Minutes - 2012 - Eagle Public Library - 03/12/2012 - Regular EAGLE PUBLIC LIBRARY
BOARD OF TRUSTEES
MINUTES
12 March 2012
Community Room
Board President Maureen Germano called the EPL Board of Trustees meeting to order at 7:00
PM. Present were Board Members Margo Walter, Nancy Marshall, Mary Berent, and Pete
Dover. Also present were Janice Campbell, Interim Library Director, Jeanie Comerford,
Operations Manager, Administrative Assistant Terri Lenigan, Councilman Mark Butler, and
Friends' Representative Marti Taylor.
Terri Lenigan requested two items be added to the agenda under New Business: New Surplus
List and Replace Existing Access/Security System. Mary Berent made the motion to approve the
agenda as amended; seconded by Pete Dover, the agenda was unanimously approved.
Margo Walter made the motion to approve the minutes for the 12 February 2012 meeting as
submitted; seconded by Mary Berent, the minutes were unanimously approved.
Nancy Marshall made the Board aware of problems that could be associated with a money
market account and the possibility that the account is not secure and/or insured. Since this
account is set up and monitored by the City Treasurer's Office, Jeanie Comerford will schedule
an appointment with Sharon Bergmann, Treasurer, to discuss this issue and report back to the
Board at next month's meeting. Margo Walter made the motion to approve the bills for
payment; seconded by Nancy Marshall, the bills were unanimously approved for payment.
Friends of the Library Report (Friends' Representative)
Overstock Sale: The March Overstock Sale cannot come soon enough. Donations are stacked to
the ceiling! The sale will take place on Friday, March 30th from 4:00—6:00 PM and on
Saturday, March 31st from 9:00 AM to 2:00 PM. An Ada County Community Service Crew will
be on hand to volunteer during the sale.
For a limited time, everything in the Book Tree is on sale. All items are 1/2 price. Items
originally priced at 25 cents will be just 10 cents!
[Note: To accommodate President Germano's schedule, Unfinished Business was discussed out
of agenda order. The Director's Report will be given after Unfinished Business.]
Unfinished Business
Tutoring Policy and Meeting Room Policy (handout): At last month's Board meeting, the Board
requested the staff draft a tutoring policy. The staff presented its draft policy to be included in
the By-Laws and Policy Manual as Section XIII. Eagle Public Library Tutoring Policy. The
Shared/EPL ADMIN/Board Minutes 12-Mar-12
policy covered many of the concerns the Board had regarding use of the Community Room, such
as liability, tutor/student conduct, and staff involvement. The Board suggested that the definition
of tutoring as defined in the Meeting Room policy be added so the two policies would be
compatible. The effective date of this policy will be 19 March 2012. At this time and since the
policies are interrelated, the necessary changes to the Meeting Room policy were discussed. The
language as suggested by the City Attorney was incorporated into the policy for Section 2;
Section 11 was added; and Section 12 was renumbered from 11 to 12. Maureen Germano made
the motion to adopt the Tutoring Policy with the effective date of 19 March 2012 and to accept
the changes to the Meeting Room policy. Seconded by Mary Berent, the motion carried
unanimously.
Password Policy (handout): Due to recent infringement of employee passwords, the Board
requested staff to draft a password protection policy. Operations Manager Jeanie Comerford
presented a draft to the Board which will be added to Section III. Personnel of the By-laws and
Policy Manual and stated in brief:
• All passwords must be kept secure
• No unauthorized use of another's password
• Users are responsible for the security of their password
• If compromised, the password must be changed immediately
• Failure to comply could lead to dismissal
Pete Dover made the motion to adopt this policy as part of the Personnel Section of the By-laws
and Policy Manual. Seconded by Mary Berent, the motion carried unanimously.
Director Search (handout): Two additional applications have been received, which will be
reviewed at the next Search Committee meeting. To date, all other applications have been
reviewed. Upon consideration, five have been identified as definitely interested in pursuing
further; three have been designated as possible candidates. These eight have been notified that
they are being considered for an initial interview. All other applicants have been notified that
they have not been selected for further consideration. President Germano has sent e-mail
inquiries to the first five asking for a time to set up this initial skype interview. She set
Thursday, 29 March, Friday 30 March, or Saturday, 31 March as possible dates. So far, three
candidates have responded. Jeanie Comerford will send a follow up e-mail to the two remaining
candidates. The Committee is hoping to narrow the search to 2 to candidates. Should these first
five not yield 2 to 3 solid candidates, the remaining three will be contacted for an initial
interview.
During one of Director Baker's last staff meetings, he suggested the staff compile a list of
attributes they would appreciate in the new Director. The Management Team has put together a
list, which Operations Manager Jeanie Comerford presented the Board. The Board appreciates
this information and wants the staff to know that they play an important role in this process and
the Board is listening to them.
Shared/EPL ADMIN/Board Minutes 12-Mar-12 2
Director's Report
Statistical reports (handout): Circulation remains down by 8%. Reciprocal borrowing remains
the same as last reported. Director Campbell reported on an article she recently read in the
Library Journal that stated circulation is down national wide. This article attributes this
phenomenon on reduced book/materials budgets and the influence of e-resources.
Meeting with Mayor and City Clerk: Director Campbell met briefly with the Mayor, the City
Clerk/Treasurer and other department heads to get a jump start on the budget process. Another
meeting will be scheduled for early April to discuss any upcoming budget issues. Director
Campbell has asked that Council Liaison Butler and President Germano attend.
