OHIO PUBLIC LIBRARY INFORMATION NETWORK (OPLIN)
ONE HUNDRED THIRTY-EIGHTH REGULAR MEETING of the BOARD OF TRUSTEES

Minutes — June 14, 2013

1. WELCOME and CALL TO ORDER

The one hundred thirty-eighth meeting of the Ohio Public Library Information Network (OPLIN) Board of Trustees was called to order at 10:12 a.m. on Friday, June 14, 2013 by Board Chair Jamie Mason at the State Library of Ohio in Columbus, Ohio.

Present were Board members: Jill Billman-Royer, Gary Branson, Susan Brown, Jamie Mason, Sandi Plymire, and Becky Schultz.

Also present were: Stephen Hedges and Karl Jendretzky (OPLIN); Jamie Pardee and Beverly Cain (State Library); and Doug Evans (Ohio Library Council).

2. APPROVAL OF THE AGENDA

Jamie Mason announced that Karen Davis was ill and not able to present the results of the Director's evaluation, so there would be no need for the Executive Session at the end of the meeting.

Sandi Plymire motioned to approve the agenda as amended; Gary Branson seconded. All aye.

3. PUBLIC PARTICIPATION

Jamie Mason called for public participation.

Doug Evans updated the Board on the progress of the Ohio Library Council (OLC) "Federal Ebook Project," as they are calling the effort to ease both budget and copyright restrictions on library lending of ebooks. Doug thanked the Board for the first installment of OPLIN's financial support for legal research, which has been received and placed in a separate account at OLC. He provided a summary of research findings to date and reported that OLC hopes legislation will be drafted by September, although the process of legislative hearings and possible action may take several years. Ohio attendees at May's American Library Association (ALA) Legislative Day lobbied the Ohio congressional delegation for their support of the project, and OLC is pursuing a joint resolution of support from the state legislature. Doug will also be presenting information about this project at the upcoming ALA Annual Conference in Chicago.

Doug also provided a brief update on the status of the state biennium budget bill. The Senate made only one minor change to public library funding from the House version of the bill to correct a drafting error in the transfer of funds from the Public Library Fund to OPLIN.

Beverly Cain noted that OPLIN Library Services Manager Laura Solomon will be presenting two sessions at the ILEAD USA meeting next week in Illinois. Beverly also reported that the State Library has just learned that their Guiding Ohio Online grant proposal, which will train Americorps volunteers to teach digital literacy through libraries, was successful. OPLIN will be hosting the website for this project.

4. APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES of April 12 meeting

Jamie Mason requested approval of the minutes of the April 12 Board meeting.

Jill Billman-Royer motioned to approve the minutes as presented; Susan Brown seconded. All aye.

5. ACCEPTANCE OF THE FINANCIAL REPORTS

Jamie Pardee presented the Financial Reports as of May 31. Report B detailed fiscal years 2012 and 2013; fiscal year 2012 is now closed and unchanged. As the end of FY2013 approaches, both revenue and expenditures in the current fiscal year are similar to what they were in past fiscal years, although telecommunications expenses may be a bit greater than last year. Jamie questioned whether the $81,000 earmark for filtering still needed to appear in future budget documents; Stephen Hedges replied that the earmark of a specific amount will not be in the new state biennium budget.

Gary Branson motioned to accept the Financial Reports; Sandi Plymire seconded. All aye.

6. OLD BUSINESS

6.1. Approve revisions to Strategic Plan

Stephen Hedges presented a document describing the changes to the Strategic Plan discussed at the April meeting, as well as a clean copy of the Strategic Plan with these changes incorporated. Stephen also summarized the April Board discussion of these changes.

Susan Brown motioned to approve the revisions to the Strategic Plan as presented; Becky Schultz seconded.

Gary Branson asked if the Content Advisory Committee needed to be better defined in the Strategic Plan. Stephen Hedges responded that his review of the current Content Advisory Committee revealed that most of the previous members are no longer employed in libraries; he therefore plans to ask the Board for separate action in August creating a new Content Advisory standing committee.

Recorded vote: Jill Billman-Royer, aye; Gary Branson, aye; Susan Brown, aye; Sandi Plymire, aye; Becky Schultz, aye; and Jamie Mason, aye.

7. NEW BUSINESS

7.1. Discuss draft Network Testing Service plan

Stephen Hedges presented a draft plan for a Network Testing Service, as discussed at the April Board meeting. Stephen reminded the Board that this service would provide limited assistance to libraries with internal networking problems that prevented them from taking full advantage of their OPLIN Internet connection, and he briefly described the types of assistance OPLIN would provide.

Jill Billman-Royer noted that the two-month time frame for completion of the testing and writing of a report could be too short. Karl Jendretzky responded, however, that it is his intention to put the results of testing into an email sent to the local library, rather than creating a formal report, and in that case two months is sufficient time. After discussion, the Board suggested that "report" be changed to "diagnostic summary."

7.2. Approve NewsBank contract extension

Stephen Hedges noted that the next two agenda items result from the decision by the committee reviewing bids for the Libraries Connect Ohio purchase of statewide databases for the next five years to drop some current subscriptions due to shortage of funds. Two of these subscriptions — NewsBank and Mango Languages — are heavily used by public libraries and many libraries are likely to want to replace them using local funds. Most public library budgets have been set for the 2013 calendar year, however, and replacing these resources beginning in July would be a financial hardship.

The proposed NewsBank contract would extend NewsBank access by public libraries and the State Library until October 31, after which NewsBank would work with libraries that want to maintain access using 2014 funds, at a cost of $100,000. The funds would come from OPLIN E-rate reimbursements. Because this contract and the proposed Mango Languages contract may also need approval from the State Controlling Board, Jamie Pardee explained the process for gaining such approval.

Gary Branson motioned to approve the proposed contract with NewsBank; Jill Billman-Royer seconded.

Recorded vote: Jill Billman-Royer, aye; Gary Branson, aye; Susan Brown, aye; Sandi Plymire, aye; Becky Schultz, aye; and Jamie Mason, aye.

7.3. Approve Mango Languages contract extension

The proposed Mango Languages contract would extend Mango Languages access by public libraries and the State Library until December 31 at a cost of $166,600. The funds would come from OPLIN E-rate reimbursements.

Gary Branson motioned to approve the proposed contract with Mango Languages; Susan Brown seconded.

Recorded vote: Jill Billman-Royer, aye; Gary Branson, aye; Susan Brown, aye; Sandi Plymire, aye; Becky Schultz, aye; and Jamie Mason, aye.

7.4. Approve OPLIN office furnishings

Stephen Hedges informed the Board that OPLIN staff recently re-arranged their office spaces, during which it became obvious that much of the staff furniture was procured during the very first days of OPLIN and is now in need of replacement. The same re-arrangement of office space resulted in a open area within the office that is large enough to hold Board meetings, if Board tables and chairs are purchased. Stephen has done some furniture shopping and believes he can use Ohio Penal Industries and state contracts with other vendors to purchase new chairs and desks for some staff as well as Board tables and chairs for less than $20,000.

Sandi Plymire motioned to authorize the OPLIN Director to spend up to $20,000 to purchase furniture for the staff and Board; Jill Billman-Royer seconded.

Recorded vote: Jill Billman-Royer, aye; Gary Branson, aye; Susan Brown, aye; Sandi Plymire, aye; Becky Schultz, aye; and Jamie Mason, aye.

8. OPLIN DIRECTOR'S REPORT

Stephen Hedges reported on his recent appearances before the State Library Board to request LSTA funds for the Libraries Connect Ohio databases purchase, and before the Senate Finance Education Subcommittee to provide testimony regarding a drafting error in the OPLIN budget. He also reported on his activities visiting the Ohio Congressional delegation during ALA Legislative Day in Washington DC. Stephen informed the Board of a trip he took with Karl Jendretzky to Cuyahoga County Public Library to discuss their network topology and an upgrade to their OPLIN connection; in the course of following up on this meeting, Stephen has decided to revise the current connection upgrade practices to make accommodations for E-rate regulations. Finally, Stephen reported on a meeting he attended where Ohio Rep. Mike Duffey explained the suite of legislation he plans to sponsor to promote open Ohio government data.

Regarding OPLIN office activities, Stephen highlighted Laura Solomon's presentation at the OLC North Conference. He also made note of his attendance at the Worthington Libraries Community Breakfast and the memorial service for David Miller in Bowling Green, and his presentation at the OLC New Directors Workshop.

