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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 to allow a child to
check out a G rated video on their card. They can be
checked out for 7 days and will have a sticker on the
case to easily identify them. Terri Sheehan has started
as volunteer coordinator for the library and is working
hard on an efficient system with all volunteers. There
was one visitor at the meeting but had no public comment
to offer at the time. Larry
reported an appeal has been filed to the State Board of
Tax Appeals by Fairfield and Pickerington libraries. We
discussed an article in the Columbus Dispatch newspaper
and decided not to respond to any negative articles at
this time. We
talked about needing to keep service to our users at the
front of this issue. Ways to let the media know what we
provide for the community should be our response. The
township meeting did not discuss anything
about the library as reported by David. Executive
Director Jerry Neff is retiring on Dec. 31, 2003 His
letter of resignation to the Wagnalls Board was read by
Nancy. Larry Corbus passed out a written press release
that will be given to the press tomorrow. It was felt
that this will be a positive step
toward restructuring the library. It was discussed that
the desires of the township trustees before putting on a
levy have now been met. We discussed asking the township
trustees to come to our next meeting and see how they
felt about backing us for a levy. We discussed giving
them some questions ahead of time so they could come
prepared with answers. Larry will call and invite them.
We felt we should also send them a written invitation. A
discussion on how to structure the new organization
between the Wagnalls Foundation and the Library Board ensued.
Realizing there were many possible ways to do this, we
worked out what we felt was a good diagram of leadership
and responsibility to pass on to the Wagnalls Foundation.
Erma said she would have a staff member retype
it for us to pass on to both boards. Erma
passed out an application for the Library Advisory
Board. We looked over it and saw it had all the
items we had decided on at the previous meeting. A
motion was made by Bob that we submit this as our
application to the Foundation Board and was seconded by
Chuck. The motion passed. We
decided to send the minutes of our
meetings via e-mail if possible to the Foundation
Board members to facilitate good communication
between the groups. Marilyn
brought up the gold mine we have in
the Owls Nest used book store and for
our board to help with any ways we can
promote it to the public and get more information out in
the Central Ohio area about our bookstore.
Some ideas were discussed from doing newspaper
press releases to getting an article in the
newspaper. It could easily be the largest used book
store in our area. Members will continue to think of ways
to advertise it. A
motion to adjourn the meeting was made by Chuck and
seconded by Scott. The motion passed. Submitted by Marilyn Freitag, 10-09-03
2. In attendance were: Liz Black, Erma Storts, Nancy Fisher, Marilyn Freitag, Bob Waibel, Charles Baughman, Scott Phillips. (Larry and David were absent from the meeting.) 3. Additions to Agenda: none
– Chuck motioned to approve after correction of the addition of the ‘passed’ motion in item C2, Bob 2nd. motion passed.
Erma provided a breakdown of funding from the Budget Commission. We have no further information about an appeal. (An appeal can be made up to 30 days from the date of the decision made by the Budget Commission.) Nancy presented an article from the “Eastside Messenger” about Wagnalls – she called it an unbiased article and appreciated it. The article date was Sept 1, 2003.
1. Family Story Hour to begin the 25th 2. Wagnalls Newsletter will go out in the Target ads. It will contain an announcement explaining the library survey – seeking community input about which hours of operation to add to the schedule. Surveys can be picked up at the library. Some people not in Bloom Township will receive the Wagnalls Newsletter. Surveys can be filled out by anyone who uses Wagnalls Library. (Other discussion about the survey later in the minutes) 3. A Children’s Story Telling will take place the 3rd week of November. Theme will be, “Pajama Party” 4. A child asked to check out a “G” rated video and was not permitted by current rules of the library. An adult/parent/guardian must check out the video. The child wrote a letter to Wagnalls asking them to reconsider this rule. Erma mentioned that the coding would have to be changed, and also, there would be parents who did not know their child checked out a video, hence the returns could become an issue. It is an item for consideration, but no changes made at this time. B. Foundation Board – no announcements from Scott C. Township meeting – no update at this time.
