New Board Trustee Don Turner was administered the oath of office by Canton Township Clerk Terry Bennett before the meeting was called to order.

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

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

Absent: None

Also Present: E. Davis, K. Gladden

Call To Audience

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

Approval Of Agenda

The agenda was approved as amended by unanimous consent.

Approval Of Budget Hearing Minutes

The minutes were approved by unanimous consent.

Approval Of General Meeting Minutes

The minutes were approved by unanimous consent.

Communications

E. Davis shared a card received from former Business Services Department Head Sheryl Rzetelny.

A letter from Trustee T. Hartnett regarding verbiage contained in the proposed revision of the Patron Code of Conduct policy was seen by the rest of the board.

Community Relations Department Head Laurie Golden had asked that Davis inform the board that a new group photo will be taken at the November meeting.

Director's Report

Davis has not heard back from Canton Township Finance Director Wendy Trumbull regarding the bond pre-payment issue.

The Canton Community Foundation has not yet selected a new executive director.

Davis conveyed L. Golden’s recommendation that the next fundraising letter should be targeted to previous contributors, rather than another mass mailing initiative. She provided a chart that demonstrated the increased expense and declining contributions from such mailings, as tracked by the library’s fundraiser software program. Golden will prepare copy for a November mailing which will strike a positive tone, highlighting what the library has accomplished with the donors’ previous contributions, for review and signature by Chair Eggenberger.

The community survey highlighted the public’s desire to have a hard copy of the library’s program events calendar. Golden struck an agreement with Canton Township to include the library in their twice-yearly Discover brochure. The library will have eight (8) pages in the publication for a nominal fee. Publication deadlines for the library staff must change to accommodate the township’s deadlines for February and August mailings.

Finance Committee Report

None

Unfinished Business and General Orders

Approval of Circulation Policy Revision (2nd Reading) - Trustee J. Fausone requested some changes in the way the second policy revision was worded, as well as the addition of language that would grant latitude to the staff in administering the policy. Davis will make the changes and submit them to the attorney before the November meeting.

Approval of the Patron Code of Conduct Policy Revision - Davis shared the attorney’s opinions on the concerns expressed at the first reading. Trustee T. Hartnett reiterated his reservations with regard to wording in Section 3; Trustee Fausone suggested additional wording to satisfy Trustee Hartnett’s concerns. General consensus was to move forward with the additional wording. Davis will submit the proposed change to the attorney prior to the November meeting.

Approval of the 2015 Schedule of Board Meetings & Library Closures - Chair N. Eggenberger’s request that the board discuss move the meetings’ start time to 7:00 PM was rejected; some trustees would be unable to attend at that hour.

The board agreed to change the February meeting to February 12 (from February 19).

It was agreed that the library would close early on the opening day of Liberty Fest (June 18), and that the board meeting would be pushed up a day to Wednesday, June 17.

S. Foster moved and T. Hartnett supported a motion to approve the 2015 Schedule of Board Meetings and Library Closures as amended.

The motion passed unanimously 14/10-16-1.

New Business

Presentation by Library Design Associates - Chris de Bear spoke about the upcoming renovation of the lobby and cafe areas and the lobby restrooms. Demolition is scheduled during the first week of January 2015 and he expects it to take approximately 30 days to complete the plumbing, flooring and installation of fixtures. No fixtures will be lost by making the restrooms ADA-compliant. The storage closet outside the current café will be removed but the surrounding slatwalls will be re-purposed. He provided the construction drawings and displayed the new floor and wall tiles that will be used in the restrooms. Both Davis and L. Golden feel that the timing of the renovation will fit in nicely with the next fundraising letter.

Proposed 3rd Quarter Budget Amendment - Davis reviewed the reallocations and changes to revenue and expenditure contained in the proposed budget amendment summary.

At the Chair’s request, Davis and L. Papa expanded on his presentation from the September meeting re: the library’s contract with RFID supplier Bibliotheca.

T. Hartnett moved and M. Farell supported a motion to approve the the 3rd Quarter Budget Amendment as presented

The motion passed unanimously 14/10-16-2

Nomination & Election of New Board Officers - Chair N. Eggenberger proposed a slate of S. Foster as Vice-Chair and M. Farell as Secretary/Treasurer.

J. Fausone moved and T. Hartnett supported a motion to approve the proposed officers slate for the term remaining in 2014.

The motion passed unanimously, 14/10-16-3

Director's Evaluation: Timeline - Trustee D. Turner spoke on the process currently in use for the director’s evaluation (a procedure documented during his previous tenure on the board.) He stressed that, while the Chair delivers the evaluation, it is the responsibility of the entire board to contribute.

Davis suggested that past procedure would call for the evaluation to be discussed at the November board meeting (she would request a closed meeting for the evaluation portion) and delivered at either the November or December meeting. Business Services Department Head M. Nicholson can communicate to the board (either directly or through Davis) the range of pay increase available, should the board decide to allocate one; Davis will deliver her self-evaluation to the board in the next few weeks. She will also share the Chair’s contact information with both staff and the Friends of the Library board members so that they may contribute any thoughts re: the Director’s performance with the library board.

Canton Public Library Bylaws - The bylaws have not been updated since 1999. Chair Eggenberger suggested that the attorney review them for any necessary revisions.

Trustee Turner expressed particular concern re: the wording in Article IV, Section 6 and Article V, Section 2; he would like the language be updated to clarify the intent of those passages.

Statistic of the Month: Volunteer Statistics - K. Gladden presented an overview of the library’s volunteer program and the meaning behind the statistics presented monthly in the board meeting packet.

Strategic Plan: 3rd Quarter Update - Davis briefly pointed out new achievements in the 3rd quarter of 2014 which conformed to Strategic Plan goals, and mentioned others which will appear in the 4th quarter update. Next year is the final year of the current Strategic Plan.

Call To Audience/Public Comment

Chair Eggenberger thanked Trustee M. Farell for volunteering to hold the library board holiday party at her home on Saturday, December 6th at 7:00 PM. Davis & K. Gladden will coordinate with Farell.

Adjourn

The meeting was adjourned at 9:04 PM.