Board of Somerset County Library Trustees
Regular Meeting Minutes
Wednesday, December 12, 2018 4:00pm-6:00pm Crisfield Library
Present: Ann Smith (President), Marlena Turner (Vice President), Lois Outten (Treasurer), Karen Riggin, Father Robert Laws (joined at 4:37 p.m.), Beth Holmes-Mayson, Marilyn Cottman,
Mark Schaffer, Ed Goyda (Director), Jaime Bradshaw (Branch Manager), Kayla Hodgson (Branch Manager).
Call Meeting to Order
President Ann Smith called the meeting to order at 4:03 p.m.
Consent Agenda
Approved minutes from the regular board meeting on October 10, 2018. With noted corrections of Beth Holmes-Mayson's name being misspelled in several places. Approved financial reports for the period from July 1, 2018- October 31, 2018. Approved financial reports for the period from July 1, 2017 – November 30, 2018.
President Smith asked for a motion to approve the Consent Agenda. Treasurer Lois Outten made a motion, Marilyn Cottman seconded, & the motion was unanimously approved.
LIBRARY ADMINISTRATOR'S REPORT
Mr. Goyda presented his Director's Report for October – November 2018.
Arts Council Grant: The library was approved for 2019 Arts Council Grant for $3,000 and has received the first half.
Purchasing: Procedures with Baker & Taylor and Midwest Tape have been changed to improve efficiency. In short, the carts will be built by Michele Henry and receive approval and submission by Mr. Goyda similar to our Amazon Business workflow.
Choose Civility: We have received a $5,000 grant from Maryland State Libraries to conduct staff training programs in 2019.
Economic Impact Report: Was distributed before the meeting via email.
Innovation Grant 2019: We had positive feedback from the State Library regarding a grant request to upgrade the furnishings in the Princess Anne Teen area and Adult Reading Room. We were reviewing fabric samples to make selections when we received notice to proceed.
Insurance: We received the reimbursement check from Local Govt Insurance Trust on November 29 and cleared in December; it will be indicated on the next financial statement.
SERVICES
ESRL: The circulation working group was discussing fines policies and has asked permission to consider fine-free libraries as part of the discussion. After reviewing briefly, Ed and Nora believed that fines are miniscule part of the library's receipts; about $2,400 of $25,000.
Student Cards: We planned to do a soft roll out in December and send Promotional material out to the kids after break.
TECHNOLOGY
Polaris Update: Functionality was increased with this latest update.
PrinterOn (Wireless Printing): We have decided not to pursue adding the service at the Crisfield Branch due to the low usage in Princess Anne.
FACILITIES MANAGEMENT
Crisfield
Library Foundation: Ed & Michele were analyzing numbers due to a Foundation request about adding shelving and boosting several collections at the Crisfield Branch.
Siding: The County has repaired the damage located above the front entrance. The county was also dispatching repairmen on the glass at the rear of the building caused by a recent storm.
Princess Anne
Office Renovation : We had been cleaning up the circulation and office areas and were in the process of painting.
Community Outreach
Christmas Parades: The Princess Anne Branch won 2nd place in the Christmas Parade on December 1 and Crisfield had a float in their December 7 parade.
Early Literacy Grant: At the time of the meeting, we had conducted 38 childcare visits as part of this Community Foundation Grant. We had noticed that not as many parents are visiting the library to receive their incentive but we are still reaching the children during the visits.
PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
Staff Day: We hosted Staff Development day on November 12 at Eastern Shore Lanes. The staff completed an "Innovation in Library Service" workshop and came up with several ideas for passive programming and engagement for children during afterschool hours. These ideas were incorporated into the Innovation Grant request.
Branch Highlights
Crisfield: Jaime Bradshaw reported that the Crisfield Annual Harvest Party had 272 in attendance and other fall related programs such as pumpkin painting and day of the dead cookie decorating were well attended. Additionally, she spoke about their upcoming holiday themed programs such as holiday string art and decorate your own stocking.
Princess Anne : Kayla Hodgson reported that Princess Anne has been seeing an increase in attendance at their Adult Craft Programs and the Senior Moments group continues to be one of our most popular programs. Rebecca Pratte has attended several community events and continues to do daycare visits and distribution of her Early Literacy Kits. Additionally, preparations for Summer Reading are beginning in the next few weeks.
Motion to accept written reports was made by Beth Holmes-Mayson, Seconded by Marlena Turner and was unanimously accepted.
Governance
Holiday Schedule – Mr. Goyda explained the reasoning behind closing the two Saturdays (April 20 & November 30). He would also like to open New Year's Eve for a 5pm close in order to do a children's New Year's party. Veteran's Day double time will be eliminated. MLA is in May, with the branches closing on May 2 so staff can attend.
Motion to approve calendar changes was made by Marilyn Cottman, seconded by Karen Riggin and was unanimously approved.
Board Meeting Schedule – Motion to approve the 2019 Board Meeting Schedule was made by Marilyn Cottman, seconded by Marlena Turner and was unanimously approved.
