Minutes of BERGEN COUNTY COOPERATIVE LIBRARY SYSTEM February 26, 2014 PRESIDING: Len LoPinto Paramus PRESENT: Rita Browning Cresskill Tim Murphy Fair Lawn Laura Kirsch Hackensack Judy Heldman Harrington Park Dave Franz Hillsdale Richard Mariconda Little Ferry Kurt Hadeler Mahwah Marianne Willms Wallington Robert White BCCLS Pat Loughnane BCCLS GUESTS: Wendy Bloom, Ramsey Library Director 1. Minutes of Previous Meeting: MOTION: There being no additions or corrections to the minutes, they will stand as written. Motion carried. 2. Public Portion: Len LoPinto welcomed Wendy Boom to the meeting. 3. Treasurer s Report: Tim Murphy presented the January 2014 P&L Report. In response to a question, it was noted that all 2014 pre-payments have been received. No further questions. January Of the 2014 Budget of 3,115,948 2,672,637 has been received leaving a balance of -443,311 Total expenses 519,730 leaving a balance of -2,596,218 NJ Cash Management 1,364,553 Checking Account 524,959 The financial report has been filed for audit. 4. Correspondence: None 5. President s Report: Len LoPinto mentioned that the three small group meetings held this month were very successful and well attended Robert White will prepare an action plan on the particular issues discussed at the meetings for review. He noted that Robert White spoke to Ridgewood Library Director Nancy Greene last evening and he also distributed a survey to directors soliciting feedback on libraries charging for BCCLS services. He spoke about the Mission Statement program being co-sponsored by Advocacy Services and CALM committees and the work of the Reciprocity Task Force. It was reported that Robert White will render a written report on the history of the collaboration between BCCLS and Bergen Electronic Library for Schools (BELs) at the April meeting.
The Executive Director Search Committee has not met but he plans to add one more person to the committee. He will send email to directors asking for feedback, speak to the BCCLS staff, and convene small group meetings when the search for a new Executive Director commences. 6. Executive Director s Report: Robert White s monthly report was distributed to Board members earlier. He reported that Maplewood Library will go live on March 12. He reviewed the paragraphs of Bylaws Section 3.1 Obligations of Membership (copy attached) and offered anecdotal information about each. He reported that 14 resumes have been received to date for the cataloger position and those interviews are scheduled for March 3 rd and March 6 th. The goal is to have the position filled by April 1 st. While reviewing his 2014 Goals (copy attached) he focused on the following: The introduction of a web client which will be available for circ activities in 2014 and cataloging back room activities in 2015. Decoupling BELS from BCCLS in response to a question from Dave Franz about the BELs catalog impeding the implementation of Muse Global for BCCLS and the amount of staff time devoted to it, Mr. White responded that Muse Global will be ready to go in mid-march and that Polaris worked on the customization. Passage of legislation sponsored by Assemblyman Johnson seeking to set a minimum higher than 1/3 rd of a mil. Kurt Hadeler mentioned the strategy being employed by NJLA to get support for the legislation during National Library Week. Len LoPinto mentioned that 84% of public libraries responding to a survey support the legislation Development of an electronic submission process that would replace photocopy submissions Streamline the offerings to members in terms of technical support and exit some marginal offerings for 2015 such as service contract support for network laser printers and Kirkus. He reported that the consensus of the three small group meetings was to not renew the New York Times Historical in June. The remaining funds will be reallocated to ebooks, Zinio and other projects. He is also exploring in-library use only for the New York Times. Len LoPinto advised that an action plan is forthcoming with regard to BCCLS administering subscriptions ala the Region. 7. Committee Reports: (1) Policies & Procedures - Committee submitted the attached recommendations for approval. MOTION: Tim Murphy moved that the attached recommendation be sent to the membership for approval. Richard Mariconda seconded. Brief discussion took place about the criteria for catalog submissions, Collection HQ helping to develop quality collections, and giving catalogers an additional mechanism for submissions. Motion carried. (2) Collection Development & Reference - As the expenditure of $64,000 in capital funds for a subscription to Collection HQ was contingent upon the approval of the committee, Co-chair Laura Leonard submitted a written report recommending that BCCLS purchase the subscription. She noted that training and support will be a key to the successful implementation of the product. MOTION: Kurt Hadeler moved to accept the Collection Development & Reference Committees recommendation to purchase Collection HQ. Tim Murphy seconded. Motion carried. (3) Reciprocity Task Force - Dave Franz reported on the issues discussed at the first meeting inequities of service, materials budgets; reviewing statistics to measure usage, and the norms of borrowing. Richard Mariconda mentioned Little Ferry s budget cuts and Laura Kirsch commented on budget issues and making libraries relevant. At this point, Len LoPinto reported on the Community Circle breakfasts and the New Director breakfast being sponsored by CALM and the Selected Shorts programs scheduled for June 24 th at the North Bergen Library. - 2 -
