IFLS Board of Trustees
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INDIANHEAD FEDERATED LIBRARY SYSTEM
Board of Trustees
March 26, 2014
MINUTES
The Board of Trustees of the Indianhead Federated Library System met on Wednesday,
March 26, 2014 at Indianhead Federated Library System, 1538 Truax Boulevard, Eau Claire,
Wisconsin. Mike Norman called the meeting to order at 12:33 pm.
QUORUM AND CERTIFICATION OF COMPLIANCE
WITH OPEN MEETINGS LAW:
Joanne Gardner established that a quorum was present and certified that the meeting had
been properly noticed in compliance with the open meeting law.
BOARD MEMBERS PRESENT:
Judy Achterhof (St. Croix County); Steve Anderson (St. Croix County); Mary Ellen Brue
(St. Croix County); Sue Duerkop (Polk County); Pat Eggert (Dunn County); Marilyn Holte
(Chippewa County); Lyle Lieffring (Rusk County); Marjorie Lindemann (Barron County);
Robert Mercord (Pierce County); Mike Norman (Pierce County); Jean Schlieve (Eau Claire
County); Gyneth Slygh (Pepin County); Linda Thompson (Barron County); Jim Tripp
(Dunn County).
BOARD MEMBERS ABSENT:
Jan Daus (Eau Claire County); Robert Fraser (Eau Claire County); Kathy Kienholz (Polk
County); Mike Leisz (Chippewa County); Jackie Pavelski (Eau Claire County).
OTHERS PRESENT:
John Thompson (Director); Juli Button (Business Manager); Joanne Gardner
(Administrative Assistant/Recorder); Leah Langby (Library Development and Youth Services
Coordinator).
APPROVE AGENDA:
MOTION #05(14):
To approve the March 26, 2014 agenda. Duerkop/Lieffring
RESULT: Carried.
CITIZEN COMMENTS:
There were no citizen comments.
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ANNOUNCEMENTS/CORRESPONDENCE/INTRODUCTIONS:
Norman noted that we lost two people associated with the IFLS Board of Trustees. Former
trustee, John Mortensen’s wife, Bernie, passed away in earlier this year. A card was passed
around for signing.
Board members were shocked and saddened when hearing of the passing of Carol
McLaughlin in February. Memorials were sent on behalf of the Board to the libraries in Price
County. A copy of the obituary and thank you notes received were passed around. Board
members and IFLS always looked to McLaughlin to offer questions on the financials.
IFLS has funds for three memberships to the Wisconsin Library Association. Norman and
L. Thompson wished to renew their membership. Achterhof requested to become a member.
It was noted that the Wisconsin Association of Public Libraries (WAPL) will hold their
conference in Sheboygan this year. The Wisconsin Library Association (WLA) Conference
will be held in October at Wisconsin Dells. Norman is vice chair of the Wisconsin Library
Association of Trustee and Friends (WLATF) and they are seeking trustees and friends to
attend the conferences.
It was noted that Ogema Public Library was thrilled that Norman stopped in for a library visit.
MINUTES:
MOTION #06(14):
To approve the Board of Trustees minutes dated January 22, 2014
(Doc. #006-14). Eggert/Brue
RESULT: Carried.
Holte noted a correction to her comment that Thompson is helping with the Chippewa
“County 5-year plan”” rather than the “library”. Correction will be noted to the original
minutes.
MOTION #07(14):
To acknowledge receipt of the Advisory Council of Librarians minutes
dated March 3, 2014 (Doc. #007-14). Holte/Slygh
RESULT: Carried.
FINANCIAL REPORTS:
MOTION #08(14):
To approve the December 2013 Check Register. Brue/Holte
RESULT: Carried.
Questions were asked about the Ecommerce payments to the libraries, the special
assessment for street lights, and a filing fee for property exempt status.
MOTION #09(14):
To approve the January/February 2014 Check Register. Brue/Holte
RESULT: Carried.
