Meeting 44

HEARTLAND LIBRARY COOPERATIVE
September 18, 2002

HLC Governing Board voting members present: DeSoto--Commissioner Felton Garner; Hardee--Gloria Davis; Highlands--Commissioner Guy Maxcy, Jeanne Renton, Perry Newport; Okeechobee--Robbie Chartier.
All others were excused from attendance. Librarians attending: Fred Lohrer, Margo Taylor, Merry Cresswell, Elizabeth Kenney, Diane Hunt, Mary Myers. Others attending: Library Systems Manager Paul Ramponi, Admin. Secretary, Carolyn Hesselink.

Meeting at Lake Placid Memorial Library, the board was called to order by Vice Chairman Guy Maxcy at 10:04 a.m. After the salute to our flag and invocation, Commissioner Maxcy declared a quorum was present. The secretary read the posted notice of meeting. Mrs. Chartier moved to accept the agenda as presented, seconded by Mr. Newport, approved by voice vote. Commissioner Garner moved to accept the minutes as printed, seconded by Mrs. Chartier, and approved by voice vote.

COORDINATOR'S REPORT
Mr. Newport moved to accept the report as written, seconded by Commissioner Garner, approved by voice vote.

BUDGET
Mrs. Myers commented on the budget and annual plan of service, noting the sole budget source is grants, which includes the $250,000 base grant State Aid to Libraries. We are looking at approximately $400,000 in grants. Telecommunications costs were commented on by Mr. Ramponi. They are reimbursed at (currently) 78% for Heartland. This next fiscal year we will only receive 1 grant, Born to Read. Graying the Net ends as of September 30 (as do the payments for our Polaris upgrade), but we will continue to keep Max Mindar on as an employee to continue our technology training. We expect to roll over about $50,000. Revenue will be down because of losing one grant and reduced interest rates on our Money Market account.
Coordinator Myers brought to the attention of the board some personnel changes: Ida Douglas takes Margo Daniel's place, and Nellie Medina takes Dan Prohaska's place, both at Hardee, and both as a Library Assistant II. Max Mindar will continue as Technology Trainer. The Library Technical Assistant II (to help Paul Ramponi), has been approved for when we get ready to hire one. Mr. Ramponi's position has been upgraded from Computer Support Specialist (pg15) to Library Systems Manager (pg17) to better reflect what he does. Only one person will be hired as coordinator for the Born to Read grant, at a savings in salaries and travel.
Mrs. Chartier asked if we still wanted to replace the courier van, as Okeechobee had budgeted $8,000 to help pay for one. Mrs. Myers felt the van, after major repairs had been done, was in good enough shape for another year. Mrs. Chartier will hold their money for use in the 2003-2004 budget. Mrs. Renton moved to approve the budget, including salaries, new positions, upgrades and annual plan of service, seconded by Mrs. Chartier, approve by voice vote.

STATE AID APPLICATION
Mr. Newport moved to approve, Commissioner Garner seconded, approved by voice vote.

STATE AID AGREEMENT
Commissioner Garner moved approval, seconded by Mrs. Renton, approved by voice vote.

LSTA GRANT
The Born to Read application was moved for approval by Mrs. Chartier, seconded by Mrs. Renton, approved by voice vote.

NCT GROUP LETTER OF COMMITMENT
Annual audit letter was moved for approval by Commissioner Garner, seconded by Mrs. Chartier, approved by voice vote.

COOPERATIVE NETWORK USE POLICY
Coordinator Myers explained that a written policy was to limit the number of software programs on our Heartland computers and to be sure they were appropriate programs, having to be compatible with Polaris. Mr. Ramponi commented that we now have some 120 computers on our network and this policy really addresses the need for all programs to be licensed. An e-mail policy is important as we are public employees and all e-mails are public record. Mrs. Davis moved to approve the policy, Commissioner Garner seconded, approved by voice vote.

STATE LIBRARY REPRESENTATIVE COMMENTS
Mrs. Cathy Toon, as our new area representative replacing Charlie Parker, made a presentation to the board, commending the board for their service to the residents of Florida, and encouraging them to look at the State Library website to see future plans. The State Library moves in the direction of the stated needs of the library community. They are currently working on a virtual library with state databases. There will be a library portal to search the Florida union catalog and the internet at the same time.

NEXT MEETING IS NOVEMBER 20, 10 A.M., LAKE PLACID MEMORIAL LIBRARY.
Yearly meeting dates were set: January 15, March 19, May 21, September 17, November 19. Please mark your calendars.

We adjourned at 11:10 a.m. Commissioner Felton Garner invited everyone to come to DeSoto County's opening of their Agri-Civic Center on Friday evening.

Respectfully submitted,

Carolyn Hesselink, Administrative Secretary

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