Ad-Team Meeting Minutes for August 2001

Date: August 1, 2001

Present: Scott Carter, Ernestine Clark, Denyvetta Davis, Anne Fischer, Anne Hsieh, Norm Maas, Karen Marriott, Donna Morris, Don Updegrove, Jim Welch,

Downtown staff parking
Since Dowell parking has indicated they will increase our parking fees from $50.00 to $70.00 per month per person, Anne Hsieh has investigated other options. She reported that parking at the city garage at Broadway and Kerr is available for $54.00 per month, per person. Should space there be a problem, the Santa Fe garage just south of Broadway and Kerr is a possibility. Recently, staff at Dowell parking has told Anne that they would like to keep our business and might be willing to continue to charge the current rate of $50.00. Anne is attempting to confirm this. Ad Team authorized Anne to continue with Dowell at the current $50 rate if possible. If not, she can proceed with switch to the Broadway-Kerr lot.

Final budget adjustments
Anne Hsieh reviewed the latest budget figures including proposed changes to the final budget. She noted the largest change is an increase of $127,000 to the annual retirement contribution per the actuary’s recommendation. She also noted a decrease of $84,565 to the group insurance costs due to lower rates negotiated by Human Resources. The percentage of the operating budget allocated for materials was also reviewed. Following discussion, Ad Team decided to add $25,000 to the materials budget for additional purchases to meet customer requests. Anne requested that the August commission meeting be routinely set for the last Thursday of the month to allow maximum time to finalize budget documents. Following discussion, this was approved. Anne announced that the finance committee would meet on August 15, 3:30 p.m., at Belle Isle.

Policy for accepting donated furniture/equipment
The Literacy Council has recently offered the library a donation of furniture. Current practice is not to accept donations of furniture or equipment. Ad Team discussed whether or not a written policy to this effect was needed. Following discussion, it was decided that the current practice should continue and that no written policy is needed. The library will decline the offer from Literacy Council but will offer to assist them in disposing of the items.

Schedulefor chairing Ad Team meetings
Donna Morris submitted a revised schedule for chairing Ad Team meetings for the rest of the year. It includes all new team members except Dana Morrow and Don Updegrove. Dana and Don will be first on the schedule for 2002. Ad Team approved the revision.

Maintenance & Building report
Don Updegrove reported that the budget for maintaining air conditioning is going fast. He noted good news that cooling costs at Edmond have dropped. A number of construction projects are underway or completed. New porch and sidewalks at Belle Isle are in process. Warr Acres roof is about half finished and the parking area resurfacing is completed. Bethany parking lots should to be finished this week. The ceiling at Ralph Ellison is being sprayed today. Southern Oaks exterior received some cleaning and painting. Midwest City’s sprinkler system has been repaired. Library Manager Randy Wayland has been cited for excessive false alarms at Southern Oaks. The number of alarms is due to problems with the alarm system. A representative of the alarm company will go with Randy and Don to court.

MLS Endowment Trust report
Ernestine Clark reported that the Library Endowment Trust met Thursday, July 26, and approved two items:

1. Proceeding with a new Endowment Brochure, based on a mock-up from Scott Carter and Ernestine Clark. The trustees very much liked what they saw.
   This beautiful brochure will be utilized in several ways: Handouts for Norm and Ernestine as they go speak at meetings, handouts for the Trustees as they talk with potential donors, insert for the fall 2001 and spring 2002 mailings for the Trust, display brochures for all libraries.

   This printing job will be very economical because Scott is utilizing all empty spaces on the sheet to print several brochures at a time instead of doing MLS printing project piece-meal, which is more expensive.

