Board of Somerset County Library Trustees
Regular Meeting Minutes
Wednesday, February 13th, 2019 4:00 p.m. Princess Anne Library

Present: Ann Smith, Board President; Marlena Turner, Vice President; Lois Outten, Board Treasurer; Board Members: Marilyn Cottman; Father Robert Laws, Beth Holmes-Mayson, and Karen Riggin. Ed Goyda, Library Director; Kayla Hodgson, Princess Anne Branch Manager; Jaime Bradshaw, Crisfield Branch Manager; Nora Hoffman, Administrative Assistant.

Absent: Mark Shaffer, Associate Board Member.

Call Meeting to Order

President Smith called the meeting to order at 4:02 p.m.

Consent Agenda

Minutes from the regular meeting of December 12, 2018.

Financial reports for the period from July 1, 2018- December 31, 2018.

Financial reports for the period from July 1, 2018- January 31, 2019.

Mr. Goyda mentioned that there were grammatical errors in the minutes from December that have been corrected.

President Smith asked for a motion to approve the Consent Agenda. Motion was made by Lois Outten and seconded by Marilyn Cottman, and the Consent Agenda was unanimously approved.

Branch Highlights

Crisfield: Jaime Bradshaw reported that the Crisfield branch had success in hosting their first 'Noon' Year's Eve Party with 25 children in attendance and that there were 17 adults in attendance for the mug/wine glass painting. She mentioned that Library Assistant Lorna Crockett attended a graphic design workshop in December. Additionally, summer reading planning had started and performers had already been booked.

Princess Anne: Kayla Hodgson reported that the Princess Anne branch won 2nd place for their float in the Princess Anne Christmas parade. After the parade, they hosted 100 community members for milk and cookies and photos with Santa. She also reported that Senior Moments, Intermediate Sign Language, Craft Club, and Quilters & Stitchers had great attendance over the past two months. Additionally, Youth Services Coordinator Becky Pratte was continuing to visit daycares, and Technical Services Librarian Gabe Stuckey was visiting the Tawes Nursing Home monthly. Ms. Hodgson also attended a meeting at the United Way and is working on a Health Literacy Initiative project with several other counties.

Motion to accept the branch reports was made by Beth Holmes-Mayson, seconded by Vice President Turner, and unanimously approved.

LIBRARY ADMINISTRATOR'S REPORT:

Ed Goyda presented his Director's Report for December 2018 and January 2019.

• Governance Item***

Core Services

Fine-Free Libraries: Mr. Goyda reported on fine-free initiatives that have been discussed at local, regional, and state levels and presented comparisons between the percent of Somerset residents currently banned from library services due to overdue fines in comparison to those reported by Enoch Pratt when they went fine-free last June.

He discussed the financial, customer service, staff and patron training, and implementation aspects that would be involved with a move away from fines.

President Smith requested input from the branch managers. Ms. Bradshaw stated that she had mixed opinions about this matter as she was concerned about the items being returned quickly if there was no fine to keep the patrons accountable, and she stated that, even though the current fee was only 10 cents per day, it prohibited a lot of patrons from using library services. Ms. Hodgson also expressed that many patrons are unable to use library services due to accumulated fines. Ms. Hodgson stated that the income the library receives from the fees collected is not a substantial amount, and since Somerset County is a low income area she believes the patrons would benefit from the change.

Ms. Outten noted that inflation has deteriorated the significance of overdue fines, both from a patron and a budget perspective.

Motion to accept Mr. Goyda reporting in the regional meeting that the library is moving toward being fine-free was made by President Smith, seconded by Karen Riggin, and unanimously approved.

• End of Governance Item***
• Governance Item***

Lamination Service: Mr. Goyda noted that the Library has had a few requests recently to use the laminating machines and that there would be no operational issue doing so. He requested that we add the service to the Fee Schedule at $1 per page.

Motion to accept the lamination service was made by Father Robert Laws, seconded by Marilyn Cottman, and unanimously approved.

• End of Governance Item ***

LEGO kits: Mr. Goyda noted that we are receiving LEGO kits being disbursed by the Eastern Shore Regional Library (ESRL).

