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July 13, 2005
Minutes of the regular meeting of the Board of Trustees of the Skokie Public Library held
in the Skokie Public Library Board Room, Wednesday, July 13, 2005.
CALL TO ORDER
John Graham, President, called the meeting to order at 7:30p.m.
Members present: John Graham, President; Zelda Rich, Secretary; Diana Hunter, Vice
President/President Emerita; Susan Greer; John M. Wozniak; Dayle Zelenka; and
Carolyn A. Anthony, Director.
Member absent: Eva Weiner.
APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES OF THE REGULAR MEETING OF JUNE 8, 2005
Mrs. Hunter made a motion, seconded by Dr. Wozniak, to approve the minutes of the
regular meeting of June 8, 2005, subject to additions and/or corrections. Mrs. Hunter
asked for a correction on page 2. Immediately following the last sentence the following
should be added: "Mrs. Anthony spoke to Congresswoman Jan Shakowsky regarding the
importance of continuing e-rate." The minutes were approved and placed on file as
corrected.
CONSENT AGENDA (Financial Statements; Circulation Report; Library Use Statistics;
Report(s) from Department Head(s); Correspondence; Gifts; Personnel)
Mr. Zelenka made a motion, seconded by Mrs. Rich:
MOTION:
THAT THE SKOKIE PUBLIC LIBRARY BOARD OF TRUSTEES
APPROVE THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS, SUBJECT TO AUDIT,
AND THAT THE FOLLOWING CONSENT AGENDA ITEMS BE
PLACED ON FILE:
1. CIRCULATIONREPORT
2. LIBRARY USE STATISTICS
3. REPORT(S) FROM DEPARTMENT HEAD(S)
4. CORRESPONDENCE: LETTER FROM PHYLLIS COWEN,
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, CENTRE EAST, INC. TO CAROLYN
ANTHONY DATED J1!LY 6, 2005 RE THANKYOU FOR
HOSTING SHOWCASE 2005 AUDITIONS;. LETTER FROM
MARIAN REICH~ DIRECTOR, EDUCATIONAL EXCHANGES,
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INTERNATIONAL VISITORS CENTER OF CHICAGO TO
CAROLYN ANTHONY DATED JULY 11, 2005 RE THANK YOU
FOR MEETING WITH DELEGATION OF RUSSIAN LIBRARIANS
AND MINISTERS OF CULTURE
5. GIFTS: $100. FROM JAY P. GREENE FOR PLANTING A CRAB
APPLE TREE IN MEMORY OF FRANCES FIORETTI; $12,000.
FROM THE GERALD M. KLINE FAMILY FOUNDATION
TOWARDS THE $25,000. EXPENSE FOR INN-REACH
IMPLEMENTATION
6. PERSONNEL: TERMINATION: RAFAELTARELO, FULL-TIME
CIRCULATION CLERK, CIRCULATION DEPARTMENT,
EFFECTIVE JULY 12, 2005.
Mrs. Hunter noted under the Program Manager's report that the Dr. Louise Klehm
program only had 17 people in attendance.
The motion passed unanimously.
SHORT-TERM LOAN FROM THE VILLAGE
Mrs. Anthony said that, once again, Cook County has advised that the tax bills will be
sent out late this Fall. (Last year the bills were sent out about the first of October, with a
due date of November 1.) Reviewing the Library's cash flow position, it is clear that we
will need to borrow money from the Village again this year. It is anticipated that we will
need funds to cover the payroll of Septemher 9.
Given that Library expenses are about $600,000. per month, Mrs. Anthony recommends
asking the Village for a short-term loan of up to $2,000,000., to be repaid by February 28,
2006, from the Fall levy collection. This will cover the Library in the event that we do
not receive a significant levy income until December.
Last year, the Library borrowed $1,300,000. of an authorized $1,500,000. loan and repaid
the amount in installments, completing repayment by February 28, 2005, with $4,982.25
in interest. We began to receive revenue from the levy inNovember, but at a slower rate
than usual, with about 75% collected in November, compared to a typical collection of
90% within the first month. Thus, Mrs. Anthony would like the Library to allow for both
a later tax bill due date and slower collection this year.
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The Fall levy collection should be a good one, reflecting the 7% increase approved by the
Board for the 2004 levy. The collection last spring, of course, was half of the 2003 levy
so the Fall collection should be that much greater.
Last year, the Village wanted to know if the Library Board was unanimous in its request
for a short-term loan. Mrs. Anthony would like to approach the Village again with the
same level of support this year.
