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.

Minutes —August 11, 2023

The one hundred ninety-sixth meeting of the Ohio Public Library Information Network (OPLIN) Board of Trustees was called to order at 10:02 a.m. on Friday, August 11, 2023 by Board Vice Chair Garalynn Tomas at the OPLIN office in Columbus, Ohio.

 Present were Board members: Ben Bolbach, Michael Butler, Roger Donaldson, Bill Lane, Jennifer Reynard, Holly Richards, Sue Schuld, CJ Stephens, and Meredith Wickham.

 Also present were: Jessica Dooley, Christine Morris, and Don Yarman (OPLIN); Stephanie Herriott, Wendy Knapp, and Jamie Pardee (State Library); and Michelle Francis (Ohio Library Council). 

Attending virtually: Laura Solomon (OPLIN).

Sue Schuld nominated the following slate of of icers: Garylynn Tomas, Chair; Roger Donadlson, Vice Chair; Ben Bolbach, Secretary; Meredith Wickham, Treasurer. Michael Butler seconded the nominations. There was no discussion, so the chair called for a vote on the nominations; all aye. Garalyn Tomas continued to run the meeting as newly elected Chair.

Following the pattern of holding OPLIN Board meetings at 10:00 a.m. on the second Friday of even-numbered months, Yarman presented the following meeting schedule:

• October 13, 2023
• December 8, 2023
• February 9, 2024
• April 12, 2024
• June 14, 2024

Holly Richards asked whether the October 13 meeting could be moved forward to be held during the OLC Convention in Cincinnati, September 29. Yarman said he spoke to Paula Brehm-Heeger, director of the Cincinnati library, and she has reserved their boardroom for our use. Yarman also mentioned that the state rules allow those members who live more than three hours from Cincinnati to be reimbursed $151, the per diem set by the state for Cincinnati, for hotel expenses. After a discussion of what OLC events a planned Board meeting may conflict with, Meredith Wickham asked if we should check whether there likely would be a quorum of Board members planning to attend the conference; six members indicated they would be there.

Ben Bolbach moved to approve the meeting schedule with the change to move the October meeting to September 29 at the Cincinnati Main Library; Meredith Wickham seconded. There was no further discussion, so the chair called for a vote on the motion; all aye.

The Chair called for public participation.

Wendy Knapp reported that Heather Miller has joined the staff at SEO. The State Library partnered with the Ohio National Guard to create a “Freedom to Serve” display for the state house, celebrating the 75th anniversary of the desegregation of the armed services. The State Library Board awarded Guiding Ohio Online grants in May. The current ILEAD cohort will hold their final session in October by presenting their projects to the State Library Board. The State Library has four kits with eclipse programming ideas; contact Penelope Shumaker for more information. Year to date, there have been over five million checkouts from the Ohio Digital Library. OhioLINK has announced that they will be migrating to a new Library Services Platform, Alma Prima, in 2025. Summer Reading Program evaluations are due September 9. A new State Library website will debut on the new Innovate Ohio platform in mid-September. The State Library building is undergoing upgrades in security and HVAC systems.

Michelle Francis reported that the Public Library Fund increase to 1.7% of general revenue is now in permanent law, as established in the state’s new budget. The budget also included last minute tax changes; OLC staff will be meeting with the Department of Taxation to determine how those will affect PLF calculations. Major events coming soon include the Ohio Library Convention and Expo in Cincinnati, and Fiscal Officer training.

Roger Donaldson moved to approve the minutes of the April 14, 2023 meeting as presented; Holly Richards seconded. There was no discussion, so the Chair called for a vote on the motion; all aye.

Jamie Pardee distributed a corrected paper copy of the cash balance sheet, showing the balance at $1.3 million at the end of the fiscal year. She estimates the cash balance at the end of FY24 will be around $820,000. E-rate reimbursements are estimated at $1.7 million. Total disbursements for FY23 were $5.7 million. Pardee likes to estimate expenditures a little high, so the projection for FY24 is just under $5.9 million. 

Bill Lane 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.

Webkit Fees

Library fees for the Website Kits are intended to cover OPLIN’s actual costs to build and maintain them. The fees for website creation, installation of additional modules, and custom website design have not changed since the service was implemented, whereas Laura Solomon’s salary has risen 30% in that time. In FY2019, the OPLIN Board raised the annual hosting/maintenance from $340 to $360. Since then, the Consumer Price Index has gone up 21%. Based on discussions with staff about the work creating and maintaining webkits, the following new fee structure is proposed:

If approved, these new rates will become effective July 1, 2024 for existing customers; any new customers will be charged the increased rate. 

Roger Donaldson moved to approve the new fee structure; Sue Schuld seconded. There was no discussion, so the Chair called for a vote on the motion; all aye.

Staff Raises

Stephanie Herriot gave an overview of how raises are determined for state employees, explaining that because OPLIN are “administrative” staff, the Board must approve their raises. These are parity raises in line with the raises negotiated by the state’s bargaining units. 

Bill Lane moved: In that ef ective the pay period that includes July 1, 2023, exempt employees paid according to the E-1 salary tables in the Ohio Revised Code 124.152 will receive a 3% increase and the FY24 3% salary increase is also allowable for exempt employees in the E-2, E-3 and E-4 salary tables, the OPLIN Board, in accordance with the duties assigned by Ohio Revised Code Section 3375.66, approves adjusting the compensation of each OPLIN E-3 staf member to reflect an approximate 3% salary increase retroactively beginning with the pay period that includes July 1, 2023; Ben Bolbach seconded. There was no discussion, so the Chair called for a vote on the motion; all aye.

OPLIN Director's Report

 Yarman said the agency had a relatively easy rollover to the new fiscal year: Cisco Umbrella renewed smoothly without the hiccups of the previous summer, and the new circuits ordered as part of the E-rate process mostly seem to be functioning without lingering installation problems. Yarman also discussed a meeting with Cuyahoga County Public Library about options for working with PCs for People to provide internet access wirelessly to digitally distressed neighborhoods around library branches. Libraries can do this, but if that internet traffic travels on OPLIN-paid circuits, libraries would have to take over payment of that bill. What we’re seeing instead, in the case of the Lorain Public Library System for example, is to pay for a separate circuit to handle that traffic. The “To and Through” approach to broadband deployment via community anchor institutions is growing in Ohio, and Yarman expects to have many more conversations with libraries who have been approached by partners to launch similar projects. Dooley added that PCs for People is a non-profit WISP (wireless internet service provider) which charges customers $15 per month for service. PCs for People does have funding from BroadbandOhio to pay for the internet backhaul via OARnet, so in these cases they are searching for ways to get from their equipment at library facilities back to the OARnet pop.

Technology Projects Manager’s Report 

Dooley reported that OPLIN’s circuit upgrades are almost all complete, with only two awaiting installation, and credits this to early orders. Of the libraries that ordered new branch circuits via OPLIN’s statewide omnibus effort, only seven remain to be filled. Ten libraries took the option to connect branches directly to the OPLIN core, and as those are complete, they receive OPLIN-managed routers. One of those libraries, Ashtabula, requested Q-in-Q configuration to bring their two locations into a single network; prior to now, we’ve only used Q-in-Q for libraries to include equipment in the SOCC co-location space within the libraries’ local networks. Dooley worked with OIT engineer Mike Horsely to inventory OPLIN’s fiber trunks within the SOCC in preparation for future expansion. The state has deployed cloud-hosted authoritative domain name servers, and Dooley has pointed all library domain that use the state’s name servers (including all lib.oh.us domains) to the cloud option. This prevents loss of service to those libraries when the state’s physical name servers suffer any network incident. Dooley reported that Derek Zoladz has been working hard to support the changes in subscription database access, and he developed MASK authentication support for the Koha API.

Digital Resources Manager’s Report

Morris outlined problems with the implementation of changes to the statewide collection of databases. Libraries who chose to pick up Transparent Language subscriptions after they were removed from the statewide contracts discovered that the company would not migrate user accounts and histories. Proquest, despite having all necessary subscription information when the contracts were signed in the spring, did not have all library access set up for Culturegrams, and Morris worked over the holiday weekend to manually input library IP addresses. Morris will be developing special E-rate training targeted to libraries who use commercially-available cable internet for their branches. At OLC, OPLIN staff will be talking up Northstar to encourage more libraries to offer it to their communities; currently about 100 libraries are live, serving around 8 million Ohioans in their communities. Morris will also present a poster session that promotes to libraries the resources that INFOhio makes available to schools.

Library Services Manager’s Report

Solomon expanded on the information in her written report about her work preparing for the Drupal 9 end-of-life deadline coming up in November. Solomon and Dooley have successfully upgraded a website to Drupal 10 in the test environment, but are not yet ready to begin upgrading the live websites.

Recognition 

The Chair recognized Roger Donaldson to offer the following resolution: 

WHEREAS TARA SIDWELL has been a member of the Ohio Public Library Information Network (OPLIN) Board of Trustees since July 2017; 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 experience as director at the Kate Love Simpson-Morgan County Library gave her a distinctive outlook on OPLIN and its services to libraries; and

WHEREAS she has provided additional leadership as the Treasurer of the OPLIN Board from 2019 through 2021, the Vice Chair from 2021 through 2022, and Chair from 2022 through 2023 ; and

WHEREAS she has consistently contributed her valuable opinions to the OPLIN Board and OPLIN Executive Committee 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 11th day of August, Two Thousand and Twenty-Three, 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 TARA SIDWELL 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 TARA SIDWELL for her continued volunteer service as a member of this Board. 

Ben Bolbach seconded the resolution. All aye. 

Roger Donaldson offered the following resolution: 

WHEREAS JAMES BLACK II has been a member of the Ohio Public Library Information Network (OPLIN) Board of Trustees since July 2017; 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 his service as trustee at the Loudonville Public Library gave him a distinctive outlook on OPLIN and its services to libraries; and

WHEREAS he has provided additional service as the Treasurer of the OPLIN Board from 2021 through 2023; and

WHEREAS his focus and probing attention to detail have often proved beneficial; and WHEREAS he has consistently contributed his productive opinions to the OPLIN Board and OPLIN Executive Committee deliberations; and

WHEREAS he has been a steadfast guardian of OPLIN’s interests throughout his tenure on the Board, 

NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that, on the 11th day of August, Two Thousand and Twenty-Three, 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 JAMES BLACK II 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 JAMES BLACK II for his vital volunteer service as a member of this Board. 

Michael Butler seconded the resolution. All aye.

Nomination Committee Appointments

The Chair appointed Ben Bolbach, Bill Lane, Michael Michael Butler, and Roger Donaldson to the nominations committee.

With no other business pending, the Chair adjourned the meeting at 10:48 a.m.

Minutes —December 8, 2023

The one hundred ninety-seventh meeting of the Ohio Public Library Information Network (OPLIN) Board
of Trustees was called to order at 10:00 a.m. on Friday, December 8, 2023 by Board Vice Chair Roger
Donaldson at the OPLIN office in Columbus, Ohio.

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

Also present were: Jessica Dooley, Christine Morris, and Don Yarman (OPLIN); Michelle Francis and Jay
Smith (Ohio Library Council); and Shazad Bakhsh and Collins Onyia (Toledo-Lucas County Public
Library).

Attending virtually : OPLIN Board members Travis Bautz, Bill Lane,
Jennifer Reynard,; Laura Solomon (OPLIN); Jamie Pardee and John Stewart (State Library).

Holly Richards moved to approve the agenda as presented; Ben Bolbach seconded. There was no
discussion, so the Vice Chair called for a vote on the motion; all aye.

The Vice Chair called for public participation.

From OLC, Jay Smith reported that the legislative session will wrap up Wednesday, December 13,
emphasizing movement on proposals for property tax relief and on virtual meetings. The December PLF
amounts were just released; the calendar year PLF was at $510 million, higher than calendar year 2022.
Michelle Francis outlined OLC events, thanking the OPLIN Board for their support of the OLC
Convention and Expo. There will not be an OLC Convention in 2024 as the Public Library Association
will hold their biannual conference in Columbus April 3-5; OLC is coordinating “front end events” to
showcase Ohio libraries. OLC is helping public libraries prepare for the solar eclipse April 8. OLC is
doing a webinar with Broadband Ohio December 18 about new broadband coverage maps and the
challenge process.

John Stewart reported that State Librarian Wendy Knapp is on medical leave until early January. John and
the State Library management team are splitting Wendy’s duties between them for the time being.

Sue Schuld moved to approve the minutes of the August 11, 2023 meeting as presented; CJ Stephens
seconded. There was no discussion, so the Vice Chair called for a vote on the motion; all aye.

Jamie Pardee reviewed the financial reports, noting that they are dated October 31 as November business
has not been closed. Expenses are on target for the year, with roughly $2.7 million spent and $2.7 million
remaining. $500,000 remains to spent on Information Resources, the second installment of OPLIN’s
contribution of $1 million to the statewide databases. Pardee said that, should the Board approve the
request for additional OPLIN funds for the Northstar subscription later in the agenda, there are sufficient
reserve funds to cover that expense.Yarman added that he will be filing for E-rate reimbursements for
circuit expenses for the first half of the funding year in January. He included a projected budget for
FY2025 for planning purposes, in particular to determine what funds may be available for continuing to
license continuous learning resources when the current LinkedIn Learning agreement ends.

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

Northstar Renewal
Last year, when the State Library Board approved LSTA funds to license Northstar Digital Literacy
statewide, they requested that OPLIN explore a partnership for continued funding, rather than relying
completely on federal funds. Due to the timing of State Library Board meetings, OPLIN did not have the
proposed renewal pricing before the end of the subscription on September 30. On December 7, the State
Library Board awarded $45,600 in LSTA funds to pay for the 114 library systems that are currently “live”
on the Northstar platform ($400 per site), with the understanding that OPLIN, as the administrator of the
project, would cover the remaining $13,900 in subscription costs ($100 each for the library locations that
are set up but not activated on the platform). Yarman asked the Board to add this $13,900 to OPLIN’s
Information Resources budget to cover the expense.

Ben Bolbach asked whether OPLIN had reached out to the “dormant” libraries to discover their reasons
for not participating and providing the resource. Yarman said they hadn’t yet, explaining that Northstar
was originally introduced to libraries in 2021, just as they were emerging from the stresses of pandemic
closures and the radical changes in their services; many were too overwhelmed to think about adding a
new service. This initial Northstar launch was the primary focus of Christine Morris’s job responsibilities
for the first year of her employment, and the major focus of her second year was learning about E-rate and
guiding the five-year selection of the statewide databases collection. With that done, Morris can put more
energy into marketing Northstar to libraries. Morris added that she was planning to reenergize her
Northstar messaging over the next year, as she found success recently in Steubenville by showing staff
how Northstar supports the digital support work liCJ Stephens suggested OPLIN ask libraries whether they will ever go live on Northstar, possibly reducing subscription costs by dropping those locations. Yarman said he thought it was important that all Ohioans have access to the resources, regardless of whether a particular library is actively supporting it, and it might be better to look at where, geographically, Ohioans are unserved, and identify another library or organization that can actively support those patrons. Ben Bolbach asked whether it was possible to move the renewal date away from the awkward October 1 start. Yarman said it is difficult, when federal funds are involved, to straddle the federal fiscal year deadline, but he is actively looking for funding outside of LSTA. There have been promising discussions with Broadband Ohio about funding access to the resource for multiple years.brary staff are already providing. Getting libraries on Northstar, she said, is largely a question of talking to the right person at the right time.

CJ Stephens suggested OPLIN ask libraries whether they will ever go live on Northstar, possibly reducing
subscription costs by dropping those locations. Yarman said he thought it was important that all Ohioans
have access to the resources, regardless of whether a particular library is actively supporting it, and it
might be better to look at where, geographically, Ohioans are unserved, and identify another library or
organization that can actively support those patrons. Ben Bolbach asked whether it was possible to move
the renewal date away from the awkward October 1 start. Yarman said it is difficult, when federal funds
are involved, to straddle the federal fiscal year deadline, but he is actively looking for funding outside of
LSTA. There have been promising discussions with Broadband Ohio about funding access to the resource
for multiple years.