9. New Business: A. Nancy - sent a thank you note to the ‘Friends of the Library’ thanking them for their generous contribution to update the computers, etc. B. Clerk Treasurer position – Nancy will ask Larry for a sample application for this position and a job description for the position. Scott mentioned the need to hire this person by mid-December so that they could be in place January 1, 2004. We will check with Larry, but we assume this will be a posted position. Scott will check with Larry and Jerry concerning all the legalities involved. 10. Public Comment - none Meeting Adjourned Next meeting 9/25/03, 7:00pm Submitted by Liz Black
1. Nancy called the meeting to order 2. In attendance were: Gary Griggs, Liz Black, Erma Storts, Nancy Fisher, David Petty, Marilyn Freitag, Scott Phillips, Charles Baughman, Bob Waibel. 3. Additions to the agenda – none at this time 4. Communications/Minutes – “Tami” Morehart’s name was misspelled. Chuck motioned to approve, Scott 2nd, motion passed. 5. Public Comment – none at this time 6. Reports: A. Library Director – Erma 1. Kelly Smith will be the ‘teacher’ for the 3-yr old storyhour children at 10:15am Weds. 2. Added 2 computer classes if enough people sign up. a. Seniors’ class – basics – taught by Linda Burgess b. Beginning Internet class – “ “ “ -Sometimes these classes are held when the library is ‘closed’. Jerry Neff will post the classes in a newsletter. 3. The Friends of the Library agreed to donate up to $6,000.00 to update the computers and for reference material. Nancy will send a “Thank You” and also it will be posted on the Website, announcing the donation. B. Budget Hearing – Budget Commission decided we were eligible for funds and awarded Wagnalls $255,200.00 of LLGSF funds. That is actually the minimum amount. If the state does better on their funding, we’ll get more, but if not, we’ll at least get the said amount. C. Foundation Board - Scott 1. The Wagnalls Foundation Board recommended we, from the WLAB, write a thank you letter to the Budget Commission for their decision. Erma passed out a list of phone numbers from Jerry Neff, to reach the Budget Commission. 2. Wagnalls is working hard to change the format of the WFB to make it more open to the public – working toward January to implement changes. They would like to help ward off the innuendos from some members of the community and eventually get the levy on the ballot. 3. Scott relayed the message from County Auditor, Barbara Curtiss, for Wagnalls to use the money wisely and make Wagnalls more accountable to the public. D. Township Meeting – David Nothing was mentioned at the last meeting trustees meeting concerning the library. However, after speaking to the Prosecuting Atty, David was told he couldn’t vote at the WLAB OR the Trusees Meetings concerning Wagnalls. WLAB discussed changing David’s role further to just a ‘citizen attending the meeting’. Discussion also was made of the possibility that Mr. Coyle would be in a similar violation with respect to the other committee he is a member of and the possible conflict of interest with the Bloom Twp Trustees. 7. Old Business – By-Laws A. Continue from last meeting 9. Meetings open to public; the exceptions will be Personnel, legal matters, contract negotiation, security, and other matters required to be kept confidential. These matters would be handled under the Sunshine Law, in executive session. After that discussion and a decision is made, then the decision will be announced in the open meeting. No motion needed. 10. Role of Library Director to be an ex officio member of this board. Their attendance would be part of their job description, non-voter, advisor and would not go into executive session unless invited. Chuck motioned that the Library director be a consultant, non-voting member of the WLAB. Marilyn 2nd, motion passed. 11. Officers – Chuck motioned the WLAB have a Chair, Vice-chair, and Secretary, Bob 2nd, motion passed. 12. Duties of the officers, Terms of Office, Filling Vacancies and removal. Chuck motioned we table this, Marilyn 2nd, motion passed. (Read Appendix D p. 138 in the Library Trustees notebook. Scott asked that Larry Corbus have samples of position descriptions available at the next meeting. Nancy will ask for these. 13. Amendment to by-laws – Chuck motioned that there must be a ¾’s majority of all voting members of the WLAB to amend a by-law. Bob 2nd, motion passed. 