Northville District Library

1. Call to Order: Chair Robert Sochacki called the Regular Meeting to order at 7:30 p.m.

1.1 Roll Call - Present: Trustees Robert Sochacki, Jean Hansen, Mike DeFrancesco,
Paul Snyder, Joe Corriveau and Jim Morché. Also present: Julie Herrin,
Library Director; Anne Mannisto, Assistant Library Director; Carla Eggert, Administrative Assistant. Absent: Suzanne Miller, Trustee.
1.2 Approval of the Agenda: MOTION: Jean Hansen made a motion to accept the agenda as amended. Paul Snyder seconded the motion. Motion passed.
1.3 Approval of Regular Board Meeting Minutes of 09-27-12: MOTION: Paul Snyder made a motion to approve the September 27, 2012 minutes as corrected. Jim Morché seconded the motion. Motion passed.

1.4 Citizens' Comments: None.

2. Correspondence: None.

3. Director's Report

Statistics: Julie Herrin reported that circulation is up 3.6% and the door count is up 3%. Database statistics are up. The statistic on downloads on the monthly statistics report will now include audio books, eBooks and Freegal. Mr. Sochacki asked if a notation could be made to the bottom of the monthly statistics sheet for the next few months to indicate Freegal has been added to this statistic. In September 169 users of Freegal downloaded 848 songs, and so far in October 95 patrons have downloaded 533 songs. Our patrons accessed the Brainfuse database 932 times in September.
Youth Programming: Over 1,000 children attended 33 programs. We have had to cancel the Tuesday Storytime sessions for four and five year olds as all day kindergarten has significantly reduced attendance. We will continue to offer the Monday Storytime. There was a joint program with the Library and the Friends of Maybury on owls that was held at the Community Center and was very popular.
Teen Services: Battle of the Books will be held on March 20, 2013. Twenty-seven teens participated in the Halloween Lock-In. There were 10 attendees for a program on Research Databases and Brainfuse.
Adult Services Programming: The program How to Search for Vital Records had 23 participants. A program on downloading eBooks had 22 attendees. The Foreign Film was attended by 59 patrons. The Book Discussion had 15 attendees. An eReader demo program was attended by 15 patrons. Computer and eBook Tutoring had 13 attendees.
Community Reads-Picking Cotton: Over 90 patrons have checked out the book, Picking Cotton, and 63 people attended the Innocence Project Program. The author speaking engagement with Jennifer Thompson-Cannino, being held at the Novi Library on November 14, 2012, is full.
Facilities: Julie reported that she and Carla met with the lighting consultant, interior designer and installer to map out the plan for the project to replace the lighting around the staircase. The estimated cost of the project is $34,600. The carpeting will also be replaced on the staircase for a cost of around $2,900. Library Design also submitted a bid to replace the carpeting in the two staff work areas at a cost of $22,000. There are spots in these work areas where the carpet is worn and that could become a trip hazard over time.
Public Relations: Julie reported that we received an award for best theme in the Fourth of July parade from the Northville Community Foundation. Julie recorded a video for the Good Morning Northville segment of Patch.com which appeared on the Patch website. The Library will have a table on Main Street with a Geek the Library theme and hand out candy for Halloween. The next Library newsletter will be out the first week of December. Julie spoke to the Northville Women's Club last week on the services the Library offers to the community. We are planning to have a Food for Fines Program in December. We geek our Friends group and as part of National Friends of the Library Week, the library helped to promote the "Sundaes on Sunday" event the Friends held and posted a sign in the library about the Friends.
Staff: The staff Holiday Luncheon will be held on Wednesday, December 12. Anne and Jeannie Davidson attended a workshop entitled "Turning the Page-What's Next for Libraries" at the Plymouth Library. Julie, Carla Eggert and Wendy Mutch went to the MERS Conference, where they attended sessions on planning for future health care costs, a legislative update, a defined benefit overview, cost savings strategies and information on changing plans.
Fund Raiser: Julie reported that the proceeds from the Books and Beyond fundraiser were $6,400. We received $5,000 from sponsors and $600 from supporters. We sold 53 tickets to the event which raised $1,587.65 and we raised $260 from the raffle of the gift baskets. Julie thanked the Event Subcommittee of the Development Committee for all their hard work on the project.

4. Friends Report: Judy DeFrancesco reported that the "Sundaes on Sunday" event that the Friends hosted on Oct. 21 for National Friends of the Library Week was very successful. Approximately 160 people attended including two families who are new to the Northville community. Many others were unaware of the Friends and their mission so it was a great opportunity to raise awareness. Nine attendees submitted Friends membership applications, including one at the Patron level and one at the Sustaining level. The Friends appreciated the support of the Board members who attended as well as the Library Director. Emphasis for 2013 will be to raise awareness of the Friends and to increase membership. The Membership Committee will be meeting to brainstorm ideas to increase participation and to review and update the membership form and processes. The Gift Store held special sales during the Fall Arts and Crafts Festival at the Community Center. They had a good amount of traffic through the store and sales were good. The next Friends newsletter will be published on November 1. The Used Book Sale will be held November 2 through November 4. The Friends preview night will be held on November 1. At the close of the sale any remaining books will be donated to Northville Civic Concern. The President of the Friends is disappointed to report that Laura Lockhart, Recording Secretary, will be resigning at the end of the current term, Feb. 28, 2013. Additionally, Joe Thomas, Director of the Book Cellar and used book sales, is resigning at the end of the term. These individuals will be sorely missed from these key positions. The Friends will not have a meeting in November, but will meet on Thursday, Dec. 6, 2012. Paul Snyder suggested that future requests for funding to the Friends be more open-ended in the ongoing upkeep of the items. This was in reference to the recent Friends objections to the request for the Northville Record digitization annual updates.

