IOSCO-ARENAC DISTRICT LIBRARY

MINUTES OF THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES REGULAR MEETING

Place:      Iosco-Arenac District Library Administrative Headquarters

Date:       February 11, 2010

Present:  Paul Michalke, Karen Strughold, Rick Rockwell,  Phyllis Klender,  Eileen Rudzinski, Dan Stock, Stephanie Olson and Diane Bushman

Absent:  Jerry Brown, Tara Western

ITEM 1.     CALL TO ORDER

Chairperson Klender called the meeting to order at 4:31 p.m.

ITEM 2.     APPROVAL OF THE AGENDA

Director Olson stated that she wants to ask for a motion of support as part of Item 9A.

Rudzinski moved and Rockwell seconded approval of the agenda.  Motion carried.

ITEM 3.     PUBLIC PARTICIPATION AND REPORTS FROM FRIENDS OF THE LIBRARY GROUPS

Ed Davis, president of the Friends of the Robert J. Parks Library, was present.  Mr. Davis reported that their Friends group is donating one-third of the cost to install automatic opening doors in the library.  He said that Library Manager, Diana London is working on a bid proposal for this project.   Klender reported that the Friends of the Mary Johnston Memorial Library will be having Therapy Dogs programs again in March.  They will be having a booksale on March 27th & 28th at the VFW Hall in Standish.  Stock said that the meeting for the Friends of Michigan Libraries was postponed until February 18, 2010 at the Ypsilanti Library.

ITEM 4.      BOARD COMMENTS

None.

ITEM 5.     APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES OF THE JANUARY 14, 2010 REGULAR MEETING 

Rudzinski moved and Strughold seconded approval of the minutes of the January 14, 2010 Regular Meeting.  Motion carried.

ITEM 6.     TREASURER’S REPORT

Rudzinski asked why over 60% of the Children's Programs Expense budget was used this early in the year.  Olson said that the Children's Librarian has to purchase supplies and pay for performers for the Summer Reading Program early in the year.  Rudzinski asked about the $1,000 in Miscellaneous Income for the Mary Johnston Memorial Library.  Olson replied that this was an undesignated gift from a generous family.  Rudzinski asked about the large amount in Vehicle Maintenance.  Olson said that it was to replace an alternator and battery.

Stock moved and Michalke seconded the approval of the January 31, 2010 Treasurer's Report.  A roll call vote was taken as follows:  Brown, absent; Michalke, aye; Rockwell, aye; Rudzinski, aye; Stock, aye; Western, absent; Klender, aye; Strughold, aye.  Motion carried.

ITEM 7.      APPROVAL OF BILLS

Stock moved and Rudzinski seconded ratification of voucher #10-03 dated January 21, 2010 in the amount of $11,937.66,  voucher #10-04 dated February 4, 2010 in the amount of $14,701.36,  and voucher #10-05 dated February 17, 2010 in the amount of $12,434.76.  A roll call vote was taken as follows:  Brown, absent; Michalke, aye; Rockwell, aye; Rudzinski, aye; Stock, aye; Western, absent; Klender, aye; Strughold, aye.  Motion carried

ITEM 8.      DIRECTOR’S REPORT

Strughold asked if the deadline was met for the USF filings.  Director Olson said that Form 471 was filed before the original deadline, but the deadline had been extended due to the snow storms in Washington, DC.

  Director Olson presented a form from the Friends of Michigan Libraries inquiring if the Board would be willing to participate in a survey of Michigan Public Library Trustees.  Stock said that the Friends are considering a possible membership of Board of Trustees. 

Michalke moved and Rockwell seconded approval of Board of Trustees membership in the Friends of Michigan Libraries at an annual membership fee of $35 should the Friends decide to institute a Board of Trustees membership category.  A roll call vote was taken as follows:  Brown, absent; Michalke, aye; Rockwell, aye; Rudzinski, aye; Stock, aye; Western, absent; Klender, aye; Strughold, aye.  Motion carried.

Director Olson passed around a thank you letter from the recreational therapy assistant at St. Mary's of Michigan-Standish Hospital.  The District has been loaning them large print books  to be used by their patients/residents.  Some of their residents prefer large print westerns, so the District has been sending them some weeded copies that don't have to be returned.  The letter expressed the appreciation of the residents for this outreach service.  Director Olson reported that she has heard that the City of East Tawas is working on a request for appropriation of funding of $1.7 million for the construction of a new library through the office of Representative Bart Stupak.  She has been approached by the President of the Friends of the East Tawas Library to write a letter of support for the concept of a new library to Rep. Stupak.  Olson said that she is going to contact Ron Leslie, East Tawas City Manager, for more information.