14. Emergency purchases – how to make decisions when there is no meeting to ask the members – tabled. B. Meeting with Foundation Board is tabled. C. Additions to Old Business: 1. New members to our board. – Nancy talked with Chuck Wilcot and he is interested in that position. He is retired from business. Nancy will get a resume for him to fill out and will ask Larry to provide an application. 2. At this point the mention was made concerning “age’ of the WLAB member. No vote was ever taken back on item 2. at the 7/31/03 meeting. Chuck motioned that the minimum age be 18, reside in Bloom Township or Lithopolis a minimum of 2 years to serve on the WLAB. Gary 2nd, motion passed. 8. New Business A. Hours and Staffing - Discussion was made concerning the addition of library hours. Erma mentioned for instance, an increase could be made 2 hours on Tues, Thurs and 3 hours on Wed, for a total of 7 hours, costing $210.00/wk or at 2 more to that on Tues and Thurs to open at noon, for 11 extra hours, costing $300.00/wk OR, and 2 more hours on Saturday for a total of 13 additional hours, $360/wk. (It costs about $30 to add each hour) It would roughly cost $4,500.00 for this to happen as of Nov 1st. At this point the subject was brought up to survey the community to ask them the hours they would like to see restored. Bob W. brought up concerns about using any more of the Foundation Boards money before the LLGSF funds come in. I.e., is it wise to spend the money before we have it? Erma mentioned the library is used less in December, so should we wait until the first of the year? Bob motioned we not expand the hours until at least Jan 1stand do a survey. It died for a lack of 2nd. Chuck motioned before we expand hours we do a survey to the public to ask what hours we should expand and be completed and turned in by October 15th. Bob 2nd, motion passed. Surveys will be in the library. Marilyn will mention to the “Friends” to put the news about the survey in the newsletter. We will announce this in newspapers, as well. The WLAB asked Erma to draft the survey and bring it to our next meeting on 9/11 and include questions about volunteering at the library. B. Clerk Treasurer – A description of this position was passed out at the meeting but this item was tabled. Liz will ask Larry if Neva Hornbeck joining our board poses any conflict if she were to apply for the Clerk Treasurer’s position next March. C. Flyers for Labor Day Parade – Larry put together a bookmark, thanking the Budget commission and advertising a future increase in library hours, but there is not enough time to get all this done before the parade. 9. Public Comment – Patty B. advised not to send a survey because people don’t fill them out and it’s very expensive. She also said that Hudson Public Library’s Web page has Applications for board members, so we may not need to invent our own. She applauded Bob’s motion that died, not to increase any hours until the LLGSF funds were actually realized. She also asked what our board will do if we don’t get the money from LLGSF (i.e. if other parties bring suit against the decision) Marilyn said, it’s the Foundation Board who will need a backup plan. We have no money. It is their decision. Nancy affirmed this response. Patty insisted we need a plan. Bob said we should have one, but the Foundation Board will have to come up with one. Patty also mentioned that if library hours do increase, would the WLAB consider rehiring some of the people that were let go rather than just give an increase in hours to the existing employees, just a thought she said. 10. Meeting adjourned at 9:45pm Next Meeting, 9/11/03, 7:00pm Submitted by Liz Black
1.
Call to Order and Attendance: Chairperson Nancy
Fisher called the meeting to order. In attendance
were: Bob Waibel, Chuck Baughman, Erma Storts,
Nancy Fisher, Marilyn Freitag, Larry Corbus, Liz Black
and David Petty. 2.
Additions to the Agenda – none at this time 3.
Minutes and Communications – No additions or
corrections to the minutes. Chuck motioned for the
minutes to be approved. Bob 2nd the
motion, motion passed. 4.
Public Comment – none at this time 5.
Reports: A.
Library Director – Erma – 1.
Announced there was someone interested in teaching the
3-year-old story hour. This is
a volunteer position. Tami Morehart will meet
with her. 2.
Registration for Story Hour will begin soon. 3.
Need to upgrade 8 computers for cataloging. It will
cost $500.00 per computer. The
monitors are okay. 4 upgrades for IPAC will cost
$300.00/computer. To complete the upgrade it will
cost approx. 5 to $6,000.00. Erma will ask The
Friends of the Library to ask how much they are willing
to donate. 4.
We are still waiting for the Budget Commission decision.
They announced it would be by the 1st of Sept.