Ben Bolbach moved to add $13,900 to OPLIN’s Information Resources budget to pay that portion of the
Northstar renewal; Sue Schuld seconded. There was no discussion, so the Vice Chair called for a voice
vote on the motion.
Recorded vote: Ben Bolbach, aye; Michael Butler, aye; Roger Donaldson, aye; CJ Stephens, aye; Holly
Richards, aye; Sue Schuld, aye; Meredith Wickham, aye.

E-List Guidelines
Yarman reviewed how an old OPLIN policy setting out guidelines for posting on OPLIN-hosted listservs
was eliminated in 2016, with the intention to instead post those guidelines on the list server. That never
happened. Yarman asked the Board to review the guidelines, suggest changes if necessary, and endorse
them for posting on the OPLIN listservs website. Bolbach suggested adding the following to the line
above the last paragraph under “E-list Guidelines: “Repeated violations of list guidelines may result in
permanent removal from the list.”

Meredith Wickham moved to endorse the guidelines with the suggested change; Ben Bolbach seconded.
There was no discussion, so the Vice Chair called for a vote on the motion; all aye.

OPLIN Director's Report
Yarman outlined the history of OPLIN’s statewide subscription to LinkedIn Learning resources,
beginning when OPLIN had cash reserves exceeding $3 million and needed to spend reserves down to
about one million. Julie Palmer, who was Ohio’s Lynda.com sales representative and has served as
OPLIN’s account rep with LinkedIn, resigned in November. Her replacement has not yet been selected,
but Yarman and Morris met with Palmer’s supervisor and next-level manager on December 1 to discuss
where negotiations stand. OPLIN clarified for them the difference between OPLIN’s own database
contracts vs the statewide contracts negotiated with OhioLINK, INFOhio, and the State Library (Libraries
Connect Ohio). LinkedIn had the misunderstanding that because their bid for shared, statewide access
wasn’t accepted that negotiations were at an end. Yarman explained that it wasn’t, but he did understand
that the pricing they had proposed was their target, and OPLIN staff were aware of LinkedIn’s goals to
standardize statewide pricing. (Ohio’s price, LinkedIn maintains, is 50% off list price.) LinkedIn will
revisit pricing and give OPLIN something to consider before the February Board meeting. The end of the
current contract is June 30, 2004.

Yarman described how the OPLIN core at the SOCC is composed of modular components including
routing engines, modular port concentrators, line cards and transceivers. Some of these components will
need replacing as bandwidth utilization increases. The routing engines will reach end-of-support in 2026,
and will need to be replaced. Yarman was planning to request capital funds to cover the costs of new
components, but the State Library’s budget analyst confirmed that the request is too small to meet
required capital thresholds. He has discussed OPLIN’s future hardware needs with Broadband oplinOhio
staff, and will work with them to explore whether they can provide funding for the new components
necessary to meet increasing library capacity requirements for the next decade.

The State Library Board approved the nomination of Jenny Eyink to fill the remainder of Travis Bautz’s
term on the OPLIN Board. Eyink is the fiscal officer for Auglaize County Libraries and the Coldwater
Public Library, and deputy fiscal officer for Mercer County District Library. Her appointment starts
January 1.

Yarman also reported that he has been in discussions with OhioLINK leadership to discuss the future of
statewide resource sharing. With OhioLINK about to migrate to a new integrated library system, Ohio
libraries are poised for a big upheaval in the current state of materials sharing, particularly with the public
library participants in SearchOhio. Historically, OPLIN was originally created to lead public library
resource sharing efforts in Ohio, but the original mission to “ensure equity of access to information”
became “ensure equity of access to digital information” when OPLIN was later established in Ohio
Revised Code. Yarman doesn’t think managing statewide resource sharing is a project OPLIN “owns”
going forward, but he and other OPLIN staff have been involved over the years in such projects, and
they’re eager to help libraries organize themselves to map their way to the next generation of sharing and
cooperation.

Digital Resources Manager’s Report
Morris mentioned that OPLIN’s support has enabled some libraries that had become frustrated with the
ECF process to receive their funding before the funding windows closed. Board members shared their
experiences with ECF, and frustration with some of the hotspot vendors and with patrons not returning
equipment, a time-intensive process for staff to manage. Most libraries get hotspots back quickly after
turning off access, but there are more problems with getting laptops returned. Sue Schuld reported that
Medina County’s 120 hotspots used 4.11 terabytes of data in six months, so the patron need persists.
Morris will follow-up with Schuld, because stories like that will be helpful as the FCC considers whether
to continue funding library hotspot lending programs.

Morris also said that libraries submitted about fifty branch locations for the omnibus 470 this year, and
that her preliminary proposal for IMLS funding for E-rate State Coordinators has been submitted,
awaiting a potential invitation for her to submit a full proposal.

Library Services Manager’s Report
With Evanced discontinuing support of its program calendar and registration products, Solomon has been
assisting libraries with their moves to a new solution. Evanced subscriptions are expiring on a rolling
basis; final end-of-life is June 2024. The Drupal 10 migration, a project that monopolized much of
Solomon’s time in 2023, is complete. Solomon is now working on new Webkit layouts based on
comprehensive themes that will make the service more sustainable and less modular moving forward.

Technology Projects Manager’s Report
As circuits expire, OPLIN is ordering new circuits with 1 Gb or greater capacity, so larger trunks are
needed at the OPLIN Core, and Dooley has been working with OPLIN’s providers to increase capacity,
including a new 20 Gb LAG (Link Aggregation Group) between CLEVNET’s core in OPLIN’s CoLocation space and Spectrum's trunk. The parallel connections ensure high availability as one link can
be unplugged while the rest remain connected during the transition.

As part of the implementation of their new firewall, the SEO consortium has been encouraging their
libraries to move database authentication away from direct vendor connections to the SEO database and
onto OPLIN’s Mask authentication. Derek Zoladz has been working with SEO staff to assist. Zoladz has
also added programming in Mask to work with Koha’s API, boosting the capability for those libraries
(Cuyahoga County, Athens County, and Westlake).

Dooley discussed the Ohio Persistent Cyber Improvement Program (O-PCI), a CISA-funded program to
the state of Ohio to raise cybersecurity awareness within state and local government. The program will
develop in-state, custom training tailored to be useful for all levels of government employees, including
administrators, decision makers, IT staff, and frontline customer service employees. The training is
organized by county (not communities of interest, such as “libraries”) so training will be coordinated
through county commissioners or county administrators. All government entities are encouraged to show
their interest and OPLIN will be talking about this frequently to encourage public libraries to participate.

Donaldson had nothing to report.

With no other business pending, the Vice Chair adjourned the meeting at 11:13 a.m.

Minutes —February 9, 2024

The one hundred ninety-eighth meeting of the Ohio Public Library Information Network (OPLIN) Board of Trustees was called to order at 10:00 a.m. on Friday, February 9, 2024 by Board Chair Garalynn Tomas at the OPLIN office in Columbus, Ohio. Present were Board members: Michael Butler, Roger Donaldson, Jenny Eyink, Jennifer Reynard, Holly Richards, CJ Stephens, and Meredith Wickham. Also present were: Jessica Dooley, Christine Morris, Laura Solomon, Don Yarman, and Derek Zoladz (OPLIN); Kalon Ridley (OPLIN intern); Stephanie Herriott and Wendy Knapp (State Library); and Michelle Francis and Jay Smith (Ohio Library Council). Attending virtually via Zoom: OPLIN Board members Bill Lane and Sue Schuld; Jamie Pardee (State Library); and John Stewart (Serving Every Ohioan [SEO] Service Center).

Michael Butler moved to approve the agenda as presented; Meredith Wickham seconded. There was no discussion, so the chair called for a vote on the motion; all aye.

The Chair called for public participation. 

Wendy Knapp reported that the State Library has two new staff: Katy Hite is a new Library Consultant for Adult Services, and Ron Woods is the new Library Technology Specialist for SEO. The State Library of Ohio has joined the State Libraries and AI Technologies (SLAAIT) working group to explore the varied roles of state libraries in the uses of AI. The State Library is accepting grants for Summer Library Programs and for the Guiding Ohio Online program. They will soon be releasing an RFP for a consultant to assist the State Library in the development of its next strategic plan. Knapp also shared that there are changes coming to how the Federal Depository Library Program will be organized, and is looking forward to learning details as they emerge.

 Michelle Francis announced that she, Felton Thomas of Cleveland Public Library, and Jason Kucsma from Toledo Lucas County Public Library will be featured during the City Club of Cleveland Forum on “Can Libraries be Everything to Everyone?” on February 14. OLC is busy with planning for the upcoming Public Library Association (PLA) conference in April, including a pre-conference workshop on the Science of Reading and the PLA Host City Welcome Reception co-hosted with the Columbus Metropolitan Library. OLC’s Library Trustees Workshop will be held March 9. OLC is launching an Amazon Business Associated Accounts Program to help reduce Amazon.com costs for OLC Institutional Member libraries.

 Jay Smith said that the Public Library Fund for calendar year 2023 was $510,185,923, higher than the previous year, but the first few months of distributions in 2024 have been below estimates. Of public library interest, the legislature has been holding hearings about local property taxes. The House passed HB 2 which included their recommendations for the One-Time Strategic Community Investment Fund. One public library project was included in the House’s proposal. Little legislative activity is expected until after the March 19 primary.

Roger Donaldson moved to approve the minutes of the December 8, 2023 meeting as presented; Michael Butler seconded. There was no discussion, so the Chair called for a vote on the motion; all aye.

Jamie Pardee reviewed the financial reports, noting that the cash balance is expected to be about $800,000 at the end of June. Of the approximately $6 million allotted, about $4 million has been spent, which is on track for the year. Holly 

Richards moved to accept the financial reports; CJ Stephens seconded. There was no discussion, so the Chair called for a vote on the motion; all aye.

LinkedIn Learning Renewal 

Yarman reviewed the history of OPLIN’s subscription for statewide access to LinkedIn Learning for Libraries, explaining that it was supported by a large cash balance (originally $3 million in 2018) beyond the appropriated budget. As intended, that large cash balance has been reduced, and the OPLIN budget does not have the $720,000 per year to continue the statewide subscription. 

LinkedIn points out that $720,000 is a 55% discount over the list price, but does admit that prior to the OPLIN agreement the company was earning less than $350,000 from subscribing libraries. LinkedIn was very forthcoming with potential pricing for an opt-in group purchase—an estimated 20% discount off the list price, which is tiered pricing based on library service populations. They declined our request for a six-month subscription extension to align the contract expiration to the end of the year and give libraries time to make space for LinkedIn Learning in their budgets. OPLIN staff reached out to OhioNet, CLEVNET, and the CLC to put them in contact with LinkedIn to negotiate group pricing. 

Garalynn Tomas asked if not renewing required a motion; Yarman said it wasn’t required, as the financial reports show that there aren’t sufficient funds in next year’s budget to continue the subscription.

Laura Solomon gave a presentation reviewing OPLIN’s Webkit service, and demonstrated the new templates she has developed for library websites, which feature a more contemporary, horizontal layout while minimizing the workload of maintaining nearly one hundred customized library websites. 

Yarman proposed a new fee structure for the template designs, suggesting that the Standard Template would continue the current price of $1,000 for a new Webkit customer, and the Deluxe Template would have an additional cost equal to a Website and two additional modules, or $1,720. For a limited time, existing customers can update their sites to a Standard Template for $360 (the cost of a new module) or to a Deluxe Template for $500. After this year, the price will go up to $540 to migrate to a Standard Template, $720 to a Deluxe. 

Holly Richards moved to approve the proposed fee structure for the new Webkit templates; Jen Reynard seconded. There was no discussion, so the Chair called for a roll call vote on the motion. 

Recorded vote: Ben Bolbach, aye; Michael Butler, aye; Roger Donaldson, aye; Jenny Eyink, aye; Jennifer Reynard, aye; Holly Richards, aye; CJ Stephens, Garalynn Tomas, aye; and Meredith Wickham, aye.

Yarman outlined a proposed program to directly assist libraries with their internal branch connections. Under the proposed program, OPLIN would seek library branch connections under the same E-rate bidding process it uses to obtain main library locations. OPLIN would order the circuits, pay the invoices, collect the E-rate discounts, and bill the library for the undiscounted costs based on OPLIN’s average E-rate discount—67% statewide. Yarman presented a cost breakdown that showed how, depending on each library’s E-rate discount, OPLIN would lose money for circuits to libraries with 50–60% discount rates, but that would be offset by the majority of libraries in Ohio which have 80–90% discounts. He had identified three libraries for a potential pilot program to explore the new managed branch service: Puskarich Public Library, a rural library requesting branch connections to OPLIN’s core; Clark County Public Library, an urban library system requesting branch connections back to its main library; and Geauga County Public Library, a member of the CLEVNET consortium. 

Offering this involves a five year commitment for the circuit contract; Yarman had determined that if the program needed to be halted early, the library could become the customer of record with the circuit provider. CJ Lynch asked how many libraries this program might cover. Morris said that there are approximately 500 branch library locations in Ohio. 

Meredith Wickham moved to approve proceeding with a pilot Managed Branch Circuits service at the $130 per month price; Holly Richards seconded. There was no discussion, so the Chair called for a roll call vote on the motion. 

Recorded vote: Ben Bolbach, aye; Michael Butler, aye; Roger Donaldson, aye; Jenny Eyink, aye; Jennifer Reynard, aye; Holly Richards, aye; CJ Stephens, Garalynn Tomas, aye; and Meredith Wickham, aye.

OPLIN Director's Report

In addition to his written report, Yarman discussed how the Affordable Connectivity Program is projected to run out of funds in May, and has not received additional funding from Congress. The FCC has issued wind-down directions for assistance agencies.

Digital Resources Manager’s Report 

Morris reviewed her recent activities helping libraries with the E-rate program and updated the Board on possible program changes, including the eligibility of WiFi hotspot and cybersecurity services. The initial proposal to IMLS for a grant supporting State E-rate Coordinator training has been reviewed, and Morris (on behalf of COSLA and the ALA E-rate Task Force) has been invited to submit a full grant proposal. Morris also discussed her outreach plan to boost libraries’ use of the Northstar Digital Literacy resources.

Library Services Manager’s Report

Solomon reported that Demco is sunsetting the Evanced event registration and meeting room reservation systems that many libraries had integrated into their websites, and the work she has done to help migrate them to alternative services. She also reported that she presented a webinar on current technology trends for Ohio public libraries, and repeated her OPLIN-sponsored Computers in Libraries presentation “Auditing Library Websites” for the Nebraska Library Commission.

Technology Projects Manager’s Report

Dooley explained the new requirements for email authentication that were announced last year, and how OPLIN is assisting libraries now that enforcement has begun. Staff have answered questions and made the necessary DNS updates for libraries implementing the required email authentication mechanisms. One of those mechanisms, DMARC, allows email administrators to receive feedback indicating the success or failure of email delivery from their domain, and Dooley configured a free DMARC report analyzer for Ohio public library use. Twenty-three library organizations requested an account in the first two days of the service. 

Dooley reported that the Ohio Persistent Improvement Program will launch in February and begin scheduling cybersecurity training for staff of local government agencies. She shared information with O-PCI’s leadership team about Ohio's 251 library systems, and O-PCI plans to extend an invitation to each library's administration when they offer training in that county.

Recognition

The Chair recognized Holly Richards to offer the following resolution: 

WHEREAS HOLLY RICHARDS 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 five years; and WHEREAS her experience as Technical Services Director at the Dayton Metro Library gave her a unique insight into OPLIN and its services to libraries; and WHEREAS she has previously provided additional service as the member of OPLIN’s Content Advisory Committee, helping to guide the selection of statewide resources; and WHEREAS she has consistently contributed her productive 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 9th day of February, 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 HOLLY RICHARDS 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 HOLLY RICHARDS for her vital volunteer service as a member of this 

Board. CJ Stephens seconded the resolution. All aye. 