Online resources: Mr. Goyda stated that ESRL was in the process of reviewing database use in preparation for their FY20 budget. He noted that there is a marketing push on-going for databases with lower usage. He also noted that Overdrive and Hoopla usage were continuing to grow at a substantial rate, and Hoopla, being based on a pay- per-use model, was consuming an increasing portion of ESRL's eResources funds.

President Smith asked if the library staff should encourage patrons to use Overdrive more than Hoopla as Hoopla is on a pay-per-use model and Overdrive is not. Ms. Hodgson explained that if an item is being used on Overdrive, the patron would have to wait for that item, whereas with Hoopla, there are an unlimited number of copies. Ms. Hodgson added that Hoopla has much more material for children.

Spring Programs: Our program booklet for Spring was complete and was distributed with the Board packet. We had printed a small batch of copies in the libraries while waiting for receipt of the main batch from ESRL's printer.

Summer Reading: The 2019 Summer Reading theme would be "A Universe of Stories". The Library had scheduled the major performers for both branches, had the majority of promotional materials and prizes on order, and was scheduling library-provided programs.

Community Outreach

Author Visit: Naomi Shihab Nye, ESRL's visiting author, had been scheduled for Greenwood Elementary on April 10.

Online Marketing: ESRL had produced several new graphics to promote online resources. Lorna Crockett had likewise updated the Library's marketing for Homework Help, Resume and Job Application Help, and Teen Gaming.

• Governance Item***

Publicity Committee: President Smith stated that Karen Riggin has agreed to chair the publicity committee and the other members of the committee were Vice President Marlena Turner, Father Robert Laws, and Marilyn Cottman.

The statement of purpose for the committee was as follows:

Publicity is the means of informing others what you do and what you can do, and its benefits for library services include increased usage, increased value in the organization, education of users and changed perceptions.

This committee will discuss activities that Board members can engage in on a formal basis, e.g., membership in other community organizations or informal basis, e.g. having "elevator speeches" prepared on specific library activities or the library in general.

This committee will make recommendations to the Board by its August 14 meeting.

Motion to accept the publicity committee was made by President Smith, seconded by Beth Holmes-Mayson, and unanimously approved.

• End of Governance Item***

Volunteer Appreciation Party: The Volunteer Appreciation Party would be held at the Crisfield Library on Friday, February 22. Invites were sent out during the week of January 14.

Community Outreach events: Mr. Goyda referred to his written report for community outreach conducted by the staff in December and January.

• Governance Item***

Community Partnership

Community Events Calendar: As part of a stated goal to "Assist in the promotion of community activities," Mr. Goyda proposed a policy governing a Community Events Calendar prepared to use our web presence for the benefit of other organizations.

Community Events Calendar Policy

The inclusion of third-party events in a Community Events calendar prepared by the Somerset County Library is intended to assist in the promotion of activities to educate and enrich our community.

Inclusion in the calendar will be granted for educational, cultural, intellectual, or charitable events that occur in or serve the general population of Somerset County and that are submitted in a timely and organized manner.

Inclusion will not be based upon the viewpoint, beliefs, or affiliations of the organization. Inclusion in the Community Events calendar does not imply library endorsement of organizations or events.

The Library Director, or a designee, is responsible for the implementation of this policy.

Motion to accept the community events calendar policy was made by Vice President Turner, seconded by Father Robert Laws, and unanimously approved.

End of Governance Item ***

Food for Fines: Food for Fines was accelerated to February 1 through February 15 due to the federal shutdown. Receipts in Princess Anne were to be given to the Seton Center, and receipts in Crisfield were to be given to Immanuel Church.

Smith Island Family Frames: Further revision of the Family Frames video had been completed, and it was being kept up-to-date at http://somelibrary.org/familyframes.php. Jana Rehak was reviewing grant opportunities for continued video and transcription production, including the manufacture of DVDs once the video portion of the project was complete. In the long-term, we would be reviewing inclusion of the source material - the photographs and the oral history recordings - in Digital Maryland.

Water/Ways: The Crisfield Heritage Foundation would be hosting the Smithsonian Institution's

Water/Ways traveling exhibition at the Tawes Museum in December 2019. Library programming during the month would incorporate the theme. We were working with the Somerset County Arts Council on a photo contest and exhibit to accompany the project.

Internal Development

Motion to enter Executive Session at 4:34 p.m. was made by Beth Homes-Mayson and was seconded by Marilyn Cottman. A roll call vote was held and all trustees voted "yes".

