Board Minutes

BOARD OF TRUSTEES
Minutes of the Regular Meeting
April 21, 2009

The regular meeting of the Des Plaines Public Library Board of Trustees was held in the second floor conference room on Tuesday, April 21, 2009. President Noreen Lake called the meeting to order at 7:02 p.m.

ROLL CALL.

Roll call indicated the following board members were present: Matthew Bogusz, Eldon Burk, Selma D’Souza, Myrtle Klebe, Noreen Lake, George Magerl, Rhys Read, Jeffery Rozovics, Elaine Tejcek.

Also Present: Sandra Norlin, Carol Kidd, Holly Richards Sorensen, Heather Imhoff, Don Sofolo, Dan Klobnak, Alderman Martin Moylan, Gladys Batey.

CONSIDERATION OF THE AGENDA.

MOTION by Eldon Burk, seconded by George Magerl, to accept the agenda, as written. VOTE : AYES: All. NAYS: None. MOTION CARRIED.

PUBLIC COMMENTS AND QUESTIONS

None.

CITY COUNCIL COMMUNITY SERVICES COMMITTEE – Alderman Martin Moylan.

Alderman Moylan asked if he could be of assistance with any maintenance or building issues and Sandra Norlin responded that there were no imminent issues. Sandra Norlin reported that City Attorney David Wiltse had been contacted by a representative of Firestone and was told that the roof repair would begin on April 27, 2009.

CONSENT AGENDA

George Magerl asked that B. Acceptance of Financial Reports for March 2009 be removed from the Consent Agenda.

George Magerl stated that he noticed a large increase in year to date fines for 2009 compared to 2008. He also stated that there was a large increase in copier totals from that same time period. The board discussed reasons for the increase and Carol Kidd said she would examine the monthly totals for fines and copies for 2008 and 2009 for possible bookkeeping errors.

MOTION by Eldon Burk, seconded by Rhys Read, to approve the Consent Agenda, as modified. VOTE : AYES: All. NAYS: None. MOTION CARRIED.

MOTION by Rhys Read, seconded by George Magerl, to approve the Financial Reports for 2009. VOTE : AYES: All. NAYS: None. MOTION CARRIED.

CONSENT AGENDA

Following monthly reports to be reviewed and placed on file for audit:

MOTION by Eldon Burk, seconded by Rhys Read, to approve, subject to audit, expenditures authorized by the Library Director and Board Representatives for library Warrant Registers as follows:

ROLL CALL VOTE : AYES: Bogusz, Burk, D’Souza, Klebe, Lake, Magerl, Read, Rozovics, Tejcek. NAYS: None. MOTION CARRIED .

MOTION by Eldon Burk, seconded by Rhys Read, to approve, subject to audit, expenditures for salaries made by the Library Director as follows:

ROLL CALL VOTE : AYES: Bogusz, Burk, D’Souza, Klebe, Lake, Magerl, Read, Rozovics, Tejcek. NAYS: None. MOTION CARRIED .

DIRECTOR'S REPORT

Please note: I have received no official requests for confidential patron information since my last report.

PERSONNEL

Resignations/Separations for the same period: Carol (Kelli) Phillips retired, effective 03.31.09.

STAFF DEVELOPMENT

Staff Bonus Awards were presented to Francine Gralak, John Lavalie, and Joanie Sebastian.

We celebrated National Library Workers Appreciation Day on April 14. Department Heads greeted staff members as they entered for work, planned morning and afternoon coffee breaks with snacks provided by the Friends of the Library. Staff members were surprised (and puzzled), but seemed to enjoy the special attention to them and their work.

The Reference staff received training on Lexis Nexis. They discovered the many layers of information in this database, with emphasis on the business module. A new subscription to Oxford Language Dictionaries Online will offer instruction, sample personal and business letters, sample resumes with audio pronunciation to learn how a word sounds. Languages covered are: Spanish, French, Italian, German, Russian, and Chinese.

PATRON SERVICES

You will notice the very large increase in numbers of items circulated in the month of February as compared to one year ago. I think we, as other libraries have, can attribute this increase to the economic struggles many of our residents are experiencing, either directly or indirectly. A 14.67% increase in use, without calls for increased staffing is a tribute to both our staff and our efficient work procedures.

Our patrons’ use of the self-check machines has increased by 63.42%. Use of the website from outside the building is being tackled by Karen McBride, Web Services Librarian. She notes that the top five pages visited are: The Kids’ home page, the list of databases, our job listings, events home page, and the reference home page.

We have some very active readers among our senior population, some of whom are in their nineties and reading a wide variety of books, from popular fiction to literary fiction and non-fiction.

