OHIO PUBLIC LIBRARY INFORMATION NETWORK (OPLIN)
ONE HUNDRED FORTY-FIRST REGULAR MEETING of the BOARD OF TRUSTEES
Minutes — December 13, 2013
1. WELCOME and CALL TO ORDER
The one hundred forty-first meeting of the Ohio Public Library Information Network (OPLIN) Board of Trustees was called to order at 10:01 a.m. on Friday, December 13, 2013 by Board Chair Karen Davis at the OPLIN office in Columbus, Ohio.
Present were Board members: Don Barlow, Jill Billman-Royer, Susan Brown, Ben Chinni, Karen Davis, Joe Greenward, Cindy Lombardo, Jamie Mason, Michael Penrod, Sandi Plymire, and Becky Schultz.
Also present were: Stephen Hedges, Laura Solomon and Karl Jendretzky (OPLIN); Jamie Pardee, and David Namiotka (State Library); and Doug Evans (Ohio Library Council).
2. APPROVAL OF THE AGENDA
Don Barlow motioned to approve the agenda as presented; Susan Brown seconded. All aye.
3. PUBLIC PARTICIPATION
Karen Davis called for public participation.
Doug Evans updated the Board on the progress of the Ohio Library Council (OLC) Federal Ebook Project. Lobbying efforts have slowed for the season, although work has been continuing with the staff of Rep. Steve Chabot, who serves on the House Committee on the Judiciary. A legal opinion, based on research funded by OPLIN, was filed in response to a report on copyright from the U.S. Department of Commerce. Meetings with media firms are being held in preparation for a public awareness campaign, also supported by OPLIN funds. In the Ohio Senate, committee hearings have been held on SCR22, which encourages Congress to address the ebook problem for public libraries; a lobbyist for the publishing industry has proposed amendments to SCR22, which thus far have not received any support from legislators. In response to questions, Doug said OLC has kept in touch with the American Library Association (ALA) as this project has progressed.
Doug also provided an update on the process of finding a new Director of Government and Legal Services for OLC, which is now in the interview phase.
4. APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES of October 11 meeting
Karen Davis requested approval of the minutes of the October 11 Board meeting.
Jill Billman-Royer motioned to approve the minutes as presented; Susan Brown seconded. All aye.
5. ACCEPTANCE OF THE FINANCIAL REPORTS
Jamie Pardee presented the Financial Reports for Fiscal Years 2014 and 2015 as of November 30. After a brief discussion it was decided that future reports would include the payments to libraries for supporting the Digitization Hubs in the "Other Library Support Services" category. Jamie highlighted income of about $770,000 from E-rate reimbursements and $27,000 from website services.
Ben Chinni motioned to accept the Financial Reports; Jamie Mason seconded. All aye.
6. OLD BUSINESS
There was no old business to come before the board.
7. NEW BUSINESS
7.1. Approve sponsorship of OLC 2014 Convention
Stephen Hedges presented a letter from Lori Hensley, OLC, requesting that OPLIN sponsor Internet and email access at the October 2014 OLC Convention and Expo at the $10,000 Platinum Sponsor level. Stephen provided a brief history of OPLIN sponsorship of the OLC Convention back to 2007. The sponsorship would be acknowledged in Convention materials, and exhibit booth space and meeting space for the OPLIN Stakeholders Meeting would be provided at no charge. Jamie Mason noted that the Board would also need space for their meeting on Friday of the Convention.
Don Barlow motioned to approve a $10,000 Platinum Sponsorship of the 2014 OLC Convention and Expo; Cindy Lombardo seconded.
Recorded vote: Don Barlow, aye; Jill Billman-Royer, aye; Susan Brown, aye; Ben Chinni, aye; Joe Greenward, aye; Cindy Lombardo, aye; Jamie Mason, aye; Michael Penrod, aye; Sandi Plymire, aye; Becky Schultz, aye; and Karen Davis, aye.