   The Endowment Trust will pay a portion of this brochure. The Library System will pay the majority of the costs for printing

2. In this brochure is a list of both the previous funds the Trust has had in place as well as some new ones to offer a full range of opportunities for donations. New Funds Voted in by the Endowment Trust, 7-26-01, are the following:
• Local History and Genealogy
• Children’s Materials and Programs
• Senior Citizens
• Arts and Humanities
• Business and Technology
• The General Endowment (unrestricted gifts)

Support Services report
Donna Morris reported receiving 95% complete plans for the Choctaw Library. Jim Welch will be reviewing plans included for technology. Donna is working with Scott to plan signage for the building. Next week, there will be a meeting to plan for public art. December 2001 is the target date to begin construction. Donna will advise Anne Hsieh when our financial contribution to construction will be needed. Donna reported that construction on the Downtown Library Learning Center is going well and is on schedule. Donna has been meeting with the Maps Oversight Board. Members of the board are concerned about the parking situation. Donna noted article in last week’s Daily Oklahoman about proposed expansion to the Galleria parking.

Automation report
Anne Fischer reported progress on several projects. Internet filter is now on all staff computers and work on public computers is underway. Some additional work has been needed due to different types of PCs used for public Internet access at some agencies. Anne hopes to complete installation by the end of the month. She announced the receipt of e-rate funding commitment. MLS should receive around $157,000. Jim Welch said that his CASS certification ran out on July 31. We are now using a commercial vendor’s product. There have been some problems installing this product that Jim is working to solve so overdue notices and other mailers can go out.

Human Resources report
Ric Rea announced that we will be changing our certified workplace medical plan provider from WorkCare to CompChoice as of September 1, 2001. All staff must reenroll. The pay envelope of each employee on August 9, 2001 will contain an enrollment form and instructions. Ric also reported figures on current FTEs. The number of FTEs in account 101 is 220.1. Ric does not have figures for account 102 or from previous year. Ric will be meeting with people individually about the library’s emergency operating plan. This plan needs to be updated due to staff changes and position changes.

Materials Services report
Karen Marriott discussed the increase in customer requests for materials that are being received online. As many as 100 requests have been received in one day. She is working with Materials Selection to compile data for the Ad Team. Related to this is the need to review the system’s interlibrary loan service and to make some decisions when we write the new long-range plan. Karen is working to familiarize herself with current ILL procedures and will be compiling a statistical report on this service. Our primary vendor Baker & Taylor is interested in an extension of our contract until June 30, 2004. Karen is currently negotiating with them for additional discounts and hopes to have their proposal by next week’s meeting.

Branch Services report
Denyvetta Davis reported that she is currently dividing her time between Ralph Ellison and Public Services. This will continue until a new manager for Ralph Ellison is hired. Denyvetta is doing a fact-finding project with the library managers and is scheduling site visits. She hopes to complete these projects by the end of September. She will begin chairing library managers’ meetings in September. Denyvetta is working on the 50th anniversary commemoration of Ralph Ellison’s Invisible Man. She announced the theme would be the following: Invisible Man: Celebrating Ralph Ellison’s Legacy. John Calahan of the Ralph Ellison estate has agreed to participate. Denyvetta will be going to training for the Family Place Project October 16-19. She will be on AVL from August 7-10.

Public Relations report
Scott Carter announced that the Public Relations Council would meet on Friday to decide on a marketing theme. Scott will bring their decision to the next Ad Team meeting. Scott and Phil Tolbert met with the Capitol Hill area Main Street group who will partner with us on the Capitol Hill Library anniversary program. Main Street will pay for a special poster advertising the event. Scott showed a sample of a book bag that might be sold at libraries. A less expensive bag would also be available to give away. Ad Team discussed possible ways to handle selling of bags and various issues such as sales tax. It was noted that the sales process should be simplified for public service staff and Business Office. No final decision was reached. ODL has received $100,000 to promote libraries in the state. Scott will be working with Bill Young of ODL to reduce overall advertising production costs for ODL and MLS. Scott discussed the future evolution of the program brochure into a magazine. Staff members would write book reviews and other articles. Scott has talked with public radio station KOSU about the Ralph Ellison/Invisible Man anniversary. KOSU will do a three part series on Ralph Ellison next year as part of their “Voices of Oklahoma” program. One part will be on the Ralph Ellison Library and the library’s connection to the author.

