MINUTES OF THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF THE CHAPPAQUA LIBRARY
July 20, 2010

Board Members Present:

                                                Janet Himel                                         President

                                                Evelyn Bloom                                       Vice President

                                                Barbara Lowenthal                               Treasurer

                                                Leo Sheer                                            Secretary

                                                Eleanor Friedman

Others Present:

                                                Pamela Thornton                 Director

                                                Dennis MacDougall               Building Consultant (until 8:05pm)

                                                Gerri Carpino                       Staff

                                                Jo Lunetta                          Staff

                                                Robert Wolff                        Staff (from 8:00pm)

                                                Barbara LeSauvage                 Staff

                                                Terry Martini                        Staff

I.   Call to Order

A.   Ms. Himel called the meeting to order at 7:30pm.

B.   Welcome to new board member.

      1.   Ms. Himel introduced Eleanor Friedman, the newly elected trustee of the board.

      2.  She gave Ms. Friedman a brief synopsis of her duties as a new board member.

C.  Ms. Himel read a note from Stan Kurzban, who finished his five years of service on the board at the end of June 2010, thanking his colleagues for the gift they gave him at the June 15, 2010 board meeting.

D.  Ms. Himel took note of the very favorable newspaper article in The Journal News of June 20, 2010 on the Chappaqua Library’s wooing of teens and adults.
 

II.   Building and Grounds

A. Roof repair project

1. Mr. MacDougall reported that the project was complete except for: the application of the aluminized coating which should occur in mid-August; the water-proofing of the wall next to the cooling tower; and the review of the final “punch list” by Messrs. MacDougall and Cosentino (the library’s architect) representing the library with the contractor.
2. Ms. Lowenthal inquired further about the precise schedule for the application of the coating and Ms. Thornton replied that it was expected to be done on August 12-13.
3. Mr. MacDougall added a further clarification, namely, that the review of the punch list with the contractor would take place prior to the application of the coating.

B.  Inner courtyard

1. Mr. MacDougall reported that he’d solicited bids from four contractors: Apollonio, AMC, Sun Up, and Concrete Creations.
2. Apollonio and AMC declined to bid.
3. Sun Up bid $36,500.00 for the base work and $7,250.00 for the railings.
4. Concrete Creations bid $19,400.00 for the base work and $8,000.00 for the railings.
5. Ms. Bloom asked Mr. MacDougall for his recommendation as to which bid to accept.
6. He recommended Concrete Creations. He said our architect, Mr. Cosentino, thought that they did fine work (see the recently completely stone wall at Millwood Plaza).
7. Ms. Lowenthal asked how debris would be removed as the current courtyard was torn up.
8. Mr. MacDougall said that the debris would be moved around the back of the library building into the parking lot where a backhoe would load it onto a dump truck. Ms. Thornton said that it would be least disruptive to patrons if the work could be done in August. Even in August, those in the Young Adult section will have some construction noise. This is unavoidable. The Board unanimously authorized Ms. Thornton to accept Concrete Creations’ proposal (see attached) for the base work, without the railings, of $19,400.00. Ms. Thornton reiterated that our insurance carrier does not require us to put railings in. The $19,400.00 will be treated as a capital expense for the 2010-2011 budget year.

C.  Reader’s Digest statue

1. Ms. Thornton said that she’s waiting to hear from Reader’s Digest and/or their counsel for the go-ahead on relocating the statue to the library.
2. Mr. Apollonio inspected the site and gave an estimate to Mr. MacDougall for $8,000.00 to remove the sculpture from Reader’s Digest and install it at the library.
3. Mr. Cosentino, the library’s architect, said that great care must be taken in moving the statue, which is valued at $130,000.00.
4. Ms. Himel asked if money donated by the Reader’s Digest Foundation could be used pay for the sculpture’s relocation. Ms. Thornton said that the Foundation’s funds were expressly earmarked as an endowment for books. Ms. Thornton reported that the Friends of the Library may provide some help toward paying for the relocation. The sculptor will be invited to attend the official dedication of the statue once it’s installed at the library.
5.  Ms. Bloom asked the name of the business contact at Reader’s Digest that Ms. Thornton is speaking to regarding the statue. It is Bill Adler.
6. Ms. Friedman asked if we could move the granite base to the sculpture.  Ms. Thornton said that we don’t need it.
7. Ms. Bloom asked if we could build a new granite base at the library. Mr. MacDougall said this would be too expensive.

