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

Minutes — June 14, 2019

1. WELCOME and CALL TO ORDER

The one hundred seventy-fourth meeting of the Ohio Public Library Information Network (OPLIN) Board of Trustees was called to order at 10:13 a.m. on Friday, June 14, 2019 by Board Secretary Jeff Garringer at the OPLIN office in Columbus, Ohio.

Present were Board members: Angela Baldree, Jamie Black, Justin Bumbico, Jeff Garringer, Chris May, Garalynn Tomas, and Holly Varley. 

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

Don Yarman introduced meeting guest Travis Bautz, director of the MidPointe Library System, who was appointed to the OPLIN Board starting July 1, 2019.

ACTION ITEMS

2. APPROVAL OF THE AGENDA

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

3. PUBLIC PARTICIPATION

The Secretary called for public participation.

Kirstin Krumsee said Beverly Cain was unable to attend, but wanted her to communicate that, although the State Library had asked for an increase in their budget, the most recent version of the Senate’s state budget keeps funding flat from this fiscal year. Applications to fill the vacancy on the State Library Board are due today. Yarman reminded the Board that as part of the State Library’s budget, OPLIN was also flat-funded, which is what we requested in our line item.

Michelle Francis arrived late to the meeting. At 11:52 a.m., the Secretary invited her to update the Board on OLC’s activities. Francis reported that OLC, along with the organizations supporting school libraries and academic libraries, is holding the “Re-IMAGEing Ohio’s Libraries” joint conference at the OCLC Conference Center today. Doug Evans’ retirement reception will follow, 3:30 p.m. at the Dublin Branch of the Columbus Metropolitan Library. Evans officially retires at the end of June, and Francis has been appointed the new Executive Director of OLC. In the Senate version of the state budget, the PLF was increased to 1.7%, and OLC urges library directors and boards to thank Senate leaders for their support. There are numerous differences between House and Senate versions of the budget to be worked out in conference committee, including big differences between revenue estimates at the beginning of the budget cycle and actual collections over the ensuing months. The PLF revenues were above $401 million for the first time since the recession, and it’s the first time in six years (three budget cycles) where public libraries have realized PLF distributions more than the taxation department had estimated.

4. APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES of April 12 meeting

Garalynn Tomas motioned to approve the minutes of the April 12, 2019, meeting as presented; Justin Bumbico seconded. There was no discussion, so the Secretary called for a vote on the motion; all aye.

5. ACCEPTANCE OF THE FINANCIAL REPORTS

Jamie Pardee reviewed the financial reports, noting that disbursements remain in line with estimates for this time of year. With just a few days left to spend funds this fiscal year, Pardee shows OPLIN will have a cash balance of about $2.8 million at the end of June. With the large planned purchases over the next biennium, Pardee projects the unspent cash balance to be $2.3 million at the end of FY2020, $1.8 million at the end of FY2021. Pardee currently shows a negative balance in “Unplanned Spending Authority” for FY2020, and projects that next spring OPLIN may need to request a small increase in spending authority.
 
Justin Bumbico motioned to accept the financial reports; Jamie Black seconded. There was no discussion, so the Secretary called for a vote on the motion; all aye.

6. OLD BUSINESS

6.1. Changes to Tactical Plan

Yarman suggested changing the description of the Webkit service from “generic” to “standardized” websites, and offered the following as an additional Marketing tactic in next year’s tactical plan:

OPLIN will ​ identify trends and best practices in cybersecurity ​ by following technology news and participating in cybersecurity education efforts in the state. OPLIN will find opportunities to have discussions with librarians and also will use temporary communications, such as email broadcasts and social media, to disseminate information about cybersecurity.

Jamie Black asked how many requests for cybersecurity assistance OPLIN receives. Jendretzky responded that the frequency varies. In the past couple months, Jendretzky helped a library quarantine a virus-infected domain controller so that could be by-passed and network access restored. OPLIN receives notices of library systems that are involved in outward-directed attacks. “If anyone calls for help, I tend to help,” Jendretzky said, adding that this doesn’t consume a lot of time. OPLIN’s main involvement is “shrugging off” denial of service attacks against library systems, usually managed by the new OARnet filters.

Chris May motioned to approve the FY2020 Annual Services and Tactical Plan; Angela Baldree seconded. There was no discussion, so the Secretary called for a vote on the motion; all aye. 

7. NEW BUSINESS -- none

REPORTS

8. OPLIN DIRECTOR'S REPORT
Yarman briefed the Board on the recent discussions with the Lynda.com team about the transition to the new LinkedIn Learning platform, outlining efforts since he first learned of the plans in December, through the discussions with the Content Advisory Committee this spring, and up to the announcement to OPLINLIST on June 3 and the follow-up message with more information five days later. Yarman summarized some of the questions he received and the answers he provided, covering whether anyone was aware that LinkedIn would be absorbing Lynda.com in this way (not to the extent that a LinkedIn account would be required), whether early termination was possible (unclear, but state agreements do stop at the fiscal year boundary), or whether LinkedIn would be willing to segment the Lynda information from the rest of LinkedIn’s data operations (they are not). He discussed the Washington State Library’s leadership pressing for more GDPR-compliant tools for patrons to manage the processing of their personal data, and for content access to people under the age of 16. Board members contributed what they knew of other organizations engaging with issue, including the members of the Urban Library Council and the American Library Association’s Office of Intellectual Freedom.

Travis Bautz asked if access to Lynda.com was true authentication. Yarman replied that Lynda.com is the only resource that authenticates directly against a library’s patron database, and that LinkedIn has a policy against the creation of pseudonymous accounts.

Chris May asked whether any libraries have declared they will not link to or promote the LinkedIn Learning program. No one has. A library that objected to Lynda.com access last summer did not put the link on their site; usage is low, but as it is only one library in a county with other library systems, patrons are probably using the access provided by a neighboring library system. OPLIN staff have had discussions about ways they could accommodate libraries (and their patrons) should the librarians refuse to allow LinkedIn Learning access for their library cards. There is a separate issue with maintaining access for those libraries who do not have automation systems, or whose systems lack an authentication module like SIP.

Jamie Black and others questioned why the company was so dismissive of the concerns of a major customer. There is some evidence that LinkedIn is simply not interested in maintaining library business.

The Board discussed the opportunity for libraries to take leadership in educating patrons on online privacy practices. Michelle Francis echoed that this fits nicely with the state’s concern of boosting cybersecurity. She discussed how the legislature and administration is aware of public library patron access to Lynda.com, noting that she was specifically asked about it during her budget testimony to the House finance committee. Yarman says he hopes to create guides to help librarians assist their patrons with privacy settings, but there is still no access to the LinkedIn Learning platform.

Looking further out, it is expected that during FY2021, OPLIN will issue an RFP for statewide access to continuous learning resources, and it is a hopeful sign that more vendors are moving into the market.

8.1. Library Services Manager report

Laura Solomon reported that the consultant Braindunk was able to compile existing modules and create some custom code to solve the issue with repeating dates in Drupal 8. They are implementing that mix of pieces into the larger project: building a tool to facilitate the migration of the 80 Webkit sites from Drupal 7 to Drupal 8. Solomon is studying the two paradigm sites to make sure the migration processes are working correctly. Braindunk will migrate a total of 6 paradigm sites in their first “rally” to perfect the tool.

Many sites have not had updates to their themes since the last migration from Drupal 6, and they use a site layout that OPLIN doesn’t build anymore. To streamline their migration to Drupal 7, Solomon and Yarman agreed to offer them a price break on refreshing their templates: OPLIN will waive the cost of installing the new layout feature ($375), and charge only for Solomon’s time to customize the site for the new layout (usually about $525). This results in fewer unique sites that we will have to give extra attention to later in the Drupal 8 migration.

8.2. Technology Projects Manager report

Karl Jendretzky reported that everything is on schedule for the many circuit changes due July 1 with the start of the next E-rate service year. Greene County has been moved to the new AT&T head-end at the SOCC, freeing up hardware for Cleveland Public Library to relocate their branch circuits. The Spectrum circuits being upgraded to 100 Mbps need to have their routers connected to a different port on Spectrum’s equipment, so Jendretzky has been working with the libraries to get that set up so the upgrades can happen smoothly. A new vendor will take over service for Cuyahoga County Public Library, and the NEO Regional Library System will be moved from their cable internet to fiber optic.

The network core equipment was upgraded to the most stable version of Juniper software during an overnight maintenance window, and the secondary core was brought up in tandem with the primary core. The hardware Juniper loaned us when the two cores separated in 2017 has been used to create additional redundancy; should the cores split again, no one should notice.

On June 8, Cleveland Public Library took over a rack in NR3. SEO will be moving equipment into NR3 in July, sharing a rack with the CLC.

This year, SMS shortcodes will be discontinued, so in August the SMS messages OPLIN relays for libraries will come from a new 10-digit number: 877-675-4632 (877-OPLIN-32). The new number was selected so that if patron’s call it with questions about their library notices, a recording will instruct them to contact their local library for help. The SMS Gateway service continues to send about 135,000 messages a month.

With OPLIN providing the SSL certificate for every library site in the Webkit service, there is a lot of overhead in purchasing and installing new certificates. Because library websites do not require banking-level certification, Jendretzky has switched to using the free, automated Let’s Encrypt certificate authority. Certificates are good for 90 days; Jendretzky installed daemons on the servers that reestablish the authority and install new certificates after 60 days. OPLIN can now encrypt the library’s subdomains, whereas previously we provided the certificates only for the main website domain.

The last of OPLIN’s legacy webservers has been decommissioned. The old server supported applications which required an old version of PHP, so Jendretzky had to update the code line-by-line to move each service to a new version.

Expanding on the work he did to programmatically pull Lynda.com stats for each library, Jendretzky has added automatic stats harvesting/reporting for EBSCO (stats.oplin.org/ebsco)  and WorldBook (stats.oplin.org/worldbook). The plan is to automate as much of the monthly stats work as possible, and present the stats in ways that will be most useful to libraries for reporting to the State Library annually.

9. CHAIR'S REPORT

9.1. Recognition

The Secretary recognized Chris May to offer the following resolution:

WHEREAS JOSEPH GREENWARD has been a member of the Ohio Public Library Information Network (OPLIN) Board of Trustees since July 2013; 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 director at the Lane Libraries gave him a distinctive outlook on OPLIN and its services to libraries; and WHEREAS he has provided additional service as the Vice-Chair of the OPLIN Board from 2016 to 2017, and Chair from 2017 to 2018; 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 productive opinions to OPLIN Board and OPLIN Executive Committee deliberations; and WHEREAS he has been a committed advocate for OPLIN throughout his tenure on the Board; NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that, on the 14th day of June, Two Thousand Nineteen, 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 JOSEPH GREENWARD 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 JOSEPH GREENWARD for his continued volunteer service as a member of this Board.

