Board Minutes

BOARD OF TRUSTEES
Minutes of the Regular Meeting
October 18, 2005

The regular meeting of the Des Plaines Public Library Board of Trustees was held in the second floor conference room on Tuesday, October 18, 2005. President Noreen Lake called the meeting to order at 7:05 PM.

Members Present: Eldon Burk, William Grice, Jerry Mahony, Noreen Lake, Rhys Read, Elaine Tejcek, Susan Weinberg.

Members Absent: Susan Burrows, Mary Ellicson.

Also Present: Sandra Norlin, Martha Sloan, Carolyn Nakamura, Mark White.

CONSIDERATION OF THE AGENDA.

Sandra Norlin asked that VII. New Business. C. Closing Early Thanksgiving Eve, and F. Des Plaines Chamber of Commerce & Industry – Santa’s Official Arrival 12/03/05 be removed from the agenda.

MOTION by William Grice, seconded Jerry Mahony, to accept the agenda, as amended. VOTE: AYES: All. NAYS: None. MOTION CARRIED.

PUBLIC COMMENTS AND QUESTIONS.

Mark White, a resident of Des Plaines, asked that the Des Plaines Public Library join in the support of independent Cuban libraries. Mr. White also asked that the Board review the fines policy and the meeting room use policy. These issues will be discussed at the next Management Committee meeting.

CITY COUNCIL COMMUNITY SERVICES COMMITTEE – Alderman Carla Brookman.

Alderman Brookman absent.

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

MOTION by Eldon Burk, seconded by William Grice, to approve the Financial Reports for September 2005, as presented. VOTE: AYES: All. NAYS: None. MOTION CARRIED.

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

1. Over the Counter Receipts $ 11,533.29
2. Petty Cash Expenditures $ 16.40
3. Budget Expenditures for September $ 395,486.55
4. Expenditures Year to Date $ 4,051,842.94
5. Revenue for September $ 11,633.69
6. Revenue Year to Date $ 2,906,263.03

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

September 06, 2005 $ 44,324.16
September 19, 2005 $ 54,475.47
Total $ 98,815.47

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

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

September 15, 2005 $ 108,013.61
September 29, 2005 $ 116,650.20
Total $ 224,663.81

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

DIRECTOR’S REPORT

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

PERSONNEL

New employees for September/October are Cheryl Gladfelter, Part-time Readers’ Services Assistant; Thomas Rice, Arlene Mendez, Kalpesh Patel, Cynthia Marquis, Part-time Pages, Circulation Services; Stacy Ann Wittman, Part-time Reference Librarian.

Resignations/Separations: Jitendra Patel, Part-time Page.

STAFF DEVELOPMENT

Mayor Arredia was the guest speaker at our September 22 All Staff Meeting. He informed us of the progress thus far and yet to come in Des Plaines economic development and infrastructure improvements. His remarks were followed by several presentations/demonstrations of resources for local information conducted by the Adult Services staff.

I am pleased with the improvements to our Department Heads meeting facilitation. We are being guided through the changes and improvements by consultant Miriam Pollack. The issues we have addressed thus far are the purpose/mission of the administrative team, the time we spend on strategic planning and operational matters, the library’s strategic plan, and what are the essential rules and the rules that are open to judgment calls at the frontline. Our work with consultant Gail Johnson addresses the frontline customer service issues as well.

We conducted a tour for the staff of the Glencoe Public Library on September 30. We were the first stop on the learning tour for their annual staff in-service day.

The quarterly bonus awards went to Petra Hollibaugh and Corky Mayo. They received these awards for the extraordinary initiative they showed in developing new programs for their departments.

PATRON SERVICES

Our circulation is holding steady with the patterns of the previous two years. Although the number of registered borrowers has increased over last year at this time, it has decreased from last month. The circulation of print materials accounted for 54% of the total circulation, 69% of the Youth Services collection circulation and 47% of the Adult. Our patrons used the self-check opportunity to check out 23% of the items circulated from the main library. The Mobile Library circulation decreased by 24%, which can be partially explained by the three days the vehicle was out of service for maintenance and repair. The use of our downloadable audio book virtual collection has increased from 48 in August to 91 in September, which is a 90% increase. There were nearly 13,000 uses of our online databases, including both in-house and remote access. Our door count is down year-to-date by 6.3% and our in-house use of computers is up slightly in Adult Services and down slightly in Youth Services.

OTHER PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITIES

Two local area library issues have needed my attention this past month. One is the aftermath of the intrusion into the CCS database. There are almost daily problems for staff to struggle with, whether it’s slow response times, missing or erroneous report information, or unexpected format changes. As President of the CCS Governing Board I have been involved in several meetings, both real and virtual, attempting to chart the best course for a workable solution to the ongoing problems. The other issue that I am involved with as a Task Force member is the revision of the Reciprocal Borrowing “Tenets” for the North Suburban Library System. The new format, which is more philosophical and less procedural, has raised some questions and some complaints from the few NSLS members who have seen the revision. More work is required to clarify some of the information. The final version will be presented to the NSLS Board at the October meeting. If accepted, the document will be forwarded to all 49 library boards for approval.