D.  Drive-up book drop

1. The board unanimously authorized Ms. Thornton to purchase the dual drop cart including cart, extra cart, cart cover, and shipping/lift gate delivery from American Book Returns for $7,239.00 (see their proposal attached). The Board also unanimously authorized $2,761.00 for the curb cutout and concrete pad needed for the drop cart.
2. Apollonio has bid $2,000.00 for the curb cutout and concrete pad. Mr. MacDougall will solicit Concrete Creations for a proposal for this work as they will be here working on the inner courtyard at the same time that the new book drop is to be installed.
3. The $10,000.00 cost will be treated as a capital expense for the 2010-2011 budget year.

E.  Mr. MacDougall was asked by the board to explore automatic door-openers for the bathrooms so that handicapped patrons would have easier access. He said he’d report to the Board on the matter at our next (September 2010) meeting.
 

III.   Reports

A.  Library Director’s report (see attached)

1. Ms. Thornton discussed the new Westlynx fee structure.
2. She said that the White Plains Library was joining Westlynx for the first time since it saw a chance to save money.
3. White Plains’ database is supposed to be merged into Westlynx’s database in October 2010.
4. It’s possible that Westlynx will be down for one week.
5. Ms. Lowenthal asked if the amount each participating library will pay will be public. Ms. Thornton indicated that this was her understanding.
6. Westlynx has promised to provide advance warning on fees so that proper budgeting can be done.
7. The yearly cost of Westlynx will change based on many factors, e.g., the size of a library’s collection, the number of patrons, etc.
8. Ms. Thornton said that we should consider returning some Westlynx PCs and purchasing MACs which would be supported in-house. This would reduce costs by $1,500.00 per terminal each year.
9. Savings, if any, will not show until 2012.  

IV.   Policies

A.  Personnel policy-Compensatory time

1. Ms. Thornton reported that the new ADP time clock cannot handle the “I Owe Library” policy which allows salaried employees to be paid in advance for up to fourteen hours for work that they will perform within four weeks of the payroll.
2. The change Ms. Thornton recommends is detailed in the attached Scheduling Regulations.
3. The board unanimously approved the new policy.
4. This was the first reading of the new policy. It cannot become effective until the second reading, which will take place at our September 2010 meeting.

V.   Board Administration

A.   Charter Amendment-Resolution

   1.   The State Education Department has asked that all Westchester libraries reaffirm the geographic area where the population they serve is located,

   2.   The Board unanimously approved the attached resolution.

B.   Charter Amendment-Petition

    The required petition, which the resolution authorized the president and secretary of the board to execute, is attached.

C.    The Board unanimously approved the final e-mailed version of the June 2010 minutes.

D.   The Board set the following dates for future meetings:

    1.   Tuesday, September 21, 2010

    2.   Tuesday, October 19, 2010

    3.   Tuesday, November 16, 2010

E.   The Board took note of the Chappaqua Library Annual Schedule for July 1, 2010-June 30, 2011. The “Officer Accumulated Wisdom” document was distributed to all board members (see attached). 

VI.   Public Comments and Questions

1. Terry Martini, a staff member, asked how much the new fully loaded book cart would weigh. Ms Thornton will investigate.
2. Mr. Wolff, a staff member, asked the status of the investigation into his stolen personnel file and the fraudulently purchased laptop. Ms. Thornton answered that the investigation is ongoing.
    

VII.   Finance

A.  The board unanimously approved the June 2010 statements.

B.  The board unanimously approved the June 2010 Capital Fund Report.

C.  Ms. Thornton stated that while she’d added to the budget line for health benefits for the 2010-2011 budget, she might need to borrow from the Capital Fund should the budgeted amount prove insufficient.

D.  The board unanimously approved the July 2010 bills.

E.  Ms. Thornton stated that the Oppenheimer grant for books arranged by State Senator Susie Oppenheimer was still in limbo due to the unresolved New York State Budget.
 

VIII.   Executive Session

            At 8:50pm the board entered executive session and exited at 9:06pm.
 

IX.   Ms. Himel adjourned the meeting by unanimous consent at 9:07pm.

Respectfully submitted,
Leo Sheer
Secretary 

CHAPPAQUA LIBRARY DIRECTOR’S REPORT
July 20, 2010

I. BUILDINGS AND GROUND

A.   Reader’s Digest statue

 In May I was contacted by Lyle Anderson, the New Castle Historical Society, and Reader’s Digest Administration about the liquidation of Reader’s Digest assets and the possibility of their donating one of their statues to the Chappaqua Library.  Given the subject of the statue – “Our Family of Readers” by Penelope Jencks– I was thrilled. 