Date: August 8, 2001

Present: Kay Bauman, Scott Carter, Anne Hsieh, Norm Maas, Karen Marriott, Donna Morris, Ric Rea, Don Updegrove, Jim Welch

“Ad hoc” emergency funds
Scott Carter told of a recent incident at the Downtown Library. A couple visiting the city was stranded without funds because the woman had left her purse on the train. They were able to use our Internet service to email friends to retrieve the purse in Ft. Worth. However, they were still without funds so some library staff contributed to provide some money for food during their stay. Scott asked if each library could have a fund to assist people in cases like this one. Anne Hsieh noted that Downtown and most other libraries have a ‘staff fund’ from vending machines. These are not public funds and could be used for this type of assistance at the staff’s discretion as it is their money. Following discussion, Ad Team decided that we should strengthen our referral services, do pathfinders to help staff find local assistance agencies and be sure staff are aware of them. Norm will work with Judy, Denyvetta, and Kay on this. Norm will also send out a statement assuring staff that it is okay to use their staff funds to provide some assistance to customers in need if the staff choose to do so. Scott will draft the statement for review by Kay and then Norm before sending it to staff.

Communication training
Norm reported on his meeting with Gwen Marshall of the crisis center. They discussed two areas of cooperation, referral services and training for library staff. The library could contract with the center to provide training on communication skills rather than doing this training in-house. Their training program lasts fourteen weeks and includes active practice. Sessions are once a week for three hours e.g. Tuesdays 9:00 a.m.-noon or Tuesdays 6:30-9:30 p.m. The center suggests having four staff members go through the training initially, then reviewing to see how well it serves our needs. Ad Team supported proceeding with this trial. Funding for this training would be part of the training budget in Planning Services.

Automation report
Jim Welch announced that Southern Oaks Library has been switched to the 100 megabit line as of last Sunday. Cox is doing preliminary work for Belle Isle and Bethany. They will be the next agencies to be switched over.

Finance report
Anne Hsieh gave an update on the Downtown parking situation. She does not have a final decision yet from Dowell, but has arranged to extend our current payment rate through the month of September. This should allow time to make a switch to another lot if Dowell will not continue with our current rate. Anne has still not received final figures from the county for the final budget. She will provide updated sheets to the Finance Committee next week if the information becomes available. Anne noted that the audit is in progress now so auditors will be in the Downtown building.

Human Resources report
Ric Rea reported that 109 applications were received for the Assistant Director position in Public Relations. He also reviewed evaluation procedure that will be used for Ad Team members.

Materials Services report
Karen Marriott and staff from the Materials Selection department will be working at the Friends sort site on Friday. Karen, Janet and the selectors routinely review all materials withdrawn from libraries. Those that can be used at another location are pulled and transferred. Right now, they are looking in particular for materials for the new DNLLC. Because of the number of gift materials going to the sort site, a backlog has developed which we hope to clear out on Friday.

Public Relations report
Scott Carter reported that the PIO Council has chosen a marketing theme for MLS: My Library Is <define>. The council will meet again on Friday to consider possible Internet domain names and plans for Capitol Hill’s anniversary celebration. Scott will soon be interviewing candidates for the assistant director position and hopes to have someone by September.

Maintenance and Building report
Don Updegrove stated that some progress has been made on resolving air conditioning problems at Edmond. He said that a number of factors are contributing to the problems including the basic system design. Similar problems should not occur at the new DNLLC because of differences in the design and the contract with Trigen for energy.

Planning Services report
Kay Bauman reviewed information received from a company promoting National Customer Service Week. The company sells certificates, posters and other items that can be used to celebrate this week. Since staff development day focuses on customer service this year, the Ad Team discussed whether or not to do something during National Customer Service Week, October 1-5. It was decided not to pursue it this year, but to forward the information to Denyvetta Davis for future consideration.

