Minutes – April 14, 2023

Welcome and Call to Order

The one hundred ninety-fifth meeting of the Ohio Public Library Information Network (OPLIN) Board of Trustees was called to order at 10:00 a.m. on Friday, April 14, 2023 by Board Chair Tara Sidwell at the OPLIN office in Columbus, Ohio.

Present were Board members: Jamie Black, Ben Bolbach, Michael Butler, Roger Donaldson, Bill Lane, Sue Schuld, Garalynn Tomas, and Meredith Wickham.

Also present were: Jessica Dooley, Christine Morris, Laura Solomon, Derek Zoladz, and Don Yarman (OPLIN); Wendy Knapp (State Library); and Michelle Francis (Ohio Library Council).

Approval of the Agenda

Garalynn Tomas moved to approve the agenda as presented; Ben Bolbach seconded. There was no discussion, so the chair called for a vote on the motion; all aye.

Public Participation

Wendy Knapp reported that the last of the old carpeting will soon be replaced at the State Library. The staff are working on a new strategic plan that will align more closely with the LSTA five-year plan. The Ohioana Book Festival will be held at the Columbus Metropolitan Library on April 22, the first time the festival has been in person since 2019. SEO is conducting a Customer Satisfaction Survey. Knapp is scheduled to testify about the State Library’s budget April 25.

Michelle Francis outlined recent and upcoming OLC events, including Trustee Dinners, Fiscal Officer training, and the Youth Services and Library Facilities conferences. A recording of OLC’s budget testimony is available on the OLC website, and OLC continues to hold budget update webinars. Library Legislative Day will be April 26, and will include a library services showcase in the Rotunda. Legislation with potential library impact includes HB 1, affecting property and income taxes. OLC’s next Ballot Issues workshop will include guidance for libraries about required resolutions and what is permissible during campaigns. 

Approval of the Minutes

Jamie Black  moved to approve the minutes of the February 10, 2023 meeting as presented; Meredith Wickham seconded. There was no discussion, so the Chair called for a vote on the motion; all aye.

Acceptance of the Financial Reports

Don Yarman reviewed the financial reports as Jamie Pardee was unable to attend. Pardee predicts a cash balance of $1.36 million at the end of the fiscal year, down $200,000 from the end of last fiscal year; current cash balance is about $800,000. There is available spending authority to shift payment for next year’s Cisco Umbrella subscription to this fiscal year, so the renewal should go through before expiring and leaving libraries without Umbrella security and filtering coverage. Ben Bolbach asked if OPLIN could contract for three years of coverage, and Yarman explained that state agencies are not permitted to do that; software licenses and the like can only be purchased in 12 month terms and in most cases must be aligned with the state’s fiscal year.

Michael Butler moved to accept the financial reports; Ben Bolbach seconded. There was no discussion, so the Chair called for a vote on the motion; all aye.

Unfinished Business – none

New Business – none

Strategic Planning

The OPLIN staff delivered a presentation reviewing OPLIN’s services in support of the current strategic plan in effect until the end of FY2025.

Yarman started the discussion about next year’s services plan by outlining some things he sees on the horizon. Some components in the OPLIN core will be reaching end of support in June 2026, so Yarman would like to request funds in the state’s next Capital Budget for core components and for the library site routers that are reaching the end of their lifespans. Ben Bolbach suggested that OPLIN might consider doing a consortium RFP for endpoint security monitoring which can be costly. Jessica Dooley said that OARnet is negotiating group purchasing options for services, which libraries would be eligible to join. Yarman added that SHLB and other E-rate partners have been advocating for the eligibility of cybersecurity services for E-rate funding.

Bolbach also suggested OPLIN explore providing a single sign-on service for libraries, and clarified for Yarman that this would be staff-facing service, not for patrons. Bolbach mentioned that libraries would also benefit from OPLIN providing a centralized storage solution for a variety of library needs: local history scanning projects, shared folders like OneCloud or Google Drive. Dooley said, budget-allowing, she would prefer contracting for cloud storage rather than on-prem, and Bolbach agreed that an MSP relationship with libraries paying OPLIN for console access. Dooley said a way to research how to proceed would be to survey how libraries picture using that storage: as an object store, or more concierge interfaces to connect their data with. OPLIN acting as a managed service provider for storage would be very low effort, although expensive to provide.

OPLIN Staff Reports

OPLIN Director's Report

Yarman discussed the progress of negotiations for renewing OPLIN’s genealogy package. ProQuest proposes year-over-year price increases in the subscription, but OPLIN’s cash reserves have been steadily decreasing. He listed some facts in support of his argument that one component in particular, Heritage Quest Online, is overpriced, and he would like to pressure ProQuest to lower those prices or cut it from the bundle altogether. Garalynn Tomas asked how the Board gave negotiating and decision power in the past, with Jamie Black and Meredith Wickham suggesting motions that would authorize Yarman to drop Heritage Quest or to negotiate for the best-possible contract. Ultimately, motions were withdrawn, as the Board does approve the final budget, and Yarman agreed to use the Board’s input to keep increases contained to slow growth, acknowledging that 5% increases year over year were not sustainable.

Digital Resources Manager’s Report

Christine Morris highlighted from her report that she found it exciting to work on the Branch Fiber Expansion project, noting how much OPLIN learned about library processes that will be helpful going forward.

Library Services Manager’s Report

Laura Solomon said she had nothing additional to add to her written report.

Technology Projects Manager’s Report

Jessica Dooley expanded on an element of the Branch Fiber Expansion project: OPLIN is permitting libraries to connect their branches to the OPLIN core at the SOCC, rather than back to their main libraries. This is something libraries have been allowed to do (two library branches are currently connected to the core), and as a result of this process OPLIN will add twelve more.

Chair's Report

Tara Sidwell said she had nothing to report. Jamie Black asked Yarman if there was any action required for nominations for OPLIN Board appointments. Yarman said the bylaws allow the Nominations Committee to make their recommendations directly to the State Library Board for appointment, so Yarman would work with the Committee to finalize those.

Adjournment

With no other business pending, the Chair adjourned the meeting at 11:36 ᴀ.ᴍ.