BOARD OF TRUSTEES
Minutes of the Regular Meeting
May 19, 2009

The regular meeting of the Des Plaines Public Library Board of Trustees was held in the second floor conference room on Tuesday, May 19, 2009. President Noreen Lake called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m.

ROLL CALL.

Roll call indicated the following board members were present: Eldon Burk, Selma D’Souza, Myrtle Klebe, Noreen Lake, George Magerl, Rhys Read, Jeffery Rozovics.

Also Present: Sandra Norlin, Carol Kidd, Holly Richards Sorensen, Heather Imhoff, Alderman Dan Wilson.

Absent: Elaine Tejcek.

CONSIDERATION OF THE AGENDA.

George Magerl asked that Unfinished Business be added to the agenda to discuss the Over the Counter Report (fines and copies) and repair of the library roof. President Lake asked to add invitation to new aldermen to the agenda under Unfinished Business.

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

PUBLIC COMMENTS AND QUESTIONS

None.

CITY COUNCIL COMMUNITY SERVICES COMMITTEE – Alderman Dan Wilson.

President Lake welcomed Alderman Dan Wilson. Alderman Wilson is the library’s new Community Services liaison.

CONSENT AGENDA

Noreen Lake asked that A. Approval of the Minutes of the Regular Board Meeting – April 21, 2009 be removed from the Consent Agenda and George Magerl asked that D. Acceptance of Reports be removed from the Consent Agenda.

Noreen Lake asked that the minutes be amended to include the following:

President Lake congratulated Alderman Martin Moylan on being elected to the position of Mayor of the City of Des Plaines and Eldon Burk on being elected to the Maine Township High School District 207 Board and Matthew Bogusz on being elected to the position of Alderman of the City of Des Plaines.

President Lake stated that Alderman Moylan’s name was absent from the attendance list in the April 21, 2009 board meeting minutes and asked that his name be included.

George Magerl asked Sandra Norlin if she would explain the decreased usage for the Online Reference Products for April 2009 compared to April 2008. Sandra Norlin replied that she would ask Christina Tropea to explain the difference from this year to last year and report this to the board at the June meeting.

MOTION by George Magerl, seconded by Jeffery Rozovics to approve Director’s Report, as written. VOTE: AYES: All. NAYS: None. MOTION CARRIED.

MOTION by George Magerl, seconded by Rhys Read, to approve the Consent Agenda, as modified. VOTE: AYES: All. NAYS: None. MOTION CARRIED.

CONSENT AGENDA

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

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

ROLL CALL VOTE: AYES: Bogusz, Burk, D’Souza, Klebe, Lake, Magerl, Read, Rozovics. NAYS: None. MOTION CARRIED.

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

ROLL CALL VOTE: AYES: Bogusz, Burk, D’Souza, Klebe, Lake, Magerl, Read, Rozovics. NAYS: None. MOTION CARRIED.

DIRECTOR’S REPORT

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

PERSONNEL

Carol (Kelli) Phillips retired, effective 03.31.09.

STAFF DEVELOPMENT

Staff Bonus Awards were presented to Francine Gralak, John Lavalie, and Joanie Sebastian.

We celebrated National Library Workers Appreciation Day on April 14. Department Heads greeted staff members as they entered for work, planned morning and afternoon coffee breaks with snacks provided by the Friends of the Library. Staff members were surprised (and puzzled), but seemed to enjoy the special attention to them and their work.

The Reference staff received training on Lexis Nexis. They discovered the many layers of information in this database, with emphasis on the business module. A new subscription to Oxford Language Dictionaries Online will offer instruction, sample personal and business letters, sample resumes with audio pronunciation to learn how a word sounds. Languages covered are: Spanish, French, Italian, German, Italian, Russian, and Chinese.

PATRON SERVICES

You will notice the very large increase in numbers of items circulated in the month of February as compared to one year ago. I think we, as other libraries have, can attribute this increase to the economic struggles many of our residents are experiencing, either directly or indirectly. A 14.67% increase in use, without calls for increased staffing is a tribute to both our staff and our efficient work procedures.

Our patrons’ use of the self-check machines has increased by 63.42%.

Use of the website from outside the building is being tackled by Karen McBride, Web Services Librarian. She notes that the top five pages visited are: The Kids’ home page, the list of databases, our job listings, and events home page, and the reference home page.

We have some very active readers among our senior population, some of whom are in their nineties and reading a wide variety of books, from popular fiction to literary fiction and non-fiction.

OTHER PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITIES

I attended the Library Production Studio Executive Committee meeting on 3.19, the NSLS Banquet on 3/20, the CCS By Laws and Policy Committee meeting and the Friends of the Library meeting on 3/24, the CCS Governing Board meeting on 4/25, the Night Owl Board meeting on 3/26, and worked at the Friends of the Library Booksale on 3/27. I attended a Rotary meeting at which Francis Gary Powers, Jr. presented ideas for a Rotary partnership with the Cold War Museum on 4/3, chaired a Do the Dewey meeting on 4/6 and a Chamber of Commerce Scholarship Committee meeting on 4/7. I attended a Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors meeting on 4/9, the Senior Center Annual Membership meeting on 4/16, the Kelli Phillips retirement party on 4/17 and an NSLS Continuing Education Program on planning on 4/21.

UNFINISHED BUSINESS

Carol Kidd explained that the statistics in the Over the Counter Receipts Report for March 2008 were incorrect and that reports from March 2008 – December 2008 would be corrected and included in the June Board packet for board approval at the June 16, 2009 meeting.