Date:  August 15, 2001

Members present: Jim Welch, Ric Rea, Norm Maas, Judy Walden, Anne Hsieh, Kay Bauman, Dana Morrow, Denyvetta Davis, Don Updegrove and Donna Morris (meeting chair)

Guest present: Jane Carvajal

Staff Development Day
Jane gave an overview of the agenda for the day. Theme will be “Customer Service”. Keynote speaker will be Pat Wagner. She will also be doing a breakout session. We will also be using the “Fish” video and theme. We have a new location for SDD and it is the Clarion Meridian Conference Center.

Customer Service Month
Denyvetta would like to have a special month in October of 2001 to honor our customers. All branches will participate. This year everyone would promote this month but they would be individual promotions; but next year there would be more of a system-wide theme. This special month includes Food for Fines and Staff Development Day. The Public Relations department will promote this special month. Kay suggested that we include all offices and that they participate in some way by promoting their services to internal customers.

Definition of customer
Denyvetta would like to make customer the official term we use for our customers rather than patrons. Jim will look at our software so that we can match applications and other documents to the term. We will ask staff to make administration aware of forms/documents that need correction. The ad team agreed with this concept.

Statistics
Kay overviewed the history and purpose of the system’s annual statistical report. There are certain items that are required to be reported annually by ODL. She wanted input on what data needed to be included in these reports. What things are used by staff. Please send suggestions to Kay. Scott will be contacted about printing this information.

Exhibit Policy
This policy was revised in March of 98. Judy asked ad team to look over the policy and bring suggestions for change to the next meeting. Norm is interested in making sure than an administrative review procedure is part of the overall policy. If not, we need to change the policy to incorporate the review process. It appears that we have adequate criteria for displaying exhibits as part of the policy. We need to add a paragraph that will explain our insurance requirements before we agree to have an exhibit.

Meeting Room Policy
Judy reported than a committee is working on revisions to the policy and handed out the work done to date. She requested the ad team review the policy and be prepared to discuss again next week. The policy should be broad enough to include the Downtown Library Learning Center as part of the overall policy even though their individual procedures might be different from other libraries.

Current concerns
Norm asked that Denyvetta coordinate who would be going to the annual PLA conference next march and see that we make sure everyone gets the needed information in time to register for the early bird rates.

Norm mentioned his meeting with the Transworld Systems Profit Recovery representative. We discussed our previous experience will collection recovery firms and it was agreed that our current system works very well for us at this time.

Norm asked all ad team members to read the Zero to Three document, which was handed out at the meeting. This directly relates to the upcoming Family Place training.

Anne Hsieh handed out some revised budget spreadsheets that reflect what the income would be with a mil increase in 2005-6 and without a mil increase. We discussed additional capitol projects, which will need to be included in future long range planning.

Judy gave additional information about the upcoming Family Place training and the contact crisis training. They are working on filling the Ralph Ellison library manager position.

Denyvetta gave a timeline for the transition period in which she will spend some time in public services and some time at Ellison. The hope is to have someone full time at Ellison in late September.

Norm discussed the upcoming 50th Anniversary of the publication of Ralph Ellison's novel The Invisible Man. A big event will be planned to commemorate this in 2002 at Ralph Ellison library and across the system. We discussed the deadlines required by the community foundation for grants.

Discussion of library system standing and ad hoc committees. Ad team began list of those and Kay Bauman agreed to compile and hand out for further additions and corrections.

Discussion about the possibility of putting commission packets on the Intranet. Jim, Anne and Teresa will work on this. Also include ad team minutes, library manager minutes, etc. on Intranet. Will provide solid historical data for system.

The Downtown library learning center construction is proceeding well. Bi-weekly site visits will begin soon.

Food for Fines
The committee has been in touch with the OKC Food Bank. They are a 501 3c organization. They have containers and can pick up donations daily during the week that this campaign is conducted. We may be able to use one of the library systems contracted Public service announcements (on TV) for this promotion. Committee will be meeting next week.

