Board Meeting Minutes 2/22/2022 (html)
Tuesday, February 22, 2022
LIBRARY BOARD MEETING
SILVER FALLS LIBRARY DISTRICTSilver Falls Library Program Room
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 5:31 p.m.
REVIEW OF AGENDA
No changes.
APPROVAL OF MINUTES
Page 3, first bullet - Capitalize “Davenports”.
Motion: To approve the January 25, 2022 Board Meeting minutes as amended
(Motion by: Dmitry White. Second by: Ralph Sorensen).
Vote: Unanimously in favor.
PUBLIC PRESENTATIONS
None.
FINANCIAL REPORT, JANUARY 2022
The Board received and reviewed the following reports:
Statement of Cash Disbursements
What is the “toner refund” on the Visa statement? Becky in Technical Services is a bargain shopper, and gets us really good discounts. That is a reward earned through the Staples Rewards program.
Check Register
Motion: To approve the JANUARY 2022 Financial Report as presented, including checks #16895 through and including #16923, and all EFTs for a total of $104,739.55.
(Motion by: Kathy Beutler. Second by: Ingrid Green).
Vote: Unanimously in favor.
Financial questions from auditors
#5 Have all federal and state reimbursement requests as well as required financial reporting forms been filed timely? All but the audit, which we still have not received.
#7 Are there any suspected changes to the internal control system? No, but we updated our Quickbooks passwords as suggested by the auditors (twice yearly, in January and July).
#14 Are all financial statements that have been provided to the Board accurate and complete to the best of your knowledge? Yes.
OLD BUSINESS
1. Regarding codifying Board attendance through the legislative process
A. SDAO Legislative Committee from January 31
B. Discussion of the topic at SDAO At-Large Districts Caucus on February 11
C. Potential next steps
Michael and Christy attended the January 31 SDAO Legislative Committee meeting, invited by Frank Stratton, SDAO President, and Hasina Wittenberg, SDAO lobbyist. It was clear that any issues we brought would not be covered in this legislative session, but Hasina said our concern would be number one on the list for consideration in the 2023 session. We would like to see something similar to the ORS statutes for school boards, which in section 332.030 includes this language: (d) When an incumbent ceases to discharge the duties of the office for two consecutive months unless prevented therefrom by sickness or other unavoidable cause. (e) When an incumbent ceases to discharge the duties of the office for four consecutive months for any reason. This type of language helps define the idea of an expectation, and Michael likes the sentiment. The statute goes on to give boards the authority to appoint a person into that position after 2 or 4 months of absenteeism, depending on the reason for the absence. It’s not a new discussion, but there can be some contentious parts to this. A board could be hostile in getting rid of someone. For us it helps to define role of board member and will address issues of absenteeism.
There can also be some hesitation because these rules could be an obstacle to board service, but there were some nods of agreement during the At-Large Districts Caucus on February 14, which Christy attended. There needs to be a procedure in place that’s more efficient and affordable than a recall election when there’s a dereliction of duty on the part of a board member. Frank Stratton and Christy discovered that public utility districts have language like school boards, which means there is precedent within special districts for an absenteeism policy. There will still need to be ORS written for library districts specifically. MaryKay Dahlgren, former State Librarian and current Director of Lincoln County Library District and At-Large SDAO Board Member will draft a letter to Oregon Library Association, and Christy will draft one to library directors from special districts, to be signed by the Lincoln County Library District Board Chair and Michael, respectively. We will need support from other districts before SDAO sets its agenda for the legislative session in early September.
2. Review RFP for auditing services, committee recommendations
Michael and Kathy agreed to help create our RFP, using samples from other districts. Christy and Stacy made the changes requested. The recommendation is to approve this document so it can be mailed to prospective audit firms. We are still waiting for our FY 2020-2021 audit. The Board approved the RFP document and encouraged staff to send it out as soon as possible.
3. COVID and the workplace updates
Oregon OSHA will meet on February 24 to make decisions regarding the lifting of the mask mandate, currently scheduled for no later than March 31. It’s likely that OSHA will edit its restrictions to match those of OHA, but there are a lot of OSHA requirements that could be changed or affected, like signage, sanitation, and other workplace safety concerns.
Christy talked to SDAO risk management consultant Jason Jantzi today because of concerns from Youth Services that creating and maintaining an infection control plan for story times and other programs, if it is still required, will be a hardship, and it will be easier to wait until the OSHA requirements are amended.
