Northville District Library

1. Call to Order: Chair Robert Sochacki called the Regular Meeting to order at 7:32 p.m.

1.1 Roll Call - Present: Trustees Robert Sochacki, Jean Hansen, Mike DeFrancesco,
Paul Snyder, Jim Morché and Joe Corriveau. Also present: Julie Herrin,
Library Director; Anne Mannisto, Assistant Library Director; Carla Eggert, Administrative Assistant. Staff members Nancy Clarizio and Suzanne Schimanski-Gross were in the audience.
1.2 Approval of the Agenda: MOTION: Jim Morché made a motion to accept the agenda as amended to add the swearing in of Alan Somershoe. Paul Snyder seconded the motion. Motion passed.
1.3 Swearing in of new Board Member: Trustee Alan Somershoe was sworn in for the remainder of the term ending December 31, 2014, to fill the vacancy created by the resignation of Suzanne Miller.
1.4 Approval of Regular Board Meeting Minutes of 11-15-12: MOTION: Paul Snyder made a motion to approve the November 15, 2012 minutes as corrected. Mike DeFrancesco seconded the motion. Motion passed.
1.5 Approval of Special Board Meeting Minutes of 12-06-12: Jim Morché made a motion to approve the minutes of the December 6, 2012 Special Board Meeting. Mike DeFrancesco seconded the motion. Motion passed.
1.6 Citizens' Comments: None

2. Correspondence: Julie Herrin reported that a letter was received from Jim Gallogly, Director of Public Works for the City of Northville, regarding the concrete strip in the Library parking lot that separates the brick walkway from the asphalt parking lot. He states that the replacement or repair of the concrete in this area should be the responsibility of the Library as the concrete strip was placed on City of Northville property seventeen years ago as part of the construction of the Library. There was discussion regarding the letter and it was decided to ask the City to amend the Library deed to reflect that the Library owns this property. Jim Morché asked if the Board should take Mr. Gallogly's offer to assist in obtaining contractor bids to do the work when the weather is warmer. As the Facilities Committee has obtained two bids for the work, we will likely want to obtain additional bids. Julie will write a letter to Mr. Gallogly regarding the deed amendment and additional contractor contacts.

3. Director's Report

Statistics: Julie reported that circulation in November was down 2.3% but the door count was up by 3%. Downloads were up 148%. There were 118 users of Freegal Music Service who downloaded 611 songs, and there were 91 visits to Brainfuse. Database usage is up. Youth Programming: There were nine children's programs with attendance of over 300. All of the first grade classes from Amerman Elementary came into the Library for a tour, a story and a craft.
Adult Services Programming: The Detroit Institute of Arts program on Faberge was presented at two times, in the afternoon and then the evening. Both programs had 75 attendees for a total of 150 patrons. The Foreign Film had 65 attendees in November and 57 in December. The Book Discussion had 19 attendees.
Teen Services: Teen Services Librarian Suzanne Schimanski-Gross noted that she gave a presentation on the Battle of the Books at Our Lady of Victory School and she will be giving similar presentations at other schools in the coming months.
Staff: Julie reported that Anne attended a webinar on eBook licensing. Part-time Librarian Cynthia Simpson is resigning as she has found a full-time position. We will begin the search to fill this position in January.
Public Relations: Julie reported that the Food for Fines program has been well received. We have already made one delivery of food to the Northville Civic Concern and will make another after the end of the program which is this coming Saturday, Dec. 22. The winter Library Newsletter was mailed the first week of December. There was an article in the Northville Record and online in the Northville Patch regarding the Library digitizing back copies of the Northville Record.
Coffee: In response to Jim Morché's recent question about the profitability of the Library coffee machine, Julie reported that its usage has generated $1,483 in revenue in the past year and we have spent $1,743 on fees and supplies. The monthly lease fee is $31. We subsidize the cost of having the machine by $259 a year or about $22 a month.
Facilities: The new light fixtures for the pillars around the main staircase will be shipped on January 18. The installation will be done after library hours. New carpet for the main staircase was selected, at a cost of around $3,000. We will likely have to close the Library during the installation of the carpeting on the main stairs. We also selected potential new carpet for the staff work areas, as the carpet is over 16 years old and badly worn in places. The cost to install new carpeting in the Library staff work areas is $28,327. Part of this cost is the labor involved in moving furniture. There is a savings of $2,000 from having theses two carpet replacement projects done at the same time. MOTION: Jean Hansen made a motion to approve the replacement of the carpeting in the Library staff workroom areas and the public stairway at a cost not to exceed $32,000. Paul Snyder seconded the motion. Motion passed.

4. Friends Report: Anne attended the December 6 Friends Board Meeting. She reported that they are working on finalizing revisions to their bylaws and updating the job descriptions for their board positions. They are looking for the "Wish List" from the Library in January. Joe Oldenburg will fill in for Joe Thomas, who is resigning from the Friends Board and from the Book Sale Coordinator position. Mission Based Books has asked to renegotiate its contract with the Friends, as they are losing money. Carol Oldenburg, Friends President, will be out of town from late February to early April.