Jamie Black seconded the resolution. All aye.

Secretary Jeff Garringer offered the following resolution:

WHEREAS MICHAEL PENROD has been a member of the Ohio Public Library Information Network (OPLIN) Board of Trustees since July 2013; 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 director at the Wood County District Public Library gave him an important perspective on OPLIN and its services to libraries; and WHEREAS he has provided additional service as the Treasurer of the OPLIN Board from 2015 to 2017, as Vice-Chair from 2017 to 2018; and as Chair from 2018 to 2019, and WHEREAS his financial acumen and political instincts have often proved beneficial; and WHEREAS he has consistently contributed his valuable opinions to 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 14th day of June, Two Thousand Nineteen, 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 MICHAEL PENROD 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 MICHAEL PENROD for his continued volunteer service as a member of this Board. Justin Bumbico seconded the resolution. All aye. The Secretary recognized Angela Baldree to offer the following resolution: WHEREAS, DOUG EVANS has served as the Executive Director of the Ohio Library Council (OLC) since 2002; and WHEREAS he has dedicated his time and efforts to ensure the success of Ohio public libraries by serving as a leader for Ohio’s public libraries for 17 years; and WHEREAS he regularly attended Board meetings of the Ohio Public Library Information Network (OPLIN), keeping the Board updated on OLC activities and offering his perspective on OPLIN’s services to libraries; and WHEREAS his exceptional perspective across library activities in the state have always been a helpful source of information for the Board, and  WHEREAS he has been a valuable partner for OPLIN throughout his leadership at OLC, NOW, THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that, on the 12th day of June, Two Thousand Nineteen, 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 DOUG EVANS during his outstanding tenure with the Ohio Library Council, and BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the Board extends its most sincere thanks and appreciation to Doug for his esteemed service.

Jamie Black seconded the resolution. All aye.

10. ADJOURNMENT

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

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

Minutes — April 12, 2019

1. WELCOME and CALL TO ORDER

The one hundred seventy-third meeting of the Ohio Public Library Information Network (OPLIN) Board of Trustees was called to order at 9:12 a.m. on Friday, April 12, 2019 by Board Chair Michael Penrod at the OPLIN office in Columbus, Ohio.

Present were Board members: Angela Baldree, Justin Bumbico, Jeff Garringer, Joe Greenward, Chris May, Travis McAfee, Michael Penrod, Tara Sidwell, Garalynn Tomas, and Holly Varley.

Also present were: Karl Jendretzky, Laura Solomon, and Don Yarman (OPLIN); Beverly Cain, Stephanie Herriott, and Jamie Pardee (State Library).

ACTION ITEMS

2. APPROVAL OF THE AGENDA

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

3. PUBLIC PARTICIPATION

The Chair called for public participation.

In the absence of anyone from OLC, Yarman reported that OLC’s Legislative Day on Tuesday, April 9, was a very successful event.

The Chair allowed public participation at 10:06 a.m. to accommodate the delayed arrival of Beverly Cain. Beverly Cain reported that the first in-person session for ILEADUSA took place March 19-22 at Mohican State Park. Alan Hall was appointed by the State Board of Education to the State Library Board; he was sworn in at his first meeting on March 21. Mr. Hall brings many years of public library experience to the State Library Board, as well as expands the Board’s geographic representation. In partnership with the Ohioana Library, the State Library hosted a reception for “Choose to Read Ohio” authors; First Lady Fran DeWine was the keynote speaker and stayed after her remarks to mingle with other attendees. On March 26, Cain provided budget testimony for the House Finance Subcommittee on Higher Education for itself and the agencies for which it is an umbrella, including OPLIN. Both OPLIN and the Library for the Blind and Physically Disabled are allocated set amounts from the Public Library Fund which have remained flat for many years, so Cain testified that these organizations have managed to maintain critical services for Ohioans and Ohio libraries but there has not been any growth allowed for either. Cain reviewed the recent history of State Library and regional library system funding; she also noted that federal LSTA funds were again not included in the president’s proposed budget, but she anticipates those will be restored by Congress as before. The State Library is finalizing its contract renewal with OverDrive for the Ohio Digital Library. The Association of College and Research Libraries is currently meeting in Cleveland. The next State Library Board meeting is scheduled for May 16, the agenda to include the second year of funding for the statewide collection of research databases.

 

4. APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES of February 8 meeting

Garalynn Tomas motioned to approve the minutes of the February 8, 2019, meeting as presented; Tara Sidwell seconded. There was no discussion, so the Chair called for a vote on the motion; all aye.

5. ACCEPTANCE OF THE FINANCIAL REPORTS

Jamie Pardee reviewed the financial reports. The cash balance at the beginning of the current fiscal year was $3.1 million and is estimated to be $2.8 million at then end of the fiscal year in June. For the next biennium, the cash balance is estimated to decrease $450,000 to $500,000 each year as expected due to increase spending in genealogy resources and Lynda.com for libraries. The FY19 budget and expenditures are on target at this point, three-fourths through the fiscal year. Pardee noted the addition of $750 for work by Braindunk development for the Webkit service. OPLIN is still waiting for the bill from OIT for internet service. About $3 million remains available to be spent this fiscal year. For fiscal years 2020 and 2021, Pardee noted a negative projection in Unplanned Spending Authority, so while there are funds available for all expenses, later in the fiscal year we may have to ask for an increase in the appropriated spending authority if expense estimates are accurate. Yarman added that the goal in the next biennium is to spend to the limit of authority to get the available cash balance equal to approximately one year of E-rate reimbursements.

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

6. REPORTS ON THE STATUS OF OPLIN SERVICES
7. REVIEW OF ANNUAL TACTICAL PLAN

Listed separately on the agenda, the status of OPLIN services and the review of OPLIN’s tactical plan were discussed jointly. Yarman noted that the Strategic Plan officially approved June 9, 2017, extends to the end of fiscal year 2021; the Board’s intention was to review annually the services offered and the Tactical Plan. Yarman read through these plans, asking staff to report on the relevant activities from this fiscal year with special attention to the Operations Goals within the Tactical Plan.
 

Annual Tactical Plan – FY2019
In support of Strategy:
Provide and maintain safe and reliable internet connections to Ohio public library systems
S E R V I C E S	OPLIN will provide reliable broadband telecommunications circuits to at least one building in every Ohio public library system that has elected to participate in the network, in accordance with O.R.C. 3375.64(B)(1) and the "Policy on the Provision of Network Services by OPLIN to Public Libraries." For libraries with circuits provided by a consortium, OPLIN may instead provide a circuit to the consortium sufficient to handle the internet traffic generated by all libraries connecting through the consortium. At least one connection will also be provided to each of the chartered regional library systems and for use by the State Library of Ohio.	FY2020 will bring lower prices on statewide contracts for circuits, and reorganization of AT&T circuits at the OPLIN core.
	OPLIN will provide bandwidth from providers of wholesale internet bandwidth to connect Ohio public libraries to the commodity internet. The amount of internet access bandwidth acquired will depend on the demand from Ohio public libraries and other OPLIN participants and on OPLIN's financial resources.	Continuing contract with OIT for OARnet services.
	OPLIN will provide adequate network routing equipment for Ohio public libraries and other OPLIN participants at their sites, and provide and maintain network routing equipment at the OPLIN network core, and shall take steps to maintain all equipment in good working order. In some cases, OPLIN may work with other library consortia to provide and maintain site equipment.	All but 30 new routers have been deployed. Capacity of old equipment still exceeds need of most libraries. In FY2020, staff plan to reinstate virtual chassis in core routing equipment for redundant internet pathways.
	OPLIN will provide a filtering solution which can effectively provide content filtering for all OPLIN participants, while still allowing each participant to have complete control over how, or if, the filter is to be used in their library system. This will fulfill the charge from the Ohio Legislature "…to help local libraries use filters to screen out obscene and illegal internet materials."	OPLIN has provided OpenDNS (now called Cisco Umbrella) since 2012. Currently 154 libraries with profiles.
O P E R A T I O N S	OPLIN will maintain basic Help Desk services in-house (at no cost to libraries) to remedy network problems that occur on circuits terminating at OPLIN routers, and will pay for 24-hour advanced network management to correct problems with those same circuits whenever problems are beyond the capabilities of the OPLIN staff. [Goal: 99.5% of OPLIN participants will have a functioning OPLIN connection to the internet 99.9% of the time.]	Goal met.
	OPLIN will maintain monitor(s) on the amount of bandwidth being used by each Ohio public library and other OPLIN participants. If average bandwidth demand during peak hours reaches 70% of the circuit capacity currently available to the library system, OPLIN will analyze the circuit utilization and will either take steps to acquire more bandwidth, within OPLIN policy restrictions, or will consult with the library to find another solution. [Goal: 99.5% of OPLIN participants will have a connection to the internet large enough that their average bandwidth demand during peak hours will not exceed 70% of the connection capacity.]	Goal exceeded. For E-rate cycle, we upgrade in advance of meeting the need. The OPLIN core currently has 20Gbps of internet connectivity, with peak usage being around 9Gbps. Redundant hardware and circuit paths to allow for reliability.
	OPLIN will maintain effective firewalls and intrusion-protection software at the OPLIN core to protect OPLIN services, and will follow all the provisions and guidelines of the OPLIN Information Technology Security Management policies. [Goal: Deflect 99% of malicious attack activity directed at the OPLIN telecommunications network.]	Goal met. We contract with OARnet for DDOS shield, and have begun proactively throttling non-white-listed DNS queries.
M A R K E T I N G	OPLIN will identify the internet bandwidth needs of Ohio public libraries by monitoring circuit utilization and gathering feedback from library IT staff.	On-going.
	OPLIN will present information about OPLIN-provided telecommunications services and the costs of such services on the OPLIN website. OPLIN will also use temporary communications, such as email broadcasts and social media, to disseminate information about OPLIN-provided telecommunications services.	On-going.
	OPLIN will present programs at conferences and other venues to convey information about OPLIN-provided telecommunications services and costs.	Programs presented at OLC Convention, Right Click.
	In support of the strategy to provide a “safe” connection, staff became active in the Ohio Cyber Collaboration Committee, began working with the IT Division of the Ohio Library Council to bring a cybersecurity focus to their professional development, and accompanied Michelle Francis to a meeting with Senator Gavaronne in support of the bill she sponsored creating Ohio’s civilian cyber reserve force.
F I N A N C E	OPLIN may use state contracts with telecommunications vendors when possible, or may negotiate its own contracts, to acquire reliable broadband circuits adequately sized for the needs of the public library at the best price.	As budgeted.
	OPLIN may use the Federal Communication Commission's universal service Schools and Libraries Program, commonly known as the E-rate Program, to obtain discounts on telecommunication and internet access costs if E-rate participation does not conflict with the best interests of OPLIN participants.	As budgeted.

