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NOLA BOARD OF TRUSTEES
REGULAR MEETING
December 14, 1999

I a. Roll Call

President Susan Weaver called the meeting to order at 10:02 a.m.

Present: Mary Frances Burns, Phyllis Cettomai, Nancy Currie, Carol Davis, Diane Fritz, Peter Kozup, Ellen Leavitt, Ruth Mizik, Nancy Simpson, Donna Wall, and Lois Wynkoop.

Also in attendance: Interim Director / Technology Coordinator Brad Stephens, Continuing Education Coordinator Melissa Lattanzi, Clerk-Treasurer Anne Hoerig, Roxane Oakley (State Library) and Cheryl Bugnone (Kinsman Library).

Nancy Currie moved and Ellen Leavitt seconded that the Search Committee update take place after the approval of the minutes. Motion carried by voice vote.

II b. Minutes

It was moved by Donna Wall and seconded by Carol Davis that the minutes of November 16, 1999 be accepted as presented. Motion carried by voice vote.

Susan Weaver, Search Committee Chair, reported that Jeannette Martin was interviewed by the Committee on Friday, December 9 and was favorably impressed by her. It is the Committee’s recommendation that she be offered the position as Executive Director with a tentative starting date on or about February 2, 2000 at an annual salary of $56,000 plus up to $3,500 in moving expenses pending a successful background check. In addition, The Committee asks that Martin attend the regional library system retreat on January 26 and 27. Motion carried by roll call vote.

The Geauga County Library System has submitted an intent to withdraw letter dated November 16, 1999. It was noted that the Library does this on an annual basis in order to keep their option to withdraw open.

Clerk-Treasurer Hoerig reported that she is still awaiting formal authorization to close out the Foundation Account. There are still several outstanding membership fees and at this point she will call to speed up the payment process. Nancy Simpson moved and Phyllis Cettomai seconded that the Financial Reports be accepted as presented. Motion carried with roll call vote.

Hoerig requested that the Board approve several Budget Revision requests due to increase in revenue. Phyllis Cettomai moved and Donna Wall seconded that 101.2310 (Local Government Contributions) increase by $1,375 for a total of $239, 151 and that 101.3199 (Membership Meals/Fees) increase by $7,000 for a total of $15,000. Motion carried by roll call vote.

Health Insurance Participants met on November 22 to discuss the possibility of creating a “real” joint plan with a tiered level of service. Consensus was that NOLA should move forward on this project. It is hoped that something will be in place for the 2001-2002 insurance contract. Carol Davis moved and Donna Wall seconded that a unified insurance policy be developed for NOLA. Motion carried by roll call vote.

There has been discussion of a statewide vendor discount project, similar to what NOLA has now. CAMLS is willing to take on this project if the other regional library systems would be willing to contribute to the financing of an administrator of this project. Concern was expressed about keeping local vendors included on this. Each system would be encouraged to submit local vendors for this project; a “geographical” key would be provided to locate those included. Mary Frances Burns moved and Lois Wynkoop seconded that the Board authorize NOLA’s participation in this project and to pay up to $500 toward administration of it. Motion carried by roll call vote.

Interim director Brad Stephens told the Board that the surveys sent out to potential participants concerning purchasing of Microsoft products solicited a great response. It seems that there are currently over 5,000 desktops and that we anticipate around 8,000 in two years. In addition, Staff would be eligible to purchase products for use at home while employed by the institution. With this purchase plan (of which final negotiations are taking place now that there is data on which to do so) comes the responsibility of “keeping it legal” as Microsoft reserves the right to conduct software audits of anyone in this program. This program will be available to non-system members using the ticket-master approach of a fee per purchase.

The draft of a letter to Ameritech concerning the videoconference project that was included in the board packet has been changed significantly since then. Also it seems that OPLIN has expressed an interest in videoconferencing. Stephens will address the OPLIN Technology Committee in January about it.

Should Regional Library Systems offer a class of fees for partial membership similar to an “associate or affiliate membership” in other organizations? Should people who have already joined an RLS be eligible for a discount in continuing education training at another system (as opposed to paying the full non-member tuition cost)? Lois Wynkoop moved and Peter seconded that we proceed, along with the other system, with the process of investigating a possible affiliate fee structure. Motion carried by roll call vote.

