Montgomery County-Norristown Public Library
Department Heads Meeting
January 25, 2007
Present
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Kathy Arnold-Yerger
Robert Schnell
Ella Noel
Asha Verma
Denise Pulgino Stout
Cheryl Milligan
Loretta Righter
Leslie Rush
Beth Slating
Mary Maguire
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Dianne Malvoso Nora Freedman
Eileen McNamara Marycatherine McGarvey
Alan Reider
Birthday greetings were extended to Beth, Loretta, and Alan.
Dianne has accepted the Youth Services District Consultant position in Bucks County. Congratulations Dianne!
Nora will be temporarily moving to London, England, to travel with her husband. Best of luck, Nora!
The monthly Board of Directors meetings will now begin at 4:30p.m., rather than 4p.m. Kathy also requests that all Department Heads and Branch Managers submit 1 page, bulleted reports for inclusion in the Board packets, no later than the Friday before Board meeting.
The Board District Relations committee has continued to target individual municipalities. This has improved their 2007 appropriation, tentatively, in each of the following municipalities- Plymouth Township - $11,000 or $.69 per capita; Hatfield Township - $8,000 or $.48 per capita; Montgomery Township - $7,000 or $.31 per capita; New Hanover Township- $2,000 or $.27 per capital; Upper Frederick Township - $1,000 or $.32 per capita; Worcester Township - $5,000 or $.64 per capita.
Municipality / 2006 / 2007 / Percent increasePlymouth Township / $10,000 / $11,000 / 10%
Hatfield Township / $ 5,000 / $ 8,000 / 60%
Montgomery Township / $ 6,000 / $ 7,000 / 16%
New Hanover Township / $ 1,887 / $ 2,000 / 5%
Upper Frederick Township / $ 600 / $ 1,000 / 66%
Worcester Township / $ 3,500 / $ 5,000 / 42%
Tally counters will be ordered for any Department/Branch requesting them, in order to better track reference statistics.
Please let the Administration Office now should you require additional business cards.
Sections for the Annual Report will be distributed no later than February 1st. Sections are due back by March 1st.
National Library Week will be in April, and committee will be formed to work on the annual Patron Appreciation Day. Branches are encouraged to host their own celebrations.
New expense reimbursement vouchers will be sent by e-mail, reflecting the change in reimbursement for mileage.
Denise presented a video overview and brief discussion on the Family Place Initiative. This new initiative will go into effect throughout the Library in the coming months. Handouts regarding Family Place were distributed. Please share these with your staff.
Denise, Children’s
Denise reviewed other upcoming programs being coordinated by the Children’s Department. Staff members are encouraged to volunteer to assist with new programming that will be implemented in the Family Place theme. The Department is also in the midst of redecorating to carry the theme throughout.
Alan, Extension Services
Bid specifications have been mailed for the new WOW project. A number of staff changes are in effect. Please welcome Maurice Ford to the department as the new Pony Delivery driver. John Roe will be driving one of the bookmobiles, and Eileen McGan the other.
Leslie, Automation
The rebuild went off flawlessly.
Asha, Readers’ Services
Members of the Youth Advisory Board will be compiling a list of favorite CDs for the collection. Winners of the drawing contest will win $15. Other upcoming programs include the annual Garden Festival, with Keynote Speaker Mike McGrath, and a program entitled the Art of Looking at Art. Please see the new event schedule for details.
The Library will be represented at a community event to be held at the Montgomery County Community College (Blue Bell campus) on March 27th.
Daniel Bruno has accepted the full-time Support Staff position. The 18hr. part-time position is still open. (post-meeting note: this position has been filled by Troy Allen.)
Beth, Technical Processing
Margaret Keetley has been hired to work evenings and Saturdays in Technical Processing. It is a new position, at 20 hours per week. Acquisitions have been closed out for the fiscal year. Spending was again “difficult” in December; Kathy requests that fund please be spent in timely manner this year.
Bob, Interlibrary Loan
Status quo in the ILL Department. Bob will serve as the Interim Manager at Schwenksville until the position is filled. Please direct all ILL questions to the ILL office (Val), as Schwenksville has only one phone line.
The Emergency Procedures Manual should be completed by February. Work will then begin on the Branch manuals.
Kathy briefly reported on measures undertaken by County Security and the Board to respond to the recent acts of vandalism in the Swede Street parking lot. The Spruce Street gate has been closed until further notice to deter additional criminal activity.
Loretta, Reference Department
Ancestry.com and Heritage Quest have been launched. Patrons with questions on the tax forms, specifically those issued with errors, should contact the PA Department of Revenue. Changes to maximum requirements are in effect for the rent rebates. Forms should be available until the end of June, or possibly even December. Stay tuned.
There is a new form for telephone excise tax, please be aware. Sales tax rules have likewise changed. Please speak to Reference for additional clarification.
Cheryl, AV
No report.
Mary Maguire
The Legislative Breakfast will be on April 27 at the usual location, Plymouth Country Club. Please make every effort to attend. All Department Heads/Branch Managers are invited to upcoming District meetings with exciting speakers.
Ella, Upper Perkiomen Valley Library
The Wine Tasting is March 24. The Branch is currently going through some renovations, specifically installation of new flooring.
Dianne, Schwenksville
Fabrics for the Reading Room have been selected. Marianne Tomlinson was recently hired. Family Storytime will be held once a month. The first workstation has been installed for the Computer Lab, more are on the way.
Marycatherine, Conshohocken
The Board held a January holiday party. Marycatherine’s computer crashed, along with e-mail, so please be aware and patient.
Eileen, Royersford
A recent adult program had 25 attendees.
There was some discussion regarding the coordination of book discussion clubs.
The emergency list was discussed. A gentle reminder- if you must leave a message on an individual’s answering machine, please request a call back confirmation that the message was received.
Respectfully submitted,
Monica Koenig
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