Once the mask mandate is lifted, we may leave the plexiglass barriers in place for another month or more, while we watch the case numbers for any potential surges that may follow. The barriers can affect how well staff and patrons hear each other. Anyone on staff can continue to wear a mask, and negative comments from other staff members will not be okay. We will continue to supply KN95 masks for staff and surgical masks for patrons who request them.
Nationally, we are still seeing 90,000 new cases daily, which was considered the peak of previous curves, so we should not consider the pandemic over, and many think it’s not the time to ease or lift the mandate and requirements. However, out of concern for staff safety and our public perception, being the exception or outlier could be really difficult for the Library so we will follow OHA guidelines.
Our most popular program is story time for kids under 5, who cannot currently be vaccinated, but ultimately we will have to let parents decide whether it’s safe for their children to attend. We may do outdoor story times when whether permits, and continue on Zoom when it doesn’t. We may ask for an emergency board meeting, depending on what happens at the OSHA meeting on February 24.
NEW BUSINESS
1. Budget Resolution 2021-05, accepting a mini-grant from Oregon Humanities
Dr. Andrew Weitzman, a local psychiatrist with a specialty in Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT), will do a program before the end of the fiscal year, with a theme of helping communities forge connections, as part of the Oregon Humanities “Consider This” grant program. The grant funds will pay for his speaking fee, some handouts for the program, and some advertising.
Motion: To approve budget resolution 2021-05 in the matter of accepting receipt of, and authorizing the expenditure of $693.00 for the Oregon Humanities “Consider This” mini-grant initiative.
(Motion by: Dmitry White. Second by: Ralph Sorensen).
Vote: Unanimously in favor.
2. Budget Committee applications to review and bring to a vote
Two candidates, Terra Chapek and Chris Childs, applied to serve on the Budget Committee, and Doug Tedrow agreed to serve another term. Christy will send financial reports to Terra so that she can familiarize herself with the documents.
Motion: To appoint Terra Chapek, Chris Childs, and Doug Tedrow to the Silver Falls Library District Budget Committee for a 3-year term, ending on June 30, 2025.
(Motion by: Michael Milhausen. Second by: Ralph Sorensen).
Vote: Unanimously in favor.
3. Personnel expenditures – comparing current fiscal year to proposed budget for next year – hours, salaries, Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA)
Library staff are eligible for annual step increases for up to 7 years, and following 7 years of employment, only COLA (Cost of Living Adjustment) increases or longevity bonuses. Due to budgetary concerns during the pandemic, we did not give COLA increases last year, only step increases. For the upcoming fiscal year 2022-23, we’d like to recommend a 1% COLA increase which, along with step increases of 3%, would be a 4% increase for most staff. While we expect the budget to be tight this year, with 6% inflation, we think this is the right thing to do for the staff. Despite eligibility for a COLA in the policy, Christy has asked Stacy not to calculate this increase for her in the 2022-23 fiscal year.
In April 2021, Van Khieu, who is our contact at Marion County Assessors, projected a 7% increase in property tax revenue for the 2021-22 fiscal year. We used 96% of that amount as our projected income, but actual revenue growth looks to be closer to 5.5%. This has encouraged us to be more conservative in our revenue projection for 2022-23, and we will use a 95% calculation instead. The projected growth for 2022-23 is 4%. In addition, our CCRLS formula-based reimbursement payment for the 2022-23 fiscal year will be $10,000 less than the current year due to lower numbers in material sharing during the time that we were closed while some other CCRLS libraries were open. With these factors, our projected revenue will probably be very similar to last year’s budget.
4. Policy Manual Review – Chapter 4, sections: Confidentiality of Library Records, Fines and Fees, Collection Development
Privacy and Confidentiality of Library Patron Records
Fines and Fees Schedule
Collection Development/Material Selection
LIBRARY DIRECTOR’S REPORT
Good things:
Changes:
ITEMS NOT ON AGENDA OPEN TO PUBLIC, BOARD & STAFF PARTICIPATION
Reminders: No May Board Meeting. Make-up meeting June 14th. June 28th Board Meeting if business for the year is not completed at 6/14 meeting.
Ralph was in nonfiction browsing and realized there was no signage. The only labels are biography and local history, so is there a way to find it? Is he missing it? Christy replied that this is more of a bookstore model. We could explore adding signage on ends with general topic like gardening, cooking, etc. Christy won’t promise we’ll do it for sure, but we’ll look into it.
AGENDA SUGGESTIONS FOR FUTURE MEETINGS
1.
2.
ADJOURNMENT
Motion: To adjourn the meeting at 7:16 p.m.
(Motion by: Ralph Sorensen. Second by: Kathy Beutler).