Sandra Norlin reported that City Attorney David Wiltse has a commitment from Firestone to replace the library roof and that Firestone has given the contract for the roof repair to Anthony Roofing Company. Anthony Roofing has not begun the work because they do not have a purchase order from Firestone and Firestone has not provided the materials for the roof repair. David Wiltse has sent another email to Firestone regarding the delay in the repair of the roof. George Magerl, Chair of the Building and Grounds Committee, asked Sandra Norlin if he should schedule a meeting to discuss what can be done to get the work done and Sandra Norlin responded that if work has not been started by the June Board meeting, then a date and time should be set for a meeting of Building and Grounds Committee.

President Lake went to see Jason Bajor, City Manager, to invite the new aldermen to tour the library and meet with the library board to discuss the relationship between the library board and the aldermen. George Magerl suggested a joint meeting of the City Council and the Library Board and asked President Lake to write a letter to Mayor Moylan proposing the meeting.

MOTION by Rhys Read, seconded by George Magerl, to direct President Lake to write a letter to Mayor Moylan and the City Aldermen asking for a joint meeting of the City Council and Library Board on June 29, 2009 or another date that is agreeable to all. VOTE: AYES: All. NAYS: None. MOTION CARRIED.

NEW BUSINESS

Myrtle Klebe will attend the June 1 City Council meeting; George Magerl the June 15 meeting; Jeffery Rozovics the July 6 meeting and Eldon Burk the July 20, 2009 meeting.

Sandra Norlin gave a preliminary report on the profit from Do the Dewey. Sandra reported that the treasurer of the Rotary Club stated that the library will receive a little more than $4,000.00 for this year’s fundraiser. Sandra reported that 155 tickets were sold.

President Noreen Lake asked for volunteers to serve on the nominating committee. George Magerl, Eldon Burk and Myrtle Klebe will serve on the Committee.

Rhys Read will not seek reelection to the Board.

Sandra Norlin asked for Board approval for payment to Arlington Heights Memorial Library for Library Production Studio in the amount of $8,114.75. Sandra stated that Library Production Studio Executive Committee has voted to dissolve Library Production Studio and will finalize this decision with a resolution at their next meeting. There will be a final accounting and each library in the consortium will receive a payment proportionate to the population of their community. Sandra stated that she is interested in purchasing the microphones to use at the board meetings.

MOTION by George Magerl, seconded by Selma D’Souza, to approve payment to Arlington Heights Memorial Library for Library Production Studio in the amount of $8,114.75, which is a budgeted expense and in the best interest of the Des Plaines Public Library. VOTE: AYES: All. NAYS: None. MOTION CARRIED.

President Lake informed the board that the City of Des Plaines will host a Golf Outing on Tuesday, June 30, 2009. Eldon Burk stated that he may attend this outing.

President Lake also informed the board that the Des Plaines Community Foundation will host “Day at The Races!” on Saturday, June 13, 2009.

ANNOUNCEMENTS

Elaine Tejcek, Eldon Burk and Sandra Norlin attended National Library Legislative Day in Washington, DC on May 10th and 11th. Sandra and Eldon gave a brief report on their trip.

Sandra Norlin announced that President Noreen Lake ran for and was elected to the North Suburban Library System Board. The Board congratulated Noreen.

The Friends of the Library will host their annual meeting on Tuesday, May 26 at 7:00 p.m. in Room A at the library. The Board was invited to attend.

Sandra Norlin reported that the American Library Association will host their annual meeting in Chicago this year from July 11 – 13. Board members were asked to contact Marge Scholl if they were interested in attending ALA.

Sandra Norlin reported that the library hosted a United Way campaign and raised $1,900.00.

Sandra Norlin met with Michael Barnes of Lohan Associates to discuss the library applying for the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification. The library has many features that apply to the operation of a high performance green building. Sandra is waiting for a proposal from Michael Barnes.

Carol Kidd gave a report on the library’s participation in AgeOptions. This government-funded program helps people who are age 55 or older with limited financial resources by providing paid on-the-job training assignments. The Des Plaines Public Library is a host site and currently has a participant who works in the Technical Services department 20 hours per week.

Noreen Lake and Sandra Norlin will participate in the Des Plaines Memorial Day Ceremony at Lake Park hosted by the Veterans of Foreign Wars, Post 2992 and the American Legion Post 36. The library has purchased a wreath to be presented to the VFW and American Legion.

Heather Imhoff, Head of Public Information, reported that the library will participate in Taste of Des Plaines by providing a storyteller on Saturday and Sunday. The library will also host Held in the Heartland on June 12 from noon until 7:00 p.m.

Noreen Lake announced that the Veterans of Foreign Wars will celebrate their 75th anniversary this year by hosting a golf outing on August 15, a picnic on September 20 and a dinner dance on October 16.

EXECUTIVE SESSION

MOTION by Eldon Burk, seconded by George Magerl, to enter into an Executive Session at 8:10 p.m. to discuss the Appointment, Employment, Compensation, Discipline, Performance or Dismissal of the Library Director. VOTE: AYES: All. NAYS: None. MOTION CARRIED.

Sandra Norlin, Holly Richards Sorensen, Heather Imhoff and Alderman Wilson left the meeting.

The regular session reconvened 8:19 p.m. and was called to order by President Noreen Lake.

EXECUTIVE SESSION ACTION

MOTION by Rhys Read, seconded by George Magerl, to concur with the recommendation made in Executive Session for the Appointment, Employment, Compensation, Discipline, Performance or Dismissal of the Library Director. VOTE: AYES: All. NAYS: None. MOTION CARRIED.

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

Meeting adjourned at 8:20 p.m.
Minutes prepared by Carol Kidd.

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