Minutes
April, 2010 Directors Association Meeting Mid Hudson Library System Auditorium
Meeting was called to order at 10:01 a.m. by Julie Kelsall-Dempsey.
Present
Columbia County
Luisa Sabin-Kildiss , Chatham Public Library; Sally Alderdice, Claverack Free Library; Corey Fleming, Hudson; Julie H. Johnson, Kinderhook Memorial Library; Jeannie Bogino, New Lebanon Library; Vicki Kurashige, North Chatham Free Library; Karen Garafalo, Philmont Public Library; Carol Briggs, Roeliff Jansen Community Library
Dutchess County
Carol Rodriguez, Beekman Library; Terry Sennett, Clinton Community Library, Matthew Pfisterer, Grinnell Library Association; Allison Herrero, Howland Public Library; Lisa Karim, LaGrange Association Library; Nancy Rogers, Millbrook Free Library; Joanne A. Meyer, Morton Memorial Library and Community House; Robert Reilly , Pawling Free Library; Marguerite Hill, Pine Plains Free Library; Daniela Pulice, Pleasant Valley Library; Tom Lawrence, Poughkeepsie Public Library District; Sue Hoadley, Red Hook Public Library; Erica Freudenberger, Staatsburg Library; Arlene Christensen, Stanford Free Library; Steven Cook, Starr Library; Bonny Corrado, Tivoli Free Library
Greene County
Candace Begley, Windham Public Library
Putnam County
Gillian Thorpe, Julia L. Butterfield Memorial Library; Patricia Kaufman, Mahopac Public Library; Patti Haar, Patterson Library; Kathleen McLaughlin, Putnam Valley Free Library; Jeanne Buck, Reed Memorial Library
Ulster County
Julie Kelsall-Dempsey, Highland Public Library; Margie Menard, Kingston Library; James Cosgrove, Marlboro Free Library; Tracy Priest, Phoenicia Library; Wendy Alexander, Rosendale Library; Laurel Coccio, Sarah Hull Hallock Free Library; Faith Johnson, Town of Ulster Public Library
Mid-Hudson Library System
Josh Cohen, Merribeth Advocate, Rebekkah Smith Aldrich, Christina Ryan- Linder, Laurie Shedrick
Action Items
T. Lawrence moved that the minutes of the previous meeting be approved. S. Cook seconded and the motion passed.
Congratulations to S. Hoadley, new director at Red Hook.
MHLS Reports
MHLS Executive Director’s Report , Josh Cohen A written report was circulated in advance of the meeting.
Charter service area: The letters are clarifying ambiguities in the original letter.
Construction funds: Directors and boards should be planning projects now, not waiting until the last minute. The Senate has restored government cuts, which makes this a good time to ask assemblymen to follow the Senate’s lead (especially the democrats.)
Josh’s last meeting: Will be in May.
MHLS Board Liaison Report, Frank Rees
No report. The last meeting was 3/13.
Last meeting: Two 2 LSTA applications were approved, and both construction grants and the executive search committee were discussed.
Advisory Committee Reports
Central Library/Collection Development, Margie Menard No report. No meeting. The next meeting is 4/20.
Continuing Education/Professional Development, Merribeth Advocate No report. No meeting. The next meeting is 4/23.
Marketing and Program, Midge Quick
A written report was circulated in advance of the meeting. Committee met on 3/8.
Kids OPAC survey: 31 responses were received.
Word of Mouth Marketing: January to current date analysis indicates that Hudson Valley Reads has shown an increase of 140% in subscribers.
WOMM tools need to be gotten out sooner so staff will have more time to prepare and understand the product, and also to judge which patrons would match well with the product. Rebecca would like to hear anecdotes about successful WOMM.
Resource Sharing , Laurie Shedrick
A written report was circulated in advance of the meeting. Committee met on 3/17.
Birth date on patron record: Committee requests an action item to include birth dates as a required field on patron records. Libraries will need to switch to white registration cards which include this as a required field.
Air Pac rollout: Air Pac is currently being tested by a few different directors. iTouch or Blackberry will recognize it.
Library hours issue: Has been corrected.
Consultant Activities
Outreach & Education Coordinator, Merribeth Advocate A written report was circulated in advance of the meeting.
Overdrive: As of 4/3, the method of statistics collection method was changed. For the first two months stats were collected based on card prefix. As of 4/3, stats are based on the Home Library field. Stats, which are already pretty solid, will now be even more accurate. Stats are posted at midhudson.org/collection/overdrive/by_library.xls. So far there have been 1400 checkouts by 700 patrons. Some libraries have received complaints regarding lack of availability of titles.
Overdrive did an analysis of the collection size and reported that it is currently too small to increase the number of simultaneous checkouts. Right now we are offering twice the number of titles that we had on opening day. Clicking the “Show me whats available now” icon will bring up everything that is not checked out and is currently available.
The DA can choose to allocate additional funds to purchase more titles but, as usual, there is a cash flow problem at this time of year.
