##VIDEO ID:dnc31EuPoBc## okay welcome everyone sorry we're late um I'd like to call this meeting to order this meeting has been advertised in accordance with the New Jersey open public meetings act and is publicly accessible in accordance with law roll call please yes sorry May Kevin brelli here Roco here David sadino Dr George here Sarah here Maria no Rosemary's here Zab absent Maddie here mayor Walker absent Frank Weber here okay thank you okay to the flag pledge allegiance to flag of the United States of America America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty I'll just ask everyone to remain standing for one moment as today is a very solemn day we can take a moment of silence for all those lives lost on September 11 2001 thank you we uh we don't have any for executive session I don't take right nothing right um did you want to have something in executive session or no um should we I guess there was something you wanted to mention yesterday that you would have preferred to discuss there but yeah it could come up later we can we could what is it in reference to um funding spending funding does that need to be I don't think that that uh if it has to do with the budget just normal public expenditures that is not an exact session issue yeah it's not it's not yeah it was just a question from the meeting yesterday okay okay so we'll bring that up on the finance well no not want to do an executive session yeah but it's not ex so fine I'll just you you can speak to Kevin and okay all right fine okay um so then we'll go on to the minutes uh approval of the regular meeting minutes but August 14th somebody make a motion I will make a motion Mar makes second second any discussion on that okay uh roll call please Kevin yes Rocco yes Dr George abstain abstain Sarah yes um yeah I'm a yes uh Zab is not here right Maddie yes and Frank aban okay thank you okay okay uh nothing under Personnel so we'll move on to finance the bill listing in the amount of 185,000 28904 um Maria is not here but I did not see any questions raised um she did have one question okay so and I think this is relevant for everyone to um recall in our progression with hoopla as we're addressing ebooks and E Resources um we've made changes we've increased our budget and because we increased our budget the Consortium used to manage our relationship with that vendor with hoopla and I didn't feel that it was maximized in the way that the that the salesperson our sales rep for that product is very eager to assist us so we changed it over so what you will see is that we're now paying Midwest tape directly which is the company that owns hoopla rather than lmxac and Maria um wanted to understand that but I thought it was a good idea for the full board um we still do need to increase our ebooks a bit so next month I'm going to have a proposal for another product of theirs with a with a project but that will be for next month okay yep okay so with that I'll ask for a motion to approve the bill listing I make a motion thanks it's second I'll I'll second it thank you any discussion on the bill listing when uh I don't know how whatever when can we anticipate getting a budget for this year so I'm going to say that uh I will anticipate the budget to be moved next month so I have reached out to the uh committee chair um to get together to meet on the budget and I haven't had response um so Frank I was going to reach out to you directly um I think that if we can't get together with the committee chair that you and I will take the committee the the budget forward and meet as a committee we we'll invite Maria of course yeah not a problem yeah so we we will get something for this month and I'll speak to you about that separately Frank and then uh we'll look to get that moved at the October meeting okay all right Rocco yes Sarah yes I am a yes Maddie yes Frank yes Kevin yes thank you did you get Dr George oh I'm so sorry Dr George you oh I L you in the mix I apologize Dr George she right she's until we get a budget okay thank you all right anything for old business okay nothing I'll go on to new business okay um I have something for new business okay uh so uh we had a buildings and ground meeting grounds meetings and we talked about several different projects um one of the projects um that there's actually several that we're going to talk about tonight um one of them will be in the buildings and grounds reports one will be in the director's report but I'd like to bring this particular one um uh up to discussion and just as an introduction uh I don't plan on anything being passed or being moved tonight there's no motions on this this is purely informational for the board um and it's about the self checkout and this RFID system um it is an extensive project my hopes is that after um Dawn explains the ins and outs of this if you have any questions or need more information that you'll contact her uh next month we plan on having someone who represents these companies that are going to be talking about this technology they'll be at the meeting next month uh so you can ask questions then and then I'm hoping that as a board we will have a vote either in November or December about this particular you know program so this is one vendor that handles both the RFID and the self checkout yes I'm going to turn it over to D because she can explain it a heck of a lot better than I can okay so you we've had a self-check machine and it's a self-check machine that uses barcodes um you can do that our books are only barcoded so we don't have a security system we don't have an ability to do um an inventory without physically touching every single book and we we aren't able to move forward with the 24-hour libraries which are basically you can get one that's like an Amazon Locker where people can pick up their books at any hour and they're tracked and they're checked in you look at our book drops right now things just get put in there they don't get checked in which is why people don't really use them because they want to see immediately that their book was returned um EXC done we have somebody in the way oh I'm sorry thanks okay um okay so there's a host of technologies that are kind of integral to how we envision a branch another branch of the library moving forward and what that looks like none of those things can be approached without RFID RFID is radio frequency identification and literally you pick up a book you put it near the sensor the pad and it checks the item out so if we get the RFID um and that means physically someone has to come in and touch every single book in the library to put a tag on it so what we get done if we get the RFID is you get an entire inventory done that we've not had in about 20 years you have access to more self-check options you have access to the 24-hour libraries all the technologies that a lot of libraries have now I would say the majority but we're kind of in the minority with not having that so before we get the self check machine and and all of those pieces um so I brought to the committee yesterday prices from the two main vendors um there's a third vendor you can get things from with regard to these Technologies the only good reviews that I've gotten from other librar is these two companies so um anybody who's gone with the other company has not been able to keep up and in fact our outdated self check machine is from that third vendor that we're just not going to I don't think we need to move forward with them so I have cataloges I've held meetings um and what I'd like to know from the board is that the RFID the tagging is the most expensive part of this entire Venture it is over $100,000 to have to buy the tags and have them put on the collection and that's a very big investment um but it's an investment in our physical and I know that this is there's going to be a lot of questions and there are going to be a lot of people um who need time to digest this so this is why all we wanted to do was introduce that this information is going to be coming to everyone and then I assumed that the board would like to hear from both of those vendors um so my thought was to ask them to come in for 10 minutes each um to to give kind of their Vision um of what we would be doing um and they're doing that in the hopes of BU starting the relationship with us to where we can really build and grow and look at some of these Technology based options for how we're getting materials into into the hands of our community okay when can we expect to see the first bit of information I mean we're going to get information on them prior to meeting with them next month right yeah um and and I mean I have the approach which is what I want to do is just make sure that the board approves of my investment of time in these um and then I'll ask them um to make sure that each of those