District Advisory Council Minutes

May 18, 2016

The meeting was held at the James V. Brown Library with the following in attendance:

Barbara McGary / James V. Brown Library and District Administrator
Mary Campbell / Bradford County Library System
Alan Miller / Sullivan County Library
John M. Confer / James V. Brown Library
Diane Whitaker / Annie Halenbake Ross Library
Shirley Alters / James V. Brown Library CFO
JA Babay / Montgomery House Library
Kathy Butler / Hughesville Area Public Library
Roberta Greene / Union County Library System
Nadine Kramarz / McBride Memorial Library
Lydia Kegler / Bloomsburg Public Library
Jared Conti / Annie Halenbake Ross Library
Jeff Johnstonbaugh / Priestley-Forsyth Memorial Library
Leslie Wishard, / Potter Tioga Library System/Green Free Library
Beth Bisbano (Skype) / Public Library Advisor for the District

The meeting opened at 10:10 by Lydia Kegler, Chairperson.

Approval of Minutes

  • A motion was made by Diane Whitaker to approve the March 23, 2016 minutes. John Confer seconded. Motion carried.

State Updates

  • Beth Bisbano discussed the new website for the state library department. The website address is statelibrary.pa.gov. This website will include waiver forms for economic hardships, construction and remodeling and community disasters.
  • The Keystone Grants are now open and a letter of intent to apply is due by May, 30, 2016.
  • Governor Tom Wolf’s proposed budget was released and includes an increase of $1.2 million for libraries which is the first proposed increase in nine years.
  • June Houghtaling passed out contact lists for the Workforce Development Boards throughout the state if any libraries would like to partner with them or need information.

PALA Updates

  • The PA Forward pilot program will be ending June 30, 2016. The PR Marketing Committee will rollout the program statewide nextfall with some changes. Seventeen libraries received stars -- 17 bronze, 10 silver basic literacy, 7 silver Information literacy, 8 silver civic and social literacy, 6 silver health literacy, 5 silver financial literacy, and 4 gold stars!
  • The West Branch conducted their spring workshop “Digitize Locally, Share Globally,” which was an informative presentation how to digitize local history collections using a scanner. The state has a large scanner that can be borrowed for digitizing your local collections.
  • PALA will provide training on identifying and stabilizing any local history collections in the future.
  • Registration for two workshops on Communication in the Workplace are now open. The dates are June 10 and August 19. Dr. Kass from Bloomsburg University will be conducting the workshops. Directors and staff members may sign up for either date.
  • The trustees workshop for “Hiring, Evaluating and Supporting the Library Director,”

With Pat Wagner is set for July 8, 2016.

District Updates

  • Continuing Education Committee priorities for next year are STEM, Volunteer Programs and Outcomes Measurement.
  • The district is looking for a new IT person. They are redefining the job description and expanding the position based on the needs of the district libraries. Discussion included using consultants as well as a new IT person for tech help and using a ticketing process for jobs.
  • Jeremy Shatley and an intern from Penn Tech are in charge of the webmaster services since Charles Ormsbee retired. Continue to send website changes to June.
  • District budget –Lydia Keglerpresented the district budget for the 2016/2017 fiscal year which will run from July 1, 2016 through June 30, 2017. The budget is based on the governor’s proposed budget for the upcoming year. Eleven counties, forty libraries and over 500,000 people are served by the district.

Approval of Budget

  • A motion was made by Diane Whitaker to pass the district budget for 2016-2017 as presented. Nadine Kramarz seconded the motion. Motion carried.

Library News

Both Annie Halenbake Ross Library and Knoxville Library held open houses. Sullivan County hosted a student art competition which brought in many people. Montgomery House Library is having outreach programs at local laundromats called Stories and Suds. Bloomsburg Library held a Star Wars day which was quite successful. Union County completed a community wide survey.