Date:  August 22, 2001

Present: Kay Bauman, Scott Carter, Ernestine Clark, Denyvetta Davis, Anne Hsieh, Norm Maas, Karen Marriott, Donna Morris, Dana Morrow, Ric Rea, Don Updegrove, Judy Walden, Jim Welch

Library Exhibit and Display Policy
The current policy and procedures concerning exhibits and displays in library buildings were reviewed (MLS P&P, Section V, Item I). The Ad Team considered whether or not any changes were needed. Following discussion, the following changes were made: 1) A provision for approval of exhibits by Public Services Administration was added to attachment one. 2) An additional clause related to insurance was added to the policy. Norm Maas stressed the importance of providing review and support to library staff planning for exhibits. Other Ad Team members concurred. Dana Morrow noted that plans for exhibits are routinely discussed at programming meetings and at Library Managers meetings. Judy Walden stated that Dana and Scott Carter are consulted about planning and promoting exhibits. Karen Marriott may also be consulted in selecting exhibits since criteria are similar to materials selection criteria.

Meeting Rooms: Reservations and Use Policy
Draft revision of the policy and procedures for use of library meeting rooms were reviewed (MLS P&P Section II, Item A). Judy highlighted changes and discussion followed. Donna Morris referred to policy section 4.F. containing a list of groups exempt from paying fees for room use. She noted that this list may change frequently and suggested not including it as part of the policy since policy changes have to be approved by the commission. Ad Team decided to remove this from the policy document and place it in a separate attachment. With this additional change, the draft was accepted.

Policy and Procedure Review for ODL
Kay Bauman reported information she received from ODL concerning their requirements for policy review. ODL’s main purpose for the requirements is to ensure that smaller libraries in the state have policies in place and that they are reviewed on a regular basis. They are less concerned with larger libraries and systems since they tend to have policies and an ongoing review process already in place. The ODL report for next year (FY 2002) will include a question about policy review, but it will require only a ‘yes’ or ‘no’ answer. It will not specify a time frame for most recent review of policies or require other documentation. Donna distributed copies of assignments made in 1999 to each Ad Team member of policies to update. Although ODL will not require that we have reviewed all policies before next year, Ad Team felt we should proceed with plans for updating them as needed. Ernestine Clark suggested establishing a regular schedule for reviewing different policies. Norm agreed and asked Donna to coordinate this since it is part of her bailiwick. Norm asked Ernestine to help Scott edit the P&P Manual. Donna asked Ad Team members to send her any additional information on status of their portion of this project. Donna will then work with Scott and Ernestine on overall status report as well as schedule and procedure for future work.

Planning Services report
Kay stated that most committee fact sheets have been returned but asked that those still out be returned as soon as possible. We need to add a section about how one becomes a member of each committee i.e. what are the qualifications. Norm suggested that when committees are formed, most should have two ‘open slots’. Staff would be invited via email to volunteer to fill one of these slots. Email should include fact sheet information as well as an idea of how many meetings there would be. Once committee information fact sheets are completed, Kay will send staff an email informing them about the fact sheets and about plans to solicit committee members via email for future committees. Managers will be encouraged to allow participation by staff.

A group to study and identify community needs for the new long-range plan has been formed. This group will have their second meeting on August 23. Kay and Jane Carvajal attended an all day workshop on using census data. Jane is looking into possibility of similar workshop for library staff. Kay has begun work on the library’s annual statistical report.

Public Services report
A group of library staff including Judy, Kay, Scott and others has begun ‘listening skills’ training at Contact Crisis Center. As discussed at a previous meeting, they will test the applicability of this training to library staff. After completing the fourteen-week course, they will review and make recommendations. Judy is impressed with the training so far. She noted that the crisis center service is a national program and that Oklahoma does the best job of training in the nation.