As I mentioned in previous emails, the casual seating area by the side walkway appears to be the best place to locate this sculpture.  Dennis is working to obtain estimates for the installation of a concrete slab to support the sculpture.  

B.  Drive-up book drop

Since arriving at the library in 2007 I noticed that the congestion of cars stopping to put their books in the outside book drops has worsened.  It is to the point where, at times, cars are unable to exit the parking lot because of the blockade. 

I’m proposing that we install a drive-up book/media drop on the inner circle so that patrons can drive in, drop off their material, and keep going.  The drop (see attached information) would handle up to 390 books plus 405 DVD’s.  Part of the circle would be removed so a cement pad could be laid at street level.  A cut would be created in the opposite sidewalk so the cart could be wheeled into the building.  This would also provide handicapped accessibility for those who are dropped off by the Paratransit and senior buses.

Custodian staff and circulation staff would need to empty the drop on a daily basis regardless of the weather.   We would purchase two carts so that one would be in the drop while the other was being emptied. 

I have investigated the least expensive of the dual book drops on the market and recommend the purchase of the one from American Book Returns (the same book return costs $8594.89 from Demco; $5454 from Gaylord; $7,698 from Kinglsey) 

Total costs would be:

                                    Dual book drop including cart                           $5,380

                                    Extra cart                                                      $1,089

                                    Cart cover (inclement weather)                        $     98

                                    Shipping/Liftgate delivery                                 $   672

                                    Concrete pad and curb cutout   (estimate)          $2,000

                                                            TOTAL                                     $9,239

II. REPORTS

A. Library Director’s Report

WESTLYNX fee structure

On June 29^th the WLS Board of Trustees approved a new fee structure for the WESTLYNX (WLS IT Department) system.  The old structure which had been in place since 1983 was simply based on the number of WESTLYNX computers and connections your library used.  The new fee calculations are based on many factors:

• A base membership fee
• The number of WLS supported PC’s in your library
• The number of locally supported PC’s
• Borrowing transactions
• The number of active library cardholders for your library
• The size of the library’s collection
• The number of items your patrons borrow from other libraries
• The number of items your library loans to other libraries

The complexity of these calculations is daunting, but the staff of WESTLYNX has assured us that they will be able to determine our fees well in advance of each budget cycle.  As it stands, the new formula could save the Chappaqua Library approximately $13,000 per year due to the amount of material we loan to other libraries.  In order to lessen our costs even further we have changed two of our loan policies (Express books will now circulate for 14 days and Express DVD’s will now circulate for 3 days) and increased the purchase of best sellers, hoping to decrease the number of reserves placed by Chappaqua patrons for new material.

To lessen the financial burden on those libraries that will be charged huge increases, the adjustments will take place over a three year period with the full savings for Chappaqua to take place in 2014.

There are several major issues revolving around this new structure:

• The White Plains catalog and patron database will be merged with our online system in October 2010 (this was contingent on the passage of the new fee structure).  White Plains has maintained a separate automation system for over 20 years.
• Budget constraints in 2010-2011 plus the new fee structure will force several libraries to give up many of their WESTLYNX computers.  If this occurs the $13,000 in savings for Chappaqua will be reduced in order to absorb the losses in WESTLYNX revenue created by these libraries.
• This new structure makes it possible for a library to turn in their WESTLYNX terminals and install, maintain and support their own technology if they have the finances to support this in-house. 

For future consideration, the third bullet above has significant financial implications for the Chappaqua Library.  For years we have been restricted to using PC’s for our public access and staff computers since these are the only ones provided and supported by WLS at this time.  If we choose to do so, this new fee structure will allow us to return several of our WESTLYNX PC’s and replace them with MAC computers (maintained in-house).  There would be an initial cost to purchase the MAC computers, but this would further reduce our WESTLYNX bill ($1,500 per terminal each year).  Maintenance of the MAC’s would have to be done in-house.

Monthly Statistics

You will notice that the monthly circulation statistics are down from the previous year.  It should be noted that the library was closed for 2 days in June 2010 for roof repair.  This would account for a portion of the shortfall (we average 1,300 circulation transactions per day).

Newspaper article – Teen Services

Your packet includes a wonderful article from the June 20, 2010 Journal News which featured the teen summer reading program here at the library. 

Vacation

I will be in Sri Lanka from August 17^th – September 3^rd.  I am not sure what I will have in the way of access to email or cell phone service.  Martha Alcott will be in charge while I am away.

