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The
Wagnalls Library Board meets the third Thursday of each Library Advisory Board Minutes 2003
Dec. 18,
Dec. 11,
Nov. 20
- Nov. 13
- Oct. 23
- Oct. 9
Library
Board Minutes for Other Years 1.
Call to Order and attendance: Nancy called the
meeting to order and in attendance were: Bob
Waibel, Ken Ellinger, Erma Storts, Nancy Fisher, David
Petty, Marilyn Freitag, Larry Corbus, Sandi Plinke, Scott
Phillips, Sandy Hall, and Liz Black. Erma
introduced Sandy Plinke and Ken Ellinger as the new
additions to Wagnalls. Sandy is the new Clerk
Treasurer for the library and Ken is the new Foundation
Director. Ken is seeking Developers’ support
for the Foundation. Marilyn
motioned to approve the minutes, Scott 2nd ,
motioned passed.
A.
Library Director – Erma
B.
Budget Commission Appeal – no new news. Larry
hopes to have some communication with
Fairfield library. Discussion about their levy:
½ mil generates $800,000, Pickerington library is C.
Foundation Board Meeting – Scott 1.
Announced that the FB ratified the appointment of Sandy
Plinke. 2.
Library budget was presented to the Board. Consortium
fee is $30,000. They house their database at
Wagnalls and therefore have a reduction in the fee (rent
is $18,000 and we pay the balance). Scott had
presented several options to the board concerning the
addition of hours and the funding for such. (This
refers to the shortfall in the amount the budget
commission agreed to award Wagnalls - $255,000.00 verses
our proposed budget, $95,000 shy. The Library Board
is seeking additional funding from the Foundation to help
meet some of that shortfall.) The FB chose the
option of 40,000 additional dollars. This would
increase the library hours by ten per week. It
includes $10,000 for the Clerk Treasurer per Budget
Commission, and $15,000 for CLC (consortium fee)
previously allocated. The
FB would like 4 hours to be added to Sunday, 1-5 pm, then
add after school hours to the days during the week to
accommodate Bloom Elem. students coming over after
school. 3.
Larry – A personnel policy is in order for the
employees. – for example, will PERS be applied to non-library
employees? Larry met with a PERS compliance
officer. Other questions were posed: Which
employees qualify as a public library service employee? 4.
Scott – the FB is still working on the 2004 budget
and it may be presented at the Jan 26th
meeting. D.
2004 Budget and hours – Erma 1.
A definite decision to open on Sunday. Preferring
to also make consistent hours of operation
Sunday 1-5 pm, Monday 10 am – 8 pm, Tuesday
3-8 pm, Wednesday 10 am – 8 pm, 2.
Date to begin new hours. Marilyn motioned to start
new hours as of Monday, January 5th. Bob
3.
Larry recognized Sandy Hall’s great help in
comprising the budget for presentation. *Public
Participant – Mike Noll acknowledged his support of
this library board and its moving in a
6. Old Business
A. By-Laws.
1.
Bob moved and Scott 2nd to approve the
corrected by-laws. Liz will re-type the By-laws
with the Mission statement. 2.
Executive director – There will be a dinner
recognition for Jerry Neff, Jerry Solt and JR Watkins in
January to thank them for their years of service. Nancy
recommended a letter to be read from our board.
Erma and Larry will draft a letter, noting his tenure and
the huge growth in services
B. Library Board Appointments – Terri
Sheehan and Chuck Wolcott submitted applications to our 1.
Bob motioned to approve Terri, Liz 2nd, motion
passed. 2.
Liz motioned to approve Chuck W., . Bob 2nd ,
motioned passed. 7.
New Business: we previously discussed PERS 8.
Public Comment – Ken made mention that he is on the
YMCA board on Refugee Rd. and with Board approval he
would like to start classes at the library for lo-impact
aerobics, tai-quando. Fee $25.00, wants approval to put
in the newsletter. (no motion made at this time.) 9.
