The Regular Meeting of the Board of Directors of the Bucks County Free Library was held at the Bensalem branch.  The meeting was called to order at 5:30 p.m.  Present were:  Joan Bowman, President; Roberta Foerst , Secretary; Jerry Balchis, Treasurer; Mary Ann Garton; Steven Dilliplane; Det Ansinn; Martina Kominiarek, Executive Director; Sue Ziegler , Public Services Director; Janet Marnatti, Collection Management Director; David Bauer, Business Manager; Jerry Szpila, Branch Librarian/Bensalem; Pam Riley, Executive Assistant. William Draper, Vice President, was absent.

 

A MOTION to APPROVE the minutes of the Regular Meeting of March 20, 2007 was made by Balchis, SECONDED by Foerst and unanimously APPROVED.

 

 

STAFF REPORTS

 

Report of Branch Librarian/Bensalem

 

Jerry Szpila, Branch Librarian, welcomed the board to the Bensalem branch, with the Board meeting falling during National Library Week and on the same day as Library Staff Appreciation Day. He thanked the Board for the lunch refreshments that were supplied to them that day.

 

He noted that the newly-extended hours at Bensalem have shown a very positive response from the community. Hours were added allowing the library to be open on Wednesday evenings and Monday and Tuesday mornings, with circulation up six percent in the first two months.

 

The library’s outreach and public relations efforts included Starbuck’s Read Across America campaign, which garnered a $1,000 donation to the Bensalem library from Starbucks, a segment on the library airing on the local cable station, participation in the judging of the 2007 Lower Bucks Corporate Spelling Bee and participation in Bensalem Pride Day.

 

The passport services have been in high demand as federal regulations were revised, requiring citizens to have a passport for virtually any travel outside of the United States . So far they have seen requests nearly double that of last year.

 

Lastly, inspired by their attendance at the Public Library Association’s (PLA) Boot Camp in November, the Branch and Assistant Branch Librarians are planning an interior redesign of the Bensalem library to occur in 2008. Passport revenues will be used to fund that project.

 

 

Report of Executive Director: 

 

The Executive Director made an announcement that Jan Dickler, Branch Librarian at Levittown , had accepted an opportunity to be Branch Librarian at the Pennwood Branch in Langhorne. She is very excited to be headed there. Mike Barba will be the Acting Assistant Branch Librarian. They both hope to work at creating a fresh look at our oldest branch library. We are hopeful that the Assistant Branch Librarian at Levittown, Mary Ann Bursk, will accept the Branch Librarian position at Levittown .

 

The Legislative Breakfast, co-sponsored by the Bucks County Free Library and State Representative Scott Petri, is scheduled to be held on Friday, April 20^th from 9:00 – 11:00 a.m. Approximately 35 people are expected to attend.

 

Union negotiations are now in the hands of a mediator, and we are hopeful that negotiations will conclude over the next several meetings.

 

We have received quotes for the engineering studies for the Bensalem parking lot and have chosen one at a cost of $2,500. They are available for review.

 

Recently, the Doylestown Library Center gained some attention on the popular website Youtube.com when a comedic film clip that was filmed in part at the library was played there. The clip became so popular that it was viewed 2.3 million times and became Youtube’s #1 comedy clip of the month. A concerned library patron first alerted administration to the video. Once we determined that it was filmed at the Doylestown Library, the Executive Director shared the information with both the board president and the library’s attorney. Discussion ensued on whether it was legal to come into the library to film patrons. It was determined that since it is a public place, no special laws prohibit filming, although it must be brief and
non-disruptive. The Executive Director spoke with Brian Calloway of the Morning Call, who did a story on the video. She also spoke with Kevin Nalty, creator of the video, who may come to DY to make a presentation. Youtube is very popular among young adults, and Kevin Nalty’s videos on Youtube are also consistently popular. It is felt that many young adults might be attracted to a program with Mr. Nalty as the presenter. So far there have only been favorable comments about how professionally the library staff, who were not aware of the filming, were depicted.