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 December 2012. MOTION: Jean Hansen made a motion for the approval of payment of the bills over $1,000. Paul Snyder seconded the motion. Motion passed. MOTION: Jean Hansen made a motion to transfer $8,364.29 from the Debt Service Fund to the Operating Fund, as that is the portion of tax refunds that should come from Debt Service. Mike DeFrancesco seconded the motion. Motion passed.
5.2 Financial Report: Jean Hansen distributed the November 2012 financial report. Fringe benefits are lower than budgeted due to a smaller increase in the Blue Cross premiums than expected. Technology is a little more than budgeted. However, the amount over budget is less than the amount under budget last year. Jean stated that revenues from the City and Township will not begin coming in until early 2013. As a result, money needs to be transferred from the Reserve Fund to the Operating Fund. MOTION: Jean Hansen made a motion to transfer, as a loan, $200,000 from the Reserve Fund to the Operating Fund. Paul Snyder seconded the motion. Motion passed.
Jean reported that personal property tax reductions had been added to the 2013 Budget. However, these reductions will not go into effect until at least 2014. MOTION: Jean Hansen made a motion to amend the 2013 Budget to eliminate the line items for personal property tax to the City and Township. Mike DeFrancesco seconded the motion. Motion passed.
MOTION: Jean Hansen made a motion to increase the 2013 budgeted amount for tax revenue from the City of Northville by 2% over the actual revenue received in fiscal year 2012. The new amount will be $344,610. Joe Corriveau seconded the motion. Motion passed.

6. Committee Reports

6.1 Policy Committee: Jean Hansen presented policies for the second reading by the Board of Trustees in the absence of a Policy Committee Chair, due to the resignation of Suzanne Miller, who had held this position. There have been no changes to the policies since the first reading.

Jean Hansen presented the Policy on the Freedom of Information Act with changes for second reading. MOTION: Jean Hansen made a motion to accept the revised Policy on the Freedom of Information Act as presented. Paul Snyder seconded the motion. Motion passed.

Jean Hansen presented the Policy on Displays, Handouts and Postings with changes for the second reading. MOTION: Jean Hansen made a motion to accept the revisions to the Policy on Displays, Handouts and Posting. Paul Snyder seconded the motion. Motion passed.

Jean Hansen presented the Policy on Materials Selection with changes for the second reading. MOTION: Jean Hansen made a motion to accept the revisions to the Policy on Materials Selection. Paul Snyder seconded the motion. Motion passed.

Jean Hansen presented the Policy on Weeding of Materials with changes for the second reading. MOTION: Jean Hansen made the motion to accept the revisions to the Policy on Weeding of Materials. Alan Somershoe seconded the motion. Motion passed.

Jean Hansen presented the Policy on Controversial Materials and Programming with changes for the second reading. MOTION: Jean Hansen made a motion to accept the revisions to the Policy on Controversial Materials and Programming. Alan Somershoe seconded the motion. Motion passed.

Jean Hansen presented the Policy on Gifts with changes for the second reading. MOTION: Jean Hansen made a motion to accept the revisions to the Policy on Gifts. Paul Snyder seconded the motion. Motion passed.

Jean Hansen presented the Policy on Authorization for Expenditures for the second reading. MOTION: Jean Hansen made the motion to accept the revisions to the Policy on Authorization for Expenditures. Alan Somershoe seconded the motion. Motion passed.

An updated copy of the Policy Manual will be distributed at the January Board Meeting.

7. Friend of the Court Brief - Firearms in Library: Julie reported that the Library has received a request from the law firm of Miller Canfield to join with the Capital Area District Library (CADL) and other area district libraries in filing a Friend of the Court brief to ask the Michigan Supreme Court to review the October 2012 decision by the Michigan Court of Appeals, regarding firearms in public libraries. This began with a lawsuit filed by Open Carry of Michigan (OCM), an organization whose members entered CADL with firearms and were told that the Library's policy prohibited firearms in the library. OCM then filed a lawsuit, and the right of CADL to prohibit firearms was upheld by the Ingham County Circuit Court. This decision was subsequently overturned, in a 2-1 decision by the Michigan Court of Appeals, which ruled that local units of government, including district libraries, may not preempt state law on this matter, and thus cannot ban firearms from their premises. The Library has been asked to join in this filing on behalf of district libraries and to contribute no more than $1,500 to fund this. MOTION: Paul Snyder motioned to contribute no more than $1,500 to Miller Canfield to join the Friend of the Court Brief they are preparing, seconded by Joe Corriveau. Motion passed. (There is currently a bill in Committee in the State Legislature that would add public libraries to locations in which the open carry law is prohibited.)

8. Announcements and Comments: Chair Robert Sochacki stated that the Board has had a lot of recent discussion about the agenda and how it should be handled. The Board has been remiss in that the Chair should review and approve the agenda prior to the meeting. This was discussed and it was decided that agenda changes should be sent to Julie and she will forward the final copy to the Chair for approval. Once approved, the Board would like the agenda to be posted in the Library and on the Library website the Monday prior to the Board Meeting.

The Library Director's evaluation will be held on Thursday, January 10, 2013 at 7:00 p.m. in the Storytime Room. A blank evaluation form will be emailed to the Board.

The next meeting of the Finance Committee will be Tuesday, January 22, at 1:30 p.m. and the next regular meeting of the Board will be Thursday, January 24, at 7:30 p.m.

MOTION: Paul Snyder motioned to adjourn the December Regular Board Meeting. Jim Morché seconded the motion. Motion passed. The Meeting was adjourned at 9:00 p.m.

Respectfully Submitted,
Joe Corriveau, Secretary
CE 12/26/12