 

The Board recessed for a break at 10:28 a.m. and resumed discussions at 10:38 a.m.
 

In support of Strategy:
Offer to assist Ohio public library systems with internal internet needs
S E R V I C E S	OPLIN will offer to assist Ohio public library systems with connecting their branches and with obtaining networking equipment as cost-effectively as possible. Upon request, OPLIN will advise libraries on the quality, dependability, and value of internet connections that libraries are considering purchasing for their branches, or for their main library if they choose not to use the OPLIN-provided connection. When appropriate, OPLIN may also suggest alternative connections for libraries to consider.	OPLIN submits requests into OIT ServiceNow system, and offers assistance to libraries seeking E-rate reimbursements. In FY 2019, Karl helped identify providers for branches of Steubenville, Mansfield, Geauga, Elyria.
	OPLIN will offer a basic network evaluation service to Ohio public libraries and other OPLIN participants that describes the OPLIN connection bandwidth throughput and the physical connectivity between the active devices on the network which affect the OPLIN connection.
	OPLIN will offer annual E-rate workshops for Ohio public libraries to assist with their E-rate applications.	OPLIN contracted with Lorrie Germann to provide targeted webinars – 6 produced for this year. Webinars were recorded and can be streamed from OPLIN’s YouTube channel.
	OPLIN will offer space to libraries in a designated area of the State of Ohio Computer Center (SOCC) where they can locate servers and network equipment in close proximity to the OPLIN network core.	See related operations goal. Space may need expansion in FY2020.
	OPLIN will offer to host or sponsor at least one conference for Ohio public library staff every year, within the constraints of the OPLIN budget, that will present information and facilitate discussion about internet technologies.	Platinum Sponsor for OLC Convention and Expo 2018, and will be again for the 2019 event in Cincinnati.
O P E R A T I O N S	OPLIN will maintain a method for identifying libraries that may have internal networking issues and will offer to evaluate the network and work with library IT staff to resolve any issues. [Goal: Assist at least 10 libraries each year with resolving internal networking issues.]	Goal met.
	OPLIN will maintain an agreement to lease space in the State of Ohio Computer Center for co-location of library servers and networking equipment. [Goal: A current SOCC lease agreement with the Ohio Department of Administrative Services Office of Information Technology will be in effect at the beginning of each fiscal year.]	Met. Current tenants include Columbus Metropolitan Library, Central Library Consortium, Worthington Libraries, Greene County Public Library CLEVNET, and Euclid Public Library.
M A R K E T I N G	OPLIN will identify the internet technology needs of Ohio public libraries by monitoring forums and email lists, attending conferences, and finding opportunities to have discussions with librarians.	On-going.
	OPLIN will present information about available OPLIN internet-related assistance on the OPLIN website. OPLIN will also use temporary communications, such as email broadcasts and social media, to disseminate information about available OPLIN assistance.	On-going.
F I N A N C E S	OPLIN may use funds not needed for providing and maintaining OPLIN connections to public libraries to support this additional assistance to OPLIN participants. While it is important that OPLIN provide technology leadership and assistance to public libraries, OPLIN recognizes that its vision and mandate from the Ohio Revised Code place greater importance on providing Ohio citizens with access to digital information; therefore, spending for technology assistance to public libraries will be carefully monitored to make certain it does not have a detrimental effect on the ability of OPLIN to provide services that maintain citizen access to digital information.	As budgeted. OPLIN provides Security IQ phishing prevention/education licenses to libraries to help with cyber-threat awareness.
	OPLIN may use fees collected from libraries for services which are not likely to be used by most public libraries. OPLIN will limit these fees to no more than the actual amount needed to cover the costs to provide the service.	As budgeted.

 

The Board recessed for a break at 11:24 a.m. and resumed discussions at 11:59 a.m.
 

In support of Strategy:
Provide and maintain access to high-quality digital information for Ohioans
S E R V I C E S	OPLIN will provide subscriptions to selected databases of high-quality digital information with guidance from the public library community and the OPLIN Content Advisory Committee.	$2.31 million disbursed in subscription costs so far this fiscal year.
	OPLIN will provide a website allowing free access to the online information databases. Ohio public libraries and their users will be able to use this website to quickly and efficiently find information from the OPLIN-provided databases. OPLIN will maintain the website in such a way that public libraries can also use it to provide their users with access to databases.	On-going.
	OPLIN will provide support for access to materials that Ohio public libraries have converted to digital formats. This support may take the form of financial assistance or assistance with publishing the materials on the internet in an accessible manner.	OPLIN pays half of the DPLA membership fee for the Ohio Digital Network. Don is on the advisory committee for the Ohio Digital Network; Mandy participated in the Ohio Digital Interest Group and Community Engagement Center meetings. Eighteen ODN members have contributed 102,236 items to DPLA.
	OPLIN will provide the necessary technology to authenticate remote users' access to OPLIN-provided information databases and may offer the use of this technology to libraries to authenticate remote users of library-provided databases.	OPLIN provides EZProxy and flexible validation to cover a range of library options and subscription scenarios. A new EZProxy server is expected to launch this month.
	OPLIN will provide tools for integrating access to online databases directly into a library's website, including authenticated links and other embeddable tools.	Libraries use OPLIN’s links from their own websites to provide their patrons access.
O P E R A T I O N S	OPLIN will maintain and monitor the user interface to the databases to keep it functional. [Goal: Keep the public access website for the databases functioning as intended 99% of the time.]	Interface updated for new content; uptime goal met..
	OPLIN will maintain a Content Advisory Committee of selected Ohio public library staff and will periodically consult with them and with any other partners in the purchase of the databases in regard to the selection of databases provided through OPLIN. [Goal: Meet with the CAC and any database purchasing partners at least once annually.]	Goal met. CAC met March 28; LCO partners met regularly.
	OPLIN will maintain basic Help Desk services in-house to remedy problems that occur with either in-library or legitimate out-of-library access to online databases and, when appropriate, open an incident ticket with the database vendor(s) and work collaboratively toward resolving the incident. [Goal: respond within one hour to malfunctions of database access during regular business hours.]	Met response-time goals.
	OPLIN will maintain database usage statistics, both for OPLIN internal use and for retrieval by individual Ohio public libraries. [Goal: Make at least 80% of previous month database usage statistics available to public libraries by the 10th of each month.]	Mandy scheduled these for the 5th of the month. There are significant problems with the genealogy resources usage stats that we press ProQuest to resolve.
M A R K E T I N G	OPLIN will identify the information resource needs of Ohioans by regularly gathering feedback from Ohio public libraries and finding opportunities to have discussions with librarians.	On-going.
	OPLIN will identify possible improvements in the user interface to the databases to make it easier for users to find and retrieve relevant resources.	Staff are considering a redesign for ohioweblibrary.org
	OPLIN will present database users and public librarians with access to training and training materials for efficient use of the databases and will develop and/or provide database point-of-use promotional materials.	Thirty-eight librarians trained as Ohio Web Library Specialists in FY2019. Regular webinars presented in partnership with OhioNET.
	OPLIN will present information about OPLIN-provided databases and their costs on the OPLIN website. OPLIN will also use temporary communications, such as email broadcasts and social media, to disseminate information about OPLIN-provided databases.	On-going. Particular efforts in the coming months will be devoted publicizing the transition of Lynda.com to LinkedIn Learning.
	OPLIN will present programs at conferences and other venues to convey information about OPLIN-provided databases and costs.	Programs presented at OLC Convention, Adult and Youth Services conferences.
F N C S	OPLIN may use opportunities to combine funds with other organizations when purchasing information databases for use by public libraries and the general public.	As budgeted.
	OPLIN may use funds from E-rate reimbursements that are not needed for purchase of telecommunications, internet access, and database subscriptions to support statewide projects to improve access to materials digitized by public libraries.	As budgeted.

Yarman informed the Board that “Lynda.com - A LinkedIn Company” will become “LinkedIn Learning -- with Lynda.com content.” LinkedIn staff gave a presentation to the Content Advisory Committee about the transition. The Committee has concerns about the privacy of user information when they are required to use a LinkedIn account in order to access the learning resources. As unhappy as the committee was with the product move, they did not wish for OPLIN to try to terminate the statewide agreement. The committee feels that libraries remain appreciative of the availability of the Lynda.com content and OPLIN’s financial support of it.
 