Audit - Motion to approve the audit was made by Karen Riggins, seconded by Beth Holmes- Mayson and was unanimously approved.
Credit Card Limit – We frequently run into issues with our business credit card being at the limit. The branch managers buy the majority of supplies locally, and this causes the staff to have to use their own funds and submit reimbursements. We requested permission to double the limit to give room for the card to still be used while our monthly payment is being processed and applied to the account. Treasurer Lois Outten stated that we are not authorizing additional expenditures just simplifying procedures. Vice President Marlena Turner stated that she understands it can be difficult when people are using personal cards. Marlena Turner made a motion to increase the credit card limit, was seconded by Lois Outten and was unanimously approved.
Direct Deposit/Timekeeping – We requested permission to adopt ADP's Time and Attendance module requiring staff to sign on and off shifts hosted on library computers (or a mobile version for events.) We also requested to require direct deposit for all staff which will reduce payroll costs by not requiring an overnight shipment from ADP. Lastly, we requested to change the payroll date to Fridays to eliminate issues with Monday Holidays or approving time before shifts have been worked. President Ann Smith stated that this sounds like a step in the right direction as it is much more accurate. Mr. Goyda stated that ADP has waived all the implementation fees and the cost would be $904.80/year with offset cost plus the savings of not needing the overnight shipment. Marilyn Cottman stated that she thinks the changes make sense.
Motion to accept the payroll changes was made by Lois Outten, was seconded by Beth Holmes- Mayson and was unanimously approved.
Chart of Accounts - This would simplify and more easily separate the income lines, would make it into a true chart rather than a list and having to use a calculator, and would implement master categories with sub-headings making research and quick-lookups of information simpler. We had divisions in the budget between fiction/nonfiction adult books that weren't being tracked in Quickbooks but were being tracked on paper by Michele Henry as part of acquisitions processes. The new chart would put them in the Quickbooks file and directly tied to finances. Ed briefly mentioned it to Herb Geary when he dropped off the audit. Treasurer Lois Outten stated that anything that makes reports and reconciliations easier is a good thing. Vice President Marlena Turner stated that she gets it and feels that it's important.
Motion to make changes to the chart of accounts was made by Marlena Turner, was seconded by Lois Outten and was unanimously approved.
Vehicle Policy - Treasurer Lois Outten suggested at our last meeting we should have a policy and Mr. Goyda agreed. Mr. Goyda researched sample policies and made a few minor adjustments, including changing a few words in the mileage portion of the employee handbook.
Motion to update the vehicle policy was made by Karen Riggin, was seconded by Marilyn Cottman and was unanimously approved.
Suspension of Privileges for Health and Safety Reasons- After reviewing the handout, Treasurer Lois Outten asked what happened to trigger all this. Mr. Goyda explained that other Shore Libraries have had issues with bed bugs. Vice President Marlena Turner stated that it is similar to what happens in school with things going back and forth from home and school.
Motion to approve was made by Marlena Turner, was seconded by Beth Holmes-Mayson and was unanimously approved.
Father Rob Lawes joined the meeting at 4:37 p.m.
Programming Policy – Mr. Goyda detailed a policy for patrons who register and confirm but do not attend programs, preventing wait list patrons from attending. We requested to add a section that no-showing would result in a loss of registration privileges for an amount of time. Vice President Marlena Turner asked how we would tell people about it. Mr. Goyda stated that in order to not threaten and alienate the majority of patrons that do not violate, we would only tell patrons when they violated it. President Ann Smith agreed that we should give a warning and and let them know first. Treasurer Lois Outten stated that she was thinking the same thing.
President Ann Smith asked if we need to re-write the policy, stating that it needs a warning. Mr.
Goyda stated that he deliberately didn't put specific procedures into the policy, but that it can be implemented with a warning on a first offense.
Motion to accept new policy was made by Father Robert Laws, was seconded by Karen Riggin and was unanimously approved.
Treaurer Lois Outten stated that several months ago she did Open Meetings Training and stated that she thought everyone on the board should do it. It doesn't take a lot of time - about 3 hours to complete but does take some thinking and effort.
President Ann Smith agreed, saying she had some trouble with some of the quizzes but you can take them more than once.
President Smith & Treasurer Outten both agreed that it would be helpful and beneficial for everyone to take it and would send out the link.
Motion to enter Executive Session was made by Marlena Turner at 4:45 p.m., seconded by Beth Holmes-Mayson. A roll call vote was held. All Trustees voted "yes."
Mark Shaffer, Jaime Bradshaw, and Kayla Hodgson exited the meeting.
Executive Session
The Board discussed the director and board performance evaluations.
Motion to exit Executive Session was made by Lois Outten at 5:02 p.m., seconded by Rob Lawes. A roll call vote was held. All Trustees voted "yes."
Motion to appoint Dominique Parks to the position of Library Assistant was made by Ann Smith, seconded by Beth Holmes-Mayson, and unanimously approved.
Motion to adjourn was made by Marlena Turner at 5:05 p.m., seconded by Marilyn Cottman, and unanimously approved.
Respectfully submitted, Kayla Hodgson Princess Anne Branch Manager