Meeting adjouned. submitted by Liz Black
Communications – Larry addressed some articles/letters that appeared in the newspaper concerning the library. One from a lady who wrote in error about some things Larry said, so Larry called her on the phone and spoke with her directly. She said that letter had been written months ago and they pieced the letter together, taking parts of her one letter and using it in another letter. He was able to clear some issues with her. He then mentioned a positive letter from Mike Noll. Ken Ellinger – Larry spent some time with Ken, (the interim Foundation Director, pro-bono for 6 months, or so) and expressed his thought to Ken as the two main goals of that job right now would be to 1.) establish trust from the community and 2.) fund raising. Ken will attend our next meeting on Thursday, the 18th. Bob W. was invited but did not attend a concerned citizens meeting. One issue he asked the library board is a question he was asked and that is, ‘Is the loan on the dept for the library a signature loan’? Liz asked if a citizen wants to donate money to the library but not to the Friends and not to the Foundation, could they? Scott said they could give money to the Foundation and earmark it for the library. He also said the gift was not fully tax deductible unless it is given to the Friends.
A.Erma 1. Decorated the library with 12-15 volunteers 2. Open house was successful, raising about $500.00. 3. Talked with Larry about how many hours we should expand (more discussion later in minutes) 4. Also included the idea of giving the employees a raise. Their wages have been frozen since 2000. This would be provisional, that the LLGSF funds come through. Scott mentioned the thought of a bonus in lieu of a raise, just as a thought or another alternative. B. Budget Commission Appeal – Larry explained that the appeal is being divided – bifurcated – 1. are we eligible to receive funding, 2. should we get the funding. (I am not clear if this is the way Larry described the division – may need clarification at our next meeting). The court will decide. Discussion was made how to approach Fairfield library to bridge the gap. C. Foundation Meeting - Scott 1. The first public meeting will be sometime in January. 2. Jerry is preparing a budget for the year. 3. Dinner for the 20th is cancelled. 4. In order to have 6 voting members to change the format for the Foundation Board, the FB asked Nancy Fisher to come on. She agreed. She will have to step down as Chairman of our WMLB, but can remain a voting member. 5. Term limits for trustees so people will not have to commit to a 7 year term. – down to 3 yrs. D. Trustees – David reported that the trustees agreed to appoint a person to our WMLB who could be an officer and a voting member, but could not be one of the actual BT trustees. E. 2004 Budget – Larry, Erma, Jerry and Sandy met together to discuss, with a division of expenses between the Foundation and the library. They calculated library expenses. Larry does recommend a 3% raise for the staff beginning in January, that would be revoked if we don’t get the LLGSF funds. Expenses for the library: salaries: $145,152 plus $19,000 PERS, plus Medicare (times .0145), plus health plan $4,000, equals approximately $172,000. Subtract that from the $255,000 we are to receive from LLGSF, leaves us about $75,000. Taking from the proposed budget to the commission, $65,000 is for materials. It costs approx. $2,700/yr to increase hours of operation by one hour. Larry will offer the following options to the Foundation board concerning the increase in hours of operation: (The library consortium is approx $15,000 and the Clerk Treasurer will cost about $10,000) 1. Open 4 additional hours with the left over (10,000) we have and not ask the Foundation for any more money 2. Ask for an additional $15,000, so we can have 10 more hours of operation for the library. 3. Ask for an additional 60,000, giving us 18 additional hours. 4. Ask for no money and open 10 hours by cutting our materials budget, since the Friends help to supply new materials for the library. 5. Other? 6. Unfinished Business:
“Our
mission is to promote the highest level of library
service, while being responsible to the public, operating
in an efficient, ethical and productive manner. The
policies of this board are intended to assure
that the needs and expectations of the tax payers, the
patrons, the employees, and the Wagnalls Memorial
Foundation are met.” Bob motioned to approve the mission statement, Marilyn 2nd, motion passed.