8.1. Technology Projects Manager report

Karl Jendretzky announced the launch of the new Explore Ohio website, which makes use of location-aware services. Karl also reported on a number of problems with non-OPLIN state email and DNS services experienced by libraries, which he was able to help resolve. In regard to OpenDNS, Karl reported that there are now 76 accounts registered through OPLIN. Karl also reported that the SMS (messaging) service has 89 libraries actively using it.

Karl informed the Board that the first wireless point-to-point OPLIN connection has been installed at Puskarich Public Library and seems to be working well. He also reported that Columbus Metropolitan Library is considering changing to a different network topology offered by Time Warner, which may be of interest to OPLIN, too.

8.2. Library Services Manager report

In the absence of Laura Solomon due to a family illness, Stephen Hedges reported that there are now 62 live library website kits and eight more in various stages of completion. Those eight will be built on Drupal 7 and use responsive web design. Laura will soon be starting the process of making this major upgrade to all website kits.

8.3. Database usage

Stephen Hedges reported that EBSCOhost usage statistics were particularly low last month, which significantly affected total usage statistics. The slump did not seem to be limited to any particular EBSCO interface or product.

9. CHAIR'S REPORT

9.1. Report from Nominations Committee

Representing the Nominations Committee, Gary Branson presented the committee's recommendation that the State Library Board be asked to appoint Cindy Lombardo, Deputy Director of Cleveland Public Library, Joseph Greenward, Director of Lane Public Library, and Michael Penrod, Director of Wood County District Public Library, to the OPLIN Board. This recommendation followed extensive discussions of the best candidates to maintain the diversity of the OPLIN Board.

Jill Billman-Royer motioned to accept the recommendation of the Nominations Committee; Susan Brown seconded. All aye.

Gary also reported that the Nominations Committee developed the following slate of officers for possible approval at the August Board meeting: Karen Davis, Chair; Jill Billman-Royer, Vice-Chair; Don Barlow, Secretary; and Ben Chinni, Treasurer.

9.2. Resolutions

Chair Jamie Mason presented the following resolution to Gary Branson:

WHEREAS, GARY BRANSON has been a member of the Ohio Public Library Information Network (OPLIN) Board of Trustees since July 2007, and WHEREAS he has freely and unselfishly given of his time and efforts to ensure the success of OPLIN by serving on the Board for SIX years, and WHEREAS he has served steadfastly as the Treasurer of the OPLIN Board since July 2010, and WHEREAS he has consistently contributed his exceptional opinions to OPLIN Board and OPLIN Executive Committee deliberations, and WHEREAS he has been a valued and active participant in Board activities, keeping the OPLIN Board focused on the goal of improving services to the Ohio public library community, and WHEREAS his service as the Director of the London Public Library and later as the Director of the Marion Public Library gave him an exceptional perspective on OPLIN and its services to libraries, NOW, THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that on the 14th day of June, Two Thousand and Thirteen, 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 GARY BRANSON during his 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 GARY BRANSON for his continued volunteer service as a member of that Board. ATTESTED TO THIS DATE FOR THE OPLIN BOARD OF TRUSTEES Jamie Mason, Chair

Chair Jamie Mason also directed that the following two resolutions be read into the minutes:

WHEREAS, KARL COLÓN has been a member of the Ohio Public Library Information Network (OPLIN) Board of Trustees since July 2007, and WHEREAS he has freely and unselfishly given of his time and efforts to ensure the success of OPLIN by serving on the Board for SIX years, and WHEREAS he provided exceptional leadership as the Chair of the OPLIN Board from July 2009 through June 2010, and WHEREAS he has served steadfastly as the Secretary of the OPLIN Board since July 2011, and WHEREAS he has consistently contributed outstanding opinions to OPLIN Board and OPLIN Executive Committee deliberations, and WHEREAS he has been an active proponent of OPLIN in many public library venues, including the Ohio Library Council Government Relations Committee, and WHEREAS his service as the Director of the Greene County Public Library gave him an exceptional perspective on OPLIN and its services to libraries, NOW, THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that on the 14th day of June, Two Thousand and Thirteen, 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 KARL COLÓN during his 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 KARL COLÓN for his continued volunteer service as a member of that Board. ATTESTED TO THIS DATE FOR THE OPLIN BOARD OF TRUSTEES Jamie Mason, Chair

 

WHEREAS, JEFF WALE has been a member of the Ohio Public Library Information Network (OPLIN) Board of Trustees since June 2007, and WHEREAS he has freely and unselfishly given of his time and efforts to ensure the success of OPLIN by serving on the Board for SIX years, and WHEREAS he provided superior leadership as the Chair of the OPLIN Board from July 2011 through June 2012, and WHEREAS he has consistently contributed his valuable opinions to OPLIN Board and OPLIN Executive Committee deliberations, and WHEREAS his exceptional knowledge of technical issues has always been a helpful source of information for the Board, and WHEREAS he has been a steadfast and active advocate for OPLIN throughout his tenure on the Board, and WHEREAS his service as the Information Technology Manager of the Toledo-Lucas County Public Library gave him an exceptional perspective on OPLIN and its services to libraries, NOW, THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that on the 14th day of June, Two Thousand and Thirteen, 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 JEFF WALE during his 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 JEFF WALE for his continued volunteer service as a member of that Board. ATTESTED TO THIS DATE FOR THE OPLIN BOARD OF TRUSTEES Jamie Mason, Chair

10. ADJOURNMENT

On motion of Jill Billman-Royer the Board adjourned at 11:58 a.m.

OHIO PUBLIC LIBRARY INFORMATION NETWORK (OPLIN)
ONE HUNDRED THIRTY-SEVENTH REGULAR MEETING of the BOARD OF TRUSTEES
BOARD RETREAT

Minutes — April 12, 2013

1. WELCOME and CALL TO ORDER

The one hundred thirty-seventh meeting of the Ohio Public Library Information Network (OPLIN) Board of Trustees was called to order at 9:10 a.m. on Friday, April 12, 2013 by Board Vice-Chair Karen Davis at the State Library of Ohio in Columbus, Ohio.

Present were Board members: Don Barlow, Jill Billman-Royer, Susan Brown, Ben Chinni, Karen Davis, Sandi
Plymire, Becky Schultz, and Jeff Wale. Jamie Mason arrived at 9:12.

Also present were: Stephen Hedges, Laura Solomon, and Karl Jendretzky (OPLIN); Jamie Pardee and David Namiotka (State Library). Lynda Murray (Ohio Library Council) arrived at 9:30.

2. APPROVAL OF THE AGENDA

Jill Billman-Royer motioned to approve the agenda as presented; Don Barlow seconded. All aye.

3. PUBLIC PARTICIPATION

Karen Davis called for public participation; there was none.

4. APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES of February 8 meeting

Karen Davis requested approval of the minutes of the February 8 Board meeting.

Don Barlow motioned to approve the minutes as presented; Jill Billman-Royer seconded. All aye.

5. ACCEPTANCE OF THE FINANCIAL REPORTS

Jamie Pardee presented the Financial Reports as of March 31. Report B detailed fiscal years 2012 and 2013; fiscal year 2012 is now closed and unchanged. Both revenue and expenditures in the current fiscal year are similar to what they were in past fiscal years at this time.

Jamie Mason assumed the gavel.

Karen Davis motioned to accept the Financial Reports; Sandi Plymire seconded. All aye.

6. DISCUSSION OF STATUS OF OPLIN

Stephen Hedges started Board discussion with an overview of current OPLIN status and environment, beginning with a reminder of the OPLIN mission. Stephen also described changes to the way people interact with libraries and the Internet since OPLIN was started, and enumerated actions currently underway to move the final T1 library circuits to Ethernet. Total library Internet traffic continues to grow at about 30% each year, but lower costs for bandwidth have kept telecommunication costs within budget and recent upgrades to network core hardware should allow OPLIN to handle infrastructure demand for several years to come.

Stephen also reported that the Libraries Connect Ohio partnership remains active, and reminded the Board that other OPLIN services include technical support, optional Internet filtering, email for library staff, website kits, and text message notifications to library patrons.

The Chair now called on Lynda Murray to begin the discussion of ebooks in libraries (Item 6.3).

6.3. OLC work on ebooks

The Board first asked Lynda Murray to inform them of the status of budget negotiations in the legislature and she reported that it currently appears there will be no significant changes in public library funding from the language in the Governor's proposed budget. It is assumed that OPLIN funding will continue to be taken from the Public Library Fund in this budget and future budgets.

Lynda informed the Board that the Ohio Library Council (OLC) and the metropolitan libraries have begun to explore federal legislation to ease the problems public libraries experience with purchasing and lending ebooks. Former Congressman Zack Space has been contacting Ohio legislators in Congress to explain the problems, and the response from all of them has been encouraging. It has meanwhile become apparent that very little serious legal research has been done about the copyright and licensing issues that have allowed these problems to develop.

