Hastings-Northumberland-Prince Edward- Addington Highlands area
Library Committee Meeting Notes September 22, 2008
A meeting of the librarians in the Hastings-Northumberland-Prince
Edward Addington Highlands was held on Monday, September 22, 2008
at the Stirling-Rawdon Public Library. Sue Winfield provided a tour of
the new local history room and the new children’s librarian’s
office/storage area (in two old storage rooms in the old Carnegie
section) and then the renovated section of the children’s library (where
the local history collection used to be)
Attendance:
|
June Phillips |
Addington Highlands
Public Library |
|
Kim McMunn |
Bancroft Public
Library |
|
Karen Lewis |
Kanhiote-Tyendinaga
Territory Public Library |
|
Susan Smith |
Madoc Public
Library |
|
Barbara Sweet |
County of Prince
Edward Public Library |
|
Linda Wallington |
Quinte West Public
Library - Frankford |
|
Sue Winfield |
Stirling-Rawdon
Public Library |
|
Cathy Anderson |
Tweed Public
Library |
|
Frances Smith |
Tyendinaga Township
Public Library & Deseronto Public Library |
|
Bonnie Weise |
Wollaston-Limerick
Union Public Library |
|
Peggy Malcolm |
SOLS Staff |
|
Regrets |
|
|
Kathleen Postance |
Carlow-Mayo Public
Library |
|
Julie Andrews-Jotham |
Hastings Highlands
Public Library |
|
Sheryl Price |
Marmora |
|
Donna Wilson |
Trent Hills Public
Library |
SOLS Updates
As this meeting was held before the actual Operational Plan Update
was ready, Peggy shared a few of the highlights.
The SOLS Operations Plan Quarterly Update for October 2008 is
now available on the SOLS website at
http://www.sols.org/aboutsols/reports/operational/operationsplanningupdateoctober2008.pdf.
A copy of these e-mail is also attached to the e-mail sent out.
Policies
With respect to policies, SOLS is organizing a series of
workshops on Policy Development to be held in the Fall. However – as of
October 2nd, both of these workshops were cancelled due to lack of
registration.
For this reason, a working meeting on policy was set for
Wednesday, October 8th from 10 am to 3 pm. It will be held at the
Tyendinaga Township library – and will be a brown bag affair. Please
bring your policies – if you have a laptop with some of your policies
loaded, that would be great – otherwise, we will use Ty’s wireless
network to access some of the samples in the Joint OLS-N/SOLS
Clearinghouse of Professional Information (and share between us).
Training
This fall SOLS is offering Music and Rhymes for Storytimes
with Debbie Carroll. At this workshop, staff will learn why music is an
important part of story time and how it contributes to verbal
communication and pre-literacy skills. This hands-on session will let
you add beautiful, fun and age-appropriate songs and rhymes to your
repertoire. While not exactly close, Perth isn’t too far for some to the
east… the workshop will be held on Wednesday, October 29, 2008 from 1pm
to 4pm at the Perth & District Union Public Library. Please visit the
SOLS website for further information and to register:
http://www.sols.org/librarydev/training/workshops/workshop1.htm
Registration at three locations is still available.
See photos from the first session and
listen to Debbie Carroll sing her songs.
CAP funding
there still seems to be different information on the
continuation – but COIN has stated that it should run. Peggy will still
follow-up with Melanie at the CAP office in Bancroft re: Stirling and Madoc becoming CAP sites.
NetLibrary
While the program will continue, the $100 subsidy will be
discontinued at the end of the year. Libraries who decide not to
subscribe any longer will still have access to the e-books “purchased”
during the subscription period. Only those libraries who continue to
subscribe will have access to any new e-books added to the collection.
With respect to content and putting the links on the website - make
sure that, at a minimum, you have links to NetLibrary on your website.
Two libraries reported putting the titles right into the catalogue
(Prince Edward and Tweed) and this seems to have resulted in increased
usage of the ebook collection. In the fall, there will be a free webinar
on using NetLibrary’s e-books and another on using NetLibrary’s
audiobooks. Here is a “snag-it” of a NetLibrary e-audiobook entry from
the Tweed PL catalogue (Mandarin catalogue):
| Note: While it is possible to put MARC records for the
NetLibrary e-books and e-audiobooks right into the library
catalogue, it is not practical to do that for the Knowledge
Ontario databases (too many records). However, at a minimum,
there should be links to the two sets of Knowledge Ontario
databases – EBSCO’s Canadian Reference Centre and Gale’s
many databases such as CPI-Q, Academic One File. One
interesting example that shows how a library can show both
individual databases and the cross-searchable databases can
be found on the North Grenville Public Library site –
www.ngpl.ca |
People asked for instructions for downloading the MARC records for
NetLibrary’s e-books into the catalogue - these instructions are posted
on the NetLibrary website (http://www.netlibrary.com/).
