The Regular Meeting of the Board of Directors of the Bucks County Free Library was held at the District Library Center in Doylestown. The meeting was called to order at 5:30 p.m. Present were:  Det Ansinn, Vice President; Roberta Foerst, Secretary; Jerry Balchis, Treasurer; Bill Draper and Mary Ann Beltz, Board Trustees; Martina Kominiarek, Executive Director; Sue Ziegler, Public Services Director; John Doran, Business Officer; and Pam Riley, Executive Assistant. Also in attendance were Barbara Barbon, Circulation Manager/Doylestown and Diane Kraus, Union Steward/Doylestown, along with Mary Pellak, BCFL Consultant.

A MOTION to APPROVE the minutes of the Regular Meeting of July 15, 2008 was made by Draper, SECONDED by Balchis and unanimously APPROVED.

 

STAFF REPORTS

Report of Circulation Manager/Doylestown

Circulation manager Barbara Barbon was excited to report on the tremendous circulation occurring at Doylestown this summer, with “tons of books” being checked out. She said that in July 105,213 items were checked out, and they registered 701 new patrons, which was a huge increase from last year. She said the deluge is winding down as the Summer Reading Program has ended and the end of summer nears.

Barbon stated that her position enables her to obtain a lot of feedback from customers, and she said there were three comments she hears consistently:

• She hears many positive comments on the convenience of the 24/7 book drop, especially from mothers of young children and from senior citizens.
  
• Customers love the two-part library cards, available to new registrants, which allows them to put the smaller version on their key chain (identical to what retail stores do). People love it and use it.
  
• With the advent of patron-placed holds she is hearing that customers just love this new service. They even love the self-service retrieval system where customers can get their books off the special section of shelves where they are kept.

 

Barbon remarked on the Sirsi Conference she was able to attend in Michigan earlier this year, which she said was filled with valuable information on what is coming up and soon to be available for the Sirsi system used by BCFL.

Report of Youth Services Consultant

Newly-appointed Youth Services Consultant Connie Hillman introduced herself and spoke on the awarding of the grand prize for the Summer Reading Program. She stated that on Friday, August 15, the grand prize winner’s name was selected at a special event at the Township Library of Lower Southampton. Ashley Myers of Doylestown was the winner of a $2,500 gift card to the Great Wolf Lodge Resort in the Poconos plus a $100 WaWa gas gift card. Ashley and her family were present at the board meeting to receive the prize. Hillman said that although the final statistics are not in for Summer Reading, she anticipates that they will probably increase by at least one third over last year’s program.

Report of Executive Director: 
Executive Director Martina Kominiarek thanked the Township Library of Lower Southampton/Feasterville for sponsoring the Summer Reading Program grand prize event at their library, which included an ice cream social, face painting, balloon animals, and stories. Special thanks went to Henry Carroll, their board president, for helping out with the grand prize drawing. Also, thanks to Feasterville’s Sally Pollock, library director, and Bonnie Reeves, youth services librarian, who organized the event. A full report on the summer reading program will be presented at the September board meeting.

Kominiarek said that she met with the BCFL Communications Task Force Committee to discuss specific projects and concerns. Mary Pellak, Consultant to BCFL, is providing continuous improvement techniques for communication. Several of her suggestions will be utilized on upcoming projects.

In response to Barbon’s comments on increased circulation, Kominiarek said that a Morning Call article stated that librarians interviewed from several different counties said that they are seeing 2% - 3% increase in circulation, probably as a result of the state of the economy. Our statistics show that BCFL has been experiencing a 10% increase.

 

Report of Public Services Director (submitted in writing)
Public Services Director Sue Ziegler reported that the Bensalem branch will be closing from October 20 through November 19, 2008 for a complete parking lot renovation. As a result, passport services will also be unavailable during that time. Bensalem customers will be offered the opportunity to utilize the Feasterville library for picking up online-placed holds. We will partner with Feasterville by positioning a Bensalem staff member there to help handle holds requests.

 

Report of Business Officer
MOTION to APPROVE the payment of bills for July in the amount of $587,042.30 was made by Foerst, SECONDED by Beltz and APPROVED unanimously.

MOTION to APPROVE the July financial statements (subject to audit) was made by Beltz, SECONDED by Foerst, and APPROVED unanimously.

 

Board Committee Reports:  None

Correspondence – Submitted in writing and reviewed at the meeting. Board Vice President Det Ansinn noted the thank you letter from Executive Director Kominiarek to former BCFL board president Joan Bowman, and he stated that the board additionally thanks her for her time and service on the BCFL board.

 

Public Comment – (Commented at end of meeting) Diane Kraus, Union Steward for Doylestown, introduced herself to the board and stated that she was now serving as Head Steward for all of BCFL. She stated that it was a privilege to do so, and she hoped to increase communication and respect between staff and management.

 

Unfinished business –  None

 

New Business – The 2008-09 Application for State Aid was submitted for board approval. A MOTION to APPROVE the application was made by Balchis, SECONDED by Draper and APPROVED unanimously

As a result of the vacant BCFL board president position, a MOTION for Vice President Det Ansinn to serve as president of the BCFL board was made by Beltz, SECONDED by Foerst, and APPROVED unanimously.

As a result of the now-vacant BCFL board vice president position, a MOTION to have board trustee Bill Draper serve as vice president was MADE by Beltz, SECONDED by Ansinn, and APPROVED unanimously.

There being no further business, a MOTION to ADJOURN was made at 5:58 p.m. by Draper, SECONDED by Foerst and so MOVED.

Respectfully submitted,

 

     Pamela J. Riley

 

Executive Assistant