MINUTES OF THE REGULAR MEETING OF JANUARY 18, 2005

The Regular Meeting of the Board of Directors of the Bucks County Free Library was held at the Library Center , Doylestown.  The meeting was called to order at 5:37 p.m.  Present:  Mary Ann Garton, President, William Draper, Vice President, Joan Bowman, Secretary, Jerry Balchis, Treasurer, Linda Brinker, Roberta Foerst, Martina Kominiarek, Executive Director, Janet Fricker, Assistant Director for Branch Libraries, Christina Snyder, Technical Services Manager, David Bauer, Business Manager, Carolyn Lechelt, Executive Secretary. 

President welcomed new Board Member Roberta Foerst.

A MOTION to APPROVE the minutes of the Regular Meeting of December 21, 2004 was made by Bowman, SECONDED by Balchis and unanimously APPROVED.

Staff Reports:                                                                                                   

Report of the Executive Director:

An inaccurate news article appeared in The Intelligencer today regarding users being bumped off public PCs after a half hour with no warning.  The correct information is that the new sign up system alerts the user that the time limit is almost up.  If no one is waiting to use the PC, the user can sign up for additional time for up to four hours in one-half hour increments.

A meeting was held with the Grundy Memorial Library to answer Grundy’s questions and share information about where Grundy will be going in the future regarding technology.  This library is a private foundation library and also a public library to a certain extent but is not eligible to participate in the state aid system.  The Foundation has very specialized needs.  The IT Dept. is working with Grundy to ascertain what  services will be provided to them by BCFL.

A meeting was held with representatives of the Bucks County Community College to discuss mutual concerns and issues.  Another meeting will be held at the College on Friday, February 4^th, 10:00 a.m.  A Board member will attend this meeting.

Draft agreements for the Community Public Libraries’ costs supported by County tax dollars in 2005 regarding Network and Operating Costs for Technical Services/Delivery and Information Technology Depts. were reviewed at the December District Library Center meeting.  The Board received copies of these draft agreements and they will be provided to the Commissioners and entered into the January 2005 minutes as an addendum.  There will be another meeting with the CPLs on February 1^st, 7:00 p.m. to further review the technology agreements.

Ms. Kominiarek distributed copies of proposed changes to the monthly Statistical Report and Senior Staff Projects for 2005.  

Report of Assistant Director for Branch Libraries

Worked on implementing restoration of hours and opening on Sundays for the Library Center in order to meet state standards of 65 hours a week.   Two Reference staff positions have been added:  Reference/Collection Librarian and an Evening & Sunday Supervisor.  15 hour clerical assistants have had their hours restored to 20 hours per week and Shelver hours have been increased.  The first Sunday open will be January 16^th.  Increased hours go into effect January 17.

Have been working with Middle Atlantic Employers Association (MEA) on the job audits.  Presented a status report on the work being done by the Assistant Director and MEA on job descriptions for every position.  Job descriptions will be done in two phases:  (1) Union-eligible positions and (2) Administrative staff positions. 

Working with MEA to update the Human Resources Policy Manual and institute new policies where needed. 

President announced that because of all the personnel work being done, she will be re-instituting the Personnel Committee.  Once the Board is complete, she will be able to get a better idea of whom she will appoint to serve on the Standing Committees.  Ms. Garton proposes each committee set aside a date every month to meet rather than scheduling on an ongoing basis.  Further discussions will be held with the Board Members regarding this matter.

Presented written Personnel Report for December 2004.

Presented written Statistical Report for December 2004.

Report of Coordinator of Public Services/District Consultant:

Ms. O’Rourke gave an update on One Book One Bucks County .  She received a Pennsylvania Humanities Council grant in the amount of $11,530.  She will receive an additional $10,000 matching grant if she can fundraise $6,000.  So far she has received commitments of $2,600.  Ms. O’Rourke reviewed the costs she will incur and her plans for covering these costs.  Tickets for Art Spiegelman’s appearance at the Sellersville Theatre will go on sale February 1^st.  There will be two tiers of tickets:  1^st tier - 40 seats at $150 (this includes a luncheon with Mr. Spiegelman) and 2^nd tier - $35 a seat for the appearance only.

