February 8, 2013 Minutes

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

Minutes
— February 8, 2013

1. WELCOME and CALL TO ORDER

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

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

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

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

2. APPROVAL OF THE AGENDA

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

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

3. PUBLIC PARTICIPATION

Karen Davis called for public participation.

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

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

4. APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES of December 14
meeting

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

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

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

5. ACCEPTANCE OF THE FINANCIAL REPORTS

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

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

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

6. OLD BUSINESS

6.1. Discuss support for library
branch connections

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

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

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

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

6.2. Discuss report on investigation of
outbound malware filtering

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

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

7. NEW BUSINESS

7.1. Amend OPLIN withdrawal policy

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

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

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

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

7.2. Discuss OLC Convention sponsorship

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

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

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

Doug Evans thanked the Board for their support.

8. OPLIN DIRECTOR'S REPORT

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

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

8.1. Technology Projects Manager report

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

8.2. Library Services Manager report

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

8.3. Database usage

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

9. CHAIR'S REPORT

9.1. Discussion of nominations for new
board member

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

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

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

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

10. EXECUTIVE SESSION to discuss
compensation of an employee

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

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

10.1 Resolution

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

Karl Colón offered the following
resolution:

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

Ben Chinni seconded the resolution.

11. ADJOURNMENT

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

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