I attended a Trends Discussion led by Miriam Pollack on 9/22 and participated in an NSLS focus group that test drove the new website format, also on 9/22. I attended a Parliamentary Procedure workshop and the NSLS Board meeting on 9/26, the Friends of the Library meeting on 9/27, chaired the CCS Governing Board meeting on 9/28, the School Library Staff reception here on 9/29, and the Public Library Administrators’ Forum at NSLS on 10/6 and the Northbrook Public Library Art Exhibition Preview event on 10/7. I am on vacation from 10/10 through 10/16. Martha Sloan and Hector Marino are sharing the Librarian in Charge duties during my absence.

NEW BUSINESS

A video presentation of Library Cable Network highlights was shown to the Board. Sandra Norlin reported that Arlington Heights, Skokie, Prospect Heights and Des Plaines participate in Library Cable Network.

Sandra Norlin asked the Board to declare the library’s laminator surplus property. Sandra reported that the laminator would be disposed of according to library policy.

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

Make Model Serial Number
General Binding Corp. GBC-4250-115 GH05849

MOTION by Eldon Burk, seconded by William Grice, to approve changes to library Personnel Policy, Section D. VOTE: AYES: All. NAYS: None. MOTION CARRIED.

MOTION by William Grice, seconded by Eldon Burk, to approve payment to Thomson Gale in the amount of $8,000.00, which is in the best interest of the Des Plaines Public Library. VOTE: AYES: Burk, Grice, Lake, Mahony, Read, Tejcek, Weinberg. NAYS: None. MOTION CARRIED.

MOTION by Susan Weinberg, seconded by Jerry Mahony, to approve payment to EBSCO in an amount not to exceed $36,000, which is in the best interest of the Des Plaines Public Library. VOTE: AYES: Burk, Grice, Lake, Mahony, Read, Tejcek, Weinberg. NAYS: None. MOTION CARRIED.

MOTION by William Grice, seconded by Susan Weinberg, to approve payment to ProQuest in the amount of $15,333.28, which is in the best interest of the Des Plaines Public Library. VOTE: AYES: Burk, Grice, Lake, Mahony, Read, Tejcek, Weinberg. NAYS: None. MOTION CARRIED.

Sandra Norlin reported that janitorial services currently being provided by Perfect Cleaning, Inc. are not acceptable and asked for Committee approval to enter into an agreement with Majesty Maintenance, Inc. if service does not improve.

MOTION by Committee, to authorize Library Director Sandra Norlin to terminate the current janitorial contract with Perfect Cleaning, Inc. and to enter into an agreement with Majesty Maintenance Inc. for janitorial services for the Des Plaines Public Library and Mobile Library if the service currently being provided by Perfect Cleaning, Inc. does not improve, and that is in the best interest of the Des Plaines Public Library to waive bid procedures in this case. VOTE: AYES: All. NAYS: None. MOTION CARRIED.

MOTION by Rhys Read, seconded by William Grice, to approve payment to Dell Corporation for 10 PowerConnect 5324 Managed Switches in the amount of $5,715.00, which is in the best interest of the Des Plaines Public Library. VOTE: AYES: Burk, Grice, Lake, Mahony, Read, Tejcek, Weinberg. NAYS: None. MOTION CARRIED.

MOTION by Eldon Burk, seconded by Elaine Tejcek, to approve payment to Dell Corporation for 16 Laser Printers, including a three year maintenance agreement and supplies in the amount of $7,956.56, which is in the best interest of the Des Plaines Public Library. VOTE: AYES: Burk, Grice, Lake, Mahony, Read, Tejcek, Weinberg. NAYS: None. MOTION CARRIED.

Rhys Read reported that Jim Egeberg, Director of Finance, has requested that the library establish an operating reserve fund. The Committee discussed this request and agreed to ask for Board approval to build up an operating fund balance to cover two and one-half months of operating expenses by the end of the year 2010.

MOTION by Committee, to build up an operating fund balance to cover two and one-half months of operating expenses by the end of the year 2010. VOTE: AYES: All. NAYS: None. MOTION CARRIED.

Sandra Norlin distributed copies of the proposed FY2006 budget for Board approval. Sandra reported that the line items for diesel and gasoline were increased by $3,000.00, due to the increase in the cost of fuel.

MOTION by Rhys Read, seconded by Jerry Mahony, to approve the FY2006 budget, as presented and modified. ROLL CALL VOTE: AYES: Burk, Ellicson, Grice, Lake, Mahony, Read, Tejcek, Weinberg. NAYS: None. MOTION CARRIED.

ANNOUNCEMENTS

Sandra Norlin stated that the building temperature would be reduced to 68° for the winter months to conserve energy and reduce costs.

CORRESPONDENCE

President Lake stated that the Glencoe Public Library made a donation to the Des Plaines Public Library Fund in appreciation to staff for graciously giving a tour of the library.

OTHER

Susan Weinberg gave a report on workshops she recently attended at North Suburban Library System, Metropolitan Library System and DuPage Library System. Susan attended The Nitty Gritty 1: Boot Camp for Public Library Trustees and The Nitty Gritty 2: Active Duty for Public Library Trustees and The Nitty Gritty 3.

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

The meeting adjourned at 8:40 PM.

Minutes prepared by Carolyn Nakamura.

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