The Regular Meeting of the Board of Directors of the Bucks County Free Library was held at the Perkasie branch. The meeting was called to order at 5:30 p.m. Present were:  Joan Bowman, President; William Draper, Vice President;
Roberta Foerst, Secretary; Jerry Balchis, Treasurer; Mary Ann Garton,
Steven Dilliplane, and Det Ansinn, Board Trustees;  Martina Kominiarek , Executive Director; Sue Ziegler, Public Services Director; David Bauer, Business Manager; Beth Anderson, Branch Librarian/Perkasie; Diane Kraus, Union Steward/DY; and  Pam Riley, Executive Assistant.

 

A MOTION to APPROVE the minutes of the Regular Meeting of May 16, 2007 was made by Draper, SECONDED by Ansinn and unanimously APPROVED.

 

 

STAFF REPORTS

 

Report of Branch Librarian/Perkasie

 

Beth Anderson acknowledged the Friends of Perkasie Library and especially
Grace Godshall, who provided the ample refreshments for this board meeting. She noted that it was the first time the board meeting had been held at the Perkasie library during the summer months. In the past several months the Perkasie library staff had undergone some challenges brought about by the construction and opening of a water park adjacent to the library. They were forced to have their water shut down during this time, and as a result, became very familiar with the members of the water authority. She said that although there were some frustrations and trials, she found some opportunities as well. For example, she decided to look towards the water park as a mutually-beneficial outreach opportunity. The staff at the pool tried to encourage children to rest periodically as a safety precaution. To this end the library was able to suggest a storytime to encourage the children to participate in a relaxing activity and at the same time make them aware of the library.

 

Beth distributed “before and after” photos of the Perkasie library’s shelves showing the effects of the weeding that they started in 2003. The shelves are more
user-friendly with materials that are far easier to find. 

 

 

 

 

Report of Executive Director: 

 

 

The Executive Director noted that the strategic planning grant was reviewed extensively at the last DAC meeting. June Garcia will be here in the fall to help our branch librarians and CPLs to develop strategic planning goals that fit a larger system plan. Training will be provided for every staff member by their attendance at a two-hour long session on July 26 or July 27. Four sessions will be scheduled. There will also be one session specifically for board members only. A planning committee will be formed that will consist primarily of community members and will meet with June Garcia on September 5 and October 10. One suggestion was made to advertise for well-rounded candidates on the BCFL website.

 

 

Report of Public Services Director (submitted in writing)

 

The Public Services Director noted that Beth Anderson, Perkasie Branch Librarian, is the chair of a newly-developed Communications Taskforce that is currently developing a mission statement. They are planning to implement a survey to staff to find out their priorities in this regard. The committee includes the System Services Director and three other staff members.

 

 

Report of System Services Director (submitted in writing)

 

 

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 May 2007 in the amount of $401,168.80 was made by Draper, SECONDED by Ansinn and APPROVED unanimously.

 

MOTION to APPROVE the May 2007 financial statements (subject to audit) was made by Bowman, SECONDED by Balchis, and unanimously APPROVED.

Board Committee Reports:

 

President’s Report – (submitted in writing)

 

Visited with Pennwood staff and met with the new branch librarian, Jan Dickler, who gave a tour of the library and her new office. During her visit the branch librarian discussed her plans for the Pennwood library and shared her enthusiasm and excitement of the challenges that lay ahead.

 

The President noted that she had joined the Pennsylvania Citizens for Better Libraries (PCBL). She said that in their most recent newsletter there is an acknowledgement of our library as a nominee of the IMLS Award due to Congressman Patrick Murphy’s involvement. She also pointed out another article on a new book entitled, Heart of the Community:  The Libraries We Love,” which included the Riegelsville and New Hope-Solebury Libraries under the “Libraries of Distinction.”

 

Building, Library Services, Personnel and Development Committees did not meet.

 

Since there is currently no Development Director, the Development Committee will not meet until further notice. The Executive Director would like to meet with the full board or one of the established committees to discuss how the board would like to proceed with the development area before posting for this position.

 

Finance Committee – Jerry Balchis discussed how BCFL’s liability insurance has been bid out annually over the past three years. The Business Manager proposed for this year as a time-saving measure to renew with the current broker, Bean, Mason & Eyer, as they have consistently given us the lowest bid. The Finance Committee finds that it is a time-consuming and laborious process to bid this out and recommends that it is unnecessary to do so for the upcoming year.

 

A new Petty Cash policy and procedure along with a transmittal form has been developed and is being reviewed by the staff members who will utilize it, and they have been given an opportunity to make suggestions regarding the policy and form.

 

The Executive Director and System Services Director will be presenting a new formula to the CPLs for configuring the costs for consortium billing that will actually allow each library to have more PCs without increasing costs to them. They would incur the cost of the computers, but the service expense would not increase. The wiring expense would be their responsibility, and they would also have to follow a 1/4 replacement plan, which ensures that IT network costs will be kept in check (one fourth of all their computers are replaced by new ones per year). The Finance Committee reviewed the proposed plan. The next step is to present it at a special CAC meeting being held on June 27, 2007 for their approval. The final step will be to present it to the board for approval.

 

Correspondence

 

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

 

Unfinished business –None

 

New Business – Diane Kraus, Union Steward for the Doylestown library, stated that the union members plan to have a steward or representative attend each board meeting in an effort to improve communication.

 

Library Aides will be given the new Pennsylvania minimum wage rate of $7.15 effective July 1, 2007. (Since this is state law, it is not actionable.)

 

Performance bonuses were reviewed and discussed at a Personnel Committee meeting last fall. Non-bargaining unit employees have always received the same increase that the bargaining unit employees receive. We are moving away from automatic to performance-based increases for non-union employees. We will be formalizing this procedure through the development of an Administration Compensation Plan in the coming months.

 

The union contract is in the final stage, awaiting formal approval by the members. Both sides worked really hard trying to be fair, and both sides had to relent on some items. The whole process took months due to delays caused by many factors beyond anyone’s control.

 

A MOTION to APPROVE the Agreement Between the Bucks County Free Library and District Council 88, American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, AFL-CIO dated May 24, 2007 was made by Garton, SECONDED by Draper and APPROVED unanimously.

 

There being no further business, a MOTION to ADJOURN was made at 6:18 p.m. by Draper, SECONDED by Ansinn and so MOVED.

           

Respectfully submitted,

 

                                                                              Pamela J. Riley

 

Executive Assistant

 

 

APPROVED BY BOARD OF DIRECTORS

JULY 17, 2007