Stephen Hedges reported that he recently heard Patrick Losinski, Chief Executive Officer of the Columbus Metropolitan Library, describe the need for legal research at a recent OLC Board meeting. Stephen realized that it might be appropriate for OPLIN to use some E-rate funds to pay for legal research, as well as the costs of communicating the results of that research, since equity of access to electronic information such as ebooks is the core of the OPLIN mission.

Lynda noted that legal research is needed before Congress proceeds to any hearings on the library/ebook issues, and it is estimated that this research and development of communication and education tools would cost about $50,000. Don Barlow asked if legal research is an allowable use for public funds, and Lynda assured him it is. Don also asked if funds could be solicited from mid-sized libraries, and Lynda replied that since speed was essential at this point in the process, it would be better right now if fewer organizations were involved.

In response to questions from the Board, Lynda noted that the American Library Association has chosen to address the ebook problems by lobbying publishers, but they have no objections if Ohio public libraries want to pursue legal solutions. Stephen also noted that much of the day's discussion would revolve around best ways to use OPLIN E-rate reserves, and this legal research is one possibility. Several Board members noted that ebook problems are a critical issue for their libraries.

Jill Billman-Royer motioned to commit $50,000 to the Ohio Library Council to be used for legal research and education in regard to library lending of ebooks; Don Barlow seconded.

Recorded vote: Don Barlow, aye; Jill Billman-Royer, aye; Susan Brown, aye; Ben Chinni, aye; Karen Davis, aye; Sandi Plymire, aye; Becky Schultz, aye; Jeff Wale, aye; and Jamie Mason, aye.

The meeting returned to the regular agenda order.

6.1. OPLIN mobile initiatives

Laura Solomon began by noting that many newer websites present themselves differently depending on the type of device being used to access the site. Recent upgrades to the base Drupal software have now made it possible for Dynamic Website Kits to employ Responsive Web Design (RWD) that tailors the look of the website to the appropriate device. Laura demonstrated the different looks of a website kit depending on whether the device used is a laptop, tablet, or smartphone of various sizes. In response to questions, Laura explained that the cost of upgrades is covered by the annual maintenance fees for website kits.

Karl Jendretzky explained work he has done while rebuilding the Explore Ohio search site to allow the website to take advantage of location awareness built into mobile devices and modern web browsers. Karl loaded geographic data for Ohio counties and zip codes into a database so users of Explore Ohio will now be able to limit their searches to websites of organizations near them. This functionality will next be extended to the Ohio Web Library authentication system to verify that users are located within Ohio, and the Find-a-Library tool, using the same base of geographic data.

6.2. Review proposed services discussed previously

Stephen Hedges presented a list of additional services to libraries that the Board has considered since the new services task force presented suggestions in 2011. Offsite data storage was offered as a service, but not used by any libraries. Supporting the creation of digitization labs is an ongoing project that will leverage LSTA funds; Jeff Wale provided some information about the challenges digitization projects present to libraries. Stephen also noted that at least $125,000 per year will be saved through new statewide telecommunications contracts, and the Board has discussed the idea of using this money to fund a two-year pilot project to provide limited subsidies for Internet costs of branch libraries.

Stephen also presented information about the most likely results of the Libraries Connect Ohio negotiations for the next five years of Ohio Web Library databases. The bid review committee recommended that statewide subscriptions to Oxford Reference, NewsBank and Mango Languages be discontinued on July 1, which could present a problem for public libraries that usually set their budgets for a calendar year. NewsBank has proposed an extension to the current contract to provide seamless access through December for libraries that subscribe in their next budget year starting in January. The Board requested more detailed information about usage of NewsBank and wondered if a similar contract extension might be worked out with Mango Languages. Further discussion was postponed pending retrieval of NewsBank usage statistics during the lunch break.

7. DISCUSSION OF STRATEGIC PLAN

Having provided background information, Stephen Hedges now presented a copy of the current Strategic Plan with highlighted areas he thought might need to be updated.

The Board suggested a few minor corrections and discussed some major topics. They felt that the limited financial support OPLIN might provide to subsidize Internet connections at branch libraries was not as helpful as OPLIN technical assistance with branch connections. There was some discussion of what OPLIN might do to assist with increasing use of personal wireless Internet devices in libraries and the security issues involved. This devolved into a discussion of increasing OPLIN assistance to libraries for configuring their local networks. Karl Jendretzky suggested that even a simple audit of local networks could quickly provide a lot of help for local library IT staff. Jeff Wale suggested this might be added in general language to the Strategic Plan, but a separate detailed service plan should also be developed. The Board also asked that the offer of rack space at the State of Ohio Computer Center for offsite data storage be removed from the Strategic Plan.

Regarding databases, the Board discussed the fact that some databases are more important to public libraries than they are to the entire group of Libraries Connect Ohio affiliated institutions. It was suggested that OPLIN might consider buying databases beyond those provided by Libraries Connect Ohio. Stephen Hedges recommended that the OPLIN Content Advisory Committee be revived if additional databases are to be selected for purchase.

In regard to other objectives in the Strategic Plan, the Board decided to make no changes to the current Dynamic Website Kits service. The Board also asked that the objective of moving OPLIN funding back into the General Revenue Fund be removed from the Strategic Plan.

The Board recessed for lunch at 11:50 and resumed meeting at 12:35.

The Board briefly discussed some NewsBank usage statistics which Stephen Hedges had gathered during the lunch break, and which apparently include usage of some newspapers not purchased by Libraries Connect Ohio. Some libraries would probably want to buy some newspapers regardless of usage. The Board asked Stephen to contact the libraries which use NewsBank the most to determine if there is any value to extending the contract.

8. ETHICS TRAINING

Stephen Hedges reminded the Board that they are required to have annual ethics training. To satisfy that requirement, Stephen distributed and discussed copies of the Ethics Commission publications "Helpful Ethics Guidelines for State and Local Board and Commission Members," "Ohio Ethics Law Memoranda for Board and Commissions Members," and "Bulletin: Gifts and Entertainment, February 21, 2013." He also noted that the Ethics Commission is very helpful and encouraged Board members to contact the commission if they had any questions about ethical activities.

9. OLD BUSINESS

9.1. Status of employee compensation proposals

Stephen Hedges reported on ongoing communications with the Attorney General's office regarding clarification of the Board's authority to set compensation for OPLIN employees. Stephen reminded the Board that they had decided last October to request 4.7% cost-of-living increases for all staff. Stephen asked if the Board wished to revisit that decision for any reason; the Board still supported the 4.7% increase.

10. NEW BUSINESS

10.1. Resolution appointing State Library as fiscal agent

Sandi Plymire offered the following resolution:

WHEREAS, the State Library of Ohio has served as the fiscal agent for the Ohio Public Library Information Network since July 1, 1995, as specified under Section 69 of H.B. 117 of the 121st General Assembly, the biennial operating appropriations bill; and WHEREAS, subsequent biennium budget bills in effect until June 30, 2009 reiterated that the State Library would serve as the fiscal agent for the network; and WHEREAS, the Ohio Revised Code section 3375.66(A)(5) states that the board of trustees of the Ohio Public Library Information Network shall appoint the State Library of Ohio as the board's fiscal agent. NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the board of trustees of the Ohio Public Library Information Network that: Appointment: The board of trustees of the Ohio Public Library Information Network hereby appoints the State Library of Ohio to continue to serve as its fiscal agent and provide all fiscal services described in R.C. 3375.66(A)(5)(a-e). Adopted and recorded this 12th day of April, 2013.

Jeff Wale seconded the resolution. All aye

10.2. Administrative Rule on Board eligibility

Stephen Hedges reminded the Board that the wording of the Revised Code does not require a Board member to resign when they are no longer employed by an Ohio public library (with the exception of library trustees). The Attorney General's office has suggested that this could be remedied by establishing an Administrative Rule, and Stephen reviewed the procedure for doing that. The Board moved into a more general discussion of the procedure for removing members for malfeasance or other reasons. Ultimately, the Board felt that sufficient safeguards already exist in the Revised Code and that the rare instances when the Board would need to ask a member to resign could be handled as they arose.

11. OPLIN DIRECTOR'S REPORT

Stephen Hedges reported that much of his time recently has been devoted to the Invitation to Negotiate process for the Ohio Web Library databases. He also reported that he has reviewed the discussion from the last meeting regarding the possible policy of requiring libraries that have left the OPLIN network to pay the installation fee if they re-join the network. Stephen said he would not advise making this a part of OPLIN policy, reasoning that installation fees are really a normal cost of doing business for OPLIN, paid every time a circuit is switched to a new vendor.

