DORR TOWNSHIP LIBRARY

BOARD OF TRUSTEES

MEETING

Dorr Township Library

Date: February 9, 2015

6:30 P.M.

MINUTES

Meeting was called to order at 6:31pm by Barbara Gibson, Vice-President.

Roll Call: Present- Tara Reece, Barbara Gibson, Ken Huizinga, Louis Harnish, Rachel Vote. Absent- Peggy Otto, Natalie Bazan, Library Director, was also present. 4 visitors. Theresa Bray, from the Allegan County Community Foundation, was present from 6:37pm-6:50pm.

Approval of the Agenda: Reece motioned to amend the agenda to include “FOIA Policy” under new business. Reece motioned to approve the amended agenda; seconded by Vote. All yes, motion carried.

Approval of the Minutes: Motioned to approve the January 2015 Minutes by Vote, seconded by Huizinga. All yes, motion carried.

Treasurer’s Report: Reece motioned to receive and file the January 2015 Treasurer’s report, seconded by Gibson. All yes, motion carried. Reece motioned to approve the amended budget as specified in the monthly budget, seconded by Gibson. All yes, motion carried. Vote motioned, seconded by Huizinga, to pay the January 2015 credit card bill in the amount of $498.04. All yes, motion carried.

Presentation by Theresa Bray: She presented on behalf of the Allegan County Community Foundation and provided information and documents about Arts Alive! as a potential fundraiser for our library.

Public Comment: Deferred until discussion of the FOIA policy.

Director’s Report: Bazan provided information about library programming and events during the preceding month and upcoming events. She also provided reports on meetings attended, grant applications, building issues, and ongoing library functioning.  In January 2015 we circulated 2641 items, which is an increase of about 250 items over what we circulated last January.  Also discussed the use of a data analytic company that would provide information about patron’s use of the library, demographic features, and geographic information with regard to utilization of the library. The subscription for this service is $2000.00 annually. Vote motioned to approve the allocation of $2000 for the data analytics company quote, seconded by Huizinga. Four yes, one no (Reece). Motion carried.

Township Board Meeting: The next meeting is February 23, 2015. Bazan will attend this meeting. Bazan sent an emailed report to the previous meeting that provided a three-minute update on library events and programming.

Committee Reports: The Personnel Committee has been working on the Director’s Annual Review.

OLD BUSINESS:

1. Director’s Review: Gibson has been working on the Director’s Report and presented the compiled data. Bazan, for whom the periodic personnel evaluation concerns, requested that we move to a closed session to discuss her review. Reece motioned that the Board meet in closed session under section 8A of the Open Meetings Act to consider the periodic personnel evaluation of the Director at the request of the employee involved in the evaluation. Seconded by Vote. The vote to move to closed session was conducted in a roll call vote. Reece: Yes; Huizinga: Yes; Gibson: Yes; Vote: Yes; Harnish: Yes. In accordance with the Open Meetings Act that requires a 2/3 roll call vote to move to a closed session, we moved to a closed session at 7:17pm.

1a. Motion to End Closed Session: At 7:23pm, Reece motioned to end the closed session, seconded by Vote. All yes to end closed session and return to the open session.

2.        Author Sponsor List: Vote and Bazan are in the process of compiling a list of authors for this project.

3.        Logo: Bazan is planning on running a logo contest beginning in the next few weeks and running it through the middle of March. 

4.        Needs Assessment Questionnaire: Bazan presented a proposed draft of the Needs Assessment Questionnaire for Board input and feedback. Discussed the utility of providing it in written form and also online. Bazan will continue working on this and formatting it.

NEW BUSINESS:

1.        FOIA Policy: The FOIA law has been revised and will be changed as of July 2015. The Dorr Township Library lawyer is currently working on revising our policy to be compliant with the law. The Board and a patron also discussed his desire to have a FOIA fee waived for a recent request. After discussion, Reece motioned to waive the FOIA fee for this patron in the amount of $55.12. This motion was not seconded and thus did not go to vote. Vote motioned to refund the fee if/when legal counsel advised revision of our FOIA policy to exempt Township officials from the fee structure of our FOIA policy when such requests were for Township-related business. Seconded by Huizinga. Roll call vote: Gibson: Yes; Vote: Yes; Reece: Yes; Huizinga: Yes; Harnish: No.

Adjournment: Reece motioned, Vote seconded to adjourn at 8:05pm. All yes.

Next regular meeting: March 9, 2015 at 6:30 p.m. at the library.

Submitted by Tara Cornelius Reece.