Library Assembly Minutes
11.19.2014
Guest Speaker: Eva Piera
LEEC is sponsoring a training session on intercultural communication and learning styles,
which will be taught by UMBC ICC students. It will be held Tuesday, December 2, 2014 at
10 am and will last about 90 minutes. The training is limited to 15 participants, so please
RSVP early. Any questions can be directed to Nicole Smith.
Director’s Report
Slotting of Techs
At the request of several Library Directors, USM Human Resources is renaming and revising
job descriptions which may adjust pay grades for some Library Tech jobs. The motivation for
this was that some of the job descriptions were obsolete and needed updating. Larry
referred back to his previous email about the pending slotting, which contained this
information:
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Library Assistant to Library Services Assistant -- Pay Grade 4 (title change only)
Library Technician I to Library Services Technician -- Pay Grade 7 (title change only)
Library Technician II to Library Services Specialist -- Pay Grade 10 (title change &
regraded)
Library Technician III abolished; could go to Library Services Specialist or to Library
Services Supervisor (Library Services Supervisor is a new job classification with Pay
Grade 12)
NB: UMBC will not be using the Library Services Assistant grade, because the pay is too low.
So far LEC has only seen a draft of the new specifications, and more changes could be
made. However, LEC has made recommendations for each position and they were approved
by Larry and sent on to the UMBC HR office. The UMBC HR office has the final authority to
decide how each position will be slotted. Larry did not know whether there will be a review
or appeal process for staff who disagree with their slotting.
Larry reported that a USM announcement of the new specs said that they were effective
October 23, 2014, but he wasn’t sure how that should be interpreted or whether the
changes will be retroactive. He also didn’t know whether the union has been involved in the
process. He said that he would expect to see movement from HR in 3 to 4 weeks.
Budget
The State of Maryland is expecting a budget shortfall for FY15. Larry expects that personnel
will not be affected and that the Library will be able to make the cuts asked of us. Steps
that have already been taken include:
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Furniture orders not yet placed are on hold
We’re not reminding or prompting the faculty to place book orders
Hiring freeze has been re-imposed as of December 1
Larry expects that there will be exceptions made to the hiring freeze for vital positions.
Parting Remarks
Larry won’t be in the building after November 21, 2014. He is hoping for an orderly
transition. He said that it has been a pleasure working here and he wishes us luck as we
take this opportunity to change and grow. He also mentioned that over the years he has
always gotten positive feedback about the library and attributes that to the great staff we
have.
Cheers Recruiting: Drew Alfgren
The Cheers Committee is looking for new members: they’d like to have representation from
every department. Cheers is charged with throwing the summer picnic and winter holiday
party. They also coordinate cards and presents for our colleagues in the case of sickness or
death. Please talk to Drew, Jennifer Fitch, or Tricia Flester if you’d like to join. There will be
one more meeting before the December party.
Department Reports
Administration
MCC participation is at 48%, please consider donating. The campaign ends the first week of
December.
Circulation
Other Library departments are welcome to take advantage of the large shredding bin located
in the Circ break room. It is a locked secure place to put sensitive documents that need to
be shredded. It gets emptied once per month.
Serials
A few new databases were added this Fall, and more will be coming in January.
Special Collections
Have been busy with English classes visiting and receiving new gifts.
Committee & Working Group Reports
Cheers
There will be a cakewalk on Wednesday, November 26 to support the holiday party. Please
donate a cake or pie if you can – drop them off with Tricia. The holiday party will be held on
Friday, December 19 on the seventh floor. Cheers is now accepting donations for the
auction.
LEEC
The next Book Club meeting will be Monday, November 24 at noon in Room 767. RSVP to
the Learning Styles training quickly – an email will be coming soon.
Resource Discovery Working Group
This is a new working group headed by John Breitmeyer that will be focused on EDS
OneSearch and Worldcat Local issues. Other members are Sarah New, Kelly Shipp, Vicki
Sipe, and James Stephens. Please share feedback or concerns with them.