vendors can send that information and I'll provide any overview that's needed before then and then we'll actually be able to ask them questions at that October meeting how do how does it work as new books come in so this is where right now we're with book processing each book gets a barcode on it and what it's going to get instead is one of these RFID tags so like what I'm saying is after all the books get the RFID how about additional books like the newer books that come in does is that going to increase the budget or it's so it's kind of the same processing and this is what I'm saying right now we're already paying for the processing for a barcode to go on there they're going to need the RFID tag and we do need to look at an impact I think the tags we were looking at and the the vendors are very they're able to answer all these questions I think they're about like 15 cents a book so if I look at we add added 12,000 New pieces of physical material to the collection this year that would be 15 cents so it would translate into a person who does better math than I do so we spoke as well about becoming a library of things other things other than just books so this would cover those items as well correct yeah yeah and and this is where the the other thing that I like about this is um when we did the keyless entry we talked about it being an expandable system and that's precisely what this is you can look at do you want to have security gates because you know a lot of libraries are getting rid of them but I also think that people know that Oldbridge doesn't have security so we do get targeted um so this is a better way for us to do um inventory and to make sure that our physical collection that we're protecting that investment I think we're looking more and more at having you know our our trendy items making sure that those are available in electronic format but then what physically can go on our shelves but our investment in our long-term core collection I feel like that could use that protection and the library of things no one can take that and walk out the door if we have security yeah so um were there any other questions about that yes uh how many items would have to be currently with all of the things that we have books whatever how many about 140,000 that's that's all we have I thought it was more exensive than that what's that I thought we we had a larger amount of books than 140,000 that's physical materials that's what so that's what we're getting from the the numbers from the catalog when I asked for them it's about 140,000 and that includes the DVDs and um all of that all right so that's going to cost roughly 70 cents a piece something like that to do yeah and that's for someone to come in coordinate the project because records have to be you know changed in the catalog as we go it's a lot of work to get that done and then right now they physically have to put a hand on every single item and choose the tag all right um the other thing you advised us a number of meetings back that our scanning system was not working and do we know how long that was not in effect where people could just if knew it didn't work they could just walk out with the book and you love see it again um I know that we have security gates but I don't know when at any Point anybody so in order for those security gates to work if it was ever actually done here there was some there was a little strip of like a magnetic tape not magnetic but it we used to call it tattle tape um and that's what would set off Those sensors Those sensors have not been active in anyone's recent memory here all right and I guess the other question I would ask on the assumption that we were losing a lot of material uh and a person comes in and wants to look for a particular book and we're supposed to have four of them and we have two out and we can't find the other two do they have have they ever been keeping a record of that I'm so sorry so what you if I can just repeat it back to you to make sure I'm answering you if we have four copies of one title that's that's what the inventory says right and we have two books that are out which we can substantiate which means we should have two books on the Shelf uh person goes to the shelf and they can't find it uh do they then just ignore it or do they come to the you know how do we how did we ever know before when we're losing material so when someone comes up and reports an item missing there's a process right now that on a monthly basis missing items or missing item list is generated but if someone doesn't ask for it we don't know that it's not there and I will tell you that last week um I was a woman came in searching for two items and one of them was not in the right place uh partially because of the new catalog system I'm working on that and the other one was missing so we frequently have U missing items come up they get looked for once a month and then it goes out to The Librarians for them to decide whether we want to reach order so there is a process that hasn't been strictly followed but I'm absolutely getting it um uh going again one one of the things you may want to consider before we do all of the tagging is to get some idea of um do we have a list of the what the most popular books are going out that kind of thing do we know by circulation I mean you can go in and you can certainly search for the the item that have the highest circulations yeah and uh the thing I would suggest that's certainly a job that pages should be able to do uh when the librarian comes up with a list and says I'm you know tell me how many of these I have somewhere along the line because it would just be interesting to find out um you know do you know what or there maybe somebody at lmxac you can ask uh what is the average Library spent in buying new books each proportionately obviously to their collection each year yeah I've never seen anyone keep that statistic but I could certainly take a look in the library literature that sounds like something that would be more of a national figure but I can um I can certainly take a look well since we're one of the safer towns in New Jersey before the before we got all these uh right but you have Uninvited people you have patrons from 42 other towns now in New Jersey that are able to use this Library no I'm aware of that fully aware of yes okay anyone else for any discussion on this okay we're good yeah all right anything else so that was it for new business that's it for new business anyone else new business yeah uh under new business um besides my uh problems with with the couple of operations I had on my foot and sepsis and covid which is it's been a good time um I'm I'm on uh I'll be 80 in December and I've survived subsis twice in Co twice so I feel good and uh I want to stay active now what would be helpful is can somebody tell me what the size font print is on this printed material are we trying to save a lot of paper or have we considered that's that's the default I believe it's a size 12 uh it's not 10 it's whatever comes up as default on the computer yeah well my suggestion should be if you're worried about paper just print on both sides and number the pages please not everything we get is a numbered page and also have a tit on some of these pages that don't have any title so uh it certainly would make it a lot more easy to read and understand for example hard copy or soft copy no this is when softop it would have to it would have to you could increase the size you're getting it soft copy no uh I'm going to be getting it the other way but that's not my point if I want to print it uh you know then I have to go through the machinations of changing the font all the time the the now I I have a lot of background in printing and uh I know my eyes aren't as good as they were when I was 21 but uh the fonts on the pages that we printed which came you know we don't have a we don't have a we have a minimum font set for 10 points this looks like it's more in a neighborhood of eight and uh there's nothing that's an eight but can you tell me what specific because like the director's report has a a title at the top and it's no no I know you do I'm only I'm only addressing the things that aren't indicated I understand I'm trying to ask I mean so which document specifically are you looking at Frank well yeah the document which says number and then and I assume that this is a story times and all that it's all of those things there's no title on that not the page that I have so it it um it has a title at the beginning it's the department reports all right well all right so you listed on it as being a a department report let me go to that page that I and it has it has page number so you can tell it's part of that document I'm just trying to identify so we make sure that we can make a correction for let me