Materials Services Division Managers' Meeting Minutes for February 27, 2003

Date: February 27, 2003; 8:00 A.M. 

Capitol Hill Library meeting room

Present:  Karen Marriott, Janet Brooks, Heidi Johnson, Pauline Boyer Rodriguez 

1. Technical Processing update – Heidi 

• Receipt of materials has picked up slightly.  On Monday, TP received over 70 boxes.   
• Bindery materials were returned to TP on January 24.  There were 4 books that needed to be returned to the bindery due to problems.  The next bindery group will be picked up by Quality Book Binding Company on March 19. Erica Burton started as the new Receiving Tech in TP on Feb. 3.  Receipt of materials was fairly slow during that week which gave TP time to train her in her new job duties.  Now, that TP is receiving more boxes again, she can put her new skills and knowledge to good use.  
• Heidi attended the very nice reception for Donna Morris on Feb. 13 at the Village Library.  The band was wonderful, yet could have used a larger room to do full justice to its music.  It was wonderful to see so many people from across the state attend Donna's reception. 
• Heidi met with staff on Feb. 12 to inform them of changes in system policies like the grievance procedure and discuss the use of library equipment/services by staff, among other things. 
• Heidi attended the meeting of the PR Council where upcoming advertising for the library was among the topics discussed.  The next meeting will take place on March 14 at DN. 
• Loretta and Heidi have scheduled a meeting with Helen from Planning on March 13, 10:00 a.m., about discussing revisions to the Basic Materials Processing workshop. 
• Heidi also attended the last X-Change meeting at BI.  Information was presented about the elimination of sick leave usage in staff's performance appraisals, preparedness for emergencies/disasters, and the budget for the next fiscal year.  Jim Welch's presentation about  demographics of cardholders in Oklahoma County was very informative. 
• Heidi has been finalizing arrangements to have Deb Urschlitz from Demco demonstrate basic book repair on March 26, 1:30 p.m.  The workshop  will be held in CH's basement meeting room. All of TP's processors, Ursula, Lacey and the Cataloging techs, and Megan and Elizabeth from MSL will participate; there will be a total of 13 staff members.  Deb will send supply kits for all students to use during the workshop.   
• Jim Welch installed part of the new invoice payment system the Business Office uses on Heidi's PC.  The old ILS system only provides invoice payment information through printed out vendor activity reports through December of 2002.  Having "looking privileges" (Jim's term) will enable TP to look at (and also still print out if necessary) invoice payment information starting with January 2003.

2. Materials Selection update – Janet 

• Library Visits 
• Selectors made annual visits to ED and RE during January.   
• Annual visits to DN and SO were conducted during February.   
• A 6month collection review at MC is scheduled for March, as well as a visit to Outreach. 
• Janet and Karen had a follow up visit with Karen Bays/ED the first of February.   
• Follow up visits for DN and SO are scheduled for the first week in March. 
• WebPages 
• Selectors are updating the "Spotlight On…Asian Americans".  The updated information is due to Teresa by April1.   
• Megan and Elizabeth will assist with the formatting for the "Spotlight On…" 
• Janet submitted updates to Teresa for the children's webpage, primarily reflecting the newest award winners.  She has also provided Teresa with a bibliography on poetry novels for the Teen page. 
• Basement 
• Janet distributed some charts tracking the boxes received, sent to the Friends and to Cataloging and one reflecting the scheduled hours for MSL staff.   
• In the past couple of months the number of materials received has decreased.  The lower numbers may be due to the fact that libraries are weeding areas of the collection that are generally smaller and have fewer withdrawals.  We may begin to see an increase starting in April/May when Easy/Readers and 600s are weeded again.   
• Because of the lower amounts received, Janet has cut back the number of hours she schedules staff to work in the basement, which has helped with the staff frustrations.   
• If the number of boxes increases later in the spring, Janet will begin scheduling more hours for staff.   
• Read About It 
• Elizabeth and Megan have begun taping video reviews.   
• Megan, Ruby and Janet have recently taped book reviews.   
• Workshops/Training 
• Janet has attended 4 weeks of Contact Training.  She is finding the training very helpful. 
• Janet attended the managers' X-change meeting at BI. 
• Janet Attended the FAMLA training conducted by HUM. 
• Ruby and Marilyn attended a workshop on developing good trainer skills 
• Graphic Novels 
• Janet visited Norman Public Library and the Pioneer Library System's Acquisitions and Processing departments to discuss PLS's graphic novel collection.   
• Janet asked Heidi and Pauline to contribute information for a proposal about graphic novels that has been sent to Karen. 
• Janet requested an increase of $500 to each library's budget to purchase a core collection of graphic novels. 
• Programmers Meetings 
• Children's Services Retreat - Janet attended the Children's Services Retreat, where she did a short presentation on using books with rhyme and rhythm to encourage early literacy. 
• Dr. Kathy Latrobe/OU was a key speaker.   
• Selectors will be attending the various programmers meetings.  They will highlight materials and bring back information about programs that will have an impact on materials.   
• Julie and Janet will share the responsibility of attending the Children's and YA programmers meetings.   
• Susan, Ruby and Marilyn will rotate attending the Adult programmers meetings.