Money will be there over time, but many libraries have not paid their Midhudson bills which were sent in January. If bills are paid, we can purchase 40 new titles per month. Savings from Price It! could be used to purchase Overdrive titles. This would give us an additional $3800 to spend on downloadable audiobook titles. This will be an action item next month. Some concerns were voiced that people won’t come to library because of all the resources being available at home.
Overdrive is actually an ideal application for people who never use the library and get them using resources. This can be accomplished through press releases, articles, and public distribution of Overdrive bookmarks.
eBooks: Would be the next logical step. Individual libraries can purchase eBooks through Overdrive, but the titles would still be open to everyone. Kindle works only with titles purchased through Amazon and can not be circulated. Sony eReader or nook works with Overdrive titles. Overdrive also works on smart phones and computers. Systems which are offering eBooks are finding that they don’t circulate, though audiobooks are very popular. The issue is interface and ease of access. It takes time for patrons to become comfortable with and equipped with new technologies. It would be good to look at eBook and eReader pricing now in order to be prepared.
Benefit, Salary, & Leave Survey: Results are posted online.
Annual Report Statistics: Should be posted by the end of April. Call Nina at x236 if specific data is needed sooner. Don’t hesitate to call. People expressed an interest in knowing expenses, programming, circulation, and computer usage data. It was pointed out that in some libraries stats for computer users are going down while wireless users are going up. Are libraries keeping stats on wireless users?
Online trainings for different products: Staff should be encouraged to take advantage of this.
Mental health month: May is Mental Health Month. Brochures are available, which were generated by the Health Information Project.
Coordinator for Library Growth & Sustainability, Rebekkah Smith Aldrich A written report was circulated in advance of the meeting.
Construction update: Grace Kelly is coming from Division of Library Development. Her presentation will be coupled with the Greening Your Library workshop.
Volunteer Management: Presenter for this workshop holds a master’s degree in Volunteer Management. Personnel issues and teen volunteers are also covered.
Trustee newsletter: Going to eformat this year through Constant Contact.
Youth Services & Community Connections Coordinator, Christina Ryan- Linder A written report was circulated in advance of the meeting.
AWE Early Literacy Station Group Buy: Is coming to an end. The discount will be larger than anticipated.
Summer Reading Program Mini Grants: Everyone is encouraged to apply
Automated Systems Manager, Laurie Shedrick A written report was circulated in advance of the meeting.
Mandatory Millennium trainings: Completed yesterday
New cataloging email: cataloging@midhudson.org These emails will go to Karen, Kit, and Laurie. Broken holds, problems with bib display, and catalog deletions can all be sent here.
System Funding Task Force, Tom Lawrence
A written report was circulated in advance of the meeting. Committee met on 3/22.
Delivery fees: Libraries are currently paying .21 per hold. Total tires & wires line shows what MHLS is paying. This gives a general idea of what these costs are going to be in the future. As it currently stands, this amount would be added on to what we are currently paying. Member libraries are now funding 1/3 of the cost of deliveries. Eventually we may have to assume 2/3 of cost. A column should be added to the spread sheet indicating what the current charges are. Implemented over several years (2012 to 2018) these fees will probably work out to an increase of about 1% per year. The options are to fund the system or cut services. Libraries should start thinking about how this will be dealt with at the local level. This plan will keep the system functioning over the next 8-10 years and allows a lot of time to make these changes. Tiered services model did not seem doable and so was thrown out.
The committee is looking at two models. One is that libraries bite the bullet and, over 8-10 years, bear the full cost. The advantage here is that libraries know what will happen and can plan accordingly. The second model does not commit funds, but directors will need to vote on funds allocation as budget issues occur. This is similar to a 414 library district model. It could be done every 2 years, which may leave a surplus at times. The main comparison is that the 1st model provides a long range plan, while the 2nd affords more flexibility from year to year. The DA has requested a pro & con breakdown of each model. Web management reports show how items are being checked out.
Most items go to the owning library’s patrons, while the next highest number is checked out at contiguous locations. The committee would like directors to look at these numbers and come back with feedback.
More information is necessary before this info can be brought to individual library boards. The task force is looking to develop a list of FAQS. This model has an impact of 3% on library budgets, while use of these services takes 25% of MHLS funds. Holds not picked up (10% of total holds) should be looked at, as well.
Old Business
None
New Proposed Business & Information
Birthdates as a required field: Action item next month
Kids Opac drop down: Currently the Kids OPAC scopes default to ‘All Children’s Material,’ then individual libraries’ full collections. The new scopes will be taken from Advanced Search, which breaks down to the children’s collection as well as individual libraries. The drawback is that it will be a huge list to scroll through. There’s no way to default to home library kids catalog. The drop down will say ANY instead of ALL CHILDRENS, but will search just children’s collections. Next you can scope by location. Action item for next month.
Adjournment
P. Kaufman moved to adjourn the meeting. T. Lawrence seconded and the meeting was adjourned at 10:55 am.
Respectfully Submitted:
Jeannie Bogino
New Lebanon Library