Meeting 69

HEARTLAND LIBRARY COOPERATIVE
May 28, 2008

HLC Governing Board members present: DeSoto-Commissioner Felton Garner, Paul Erickson, Ann Ryals; Highlands-June Fisher, Commissioner Guy Maxcy; Okeechobee-Robbie Chartier, Commissioner Elvie Posey, Marion Davis; Hardee-Commissioner Gordon Norris. Absences: Perry Newport. Others present: Glades Librarian Mary Booher, Librarians Fred Lohrer, Kresta King, Patti Jean Lang,  Elizabeth Kenney, and Michael Pate, Cooperative Coordinator Mary Myers.

Chairman Paul Erickson called the meeting to order at 10:00 a.m., asking Commissioner Felton Garner to open with prayer and lead in the pledge to the flag. Library Assistant Estela Patrick  gave the reading of the new posted notice of the meeting. There were no additions to the agenda, which was approved as written, with a motion by Gordon Norris, a second by Felton Garner, and unanimous approval. The motion to approve the minutes was made by Robbie Chartier, seconded by Elvie Posey, and approved unanimously.

COORDINATOR'S REPORT
Mrs. Myers talked to the board about the rising cost of fuel and the impact that will have in the financial report. The Coop. vehicles have and are being used only for business purposes by Doug Henry for Courier Services, Max Mindar for Computer Support, and the Secretary Carolyn Hesselink for short errands to the HCBCC building and CPA Carlos Roman's office. Not much can be changed except grouping tasks that aren't urgent for Max Mindar to do all together on one trip.

Regarding the follow up audit to be performed by HCBCC, the Coop. has never authorized it. Paul Erickson commented he has never been approached by anybody from the HCBCC regarding audits, and he, June Fisher, and Mary Myers are meeting tomorrow to develop a strategy for it.
From the previous audit it was pointed out by the auditors that the money collected by HCBCC from all the computer sales done through the years for the Coop. has never been returned to the Coop. HCBCC still owes that money to the Coop.

Mary Myers talked also about incorporating a picture of the patron in the patron's registration in Polaris, to help confirm identity and avoid disputes. When parents sign their children's cards authorizing access to the Internet, the picture of the child, the child's signature, and the parent's signature will all show on the screen in the patron's registration.  

The next item Mary Myers talked about to the Board was the Patron Visits Chart,
presenting a close follow up of the visits, and how all the libraries follow the same pattern, with its high during the winter months when the northerners are here. Fred Lohrer thought it would be a good idea to present this chart and its information to the Counties, to help them with the statistics of the influence of winter visitors in the area.  

Paul Erickson moved approval, with a motion by Robbie Chartier, seconded by Ann Ryals, and approved unanimously.

CIRCULATION POLICIES
The goal of having consistent policies and procedures throughout the Coop. will ensure patrons are going by the same rules when registering and using our libraries; exceptions being only those that have to do with county policies, for example refunds. If it's a county policy not to issue refunds then, at that county, the patrons will not be refunded for items they have already paid for. Paul Erickson asked that the wording be changed to allow such understanding and asked that an index be added. He also noted Appendix 3 on pg. 21 is missing.
Elvie Posey suggested the Coop. should also have a consistent policy regarding the replacement cost of library items, since the price posted on the item record is the discounted one, and not the retail price. Mary Myers shared that, since the audit, Highlands Co. libraries have been charging the patrons the current replacement cost obtained from Baker & Taylor or Amazon at the time of the transaction. Robbie Chartier thought the Coop. should incorporate that as a policy.
When paying for an item, patrons also pay a processing fee currently set at $2.00. A change from $2.00 to $5.00 is suggested to be closer to the actual current processing expenses.
Currently, a Guest Pass for computer use may be purchased for $1.00 per hour for access, at all libraries except DeSoto.
Under Fines and Charges on pg. 13, the overdue fine per day for DVDs, video games, and playaways  has been changed from $0.10 to $1.00; hoping this will work as an incentive for patrons to bring items back on time.

Under Security Check on pg. 18, Elvie Posey suggested it should be posted both in  English and Spanish, and Guy Maxcy suggested each county should present the adopted Policies and Procedures to their lawyer for review. Paul Erickson proposed the Policies should be readopted annually and he asked Mary Myers to bring the revised policies to the next meeting for its approval.
 
Patti Jean Lang commended Mary Myers for the outstanding job and her dedication to the Coop..  

UNIQUE MANAGEMENT- Mary Myers explained that, at 59 days overdue, and when cost of replacing the overdue material plus any outstanding fines for the material totals $25.00 or more, the patron account is sent to Unique Management, and an additional nonrefundable fee of $8.95 is added to the patron account to pay for the services of the collection agency. Unique Management then contacts the patron with delinquent account until the account balance is zero, or until arrangements are made for repayment of amounts owed and return of overdue materials. Unique Management guarantees a 50% to 70% return minimum; and they offer a 90 days trial period of their services of accounts that are 120 days old. The Coop. will have to pay in advance $8.95 per account turned over to Unique Management from the contingency account.
The $25.00 is based on an arbitrary decision, and it can be changed.
Mary Myers would like the members to find out with their county governments how long it would take them to return to the Coop. the $8.95 paid by the patrons when paying their fines, so that money can be put in an account designated to pay for the services of Unique Management. Robbie Chartier would like to know how many accounts over $25.00 (and for how long they been over that amount) there are; and she also suggested training the employees regarding the collection agency. Mary said that could be done at the next Service Training Day for Staff to take place in October. Mary also asked the Librarians to train their employees in getting patrons' e-mail accounts upon registration and during updates, since e-mails are being used to notify patrons of overdue items and it facilitates charging non-responsive accounts automatically. Mary will send to the commissioners a report to help them do a presentation to their Counties including: how much is outstanding, how many accounts are $25 and over, background of Unique Management services, and the percentage of success by the collection agency. Paul Erickson moved to approve a 90 days trial period with Unique Management, with a motion by Ann Ryals, seconded by Robbie Chartier, and approved unanimously.

NEXT MEETING DATE SET for August 20th, 10 a.m., at Lake Placid Library; and the following meeting is set for October 15th, at 10 a.m., at Glades County Library, Moore Haven, with an invitation for lunch extended by Librarian Mary Booher.

The meeting adjourned at 12:07 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,





Estela A. Patrick
Library Assistant
 

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