BOARD OF TRUSTEES
Minutes of the Regular Meeting
December 18, 2007

The regular meeting of the Des Plaines Public Library Board of Trustees was held in the second floor conference room on Tuesday, December 18, 2007. President Noreen Lake called the meeting to order at 7:15 p.m.

ROLL CALL.

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

Also Present: Sandra Norlin, Holly Richards Sorensen, Carol Kidd, Alderman Martin Moylan, Margie Borris, Doris Wagner.

Absent: Matthew Bogusz.

CONSIDERATION OF THE AGENDA.

George Magerl asked to amend the agenda by adding L. to New Business to discuss the proposed RFID (Radio-Frequency Identification Device) system.

Sandra Norlin asked to amend the agenda by removing H. Salary Schedule 2008. The salary schedule was approved at the August 21, 2007 Board of Trustees meeting.

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

PUBLIC COMMENTS AND QUESTIONS

Doris Wagner, a trustee at the Indian Trails Public Library, stated that she was an observer at the meeting.

CITY COUNCIL COMMUNITY SERVICES COMMITTEE – Alderman Martin Moylan.

Alderman Moylan stated that all repairs in the parking garage and clean-up in the park adjacent to the library have been completed. Alderman Moylan also stated that the park will be designed as an enabling garden.

CONSENT AGENDA

MOTION by George Magerl, seconded by William Grice, to approve the Consent Agenda, as presented. VOTE: AYES: All. NAYS: None. MOTION CARRIED.

CONSENT AGENDA

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

MOTION by Eldon Burk, seconded by George Magerl, 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, Grice, Lake, Magerl, Mahony, Read, Tejcek. NAYS: None. MOTION CARRIED.

MOTION by Eldon Burk, seconded by George Magerl, to approve, subject to audit, expenditures for salaries made by the Library Director as follows:

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

DIRECTOR’S REPORT

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

PERSONNEL

New employees for November/December are: Rachel Kamin, Preschool Liaison, Youth Services. And Brett Larson, Technology Page, IT Services.

Resignations/Separations: Hector Marino, Coordinator of Computer & Technical Services, and Laura House, Circulation Clerk.

We have completed our interviews for the Head of Public Information Services and have selected a candidate. She has accepted and her appointment is pending her background check. If all goes well, she will begin by mid-January.

STAFF DEVELOPMENT

The annual staff meeting and holiday party will take place on December 13, from 8-10 AM. The food is furnished through donations from the Friends of the Library, Department Heads, and the Board of Trustees. Thank you all for your generosity.

The Department Heads have been discussing the library’s organizational structure and are recommending two divisions: Public Services and Administrative Services. Under this plan, the Technical Services Department will be the responsibility of the Coordinator of Public Services and the IT Department will be the responsibility of the Library Director. Web Services will also be part of the Public Services Division.

PATRON SERVICES

Our patrons once again checked out over a million items from the library in the first eleven months of 2007. We had a slight increase for the month over last year, but remain behind in overall circulation for the year to date. The ratio of print to non-print circulation has changed little, with 51% from our print collection overall. From the Youth Services Department 66% of the circulation is of print materials, whereas from the Adult Services collection the print circulation is only 43% of all items circulated. Patrons used Self Check to check out 45% of all items from the main library.

The meeting rooms continue to be well-used. In November they were used 127 by nearly 3000 people, representing 60 different groups, including library-sponsored programs.

The computers on the fourth floor were used 7,818 times and the computers on the second floor (Youth Services) were used 1501 times.

OTHER PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITIES

I attended the following meetings in November and December: NSLS Board meeting on 11/26, the Friends of the Library on 11/27, the CCS Governing Board Meeting on 11/28, the Public Library Administrators Forum on 11/30, the Women Library Directors luncheon on 12/13, and the area library directors group known as SLURP on 12/14.

UNFINISHED BUSINESS

Eldon Burk explained that the Management Committee met and discussed a proposal for a new lease agreement for library copiers and asked Holly Richards Sorensen to explain the proposal. Holly Richards Sorensen made a recommendation for leasing new copiers from United Business Solutions and explained that the current lease payment will be reduced by $681.00 per month and that there will be a reduction in price for copies. The current cost for a black and white copy is 15 cents and will be reduced to 10 cents. The current cost for a color copy is $1.00 and will be reduced to 50 cents. The term for the new lease is five years.

MOTION by Committee, to approve an agreement with United Business Solutions for the lease of 9 new Panasonic Copiers at a cost of $2,005.00 per month, which is in the best interest of the Des Plaines Public Library. ROLL CALL VOTE: AYES: Bahamon, Burk, Grice, Lake, Magerl, Mahony, Read, Tejcek. NAYS: None. MOTION CARRIED.

MOTION by Committee, to reduce the cost of black and white copies for patrons from 15 cents to 10 cents and to reduce the cost of color copies from $1.00 to 50 cents. VOTE: AYES: All. NAYS: None. MOTION CARRIED.

NEW BUSINESS

MOTION by Eldon Burk, seconded by William Grice, to approve payment to Thomson Gale in the amount of $12,388.39, which is a budgeted expense and is in the best interest of the Des Plaines Public Library. ROLL CALL VOTE: AYES: Bahamon, Burk, Grice, Lake, Magerl, Mahony, Read, Tejcek. NAYS: None. MOTION CARRIED.