Vote: Unanimously in favor.
__________________________________________
The next Library Board meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, March 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
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 5:31 p.m.
REVIEW OF AGENDA
No changes.
APPROVAL OF MINUTES
Page 3, first bullet - Capitalize “Davenports”.
Motion: To approve the January 25, 2022 Board Meeting minutes as amended
(Motion by: Dmitry White. Second by: Ralph Sorensen).
Vote: Unanimously in favor.
PUBLIC PRESENTATIONS
None.
FINANCIAL REPORT, JANUARY 2022
The Board received and reviewed the following reports:
- Statement of Assets, Liabilities, and Fund Balances (as of January 31, 2022)
- General Fund Statement of Cash Receipts (as of January 31, 2022)
- General Fund Statement of Cash Disbursements (as of January 31, 2022)
- Check Register – Citizen’s Bank (January 1-31, 2022)
- LGIP Account Statement (as of January 31, 2022)
- Purchase Order – Visa (closing date January 26, 2022)
- Journal Entries (as of January 31, 2022)
Statement of Cash Disbursements
What is the “toner refund” on the Visa statement? Becky in Technical Services is a bargain shopper, and gets us really good discounts. That is a reward earned through the Staples Rewards program.
Check Register
- There are 3 different deposits that don’t describe what they are, one for $4,253.23 on 1/12/22, one for $758.98 on 1/19/22, and one for $168.41 on 1/26/22. The check register says “Split” when a deposit or check affects more than one account. The first includes our Ready-to-Read grant and our regular deposit. The second includes the Oregon Humanities grant and our regular deposit. The third includes our regular deposit and the money collected from the copy machine, which is still Fines and Fees, but tracked separately.
- What is Check #16905 to Monica Murcia Hernandez for? Translations of Library documents to Spanish.
- What is Check #16914 to Rebecca Little for? It is a refund for a book she lost, paid for, and then found later and returned to the Library.
Motion: To approve the JANUARY 2022 Financial Report as presented, including checks #16895 through and including #16923, and all EFTs for a total of $104,739.55.
(Motion by: Kathy Beutler. Second by: Ingrid Green).
Vote: Unanimously in favor.
Financial questions from auditors
#5 Have all federal and state reimbursement requests as well as required financial reporting forms been filed timely? All but the audit, which we still have not received.
#7 Are there any suspected changes to the internal control system? No, but we updated our Quickbooks passwords as suggested by the auditors (twice yearly, in January and July).
#14 Are all financial statements that have been provided to the Board accurate and complete to the best of your knowledge? Yes.
OLD BUSINESS
1. Regarding codifying Board attendance through the legislative process
A. SDAO Legislative Committee from January 31
B. Discussion of the topic at SDAO At-Large Districts Caucus on February 11
C. Potential next steps
Michael and Christy attended the January 31 SDAO Legislative Committee meeting, invited by Frank Stratton, SDAO President, and Hasina Wittenberg, SDAO lobbyist. It was clear that any issues we brought would not be covered in this legislative session, but Hasina said our concern would be number one on the list for consideration in the 2023 session. We would like to see something similar to the ORS statutes for school boards, which in section 332.030 includes this language: (d) When an incumbent ceases to discharge the duties of the office for two consecutive months unless prevented therefrom by sickness or other unavoidable cause. (e) When an incumbent ceases to discharge the duties of the office for four consecutive months for any reason. This type of language helps define the idea of an expectation, and Michael likes the sentiment. The statute goes on to give boards the authority to appoint a person into that position after 2 or 4 months of absenteeism, depending on the reason for the absence. It’s not a new discussion, but there can be some contentious parts to this. A board could be hostile in getting rid of someone. For us it helps to define role of board member and will address issues of absenteeism.
There can also be some hesitation because these rules could be an obstacle to board service, but there were some nods of agreement during the At-Large Districts Caucus on February 14, which Christy attended. There needs to be a procedure in place that’s more efficient and affordable than a recall election when there’s a dereliction of duty on the part of a board member. Frank Stratton and Christy discovered that public utility districts have language like school boards, which means there is precedent within special districts for an absenteeism policy. There will still need to be ORS written for library districts specifically. MaryKay Dahlgren, former State Librarian and current Director of Lincoln County Library District and At-Large SDAO Board Member will draft a letter to Oregon Library Association, and Christy will draft one to library directors from special districts, to be signed by the Lincoln County Library District Board Chair and Michael, respectively. We will need support from other districts before SDAO sets its agenda for the legislative session in early September.
