NORTHVILLE DISTRICT LIBRARY BOARD OF TRUSTEES
Regular Meeting Minutes
Thursday, March 18, 2010 – 7:30 p.m.
Northville District Library Carlo Meeting Room

1.    Chairperson Joe Corriveau called the Regular Meeting to order at 7:31 p.m. 
1.1    Roll Call - Present:  Trustees Joe Corriveau, Robert Sochacki, Alan Somershoe, Judy Sherman, Jean Hansen, and Mike DeFrancesco.  Also present:  Julie Herrin, Director; Anne Mannisto, Assistant Director; Judith Williams, Administrative Assistant; and Paul Snyder, President of the NDL Friends.  In the audience: Library staff member Al Smitley. 
Absent:  Trustee Jim Morché.
1.2    Approval of the Agenda:  MOTION:  Jean Hansen made a motion to approve the agenda as amended, adding the approval of contracts for the Director and Assistant Director to the Committee Reports as Agenda Item 6.1 and adding an Executive Session.  Robert Sochacki seconded the motion.  Motion passed.
1.3    Approval of the Regular Board Meeting minutes for February 25, 2010:  MOTION:  Jean Hansen moved to accept the minutes for the Board Meeting of February 25, 2010, as corrected.  Robert Sochacki seconded the motion.  Motion passed.
1.4    Approval of the Executive Session Minutes held on February 25, 2010.  MOTION:  Alan Somershoe made a motion to accept the minutes for the Executive Session on February 25, 2010 as presented.  Robert Sochacki seconded the motion.  Motion passed.
1.5    Citizen Comments:  Staff member Al Smitley, representing the Northville District Library Employees Association, presented data that he prepared regarding the Library’s past budget performance.  He then said that if the Library granted the Association’s current request that the Association would forgo reopening wage negotiations for the final year of the contract.  Chairman Corriveau noted that this information would be reviewed in the Executive Session as the Board considers the Association’s request.

2.    Correspondence:  None.

3.    Director’s Report:
Statistics:  Julie noted that the February statistics show circulation to be up 7.8%, while the door count is actually down by 5%.  Database usage is up and the numbers should continue to increase as special classes continue.  Website visits have also increased, going from 21,408 in February 2009 to 24,241 in February 2010. 
Youth Programming:  These numbers only cover 3 weeks this month.  The Youth Department has held 21 programs so far this month, with a total of 413 children attending.  Two groups of 8th grade students from Our Lady of Victory School attended a program on databases and were able to practice accessing and searching them following the presentation.  The program was so well received that there are plans to have the 6th grade classes participate in a similar program in April.
Adult Programming:  The Adult Services Department canceled the Computer Classes this month due to low registration.  The Foreign Film Series hosted 26 viewers this month.  The program on R.E.A.L. Research had 14 attendees, even with the snowstorm.  The Book Discussion had 19 participants, and the program on Gardening hosted 78 people.  There will be a program on World Travel later this month.  There was a total of 62 volunteer hours in February 2010.
Teen Programming:  The Library Arcade held on March 13 had 25 participants.  The 2010 Battle of the Books, to be held on Wednesday, March 24 at Northville High School, will have 34 teams totaling 162 middle school students.  Robert Sochacki offered to introduce the program at the Battle of the Books in the absence of Julie Herrin and Anne Mannisto, who will be attending the PLA Conference in Portland, Oregon. 
Collections:  An online version of Value Line that can be accessed remotely has been added to the collection.  This will replace the print version that is being discontinued.  Julie has also renewed the subscription to Netlibrary downloadable media for the coming year. 
Facilities: Julie reported that the re-lamping of the Library’s upper level has begun with the Adult Fiction area.  Plans are to proceed with these changes in the Youth area.  The re-lamping is not only changing the color of the bulbs, it is also cutting the number of light bulbs almost in half.  This should not only improve the lighting by making things easier to read, it should also offer a considerable savings on electricity costs with DTE Energy.
RFID:  Julie reported that the RFID system will go live on Monday, April 5.  There will be a staff refresher and testing session for RFID on Friday, April 2. At this point over 100,000 items have been tagged.
Strategic Planning:  Julie reported that she had contacted Bill Schroer for pricing information on facilitating a day-long strategic planning session for staff.  The cost for his services would be $1,500 for the day.   MOTION:  Jean Hansen made a motion to hire Mr. Schroer to conduct a one-day staff session to review the results of the Community Survey and to assist in formulating a new strategic plan, not to exceed the proposed cost of $1,500.  Judy Sherman seconded the motion.  Motion passed.