Friends report/MLS Endowment report
Ernestine reported that a community service volunteer is working in the Development Office right now. Norm stated that he has received positive comments about the new list of endowment funds recently approved. He received a letter from a lady representing an organization where Ernestine Clark gave a talk about the library system, the Library Endowment and the new Endowment funds. As a genealogist, she was pleased that one of those funds will focus on genealogy

Children’s report
MLS and Omniplex will cooperate to celebrate National Library Card Sign-up Month in September. Approximately 2900 tickets were redeemed at the ballpark for the summer reading finale while about 8500 attended. This is the largest crowd ever. Approximately 1700 more kids participated in the reading program than last year while about 1400 more finished the program. This large increase is likely due to television advertising as well as increased effort by staff. Dana had a good response to her request for Septemberfest volunteers. She thinks this is largely due to the fact that it now counts as a library workday. In October, YA author Neil Shusterman will visit several libraries. Dana and Karen went on the “Success By Six” tour of day care facilities hosted by United Way. Dana made several contacts that she can use to promote our Family Place training once it is in place. Dana also visited with Kathleen Lienke, Library Media Services Team Leader for Oklahoma City Public Schools. She will be working with school librarians and may be able to assist us in making contacts with teachers and obtaining curriculum information.

Seniors report
The American Center for Folk Life has a project to locate and interview veterans of World War II and the Korean War. Dana said that Heidi Daniel plans to develop a local program in connection with this project that would involve teens.

Automation report
At Thursday’s commission meeting, Anne Fischer will report that filters have been installed on all but eighteen of our 400+ computers. Jim Welch noted issues and problems due to the variety of types of PCs used throughout the system. In particular, the Gates computers require a great deal of work in order to install the filters. Jim also reported that the CyberLaunch program that provides CyberMars has been updated with items requested by the ILS Users Group and the Tech Group. He said Bethany and Southern Oaks have now been cut over to the 100-megabit line. Belle Isle will be next.

Finance report
Anne Hsieh distributed new pages for the budget manual. These pages reflect updated information she received after the Finance Committee meeting. The changes do nor affect line items, only the final total and reserve amount. The new budget total is $30,376,059.77 and the reserve total is $9,420,195.77. Anne has received long distance calling cards from our new carrier, Southwestern Bell. These are for use in making business calls while at library conferences or meetings. Ad Team members should notify Anne if they need a card. Old cards should be returned to Anne or destroyed.

Human Resources report
Ric Rea reported that twelve applications for Lee Brawner Fund scholarships have been received for the fall semester. This is the largest number ever received. Ric noted that the amount of reimbursement has been raised from $50 to $75 for undergraduate hours and from $75 to $100 for graduate hours. The committee is in the process of awarding scholarships. Money in the Lee Brawner Fund comes from Friends grants and from the library’s budget. We have not requested money from the Friends every year but should plan to do so next year. Ric said that the system received fifty applications for the Director of Construction Management position. Norm, Donna and Don Updegrove will interview about seven of them.

Materials Services report
Karen and several of the Materials Selection staff participated in a ‘workday’ with the Friends at the sort site on August 10. They helped to clear out a backlog, going through a large number of boxes of withdrawn books. Selectors identified books that were in good condition and on subjects needed at other libraries in the system. A special effort was made to find books that could be transferred to the Downtown Library for the collection in the new building. Books not reassigned to libraries were stamped, marked and re-boxed for storage until the annual Friends Booksale. Vickey Dooley prepared and served an excellent lunch as well as coffee and other snacks. Ernestine helped as well and proved to be an expert ‘stamper’.