Discussion followed.
Mrs. Hunter made a motion, seconded by Dr. Wozniak:
MOTION:
THAT THE SKOKIE PUBLIC LIBRARY BOARD OF TRUSTEES
AUTHORIZE THE DIRECTOR TO REQUEST A SHORT-TERM
LOAN OF UP TO $2,000,000.00 FROM THE VILLAGE OF SKOKIE
DUE TO THE EXPECTED DELAY OF THE FALL TAX BILLS.
The motion passed unanimously. Mrs. Hunter requested a copy of the letter sent to the
Village also be sent to Cook County Commissioner Larry Suffredin so he understands the
impact of the tax bills being sent out so late. Mrs. Anthony will copy Mr. Suffredin on the
letter.
BILLS
A motion was made by Mrs. Rich, seconded by Mr. Zelenka:
MOTION:
THAT THE SKOKIE PUBLIC LIBRARY BOARD OF TRUSTEES
APPROVE THE BILLS, SUBJECT TO AUDIT.
The roll call.vote for approval was unanimous.
DIRECTOR'S REPORT
USAGE----Both circulation and the gate count in June were virtually unchanged from the
same period last year. Circulation of materials to adults was up, including book use,
while most categories of circulation to youth were down slightly. Circulation from the
Mobile Library was down, perhaps in part because the vehicle was off the road two days.
Use of electronic databases was up 13% from June oflast year, with remote access up
25%. Use ofthe Guides to the databases was also up sharply, an encouraging sign since
staff have been promoting the use of these authoritative and convenient resources. We
had a 34% increase in visits to our Web site and a 37% increase in the number of unique
visitors.
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AUDIT----The Village has selected a new firm for the annual audit. Irene Tam and Mrs.
Anthony met briefly with a representative from Miller Cooper & Co., Ltd to talk about
procedures and expectations. They will begin their work in earnest this month.
ALA ANNUAL CONFERENCE----ALA held its Annual Conference in Chicago this
year. On the plus side, many staff were able to go down for at least a day to see exhibits
and/or attend a program or two. On the minus side, it is taxing for staff who have
committee assignments and other commitments to commute, necessitating long days in
the city. The spread of meetings from McCormick Place to hotels north of the River also
presented a challenge in spite of the shuttle buses which ferried attendees to and fro.
Mrs. Anthony started the Conference attending a Futures Forum sponsored by the Urban
Libraries Council. The three presenters were provocative in their observations about
trends and countertrends, post-modem values, the stress on state and local governments,
virtual worlds for learning and youth's expectation ofinteractivity ("Reading is about the
only linear activity they are exposed to."). There were observations such as "Augmented
reality is giving people enhanced skills." What does it mean that computers have given us
so much memory and ever-faster processing speeds? Who are the "scouts", people who
identify clues to the future? How can we look at the ways change is having an impact on
society, technology, economy, ecology and politics and how can we look within the
change to find opportunities for libraries?
Other ULC programs were also interesting. Yvonne Murphy, the Librarian of the Linen
Hall Library in Belfast, Ireland, gave a compelling presentation about the development of
a collection documenting the political strife in Ireland and the mounting of an exhibition
"Troubled Images". The role of the library as a neutral source of information became
crystal clear when she stopped at a community site to drop off requested materials and
found herself at a meeting of the UDA (Ulster Defense Association). "She's OK. She's
from the Library," an apparent leader said. Her dedication to the Library's role as a
collector of current documents, posters and newsletters, with an eye to their significance
as history, was balanced by her sensitivity to the meaning of the events for those
involved. She sought out and obtained permission from a widow to include a p9ster
featuring her late husband's bloodied corpse before including it in the exhibition.
Another ULC program focused on "Teens in the Library", communicating the results of a
study conducted by the Chapin Hall Center for Children at the University of Chicago and
funded by the Wallace Foundation. Another principal investigator was from the Erikson
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Institute. The project funded several programs for teens in urban libraries throughout the
country and then examined the programs to see which were the most successful and why.
Their findings indicate that young people benefit from hands-on learning, an internship
environment and observation of others. Schedules need to be appropriate and flexible.
Mistakes are integral. The young people benefit from the opportunity to belong, to be of
service and to contribute to the community. Successful programs were aligned with
institutional goals, had effective leadership, staff commitment and stable funding. Library
partnerships with schools, parks, youth agencies, arts groups, etc. also contributed to
success. The longer the kids were involved, the greater the benefits were. Successful
youth programs were shown to increase community awareness of the library.
