The monthly meeting of the Board of the St. Louis County Library District was held at the Mahlon P. Wallace Headquarters Branch, 1640 S. Lindbergh Blvd., on Monday, January 23 at 3:30 p.m. The agenda had been posted in all branches of the Library District at least 24 hours before the meeting.
Library Board Members
Bettie Gershman, Vice President
Kenneth P. Stricker , Treasurer
Jean Weinstock, Secretary
Chingling Tai, Member
Richard J. Bagy, Jr. was not able to attend.Others Attending
Gary Holdefer, Associate Director and Comptroller; Darold Crotzer, Crotzer, Ford & Ormsby Counsel; George Durnell, Asst. Director; Kristen Sorth, Manager, Human Resources; William Rodgers, Manager, Information Systems Technology; Barbara Brain, Senior Branch Manager; Marie Conlin, Library Planner; Bonnie Miller, Family Court of St. Louis County; Jeff Osburg, Manager of Community Programs, Family Court of St. Louis County; Jim Bogart, Development Manager; and Sandra Williams, Executive Assistant.
In the absence of the Board President, the meeting was chaired by Bettie Gershman.
The Minutes, Monday, December 19, 2005, were approved by general consent.
Treasurer’s Report was received by the Board, subject to audit.
Family Court - Mr. Durnell introduced Bonnie Miller of Family Court of St. Louis County who requested permission to hold Victim/Offender Dialogue sessions in our branch meeting rooms. Because these sessions are of necessity closed to all but the participants, they do not qualify under current Board Policy. Ms. Miller has requested that the Board grant an exception to their policy. The Board approved use of the meeting rooms on a six month trial basis. The juvenile offenders must be screened. Sessions that involve an offender whose conviction involves use of a weapon will not be permitted in Library meeting rooms. The Board’s attorney will draft an agreement for both parties to sign (Weinstock/Stricker).
Library Foundation Financials - Mr. Holdefer presented the Library Foundation’s December 2005 financial statement.
Code of Ethics and Code of Conduct - Kristen Sorth reported that as part of an initiative to safeguard Library assets, a committee was established to review the Library’s internal controls. That committee developed the code of ethics and code of conduct. Both will be distributed to every employee. The committee is recommending that we contract with Global Compliance to receive comments from staff.
Suggestions - Marie Conlin reported that a memo was sent to all staff requesting suggestions for Library improvement. Suggestions were received from 627 of 719 employees. After processing and categorizing the suggestions, a complete report will be given to the Board.
Health Insurance for Retirees - The Board approved offering Health Insurance to pre-65 year old retirees through GHP at a cost of $438.67 per month. Pensioners that are 65 years of age or older will be offered a Medicare Supplement which costs $106.87 or $201.81 with a drug card. Both benefits are voluntary. There will be no cost to the Library (Stricker/Weinstock).
Inverstment Bids - Mr. Holdefer recommended the Board accept investment bids from St. Louis Bank and Pulaski Bank. Rates ranged from 4.70 to 4.75 for short term maturities (Weinstock/Tai). Mr. Stricker abstained.
Food For Fines - The Board approved the annual Food for Fines program to take place during National Library Week, April 2-8, 2006 (Stricker/Weinstock).
Personal Computers - The Board approved the low bid from Dell for 300 Dell Optiplex 690 computers at a cost of $272,100.00 These will replace existing computers no longer covered under warranty and will supplement patron Internet and juvenile computers. The Board approved purchasing an additional 20 computers if a pending grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is awarded. (Stricker/Tai).
HR/Payroll RFP - The Board approved the recommendation to upgrade to the Ceridian web based product for administering and supporting all aspects of human resources and payroll for current employees and pensioners. The cost is $118,929 for year one and $108,129 for year two and beyond. Library servers and staff will no longer be needed for an approximate savings of $40,000 (Weinstock/Stricker). The Library currently pays $76,367 per year for payroll /HR processing.
Bookmoblie Graphics - The Board accepted the low bid from Lamar Advertising to print and install the graphics on three new bookmobile trailers. The total cost is $13,950 (Stricker/Weinstock).
Emperor's Palace - Dr. Tai submitted a request that the Asian Center’s name be used as a sponsor to a Chinese New Year event held at the Emperor’s Palace. This would be at no cost to the Library. The request was approved (Weinstock/Stricker).
Closed Session (Next Meeting) - Mr. Stricker moved that the open meeting adjourn and reconvene in closed session pursuant to Section 610.021 subsection (1), (2), (3), (9), (11), (12), (13) and (14) to discuss matters relating to legal actions, causes of action or litigation; property acquisition or sale and any personnel matters involving hiring, firing, discipline and promotion. Mrs. Weinstock seconded. All voted in the affirmative.
The meeting adjourned at 4:14 p.m.
Respectfully Submitted,
____________________________________________ __________________
Jean Weinstock
Date
Secretary