Branch Services report
Denyvetta Davis is still dividing her time between Ralph Ellison and Public Services. She hopes to have the position of Library Manager at Ralph Ellison filled by late September. Denyvetta attended a community meeting in NE Oklahoma City about the proposed ‘MAPS for Kids’. She reported that the proposal includes closing eleven schools in the Ralph Ellison Library area, building one new elementary school and replacing Douglas High School. She also reported on the renaming of 23rd Street from Broadway to Bryant as Clara Luper Corridor. Some are already using the new name while others are using both ‘NE 23rd’ and ‘Clara Luper Corridor’ in their addresses. Ralph Ellison Library’s address is within this area of 23rd Street. Ad Team agreed that the library should start using both street names. Denyvetta has received the first of three planned surveys back from the library managers. She also toured three extension libraries with Doug Bentin and Scott. She will begin chairing Library Managers Meetings in September and plans to incorporate training in these meetings.

Public Relations report
Scott distributed copies of the new MLS bookmarks. He reported that the new ‘Joy of Subjects’ has been printed however, there are major problems with the print job. Distribution of the books will be delayed until Scott can resolve problems with the printer. New TV spots will be taped in September and previewed at the September 19 Ad Team meeting. There will be three ads that will begin heavy rotation the week of October 3. Scott is working with Phil Tolbert to promote Capitol Hill’s 50th anniversary. There will be a weeklong celebration from November 5-10. Phil needs volunteers to assist with some events. Heavy promotion is planned including interviews by Cox Cable with older residents of the Capitol Hill area. Scott announced that Jean Devlin will be the new Assistant Director of Public Relations. She is the former publisher of Oklahoma Today and won national awards for that publication. Most recently, she has been editor of Sooner Catholic. One of her major duties will be to oversee the conversion of our program booklet to a magazine called @ Your Library. Jean’s first day will be September 5. The annual report this year will be combined with the annual statistical report. Its format will resemble a company’s annual report. It will not be a newspaper insert.

Maintenance report
Don Updegrove reported on progress with exterior work at Belle Isle and Bethany. He stated that the air conditioning at Edmond is currently working but that problems will likely recur due to design flaws. Cox Cable needs to install cable at the Midwest City so they can be switched over to 100-megabit line. There have been problems obtaining permission from the city to do the work. Don is currently working to resolve these problems so the installation can proceed.

Commission news
Norm stated that Kay will give an update on long range plan progress at the September Commission meeting. He and Kay will be meeting each of the commissioners for lunch over the next few months to discuss the plan. Norm anticipates having the new plan in place by next February or so.

Date: August 29, 2001

Present: Kay Bauman, Scott Carter, Denyvetta Davis, Anne Fischer, Anne Hsieh, Norm Maas, Karen Marriott, Donna Morris, Ric Rea, Don Updegrove, Judy Walden, Jim Welch

Policies for use of 'special interest' labels on materials
The Ad Team discussed use of 'special interest' labels on materials i.e. commercially produced labels used to easily identify certain materials on the shelf. Examples of special interests are African American, Hispanic, Biography, and Holiday. Currently, individual agencies decide which if any of these labels to use as well as which titles should be marked. Norm asked if consistent policies on the use of these labels would benefit customers. It would require a set list of labels to be used as well as definitions for each category. Judy and Denyvetta were asked to discuss this issue with the Library Managers and report back.

Update of policies and procedures
Donna asked that members report status of their review of policies assigned to them by Friday, Sep-tember 7. Kay was asked to review the policy on continuing education units (MLS Policy X. Item D).

Library hours on New Years Eve
Judy asked if the libraries would close early on New Years Eve this year. For the past few years, December 31 has fallen on a day when the libraries regularly close early or are not open. Following discussion, it was agreed to close at 5:00 p.m. on New Years Eve from now on until circumstances require a change.
Ad Team's role at staff recognition reception
Ric reviewed procedures that have been used by the Ad Team in the past for the staff recognition reception. Norm will talk to the chair of the staff recognition committee about their plans and find out if they want the Ad Team to announce the honorees again this year. Assuming they do, forms requesting information to be used in the introductions will be sent out by Public Relations. Ad Team assignments will be made after forms are returned.

Maintenance report
Don reported that no buildings fell down! Asphalt work at Belle Isle should be completed this week. Issues with the City of Midwest City concerning cable installation have been resolved. Maintenance staff continues working to resolve air conditioning problems at Harrah and Edmond.