8. OPLIN DIRECTOR'S REPORT
Stephen Hedges reported extensively on the progress of the Digitization Hubs project. On December 10, the State Library Board approved grants totaling $508,457 in LSTA funds to be matched by $251,964 in OPLIN funds that will be used to purchase equipment ($744,581) and software ($15,840) for the Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County, the Toledo-Lucas County Public Library, the Cleveland Public Library, and the Columbus Metropolitan Library, creating a statewide network of coordinated Digitization Hubs that will digitize materials held by the institutions where they are located, but will also serve as regional digitization centers. Each library will also be heavily investing in space and personnel, as well as additional equipment, that was not included in the grant application.
Stephen mentioned some of the concerns expressed by the LSTA review committee, many of them related to the long-term effect of this project on statewide digitization efforts, which should be very significant. The Project Oversight Committee will be a non-governing group which should eventually include other Ohio institutions; this committee and the Metadata Advisory Committee will provide a venue for discussing and deciding best practices. Ultimately it would be ideal to have one online access point for much of the Ohio materials that have been digitized. Meanwhile, contracts for both the LSTA grants and the OPLIN funds have been sent to the four libraries to get the project started. The Board had several questions about timelines and committee structure; these will be decided more definitively once the Project Oversight Committee has met for the first time in January.
Stephen also reported on progress toward re-establishing the Content Advisory Committee. There are nine confirmed members so far, with the final member pending, and the first annual meeting is tentatively planned for February/March next year.
Stephen informed the Board that E-rate paperwork is now being collected from the libraries in preparation for filing the OPLIN E-rate application in a couple of months. The new procedures for handling circuit upgrades within the E-rate framework has resulted in difficulties in tracking the current and planned status of each library circuit, so Karl Jendretzky has built a new interface for the office that pulls library data from several separate sources into one place for viewing and editing.
Stephen reported that the new state system for doing employee performance evaluations is now ready for use and he will be doing staff evaluations before January 31. Finally, Stephen informed the Board of meetings going on in Ashtabula County between schools, public libraries, and academic libraries regarding ways to improve student success. Stephen feels these meetings may have important results and plans to follow their progress.
Regarding OPLIN office activities, Stephen highlighted Laura Solomon's presentations in Ohio, Indiana, New York, and Illinois. He also called attention to Karl Jendretzky's trips to libraries in Cadiz, Bowerston, and Dayton.
8.1. Technology Projects Manager report
Karl Jendretzky provided more details about the interface Stephen Hedges mentioned that now makes it easier to track circuit changes. The timelines and planned events for such circuit changes can become complex and overlap to the point of causing confusion without such a system. Karl also noted that the current planned upgrades should replace the last of the old T1 circuits to libraries in about four months.
Karl also reported that he had purchased enough credits to keep the SMS messaging service operating for another year and a half, at a cost of about $4,200 per year and serving about 90 libraries. He reported that 88 libraries are now using the OpenDNS service provided by OPLIN, and he informed the Board that the Cincinnati public library should soon have a full 1 Gbps circuit, the third library in the state to have this size connection, followed soon thereafter by Cuyahoga County Public Library.
8.2. Library Services Manager report
Laura Solomon reported that there are now 73 libraries with website kits, with 67 of those in active use. Upgrading sites to Drupal 7 is underway but progressing slowly, since we did not find a student intern who could help with the process. She also described her work on the website for the State Library's Guiding Ohio Online initiative; David Namiotka provided more details about the initiative itself, which will use AmeriCorps personnel to provide technology training in rural libraries.
8.3. Database usage
Stephen Hedges reported that database usage continues to decline gradually, so he plans to begin more aggressive promotion of the databases. He also reported that many of the new contracts with database vendors have not yet been signed, due to ongoing issues with the transfer of fiscal agent duties for Libraries Connect Ohio from Wright State to Ohio State University.
9. CHAIR'S REPORT
Chair Karen Davis welcomed everyone to the OPLIN office; Stephen Hedges noted that it had been well over a decade since the OPLIN Board was able to meet at the OPLIN office, and thanked the State Library for hosting the Board meetings during those years.
10. ADJOURNMENT
On motion of Jamie Mason and second of Susan Brown the Board adjourned at 11:18 a.m.