Roger Donaldson offered the following resolution: 

WHEREAS TRAVIS BAUTZ has been a member of the Ohio Public Library Information Network (OPLIN) Board of Trustees since July 2019; 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 four years; and WHEREAS his service as director at the MidPointe Library System gave him a distinctive outlook on OPLIN and its services to libraries; and WHEREAS the insight he developed throughout his career have always been a helpful source of information for the Board; and WHEREAS he has consistently contributed his valuable opinions to the OPLIN Board deliberations; and WHEREAS he has been a steadfast guardian of OPLIN’s interests throughout his tenure on the Board, NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that, on the 9th day of February, 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 TRAVIS BAUTZ 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 TRAVIS BAUTZ for his vital volunteer service as a member of this Board.

Holly Richards seconded the resolution. All aye.

Ethics Reminders

The Chair reminded Board members that they are required annually to submit their financial disclosures to the Ethics Commission, and to watch the Ethics Commission’s webinar training. Certificates of completion can be sent to Yarman for OPLIN’s files.

Board nominations

With Holly Richards’ resignation, Yarman asked whether the Board preferred to begin the search for a replacement immediately, or wait a few months when the Nominations Committee will begin its work for identifying candidates for the expiring term. Roger Donaldson suggested that the position remain temporarily vacant, and the Nominations Committee seek candidates as part of their normal process before next fiscal year.

April planning meeting arrangements

Yarman explained that typically the OPLIN Board devotes the April meeting to discussion of the strategic, tactical, and service plans, and that sometimes this longer meeting has been scheduled to begin at 9:00 a.m. and run through lunch. He said the current strategic plan is in place through all of next fiscal year, and doesn’t require revision. Instead of a long rehearsal of all of OPLIN’s services, Yarman suggested that at each meeting, the OPLIN staff will offer a longer presentation about one or two of OPLIN’s services. Garalynn Tomas approved of the idea to break up OPLIN service presentations, adding that it is a better way to expose new Board members to OPLIN’s mission and services. The April meeting will therefore be similar to the other regular meetings.

With no other business pending, the Chair adjourned the meeting at 11:59 a.m.

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

Minutes —December 9, 2022

The one hundred ninety-third meeting of the Ohio Public Library Information Network (OPLIN) Board of Trustees was called to order at 10:00 a.m. on Friday, December 9, 2022 by Board Secretary Roger Donaldsonl at the OPLIN office in Columbus, Ohio.

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

Also present were: Jessica Dooley, Derek Zoladz, and Don Yarman (OPLIN); Stephanie Herriott, Wendy Knapp, and Jamie Pardee (State Library).

Attending virtually at https://meet.goto.com/OPLIN/december-2022-oplin-board-meeting: OPLIN Board members Travis Bautz, Bill Lane, and Garalynn Tomas; and Christine Morris (OPLIN)

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

The Secretary called for public participation.

Wendy Knapp reported that the State Library has submitted their budget request for the next biennium requesting the allowable 5% increase. The State Board of Education is scheduled to meet in the next week, and will appoint a new State Library Board member. At the State Library Board meeting December 8, the Board awarded just over $200,000 in LSTA grants. Now that the IMLS has approved the LSTA five year plan, State Library will be reviewing the mission and vision statements and the State Library’s strategic plan. State Library has contributed two datasets—the public library directory and directors’ directory—to the DataOhio portal, and has plans to grow what is available.

Sue Schuld moved to approve the minutes of the August 12, 2022 meeting as presented; Holly Richards seconded. There was no discussion, so the Chair called for a vote on the motion; all aye.

Jamie Pardee reviewed the financial reports. The fiscal year started with $1.5 million cash balance, and is projected to fall to $1.1 million at the end, a good amount to have in reserve. Disbursements are in line with estimates for this time of year.

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

None.

Don Yarman explained that occasionally a library for various reasons wishes to move the fiber demarcation point (demarc) in their building, incurring construction charges from the vendor that show up on OPLIN’s bill, as OPLIN is the customer on the account. He asked for the Board’s guidance on future practices: absorb the cost as part of OPLIN’s obligation to provide internet service, or create a mechanism for billing those charges back to the library. The Board directed Yarman to bill create a simple contract process so that the State Library can bill the charges back to the library.

Yarman discussed the agency’s positive experience at the OLC Convention in September, noting that the “OPLIN Update” presentation filled the room to capacity. He welcomed new employee Derek Zoladz, and updated the Board on the project to help libraries with their branch connections by letting libraries list branches on a statewide, omnibus E-rate form 470. Yarman will meet with Broadband Ohio to ask for funds to help with infrastructure expenses for this project.

Christine Morris explained that in addition to the omnibus 470, we are working with libraries to update their admin information with E-rate. Morris thanked the State Library Board for the LSTA grant to support year 2 of statewide licenses for Northstar Digital Literacy. Negotiations are in process for the statewide databases licensed in partnership with OhioLINK and INFOhio, also with the support of LSTA funds

Yarman discussed a new layout for Webkits that Laura Solomon designed, and Solomon’s work rebuilding the “What’s That Snake” and “What’s the Point” websites.

Jessica Dooley discussed the migration of OPLIN’s Mailman lists to a new server, and taking on hosting additional lists maintained by the State Library. She outlined recent expansions in the co-location space and the growing number of libraries looking to host equipment there. Dooley reached out to all libraries participating in the Omnibus Branch 470 to confirm their requests and clarify expectations. Dooley and OIT Engineer Mike Horsely have been inventorying the components of the core to make sure that spare cards are available in the event of hardware failure. Dooley acknowledged the work of NEO-RLS and the excellent technology conference they held October 25.

The Secretary had nothing to report.

With no other business pending, the Chair adjourned the meeting at 10:44 a.m.

Minutes —August 12, 2022

The one hundred ninety-second meeting of the Ohio Public Library Information Network (OPLIN) Board of Trustees was called to order at 10:01 a.m. on Friday, August 12, 2022 by Board Chair Tara Sidwell at the State of Ohio Computer Center in Columbus, Ohio.

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

Also present were: Cassie Palmer (Kate Love Simpson Morgan County Library); Jessica Dooley, Christine Morris, and Don Yarman (OPLIN); State Librarian Wendy Knapp and State Library Board Member Drew Wichterman; and Michelle Francis and Jay Smith (Ohio Library Council).

Holly Richards nominated the following slate of of officers: Tara Sidwell, Chair; Garalynn Tomas, Vice Chair; Roger Donaldson, Secretary;Jamie Black, Treasurer. Ben Bolbach seconded the nominations. There was no discussion, so the chair called for a vote on the nominations; all aye. Tara Sidwell continued to run the meeting as newly elected Chair.

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

Following the pattern of holding OPLIN Board meetings at 10:00 a.m. on the second Friday of even-numbered months, Yarman presented the following meeting schedule, asking that the October meeting be held a week early:

• October 7, 2022
• December 9, 2022
• February 10, 2023
• April 14, 2023
• June 9, 2023

Roger Donaldson moved to approve the meeting schedule; Garalynn Tomas seconded. There was no discussion, so the chair called for a vote on the motion; all aye.

The Chair called for public participation.

Wendy Knapp reported that the State Library’s new five year LSTA plan has officially been approved by IMLS. Knapp mentioned the upcoming “Be the Change - Privacy, Advocacy, and Intellectual Freedom” event to be held August 25. The State Library will hold open office hours to answer questions about the collection analysis tool. ODNfest will be held virtually on October 11. Knapp will attend the ASRL conference in Chattanooga in September. Jay Smith and Michelle Francis reported that the legislature is on summer recess, but activity will pick up in November.

OLC continues to work to get permission for public meetings to be held virtually restored. The Public Library Fund continues to do well, 6.8% over estimates, and advocacy for keeping the PLF strong in the next budget has begun. They outlined OLC’s upcoming fall events, including Small Libraries forums, Fiscal 101 workshop, and Convention and Expo.

Garalynn Tomas moved to approve the minutes of the June 10, 2022 meeting as presented; Holly Richards seconded. There was no discussion, so the Chair called for a vote on the motion; all aye.

Jamie Black moved to accept the financial reports; Bill Lane seconded. There was no discussion, so the Chair called for a vote on the motion; all aye.

None.

Cisco Umbrella renewal problems

Yarman explained that, despite beginning the process to renew OPLIN’s Cisco Umbrella licensing in March, the renewal was not processed until weeks after the current licensing expired June 30. He plans to request a meeting with State Library fiscal staff and DAS purchasing to determine how to obtain and pay for software license renewals before the current licensing term ends.

Yarman discussed plans for OPLIN to use E-rate mechanisms as a statewide consortium to collect local requests for branch circuits and list them as part of a coordinated, statewide collection of requests. Yarman and Morris will be meeting with consultant Lorrie Germann to discuss how best to approach this effort. Yarman imagines starting with a pilot to see if the plan is feasible.

Morris discussed the collaboration between OPLIN, OLC, and the Connectivity Champions of the Management Council, a division of the Ohio Department of Education, to develop a series of “pop-up” digital navigation events for pilot sites. The “Intent to Negotiate” for the next five-year collection of statewide database subscriptions will be released in September.

Solomon was unable to attend to add anything to her written report.

Dooley reported that the last of OPLIN’s previous generation of site routers has been replaced, and that OIT engineer Mike Horsely has been working in the mornings before libraries open to remotely update router firmware. She discussed her progress working with AT&T to implement VLAN translation for Toledo-Lucas County Public Library in advance of them installing equipment in the SOCC Co-Location space. Dooley has added support for Polaris API to the MASK authentication handler.

Nominations Committee appointment

Sidwell appointed Garalynn Tomas, Meredith Wickham and Jamie Black to the nominations committee for FY2023.

With no other business pending, Garalynn Tomas moved to adjourn the meeting; Holly Richards seconded. The Chair adjourned the meeting at 10:45 a.m

Minutes —June 10, 2022

The one hundred ninety-first meeting of the Ohio Public Library Information Network (OPLIN) Board of Trustees was called to order at 10:03 a.m. on Friday, June 10, 2022 by Board Chair Tara Sidwell online at https://meet.goto.com/OPLIN/june-2022-oplin-board-meeting and at the OPLIN office in Columbus, Ohio.

Present were Board member Angela Baldree; Christine Morris and Don Yarman (OPLIN); Wendy Knapp (State Library); Michelle Francis (Ohio Library Council); Sue Schuld and Meredith Wickham (OPLIN Board appointees).

Attending virtually at https://meet.goto.com/OPLIN/june-2022-oplin-board-meeting: OPLIN Board members Travis Bautz, Ben Bolbach, Roger Donaldson, Bill Lane, Holly Richards, and Garalynn Tomas; Jessica Dooley (OPLIN); Stephanie Herriott, Eric Maynard, and Jamie Pardee (State Library); and Michael Butler (OPLIN Board appointee).

Angela Baldree 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.

Wendy Knapp reported on the progress of the search for a new LSTA coordinator and the State Library’s new LSTA five year plan which is due to the Institute of Museum and Library Services at the end of the month.

Michelle Francis listed recent activities and upcoming professional development events. Francis reported that the Public Library Fund continues to perform above estimates, along with state revenues. Francis also outlined active legislation of interest to public libraries, including HB140 that changes required ballot language, and HB327, known as the “Divisive Concepts” bill. Open meetings flexibility ends June 30, but OLC continues to work to extend virtual meetings flexibility. The legislature has adjourned for their district work period, and is not expected to return to sessions until November.

Holly Richards moved to approve the minutes of the April 22, 2022 meeting as presented; Travis Bautz
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 disbursements remain in line with estimates for this time of year. About $94,000 remains in unplanned spending authority, with a projected cash balance of $2.2 million remaining at the end of this fiscal year. Yarman reported that he received the funding commitment letter from E-rate for the circuit costs in the next fiscal year.

Roger Donaldson 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.

Strategic Plan
Yarman discussed where the strategic plan was modified based on discussion at the April 22 Board meeting.

Bill Lane moved to approve OPLIN’s Strategic Plan through June 30, 2025; Roger Donaldson seconded. There was no discussion, so the Chair called for a vote on the motion; all aye.

Staff Raises
Stephanie Herriot explained that because OPLIN are “administrative” staff, the Board must approve their raises. These are parity raises in line with the raises negotiated by the state’s bargaining units.

Angela Baldree moved: In that the E-1 salary tables in the Ohio Revised Code 124.152 will allow for State of Ohio E-1 employees an approximate 3% salary increase effective with the first day of the pay period that includes July 1, 2022, and allows increases up to 3% for other exempt state employees, The Ohio Public Library Information Network (OPLIN) Board of Trustees, in accordance with the duties assigned by Ohio Revised Code Section 3375.66, approves adjusting the compensation of each OPLIN E-3 staff member, to one that reflects a 3% salary increase for each employee beginning with the pay period that includes July 1, 2022; Holly Richards seconded. There was no discussion, so the Chair called for a roll call vote on the motion.

Recorded vote: Angela Baldree, aye; Travis Bautz, aye; Ben Bolbach, aye; Roger Donaldson, aye; Bill Lane, aye; Holly Richards, aye; Tara Sidwell, aye; Garalyn Tomas, aye.

Yarman outlined his recent work managing routine operations, particularly with continuity of business in
preparation for the turnover in the fiscal year.

Morris highlighted the work creating the partnership with Department of Education’s Connectivity Champions and the pending rollout of the pilot program to link Connectivity Champions with libraries for in-person services to help families obtain internet connectivity. She reported that as a result of adding links from OPLIN’s Sanborn Maps interface to the corresponding higher resolution scans created by Kent State University, KSU has seen a 6% increase in traffic to their collection.

Yarman expanded on a few items from Solomon’s written report, including the uptick in libraries requesting accessibility audits, the end of the Google Analytics service, and libraries taking advantage of new visual layout options that Solomon has created.

Jessica Dooley outlined her recent attention to circuit upgrades and vendor migrations for the service year that begins July 1. She has been traveling with OIT engineer Mike Horsley to those last few libraries with legacy routers needing replacement. Beyond the items in the written report, Dooley discussed her work consulting with libraries and their vendors to help with the success of their projects locally.

Roger Donaldson asked whether OPLIN staff might be willing to speak to the SERLS Board. Yarman replied that staff are happy to do that, and in fact in the spring Yarman and Morris will be actively looking for groups like the SERLS board to talk about coming database changes.

Chair Sidwell asked Yarman about a recent message to the SEO Directors’ list concerning branch connections. Yarman explained that OPLIN had asked for two questions to be added to the State Library’s annual statistics gathering process, in order to learn more about what types of internet speeds libraries had to their branches and how much they cost. Those numbers only tell part of the story, and Yarman had invited directors to tell him their experiences and difficulties getting connectivity to branch locations. Yarman’s aim is to see if it’s possible to create a plan for library branch connectivity improvements to discuss with BroadbandOhio.

Ben Bolbach asked for clarification about the item in Dooley’s annual report regarding OIT assuming the procurement of Juniper maintenance for the OPLIN routers. Dooley explained that OPLIN purchases the routers but they are part of OIT’s inventory, and maintaining the cost and procurement of the maintenance will now become part of the services OPLIN pays OIT for. Nothing will change in how libraries interact with OPLIN, which remains the first line of support for the equipment.

Recognition
The Chair recognized Roger Donaldson to offer the following resolution:

WHEREAS ANGELA BALDREE 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 four years; and

WHEREAS her experience in public and special library management, and as a trustee at the
Morley Library gave her a distinctive outlook on OPLIN and its services to libraries; and

WHEREAS the insight she developed throughout her career have always been a helpful source
of information for the Board; and

WHEREAS she has consistently contributed her valuable opinions to the OPLIN Board
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 10th day of June, Two Thousand and
Twenty-Two, 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 ANGELA BALDREE 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 ANGELA BALDREE for her vital volunteer service as a member of this Board.

Holly Richards seconded the resolution. All aye.