A Question was asked about movie licensing and Button explained billable items. Button
noted that IFLS now owns the building in addition to the land.
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MOTION #010(14): To approve the December 2013 (Doc. #010-14) and January/February
2014 (Doc. #011-14) Financial Reports. Brue/Lieffring
RESULT: Carried.
The December financial reports show where IFLS ended up at the end of 2013. Page two
includes notes to how the additional funds were allotted into reserves. IFLS gained an
additional $18,581.25 in uncommitted carryover than what was budgeted.
Page two also includes the ending funds for the MORE shared system.
Page five of the December financials provides a line by line breakdown of items over or under
budget. In 2014, IFLS will need to increase the budget for travel and library field visits. Staff
is on the road much more.
Button noted there is not much to mention about the financials for January and February.
Page 4 shows the expenses as a percentage of the budget. Some are near 100% for
memberships and pre-pays.
Questions were asked about electronic resources and system technology money.
IFLS INVESTMENT REPORT
AND REVIEW OF INVESTMENT POLICY:
The Investment Policy which is reviewed annually outlines the acceptable investment
practices for IFLS and reporting requirements. There have been no changes to the policy.
MOTION #011(14): To approve the oral Investment Report and Review of Investment Policy.
L. Thompson/Brue
RESULT: Carried.
A printed investment report was not provided because there has been little activity and a total
of $1,800 in interest earned in year 2013.
Button met with a representative from Mutual Bank a few weeks ago. The bank was aware
that our building loan would be paid off. They were able to increase the interest rate on the
Select Investor Account from .2 to .33.
EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE – MEMBER REPLACEMENT:
With the passing of McLaughlin, the Executive Committee is short a member. Norman asked
Holte to replace McLaughlin. This was based on the results of the January 2014 election
where Holte tied with another member. Holte agreed to serve.
DIRECTOR’S REPORT OF MONTHLY ACTIVITES
AND AGENDA ITEMS:
Thompson was at Altoona on Tuesday and plans to return on Thursday and has been
conducting focus group discussions. Next week Thompson will be at Frederic for two days
for focus groups.
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Thompson is working with Amery and Dresser to help draft their long range planning goals.
Thompson is also working with Osceola’s long range plan based on their focus group
discussions.
Kathy O’Leary and Thompson have been working with librarians in Polk County on some
ACT 150 handouts as well as finalizing a library awareness piece for the May Governor’s
Fishing Opener to be held at Balsam Lake. Thompson will bring the finished product (a fishshaped booklet with a lure attached) to the next board meeting.
The New Richmond building project held a community presentation followed by discussion.
The City Council in New Richmond voted to study it more after a lengthy presentation by the
Library Board. There has been some disagreement on the location for the library.
Kim Hennings, former Director at Bloomer, was hired as New Richmond’s library director and
has been dealing with the building project in the first weeks of starting her position there.
Kathy Larson was has replaced Hennings at the Bloomer library.
A draft of the Technical Support Overview, Network Support Policy, and Hardware and
Software Support Policy were included in the mailing. In order to provide a fair level of
service to our member libraries, IFLS is asking libraries to meet the requirements outlined in
the draft policies. Gus Falkenberg and Kris Schwartz have created these draft documents.
After review and editing, the finalized reports will be brought back to the Board of Trustees at
their May meeting.
Board members asked about using the terminology of libraries in “good standing”. They also
inquired if there was a difference between the terms “minimal” and “basic” support in the
documentation provided. Thompson will pass along Board suggestions to Falkenberg and
Schwartz.
LIBRARY LEGISLATION UPDATE:
The basic summary of current legislation is related to consolidated counties billing adjacent
counties for reimbursement. Currently you cannot bill exempted counties. Brown County
decided to bill adjacent counties. It became an issue because they are billing adjacent
counties in a different system. A bill was introduced by a legislator to fix the problem. The
Wisconsin Library Association provided alternative language that was adopted. The
amended bill has passed both houses of legislature and awaiting the Governor’s signature.