let me make a a single explanation if something's three or four pages it should be numbered at the bottom of the page and if you don't know what document it is necessarily because the page became separated for any reason it should have a title on the page I don't want to have to go into the agenda to find out that that's I think that's common business practice and most things where you have multiple documents to look so let let's take this offline what we do is we'll look at the documents making sure that they're all numbered um and and en large a print I haven't made any changes to anything that has been done here okay so we'll look into that okay all right any other new business yeah um one of the things we got the think now there was going to be a little discussion we were said to believe uh on this issue of a vendor for furniture or refreshing and so on and attention I'm in the middle of a lecture right now and you are interrupting my lecture do not mute me I'm in the middle I'm in the middle of a lecture right now and you're interrupting my lecture shut  up there we go that's no you going to remove him yes he's interrupting the meeting okay all right I'm sorry do you not want me to that's fine it's fine I was just gonna say just mute him he just he unmutes me when I he he can over he's overing okay all right that's fine I'm sorry that's my inner teacher comes out you also appeared with muted TR um wow so Frank can you unmute the on mute there we go okay so you weren't listening all that time no I'm sorry someone interrupted the meeting yes I'm aware was pardon me no I'm aware of that and he was pretty nasty yeah yeah pretty much yeah so um just so everyone knows um I muted him he unmuted himself and so I removed him from the meeting okay all right so let's continue on I'm sorry Frank where were you well the other thing uh D you sent us a document uh which again is not signed so it be another thing to i' like to know who wrote a particular report or anything I think normally if we put anything on paper uh whoever should produce that paper should at least have their name on it so we know who it is if we want to look back historically or at any time um the other thing I'm concerned about is the company that you're leaning toward now I wouldn't know them if I fell over them but I did a little research and one of the things you mentioned and yours uh recommendation was that this was the best company well this that's what that's not at all what I said what did you say tell me where's that letter what I said in here is that they were well regarded and that they had submitted a proposal and I believe Rocco did you want to speak about that or do you want let me let me finish my question I think Frank should finish first and then we can respond okay what I'm suggesting is we don't know what did you send out to them to give you a proposal on we don't we have have we seen a proposal the committee has and the committee has seen the proposal and why should why should the the decision on whether you go with an individual should be based on the the committee can make a recommendation but the board should be aware of it because there's at least five or six companies in the state of New Jersey who do Renovations on libraries and uh I have lists of many of the libraries they've done uh they're mostly in the New York uh State and New Jersey area a few smaller places many of the towns are uh wealthier towns in Albridge most of the towns are wealthier towns in Albridge so they have some high-end clients which begs in my question is how expensive they are they going to be now you also sent us photographs or I don't know who said those photographs did you take those or were they taken by okay no I took them so the the red share that you've had in there U there were like 15 or 18 of those from my memory in the library yes and only one or two of them seemed other than uh a good cleaning you know and are we are we trying to be spending the taxpayers dollars being concerned about having functional furniture or something which is the current how shall I say the uh you know the current style um because I don't know how French provincial last as long as it did but uh so my question is we need more information than just one vendor and we need to see the proposal that's going to the vendors in my opinion so yeah and I think that's exactly why this information was sent out um Frank so what information the information that was sent out in the packet that is here right now so that people could ask these kind of questions so okay I'm glad GL I've in full agreement with I guess we could get more this is why we brought it here we're not looking to do any kind of motion or any kind of movement right now um we're trying to go through process with the entire board that was clearly spelled out in what da sent okay the other consideration is the LI the Board needs to we have a capital dollar amount in a report of which is roughly 1.4 million and if we want to do something in South alridge part of that's going to have to come from us a significant part so right now what are your priorities do we ignore South Oldbridge South elridge the biggest problem with it in my opinion is uh the elementary school kids get out at 345 Rocko I believe it is uh 3:15 actually and then by the time they get off the buses maybe depending on where yeah depending on what tool what so on so if mom or dad wants to take their children to the main library and the reward five and six uh maybe you get there at six o'clock if you're lucky interferes with meal so uh we we got a branch down in Lawrence Harbor we don't have anything at the other end of town and uh Lawrence Harbor is far closer to the central branch than anything out in Ward six would be so agreed agreed and and I think that part of the issue is that we've we've discussed uh South Oldbridge but we we haven't really make taken the steps to to move forward right so um I think you know I've also brought up the fact that we we need to come up with a list of priorities strategic plan um so that we have a find to the to the director where we want to focus right the focus wants to be South Oldbridge the focus wants to be updating the interior of central Branch so on um in what order um but I I we I don't think as a board we've got to that point yet so they're they're doing what is what information is available and and moving forward so I I would just simply re try to recognize that are we better off serving two of the wards in town than necessarily spending overspending on furniture particularly or whatever the case may be or Renovations and that you you know before you get I'd be happy to talk to somebody town hall because I don't know if you can expect them to pay for it and you'd have to get an estimate on if you wanted to um modify the firehouse that's on there that's a two-story building but I think we're way off what we're talking about we're talking about a different so many different things and you know I you need to have some patience it all goes back to the fact that we don't even have a budget so we don't even know what we want to spend for different things well we have what's budgeted this month this year for furniture have we talked about that I I don't you guys I mean I know when I want to think about doing something over the first thing I think about is how much money do I have to do it you just don't go out and do things and then find out what it's going to agreed agree over the place we have a preliminary budget we've been waiting to finalize it and get it in front of the full Board of Trustees that's why I mentioned earlier that we will take whatever steps we need to take to make sure that the budget gets mov next month but recognize that you do have the bottom of why we're wondering okay we're not getting anything resolved because we don't look at all the issues now to start discussing whether we're going to put a a branch down in Southbridge now why are we doing that now that's a whole different issue and Frank you have a committee That was supposed to go out and find out what the heck the people in South Oldbridge want and I don't think you've ever had a meeting so we're just operating in the dark I I and wasting a lot of time whatever you're bringing up about the technology and checking books out and doing inventories let's get into this Century of course you need that done all right we have a fixed capital budget right now A Quant to have amount of 1.3 something six million correct on it is but we have the money in this year's budget reason my point is the money that's in this year's capital budget is there as a fixed amount because it's items that re that requires it be there the accounting system so that is your Capital so having to get any other money is beyond that that's right now that's the dollar