Executive Council Minutes - July 15, 2024

Meeting Date / Time: Monday, July 15, 2024 – 10:30 A.M.

Meeting Location: Lee Brawner Conference Room

Attendees: Susan Smith, Nita Normore, Chris Bachmann, Erin Bedford, Kimberly Boldt, Kelly Dexter, Charisse Dye, Chris Kennedy, Dennis Letter.

2024.0715 Executive Council & Advisory Council Combined Meeting Minutes

Meeting Called to Order at 10:34 A.M.

Present: Susan Smith, Chris Bachmann, Erin Bedford, Kimberly Boldt, Kelly Dexter, Charisse Dye, Chris Kennedy, Dennis Letter, Tim Whisenhunt.

Excused: Steve Butts, Kelley Hoffman, Mark Schuster, Heather Zeoli.

Guest: Zoe Travers, Internal Communications Coordinator

1.  Welcome/Housekeeping

1.1Checking In

1.1.1What do we want to call the meeting?

The Executive Council and the Advisory Council came to the consensus to rename the combined EC/AC group back to the “Leadership Team”.

1.2Moment for Mission/Core Values

Erin reported she received a text message from a staff member at RE on Sunday evening informing her that they would not be at work on Monday morning, and she was unavailable due to an already scheduled appointment at 8a.m.  She contacted Randy at MC who agreed to assist at RE from 8a.m., to 10a.m., on Monday morning.

Susan reported that on Saturday, Emily texted to inform Erin that there was a disturbance in the Downtown area of a man seen walking around the area carrying a rifle, Erin talked to the DN supervisor for awareness and Emily later texted back that the Oklahoma City Police had the situation under control.

1.3Notes from prior meeting

Susan reported that Maria and Nita take notes during the meetings and moving forward, the minutes will be shared with the EC/AC group for review before posting to the Intranet.  She will follow up with Maria to come up with an idea plan for the minutes.  Questions and discussion followed.

2.  Updates

2.1 CCO

2.1.1 Communications – Kelly Dexter

Kelly welcomed Zoe to the meeting.  She reported that one of the biggest projects that COMM is working on is internal communications and a big part of that is a system-wide newsletter with topics to be shared with staff.  Axios is the new platform for internal communications and COMM will learn it first before rolling it out to other areas.  There is a webinar on Wednesday if anyone is interested in joining to learn more about it. 

The FY2023 MLS Annual Report is complete and on the website.  There is a meeting today to go over the findings and to figure out the next steps for Wayfinding.   Kelly visited with representatives at the YMCA regarding ED2 groundbreaking as COMM will begin putting together an invitation list and promotional materials to hand out.  She welcomed any thoughts the group has.  Questions and discussion followed.

2.1.2 DVS – Heather Zeoli

Heather is excused today.

2.1.3 Community Relations – Chris Kennedy

Chris reported that he is keeping up with elected officials.  He attended the NW Chamber Coffee at BE and the PIVOT Tiny House Open House this week.  Chris reported that Goodwill Mobile Services will be at RE this week.  Questions and discussion followed. 

2.2 CFO – Charisse Dye

Charisse reported that a quote is not a requirement for budget submissions, but submitters need an estimate to budget properly.  She highlighted that when looking in Martus Budget software that the August column is where changes that came in after the templates are sent in are displayed and the September column is where all the changes from preliminary to the final budget will be input.  Charisse recommends using special funds before requesting additional general funds.  She advises everyone to review the budget in Martus to make sure the preliminary budget requests have been entered correctly. 

Charisse reported that Finance is currently in the process of undergoing the annual audit and the preliminary field work took place last week.  She extended kudos to HUM for their rush in providing documentation on payroll selections.  The auditors will return the first and second week of August to do the final field work that will take about one to two months for the audit to be completed then it will be presented to the Commission no later than October. 

2.3 COO – Chris Bachmann

Chris reported that everything is running smoothly with the chiller at MC and there is a meeting with the contractor tomorrow. 

Last week, a Facility Condition Assessment was completed at 11 locations and a 3D scan of ED is scheduled for tomorrow.  Chris reported that there have been some concerns identified at some locations that will need to be addressed.  Questions and discussion followed. 