Library Legislative Day was well-attended with 30 individuals representing the IFLS area.
Leah Langby coordinated a bus trip down to Madison for the event. A group of teens from
the Eau Claire area did an excellent job articulating the library message and advocating.
All IFLS-area legislators were visited this year. Thompson noted that the conversations with
legislators went well and they were receptive to conversations. L. Thompson added that she
was unable to attend, but did write to the legislators and endorsed the items IFLS prepared
and spoke to them. Brue also contacted legislators. For those who cannot attend the event,
emails do reach them.
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IFLS ANNUAL REPORT AND STATEMENT OF COMPLIANCE:
Just as our member libraries are required to submit an Annual Report and Statement of
Compliance, IFLS does as well. IFLS needs to receive and verify all member library reports
prior to completing the system annual report and compliance check boxes.
Thompson reviewed the information contained in the report with the Board; including the
system collection, system services, board membership, income, expenditures, system staff
salaries, and checkboxes on system membership and certification of statutory compliance.
Systems are required to show how we spend money on programs and the budget piece of
this report is the hardest part. Button and Thompson spend a lot of time reviewing member
libraries and IFLS’ annual reports.
MOTION #012(14): To approve the IFLS Annual Report and Statement of Compliance (Doc.
#014-14). Schlieve/L. Thompson
RESULT: Carried.
The second portion of the annual report contains a series of checkboxes for public library
system evaluation and compliance. A new section on the reporting requirements is
collaborative activities.
MEMBER LIBRARY COMPLIANCE ISSUES:
The Cumberland library did not check the compliance box for not having a properly appointed
library board. It was discovered that it has not held elections for board officers for at least 5
years. The statutes require an annual election of officers. Thompson prepared a memo with
a timeline to bring the library back into compliance. Said memo was reviewed by the
Department of Public Instruction and upon board approval it will be sent to Cumberland. The
memo would require election of all board officers by May 2014.
There doesn’t appear to be any record or formal board action noted in the minutes for the
library board in Cumberland. They are aware of the issue.
The Cumberland Library Board should not have an issue of getting the election completed by
May. If it does not occur by then, another letter with a possible reduction of system services
will be sent.
MOTION #013(14): To approve the Library System Membership Compliance memo to
Cumberland with the effective date of May 1, 2014. Mercord/Lieffring
RESULT: Carried.
SYSTEM EFFECTIVENESS STATEMENTS
FROM MEMBER LIBRARIES:
IFLS received five positive responses to the Statement Concerning Public Library System
Effectiveness. Two libraries submitted their responses electronically and Thompson has
requested copies of those.
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Norman noted that he has heard nothing negative from the library visits he has been making.
Most libraries have acknowledged how critical IFLS is and appreciative of the tech support.
Norman recently visited the Price County libraries and they were very appreciative.
PROJECT WIN UPDATE:
Libraries from all three systems (Wisconsin Valley, Indianhead, and Northern Waters) will be
compiling the initial set of comments from the draft recommendation reports. It is still too
early to review the content. The comments will go to the individual committees for feedback
before being issued in a final draft report. Librarians are being encouraged to share with their
library boards to get additional feedback.
The initial intent was to have an all-library meeting on April 23rd to discuss the project. WILS
has recommended postponing that meeting and hold separate system meetings first. After
each of the three systems have had time to hold their meetings, they will be brought together
to meet.
Currently, Thompson and Button are looking at the nuts and bolts of the costs and crafting a
draft budget. The budget will be discussed with all three system directors prior to sending out
to everyone. It is hoped this meeting can occur within the next 10 days.
The decision may come down to if the system(s) are willing to pay more money. The goal is
the discussions are to provide better service. In order for IFLS to move forward the merged
ILS system must provide the same level of service as we currently do or enhanced.