However, we may need to talk about this further if people are still
having trouble doing this download (after you download, your records
will look similar to that shown above for Tweed).
Look in the Tech Tips section -
http://company.netlibrary.com/TechTips.aspx. The “Load MARC records”
page contains the following:
| How it Works: Load MARC Records
You can spare your staff the process of cataloging
hundreds or thousands of individual titles, when you load
MARC records with your new NetLibrary content. And your
holdings are automatically set in WorldCat, so they are
immediately visible to your patrons.
Once you've loaded the MARC records, your users can:
- Find eContent and locate eAudiobooks, eBooks,
eJournals and databases more easily in your library
collections
- Access your eContent retrieved through searches of
abstracts and index databases
- Save time and simplify searches. There's no need to
log in and out of different services to find what they
need and where to get it
To retrieve the file of MARC records for your NetLibrary
Shared Collection, go to the
OCLC Product Services Web (PSW)
Then follow the instructions below:
- Click Records and reports
- Click OCLC Batch Services Records and Reports
- Enter your OCLC authorization and password (from
your OCLC regional service provider)
- Click the 'download' link to download the file to
your local workstation.
- After you have clicked on the 'download' link, a
File Download Window will pop-up.
- Perform a SAVE AS, as per your browser's Help
instructions (If using Netscape Navigator, select 'Save
this file to disk' then click 'OK').
- Optional - Rename file. Your local system may have
specific requirements for file names. If so, on the
bottom type the name of the file using your local
system's file naming conventions. (If using Netscape
Navigator, you may need to remove the '.aspx' at the end
of the file name.)
- To save the file, click Save
|
Connectivity
Don’t forget that SOLS has a connectivity fund to help pay
for upgrades on systems – just don’t buy ahead and have them pay as it
has to be new upgrades. This would include wireless (external from the
supplier), satellite, cable or telephone). To work most of the systems (NetLibrary,
Knowledge Ontario aka Gale, EBSCO’s Canadian Reference Centre), you need
to have a static IP address and this could be paid from this fund.
There was a question about counting wireless users (this is needed
for the Annual Survey as well as for local reporting to board, etc.).
Prince Edward has 3 networks in the library – 2 are secure and the 3rd
is for public use and it is that one that is counted. This information
on counting was provided to the group.
| Creating your own public Wi-Fi access point
What's required?
- An existing high-speed internet connection
- A wireless access point/router. If you don't already
have one the D-Link WBR-2310 is very easy to setup. $60
from Staples
- An old PC with CD-ROM, 2xNIC and a 3.5" floppy drive
(does not need a hard drive).
- A 3.5" floppy disk
- The ZoneCD software CD. Freely downloaded from
http://publicip.com
and then needs to be burned to a blank CD.
- During the initial setup a keyboard, mouse and
monitor will be needed for the PC.
- Paid vs Free: The free service allows you to provide
free public wi-fi access while keeping your library
network safe from wifi hackers. You can't run reports.
You can't tell how many people are connected and little
customizability. Paid users get tons of reporting
options, authentication options, port blocking and
forwarding (so patrons could still print from wifi),
customizable login screen, etc.
Providing Wireless Access to the Masses
Plug in the PC including power, keyboard, mouse and
monitor. A cable from the library's existing network plugs
into one of the PC's network cards. The other network card
runs to the wireless access point/router. Ensure the
computer is set to boot from the CDROM first.
A few changes need to be made to the access point/router.
The name of the wi-fi network has to be set and WAP mode
turned on. All wireless security should be turned off.
Security is handled by the PC.
If you are paying for the service you need to setup an
account at publicip.com. Everything is configured from your
online profile. Once you have the settings in place for your
new Wi-Fi hotspot (name, # of concurrent users, etc) you
will copy a "certificate" file to a floppy disk. This file
tells the PC where to download your Wi-Fi settings from.
Download
and burn the ZoneCD .iso file to CD. Put it in the PC's
CDROM and turn the computer on. This type of CD is what is
referred to as a LiveCD, meaning that the PC is booting and
running the operating system directly from the CD. Startup
may take a few minutes. You will be asked some questions
like: are you using free or paid service, your timezone, and
what time the PC will automatically reboot. Paid accounts
will have to enter the username/password combination that
was created online.
After all that is done the keyboard, mouse and monitor
can be removed. The PC will automatically reboot at the time
you picked to keep itself error free. The ZoneCD and floppy
disk will remain in the computer.
Lucas McFaul, IT Coordinator
County of Prince Edward Public Library
Phone:(613) 476-5962
Email: computerlab@peclibrary.org |
Websites
There was a recent workshop on building websites. I just
received a note from the presener to say that the sample website from
that workshop is now live. If you have a few minutes, take a look:
| Thought I'd drop you a quick note to …let you know that
the Asphodel/Norwood site went live recently. You can see it
at www.anpl.org. I know
it's been a long time (ANPL had some technical hurdles
internally to get over) but if there's still some interest
out there for our services, please let me know.