Gazette, Dispatch and the Times. Erma, Larry and Sandy interviewed 4 candidates Thursday. All 3 members of the interviewing team were in agreement with the choice of Sandy Plinke. She has an MBA, worked as an accountant for Alliance, working for Greenfield Twp as clerk treasurer since August. Larry will make recommendation to the Foundation Board on Monday and also introduce her to our board at our next meeting. She will work as independent contractor to start with, on a contract basis. She lives in Lancaster. Larry suggested $500/mo. To start in Dec., keeping track of her hours and reviewing on a quarterly basis. Chuck motioned to approve the recommendation of Sandy Plinke to the Clerk Treasurer position., pending Foundation Board personal interview and approval. Scott 2nd, motion passed.
Word to people we know who might be interested.
something else, $600.00. Erma will look for a useful way to spend the money for the library. Meeting adjourned. Next meeting 12/18/03, 7:00pm Submitted by Liz Black
Marilyn motioned for the minutes to be approved, Bob 2nd, motion passed.
A. Clerk Treasurer position.
The Times. The ad will read: “Part-time
clerk treasurer for library. Experience with public
funds, government bookkeeping and accounting. Send
cover letter and resume by December 10th to
the Wagnalls Memorial Library Director, P.O. Box 217
Lithopolis, OH 43136.” Liz will get this sent in by tomorrow, November 21st in time for Sunday, Nov. 23 and Nov. 30. The WLB will discuss recommended applicants at the next meeting in Dec., the 11th. 2. Computer program - Erma checked with Pickerington and Marysville libraries as to how many hours the CT worked and what programs they use. At Pick., the CT is 2/3 time. At Marysville, the CT works 20 hours per week, flex hours. Pick. computer program costs $2,500. Marysville uses Quick Books and is willing to help us. 3. Interviewing committee – Larry, Erma, Marilyn and Erma will ask Sandy Hall to be an advisor to the committee. 4. Application/Job Description– Erma will ask Larry to compose an application. He submitted a clerk treasurer Job description taken from Twinsburg Public Library. Liz will edit parts the WLB discusses and will send it to Erma and Larry. These will be on hand for applicants when they come in to inquire about the position. (Liz will also send copies of this to the WLB and Foundation Board) Larry expressed to Erma that the reports for the state take the most 5. Hours – This is an unknown, however the CT should keep track of their hours. The pay scale is undetermined. The applicant should be asked what kind of salary they’re expecting. We mentioned some set hours they would incur: 4 hours of meetings per month (2 hours for the WLB and 2 hours for the Foundation Board). We discussed possibly hiring with an hourly wage in the beginning then change over to salary. Question arose, how many hours constitute acquiring benefits? The assumption is that we will not offer benefits. Do we want to hire an independent contractor? How much does bonding cost? 6. Checks – (see CT job description) written by CT will need to be co-signed by one of the 3 position holders on the WLB – Chairman, Vice-Chair or Secretary. B. Board Vacancies – We will post vacancies on the Website, library bulletin board and Liz will send a note to Anne Cyphert to place in her column. Scott recommends giving trustees a WLB application to give to people the would recommend. Nancy will call Dave to ask about the Trustee appointee. C. By-Laws – Foundation Board communication? Mission Statement – the WLB members should come to the next meeting with a sample mission statement they have written. 6. New Business A. Executive Session Next meeting December 11 AND Dec. 18. Meeting Adjourned Submitted by Liz Black, secretary
A. Library Director – Erma Storts
B. Budget Commission Appeal – nothing available C. Foundation Meeting – The Foundation will have a dinner to recognize employees. The Advisory board recommends waiting until after Christmas because of busy schedules. D. State Auditor Meeting – Erma and Marilyn met with a person to find out what has to be done to make the records open. When LLGFS funds come in it will go electronically directly into the library account. She was very helpful giving advice. PERS will be a question for the library and payroll. Will check with Larry on that. Utilities and maintenance – She mentioned it is advisable in the future for the library to show that expense as a need, to help validate the request for funding. She also mentioned in the future the library might need to have their own electric meter. Bob, speaking as an electrician, said that would be very costly and may be cheaper to move the administrative offices to the Community Center building and let the library use the existing meters in the library buildings. She also gave advice obtaining a clerk treasurer and advised that it is preferable that the person has local government experience– the forms are different than private business. It would help also in the set up of the payroll system in the beginning.