2. Review RFP for auditing services, committee recommendations
Michael and Kathy agreed to help create our RFP, using samples from other districts. Christy and Stacy made the changes requested. The recommendation is to approve this document so it can be mailed to prospective audit firms. We are still waiting for our FY 2020-2021 audit. The Board approved the RFP document and encouraged staff to send it out as soon as possible.
3. COVID and the workplace updates
Oregon OSHA will meet on February 24 to make decisions regarding the lifting of the mask mandate, currently scheduled for no later than March 31. It’s likely that OSHA will edit its restrictions to match those of OHA, but there are a lot of OSHA requirements that could be changed or affected, like signage, sanitation, and other workplace safety concerns.
Christy talked to SDAO risk management consultant Jason Jantzi today because of concerns from Youth Services that creating and maintaining an infection control plan for story times and other programs, if it is still required, will be a hardship, and it will be easier to wait until the OSHA requirements are amended.
Once the mask mandate is lifted, we may leave the plexiglass barriers in place for another month or more, while we watch the case numbers for any potential surges that may follow. The barriers can affect how well staff and patrons hear each other. Anyone on staff can continue to wear a mask, and negative comments from other staff members will not be okay. We will continue to supply KN95 masks for staff and surgical masks for patrons who request them.
Nationally, we are still seeing 90,000 new cases daily, which was considered the peak of previous curves, so we should not consider the pandemic over, and many think it’s not the time to ease or lift the mandate and requirements. However, out of concern for staff safety and our public perception, being the exception or outlier could be really difficult for the Library so we will follow OHA guidelines.
Our most popular program is story time for kids under 5, who cannot currently be vaccinated, but ultimately we will have to let parents decide whether it’s safe for their children to attend. We may do outdoor story times when whether permits, and continue on Zoom when it doesn’t. We may ask for an emergency board meeting, depending on what happens at the OSHA meeting on February 24.
NEW BUSINESS
1. Budget Resolution 2021-05, accepting a mini-grant from Oregon Humanities
Dr. Andrew Weitzman, a local psychiatrist with a specialty in Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT), will do a program before the end of the fiscal year, with a theme of helping communities forge connections, as part of the Oregon Humanities “Consider This” grant program. The grant funds will pay for his speaking fee, some handouts for the program, and some advertising.
Motion: To approve budget resolution 2021-05 in the matter of accepting receipt of, and authorizing the expenditure of $693.00 for the Oregon Humanities “Consider This” mini-grant initiative.
(Motion by: Dmitry White. Second by: Ralph Sorensen).
Vote: Unanimously in favor.
2. Budget Committee applications to review and bring to a vote
Two candidates, Terra Chapek and Chris Childs, applied to serve on the Budget Committee, and Doug Tedrow agreed to serve another term. Christy will send financial reports to Terra so that she can familiarize herself with the documents.
Motion: To appoint Terra Chapek, Chris Childs, and Doug Tedrow to the Silver Falls Library District Budget Committee for a 3-year term, ending on June 30, 2025.
(Motion by: Michael Milhausen. Second by: Ralph Sorensen).
Vote: Unanimously in favor.
3. Personnel expenditures – comparing current fiscal year to proposed budget for next year – hours, salaries, Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA)
Library staff are eligible for annual step increases for up to 7 years, and following 7 years of employment, only COLA (Cost of Living Adjustment) increases or longevity bonuses. Due to budgetary concerns during the pandemic, we did not give COLA increases last year, only step increases. For the upcoming fiscal year 2022-23, we’d like to recommend a 1% COLA increase which, along with step increases of 3%, would be a 4% increase for most staff. While we expect the budget to be tight this year, with 6% inflation, we think this is the right thing to do for the staff. Despite eligibility for a COLA in the policy, Christy has asked Stacy not to calculate this increase for her in the 2022-23 fiscal year.
In April 2021, Van Khieu, who is our contact at Marion County Assessors, projected a 7% increase in property tax revenue for the 2021-22 fiscal year. We used 96% of that amount as our projected income, but actual revenue growth looks to be closer to 5.5%. This has encouraged us to be more conservative in our revenue projection for 2022-23, and we will use a 95% calculation instead. The projected growth for 2022-23 is 4%. In addition, our CCRLS formula-based reimbursement payment for the 2022-23 fiscal year will be $10,000 less than the current year due to lower numbers in material sharing during the time that we were closed while some other CCRLS libraries were open. With these factors, our projected revenue will probably be very similar to last year’s budget.
