Board Meeting Minutes 10/25/2022 (html)
Tuesday, October 25, 2022
LIBRARY BOARD MEETING
SILVER FALLS LIBRARY DISTRICTSilver Falls Library Program Room and via Zoom
410 S. Water St., Silverton, Oregon
Board Members Present: Staff Present:
Michael Milhausen Christy Davis, Director
Kathy Beutler Stacy Higby
Ralph Sorensen
Ingrid Green Public Present:
Dmitry White None
Board Members Absent:
None
CALL TO ORDER
Chair Milhausen called the meeting to order at 5:35 p.m.
REVIEW OF AGENDA
No changes.
APPROVAL OF MINUTES
Motion: To approve the September 27, 2022 Board Meeting minutes as amended.
(Motion by: Dmitry White. Second by: Ralph Sorensen).
Vote: Unanimously in favor.
PUBLIC PRESENTATIONS
None.
FINANCIAL REPORT, SEPTEMBER 2022
The Board received and reviewed the following reports:
Statement of Cash Disbursements
Spanish Adult Nonfiction purchases will be on October statements.
Check Register
Motion: To approve the SEPTEMBER 2022 Financial Report as presented, including checks #17123 through and including #17146, and all EFTs, for a total of $95,216.90.
(Motion by: Kathy Beutler. Second by: Ingrid Green).
Vote: Unanimously in favor.
OLD BUSINESS
1. Review 2nd draft: Board Duties and Responsibilities Policy Update, including Policies Receipt Acknowledgement
Motion: To approve the policy revision without Section 3.8, with corrections, and with the change to the acknowledgement form.
(Motion by: Michael Milhausen. Second by: Dmitry White).
Vote: Unanimously in favor
2. Director Wish/Help List – any movement
Michael and Christy are scheduling a time to meet with Dana Smith to discuss some of the ideas for remodeling different areas of the Library. This is the time of year to get bids on projects to be included in the budget for the next fiscal year. Moving the Reference Desk closer to the door will require electrical work and may be done in phases. Christy is going to ask the Hear No Evil rep about sound dampening options for the high ceiling above the Circulation Desk and potential new Reference Desk location. Christy will also try to get some photos of the “clouds” at the Eugene Library to send to the Board.
3. Review updated Vacation Accrual policy
This policy seems like a commendable way to encourage and retain part time staff not currently eligible for these benefits. Human resources staff across the state were worried that Oregon’s mandatory sick leave policy would be abused, but that hasn’t been the case.
Motion: To approve updated Vacation Accrual Policy as presented.
(Motion by: Kathy Beutler. Second by: Dmitry White).
Vote: Unanimously in favor.
NEW BUSINESS
1. Dmitry, Kathy, and Christy report on October 19th trip to the Marion County Treasurer’s Office
The District only receives timber tax revenue from timber harvested and taxed within the Silver Falls School District. All the timber harvest revenue in Marion County is separated first into the school districts, and then divided by the tax assessment rates for each district within the school district, after the county takes 10% and 25% goes into the Common School Fund. Chapter 530 of the Oregon Revised Statutes defines this formula. The process is more organized and formulaic than Christy originally believed. Sam Brentano was unable to attend, but the staff who met with Christy, Dmitry, and Kathy were very helpful and informative.
One additional piece of advice was to put a minimal placeholder in the budget for State Timberlands, and don’t plan to spend it. If there is significant revenue, a budget resolution can be passed if it is needed before the following fiscal year. Otherwise, plan to roll the revenue over to the next year.
2. Policy Manual Review: Chapter 4, Part 12, Bloodborne Pathogens, and Part 13, Whistleblower Policy (has draft revision)
Bloodborne Pathogens
Motion: To approve revised Bloodborne Pathogens Exposure Control Plan Policy.
(Motion by: Michael Milhausen. Second by: Ingrid Green).
Vote: Unanimously in favor.
Whistleblower
Stacy will make the requested changes and bring back to Board at next meeting.
3. Review and discussion of Book Bans and potential actions
4. Policy Manual Review: Chapter 2, Part 9 Surplus Property draft revision
At a previous meeting, a Board Member asked if we can take our surplus property to a state site. When we have surplus property, we can list them on the state library’s listserv for other libraries to take. We usually don’t have much to dispose of. Christy asked SDAO and the representative told her that we are responsible for our surplus property and suggested a policy revision.
