RAMAPO CATSKILL LIBRARY SYSTEM 2015 ANNUAL MEETING SEPTEMBER 18, 2015 THE VIEWS AT MT. FUJI RESTAURANT, HILLBURN, NY MINUTES RCLS BOARD MEMBERS PRESENT: Carla Randazzo Amthor Martha Anderson Norman R. Gallagher Roslyn Applebaum Hurwitz Bernard Marone Helen Rados Lynn Skolnick David Zuckerberg Carl S. Berkowitz, President RCLS BOARD MEMBER ABSENT: Patricia Soto Tracy Allen, Director, Finkelstein Memorial Library, Directors Association Representative Board President Carl S. Berkowitz called the business meeting to order at 10:53 a.m. on Friday, September 18, 2015 at the Views at Mt. Fuji Restaurant, Hillburn NY. Carl S. Berkowitz noted that 149 trustees, Friends, Library Champions, staff members and guests, representing 31 member libraries had attended the 28th Legislative Breakfast that preceded the 56th RCLS Annual Meeting. MINUTES Carl S. Berkowitz called for a motion to approve the 2014 Annual Meeting Minutes. David Zuckerberg, New City Free Library and RCLS Trustee moved and Roslyn Applebaum Hurwitz, RCLS Trustee seconded the motion that the minutes be approved as distributed. The motion passed unanimously. FISCAL OFFICER'S REPORT Stephen Hoefer, RCLS Fiscal Officer and Assistant Treasurer, presented the 2016 RCLS Budget as printed in the Annual Meeting Program. The Budget is always presented in three columns. The first column, almost $4.6 million is the Budget as a whole. The next two columns break-out the Budget into two categories General and Automation. September 18, 2015 1 of 5 RCLS Annual Meeting
The General Budget is $2.8 million with 87% of this supported by State funding, 3% supported by the RCLS Service Fee and 8% is pass-through purchases for member libraries. This Budget increased $191,000 over last year. Of this increase, $100,000 is a result of all 47 member libraries pooling their resources to purchase e-content that will benefit all patrons system-wide. The General Budget funds everything not associated with automation delivery, cataloging, Trustee workshops and library staff training, Annual Report and Construction Grant reviews, as well as the work RCLS performs on behalf of the State such as Central Library funding, support of library service to State and county jails, etc. The Automation side of the Budget is $1.7 million, which is $12,000 more than last year. The automated network, ANSER, is fully funded by the member libraries. The ANSER Fees for 2016 have decreased by 2% overall. The ANSER Budget funds the software that runs the online catalog, library material inventory, circulation, patrons records, etc. and subscriptions to enhance the software as well as its maintenance. ANSER also funds the fiber-optic network that connects to all libraries, capital money to support the hardware related to ANSER and the personnel and benefits to manage it all. State Aid to libraries and library systems has increased for several years in a row. A 5.8% increase in 2015 translated into an additional $94,000 in Aid to RCLS. As a result of this increase, the 2016 RCLS Service Fee to member libraries will remain the same amount as last year, $97,000. RCLS is committing $37,000 of its Unrestricted Fund Balance to make up for the 10% shortfall that still remains in State Aid per Education Law. A copy of the Budget and other supporting documentation was sent to each library Director and Board President. This information should be presented at member library board meetings for a vote. Three regional Budget Hearings have been scheduled to answer questions about the RCLS Budget. NOMINATION AND ELECTION OF TRUSTEES ORANGE COUNTY Carl S. Berkowitz noted that an Orange County Board seat currently vacant needs to be filled by nomination and election at this meeting. The term for this position ends December 31, 2017. No nominations were received. Bernard Marone, Goshen Public Library and Historical Society and RCLS Trustee, nominated William R. Troy, Goshen, NY. Norman R. Gallagher, Port Jervis Free Library and RCLS Trustee seconded the nomination. Martha Anderson, RCLS Trustee moved and Victoria Drake, Moffat Library of Washingtonville Trustee seconded the motion that as no other nominations were made, for Carl S. Berkowitz to call for the secretary to cast one vote. William R. Troy was elected unanimously. September 18, 2015 2 of 5 RCLS Annual Meeting
Carl S. Berkowitz noted that one Board seat from Orange County needs to be filled by nomination and election at this meeting. The seat is currently held by Norman R. Gallagher of Port Jervis, NY, whose term expires December 31, 2015, and who is not eligible for re-election. The term for this position ends December 31, 2020. No nominations were received. ROCKLAND COUNTY Carl S. Berkowitz noted that one Board seat from Rockland County needs to be filled by nomination and election at this meeting. The seat is currently held by Patricia Soto, Garnerville, NY, whose term expires December 31, 2015, and who is not eligible for re-election. The term for this position ends December 31, 2020. No nominations were received. AWARDS Lynn Skolnick of the Annual Meeting and Awards Committee noted that in addition to the plaques and checks from RCLS, the award winners would be presented certificates from Assemblywoman Aileen Gunther and Orange County Executive Steve Neuhaus. The RCLS Member Library Adult Program of the Year Award, plaque and check for $500 was presented to the Newburgh Free Library for its Who is Jim Crow Film Series. Assistant Director Jeannie Stiller and Program Outreach Team member Jolee Dubois accepted the award and briefly described the program. An Honorable Mention Certificate was awarded to the Albert Wisner Public Library for its Asian/Pacific Islander Heritage Celebration. The RCLS Member Library Youth Program of the Year Award, a plaque and check for $500 was presented to the Chester Public Library for