amount assuming that number is correct that's what you have to work with of all capital period in our current budget we could absolutely put the one phase of this and I just want to add you know Dr George has brought up what I think is an excellent Point many times what is the purpose of the committee so I'm just going to let you know how what what was sent out Comm is it if we have what's that what committee is it buildings and grounds so I I just want you to know what we did I brought a number of projects to buildings and grounds particularly with an eye toward the spending from this year because if you take a look at the finances we've UND spent so it's certainly I'm only looking at what we need to get us caught up as a library so I brought those projects to buildings and grounds to discuss them and what was sent out was um a report that had a title and a date and all of that um that the the committee had asked me to send that portion so that today what we could do was not approve a company not pick a company not spend any money but simply agree on a process so that as the committee moves forward and I move forward I'm spending my time efficiently and effectively to keep them informed so that they can then bring that to the rest of the board I had thought that that was supposed to be the process yep well I think the process with committees again we need a workshop we need it badly we've needed it for a long time because I don't understand understand uh how we're using committees I I have a whole different idea of what a committee is and well if if you want to put to bed the idea of not doing something for South oldridge and again talk about Southridge well I do m j may I finish please you interrupted me Frank and and you know this is silly and I we have a very good view sitting here of all of you at the table and all of your eye rolling and and I think is well earned because you you just we're just wandering we're not getting anything resolved when we talk about what you want to do and I I think the Committees exist to kind of push it together and so that we're not all discussing the same thing but I don't think the committee is in lie of the board no all that is why Dr George you're 100% correct and I with you on this one and that is why we're here to having this discussion now and I'm not showing up and saying okay we need to vote on this right away um we are starting this process we are at it's literally in its infancy and that is why I felt it was necessary for Dawn to talk to the entire board about this information so that we could have these discussions yeah I feel like that is the proper way to do it and you know again this isn't something that we ar going to vote on next month um this is something that is a process that we will keep coming back to not letting keeping our eye on the ball and moving forward till we get to the point where we feel comfortable when a budget is set in motion when we understand our Capital funds if we want to have a discussion about South Oldbridge and a branch there and if that's going to have an effect on this that is why we're here this is what these meetings are for this is what this venue is for um as a me as the chairman of this committee that I felt it was very necessary to share it with all of to have the discussion we're having right now don't misunderstand don't misunderstand me I'm not saying that you should do South Oldbridge versus what what we talked about tonight whichever the board decides but since there has been a period of time that just from a realistic standpoint they have the longest trip through the heaviest traffic she get to library aged and so going back to this committee structure and the point that Rocko is making you know I appreciate the fact that it's coming to the Board of Trustees at least two months prior to being asked to vote on it um I know that we said there's no vote tonight not met two weeks ago or last week and said hey D add this to the agenda we'd like to get the the Board of Trustees to vote on this right so we're aware it he he'll get the information share it and we'll be able to ask those questions next month and then we'll take time after that now we even vote on it the month after that now the other questions on is uh the this project uh for marking the books and all that you you start at $100,000 so that that is a capital Improvement project that we believe not be in this year's budget if you at Finance if you look at the finance sheet from this month you are looking at the 2023 budget our budget this year was an increase of $200,000 no one's even looked at that yet we have literally three months left in this fiscal year none of the things I've brought forward would be in the the capital from the capital funds but deter the the determining question whether it's in uh it comes out of capital or not you can put more money out of the expense fores the overage into the capital funds account can you not you can move extra funds into the capital fund yes but if you don't need to I'm not sure why I understand why you well because I'm just asking if I'll get a clarification on whether it's a capital Improvement item or not but I would like Chris to make that determination I think Don is saying that it's in the operating budget whether or not that's been approved yet yeah it is not a question of taking it out of capital reserves it's not a question of moving it as a capital project it's operating money to buy personal property for out on your floor I think I think it's a different category than buying or renovating a new building no but I I think the question that he's asking is so if we don't buy the furniture then we have additional funds left at the end of the year that we can move into capital budget to say let's use this for next year yes if you don't use active funds you can some into but we start with buying furniture we started with buying stuff you need to run the the library the library and the services to the community as a whole right and ultimately this is the taxpayers money um we don't go out we we don't go out we don't ask for an increase year onye um the state does mandate if I'm correct Chris that we get a 2% increase every year whether the municipality wants to give it to us or not that's state law um so we are getting these funds or we're providing These funds to provide the services to the community um the best services that we can provide to them yeah it's it's onethird mil and that's calculated by the state and that's based on our property taxes um and and you're absolutely right and and ex ly it's stated that the job of the trustees and Library director is to expend the municipal appropriation so so we're doing an injustice if we're not utilizing the funds and we're looking to use it for other sources yes and you're also as we have this discussion every couple months if you UND spend you're at risk of a raid right you cannot have more than 20% above your operating moving into the next fiscal period and that is has not happened to you get right and and the other aspect is it is wise to put funds into Capital reserves for necessary upgrades unexpected and so on however we are not in a position where we don't have those Capital reserves if God forbid something would happen correct and and that's the thing if I'm not putting these projects forward um if we're dealing with broken furniture with torn furniture with all those kinds of things and we're under spending grossly which is what we can be put at risk of it's not a matter to willy-nilly spend money and Frank I understand there are communities that have very high-end Renovations with boats for kids like life-sized boats in the middle of the library I don't think we're looking at that in putting these pictures out all I was trying to do was show that in every area of the library from the computer area to our our public desks to the chairs people are sitting on to the idea Farm which is you know we're using folding tables in there um that this is something that with the size of the appropriation and the size of our community I think that it can be expected that we're not going to have furniture who corners of the tables have to be duct taped that that's not again talking about history that you weren't here and you don't know about we did put money out and uh authorized the director then to to meet with the board and pick out furniture that was Barbara Cannon and it was Nancy Cohen and they picked out Furniture I don't who care I don't care about that uh so we did make some effort sure my problem right now is we're not talking about Capital if we're talking about the Machinery to scare books I my understanding and I could be all wrong on a lot of this but I thought in order for something to be in capital it had to last for five years it there were things attached