Nassau Library System Board of Trustees APPROVED Minutes of the May 19, 2014 Board Meeting Page 1

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1 May 19, 2014 Board Meeting Page 1 The regular May meeting of the Nassau Library System Board of Trustees was held at the NLS Service Center in Uniondale. These minutes are a summary, not at transcript, of the discussion that took place at this Board Meeting. Trustees Present: Ken Ulric (presiding), Barbara Behrens, Joe Carroll, Irving Chernofsky, Steve Dalton, Angeleta Dhandari-Donovan, Mary Mino Cross, Kathy Seyfried, and Frank Zaret NLS Administrators and Staff Present: Jackie Thresher (Director), Jan Heinlein (Manager, Business Office), Stacey Hill (Clerk of the Board), and Kenny Levine (NLS Staff) Member Library Directors and Trustees Present: Carol Probeyahn (MLD Chair), Michelle Vaccarelli (Island Trees Director), and Ann Harris (Island Trees Trustee) Call to Order Board President Ulric called the meeting to order at 7:35 p.m. The Pledge of Allegiance was recited. Approval of the Minutes Trustee Seyfried moved the approval of the minutes of the April 28, 2014 Board Meeting as corrected. The motion was seconded by Trustee Behrens and passed unanimously. Public Participation Period #1 Board President Ulric welcomed the attendees and asked if they had any questions or comments about agenda items. There were none. Treasurer s Report The following warrants were approved via a motion made by Treasurer Seyfried and seconded by Trustee Dalton, which passed unanimously: General Fund Warrant A14-17 in the amount of $ 67, dated May 1, 2014 General Fund Warrant A14-18 in the amount of $113, dated May 15, 2014 General Fund Warrant A14-19 in the amount of $232, dated May 19, 2014 General Fund Warrant A14-20 in the amount of $ 27, dated May 19, 2014 The following warrants were approved via a motion made by Treasurer Seyfried and seconded by Trustee Dhandari-Donovan, which passed unanimously: Trust & Agency Fund Warrant T14-09 in the amount of $2, dated May 1, 2014 Trust & Agency Fund Warrant T14-10 in the amount of $2, dated May 15, 2014 The following warrant was approved via a motion made by Treasurer Seyfried and seconded by Trustee Dhandari-Donovan, which passed unanimously: Grants Fund Warrant G14-04 in the amount of $3, dated May 19, 2014 The following warrant was approved via a motion made by Treasurer Seyfried and seconded by Trustee Dalton which passed unanimously: Capital Fund Warrant CAP14-05 in the amount of $14, dated May 19, 2014 All items on these warrants (and the invoices with other relevant documentation) were reviewed and approved by two Board Members (the Board President and the Treasurer) as well as the NLS Director prior to this meeting.

2 May 19, 2014 Board Meeting Page 2 Financial Reports Treasurer Seyfried moved the acceptance of the following April 2014 reports: General Fund Cumulative Expenditure Report General Fund Expenditure Report Monthly Summary Grants Fund Activity Report Capital Fund Report Revenue Report Cash Reports (Cash Position Summary / Bank Account Activity / Bank Statement Balances) The motion was seconded by Trustee Dalton and unanimously passed. LTA Trustee Institute Trustee Seyfried reported on two sessions that she had attended at the Trustee Institute. Rediscovering Your Community: Are your only the Library? The presenter pointed out several ways to reach out to the public including: notices on public access TV; ing a message of the month to those patrons who have given their addresses to the library; having a virtual tour of the library on our websites. (This tour may highlight a collection, certain shelves aka shelfing.) The presenter said that libraries could be their community s living room a term the Hillside Library Board really liked. Trustees Responsibilities for Intellectual Freedom. Among the topics discussed letting parents know what books their children have checked out, including overdue or lost books, if asked. NYS CPLR Article 45, Section 4509 states that: library records, which contain names or other personally identifying details regarding users of public, free association, school, college and university libraries and library systems of this state, including but not limited to records related to the circulation of library materials, computer database searches, interlibrary loan transactions, reference queries, requests for photocopies of library materials, title reserve requests, or the use of audio-visual material, films or records, shall be confidential and shall not be disclosed except that such records may be disclosed to the extent necessary for the proper operation of such library and shall be disclosed upon request or consent of the user or pursuant to subpoena, court order or where otherwise required by statue. This statute does not say anything about being applicable only to adult borrowers, nor does it address the issue of parental responsibility for their minor children. It was suggested that the attendees bring this information back to their board and director and ask what would happen if a parent asked to see their children s record of borrowed books. Trustee Seyfried shared this information with the Hillside Board and found that board members were unaware of this law. Director Thresher asked if any of the program presenters were attorneys. Trustee Seyfried responded that they were not. Ms. Thresher pointed out that the library profession, and most libraries, assert that they and their staff do not and cannot act in loco parentis. Parents are told that they are responsible for being aware of the content of the library materials that their children read, view or listen to. Parents are also told that they must pay for any lost, damaged or overdue library materials borrowed by their children. Yet, on the other hand, we assert that because of this patron record privacy law, we can t give them the names of the materials for which we are asking them to pay. Understandably, this doesn t seem reasonable to most, if not all, parents. There is also the issue of whether or not a distinction should be made between young children and teenagers. There is a dilemma within the profession about how to respond to both the privacy and access issues of teens and the financial responsibility for materials borrowed by teens. Director Thresher suggested that libraries should consult their attorneys about these issues. Trustee