Regarding OPLIN office activities, Stephen highlighted his attendance at the meeting of the ETM libraries at Upper Arlington, his presentation to librarians from Kyrgyzstan visiting the State Library through the Columbus International Program, and two meetings related to the digitization labs project.

11.1. Technology Projects Manager report

Karl Jendretzky reported that the installation and turn-up of the new 10 Gbps hardware at the OPLIN core went well, and he anticipates no further upgrade will be needed for about seven years. OPLIN's second 1 Gbps circuit to a library (Cleveland Public) is now coming online.

11.2. Library Services Manager report

Laura Solomon reported there are now fifty-nine live website kit libraries, with another ten in construction. Special graphics for the Summer Reading Program, which twenty-one libraries have purchased for creating a Summer Reading Program page on their website, are now being installed. In response to a question, Laura provided information about the process of upgrading all sites to Drupal version 7.

11.3. Database usage

Stephen Hedges reported that aggregated database usage continues to grow slowly, despite occasional changes to the way individual vendors report statistics.

12. CHAIR'S REPORT

12.1. Board recruitment

Chair Jamie Mason appointed departing Board members Jeff Wale, Karl Colón, and Gary Branson to an ad hoc nominations committee that will collect and review nominations for new Board members and report back to the Board at the next meeting. The committee will also develop a recommended slate of officers for the upcoming year. Jamie named Karl Colón to chair this committee.

12.2. Director's evaluation process

Jamie Mason asked all Board members to complete their individual spreadsheets evaluating Stephen Hedges' annual performance by May 31 and email them to Karen Davis, who will compile the results for presentation at the June 14 Board meeting.

13. ADJOURNMENT

Before adjournment, Stephen Hedges reviewed some decisions from the day's discussions:

• $50,000 will be spent for legal research on ebook lending;
• there will be no pilot project testing financial support for branch connections;
• OPLIN will pursue a plan to offer basic audits of local network configurations; and
• Stephen will gather more information about the need for an extension to NewsBank and report back in June.

On motion of Don Barlow the Board adjourned at 1:16 p.m.

OHIO
PUBLIC LIBRARY INFORMATION NETWORK (OPLIN)
ONE HUNDRED THIRTY-SIXTH REGULAR MEETING of the BOARD OF TRUSTEES

Minutes
— February 8, 2013

1. WELCOME and CALL TO ORDER

The one hundred thirty-sixth meeting of the Ohio Public Library
Information Network (OPLIN) Board of Trustees was called to order at
10:03 a.m. on Friday, February 8, 2013 by Board Vice-Chair Karen Davis
at the State Library of Ohio in Columbus, Ohio.

Present were Board members: Don Barlow, Jill Billman-Royer, Gary
Branson, Ben Chinni, Karl Colón, Karen Davis, Sandi
Plymire, Becky Schultz, and Jeff Wale.

Also present were: Stephen Hedges, Laura Solomon, and Karl
Jendretzky (OPLIN); Jamie Pardee, Beverly Cain, and Jonathan Campbell
(State Library); and Doug Evans (Ohio Library Council).

Beverly Cain introduced Jonathan Campbell, the new
Executive Secretary to the State Librarian.

2. APPROVAL OF THE AGENDA

Karen Davis asked if there were any changes to the meeting agenda.
Stephen Hedges asked that item 7.1, "Discuss Governor's budget," be
removed, since that discussion would take place as part of the
Financial Reports.

Jill Billman-Royer motioned to approve
the agenda as amended; Karl Colón seconded. All aye.

3. PUBLIC PARTICIPATION

Karen Davis called for public participation.

Doug Evans gave an update on the Governor's budget for public
libraries and the upcoming OLC Legislative Day. Doug also reported on a
contingent from Ohio that will travel to Congress in late February to
talk to legislators about digital content in libraries.

Beverly Cain reported that the State Library budget is essentially
the same as the current budget, except that an unexpected removal of
funds by the state for IT Development support and mandated use of the
state email system will actually result in a small, unplanned decrease.

4. APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES of December 14
meeting

Karen Davis requested approval of the minutes of the December 14
Board meeting.

Don Barlow motioned to approve
the minutes as presented; Jill Billman-Royer seconded. All aye.

Chair Jamie Mason arrived at 10:24 and
assumed the gavel.

5. ACCEPTANCE OF THE FINANCIAL REPORTS

Jamie Pardee presented the Financial Reports as of January 31.
Report B detailed fiscal years 2012 and 2013; fiscal year
2012 is now closed and unchanged. Report C showed cash flow. In
response to a question, Jamie reported that cash flow and budget
balances were in keeping with what is expected at this point in the
fiscal year.

In regard to the Governor's proposed budget, Jamie reminded the
Board that the figure in the budget includes $2 million in spending
authority for OPLIN E-rate refunds, and that the actual amount of funds
drawn from the PLF is just under $3.7 million. She briefly outlined the
procedure for House and Senate approval of the proposed budget. At this
point, it looks like the OPLIN budget language will be almost identical
to the language in the last budget.

Gary Branson motioned to accept the
Financial Reports; Jeff Wale seconded. All aye.

6. OLD BUSINESS

6.1. Discuss support for library
branch connections

Stephen Hedges reminded the Board that at the December meeting he
had reported that he thought OPLIN could have
sufficient savings from lower telecommunications costs to fund a
two-year pilot project that would
provide limited financial support to public library branches that met
defined Internet connectivity standards. In the ensuing discussion, the
Board had concerns about OPLIN funding from the PLF, about defining
a "good" connection, and about how to account for users who bring their
own devices to access the Internet at the library. There was also
strong feeling that OPLIN should not in any way dictate the number of
public computers which a library should have.

While further
discussion will take place at the April Board Retreat, the Board agreed
to continue exploring more ideas in the meantime. It was suggested, for
example, that OPLIN might base the subsidy on either service population
or a percentage of E-rate reimbursement, rather than a public computer
count. Following up on those suggestions, Stephen determined that
service population is problematic, since that is determined by the
service area of the entire library system, rather than by branches.
Stephen also determined that publicly available E-rate data is too
general to be useful, but that so-called "Item 21 attachments" to
E-rate applications do provide the needed detail, and could be
requested from libraries as documentation to apply for branch
connectivity support.

Karl Colón asked if it would be possible to have any branch support
payments carry a notice that the funds came from a pilot project and
were not permanent, regardless of how the amount of support is
eventually determined. Jamie Pardee replied that state checks cannot
include a message, but a separate communication could certainly be
included with check mailings.

Jeff Wale speculated that there could be other valuable initiatives
OPLIN could fund with savings from lower telecommunications costs, such
as increased training for librarians. Doug Evans and Beverly Cain
assured the Board that they would be happy to work with OPLIN on
possible training initiatives. Stephen noted that there were a variety
of services to libraries and librarians which OPLIN might provide, but
that his hope would be to use telecommunications savings to further
support public Internet access in library buildings.

6.2. Discuss report on investigation of
outbound malware filtering

At the December Board meeting, Jeff Wale had asked if OPLIN could
investigate installing a central device in the OPLIN hub to prevent
virus-infected library computers from sending out malicious Internet
traffic, which could result in the library being
black-listed from the Internet.

Karl Jendretzky now reported that he and an engineer from the Office
of Information Technology (OIT) had investigated and tested several
possible solutions, but none would work because they require monitoring
the internal networks of the libraries, while OPLIN network activity
now stops outside the libraries' firewalls. While OPLIN could possibly
detect malicious traffic coming from a library, the only recourse to
stop it would be to block all traffic from that library, since OPLIN
would not have access to individual computers. That being said, Karl
felt that OPLIN might still be able to develop a way to detect problems
and then refer helpful information back to the local libraries'
technology staffs, and he plans to investigate further.

7. NEW BUSINESS

7.1. Amend OPLIN withdrawal policy

Stephen Hedges noted that the policy on libraries that decide to
withdraw from OPLIN was updated in 2007 to address the increasing use
of Ethernet connections as opposed to T1 circuits, but he recently
realized that the update had neglected to address the fact the Ethernet
connections are purchased under a term contract and that there are
financial penalties that result from disconnecting an Ethernet circuit
before the end of the contract term. He therefore presented proposed
changes to the policy to require that a library chosing to withdraw
from the network must reimburse OPLIN for any disconnect penalties that
result from early termination of telecommunications contracts for
network service to the library.