B. Budget Presentation - Larry Larry
thanked everyone who came and Erma for the statistics she
presented. He was also complimentary of
the other two library presentations. Larry is
optimistic about the future outcome of the budget
commission’s decision. The question was raised
by the Budget Commission if Wagnalls had filed with the
Secretary of State - Code of Regulations –
when the Foundation Board amended the statement of
library services for “Lithopolis and Bloom
Township” to read “all of Fairfield
County”. Also, the question was asked what
would happen to the assets of the library if it were to
fold. Any money that came from LLGSF will have to
remain with the library, not to be given to the heirs.
The money must remain in a 501C3 non-profit capacity.
Additionally, Larry mentioned that the other
libraries’ comparison to Baltimore’s library
was weak because of the huge volume difference between
Wagnalls and Baltimore. C.
Township Meeting - David
The Trustees passed a resolution stating that Wagnalls
was indeed the primary source of library services for
this area of the county and northern Pickaway county.
A letter is being sent to the Budget Commission from the
Trustees to this effect. An attorney from
Pickerington advised the Trustees to wait for the result
of the Attorney General’s report of the library and
then do the agreement with the trustees and the library
for $1.00. David also said he is unable to report
to the Trustees meeting concerning the WLAB, but he will
continue to come to our meetings as a non-voting advisor.
Nancy said she will report to the Trustees any request or
information from the WLAB. 6.
New Business – A.
The question was raised as to when the Foundation Board
and the WLAB will meet.
No answer given at this time. B.
Suggestion of additional WLAB members – Liz brought
up Neva Hornbeck’s name. Those who know Neva
gave positive comments. Larry will submit the name
to the board. Other board members will submit names
at the next meeting. C.
Larry will invite the Foundation Board to our meeting on
9/11. The need to replace Bob W. and David P. will be
addressed. A few names were brought forth: Lee
Smith (non-farmer) and Chuck Wilcot. 7.
Old Business - A.
By-Laws –Continued from last meeting. 5.
Filling Vacancies: Names will be submitted to WLAB
and then to Foundation Board for approval. Chuck
made the motion that any At-Large vacancy on the WLAB is
to be filled by the posting of the vacancy for no less
than 21 days in the ‘official’ location at the
library. Marilyn 2nd the motion. Motion
passed. The vacancies will also be posted on the website
and the newspaper, but the ‘official’ location
and beginning date for the 21 days will be in a
determined location in the library itself. 6.
Compensation – Membership on the WLAB is a
non-compensated position. This is a volunteer
position, however any WLAB expenses incurred by a member
that has prior approval by the WLAB will be reimbursed.
Marilyn made this motion. Chuck 2nd,
motion passed. 7.
Meetings – how many and where? Meetings
will be held monthly or as needed with a minimum of 10
meetings/year. Bob motioned, Chuck 2nd,
motion passed. 8.
Quorum – Half of current sitting board. Chuck
motioned, Marilyn 2nd, motion passed. The
next 5 items will be addressed at the next meeting. 8.
Public Comment – A community member raised the
question of what will we, the WLAB, do if Wagnalls does
not receive LLGSF monies. Nancy responded by
explaining that basically we are going day by day until
we find out about LLGSF. We have no future plans if
that money does not come through. Larry brought up
the fact that in 1972 there was 10.8 million in principle
and in 1974 it had dropped to 4.5. He also
mentioned that 1.3 million is spent on operations and
scholarships. Spending is high while returns are
sometimes low, depending on the market. In
hindsight, it was stated that the downturn of the
financial situation Wagnalls came from a combination of
spending and low returns on the market. Next
meeting is August 28th, 7:00pm Meeting
adjourned Submitted by Liz Black
1. Call to Order and Attendance: Acting Chairperson, Nancy Fisher called the meeting to order. In attendance were: Gary Griggs, Scott Phillips, Bob Waibel, Chuck Baughman, Nancy Fisher, Erma Storts, Liz Black and David Petty. David announced there was a possible conflict of ethics violation with him being on this board and serving as an elected Bloom Township trustee. He gave his resignation but will help advise whenever needed. Nancy now sits as the Chairperson. She stated that David’s knowledge is of great value to our board and would like him to remain as a special councilperson, non-member, non-voter. 2. Additions to Agenda- none given at this time 3. Minutes and Communications – Chuck motioned to approve the minutes. Liz 2nd. Motion passed. 