Board of Somerset County Library Trustees
Regular Meeting Minutes
Wednesday, June 13, 2018 4:00pm Princess Anne Library
Present: Ann Smith (President), Marlena Turner (Vice President), Lois Outten (Treasurer), Heather Hurst, Father Robert Laws, Beth Holmes-Mayson, Marilyn Cottman, Heather Hurst, Ed Goyda (Director), Jaime Bradshaw (Branch Manager), Kayla Hodgson (Branch Manager), Jan Gorely (Administrative Assistant).
Jennifer Lewis (staff member), accompanied by Lisa & John McAdams, was in attendance.
Call Meeting to Order
President Ann Smith called the meeting to order at 4:02 p.m.
Consent Agenda
President Smith noted an error in the minutes. Jan Gorely stated that she would check her notes and correct. Approved minutes, as amended, from the regular board meeting on April 25, 2018.
Approved financial reports for the period from July 1, 2017- April 30, 2018.
Approved financial reports for the period from July 1, 2017 – May 31, 2018.
President Smith asked for a motion to approve the Consent Agenda. Motion was made by Marilyn
Cottman, seconded by Marlena Turner, and was unanimously approved.
LIBRARY ADMINISTRATOR'S REPORT
Mr. Goyda presented his Director's Report for April/May 2018.
Early Literacy Grant – The library applied for a Community Foundation Early Literacy Grant in the amount of $7,500. The funds would be used to create and distribute early literacy totes to local child care providers. We expect to hear back by the end of summer if we are approved so that we can assemble the kits. The grant will not cover the capital expense of a van. The Eastern Shore Regional Library has mentioned that they are getting rid of a van and would donate the van to the library. The Judy Center has funds available from their grant to custom wrap the van with library logos. We will also be able to do outreach to Deal Island and other community events. Mr. Goyda wanted to run it by the board before he accepted the van. The board agrees that accepting the free van is a good decision.
Economic Impact Report- The BEACON Center is still in the data-gathering phase for their Economic Impact Report.
Staff Development Grant – We were granted permission to use the remaining Professional Development funds to purchase books to create a staff collection.
Braille collection – We have added a few items in Crisfield at the request of a patron, with the intent to build an association between libraries and knowledge for a child in the community.
Consortia Policies – Policy differences vary between branches and county, and it's becoming confusing for patrons. Discussions on fines, loan limits, and lending periods will most likely come up soon.
Smith Island Family Frames – The beginning of the video was shown. The research phase is over, the video is being edited and produced. The video will be completed by the end of the summer.
Smith Island Trip- Staff will be taking a trip next week (June 19) to weed and provide additional training. Sam Eddington, Training Coordinator for ESRL will be joining us to lead the training session.
Student Cards- We still have not received the data; the school is worried about security of data.
Website- Gabe has been trained on the new website. Anything time sensitive we've tried to automate.
Baffling – We have the funds from the foundation and the baffling will be installed soon.
Flag & Sign- The Flag & sign will be installed in Crisfield soon as well. The foundation will be covering the full cost of the sign while the flagpole was donated by the American Legion.
Community Outreach
We have signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Judy Center to collaborate with them for the upcoming year & have also submitted a letter of support for their Striving Readers Grant. We've also collaborated with them on a Kindergarten Readiness Brochure to be distributed to childcare providers.
Youth Services Coordinator Becky Pratte has given all of Greenwood Elementary's 2nd and 5th grade classes tours of the library and has also attended end of the year awards at Princess Anne & Woodson Elementary Schools to promote the summer reading program.
PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
Autism 101: Several staff members have requested this training & we are working to have it provided locally. Ms. Outten expressed interest in attending, to which Mr. Goyda agreed.
Mr. Goyda recapped many of the professional development opportunities that staff has attended in the recent months, including the Maryland Library Association Annual Conference on May 3 & 4.
President Smith asked for a motion to approve the Director's written report. Motion was made by Lois Outten, seconded by Father Robert Laws and was unanimously approved.