(4) Technology - Kurt Hadeler reported on the topics on the committee s wish list refresher and advanced staff training & education; ½ day workshops on Google Cloud and Makerspaces; building dynamic websites; monthly tips, getting Evanced to the finish line; book club software; transitioning committees to Knowledge Base software, replacing the current listserv software with a product with more features, and online catalog submissions. Len LoPinto reported that the Bylaws committee will review the structure of the ; Public Relations has developed a new bookmark with a logo celebrating BCCLS 35 th Anniversary, Youth Services is working on a training program for youth services librarians and a program to help directors advocate for youth services. 8. Old Business: Ridgewood Library Len LoPinto led off the discussion by informing Board members that Robert White will report on his phone conversation with Ridgewood Library Director Nancy Greene last evening. Mr. LoPinto did note that 41 libraries immediately replied NO to the survey question about charging for BCCLS services. Robert White reported that the Ridgewood Library Board met last evening and that Nancy Greene spoke to him about local autonomy. He paraphrased her comment about how is the public good served by forcing Ridgewood to forego the capacity to charge. He suggested that he attend a Ridgewood Library Board of Trustee meeting. Len LoPinto enumerate Bylaws Section 5 (b) Removal from Membership 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. He pointed out that we have to be very clear with every procedure we undertake concerning the non-compliance of the Ridgewood Library with the BCCLS Bylaws. Following commentary from several Board members about the effect on BCCLS if Ridgewood withdraws, beginning a dialog with the Ridgewood Board, and convening a special System Council if necessary, the following action took place. MOTION: Dave Franz moved that the Ridgewood Library be informed that following the hearing conducted on Wednesday, January 29 th and following discussion today, the 2014 of BCCLS finds the charges brought against the Ridgewood Public Library to be accurate and as the Ridgewood Library is in violation of the Bylaws they be given up to thirty (30) days to present a plan to conform to the Bylaws. Laura Kirsch seconded. Roll call vote taken on the Motion: Franz Yes; Mariconda Yes; Hadeler Yes; Heldman Yes; Willms- Yes; Murphy Yes; Browning Yes; Kirsch Yes. Motion carried. Mr. White was directed to immediately write the letter to the Ridgewood Library Board of Trustees stating that the has found them not in compliance with the Bylaws and that he spell out the thirty (30) day timeline to present a plan to conform and inform them of the timeline involving the System Council if they fail to present a plan. He will also ask to be put on the Agenda to visit with the Ridgewood Library Board. Letter will be vetted by the before being sent to Ridgewood Library first class mail. Tim Murphy remarked that we have to follow the procedure as outlined in the Bylaws slowly and methodically no matter the timeline. He stated that he deeply resents being put in this position by Ridgewood for $8,000. 9. New Business: None 10. Membership Hearing: Wendy Bloom commented on the number of Ridgewood patrons picking up their loans at the Ramsey Library because of the charging at Ridgewood 11. Date of Next Meeting: System Council 3/20 @ Upper Saddle River; 4/23 @ BCCLS 12. Adjournment: 11:30 a.m. pal attachments - 3 -
BYLAWS OF THE BERGEN COUNTY COOPERATIVE LIBRARY SYSTEM Section 3.1. Obligations of Membership: (a) Each member of the BCCLS shall have the following obligations: (i) All monetary fees and charges due the BCCLS from a member for computer share charges, database charges, telephone line charges, etc. must be paid in full at the time and in the manner set forth in Policies and Procedures adopted, from time to time, by the. (ii) The library director or his/her designee from each member library must attend 75% (3 of 4) of the System Council meetings each year. In addition, the director or his/her designee must participate in all required BCCLS training programs as specified by the. (iii) Each member library must file its Per-capita State Aid report in a timely fashion each year and submit a copy of the report to the BCCLS office within seven (7) days