Report of Information Technology Manager submitted in writing.  Because of the One Card System and anticipated SIRSI upgrade, minor policy changes will need to be made in March 2005.  Bensalem and Doylestown staff have worked hard to help work out the bugs and understand the quirks of the new system.  Anticipated installation for other five BCFL branches is January 31^st; the eight CPLs who requested the system will go live the third week of February. 

Report of the Business Manager:

A MOTION to APPROVE the payment of bills for December 2004 in the amount of $466,534.13 was made by Bowman, SECONDED by Draper and unanimously APPROVED.                                                                               

A MOTION to APPROVE the preliminary Financial Statements for December 2004 (subject to audit) was made by Brinker, SECONDED by Bowman and APPROVED unanimously.         

Mr. Bauer reported that he had received four bids for a new delivery truck.  Phillips Ford of Mannheim , PA submitted the lowest bid of $26,057.75.  Mr. Bauer asked for approval.  A MOTION to APPROVE the awarding of the lowest bid in the amount of $26,075.75 to Phillips Ford was made by Balchis, SECONDED by Draper and APPROVED unanimously.

Mr. Bauer requested that the Board approve increasing the travel mileage reimbursement from .0375 to .0450 cents to comply with the Internal Revenue Service guidelines and the County of Bucks .  A MOTION to APPROVE increasing the travel mileage reimbursement to .0450 cents effective January 19, 2005 was made by Brinker, SECONDED by Draper and unanimously APPROVED.

The HVAC at the Perkasie Branch is due for replacement.  It will be necessary to obtain an engineering study before specs can be drawn up.  Mr. Bauer will contact three local engineering firms and ask them to present proposals to the Building Committee.  It is anticipated that the cost of the engineering study will be paid with Capital funds.  Ms. Kominiarek pointed out that the Pierce Library Association owns the building.  She has been in contact with Bill Shelley, President of PLA.  Mr. Shelley asked that he be kept informed of the results of the engineering study and the project.

Board Reports:

Building, Fundraising, and Technology Committees did not meet. 

Finance Committee –  Three bids were received for the Library’s Liability and Directors’ Insurance.  One bidder only bid on the Directors liability insurance.  Two insurance brokers presented their proposals to the Building Committee.  The Committee recommends awarding the bid to Bean Mason and Eyer.  A MOTION to AWARD the Liability and Directors’ Insurance policy to Bean Mason and Eyer was made by Bowman, SECONDED by Balchis and so APPROVED.

Correspondence – submitted in writing.  The Friends of the Perkasie Branch have agreed to send BCFL their monthly minutes and financial reports.

Meeting was opened to Public Comment.  No public in attendance.                                                                                                                                                                                  

Unfinished Business - None

New Business - None

There being no further business, a MOTION to ADJOURN was made at 6:15 p.m. by Draper, SECONDED by Balchis and so MOVED.

Respectfully submitted,

                                                                                    Carolyn Lechelt

Executive Secretary

APPROVED BY BOARD OF DIRECTORS

FEBRUARY 15, 2005

ADDENDUM

to

MINUTES of JANUARY 18, 2005

COMMUNITY PUBLIC LIBRARY COSTS

SUPPORTED BY COUNTY TAX DOLLARS IN 2005

January 18, 2005

Technical Services/Delivery

This department orders, processes, catalogs, and delivers materials (books, etc.) to Bucks County branches and Community Libraries. In addition, because of bulk discounts, Community Libraries receive a financial benefit from purchasing through the County that they would not receive if approaching vendors separately on their own. County dollars will subsidize all personnel costs (100%) of the Technical Services/Delivery Department in Doylestown ($581,297). State dollars (District, County Coordination ) will subsidize all operational costs of Technical Services/Delivery ($175,570).