III. POLICIES

Compensatory Time – “I Owe Library” (IOL)

I am requesting a change to the current personnel policy for compensatory time (see attached XVI: Scheduling Regulations section H) which will eliminate paying employees for hours they have not worked (IOL time).  The existing policy allows a salaried employee to be paid up to 14 hours that have not been worked.  The employee is paid in advance with the intention that they will work the 14 hours off over a four week period.  The installation and configuration of the new time clock does not allow us to automatically pay a person for hours they have not worked.  These calculations must be kept manually on a separate spreadsheet and the employee’s record must be manually manipulated in the ADP system to add hours to their payroll.  This is a time consuming process which defeats the purpose of automating the payroll.

This policy only applies to salaried employees who accrue paid time off and can use this time instead of owing the library hours.

IV. A. Charter Amendment

On May 5^th I received a letter from the State Department of Education stating that we must submit a resolution regarding the area we are chartered to serve.  After many phone calls I was finally able to obtain clarification from Joseph Mattie, Library Development Specialist, that the charter change stems from the 1990 education law which determines the per capita amount of state aid each library receives.  This charter change simply reaffirms that we serve the population of the Chappaqua Central School District and the number of trustees on our board. 

Every library in Westchester County has received the same request for this paperwork which will cost $60 to process.

The resolution and petition are included in your packet for review.  The Board must first pass the resolution and then the petition in that order.

VI. A. Creation of Benefits Fund for 2010-2011

The 2010-2011 budget includes a 6% increase for health care.  Our insurance carrier has informed us that, due to the new government health care initiatives, our increase will actually be closer to 13%.   I am asking Board approval to put aside $20,000 of the 2009-2010 fund balance to cover the unanticipated increase in health care costs for 2010-2011, similar to what we did with pension in 2009. 

Meetings and other activities:

June     15                    Meeting of the Library Board of Trustees

            16                    Conference call with David Conley of ADP
                                   Friends of the Chappaqua Library board meeting

            17                    PLDA

            18                    Suzie Oppenheimer press conference in White Plains

            21                    Construction meeting – Ron Cosentino, Rodney Rausch, Kim Ashcraft

            22                    James Bradley – author program

            25                    Meeting with librarians – materials ordering for 2011

            29                    John Catlin, J and E Protective Services

            30                    John Catlin, J and E Protective Services

 July      1                      John Catlin, J and E Protective Services

             7                      Management team meeting

             8                      Construction meeting – Ron Cosentino, Dennis MacDougall, Rodney Rausch, Kim Ashcraft
                                     Eric Throndson – Baker and Taylor books
                                     Bob Coulombe presentation – Realities of Terrorism in New Castle

Pamela Thornton
Library Director
July 14, 2010

XVI:    SCHEDULING REGULATIONS

CURRENT POLICY:

H.  Compensatory Time: Time that an employee owes the library or that the library owes the employee shall be known as compensatory time.  Any compensatory time must be made up within two pay periods of when it is accrued unless the library director approves otherwise in writing.  Without prior written approval from the library director, a library employee may not accrue more than fourteen (14) hours of time. 

REQUESTED CHANGE:

H.  Compensatory Time: Time that the library owes the employee shall be known as compensatory time.  Any compensatory time must be taken within two pay periods of when it is accrued unless the library director approves otherwise in writing.  Without prior written approval from the library director, a library employee may not accrue more than fourteen (14) hours of time.

CHAPPAQUA CENTRAL SCHOOL DISTRICT LIBRARY (CCSDL)
BOARD OF TRUSTEES
OFFICERS’ ACCUMULATED WISDOM 

I.  INTRODUCTION

The Board of Trustees officers are a president, a vice president, a treasurer, and a secretary.  Each office entails certain responsibilities specified in some formal document or law, certain duties that are traditionally attached to the office, and some conditions that are particular to this or all boards of trustees.  This document exists principally to acquaint the board’s officers with the latter, as perceived by predecessors in office, but also, mainly in order to provide context, to describe the more general responsibilities and duties as well.

Every person elected to the CCSDL board, for five years of service, in May of a particular year and commencing service the following July 1, is elected successively as the board’s secretary, treasurer, vice president, and president for one year.  Each term of office begins with election to an office at the first meeting of the calendar year following election and ends with the election of a successor.

II. SECRETARY

The board’s secretary creates the persistent records of the board’s acts.

A.  Responsibilities

The secretary shall record the minutes of each board meeting, distribute a draft thereof to all trustees within ten days, submit a version of the minutes for approval at the board’s next meeting, make all amendments approved at that meeting, and provide the CCSDL staff with a signed copy of the minutes as approved by the Board within a day of the approval.