A. By-Laws and Wagnalls re-organization (cont. from previous by-laws) 13. Guidelines for Officers A. Duties of officers – Chairman, Vice-Chairman and Secretary. We used the Ohio Public Library Trustees’ Handbook, Appendix D, p. 138 and adopted their description. Marilyn motioned, Bob second. Motion passed. B. Terms of Officers – we used the OPLT handbook again, Appendix D p. 137 with the deletion of the issues pertaining to the clerk. “At the regular meeting in January of each year, the Advisory Board shall select from its membership a Chairman, Vice-Chairman and a Secretary who shall serve for a term of one year. The Chairman who will present a slate of officers at the January meeting shall appoint a nominating committee. Additional nominations may be made from the floor.” Bob motioned to approve, Marilyn 2nd, motion passed. C. Filling Vacancies- The Chairman will appoint a nominating committee to fill Vacancies to be voted on at the next regular meeting. Bob motioned, Marilyn 2nd, Motion passed. D. Removal – the committee decided this would be taken care of in item number 5 of of the by-laws, under removal of a committee member. It reads that removal of a member can occur for the following: a. Attendence at 70% of the WLAB meetings, and b. Breeching confidentiality in items discussed in executive session. Marilyn motioned, Bob 2nd , motion passed. E. Emergency Expenditures – When expenses arise (copiers, computers, etc) when There is not a regular meeting for a vote. Chairman, Vice-Chairman and Secretary With the clerk treasurer affirming we have the funds, may vote to approve an Expenditure of up to $500.00. Bob motioned, Marilyn 2nd. Motion passed 14. Amendment to the By-Laws was voted on on 8/28/03 B. Clerk Treasurer – 1.The State Auditor advisor recommended the clerk have experience in Local government. Training is provided at the State Auditor’s office. 2. Goal to advertise for this position beginning Friday, Nov. 21, 2002. Erma or Larry will check on how many hours the clerk treasurer works at Pickerington for comparison. C. Library Advisory Board appointments – tabled
Next meeting Nov 20th, 7:00pm Submitted by Liz Black
The 5 questions were as follows: 1. Do you consider Wagnalls as the public library for Bloom Township? 2. Would you support a service agreement between Wagnalls and Bloom Township that recognizes the service provided by Wagnalls to the township? 3. What do you think of the possibility that the Fairfield District Library will place a levy on the ballot this March that would tax Bloom residents? 4. Are you aware of the reorganization plans for Wagnalls? Do you support the plans? 5. Do you have any suggestions for the Wagnalls Library or Foundation?
1. Yes 2. Yes, if the AG’s report comes back favorable for Wagnalls that no inappropriate expenditures or illegal actions found against Wagnalls, I will agree to the service agreement. Joe also brought copies of the letters he wrote to the Budget Commission asking that they approve Wagnalls to receive the funding from the Commission. 3. The tax will be unfair to Bloom residents in that none of the money will go to Wagnalls library. 4. Must have time to review the reorganization plans of the library. 5. Suggestions for the Wagnalls? Female to be added to the Foundation Board. Scott responded by saying that, indeed, females had been asked, but had declined for various reasons. Joe also said he does not approve of a trustee being on the Advisory Board, but he said if the trustees appointed someone to be a liaison to the Wagnalls LAB, he would support that.