Branch Highlights
Crisfield: Jaime Bradshaw reported that they will doing five paint programs in the summer due to their demand & popularity. She also stated that she and Ashley Gilson presented at a career fair at Woodson Elementary on May 30. Additionally, she spoke about Summer Reading preparations taking place in the upcoming weeks.
Princess Anne : Kayla Hodgson reported that they have been doing many 'make-and-take' programs that have been popular with the community. She also stated that the staff had run a booth at the Princess Anne Street Fest on May 5 to promote the library as well as Becky's outreach to the local schools. She reported that 1,580 students had been given summer reading brochures and hype bags. Additionally, Kayla also spoke about summer reading preparations.
Ewell: Mr. Goyda reported Ewell's statistics.
Governance
System Wide Staffing
President Smith stated that she would like to look at system wide staffing because there has been some contention. She stated that she felt that it is policy matter, and if this is the case, the protocol of the board and director working as a team needs to be followed, with the board's role to recommend and adopt and the director's to recommend, inform and implement. Taking a step back to look at everything, President Smith asked Mr. Goyda to explain the rational and why he felt that this was needed.
Mr. Goyda discussed differences in operations between branches. He explained that when he started here, Crisfield and Princess Anne had different library card applications. Branch managers didn't communicate, Children's Services and acquisitions were in separate far corners and often neglected. He also referenced the recent strategic planning sessions, that included many members of the public asking why some programs happen at one branch not the other. Additionally, Mr. Goyda explained differences in branch formality and staff discipline. He also discussed how part-time staff in Crisfield have been performing functions that are supposed to be the responsibility of system-level staff, out of perceived necessity.
Ms. Hodgson & Ms. Outten commented on Technical Services Assistant Michele Henry's take- charge attitude leading the technical services team during the cross branch shifts.
President Smith suggested that at the next all-staff meeting Mr. Goyda speak about the big picture and talk about the positivity it's causing. He agreed, and added that both branch managers now talk almost daily and they have added Ms. Henry and Ms. Pratte to the admin team and that they are collaborating well.
President Smith agreed with the benefits, but asked about the necessity of the frequency. Ms. Hodgson stated how the cross branch shifts have helped with scheduling & staffing. Ms. Bradshaw stated that keeping it weekly helps her schedule because of their much smaller staff. She stated that having the full time staff weekly has been positive.
Travel, Mileage, & Compensation
Mr. Goyda left the room, citing conflict of interest.
Ms. Outten provided a hand-out outlining section 6.18 from the Employee Handbook "Mileage Reimbursement."
Vice President Turner stated that she agreed that it is a policy change but wasn't sure about mileage. She requested that Ms. Gorely see if the library budget could sustain it. She also spoke regarding her job which she is compensated for a location change when there is a last minute change. She also stated that she thinks this should be a permanent change.
Ms. Hodgson and Ms. Bradshaw spoke on the benefits and how our schedule works. They explain the creation of the monthly schedule & their willingness to be flexible with moving cross branch shifts to accommodate the employees.
President Smith asked if the Board wanted to table the conversation, rewrite a new policy and do an online vote. Ms. Outten stated that they need to make a decision before re-writing the policy and offered to work with Mr. Goyda to create the new policy.
President Smith motioned to continue the policy. The motion passed unanimously.
President Smith motioned to make the change permanent. The motion passed unanimously.
Discussion of mileage compensation resumed. Vice President Turner stated that she felt compensation should be addressed once the policy has been re-written and words defined. If staff understand their work location on a specific day is at a cross branch, that is their regularly scheduled location.
President Smith clarified that the Board felt that regularly scheduled refers to the monthly schedule, and that compensation would not be triggered unless there is a deviation from the monthly schedule at the last minute.
President Smith made a motion to define the policy as such. Ms. Lewis interrupted asking speak, which President Smith denied, asking that she wait for her turn to be heard. The motion passed unanimously.
Mr. Goyda returned to the room and Ms. Outten filled him in on what was decided.
