MINUTES OF THE MEETING OF THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES
OLD BRIDGE PUBLIC LIBRARY
April 14, 2004
Present: Steven Goldman, President
Mary Chamberlain, Vice President
Mary Gannon, Treasurer
Joseph Nuzzo, Secretary
Linda Seiler, Trustee
Michael Santa Maria, Superintendent of School’s Alternate
Margery Cyr, Director
Maria Nowak, Executive Assistant
Absent: Kathryn Arabia, Trustee
Scott Glaser, Trustee
Barbara Cannon, Mayor’s Alternate
Library Staff: Wendi Smolowitz and Justin Negraval
The President called the meeting to order at 7:35 p.m. and announced that the meeting had been advertised and would be conducted in accordance with the Sunshine Law. The Secretary called the roll.
Mr. Goldman read a thank you card from former Board member, Arthur Freihon, thanking everyone for honoring him at the Volunteer Reception and for the gift.
Minutes
Motion: made by Joseph Nuzzo, seconded by Mary Gannon, to approve the March 10, 2004 Board minutes as amended. Vote: 5 yes; 1 abstention
Finance
Motion: made by Mary Gannon, seconded by Mary Chamberlain, to approve the bill listing in the amount of $149,630.43 as presented. Unanimously approved
Budget FY 2004/2005
Mrs. Cyr presented the Board with an amended FY 04/05 budget she has submitted to Finance Director, Himanshu Shah.
Mrs. Cyr informed the Board she had increased Fines & Fees Line Item by $13,000 which brought the Library’s requested increase to the Municipal Allocation down from the original $77,000 for a final increase of $70,457.00.
Mrs. Cyr reported she received a memo from Township advising that the Library’s budget hearing with the Mayor will be sometime in May.
Municipal Improvement Grant
Mrs. Cyr reported she was informed by Mayor Phillips’ Secretary that the Library was not awarded the $75,000 grant. A copy of the letter will be sent to the Library.
Movement of Monies
Motion: made by Joseph Nuzzo, seconded by Michael Santa Maria, to approve the moving of $7,500.00 from Capital Budget to Emergency Appropriations effective March 31, 2004. Unanimously approved
Stop Payment of Checks
Motion: made by Mary Chamberlain, seconded by Linda Seiler, to approve the stop payment of the following checks never cashed by vendors showing the Library with a zero balance effective March 18, 2004:
Check #25055 – dated 11/14/01 - The Mitchell Guide - $25.00
Check #25945 – dated 03/12/03 - Highlands Regional - $180.00
Check #26295 – dated 09/10/03 - DK Publishing - $48.00
Unanimously approved
Statistics
The Board was delighted with the increase in statistics. Mrs. Cyr believes that a large portion of the spike in attendance is due to the new “people counters” and accurate readings being taken by them. Statistics were placed on file.
PERSONNEL
Announcement of New Hire
Mrs. Cyr informed the Board the Library has hired Ralph Oppenheim to fill the position Head of Support Services. Mrs. Cyr gave the Board a brief summary of Mr. Oppenheim's professional background; his appointment will be placed on the Board agenda for the May meeting. It is anticipated that Mr. Oppenheim will be able to begin work around June 1, 2004.
Resignations
Motion: made by Mary Gannon, seconded by Joseph Nuzzo, to accept the resignation of Periodicals LAI, Evelyn Arzadon effective April 2, 2004. Unanimously approved
Union Negotiations
Mrs. Chamberlain informed the Board the Personnel Committee met together and with the Board Attorney, Scott Smith, and are ready to proceed with negotiations.
Mrs. Chamberlain informed the Board that at her request Maria Nowak met with the Committee to review some of the formulas in which part-time employees are paid for vacation, sick, personal and holiday time.
Mr. Goldman stated he received a memo from the Union stating the negotiations would begin later than the March 31, 2004 deadline. The Library agreed that this extension was necessary for their Committee also.
Trading Spaces Workshop
Mrs. Cyr informed the Board the Trading Spaces workshop was extremely informative.
Mrs. Cyr reported the concept behind trading spaces is that libraries traditionally have done a poor job at displaying their collections, while retail stores have learned that merchandising is what “sells” collections. The Mt. Laurel Library, in conjunction with the State Library and the South Jersey Regional Cooperative, redesigned their physical space using the template for merchandising developed by the San Jose, CA Public Library. This redesign has resulted in doubling the circulation statistics of the Mt. Laurel Library. An examination of the physical space in the Old Bridge Library reveals that our space is grossly underused for display.
Mrs. Cyr said she and the department heads will visit the Mt. Laurel Library and the Jamaica, Queens Public Library to see first-hand how these two libraries are displaying their collections using the same techniques book stores use; so we can begin discussions on how this could work at our Library.
