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, Chris Colby, Ed Haskell, Dick Hall, Betty Hutchins, Naomi Lipsky & Steve McMaster.
Members absent: Tonya Holt & Dave Nelson
Staff present: Audrey Betcher, Library Director; Tom Dyer, Communications Manager; Kim Edson, Head of Reader Services Division; Carrie Farrow, Head of Circulation Division; Louise Moe, Head of Reference Services; Beth Warfield, Head of Children's Division; Purna Gurung, Office Services Coordinator.
Others present: Al Dollerschell, Friends of Rochester Public Library & Jeffrey Pieters, Rochester Post Bulletin
APPROVAL OF MINUTES
Jerry Balm moved, Naomi Lipsky second, to approve the meeting minutes from September 17, 2003. Motion approved.
APPROVAL OF BILLS
Jerry Balm moved, Ed Haskell second, to approve the bills as submitted. Motion approved.
MONTHLY REPORT
ILL numbers have dropped, which we expected. Ed inquired about the decrease in the StoryLine numbers. We might change or stop this service for 2004 since it is very labor intensive. In the past, we had explored the idea of applying for an LSTA grant to digitally archive records but didn't pursue it further due to copyright issues.
Jerry Balm moved, Ed Haskell second, to approve the September 2003 monthly report as submitted. Motion approved.
FOUNDATION REPORT
The Foundation Board will be meeting next week (10/22/03).
SELCO REPORT
SELCO and RPL have verbally agreed to share cataloging. This is something we have done for years in a shared database and we are glad to see this relationship continue.
We believe that SELCO is paying for online databases with state dollars, not with automation fees. We have asked Ann Hutton to grant access back to RPL patrons but have not heard back from her. Naomi suggested getting the City Attorney and City Administrator involved. Audrey might consider this option if we do not hear from Ann.
Dick reported that the SELCO ILS system is coming up more smoothly than expected. ILL is also working smoothly. SELCO has indicated that ILL processing is easier if they stay within their system. When MNLink's policies change to allow more Gateway libraries and RPL is accepted, it will be easier to ILL.
COMMITTEE REPORTS
Ad Hoc Budget Committee: None
Planing Committee: The Planning Committee met this afternoon and continues to work on the draft of the strategic plan, which is still on target for the December Board meeting.
Policy Committee: The committee reviewed RPL's internet policy in light of the passing of CIPA laws. RPL is in compliance with CIPA laws. They discussed ways to present RPL's Internet Policy to patrons in a more easily understandable format. In the future, we hope to link a patron's card with the appropriate level of filtering. With our software, we cannot currently allow patrons to select filtering levels themselves. Filtering software does not guarantee optimal filtering (28 web sites registered per second).
Personnel Committee: The Personnel Committee needs to work on Audrey's annual evaluation. Dick Hall is serving as the chairman. Purna will e-mail a copy of Audrey's job description to the committee. Dick asked the Administrative Team to mail any comments in regards to Audrey's performance to him. Dick will schedule a meeting for the committee to come up with a process for evaluating the Director.
RPL is still working with the prospective candidate for the student representative to the Board.
ILS UPDATE
Our testing deadline was October 10th and the last day to make changes on the production server is October 17th. Staff have worked very hard in testing the data conversion. Overall, it is going very well. We are constantly learning to configure ways to best utilize the system, e.g in the new system, we can limit by fiction vs. non-fiction; Children vs. Adult materials, which we couldn't do before. There is some relearning to do. Steve Mosing will be going to operator training in November. More staff training will occur between November 5 and November 14.
Patrons do not see much of a difference in ILL procedures since most of the changes are behind the scenes.
BUDGET
Our 2003 cuts are final. Early next month, we will submit a revised budget to the city for 2003. The last three budget reports for the year will show the revised amounts.
The 2004 budget is still pending. I know the city is hoping to avoid layoffs by not filling open positions. The Administrative Team continues to plan contingencies based upon previous Board discussions. AT is also looking at ways to generate revenue. There is recognition that the City has already made some difficult cuts. Audrey will keep the Board up-to-date via e-mail as developments occur.