In support of Strategy:
Offer to assist Ohio public library systems with digital communications
S E R V I C E S	OPLIN will offer Ohio public libraries a selection of archived email discussion lists and/or forums and chat rooms as a time-based and topic-based means to exchange information digitally, including information about internet technologies, databases. and best security practices . Email discussions will be archived by date and time, but OPLIN will also provide a means to search the archives by topic.	On-going.
	OPLIN will offer a generic public library website with elements that can be customized for each library and which Ohio public libraries can readily use to maintain a website hosted on OPLIN-provided web servers. The site will link to, but not replace, the library's current Integrated Library System and/or other functions related to the management of the library's bibliographic or user data.	Service is 10 years old. Eighty hosted sites live; four in process. To support the service this year, OPLIN contracted with Braindunk for Drupal 8 Date_Recur fix, and separately for Drupal 8 upgrade by June 2020. Suggest changing “generic” to “standardized.”
	OPLIN will offer a professional assessment of a library's website, evaluating the website against current best practices in web design and accessibility.	Laura performed audits for 5 current Webkit customers and 1 other, non-Webkit library.
	OPLIN will offer a service that allows libraries to send notification messages directly to patrons' cellphones via standard Short Message Service (SMS) "text messages" instead of sending messages to their email accounts.	See Operations Goal below.
O P E R A T I O N S	OPLIN will maintain hosting for email discussion lists for Ohio public librarians to share information with each other. [Goal: Email discussion lists will be functional at least 99.9% of the time.]	List up-time goals met.
	OPLIN will maintain hosting for generic public library websites provided by OPLIN. [Goal: OPLIN-provided websites will be functional and accessible at least 99.9% of the time.]	Uptime goal met. Laura keeps all site software updates current.
	OPLIN will maintain a system to monitor the performance of the SMS messaging service and will correct any failures of the messaging service. [Goal: Resolve any performance issues or open an incident ticket with the messaging vendor within 4 hours during regular business hours.]	Support goal met. OPLIN negotiated an additional 5 million message credits, which should sustain the service for over two years.
M R K T G	OPLIN will identify possible assistance with digital communications that Ohio public libraries might need.	On-going.
	OPLIN will present information about available OPLIN communication-related assistance on the OPLIN website. OPLIN will also use temporary communications, such as email broadcasts and social media, to disseminate information about available OPLIN assistance.	On-going.
F I N A N C E S	OPLIN may use funds not needed for providing and maintaining OPLIN connections to public libraries to support this additional assistance to OPLIN participants. Spending for technology assistance to public libraries will be carefully monitored to make certain it does not have a detrimental effect on the ability of OPLIN to provide services that maintain citizen access to digital information.	As budgeted.
	OPLIN may use fees collected from libraries for services which are not likely to be used by most public libraries. OPLIN will limit these fees to no more than the actual amount needed to cover the costs to provide the service.	As budgeted.

 

Angela Baldree asked if the Content Advisory Committee was the only committee, and whether additional committee might help reduce staff workload. Yarman said OPLIN used to sustain a Technology Advisory Committee, which was most useful any time OPLIN considered a large-scale change to infrastructure. Jendretzky said a Technology Advisory Committee might help generate ideas of services OPLIN could create and manage that would be most useful to libraries.

8. OLD BUSINESS — none

9. NEW BUSINESS

9.1. Executive Session

Tara Sidwell motioned to go into executive session to discuss compensation of an employee; Chris May seconded. There was no discussion, so the Chair called for a vote on the motion.
Recorded vote: Angela Baldree, aye; Justin Bumbico, aye; Jeff Garringer, aye; Joe Greenward, aye; Chris May, aye; Travis McAfee, aye; Michael Penrod, aye; Tara Sidwell, aye; Garalyn Tomas, aye; Holly Varley, aye.

The Board went into executive session at 12:54 p.m., and resumed the public meeting at 12:57 p.m.

9.2. OPLIN staff vacancy

Mandy Knapp resigned her position as OPLIN’s Digital Services Manager effective March 15 to become the Adult Services Manager at Westerville Public Library. Yarman plans to take on many of the duties that had been assigned to Knapp, and fill the staff vacancy with a new position dedicated to server management and support -- an “infrastructure specialist,” in the state’s official job categories. Duties will include: installs, maintains, configures, upgrades &/or administers hardware &/or software independently in server administration, business continuity, information security, and telecommunications & network connectivity where technical work requires specific knowledge to evaluate, select, adapt & modify standard procedures; diagnoses, analyzes, & resolves issues for customers; provides Tier II-III level customer support and more advanced problem-solving; promotes system security & awareness by adhering to OPLIN’s and State’s IT security policies & standards.

Garalynn Tomas asked whether the organizational reporting structure would change. Yarman said he intended to have the new person report to him, and Stephanie Herriott added that because OPLIN staff are “administrative” supervisory duties could be shared, in such a small agency there is no need to create a complicated hierarchy. Justin Bumbico and Michael Penrod commented that it gave the staff more support coverage and stability. Bumbico asked if OPLIN would keep the relationship with OIT in place for more advanced engineering support, and Jendretzky acknowledged that was important and, in any case, administratively difficult to separate from OIT.

9.3. Decide on staff raises

Michael Penrod read the following resolution:
 

In that the E-1 salary tables in Ohio Revised Code 124.152 awards State of Ohio E-1 employees a 2.75% salary increase effective with the first day of the pay period that includes July 1, 2019, and allows increases up to 2.75% 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 2.75% salary increase for each employee beginning with the pay period that includes July 1, 2019.

Angela Baldree motioned to approve the resolution; Travis McAfee seconded. There was no discussion, so the Chair called for a roll call vote on the motion.

Recorded vote: Angela Baldree, aye; Justin Bumbico, aye; Jeff Garringer, aye; Joe Greenward, aye; Chris May, aye; Travis McAfee, aye; Michael Penrod, aye; Tara Sidwell, aye; Garalyn Tomas, aye; Holly Varley, aye.

REPORTS

10. OPLIN DIRECTOR'S REPORT

Yarman had nothing to add to his written report, which included items already discussed in the meeting.

10.1. Library Services Manager report

Solomon reported that she has created a new design on the Drupal 8 platform for the OPLIN website. It will launch after staff create a new Drupal 8 production server for the migrated Webkit sites.

10.2. Technology Projects Manager report

Jendretzky had nothing to add beyond what was discussed previously.

11. CHAIR'S REPORT

Michael Penrod thanked the Nominations Committee for their work. The committee proposed reappointing Jeff Garringer and Holly Varley for 3 year terms. To fill the terms being vacated by Penrod and Greenward, the committee proposed Hilary Prisbylla, director of CLEVNET, and Travis Bautz, director of the Midpointe Library System in Butler County.

Chris May motioned to approve the committee’s recommendation; Tara Sidwell seconded. here was no discussion, so the Chair called for a vote on the motion; all aye.

Yarman will communicate these nominations to the State Library Board which appoints OPLIN Board members.

Penrod asked Yarman to send the director’s evaluation form to Board members, who will send completed to Travis McAfee to collate into a single document.

10. ADJOURNMENT

With no other business pending, the Chair adjourned the meeting at 1:17 p.m.

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

Minutes — February 8, 2019

1. WELCOME and CALL TO ORDER

The one hundred seventy-second meeting of the Ohio Public Library Information Network (OPLIN) Board of Trustees was called to order at 10:00 a.m. on Friday, February 8, 2019 by Board Chair Michael Penrod at the OPLIN office in Columbus, Ohio.

Present were Board members: Angela Baldree, Jamie Black, Justin Bumbico, Jeff Garringer, Chris May, Travis McAfee, Michael Penrod, Tara Sidwell, Garalynn Tomas, and Holly Varley. 

Also present were: Karl Jendretzky, Mandy Knapp, Laura Solomon, and Don Yarman (OPLIN); Beverly Cain and Stephanie Herriott (State Library); and Doug Evans (Ohio Library Council).

ACTION ITEMS

2. APPROVAL OF THE AGENDA

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

3. PUBLIC PARTICIPATION

The Chair called for public participation.

Beverly Cain reported that the State Library Board met on January 17 and awarded just over $100,000 in LSTA grants. The Licking County Libraries received an Outreach and Partnership Grant to support the installation of another automated “Library in a Box” like their one on the COTC campus; this second kiosk will be located in the underserved Eastern part of Licking County, and will feature lockers for additional held items to be picked up. The Bucyrus Public Library was awarded an Automation grant for over $20,000 to support their migration to Evergreen and membership in the Consortium of Ohio Libraries. OPLIN received a grant for up to $70,000 to upgrade the platform for the OPLIN Website Kits, and OLC was granted $11,050 to support a collaborative library conference to be held in June. The State Library has suspended the program of special grants supporting mental health first aid training as that program was so popular it is now out of money; grants may return in the next federal fiscal year beginning October 1. Altogether, over 1,200 people were trained. The application deadline for ILEAD participants was January 31; Cain reported they had received very good applications, and the team is reviewing those and selecting participants for the first in-person ILEAD session to be held in March.

Doug Evans expanded on the LSTA grant awarded to OLC on behalf of two other partner organizations, OELMA for school libraries and ALAO for academic libraries, for their collaborative conference to be held June 14 at the OCLC Conference Center. The grant helps cover facilities and speaker expenses for this event focusing on collaborative efforts between different types of libraries.

The new chair of the OLC Board is Kacie Armstrong from Euclid Public Library, with Cheryl Kuonen (Mentor) assuming the role of Vice-Chair/Chair-Elect and Paula Brehm-Heeger (Cincinnati) continuing as Secretary-Treasurer; Nick Tepe (Athens County) is Past Chair. Four new individual joined the OLC Board: Kuonen, Aimee Fifarek (Youngstown), Jennifer Sloane (Chillicothe), and Laura Lee Wilson (Huron County). The Board approved OLC’s annual operating budget of nearly $1.5 million. At the meeting, Doug Evans publicly announced his retirement, effective June 28. The OLC Board has formed a search committee and released an RFP for a firm to assist in the process.

Evans reported that the February PLF distributions were 2.2% lower than Department of Taxation estimate -- $37.9 million out of a projected $38.8 million – because income tax collections are down. The expectation is that collections will pick back up. Michelle Francis and the OLC staff are busy at the Statehouse, making contacts with new leadership, Governor DeWine’s transition staff, cabinet members, department heads, agency directors, and new statewide office holders. OLC’s Legislative Day will be held at the Statehouse on April 9; Senate President Larry Obhoff will be the main speaker.

4. APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES of December 14 meeting

Garalynn Tomas motioned to approve the minutes of the December 14, 2018, meeting as presented; Tara Sidwell seconded. There was no discussion, so the Chair called for a vote on the motion; all aye.

5. ACCEPTANCE OF THE FINANCIAL REPORTS

Jamie Pardee was unable to attend the meeting. Yarman reported that OPLIN has received $915,468.60 in E-rate refunds for the circuit expenses paid July through December 2018; payment is still pending from Agile Networks, who has not filed necessary paperwork to USAC. OPLIN has also received nearly $48,165 in payments from libraries using the Webkit service. The projected cash balance at the end of FY 2019 is $2.86 million, a reduction of $318,500 from FY2018.

Expenditures are on track for being slightly more than halfway through the fiscal year. Yarman reported that earlier that week he confirmed with OLC that OPLIN will contribute $10,000, as budgeted, to support the OLC Convention and Expo in September. All expenses for information resources have been paid for the fiscal year; the remaining balance of $406.25 stems from Lynda.com invoicing less than they had projected. Two expense lines have been added “Other Library Support Services”: $30,000 for Trumpia which supports the SMS Gateway service, and $750 for Braindunk, whom OPLIN has contracted to address the “Date Recur” deficiencies in Drupal 8 Calendar. $770,000 remains unencumbered for OIT/GOSIIP as OPLIN has not yet been billed for internet service this fiscal year. The bottom line budgeted amount for FY2019 is just under $5.7 million, meeting the goal to spend to the edge of OPLIN’s authority to reduce the unallocated cash balance for the agency.