The Board discussed whether a library that has withdrawn and then
decided to rejoin OPLIN should be required to pay the installation fee
for the new network connection. There was some uncertainty about the
legality of such a requirement, so it was ultimately decided that such
a provision could be added to the policy as another amendment in the
future.

Karl Colón motioned to approve the
amended policy as submitted; Don Barlow seconded.

Recorded vote: Don Barlow, aye; Jill
Billman-Royer, aye; Gary Branson, aye; Ben Chinni, aye; Karl Colón,
aye; Karen Davis, aye; Sandi Plymire, aye; Becky Schultz, aye; Jeff
Wale, aye; and Jamie Mason, aye.

7.2. Discuss OLC Convention sponsorship

Stephen Hedges presented correspondence with the Ohio Library
Council concerning their practice of providing OPLIN with a free
exhibit booth at OLC conventions. OPLIN traditionally sponsors OLC
conventions at the "Gold" level, and Stephen had assumed a free booth
was provided to all Gold sponsors. This is not the case; OPLIN receives
a free booth because a decade ago they routinely paid for the
convention Internet connections, which could cost as much as $10,000.
Convention venues now routinely supply free Internet, but OPLIN has
still been receiving a free booth, unlike the State Library which
receives a booth at a reduced "partner" rental rate. Stephen therefore
asked the Board to consider paying both a Gold sponsorship fee ($4,000)
for this fall's OLC convention, as well as paying the partner rate
($250) for an exhibit booth.

Jamie Mason asked if many people stop at the OPLIN booth on the
convention floor. Stephen, Laura Solomon, and Karl Jendretzky all
agreed that they make a lot of valuable contacts at the exhibit booth.

Jill
Billman-Royer motioned to approve Gold sponsorship of the OLC
convention and booth rental at the partner rate; Ben Chinni seconded.

Recorded vote: Don Barlow, aye; Jill
Billman-Royer, aye; Gary Branson, aye; Ben Chinni, aye; Karl Colón,
aye; Karen Davis, aye; Sandi Plymire, aye; Becky Schultz, aye; Jeff
Wale, aye; and Jamie Mason, abstain.

Doug Evans thanked the Board for their support.

8. OPLIN DIRECTOR'S REPORT

Stephen Hedges reported that E-rate applications for the next
funding year are nearing completion, and some new contract offerings
may save as much as $120,000 per year in telecommunications costs
before discounts. He also reported on the progress on the Invitation to
Negoatiate for the next five years of Ohio Web Libray databases; bids
are due February 15. Stephen informed the Board that this year's Public
Library Statistics survey conducted by the State Library would for the
first time include questions to gather data needed by OPLIN. Finally,
he reported that the Department of Administrative Services Real Estate
division had visited the office as a first step toward negotiating a
new two-year lease with the landlord.

Regarding OPLIN office activities, Stephen highlighted his
attendance at the grand opening of the Worthington Libraries Homework
Help Center and his Ethics Commission training.

8.1. Technology Projects Manager report

Karl Jendretzky reported that he continues to make improvements to
the SMS text notification system that libraries can use. About a third
of Ohio public libraries have at least tried it. He is also working
with Amie McReynolds on reorganizing the Explore Ohio website data. He
has installed some new intrusion detection tools on the OPLIN servers,
including those hosting library website kits. Karl reported that
Columbus Metro Library now has a 1 Gbps Internet connection. Finally,
he reported that the OPLIN network core hardware and firmware has been
upgraded to prepare for the switch to 10 Gbps Internet access.

8.2. Library Services Manager report

Laura Solomon reported there are now fifty-nine live website kit
libraries, with another nine in construction. She spent a lot of time
recently making upgrades to the underlying Drupal software,
particularly the calendar functionality. Laura has also developed
special graphics for the Summer Reading Program, as she did last year,
which libraries can purchase for creating a Summer Reading Program page
on their website. The Board noted that the website kits service now
serves about a third of Ohio public libraries, and suggested that there
may come a time when more staff must be devoted to this service.

8.3. Database usage

Stephen Hedges reported that database usage remains strong, and
briefly discussed some recent changes to the way some vendors report
usage statistics.

9. CHAIR'S REPORT

9.1. Discussion of nominations for new
board member

The Chair requested a report from the committee that reviewed
nominations from libraries for the board position left vacant by the
resignation of Jason Buydos, which was sent to Stephen Hedges on
January 7. The committee presented a list of the names collected and
considered.

Karl Colón motioned to accept the
resignation of Jason Buydos, with regret; Gary Branson seconded. All
aye.

Speaking for the nominations committee,
Don Barlow nominated Susan Brown to fill the vacant Board position. All
aye.

Stephen Hedges will present the Board's
nomination to the State Library Board for appointment.

10. EXECUTIVE SESSION to discuss
compensation of an employee

Don Barlow motioned that the Board hold
an executive session as permitted by O.R.C. 121.22(G)(1) to consider
the promotion and/or compensation of a public employee. Jeff Wale
seconded.

Recorded vote: Don Barlow, aye; Jill
Billman-Royer, aye; Gary Branson, aye; Ben Chinni, aye; Karl Colón,
aye; Karen Davis, aye; Sandi Plymire, aye; Becky Schultz, aye; Jeff
Wale, aye; and Jamie Mason, aye.

The Chair invited Stephen Hedges and Jamie Pardee to participate in
the executive session. The Board entered executive session at 11:45 a.m.

10.1 Resolution

The Board returned from executive session at 12:45 p.m.

Karl Colón offered the following
resolution:

Pursuant to the board's duties under Ohio Revised Code 3375.66 section (A)(1), the board finds that the technology projects manager is a necessary position for the operation of the Ohio Public Library Information Network within the meaning of Ohio Revised Code 3375.66(A)(1) and is necessary to carry out the functions of the board pursuant to Ohio Revised Code sections 3375.64, 3375.66, 3375.67 et seq.

Ben Chinni seconded the resolution.

Recorded vote: Don Barlow, aye; Jill
Billman-Royer, aye; Gary Branson, aye; Ben Chinni, aye; Karl Colón,
aye; Karen Davis, aye; Sandi Plymire, aye; Becky Schultz, aye; Jeff
Wale, aye; and Jamie Mason, aye.

11. ADJOURNMENT

On motion of Ben Chinni the Board
adjourned at 12:52 p.m.

OHIO PUBLIC LIBRARY INFORMATION NETWORK (OPLIN)
ONE HUNDRED THIRTY-FIFTH REGULAR MEETING of the BOARD OF TRUSTEES

Minutes — December 14, 2012

1. WELCOME and CALL TO ORDER

The one hundred thirty-fifth meeting of the Ohio Public Library Information Network (OPLIN) Board of Trustees was called to order at 10:02 a.m. on Friday, December 14, 2012 by Board Chair Jamie Mason at the State Library of Ohio in Columbus, Ohio.

Present were Board members: Don Barlow, Jill Billman-Royer, Gary Branson, Ben Chinni, Karl Colón, Karen Davis, Jamie Mason, Sandi Plymire, Becky Schultz, and Jeff Wale.

Also present were: Stephen Hedges, Laura Solomon, and Karl Jendretzky (OPLIN); Jamie Pardee and David Namiotka (State Library); and Doug Evans (Ohio Library Council).

2. APPROVAL OF THE AGENDA

Jamie Mason asked if there were any changes to the meeting agenda. Stephen Hedges asked that item 6.1 under Old Business be delayed until after discussion of item 7.1 under New Business, since the discussions would be related.

3. PUBLIC PARTICIPATION

Jamie Mason called for public participation.

Doug Evans had nothing to report from OLC. Karl Colón asked if OLC had done research on the impact any income tax cut might have on the Public Library Fund. Doug said he would send that information to Karl.

4. APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES of October 12 meeting

Jamie Mason requested approval of the minutes of the October 12 Board meeting.

Sandi Plymire motioned to approve the minutes of the October 12 meeting as presented; Karen Davis seconded. All aye.

5. ACCEPTANCE OF THE FINANCIAL REPORTS

Jamie Pardee presented the Financial Reports as of November 30. Report A detailed fiscal years 2010 and 2011, which are now closed and unchanged. Report B detailed fiscal years 2012 and 2013; fiscal year 2012 is now closed and unchanged. Report C showed cash flow. Stephen Hedges mentioned that the cash flow included some E-rate reimbursements that are requested every six months.

Gary Branson motioned to accept the Financial Reports; Jill Billman-Royer seconded. All aye.

6. OLD BUSINESS

Item 6.1, Branch connection for CLEVNET, was postponed until after Item 7.1.