The Chair recognized Holly Richards to offer the following resolution:

WHEREAS JUSTIN BUMBICO has been a member of the Ohio Public Library Information
Network (OPLIN) Board of Trustees since July 2017; and

WHEREAS he has freely and unselfishly given of his time and efforts to ensure the advance of
OPLIN by serving on the Board for over four years; and

WHEREAS his experience in technology management at the Columbus Metropolitan Library
gave him an exceptional perspective on OPLIN and its services to libraries; and

WHEREAS he has provided additional service as the Vice Chair of the OPLIN Board from
2020 through 2021, and the Chair from 2021 to 2022; and

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

WHEREAS he has consistently contributed his expert opinions to the OPLIN Board and
OPLIN Executive Committee deliberations; and

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

NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that, on the 10th day of June, Two Thousand and
Twenty-Two, 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
JUSTIN BUMBICO 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 JUSTIN BUMBICO for his vital volunteer service as a member of this Board.

Ben Bolbach seconded the resolution. All aye.

The Chair recognized Garalynn Tomas to offer the following resolution:

WHEREAS HILARY PRISBYLLA has been a member of the Ohio Public Library
Information Network (OPLIN) Board of Trustees since July 2019; 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 three years; and

WHEREAS her experience as director of the CLEVNET Library Consortium gave her a
unique insight into OPLIN and its services to libraries; and

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

WHEREAS she has consistently contributed her productive 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 10th day of June, Two Thousand and
Twenty-Two, 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
HILARY PRISBYLLA 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 HILARY PRISBYLLA for her vital volunteer service as a member of this Board.

Angela Baldree seconded the resolution. All aye.

With no other business pending, Travis Bautz moved to adjourn the meeting; Ben Bolbach seconded.
There was no discussion, so the Chair adjourned the meeting at 10:48 a.m.

Minutes —April 22, 2022

The one hundred ninetieth meeting of the Ohio Public Library Information Network (OPLIN) Board of Trustees was called to order at 10:02 a.m. on Friday, April 22, 2022 by Board Chair Tara Sidwell at https://www.gotomeet.me/OPLIN/april-2022-oplin-board-meeting.

Present were Board members: Angela Baldree, Travis Bautz, Jamie Black, Ben Bolbach, Roger Donaldson, Bill Lane, Holly Richards, and Garalynn Tomas. 

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

Jamie Black 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.

Michelle Francis outlined recent OLC events, including the Fiscal Officer Conference, the series of Trustee Dinners that is starting, and the upcoming Cybersecurity webinar. Jay Smith informed the Board that OLC’s recent Legislative Day drew over 220 attendees, and had a positive response from legislators. The general assembly is currently on break and will return in May to complete the Capital Budget.

Wendy Knapp discussed the transition in delivery service companies, and announced that LSTA coordinator Cindy Boyden would be leaving the State Library for a position with IMLS. The State Library is completing their next five-year plan, due to IMLS by June 30. 

Garalynn Tomas moved to approve the minutes of the February 11, 2022 meeting as presented; Travis Bautz 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 three-fourths of the way through the fiscal year, three-fourths of the administrative budget has been spent. Yarman and State Library fiscal services staff do not anticipate a need to go to the Controlling Board to ask for an increase in spending authority for the current fiscal year. Looking ahead to the budget for next fiscal year, Yarman anticipated the budgeted amounts for Juniper maintenance and Trumpia SMS credits will not be needed, and the cost of Cisco Umbrella licenses will be lower. Pending Board approval, the budget for SOCC Co-Location will need to be increased.

Ben Bolbach asked what level of Juniper maintenance OPLIN purchases. Yarman said that OPLIN carries software maintenance for access to updates, and hardware replacement; Jessica Dooley added that there OPLIN’s inventory includes working spares hardware, so faulty hardware can be replaced immediately without waiting for an exchange of hardware shipments with Juniper. 

Jamie Black moved to accept the financial reports; Holly Richards seconded. There was no discussion, so the Chair called for a vote on the motion; all aye.

Expand Co-Location Space

The current Co-Location Space in the State of Ohio Computer Center has capacity for 8 network racks. These are occupied by:

1. OPLIN equipment
2. Columbus Metropolitan Library (rental and power billed to library)
3. CLEVNET
4. CLEVNET
5. Cleveland Public Library (rental and power billed to library)
6. Shared Rack – Consortia
   1. CLC
   2. SEO
7. Shared Rack – Individual Libraries (billed to library per U occupied)
   1. Greene County
   2. Worthington
   3. Euclid
   4. Lorain
   5. Cincinnati
8.  Cuyahoga County Public Library (rental and power billed to library)

As it is OPLIN’s practice to leave some room for tenants to expand, the current space is nearly full. Additional libraries (Medina, Toledo) and consortia (SearchOhio) have inquired about moving services into the space. OIT has set prices at $300 per month for empty rack footprint, $500 per month when a rack is installed. The immediate cost for expansion would then be $28,800, but OIT has offered OPLIN the same space for the cost of one occupied rack and two vacant rack spaces, or $13,200 per year. Based on the costs for current space, Yarman proposed increasing the budget for Co-Location to $18,200.

Jamie Black asked how OPLIN marketsthe service. SOCC Co-Location is regularly featured in rotating promotions via social media and listserv footers. Special attention is given to talk about the service at tech events, meeting with consortia and groups of library IT staff. 

Bill Lane moved to approve the expansion of the Co-Location Space; Ben Bolbach seconded. There was no discussion, so the Chair called for a vote on the motion; all aye.

Yarman briefly reviewed the existing plan, noting that the strategic priorities remain relevant and have proved sufficient, and that the legacy service plan lists services that are core to what OPLIN provides operationally (internet access, databases), with additional services in palace to support core services (network evaluation, E-rate workshops, filtering solution, Co-Location). Yarman does not believe there are services listed that should be discontinued, but noted that providing digital literacy training resources (i.e. Northstar) is not listed on the current plan, as Northstar content is very different than the collection of research databases.

Holly Richards asked whether Northstar could fit into the services if a priority or strategy were reworded. As offering Northstar is something that assists public libraries with digital literacy training, Christine Morris suggested adding that to the fourth strategy statement: “Offer to assist Ohio public library systems with digital communications and digital literacy training.” Yarman will make these changes to bring the plan to the June meeting for discussion and possible approval.

Yarman reiterated from his written report that Dooley is performing well in her new role as OPLIN’s Technology Projects Manager. Yarman and Dooley plan to meet to create the job description to backfill her previous position of Infrastructure Specialist. Yarman and Morris’s meetings with vendors at the PLA Conference in Portland, OR, were positive, and noted he was pleased how much of the conference program focused on digital equity and the role public libraries can play.

Morris echoed the positive response to PLA’s digital equity content. She has been holding follow-up conversations with vendors she met at the conference, clarifying what OPLIN and its partners will be looking for in the coming months as the “Intent to Negotiate” for statewide database subscriptions is released. The Libraries Connect Ohio partners are recruiting their committees to review vendor responses to the ITN, and the joint meeting to discuss is scheduled for November 15.  The website www.digitalskillsohio.org, a generic portal to Northstar resources, will soon be added to the Ohio Web Library site. 

Several new features have been released for Website kits, including new options for arranging content, even offering different layouts on different pages within the site. Solomon recently attended two virtual conferences: Computers in Libraries (its third virtual year) and axe-con (an accessibility conference, geared to the digital industry in general).

Dooley noted that simultaneous with Karl Jendretzky leaving OPLIN, OIT engineer Terry Fouts who has supported OPLIN since the network’s inception has also retired. Two engineers have been assigned to support OPLIN’s needs. Dooley has recently accompanied one of them, Mike Horsely, on trips to libraries to replace the last of the old OPLIN routers that need to be upgraded to the current Juniper hardware. Dooley repeated that the Co-Location space is completely subscribed, with Cincinnati installing equipment using VLAN stacking completed by Jendretzky, and Cuyahoga County using a similar configuration created by Dooley. Dooley also was able to attend a virtual conference: the UseNix Site Reliability Engineering conference.

Sidwell noted that the Nominations Committee would be meeting after the Board meeting to select new Board members they will ask the State Library Board to appoint to the OPLIN Board.

With no other business pending, Travis Bautz moved to adjourn the meeting; Jamie Black seconded. There was no discussion, so the Chair adjourned the meeting at 11:00 a.m.

Minutes —February 11, 2022

The one hundred eighty-ninth meeting of the Ohio Public Library Information Network (OPLIN) Board of Trustees was called to order at 10:00 a.m. on Friday, February 11, 2022 by Board Chair Tara Sidwell at the OPLIN office in Columbus, Ohio.

Present were Board members: Angela Baldree, Travis Bautz, Jamie Black, Ben Bolbach, Justin Bumbico, Roger Donaldson, Hilary Prisbylla, and Holly Richards. 

Also present were: Jessica Dooley, Karl Jendretzky, Laura Solomon, and Don Yarman (OPLIN); Stephanie Herriott and Wendy Knapp (State Library); and Michelle Francis and Jay Smith (Ohio Library Council).

Attending virtually at https://oplin.ohio.gov/board/february-11-2022/: OPLIN Board members Bill Lane and Garalynn Tomas; and Eric Maynard (State Library).

With the resignation of Justin Bumbico on January 26, Vice Chair Tara Sidwell assumed the position of Chair.

Jamie Black nominated Board Secretary Garalynn Tomas as Vice Chair, and Roger Donaldson to fill the office of Secretary; Angela Baldree seconded. There was no discussion, so the chair called for a vote on the motion; all aye.

Jamie Black moved to approve the agenda as presented; Roger Donaldson 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 on current legislation, including amended HB 51 which will temporarily restore the ability for public boards to meet virtually. OLC will hold its Legislative Day April 6. Michelle Francis reported that the Public Library Fund continues to come in above estimates, outlined options for libraries to continue providing COVID-19 testing kits, and described the continuing education programs OLC will hold in the coming months.

Wendy Knapp reported the State Library’s five year LSTA evaluation is underway, and that there would be an announcement in the next week about the status of statewide library materials delivery.

Angela Baldree moved to approve the minutes of the December 10, 2021 meeting as presented; Ben Bolbach seconded. There was no discussion, so the Chair called for a vote on the motion; all aye.

Jamie Pardee had a meeting conflict, so Don Yarman reviewed the financial reports, noting that, halfway through the fiscal year, half the budgeted funds had been disbursed. Yarman reported that after the reports were generated, $473,000 was received in E-rate refunds. 

Jamie Black moved to accept the financial reports; Holly Richards seconded. There was no discussion, so the Chair called for a vote on the motion; all aye.

Amendments to Content Advisory Committee charter

The Content Advisory Committee is officially chartered by the OPLIN Board to advise it on the selection of subscription information resources for public libraries. The current charter requires the committee to meet once a year, and specifies that the charter itself shall be reviewed annually by the Board. As part of the annual review, the following amendments are proposed:

II. MEMBERSHIP

Original Language: Membership will be reaffirmed at the annual spring planning meeting of the OPLIN Board.

Proposed Change: Membership will be reaffirmed by the OPLIN Board at the discretion of the OPLIN Director.

IV. PROCEDURAL RULES

Original Language: Meetings: The committee will meet at least one time a year. Because this committee may make recommendations to the OPLIN Board regarding purchases, it may be considered a "public body" under Ohio's Open Records and Open Meetings laws; committee meetings will therefore be open to the public. While members may attend by telephone or Internet connection, they must be present to participate in any vote or be counted toward a quorum. Notices of meetings will be posted at http://oplin.org in accordance with Ohio's Open Records and Open Meetings laws.

Minutes: Minutes of each meeting shall be created by OPLIN staff attending the meeting. After review by the committee, they will be posted at http://oplin.org.

Recommendations and Reports: Committee recommendations and reports will be submitted to the OPLIN Board through the OPLIN Director prior to the Board's annual planning meeting. Recommendations will include both suggested action and justification for suggestions. 

Proposed Changes: Meetings: Because this committee may make recommendations to the OPLIN Board regarding purchases, it may be considered a "public body" under Ohio's Open Records and Open Meetings laws; committee meetings will therefore be open to the public and conducted under section 121.22 of the Ohio Revised Code and any applicable temporary law.  Notices of meetings will be posted on the OPLIN website in accordance with Ohio's Open Records and Open Meetings laws.

Quorum: A gathering of six or more members of the committee shall constitute a quorum.

Minutes: Minutes of each meeting shall be created by OPLIN staff attending the meeting. After review by the committee, the minutes will be posted on the OPLIN website.

Recommendations and Reports: Committee recommendations and reports will be submitted to the OPLIN Board through the OPLIN Director. Recommendations will include both suggested action and justification for suggestions.

V. REVIEW

Original Language: This charter shall be reviewed at the annual planning meeting of the Board of Trustees of the Ohio Public Library Information Network. 

Proposed Change: This charter shall be reviewed at the request of the Board of Trustees or the Executive Director of the Ohio Public Library Information Network. 

Travis Bautz moved to approve the amendments ; Roger Donaldson seconded. There was no discussion, so the Chair called for a vote on the motion; all aye.

Fees for Library Website Audits

Reasoning that OPLIN has a strategic interest in the accessibility and usability of Ohio library websites, Yarman proposed that the $125 fee OPLIN charges for Laura Solomon to conduct a website audit be eliminated. Black asked how often libraries asked for audits; Solomon reported that it varies, but typically there are several per year. Donaldson asked how long an audit takes; Solomon replied, that depending on extensive a site is, it takes an average of two or three hours.

Jamie Black moved to approve recommendation to eliminate the website audit fee; Travis Bautz seconded. There was no discussion, so the Chair called for a vote on the motion; all aye.

OPLIN staffing update

Technology Project Manager Karl Jendretzky accepted a position at Columbus Metropolitan Library. OPLIN’s Infrastructure Specialist Jessica Dooley will assume Jendretzky’s position starting February 13. Yarman reported that he and Dooley will examine OPLIN’s shifting support and development needs to create a new position profile to post.

8.2. Discussion of next steps with Strategic Planning

Yarman reported that over the course of Board meetings this fiscal year, the Board has heard reports of OPLIN’s services and reviewed existing tactics. The logical next step would be to bring in a facilitator to guide the Board through a deeper, philosophical discussion of OPLIN’s mission and strategies, if that was desired. Black asked whether libraries were reporting deficiencies, noting that there seems to be a high rate of satisfaction; OPLIN is nimble, and the current strategic priorities have supported that. Tomas agreed, but asked the new Board members if they felt they would benefit from a deeper strategic planning discussion, or were they comfortable with the material they already have. Lane replied that he would like to experience a few more meetings before updating the strategic plan or embarking on creating a new one. Bolbach said he already has a strong understanding of OPLIN, and while he thinks there are services that could be added under the general umbrella, the current mission and strategies would allow for them. As the April meeting is the usual venue for the Board to discuss services, Sidwell recommended that a discussion of OPLIN’s services be added to that meeting agenda.

Yarman reported that the annual E-rate work is on track, as OPLIN has received the reimbursements for circuit costs for the first six months of the funding year, the vendor bids for services in the next funding year were evaluated and selections made, and the Office of Information Technology is preparing the MOU for providing internet service. Yarman has asked OIT to resume purchasing maintenance on OPLIN’s routers as part of the MOU, as that would make equipment maintenance an allowable E-rate expense. Sidwell asked for information about the FCC’s proposed changes; Yarman explained that the FCC has a legitimate concern about fraud and abuse within the E-rate program, which has led it to propose the creation of a central portal to manage the bidding process for services. National organizations representing the interests of schools and libraries are opposed, arguing that E-rate applicants are currently directed to follow all local bidding laws and regulations, and that existing program integrity procedures give the FCC complete access to the bids, their evaluation, and the decision process. 

