FOUNDATION REPORT
The Foundation mailed out 2600 letters for the Annual Fund Drive. We have received approximately 150 donations to date ranging from $5 to $1,000. All IBM matching grants will be matched by the Mayo Matching grant. Kathy Olson has spent a significant amount of time working on updating the Foundation Database. The Development Committee has also started planning for the Wit, Wisdom and Wine for 2004.
SELCO REPORT
Even though we communicated verbally and in writing that the purge of SELCO data would take several days, SELCO was surprised and angry that other library's data was not off the system on Monday, July 21. This was discussed at length at the SELCO board meeting. Dick pointed out that RPL did exactly what it had stated in its letter.
There is some confusion for patrons since SELCO chose not to purge our data from their system. However, this problem should go away after SELCO completes its automation conversion on September 3rd. RPL will continue to be a member of SELCO.
SELCO sent us an e-mail that databases (American Business Directory, Gale Biography and Newsbank) purchased by SELCO were purchased with automation fees and we are not entitled to them. There is a lack of communication between SELCO and RPL. It would have been nice if SELCO had forewarned us before disconnecting our access to the databases above. We had to call SELCO before they sent us the email informing us of their action.
We are still doing ILL though there is more processing involved, most of which is behind the scenes work. Our requests have gone down slightly since RPL is the last library that SELCO libraries go to now. It is also easier for patrons to ILL at RPL; they can still place requests from the Web Epac.
Dick feels the conversion went smoothly, especially since services to our patrons were not disrupted.
COMMITTEE REPORTS
Ad Hoc Budget Committee: None
Planing Committee: None
Policy Committee: None
ILS UPDATE
Overall, the conversion to the interim system (staff term is Bridge) went very well. As planned, we had four hours on Saturday, July 19, when we circulated using the offline circulation program. The public still had access to the web catalog, so it was a pretty normal day for the public. RPL staff got access to the system on Sunday at approximately 1:00 pm. We tested the system and had critical functions up before we left.
We had some issues with the web catalog that took a couple weeks to resolve. We have no outstanding issues with the Bridge system.
Sirsi has taken a copy of our data and started the conversion process to Unicorn, which is scheduled for November 21st. We will begin testing in September. Training began on August 18th. Staff will need to work on the test database to remember what they learned in training.
Jerry thanked staff for all the work they had done and for making the conversion process run smoothly.
BUDGET
Audrey pointed out the attachment with the talking points regarding County funding.
Steve Kvenvold has indicated the cuts we have made for 2003 should get us through the year. At this point, we do not have anything solid for 2004 and have submitted a flat budget. Once the City Administrator comes back with a final number, we will rework the 2004 budget and present it for Board approval, after which we will resubmit it. Dick asked if we know when the final numbers will be available. Audrey replied that we do not know at this time. However, the planning we have done with the different scenarios will be very helpful as we move forward.
STUDENT REPRESENTATIVE
Kim, who oversees the Youth Advisory Board, is working to come up with a recommendation to replace Elisabeth Miller. Steve McMaster had asked Audrey about the guidelines for this position. In the past, we used to have two student representatives. Now, the student representative has to be a member of the Youth Advisory Board. If you have recommendations or suggestions, please contact Kim.
MLA CONFERENCE
The Minnesota Library Conference is in Rochester this year, September 24-26. If you are interested in attending, please turn in the conference registration forms (handed out at meeting) to Purna by August 29th.
AUTOMATION SERVICES COORDINATOR
Steve Mosing has given in his resignation as the Automation Services Coordinator. He has accepted a position with Pemstar and his last day at RPL is September 5th. Audrey has already initiated talks with Steve Kvenvold about filling this position, which is critical to RPL's operations. We hope to post this opening shortly, pending final approval.
There being no further business, the meeting adjourned.
Respectfully submitted,
Purna Kumari Gurung
Secretary Pro Tem
The next regular meeting of the Library Board will be Wednesday, September 17, 2003, at 4:30 pm in Meeting Room B on the second floor of the library.