NORFOLK COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY BOARD MINUTES FEBRUARY 17, 2010 HELD IN THE BOARD ROOM AT THE SIMCOE BRANCH TIME: 5:00 P.M. MEMBERS PRESENT Mr. Thomas Morrison, Chair Ms. Bunny(Nancy) Phillips, Vice-Chair, Councillor Charlie Luke Mr. Jeff Miller Mr. Bill Valoppi Ms. Diane Kursiss Mr. Gord Woods, Ms. Carol DeFields MEMBERS ABSENT Ms. Marian Muth GUESTS Ms. Janice Long Mr. Graeme Dunn Counicllor John Wells STAFF PRESENT Mr. William Hett, CEO Ms. Janet Cowan, Administrative Assistant Ms. Marsha Johnstone, Special Projects Manager Ms. Patricia Reidy, Facilities and Operations Manager The Board Chair, Mr. Morrison called the meeting to order at 5:00 p.m, welcoming members and guests. 1
1. DEPUTATION Mrs. Janice Long re: Port Dover Public Library Mrs. Long, a Port Dover resident appeared before the Board raising her concerns around the proposed relocation of the Port Dover Library to the Port Dover Medical Centre located on 807 St. George St. in Port Dover. Mrs. Long also provided a hardcopy of the information presented. The Board Chair, Mr. Morrison opened the floor for questions. Councillor Luke, Mr. Miller, Mr. Woods and Councillor Wells addressed the board. Mr. Morrison thanked Ms. Long for her presentation and informed her that the board will receive her deputation as information. Ms. Long departed at 5:40 p.m. Res. No. NCPL February 10-01 MOVED BY: Ms. Bunny Phillips SECONDED BY: Mr. Jeff Miller THAT the deputation of Mrs. Long raising her concerns around the relocation of the Port Dover library to the Port Dover Medical Centre on 807 St. George St. be received as information. Councillor Wells thanked the board for their support and understanding during budget deliberations. 2. ELECTION OF OFFICERS The CEO, Mr. William Hett assumed the position as Chair and informed the board that as per the Terms of Reference the board is required to elect a chair and vice-chair on an annual basis. The board members hold office for the same term as county council. Mr. Hett called for nominations for Chair. Ms. Bunny Phillips nominated Mr. Thomas Morrison. The CEO called for and seeing no other nominations closed the nominations for Board Chair. Mr. Hett asked Mr. Morrison if he accepts the nomination of Chair. Mr. Morrison accepted. The CEO called for nominations for Vice-Chair. Mr. Gord Woods nominated Ms. Bunny Phillips. Ms. Phillips declined the nomination. Ms. Carol DeFields nominated Mr. Jeff Miller. 2
The CEO, seeing no other nominations, closed the nominations. Mr. Hett asked Mr. Miller if he would accept the position as Vice-Chair. Mr. Miller accepted. Res. No. NCPL February 10 02 MOVED BY: Ms. Carol DeFields SECONDED BY: Mr. Bill Valoppi THAT the board appoints Mr. Thomas Morrison as Chair of the Norfolk County Public Library Board for the remainder of the term, November 2010 AND THAT the board appoints Mr. Jeff Miller as Vice-Chair of the Norfolk County Public Library Board for the remainder of the term, November, 2010. The CEO passed the meeting over to the Chair, Mr. Morrison. 3. CHAIRS REMARKS Mr. Morrison thanked the board members for their continued support and confidence as Board Chair. 4. OTHER BUSINESS Ms. Marsha Johnstone, Projects Manager, demonstrated the various facets of the NCPL Webpage. Ms. Johnstone informed the board the website is currently under construction however she provided some insight as to how the new website may look. The board was encouraged to check out Facebook and watch for the launch of Twitter. Ms. Johnstone also informed the board that the three most popular hits on the site were a) the index b) next good read and c) online resources. The CEO noted that the NCPL continues to be customer focused. Board members were encouraged to try the electronic readers which could be made available for their use. 5. APPROVAL OF AGENDA Res. No. NCPL February 10-03 MOVED BY: Ms. Bunny Phillips SECONDED BY: Ms. Diane Kursiss That the agenda be approved as presented. 6. PECUNIARY/CONFLICT OF INTEREST DECLARATIONS None 7. MINUTES, RECEIPT AND APPROVAL OF Minutes of the January 20, 2010 Board Meeting. The minutes of the January 20, 2010 Board Meeting were reviewed. 3