Jamie Black 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.

6. OLD BUSINESS — none

7. NEW BUSINESS

7.1. OPLIN 470 for Internet Connectivity Service
OPLIN is reaching the end of the current three-year agreement to receive internet service from OIT, so a 470 was issued. Bids were received from OIT (a renewal of the current terms), Cytranet (a fiber company in Alabama), WOW Cable, and Crown Castle (a fiber and wireless provider in Texas). Based on OPLIN’s standard bid decision matrix, staff the clear winner is to continue service with OIT.

Jamie Black asked how much the service cost, and was told it was $770,000 per year. Mandy Knapp added that OPLIN receives a refund on that – 70% of the usage for those libraries that are CIPA-compliant, and briefly outlined the math that supports that. Black asked if there are costs to libraries to be CIPA-compliant and what reasons libraries may not be. Knapp said the reasons are more philosophical in nature, and OPLIN does provide to libraries a CIPA-compliant filtering solution for free. Other burdens to the library are administrative: pass an internet safety policy and have a public meeting. 

Justin Bumbico asked for more information on the deficiencies of the other bids. In addition to some vendors not offering equivalent services, the competing bids scored low on other criteria in the decision matrix, including “Demonstrated ability to do business with the state of Ohio” and “Cost of the non-discounted portion” of the bid. No further action by the Board was required.

REPORTS

8. OPLIN DIRECTOR'S REPORT
Yarman discussed the item in his written report about the seven AT&T circuits on the single E-rate FRN had their prices reduced from the 100 Mbps rate to the 20 Mbps rate, reducing OPLIN’s refund by $11,393.28. Knapp is changing how these and similar circuits will be described in next year’s 471.

Yarman added that OPLIN had received notice on Thursday that the agency is on “red light status,” because USAC claims the agency is late on payments. This stems from the case OPLIN currently has under appeal with the FCC. In 2016, Agile Networks failed to validate OPLIN’s BEAR for July-December 2015, so OPLIN was unable to receive reimbursements for circuit costs. In August 2017, there was a rule change, and a new invoice date was established; OPLIN re-filed and received $10,248 in reimbursement. Referencing the original 2016-era rules instead of the FCC’s correction, USAC claims that $10,248 is owed back to them. USAC has agreed that red-light status should not be applied while the issue is under appeal and they are investigating.

Yarman again expressed his thanks to the State Library Board for the $70,000 LSTA grant to support the Drupal 8 migration for Webkit sites. He reported that the RFP for that project is ready to be issued, but staff are waiting until more progress has been made with Braindunk’s project to fix the D8 Calendar issues.

Yarman highlighted some dates in the Office Activities list, including the unexpected but successful test of the office emergency plan on January 22, when no staff were physically present in the office but all worked remotely. On January 23, Yarman was invited to a conference call with the ALA and Benton Foundation to discuss forming the vision for broadband access in the next decade. As a member of the executive committee for Ohio Digital Network, the regional hub for state participation in the Digital Public Library of America, Yarman intends to attend DPLAfest in April to explore Ohio’s response to changes in DPLA’s mission.

8.1. Library Services Manager report
Laura Solomon reported that Braindunk is making good progress with the Date Recur project, which finally seems to be receiving some corporate attention and development. 

Although OPLIN has stopped actively promoting the Webkit service because of the looming upgrade project, three libraries have started working with Solomon to create new websites. In addition, many existing libraries have been working with Solomon to move refresh the look of their sites and move to new templates, which should ease the migration.

8.2. Digital Resources Manager report
Mandy Knapp reported that at the E-rate meeting at ALA Midwinter in Seattle, it was announced a company named MAXIMUS Federal Services, Inc., has replaced Solix, Inc., as the business processes contractor for USAC. Knapp reported that her experience with the new contractor has been positive. The FCC is still to issue a report and make a decision on the future of Category 2 E-rate funding.

Knapp noted that database statistics show an across-the-board increase for January. She is working with Kirstin Krumsee at the State Library to pre-populate the Annual Ohio Public Library Survey with statewide database usage figures.

Knapp announced that she has been accepted into the ALA Policy Corps, a cohort of ten individuals who will be trained as policy experts for the purposes of advocacy and planning.

8.3. Technology Projects Manager report

Karl Jendretzky gave progress reports on a number of projects:
Services

• OPLIN’s bank of message credits with Trumpia, the middleman company that sends the text messages for OPLIN’s SMS Gateway, was down to 400,000 credit – enough for about 3 months. The $30,000 expenditure discussed above purchased 5,000,000 credits and should last two years.
• Libraries continue to set up SecurityIQ profiles for phishing training. Good reports about the service from the CLEVNET Directors’ Meeting. Jendretzky estimates that about a third of the libraries in the state are using the service.
• NR3 continues to grow. Euclid will be installing a server that will virtually appear within the library’s own LAN. The CLC has moved in new equipment. Avon Lake and Herrick Memorial libraries are partnering to install a shared backup server in the SOCC. Cleveland Public Library will be installing a rack of equipment in the space next to the CLEVNET racks. Seven of eight rack spaces in the cage will then be occupied. The neighboring cage has been left clear for OPLIN to expand into when the time comes.
• CBTS IP addresses have been assigned to St Marys and Sunbury libraries for their VOIP projects.

Circuits

• The Mentor Public Library joined the CLEVNET consortium; their circuit was rerouted through the OPLIN core into CLEVNET without having to file a circuit move with the vendor.
• There has been slow progress bringing up a new AT&T ASE head-end. Greene County Public Library’s new circuit is the pioneer, testing the redundant ports that the state has requested AT&T begin installing. After months of no progress, Jendretzky and Fouts discovered in AT&T’s equipment at the SOCC an issue with multicast packets, which prevents routing from coming up and the circuits working without an administrative reset. Jendretzky is investigating whether this is an issue with new circuit implementations only, or if the bug can be triggered by common occurrences (such as a power reset at the library).
• Moving existing AT&T circuits to the new redundant head-end would free up equipment to facilitate Cleveland Public Library’s branch circuit move to the SOCC, where CLEVNET services reside. CPL branches would connect to the SOCC on their own hand-off, rather than traffic routing through the OPLIN core to reach CLEVNET services. This project mirrors one OPLIN managed with Spectrum as part of the CLEVNET core relocation to the SOCC.

Cybersecurity

• OPLIN is seeing an increase in short DDOS attacks against libraries; three have targeted Ashtabula County District Library in the last week. The DDOS shield service provided by OARnet is designed for longer, sustained attacks and is an impractical solution for these situations, which typically involve small but critical protocols like DNS. Jendretzky is working with OARnet to determine the usual level of legitimate DNS activity on the network; the plan is to whitelist the most important DNS servers used by libraries and throttle the remaining DNS traffic to block the effects of DNS-related DDOS.
• OARnet is bringing up a new implementation of ServiceNow to let them build automated notices of unusual network activity; OPLIN will then be able to add automation to communicate information to affected libraries.
•  Inspired by information at the CLEVNET Directors’ Meeting about AI applications which identify patterns in network traffic, Jendretzky is researching possible projects. There is a possibility of using OPLIN’s decommissioned DDOS appliance as a side-channel scanner.

Coding

• Jendretzky is updating some of his code supporting office operations from PHP5 to PHP7, which is involving some re-writes.
• Jendretzky is working with Mercer County Public Library to develop an alternative to “Who’s On My Wifi?” for those libraries using Ubiquity access point controllers.

9. CHAIR'S REPORT

9.1. Appoint Nominations Committee

Michael Penrod appointed Jeff Garringer, Joe Greenward, and Travis McAfee to the Nominations Committee. The committee will work with Don Yarman to select candidates to fill current and upcoming vacancies on the OPLIN Board and will develop a slate of proposed officers for election at the August Board meeting.

9.2. Review April planning meeting arrangements

At the request of the Chair, Don Yarman explained the usual procedures for the planning meeting and lunch arrangements. Because it is a longer meeting, the April Board Meeting has traditionally started at 9:00 a.m., and the Board breaks for lunch. Yarman will provide options closer to the meeting date.

9.3. Ethics training reminder

Michael Penrod reminded Board members that they must complete ethics training each year. Yarman will send the link to the webinar, and asked Board members to send him a copy of the completion certificate to keep on file. This is in addition to the annual financial disclosure required.

10. ADJOURNMENT

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

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

Minutes — December 14, 2018

1. WELCOME and CALL TO ORDER

The one hundred seventy-first meeting of the Ohio Public Library Information Network (OPLIN) Board of Trustees was called to order at 10:00 a.m. on Friday, December, 2018 by Board Chair Michael Penrod at the OPLIN office in Columbus, Ohio.

Present were Board members: Angela Baldree, Justin Bumbico, Jeff Garringer, Joe Greenward, Travis McAfee, Michael Penrod, Tara Sidwell, Garalyn Tomas, and Holly Varley.

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

ACTION ITEMS

2. APPROVAL OF THE AGENDA

Garalyn Tomas 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.

3. PUBLIC PARTICIPATION

The Chair called for public participation.

Angie Jacobsen, Director of Communications for the Ohio Library Council, updated the Board on OLC activities. OLC has held a webinar about HB 312 which requires libraries to institute new credit card procedures by February 2; a recording of that webinar and sample policies are available from the OLC site. OLC also provided Hinkle system training for fiscal officers. Jacobsen also summarized other legislation they are watching, including HB 228, gun legislation that includes signage requirements regarding weapons, HB 291, bonding/insurance policy legislation, and SB 263, which makes changes to laws impacting notary services. Jacobsen reported that Michelle Francis has already met with Laurel Dawson, the governor-elect’s chief of staff, to discuss libraries and workforce development, including OPLIN’s Lynda.com subscription. Jacobsen highlighted in particular programs by the Mentor Public Library and the Columbus Metropolitan Library using Lynda.com in workforce development outreach in their communities.

Michael Penrod asked if the credit card legislation will apply to OPLIN. Yarman replied that the legislation brings restrictions to local government entities that are already in place for state agencies.

4. APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES of October 5 meeting

Tara Sidwell motioned to approve the minutes of the October 5, 2018, meeting as presented; Jeff Garringer seconded. There was no discussion, so the Chair called for a vote on the motion; all aye.