to it before we say we're going to buy that out of capital funds it we don't get just a lump of money and do what you want with it no we're not buying anything out of capital funds right so what are we talking about it for right what do Southridge I would suggest that you get an official opinion whether this is a capital budget item and if you've got the money now in the operating budget you can move that amount that however you need for this into the capital budget it will be properly expended if it's not then you can spend it the way it is yeah so I think it needs that clarification and right right now it is not a capital project it is a operating expense that is budgeted for possibly in a budget that hasn't been approved yet yeah but that it is not a capital project at this point in this conversation yeah and and if I can that will make sense to me okay and but as part of that if I have a question I'm going to say what money are we saving or if any by putting this in because it's part of the equation the 100,000 if we save two Librarians they don't have to sit there putting things on on book that's a balance that's the operation that's makes it understand that but we don't get those D the things you're talking about with pictures I don't have that correspondence in the packet that was mailed to me no and I I said I was asked by the committee okay to send it talking about he's talking about pictures I don't I I only sent that out yesterday in an email and it says this is only for illustration purposes there's no vote there's absolutely nothing going on this is just the start of the conversation and we were looking for a general agreement with the approach which is our library has six Bays if you look at each I know and you want to move it around and that's great and we did the free one we did the move and that's worked out really well um and then now now it's moving on to the others and I put in this email and Dr George again this isn't for um of really that's just to introduce the discussion okay I that must be missing from my email but that does happen so I'll find it in my email I don't want to take I'll forward it to you right now Ros is gonna forward it again but what it was was instead of doing one of those big Renovations where they closed down the library and and Dr George I appreciate the carpeting you know is has been done what's that we did the carpeting recently know that's that's what I'm trying to say um and then what I'm putting forth is that instead of doing this massive renovation we can do it in five phases I'm with you yeah and and less disruption and spreading the cost out over a period of a couple of years you don't have and I think that you're looking at a lot of money that we have that we've saved and whatever and we can afford to make it look that's fine I have no problem with that I also don't think that a committee God bless you Rocco but I don't think he knows anything you know anything more about scanning books and blah blah blah I don't think that needs to go to a committee that we listen to you on that that's what we're paying you for and if we need more research we ask for it buildings and grounds I don't think is scanning books out with Machinery I I this was referred several months ago it's an upgrade to the building yeah uh and and certainly you know it should go through a committee that's probably the best committee for it and I think that's why Roo made the recommendation as well to to bring the vendor in to answer questions and that's why I brought it right away Joan because you're not again I'm agreeing with you apprciate what you're doing but that's what that's why I like I said this isn't something that we can sit here and mull over in committee this is something that needs to go to all of us that's that and I think what you did to make it easier but I think that's what got confusing with capital and non- capital because if you're putting in buildings and grounds a lot of that stuff is capital so just could we just stay on topic and okay you're trying on we're under new business anything else for new business director I have a question okay have we done any this is probably for you um I really am not not um current with the current contract but I thought we were supposed to start negotiations in September yeah we I I've have been in touch with Bill morowski and Debbie Park so I was going to touch on this under Personnel negotiations but I've asked them to give us their bargaining proposals we're supposed to start subsequent to the September meeting which means anytime after 8ish tonight and um we will get their proposals we will discuss them as a negotiations committee provide them with responses provide them with our own proposals after Don and I have a discussion and then that's vetted through the committee and we'll be uh up and running I assume that when you say we you mean Personnel committee or or somebody else personel negotiations committee yes yes well we haven't had a meeting so I I just don't know where negotiations are and we should start it that is where they are they are starting and the next step will be for us to receive the proposals which will then come to the whole committee coming soon to a zoom near you all right um director's report okay um I have a lot so um the first thing that I want to touch on is um with regard to getting the architect so that we can even present the board with a proposal to renovate the bathrooms the bathrooms we know have seen better days um and they need to to get done um um that I had hoped that the town would allow us to use their qpa which increases our bid threshold only for the architect because the architect we only got one proposal and it was over over um our bid threshold so they've asked that we not do that so I consulted with Chris who corrected me because I didn't realize that for Architects and Engineers there is no bid threshold yeah it's a professional service so we would we'll do through an RFP and then the board will get information when you get respondents to that yeah so I have a question before we get there when you rent the place doesn't it come with a bathroom why are we responsible for I don't know what you're doing in the bathroom if you're just painting it blue who cares but retiling it and everything else I think we need to talk about the township about you know I I I think I think it's very similar to the roof situation yeah but we we don't own the building but we also don't rent the building the building is provided to us by the township to provide the service to the community and in order to provide that service to the community we should have functional bathrooms so therefore but that's law okay so whether we pay rent or we don't pay rent that's not up to us that that's all written in a legal talk and I have no problem we have the money I said give the money back if we don't need the money or do something like fix the bathroom but could we talk about it I we we are talking about it talk about it we are talking talk about what what what's planned to be done in the bathroom okay what's it GNA cost and how do we work it where do all this CPS or whatever you're talking about I have no idea how we pay for it that all will be talked about before you started so I I think that we we have to go out and have some professionals come in and take a look and tell us what's required right I I don't know what's again to to the point before you know I I don't really I'm not a plumber so I don't know what what how to fix a bathroom um so I would leave it up to someone professional come in and advise me and probably get a second opinion and then make my decision based off of that and I think that's what we're doing and that's exactly what we're doing so I brought this up with buildings and grounds um the thing is bathrooms don't last forever um I believe that these are original to the building um we're replacing pipe by pipe and fixture by fixture and it's incredibly expensive um and Dr George I understand it's always been from what I've been taught and all the training I received from the state was that the municipal allocation that the town is required to give is also for the maintenance of the facility now when it comes to something bigger um that that can come into question so all this is is getting an architectural drawing there's two pieces in this no problem I one is the architectural drawing for One Suite of bathrooms not every bathroom in the building because that would be incredibly disruptive so just getting the drawings done is around 20 $25,000 for the drawings to even create a proposal and then um you can talk about costs and things like that there's one other part of this our executive assistant for finance has been sitting in an office with the server Tower since anyone remembers we've discussed that