Finding no errors or omissions the minutes were approved. Res.No. NCPL February 10-04 MOVED BY: Ms. Diane Kursiss SECONDED BY: Mr. Bill Valoppi THAT the Minutes of January 20, 2010 NCPL Board meeting be approved as presented. 8. BUSINESS ARISING FROM PREVIOUS MEETING Mr. Hett distributed a summary of the Reserve Fund account balances and provided a brief explanation with regard to Development Charges, Capital Reserves, County Library Reserves and Library Working Capital. An estimated change in reserve account balances for the 2009 year end was also provided. 9. REPORTS a) NCPL Systems Report #10-01 The 2010 Systems Report will follow a similar format documenting circulation numbers, points of access, events and activities. Mr. Hett stated that the points of contact are consistent with the previous statistics. The smart chute is activated and can process books as they are drop through the chute. The NCPL will partner with the Ontario Boating League and proctor exams. The cost to write an exam is $50.00. One new digital library assistant and four self check units have been received. People counters have been installed at all branches. The NCPL will have an advertisement in the NC Summer Activity Guide. The 2009 Financial Statement is incomplete at this time. Final numbers are expected within a couple of weeks. The NCPL is forecasting a slight surplus. The board inquired as to the status of the Norview site; are volunteers available and can we continue staffing the site when the funding runs out? The CEO confirmed that the NCPL will have no problem staffing the Norview site. Staff continues to look for grants that could offset staffing cost for the Norview location. The board was informed of the large donation of audio books. Mr. Valoppi questioned the criteria used to expend the acquisitions budget. Mr. Hett informed the board that purchases are made using the guidelines set out in the Acquisitions Policy. The budget is broken down into categories with a percentage of the budget allocated to each category. The NCPL currently has a contract with Whitehots 4
whereby they provide advisory lists of materials. The library may choose to purchase based on their recommendations however managers review the criteria and make selections to build our inventory. Mr. Valoppi questioned if the library was trying to match children s literacy with schools. Mr. Hett suggested that partnerships with school libraries would be positive. b) NCPL Financial Statement at December 31 st See a) c) 2010 Operating Budget The CEO gave a brief summary of the reduction to the 2010 operating budget request to Norfolk County council as directed by council. The final net levy increase was reduced from 13.8% to 1.3%. d) Audited Year End Schedule of Operations for Dec. 31 st 2008 The Board received a copy of the 2008 Audited Financial Statement in their package and was informed that the audited statement can now be found in the 2008 Annual Report. Res. No. NCPL February - 05 MOVED BY: Councillor Charlie Luke SECONDED BY: Mr. Jeff Miller THAT the board receives the NCPL Systems Report # 10-01, the Financial Statement as at December 31, 2009, the 2010 Operating Budget and the 2008 Audited Financial Statement as presented. The CEO informed the board that the next draft of the Strategic Plan will be available for review in the spring. The Board Chair, Mr. Morrison informed the members that he has been in contact with Norfolk County Human Resources Department regarding the CEO contract renewal. 10. CORRESPONDENCE a) DM s memo re Good Government Act b) NCPL Comment form re: Praising Simcoe Renovations c) Port Rowan Good News Article re: 2010 Canada Reads d) Simcoe Reformer Article re: Literacy Day e) Globe and Mail Article re: Thriving public libraries shelve their fusty image The board received the above correspondence as information. 11. NEXT MEETING: The next meeting is scheduled for April 21, 2010 at 5:00 pm at the NCPL, Simcoe Branch in the Board Room. 5
Note: March meeting will be rescheduled to a later date in 2010. 12. ADJOURNMENT Res. No. NCPL February 10-06 MOVED BY: Ms. Bunny Phillips SECONDED BY: Mr. Bill Valoppi That the meeting be adjourned at 6:50 p.m. 6