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

Minutes —June 11, 2021

WELCOME and CALL TO ORDER

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

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

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

APPROVAL OF THE AGENDA

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

PUBLIC PARTICIPATION

The Chair called for public participation.

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

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

APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES of April 9 meeting

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

ACCEPTANCE OF THE FINANCIAL REPORTS

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

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

OLD BUSINESS — none

NEW BUSINESS

Staff raises

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

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

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

7.2. Statewide Digital Literacy Curriculum

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

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

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

There is no action for the Board at this time.

OPLIN DIRECTOR'S REPORT

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

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

Yarman outlined the various federal funds coming to the state:

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

Library Services Manager report

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

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

Technology Projects Manager report

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

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

CHAIR'S REPORT

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

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

9.1. Recognition

The Chair recognized Tara Sidwell to offer the following resolution:

WHEREAS TRAVIS MCAFEE has been a member of the Ohio Public Library Information Network (OPLIN) Board of Trustees since July 2015; 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 experience as systems administrator at the Way Public Library and Network Administrator and Infrastructure Specialist at the Wood County District Public Library gave him a diverse perspective on OPLIN and its services to libraries; and

 

WHEREAS he has provided additional service as the Treasurer of the OPLIN Board from 2017 to 2018, the Vice-Chair from 2018 to 2019, and the Chair from 2019 to 2020; and

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that, on the 11th day of June, Two Thousand and Twenty-One, the members of the Board of Trustees of the Ohio Public Library Information Network recognize the significant contributions made to public libraries and library service by TRAVIS MCAFEE during his outstanding tenure with the Ohio Public Library Information Network; and

 

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

Garalynn Tomas seconded the resolution. All aye.

The Chair recognized Garalynn Tomas to offer the following resolution:

WHEREAS CHRIS MAY has been a member of the Ohio Public Library Information Network (OPLIN) Board of Trustees since July 2015; and

 

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

 

WHEREAS his service as director at the Mansfield/Richland County Public Library gave him a distinctive outlook on OPLIN and its services to libraries; and

 

WHEREAS he has provided dedicated leadership as the Treasurer of the OPLIN Board from 2017 to 2018, the Secretary from 2018 to 2019, the Vice-Chair from 2019 to 2020, the Chair from 2020 through 2021; and

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that, on the 11th day of June, Two Thousand and Twenty-One, 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 CHRIS MAY 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 CHRIS MAY for his continued volunteer service as a member of this Board.

Tara Sidwell seconded the resolution. All aye.

ADJOURNMENT

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