5. ACCEPTANCE OF THE FINANCIAL REPORTS

Jamie Pardee presented the financial reports. OPLIN began the fiscal year with a $3.1 million cash balance, and is projected to end the fiscal year with about $2.8 million, depending on the eventual timing of E-rate reimbursements and expenditures. Current estimates for fiscal years 2020 and 2021 show the cash balance shrinking by about $320-330 thousand per year. OPLIN spent $4.5 million in fiscal year 2018; so far this year it has spent $3.5 million as some of the biggest expenditures – notably database subscriptions – are paid at the beginning of the fiscal year. Yarman mentioned that future fiscal reports may include an expenditure for consultants to help with the Drupal upgrade.

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

6. OLD BUSINESS — Don Yarman

6.1 Drupal Upgrade RFP update

Yarman updated the Board on progress toward releasing an RFP for consultants to assist with migrating the eighty library sites hosted by OPLIN to Drupal 8. The State Library Board will be asked in January to allocate LSTA funds to support the migration. Yarman plans to release the RFP later this winter, using the same proposal calendar and evaluation method Stephen Hedges designed for the last Drupal upgrade. The target is to have all websites upgraded by June 2020. All sites must then be upgraded to Drupal 9 before November 2021.

7. NEW BUSINESS — Don Yarman

7.1. Webkit service fee increase

Library fees for the Website Kits are intended to cover OPLIN’s actual costs to build and maintain them. In 2012, the annual cost for hosting/maintenance for OPLIN Website Kits was $180; to make sure that the revenue from the kits covered actual maintenance costs, the OPLIN Board voted to increase the fees by $40 each year until the target price reached $340 in FY2016. There have been no price increases since then, although staffing costs have risen. Yarman proposes raising the cost to $360, the $20 increase equaling just under 6%. (A $360 annual fee is also easy to pro-rate for new customers who join midway through the year.)

Michael Penrod asked if the other fees -- new modules, custom work, etc. -- would go up as well. Yarman replied that he and Solomon had reviewed the current costs for other services and they do not recommend changes to those.

Angela Baldree motioned to increase the annual maintenance fee for Webkit Sites from $340 to $360; Joe Greenward seconded. There was no discussion, so the Chair called for a vote on the motion; all aye.

REPORTS

8. OPLIN DIRECTOR'S REPORT

Yarman discussed his activities since the last meeting, especially those revolving around cybersecurity: meetings of the Ohio Cyber Collaboration Committee (OC3), cyber-related courses in Lynda.com, and meetings with the Ohio Library Council’s IT Division leadership to discuss cyber programming for Ohio libraries. He summarized the work of OC3 and progress on HB 747 which creates a civilian cyber security reserve force for Ohio.

8.1. Library Services Manager report

Laura Solomon discussed her continued exploration of Drupal 8, reporting significant improvements “under the hood” to the management interfaces and tools. She has discovered that the problem with recurring dates stems from the fact that date functionality is part of Drupal 8 core, but not all of the parts of the Drupal 7 date module have been incorporated. Not enough organizations use recurring dates to push for completion of development. There is progress, but it is slow. The OPLIN staff has identified three plans: potentially hire a consultant (estimated cost under $1000) to get date_recur working sustainably; use an iCal interpreter which Karl Jendretzky has designed, which will let libraries manage their events in an external calendar such as Google or Evanced; or return to procedures libraries had to use in Drupal 6, before recurring dates were supported.

8.2. Digital Resources Manager report

Mandy Knapp reported declining attendance for E-rate training, as more libraries have outsourced their E-rate filing to consultants. OPLIN has completed its first 470 for services starting July 2019, and staff plans to release a second 470 in January. The annual call for letters of agency from libraries has shown good response. Knapp reports that nationally there is still uncertainty whether Category 2 funding for internal maintenance (cabling, equipment, managed services) will be extended when it expires at the end of this service year. It has not yet been announced when the 471 window – when everyone files what services they have selected for the next year – will open.

Knapp reported that usage statistics for databases are stable. She is working with OhioNET to plan a series of training webinars using a combination of vendor trainers and librarian presenters. Yarman commented on a new statistic that OPLIN can pull: the most popular Lynda.com courses in Ohio libraries; since July, the top courses include Programming Fundamentals, Excel 2016, HTML and Javascript, Illustrator, Wordpress, Photoshop, and Time Management.

8.3. Technology Projects Manager report

Jendretzky reported that, from the recent 470, OPLIN will file 43 circuit orders – 8 of those are upgrades, while the rest are just establishing new contracts for those that have expired. He is tracking which of these require supplementary orders with OARnet, which need old circuits disconnected in July, etc. Among these is the NEO Regional Library System, whose new offices have come up temporarily on a cable circuit; they will be brought up on fiber in July with the new E-rate service year.

The new SecurityIQ service has been well-received. The biggest user is CLEVNET with 3100 active users across 42 libraries. CLEVNET reports that their initial campaign had a 25% click-through on the phishing emails. Travis McAfee asked if staff in CLEVNET libraries were warned in advance of the testing campaign; Jendretzy believes that varied by library, as some had union contract concerns about non-HR staff seeing test results. OPLIN delegates the licenses to the library, and the library controls how they use the service. Bill Lane from Cincinnati praised how game-like the service is, rather than boring instruction.

The Co-Location Service at the State of Ohio Computer Center continues to serve libraries well. Jendretzky met staff from Worthington and Greene County in the last month as they serviced equipment; Euclid Public Library is about to move into rack space, and because the CLEVNET consortium network is run out of the SOCC, Euclid’s servers can be mapped directly through as if they were in the library. A couple more libraries have indicated they are budgeting to move in next year, and Jendretzky predicts we will soon need to expand the space into a second cage.

The Dorcas Carey Public Library has begun using OpenDNS; Jendretzky provided them with a network map to help them plan and implement the service.

Jendretzky reported that he and Terry Fouts have created a new base configuration for the SRX300 routers, updating the firmware and making the devices more flexible for individual library network requirements. He also reported that OPLIN has a new Juniper rep.

To address concerns raised at the last meeting about OPLIN’s direct support of a library’s VOIP implementation, Jendretzky met with CBTS that provides the state’s VOIP service to clarify for them which responsibilities are OPLIN’s, which are the libraries. Two more libraries are considering the CBTS service, and Jendretzky has had conference calls defining how those will go.

In addition to developing the calendar-feed importer for Webkit sites, Jendretzky has made enhancements to the SMS Gateway. While investigating a question from SEO about why a certain message wasn’t delivered, he discovered that our vendor Trumpia offers more detailed error reporting, particularly on communication problems after a message leaves Trumpia’s system. Jendretzky set up a listener script for incoming statuses on these failed messages, and working with CLEVNET and SEO to distinguish one library’s messages from another, updated SMS message handling so that library contacts will receive, once a week, a status report of their messages, complete with suggestions for correcting problems. Jendretzky added “re-try” logic to his scripts, resulting in fewer messages falling through the cracks while still making efficient use of OPLIN’s message credits. With the updated message handling, Jendretzky has discovered that SEO is the largest user of the messaging service, sending 13,000 messages per week, compared with CLEVNET’s 8,500.

Before moving on in the agenda, Angela Baldree asked Don Yarman if the allocation of LSTA funds for the Webkit sites upgrade to Drupal 8 will reduce LSTA fund availability to other libraries. Yarman said the LSTA strategic plan allocates different amounts to different programs; any funds awarded to OPLIN for this project would not reduce monies designated by the plan for library programs.

9. CHAIR'S REPORT

No chair’s report this month

10. ADJOURNMENT

With no other business pending, the Chair adjourned the meeting at 10:54 a.m.

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

Minutes — October 5, 2018

1. WELCOME and CALL TO ORDER

The one hundred seventieth meeting of the Ohio Public Library Information Network (OPLIN) Board of Trustees was called to order at 10:00 a.m. on Friday, October 5, 2018 by Board Chair Michael Penrod at the Mangrove Room, Kalahari Resort, in Sandusky, Ohio.

Present were Board members: Angela Baldree, Jamie Black, Jeff Garringer, Travis McAfee, Michael Penrod, Tara Sidwell, and Garalynn Tomas. 

Also present were: Mandy Knapp, Karl Jendretzky, Laura Solomon, Eric Vescelius, and Don Yarman (OPLIN); and Doug Evans (Ohio Library Council).

ACTION ITEMS

2. APPROVAL OF THE AGENDA

Jamie Black 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.

3. PUBLIC PARTICIPATION

The Chair called for public participation.

Doug Evans thanked the OPLIN Board for its support of the OLC Convention and Expo, which boasted 652 attendees. 


4. APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES of August 10 meeting

Tara Sidwell motioned to approve the minutes of the August 10, 2018, meeting as presented; Garalynn Tomas seconded. There was no discussion, so the Chair called for a vote on the motion; all aye.


5. ACCEPTANCE OF THE FINANCIAL REPORTS

Don Yarman presented the financial reports prepared by Jamie Pardee, who was not able to attend the meeting. Yarman expects that the final report for FY2018 will be close to if not identical to that presented, showing $4,564,163.12 in disbursements. There have been $2,867,330.05 in disbursements so far in FY2019, most of which is in payments for databases – OPLIN’s portion of the Ohio Web Library content agreement as well as genealogy and Lynda.com subscriptions. This is for one year; similar payments are projected for subsequent fiscal years. Yarman will meet with Pardee to discuss tweaks to the projected budget for fiscal years 2020-2021. Currently, projections show a cash balance of $2,892,152.17 at the end of FY2021.

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


6. OLD BUSINESS – none


7. NEW BUSINESS

7.1. Request for OPLIN funding in FY2020-FY2021 state budget

Yarman reported that he had submitted his budget language to the State Library. As the questions have not changed since the last biennium, the answers are the same. This includes a description of how the source of OPLIN’s funds has moved between the state’s General Revenue Fund and the Public Library Fund over the years, and how PLF funding does pose a barrier for OPLIN’s participation in cooperative projects with other state government organizations and other library networks. Yarman finds this “barrier” to be an effective tool for OPLIN planning: because the PLF is intended to support local public library activities, OPLIN’s services should remain focused on returning value directly to all public libraries in the state. Jamie Black said it isn’t necessary to draw extra attention to OPLIN’s funding during the budget process by asking to change the source of funds, and Doug Evans agreed, saying that it appears that the Government Relations Committee will wish to ask for an increase in PLF, and it works to the libraries’ advantage to have the example of OPLIN’s collaborative impact. The Lynda.com subscription in particular has gained a lot of positive attention; for example, Representative Carfagna recently filmed a PSA with Westerville director Erin Francoeur about the valuable access to Lynda content. Michael Penrod said he believes having OPLIN in the PLF makes the services more secure. Travis McAfee said he hasn’t heard small and medium-sized libraries wanting OPLIN’s funds returned to them, and that they are happy to have OPLIN do the negotiating for their internet access and database subscriptions. Evans said that when OPLIN was put back into the PLF after having been out for a little while, there was some grumbling about the loss of that revenue, but he thinks that the return on that investment by the libraries in this service is multifold.