forever so I I agree with you it's wrong okay yeah but we can keep discussing it because that's what we've done for the last 10 years but so here's my solution because I we got an estimate so because of the way our building is wired to move that Tower would cost us heading for $100,000 so instead of doing that Irene doesn't need the full office we can simply build a wall um for the closet it's got every you know I've had contractors when they were here I always you know try to get informal feedback so all this is is hiring the architect and and it's not even a decision on an architect it's the RFP that I went through and made and Chris went over and corrected to make sure that it was where it needs to be and it'll simply be put on our website put on the town site published in the newspaper I've given it a month and then in October we'll be able to at least look at an architect and and see if we want to move forward with an architect so that's I just want everybody to know that these projects are coming and you brought that one up before because we got the solution of building something around it presented us before which I thought was fine where well you know that would have go with buildings and grounds but anyway so bathroom Renovations and things like that does that go through Municipal funding is that or is that so our Municipal allocation is so I don't believe that Oldbridge has a formal um agreement for sharing the building and this is a common problem in public libraries period we have a lawyer some have an agreement some don't have an agreement for for what responsibilities are most libraries prefer and towns prefer to leave it a little vague and work together so when this happens the state then determines our Municipal allocation every year from our tax role and and it's onethird of a Mill and there's training at the state level if you want more background in this that I can show you where their presentations are because they really do a good job of explaining things um and that's the calculation now what happens is that's the money for your books and your staff and all of that it's also for maintenance of your building but you work out the bigger costs with your municipality so for instance the library doesn't have $2 million for a new roof that's when you typically go back to the the mayor and the council and say the library needs a new roof you provide a library building so this is where it comes in the meantime we also have a capital fund so that we can make a contribution to um the the town from our funds y Maddie sometime we could meet some people and tell you what the history of this was because we've gone through all of this and we've gone through it with a roof I think we gave him 200,000 uh all I think 80,000 Frank I don't it doesn't matter uh to me but anyway all I want is that the people that are paying the taxes know that we do our share of helping out with things we don't have to do we plow that parking lot with snow what did it cost us to see if it's snow it didn't even snow but we do more than our share just say we do it and just let us sit down and talk a long time ago we had a committee and I was on the board of ed then it was the Board of Ed and the township people we should have a committee with us and the township people and talk about how we get these things resolved I why would we keep money in the bank and and not have the bathrooms fixed that makes sense and I I think whatever you have to do to get it done and I I think it gets very tricky what goes into Capital what doesn't that's what we have Chris for and I don't think anybody expects you to know everything about law and stuff like that so when you need help with what has to go out to who and who does what that's what he there for uh and then we go by it I you know a lot of it I I personally don't know anything about and I don't care I just want to see it done that girl sitting there with that big tower next to her man I wouldn't have done that if I worked here okay and and that's what we're doing we're moving forward with that project one other new old thing U the library started building in 1987 it was opened in 1991 and the same architect that built this Library designed it with that roof was in a number of other libraries he got sued there was a lawsuit I don't know the details I don't think we either particip anticipated or we didn't get it fixed but if we have a list of whoever filed that lawsuit potentially if it's the same roofing design maybe they can refer us to one of those libraries who has gotten their roof fixed and that's something obviously because D I know for the time period you're here uh it used to be like a monsoon before right fixed Frank all of it yeah gradually you're doing it right you're getting it done all right offline I'll talk to you about DPW had them come in and do a repair and the major areas where we had leaks before we still get water occasionally but I believe it's the uh window seals that are starting to deteriorate so okay to the buildings and grounds committee Ro goad we're GNA move on okay so um that was the RFP that's going to be published and next month um we should have um a selection from um we we'll have all those proposals okay um the UND spending we talked about um recycling overflow now that we have the book sale going we are having some issues with taking donations again um the bookd drop was stuffed with donations which are not supposed to go there little things like that and our recycling uh containers are no longer sufficient because now we're recycling all the books so we're working on that with the town but I just want you to be aware that there is an impact from that in the book sale um I put a picture in the report of the logo that I would like to use temporarily um it was in everyone's report it's a simple update and a very similar logo the website company I didn't realize does that for us for free um them going over and cleaning up our logo our our previous logo was not done with enough definition for current monitors and websites and things like that so as long as there are no objections we're going to move ahead it's very similar I and it looks I got the um draft of the copy of the website today and already without making major changes it's so much cleaner it's going to be more accessible to people who are visually impaired um a lot of things like that the one that you are suggesting is that second one yes yep now the problem I have with that and whatever is Oldbridge Public Library Oldbridge Public Library is is said twice why is that people are not idiots if they read oldridge Public Library at the top they know it's at the bottom I like the open book and I like the oldridge public library but I don't think it needs it at the top also I'm sorry it's not that that you're absolutely right that top piece is not part of it that's just a smaller version of it the smaller version as well yeah one it's on the right of the book and one it's under the book so we'll be able to use both of those and then they give us that copy so we're not paying a graphic designer and we have the whole thing I thought you were suggesting that as one L Okay no Okay um all right so we'll move forward with that um the other thing that I want to do with that logo is we have the the little tags that say librarian or library assistant and I think it just it modernizes us and it makes us more visible I'm going to be getting lanyards that cord that goes around people's necks with the little plastic card that'll have that logo on it that just says staff the public doesn't understand the difference between a library assistant and a librarian they're just looking for anybody with that Visual and I think it's going to identify our employees and it's also important for safety if a child goes around and they can see that Library logo they know good idea I'd even make them different colors so it stood out more but it's a good idea yeah staff are GNA like it okay next did everyone have a chance to take a look at the infographic so what this is is it was in the report and this is a draft it's a template for the now that now that we're staffed where we need to be I can start giving you things in advance so this is it's sort of instead of doing some long report for the community um that no one's probably going to read or a few people will we'll still do that but an infographic is just a quick look at your library value what you're getting in the library so as thing is it's got be easily readable it's not you're not going to be those colors the blue is there anything in the blue box because you can't even read that yeah and I have to what came out in the board's packet isn't nearly as clear as this I would need to get you a print copy which we can do um the major I mean like 4555 passports issued 193,194 to the