Minutes of the Meeting of the Personnel Committee

MINUTES OF THE MEETING OF THE WASHINGTON COUNTY FREE LIBRARY BOARD OF TRUSTEES HELD IN THE BOARD ROOM, ALICE VIRGINIA & DAVID W. FLETCHER BRANCH July 20, 2016

Present: John Schnebly, President Board Absent: Al Martin Ellie Doub Kathleen Poole Brendan Fitzsimmons Margaret Trader Greg Snook George Stone

Staff Present: Mary Baykan Kathleen O’Connell Elizabeth Hulett Charlotte Seibert

The meeting was called to order at 12:05 p.m. by the President, Mr. Schnebly.

Minutes The minutes of May 11, 2016 meeting of the Board was reviewed. It was moved by Mr. Stone, seconded by Ms. Doub and unanimously carried to accept the minutes as presented.

Director’s Report Ms. Baykan began by noting that the end of the fiscal year has arrived and adjustments were made to the FY 2017 operating budget to reflect the library’s position.

The Community Conversations portion of the Strategic Plan have been concluded. It was an eye-opening experience where the community is going, what they like, what they are afraid of and the differences in communities within Washington County itself. Boonsboro is generally optimistic. Williamsport expressed that they don’t have a lot going for us, times are tough, but we’re OK. Smithsburg needs a better focus and has no planning. The Fletcher needs to concentrate on the tweens and teens.

Across the board, however, there is a concern about education and lack of jobs. Everyone appreciated the opportunity to sit down and talk. There is an opportunity to continue conversations.

When talking about the library, it is regarded as trusted, especially by the government and business community.

The committee is looking at what roles the library can play in this process. Passport Acceptance should be up and running by Sept. 1. Staff have completed 2 days of training by the Federal Passport Agency and are practicing the process to insure a smooth experience. Each application will be charged a $25 fee and if photographs are required, that fee will be $15. All monies received through this service are earmarked to support staffing.

WCFL is second to the lowest staff per capita served in the State. The average is 1,749 patrons per staff member; Washington County is 2,500 patrons per staff member. This makes a big difference when trying to cover schedules. There are times in the branches when three is only 1 person in the building. Security is an issue. We need more staff but it is a big cost factor. The Passport Agency fees will help.

The equipment needed to set up this new service was funded through the WMRL 2016 Service Enhancement Grant.

Mr. Fitzsimmons joined the meeting at 1:18 p.m.

Ms. Baykan continued by informing the Board that Charlotte Seibert who had given her notice to retire, has negotiated to stay through November giving the Administration Office more time to find a suitable replacement.

Assistant Director’s Report Ms. O’Connell announced that the Library is partnering with Bester Elementary School in producing a South End Block Party on August 20.

ComicCon is scheduled for August 13.

The Gaming Commission Grant request of $25,000 for furniture and fixtures for Hancock has been submitted.

Ms. O’Connell noted that she has been involved in several interviews as of late. Job openings are difficult to fill throughout the system.

The Western Maryland Room will be featured on Fireball Run – a televised historical scavenger hunt. Teams of participants will be traveling throughout the eastern United States and on Sept. 27, one of the stops will be Hagerstown. This program is shown internationally or streamed in the US.

Caddystacks – This year’s Evening in the Stacks celebration, is scheduled for Friday, September 30. Board members are asked to help secure silent auction items for the event.

Associate Director, WMRL Ms. Hulett informed the Board that the Regional has been chosen as a pilot location for the new Tableau software for statistics through POLARIS. This software has shown great potential to show trends even down to the branch level.

Katherine Ware has been appointed the new Staff Development Coordinator at the Regional. She fills the vacancy created by Julie Zamostny’s resignation.

The Regional’s FY 2017 Operating Budget passed on June 28th at the Regional Advisory Board meeting.

2 Ms. Hulett asked that Mary Baykan and Kathleen O’Connell be re-appointed to serve on the WMRL Advisory Board. It was moved by Mr. Fitzsimmons, seconded by Ms. Doub and unanimously carried. The Strategic Plan for the Regional calls for a Salary Survey for all 3 counties to be performed in FY 2017. An RFP was developed and released. They received 1 response. The firm is Frank & Wheeler of Alexandria, VA. The Advisory Board has a few questions to be answered, and when satisfied, a contract will be issued. The survey will be in Spring, 2017. The results are intended to be adopted by all 3 counties effective July, 2017.

Financial Statement

In Mr. Martin’s absence, Ms. Baykan reviewed the June 30 2016 financial statement. Being the final statement for the fiscal year, she reminded the Board that the unexpended balance would not all be available.

$241,083.27 rollover available on 6/30 Financial ($ 5,000.00) projected audit adjustment ($ 70,000.00) transfer to FY 2017 budget $166,083.27 projected final rollover to be transferred to 4003.1 Undesignated Operating after Audit

Mr. Snook asked if statistics are available on the cost savings generated by the Boonsboro solar panels. Ms. Baykan said she will try to secure those figures from the solar company involved.

