President Robin Reed Brooks Clark called the meeting to order at 10:09 a.m. on Friday, May 9, 2014 at the Seward Memorial Library, Seward, Nebraska. The meeting was conducted in compliance with the Nebraska Public/Open Meetings Law posted in the library. Member libraries received notices and copies of the Agenda on May 7, 2014, and a copy of the revised Agenda on May 8, 2014 to post locally. The agenda notice was also posted on the Pioneer website.
Attendance
Voting members of the Executive Council present were President Robin Reed Brooks Clark, Sump Memorial Library, Papillion; Vice President Laureen Riedesel, Beatrice Public Library; Secretary Claire Bushong, Valley Public Library; Treasurer Vicki Perrie, Superior Public Library; Pat Leach, Immediate Past President, Lincoln City Libraries. Also present were Richard Miller, Nebraska Library Commission; and Steve Fosselman, Edith Abbott Memorial Library, Grand Island.
Minutes
Minutes of the February 28, 2014 meeting were approved by all voting members (moved by Leach, seconded by Perrie, carried 5-0).
Summary notes from the March 7, 2014 teleconference were acknowledged. There was not a quorum present, so there was no need for approval.
Treasurer’s Report [See attached report.]
The treasurer’s report was accepted as submitted with a beginning cash balance of $85,442.44 and ending cash balance of $85,442.44, with migration fees from Hoesch Memorial Library in Alma to be coming in soon. At Laureen Riedesel’s suggestion, Vickie Perrie will provide a report of intervening account activity to reconcile the difference between ending balance in the February minutes and beginning balance in the May minutes.
Business/Financial Agent Report [See attached report.]
Steve Fosselman will look into the question of signing contracts, since the business agent cannot be the contract signer. The President is able to sign contracts.
The Business Agent acts in the capacity of administrative support for the Consortium, receiving paperwork and distributing as necessary. This office also is the official repository for the consortium documentation, correspondence, and business records. The Principal office (place of business) of the consortium resides de facto with the Business Agent.
In the future, a report from the Business Agent will be included in the Annual Report, with the ultimate aim of raising awareness and involvement and providing support for the members.
Richard Miller asked if the final decision had been made for Grand Island to take over the financial business of the consortium. Fosselman answered that the question is still pending with the city.
Pat Leach brought up the question of audits of PTFS records. Robin Clark suggested that audit verification might be added.
Fosselman will report to the Executive Council as needed and does not need to be included on the agenda at every meeting.
Fosselman reported that Hoesch Memorial Library in Alma has made considerable progress toward migration, which should be scheduled soon, and that Dundee County Library migration took place on 5/8/2014.
There was not a report from the Technical Committee, but it was noted that the upgrade to 4.18 is scheduled to take place overnight on 5/13/2014. Perrie raised a question about patron renewal dates, but it seemed to be a local problem to be directed to Andrew Sherman.
Contingency Committee Report [See attached report.]
Discussion centered on the question of whether the proposed new committee should be added to the organizational structure as a new committee, or whether it would replace Membership and Public Relations committees. Miller pointed out the need for membership recruitment in addition to member support. Fosselman suggested changing the name of the committee to Pioneer Support to reflect responsibilities of the committee. Leach noted that it would be important to maintain the level of effectiveness previously achieved by the Membership committee and questioned the advisability of replacing this committee with one which had a broader scope of responsibilities. Clark pointed out that there should be an expectation that all members would be actively scouting for new members. Leach asked what was expected from members of the new committee in terms of attending meetings. Riedesel responded that after initial face-to-face meetings, email would be employed to the extent possible, and members would take advantage of attendance at other gatherings to convene as a committee.
The first recommendation of the Contingency Committee was accepted with the following changes:
- Establishment of one additional committee, the Pioneer Support Committee, during the 2014-2015 fiscal year.
- The business/financial agent will be a member of the committee.
- Add recruitment to the charge.
Vote was in favor 5-0.
At the end of a year, the effectiveness of the committee will be reviewed.
Miller asked if the second recommendation of the committee should wait until after NLC regional restructuring, and the group agreed that the topic could be delayed for discussion until the July 11 meeting.
New Business
There is a need to develop a policy for Pioneer Consortium members who allow their accreditation to lapse, as one member library is now in that situation. In the joint entity agreement, libraries must be accredited to join, and in the assurances maintaining accreditation is required. Motion by Perrie, second by Leach to adopt the following policy:
A public library member failing to maintain Nebraska Library Commission accreditation must certify to the Pioneer Consortium within thirty (30) days that it has a plan in place with the Nebraska Library Commission for re-accreditation. Failure to become accredited during the next accreditation cycle (July through October of each year) will constitute material breach of the member library’s duties. Proceedings will commence to terminate that library’s membership in accordance with the Joint Entity Agreement.
Motion carried 5-0.
Motion by Riedesel, second by Perrie to extend an agreement with Lincoln City Libraries for month-to-month financial management services until the Pioneer Fund has been formally established within the city of Grand Island budget structure, at the rate of $167.00 per month (1/12 of the annual budgeted amount).
Motion carried 5-0.
Robin Clark recommended that Pioneer members find time to meet at all regional system meetings.
The meeting was adjourned by the President at 12:02 p.m.
Next meeting is scheduled for July 11 at Sump Memorial Library in Papillion.
Pioneer Consortium 