OTHER PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITIES

I attended the Library Production Studio Executive Committee meeting on 3/19, the NSLS Banquet on 3/20, the CCS By Laws and Policy Committee meeting and the Friends of the Library meeting on 3/24, the CCS Governing Board meeting on 4/25, the Night Owl Board meeting on 3/26, and worked at the Friends of the Library Booksale on 3/27. I attended a Rotary meeting at which Francis Gary Powers, Jr. presented ideas for a Rotary partnership with the Cold War Museum on 4/3, chaired a Do the Dewey meeting on 4/6 and a Chamber of Commerce Scholarship Committee meeting on 4/7. I attended a Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors meeting on 4/9, the Senior Center Annual Membership meeting on 4/16, Kelli Phillips retirement party on 4/17 and an NSLS Continuing Education Program on planning on 4/21.

NEW BUSINESS

George Magerl, Chair of the Building and Grounds Committee, reported that the Committee met on April 14 to discuss repair of the roof, interior repairs to the ceiling and review of the library lease. The Committee also visually inspected the Friends of the Library room. Sandra Norlin reported that she spoke with City Manager Jason Bajor and that the City of Des Plaines will pay for the interior repairs to the ceiling. George Magerl reported that he spoke to Wally Meyer, President of the Friends of the Library, and that Wally Meyer agreed that the Friends of the Library would make the changes to the Friends room suggested by the Committee.

President Lake asked Trustees Magerl, Read and Rozovics to send a letter to Mayor Moylan if interested in serving another term as a Library Board Trustee. Rhys Read stated that he will not seek reappointment.

Sandra Norlin reported that the library’s annual fundraiser Do the Dewey would be held at the library on Saturday, April 25 from 7:00 – 10:00 p.m. and asked Board members to volunteer their time and to make a donation.

Eldon Burk stated that the Management Committee will meet on Tuesday, June 16, 2009 at 5:30 p.m.

Dan Klobnak, Outsource Solutions Group, asked for board approval to purchase 9 Dell laptop computers in an amount not to exceed $12,150, which is a budgeted expense.

MOTION by George Magerl, seconded by Elaine Tejcek, to approve the purchase of 9 laptop computers for staff use in an amount not to exceed $12,150.00, which is a budgeted item and is in the best interest of the Des Plaines Public Library. ROLL CALL VOTE: AYES: Bogusz, Burk, D’Souza, Klebe, Lake, Magerl, Read, Rozovics, Tejcek. NAYS: None. MOTION CARRIED.

Dan Klobnak, Outsource Solutions Group, asked for board approval to purchase one server from PC Nation in the amount of $8,100.00.

MOTION by Rhys Read, seconded by Jeffery Rozovics, to approve a patron server upgrade in an amount not to exceed $8,250, which is a budgeted expense and is in the best interest of the Des Plaines Public Library. ROLL CALL VOTE: AYES: Bogusz, Burk, D’Souza, Klebe, Lake, Magerl, Read, Rozovics, Tejcek. NAYS: None. MOTION CARRIED.

Don Sofolo, President of Outsource Solutions Group, gave an overview of the new Backup Disaster Recovery Technology which will restore servers in minutes versus hours.

Sandra Norlin reported that MyMediaMall is a Web-based service that allows library patrons to check out and download eAudiobooks, eBooks, and eVideos any time of the day or night from the comfort of their own home.

MOTION by George Magerl, seconded by Eldon Burk, to approve payment to MyMediaMall in the amount of $5,250.00, which is a budgeted expense and in the best interest of the Des Plaines Public Library. VOTE: AYES: All. NAYS: None. MOTION CARRIED.

MOTION by Eldon Burk, seconded by Elaine Tejcek, to authorize Library Director Sandra Norlin to purchase a wreath for the Memorial Day ceremony in an amount not to exceed $150.00 and to present the wreath at the ceremony. VOTE: AYES: All. NAYS: None. MOTION CARRIED.

ANNOUNCEMENTS

Eldon Burk, Elaine Tejcek and Sandra Norlin will attend National Library Legislative Day in Washington, DC on May 11 and 12.

President Lake congratulated Alderman Martin Moylan on being elected to the position of Mayor of the City of Des Plaines and Eldon Burk on being elected to the Maine Township High School District 207 Board and Matthew Bogusz on being elected to the position of Alderman of the City of Des Plaines.

MOTION by Matt Bogusz, seconded by George Magerl, to enter into an Executive Session at 8:02 p.m. to discuss Appointment, Employment, Compensation, Discipline, Performance or Dismissal of the Library Director and Purchase or Lease of Real Property for the use of the Library. VOTE: AYES: All. NAYS: None. MOTION CARRIED.

The regular session reconvened 8:48p.m. and was called to order by President Noreen Lake.

Matthew Bogusz stated that he was invited to attend an orientation at the City of Des Plaines for the new Mayor, Aldermen, and City Clerk.

The Board directed President Lake to contact City Manager Jason Bajor and ask if the orientation for the new Mayor, Aldermen, and City Clerk could include a spokesperson from the library. The Board also discussed having a joint meeting of the Board of Trustees and the Des Plaines City Council at a later date.

MOTION by Rhys Read, seconded by George Magerl, to adjourn the regular meeting. VOTE: AYES: All. NAYS: None. MOTION CARRIED.

Meeting adjourned at 8:54 p.m.

Minutes prepared by Carol Kidd.

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