The Board requests a report on this once the visits to the other libraries have been made.
Trial Coffee Machine
Mrs. Cyr reported the Library has the coffee machine on a trial basis until the end of June.
Mrs. Cyr said at present we are trying to decide the best place to purchase the supplies such cups, milk, sugar and a non-sweetener so the Library can determine how much it should charge for a cup of coffee. She purchased cups at Wal-Mart which came out to 4 cent a cup. Mrs. Cyr said the priority is not about making money on the coffee machine, but the Library does not want the coffee service to lose money.
Library Building
Lighting Project
Mrs. Cyr reported the Township Council approved the Lighting Project on Monday, April 12. Mrs. Cyr is now waiting for a meeting to be scheduled between Mario Barone, Township Project Manager, Joseph Criscuolo, and the electrical contractor to design a schedule as to the order of how the work in the Library will be done. Mr. Goldman asked he be notified when the meeting is set as he would like attend.
Roof Project
Mrs. Cyr reported the inspection is scheduled for April 16, 2004 at 9:30 a.m.
DARE Office
The Board requested Mrs. Cyr review the agreement with the Township in regard to the DARE office and report back to them at the May meeting.
Board Member Resignation
Mrs. Cyr informed the Board she has spoken with the Mayor’s Secretary and their office has yet to hear from Board member Scott Glaser about his resignation from the Board.
Mr. Goldman said Mrs. Cyr sent Mayor Phillips e-mail to do something about Mr. Glaser as the Library needs a full Board. Mrs. Cyr will follow-up on this.
South Old Bridge Branch
Mrs. Cyr reported to the Board both Councilwoman Panos and Councilman Greene are very interested in having a branch library in South Old Bridge. The next step will be for Mrs. Cyr, Mr. Goldman, Councilwoman Panos and Councilman Greene to meet and decide the best way to approach this issue with Mayor Phillips.
NEW BUSINESS
Laurence Harbor Building
Mrs. Cyr reported the back of the Laurence Harbor building has sustained some water damage. The Township Project Manager, Joseph Criscuolo, gave Mrs. Cyr the name of a contractor. He will be contacted and the repair work will be scheduled as soon as possible.
Central Building
The same contractor will also be here on Friday, April 16 with the roof inspector so that he can give the Library a price quote on the Central building for the caulking of bottom and roof windows.
Inside Book Drops
Mrs. Cyr informed the Board this contractor will also be giving the library a price quote for installing the two new inside book drops purchased for the Circulation department. One of the book drops had broken and repair was not successful.
May Board Meeting
The Board approved moving the May Board meeting to the 19th of May at the request of Trustee Kathryn Arabia.
Department Reports
The Board reviewed and accepted all department reports.
Executive Session
The Board went into Executive Session at 8:00 p.m.
Public Session
The Board went back into Public Session at 8:06 p.m. and announced a matter of personnel was discussed and no action was taken.
Library Policy
Mrs. Seiler asked if the library could add a Cell Phone Policy requiring patrons to turn off ringers or to keep their phones on vibrate. Mrs. Cyr said this could be added to the Acceptable Behavior policy; but that this is a difficult issue and one that is impossible to enforce.
Mrs. Cyr said she does not have a problem with placing a big sign on the front door that says “please be considerate and turn off the ringer on your cell phone.” Mrs. Gannon believes that signs are not effective and that once people look at a sign, they never see it again nor do they ever think about it again. The Library will try this but Mrs. Cyr says she does not have high hopes that it will be effective.
Signage for Laurence Harbor Branch
Mrs. Seiler asked if a sign could be posted letting people know the hours of the Laurence Harbor branch and when programs are being held at the branch. Mr. Goldman said there is an issue of funding, but the Laurence Harbor branch is a community library where everyone who lives in the community knows the hours.
Mrs. Cyr said at the present there are changes being made inside the building and there is a list of priority items being worked on and signage is on that list.
Public Comments
Mr. Goldman thanked Mrs. Cyr and the Library staff for all their help on March 31 when the Kiwanis Club ran a program on Autism. The program was well received and attended.
Mrs. Seiler said she totally enjoyed the Odessa Klezmer Band program which was well attended. She asked if the Library could consider having more programs geared to the older residents and having the programs start at 2:00 p.m. instead of 1:00 p.m. Mrs. Cyr will inquire about the scheduling time of the programs.
Adjournment
Motion: made by Mary Chamberlain, seconded by Mary Gannon, to adjourn the meeting at 9:00 p.m. Unanimously approved
Respectfully submitted,
Joseph Nuzzo, Secretary
Library Board of Trustees
Date Approved: May 19, 2004
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