Several other Regional Library Systems are interested in purchasing subscription rights to NOLA’s Desk Top News for mounting on their own websites for their members’ perusal. Nancy Currie moved and Phyllis Cettomai seconded that NOLA offer The Desktop News at a license cost of $500 per regional library system. Motion carried by roll call vote.

A discussion of the Statewide Resource Sharing Project focused on two parts. The first is a statewide delivery system. The State will assume the delivery contract as of July 1, 2000. Both public and school libraries will be eligible. The RFP will be issued in March or April for the contract. A web based interlibrary loan is being planned with possible implementation as early as May 15, 2000. NOLA will be watching this project closely to determine members’ implementation needs.

The Winter / Spring edition of the Continuing Education Catalog went to the printer the week of December 15. January through July will feature over 40 programs on a variety of subjects. Only three programs will be held in January due to possibility of inclement weather. Lori Putt will pick up Lattanzi’s duties while she is out on maternity leave.

Lattanzi distributed sample reports that showed personal and library-wide “contact hours” of continuing education. These will be available to help with annual reports, planning, budgeting, and library comparisons. It was suggested that workshop costs be added to these reports.

IV d. Board Officers’ Report

None presented.

IV e. State Library of Ohio – Roxane Oakley

The State Library is investigating the Jeffries Manufacturing Building as a possible new home. Its immediate drawback is that it is outside of the downtown area, but with the newer technology, this might not be as much of an impediment as in years past.

Board Members were urged to write their federal legislators about HR 3008 and Senate Bill 1262, both pertaining to elementary and secondary school library / media center funding. The money from these bills would allow use of funds for both staffing and materials, and will have a more direct impact than Title 6 Funds that often never make it as far as the library. More information can be found on the ALA website.

Nancy Simpson, representing the Personnel Committee asked the Board to approve clarification of the procedure concerning floating holidays. It was recommended that it be available for use on the day of the holiday and that it be stored in the Personal Days “bank” until it is used. As with personal days, if the floating holiday isn’t used by the end of the year, it will be lost. Motion carried by voice vote.

The Personnel Committee also requested that the Board reconsider the policy that limits vacation time accrual. While in normal staffing periods this works well, when there are key personnel position vacancies Staff is faced with the option of loosing vacation time in order to complete vital job tasks. The Committee recommends that the Director, Interim Director, or Board President be able to suspend the maximal accrual limit when there is a key position open for at least 30 days. Any vacation time in excess of the cap must be used within ninety days of the position being filled or it will be forfeited. Motion carried by voice vote.

The Personnel Committee recommends that NOLA offer a per diem for meal and incidental expenses based on the State Travel Management Policy for travel in state or the Federal Guideline for out of state travel in lieu of requiring Staff to keep receipts and turn them in for these expenses. Motion carried by voice vote.

Following a Committee of the Whole Meeting on December 7 concerning consulting by the NOLA Staff, Ellen Leavitt moved and Donna Wall seconded that an ad hoc committee be appointed by the Board President to investigate ramifications and to formalize procedures in order to make this a possibility. Motion carried by voice vote. The Committee, chaired by Nancy Currie, will have its first meeting following the holiday luncheon.

Interim Director Stephens reported that the NOLA Office is Y2K compliant. In order to accommodate members who will be open on New Year’s Eve, shut down of NOLA’s computer equipment will take place at 5:15 p.m. Only the heat and security system will remain on over the holiday.

Due to the timing of the American Library Association’s Midwinter Conference, the next meeting has been pushed back a week and will take place on January 25, 2000 at 10:00 a.m. at the NOLA Conference and Training Center.

Nancy Simpson moved and Carol Davis seconded that the meeting be brought to a close at 11:55 a.m. Motion carried by voice vote.

 

_________________________ _______________

Mary Frances Burns, Secretary Date

 

_________________________ _______________

Susan Weaver, President Date

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URL: http://www.nolanet.org/meetingminutes/approved/1299.htm