It was moved, seconded, and unanimously carried to accept the financial statement and file for audit.

Old Business

Adoption of FY 2017 Operating Budget – Ms. Baykan began by reminding the Board that the budget was essentially passed in January. In July, the adjusted budget is adopted to meet funding levels that were not available in January.

Ms. Baykan reviewed the adjusted FY 2017 Operating Budget noting the changes implemented since the January Draft was approved.

She noted that the State did pass the bill that condensed the 8 year per capita funding increases to 4 years. General Property saw a reduction in Fletcher Electric and Heat as new cost savings procedures are adopted. Service Contracts continue to rise to cover systems no longer under warranty. Circulation section, Ms. Baykan was able to shave salaries as Dave Hanlin is not being replaced.

After discussion, it was moved by Mr. Fitzsimmons, seconded by Ms. Doub and unanimously carried to accept the FY 2017 Operating Budget as adjusted.

Circulation Statistics – Ms. O’Connell began by noting that there was a formula error on the March statistics, giving a false reading.

The June statistics were distributed. This report was corrected and expanded as per the requests of the Board.

3 Ms. Baykan reminded those present that WCFL is still 13th in Circulation state-wide. Where we fell was in Children’s circulation; we are currently 14th in the state and we used to be 7th. What has changed is the demographics around us. They come in, use our services, but don’t check out books. The parents do not want library cards because they cannot afford fines if the book go overdue.

A recent study shown that only 36% of the children are ready to learn upon entering kindergarten in Washington County. This is the worst in the state.

Hancock Update – the design is almost done. The County is in the legal process of transferring land from the Town to the County. On the original projected time schedule, August 4 was the 50% target date for planning. We’re close.

The State has awarded an additional $300,000 Capital Grant for Hancock.

Mr. Snook is concerned about the pitch of the roof and the possibility of solar panel placements. He also asked whether the tennis courts parking would affect the building.

Ms. Baykan noted that she had reached out to the newly appointed County Commissioner from Hancock. She brought him up to speed on the project. He is in agreement that there probably is no big donor in that area that would contribute toward this venture.

Capital Planning Committee - The Board has been discussing the need for a Capital Replacement Planning Committee. As a move in that direction, the Committee shall include Mr. Fitzsimmons, Mr. Martin, Mr. Stone and others as assigned.

Ms. Baykan will contact the County and talk about their depreciation schedule for equipment. Ms. Seibert and the Maintenance staff are being asked to produce a chart listing the big items, date of install, expected replacement dates, and budget figures.

The Committee will meet to begin developing a Capital Replacements Plan before the next meeting of the Board in September.

New Business

Fair Labor Standards Act - FLSA is going to require that any employee that works more than 40 hours per week and makes less than $47,000 annually be paid overtime whether they are an exempt employee or not. This change in law was aimed at companies that have supervisors work 50-70 hours per week, but not receive compensation, claiming they are exempt. This law, however, can affect WCFL. Supervisors fill in for staff who call in which inadvertently raises their hours above 40.

Ms. Baykan distributed a listing of all public library systems throughout the state and their hours of operation.

Currently, the hours of operation for the Fletcher are: Mon-Thurs 9 a.m. – 9 p.m. Fri 9 a.m. – 6 p.m. Sat 9 a.m. – 5 p.m. Sun 1 p.m. – 5 p.m.

4 Ms. Baykan proposes that the Fletcher not open to the public until 10:00 a.m., Mon – Sat. The employees will maintain their same schedule, which would give them an additional hour to shelve and prepare for opening. This will also allow for evening staff to leave at 9:15 when locking up the building and adjust their start time the following day to offset the additional 15 minutes.

The Branches would adjust for opening 30 minutes later.

The change in opening hours would take effect on December 1, the same as the new FLSA law. It would also give time for publicity.

It was moved by Mr. Fitzsimmons, seconded by Ms. Doub.

Mr. Snook inquired about classifications adjustments to offset the new law. Ms. Baykan noted that the Admin. Office is working the math – raise salary to $47,000 vs. pay comp time. Which would be more economical?

The motion to change Hours of Operation as described above was unanimously carried.

Nominations for Board Vacancy – The Board had produced a list of possible nominees. Kathy Oliver has agreed to serve. Ms. Baykan distributed her resume.

After discussion, it was moved by Mr. Snook, seconded by Mr. Stone and unanimously carried to appoint Kathy Oliver to the Board of Trustees, beginning September, 2016 and running to January, 2022.\

Board Comments

Mr. Snook thanked the Board and staff for another great year. As we go forward, he is looking toward a good transition with the County.

Ms. Doub commented that she is amazed at all the work and what the library has to deal with. She was shocked at the pre-school readiness discussion. Ms. Baykan added that she wanted to talk to Dr. Wilcox about this topic.

The meeting was adjourned at 1:48 p.m.

The next regular meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, September 14, 2016 at 12:00 noon, Board Room, Administration Office, Alice Virginia & David W. Fletcher Branch.

Respectfully submitted,

MARY C. BAYKAN Secretary