OHIO COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY

BOARD OF TRUSTEES

MINUTES

January Board Meeting

January 9, 2001

Mr. Ted Hess, Mr. Tom Stephan, Sr. Mary Jude Jochum, Dr. Charles Julian, Miss Sally Carroll.

None

Also Present:

Dottie Thomas, Director; Louis Horacek, Assistant Director, Michelle Blum, reporter

The meeting was called to order by Mr. Hess at 7:05 PM

Mr. Hess asked that the minutes be changed indicate that he had advised rather than written Mr. McKenzie about the Board's decision about investments. Dr. Julian moved that the minutes of the December meeting be approved as amended. Sr. Mary Jude seconded the motion.

Vote:

Mr. Hess	yes
Mr. Stephan	yes
Sr. Mary Jude	yes
Dr. Julian	yes
Miss Carroll	yes

Financial Report:

The financial report was presented. Dr. Julian noted that the expenditure sheet indicated that the periodicals line item was 7% over budget. He asked Ms. Thomas if that was because the jobber's bill had been paid. Ms. Thomas replied that the jobber, Ebsco, had been paid for this fiscal year. In addition, she noted that periodical costs increased annually.

Dr. Julian moved to approve the financial report and approve payment of invoices and warrants; Mr. Stephan seconded. The motion passed unanimously.

Ms. Thomas distributed a sheet showing account balances of operating and capital accounts on June 30 of each year for the past several years.

Ms. Thomas distributed a written Director's Report.

After discussion of the Warwood Library, Mr. Stephan suggested the Ms. Thomas contact the bank mangement about the very cold conditions in the library.

Dr. Julian said that Bob Och at WorkZone was having a furniture sale.

Ms. Thomas said that there was a West Virginia Library Commission meeting in Charleston at the Cultural Center on January 19, and a WVLA Directors' Roundtable meeting the same day at the Riverside Branch of the Kanawha County Public Library.

Ms. Thomas said that information about the will of Virginia Alice Fleming had not yet been received.

Dr. Julian said that the West Virginia Library Commission had submitted budget improvement packages to be included in the governor's budget.

Ms. Thomas said that United States HB4577 requiring Internet filtering had passed. Implementation of its provisions would be done on a state level after July 1, 2001. She said that suits had been filed by the American Library Association and the American Civil Liberties Union challenging the act.

Ms. Thomas said that the remodeling of the men's rest room was finished except for some additional grout work, and that the stalls were being installed in the women's rest room. She said that the floor drains had to be repaired, which had required cutting holes in the ceilings of the lower-level rest rooms, and that this damage had been repaired.

Mr. Horacek said that the seven new computers had been purchased; and he was still shopping for a file server.

Ms. Thomas discussed the job responsibilities and job description developed for the new professional librarian position.

Dr. Julian suggested having goals developed by employees and supervisors as a part of the evaluation process.

Ms. Thomas reported that she had several qualified applicants for the Youth Services position. Dr. Julian suggested preparing a standard list of questions to ask at each interview.

Ms. Thomas presented quotes for the canopy work, and recommended STS because it was both the best proposal and the best price. Dr. Julian asked where the money would come from. Ms. Thomas said it was a capital expense.

Dr. Julian moved to approve STS General Contractor's bid of $1470. Sr. Mary Jude seconded the motion.

Vote:

Mr. Hess	yes
Mr. Stephan	yes
Sr. Mary Jude	yes
Dr. Julian	yes
Miss Carroll	yes

Dr. Julian asked about the slip-and-fall complaint the library had received. Mr. Hess said that it had been referred to our insurance carrier. Ms. Thomas said she had not heard anything further.

Ms. Thomas said that she had not been able to determine exactly where the fall had occurred, but that she and the maintenance men had inspected the area closely. She said that they had not found any major problems in the area, but had patched anything that looked like it could be a problem.

Mr. Stephan said it looked like people were using the Eoff Street parking lot after hours, and were leaving trash behind. He suggested that more lighting might help prevent this.

Dr. Julian moved to adjourn at 8:10 PM.