 

 

 

 

Report of Public Services Director (submitted in writing)

 

The Public Services Director thanked the Board for acknowledging staff with lunch refreshments at all the branches and departments that day.

 

She also informed the Board that many branches were celebrating One Book with a reading promotion. Since Michener’s “South Pacific” was the featured book, the Yardley-Makefield branch got into the spirit by donning sailor hats and straw hats.

 

On Monday, April 23 at 6:00 p.m. at the Neshaminy Mall, BCFL will have a team competing in the Lower Bucks Corporate Spelling Bee. The team consists of:  Darcy Fair and Barb Likens, Yardley-Makefield Branch; Mary Wieczezynski, Levittown Branch; and Frances Scordia, Pennwood Branch (Langhorne). Everyone wishes them good luck and thanks them for representing BCFL and participating in the event.

 

The Public Services Director addressed the circulation statistics showing Doylestown library down 10%. She felt that the snow and ice storms of March caused attendance to be lower in hard-hit Doylestown.

 

 

Report of System Services Director (submitted in writing)

 

 

Report of Development Director (submitted in writing)

 

Board member Det Ansinn said that there will be a resolution for a Keystone Grant next month for Board members to review once total costs are determined for the parking lot at the Bensalem branch. The Board will be asked to commit to matching funds.

 

Report of District Consultant (submitted in writing).

 

Report of Youth Services Consultant (submitted in writing)

 

 

Report of Collection Management Director (submitted in writing)

 

Report of Technical Services Manager (submitted in writing)

 

 

Report of Business Manager

MOTION to APPROVE the payment of bills for March 2007 in the amount of $394,707.29 was made by Balchis, SECONDED by Ansinn and APPROVED unanimously.

 

MOTION to APPROVE the March 2007 financial statements (subject to audit) was made by Garton, SECONDED by Ansinn, and unanimously APPROVED.

 

The Business Manager asked for approval of a resolution to use the Pennsylvania Capital City (PACC) Automotive and Equipment Contract to purchase a truck for use for deliveries at BCFL. He called the county Purchasing Department, and they only had positive comments regarding using PACC. He is dealing with New Holland in locating a truck that meets our specifications, including a cube and shelving. He said he would probably have the quote by the end of the week. He stated there were no costs entailed in dealing with PACC. If the resolution is approved, it would be valid for this truck only. This vehicle is coming piecemeal and will be in the mid to high $30,000 range for a diesel truck with 14’ cube and shelving. MOTION to APPROVE the resolution to participate was made by Ansinn, SECONDED by Balchis and unanimously APPROVED.

 

The Board was asked to approve a vendor for wiring at the Perkasie branch, which is part of the PBX project. The Business Manager said that Javier Lanchang, System Services Director, has asked that the low bidder of $6,795.00 be approved.  MOTION to APPROVE the vendor quote of $6,795.00 was made by Foerst, SECONDED by Garton and unanimously APPROVED.

 

Board Committee Reports:

 

Board President Joan Bowman encouraged all available Board members to attend the Legislative Breakfast that Friday, April 20. Det Ansinn, Steve Dilliplane and Roberta Foerst all indicated that they would be available to attend the event. She also noted a great resource for board members is the “Handbook for Public Library Trustees,” and offered to share this handbook with any members who were interested.

 

Correspondence – Discussed a complaint letter received from a Levittown patron regarding a facility maintenance issue he had encountered during several visits to the library. The BCFL Facilities Manager was alerted to the problem, and it was felt that there could be several causes, all of which would be more closely watched by the custodian of that facility.

 

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

 

Unfinished business –None

 

New Business – None

 

President called for an Executive Session at 6:04 p.m.

 

Meeting was reopened to public at 6:40 p.m.

                                                                                               

There being no further business, a MOTION to ADJOURN was made at 6:40 p.m. by Garton, SECONDED by Ansinn and so MOVED.

           

Respectfully submitted,

 

                                                                        Pamela J. Riley

 

Executive Assistant