April 12, 2024

The one hundred ninety-ninth meeting of the Ohio Public Library Information Network (OPLIN) Board of Trustees was called to order at 9:56 a.m. on Friday, April 12, 2024 by Board Chair Garalynn Tomas at the OPLIN office in Columbus, Ohio. 

Present were Board members: Ben Bolbach, Michael Butler, Roger Donaldson, Jenny Eyink, Jennifer Reynard, Sue Schuld, CJ Stephens, and Meredith Wickham. Also present were: Jessica Dooley, Christine Morris, Laura Solomon, Don Yarman, and Derek Zoladz (OPLIN); Stephanie Herriott and Wendy Knapp (State Library); and Jay Smith (Ohio Library Council). 

Attending virtually via Zoom: OPLIN Board member Bill Lane; and Vincent Riley (OPLIN).

The Chair announced that the Executive Session on the proposed agenda would not be needed. Sue Schuld moved to approve the agenda as amended; Ben Bolbach seconded. There was no discussion, so the Chair called for a vote on the motion; all aye.

The Chair called for public participation. 

Jay Smith reported that OLC has hosted two Science of Reading workshops featuring presenters from the Department of Education and Workforce. Ohio Library Legislative Day is scheduled for April 24. He updated the Board on current pending legislation, including the state’s capital budget. The Public Library Fund has come in below estimates for three out of four months in 2024; April’s disbursement was 9.3% below projections. 

Wendy Knapp reported that she is leaving the State Library on April 26; the State Library Board will meet April 18 to name an interim director. The State Library is participating in a working group exploring the opportunities, challenges, and risks associated with AI and the library sector. The annual Take 5 conference will be held May 3 at the Huber Heights Branch of Dayton Metro Library.

Meredith Wickham moved to approve the minutes of the February 9, 2024 meeting as presented; Michael Butler seconded. There was no discussion, so the Chair called for a vote on the motion; all aye

Don Yarman reviewed the financial reports, noting that OPLIN has received $1.4 million in E-rate reimbursements for the current fiscal year. OPLIN has spent $5 million so far this fiscal year, which is in line with expectations for this time of year. LinkedIn Learning expenses have been removed from next year’s planned budget. Yarman expects that OPLIN will need to purchase additional credits for the library SMS messaging service in the next fiscal year. 

Sue Schuld moved to accept the financial reports; Roger Donaldson seconded. There was no discussion, so the Chair called for a vote on the motion; all aye.

OPLIN Director's Report

Yarman reported that the Managed Branch Connection pilot has had a smooth start, the only issue being with library circuits that are still under contract with the vendor unwilling to waive the disconnect penalty to replace those with a new contract. Checking against that will be part of the process going forward. OhioNet has negotiated a 20% discount to library subscribers for LinkedIn Learning. OPLIN has been providing interested libraries with their admin credentials so they can dig further into all the usage stats available. 

Authentication Overview 

Derek Zoladz gave a presentation to the Board detailing the authentication methods OPLIN supports for database subscriptions, which range from geolocation, library card pattern matching, and direct queries against a library’s patron database. Zoladz explained how these work with vendor sites directly or via the EZproxy application. 8.1. Digital Resources Manager’s Report Christine Morris updated a few items from her written report, including a delay with the FCC considering E-rate eligibility for hotspots. 

Library Services Manager’s Report 

Laura Solomon said that NORWELD has announced to their membership that the website hosting agreement with Cherry Hill will end June 30, 2025. Some of the affected libraries have reached out to OPLIN for a new Webkit site. The new design template availability is being announced to existing Webkit customers in waves. 

Technology Projects Manager’s Report

Jessica Dooley reported that in April, Google and Yahoo began enforcing the Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting and Conformance (DMARC) protocol. Domains that send email to more than 5,000 Google or Yahoo hosted recipients daily must pass a series of validity checks to be delivered successfully. These standards affect any library domain that regularly sends email to patrons. Dooley set up a free DMARC reporting tool for library use; seventy-seven libraries and consortia now use it to receive automated weekly summaries of their DMARC reports, and she has had calls with several libraries to discuss the result of their reports and to suggest changes to improve email deliverability. 

WoodLink, a small purchasing consortium in northwest Ohio, is ending its internet filtering service, and several libraries have reached out to OPLIN to begin using Cisco Umbrella. 

Dooley praised Vince Riley for handling the increased volume of work with circuit renewals and moves; Riley has submitted double the usual number of ServiceNow orders for circuit requests. 

Ohio Persistent Cyber Improvement, a grant-funded project to provide security training to Ohio local government agencies, launched a pilot to train 250 staff in Jackson and Hocking counties in April. O-PCI shared that twelve counties are currently signed up to participate in 2024, and that many other counties’ commissioners expressed unwillingness to participate, citing concerns about time commitment. O-PCI recently published a curriculum summary and a flyer specifying the time commitment for staff is three hours, with additional courses for IT staff and directors. Dooley encourages libraries interested in O-PCI to share this information and advocate with their county commissioners to enroll their county. Related, Dooley thanked the Pickerington Public Library for inviting her to speak about security awareness at their staff development day.

Chair's Report

 Garalynn Tomas told Wendy Knapp that the OPLIN Board is sorry to see her go, and wished her great success in the future.

With no other business pending, the Chair adjourned the meeting at 11:07 a.m.