Chris reported that the new maintenance work order system went live.  There have been some issues in the system internally and IT will provide additional training on Wednesday to work through all the bugs in the system.  Questions and discussion followed. 

2.4 CPO – Kelley Hoffman

In Kelley’s absence, Susan reported that HUM continues to work on open positions and recruitment.  She recommends with the transition of benefits that staff go into Paycom and check their paystubs to ensure the correct deductions are reflected.  Charisse encourage staff to also log in to Empower to ensure their investments are what they expect them to be.  Questions and discussion followed.

2.5 CTO – Tim Whisenhunt

Tim reported that the IT team is working through getting all renewals for software services coming due in July.  Taylor has been working on and completed network switch updates across the system.  She will be reaching out to about five locations to schedule a day to install voice routers. 

IT is currently working with OneNet in establishing a secondary internet line that comes into the library’s system so in the event internet goes down, the library will still have service.  Questions and discussion followed. 

Guest Services – Erin Bedford

Erin reported that RE Library has a new library manager who will begin their new role on Monday, July 22.  She will be sending a meeting invite to the same group in IT to discuss the MakerSpace.  Mark is on vacation this week and if anyone needs assistance, please contact Erin or Kimberly.

Outreach & Engagement Services - Kimberly Boldt

Kimberly reported the GS meeting was last week at MC and extended kudos to Maintenance for maintaining a reasonable temperature inside of the library.  She attended the PIVOT Tiny House tour and gave out Summer Reading I-HOP coupons.  If anyone would like a PIVOT tour, please contact Emily to set up a tour.  Questions and discussion followed.

Last week, Kimberly attended the stakeholder meeting for the Housing Authority Choice Neighborhood Initiative who received a planning grant, and she was invited back to attend their meeting in September.  Today, she received and will forward a slideshow of the event to everyone.  Councilwoman, JoBeth Hamon was also in attendance.  Questions and discussion followed.

The teen volunteer after-hours recognition party will be held DN on Friday, August 2 and NYAJ will sell coffee from the kitchen next to the Friends Room during the party.  LitFest is Saturday, August 17. 

OES is currently working on turning best practices into expectations and has a group to review them with hopes to plan various training to ensure everyone understands the meaning.

Security - Dennis Letter

Dennis reported that the talkdown system is installed at AL which now makes three locations with talkdown systems and once everything is finalized in the budget, he will schedule the other talkdown systems and get them put into place.  New camera system upgrades were installed at four locations and finished by the week of July 4 to which, Dennis and Justin are working with IT to schedule the rest of the camera system upgrades.  DN and NW are in line for cameras this year and Dennis will be seeking quotes.  Work will begin on getting the talkdown systems at CH, SO, and RE.    

2.6CEO – Susan Smith

Susan reported that leases are still being worked on.  This September, she will be joining other library system directors in Washington, D.C.

3. Old Business

Susan reported that she, Kimberly, RDs, and Tim met to discuss guests streaming music in a public library as this could become a liability for the library system.  Questions and discussion followed.

3.1 Changes for Final Budget

Charisse reported that $200,000 was added into the budget for insurance and $125,000 added in for the ED2 contribution for the raise flooring.  Questions and discussion followed.

4. NEW Business

There is no new business.

5. Other Discussion/Announcements

5.1 Any mini meetings?

Erin requested a meeting to discuss FF&E that was budgeted for RE.  We need to discuss the timeline as we will need to go out to bid for the shelving.  What is planned to be replaced this year: shelving, tables and chairs, computer tables, and the circulation desk.  Questions and discussion followed.

6. Actions Items

• A meeting is scheduled to discuss the final budget.
• Erin will set up a meeting to discuss the RE project with the departments.

Other Business

Charisse referred to a potential new tipping policy while on travel for the library.  Susan reported that Charisse will work on some new instructions and language for guidelines around tipping while on travel for the library system.  Questions and discussion followed.

Next meeting is scheduled on Monday, July 22, 2024, 10:30 a.m.

Susan adjourned the meeting at 11:48 A.M.