If all existing member libraries in the three systems choose to participate, it would bring the
shared ILS membership to 99 members. All the systems involved in discussions are using
the Innovative software, although they may be slightly different versions.
There have been healthy discussions among the three systems. The goal the group is
working towards is to craft the shared ILS system for the betterment of libraries in a
responsible way. Thompson’s view is that it is a good learning experience, even if doesn’t go
forward beyond discussions.
BOARD SUMMER MEETING AND LIBRARY VISIT:
The full board annually holds their meeting at a member public library that has a large
enough meeting room. IFLS will inquire if River Falls would like to host the July 23, 2014
Board meeting.
REPORTS:
In-depth Staff Report – Leah Langby: Langby serves as the Library Development and Youth
Services Coordinator. Langby coordinates webinars and workshops, serving underserved
populations, and youth services.
This year’s focus for Langby is on early childhood issues. Langby views this as a nitch
libraries can fill. Early learning is fundamental and critical. Langby is participating in a
statewide initiative – Growing Wisconsin Readers.
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Langby recently attended a statewide symposium on engagement with young children which
emphasized relationships children have with adults. The symposium offered suggestions to
help libraries address families and caregivers.
Langby is working on the Early Literacy grant project. 20 member libraries are participating in
the mini-grant part of the project.
Langby has also coordinated some interesting workshops and trainings in April and May,
including one that incorporates elements of the Every Child Ready to Read 2. The
workshops and trainings are to empower the librarians to feel they can get the message out.
Langby met with the early childhood coordinators at CESA 10 and 11 and she is excited
about collaborating with them on early childhood projects and training.
Langby received good responses on webinars held in February and March. The webinar on
designing flyers and brochures had 140 people from all over the state participate. Bloomer
held a session about picture books that was also very popular statewide.
The Board thanked Langby for reporting.
Advisory Council Report – Ted Stark of Menomonie Public Library: Stark reported that the
Advisory Council of Librarians held their first meeting of the year on March 3 rd. Stark is a new
representative to the Council and represents Dunn County.
Stark reported that a System Governance Taskforce was created by SRLAAW (System and
Resource Library Administrators Association of Wisconsin) to review system governance and
make recommendations. John Stoneberg is chair of the taskforce. The Board would have
until May 5th to respond to the recommendations. Thompson could bring them to SRLAAW.
The first recommendation was a requirement that 40% of system board members be active
voting members of local library boards. This would not require a change to statutes and is
something that systems could implement immediately. IFLS will include language in letters to
the county boards when a trustee’s term has expired or the position needs to be filled.
Achterhof suggested that Friends of the Library can also be a good source for trustee
appointments to system boards.
The second recommendation would be that a member library director be appointed/elected to
attend the system board meetings and report back to the advisory group of librarians.
L. Thompson noted that she liked advisory representatives to attend the meetings and also
felt the minutes do a good job.
The Elk Mound branch library is opening April 1, 2014. They are currently a branch of the
Menomonie library. A pickup location was started there a couple years ago in the Village
Hall. They have recently refurbished a building which includes the library and community
center. The branch library will be open 27 hours a week. The exterior of the building still
needs some work, but the interior is very nice.
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Menomonie is working with the Bremer L3 Grant, as are several other libraries in IFLS. It
includes meeting with consultants and select IFLS staff to help build capacity, fundraise, and
strategize to bring in funding. With the assistance of Thompson in creating a strategic
marketing plan, Menomonie turned the information into a PR piece to use and attached some
marketing ideas. Menomonie will have a library card drive in September and reach out to
potential patrons.
ADJOURNMENT:
Motion to adjourn at 2:31 pm by Mercord/Duerkop
____________________________________________
Joanne Gardner, Recorder/Administrative Assistant
These minutes of the Board of Trustees are approved:
 as printed.
 with corrections noted.
_________________________________________
Presiding Officer
______________________
Dated
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