5. Budget and Finance Review

5.1 Bills over $1,000 for approval: Treasurer Jean Hansen presented the list of bills over $1,000 for October 2012. MOTION: Jean Hansen made a motion for the approval of payment of the bills over $1,000. Mike DeFrancesco seconded the motion. Motion passed.
5.2 Financial Report: Jean Hansen distributed the September 2012 financial report. We have gone over budget on Tax Refunds, as the current Tax Refund amount is 151.94% of the budgeted amount. The amount received from State Aid is 154.36% of what was budgeted, since we received three State Aid payments this year compared to one last year. MOTION: Jean Hansen made a motion to amend the Tax Refund line item amount from -$30,000 to -$50,000. Jim Morché seconded the motion. Motion passed. MOTION: Jean Hansen made a motion to amend the State Aid line item amount from $10,000 to $15,500. Mike DeFrancesco seconded the motion. Motion passed. As the lighting project may not be completely paid for in this fiscal year, we will carry the balance forward for the Building and Maintenance line item, as well as $6,400 for youth materials from the fundraiser in Private Donations. Julie reported that the lighting project will require a deposit of 10 to 20%, with the balance due when the project is complete.

6. Committee Reports

6.1 Policy Committee: Julie Herrin distributed a copy of the table of contents of the Policy Manual to the Board. There are eight policies that need to be reviewed as they have not been reviewed since 2005. A Policy Committee meeting will be held on Tuesday, Oct. 30 at 6:30p.m.

6.2 Facilities Committee: Mike DeFrancesco reported that the curbing in front of the Library is disintegrating. Two cement contractors have come out to look at the area. It would take a day to remove the existing cement and a day to replace it. The work must be done within the next couple of weeks if we are to have the cement replaced this year due to the approaching cold weather. An alternative would be to fill the problem areas with cold patch for now. There was discussion relating to whether the repair of the parking lot is the Library's responsibility. Julie stated her understanding is the parking lot belongs to the schools and is leased to the Community Center. She will find out if the cement curbing is the Library's responsibility to repair. Mr. DeFrancesco will get a detailed estimate of the cost for the repair work from Frank Sinelli Cement Company. MOTION: Paul Snyder made a motion to approve the repair of the curbing, pending receiving permission to do the work, with cost not to exceed $4,500. Mr. DeFrancesco seconded the motion. Motion passed.

7. Announcements and Comments

7.1 Board Membership: Chair Robert Sochacki reported that Trustee Suzanne Miller has resigned her position effective immediately. With two years left in her term, we will need to appoint a new Trustee to finish her term, which runs through December 2014. The Bylaws state that the appointment of a new Trustee to fill the vacancy should be done within 45 days by majority vote of the remaining Trustees. A notice of the open position will be posted on the Library website, in the Northville Record, on Northville Patch and on the bulletin board in the Library. There was discussion relating to possible candidates to fill the position. The Personnel Committee will meet on Nov. 15, 2012 at 7 p.m., prior to the next regular Board Meeting. A special meeting of the Board will be held on Thursday, Dec. 6, 2012 to vote on appointing a replacement Trustee. MOTION: Jean Hansen made a motion to accept the resignation of Trustee Suzanne Miller as of October 25, 2012. Mike DeFrancesco seconded the motion. Motion passed.
7.2 Confirm Meetings: The next Board of Trustees Meeting will be held on Thursday, November 15, 2012, at 7:30 p.m. in the Carlo Meeting Room. The next Finance Committee Meeting will be held on Tuesday, November 13, 2012 at 1:00 p.m. in the Carlo Meeting Room.
7.3 Comment: There was discussion about the agenda format. Jim Morché's suggestion for adding old and new business categories to the agenda was referred to the Policy Committee.
7.4 Announcement: Jim Morché reported that the library directional sign has been installed at the corner of Wing and Cady streets. Paul Snyder stated that the costs of the coffee pods for the coffee machine are very expensive and there was the possibility of theft of these pods left out for the public. There was discussion about the profitability of the coffee machine. Julie will bring information on the costs and revenue of the coffee machine to the next meeting.

MOTION: Mike DeFrancesco motioned to adjourn the September Regular Board Meeting. Jim Morché seconded the motion. Motion passed. The Meeting was adjourned at 9:05 p.m.

Respectfully Submitted,

Joe Corriveau, Secretary
CE 10/30/12