Motion: To approve Surplus Property policy as revised.
(Motion by: Kathy Beutler. Second by: Dmitry White).
Vote: Unanimously in favor.
LIBRARY DIRECTOR’S REPORT
Director Davis reported on the following:
Good things:
· We had our first in-person story time and between youth and kids and staff there were 32 people in the room. Both youth and adult departments have a lot of great programming planned for the year ahead.
· Mondays are continuing to be popular. We have a mix of after-school youth and typical adult library users reading newspapers and picking up holds. It’s a very steady four hours for all departments and we’re continuing to hear praise for being open.
· I have one online appointment and one site visit appointment with two different vendors for AV equipment for the program room. One is through Zoom’s vending and the other is from an audio shop in Salem.
· We now have 8 data-connected Chromebooks for checkout. They were a promotional item for schools and libraries. We have to carry a data plan for each Chromebook for 6 months but after that we can decide if some will just reside in the library for in-library checkout and use.
· I attended a human resources training sponsored by SDAO on the topic of building a culture of belonging in the workplace. It was well presented, informative, and held at Eola Hills conference center outside Salem.
· Kudos to Stacy and key staff for working to get all the data submitted to Stacy for submission to the Annual State Library Report. Our submission will be checked by the State Library and any errors or questions addressed by the end of this calendar year. The State Report on Oregon’s Public Libraries is released by the State Library of Oregon in late winter or early spring of each year.
· Kudos to Nathan for making a list of tasks that he does just when he has time and offering to come in and train volunteers to help with some of those tasks.
Challenges:
ITEMS NOT ON AGENDA OPEN TO PUBLIC, BOARD & STAFF PARTICIPATION
November/December meetings
ADJOURNMENT
Motion: To adjourn the meeting at 7:46 p.m.
(Motion by: Kathy Beutler. Second by: Dmitry White).
Vote: Unanimously in favor.
__________________________________________
The next Library Board meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, November 22, 2022 at 5:30 p.m. in the library program room.
Approved: _________________________(date)
_______________________________________
Michael Milhausen
Chair, Library Board of Directors
Silver Falls Library District
LIBRARY BOARD MEETING
SILVER FALLS LIBRARY DISTRICTSilver Falls Library Program Room and via Zoom
410 S. Water St., Silverton, Oregon
Board Members Present: Staff Present:
Michael Milhausen Christy Davis, Director
Kathy Beutler Stacy Higby
Ralph Sorensen
Ingrid Green Public Present:
Dmitry White None
Board Members Absent:
None
CALL TO ORDER
Chair Milhausen called the meeting to order at 5:35 p.m.
REVIEW OF AGENDA
No changes.
APPROVAL OF MINUTES
- Page 5, 7th bullet - “hear” should be “year”.
- Page 5, last bullet - should be “closet,” not “close”.
- In the Budget Resolution - “by” should be “be”.
Motion: To approve the September 27, 2022 Board Meeting minutes as amended.
(Motion by: Dmitry White. Second by: Ralph Sorensen).
Vote: Unanimously in favor.
PUBLIC PRESENTATIONS
None.
FINANCIAL REPORT, SEPTEMBER 2022
The Board received and reviewed the following reports:
- Statement of Assets, Liabilities, and Fund Balances (as of September 30, 2022)
- General Fund Statement of Cash Receipts (as of September 30, 2022)
- General Fund Statement of Cash Disbursements (as of September 30, 2022)
- Check Register – Citizen’s Bank (September 1-30, 2022)
- LGIP Account Statement (as of September 30, 2022)
- Purchase Order – Visa (closing date September 27, 2022)
- Journal Entries (as of September 30, 2022)
Statement of Cash Disbursements
Spanish Adult Nonfiction purchases will be on October statements.
- Board question: Is this section popular? We have just refreshed the section with new signage and a move across the aisle, and a lot of other libraries are borrowing our items.
Check Register
- Board question: Isn’t Canopy our streaming service? The payment is on the Group Health line. Canopy is our Employee Assistance Program, and Kanopy is the streaming service.
- Board question: Who is Nathaniel DenHartog? Our custodian.
- Board question: What is the payment to Rite Way Electric? It is for new lighting in Tech Services, and also to install a dedicated outlet for our fire alarm system.