4. Policy Manual Review – Chapter 4, sections: Confidentiality of Library Records, Fines and Fees, Collection Development
Privacy and Confidentiality of Library Patron Records
- Did we check the ORS numbers for this section? Yes, ORS 192.502.22 was updated to ORS 192,502.23 to include email as another exemption from disclosure.
- The revision date should be 2022.
- Do we need to run this by SDAO legal? No, this is boiler plate language for libraries.
- Because some of our third party vendors collect user information on their sites, and CCRLS purchases these resources for member libraries to use, CCRLS will post the privacy policies of these vendors on their site.
Fines and Fees Schedule
- Change asterisk at bottom of page to differentiate from the one above it.
- Dena would like this policy change to go into effect in time for Summer Reading Program. It will likely be approved at the next meeting, and as such can go into effect no later than May 1, 2022.
Collection Development/Material Selection
- This was revised in 2019, so there are only minor, but important, changes here.
- There is currently a large and concerted movement to ban books from school and public libraries. ALA (American Library Association) has never seen anything like it. They suggested only accepting challenges from patrons who live within the district. However, CCRLS offers a Basic Card for those who live outside of an individual library’s district boundaries, but within unincorporated CCRLS areas. We will make that change, and add “and those who have established Silver Falls as their home library” to this sentence.
- Has there been an uptick in challenges at SFLD? Not yet, but it could be coming. It could be an organized effort, but could also just be one parent concerned about library materials their child might see.
- How challenges are addressed is outlined in the last paragraph. The form referenced here as Appendix F is no longer in that section. This form can be updated anytime because it is part of procedure, but Christy will make revisions and bring it to the next meeting.
- Page 6 – Change “…by its own merit…” to “on its own merit”.
- Page 8 – Remove “her” from second to last line.
- Page 8 - Drop “further” from last sentence.
LIBRARY DIRECTOR’S REPORT
Good things:
- I wanted to show you are welcome kits that I mentioned last week. (Hold up for viewing all the pieces of the kits in both English and Spanish).
- The Human Library Project/s organizer training is tomorrow morning. I am attending that with two community volunteers. We hope to get this rolling.
- Circulation is picking up now that Salem is allowing the backlog of holds for their patrons from member libraries to be delivered via courier, and the backlog of holds they have for all the other libraries, to be distributed as well. Kudos to Stacy and Tina for figuring out how to create and manipulate data to fill the oldest holds first. Some of them go back to March 2020. And while there is a decent amount of “no, thank you, I don’t need that any more” from the patrons, there are also many patrons happy to finally have items they long have been waiting for.
- We received a letter last week, and a phone call today that the Oregonian will no longer be delivering a paper copy to our area after March 2nd. It turns out that most of the CCRLS libraries received a similar letter, including Chemeketa Community College, despite the fact that they are in a Salem zip code and The Oregonian’s customer service said it would still be delivered to Salem. They also will not mail the paper. We are considering asking Salem Library if they would allow subscriptions for those of us who’ve been excluded from delivery. The papers would go in the courier. This is still being discussed. It is available online and can be accessed through our website, but many patrons come in to the Library to read the physical versions of newspapers.
Changes:
- Today and tomorrow we are interviewing for two Circulation Substitute positions two of our current subs will be out on maternity leave starting as soon as March, and one of them is thinking she will not be returning, but the other one wishes to return.
- We are now at the juncture where we must upgrade our Fire Alarm and Security Alarm notification systems to wireless transmissions as our POTS (which stands for Plain Old Telephone System) will no longer reliably relay the messages to dispatch. This takes our notification service fees from around $650 per year up to an amount closer to $1,000 per year. The switchover will likely happen this fiscal year, as we are currently in line for a permit to get the work done.
- Director’s time off since last report: 1.5 hours of sick leave.
ITEMS NOT ON AGENDA OPEN TO PUBLIC, BOARD & STAFF PARTICIPATION
Reminders: No May Board Meeting. Make-up meeting June 14th. June 28th Board Meeting if business for the year is not completed at 6/14 meeting.
Ralph was in nonfiction browsing and realized there was no signage. The only labels are biography and local history, so is there a way to find it? Is he missing it? Christy replied that this is more of a bookstore model. We could explore adding signage on ends with general topic like gardening, cooking, etc. Christy won’t promise we’ll do it for sure, but we’ll look into it.
AGENDA SUGGESTIONS FOR FUTURE MEETINGS
1.
2.
ADJOURNMENT
Motion: To adjourn the meeting at 7:16 p.m.
(Motion by: Ralph Sorensen. Second by: Kathy Beutler).
Vote: Unanimously in favor.
__________________________________________
The next Library Board meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, March 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
