NORTHVILLE DISTRICT LIBRARY BOARD OF TRUSTEES
Regular Meeting Minutes
Thursday, December 16, 2004 – 7:30 p.m.
Northville District Library Carlo Meeting Room

1. Chairperson, Jean Hansen called the Regular Meeting to order at 7:35 p.m. .
1.1 Roll Call - Present: Trustees Jean Hansen, Gail Barget, Barbara Glover, Alan Somershoe, Carolyn Blanchard, and Judy Sherman, Also present: Deborah Stanifer, President of the Friends of Northville District Library; Robert Sochacki, Trustee elect beginning 2005; Julie Herrin, Director; Anne Mannisto, Assistant Director; and Judith Williams, Administrative Assistant.
Absent: Trustee Anne Bright.
1.2 Approval of the Agenda. MOTION: Alan Somershoe moved to accept the agenda, Barbara Glover seconded the motion. Motion passed.
1.3 Approval of the regular Meeting minutes for November 18, 2004. MOTION: Gail Barget moved to accept the November 18, 2004 minutes as corrected. Barbara Glover seconded the motion. Motion carried.
1.4 Citizens’ Comments: None

2. Correspondence. None.

3. Friends Report: Deborah Stanifer, reported that there was no meeting of the Friends this month, but they will be discussing the Used Book Sale in January.

4. Director’s Report: Julie Herrin reported that the library’s circulation statistics for May 2004 to the current month have been recalculated to include renewals which were not included in the TLN counts previously. Wireless access use has dropped. It has not yet been publicized, but will be featured in the January Newsletter. Remote catalog use has increased and database usage is back up from last month.
Youth Programming: There were several special programs this month. Harpbeat music has 29 attendees. Little Me Storytime had 62 participants and the Holiday Craft program hosted 41 children. Other programs included an Evening Storytime and a behind-the-scenes visit from a Web-elo Scout Troup.
Adult Programming: There were 5 Outreach visits with 80 participants. The Gardening program had an attendance of 57. The Internet Classes this month had 8 attendees and Book Discussion hosted 10. Federal Tax forms have been received and will begin to be available in January.
Collections: Julie reported that the library is subscribing to an Audio download service that will begin in January. This service will allow patrons to download audio books to their computers or MP3 players for 3 weeks, they can then renew one time before they time out of use. Initially there will be 400 titles with the addition of 30 new titles each month. The First Presbyterian Church has made a presentation to Julie and Anne of microfilm data covering 175 years of the church history to become part of the local history collection. The library is beginning to check in serials on the new system as the annual magazine shift is starting. Julie reported that during this fiscal year 5,579 items have been withdrawn and 8,600 have been added to the collection.
Staff: Julie reported that Michelle Kaczmarek has resigned following an extended medical leave of absence. The library will post her position after the holidays. Three new computer pages have been added to replace pages that have left. Suzanne Schimanski-Gross, part-time Teen Services Librarian, has attended the Youth and Family Forum meeting at City Hall. Karen Fehl, who has worked as a substitute librarian here, has been hired to fill the opening created by the resignation of Sarah Hatter. Julie, Anne Bright and Judith met with Nicky at City Hall to discuss the city’s approach to controlling increasing medical insurance costs. Julie, Judith and Anne Mannisto also attended the Northville Chamber of Commerce holiday gathering on December 8.
Technology: Julie reported that the 14 public computers have been upgraded to allow downloading and uploading of files for patrons and to access Microsoft Office. All of the public computers have been replaced within the last 14 months to accommodate the new system and to upgrade the capabilities of the computers per public requests. One computer is still designated for research and database access and there are 2 Express computers.
Facility: Julie reported that the brick pavers at the front of the library have been raised to prevent a tripping hazard and the gutters have been cleaned and gutter guards installed along the park side of the building.

5. Budget and Finance Review: Jean Hansen
5.1 Bills Payable: MOTION: Alan Somershoe made a motion for approval of payment for the expenses of the Northville District Library Bills List over $1,000 December 16, 2004, as presented to the Board. Gail Barget seconded the motion. Motion Passed.

5.2 Financial Reports: Jean Hansen presented the Financial Reports for November for review. She noted that this is the final month of this fiscal year and the Financial Statements are marked DRAFT pending the completion of the annual audit, which is scheduled for mid-January.

6. Committee Reports:
6.1 Barbara Glover reported that the Development Committee has received 32 gifts in response to the mailing in November. Contributions so far this year are $12,875. The total endowment stands at about $112,000 plus earnings.
6.2 Customer Satisfaction Survey – Julie reported that the findings of the completed survey would be presented to the Trustees and staff at an in-service day, the date to be determined after the first of the year.
6.3 Public Relations Committee - A committee comprised of Trustees, Library staff and members of the Friends has reviewed the first draft of the Customer Service Brochure.
6.4 Alan Somershoe reported on the Personnel Committee’s meeting to conduct the performance evaluation of Director Julie Herrin. The committee will meet again in February to establish her compensation for next year.

7. Other Business: Alan Somershoe read special resolutions acknowledging the contributions of Trustees Barbara Glover and Carolyn Blanchard as they end their terms as members of the Board of Trustees. Copies of the Special Resolutions will be made part of the permanent record of this Board Meeting.

Alan Somershoe requested that Judith contact Duce Simmons regarding the review of the HVAC

8. Announcements and Comments: The next Board meeting will be held in the Carlo Meeting Room of the Northville District Library at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, January 27, 2005. This will be the organizational meeting for 2005 with appointments to committees and passage of the Resolution 05-1, which establishes the meeting dates for all 2005 Regular Board Meetings. The Finance Committee will meet on Tuesday, January 25, 2005 at 10:00 a.m.. .

MOTION: Gail Barget made a motion to adjourn the Board meeting at 8:55 p.m. Barbara Glover seconded the motion. Motion passed.

Respectfully Submitted

Alan Somershoe
jw: 1/19/05