North Central Library District Meeting Minutes
The meeting was held at James V. Brown library on April 19, 2017 with the following in attendance:
Olivia Masser / Milton Public LibraryJeff Johnstonbaugh / Priestly Forsyth
Alan Miller / Sullivan County Library
Josh Hudson / District
Diane Whitaker / Annie Halenbake Ross Library
June Houghtaling / District
Kathy Butler / Hughesville Area Public Library
Lydia Kegler / Bloomsburg Public Library
Leslie Wishard, / Potter Tioga Library System/Green Free Library
Jill Fecker / Degenstein Community Library
Ed Oberholtzer / Thomas Beaver Free Library
J. A. Babay / Montgomery House Library
Jeanne Williamson / Montgomery House Library
John Confer / James V. Brown
Elisabeth Miranda / Blossburg Memorial Library
Nadine Kramarz / McBride (Berwick)
Jeremy Shatley / JVB/NCLD
Lydia Kegler started the meeting at 10:05 am.
Approval of Minutes –approved by Jill Fecker and Nadine Kamarz.
June Houghtaling reviewed the library system structure from state level to local level for new members on the board. She also reviewed the NCLD staff. The new website for the district is operational.
State Updates:
Codes and Regulations – in 2012 the newest codes were passed and are not yet fully implemented. The regulations will be revamped and renewed in 2017. June would like member libraries having difficulty with the 45 hour rule to let her know.
Annual Reports – please do not leave areas blank or zeroed. Estimate the number of reference questions you get each year or do a sampling for one week 4 times per year. Passive programs can be counted.
LSTA Funding – the federal government has proposed to cut all funding for the IMLS which funds LSTA. Please advocate for libraries with your local elected officials.
Consultant’s Meeting- June discussed how the office of Commonwealth libraries has down sized in the last ten years going from 80 employees down to 30. The same has happened to the Department of Education which libraries fall under. They went from 1200 people to 400. PA is ranked 6th in the country for state funding of libraries and 47thfor local funding.
PALA
Advocacy for LSTA/IMLS as discussed above, please advocate for libraries and funding.
National Library Week- 19 counties proclaimed last week as National Library Week.
Media Kits– look for monthly marketing kits from PALA.
PA Forward – 21 more libraries gained star status.
Membership- from March 15 through June is the membership drive. New members can sign up for 50% off during this time.
State Budget – the proposed budget keeps library at level funding.
District
Scan PA Project – the district purchased one scanner for large items and one for older media. Libraries will be able to use these for digitizing items for patrons and for the history of each library. No timeline is set as to when these will be available.
IT Update by Josh – the new NCLD website can be found at northcentrallibraries.org. Training videos on a variety of topics can be found there. Josh has completed his district assessment. Most libraries now have Windows 7 with only a few still having Windows XP. He will continue to focus on modernization and compatibility. Domain name renewals will be up for many libraries. Doug would like to renew them in 5 year intervals.
Web Administration Update – Jeremy continues to update library web sites using current best practices and “Amazon” like pages. The Lycoming county libraries are up next when he finishes the one he is working on currently.
Youth Services – Summer Reading workshop had mixed reviews and the STEM workshop had great reviews. Several new items were added to the Professional Development collection including an Oral Health Kit with a spitting puppet.
Workshops Upcoming workshops include Volunteers Programs on May 3, Customer Service on May 31, Conflict Management on July 18, Community Engagement on June 13, and Strategic Planning on July 13, 2017.
District Agreement Change in Procedure – new guidelineswere adopted in January and an executive committee was selected to negotiate the new agreement. Members will rotate yearly to cover all the counties in the entire district. The executive committee will meet on May 9th to review and discuss district services and budget. The executive committee will meet with Beth Bisbano, the state advisor. Once final negotiations are completed the agreement will be sent to all libraries in the district for a vote.
District Services– based on a survey of the libraries the number one priority for district services is continuing education followed by Overdrive, individual consulting, state reports, tech and web administration and ILL. Reference was a low priority. A brief discussion focused on Overdrive services and reducing holds versus enriching content within the e-book collection. Sue Mayshock will be consulted to provide more information to further this discussion.