- Board question: Did we buy toner 5 times? Yes, because Becky found a good deal. This may be all the toner we need for the rest of the fiscal year. Becky’s skill in looking for deals has also just earned us $575 worth of Staples rewards, with another estimated $400 to come. We’re hoping to use those rewards to purchase a new laptop or printer.
Motion: To approve the SEPTEMBER 2022 Financial Report as presented, including checks #17123 through and including #17146, and all EFTs, for a total of $95,216.90.
(Motion by: Kathy Beutler. Second by: Ingrid Green).
Vote: Unanimously in favor.
OLD BUSINESS
1. Review 2nd draft: Board Duties and Responsibilities Policy Update, including Policies Receipt Acknowledgement
- Remove all asterisks and just list revision dates at the end of each section.
- Change “President” to “Chair” on the acknowledgement form and any other instances.
- Remove all gendered language (page 2).
- Change “cause” to “ensure” in 3.4, 4d.
- Remove 3.8 – The Board discussed at length the suggested section from SDAO on Legislative Advocacy and ultimately decided not to adopt it into policy at this time. Not all the items or priorities in the section are pertinent to the Library. The Board trusts Christy’s judgement to inform them quickly when an issue comes up that requires action on their part. With such a small board, a meeting can be called quickly if needed.
Motion: To approve the policy revision without Section 3.8, with corrections, and with the change to the acknowledgement form.
(Motion by: Michael Milhausen. Second by: Dmitry White).
Vote: Unanimously in favor
2. Director Wish/Help List – any movement
Michael and Christy are scheduling a time to meet with Dana Smith to discuss some of the ideas for remodeling different areas of the Library. This is the time of year to get bids on projects to be included in the budget for the next fiscal year. Moving the Reference Desk closer to the door will require electrical work and may be done in phases. Christy is going to ask the Hear No Evil rep about sound dampening options for the high ceiling above the Circulation Desk and potential new Reference Desk location. Christy will also try to get some photos of the “clouds” at the Eugene Library to send to the Board.
3. Review updated Vacation Accrual policy
This policy seems like a commendable way to encourage and retain part time staff not currently eligible for these benefits. Human resources staff across the state were worried that Oregon’s mandatory sick leave policy would be abused, but that hasn’t been the case.
Motion: To approve updated Vacation Accrual Policy as presented.
(Motion by: Kathy Beutler. Second by: Dmitry White).
Vote: Unanimously in favor.
NEW BUSINESS
1. Dmitry, Kathy, and Christy report on October 19th trip to the Marion County Treasurer’s Office
The District only receives timber tax revenue from timber harvested and taxed within the Silver Falls School District. All the timber harvest revenue in Marion County is separated first into the school districts, and then divided by the tax assessment rates for each district within the school district, after the county takes 10% and 25% goes into the Common School Fund. Chapter 530 of the Oregon Revised Statutes defines this formula. The process is more organized and formulaic than Christy originally believed. Sam Brentano was unable to attend, but the staff who met with Christy, Dmitry, and Kathy were very helpful and informative.
One additional piece of advice was to put a minimal placeholder in the budget for State Timberlands, and don’t plan to spend it. If there is significant revenue, a budget resolution can be passed if it is needed before the following fiscal year. Otherwise, plan to roll the revenue over to the next year.
2. Policy Manual Review: Chapter 4, Part 12, Bloodborne Pathogens, and Part 13, Whistleblower Policy (has draft revision)
Bloodborne Pathogens
- Change “small micro-organisms” to “infectious agents” on Page 1.
- Do we want to offer the Hepatitis B vaccine to our custodian preemptively? We will add that to the job description, but it should be procedure rather than policy.
Motion: To approve revised Bloodborne Pathogens Exposure Control Plan Policy.
(Motion by: Michael Milhausen. Second by: Ingrid Green).
Vote: Unanimously in favor.
Whistleblower
- Change formatting to match the rest of the Policy Manual, including Roman numerals.
- Change “president” to “chair”.
- Change the Purpose paragraph to “The District’s Whistleblower Policy is in accordance with Oregon Revised Statutes 659A.200 to 659A.224, and 659A.885(2)(a) and as noted in the January 2022 Edition of Oregon Bureau of Labor and Industry’s Whistleblower Protections: Uniform Standards and Procedures Manual.”
- In Section III, change “due course” to “due process”.
- Remove all gendered language.
Stacy will make the requested changes and bring back to Board at next meeting.