Mrs. Anthony chaired a meeting of the Capacity Building Strategy Group for the Urban
Libraries Council. Because past investigations have led to the conclusion that library
leadership is closely tied with being a community "player", we looked at a highly
successful local collaboration among the Chicago Community Trust, WTTW, WBEZ and
the Chicago Public Library for Chicago Matters. Representatives from the CCT and the
CPL talked about how that project has evolved and what has made it so successful. The
project has definitely increased the Chicago Public Library's stature and visibility in the
greater Chicagoland area. We also talked about ways to support new directors,
opportunities for trustees and the most effective ways to communicate with each other.
Mrs. Anthony was a speaker on a panel re the PATRIOT Act, along with a local attorney
and Emily Sheketoff of the ALA Washington Office, for a program sponsored by the
American Library Trustee Association. Collecting her thoughts re recent developments
was good preparation for a presentation on the subject to the Oakton Humanities
Treasures Group just after her return. Mrs. Anthony also attended a Dominican
University Reception, an NSLS Reception for award winners (Don Sager got the
Lippincott Award), a presentation by David Sedaris, a presentation by top representatives
of the different integrated library systems vendors about new developments and of course
spent time in the exhibits. In spite of the logistical difficulties, it was a very worthwhile
meeting.
LIBRARY VISITORS----After the Conference, several librarians from Baltimore County
Public Library and Montgomery County Public Library in Maryland came to look at our
Library. They were most impressed as were the members of a visiting delegation from
Russia who also came for a tour, arranged by the Chicago International Visitors' Bureau.
The latter group included seven librarians from various types of libraries in Russia, a
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cultural minister and a translator. Mrs. Anthony asked Skokie librarian Kate Zlotnikova
to assist with the tour and she answered a lot of questions as well as telling the group
about our Russian Club and programming. Luba Zintchenko of the Circulation
Department joined us for coffee and also mingled with the delegates. When they asked to
see how a book is checked out and Larissa Vasillieva just happened to be at the desk,
Mrs. Anthony thinks some delegates were convinced that most of our staff speak
Russian.
STAFF PICNIC----Staff took advantage of some of the mild weather in June to have a
Staff Picnic out on the roof terrace. Tobi Oberman and Gin Gaiser were Co-Chairs of the
Picnic Committee. About 65 staff members paid $5.00 for a selection of grilled
hamburgers, hot dogs and chicken, along with salads. The Library covered the beverages,
chips and ice cream. A good time was had by all.
JULY 4TH PARADE----Although the Library is usually represented in Skokie's July 4
Parade by the Bookmobile, this year Cathy Maassen of Youth Services proposed that
they build a float. A number of children and their parents labored to build a wonderful
tribute to Superheroes, appropriate to this year's summer reading theme. Gin Gaiser's
husband Paul pulled the float with his truck while the children walked and ran alongside,
passing out goodies to the children watching the parade, amidst big cheers for the Skokie
Public Library.
SECURITY CAMERAS----Security cameras have been installed in the Teen Comer and
Jr. High Zone. Monitors have been installed at the public services desks so staff can
oversee activities in those two areas.
NATIONAL LOUIS UNIVERSITY----National Louis University has contracted for
space in Pfizer's former space on Old Orchard Road as an anchor tenant. The location
will be more central to their service area with easy access from the Edens Expressway.
REVIEW OF TRUSTEE FACT FILE AND SERVING OUR PUBLIC: STANDARDS
FOR ILLINOIS PUBLIC LIBRARIES
Mrs. Anthony said in partial fulfillment of the requirements for application for a Per
Capita Grant from the State for 2006, the Board and Director are required to review as a
group the Trustee Fact File and Chapters ll and IX from Serving Our Public: Standards
for Illinois Public Libraries. Trustees received a copy of the Trustee Fact File earlier this
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year. Mrs. Anthony distributed copies of the relevant chapters from the Illinois standards.
The Per Capita Grant application is due October 15.
Chapter II of Serving Our Public deals with Governance and Administration of libraries.
It has twenty nine Core Standards which the Skokie Public Library meets or exceeds
readily, with the exception of Core 22. Core 19 discusses intrasystem reciprocal
borrowing in which Skokie Public Library is an active participant, while Core 22
discusses ILLINET member responsibilities, with which we are not fully in compliance.