The dollar amount funded per Community directly by County tax dollars is shown below. There is no fee or bill to Community Libraries in 2005 for these services. The dollar amount is calculated as follows:

1. Take the number of books ordered, processed, cataloged, and delivered to a Community library.
2. Determine what percentage this is of the total number of books ordered, processed, cataloged, and delivered to all libraries.
3. Take the total Technical Services/Delivery personnel budget.
4. Take the same percentage of the budget as the percentage of books ordered, processed, cataloged, and delivered to a Community library.

Total Technical Services/Delivery Personnel Budget:       $581,297

Total Technical Services/Delivery Operations Budget:     $175,570

Community Library	% Total Budget	Funded by County
Fallsington	.78	$4,534
Grundy ( Bristol )	6.90	$40,086
Lower Southampton (Feasterville)	5.76	$33,369
Morrisville	1.38	$8,022
New Hope	2.05	$11,915
Northampton	6.40	$37,216
Pipersville	.60	$3,488
Riegelsville	.64	$3,720
Southampton	4.45	$25,856
Warminster	6.67	$38,789
Wrightstown	1.47	$8,545
TOTAL	37.1	$215,540

 

 

COMMUNITY PUBLIC LIBRARY COSTS

SUPPORTED BY COUNTY TAX DOLLARS IN 2005

January 11, 2005

Information Technology

This department provides all technology support for the SIRSI checkout system and staff and public computers, including Internet, at County and Community libraries. Based on how large and busy each Community Library is, as reflected in circulation (checkout) and population data, County dollars are providing different levels of funding to Community Libraries.

Technology costs are calculated using a PC per unit cost model, which is standard in the Information Technology industry. Using this model, all annual operations and staff costs are totaled. This total dollar amount is divided by the total number of PCs at all locations. This number equals the per-PC unit cost. To determine the total cost at any location, the total number of PCs is multiplied by the PC unit cost.

The industry standard ranges from $3,000-$8,000 per PC, depending on what services are being provided. The Bucks County Free Library per-PC unit cost in 2005 will be $2,111, considerably lower than the industry standard. County dollars will subsidize $162,547 of Community Library PC unit costs and State dollars will subsidize $82,329 as shown below.

Community Library	Total PCs	Total PCs Funded by County	Total PCs Funded by State	Total County Funding	Total State Funding	Total County Bill to Community Library
Fallsington	4	2	1	$4,222	$2,111	$2,111
Grundy ( Bristol )	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
Feasterville	25	16	8	$33,776	$16,888	$2,111
Morrisville	4	5	3	$10,555	$6,333	$0
New Hope	9	5	3	$10,555	$6,333	$2,111
Northampton	22	16	8	$33,776	$16,888	$0
Pipersville	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
Riegelsville	4	2	1	$4,222	$2,111	$2,111
Southampton	21	13	6	$27,443	$12,666	$4,222
Warminster	24	16	8	$33,776	$16,888	$0
Wrightstown	6	2	1	$4,222	$2,111	$6,333
TOTAL	119	75	38	$162,547	$82,329	$18,999

LIBRARY STANDARDS AND LIBRARY PCs

The State Library of Pennsylvania does not have professional standards or guidelines for how many public/Internet access PCs a library should own to deliver optimal services to library users. While many County library technology decisions in 2004 and 2005 were based simply on lack of funding, the Bucks County Free Library board and staff are researching and developing guidelines for future decision-making and goals.

A common standard for determining how many PCs are needed at a library is the “per capita” approach. Shown below is a “per capita” analysis based on a goal of providing 1 PC per 1500 residents in a library’s service area. Nationally, per capita standards may be as minimal as 1 PC per 2500 residents. 1500 is most often cited as the highest standard, however 1000 may be a more desirable goal. The numbers given for Total PCs Per Location include staff and public PCs; the standard is only for public PCs.