Christine Morris amplified that the FCC’s plans would be disadvantageous to small, local service providers, and that it’s important for stakeholders to submit comments on the FCC’s plans. Morris reported the Northstar roll-out is slow but steady: about 10% of Ohio’s libraries have begun offering Northstar digital literacy services to their patrons, with a total potential population served of 2.5 million. The biggest barrier seems to be fatigue; libraries are looking to each other for advice. Morris discussed an enhancement to OPLIN’s collection of Sanborn maps; Kent State University has produced high-quality, full-color scans of the maps, and KSU librarians and system staff are reviewing OPLIN’s request to add direct links to the Kent collection from OPLIN’s map interface. 

Solomon had nothing additional to report.

Jendretzky reported that firmware updates to the OPLIN devices necessary for supporting VLAN stacking were completed Tuesday evening, so the framework is in place for the Cincinnati library to begin using it. The VLAN stacking configuration is in process for the Cuyahoga County library, and other libraries are expressing interest. The Central Library Consortium has begun using the SMS service, which more than doubles the typical message throughput; OPLIN has purchased an additional 6.6 million credits to support the increase, expecting to use 3 million credits per year. Jendretzky added new functionality to the automated database statistics system which fixes a long-standing error with HeritageQuest stats.

Sidwell thanked Jendretzky for everything he’s done for OPLIN. Jendretzky said it was an honor to work at OPLIN and with Ohio’s libraries.

Nominations Committee

At the August meeting, former Chair Justin Bumbico appointed Angela Baldree, Travis Bautz, Roger Donaldson, and Holly Richards to the Nominations Committee. Yarman will post the call for nominations for the committee to review and forward their recommendations to the State Library Board for appointment.

With no other business pending, the Chair adjourned the meeting at 10:50 a.m.

Minutes —December 10, 2021

The one hundred eighty-eighth meeting of the Ohio Public Library Information Network (OPLIN) Board of Trustees was called to order at 10:01 a.m. on Friday, December, 2021 by Board Vice-Chair Justin Bumbico at the OPLIN office in Columbus, Ohio.

Present were Board members: Angela Baldree, Jamie Black, Ben Bolbach, Justin Bumbico, Roger Donaldson, Bill Lane, Holly Richards, and Garalynn Tomas. 

Also present were: Karl Jendretzky, Christine Morris, and Don Yarman (OPLIN).

Attending virtually at https://oplin.ohio.gov/board/december-10-2021/: OPLIN Board members Travis Bautz,  Hilary Prisbylla, and Tara Sidwell; Laura Solomon (OPLIN); Stephanie Herriott, Wendy Knapp, and Jamie Pardee (State Library);  and Jay Smith (Ohio Library Council).

Roger Donaldson moved to approve the agenda as presented; Angela Baldree seconded. There was no discussion, so the chair called for a vote on the motion; all aye.

The Chair called for public participation.

Jamie Pardee reported that the State Library plans to open their meeting rooms for state agencies use in January, which might increase foot traffic in the building. Wendy Knapp reported that the State Library’s LSTA Plan Evaluation would begin the following week.

Jamie Black moved to approve the minutes of the August 13, 2021 meeting as presented; Holly Richards seconded. There was no discussion, so the Chair called for a vote on the motion; all aye.

Jamie Pardee noted the $490,000 drop in the cash balance, explaining it was due to the timing of internet access invoices from OIT; that large a drop is not expected every fiscal year. The salary budget is larger than the previous fiscal year due to the addition of a staff member, as well as some cash incentives the state offered for employees to get Covid-19 vaccinations. Yarman added that the travel budget is also larger due to planned attendance at some conferences in 2022.

Garalynn Tomas moved to accept the financial reports; Jamie Black seconded. There was no discussion, so the Chair called for a vote on the motion; all aye.

 Reports on the Status of OPLIN Services — OPLIN Staff

Don Yarman, Laura Solomon, and Karl Jendretzky delivered for the Board a presentation of OPLIN’s activities from the previous fiscal year, covering revenues, expenditures, usage of subscription databases, bandwidth utilization, authentication and network tools, webinars delivered, and the host of services OPLIN provides. Solomon reviewed the large project to migrate websites from Drupal 7 to Drupal 8, and then on to Drupal 9. Yarman followed up by connecting the various elements of the presentation to the OPLIN Services Plan.

Questions for PLDS

Don Yarman asked the Board, for their planning purposes, what information should OPLIN seek to gather from libraries as part of the annual data survey the State Library administers. Currently asks “type of internet connection” and monthly cost. Yarman suggested asking for bandwidth rather than type of connection, which would be more helpful. Explained libraries interpret “monthly cost” differently. Black said “bandwidth and undiscounted cost (i.e. before E-rate discounts).

Yarman, Solomon, and Jendretzky had nothing to add to their written reports.

Christine Morris, OPLIN’s new Digital Resources Manager, introduced herself. Yarman directed the Board’s attention to Morris’s project plan for implementing Northstar Digital Literacy resources across Ohio libraries, and Morris reviewed the recent webinars offered to inform libraries about Northstar.

Travis Bautz expressed concern about the reporting requirements for the Emergency Connectivity Fund, which ask libraries to keep detailed circulation and inventory data beyond what their integrated library systems are designed to collect and store. Yarman said he would meet directly with Bautz and his staff to discuss their concerns and to clarify the ways that the state coordinators for library E-rate and the American Library Association are interpreting the FCC’s guidelines, as state privacy laws preempt libraries from providing the level of data that the FCC expects from school districts.

Justin Bumbico welcomed Board members Ben Bolbach and Bill Lane to their first in-person Board meeting. 

With no other business pending, the Chair adjourned the meeting at 12:07 p.m.

Minutes —August 13, 2021

The one hundred eighty-seventh meeting of the Ohio Public Library Information Network (OPLIN) Board of Trustees was called to order at 10:00 a.m. on Friday, August 13, 2021 by Board Vice-Chair Justin Bumbico at the OPLIN office in Columbus, Ohio.

Present were Board members: Angela Baldree, Travis Bautz, Jamie Black, Justin Bumbico, Roger Donaldson, and Hilary Prisbylla. Also present were: Karl Jendretzky and Don Yarman (OPLIN).

Attending virtually at https://www.gotomeet.me/OPLIN/august-2021-oplin-board-meeting were: 

Board members Bill Lane, Holly Richards, Tara Sidwell, and Garalynn Tomas; Laura Solomon (OPLIN), Stephanie Herriott, Wendy Knapp, and Eric Maynard (State Library); and Michelle Francis and Jay Smith (Ohio Library Council).

The Nominations Committee proposed the following slate of officers: Justin Bumbico, Chair; Tara Sidwell, Vice Chair; Garalynn Tomas, Secretary;Jamie Black, Treasurer. Roger Donaldson moved to accept the slate of nominees; Travis Bautz seconded the nominations. There was no discussion, so the chair called for a vote on the nominations; all aye. Justin Bumbico continued to run the meeting as newly elected Chair.

Jamie Black moved to approve the agenda as presented; Angela Baldree seconded. There was no discussion, so the chair called for a vote on the motion; all aye.

Following the pattern of holding OPLIN Board meetings at 10:00 a.m. on the second Friday of even-numbered months, Yarman presented the following meeting schedule:

• August 13, 2021
• October 8, 2021
• December 10, 2021
• February 11, 2022
• April 8, 2022
• June 10, 2022

Yarman suggested that instead of clustering all strategic planning at a long April meeting that the Board break up strategic planning activities over the whole year: in October, OPLIN staff will present a review of the services, and at subsequent meetings the Board could take up topics such as expanded. Jamie Black asked whether the expectations of OPLIN will change drastically with the passage of the Federal infrastructure bill. Karl Jendretzky explained that all OPLIN’s circuits are now fiber, so there is no need to seek infrastructure money to expand library broadband. Michelle Francis clarified that this is true of main libraries, but there may not be fiber to the branches; Jendretzky agreed that branch circuits, especially in smaller or more rural libraries, may be business class cable, perhaps because fiber isn’t available but often for ease of installation and cost. Jamie Black and Tara Sidwell discussed the challenges of getting high speed internet to small communities, and there was general discussion of the possibility of coordinating multiple orders, as OPLIN did 8 years ago, to eliminate steep construction costs. The Board agreed to continue discussions of possible strategic directions at each bimonthly meeting.

Jamie Black moved to approve the meeting schedule; Hilary Prisbylla 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 the statehouse is in summer recess, but is expected back in August to debate vaccine and mask mandates in the House Health Committee. In September, OLC is expecting the legislature to focus on redistricting and election security. OLC is in the midst of planning for the upcoming Convention and Expo October 13-15 at the Hyatt Regency in Columbus, and thanks OPLIN for its support. More information at https://conventionexpo.olc.org.

Garalynn Tomas asked where libraries stand in terms of mandating vaccines for hiring. Smith said some libraries have passed policies making vaccination a condition of employment (with caveats that employees who are unwilling or unable to get vaccinated must undergo weekly testing to make sure they are COVID negative). Smith advises libraries to work with their county health departments for guidance; OLC does not expect statewide mandates for vaccination or masking.

Wendy Knapp reported that the funds for Imagination Library were moved back out of State Library’s budget. Nearly all of her time recently has been concentrated on problems with the transition to a new statewide delivery company, and State Library is working DAS on remedies to unsatisfactory contract performance. Knapp reported that the State Library has received enthusiastic response to the call for ARPA grant applications; the majority of proposals are from public libraries. The State Library Board will make their grant awards in September.

Angela Baldree moved to approve the minutes of the June 11, 2021 meeting as presented; Travis Bautz seconded. There was no discussion, so the Chair called for a vote on the motion; all aye.

Don Yarman indicated that the reports do not completely wrap up FY2021 as a few payments have yet to post in the state’s financial system. The estimated administrative expenses for the previous fiscal year were disbursed on target. Yarman explained that the $1.4 million paid to OIT was for 2020 and 2021 internet services, the bill for 2020 coming in 2021. Estimates for FY2022 are based on FY2021 expenses. Additions include payroll and travel for an additional staff member, and Northstar expenses added to Electronic Resources. The line item for Trumpia is $0 for the current fiscal year, but credits will need to be purchased in FY2023. The report currently estimates expenses $60,000 above the $5.7 million in approved spending authority, and if necessary, Yarman and Fiscal Officer Jamie Pardee will ask the Controlling Board for an increase in spending authority as the limit approaches. 

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

Discuss new position description

The new staff position included in the budget is a restoration of the Digital Resources Manager position, which Yarman converted to the current Infrastructure Specialist position. If the position is approved by DAS, the Digital Resources Manager will be principally responsible for overseeing E-rate, including more outreach to libraries for E-rate assistance, and coordinating support and training for electronic databases, with Northstar being the first priority. Next fiscal year, the Digital Resources Manager will take the lead representing public library interests as OPLIN and the Libraries Connect Ohio partners OhioLINK and INFOhio begin identifying the next package of resources to license statewide.

Yarman reported that since the last Board meeting, he has devoted a lot of time to answering questions about the Emergency Connectivity Fund and under what circumstances a library needs to filter devices in order to qualify for funding. Six libraries which do not filter their computers have applied for ECF funds to support internet service for hotspots they lend to patrons, and Yarman has reached out to them to discuss the discrepancy.

Solomon updated the Board on her work implementing accessibility modifications to the hosted Website Kits and the Ohio Web Library database portal. She also discussed her collaboration with Jen Johnson and Peter Kukla at the State Library to identify Drupal modules that make it possible for libraries with digitized content to contribute their collections to the Digital Public Library of America.

Karl Jendretzky told the Board that Mike Horsley and Nicholas Hester will be the OIT engineers assigned to assist OPLIN as Terry Fouts is retiring soon, and that so far the transition has been smooth. Jendretzky discussed progress with core configuration changes to enable custom VLAN stacking, the status of new circuit orders resulting from E-rate, growth in the number of libraries adding equipment to OPLIN’s CoLocation space in the State of Ohio Computer Center, and on-going development of the MASK authentication middleware. Jendretzky also detailed his work to programmatically pull the necessary usage stats from the new LinkedIn Learning resource. With the Central Library Consortium starting to use the SMS service, Jendretzky predicts OPLIN will need to purchase more message credits in about 12 months.

Nominations Committee appointment

The Chair appointed Hilary Prisbylla, Travis Bautz, Roger Donaldson, Holly Richardson, and Tara Sidwell to the Nominations Committee.

With no other business pending, the Chair adjourned the meeting at 11:25 a.m.

Minutes —June 11, 2021

The one hundred eighty-sixth meeting of the Ohio Public Library Information Network (OPLIN) Board of Trustees was called to order at 10:05 a.m. on Friday, June 11, 2021 by Board Chair Chris May at https://www.gotomeet.me/OPLIN/june-2021-oplin-board-meeting.

Present were Board members: Angela Baldree, Travis Bautz, Jamie Black, Roger Donaldson, Chris May, Travis McAfee, Hilary Prisbylla, Tara Sidwell, Garalynn Tomas, and Holly Richards. 

Also present were: Karl Jendretzky, Laura Solomon, and Don Yarman (OPLIN); Stephanie Herriott, Wendy Knapp, Eric Maynard, and Jamie Pardee (State Library); Michelle Francis and Jay Smith (Ohio Library Council); and Bill Lane (Cincinnati & Hamilton County Public Library).

Holly Richards motioned to approve the agenda as presented; Jamie Black seconded. There was no discussion, so the chair called for a vote on the motion; all aye.

The Chair called for public participation.

Wendy Knapp reported on developments with the State Library’s budget: no restoration of funding from the cuts the agency has experienced, and funding for the Governor’s Imagination Library program has been made a line-item under the State Library. The State Library is accepting proposals for Outreach grants using federal ARPA money; these grants require no local matching funds. Knapp also reported that preparation for the transfer to the new vendor for statewide delivery was going well.

Jay Smith provided more information about the state’s budget process, including restoration of the PLF to 1.7% of general revenue and other issues of concern to public libraries in Ohio.

Garaylnn Tomas motioned to approve the minutes of the April 9, 2021 meeting as presented; Travis Bautz seconded. There was no discussion, so the Chair called for a vote on the motion; all aye.

Jamie Pardee reviewed the financial reports, noting that the fiscal year is winding down. Overall revenue for FY2021 is about $692,000, with a beginning cash balance of $3 million and an ending cash balance of $2.2 million. The decrease is due to the timing of bills for internet access from OIT: the funds for FY2020 internet was encumbered in FY20, but the invoice was not received until July, and was paid during FY2021. 

Jamie Black motioned to accept the financial reports; Holly Richards seconded. There was no discussion, so the Chair called for a vote on the motion; all aye.

Staff raises

Stephanie Herriot explained that raises were contingent upon approval of parity salary increases for exempt staff in the state which usually accompanies those raises negotiated by the state’s bargaining units.

Jamie Black moved that the Ohio Public Library Information Network (OPLIN) Board of Trustees, in accordance with the duties assigned by Ohio Revised Code Section 3375.66, approves adjusting the compensation of each OPLIN E-3 staff member, to one that reflects a 3% salary increase for each employee beginning with the pay period that includes July 1, 2021, contingent upon the update of the E-1 salary tables in Ohio Revised Code 124.152 to include a 3% salary increase effective the first day of the pay period that includes July 1, 2021 (parity increase); Roger Donaldson seconded. There was no discussion, so the Chair called for a roll call vote on the motion.

Recorded vote: Angela Baldree, aye; Travis Bautz, aye; Jamie Black, aye;Roger Donaldson, aye; Chris May, aye; Travis McAfee, aye; Hilary Prisbylla, aye; Tara Sidwell, aye; Garalyn Tomas, aye; Holly Richards, aye.

7.2. Statewide Digital Literacy Curriculum

Yarman discussed the Northstar Digital Literacy program, a set of competency assessments that help learners determine which facets of digital literacy they most need, and the tools—self-paced as well as classroom curricula—to meet those needs. Northstar was originally developed by Literacy Minnesota in partnership with the Saint Paul Public Library, and is used by over 1730 Adult Basic Education programs, colleges, nonprofits, workforce centers, government agencies, and businesses to support their digital literacy education efforts. In Ohio, about 20 organizations use Northstar tools; in particular, Cuyahoga County and Cleveland Heights-University Heights  libraries used Northstar as the foundation of their public computer instruction. The State Library is interested in committing federal funds to purchase Northstar site licenses for Ohio libraries, while OPLIN could hire a program manager for implementation and support. Yarman outlined two possible solutions for staffing: hiring a contractor to manage the program (similar to the way OPLIN hires Lorrie Germann for public library E-rate support), or explore reclassifying an available unfilled State Library staff line, restoring to OPLIN a position similar to the Digital Resources Manager position, responsible for overseeing electronic resources and E-rate.