Smart Pay Program (handout): Ada Director Mary DeWalt has asked the Consortium members
to consider the possibility of using an online payment system, Smart Pay. Although there is still
much research to be done before making any decision, the handout explains what Smart Pay is
and how it works. It briefly explains the benefits to patrons of online self-service payments.
Further discussion is on the agenda for the next Consortium Directors meeting. Director
Campbell will report on the findings at the next Board meeting.
Director's Office: The office has been painted a neutral off-white. The furniture is being re-
distributed and a final cleaning is on-going by Jeanie Comerford and Terri Lenigan in
preparation for the new Director.
Library Liaison/City Hall reports (Councilman Butler)
The Council continues to have a busy agenda attending to City business. Many new ordinances
have been approved to help streamline the process for small businesses to conduct their
operations. Discussion continues regarding the Council's adoption of the Urban Renewal
Agency. A new committee will be formed to help advise on projects, such as what can be done
with the Tri-City Meat building.
New Business
Surplus equipment (handout): Operations Manager Jeanie Comerford presented a list of the
latest obsolete equipment for surplus, the outdated game computes from the Children's Room.
Mary Berent made the motion to approve the surplus list dated 10 March 2012; seconded by Pete
Dover, the motion carried unanimously.
Access/Security system (handout): The current access/security system is antiquated and failure
is imminent. Our current vendor, M2 Automation & Control Services, has provided two quotes
to replace the existing system. The first quote for $3,805 includes removal, installation, and
programming the new systems. The second quote for $4,180 includes the above and four wall
mounted motion sensors and two standard wall mounted notion sensors. Both quotes also
include programming, training, and the first 25 access control cards. Operations Manager Jeanie
Comerford advises that we also purchase an additional ten access control cards. Employees will
Shared/EPL ADMIN/Board Minutes 12-Mar-12 3
be advised that if they lose their access card, they will have to go without or purchase a new one
for$10. Pete Dover made the motion to accept the second proposal which includes the motion
sensors and the additional purchase of ten access cards; seconded by Mary Berent, the motion
carried unanimously.
Canister lights for the Children's Room: Although not on the agenda, discussion segued into
what should be done about the needed canister lights for the Children's Room. Operations
Manager Jeanie Comerford is concerned that even though this project was in the Public Works
budget, monies may have all ready been expended and there may not be enough left in the
account to cover this project. She will schedule a meeting the Public Works Director Mike
Echieta to discuss costs and when the lights could be installed. She will report to the Board at
the next meeting. Board Member Margo Walter has a contact at Alloway Electric and thought
that we may be able to make a deal with Alloway for a donation or greatly reduced cost for the
canister lights.
Cell phone policy: Per our Rules of Conduct, no cell phone usage is restricted to the foyer.
However, this is becoming almost impossible to enforce. The staff would like the Board to
consider revising the rules to allow cell phone usage in the Library proper, provided"library
voices" are used. At the next meeting, the staff will present an updated Rules of Conduct for the
Board's consideration.
Food and drink policy: Per our Rules of Conduct, no food or drink is allowed in the Library
proper. This, too, is becoming almost impossible to enforce. The newly adopted Tutoring
Policy allows for lidded drinks, except at computer stations. Therefore, the staff would like to
amend the rules to allow for lidded containers, except at computer stations. At the next meeting,
the staff will present an updated Rules of Conduct for the Board's consideration.
Library Week activities: National Library Week is April 8-14, 2012. The staff is planning
several activities to commemorate the week, which will promote the Library and even involve
some staff/patron interaction.
Overdrive report(handout): The popularity of e-books at libraries is causing publishers to
rethink their policy and pricing for selling to libraries. Publishers are concerned about their
bottom line profits and have drastically raised prices. Some publishers are canceling their
contracts with Overdrive. Some are suspending availability of new or additional copies for its
titles. What are libraries, especially those with limited budgets, to do? This topic will be
discussed at the next Consortium Director's meeting.
Given our$500 donation, Director Campbell had a difficult time finding available titles.
Fortunately, the good news is that all the Harry Potter titles will be released in April for a special
price of$27.00 each.
Additional Items or Public Comment
There were no additional items or public comment.
Shared/EPL ADMIN/Board Minutes 12-Mar-12 4
Selection of Next Meeting Date
The Next regular meeting of the EPL Board of Trustees will be Monday, 9 April, 2012 at 7:00
PM in the Community Room. Mary Berent will not be able to attend.
Adjournment
Mary Berent made the motion to adjourn the meeting; seconded by Pete Dover, President
Germano adjourned the meeting at 9:01 PM.
Respectfully Submitted,
Terri T. Lenigan
Administrative Assistant
Motions:
Adopt Tutoring Policy
Revise Meeting Room Policy
Adopt Password Policy
Approve Surplus List dated 10-Mar-12
Replace Access/Security system
Topics:
Tutor Policy
Revise Meeting Room Policy
Password Policy
Director Search—update
Statistical report— update
Meeting with Mayor and city Clerk
Smart Pay Program
Director's office—update
Surplus List dated 10-Mar-12
Access/Security system to be replaced
Cell phone policy to be revised
Food and drink policy to be revised
Library Week activities
OverDrive—update
Shared/EPL ADMIN/Board Minutes I2-Mar-I2 5