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 5:33 p.m. Present were:  Joan Bowman, President; Det Ansinn, Vice President; Roberta Foerst, Secretary; Jerry Balchis, Treasurer; William Draper, Mary Ann Beltz and Steven Dilliplane, Board Trustees; Martina Kominiarek , Executive Director; Sue Ziegler, Public Services Director; Javier Lanchang , System Services Director; David Bauer, Business Manager; and Pam Riley , Executive Assistant. Also in attendance were Roberta Yakovich, District Center Librarian and Regina Switzer, Union Steward.

 

A MOTION to APPROVE the minutes of the Regular Meeting of December 18, 2007 was made by Foerst, SECONDED by Ansinn, and unanimously APPROVED.

 

 

STAFF REPORTS

 

Report of District Center Librarian/Doylestown

 

Roberta Yakovich, newly-appointed District Center Librarian, commented on how her appointment is the second time during this past year that a Youth Services Librarian has been appointed to the position of Branch Librarian. She said that although the skills of a Youth Services Librarian translate well to this type of position, in the past Youth Services professionals were not considered for positions beyond that of Assistant Branch Librarian if they were not willing to give up Youth Services work. She thanked everyone for the opportunity, and stated that she hoped to be an effective liaison between the branch and administration. She also stated that she plans to be out on the floor as much as possible so as to maintain a constant knowledge of the pulse of the branch, both from the perspective of her staff and the public.

 

Report of Executive Director 

Executive Director Martina Kominiarek gave an update on her activities. She recently completed the review of the end-of-year financial statements.  She has also been reviewing self evaluations submitted from her staff, which she will use to complete her own self evaluation to submit to the board at the next meeting.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

She gave an update on the Keystone Grant that was awarded to BCFL for Bensalem branch improvements. She noted that the County has agreed to make a resolution stating that the facility will be used “as a public library for 50 years or the useful life of the project to be funded by the grant, whichever is shorter,” which is a requirement for final approval of the grant.

 

Also, the Pennwood Library in Langhorne is progressing nicely with the renovations that are ongoing there. It is scheduled for completion in late April.

 

On Thursday and Friday, January 17 & 18, our Strategic Planning Consultant, June Garcia, will be at the District Library Center to train staff on how to determine what activities are effective and desirable to utilize in obtaining our goals and objectives. She will return on February 14 & 15 from 9:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., with the presentation on the 14^th being especially pertinent for board members, as it will deal with policies and how they affect the achievability of the goals and objectives that are set. Board members will be sent an e-mail with more information about this upcoming event.

 

Report of Public Services Director (submitted in writing)

Sue Ziegler, Public Services Director, remarked on the wonderful job Bensalem branch staff did during their recent power outage, which forced the branch to close for two days while repairs were made to restore it. The following Saturday they had 92 passport applications to process, which they dealt with efficiently and promptly.

 

Report of System Services Director (submitted in writing)

System Services Director Javier Lanchang was at the Bensalem branch while repairs were made. He reiterated Sue Ziegler’s sentiments about how great staff members were throughout the ordeal.

BCFL is responsible for the cost of the repair. The total cost of replacing the external power line is $11,600.

 

 

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 December 2007 in the amount of $996,763.11 was made by Draper, SECONDED by Balchis and APPROVED unanimously.

 

David Bauer, Business Manager, stated that with the end-of-year financial statements 98% done, he predicts that we will end up well within our budget.

 

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

 

David Bauer stated that as previously discussed at a board meeting, liability insurance, which includes workmen’s compensation, will be renewed bi-annually rather than every year. The BCFL broker gave us his assurance that changes in costs would be minimal at best, with the exception of workmen’s compensation, which is not under his control. Although the percentage used to tax wages has gone down minutely from .0063% to .0062%, the salary base is larger and we will, therefore, see a cost increase in this area. In past years BCFL’s Pennsylvania Unemployment Tax (PUT) was being calculated punitively and was over 5%. This year it has dropped down to 3%, with a resulting savings of over $20,000 for 2008.   

 

MOTION to APPROVE the liability and workmen’s compensation insurance for 2008 was made by Beltz, SECONDED by Ansinn, and APPROVED unanimously.

 

 

Board Committee Reports

Ad Hoc Committee – Det Ansinn, Board Trustee, spoke on the issues of term limits and required meeting attendance for board members that this committee is addressing. The committee felt that setting mandatory term limits may result in the loss of knowledgeable, experienced members. As for required meeting attendance, the committee felt that missing five per year could be just cause for removal from the board at the commissioners’ discretion, with contributing factors, such as illness, taken into consideration. The by-laws will be revised and brought to the board and BCFL attorney Dave Spitko for review.

 

President Joan Bowman said that once the by-laws are completed, the board committees will most likely be streamlined to include Finance and Governance only.

 

Steve Dilliplane, Board Trustee, will head up the Governance Committee. They will meet on Tuesday, January 22, 2008 at 5:30 p.m.

 

 

 

Martina Kominiarek asked about discontinuing the detailed, monthly board reports currently submitted from all directors and managers. As part of the ongoing changes the board is making in conjunction with the ideas garnered from the Michael Kumer board workshop held in November, it was felt that one monthly consolidated report from the Executive Director would more efficiently substitute for the numerous reports that the board must review each month. Any interesting newspaper articles or photos could still be shared with the board via e-mail. The board agreed that it would be a great idea to implement this new change as soon as possible.

 

 

Correspondence – Submitted in writing

 

 

Public Comment – No public commented.

 

 

Unfinished business –  The board was asked to approve the concept of Organizational Competencies as it moves forward.

 

MOTION to APPROVE the concept of Organizational Competencies was made by Foerst, SECONDED by Balchis, and APPROVED unanimously.

 

 

New Business – The board was informed of two staff merit increases that have been awarded.

 

 

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

 

        

Respectfully submitted,

 

                                                                           Pamela J. Riley

 

Executive Assistant

 

 

APPROVED BY BOARD OF DIRECTORS

FEBRUARY 19, 2008