its Sensory Storytime program. Joni Armstrong, Children s Librarian accepted the award and briefly described the program. Honorable Mention Certificates were awarded to the Ethelbert B. Crawford Public Library for its Make Your Own Zombie Apocalypse Survival Kit and the Goshen Public Library and Historical Society for its Goshen s Book Bingo Bonanza! programs. A Minecraft Challenge for Summer Reading was held again this year. The challenge was to build the best Secret Volcano Lair or any lair or superhero hideout. The Minecraft Challenge 2015 Award went to the Ethelbert B. Crawford Public Library. Lynn Skolnick presented the Anthony J. Knipp Library Trustee Award, a plaque and check for $250 to Mary Paige Lang-Clouse, past Trustee of the Sunshine Hall Free Library in Eldred. An Honorable Mention Certificate was awarded to Ruth Manyin, Trustee of the Moffat Library of Washingtonville. SERVICE RECOGNITION Lynn Skolnick stated that Patricia Soto and Norman R. Gallagher will be retiring from the RCLS Board at the end of this year. They were recognized with plaques from the RCLS Board of Trustees for their service to RCLS and its member libraries from January 2006 through December 2015. September 18, 2015 3 of 5 RCLS Annual Meeting
Lynn Skolnick was pleased to recognize the following RCLS staff for service milestones: David Krawczyk, Assistant Network Administrator for 10 Years of Service Robert Hubsher, Executive Director for 15 Years of Service Karen Haeger, Automation Technical Assistant for 20 Year of Service Jerry Kuntz, Electronic Resources Consultant for 20 Years of Service The I Love to Read quilt stitched and donated by former RCLS Trustee Karen L. Weitzner has raised over $500 for the RCLS Management Professional Development Scholarship Fund. David Zuckerberg, Chair of the Advocacy and Fundraising Committee drew the winning ticket for the I Love to Read Quilt and two books Erik Larson s Dead Wake and Dan Santat s The Adventures of Beekle. The raffle winner was Gretchen Bell, Director of the Nanuet Public Library. EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR S REMARKS Robert Hubsher drew the audience s attention to the Return on Investment (ROI) document, Budget Hearing Schedule and Plan of Service (POS) Focus Group Schedules in their programs. He noted that a minimum of five registrants are required to hold the Budget Hearings. Therefore, he encouraged people to register in a timely manner. Library Systems in New York State are required to submit a five year Plan of Service (POS) to the Division of Library Development. RCLS new plan for 2017-2021 is due to the State by Saturday, October 1, 2016. In order to help us collect information for the POS, RCLS is conducting 15 Focus Groups. The meetings are organized by groups Directors, Adult Services staff, Youth Services staff, Circ/Tech staff and Trustees. Nancy Bolt and her associate Debbie McCloud will be undertaking this project. Both have served as consultants to libraries around the country. The final report submitted by the consultants will help us develop our POS. In addition, RCLS carries out an annual evaluation of the POS using an online survey sent directly to every library Director, with a request that they share the survey with the appropriate departments and individuals and collate the input in order to submit one completed survey for each library. We will use the survey results along with the annual evaluation data to develop the new five-year POS. The POS is a living document, a strategic plan. Creating the POS helps RCLS think about the future, how to develop the organization, how to plan for the future and how to create the budget to support our efforts to achieve our mission. Robert Hubsher strongly encouraged those present to attend one of the Focus Groups. Robert Hubsher noted the donation envelopes included in everyone s program. Donations received from these envelopes go to the Vehicle Reserve Fund. He noted that in 2014 the delivery vans transported over 3.3 million books, DVDs, audio books, as well as inter-office mail, which is not included in that count. This service is provided at a cost that is less than the cost of a stamp per item, about 31 cents, as opposed to $8.8 million that it would cost if we used the U.S. Postal Service Library Rate to mail items. September 18, 2015 4 of 5 RCLS Annual Meeting
BOARD PRESIDENT S REMARKS Carl S. Berkowitz stated this is the last of his two years as President of the Board. He thanked all for their help. He shared with those assembled that his wife Linda Emanuel had purchased one of the 2015 Page-A-Day Book Lover s Calendars that the Board sold last year. When she read an interesting page, it ended up as a trip to the library and the borrowing of a book. Carl S. Berkowitz recommended the audience purchase one of the 2016 calendars to help open up their reading repertoire. Carl S. Berkowitz stated to those present that RCLS needs your help. Two seats are vacant on the RCLS board that need filling. Trustees cannot attend every meeting; therefore, we run the risk of not having a quorum and not being able to conduct system business every month. If anyone has a Friend, board member or community member that you think would be interested in serving; encourage them to join the RCLS Board. Contract Carl S. Berkowitz or Robert Hubsher with the information to get the process started. The RCLS Board members plan to visit member library Board of Trustees to do an informal Q and A session. Carl S. Berkowitz asked that the member library Boards send him an e-mail to invite a RCLS Trustee to attend their meeting. ADJOURNMENT Helen Rados, RCLS Trustee moved and Carla Randazzo Amthor, RCLS Trustee seconded the motion to adjourn the 56th Annual Business Meeting at 11:53 a.m. The motion passed unanimously. September 18, 2015 5 of 5 RCLS Annual Meeting