3 May 19, 2014 Board Meeting Page 3 Seyfried said that the Hillside Library Board has asked its attorney how to respond to parents when they ask about what their children currently have on loan or have borrowed and lost. Trustee Seyfried also said that she was pleased to see members of several member library boards at the Institute because she has found the information obtained from attending these institutes to be very relevant and helped her be a better, more informed trustee. Lastly, she noted that erasers, saying Stop Rubbing Out New York State Library Funding! Libraries Matter, were available at the Institute. [It was pointed out that these erasers and a six-inch ruler saying NY State Funding Does Not Measure Up for Libraries! Libraries Matter were designed by the President of the North Merrick Library Board, Bill Pezzulo, and printed by his company.] Trustee Behrens reported that she, as well as the entire North Merrick Library Board, had also attended the Institute. They took a tour of the Greenburgh Public Library, which was a highlight of their trip. The building looks like the prow of a ship. Prior to her knowing it was a library if someone asked her what it was, she would have guessed that it was a science building. The library director was their tour guide; problems (such as their geothermal heating system) as well as good things (such as their glass-enclosed teen room) were pointed out. Their circulation has been increasing as they weed their collection. Of note was their policy of allowing patrons to bring food and drinks into the library, an issue about which there are differing opinions. Because a proposal to fund a substantial renovation of the North Merrick Library failed a few years ago, the Library is renovating the library on a piecemeal basis, so it was particularly helpful for the entire board to go on this library tour together at this time. NLS Director s Report Director Thresher reported: It has been difficult handling the increase workload that has resulted from the former Assistant Director, Elizabeth Olesh, leaving NLS to become a member library director. Director Thresher and Business Manger Heinlein had prepared the explanation of the budget variances and the Known Conditions for 2014 sections of the 2013 audit for review by the auditor. Director Thresher responded to approximately 20 requests for information and/or guidance from member library directors and trustees since the last board meeting; many were difficult to answer and required some research. There were no definitive answers for a few. In these situations the assistance provided is to discuss the issues involved and the pros and cons of various possible responses to them. The information about the amount of state aid that will be allocated to specific library systems has not yet been released and is still under review. The multi-step review and approval process takes time. As is noted on NLS monthly financial reports the state aid revenue shown are the amounts received for 2013 until we receive official notification of the 2014 allocations. In addition to the complexity of the state aid formula for library systems there are various hold harmless provisions and typically there is notwithstanding language in the appropriations bills that impact allocations. DLD has completed their work on the allocations charts and sent it further up in SED where they are still reviewing it. After that it will go to the Division of the Budget. We may not know what NLS share of the Library Aid that was appropriated is until June or July. The 16 member libraries that submitted applications for state construction grants to NLS last August are impatiently waiting for award approvals from the State. This is another multi-step process. The review and approval by DASNY has recently been completed. The applications have been returned to SED where we have been told they are sitting on the desk of a Deputy