Michalke moved and Rockwell seconded to support the efforts of the City of East Tawas to find and provide funding for construction of a new library and to authorize the District Director to write a letter of support on behalf of the Board for the concept of said new library.  Motion carried.

Director Olson passed around MelCat statistics for the Board to review.  These statistics show that the District has moved from being a net borrower to being a net lender.  Olson said that Lynne Bigelow will have a Children's Program Report for the April meeting.  Klender asked what the average per book cost was for Overdrive.  Olson said that it is about $35.  Strughold asked if there is unlimited checkout of the audiobooks or just one patron at a time.  Olson replied that unlimited checkout would cost the participating libraries about five times as much to purchase the books.  Rudzinski asked if there has been anymore information about State-aid certified staff.  Olson said that she has not received a definitive answer from the State yet, and that she is going to have to make a decision about Russ Besancon's position soon.  She has to have his position filled with someone working 35 or more hours per week for at least six months of the year.  If she uses the Technical Coordinator as the third level-three position, she will have to send him to a beginning librarian workshop.  Director Olson said that the 2010 MLA conference is scheduled during the time of the November Board meeting.  She requested that the meeting be postponed to the following week.

Rockwell moved and Rudzinski seconded to change the November Board meeting from November 11, 2010 to November 18, 2010.  The time and location will remain the same.  Motion carried.

ITEM 9.   OLD BUSINESS

9A.          HORIZON, MERIT, USF AND MELCAT UPDATES

Director Olson reported that the future of MelCat will be a topic of discussion at the MLA Director's Summit in June.  Olson said that she signed a three-year contract with Merit and filed the 471 form with USF.  This means that every library branch's Internet broadband allowance will double around July 2010.  The first-year cost of the contracted Internet service is about $122,000.  After the 78% USF discount, the actual cost will be about $26,000.   This contract will also allow the District to "get a foot in the door" when Merit starts working on their fiber program.  Director Olson asked for a motion of support for her efforts in signing the three-year Merit contract and filing of USF form 471.

Michalke moved and Rockwell seconded support and approval of the District Director's signing a three-year contract for Internet service with Merit Network, Inc. and the filing of USF form 471 for a 78% discount of the cost of Internet service.  A roll call vote was taken as follows:  Brown, absent; Michalke, aye; Rockwell, aye; Rudzinski, aye; Stock, aye; Western, absent; Klender, aye; Strughold, aye.  Motion carried.

9B.          ADULT PROGRAM GRANT APPLICATIONS

Director Olson presented grant applications from the Oscoda, Tawas City, Plainfield and Standish Libraries.  The requests are as follows:  Oscoda-$1050 for a genealogy program and a murder mystery;  Tawas City-$815 for three gardening workshops; Plainfield-$1,250 for a garden design workshop,  a workshop on creating a gardening journal, and an herbal tea party; and Standish-$1,250 for an author visit from Mardi Link and an author visit from Joseph Heywood.

Rockwell moved and Rudzinski seconded approval of grants, as presented, for adult programming in the amount of $1,050 to the Oscoda Library, $815 to the Tawas City Library, $1,250 to the Plainfield Library and $1,250 to the Standish Library, as presented.  A roll call vote was taken as follows:  Brown, absent; Michalke, aye; Rockwell, aye; Rudzinski, aye; Stock, aye; Western, absent; Klender, aye; Strughold, aye.  Motion carried.

9C.          ACTIVITY REPORT ON SPACE PLANNING PROJECT

Director Olson reported that Diana London, Robert J. Parks Library Manager, has completed the RFP and received approval from Township Supervisor, Bob Stalker, for the project to install automatic opening doors.  The District, Township and Friends will each be contributing up to $5,000 to complete this project.  Olson said that she has appointments to meet with the units of government in Plainfield, Standish and Omer about space planning projects.  Standish said that they would be willing to include a lighting upgrade project in with their 2% grant request to the tribal council.  She will be making appointments with the rest of the libraries in the near future.

ITEM 10. NEW BUSINESS

10A.    CHAIRPERSON APPOINTMENTS OF COMMITTEES

Chairperson Klender made appointments to committees as follows:  Technology-Stock, Rockwell and Strughold; Budget-Michalke, Brown and Strughold; Policy/Personnel-Michalke, Western and Klender; Strategic Planning-Rudzinski and Western.

ITEM 11.  ITEMS FOR NEXT AGENDA.

No changes.

ITEM 12.  ADJOURNMENT

Rudzinski moved and Strughold seconded to adjourn this meeting at 5:37 p.m.  Motion carried.

Respectfully submitted,

Diane Bushman

Recording Secretary