BOARD OF TRUSTEES
Minutes of the Regular Meeting
August 18, 2009

The regular meeting of the Des Plaines Public Library Board of Trustees was held in the second floor conference room on Tuesday, August 18, 2009. President Noreen Lake called the meeting to order at 7:05 p.m.

ROLL CALL.

Roll call indicated the following board members were present: Eldon Burk, Noreen Lake, George Magerl, Jeffery Rozovics, Elaine Tejcek.

Absent: Selma D’Souza, Myrtle Klebe.

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

CONSIDERATION OF THE AGENDA.

MOTION by George Magerl, seconded by Elaine Tejcek, to accept the agenda, as written. VOTE: AYES: All. NAYS: None. MOTION CARRIED.

PUBLIC COMMENTS AND QUESTIONS

None.

CITY COUNCIL COMMUNITY SERVICES COMMITTEE – Alderman Dan W. Wilson.

Alderman Wilson stated that the City of Des Plaines is predicting less revenue for 2010 and is looking at ways to reduce their budget.

CONSENT AGENDA

George Magerl asked that A. Approval of the Minutes of the Regular Board Meeting – July 21, 2009 be removed from the Consent Agenda.

George Magerl stated that the July 21, 2009 Roll Call Vote included Jeffery Rozovics and that Jeffery was not in attendance when roll call was taken. Carol Kidd will correct the minutes.

MOTION by George Magerl, seconded by Elaine Tejcek, to approve the minutes, as corrected. VOTE: AYES: All. NAYS: None. MOTION CARRIED.

MOTION by Eldon Burk, seconded by Jeff Rozovics, 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 Eldon Burk, seconded by Jeff Rozovics, to approve, subject to audit, expenditures authorized by the Library Director and Board Representatives for library Warrant Registers as follows:

ROLL CALL VOTE: AYES: Lake, Magerl, Read, Rozovics, Tejcek. NAYS: None. MOTION CARRIED.

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

ROLL CALL VOTE: AYES: Klebe, Lake, Magerl, Read, Rozovics, 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 July/August: Oscar Arellano, Technical Services Assistant; Christina Pagan, Page; and Marjorie Haj Ahmad, Page. Separations: Vimal Kottukapally, Jonathan Diores, and Ethan Hong, all pages.

STAFF DEVELOPMENT

Ten supervisors will begin a five day training program conducted by Face2Face Communications on August 17. This is a joint project with the Mt. Prospect Public Library.

Debra Hendricks has recently completed her driver’s training to obtain a Commercial Drivers License. She is now the fourth library staff member trained to drive the mobile library.

PATRON SERVICES

Library patrons checked out nearly 14% more items in July of 2009 as in July of 2008. Youth services books recorded a 24% increase in books checked out, and a 20% increase in DVDs. The numbers from the Summer Reading Club reflect this high rate of reading activity among the children of Des Plaines. 2176 children enrolled in the reading program, which is a 93% increase from the summer of 2002. The completion rate is even higher at 1237, or a 127% increase over 2002.

We enjoyed the support of our 50 teen volunteers, who worked 802 hours this summer, supporting the reading club registration, programming, and record keeping. 13 of these volunteers worked over 20 hours this summer.

55,568 people visited the library in person; 19,465 visited the website. Computer use was up by nearly 13% on the fourth floor, down by over 8% on the second.

OTHER PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITIES

I attended the CCS Governing Board meeting on July 22, an appreciation luncheon for community partners at Camelot School on July 28, and the Public Library Administrators Forum at the new branch library in Elgin on July 30. On August 4 I met with Skip Mosshamer, regarding the future of the Library Partnership Trust. I attended the Chamber of Commerce Executive Committee meeting and the Legion Hall for the site visit by the judges for the Governor’s Hometown Award committee. On August 10 I attended the last formal meeting of the Library Production Studio. On August 12 through 14 I will attend the Northwestern University Summer Writers Conference.

NEW BUSINESS

The Board reviewed Administrative Ready Reference on WebJunction. This is a 2010 Per Capita Grant requirement.

George Magerl gave a report on the information he learned about the Open Meetings Act and the Freedom of Information Act at North Suburban Library System. George reported that items discussed in Executive Session should be voted on when the regular session convenes.

MOTION by Eldon Burk, seconded by George Magerl, to approve payment to Gale Virtual Reference Library (GVRL) Database in the amount of $7,685.00, which is a budgeted expense and in the best interest of the Des Plaines Public Library. VOTE: AYES: Burk, Magerl, Rozovics, Tejcek. All. NAYS: None. Lake abstains. MOTION CARRIED.

MOTION by Committee, to approve Section D – Personnel Policy, as modified. VOTE: AYES: All. NAYS: None. MOTION CARRIED.

MOTION by Committee, to approve C-1- Registration Eligibility and C-7 - Public Meeting Room Use Policy, as presented. VOTE: AYES: All. NAYS: None. MOTION CARRIED.

MOTION by Committee, to approve the new job descriptions: Metadata and Cataloging Specialist, this replaces the Cataloger job description, Staff Training Specialist, Teen Services Librarian and Circulation Services Manager, as written. VOTE: AYES: All. NAYS: None. MOTION CARRIED.

MOTION by Committee, to approve all job descriptions, as written. VOTE: AYES: All. NAYS: None. MOTION CARRIED.

The Management Committee will meet on September 15, 2009 to discuss Succession Planning.

ANNOUNCEMENTS

President Lake stated that the VFW will host a picnic on September 20, 2009 for all veterans and their families.

President Lake reported that the Per Capita Grant will be reduced by 16% and asked the board to contact their state representatives to voice their concern about this decrease in library funding.

Sandra Norlin stated that she will recommend to the board a 1% decrease in property tax for the 2010 budget. Sandra also stated that she will recommend reducing the 2010 budget by eliminating the newsletter in the current format, eliminating tuition reimbursement, reducing the materials budget by 5% and reducing conference and travel by 50%. These are some of her ideas for the budget.

George Magerl will attend the 2009 ILA Annual Conference in Peoria and offered to drive any board members who also wanted to attend the conference.

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

Meeting adjourned at 8:39 p.m.

Minutes prepared by Carol Kidd.

back