We do make loans through Interlibrary Loan to residents from other systems, but have
not observed reciprocal borrowing with Chicago. In the past, we have justified this
omission by pointing to our level of interlibrary loan lending, net reciprocal loan lending
within NSLS as well as our provision of reference service, computer use and program
attendance to Chicago residents. In other words, we are providing service to Chicago
residents and providing materials, when requested through interlibrary loan, but not direct
reciprocal borrowing. Mrs. Anthony gets an occasional question (not more than one per
year) from a Skokie patron, asking why they can't borrow from the Chicago Public
Library. When she tells them that we can borrow anything they need through interlibrary
loan, they are satisfied.
The Library is also in compliance with the seven supplemental standards. Supplemental
Standards 3 and 5 deal with political and community activities and also involvement in
continuing education. Several Board members are in frequent contact with State
legislators, local officials and/or our representatives in Washington. Diana Hunter has
been a regular participant in the ALA National Legislative Days in Washington each
spring. Several Board members attended parts of the recent American Library
Association Conference in Chicago and others attend sessions of the Illinois Library
Association when it is local. One or more Board members generally attend the NSLS
Legislative Breakfast or some other meeting sponsored by our Library System.
Chapter IX deals with Facilities. Since we have so recently completed a major building
project (6/03), Skokie Public Library is comfortably in compliance with the Core and
Supplemental Standards outlined in this chapter, with a couple of exceptions. Core 12
refers to a Disaster Recovery Plan. The Library's current Plan was completed in 1989 and
Barbara Kozlowski has been working with some staff on updating this manual. We
expect to have this project completed and ready for Board approval in the Fall.
Supplemental Standard 12 also refers to an emergency manual and a disaster plan. The
Library's Emergency Situations Manual has been updated regularly, most recently
approved by the Board in March ofthis year. This Manual has guidelines for dealing with
�8
bomb threats, fires, an injured patron and other emergencies that may occur. The Disaster
Preparedness Manual assists with recovery after a disaster. It has contacts for freezedrying books, cleaning up smoke damage, etc. It is the Disaster Manual that is in process
of revision at the present time.
Supplemental Standard Six discusses provision of adequate parking. By the measure of
1.3 parking spaces for every 500 people served, the Library should have 165 parking
spaces. With our improvements on the west side of the building, we created 85 public
parking spaces and 52 spaces for staff. There used to be 106 parking spaces on the
Village Green. Several were lost to recent redesign when a walking path was put in,
connecting Village Hall and the Library's East entrance. There are probably still about
100 spaces on the Village Green and another 29 in the Galitz lot. While some of the
parking is shared with the Village, we easily exceed the standard. More importantly, we
no longer receive comments from the public about inadequate parking.
Another Supplemental Standard (11) dealing with emergency training for staff in fire and
tornado drills and use of fire extinguishers is due for an update. Due to power outages or
patron mistakes, we have one or more fire drills each year. However, it would be good to
schedule a drill and to review use of a fire extinguisher which has not been demonstrated
for several years.
Brief discussion followed. The Board agreed with the information presented by Mrs.
Anthony.
TRUSTEE FACTS FILE
Mrs. Anthony explained that a requirement for the application for a Per Capita Grant
from the State (due October 15) is that the Board conduct a discussion of the Trustee
Facts File at a Library Board Meeting. Trustees received a copy of the Trustee Facts File
this past Fall, when the 3rd edition was published by the Illinois Library Association. In
addition to the Trustee Facts File, the CD publication includes four guides to library
issues, developed by ILA, on topics including: Library Advocacy, Privacy and
Confidentiality, The Internet and Our Children, and Illinois Libraries Today. Also
included on the CD Rom are several years oflllinois Public Library Statistics through
2002-2003 as compiled by the Library Research Center at the University of Illinois from
Annual Reports submitted to the State.
For the purposes of discussion, Mrs. Anthony distributed the Chapter on Policymaking
and Appendices from the Trustee Facts File. Included in the Appendices are the Library
Bill of Rights, Freedom to Read and Freedom to View statements passed by the Council
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of the American Library Association. These have also been adopted by the SPL Board as
policy for the Library. Other Appendices include Libraries: An American Value, Code of
Ethics and Ethics Statement for Public Library Trustees. None of these has been adopted
by the SPL Board.
Chapters in the Trustee Facts File cover Duties and Responsibilities, Organization, Legal
Responsibility, Intellectual Freedom, Planning, Budgeting, Facilities, Fundraising,
Advocacy, PR and Continuing Education.
