Ad-Team Meeting Minutes for October 8, 2008

October 8, 2008

Present: Karen Marriott, Chair, Lloyd Lovely, Ric Rea, Kay Bauman, Candace McDaniel, Kim Terry, Ernestine Clark, Donna Morris, Jim Welch, Denyvetta Davis, Dana Morrow, Patrick Williams, Anne Fischer, Todd Olberding

Excused: None

NEW BUSINESS

Donna Morris requested suggestions for a master of ceremonies for the Staff Recognition Dinner November 15. Ad Team members suggested Kelley Riha, Lloyd Lovely and Kim Terry, or Donna. 

Spoticus will receive his five-year pin at the dinner.

Donna reported that she sent the Ad Team the executive summary of the salary study from James and Associates and asked for comments and discussion. She would like to send the executive summary to staff in November and include it in the November Director’s report to the Commission. She, the deputy executive directors, and the Director of Human Resources met with Susan James to review the results and met again later as a group to discuss their disappointment with the study. The group felt that many of the comparables in the benchmarked positions were not equal matches and, in many cases, there were not enough comparable matches to make valid recommendations. Therefore, it is believed the survey is not valid and salary recommendations and adjustments cannot be made without further review and study.

The Ad Team discussed the issue. Jim Welch gave an example of how the results for the IT technician matches were not valid due to differences in educational requirements and exempt positions. Todd Olberding suggested that a complete summary of why the study was believed to be less than accurate be provided to staff. Donna reported that because the study results cannot be used, money would be requested in next year’s budget for a complete classification and compensation study. One of the recommendations by James and Associates was a revision to all out of date job descriptions. The Ad Team agrees with this recommendation and has already begun the process of revising various job descriptions.

REPORTS

CONSTRUCTION MANAGEMENT – Todd reported that construction continues on Ralph Ellison, the Service Center, Southern Oaks, and Edmond. He will have a follow-up meeting on October 9 with St. Mary’s Episcopal Church and the City of Edmond regarding additional parking spaces at the Edmond Library.

Todd reported that he is working with Teresa Goggins, Webmaster, to create a system for webbased updates on new construction. He hopes the web page will be live in about a month.

ADMINISTRATION/COMMISSION – Donna announced that there would be a Finance Committee meeting at the Oklahoma City Community Foundation on October 9. The Committee will create a procedure for construction change orders. The Administrative & Personnel Committee will also meet at the end of October or beginning of November to discuss the Executive Director’s annual evaluation as well as some policy changes.

Donna sent an e-mail on October 8 to those who work at the Downtown Library regarding parking in the alley to the south of the Downtown Library. Due to construction to create access to the loading docks of the Oklahoma Tower and Corporate Tower buildings, the parking spaces in the alley will be unavailable December 1, 2008 through February 1, 2009. From February 1 through the end of the project, there will be approximately six parking spaces available on the north side of the alley. Once they complete construction around mid-summer 2009, the Downtown Library will have approximately 12 spaces available on the north side of the alley. Donna is exploring the possibility of reserving visitor spaces in the garage directly south of the Downtown Library. At some point during this construction and construction of the new Devon building, Harvey will close. Todd reported that he and Donna also requested that the ramp in the alley be heated to alleviate dangerous ice problems in the winter.

Donna reported that Commissioner Ralph Bullard has received enough signatures to get the family talk issue on the agenda for the November meeting of the Metropolitan Library Commission. Commissioners who signed the petition are Womack, Cornelius, Hannah, Nelson, Patel, McGehee, and Vaughn. The agenda item will revisit the issue of the height of the family talk shelving. Commission Chair Hugh Rice suggested that if the motion passes he would appoint a committee of about five Commissioners to visit libraries and assess access to the family talk materials.

FINANCE & SUPPORT – Lloyd Lovely reported that the surplus sale on October 3 netted about $6,000. The Business Office may need to hold another surplus sale before we move into the Service Center. Lloyd will be in and out of the office the week of October 20 as he has been called for jury duty.

IT – Anne Fischer reported that RSS (Really Simple Syndication) feeds went live on October 1. IT has received many questions about the newly available MP3 audio books. The first analysis of the non-stop computer upgrades will take place October 10.

DEVELOPMENT – Ernestine Clark reported that the first meeting of the 2009 Literary Voices Committee would be October 8 at Belle Isle.

FACILITIES MAINTENANCE – Patrick Williams reported that the renovations at The Village Library are complete and renovations at Edmond Library would begin October 20.

HUMAN RESOURCES – Ric Rea reported that there are currently ten openings in the System. Ric requested input from the Ad Team about the library closing schedule for calendar year 2009, which administration will present to the Commission at the November meeting. The dates in question are those surrounding Independence Day and Christmas. Independence Day 2009 falls on a Saturday. Ad Team recommended that the libraries close Friday, July 3 as a paid holiday and Saturday, July 4 as libraries closed. This is how the federal government is handling the holiday. The System’s precedent for the winter holidays is to close on the Sunday before and the Sunday after Christmas Day. Next year, however, Christmas Day falls on a Friday, so if this precedent were followed the libraries would be closed Thursday, December 24, and Friday, December 25, open Saturday, December 26, and closed Sunday, December 27. As it could be confusing for customers for libraries to closed two days, open one day, and then closed one day, the Ad Team suggested that instead of closing the Sunday before Christmas (Sunday, December 20), the libraries close December 24 through 27, with December 24 and 25 as paid holidays. Donna stated that she would write a cover sheet explaining the reason for the recommendations to the Commission. 

MARKETING AND COMMUNICATIONS – Kim Terry reported business as usual.

MATERIALS SELECTION & OUTREACH – Karen Marriott reported that Materials Selection has purchased 230 MP3 titles from Overdrive since Overdrive made them available to us. Of those, 140 have been checked out at least once and there are currently 68 holds. 

OUTREACH – Dana Morrow reported that she spoke with the Special Friends of Ralph Ellison Library and recommended that they work to get to know Michael Owens. The Aboriginal Australian presentations attracted about 95 people on October 5 at the Downtown Library. The Nerdfighters presentation on November 2 has already received 50 reservations through its Facebook page. The new YA librarian at Midwest City, Suzette Felton, attracted about 100 parents and teens with her Gamefest.

LIBRARY OPERATIONS & PLANNING – Kay Bauman reported that the Strategic Plan Report would be completed by October 9 to be included in the October Commission packet.

LIBRARY OPERATIONS – Denyvetta Davis reported that she met with extension staff at Nicoma Park. Mary Patton officially retired at October 3 after helping to train Julie Ballou as manager of the Downtown Library. Michael Owens has begun his position as manager of the Ralph Ellison Library. Both Julie and Michael will attend the October Commission meeting. Chris Kennedy will start as manager of the Midwest City Library on October 21.

LIBRARY OPERATIONS (HEADQUARTERS) – Candace McDaniel reported that she met with the Arts Council of Oklahoma City about Opening Night. The Downtown Library will host two jazz groups on Opening Night, Visions and Studio B. Candace has scheduled entertainment for the Downtown Open House on December 11.

Meeting adjourned at 10:50 a.m.