Library Commission news
Norm asked members to review the proposed dates for 2002 commission meetings. The amended list will be submitted to the commission for approval. Norm noted that the Retirement Pension Board has been meeting a lot and has made some changes in the way investments are managed. He wants Ad Team members to have a greater understanding of the pension plan and process. He also wants to consider the functions of the Board other than managing funds e.g. providing information to retirees.

Planning Services report
Kay has emailed an invitation to all staff to volunteer for two membership slots on GOSI. GOSI (Group on Strategic Ideas) is the committee working to identify community needs for the long range plan. The Continuing Education Committee has decided to identify core competencies for positions, starting with manager. Training will focus on these core competencies. The new ILS training video will be shown to participants on August 30. The Customer Service Committee is working on questions to be used with the video. The annual ODL report and the zip code analysis are both in process.

Automation report
Anne Fischer reported that filters have been installed on all 400+ library computers. Anne is currently working on e-rate information, delayed due to filter project. Belle Isle should be cut over to the 100 megabit line this week. The schedule for cut over of libraries has changed. Warr Acres and Village will be cut over next followed by Edmond and Midwest City.

Finance report
Anne Hsieh reported on the audit in process and stated that it should be completed by the deadline. Anne has not received a reply from Dowell concerning library staff parking rate. We will continue with Dowell for September. If Anne does not receive a response, she will contact Dowell again in time to arrange for parking at another lot if necessary.

Human Resources report
Ric had nothing to report at this time.

Materials Services report
Steve Beleu from ODL made a depository library inspection visit on August 28. He did not find any problems with our handling of state and federal documents. He met with Norm, Karen, Debra Spindle, Pauline Rodriguez and Ursula Ward about the withdrawal of government documents currently housed in stacks. These include several long runs of publications going back to the early 1900s. Withdrawn documents must be listed and offered to other area depository libraries. Steve agreed to waive the requirement that each document in a run be listed separately in order to expedite this process. Documents not claimed by another depository can be disposed of. The library cannot sell them but can give them away. Steve verified that the documents could be given to the Friends since they are a separate organization. The Friends are then free to sell them. The annual Materials Services Retreat was held on August 24 at Midwest City. Interlibrary Loan staff participated for the first time.

Public Services report
Judy announced the Library Managers would meet this afternoon at Edmond Library.

Branch Services report
Denyvetta Davis reported on Customer Service Week plans. She has prepared information about the change from the use of the term 'patron' to 'customer' by our system for Norm's review. Denyvetta has completed interviews of applicants for the Ralph Ellison Library Manager position. Six persons applied for the position. Until it is filled, Denyvetta continues to divide her time between PSA and Ralph Ellison.

Public Relations report
The new edition of Shelflife has been sent to staff via email. Scott expects the publication to evolve and take advantage of its new electronic format. Scott showed new library magazine, @ Your Library. It includes reviews by staff members Doug Bentin and Sally Epp as well as listings of programs for each library. Scott expects the format of this publication to evolve as well. Scott noted that the special session of the Oklahoma legislature starts September 7. Although it will not be addressed in the special session, two legislators have agreed to sponsor legislation for us concerning our retirement system. This legislation would add our system to those whose participants qualify for a state income tax exemption of up to $5500.

Miscellaneous
Norm recommended a book about public relations to the Ad Team. The title is Myth of Excellence: Why Great Companies Never Try to Be the Best at Everything. The authors are Fred Crawford and Ryan Mathews.

Norm has received information about a voter registration program planned for 2002 called Smart Voting Starts @Your Library. He referred this to Judy, Denyvetta and Scott for consideration.

Kay, Debra and Donna met with representatives of the Downtown education consortium about plans for the DNLLC fourth floor. They reviewed the history of the agreement between the library and the consortium. They also discussed needs for furniture and equipment in the facility. They will be visiting OCCC to look at their facilities to get ideas for what might be needed.