3. Cataloging update – Pauline 

• Of course, the best news is that Veronica Bernal began work as the new Cataloging Technician on February 3.  She is doing very well and learning fast.  Pauline arranged with Phil Tolbert for Veronica to work about 10 hours a week in CH her first two weeks as Cataloging Technician.  She is now in Cataloging full time and was able to be a big help when Jill was out for a week. 
• Lacey, Cataloging’s page, increased her hours from 15 per week to 25 after Veronica began working full-time.  This has allowed Cataloging not to need to hire another page at this time. 
• PCs for Jana, Crystal, and Clyde have been upgraded.  All three are now using mlsCataloging.  For various reasons, Ursula’s PC still has MarcEdit on it, but Automation plans to replace it shortly.  Pauline has heard both positive and negative comments about mlsCataloging.  Crystal is serving as the department’s mlsCataloging mentor. 
• Pauline did a Read About It book talk on February 3. 
• At the Cataloging staff meeting on February 4, Pauline discussed changes to the grievance procedure and travel reimbursement policy with staff.  She also went over system policies regarding staff use of library equipment. 
• Ursula attended a GODORT meeting on February 7, with Sharon Bish. 
• Pauline and Jill attended the reception for Donna Morris on February 13. 
• Pauline and Crystal attended the Oklahoma Union List of Serials membership meeting on February 18.  At this meeting, the membership voted to suspend annual dues for the upcoming fiscal year.  Dues are expected to resume the following year. 
• Pauline attended the Human Resources FAMLA workshop on February 20.  She feels that she gained some valuable information. 
• All full-time staff are scheduled to attend OLA for at least half a day.  Lacey has agreed to work some extra hours on those days. 
• Performance standards have been updated to delete the sick leave standard for all staff who had signed commitment agreements since July 1. 
• Ursula and Pauline have both received favorable comments regarding Ursula’s daily “Government in the news” e-mail. 
• Pauline, Clyde, and Heidi met to brainstorm ideas for input into Janet’s graphic novel proposal.  Janet did incorporate their ideas into her final proposal. 
• The dot matrix printer that Pauline and Ursula shared has been removed.  It served only the ILS system, and both use their shared laser printer for ILS printouts.  Automation redirected the periodical routing printouts to the laser printer.  The laser printer that Pauline and Ursula share has been placed where the dot matrix was, thus making it more convenient for them both. 

4. Administration update – Karen 

• Ad Team 
• The Ad Team retreat will be March 12 at BI.  Focus items include the budget and mind mapping to plan for the DN move. 
• The Ralph Ellison biography authored by Denyvetta Davis and Bob Burke has been nominated for a Pulitzer Prize. 
• The fund-raiser dinner for the Endowment will be held on April 12 and will feature Dave Barry. 
• Tech Support 
• At the last meeting, Teresa reported on web page changes.  
• Automation reported on the projects that they have completed and those that they would like to do. 
• There was discussion about switching some CD-ROM products to DVD.  This would primarily apply to PhoneDisc; there will not be a significant number.  Pauline and Heidi should think about how this will impact their departments. 
• Several more changes to section VIII of the Policy and Procedure manual were approved at the last Commission meeting.  The changes are mostly cosmetic. 
• The Finance Committee has met, and referred several items to the Public Services Committee:
• Facilities usage/cost 
• Policies regarding issuing of cards: reciprocal, school, etc. 
• Library fee policies, especially with regard to annual fee cards. 
• The documents stacks project is almost complete.  The last list has been received back from ODL, and items can be discarded on March 6.  Pauline will check with Ursula as to what statistics are needed for her reports. 
• Pauline has been appointed the system’s voting representative to Amigos, in place of Karen. 
• Budget is due tomorrow, February 28. 