B.  Duties

The secretary will distribute draft minutes and one or more revised versions via electronic mail in response to trustees’ comments.

C.  Guidelines

The minutes must establish the public record.  Everything else must take a back seat to that.  The secretary should be mindful that imprecise description of what happened in a meeting may be misinterpreted by someone bringing a legal action against the library or its board.  Minutes are publicly disseminated and subject to requests made under any applicable freedom of information law (FOIL).

It is most important to document what the Board did that has legal significance, particularly any vote, whether to approve expenditures or to decline to do so or to approve policy changes.  But the minutes must also document decisions, whether formalized by votes or not, to direct the director or trustees or employees present or consultants to do things.

The most efficient way of creating the minutes of each meeting will usually be to modify the document that is the minutes of a previous meeting.

The minutes must say nothing about any executive session except when it began and when it ended.

The secretary must exercise discretion in including in the minutes any comment a trustee made at a meeting.   The secretary should decide whether any comment (e. g., a suggestion or speculation) that may have no effect on the operation of the CCSDL should be included in the minutes.

III.  TREASURER

The board’s treasurer is responsible for the board’s activities, especially oversight, related to the library’s finances.

A.  Responsibilities

The treasurer shall review all financial documents of the CCSDL presented by its business manager or similar staff member and report to the board any items that merit the board’s attention.

In particular, the treasurer shall have primary responsibility for signing all checks that require a trustee’s signature.

The treasurer shall demand of the CCSDL’s staff any documents that seem necessary to the treasurer’s performance of the function of oversight of the CCSDL’s finances.

B.  Duties

The treasurer will examine and correlate the checks, lists of disbursements, and the lists of board-approved expenditures; verify the aptness of expenditures via credit card and, as documented, from petty cash; and report to the board any concerns about CCSDL’s investments, financial practices, and particular transactions.

C.  Guidelines

The treasurer should establish a schedule with CCSDL staff that ensures that no late fee or undue creditor inconvenience will ever eventuate because of difficulty or delay in obtaining the needed signature of a trustee on a check or other instrument.

IV.  VICE PRESIDENT

The vice president acts as the board’s chief officer whenever the president does not.

A.  Responsibilities

The vice president acts as president whenever the president is unavailable or recused.

B.  Duties

The vice president will chair meetings when the president is absent or elects to relinquish the chair due to interest in the matter at hand or for any other reason.

The vice president will customarily serve as a member ex officio (that is, as the board’s representative) of any board-appointed committee otherwise consisting only of people who are not trustees. 

C.  Guidelines

The vice president, when not acting in the president’s stead, should help the president by making or seconding motions the president requests; suggesting actions, such as altering the meeting’s agenda, referring a matter to a committee, tabling an item of business, or handling a matter between meetings (e. g., via electronic mail); and joining the president in meetings with the director or other principal members of the staff or contractors.

V.  PRESIDENT

The board’s president is its chief officer.

A.  Responsibilities

The president shall chair all meetings of the CCSDL’s Board of Trustees and act in the board’s name in all cases, including the signing of contracts and the appointment of committees, where such action is authorized by appropriate documents, such as a certificate of incorporation or by-laws, or by an explicit act of the board.

B.  Duties

While chairing a meeting, the president will request (by specifying a willingness to “entertain”) motions appropriate to the business at hand.  The president will vote only to break ties that arise on motions before the board.  The president will work to ensure the efficient operation of the board by maintaining order at meetings, keeping to or rearranging as appropriate the meetings’ agendas, soliciting the tabling or handling between meetings (e.g., via electronic mail) of items that do not require either urgent or extended in-person discussion, etc.

C.  Guidelines

The president should usually begin an executive session, if there must be one at a meeting, after the period for public comment, inviting staff and visitors to wait outside if they wish to attend whatever part of the meeting may follow the executive session, but giving them an idea as to how long the executive session is to last and what will follow it.  Only the library’s director may attend an executive session with the trustees, and then only with the trustees’ consent.  Executive sessions must discuss only matters (e. g., salaries, discipline, legal case) that concern individual members of the staff.

The president should meet periodically (e. g., every six months) with the director and the vice president informally to discuss the general issues confronting CCSDL.  The president should be the principle conduit for communication between the board and CCSDL’s director.

The president’s term of office should begin with a statement of goals, priorities, and principles, especially any matter (such as fundraising, planning, or off-site meetings of trustees) that the president wishes to emphasize that may represent a departure from prior practice.