of filing the report with the State. (iv) Each member library is required to fill out and return the annual Personnel Survey conducted by the BCCLS by the specified date. (v) Each year at the Board of Trustees annual reorganization meeting, or the equivalent such meeting, the Board President and the Library Director of each member library must sign and file with BCCLS certification of agreement that the member library is in compliance with the requirements membership of the by-laws and the Policies and Procedures of the BCCLS. This signed certification to be submitted no later than March 31 st of each year. (vi) In order to maintain membership each member library shall meet state aid criteria and therefore be eligible to receive state aid as set forth by NJSA Title 18A Education Chapter 74 State Aid Law. (b) Failure to meet these obligations will result in action by the to ensure that these obligations are met. - 4 -
TO: BCCLS FROM: Robert W. White, Executive Director DATE: January 17, 2014 Goal 1. Make sure the automated system is operated at a consistently high level for the local libraries and patrons. This goal which is always my first is more important than ever because of the instability that we experienced on Polaris during its first three weeks of operation. Two specific objectives that will be started in 2014 are the introduction of a web client which will be available for circulation activities in 2014 and for the cataloging back room activities in 2015. This will enable better staff productivity and free staff from being bound to wired circulation desks and increase the flexibility of using smart devices, especially tablets. The second objective is to decouple BELS from the BCCLS instance of Polaris. This should be completed no later than the close of the 2014-2015 school years. Such a change will benefit BCCLS in terms of financial control and operational efficiency. Goal 2. Exercise leadership in the advocacy of equitable and sufficient funding and governance for public libraries in New Jersey. The continued imbalance of revenues and expenses for local governments will create threats and opportunities to the existence and successful operation of local public libraries. The specific objective under Goal 2 will be to advocate for the passage of legislation that will allow libraries to seek from their local voters the right to set a minimum higher than 1/3 mil. Changing that minimum should assist the 1/3 of BCCLS libraries currently receiving more than the 1/3 mil, and provide a stronger platform for other members to change their funding status. Goal 3. Reinforce and strengthen the collection component of BCCLS services, including productivity tools such as Collection HQ which will provide some functionality that previously existed in POW and Librarian s View, development of an electronic submission process that would more efficiently replace photocopy submissions. These objectives will be done in coordination with the Collection Development and Technology committees. Three areas of collection interest will be enhanced during 2014: ebccls with improved functionality at all levels, greater coverage of world language materials, and specific attention to the periodical content as represented by ZInio so that this program can be part of the 2015 system-wide offerings. Again, coordination with the ebccls and World Language task forces will be a major element. Goal 4. Streamline the offerings to members both in terms of technical support and make the BCCLS network more open to member needs for new flexibility connection to various print devices and to increase staff support of critical tasks, and to exit some marginal offerings for 2015 such as service contract support for network laser printers and Kirkus. One of the objectives for making this work will be improved training of local staff on frontline initial troubleshooting. - 5 -
The 2013 Policies and Procedures Committee submit the following changes to the, for approval to include at System Council. 1) Creation of a new item type, Ebook. 2) Addition to policy in red for Collection Development > Catalog Submissions > Criteria for Submission Non-Fiction Non-fiction submissions published more than five (5) years before the calendar year in which submitted will be accepted if the item meets the criteria in the library's written collection development policy, or meets the criteria in the exemptions listed below: Listed in current editions of standard indexes and bibliographies, such as Public Library Catalog, Children's Catalog, Junior High School Catalog, Senior High School Catalog, Essay and General Literature Index, Reader's Advisor, etc. Local history, author/artist, Jerseyana. Item has been reprinted. When no bibliographic records are available in OCLC or other standard sources routinely used by BCCLS catalogers, submissions for these materials will be returned to the director of the initiating library for justification for inclusion in the BCCLS database. - 6 -