7.2 Drupal Upgrade RFP

OPLIN hosts about 80 public library websites on Drupal version 7. Laura Solomon and Karl Jendretzky have been monitoring the Drupal release schedule, but functional deficiencies have prevented OPLIN from beginning to move library sites to Drupal 8. Last month, it was announced that both Drupal 7 and 8 will be end-of-life (i.e., not supported) in November 2021, due to the end-of-life of some of Drupal’s component dependencies. Drupal 9 does not yet have a firm release date, but it should be in 2020, a year before support for the older versions ends. At a relatively brisk pace of one library website per week, it will take just over a year and a half to move Webkit sites to the latest platforms, and Yarman proposes that the migration project should start in July 2019. When the Webkit sites were upgraded from Drupal 6 to 7, OPLIN hired a third party to assist, and Yarman expects to bring a proposal to the December board meeting for a similar plan. Initial estimates suggest that the project could cost approximately $70,000 over the two year span. Penrod asked whether libraries should be charged an extra fee for migration costs; Yarman said he is considering it, but also is looking into grant funding to help cover the extra costs.

REPORTS

8. OPLIN DIRECTOR'S REPORT
Yarman reported that by the announced September 1 start date for the Lynda.com subscription, all but a few libraries were connected to the service; common barriers were properly configuring firewall rules, or licensing problems with previous Lynda.com subscriptions. The last library on the statewide Lynda subscription was the Morley Library, whose implementation was delayed due to their pending migration to CLEVNET. Yarman reported there has been no further communication after he responded to the FOIA/Open Records request for the Lynda.com contract details. Some librarians have raised questions about Lynda’s privacy policies and the selection process; conversations have generally been positive.

8.1. Library Services Manager report
In addition to preparation for the Drupal 8 migration, Solomon has been working on a new feature for the Webkits – a digital resources page that works similar to the database listing. It is currently being beta-tested by the Granville Public Library. Solomon is working carefully to make sure that new features added to the service do not pose additional problems during the Drupal 8 migration project. Despite concerns with the migration, Solomon praised some of the back-end improvements in Drupal 8, including a package manager which improves control over different modules and plug-ins. Solomon has also been working with the Euclid Public Library to find integrate the LibCal services (room reservation, event registration, etc.) that CLEVNET has begun providing their members.

8.2. Digital Resources Manager report
Mandy Knapp reported that Ancestry continues to draw the highest usage of the OPLIN-provided resources, followed by the EBSCO package. She is looking into different models for visualizing and presenting statistical data, as some resources – notably Lynda.com and Transparent Language – do not fit with the model of showing counts of searches entered and documents accessed.

Because Lynda.com does not provide an enterprise-level view of usage stats, Karl Jendretzky wrote scripting that logs into the Lynda Stats API with each library’s admin credentials to collect the numbers OPLIN needs. Library directors or their designees will receive an email each month with the Lynda usage numbers (or, if the script login fails, they will receive an email asking them to contact the OPLIN office to update password information). Travis McAfee praised the simplicity of the new stats page, finding it much easier to use than most vendors’ stats interfaces. Jamie Black asked whether, because Lynda is owned by LinkedIn, users had to have LinkedIn accounts. Knapp explained that users can link their LinkedIn accounts, but it is not required. She discussed how unlike other OPLIN-provided resources which authenticate use based on IP address, Lynda.com checks the user’s library card against their library’s local database.

8.3. Technology Projects Manager report
Karl Jendretzky discussed a few projects with tight deadlines that popped up unexpectedly. The NEO Regional Library System moved to new office space, initiating a scramble to install cable internet access in advance of the longer process to get a fiber connection built to the office. The Toledo Public Library has closed their main library for renovations, and OPLIN’s services needed to be redirected to maintain library system operations. The Findlay-Hancock County Public Library had purchased a new hosted telephone system on the state’s contract with Cincinnati Bell (CBTS), and although CBTS is supposed to notify OPLIN and the state’s Office of Information Technology well in advance of such projects, no one was notified until less than a month before it was to go live. Equipment was found for the library in state salvage, and the necessary configuration settings were added to the OPLIN router to accommodate the phone system’s requirements. 

Jendretzky explained that usually OPLIN has a minimal role when libraries are on the CBTS service; libraries usually configure their firewalls to accept static routes of state IP addresses into their local networks. Because of the tight timeframe and the availability of technical staff at the library, more of the work is being handled in OPLIN router configuration; the library was in a pinch, and OPLIN staff stepped in to help them out. Board members voiced concerns. Garalynn Tomas asked whether OPLIN would have to keep providing and supporting equipment; Jendretzky replied that the library was advised to purchase spare switches, rather than relying on reclaimed salvage equipment.  Penrod and McAfee were concerned that, once this has begun, OPLIN will be forced to continue direct support of voice services for libraries. Black wondered where OPLIN should draw boundaries – with CBTS or with the libraries. 

Yarman suggested that OPLIN staff meet with Findlay to discuss that while OPLIN staff stepped in to make things work for them under the crunch of a deadline, on-going support for telephone services needs to be moved off OPLIN equipment. Knapp suggested that OPLIN staff review the CBTS contract to identify the company’s obligations, then OPLIN and OIT staff can meet with CBTS to clarify those.

Jendretzky reported that he is still pressuring AT&T to bring up new head-end port. The delay is typical, and so far is not inconveniencing libraries, just delaying some of OPLIN’s networking projects – most notably completing the CLEVNET core move.

A webinar has been scheduled for October 16 to introduce libraries to the new SecurityIQ phishing vulnerability and education service. At least 20 libraries had requested SecurityIQ licenses within the past week, and as it includes the largest libraries and consortia, about half of the licenses have been allocated.

The Worthington Libraries have deployed new servers into the co-location space in NR3, and the Jendretzky has been discussing the service with the Euclid Public Library. Jendretzky predicts that OPLIN will expand the co-location space into a second network cage in the State of Ohio Computer Center sometime in the coming year, as more libraries are planning to move racks and equipment in.
 
Jendretzky has added more sophisticated error-handling to the SMS service by pulling more information out of message vendor Trumpia’s API. By learning what exactly causes a delivery error, the system can send more granular messages to libraries automatically, giving libraries a better idea of what went wrong and how to fix it.

9. CHAIR'S REPORT
Penrod said he had nothing to report.

10. ADJOURNMENT

The Chair adjourned the meeting at 11:04 a.m.

1. WELCOME and CALL TO ORDER
 
The one hundred sixty-ninth meeting of the Ohio Public Library Information Network (OPLIN) Board of Trustees was called to order at 10:00 a.m. on Friday, August 10, 2018 by Board Vice-Chair Michael Penrod at the OPLIN office in Columbus, Ohio.
 
Present were Board members: Angela Baldree, Justin Bumbico, Jeff Garringer, Chris May, Travis McAfee, Michael Penrod, Tara Sidwell, and Garalyn Tomas.
 
Also present were: Mandy Knapp, Karl Jendretzky, Laura Solomon, and Don Yarman (OPLIN); Beverly Cain (State Library); and Michelle Francis (Ohio Library Council).
 
ACTION ITEMS
 
2. NOMINATION and ELECTION OF BOARD OFFICERS
 
Current Board Vice-Chair Michael Penrod presented the slate of officer candidates recommended by the Nominations Committee: Michael Penrod, Chair; Travis McAfee, Vice-Chair; Chris May, Treasurer; and Jeff Garringer, Secretary. Michael asked if there were any additional nominations or questions, and there were none.
 
The Vice-Chair called for a vote on the slate of officers submitted by the Nominations Committee; all aye.
 
3. APPROVAL OF THE AGENDA
 
Travis McAfee motioned to approve the agenda as presented; Chris May seconded. There was no discussion, so the chair called for a vote on the motion; all aye.
 
4. ESTABLISH BOARD MEETING SCHEDULE for FY2019
 
The Chair asked Don Yarman to present the proposed Board meeting schedule for Fiscal Year 2018 and asked for approval of the following schedule of meetings, all at the OPLIN office starting at 10:00 a.m. unless otherwise noted: August 10, 2018; October 5, 2018 (at Kalahari Convention Center, Sandusky); December 14, 2018; February 8, 2019; April 12, 2018; and June 14, 2018. The Chair also asked for approval of two further meetings for planning purposes: August 9, 2018; and October 11, 2018.
 
Justin Bumbico motioned to approve the Board meeting schedule as presented; Jeff Garringer seconded. There was no discussion, so the Chair called for a vote on the motion; all aye.
 
5. PUBLIC PARTICIPATION
 
The Chair called for public participation.
 
Beverly Cain reported that the State Library, in collaboration with the four regional library systems and OhioNET, have just completed a series of four very successful “Opioids in Communities, Libraries in Response” forums. Attendance was high, and feedback was overwhelming positive. Sam Quinones, author of DREAMLAND: The True Tale of America’s Opiate Epidemic, was the keynote speaker at each of the events; Dr. Meghan Harper, Kent State University iSchool, was the closing speaker for each forum, discussing the impact of the opioid epidemic on children and families. Different local practitioner panels and a local speaker from Project DAWN completed the agendas. The State Library is busy drafting their budget, which includes OPLIN, for fiscal years 2020 and 2021, due October 15. Michael Campbell has joined the State Library staff and will be the point of contact for the statewide delivery system. Cain reported that there are particular problems with Priority Dispatch’s Cleveland hub, and reminded libraries to fill out service tickets for problems. A new contract will be negotiated next year. Cain is near the end of the search process to fill the vacancy when Missy Lodge retires at the end of September. The deadline for submitting proposals for competitive LSTA grants up to $50,000 with a 25% match is August 31. The State Library is offering grants up to $4,999 to bring a certified mental health first aid trainer to libraries, and the open $4,999 grant program is available year round. The federal LSTA program officer will be visiting Ohio the week of August 27, spending time at the State Library and visiting local libraries with successful LSTA-funded programs, including the Louisville Public Library which recently opened their new “Sensory Story Time” space for patrons with autism spectrum conditions.
 
