The Regular Meeting of the Board of Directors of the Bucks County Free Library was held at the Yardley-Makefield branch. The meeting was called to order at 5:34 p.m. Present were:  Det Ansinn, President; Roberta Foerst, Secretary; Jerry Balchis, Treasurer; Mary Ann Beltz, , Board Trustee; Martina Kominiarek, Executive Director; and Pam Riley , Executive Assistant. Also in attendance were Jeannie Alexander, Yardley-Makefield Branch Librarian and Barbara Likens, Yardley-Makefield Union Steward. Bill Draper, Vice President, and John Doran, Chief Financial Officer, were absent.

A MOTION to APPROVE the minutes of the Regular Meeting of  September 16, 2008 was made by Foerst, SECONDED by Beltz and unanimously APPROVED.

STAFF REPORTS

Report of Branch Librarian/Yardley-Makefield Library

Branch Librarian Jeannie Alexander welcomed everyone to the branch, stating that the branch has a reputation for excellent customer service. Circulation Manager Anne Reiser brought in the circulation staff for introductions stating that they do a fantastic job every day and met the challenges of a tremendously busy summer, which included a rapidly-increasing number of holds to process.

Youth Services Assistant Jeannie Zylber gave a presentation on their outreach program, which included spelling out the word “O-U-T-R-E-A-C-H” by stating what each letter means to them.

Report of Executive Director: 

Executive Director Martina Kominiarek stated that with BCFL’s Amnesty Week approaching in November she wanted the board to see the press release and bookmarks that will help spread the word about this event. Although a lot of press was received regarding Unique Management Services upcoming collection process, it was important to publicize Amnesty Week and the specifics of Unique’s services.

A revision to the monthly circulation statistics was explained. Previously, online renewals were all defaulted to one library – first Doylestown, then Levittown, as there was no Sirsi program that could be run to break down the numbers in a meaningful way. After speaking with the State library, it was decided that online renewals would be counted by which library owns the book that is being renewed. As a result, the circulation statistics going back to January 2008 were revised to reflect the change in accounting for online renewals.

An update on ongoing policy development/revision was given to the board. The Friends policy needs to be updated, and the board was supplied with questions that need to be answered in order to complete this policy.

At a prior board meeting the Inclement Weather and Building Maintenance policies were distributed for the board’s review. The Inclement Weather policy was discussed, and two minor revisions were determined: 1) to place the last paragraph in boldface type to emphasize that because of the widespread locations of the branches throughout Bucks County, decisions will be based individually on the library’s location; and 2) delete some boldface type in the second paragraph that was explanatory and not part of the policy. The Chief Financial Officer will be the Executive Director’s designee should she not be available, and it was recommended that the board should have an alternate designee as well.

MOTION to APPROVE the Inclement Weather policy as amended was made by Beltz, SECONDED by Balchis, and APPROVED unanimously.

Next, the Building Maintenance policy was discussed. This is a new policy that outlines the role of the facility manager and facility-related concerns. At the board’s recommendation one revision was made in wording under the regulations portion.

MOTION to APPROVE the Building Maintenance policy as amended was made by Beltz, SECONDED by Foerst, and APPROVED unanimously.

The Library Behavior policy is a revision of an old policy with more specific guidelines. One change is that food and drink will be permitted in designated areas. Smoking is prohibited, including areas where smoke can enter the building. Harassment of employees is addressed for the first time in this policy. Procedures for staff to follow are included, and as a result, the board feels it will require more time and scrutiny prior to its approval.

The Circulation policy impacts both BCFL and the community public libraries, so a committee made up of staff from both is working on this project. So far a consensus was reached to issue library cards to children at the request of a parent who does not have the child with them at the time of issuance. Also, a library card may be issued to a child if they have a parent’s ID (driver’s license or something similar) without the parent present. The timeline for completion of the policy is January 2009 with board approval by March 2009.

Policy production continues to meet the strategic plan goals set.

The county coordination plan for 2008-09 was presented to the board. It is a flat-funded budget that pays for inter-library loan operations and staff, as well as technical services operations. The budget is very similar to last year’s.

 

BCFL Staff Development Day was held on October 13, 2008 with great speakers and great attendance. Many staff members have commented that this year’s was the best by far. The IT presentation was very popular, with some staff members attending more than one session. Our Youth Services Consultant Connie Hillman did a presentation on Storytime, our Collection Management Director Janet Marnatti presented Book Talking, and Public Services Director Sue Ziegler and ILL Manager Bonnie White presented a reader’s advisory. Outside presenters had sessions on stress relief, “hot” books, and identity theft. Board President Det Ansinn and Board Secretary Roberta Foerst gave out service awards to staff members.

 

Report of Public Services Director (submitted in writing)

Report of Business Officer

MOTION to APPROVE the payment of bills for September 2008 in the amount of $495,027.79 was made by Foerst, SECONDED by Beltz and APPROVED unanimously.

MOTION to APPROVE the September 2008 financial statements (subject to audit) was made by Ansinn, SECONDED by Beltz, and APPROVED unanimously.

Board treasurer Jerry Balchis distributed information on BCFL investments covering the period 1/1/08 – 9/30/08. The Disbrow account was excluded because that report comes from a different source. Although the investments were down 14%, Dow was down 31% for the same period. He pointed out that the report did not reflect October 2008, which was the most volatile month yet, but his recommendation was that BCFL not make any changes at this time.

 

Board Committee Reports: None

 

Correspondence – Submitted in writing

 

Public Comment – Yardley-Makefield union steward Barbara Likens commented on Staff Development Day, stating that she felt it was the best one yet. She found the IT presentation to be very informative and helpful.

 

Unfinished business –  None

 

New Business

A MOTION to APPROVE the BCFL Board Meeting Schedule for 2009 was made by Beltz, SECONDED by Balchis, and APPROVED unanimously.

A MOTION to APPROVE the BCFL Holiday Schedule for 2009 was made by Foerst, SECONDED by Balchis, and APPROVED unanimously.

The nominating committee for the election of officers was selected. Board members Balchis, Beltz and Foerst were appointed.

There being no further business, a MOTION to ADJOURN was made at 6:30 p.m. by Beltz, SECONDED by Balchis and so MOVED.

 

Respectfully submitted,

                                                                                Pamela J. Riley

 

Executive Assistant

 

 

APPROVED BY BOARD OF DIRECTORS

NOVEMBER 18, 2008