3. Review and discussion of Book Bans and potential actions
- Is the list referenced in the articles circulated nationally or unique to Colorado? ALA, OLA, and each state library association have their own lists of frequently challenged titles. Other organizations may create their own lists as well. Some lists tend to be nationwide because they have been amplified by media.
- Is it common for boards to ban books? It is more common for school district boards than library boards.
- Would our entire collection be eligible for a public records request? Our collection is available through the online catalog. Additionally, the District is not required to create documents that do not already exist in order to fulfill a public records request.
- What is the age limit for library cards? There is no limit, but youth under the age of 18 must have a parent or guardian sign their application, unless they have a state-issued ID and are at least 16, in which they can sign for themselves.
- Our current policy is fair and responsible and allows patrons (not organizations) to challenge materials but requires the patron to do their part to make that challenge. It requires more than one library staff member to review the material. It allows patrons to be heard and still keeps library services moving.
- On the last challenge we received, did the patron accept the Library’s answer? Yes, she wasn’t happy about it, but she continues to be a heavy Library user. Our Youth Services Librarian Dena prepared a list of library materials that might be more suitable, which made the patron very happy.
- Having a good policy, being nimble and thoughtful about challenges, and providing excellent customer service are the Library’s best tools. Being our own district also makes a difference.
4. Policy Manual Review: Chapter 2, Part 9 Surplus Property draft revision
At a previous meeting, a Board Member asked if we can take our surplus property to a state site. When we have surplus property, we can list them on the state library’s listserv for other libraries to take. We usually don’t have much to dispose of. Christy asked SDAO and the representative told her that we are responsible for our surplus property and suggested a policy revision.
- Remove “acquisition” from the last sentence.
Motion: To approve Surplus Property policy as revised.
(Motion by: Kathy Beutler. Second by: Dmitry White).
Vote: Unanimously in favor.
LIBRARY DIRECTOR’S REPORT
Director Davis reported on the following:
Good things:
· We had our first in-person story time and between youth and kids and staff there were 32 people in the room. Both youth and adult departments have a lot of great programming planned for the year ahead.
· Mondays are continuing to be popular. We have a mix of after-school youth and typical adult library users reading newspapers and picking up holds. It’s a very steady four hours for all departments and we’re continuing to hear praise for being open.
· I have one online appointment and one site visit appointment with two different vendors for AV equipment for the program room. One is through Zoom’s vending and the other is from an audio shop in Salem.
· We now have 8 data-connected Chromebooks for checkout. They were a promotional item for schools and libraries. We have to carry a data plan for each Chromebook for 6 months but after that we can decide if some will just reside in the library for in-library checkout and use.
· I attended a human resources training sponsored by SDAO on the topic of building a culture of belonging in the workplace. It was well presented, informative, and held at Eola Hills conference center outside Salem.
· Kudos to Stacy and key staff for working to get all the data submitted to Stacy for submission to the Annual State Library Report. Our submission will be checked by the State Library and any errors or questions addressed by the end of this calendar year. The State Report on Oregon’s Public Libraries is released by the State Library of Oregon in late winter or early spring of each year.
· Kudos to Nathan for making a list of tasks that he does just when he has time and offering to come in and train volunteers to help with some of those tasks.
Challenges:
- We have already lost one of our new employees. She was able to get more hours at her daughter’s preschool and also work near her daughter. We would have provided her an exit interview, but she did not come to her last day of work.
- There is an ongoing challenge between Servpro, SDAO, and Pace-Loren’s to pay for the damage to the furnace closet near the Children’s area. ServePro has been paid by SDAO, and there will be more details to come.
- Christy sent an email to the Board about a patron who was trespassed. Christy and the patron are scheduled to meet on November 4th to discuss restitution and conditions for lifting the trespass.
ITEMS NOT ON AGENDA OPEN TO PUBLIC, BOARD & STAFF PARTICIPATION
November/December meetings
ADJOURNMENT
Motion: To adjourn the meeting at 7:46 p.m.
(Motion by: Kathy Beutler. Second by: Dmitry White).
Vote: Unanimously in favor.
__________________________________________
The next Library Board meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, November 22, 2022 at 5:30 p.m. in the library program room.
Approved: _________________________(date)
_______________________________________
Michael Milhausen
Chair, Library Board of Directors
Silver Falls Library District