Jamie Black asked for cost estimates. Yarman said that Northstar has proposed $60,000 per year, a substantial discount from its $400/year/site cost, which would run to $110,000. Yarman estimates costs for staff salary and benefits at $90,000 per year.

Michelle Francis asked how Northstar compares to the state’s TechCred program. TechCred is a more advanced, job skill program, focusing on professional certifications. Northstar is more basic, teaching fundamental digital literacy skills. Yarman compared Northstar to PLA’s DigitalLearn.org resource, a good selection of free online courses, but Northstar has assessments to guide the new learner into content, and a mechanism for continued learning paths. Garalynn Tomas said that’s important that talented people deliver classes as patrons learn in different ways: some have challenges being in class, and will appreciate the brevity and efficiency of accessing online learning they can use. 

There is no action for the Board at this time.

Yarman welcomed new Board member Bill Lane from Cincinnati & Hamilton County Public Library, whose term begins in July. Yarman discussed the status of annual contract renewals, including Cisco Umbrella and Juniper maintenance, and the progress of the state’s new procurement platform Ohio|Buys. He reported that the transition from Lynda.com to LinkedIn Learning was very smooth due to the MASK authentication system. Stats are not available for the new resource as the company has not developed the API OPLIN needs to extract stats on a statewide scale.

The OPLIN staff are continuing to work remotely, now under the telework policy that OPLIN has had in place for years. 

Yarman outlined the various federal funds coming to the state:

• Emergency Broadband Benefit (EBB) is a program to provide qualifying citizens with $50/month broadband discounts and devices. It’s up to the individual or family to find and sign up for available programs. In Ohio, RemoteEDx is taking the lead in helping them do that. OLC is encouraging public libraries to publicize the program. EBB is a key focus of “Heartland Forward,” a “think and do tank” that has targeted Ohio and three other states to raise awareness.
• State libraries are distributing to libraries of all types the ARPA funds received by IMLS for the purposes of Outreach. Ohio will be receiving an additional $5.4 billion in ARPA funds for the state to distribute to local governments, supporting broadband development and outreach.
• The Emergency Connectivity Fund (ECF) is $7.1 billion targeted at closing the “homework gap,” and will supplement the E-rate program—and use E-rate filing mechanisms—to support school and library efforts to provide connectivity and devices to students and families that need them. ALA is pushing for clarification from the FCC about data retention requirements. 

Laura Solomon reported on the results so far of the patron-facing survey OPLIN asked libraries to present to their patrons to help us determine how library patrons view research databases. Library terminology for these is inconsistent, and our survey is designed to help get a better idea of the most appealing and understandable terminology. The survey asks if patrons differentiate between electronic resources for research and digital materials more geared toward entertainment; so far, the responses indicate consistently that they do, but when asked whether the library should present research and entertainment resources separately, responses are mixed 50/50.

Solomon also reported that all library Webkit sites have been migrated to Drupal 9, except for one site that is testing an experimental module. Drupal 10 is scheduled for release in June 2022, with Drupal 9 reaching end of life in November 2023.

Karl Jendretzky showed the Board the administrative backend he developed for the MASK authentication system, highlighting the controls for adding vendors, controlling access, monitoring uptime, and providing statistics. He also demonstrated the customized EZProxy screens OPLIN can provide to public libraries for remote patron authentication. 

Jendretzky also outlined the major networking project in progress, including new circuit installations and upgrades, a new SIP trunk for the CLEVNET phone system upgrade, and the VLAN stacking project at OPLIN’s core. Spectrum still needs to install its next generation headend for VLAN stacking configuration to proceed.

Chris May thanked the members of the Nominations Committee (Baldree, Tomas, and Bumbico) for their work, adding the slate of officers they identified will not need action until the August meeting. 

May and Yarman discussed the director’s evaluation process, which is awkwardly timed to take place at the end of a fiscal year when board terms are up. The criteria has not been updated in many, many years. . Jamie Black asked if there was a state requirement for directors to be evaluated; Stephanie Herriot explained that E1 and E2 staff evaluations are required, but there is not a corresponding requirement for executive directors Black offered to make a motion to officially stop doing annual evaluations of the OPLIN director. After discussion whether such action was necessary, it was decided that the director and Board may agree in the future to do a performance evaluation, and Black withdrew his motion.

9.1. Recognition

The Chair recognized Tara Sidwell to offer the following resolution:

Garalynn Tomas seconded the resolution. All aye.

The Chair recognized Garalynn Tomas to offer the following resolution:

Tara Sidwell seconded the resolution. All aye.

With no other business pending, the Chair adjourned the meeting at 11:55 a.m.

Minutes — April 9, 2021

The one hundred eighty-fifth meeting of the Ohio Public Library Information Network (OPLIN) Board of Trustees was called to order at 10:02 a.m. on Friday, April 9, 2021 by Board Vice Chair Justin at https://www.gotomeet.me/OPLIN/april-2021-oplin-board-meeting.

Present were Board members: Angela Baldree, Travis Bautz, Jamie Black, Justin Bumbico, Roger Donaldson, Travis McAfee, Hilary Prisbylla, Tara Sidwell, Garalynn Tomas, and Holly Richards. 

Also present were: Jessica Dooley, Rachel Fuller, Karl Jendretzky, Laura Solomon, and Don Yarman (OPLIN); Stephanie Herriott and Wendy Knapp (State Library); and John Stewart (Serving Every Ohioan [SEO] Service Center).

Jamie Black motioned to approve the agenda as presented; Holly Richards seconded. There was no discussion, so the vice-chair called for a vote on the motion; all aye.

The Vice-Chair called for public participation.

Wendy Knapp  reported that the Public Library Survey is open. She and Evan Struble are meeting with staff from IMLS and other state librarians and deputies as they plan for funds coming through the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA). Knapp is looking for impactful programs that will reach libraries of all types and their users, and be in direct response to the challenges brought on by the pandemic, leveraging the good work already done by libraries in the areas of workforce development, digital inclusion, and resource sharing. They are also following the developments of the E-rate infusion of $7.1 billion that is part of ARPA, plus the other half a dozen sections that seek to address broadband infrastructure. Knapp is still waiting to learn more about when she will testify before the Senate Finance Committee in the coming weeks.

Roger Donaldson motioned to approve the minutes of the February 12, 2021 meeting as presented; Hilary Prisbylla seconded. There was no discussion, so the Vice-chair called for a vote on the motion; all aye.

Jamie Pardee was unexpectedly detained out of state, and was unable to provide updated reports. Yarman reported that no unexpected financial activity has occurred since the previous meeting. As previously discussed, it will likely be necessary to ask the Controlling Board for a small increase in spending authority as the internet service bill for the previous fiscal year was not prepared until this fiscal year. Yarman will send the Board a current financial report when Pardee returns to the office.

Copyright release

Laura Solomon has written books for the American Library Association on social media and content marketing. She now has the opportunity to write another book for ALA: advice and commentary drawn partially from the "What Does This Mean to Me, Laura?" blog, the writing of which has been part of Solomon’s job duties at OPLIN. Yarman consulted OPLIN’s representative at the Attorney General's office about securing formal copyright permission for her to reproduce the blog posts. 

Travis McAfee motioned to authorize the director to grant Laura Solomon the requested permission to republish portions of the “What Does This Mean to Me, Laura?” blog in her forthcoming book; Jamie Black seconded. There was no discussion, so the Vice-chair called for a vote on the motion; all aye.

Strategic Plan extension

Yarman requested, due to the pandemic and the inability for the Board to meet in person for strategic planning purposes, that the current OPLIN Strategic Plan be extended through the next fiscal year.

Jamie Black motioned to extend the expiration of OPLIN’s Strategic Plan to June 30, 2022; Travis Bautz seconded. There was no discussion, so the Vice-chair called for a vote on the motion; all aye.

Staff raises

Jamie Black motioned to approve the following resolution:

Roger Donaldson seconded the resolution. There was no discussion, so the Vice-chair called for a roll call vote on the motion.

Recorded vote: Angela Baldree, aye; Travis Bautz, aye; Jamie Black, aye; Justin Bumbico, aye; Roger Donalson, aye; Travis McAfee, aye; Hilary Pribylla, aye; Tara Sidwell, aye; Garalyn Tomas, aye; Holly Richards, aye.

Yarman reported that Juniper equipment and software maintenance coverage has been purchased for the remainder of the fiscal year, moving coverage from a calendar year term to fiscal year. Libraries will migrate from Lynda.com to LinkedIn Learning during the first week in May, and work has begun configuring library access to LinkedIn Learning. Executive Staff Director Rebekah Michael of the Ohio Cyber Range Institute (OCRI) reached out to OPLIN to help them connect with public libraries as an outlet for their IT and cybersecurity training. Jessica Dooley invited selected libraries to a webinar for a fruitful discussion about what OCRI could do to help libraries add cyber range curriculum to their program offerings. Library staff requested that OCRI provide a train-the-trainer webinar to familiarize library staff with OCR resources. OPLIN hopes to invite libraries to access OCRI's curricula within the next few months.

Yarman reported that Rachel Fuller has nearly completed her MLIS internship. Fuller discussed her study exploring the reasons why some libraries have very low database usage, finding that libraries with low usage often lack a website or prominent links to Ohio Web Library resources.

Solomon reported progress on Drupal 9 migrations: 14 library websites were upgraded prior to the Board meeting. She anticipates, at this rate, all migrations will be completed by early summer. Solomon is in discussions or actively developing 7 new Website Kits for libraries.

Network Events

• The J. R. Clarke Library in Covington has moved to a temporary location during renovations. Jendretzky created a VPN router configuration template to tunnel the library's business class cable circuit back into the OPLIN network. It’s been running stable for almost a month.
• A card failed at the SOCC Sunday, March 7, knocking out seven physical links, but due to network redundancy affected only Spectrum circuits. Jendretzky replaced the card (a 10 port loaner from Juniper) with a spare, and repaired a fiber path with low-light levels which was the cause of the Spectrum outage. 
• Juniper Maintenance up and running as of April 2nd. After OIT gathers packing materials and a bad power supply, Jendretzky will ship to Juniper a few bad devices for replacement.

Orders

• The E-rate process resulted in 92 orders: 70 circuit renewals, 21 fresh builds

VLAN Stacking

• To avoid visiting 99 library sites to make circuit changes required for VLAN stacking, Spectrum will build a new 20GB OPLIN/Spectrum next-generation head-end. The first pilot circuits on the new link will be the OPLIN office and Cincinnati, who requested the layer 2 functionality for equipment they plan to put in the SOCC. The 13 new Spectrum circuits coming up in July will also have the new configuration and use the new head.
• Cuyahoga County also wants a layer 2 connection to a rack they wish to install at the SOCC, and Jendretzky will use the Spectrum template to establish a similar head end with OARnet.

Coding

• Jendretzky built a tool for mass management of ssh devices. He was able to use this to make changes on 225 routers (enabling SNMPV3) on March 24 in a little over a minute.
• Jendretzky added tester code to the MASK authentication system, which lets other staff add and change library configuration in the system. He also created Debug code for troubleshooting connections with local systems. In addition to standard SIP2 and API authentication protocols, Jendretzky trained MASK to authenticate against particular library patron login pages where standard protocols are not available.
• The once.oplin.org secure messaging platform now includes a CAPTCHA test to block bots.
• A library deliberately sent 17,000 SMS messages to their patrons in March. Jendretzky increased the gateway to 20 parallel handlers, sending text messages at 2 per second. With additional server resources that could double if the Trumpia service allows.

Servers

• Jendretzky has been documenting the various OPLIN server functions for Jessica Dooley, who then builds a fresh server and migrates services to the new platform. Network monitoring tools were first; SMS Gateway, Stats, and soon MASK will migrate.

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

Minutes — February 12, 2021

The one hundred eighty-fourth meeting of the Ohio Public Library Information Network (OPLIN) Board of Trustees was called to order at 10:00 a.m. on Friday, February 12, 2021 by Board Chair Chris May at https://www.gotomeet.me/OPLIN/february-2021-oplin-board-meeting.

Present were Board members: Angela Baldree, Travis Bautz, Jamie Black, Justin Bumbico, Roger Donaldson, Chris May, Travis McAfee, Hilary Prisbylla, Tara Sidwell, Garalynn Tomas, and Holly Varley. 

Also present were: Karl Jendretzky, Laura Solomon, and Don Yarman (OPLIN); Wendy Knapp and Jamie Pardee (State Library); and Michelle Francis (Ohio Library Council).

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

The Chair called for public participation.

Wendy Knapp reported she would be testifying on Thursday about the State Library’s budget before the House Finance Subcommittee on Higher Education. The budget as proposed by the Governor does not restore all the funding that was withheld last year when the pandemic began, which is a concern due to continued rising costs, such as the State Library’s lease and the renewal of the statewide delivery contract. The State Library continues to work with the landlord to find ways of bringing that cost down. Knapp discussed possible federal funds coming to libraries, but those often require a state match, and the State Library’s shrinking budget could impact receipt of those funds. Several State Library employees were victims of the escalating unemployment fraud in Ohio.

Michelle Francis reported that the Governor’s executive budget reduces the Public Library Fund to 1.66% of general revenue as set in permanent law; although state revenues have been strong, OLC is advocating to keep the PLF at 1.7%. They have had positive conversations with leadership, and they encourage libraries to share with their legislators how libraries have continued to provide services during the pandemic. OLC supports the Governor’s plan to include $200 million in the budget to expand broadband infrastructure, as well as SB-8 and HB-2 which are directed at expanding broadband last-mile coverage. Instead of Legislative Day, OLC will conduct Library Advocacy Week during the first week in April.

Justin Bumbico motioned to approve the minutes of the December 11, 2020 meeting as presented; Garalynn Tomas seconded. There was no discussion, so the Chair called for a vote on the motion; all aye.

Jamie Pardee reviewed the financial reports, observing a beginning cash balance of a little over $3 million, currently projecting the ending cash balance at $2.9 million. Half the budgeted admin expenses have been disbursed, which is on track for this point in the year. A new expense for Juniper maintenance is on the financial report, with about $60,000 spent after Controlling Board approval for calendar year 2020, and the remaining amount will be spent after Controlling Board approves expenses for calendar year 2021. Unplanned spending authority shows a negative balance of $648,000 due to the timing of last fiscal year’s internet service bill from OIT, which was delayed and paid out of this fiscal year’s budget. As we near the end of our allotted appropriation this spring, we are likely to have to go to the Controlling Board to ask for an increase in spending authority to cover this year’s internet service bill, Juniper maintenance, and the usual expenses.

Yarman mentioned that some telecommunication funds are unspent, as AT&T invoices on the new lowest corresponding price contract have a remit-to address that does not match AT&T’s supplier record in the state state system. For the past eight months, AT&T has been urged to update the supplier record so encumbered funds can be released to them. 

Tara Sidwell motioned to accept the financial reports; Holly Varley seconded. There was no discussion, so the Chair called for a vote on the motion; all aye.

The request has been submitted to the state’s Controlling Board to purchase Juniper maintenance for calendar year 2021; no questions have been asked, so Yarman is hopeful that the request will be on the February 22 meeting agenda. 

OhioLINK received federal Governor’s Emergency Education Relief (GEER) funding to provide Cochrane Library access, not just to OhioLINK members, but also to medical facilities and the general public through their public libraries. The Cochrane Library databases contain different types of high-quality, professional information to make health decisions. We will soon get information about this valuable resource out to public libraries, including webinars for librarians to learn more.