7. NEW BUSINESS

7.1. Discussion of support for library branch connections

Stephen Hedges shared his belief that OPLIN should have an interest in supporting Internet connections at library branch locations. Public computing at all library locations has become more important with the increase in e-government services and the prevalence of online job applications. Current Internet connectivity at library branches is inconsistent and in some cases unsatisfactory. If current budget and expenditure trends continue, Stephen thought OPLIN could have sufficient resources to fund a two-year pilot project that would provide limited financial support to public library branches that met defined Internet connectivity standards.

While the Board was interested in the idea of support for library branch connections, there was some discussion of how to define Internet connectivity standards and whether such standards would encroach on local library control. The Board was also concerned about the uncertainty of OPLIN funding in the upcoming biennial budget. Further discussion was therefore tabled until the April Board Retreat, by which time more should be known about the future OPLIN budget.

Item 6.1 from Old Business was taken up next.

6.1. Branch connection for CLEVNET

Stephen Hedges reminded the Board that Cleveland Public Library (CPL) had requested an OPLIN connection to their Lakeshore branch to handle traffic resulting from their plans to construct a backup facility for CLEVNET libraries at that location. Stephen and Karl had discussed such "redundant" connections to major libraries with CPL quite a while ago, when the OPLIN Board was considering such a service. In light of the previous discussion about support for all library branches, Stephen suggested that he inform CPL that OPLIN had abandoned the idea of supporting a redundant connection at one branch and is instead evaluating the possibility of some support for all branches. By consensus the Board agreed with this suggestion.

7.2. Discussion of outbound malware filtering

Jeff Wale related a situation that occurred at the Toledo library that resulted in virus-infected machines sending out malicious Internet traffic, which in turn resulted in the Toledo library being black-listed from the Internet. Jeff explained how Toledo had solved the problem, but wondered if OPLIN could do something at the network core to keep similar problems from occurring in other libraries.

Stephen Hedges reported that some OPLIN library gets black-listed for malicious Internet activity a couple of times a year. Karl Jendretzky noted that monitoring the large volume of OPLIN data traffic could be technically difficult, but suggested that he work with Office of Information Technology (OIT) network engineers to explore possibilities for monitoring all outbound OPLIN traffic, or possibly just the traffic from a library that is having a problem with outbound malware.

8. OPLIN DIRECTOR'S REPORT

Stephen Hedges reported that he has no news about the OPLIN budget since the email he sent all Board members after his October 18 meeting at the Office of Budget and Management. He expects the Invitation to Negotiate for the next five years of Ohio Web Library database subscriptions to be posted by Wright State University in the very near future. Stephen also reported that OPLIN is planning to test a wireless microwave connection to Puskarich Public Library, which may result in another possibility for connecting libraries to OPLIN.

Regarding OPLIN office activities, Stephen highlighted his visits to SEO in Caldwell and the Pike County public library system, and Laura Solomon's visit to Geauga County Public Library and her presentation at the Indiana Library Federation annual conference. Stephen also noted the birth of Karl Jendretzky's son on November 1.

8.1. Technology Projects Manager report

Karl Jendretzky reported he has been working with OIT to consolidate the remaining OPLIN T1 lines onto a single DS3 circuit at the core. He also reported that the Barracuda spam filtering device was replaced under warranty after he started noticing problems, and that he has had to rebuild the SMS notification software after that vendor switched to a new API. Karl reported that Columbus Metro Library is about to move to a full 1 Gbps connection, the first OPLIN "Gig" connection to a library.

8.2. Library Services Manager report

Laura Solomon reported that she is in the process of completing the annual software upgrades to the website kits, with the biggest changes this year being new software for handling library event calendars and a new way to handle file management. She also reported that she added a collection of high-quality images to the new file manager for libraries to use in their website content.

8.3. Database usage

Stephen Hedges reported on database usage, but noted that three databases were affected by recent changes in the way the vendors collected and reported their statistics. He regretted that such continuous changes make it difficult to evaluate patterns in database usage over long periods of time.

9. CHAIR'S REPORT

9.1. Discussion of nominations for new board member

The Chair initiated a discussion about open Board positions. Because of discussions with the Ohio Attorney General's office, the Board was not able to take any action in regard to recommending a new OPLIN Board member for appointment by the State Library Board. The Board expects to revisit this matter at their February 8, 2013 regular meeting.

10. ADJOURNMENT

On motion of Sandi Plymire the Board adjourned at 11:56 a.m.

OHIO PUBLIC LIBRARY INFORMATION NETWORK (OPLIN)
ONE HUNDRED THIRTY-FOURTH REGULAR MEETING of the BOARD OF TRUSTEES

Minutes — October 12, 2012

1. WELCOME and CALL TO ORDER

The one hundred thirty-fourth meeting of the Ohio Public Library Information Network (OPLIN) Board of Trustees was called to order at 10:00 a.m. on Friday, October 12, 2012 by Board Chair Jamie Mason at the State Library of Ohio in Columbus, Ohio.

Present were Board members: Jill Billman-Royer, Gary Branson, Karl Colón, Karen Davis, Jamie Mason, Sandi Plymire, Becky Schultz, and Jeff Wale.

Also present were: Stephen Hedges, Laura Solomon, and Karl Jendretzky (OPLIN); Jamie Pardee and Beverly Cain (State Library); and Doug Evans (Ohio Library Council).

2. APPROVAL OF THE AGENDA

Jamie Mason requested approval of the meeting agenda.

Jill Billman-Royer motioned to approve the agenda as presented; Sandi Plymire seconded. All aye.

3. PUBLIC PARTICIPATION

Jamie Mason called for public participation.

Doug Evans encouraged Board members to register soon for the OLC Widen the Lens conference, since only a few openings remain.

Beverly Cain noted that applications for ILEAD USA are now open, which will involve five Ohio mixed teams of five librarians from at least two different types of libraries. Teams will work on using technology to improve patron services. The sessions will take place simultaneously in five states.

4. APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES of August 10 meeting

Jamie Mason requested approval of the minutes of the August 10 Board meeting.

Sandi Plymire motioned to approve the minutes of the August 10 meeting as presented; Gary Branson seconded. All aye.

5. ACCEPTANCE OF THE FINANCIAL REPORTS

Jamie Pardee presented the Financial Reports as of September 30. Report A detailed fiscal years 2010 and 2011, which are now closed and unchanged. In response to a question from Jamie, the Board agreed that they no longer need to see these fiscal years unless they request them specifically. Report B detailed fiscal years 2012 and 2013. Jamie summarized these fiscal years, and noted that the FY 2012 report now reflects revenue and expenditure activity that was originally budgeted in FY2012, rather than being reflected in FY 2013 when it may have actually occurred, to make budgeting clearer. Report C, however, showing cash flow, reflects activity when it actually occurred, while noting the fiscal year in which it was budgeted.

Stephen Hedges mentioned that OPLIN had not yet received an invoice from OhioLINK for the first payment toward the cost of the Ohio Web Library databases this year, but he has asked OhioLINK to investigate.

Gary Branson motioned to accept the Financial Reports; Jeff Wale seconded. All aye.

6. OLD BUSINESS

6.1. Digitization project update

Stephen Hedges reported that he has been in contact with Kim Fender about the planned grant proposal to extend the digitization lab developed at the Cincinnati library to other locations across the state. A possible collaboration with OhioLINK for presenting the digitized materials on the Internet would not affect the need to first set up digitization labs. Kim is checking with other metro libraries to confirm their interest in hosting labs and will also draw up an equipment list. Beverly Cain confirmed that the LSTA grant application would not be due until next spring. Beverly also noted that the Ohio Historical Society has a nice digitization lab.

7. NEW BUSINESS

7.1. Discussion of statewide IT projects

Stephen Hedges began by presenting background materials on statewide information technology (IT) projects in which OPLIN might join. He explained an August reorganization of OH-TECH, the higher-education technology consortium being developed by the Board of Regents. John Magill has been replaced by Gwen Evans as OhioLINK director. Ohio State University is now the fiscal agent for all components of this consortium, including OhioLINK. OARnet network operations and the Ohio Supercomputer Center have been combined, while OARnet research has been moved to a separate innovation lab associated with OSU.

Lynda Murray from OLC was in touch with Chancellor Petro about a year ago to talk about OPLIN working with this consortium. Stephen presented recent correspondence between Lynda and the administration about moving OPLIN funding out of the Public Library Fund (PLF) and including OPLIN in statewide IT consolidation projects. This correspondence has resulted in a meeting being scheduled on October 18 involving Randy Cole from the Office of Budget and Management (OBM), OLC, OPLIN, the State Library, the Board of Regents, the Office of Information Technology (OIT), OhioLINK, INFOhio, and eTech.