library and then this is something that we could either mail out um but it's just raising awareness of the library so it's part of marketing but it's also taking those annual statistics and like I said rather than some 10-page report um I like that um you know our major things for this year we opened up the Lawrence Harbor location partnered with the cultural arts committee restarted the friends group and you got a new director in 2023 that's what happened the question I have for everyone is some of these will put a library calculator what each person's tax investment is in the library that can be a little I don't know if you want that on there so I did the calculation with the 66,000 people and with the libraries appropriation um and I have to make sure that I did that correctly but it was around 5054 a year per person which if you look at isn't it I think it's on our tax bill what our percentage is too could you have this put perhaps in other mailings like the tax bill thing absolutely those need to talk to people Board of Ed might have something they're mailing out they can put that ination you know may may no what we can maybe do is do a onepage ad in the All Around Oldbridge or something sure absolutely to hook it up actually as a a monthly addition where could do report and that could actually just you a report yeah something like that yeah yeah and that's what we we just called it 2023 year in review Oldbridge public library and then there and and I just want to make sure that we're doing things like this first of all annually for our little report to the community um but then also you know you can do other things like how many ebooks do you have access to in the Consortium so this is just something that's going to be part of of our newsletters and that external communication to the community so if nobody has any objections to anything that's on here we'll we'll move ahead okay wonderful thank you y um one of one of the other places you might want to go to is the tax assessor should give you be able to give you any new people who are closing on a home and that might be something you might want to send to them and a welcome to Albridge Library packet yeah a welcome to Oldbridge packet is definitely something that we uh to obpl is something that we should have we'll get started on that okay um uh we're getting a new phone system end of October or November we've been talking about it for a while with that we are going to start promoting the library's direct phone number yeah versus going through the the phone tree for the town um and yeah it'll finally not say that we still have curbside delivery so we'll get that done um promoting the direct line um the audit is starting it's starting while I'm away on the 17th and 18th um there shouldn't be any issue of mine not being here that's primarily something for Irene but it is starting um and I oh I wanted everyone to know with that draft of the website so we don't want to have the public have changed fatigue so we already had um the catalog transition then we had you know we're going to have the website change and then we have to do a reorganization of things on the website once all of that is done then we're going to start the formal process of doing a community survey with the website and looking for a redesign but in that process um with making those changes the company that we selected they actually had to reach out to Jersey connect because the code that was on top of our website on top of the WordPress was so complicated that the strings kept breaking they couldn't even get it done so just want you to know that we definitely um done something great there um I uh for my professional development this year I just want to confirm I'd reported this some months ago but I plan on attending the director's Summit this is Library Journal director Summit um and it's going to be in Columbia South Carolina there is no fee for the conference itself you only pay for airfare and hotel and those kinds of things I will say that this is the best conference that I've ever been to when I've been I went in Washington DC and uh somewhere else I don't remember where but um I'm going to start making those arrangements okay all right um so one of the things that we did this month and I hope that the Personnel committee was okay with that um we have had requests for some changes to the Personnel manual so we went ahead and just put them together just so that it was comprehensively for the Personnel committee to take a look at well I think the Personnel manual always was kind of a problem because we already have contracts we don't need stuff repeated and some of the stuff that was repeated was repeated incorrectly um the Personnel committee we haven't met and I don't know whether it's our job to go through the Personnel manual I would give the Personnel manual to Chris let him go through it and decide what's right and what's wrong and whatever costs it's good money well spent I'm not going to sit and and go through the Personnel manual I'm not going to do it so okay and the staff doing it and the staff gave us comments of what they want in there or they don't their input's interesting but it's not going to tell me what I'm going to put in a personal man I think and that's what they were only requests well but it's why waste people's time you know I mean just find out what's in there that's redundant because it's also in the negotiation so it's in the contract and take it out it doesn't belong there uh but anyway good chot that's another thing that's been sitting around here and needed attention for a long time and you finally grabbed it and are doing it I appreciate it thank you okay um and then um I will be sending to the Personnel committee we do need to take a look at our meeting room policy um there's a couple of issues number one we have to do with that what's that did you mean polic I'm sorry not Personnel committee policy committee sorry don't mean to be Punchy but I was giv it I'm clearly getting Punchy which is um so the the policy committee will be getting um a just a review of the meeting room policy so right now we kind of with the insurance requirement we're sort of prioritizing businesses over individual individuals in the community and then the state said uh fairly recently that you're not allowed to charge a fee anymore to businesses for us it but at the same time with us not having full-time cleaning and custodial staff it makes it difficult a business comes in they want to bring in food who's cleaning that up they're leaving their food for the staff I don't want food that's been at someone's meeting all day we're not going to eat that so Ju Just some things like that so we're going to go through um and and just bring some recommendations to the policy committee next month and then um with hoopla we have regular hoopla right now does anybody here use it yeah um we have a lot of people who do it's uh streaming movies books music magazines all things like that and we've really relied on it to get us through updating our um e materials collection um there was a part of that that I'm going to be sending a proposal for next month for increasing about another six or 7,000 but for a slightly different project but you I just want you to know that things are coming that'll be next month um the other thing the last thing that I have to address is the temporary hire um we do have someone who's going to be out on leave um it does say in our I believe that's the Personnel manual um it says that the director can make a temporary hire for a leave of absence and I just want to make sure before I go through that this is not news to anyone um and that we would be making that higher it's news I mean I that we have substitute Personnel we have uh perdum Personnel so there there are there's already ways that you can hire people to fill in for a period of time I don't think we ever let the director do hiring on their own and then that goes back again history to a long time ago and I'm not going to boil you with that now but we did get the uh definition then so I don't know why one of these why can't you hire a substitute for period of the person's getting a leave from December 12th to February 3rd so you kind of know when the leave is coming yes we do yeah and it's basically the same thing it is just in a substitute but rather than you're a substitute not a hire one what's that you would be assigning a substitute assigning St M so you would bring in a substitute so what the question is I believe why are we not going The Substitute route or the P perdum route and it might be the definitions of those which uh answers the question so one of the things who are you you know who your your substitutes your PDM people are you would know who you want let's get a clarification on the let's let's get