Rebekah Michael, director of the Ohio Cyber Range Institute which manages the state’s cybersecurity education platform, reached out to OPLIN for help partnering with public libraries to offer OCR programming to library patrons. The Cyber Range has funding, curricula, kits, and online resources to sponsor cybersecurity and IT programming for middle and high school students. They are also developing security awareness education for seniors. OPLIN’s Jessica Dooley is identifying libraries that have shown an interest in supporting cybersecurity programming, and will help OCRI gather feedback from potential library participants.

On February 8, the Public Library Associated held a webinar for COSLA (Chief Officers of State Library Agencies) about experiences implementing Lynda.com/LinkedIn Learning statewide. Yarman co-presented with Elizabeth Iaukea, the Workforce Development Librarian for Washington State Library.

After the pandemic disruption, database usage returned to normal levels in the last months of 2020. Proquest announced that they had been under-reporting usage of Ancestry and HeritageQuest by about 50%; Yarman will work with the State Library’s data coordinator Kirstin Krumsee to determine whether to revise the reported numbers for the state report.

As libraries focus on keeping their websites updated and fresh during the pandemic, Solomon is receiving more orders for special features and site redesign, as well as more inquiries from libraries wishing to start a new website with OPLIN. As discussed at the previous meeting, OPLIN has re-released the webform module which allows libraries to build forms into their site. Solomon is exploring additional new features that libraries may be interested in, such as an FAQ function and a layout builder which would let libraries reconfigure the layout of individual pages.

Solomon and Dooley have been preparing to upgrade all sites to Drupal 9, which is not as difficult as the Drupal 7 to Drupal 8 upgrade. Dooley is developing scripts that automate the upgrade steps.

Solomon is working with State Library staff to improve accessibility of the book cover widget that  promotes titles from the Choose to Read Ohio program.

After the Controlling Board approved Juniper maintenance for 2020, Jendretzky downloaded the firmware updates and swapped out failed hardware; new MPC7 cards are ready for installation in OPLIN core equipment. The process for securing maintenance for 2021 is underway, and the procedure for the 2022 renewal is mapped out.

There has been rapid development of the MASK authentication service; it connects to the servers of Ohio’s library consortia, reaching 169 libraries so far. MASK supports SIP2, PatronAPI, Evergreen API, EZproxy, and generic GET/POST commands. Jendretzky has built in test features to streamline library on-boarding, and the service tests each connection every morning to make sure it’s working. On the backend, MASK certificates are automated, and it has a development stack that Jendretzky can work on without disrupting the live production stack. MASK can also act as secondary authentication for EZproxy alongside the more generic Ohio Web Library authentication. Yarman added that OPLIN is testing MASK live with LinkedIn Learning: a few libraries never used Lynda.com, so those accounts were migrated to LinkedIn Learning early, letting OPLIN get an early glimpse into the new platform. 

Jendretzky discussed the impact of the major SolarWinds hack. OPLIN doesn’t use SolarWinds for monitoring, but OIT does and the service was taken offline. Jendretzky verified that there were no unexpected logins or unexplained configuration changes to OPLIN equipment; as a precaution, Jendretzky updated all OPLIN routers with new rootkeys, and developed the once.oplin.org sensitive file sharing service to provide the new rootkeys to OIT.

Jendretzky discussed progress on the VLAN stacking project which initially will allow Cincinnati & Hamilton County Public Library to put backup servers at the SOCC and yet remain part of the library’s internal network. Jendretzky’s proposed configuration, currently under review by Juniper, is similar to how OARnet manages the state’s OneNet. Implementation will involve reconfiguring each Spectrum circuit, involving changes to 144 site routers simultaneously during an overnight maintenance window. There will be an outage lasting 15-60 minutes.

The new OPLIN VMware server has been deployed, and Jessica Dooley is building new versions of existing servers to migrate onto the new hardware. This will reduce OPLIN’s reliance on AWS, and Jendretzky expects to recover the costs of the new hardware within 3-4 years.

There is one library in Ohio, the Perry Cook Memorial Library in Shauck, that doesn’t have fiber service; internet has been provided via a wireless antenna. As part of this year’s E-rate process, a vendor has been identified for new service to the library, and when complete, all Ohio libraries will be served by fiber ethernet. Yarman added that he has completed the cost analysis for all the bids in response to the E-rate 470, and he will be releasing his bid decision letter soon.

Ethics Training

Yarman will send out the link to the required annual training workshop from the Ohio Ethics Commission. Financial disclosures are due Monday, May 17.

Board Nominations

Yarman will put out a call for OPLIN Board nominations, which will be reviewed by Nominating Committee members Garalynn Tomas, Angela Baldree, and Justin Bumbico. The by-laws allow the Nominating Committee to select candidates to send directly to the State Library Board for approval.

Review April planning meeting arrangements

OPLIN’s strategic plan expires at the end of June. The Board discussed possibilities, asking Yarman to provide proposals for extending the current plan temporarily until it is more convenient to hold more rigorous strategic planning discussions. 

With no other business pending, the Chair adjourned the meeting at 10:48 a.m.

Minutes — December 11, 2020

The one hundred eighty-third meeting of the Ohio Public Library Information Network (OPLIN) Board of Trustees was called to order at 10:00 a.m. on Friday, December 11, 2020 by Board Chair Chris May at https://www.gotomeet.me/OPLIN/december-oplin-board-meeting.

Present were Board members: Travis Bautz, Jamie Black, Justin Bumbico, Roger Donaldson, Chris May, Hilary Prisbylla, Tara Sidwell, Garalynn Tomas, and Holly Varley. 

Also present were: Jessica Dooley, Rachel Fuller, Karl Jendretzky, Laura Solomon, and Don Yarman (OPLIN); Stephanie Herriott, Wendy Knapp, Eric Maynard, and Jamie Pardee (State Library); and Jay Smith (Ohio Library Council).

Jamie Black motioned to approve the agenda as presented; Holly Varley seconded. There was no discussion, so the chair called for a vote on the motion; all aye.

The Chair called for public participation.

Wendy Knapp reported on how state librarians and IMLS are communicating with state departments of health, and that they urge the next phase of the REALM (REopening Archives, Libraries, and Museums) study to focus on recommendations for best practices rather than data. State Library staff are continuing to work from home. The State Library Board approved seven LSTA grants at their last meeting, and Knapp reminded the OPLIN Board that open grants may be applied for at any time. The State Library and OhioNET will offer Library Leadership Ohio as a remote professional development program in 2021. The Cooperative Summer Library Program online portal is now available for libraries to begin their 2021 summer reading planning.

Jay Smith reported that OLC has no in-person meetings planned until at least summer, but will continue to hold virtual meetings and workshops. State tax receipts for November were 2.3% above estimates, so the December PLF distribution is also Ohio Department of Taxation estimates released in July. Overall, the PLF total for 2020 was $409,405,535, or $5.2 million less than original ODT estimates. Legislators are expecting a $2 billion shortfall for fiscal year 2021. Smith also outlined legislative activities as the legislative year nears its close, including the capital budget, HB450 which requires fiscal officers to have succession guidelines, HB13 Broadband Expansion Grant Program, HB76 which institutes ballot language that OLC opposes, and HB325 which establishes February 18 as Toni Morrison Day. 

Justin Bumbico motioned to approve the minutes of the October 9, 2020 meeting as presented; Tara Sidwell seconded. There was no discussion, so the Chair called for a vote on the motion; all aye.

Jamie Pardee reviewed the financial reports, noting that about half the admin budget has been spent by this point as expected, and information resources have been paid for for the current fiscal year. Pardee noted that OPLIN’s request to purchase Juniper maintenance for 2020 is on the Controlling Board agenda for December, and that we will need to also budget for and request authority to pay for 2021 maintenance. Between purchasing Juniper maintenance and the timing of internet service billing from OIT, Pardee estimates that OPLIN will have to request a $600,000-700,000 increase in spending authority from the Controlling Board. The starting cash balance for the fiscal year was a little over $3 million, with a projected ending cash balance of $2.8 million.

Yarman explained that OPLIN’s request to pay for 2020 Juniper maintenance was not on the Controlling Board’s November 23 agenda because there was confusion about why the request was retroactive to December 2019, and whether the request was for 2020 or 2021. Those questions were answered, and the request is on the agenda for the December 14 meeting.  

Jamie Black motioned to accept the financial reports; Travis Bautz seconded. There was no discussion, so the Chair called for a vote on the motion; all aye.

Career and Technical Skills Resources for Ohio Public Libraries — Don Yarman

OPLIN received five bids for possible replacements for Lynda.com when that contract expires June 30, 2021. The Content Advisory Committee reviewed these, and unanimously recommended that OPLIN renew the agreement with LinkedIn Learning. The committee noted that while competition is growing in this field, Lynda.com/LinkedIn Learning has a superior content collection, and it is more familiar to library patrons as they have been using it for two and half years. Yarman asked the Board to take action to accept the recommendation of the Content Advisory Committee to contract with LinkedIn Learning for career and technical resources for Ohio’s public libraries for an additional three years.

Jamie Black motioned to accept the Content Advisory Committee’s recommendation; Travis Bautz seconded. There was no further discussion, so the Chair called for a vote on the motion; all aye.

Yarman introduced Rachel Fuller, OPLIN’s library science student intern for the semester. Due to the pandemic, the Kent State iSchool has been struggling to place students in libraries for their practicum experiences, but OPLIN is fully functional as a virtual office. Fuller is working with OPLIN staff to learn more about electronic resources, managing library websites, and the statewide community of library organizations. 

Yarman discussed plans for managing the transition from the Lynda.com platform to LinkedIn Learning the first week in May. He explained that none of the library account configurations will transfer to the new platform. To facilitate the work, OPLIN has requested that all of the admin account credentials be changed to logins that OPLIN controls, which will let OPLIN staff receive transition communications and do the work of setting up and supporting library authentication on the new platform. This authentication will be facilitated by a new OPLIN application called “Mask.” Karl Jedretzky discussed creating the Mask service to more easily launch subscriptions that require direct patron authentication against library patron databases, and to add additional security to patron information. Many library catalog systems only support unencrypted SIP2 authentication requests. With Mask, vendors will direct secured requests to mask.oplin.org, and OPLIN will pass the request with additional levels of security to library servers, passing back to the vendor only authentication success/failure information and stripping out the personally identifiable information that library servers often send by default.

Jendretzky discussed various coding updates to OPLIN’s services, including better handling of vendor changes for automated stats collection (stats.oplin.org), automatic delivery of wildcard SSL certificates (the “cert slinger,” which saves OPLIN $20,000 annually in certificate costs), and real-time error reporting for the SMS Gateway. This last was requested by the Central Library Consortium, which will use the error reports to implement updates to patron records when text-based communication fails. OPLIN has purchased new server hardware and VMware to replace the aging physical servers. Jendretzky reported that OPLIN has a new AT&T rep, and the AT&T circuit changes ordered for July are nearly complete (three locations remain). Based on conversations with the Cincinnati and Hamilton County Public Library, Jendretzky is developing a new router configuration that supports a Layer 2 network connection between a port on a library’s site router and any hardware a library implements in the SOCC Co-Location Space. Equipment at the SOCC would then be part of a library’s local network, behind their main firewall, and eliminate the need for additional firewall devices and VPN configurations.

Laura Solomon reported that there are now 85 libraries using Website Kits, and that customers have been adding the new features she has created, the most popular being the Cover Art Carousel which lets libraries link book or DVD cover images to those items in their catalog. In 2021, OPLIN will reintroduce the Web Form module; the module was an option under Drupal 7, but it was temporarily removed because the Drupal 8 version is a full-featured development platform with tremendous functionality that OPLIN doesn’t have the ability to support. To reintroduce the module, Solomon is recording targeted screencasts to demonstrate the most common form features needed by libraries. Libraries purchasing the module will be told that any support beyond these recorded instructions may be billable at the same rate as custom web design. Solomon continues to complete her coursework in pursuit of Web Accessibility Specialist certification, and anticipates taking the exam in spring 2021.

Yarman reported that as of October’s statistics database usage was bouncing back from pandemic lows. Starting in March, there was a spike in database usage statistics due to increased usage of Ancestry and Lynda, but the other Ohio Web Library databases (EBSCOhost, World Book, etc.) saw usage bottom out. In recent months, usage has returned to the normal levels.

Chris May had no business to report.

With no other business pending, the Chair adjourned the meeting at 10:59 a.m.

Minutes — October 9, 2020

The one hundred eighty-second meeting of the Ohio Public Library Information Network (OPLIN) Board of Trustees was called to order at 10:01 a.m. on Friday, October 9, 2020 by Board Chair Chris May at https://www.gotomeet.me/OPLIN/october-oplin-board-meeting.

Present were Board members: Angela Baldree, Travis Bautz, Jamie Black, Justin Bumbico, Roger Donaldson, Travis McAfee, Tara Sidwell, Garalynn Tomas, and Holly Varley. 

Also present were: Karl Jendretzky, Laura Solomon, and Don Yarman (OPLIN); Stephanie Herriott, Wendy Knapp, and Jamie Pardee (State Library); and Michelle Francis (Ohio Library Council).

Holly Varley nominated Garalynn Tomas to be appointed Board Secretary; Jamie Black seconded. There was no discussion, so the chair called for a vote on the motion; all aye.

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

The Chair called for public participation.

State Librarian Wendy Knapp reported that more than 100 people were registered for ODN Fest happening the next week. Mini-grants to assist libraries with metadata projects for inclusion in DPLA are due November 2. The SEO consortium is testing a mobile app that will allow patrons to check out materials using their phones. Because state employees are not permitted to travel, Knapp is scheduling virtual visits to learn more about local libraries and their services. 

OLC Director Michelle Francis gave an update on the Public Library Fund which came in above estimates for October; overall, the PLF is only down 2% from pre-pandemic estimates because state revenues have been strong due to stimulus spending. OLC surveyed libraries about services they have been offering during the pandemic, and the results can be viewed on the OLC website. Another survey focuses on digital literacy efforts; OLC is discussing with the Governor’s administration public library efforts in digital instruction, and how to close gaps. Francis outlined the Department of Education’s CARES Act-funded initiative RemoteEDx, addressing the digital divide challenges associated with K-12 learning. The deadline for public libraries to apply for the CARES Act funds the legislature has set aside for them is November 16; funds must be spent by the end of December. Francis also discussed other library-relevant legislation, including HB 606 which grants legal immunity to workplaces if they are responsible for COVID transmission. HB 733 which adds an increase to the PLF; it is unlikely to pass, but it is a good conversation starter with legislators to explain the library funding mechanism.

While the OLC Annual Convention was cancelled, OLC has partnered with the New York Library Association to allow OLC members to attend the New York virtual conference at member rates. OLC is also hosting “COVID-19 and Stress,” a free webinar with the Ohio Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services (OhioMHAS), explaining how to cope with anxiety and manage stress during these challenging times.

Jamie Black asked whether Francis or Yarman had any idea how many households do not have access to the internet. Francis and Yarman discussed some of the problems with this data: an entire census tract may be marked with available broadband if only one house within that tract has access, or providers may indicate that broadband is available when it may not be. Some recent data can be found at https://connectednation.org/ohio. Francis discussed HB 13, which OLC supports, to provide matching dollars for public/private partnerships to expand broadband coverage in Ohio.

Holly Varley mentioned that the state library of Oregon released a letter based on the REALM study and Lancet recommendations that reduced the quarantine of library materials from 3 days to 24 hours, and wondered if Ohio might do the same. Wendy Knapp mentioned that the Oregon Department of Health made that recommendation, and that Knapp and her state librarian colleagues in the Great Lakes region will be reaching out to in their regions to see if other state health authorities might follow. Michelle Francis advised that because Batelle and OCLC are in Ohio, and because Ohio has only an interim health director, the situation is more politically delicate.

Angela Baldree motioned to approve the minutes of the August 14, 2020, meeting as presented; Justin Bumbico seconded. There was no discussion, so the Chair called for a vote on the motion; all aye.