In order to provide the Board with background information relevant to discussions about including OPLIN in statewide IT consolidation projects, Stephen reported on OARnet, K-12, and OIT network projects.

Most of Ohio's universities are OARnet members, and they pay for their use of bandwidth. Portions of the OARnet backbone have been upgraded to 100 Gbps and connect directly to the Internet2 network, which entails significant additional costs for the universities. This upgrade project was scheduled for completion this month.

The K-12 network connects 3,500+ school buildings to the Internet. School districts get an average 6% subsidy from the state for their last-mile costs to connect to an Information Technology Center (ITC), then a middle-mile circuit connects each ITC to the OARnet backbone. Starting in 2015, the Department of Education will be looking for funding to support these middle-mile connections. K-12 and OARnet contend that this aggregation of circuits at the ITCs saves money. About 80% of school buildings have at least a 100 Mbps circuit, and the state proposes that all schools should meet this standard, at local district cost.

OIT's strategic plans call for "network operating consolidation" to save money. Their published plans are not detailed, except for a proposal to eventually cut the current 561 state employees that work on IT infrastructure to 200 individuals. OPLIN currently buys Internet bandwidth in partnership with OIT and pays OIT to manage OPLIN circuits, making OPLIN OIT's largest customer. Beverly Cain noted that OIT has just begun assessing a sizable "IT Development" fee on all state agencies, but has exempted OPLIN from paying this fee.

Karl Colón asked if incorporating OPLIN into IT consolidation efforts would affect the ability of the State Library to secure federal Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA) funds. Stephen Hedges responded that since OPLIN is a line item in the State Library budget, reducing or removing OPLIN funds from the SLO budget would also reduce the state match for federal funds and result in less LSTA money. Beverly Cain noted that participants in the upcoming meeting are aware of this problem.

Doug Evans explained that one of OLC's goals is to move OPLIN funding out of the PLF, but without reducing the PLF by a corresponding amount. They also want to maintain the OPLIN governance, and are very interested in providing financial support for branch connections. None of Lynda's dealings with the administration have yet dealt with the technical specifics of accomplishing these goals, but financial discussions have been promising.

Discussion turned to whether or not the OPLIN Board would be effective if it were to become an advisory board. It was noted that policy decisions and the evaluation of the OPLIN Director and OPLIN services may not be within the purview of an advisory board. Karl Colón noted, however, that ultimately the question is, how would changing OPLIN benefit the public? Other questions, like the role of the Board, are secondary. That being said, Board members noted that in some circumstances, a loss of control by the Board could result in less robust service to public libraries and the public they serve.

The Board felt that they needed to see some specific proposals before they could provide meaningful guidance. On the other hand, they were aware that there may be a need for some quick decisions in order to accomplish changes within the budget timeline.

Jamie Mason directed Stephen to communicate at least weekly with the Executive Committee and provide information about efforts to incorporate OPLIN into statewide IT consolidation projects.

Karl Colón was excused from the meeting with the consent of the Board at 11:05 to attend the OLC Government Relations Committee meeting.

7.2. Branch connection for CLEVNET

Stephen Hedges reported that OPLIN has been approached by the CLEVNET consortium with a request to pay for a large connection to the Cleveland Public Library's Lakeshore facility. Cleveland was the only metro library to express serious interest last year in OPLIN's proposal to provide redundant Internet connections to large libraries. They now plan to develop a backup center at Lakeshore for CLEVNET libraries and have asked if OPLIN would pay for the Internet connection there. Stephen has replied that OPLIN may be undergoing some changes, including possibly providing some support to all libraries for branch connections, but promised to ask the Board if they want to respond to the request or postpone action until more is known about OPLIN's future within statewide networks.

The Board made no motion to act on the CLEVNET request, preferring to wait until they had more information.

8. OPLIN DIRECTOR'S REPORT

Stephen Hedges reported that he and State Library Board President Steve Wood had traveled to Topeka at the invitation of Kansas State Librarian Jo Budler to talk about OPLIN as part of a planning session on ways to provide broadband connections to libraries. The Kansas legislature has directed that all schools, libraries and hospitals with a state KAN-ED Internet connection move to a commercial broadband Internet connection by June 30, 2013. Stephen also reported that the committee that will work on the Invitation to Negotiate (ITN) for the next five years of Ohio Web Library databases met for the first time on August 27, and also that OPLIN has contracted with Time Warner Cable for some "Type II" connections that are not covered by state contracts in order to replace some of the few remaining T1 lines. Stephen also reported that Gov. Kasich has signed a resolution making October Information Literacy Month.

Regarding OPLIN office activities, Stephen highlighted his travel to Cleveland Heights for the ETM Libraries meeting, Karl Jendretzky's travel to Cincinnati to work on network equipment at the library and the SWON office, and a meeting with OIT and AT&T to discuss ongoing problems with the Columbus library connection.

8.1. Technology Projects Manager report

Karl Jendretzky reported that all the Juniper routers except a few that need special configuration have been installed, and also that parts for the 10 Gbps upgrade of the core router have started to arrive. A new website kits server has been launched to handle new library websites. At the SWON office in Cincinnati, OPLIN and OIT are testing a Time Warner Cable coaxial business class type of connection, which could possibly be used for the smallest public libraries if all the networking issues can be resolved. Karl also reported that the Barracuda spam filter license has been renewed for the fourth year; the filter is blocking about 66,000 spam emails a day, at a cost of about $1 per user per year. Karl also mentioned that he has had to do some upgrading to the SMS service, prompted by automated messages generated by some library automation software which should not be sent as text messages to a cellphone.

8.2. Library Services Manager report

Laura Solomon reported that there are 53 dynamic website kits in production and 14 more in development, so OPLIN is providing website services for over a fourth of the public libraries. In November, upgrades will be made to all kits, providing new events management and file upload capabilities, as well as direct links to the help manual. Laura is also going to pre-load website kits with a supply of high-quality graphics to discourage librarians from inserting low-quality clipart into their web pages.

8.3. Database usage

Stephen Hedges reported that database usage declined slightly compared to a year ago, and that this statistic is now accurate, since we have had the Mango Languages and the Ancestry databases for more than a year now.

9. CHAIR'S REPORT

9.1. Nomination process for Board member replacement

Jamie Mason appointed Don Barlow, Sandi Plymire, and Becky Schultz to a Nomination Committee that will work with Stephen Hedges to fill Jason Buydos' term on the Board. The bylaws permit this committee to recommend a candidate for appointment directly to the State Library Board, which will meet on December 11 and can appoint a new Board member to start at the December 14 OPLIN Board meeting. Jamie asked the Nominations Committee to share their choice with the Executive Committee before sending it to the State Library Board.

12. ADJOURNMENT

On motion of Jeff Wale the Board adjourned at 11:34 a.m.

OHIO PUBLIC LIBRARY INFORMATION NETWORK (OPLIN)
ONE HUNDRED THIRTY-THIRD REGULAR MEETING of the BOARD OF TRUSTEES

Minutes — August 10, 2012

1. WELCOME and CALL TO ORDER

The one hundred thirty-third meeting of the Ohio Public Library Information Network (OPLIN) Board of Trustees was called to order at 10:00 a.m. on Friday, August 10, 2012 by Board Vice-Chair Jamie Mason at the State Library of Ohio in Columbus, Ohio.

Present were Board members: Don Barlow, Gary Branson, Ben Chinni, Karl Colón, Karen Davis, Jamie Mason, and Sandi Plymire.

Also present were: Stephen Hedges and Karl Jendretzky (OPLIN); and Jamie Pardee and David Namiotka (State Library).

2. NOMINATION and ELECTION OF BOARD OFFICERS

Jamie Mason reminded the Board of the suggested slate of officers proposed by the Executive Committee at the last meeting, but also noted that due to a subsequent change in employment status, Jason Buydos was not eligible to serve on the Board at this time. Jamie called for nominations from the floor for Vice-Chair. Gary Branson nominated Karen Davis, making the suggested slate of officers: Jamie Mason, Chair; Karen Davis, Vice-Chair; Karl Colón, Secretary; and Gary Branson, Treasurer.

Don Barlow motioned to close the nominations; Gary Branson seconded. All aye.

Jamie Mason called for approval of the slate of officers. All aye.

3. APPROVAL OF THE AGENDA

Jamie Mason requested approval of the meeting agenda.

Karen Davis motioned to approve the agenda as presented; Sandi Plymire seconded. All aye.