Brief discussion followed. The Board agreed with the information presented by Mrs.
Anthony.
NEW SOFTWARE FROM INNOVATIVE INTERFACES
Mrs. Anthony said that Skokie Public Library gained a lot when the Library decided to
leave the JCPL consortium in 2001. The autonomy in selection of a primary integrated
library system vendor, the ability to customize our catalog and add enhancements of our
choosing and the opportunity to integrate cataloging for Web sites and serials holdings
are just a few of the pluses of that decision. One of the losses was the opportunity to be
part of a larger local union catalog, directly and immediately accessible to patrons. Users
could "direct loan" items from the other JCPL libraries, without going through the more
complex interlibrary loan process.
At that time, NSLS was establishing a new version of LIAison as a regional union catalog
for the System and it promised to fill that gap. Unfortunately, the catalog never
performed as promised by the vendor and last year it was finally mutually abandoned by
the System and the vendor. While users can consult SILC, a state catalog, or WorldCat,
these involve a separate search process and then initiation of an Interlibrary Loan
request-more than many users are willing to undertake.
Staff have been looking at INN-Reach, union catalog software from Innovative
Interfaces, that would give users easy access to some other local catalogs. Jerry Kline, the
owner of Innovative Interfaces, offered to subsidize a trial if at least three Innovative
libraries in NSLS would agree to try INN-Reach. Arlington Heights and Gail Borden
public libraries have both expressed interest in doing so. We can exclude new books,
DVDs and any other collections we feel we need to protect from eligibility for
borrowing. However, it should open possibilities for our users, particularly in the areas of
foreign language materials and non-fiction. Experience has shown that there is little
overlap among collections. Just how much unique materials is in each of the collections,
we will learn as they begin implementation. In other consortiums where this is
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operational, the cost per loan has been shown to be less than $1.00 and delivery (within
NSLS) should be only a day or two.
Jerry Kline has sent us a check from the family foundation for $12,000. towards the
$25,000. expense for INN-Reach implementation. We will owe $6,500. in addition to the
gift this year and another $6,500. in May, 2006. Because INN-Reach actually creates a
union catalog, our users will have the opportunity to share in the holdings of two other
large area libraries and we will be able to get some interesting statistics on holdings and
use at each location.
Staff are also looking at another software product called Patron Registration that would
enable users to fill in their own registration data, up to the point of the card being issued.
This would expedite the registration process and result in a savings in staff time. We
would, of course, continue to enter data for patrons who prefer that we do so. Other
libraries have found that the majority of their registrations are completed by the patron.
Should these projects proceed, the Board will be given a demonstration at a future date.
Discussion followed regarding direct loaning among libraries, the yearly cost after the
trial period, and if comprehensive reports were generated by the system.
Dr. Wozniak made a motion, seconded by Mrs. Rich:
MOTION:
THAT THE SKOKIE PUBLIC LIBRARY BOARD OF TRUSTEES
SUPPORT INN-REACH IMPLEMENTATION.
The roll call vote for approval was unanimous.
COMMENTS FROM TRUSTEES
Mr. Zelenka said he will attend three continuing education events: Rules of the Road for
Trustees, The Nitty Gritty 1: Boot Camp for Public Library Trustees, and The Nitty
Gritty 2: Active Duty for Public Library Trustees.
Dr. Wozniak saw on Channell! last night a feature on Knechtel Candies and
Confections in Skokie and asked if the Library offers a corporate library card. Mrs.
Anthony said we do.
Mrs. Hunter commented that at the ALA Annual Conference Barack Obama was
excellent as the opening session speaker. Mrs. Hunter was extremely disappointed in the
FOLUSA Tea which was terribly organized.
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Dr. Wozniak and Mrs. Rich commented that they attended an excellent program by
Futurist Dr. Lowell Catlett called "Coming Full Circle: The Library as Place". Dr. Catlett
was a very humorous speaker.
ADJOURNMENT
At 8:12p.m. a motion was made by Mrs. Rich, seconded by Dr.Wozniak to adjourn the
regular meeting. The motion passed unanimously.
�
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Minutes, Wednesday, July 13, 2005
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Rich, Zelda R. (Secretary)
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7/13/2005
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LBM20050713.pdf
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11 p.
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Public Libraries -- Illinois -- Skokie
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Skokie Public Library. Board of Trustees
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Skokie Public Library, Skokie, IL
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PDF
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eng
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2000s (2000-2009)
2000s
library board meetings