Budget
Mr. Goyda gave a handout outlining the Fiscal Year 2019 and discussed it. Mr. Goyda stated that the budget follows the County, providing a 3.5% Cost of Living Adjustment and containing a 4.1% increase in the cost of health insurance. Mr. Goyda also reviewed costs for automation, materials, and programs.
President Smith asks the board if they would we like to include Mr. Goyda in the 3.5% increase. All Board members were in favor of this.
Mr. Goyda confirmed with the Board that they accept moving Michele Henry to $15 per hour as part of her transition to the Technical Services Coordinator position. All Board members were in favor of this.
Marlena Turner motioned to accept the budget. The motion passed unanimously.
Strategic Plan
Mr. Goyda distributed another handout outlining service goals that was derived from the Strategic Plan data that was gathered. Mr. Goyda states there were a lot of common threads between committees and he has made a few changes since the presentation. The major change is that staff development initiatives and technology initiatives were combined with facilities issues in an "Internal Development" category. Mr. Goyda stated that he will give out final packaging with additional narrative and pictures.
President Smith asked for a motion to approve the strategic plan. Motion was made by Ms. Outten, seconded by Ms. Cottman, and was unanimously approved.
Open Meetings Training
President Smith spoke about her completing online course. The Library is required by law to have someone that has been trained present at the Board meetings. President Smith requested that an additional member of the Board complete the training, and Ms. Outten volunteered to also complete the program.
Appeal of Termination – Jennifer Lewis
President Smith requested a motion to enter Executive Session to hear the appeal of Jennifer Lewis. Mr. Goyda noted that the Employee Handbook states that the appeal happens in open session. Ms. Lewis requested that the appeal be conducted in executive session. The request was granted, and the Board held a roll call vote to enter executive session to hear Ms. Lewis's appeal. The motion to enter executive session passed unanimously.
Mr. Goyda requested that Ms. Hodgson, Ms. Bradshaw, and Ms. Gorely remain in session. The request was granted.
Executive Session – Appeal of Termination
Ms. Lewis's appeal was heard.
Before exiting the executive session, Mr. Goyda asked the Board to confirm that there were no questions on other staffing decisions, and the Board confirmed such.
The Board held a roll call vote to exit Executive Session, and the motion passed unanimously.
Open Session - Personnel
President Smith stated that there was a unanimous decision to uphold the termination of Jennifer Lewis. At this time, Ms. Lewis and her two companions rose to leave the room. Lisa McAdams loudly states "You've made a terrible mistake." Upon exiting the room, John McAdams loudly slammed the door twice.
Mr. Goyda asked the Board to accept the resignation of Jesse Drewer. Motion to accept was made by Marlena Turner, was seconded by Heather Hurst, and was unanimously approved.
Mr. Goyda asked the Board to appoint Adriana Warfield to the position of Library Assistant. Motion to accept was made by Marlena Turner, was seconded by Father Robert Laws, and was unanimously approved.
Mr. Goyda asked the Board to appoint Lorna Crockett to the position of Library Assistant.
Motion to accept was made by Heather Hurst, was seconded by Beth Holmes-Mayson and was unanimously approved.
Mr. Goyda asked the Board to appoint Shanlaia Jackson to the position of Library Aide, subject to her continued educational pursuits. Motion to accept was made by Beth Homes-Mayson, was seconded by Marilyn Cottman and was unanimously approved.
Mr. Goyda asked the Board to appoint Ashley Gilson to the full time position of Program
Coordinator. Motion to accept was made by Beth Homes-Mayson, was seconded by Marilyn
Cottman and was unanimously approved.
President Smith made a motion to recommend the re-appointment of Heather Hurst for another term, motion was seconded by Marlena Turner and was unanimously approved.
Adjournment
A motion to adjourn was made by President Smith at 7:05 p.m., seconded by Beth Holmes- Mayson, and unanimously approved.
Respectfully submitted, Kayla Hodgson Princess Anne Branch Manager