MOTION by William Grice, seconded by Jerry Mahony, to approve payment to Proquest LLC in the amount of $14,040.00, which is a budgeted expense and is in the best interest of the Des Plaines Public Library. ROLL CALL VOTE: AYES: Bahamon, Burk, Grice, Lake, Magerl, Mahony, Read, Tejcek. NAYS: None. MOTION CARRIED.

MOTION by Jerry Mahony, seconded by George Magerl, to approve payment to Newsbank in the amount of $10,750.00, which is in the best interest of the Des Plaines Public Library and is a budgeted expense. ROLL CALL VOTE: AYES: Bahamon, Burk, Grice, Lake, Magerl, Mahony, Read, Tejcek. NAYS: None. MOTION CARRIED.

MOTION by Jerry Mahony, seconded by William Grice, to approve payment to 3M Library Systems Service Agreement in the amount of $10,029.19 for the period 01/01/08 through 09/30/08, which is a budgeted expense and is in the best interest of the Des Plaines Public Library. ROLL CALL VOTE: AYES: Bahamon, Burk, Grice, Lake, Magerl, Mahony, Read, Tejcek. NAYS: None. MOTION CARRIED.

MOTION by Eldon Burk, seconded by Jerry Mahony, to approve payment to Roscor for a Sound System Upgrade in the amount of $21,873.00, which is a budgeted expense and is in the best interest of the Des Plaines Public Library. ROLL CALL VOTE: AYES: Bahamon, Burk, Grice, Lake, Magerl, Mahony, Read, Tejcek. NAYS: None. MOTION CARRIED.

MOTION by Rhys Read, seconded by Jerry Mahony, to approve the transfer of funds within the 2007 Library Budget to cover all 2007 appropriation deficit categories and to transfer any remaining balance to the Library Fund for 2008. ROLL CALL VOTE: AYES: Bahamon, Burk, Grice, Lake, Magerl, Mahony, Read, Tejcek. NAYS: None. MOTION CARRIED.

MOTION by Rhys Read, seconded by George Magerl, to approve the 2008 appropriation and the 2007 levy and to direct Carol Kidd to deliver the information to the City of Des Plaines. ROLL CALL VOTE: AYES: Bahamon, Burk, Grice, Lake, Magerl, Mahony, Read, Tejcek. NAYS: None. MOTION CARRIED.

MOTION by Eldon Burk, 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: All. NAYS: None. MOTION CARRIED.

MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE REPORT – Eldon Burk.

Eldon Burk explained that the Committee reviewed and made recommended changes to the Collection Development Policy and asked the Board to review and accept the changes.

MOTION by Committee, to approve the Collection Development Policy, as modified. VOTE: AYES: All. NAYS: None. MOTION CARRIED.

Eldon Burk explained that the Committee reviewed two new job descriptions, Readers’ Services Supervisor and Public Information Assistant, and asked for Board approval to approve the job descriptions.

MOTION by Committee, to approve two new job descriptions, Readers’ Services Supervisor and Public Information Assistant, as presented. VOTE: AYES: All NAYS: None. MOTION CARRIED.

Eldon Burk reported that the Management Committee discussed Electronic Attendance at Meetings and the Committee recommends no changes to library policy at this time.

George Magerl, after speaking with library employees from other libraries at the ILA Annual Conference in Springfield, stated he had concerns about the way the new RFID system will work with some library materials. Sandra Norlin responded that Warren Newport and Oak Park libraries have a RFID system and that Susan Farid, Head of Circulation Services and Barbara Saletnik, Assistant Head of Circulation Services will visit libraries that have the RFID system and invited George Magerl to accompany them to these libraries.

ANNOUNCEMENTS

Sandra Norlin stated that Eldon Burk has been nominated for Trustee of the Year through the North Suburban Library System.

Noreen Lake thanked the citizens of Des Plaines for their generosity in contributing items to be sent to the troops in Iraq.

EXECUTIVE SESSION

MOTION by Jerry Mahony, seconded by George Magerl, to enter into an Executive Session at 8:12 p.m. to discuss Semi-Annual Review of Executive Session Minutes. VOTE: AYES: All. NAYS: None. MOTION CARRIED.

The regular session reconvened at 8:24 p.m. and was called to order by President Noreen Lake.

EXECUTIVE SESSION ACTION

MOTION by Eldon Burk, seconded by William Grice, to concur with the consensus in Executive Session that the following Executive Session minutes no longer require confidential treatment and are available for public inspection:

June 17, 2003 – Compensation of Specific Employee
December 19, 2006 – To Discuss Semi-Annual Review of Executive Session Minutes

And further concur with consensus in Executive Session that the need for confidentiality still exists as to all or part of the remaining Executive Session minutes. ROLL CALL VOTE: Bahamon, Burk, Grice, Lake, Magerl, Mahony, Read, Tejcek. NAYS: None. MOTION CARRIED.
8:15

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

Meeting adjourned at 8:25 p.m.

Minutes prepared by Carol Kidd

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