Executive Session

The board discussed a new staff appointment.

A motion to exit the Executive Session at 4:36 p.m. was made by President Smith and seconded by Lois Outten. A roll call vote was held and all trustees voted "yes".

Governance Item***

Appointment of Angela Schoendiest, Library Assistant: Motion to accept the appointment of Angela Schoendiest was made by Father Robert Laws, seconded by Karen Riggin and was unanimously approved.

End of Governance Item***

Governance Item***

April Board Meeting: The Maryland Association of Public Library Administrators' meeting had been scheduled for April 10 - 12 in Rocky Gap. Mr. Goyda requested a motion to move the April Board Meeting from April 10 to April 17 to allow his attendance.

Motion to accept the new April Board Meeting date was made by Vice President Turner, seconded by Beth Holmes-Mayson, and unanimously approved.

End of Governance Item***

Governance Item***

Bill Pay: Nora Hoffman requested to initiate use of online BillPay for recurring payments to specific vendors. The process would be that the signatories approve payment of the invoice and the electronic payment is then issued. (In the existing process, invoices were approved and checks signed simultaneously.) This would be applicable to the following vendors, and only the following vendors, unless this list was modified by a vote of the Library Board:

XX

Vendor	Description	Bi-Weekly	Monthly	Quarterly
Alarm Engineering	Security & Fire Monitoring Services			X
Amazon	Materials & Office Supplies		X
Arc Water Treatment	Water Treatment			X
AT&T	Long Distance Phone Service
Baker & Taylor	Materials
Bank of America	Credit Card		X
City of Crisfield	Sewer & Trash		X
Delmarva Power	Electric		X
Independent Newsmedia	Crisfield County Times Ads		X
MD Child Support Account	Troy Gale Payment		X
MD State Retirement System	Employee Retirement Contributions	X
Midwest Tape	Materials	X
Quill Corp.	Office Supplies		X
Somerset Co Commissioners	Medical Insurance		X
Somerset Co Sanitary District	Water & Sewer			X
Verizon	Phone/Internet		X
Washington Gas & Electric (c/o Somerset Co Commissioners)	Electric		X

Motion to accept the use of Bill Pay was made by Vice President Turner, seconded by Lois Outten, and unanimously approved.

End of Governance Item***

Chart of Accounts: The revised Chart of Accounts had been implemented. Current year activity had been sorted into the new chart, with the exception of the breakdowns of book purchases into categories where breakdowns did not previously exist.

Governance Item***

Check Register: Mr. Goyda noted that he had had a conversation with Ms. Outten the previous week regarding the tracking of check numbers between signings. Ms. Outten stated that there should be a log for her and President Smith to verify the continuity of numbers on the checks that each of them sign. Mr. Goyda stated that Nora Hoffman could create a basic log for them to initial each time which would provide a new form of an internal control. Ms. Hoffman suggested that she print the check register from QuickBooks in that it will give more detail and is more efficient. President Smith and Treasurer Outten both agreed to look at what Ms. Hoffman described.

Motion to introduce a new internal control to track check sequence was made by President Smith, seconded by Beth Holmes-Mayson, and unanimously approved.

End of Governance Item***

Human Resources Audit: The Eastern Shore Regional Library and the Western Maryland Regional Library had received their joint grant request to provide for auditing of the 11 libraries' policies and procedures. The process had started on Tuesday, February 12, with completion of a questionnaire to inform the process.

Innovation Grant - Rock Out While School's Out: The Library had formally received the Innovation Grant for the furnishings in the Princess Anne Teen Area. The order had been submitted via Corporate Interiors to the manufacturers. We did not yet have a delivery date. Mr. Goyda noted that an action plan has been established to prepare the branch for receipt of the furnishings.

Library Foundation: Linda Riggin had been provided with a list of collections with above average usage at the Crisfield Library for a potential mass acquisition funded by the Foundation. She had also been provided with costs for related furnishings.

Mr. Goyda stated that Ms. Riggin would be stopping by the Crisfield branch to meet with him on Thursday, February 14 or Friday, February 15.