Jamie Pardee reviewed the financial reports, noting that there is a cash balance of a little over $3 million to start the year, with a projected cash balance of about $2.7 million to finish, a decrease of $258,000. Earlier in fiscal year 2020, Pardee had projected a negative number in “Unplanned Spending Authority,” but because of the timing of the internet service bill from OIT, OPLIN’s expenses did not exceed the allotted spending authority for last fiscal year; it will be necessary to ask the Controlling Board to increase spending authority appropriation for fiscal year 2021 to cover these bills. Pardee also summarized the expenses so far for the fiscal year, which are on track for this time of year.

Yarman added that staff have collected one quote from a Juniper service reseller which covers exactly what is needed for the time period required, and is continuing to work with Juniper to provide two more resellers with the required identical coverage for price comparison. Black asked what happens if the deadline to submit requests to the Controlling Board passes; Yarman said Controlling Board approval for the purchase is necessary, and he will keep working to get it through. Jendretzky said that although the process of getting quotes has been difficult, it is resulting in very good pricing. 

Jamie Black motioned to accept the financial reports; Tara Sidwell seconded. There was no discussion, so the Chair called for a vote on the motion; all aye.

Yarman talked about OPLIN’s history using EZproxy to authenticate users outside of libraries into subscription databases. A change in how OCLC supports EZproxy functions drove a major change to OPLIN’s EZproxy implementation. To support statewide authentication, OPLIN needs wildcard certificates for each of the 252 instances of EZproxy. Karl Jendretzky explained how he and Jessica Dooley, using the Let’s Encrypt non-profit certificate authority, have built an automated system, the “cert slinger,” which connects to the state’s DNS system, generates any wildcard certificate it needs, then deploys the certificate onto the appropriate server. They also discussed how OPLIN staff worked with the Upper Arlington Public Library to customize that instance of EZproxy so that it authenticates with barcode and PIN against the library’s patron database, allowing the option of tighter authentication security (and library branding). Future possibilities include developing an “authentication handler” which would let OPLIN front-end any authentication into the diverse environment of Ohio’s library systems using more secure protocols than SIP.

Yarman announced that the RFP for statewide Career and Technical Skills learning resources would be going up on the state’s procurement website after the meeting, and he would email all the vendors who have expressed an interest about the opportunity. The Content Advisory Committee will review the responses to the RFP, and send their recommendation to the OPLIN Board for the December meeting.

Yarman reported that database usage seems to be recovering from the disruptions of the spring, when stats for Lynda.com and genealogy resources spiked but everything else cratered; usage has returned to levels congruent with the same months the year before, but about 10% higher. In discussions with Lynda/LinkedIn Learning, Yarman learned that LinkedIn intends to remove the statistic for number of videos viewed, which is the “item investigations” equivalent that OPLIN reports to the State Library as part of the annual count of database uses for each library. LinkedIn recommends an alternative statistic which will cause libraries’ usage numbers to drop.

Since completing the Drupal 8 migration, Laura Solomon and Jessica Dooley have been working on a test Drupal 9 migration, since Drupal 8 will be end-of-life in a little over a year. Those migrations have failed as the current Drupal 9 release lacks some important functionality, so they will try again with the next Drupal 9 release. Typically, OPLIN offers a new, free Webkit feature each year, but there wasn’t one during the Drupal 8 migration project. With that done, Solomon is offering a new feature that will allow libraries to embed emoji directly into their content. She is also working on some premium features, including a Cover Art Carousel (images of library materials that are linked to those titles in the library’s catalog), Sticky Header (an interface enhancement that keeps the library’s logo and menu at top as users scroll down), and Color Coded Upcoming Events Block.

One of the reasons OPLIN has stuck with Drupal is that web accessibility is built into the foundation of the platform. One in four Americans identify as having some kind of disability, and accessibility of online content is vital. This has long been an interest of Solomon’s, and OPLIN is supporting her time to study for the Web Accessibility Specialist certification from the International Association of Accessibility Professionals. Solomon’s accredited expertise in web accessibility will be a beneficial service for Ohio’s public libraries.

Jendretzky reported that the CLC would like to explore using OPLIN’s SMS Gateway instead of their own local messaging service. The CLC’s message volume is double that of OPLIN’s (300,000 messages per month to OPLIN’s 150,000). Tripling the load on the SMS Gateway would burn OPLIN’s credits faster, but would save the CLC libraries money; it is also likely that with the added volume, OPLIN could buy credits at a lower per-credit cost. CLC has requested OPLIN build out the service, so that CLC can receive instant feedback on messages and have their catalog respond to errors. This advanced capability could be offered to CLEVNET as well.

Installations of new circuit orders are proceeding well, with only 9 of the 80 original orders still open. 

With no other business pending, the Chair adjourned the meeting at 11:06 a.m.

Minutes — August 14, 2020

The one hundred eighty-first meeting of the Ohio Public Library Information Network (OPLIN) Board of Trustees was called to order at 10:00 a.m. on Friday, August 14, 2020 by Board Chair Travis McAfee at https://www.gotomeet.me/OPLIN/august-oplin-board-meeting.

Present were Board members: Angela Baldree, Travis Bautz, Jamie Black, Justin Bumbico, Roger Donaldson, Chris May, Travis McAfee, Hilary Prisbylla, Tara Sidwell, Garalynn Tomas, and Holly Varley. 

Also present were: Jessica Dooley, Karl Jendretzky, Laura Solomon, and Don Yarman (OPLIN); Stephanie Herriott, Wendy Knapp, and Jamie Pardee (State Library); and Jay Smith (Ohio Library Council).

The Nominations Committee proposed the following slate of officers: Chris May; Chair; Justin Bumbico, Vice Chair; Jeff Garringer, Secretary; Tara Sidwell, Treasurer. Travis Bautz seconded the nominations. There was no discussion, so the chair called for a vote on the nominations; all aye. The new Board Chair Chris May assumed control of the meeting.

Travis McAfee motioned to approve the agenda as presented; Angela Baldree seconded. There was no discussion, so the chair called for a vote on the motion; all aye.

Following the pattern of holding OPLIN Board meetings at 10:00 a.m. on the second Friday of even-numbered months, Yarman presented the following meeting schedule:

• August 14, 2020 
• October 9, 2020 
• December 11, 2020 
• February 12, 2021
• April 9, 2021, 9:00 AM (planning meeting)
• June 11, 2021

Jamie Black motioned to approve the meeting schedule; Roger Donaldson seconded. There was no discussion, so the chair called for a vote on the motion; all aye.

The Chair called for public participation.

Wendy Knapp reported that the State Library’s CARES Act mini-grants were very popular, and applications for these grants had to be closed early. Library access to the Ryan Dowd webinars on service to the homeless have been supplemented with new material on library service during COVID-19. The State Library has cancelled all meetings in the building through the end of the year, and plans to begin offering curbside service in September. Because Knapp has not been able to go out and meet Ohio librarians face to face, she is starting to schedule virtual tours to learn more about Ohio library services. The State Library staff are completing their narratives in support of the state budget request due in September.

Jay Smith outlined upcoming OLC activity, including a webinar on OBM’s new grant portal for the $18.3 million in CARES Act public library assistance grants, a webinar with the Secretary of State’s office on voter registration, and virtual versions of the Trustees Dinners that were cancelled last spring. OLC has begun planning the “Road Ahead” tour, where OLC will meet virtually with library directors grouped by Senate district to discuss advocacy and important talking points for communicating with legislators during budget preparation this fall. Smith also discussed the change in leadership at the House, and some pieces of legislation that are relevant to library interests.

Garalynn Tomas motioned to approve the minutes of the June 12, 2020, meeting as presented; Jamie Black seconded. There was no discussion, so the Chair called for a vote on the motion; all aye.

Jamie Pardee reviewed the completed financial reports for FY2020, noting that expenses totaled $4.9 million, leaving $35,000 left in the total appropriation. July numbers were not yet recorded in the report, so the budget estimates for FY2021 are unchanged, with expenses projected to exceed spending authority but remain well within cash reserves. In the budget process, Pardee explained that agencies submit a request for “Operating A” which is a reduction scenario, and “Operating B” for continuing priorities. Because OPLIN is not funded from general revenue, the Operating A request will be 100%, and Operating B will be a request for increased spending authority, as rising telecommunications costs, support for Lynda.com, and increasing maintenance costs have driven expenses higher. 

Justin Bumbico motioned to accept the financial reports; Holly Varley seconded. There was no discussion, so the Chair called for a vote on the motion; all aye.

Juniper Hardware and Software Maintenance

Yarman explained that maintenance on network equipment previously had been purchased by OIT, but for current equipment, purchased nearly four years ago, OPLIN was asked to assume this cost. That original maintenance term has expired, and staff are working with Juniper and its vendor partners to price out continued maintenance on the equipment. Because the purchase will be more than $50,000, OPLIN will have to get approval from the Controlling Board for the purchase, as well as request additional spending authority to cover this unbudgeted expense. Yarman further explained that current budget directives only allow agencies to purchase maintenance for 12-month terms, so as it is currently understood, OPLIN is seeking quotes for twelve months backdated to when maintenance expired in January, and for on-going maintenance coverage January-December 2021. Yarman asked the Board to approve expenses up to $150,000 for the renewal of Juniper maintenance in this fiscal year.

Jendretzky added that vendors steeply discount the maintenance costs as more years are purchased, so while the maintenance originally cost about $53,000 a year for the initial three years, buying one year at a time will push the cost up to about $75,000 per year.

Black asked how stable the Juniper equipment is over a three year period; Jendretzky asserted that all the hardware in place he expects to still be operating in three years, and that the devices will last longer than that. The current devices have the capacity to handle growth in library network usage, and no library should outgrow the hardware OPLIN has installed for their location in the next three years.

The Board strongly endorsed a three year maintenance agreement for the network equipment.

Jamie Black motioned to approve up to $150,000 in expenses for the renewal of Juniper maintenance; Justin Bumbico seconded. There was no further discussion, so the Chair called for a roll call vote on the motion.

Recorded vote: Angela Baldree, aye; Travis Bautz, aye; Jamie Black, aye; Justin Bumbico, aye; Roger Donaldson, aye; Chris May, aye; Travis McAfee, aye; Hilary Prisbylla, aye; Tara Sidwell, aye; Garalyn Tomas, aye; Holly Varley, aye.

Yarman, Solomon, and Jendretzky delivered a presentation on OPLIN Services in FY2020. Yarman focused on how budget expenditures squared with the strategic plan, the status of contracts for subscription databases, and the usage trends of those databases over the fiscal year. Solomon reviewed the year’s work migrating Website Kits to Drupal 8, and discussed the next steps to Drupal 9. She also talked about projects that grew out of pandemic response, such as a library-contributed online programs database, Solomon’s popular library remote worker webinar, and a weekly series of short mini-webinars about Webkit features, including a new graphic resource site for Webkit customers. Jendretzky provided overviews of network bandwidth utilization and the distribution of circuits across vendors in Ohio, and gave details of how libraries are making use of services like Umbrella, SOCC Co-Location, Infosec IQ, and the SMS Gateway. Jendretzky also updated the Board about the causes of a hardware failure at the core that caused some libraries to lose internet on July 23, and the measures that were put in place so that when a related piece of equipment failed August 5, no libraries were affected.

FY2022-FY2023 Budget

Yarman expects expenses to be generally flat. The state will give guidance on how agencies should construct their salary and benefits budgets. Increases will be due to on-going maintenance cost of Juniper equipment, and possible expansion of the co-location space as more libraries move equipment there.

Yarman had nothing additional to report.

Solomon had nothing additional to report.

Jendretzky had nothing additional to report.

Nomination Committee appointment

May appointed Angela Baldree, Justin Bumbico, and Garalynn Tomas to the Nominations Committee for FY2021.

With no other business pending, the Chair adjourned the meeting at 11:40 a.m.

Minutes — June 12, 2020

The one hundred eightieth meeting of the Ohio Public Library Information Network (OPLIN) Board of Trustees was called to order at 10:00 a.m. on Friday, June 12, 2020 by Board Chair Travis McAfee online at https://www.gotomeet.me/OPLIN/june-oplin-board-meeting.

Present were Board members: Angela Baldree, Travis Bautz, Jamie Black, Roger Donaldson, Chris May, Travis McAfee, Hilary Prisbylla, Tara Sidwell, Garalynn Tomas, and Holly Varley. 

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

Chris May motioned to approve the agenda as presented; Jamie Black seconded. There was no discussion, so the chair called for a vote on the motion; all aye.

The Chair called for public participation.

Michelle Francis discussed how OLC is assisting libraries in their reopening efforts, as well as fighting racism in their communities. All OLC events have been canceled or moved to virtual settings. Francis reported that, due to the deferral of income tax collection, the May PLF distribution was very low, but that is expected to be made up later in the summer; the June distribution was 14% below estimates. OBM predicts a $2.43 billion revenue shortfall in FY2021.

Jay Smith reviewed activity on key legislation of interest to libraries, including the passage of the capital reappropriation bill, residential broadband expansion, and fiscal officer succession guidelines.

The Chair welcomed new State Librarian Wendy Knapp, and congratulated her on her appointment.

Jamie Black motioned to approve the minutes of the April 10, 2020, meeting as presented; Holly Varley 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 $1.9 million in E-rate refunds. OPLIN has not yet been billed by OIT for internet service, so those reimbursements as well as circuit costs for January-June will come in the next fiscal year. Expenses are on track for the end of the fiscal year, with the projected cash balance at $2.66 million. 

Garalynn Tomas motioned to accept the financial reports; Angela Baldree seconded. There was no discussion, so the Chair called for a vote on the motion; all aye.

Yarman discussed the explosion of virtual meetings he has been participating in. At their meeting May 28, the State Library Board reappointed Tara Sidwell, Jamie Black, and Justin Bumbico to second terms on the OPLIN Board, and awarded LSTA funds to Libraries Connect Ohio for the statewide database collection. Yarman released an RFP for statewide genealogy resources, and received proposals from ProQuest to renew the current subscriptions (African-American Heritage, Ancestry Library Edition, Fold3, and HeritageQuest), and from EBSCO for MyHeritage. The Content Advisory Committee reviewed the proposals and recommended continuing the current subscriptions.

Yarman reported that a water supply line above the OPLIN suite leaked, and there was damage to the offices. The landlord is reviewing contractor proposals to replace missing ceiling tiles and repair damage to the walls where trim was pulled away to facilitate drying.

Yarman will work with the Executive Committee on plans for the August meeting, when he expects the Board will review the tactical plan, discuss the strategic plan, and review OPLIN’s budget submission for the next biennium.

Laura Solomon discussed the new design of the Ohio Web Library site, which alleviates accessibility problems from the previous version. Solomon also developed a site for librarians to submit and search for online programming ideas. This site differs from the State Library’s calendar of online programs, as the State Library’s site is patron-facing, and the online programming ideas database is designed for library staff use.

Of the eighty hosted Webkit sites, fifty have been migrated to Drupal 8 and are live to the public; another five sites are scheduled to go live in the next week. The last of the unmigrated Drupal 7 sites are ready to be sent to Braindunk for migration work. Solomon hopes to have all the sites live by September.

Karl Jendretzky is on vacation and presented a written report. Yarman highlighted Jendretzky’s work on the AT&T migration (moving circuits from the OARnet backbones handling library traffic to the SOCC and onto OPLIN’s own AT&T hub), and getting the new circuits and upgrades resulting from E-rate work ready for July. Yarman reported that the Cisco Umbrella (OpenDNS) renewal was taking longer than usual because of changes in how Cisco sells services (through resellers, not directly).

For the next fiscal year, the Nominations Committee proposed Chris May for Chair, Justin Bumbico for Vice Chair, Tara Sidwell for Treasurer, and Garalynn Tomas as Secretary. The Board will elect officers at the August meeting. The Chair said Yarman will send Director Evaluation forms to Board members, who can complete them and return to Chris May.

Jamie Black motioned to adjourn the meeting; Garalynn Tomas seconded. The Chair adjourned the meeting at 10:42 a.m.