Michael Penrod asked if the budget guidelines projected growth; Cain replied that agencies are permitted to request up to 90% of General Revenue Fund (GRF) programs, and a supplemental budget where they may request up to 10% more. These guidelines do not apply to OPLIN because it is not funded by GRF. Because State Library was cut 13.57% in the last budget, Cain will write a second letter to the budget director arguing for the restoration of some funds.
 
Michelle Francis reported that attendance at OLC’s regional subject conferences (including the “Beyond Books and Programs” youth services conference in Athens held the same day) has exceeded expectations. State revenues continue to come in above estimates, with the PLF August distribution about $400,000 more than in 2017. Governor Kasich, the legislature, and local governments are in disagreement about what should be done with the state’s budget surplus – the Governor favoring a tax cut, and local governments wanting some money to help them cope with the opioid crisis locally. OLC has been busy helping OPLIN manage the Lynda.com project, stepping up to launch and track media attention; they will host a webinar for libraries about using and promoting Lynda on August 20. Some legislators have been very excited about Lynda, and OLC is coordinating another big media push at the start of September, when the service should be live in libraries.
 
Michael Penrod asked if the Lynda excitement is raising OPLIN’s profile with legislature. Francis replied that OPLIN’s instrumental role is foregrounded in the communications; so far, no legislator has asked what OPLIN is.
 
 
6. APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES of June 8 meeting
 
Justin Bumbico motioned to approve the minutes of the June 8, 2018, meeting as presented; Tara Sidwell seconded. There was no discussion, so the Chair called for a vote on the motion; all aye.
 
7. ACCEPTANCE OF THE FINANCIAL REPORTS
 
Don Yarman presented the financial reports prepared by Jamie Pardee. A few open encumbrances remain, but the final cash balance at the end of fiscal year 2018 will be approximately $3.2 million, the high balance caused mainly due to the FY2017 E-rate reimbursements coming late. The cash balance at the end of the next fiscal year is projected to be $2.8 million, reflecting a steady spend down of the cash balance within the limits of current spending authority.
 
Chris May motioned to accept the financial reports; Justin Bumbico seconded. There was no discussion, so the Chair called for a vote on the motion; all aye.
 
8. OLD BUSINESS
 
8.1. Selection of cybersecurity/phishing awareness service
Yarman reviewed the rationale for investigating this service: libraries have reported an increase in targeted e-mail (“spear phishing”) campaigns to steal information. In response, Karl Jendretzky first envisioned a service where OPLIN could run 2-3 week tests/educational campaigns for sets of libraries, but soon began to recognize the value in longer educational campaigns controlled by the libraries who could adapt the tests and training to their own needs. Jendretzky began exploring vendor options for MSP services that would let OPLIN license an educational phishing service for libraries statewide, and pass out admin credentials, similar to current procedures for OpenDNS.
 

SecurityIQ PhishSim & AwareEd	270 sites / 15,000 seats	$35,000
KnowBe4 Awareness Training Gold	15,000 seats	$97,950
PhishingBox PhishingBox with Ninjio LMS	Unlimited phishing tests Monthly courses	$22,500 $210,000

 
SecurityIQ offers a lower per-seat price, and in staff review, appears to better meet OPLIN’s needs for offering the service to libraries, with better on-boarding materials and promotional webinars.
 
Garalynn Tomas asked what all the service covered. Jendretzky explained that the target is library staff, not patrons. Staff will receive emails that, just like a real phishing attempt, will seek to fool them into giving up login credentials; if someone falls for it, the service will guide the staff to materials to show them how to avoid being fooled in the future.
 
Travis McAfee asked if this was limited to email, or does it extend to phone services. Jendretzky replied currently it is just email, but companies are starting to expand as the threats do.
 
Justin Bumbico asked if accounts could be integrated into library single sign-on systems, like Active Directory. In his tests, Jendretzky did not find that end-users needed to have their own sign-ins for the service – they were sent customized links for the training materials. All the services have Active Directory integration for importing the users, but the users don’t have to authenticate against the system for any reason.
 
Mandy Knapp asked if there was a way to make sure the user completed the training. Jendretzky confirmed that if users “failed” the test, they can be signed up for training, and administrators could see if they visited and completed the training (the system also reminds users to complete the training).
 
Justin Bumbico motioned to select SecurityIQ for library cybersecurity/phishing education; Travis McAfee seconded. There was no additional discussion, so the Chair called for a roll call vote on the motion.
 
Recorded vote: Angela Baldree, aye; Justin Bumbico, aye; Jeff Garringer, aye; Chris May, aye; Travis McAfee, aye; Michael Penrod, aye; Tara Sidwell, aye; Garalyn Tomas, aye.
 
9. NEW BUSINESS – none
 
REPORTS
 
10. OPLIN DIRECTOR'S REPORT
Yarman discussed the successful process of finalizing the contract language with Lynda.com and securing a P.O. for the service before the end of the fiscal year. He described how the licensing breaks down: 4,265 concurrent user licenses, divided among the 251 library organizations according to population served. The current software cannot track and limit concurrent users, and Yarman opposes the imposition of limits narrower than the full licensed number for the state. The statewide agreement excludes access for the State Library and their service to state employees, as that conflicts with the territory of a different sales department.
 
Lynda.com authenticates library users by querying their local patron databases directly, so each library has its own “portal” set up. OPLIN staff helped coordinate the communication and on-boarding of Ohio libraries by focusing first on library consortia, then grouping libraries together by software platform (Polaris, Sierra, SirsiDynix, etc.) As of meeting time, twenty-five library portals were not yet set up.
 
OPLIN received an open records/FOIA request for details on the contract and pricing with Lynda.com. At the advice of the Attorney General’s Office, Yarman informed Lynda.com of the request, and intended to send the information to the requester at the beginning of the next week.
 
Yarman and Mandy Knapp talked with staff at OhioMeansJobs.com about creating linkages between the Ohio Means Jobs portal and the Lynda.com access. Michelle Francis asked whether they would develop a “crosswalk” of Lynda courses with Ohio’s list of in-demand jobs. Yarman confirmed that the crosswalk has already been created and agencies are exploring where best to present that. In addition, the customer success tean at Lynda.com have offered to develop other curated learning paths and collections.
 
10.1. Library Services Manager report
Laura Solomon reported that Kinsman and Arcanum libraries have launched new website kits. Because of concerns about migrating sites to the next version of Drupal, she has slowed down promotion of the service to new libraries, instead working with existing customers to update their designs. The next version of Drupal 8 is due out at the beginning of September, and Solomon hopes this improves the upgrade process from Drupal 7. Solomon has been exploring the development of structured data and its relevance to library websites. In addition to creating the “rich snippets” that users see when searching certain subjects (such as events), structured data helps make websites interact better with voice services like Alexa, Google Home, and Siri. Voice interfaces are on the rise; Solomon notes that 1 in 4 American homes now has an Amazon Echo.
 
8.2. Digital Resources Manager report
Mandy Knapp showed the usage stats for the new Ohio Web Library databases on the report, explaining that she charted new resources separately because, after one month’s stats, there is not trend line. Some vendors (Oxford, Chilton’s by Gale) have a delay before statistics are provided. Knapp explained that Transparent Language statistics (and eventually Lynda.com statistics) will be reported separately from other databases; those statistics will report session information, rather than searches and documents. OPLIN has arranged many training webinars for the new databases; the genealogy webinars were particularly well-attended. Knapp also reported that she has filed the BEAR forms for last service year, and most of the refunds have already been received.
 
8.3. Technology Projects Manager report
Karl Jendretzky reported that 165 replacement routers have been deployed, and the process remains smooth. The default configuration has a SIP (session interchange protocol) port conflict with some InnReach member libraries; Jendretzky fixes those as crop up. He typically checks the new routers early in the morning, correcting configuration errors hours before libraries open.
 
The software on the OPLIN core routers was upgraded in June. Jendretzky explained that this upgrade corrects a deficiency that caused the bridged, redundant cores to “split apart” in September 2017. Jendretzky plans to have the second core back in production before the October Board meeting.
 
With the E-rate service year starting in July, July is a busy month with circuit changes. All CLEVNET libraries on Time Warner (Spectrum) and Everstream have been moved to the new CLEVNET core (including the new member, Morley Library). Two new 10Gb AT&T collector ports have been installed in the core. Jendretzky will move the Greene County library’s circuit to the new port as a test before beginning the migration of the remaining CLEVNET libraries, followed by the Cleveland Public Library branches
 
The NEO regional library system moved offices with very short notice, so they are currently without OPLIN-provided internet, but the order with Spectrum is in process. Estimated installation is late September.
 
Jendretzky described the SOCC Co-Location Center in “Network Room 3” for the benefit of new Board members, and reported that Greene County has moved a couple servers into OPLIN rack space, and that Worthington is scheduled to move in equipment the following week – Worthington and Greene County will be the first tenants to share rack space. Jendretzky arranged a SOCC tour for the SEO consortium and some metropolitan libraries (including Cincinnati, Cuyahoga County, and Akron); Cincinnati is looking to host disaster-recovery equipment there.
 
The OPLIN list server has been moved to Amazon Web Services, so now all of OPLIN’s public servers except for EZProxy are running on AWS. This eliminates hardware troubles and updates, enhances remote management, and is more easily scalable.
 
Because the Gongwer news service changed how it delivers its email subscription, Jendretzky wrote a piece of software that edits the links in the Gongwer email (so that links will use EZProxy authentication) and forwards messages to OPLIN’s subscriber list. While the software was built for Gongwer, it can be used for any email service that we want to do something programmatic to. Jendretzky also has been developing a framework for gathering stats from Lynda.com, which requires a separate admin login for each library account.
 
Two additional libraries have begun using OpenDNS, bringing the total to 154 libraries. A library branch was having trouble with OpenDNS, which led to the discovery that their local ISP was intercepting DNS requests.
 
Jendretzky reconfigured the SMS Gateway so that he can now distinguish between the CLEVNET member libraries; 142 libraries now use the service, which sends out about 130,000 messages per month.
 
9. CHAIR'S REPORT
The Chair announced he was appointing past Chair Joe Greenward as an at-large member of the executive committee.
 
13. ADJOURNMENT
 
The Chair adjourned the meeting at 11:35 a.m.