The Chairperson, Nancy Eggenberger, called the meeting to order at 7:30 PM.

Present: N. Eggenberger, M. Farell, J. Fausone, S. Foster, D. Turner

Absent: T. Hartnett

Also Present: E. Davis, K. Gladden

Call To Audience

(L. Golden, R. Havenstein-Coughlin, D. McHugh, M. Nicholson, L. Papa, N. Szczepanski) – None

Approval Of Agenda

The agenda was approved by unanimous consent.

Approval Of General Meeting Minutes

The minutes were approved by unanimous consent.

Communications

- None

Director's Report

E. Davis provided images of the “skins” that will appear on the Sterling Services vending machines. Community Relations Department Head L. Golden has been working with them to ensure that the designs are in harmony with our colors in that space.

The auditors from Plante Moran will be here February 23-27. Business Services Department Head M. Nicholson and accountant D. McHugh are fully prepared for their visit, and the auditors’ report to the trustees will appear on the April agenda.

Community Relations Program Librarians N. Welz and L. Fawcett obtained a grant from Pitney-Bowes for the Canton Book Project (in which all board trustees are encouraged to participate.) Participants will be given copies of a book of their choice; they will then distribute the books to non-readers or non-library users, in an attempt to encourage library usage and promote reading.

The construction project is on track – on schedule and on budget. Re-carpeting of the east wing of the library will begin on Monday, February 16 and should last through the end of the month. During the time that collections are unavailable to the patrons, staff will pull items whenever they are accessible, or put them on available hold, to be retrieved when they become accessible.

Revised copies of the financials had been provided to the trustees; Davis pointed out that capital outlay and professional and contractual services were trending higher, mostly as a result of the construction project, but that they would fall into line later in the year. Due to winter bills, most of the property tax revenues have already been collected.

Trustee Comments

In response to Trustee J. Fausone’s request that Davis comment on the migration of the library’s automation software from Millennium to Sierra, she reported that the automation system was down for less than four hours, due to the planning and preparations made by L. Papa and his Sierra Migration team. In addition, the project came in around $15,000 under budget, thanks to discounts and to Papa’s foresight in requesting that the board allow some infrastructure expenditures to be moved up to earlier budget cycles.

Fausone also requested that Davis elaborate on the focus groups for the Children’s Library renovations, scheduled for 2016. Information Services Department Head R. Havenstein-Coughlin and the children’s librarians have been meeting to brainstorm ideas for transforming the space and also met with the interior designers. Now they would like more formal feedback from the users of the space: what do they like and use the most, and what would they like to see in a renovated Children’s Library. There will be three focus group sessions held in February for families of young children; families of older children; and one with tweens themselves. They will be asked questions which resulted from those meetings, to see if patron priorities actually line up with what we believe them to be, based on our community survey and circulation statistics.

Trustee D. Turner questioned whether the numbers contained on the Profit & Loss Budget vs. Actual statement were closely monitored on a regular basis. Davis confirmed that she and M. Nicholson review it after it is prepared by D. McHugh and that Nicholson and McHugh reconcile it against the budget with every check run.

Committee Reports

- None

Unfinished Business and General Orders

- None

New Business

Canton Community Foundation Presentation - CCF Board Chair Jerry Grady and Executive Advisor Greg Schupra spoke on the advantages the library would derive should the Endowment Fund be transferred to the CCF for investment. The trustees agreed that E. Davis should proceed to gather documentation necessary to bring to the board an actionable item in this regard.

Approval of 2015-2019 Telecommunications Contract - Information Technology Department Head L. Papa briefly reviewed the telecommunications bid proposals from Windstream, Clear Rate and AT&T and explained the rationale behind the administrations’ recommendation to accept the Clear Rate Plan B proposal.

J. Fausone moved and M. Farell supported a motion to award the library’s telecommunications contract to Clear Rate for 2015-2019, selecting their Plan B unlimited pricing, with no e-rate discounts.

The motion passed unanimously 15/2-12-1.

Internet E-Rate and Computing Resources Policy - Davis summarized the Internet Services document and detailed the reasons for the administration’s recommendation not to seek federal e-rate discounts for Internet service; to maintain the library’s status quo re: Michigan Public Act 212; and to revise the Computing Resources Policy as described in the attorney-client privileged correspondence. Since the Computing Resources Policy has not been altered or debated since it was adopted in 2000, Davis felt this would be an opportune time for a review by the current board.

The board indicated its acceptance of the administration’s recommendation not to seek federal e-rate discounts for Internet and to maintain the library’s compliance with Michigan Public Act 212. Additionally, the board requested no revisions to the library’s Computing Resources Policy.

Strategic Plan Update - Trustee D. Turner questioned whether the activity detailed in the plan updates reflected actual progress in achieving its objectives. Since the library is in the final year of the current Strategic Plan, Davis and L. Golden have been spending more time concentrating on outcomes. They hope that the library will be included in a Public Library Association-sponsored pilot program (spearheaded by the Skokie Public Library) when it goes nationwide later this year. The initial phase of the pilot program has been the developement and testing of tools Davis and Golden would use to craft and analyze good surveys, and to create a database of comprehensive information that could be used for benchmarking CPL versus other libraries.

Statistic of the Month - Circulation Services Department Head N. Szczepanski made a short presentation which put into context the historical rise and fall of circulation statistics over a 30-year period.

Closed Session to Discuss an Attorney-Client Privileged Written Communication Sent for the Purpose of Providing Legal Advice - S. Foster moved and J. Fausone supported a motion to go into Closed Session.

Roll Call Vote:

James Fausone: yes

Don Turner: yes

Nancy Eggenberger: yes

Michelle Farell: yes

Sommer Foster: yes

The motion passed unanimously 15/2-12-2

J. Fausone moved and D. Turner supported a motion to return to Open Session

The motion passed unanimously 15/2-12-3

Call To Audience

None

Adjourn

The meeting was adjourned at 9:16 PM.