4. Public Comment – none given at this time 5. Reports A. Library Director – Erma Storts – Erma reported that the summer reading program attendance was way down with 150 children attending. When asked what her thoughts were on the reason, she stated the reduction in library hours and staffing, a total change in programming, and the community VBS being held the same week all contributed to the reduced numbers. Lego Contest – slated for August 11th. Registration started this week. Rules can be found on the library’s website. Story Hour will begin in September. The library staff will discuss computer classes for the fall. Erma mentioned our library is in great need of an upgrade for the computer system. The Friends of the Library have stated they will help with that need. Erma mentioned the need for a 3yr old story hour teacher. Some names were brought forth for her to inquire about. B. Budget Presentation – Larry Corbus – announced that we made the deadline in getting our funding request to the budget commission well on time. He emphasized our request was to try to bring the library up to maximum hours of operation at the least minimum staffing, from 26 to 67 hours. The total request was for $324,700.00 Some special notes of interested included in the budget presentation are: 1. Goal of restoring library hours from 26 to 67 with minimal staffing 2. obtaining a part-time clerk treasurer at $6,500.00 3. The library’s utility costs are pro-rated and 50% of the total utility cost is allocated to the library building. 4. Consortium library automation fee of $26,060.00 5. Partial restoration of the book budget of $15,000.00 6. Upgrading of computer equipment $4,000.00 Larry stated that the Foundation Board would give $50,000.00 as a carry over from 2003 and $10,000.00 cumbrance for expenses. The library portion of the presentation to the LLGSF has been postponed until Monday, August 11th at 9:00am. Larry and Erma will both be there and Larry asked that as many of this board who could attend the better for support. It will take place in the Auditor’s office in the Courthouse on the Main Floor. C. Township Meeting – Two of the trustees are strongly opposed to the issue going on the ballot in November until the audit is completed by the state, hence it went down to defeat. 6. New Business: A. Future Appointments – Scott asked that our board think of some names of candidates to sit on our board to replace David. He made this a motion, Chuck 2nd the motion. Motion passed. B. Other – Volunteers – It was mentioned by Erma that the number of volunteers at the library is not plentiful. She gave examples of jobs they could do: shelving books, helping in the fiction library, etc. Scott recommended securing a volunteer coordinator, so Erma wouldn’t have to do that job as well. He brought it forth as a motion, Chuck 2nd, motion passed. Erma will seek out this head volunteer person. 7. Old Business: A. By-laws- 1.We continued our dialogue from the previous meeting as to how many members should compose the board. After much discussion, we decided on 9 members: 2 from the township, 1 representing BC schools, 1 from CW schools, 1 from the village, 2 from the Foundation Board, 1 from the Friends of the Library, and 1 from the Township Trustees. Chuck motioned this to be the number, Bob 2nd. Motion passed. 2. Qualifications: see above, under 70 years of age, over 18 years of age, willing to serve, represent our community, keep a demographic balance. David recommended a letter be written by a proposed applicant stating why he/she would like the position. No motion was made. 3. Term of Office – Nancy recommended we not restrict the number of terms a member could hold, however, they would need to reapply when their term ended and must be approved by the LAB. Gary motioned for 5, 4, 3, 2 and 1 year terms with a staggered start for the At-large seats and when their term comes up, they must reapply for their seat if they still want to hold a seat. The 2 Foundation Board members, the Friends of the Library member and the Township Trustees member would all be appointees sent by their respective boards and therefore, would not have a specified limit on their time holding a seat. Chuck 2nd. Motion passed 4. Restrictions: It was determined that a candidate for an At-large seat: a. cannot hold a public elected office (ie. township trustee, village council, etc.) b. cannot be on the Wagnalls Foundation Board c. cannot be an employee of Wagnalls d. cannot be a member of the Friends of The Library e. cannot be an immediate family member of any of the above groups. Chuck motioned for these restrictions, Scott 2nd, motion passed. David advised the board to complete the next four ‘Items for Consideration’ for the charter at the next meeting. 8. Public Comment – The question was raised about E & O insurance (errors and omissions) and how much this new Wagnalls LAB will cost. It was determined that it wouldn’t cost more than one or two hundred dollars for bonding of our board. -Clerk treasurer should be bonded -Erma and/or Larry will call the OLC (Ohio Library Commission) to find out which budget it should come from WLAB or Foundation Board. 9. Scott Motioned to adjourn, Chuck 2nd, motion passed. Next meeting August 14th, 7:00pm Submitted by Liz Black, secretary
