Richland Community Library Board Minutes

March 19, 2008

   

Members present:     Jacque Carlson, Chris Cupper, Jill Gould, Raenell Kent, Patrice

                                       Mindock, Jori Reijonen, Larry Williams

 

Members absent:      None

 

Others Present:         None

 

Call to order:             President Mindock called the meeting to order at 7:30 PM. 

NOTE:  The regularly scheduled RCL Board meeting began one half hour later than usual, due to a Board/Staff in-service session on state aid funding.

 

Public Comment:      None

 

Guests:                        None 

 

Review minutes of February 20, 2008:  Minutes from the previous meeting were accepted as corrected.  (Reijonen/Kent)

 

Friends of the Library Report:    The April meeting will bring Deanna House to the Richland Community Center.

 

Financial Report:    About 96% of tax monies have been received,   The Financial Report was accepted as presented.  (Carlson/Williams)

 

Director’s Report:   Updating bar codes on our books is continuing in preparation for downloading our database into MeLCat.  New library cards have been ordered.   The claim for unemployment insurance benefits for a former employee has been denied by the Unemployment Insurance Agency.  Recent meetings with Edward Elsner of the Delton District Library and Katie Bell-Moore of Plainwell’s Ransom District Library shed some light on working with MeLCat, ILL, and other library related issues.  At the invitation of Jim Seidl, the Director attended a meeting at Colon District Library with St. Joseph County directors and trustees to hear him talk about the proposed State Aid Model and proposed rule changes to the current state aid legislation.

 

Committee Reports: the Board viewed Mock-ups for the new library cards.  The Technology Committee and the Strategic Planning Committee meetings will be rescheduled.

 

Old Business:    None

 

New Business:   None

 

Adjournment:  There being no further business before the Board, the meeting was adjourned at 7:52 PM. (Gould/Cupper)

 

Respectfully submitted:

 

Chris Cupper, Secretary                              Patrice L. Mindock, President



Richland Community Library Board Minutes

February 20, 2008

 

Members present:     Jacque Carlson, Chris Cupper, Jill Gould, Raenell Kent, Patrice

                                       Mindock, Jori Reijonen, Larry Williams

 

Members absent:      None

 

Others present:         Marsha Drouin, Kay LaPierre

 

Call to order:              President Mindock called the meeting to order at 7:00 PM .

 

Public Comment:      None

 

Guests:                        None

 

Review minutes of January 16, 2008 :  Minutes from the previous meeting were approved as corrected.  (Gould/Williams)

 

Friends of the Library Report:   None

 

Financial Report:  Approximately half the taxes are in.  The financial report was accepted as presented.  (Gould/Carlson)

 

Director’s Report:    The video collection has been weeded, discarding those items which seldom circulated and did not warrant shelf space.  Most of the children’s videos have been sold.  The book-on-tape collection has been weeded as well.  Non-fiction books in the children’s area as well as the adult area are also being weeded.  The Director and Mrs. Goebel attended MeLCat training on February 23rd .

        It was learned it is quite advantageous to weed the collection and make the shift to the 14 digit barcodes before our database is loaded into the MeLCat database.  Recently an employee was terminated owing to abuse of  Internet policies.  While a claim has been filed by the former employee, the Director has supplied documentation supporting the termination to the Unemployment Insurance Agency of Michigan.  

 

Committee Reports:

a.   Strategic Planning:  The next meeting is scheduled for March 9th.

b.   Communications:   Work will proceed on the website in conjunction with the

      Technology Committee at a later date. 

a.   Policy Committee:  Work continues on updating the circulation policies.

 

Old Business:

a.   Library card mock-ups were presented; 2 different cards will be ordered for residents and non-residents. Purchase of a new supply of library cards was approved. (Williams/Cupper)  

b.   Circulation Policy:   Borrowing rules are set by MeLCat; once we are part of the system we can expect our circulation to greatly increase.  More staff time and record keeping will be required  at this point.  The new circulation policy was approved.  (Reijonen/Kent)

 

New Business:

a.     Re-evaluation of committee structures/trustee membership preferences--Ms. Gould will join the Aesthetics Committee.  We need someone to fill in on the Budget Committee, who has a background in finance.  Communication Committee needs someone with a graphic design background and brochure layout.  Facilities needs someone with a construction/building trades background.  Mr. Williams will join the Facilities Committee, replacing Ms. Gould, and the Budget Committee. The Policy Committee will be chaired by Mrs. Cupper.  No changes were realized on the Personnel Committee, Strategic Planning Committee or Technology Committee.  It is desirable vacancies on Board committees be filled with members from the community.  The purchase of a new laminator was approved.  (Carlson/Reijonen)  Mrs. Cupper will check into the availability of an 18” laminator at Gull Lake High School .