4. ESTABLISH BOARD MEETING SCHEDULE for FY 2013

Jamie Mason called attention to the proposed Board meeting schedule, which in accordance with past practice set meeting dates as the second Friday of even-numbered months and extended beyond the end of fiscal year 2013 to October 2013, to allow Board members to plan ahead.

Stephen Hedges pointed out that the proposed October 11,2013 date fell on the last day of the Ohio Library Council (OLC) Convention at Kalahari Resort in Sandusky. The consensus of the Board was to keep that meeting date and move the meeting to Sandusky.

Sandi Plymire motioned to approve the proposed Board meeting schedule; Don Barlow seconded. All aye.

5. PUBLIC PARTICIPATION

Jamie Mason called for public participation; there was none.

6. APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES of June 8 meeting

Jamie Mason requested approval of the minutes of the June 8 Board meeting.

Gary Branson explained that on further reflection, he felt he should have abstained from the vote on the website kit pricing. After discussion, the Board noted that changing this one vote would not affect the outcome of the decision.

Karl Colón motioned to approve the minutes of the June 8 meeting as amended; Don Barlow seconded. All aye.

7. ACCEPTANCE OF THE FINANCIAL REPORTS

Jamie Pardee presented the Financial Reports as of July 31. Report A detailed fiscal years 2010 and 2011, which are now closed and unchanged. In Report B, FY 2012 is also closed; any future changes will be reflected in FY 2013. Report C showed a June 30, 2012 cash balance of $2.7 million.

Jamie then provided an overview of the FY 2014-2015 budget request process, which has started. Agencies drawing funds from the General Revenue Fund (GRF) have been instructed to request 90% of the FY 2013 funding, agencies drawing funds from other sources may request 100%. In both cases, agencies may also submit justified requests for an additional 10%.

Stephen Hedges reported that in drafting the OPLIN request and answering the required questions from the Office of Budget and Management (OBM), he has placed a lot of emphasis on the Board's desire for OPLIN funding to return to the GRF. In budget planning meetings, he had even proposed at one point to prepare a 90% "GRF" budget. Subsequent feedback that Jamie has received from OBM has indicated, however, that they will not move OPLIN funding from the Public Library Fund (PLF) to the GRF. Since it now appears that a change in OPLIN funding would have to be done through the legislature, Stephen and Jamie will submit a 100% budget request to OBM.

Stephen also asked the Board if they wanted to request cost-of-living salary increases for OPLIN staff. The last time OPLIN salaries were increased was August 2008, and Stephen reported that between then and June 2012 the Consumer Price Index (CPI) increased by 4.7%. The Board discussion established that they were concerned about OPLIN staff leaving for jobs that provided better compensation. Jamie Pardee assured the Board that sufficient funds are available, since staff salaries are such a small percentage of the total OPLIN budget.

Karl Colón motioned to request 4% increases in all OPLIN staff salaries in the next fiscal year; Ben Chinni seconded.

In further discussion, Don Barlow made the point that the Board had CPI data to support a request for 4.7% salary increases to counteract the effect of increased living costs. Jamie Mason asked if there was any objection to adopting this amendment to the original motion and there was none.

The motion as now amended: to request 4.7% increases in all OPLIN staff salaries in the next fiscal year.

Recorded vote: Don Barlow, aye; Gary Branson, aye; Ben Chinni, aye; Karl Colón, aye; Karen Davis, aye; Sandi Plymire, aye; and Jamie Mason, aye.

Karen Davis motioned to accept the Financial Reports; Gary Branson seconded. All aye.

8. OLD BUSINESS

8.1. Resume discussion of Extending OPLIN policy

Stephen Hedges presented the two draft policies regarding extending an OPLIN Internet connection to non-library entities that were tabled from the last meeting. These drafts described two different ways of charging a library for extra connection costs involved if the library wanted to share its OPLIN connection. Stephen also added a new, third version which essentially only changed references to "public libraries" to "OPLIN participants" and cleaned up some minor language.

The Board speculated extensively on various reasons for a library to share their OPLIN connection and legal issues that might be raised. While the Board was generally sympathetic to the possibility of libraries sharing their connection, they were concerned about the complexities of detecting, measuring, and invoicing extra connection costs, and the likelihood that not many libraries would have a desire to share their connection.

Gary Branson motioned to approve the third version; Karl Colón seconded.

Recorded vote: Don Barlow, aye; Gary Branson, aye; Ben Chinni, aye; Karl Colón, aye; Karen Davis, aye; Sandi Plymire, aye; and Jamie Mason, aye.

9. NEW BUSINESS

9.1. 10 Gbps card for Juniper core router

Stephen Hedges explained that the OPLIN core router at the State of Ohio Computer Center (SOCC) uses a complex system of combined port channels to connect to the state's "edge" router that passes all state government traffic to the Internet. This amalgamated connection can supposedly carry 4 Gbps, but Karl Jendretzky and Terry Fouts (Office of Information Technology) have never been able to verify that, and the usage charts seem to indicate that this connection might only be able to handle about 2 Gbps. The surer way to make this connection is with a network card, and the appropriate size would be 10 Gbps. Installation of such a card would remove the weakest link remaining in our network. From the quotes OPLIN has received to date, the cost would be about $55,000.

Karl Jendretzky noted that this is both the most complicated and the most important connection in the entire network, and that he was concerned by his inability to adequately test it. Karl Colón asked if OPLIN should install an even bigger card, but Karl Jendretzky cautioned that the cost would be very prohibitive, and the current SOCC edge router could not handle the bigger connection anyway.

Don Barlow motioned to approve the purchase of a 10 Gbps card for the core router; Sandi Plymire seconded.

Recorded vote: Don Barlow, aye; Gary Branson, aye; Ben Chinni, aye; Karl Colón, aye; Karen Davis, aye; Sandi Plymire, aye; and Jamie Mason, aye.

10. OPLIN DIRECTOR'S REPORT

Stephen Hedges reported on various meetings with Lynda Murray (OLC), John Conley and Gwen Evans (OH-TECH), and John Magill (OhioLINK) regarding the expansion of the Cincinnati library digitization project. An OhioLINK committee is working on switching the Digital Resource Commons to a new platform, so this was an opportune time to talk, but the fact that OPLIN is funded from the PLF is complicating this possible collaboration. Since feedback from OBM indicates that the Governor's budget will not move OPLIN funding back into the GRF, Lynda and Stephen are planning to start meeting with legislative leaders to make the change in the legislative budget. Stephen also reported that he and Karl Jendretzky had met with consultants hired by the Governor's office to do an inventory of all state agency networks to see if there are opportunities for consolidation and increased efficiency.

Regarding OPLIN office activities, Stephen highlighted onsite network activity by Karl Jendretzky at Mansfield and Cleveland public libraries, Laura Solomon's presentations for OLC and NEO-RLS, and his attendance at the reception for Bob Carterette's retirement from CLEVNET.

10.1. Technology Projects Manager report

Karl Jendretzky reported that only about 30 of the new Juniper routers remain to be installed. He also reported that the SMS service is now sending about 250,000 text messages a year for 78 libraries. Karl noted that OPLIN is testing a standard business cable connection at the Southwest Ohio and Neighboring Libraries office, which has had to move twice in a short period of time. If the networking issues can be worked out, this might be an alternative connection type for small libraries currently using T1 connections. Karl is working with SEO Libraries in Caldwell to tune the Quality of Service settings on the network for their new library circulation software. Finally, Karl noted that Columbus Metro Library has qualified for the first upgrade to a full 1 Gbps connection.

10.2. Library Services Manager report

In the absence of Laura Solomon, Stephen Hedges reported that he and Laura had discussed the timing of major upgrades to the Drupal software running the website kits. The problem is that many independent software modules that are used in the kits are not upgraded until many months after the core Drupal software has been upgraded. The solution will be to remain on an older version of Drupal rather than the newest version; for example, the kits will continue to use Drupal version 6 until version 8 has been released, at which time they will be upgraded to version 7. Stephen also reported that he and Laura will be working with Lynda Murray to add a technology section to the OLC Administrator's Handbook.

10.3. Database usage

Stephen Hedges reported that the database statistics now include one full year of Mango Languages and Ancestry Library Edition, making year-to-year comparisons more meaningful. He also reported that the Libraries Connect Ohio partners have discussed how to count statistics for some of the databases that do not involve traditional searches and documents retrieval, and as a result of those discussions one small change has been made in the way Mango statistics are calculated starting this fiscal year.

11. CHAIR'S REPORT

11.1. At-large appointment to Executive Committee

Jamie Mason appointed Jeff Wale to the at-large position on the Executive Committee.

12. ADJOURNMENT

On motion of Sandi Plymire the Board adjourned at 11:36 a.m.