1. Larry had made the statement that one of four things could happen with the new tax issue for Fairfield Co. libraries in March: a. the tax could fail b. the tax could pass and none of the money would go to Wagnalls – it would only go to Lancaster and Pickerington. c. Bloom T. residents could be double taxed if Bloom T. put an issue on the ballot and it passed, as well as the Fairfield Co. Library tax passing d. The Fairfield Co. library could come to an agreement with Wagnalls to share a percentage of the tax raised with Wagnalls since they are a county library, as well. 2. The attorney for Wagnalls is finding out if the township could have representation on Library and still keep it’s current status. 3. Mr. Coyle asked if the Foundation meetings would become public. Larry and Scott both Answered that these are changes that will be made after January 1, 2004. He also asked if financial reports would be made available, as well as and agenda made available in advance. Also, the question was raised as to who would be on the investment committee. 4. Ms. Bartlett asked if we, the WLAB, or the Foundation Board had looked into Gary’s resignation to find out why he resigned. She implied that he left because he disagreed with the Foundation Boards decision-making and was tired of it. Nancy and Liz answered that we had both spoken to Gary and that he mentioned other issues that he possibly didn’t share with Ms. Bartlett.
1. Yes 2. Unsure if he would support a service agreement with the library because he prefers the library remain private, without the use of public funds or tax money. When pressed by Larry if he felt Wagnalls should receive their portion of the LLGSF funds since these dollars come from our taxes anyway, we just had not been seeking them all these years, he agreed, yes, Wagnalls should attempt to get every dollar allotted to them, as long as a new tax is not issued to the voters. 3. Does not see it as ‘fair’ that the Bloom Township voters may be paying for a tax for the Fairfield library that Wagnalls will not see a dime of. 4. Needs to look over the reorganization plans for Wagnalls. Too unfamiliar with the plans at this time to voice an opinion. 5. Suggestions for the library: Mr. Rogers does not feel taxation is the solution to a financial problem, therefore, he advised the Foundation board to hire an outsider to come in and advise, and ‘court’ the residents to seek private donations for the library. He feels our community is wealthy enough to support a private library, but the public needs to have a new face, a new approach to sequester contributions. Liz voiced the concern of the public not being supportive of Wagnalls spending the money to hire a person to do this job since some were unsupportive of the hiring of Larry Corbus to help Wagnalls in their time of need. (back to the printed agenda)
-Phil Crist wants to see the situation our library is in solved in a unified manner. He was supportive of the members of the WLAB and The Foundation Board. -A visitor asked about the cemetery. Larry responded by saying he put that on the flow chart but we have no information at the WLAB meetings concerning the cemetery. -A visitor asked what our business plan will be if we don’t get the LLGSF funds. Marilyn explained that our WLAB has no money of its own, we could not exist without the Foundation Board and the LLGSF money to come in, and it is the Foundation Board that will have to have an alternative plan of action. -Mr. Sam Chicchino (sp?) said there are enough wealthy people in Bloom Township who are willing to help support the Wagnalls if they would be open and honest with the community. -Mr. Larry Coyle said the library is a community resource and the records should be open and the people will give. -Dr. Chuck Baughman gave a response that we are just asking for our fair share of the LLGSF funds so our library can continue to exist and be funded on a yearly basis.
The question was raised as to what to do with the old computers that are very slow and not compatible with such things as video games: give to schools for word processing?
- Looking for strong support from the public to help this Friends of the Library event.
Meeting Adjourned - Next Meeting, Nov. 13, 2003, 7:00pm Submitted by Liz Black
The
meeting was called to order by Chairman Nancy Fisher.
Attendance was taken. Members present were Chuck
Baughman, Marilyn Freitag, Bob Waibel, David Petty, Larry
Corbus, Nancy Fisher, Scott Phillips and Erma Storts.The
agenda was passed out and there were no additions. A
motion was made by Chuck to accept the minutes of the
previous meeting and was seconded by Bob. The motion was
approved. The Library Director gave her report. Erma said the surveys are coming in from the public. They will continue to accept them through the 15th. Story hour is going well with the volunteers. Computer classes have started and they have enough people on a waiting list to offer another class. In response to a library patron's request, the library has changed the system |
