June 14, 2024

The two hundredth meeting of the Ohio Public Library Information Network (OPLIN) Board of Trustees was called to order at 10:03 a.m. on Friday, June 14, 2024 by Board Chair Garalynn Tomas at the OPLIN office in Columbus, Ohio. 

Present were Board members: Ben Bolbach, Michael Butler, Roger Donaldson, Sue Schuld, CJ Stephens, and Meredith Wickham. 

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

Attending virtually via Zoom: OPLIN Board members Bill Lane and Jennifer Reynard; Jamie Pardee (State Library); and Mohamed Ragheb (CLEVNET).

Michael Butler 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.

The Chair called for public participation. 

Stephanie Herriott reported that Ryan Burley has been appointed Director of Library Operations at the State Library, and that Tracy Grimm and Rebecca Hanshaw are retiring. The State Library has selected a firm to perform the Executive Director search, and will award that contract June 20; the State Library is in the process of notifying all the firms who submitted proposals. 

Michelle Francis reported that the PLF has come in below estimates most months of the year, twelve million dollars below what was expected this calendar year. Fourteen public library systems are included in the funding proposal for the One Time Strategic Community Investment Fund from the Senate, library projects totalling fourteen million dollars. Francis outlined some other bills that OLC is watching which involve public library concerns; none of them have been scheduled for hearings

Roger Donaldson moved to approve the minutes of the April 12, 2024 meeting as presented; CJ Stephens seconded. There was no discussion, so the Chair called for a vote on the motion; all aye.

While Jamie Pardee tried to reconnect to the Zoom meeting, Yarman reported that OPLIN was on budget for the end of the fiscal year. He outlined suggested changes to the FY2025 budget, which include an additional $66,000 in equipment to replace routing engines that are approaching end of support. He and Dooley are evaluating additional recommendations for expanding and future-proofing the OPLIN core, and will seek external funding for those purchases. Yarman removed the expense line for LinkedIn Learning in the 2025 budget, and he increased the budgeted amount for the SOCC Co-Location space, as it appears FY2024 expenses will come to $94,000. After she reconnected to the Zoom meeting, Pardee confirmed this summary. 

Meredith Wickham 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.

Yarman reported that the managed branch connection pilot approved by the Board in February has proceeded smoothly, and he has heard enthusiasm from libraries around the state as he’s discussed the possible program in meetings. At the end of FY2025, it is projected that the pilot program providing ten circuits will net OPLIN $6,000, and that 180 circuits will be enough to add a staff person at OPLIN to help support the program.

SMS Gateway Overview

Jessica Dooley presented an overview of OPLIN’s SMS delivery service, which delivers library notices to patrons as text messages. The service is fourteen years old, and serves two hundred and ten libraries including six consortia. It has delivered eighteen million messages to half a million unique numbers, and is on track to deliver three million eight hundred thousand messages this year. It costs four-fifths of a cent to send a message, as OPLIN buys message credits in bulk. Dooley outlined the legal and technical requirements of sending text messages, and how OPLIN’s code interacts with libraries and the downstream provider.

Christine Morris is on vacation. Yarman highlighted the three-year E-rate Cybersecurity pilot. It does not cover education, but Board members discussed their outreach to their county officials encouraging them to take advantage of the education provided by the Ohio Persistent Cyber Improvement program. Yarman also expanded on the Congressional funding rescission affecting the Emergency Connectivity Fund; the Federal budget passed in the spring reclaims all funds not already committed in ECF, so there will be no new funding for projects, and no changes to awarded allocations (service provider changes, invoicing adjustments, etc.).

Solomon reported that new templates have been very successful.

Dooley outlined recent work implementing circuit upgrades and bandwidth capacity increases at OPLIN’s hub in the SOCC. Ben Bolbach asked her how long is the downtime for upgrades; Dooley replied that it should be very brief: under five minutes for configuration changes, but could be several minutes if a vendor is replacing their hand-off device. She discussed Derek Zoladz’s recent work making sure the transition from statewide LinkedIn Learning to library-paid subscriptions is seamless, and the custom code he developed for Westerville to handle their migration to the CLC without an interruption in patron authentication. The current Federal spending bill cuts funding to CISA, which would cancel the payouts of current and future CISA grant money awarded to the State of Ohio to fund O-PCI and upcoming projects. CyberOhio encourages Ohio stakeholders to ask our U.S. representatives to keep CISA funded

Garalynn Tomas thanked everybody she’s met and worked with during her time on the Board, remarking what an interesting journey it has been for her as a trustee to understand the back part of library systems.

Roger Donaldson offered the following resolution: 

WHEREAS GARALYNN TOMAS has been a member of the Ohio Public Library Information Network (OPLIN) Board of Trustees since July 2018; and 

WHEREAS she has freely and unselfishly given of her time and efforts to ensure the success of OPLIN by serving on the Board for six years; and 

WHEREAS her service as a trustee at the Lorain Public Library System gave her a distinctive outlook on OPLIN and its services to libraries; and 

WHEREAS she has provided superior leadership as the Secretary of the OPLIN Board from 2019 to 2022, Vice Chair from 2022 to 2023, and Chair from 2023 through 2024; and 

WHEREAS her focus and curiosity have often proved beneficial; and 

WHEREAS she has consistently contributed her valuable opinions to the OPLIN Board and OPLIN Executive Committee deliberations; and WHEREAS she has been a steadfast guardian of OPLIN’s interests throughout her tenure on the Board, 

NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that, on the Fourteenth day of June, Two Thousand and Twenty-Four, the members of the Board of Trustees of the Ohio Public Library Information Network recognize the significant contributions made to public libraries and library service by GARALYNN TOMAS during her outstanding tenure with the Ohio Public Library Information Network; and 

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Board extends its most sincere thanks and appreciation to GARALYNN TOMAS for her vital volunteer service as a member of this Board. 

Meredith Wickham seconded the resolution. All aye.

 Ben Bolbach offered the following resolution: 

WHEREAS SUE SCHULD has been a member of the Ohio Public Library Information Network (OPLIN) Board of Trustees since July 2022; and 

WHEREAS she has freely and unselfishly given of her time and efforts to ensure the success of OPLIN by serving on the Board for two years; and 

WHEREAS her experience as Technology Manager at the Medina County District Library gave her an exceptional perspective on OPLIN and its services to libraries; and 

WHEREAS her exceptional knowledge of technical issues has always been a helpful source of information for the Board; and 

WHEREAS she has consistently contributed her expert opinions to the OPLIN Board deliberations; and

 WHEREAS she has been a dedicated and active advocate for OPLIN throughout her tenure on the Board, 

NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that, on the Fourteenth day of June, Two Thousand and Twenty-Four, the members of the Board of Trustees of the Ohio Public Library Information Network recognize the significant contributions made to public libraries and library service by SUE SCHULD during her outstanding tenure with the Ohio Public Library Information Network; and 

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Board extends its most sincere thanks and appreciation to SUE SCHULD for her vital volunteer service as a member of this Board. 

CJ Stephens seconded the resolution. All aye

With no other business pending, the Chair adjourned the meeting at 11:08 a.m