4 May 19, 2014 Board Meeting Page 4 Commissioner who must approve all awards of grant funds managed by SED. This is the last step in the process. The new cycle of the Library Construction Grant process is about to begin. It begins as soon as DLD gets the approval to open the grant application portal. NLS will offer two information sessions for those considering applying. Applications will be due to NLS sometime mid- August. Director Thresher will be handling this program once again it is one of the responsibilities that had been given to the former Assistant Director. It will take a great deal of Director Thresher s time in August and September. The announcement of the Assistant Director opening and the position description was put on a number of listservs and online job listings in the metro NY area including: NYLA (New York Library Association), LILRC (Long Island Library Resource Council and METRO (Metropolitan New York Library Council, which serves NY City and Westchester) job lines/banks; as well as NLS listservs and the listservs of the of Nassau and Suffolk County Library Associations, PULISDO (Public Library System Directors Organization) and NYLINE (the statewide listserv of the NYS Education Department for the library community). Nearly all were free; one cost $30, another cost $50. There have been 25 applicants to date including some highly-qualified candidates. Unfortunately, applications were also submitted by some individuals who met none of the requirements stated in the position description and others who lacked sufficient relevant experience. There are two weeks remaining until the May 30 th deadline. As stated in the position announcement applications received by May 30 th will be given first consideration, although applications will continue to be accepted until the position is filled. Interviews with 5 candidates have been scheduled. Member Library Directors Report Carol Probeyahn, MLD Chairperson, reported: The joint MLD/NCLA Civil Service Committee completed its work on the proposed revision of the position description for the Clerk title as it relates to technical skills. The position description for Senior Library Clerk is still being worked on. On May 4, Trina Reed, Levittown Library Director, received a Community Service Award from the National Association of University Women. ALIS Report Carol Probeyahn reported for the ALIS Chairperson who was unable to attend the meeting: New ALIS staff member Joseph Mulry joined the staff on May 12. He has already made site visits to two libraries and will make several more as he becomes acclimated. The ALIS Spring Meeting was held on May 15. The agenda included a panel discussion by directors of some of the libraries that have implemented RFID; the goal was to encourage more libraries to use RFID. Additionally, a representative from Comprise Technologies was at this meeting to answer questions about ALIS Consortium-wide point-of-sale credit card and money-management software. The installation of the software needed for this Comprise Technologies product at the central site is nearly complete. Jericho has commenced operations on their own standalone ILS; their ALIS membership terminates on June 1. An ALIS Directors Meeting has been scheduled for June 18 for a membership vote to approve pursuing a contract with Lightower, a NY State OGS contract vendor, for wide area network services and internet service for ALIS libraries.

5 May 19, 2014 Board Meeting Page 5 Staff Written Reports Trustee Dalton moved the acceptance of the staff written reports as submitted. The motion was seconded by Trustee Seyfried and passed unanimously. Public Participation Period #2 There were no questions or comments Audit Al Coster of Baldessari and Coster, LLP presented the draft audit for He began with the Management Letter. He explained that the Management Letter is supposed to focus on internal controls. He said other than the two comments about insufficient segregation of duties, NLS has excellent internal controls. As has been explained in previous years, it is difficult to have sufficient separation of duties when the staff is small. Although such issues are common in small organizations, accounting principles require that these comments be included. Mr. Coster then reviewed each component of the financial statement beginning with the Independent Auditor s Report, which said that the audit was conducted in accordance with generally accepted auditing standards and that the financial statements present fairly, in all material respects, the financial position of NLS. He indicated that this is the best report that an organization can receive; it is a clean report. The next section of the audit - the Management s Discussion and Analysis - begins with a table showing key financial information from the current and prior years in a condensed format. Next are statements about the System as a Whole and The System s Funds that were written by the auditor. This is followed by Budgetary Highlights - explanations of variations between what was budgeted in the General Fund and actual revenues and expenditures in the General Fund. These explanations were prepared by the Manager of the NLS Business Office and the NLS Director. The Capital Assets and Debt Administration statement was prepared by the auditor. The Currently Known Conditions , statement was written by the NLS Director with the guidance of the auditor about the type of information that should be included. Mr. Coster next described the difference between unassigned, assigned, restricted and nonspendable fund balances. He also pointed out that the Statement of Net Position/Balance Sheet includes two types of accounting information fund and accrual accounting. The draft audit was accepted by the NLS Board via a motion made by Trustee Dalton and seconded by Trustee Seyfried, which unanimously passed. Adjournment The meeting was adjourned at 9:09 pm via a motion made by Trustee Dalton and seconded by Trustee Behrens, which passed unanimously. Respectfully submitted, Certification of these Minutes Stacey Hill Clerk of the Board Joseph Carroll Secretary, Board of Trustees Date