The County Administrator is recommending $645,484 towards the Library's 2004 operating budget, which is less than the contract amount ($685,179) but greater than Maintenance of Effort (MOE) ($622,092). From recent conversations with the County, we think they will hold to the 1989 formula for 2004.
COLLECTION AGENCY
The Administrative Team recommends starting to use Unique Management Services, a collection agency which works specifically with libraries, as soon as possible after going live on Sirsi. We have had good references from two other library directors in Minnesota, and Sirsi does have software to interface with them. We will have a 90 day trial period to begin.
Unique charges a flat rate per account. At the point that the account is sent to Unique we would add a $15 fee to the patron's account. We have the ability to put any account on hold e.g. accounts with extenuating circumstances.
We will change wording on notices to reflect that a patron's bill will be sent to a collection agency if they fail to respond to prior mailings. The text will also say that the collection agency can turn the delinquent information over to credit reporting agencies, which will negatively affect a borrower's credit rating. Patrons will have the opportunity to clear their accounts before it is turned over to the collection agency. Our current practice is to mail out two or three notifications. This practice will continue. We do take people with over $100 worth of library materials outstanding to court. However, this recovery process is very time-intensive. The new option helps us to be better stewards of materials purchased with public funds. The Sirsi software also allows us to interact electronically with the collection agency.
Data privacy laws do allow us to conduct library business. Ed asked if we have to tell the agency the titles of the books? Some identification is required. The agency directs patrons to work out the details with the library.
Chris Colby moved, Naomi Lipsky second, to approve moving forward with the contract with Unique. Motion approved.
DATA RETENTION
Several staff attended a class presented by Terry Adkins, City Attorney, on data privacy. We are strongly encouraged to have our procedure for purging data written and approved by the Board.
The Administrative Team reviewed our current practice for purging Internet logs and our proposed procedures for purging the Sirsi history logs. AT recommends purging the files monthly after the monthly statistics have been obtained.
RPL's Internet retention policy will be to purge Internet logs and Sirsi history logs at the end of each month.
The Policy Committee briefly discussed this at their meeting and felt the staff recommendation was sufficient.
Ed Haskell moved, Jerry Balm second, to approve RPL's Internet Retention Policy. Motion approved.
SUMMER READING SUMMARY
The Peace, Love & Reading: Young Adult Summer Reading Program was a tremendous success again this year. 1098 books were read by 80 local teens. Our top ten teen readers read 28-89 books each to win those coveted top ten prizes. Our thanks goes out to Perkins and the Friends of the Rochester Public Library for providing this summer's prizes.
This summer over 1050 children participated in the "Discover Bright Ideas @ your Library" reading program. Prizes were : Papa Murphy's and Old Country buffet certificates, bookmarks and buttons. The bonus prize for children who finished early was a ticket to a Honker's game (we gave away 660 tickets).
PROCEDURAL CHANGES BECAUSE OF ILS
We made a few procedural changes because of additional capability in the new ILS. We can easily change any of the procedures in the future.
The Board indicated that we should educate our patrons about new procedures and train them to look at due dates. We will train staff to inform patrons if their loan periods change since the new Unicorn software indicates if such a change occurs.
MLA SUMMARY
The session with the Assistant Commissioner of the Department of Education was well attended. She spoke about the relationship between libraries and the department, which is working very hard to smooth things out with the library community. Many librarians are taking the wait and see approach. Many librarians are also concerned about the process of filling the open position for the Director of Education Support, the position that will act like a state librarian.
We had many compliments about the reception hosted by the Friends. Tom thanked Chris Colby and passed around the 3-D map of the library that his company, Yaggy Colby, had produced for RPL. All public desks have copies of the new map.
PERSONNEL UPDATE
Steve Mosing has returned to the library in the same capacity as previously held: Automation Services Coordinator. Mike Perry, Automation Services Associate, has resigned to take a job at Lourdes High School. We are conducting a union post (open only to City employees) for Mike's position; this posting was approved by the City.
MLA LEGISLATIVE PLATFORM
The attached platform was approved at the MLA conference.
There being no further business, the meeting adjourned.
Respectfully submitted,
Betty Hutchins
Secretary
The next regular meeting of the Library Board will be Wednesday, November 19, 2003, at 4:30 pm in Meeting Room B on the second floor of the library.