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Board Minutes
HEARTLAND LIBRARY COOPERATIVE BOARD MEETING
September 19, 2001
HLC Governing Board voting members present: DeSoto—Ann Ryals; Hardee—Gloria Davis, Elinor Batey; Highlands—Perry Newport, Bob Bullard; Okeechobee—Clois Harvey, Unable to attend: Walter Olliff, Jr., Felton Garner, Paul Erickson, Marilyn Buxton, Robbie Chartier. Also present: Coordinator Mary Myers, Librarians Merry Cresswell, Margo Taylor, E.M. Kenney, Diane Hunt, NTC Group representative Mike Carter, secretary Carolyn Hesselink.
The Board was called to order at 10:04 a.m. by Chairman Bob Bullard with an invocation and pledge to the flag. Posted notice of the meeting was read. Clois moved the acceptance of the agenda as presented, seconded by Elinor, approved by voice vote. Perry then asked if “other items” would be considered as an addition to the agenda. Chairman Bullard asked the board to allow this to be added to the agenda on a regular basis. General consent was affirmative. The minutes, as printed, were moved for approval by Clois, seconded by Ann, and approved by voice vote.
COORDINATOR’S REPORT
Mary asked members to add to the report the Okeechobee patron visits for August of 8,700. Chairman Bullard requested comparisons of last year’s patron visits to those of the current month(s) the board is looking at each meeting. Perry moved to accept the report, Clois seconded, passed by voice vote.
NEW BUSINESS
ANNUAL AUDIT
NCT Group representative Mike Carter presented the annual engagement letter for board approval so they could begin our audit. He noted that the single audit act requirements for grants will be met as we were already doing all that is now in the law, so there should be little rate changes in the audit charges. Ann moved that the board approve the execution of the letter of engagement with NCT Group, seconded by Perry, passed by voice vote.
2002 BUDGET
Mary, noting the slight raise in estimated cost of our audit, asked the board to change the figures in 5300 Audit to 5,700 and to decrease line item 55200 Operating Supplies by $200. She told the board that most Polaris changes will be paid for with the current fiscal year’s funds. Some money will be rolled over. State Aid, of course, can only be estimated, as individual county revenue from State Aid will be awarded early next year. Mary reminded the board that it had agreed that anything received over $400,000 will go into our contingency fund. E-rate rebates are expected to be less, based on a smaller number of children receiving free lunches in the four counties. The Personnel line is less because it was decided that we would pay for our counties. The Personnel line item is less because it was decided that we would pay for our trainer out of grant monies. Maintenance, however is up, Gaylord charging some $18,000 for technical support, upgrades, and system maintenance that is required for the Polaris changeover. Clois moved to approve the 2001-2002 budget with the changes, seconded by Gloria, passed by voice vote.
STATE AID AGREEMENT
Perry moved to approve the agreement, seconded by Ann, passed by voice vote.
LSTA GRAYING THE NET YEAR 2
Perry moved to approve the grant agreement, seconded by Clois, passed by voice vote.
LSTA BORN TO READ
Ann moved to approve the grant agreement, seconded by Elinor, passed by voice vote.
INTERNET POLICY CHANGE
The State Attorney General says FIRN is getting e-rate dollars, and, since we are receiving our internet access through FIRN, we must adopt a filtering policy. We already have installed filters, have a filtering policy in place, and have given public notice of the adoption of our policy, but Coordinator Myers asked the board to consider adding one line to the policy: “The library used a commercial Internet filter to restrict access to chat rooms.” Elinor moved we adopt the internet policy with the amendment above added, seconded by Perry, passed by voice vote.
There was some discussion on whether public computers hold information on previous users. Mary noted that while libraries will cooperate with any court order, most patrons use accounts outside our Heartland address, such as Hotmail, and those site providers do not keep any records of e-mails sent. Our computers are like envelopes; we are the means of sending messages, not the message itself. Once the messages are sent, or a site visited, our only records is of who was the last patron who used our internet-linked computer.
NEXT MEETING SET FOR WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 19, 10 A.M., LAKE PLACID LIBRARY.
Meeting was adjourned at 11:25 a.m.
Carolyn Hesselink
Administrative Secretary