a clarification on the roles good our substitutes are not going to be able to fill in for 35 hours a week so if we're hiring if we're hiring you got to try that if you get the answer that they're not then we we go to St I already know that okay so wait wait wait so I if you were to go to the substitutes and request one and say we're looking for one of you to cover 35 hours a week and we need a commitment and nobody replies then what's the next Resort it's hiring another substitute for this specific November to February his temp R is exactly with full-time availability yes it's it's a substitute with a full-time availability stipulated that the start date is such and such and the end date is such and such yeah and then that person would be included with the pum moving after that time period had ended because the person would have a record of with us the distinction here it is in the personel manual it is the authority of the director the distinction Joan is just like in schools like a replacement teacher when somebody goes out in a long-term leave and it's it's like a long-term sub yeah I don't know why availability is vitally important but the difference I see is whether we're assigning somebody who's already an employee to do this or we're going out and we're picking somebody that the board doesn't even know and the director is hiring them to do it that I don't think she can do I think she can use the staff that's there now if those people do not want this kind of job come back and talk to us and we'll talk to you Chris and the union because you're talking about terms and conditions of employment and stuff like that and I'm just looking at what's already stated in the this is in place at this point and actually has been since well I don't know I don't know when the last time the personel manual was was revised and that goes back to our previous conversation but it is in there now and has been for years and the union is aware of that okay whatever so yeah so I think a good uh example of that is what what was brought up it's it's much like a a long-term substitute teacher y and and that basically when we're looking and obviously we' we'd ask anybody here if anybody wants to do it for three months we don't have anybody who's able to commit to that but with going out to that I would work very closely with Chris and let you know what's going on to get any questions answered about how thing how things are worded so Roco how does the schools go about getting a long-term substitute they don't go through their list of substitutes right they post for that right they post it's a posted position and is interviewed by our interview committee and and so any of the substitut well I was just to say sub they're free to apply any again anybody as long as you meet the certifications correct and the job requirements then you are free to apply right okay got it like I said I just wanted to cover that it was in that the director can do that for special circumstances right okay and that's all I have very good so okay you had something that you promised us and it's in your director's report oh I'm so sorry yep I didn't put it on my list so um I apologize Dr George I I will send problem no no I have the so I had uh responses from two Banks one is Colombia basically the local banks the federal pardon me you have three Columbia Provident and Santana right the the ones who got back to me um there was one um and I'll I'll send you exactly which one is which there was a so we have a 2.5% rate on all of our accounts we were offered a 3.3 variable either from Colombia or Provident and I will confirm as to which one that is um the variable obviously the 2.5 is a fixed um and then the other bank said around a 3% but that they would want if we want to move forward they would want to discuss with the trustees and their Board of Trustees to get together to have a conversation about that so those are the ones that answered me so basically before um you know we're jumping through additional hoops it's for you know a half a percent or more is does the board want to move and sever the relationship with Amboy are they willing to um I can go back to them and ask them tell them that we've been offer higher elsewhere so they already increased it once you're making something a bigger deal than I started all I wanted was information and I think that am boy met with you then met you got to big difference in interest payment this 2.5 is a lot different than 0.02 so they've done something now the others they want to make it more complicated they want to know what each account is why that's why they want the difference you want a CD or you want a a savings account whatever don't you don't need to do that much now I think he did what I asked to do uh in that you you questioned what we were getting at Amboy they changed it the other thing that I'm now going to ask to do and I don't know why we don't do it is on our I don't know what you call these things but on our financial report that has all the junk in it by the month we it's called but the one where you put the you have the uh the bank what kind of an account it is how much money is there but you don't have anything else why can't we know how much interest we get every month like we do on the other accounts that in that same report so when I got here I made an assumption that the board was happy with the reports as they were prepared if you want to change them I'm happy to request that they be changed well first of all you know the board will speak for the board I I I don't understand why we don't know that or interest when we know it for every other account well I can't find it now but anyway you know what I'm talking about down on the page in the corner show you with my fingers it has the listing oh okay of income right okay it's on this isn't it so you want the percentage rates added to that what I would like to know is what we make in interest every month on each one of those accounts we do it for everything else we do it on finds we do it on whatever other income we have if I'm the only one that wants it then just ignore me okay so you can take that away and see if that's doable I I can I can certainly do that okay thank so am I continuing with the banks leave them alone now if you're asking me if you were doing that safy me the information and that's fine that's all any member of the trustees wish to do and move uh forward with any of the other Banks me my opinion is to sever a tie with Amboy Bank who's giving us uh a location down in Lawrence Harbor for a half a percent is is but see I don't want to get into that because I don't know what the legality of that is and I'm not going to get into Bing stuff and that's not important all right and let's not upset people where they don't have to be upset there's nobody that's saying okay give me your money I'm going to give you 4% didn't say that to you so whatever they're offering to you is the same differ let's not about it all right so let's move on to committee reports um buildings and grounds Rocka we've covered right okay Finance we discussed Finance earlier I will get something moving on that Outreach and marketing Frank nothing to update there correct no I'll start I'll start uh doing some more homework on another location great thank you and in personnel negoti uh I know Chris had mentioned that that's going to start moving so that's essentially our update okay uh policy nothing we will be having something coming and Technology we have nothing new going on on technology so with that we don't have any members left from the public from what I see so I will ask can I ask add one thing um honestly I just really absolutely want to to thank everyone the reason why you're getting so much stuff stuff so much more stuff is because I appreciate everyone so much who has helped us to get fully staffed um with our our full-timers and the programs that are coming trust me I'm making sure that everyone is I've told them the board has uh shown this faith in us we need to hit it out of the park with everything that we're doing and I think you're going to continue to see that from them thank you and and Dawn enjoy your vacation she will be out of the office starting on the 17th 17th until the 23rd returning on the 24th and she did share with me the information of who's going to be supervisor in charge and all the contact information and they have mine as well so we should be fine I'm sure the building will still be standing go when you return and and our partners in the municipality were happy to know as well because things do come up so I made sure that they have all the information great thank you all right with that I'll ask for a motion to adjourn so moved thanks and rock will second all in favor I I oppos no thank you have a good night everyone good night everybody