5. Budget update - All 

• The materials budget is increasing about 4% overall; however, some of the monies will be used for databases.  The increase in funds for books and AV materials will be lower, probably 2-3%.
• Karen mentioned that the funds for some agencies’ usage of Internet databases have been changed slightly, based on actual usage.
• Materials Selection - Selectors submitted recommendations for the materials budgets for FY04.  There was approximately a 4% increase in the total materials budget. No big changes to the budgets.  
• A 7% increase was added to the databases, a 4% increase to Periodicals.  CO's were left at the FY03 figures.   
• Janet has submitted her recommendations for the department budget for FY04.  She requested a part time (approximately 30 hours per week, maximum) position for a MSD Technician who can assist with the withdrawal project in the basement, and help out in MSL or ILL as needed.   
• Janet is also requesting a new worktable, book carts, and a storage cabinet for the basement project. 
• Technical Processing - Heidi has budgeted for supplies based on this year’s usage.  This year, the department has used less CD cases and more video cases. Heidi budgeted $1,008 for replacement CD sleeves for CD books.  When they are available, she will let libraries know.  Heidi has budgeted for a new TV/monitor for videos.  The old one is at least three years old. 
• Cataloging - Pauline has budgeted for 40 page hours per week.  This would cover the 25 hours currently used for processing, and another 15 for prepping transfers. Pauline has requested several items to improve ergonomics in the department, including chairs, keyboard drawers, and a mobile workstation. Jimmy and Pauline have discussed the possibility of changing the type of labels used, from sheets to rolls.  This would require different printers as well.  Pauline has notified Automation of the cost of the desired printers, and is waiting for information on the cost of the label stock. 
•  Pauline asked if there will be changes to the account 404 (government documents) budget.  There will not be. 
• Janet asked if there is need to add a budget item for supplies for a staff retreat.  The managers agreed to increase supply budgets slightly to account for this. 

6. DN basement update – All 

• Janet distributed charts showing the number of boxes received each week, the number sent to the Friends, the number sent to Cataloging, and the number of hours MSL staff have been scheduled to work in the basement. 
• Pauline commented that receipt of transfers jumped after Christmas, but has slowed down a little for now.  It is still a struggle to keep enough ready for barcodes to be ordered and to get them ordered each day.  We are now ordering 100 barcodes each day that Lacey works.  Depending on the size of the run, we are ordering 60 for Tech as well.  Ordering barcodes for transfers slows down Cataloging’s workflow, as no other barcodes can be ordered until transfer barcodes are complete. 
• There are no boxes in Tech as of the meeting date.  There is one unopened box in Cataloging, but every available shelf is full.  Cataloging staff are even using some of the AV bin shelves.  DN is supposed to be sending 6-10 boxes of genealogy materials soon. 

7. Hispanic materials grant – Karen + all

• Karen explained that ODL has made grants to public libraries for the purchase of Hispanic materials.  MLS’s grant is $18,000, $1,000 for each agency; funds will probably not be divided in that way.  Funds must be spent by the end of the current fiscal year. 
• Janet and Phil Tolbert will be attending a workshop regarding the grants on March 6.  One question is how much of the money must be spent on Spanish language materials vs. Hispanic heritage materials in English. 
• Janet mentioned that a large order will go out this week for Spanish language materials, so those should be received soon. 

8. Questions/Miscellaneous – All

• Karen stated that the Jewish Development Center is donating a number of materials for a Holocaust Resource Collection.  Most of the materials will already be in system, but some will need to be cataloged. The materials will be sent to Cataloging after Karen and Debra Spindle evaluate them.  Karen will notify Pauline when materials are sent. 
• Karen asked Pauline if the letters HRC could be part of the call number.  Pauline said that they probably could, although it would make a difference if the materials are circulating or reference.  Since Karen indicated that all will be circulating, there should be no problem. 
• Karen mentioned that our Baker & Taylor representative has contacted her several times to schedule a meeting.  He says that MLS’s spending with B&T is $100,000 under what it was this time last fiscal year. Heidi commented that Tech is receiving quite a few materials from Ingram.  Many of the materials are CDs.  Heidi frequently has trouble getting invoices from Ingram.  Janet mentioned that the materials budget for this fiscal year is about 80% spent. In an effort to avoid having all funds spent too far in advance of the end of the year, selectors have spread spending out over the year, instead of the big push at the first of last fiscal year.  This might be why B&T spending appears to be down. Karen will gather information about the use of B&T vs. other vendors, since MLS has a contract stating that B&T is the system’s primary vendor. 
• Heidi asked about special paperbacks, which do not appear to be ordered by MSL.  Karen and Janet said that Outreach is getting special paperbacks that they are purchasing through grant funds.  No other agency should get paperbacks of this type. 
• Janet talked about OneSource, a jobber used by other vendors.  Orders are sent to other vendors, who turn to OneSource to fill them.  Invoices come from OneSource, not from the vendor.  This causes problems with payment and tracking orders. 

The next meeting will be on April 17, 8:00 A.M., at Downtown.  Janet will chair.