BOARD OF TRUSTEES
Minutes of the Regular Meeting
February 20, 2007

The regular meeting of the Des Plaines Public Library Board of Trustees was held in the second floor conference room on Tuesday, February 20, 2007. President Noreen Lake called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m.

ROLL CALL.

Roll call indicated the following board members were present: Maria Bahamon, Eldon Burk, Mary Ellicson, William Grice, Noreen Lake, Rhys Read, Elaine Tejcek.

Members Absent: Jerry Mahony, George Magerl.

Also Present: Sandra Norlin, Martha Sloan, Leslie Steiner, Wally Meyer, Carol Kidd.

CONSIDERATION OF THE AGENDA.

Sandra Norlin asked that L. Subject Matter for Foreword Column to be added to the agenda under VIII. New Business.

Sandra Norlin asked that C. Board Member Participation for Library Fundraising to be added to the agenda under XI. Other.

MOTION by Eldon Burk, seconded by Elaine Tejcek, to accept the agenda, as modified. VOTE: AYES: All. NAYS: None. MOTION CARRIED.

PUBLIC COMMENTS AND QUESTIONS

None

CITY COUNCIL COMMUNITY SERVICES COMMITTEE – Alderman Carla Brookman.

Alderman Brookman was in attendance at the City Council meeting.

CONSENT AGENDA

Elaine Tejcek asked that D. Acceptance of Reports. 2. Friends of the Library Minutes be removed from the agenda.

Rhys Read asked that C. Approval of Library Expenditures 1. Warrant Register – January 02, 2007 - $49,836.70 be removed from the agenda.

MOTION by Rhys Read, seconded by William Grice, to accept the Consent Agenda, as modified. VOTE: AYES: All. NAYS: None. MOTION CARRIED.

Following monthly reports to be reviewed and placed on file for audit:

MOTION by Rhys Read, seconded by William Grice, to approve, subject to audit, expenditures authorized by the Library Director and Board Representatives for library Warrant Registers as follows:

ROLL CALL VOTE: AYES: Bahamon, Burk, Ellicson, Grice, Lake, Read, Tejcek. NAYS: None. MOTION CARRIED.

MOTION by Rhys Read, seconded by William Grice, to approve, subject to audit, expenditures for salaries made by the Library Director as follows:

ROLL CALL VOTE: AYES: Bahamon, Burk, Ellicson, Grice, Lake, Read, Tejcek. NAYS: None. MOTION CARRIED.

DIRECTOR’S REPORT

Please note: I have received no official requests for confidential patron information since by last report.

PERSONNEL

New employees for January/February: Kevin Luke, Mary Mulcrone, and Jennifer Ortigoza, Pages, Circulation Services.

Resignations/separations: Leif Rasmussen, IT Assistant, Computer Services; David Schousboe, Circulation Clerk, Ancy Thomas, Page, and Melissa Gulley, Circulation Services Assistant.

STAFF DEVELOPMENT

The first session of coaching training for all supervisors was held with Mary Jane Kepner on January 29. The second session will be held on February 21. All staff will be introduced to the program at our All Staff meeting on March 13. The library received a grant for this training.

PATRON SERVICES

The Circulation staff has made a concentrated effort to assist and train patrons in use of the self-check machines. Their goal was to increase use of the self-check from 20% of circulation from the main library to 30% by July 1. The results of their efforts within one month are impressive. In January 37% of materials checked out of the main library were checked out on the self-check machines.

I believe that the unusually cold weather during January caused the decrease in use of the library in nearly all areas, from attendance to use of computers in the youth services department. Reference and Readers Services did experience an increase in requests for service as did adult computer use.

I decided to close the library at 5 PM on Tuesday, February 13 because of hazardous weather conditions.

OTHER PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITIES

My schedule of outside meetings was somewhat curtailed this past month because of a brief vacation and a lengthy illness. The meetings I did attend are: Library Production Studio Directors meeting on 1/24, the CCS Governing Board Annual Meeting on 1/31; the Chamber of Commerce Board Meeting on 2/8; the Chamber of Commerce Winter Garden Ball on 2/9; the CCS Executive Committee meeting on 2/14; the Library Production Studio Directors meeting on 2/15; and the NSLS Legislative Breakfast on 2/19.

Rhys Read asked why Baker & Taylor sends multiple invoices for orders placed in one day by one person and Sandra Norlin responded that she would look into this matter and report back to the board when she had an explanation.

MOTION by Rhys Read, seconded by William Grice, to accept the January 2, 2007 Warrant Register in the amount of $49,836.70, as presented. ROLL CALL VOTE: AYES: Bahamon, Burk, Ellicson, Grice, Lake, Read, Tejcek. NAYS: None. MOTION CARRIED.

Sandra Norlin suggested that the Friends of the Library Minutes be moved to Other on the Library Board of Trustees Agenda. President Lake will ask Friends members whether they want their minutes included in the library board packet and report back to the Board at the March meeting.

MOTION by Rhys Read, seconded by Elaine Tejcek, to accept the Friends of the Library Minutes, as written. VOTE: AYES: All. NAYS: None. MOTION CARRIED.

NEW BUSINESS

President Lake reminded the Board that the Des Plaines Chamber of Commerce & Industry invited the Board to participate in their annual “Food Fight” Challenge.