 

b.   Rear book drop roof proposal:   A  materials list for book drop is needed in addition to a more defined drawing from the Facilities Manager.  Additionally we need to keep in touch with the Presbyterian Church about the cost of the recycling bins. 

 

c.   Other New Business:    The Director will explore hiring the Woodlands Co-op consultant  regarding a presentation about MeLCat.  

 

Adjournment:  There being no further business before the Board, the meeting was adjourned at  8:31 PM .  (Cupper/Kent)

 

Respectfully submitted,

 

Chris Cupper, Secretary                                      Patrice L. Mindock, President


Richland Community Library Board Minutes

January 16, 2008

 

Members present:     Jacque Carlson, Chris Cupper,  Jill Gould, Raenell Kent, Patrice Mindock, 

                                    Larry Williams

 

Members absent:       Jori Reijonen

 

Others present:          Marsha Drouin, Kay LaPierre

 

Call to order: President Mindock called the meeting to order at 7:16 PM .

 

Public comment:         None

 

Guests:                       None

 

Review minutes of December 19, 2007 :    Minutes from the previous meeting were approved as presented.  (Gould/Williams)

 

Friends of the Library Report:   None

 

Financial Reports:  The financial report was approved as presented.  (Gould/Mindock)  Tax dollars are slowly trickling in and this is expected to increase.  A formal response has been received from our auditors.

 

Director’s Report:  A new contract has been signed with our cleaning service to provide a light mid-week cleaning.  In concert with the Gull Lake Community Schools Foundation, Mary Jasiak will act as the library liaison in planning the inaugural event for the Distinguished Speaker Series.  The speaker this year will be author John Grogan. 

 

The Policy Committee met to review a new circulation policy; the Director will meet with staff for their input and revision before final Board approval.  The Director attended the quarterly cooperative council meeting on January 10th.  The cooperative board voted to support the state model for future state funding of public libraries. The council also voted to use the cooperative’s state aid money to reimburse member libraries for training, technology and ILL expenses for his fiscal year. 

 

In a conversation with Dave Kreager, Gull Lake Community School Board President, the Director expressed interest in RCL collaborating with the school system whenever it is appropriate.  Mrs. Goebel and the Director will attend the first orientation meeting with the Michigan Library Consortium on Wednesday, January 23rd. 

 

Committee Reports:

a.          Strategic Planning:  A draft was presented of a letter is ready for Ed Schaadt in regard to the Local History Room.  Meetings of the planning committee will be scheduled throughout 2008 to focus on a variety of designated RCL topics.

 

b.         Policy Committee: This committee met to flesh out a new circulation policy.  This item was tabled for approval until after the Director and Mrs. Goebel return from the MelCat training session in Lansing .  (Mindock/Gould)  Consideration has been given to restricting access to some formats as we get ready to become part of the MelCat system.  This committee will also review the use of Community Room by outside organizations.

c.          Other:  The Communication Committee is considering an update of the RCL logo. and other image materials, such as informational brochures for patrons.  Once a new logo is approved, if any, we could them incorporate the approved design into our website. Meanwhile, the Technology Committee should be moving forward with its work on the library website to improve patron access to RCL services and information. 

 

Old Business:  None

 

New Business: 

a.          February “Library Lover’s Month.  A motion was made to forgive fines annually in the month of February; the motion was approved.  (Gould/Williams)

b.         New circulation policy:  see Policy Committee report above.

c.          Library of Michigan ’s proposal for state support of public libraries:  Our Director will contact the State Librarian to see what kind of response is anticipated.    

d.         Other New Business: Our current supply of library cards is running low.  Several price ranges were presented.  The least expensive was chosen.  A keychain style was discussed; we will proceed with that style, while exploring other options as part of the Communications Committee’s image work.                                                                                                                                                                                        

 

Adjournment:  There being no further business before the Board, the meeting was adjourned at 8:45 PM    (Cupper/Kent)

 

Respectfully submitted,

 

Chris Cupper, Secretary                    Patrice L. Mindock, President