Governance Item***

Preliminary FY 20 Budget: Mr. Goyda presented a preliminary budget for submission to the County Commissioners. Salaries and benefits used a 3.5% estimate COLA and a 10% increase in the cost of health insurance. Mr. Goyda noted that we will adjust these percentages to mirror the County as we move closer to the start of the fiscal year.

Mr. Goyda also noted that these increases do not necessarily increase the line items themselves, discussing the impact that several recent retirements have had when the soon-to-be retiree and their successor are on payroll at the same time.

Mr. Goyda noted that operating forecasts had been brought into line with current year actuals.

Vice President Turner exited the meeting at 4:49 p.m.

Motion to accept the preliminary FY 20 budget was made by Lois Outten, seconded by Marilyn

Cottman, and unanimously approved.

End of Governance Item***

Governance Item***

Salary Committee: President Smith stated that Lois Outten has agreed to chair the salary committee and the other members include Beth Holmes-Mayson and Mark Schaffer.

The statement of purpose of this committee was:

Maintaining a strong salary structure is imperative for any organization. If the salary structure gets out of sync with the overall labor market, an organization may find itself paying employees too much and needlessly increasing operating costs, or paying employees too little and having difficulty attracting and retaining talent. Salary structures help ensure that pay levels are competitive externally and equitable internally, allowing management to reward performance and skills development while controlling overall base salary costs.

A salary review is generally conducted every 3 to 5 years to determine if salaries are still aligned with the organization's needs and the labor market. It has been 10 years since the library's salary structure was formally reviewed.

This committee will review the current structure, local economic conditions, and the salary structures of peer libraries and organizations. It will report findings to the Board by its June 12 meeting for incorporation into the final FY 20 budget.

Motion to accept the salary committee was made by President Smith, seconded by Father Robert Laws, and unanimously approved.

End of Governance Item***

Staff Biographies: Mr. Goyda had distributed updated staff biographies at the start of the meeting.

Mr. Goyda stated that Ms. Hoffman's biography had been excluded from the document emailed the previous week but had been added to the current distribution.

Timekeeping & Direct Deposit: Following up on initiatives started at the December meeting, Mr. Goyda noted that 100% of the staff was now on direct deposit and that Ms. Hoffman was now receiving pay stubs and related data electronically. He stated that the implementation timeframe for Workforce Now had not met expectations and that, while the system was partially functional, we were delaying staff training and implementation until everything was complete on ADP's side.

Professional Development: Mr. Goyda referred to his written report for staff training activities in December and January.

Youth Services

Autism Awareness: Mr. Goyda discussed several events on the theme of Autism Awareness in the month of April. Turtle Dance would be joining us then, as well as during Summer Programming. Ms. Pratte and Ms. Schoendiest were working on a Social Story.

Governance Item***

Community Foundation Grant: A $5,000 Community Grant had been submitted to the Community Foundation of the Eastern Shore to acquire the programming materials attached to "Rock Out While School's Out." An email vote had been held on January 25, 2019 authorizing President Smith to sign a letter of support.

Motion to confirm the email vote was made by President Smith, seconded by Beth Holmes- Mayson and was unanimously approved.

End of Governance Item***

Preschool Development Grant: Mr. Goyda stated that we would be receiving a $1,200 grant as part of the State's receipt of a federal Preschool Development Birth through Five (PDG B-5) Grant, but that other than a list of restricted uses, we had no further information at this point.

Student Cards: Mr. Goyda noted that the student cards had been deployed and that flyers for each student went to the schools during the week of January 7. He stated that staff had been observing low awareness on the part of parents and that the Library had initiated in-house marketing to make students and parents aware.

Mr. Goyda stated that Ms. Pratte was currently making videos for the schools to promote the student cards. President Smith stated that the media specialists/school librarians should also be contacted and informed about the student cards. Beth Holmes-Mayson suggested that information about the student cards could possibly be included in the automated phone calls that the schools send the parents on Sunday evenings. Mr. Goyda stated that he will draft a brief message to be included in the call, send it to Ms. Holmes-Mayson for inclusion in Greenwood and Princess Anne Elementary's messages, and distribute it to the remaining principals.

Adjourn Marilyn Cottman motioned to adjourn the meeting. Lois Outten seconded the motion, and the motion carried. The meeting was adjourned at 5:10 p.m.

Respectfully submitted, Jaime K. Bradshaw Crisfield Library Branch Manager