MOTION by Rhys Read, seconded by William Grice, to approve payment to RosettaStone in the amount of $5,102.00, is in the best interest of the Des Plaines Public Library. ROLL CALL VOTE: AYES: Bahamon, Burk, Ellicson, Grice, Lake, Read, Tejcek. NAYS: None. MOTION CARRIED.

MOTION by William Grice , seconded by Elaine Tejeck, to affirm the decision to approve the contract with Great Lakes Elevator made at the January 15, 2007 Board of Trustees meeting. ROLL CALL VOTE: AYES: Bahamon, Burk, Ellicson, Grice, Lake, Read, Tejcek. NAYS: None. MOTION CARRIED.

The next Board dinner will be on July 17, 2007 after the Board meeting. The Board will vote on changing their meeting time to 4:00 p.m. at the March 20, 2007 Board meeting.

Eldon Burk reported that the Management Committee met on Monday, February 12, 2007 and that the Committee reviewed “Guidelines for Use of Library Facilities and Personnel by Friends of the Library”, Policies and Procedures for the Des Plaines Public Library Volunteer Program, drafted by Library Director Sandra Norlin, and health emergency forms that could be used for library volunteers and Friends of the Library volunteers. Eldon asked for Board approval for these documents.

The Board discussed the “Voluntary Medical History for Volunteers” form, changed the name of the form to “Volunteer Emergency Contact” and made changes to the layout of the document.

MOTION by Committee, to approve the form “Volunteer Emergency Contact”, as modified. VOTE: AYES: All. NAYS: None. MOTION CARRIED.

The Board discussed and made changes to “Guidelines for Use of Library Facilities and Personnel by Friends of the Library”.

MOTION by Committee, to approve the “Guidelines for Use of Library Facilities and Personnel by Friends of the Library”, as modified. VOTE: AYES: All. NAYS: None. MOTION CARRIED.

The Board discussed and made changes to the newly created Policies and Procedures for the Des Plaines Public Library Volunteer Program.

MOTION by Committee, to approve Policies and Procedures for the Des Plaines Public Library Volunteer Program, as modified. VOTE: AYES: All. NAYS: None. MOTION CARRIED.

The Board discussed their need for having personalized business cards and the consensus was to print business cards in-house for Board members who requested them. Board members were asked to inform Carol Kidd if they wanted business cards. Mary Ellicson, William Grice and Rhys Read declined the cards.

MOTION by William Grice, seconded by Maria Bahamon, to offer personalized business cards to Library Trustees and to print the business cards in-house or at the lowest cost. VOTE: AYES: All. NAYS: None. MOTION CARRIED.

Leslie Steiner prepared and distributed to the Board a Centennial Fact Sheet, which includes general information about the library and upcoming centennial programs.

The Planning Committee will meet on Tuesday, March 6, 2007 at 7:00 p.m. to begin review of the Strategic Plan Objectives for 2008 – 2010.

Sandra Norlin asked for Board approval to declare 3 Dell Dimension 4300 computers surplus property.

MOTION by William Grice, seconded by Elaine Tejcek, to declare the following equipment surplus and obsolete property and to dispose of the equipment according to library policy. VOTE: AYES: None. NAYS: None. MOTION CARRIED.

Make-Model Tag Status
Dell Dimension 4300 18KP011 Working
Dell Dimension 4300 28KP011 Working
Dell Dimension 4300 48KP011 Working


MOTION by Rhys Read, seconded by Maria Bahamon, to approve payment to Donohue Elevator in the amount of $6,300.00 to cover the cost of services provided from May 2005 – February 2007, as per the contract previously approved. ROLL CALL VOTE: AYES: Bahamon, Burk, Ellicson, Grice, Lake, Read, Tejcek. NAYS: None. MOTION CARRIED.

Sandra Norlin announced that the NSLS Membership Awards Banquet will be held in Palatine on Friday, March 16, 2007 and asked Board member interested in attending to contact Carol Kidd.

MOTION by Eldon Burk, seconded by William Grice, to ask President Lake and a guest to attend the NSLS Membership Awards Banquet and to ask Nominee Sandra Norlin and a guest to attend the banquet and that the library will pay for the tickets. VOTE: AYES: ALL. NAYS: None.

The Board discussed ideas for their next “Splinters from the Board” column and will decide on a topic at the March 20, 2007 meeting.

ANNOUNCEMENTS

Sandra Norlin stated that Elaine Tejcek and Eldon Burk are eligible to apply for a $500 scholarship to be used to attend Advocacy Day in Washington, DC. This scholarship is being offered through the North Suburban Library Systems.

OTHER

Noreen Lake & Elaine Tejcek attended a Community Dinner at Harper College where they networked with people from other organizations.

Noreen Lake announced that the City of Des Plaines Special Events Commission will honor 11 volunteers at the Super Star Volunteer Awards Dinner on Thursday, April 26, 2007 at Casa Royale.

Noreen Lake gave a report on the North Suburban Library System Legislative Breakfast that was held on February 19, 2007.

Sandra Norlin asked for Board participation for fundraising efforts for the annual Do the Dewey fundraiser and for volunteers to work on the committee. Elaine Tejcek volunteered to serve on the committee.

MOTION by Rhys Read, seconded by William Grice, to adjourn the regular meeting. VOTE: AYES: All. NAYS: None. MOTION CARRIED.

Meeting adjourned at 8:32 p.m.
 

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