4.    Friends Report:  Friends President Paul Snyder noted that the Friends had not held a meeting since the last Library Board Meeting.  He reported that the Friends Annual Meeting was being held on Sunday, March 21, beginning at 5:30 p.m.  The event will include comments from State Representative Marc Corriveau; Dr. Charles Hansen, President of the Friends of Michigan Libraries (FOML); and Irish music.  Refreshments in the form of mini-subs will be supplied by Genitti’s Hole-in-the-Wall, with Friends providing bottled water and dessert.  He stated that the Friends would be participating in the Taste of Northville and would be giving away gently used cookbooks. 

5.    Budget and Finance Review:
5.1    MOTION:  Treasurer Jean Hansen made a motion to approve payment of the Northville District Library List of Bills over $1,000 for March 2010 as presented to the Board.  Alan Somershoe seconded the motion.  Motion passed.
5.2    MOTION:  Jean Hansen made a motion to electronically transfer the $397,500 debt payment due to U.S. Bank from the Debt Fund by the April 1, 2010 due date.  Alan Somershoe seconded the motion.  Motion passed. 
5.3    Jean distributed the Financial Reports for February.  She explained that revenue is still being received at a slower rate during the first months of the Fiscal Year compared to previous years.  She commented that the decline in revenue from Northville Township is estimated to be 8% per year for the next 2 years and 5% for 2013.  With the past year reduction and this year’s decrease, the Library will need to operate with 11% less income in 2010 and 25% less income in 2013 than in 2008.  Similar declines in tax revenue are being predicted for the City.  Based on these predictions, Jean suggested that the Board hold a special Study Session to review the newly revised 5-year budget forecast.  One important topic for this session would be to determine the level of fund equity that must be maintained as reserve funds could be depleted before 2013 under the current rate of spending.  The Board needs to look at where cuts might be made to minimize the impact on Library service overall.
5.4    MOTION:  Jean made a motion to amend the current Operating Budget, reducing the following budgeted amounts as follows: 1) Meetings, Conferences and Mileage from $10,000 to $5,000; and 2) Books and Subscriptions from $219,000 to $215,000.  She also requested that the motion include that the Budgeted amount for Auditing Services be increased from $7,000 to $9,000 and that the proposed withdrawal from the Reserve Fund be changed from $68,000 to $43,450 for this Fiscal Year.  Alan Somershoe seconded the motion.  Motion passed. 
5.5    MOTION:  Jean Hansen made a motion to allow Julie Herrin the discretion to withdraw funds from the Endowment Fund up to the limit available, based on the outcome of a meeting with the Friends of the Library regarding their assistance at this time.  Judy Sherman seconded the motion.  Motion passed

Paul Snyder stated that the Friends of the Library would prefer to make donations directly to the Library to assist in funding items for the Library, rather than making donations to the Endowment.   

The date for the Board of Trustees Study Session was set for Thursday, April 8, 2010, at 7:00 p.m. to be held in the Youth Storytime Room.
 
6.    Committee Reposts:
Personnel Committee
6.1     MOTION:  Judy Sherman made a motion to approve the new Employment Agreement for Assistant Director Anne Mannisto, effective March 1, 2010 through February 29, 2010.  The contract does not reflect a salary increase this year as the union staff will not be receiving an increase.  Robert Sochacki seconded the motion.  Motion passed.
6.2    MOTION:  Judy Sherman made a motion to approve a new Employment Agreement for Director Julie Herrin, effective March 1, 2010 through February 29, 2010.  Her contract does not reflect a salary increase this year as the union staff will not be receiving an increase.  Mike DeFrancesco seconded the motion.  Motion passed.

7.     Announcements and Comments:  The next Finance Committee will be held on Tuesday, April 20 at 10:00 a.m. in the Carlo Meeting Room.   The Regular April Board Meeting will be held at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, April 22, 2010, in the Carlo Meeting Room. 

MOTION:  Robert Sochacki made a motion to adjourn from the Regular Meeting to an Executive Session to discuss Union Contract Negotiations.  Alan Somershoe seconded the motion.  Motion passed.  The Regular Meeting was adjourned to the Executive Session at 8:50 p.m.

MOTION:  Following the Executive Session Robert Sochacki made a motion to adjourn the Regular February Board Meeting.  Jean Hansen seconded the motion.  Motion passed.  The Regular March Meeting was adjourned at 9:10 p.m.

Respectfully Submitted,

Mike DeFrancesco
JW 3/232010