The WM Foundation board
seeks to have the LAB give them input in defining and
writing the charter for the LAB board. A document
will be drawn from the WM Foundation to establish the
Library Advisory Board. They will put together
preliminary by-laws until permanent ones can be
established and voted on by both boards. Explanation
was given that because of the 1947 law restricting any
new library to seek LLGSF funds, our established Wagnalls
Foundation has to remain as it stands with the Foundation
Board governing the operation of the library rather than
establishing a separate entity. This arrangement will
‘grandfather’ the ability for the
Wagnall’s Memorial Foundation to pursue State funds
as all other libraries have been entitled to do in the
past. However, The Foundation Board wishes to
defer its responsibility of the day to day operations of
the library to the newly created LAB and earmark separate
funds to operate the library that are apart from the
Foundation, such as scholarships, etc. This will
hopefully serve to create more public accountability and
input for recommendations to the WM Foundation for daily
operations, as well as intensify awareness by the LAB on
library activities. Questions were raised about how
to keep the funds separate to insure that if the
Foundation money declines further, it would be prevented
from drawing funds from the operation of the library
(LAB). Larry explained, as did John, that it would
only take one time for that to happen, and the
credibility of the WM Foundation Board would dissolve.
It was also suggested that if private donations were made
to Wagnalls for the operation of the library, the
contributor could stipulate that it is a matching
contribution based on the Wagnalls Foundation matching
the gift to the LAB. Donations could also be given
with requests of how to spend, but the ultimate decision
still rests with the recommendation of the LAB and WM
Foundation. All monies must come through the door
of the WM Foundation Board in order to maintain the
Association Library status set in 1947. David set our goal to have
our permanent document in place in 2004, but in the mean
time, the Foundation will draw up a temporary one upon
consideration and recommendations from the LAB. David
also recommended that LAB members make a one-year
commitment to remaining on the board after March 31,
2004. David
asked that the LAB discuss at least three items of
consideration brought by Larry from the
board. These include: Number of Members,
Qualifications, Term of Office and Meetings – how
many and where. 1.
Number of Members: David recommended 7: 2
from Bloom Township, 1 from the Village of
Lithopolis, 1 from Bloom-Carroll school district, 1 from
CW school district, 2 representatives from the Wagnalls
Foundation Board- these two may not hold an office on the
LAB. 2.
Qualifications: (see above residency), under the
age of 70, as is on the Wagnall’s Foundation board. 3.
Meetings: It was recommended that we meet twice a
month for 6 months then once a month after that, the
second and 4th Thursdays at 7:00pm in the rec
room of Wagnalls. Nancy made the motion for the
stated recommendation and Gary made the second. Vote
taken, motion approved. Erma will send email
reminders before the meetings. She will email Anne
Darling Cyphert to place an announcement in her column of
the Gazette. B.
Other New Business: Nancy brought up discussion of the
library hours being difficult to
remember
because of their inconsistency. The library is
currently open 26 hrs/wk: Mon 10-8pm,
Tues & Th 4-8, Wed & Sat 10-2 with Friday and
Sunday being closed. Erma explained this decision
was made based on an assessment of peak library use and
already existing programs such as Story Hour. 7.
Old Business: Marilyn asked if the amount of funds
being requested for is any different since
there
would not be a levy on the ballot. Larry responded
by confirming the amount to be requested as $340,000.00.
The LLGSF cannot look at outside funds being contributed
on which to base their decision, even if we had passed an
issue in the election. 8.
Public Comment: The issue of open [financial records]
books was address and it was established
that the books are those of the 990’s which are
available to the public by non-profit
organizations. -
The Budget Board will hear the case for our funding
request on August 4 -
We established a Sunset provision to have any modified
resolutions and bylaws completed by the LAB -
Question raised concerning the yearly income of the
Wagnalls Foundation – Larry addressed this and said
they have roughly $3,000,000.00 in principle 9.
David Petty asked that the meeting be adjourned at
8:55pm. Next
meeting scheduled: Thursday, July 31, 2003, 7:00pm
at Wagnalls Rec. Room submitted by Liz Black
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