Rob Kingston, Account Director & Strategic Planning
e:
rob@liftcommunications.ca
t: 416.362.8724
m: 647.295.1302 www.liftcommunications.ca |
Per household operating grant - While most people have
completed the Annual Survey, very few have actually received their ‘per
household operating grants’ – only Addington Highlands and Tweed
reported receiving this. Mima Casola of Culture Programs Unit
(416-314-7613) – e-mail address is mima.casola@ontario.ca
Tangible capital assets – In the past, we had discussed how to
value the collection but now some libraries are being asked for much
more. For example, Prince Edward County has brought in a consultant and
created a manual on how to collect the information on capital assets in
the County. Others have not been asked for anything yet. Here is some
background information. We are going to follow this with the Ministry to
try to figure out what libraries need to collection – in the meantime,
unfortunately, its vague.
Here is the information on the valuation of a collection as printed
in Signal - October 2007), then below that is copy of correspondence
between SOLS and the Ministry.
| 6. COLLECTION VALUATION
A number of CEOs have asked if SOLS could provide a model
for valuing collections. Some municipalities have required
their local libraries to undertake this calculation and
provided a required methodology; some have not communicated
with their local library on the subject; and some have
communicated with their local libraries requiring the task
be completed, but without providing a methodology. This
information will be of interest to the last group in this
list.
There is, of course, the whole issue of whether
collections should be valued and considered a balance sheet
asset, just as it would skew the real financial picture of a
library, similar to the way museums' and galleries'
financial pictures would be skewed by the values of their
collections. However, if you do need to put a value on
collections, the following is a relatively straightforward
method that was provided to SOLS by visiting library
managers from Australia.
The method consists of amortizing the collection over
seven years. Any item more than seven years old is worth
nothing, any item bought in the current year is worth the
average price of a book. In Ontario, the average value of a
book is provided by the Library Services Centre on an annual
basis, and is posted on the LSC website at
http://www.lsc.on.ca/asp/html/LSC2006PriceStudy.htm
Libraries should be able to query the database for their
library collection to verify the number of items that are a
certain age. Items seven years old are worth 1/7th of the
LSC average price, items six years old are worth 2/7th of
the LSC average price, and so forth.
With respect to electronic products, most need not be
valued. Databases are accessible through licenses and, in
accounting theory, leased equipment, space, etc., are not
considered assets. Libraries can hold title to e-books, so
e-books (but not the annual maintenance fees) should be
amortized using the same method as used for books. Pooled
e-books, and for that matter, rotating pooled materials
should not be considered assets, as they are owned as a
group. Periodicals are not considered assets as they are
time- sensitive and generally do not have a value beyond the
year of acquisition.
If you would like to explore this further, please contact
either Helene Golden at 1-877-532-2901, hgolden@sols.org or
Daryl Novak at 1-800-387-5765 ext 5135, dnovak@sols.org |
When we received further information that some municipalities were
asking their libraries for more than that, there was a question sent to
our Ministry – and the response is shown here.
| Question: With respect to the tangible capital
assets - do you have any more information on exactly what
should be counted. I realize that it isn't until 2009 but
some are being asked by their municipalities to count
various items (and the requests are inconsistent between
municipalities) Any direction or specifics on what they are
supposed to count, and how much detail (e.g. some are being
asked for the number of books including supplying the
individual book titles in a print-out)
Response from Ministry: The contact at MMAH said
that public library boards will have to report on tangible
capital assets as requested by their municipality. In
response to my questions, he noted that there would be
differences in what individual CAO / treasurers asked to be
collected. He suggested that if the items being requested
seem unreasonable, that the public library CEO or board
should approach the CAO / treasurer and try to negotiate
what seems reasonable. I noted that for a very small library
with limited staffing and hours that counting books could be
onerous. He expressed surprise and noted his view that he
thought all libraries would keep inventories of books in
order to know what to replace. I explained the differences
for the non-automated and automated ones to deal with the
request for number of books and their titles.
So...I suggest at this point as we begin our work with
public libraries and PSAB, that we advise that a library
that finds a request such as number of books and titles to
be onerous should meet with the CAO / treasurer and
negotiate a compromise that suits all. I'd also suggest that
as necessary, the library enrol the help of municipal
councillors as board members to help enable this in working
with the municipality.
The contact at MMAH suggested that these organizations:
AMCTO; Municipal Finance Officers; Canadian Institute of
Chartered Accountants (the latter I believe originated PSAB)
would have more PSAB information on their websites. |
Local Issues
On September 2nd, Kim McMunn sent an e-mail to investigate the
possibility of collaborating in the area. The context was a
collaborative project on book bags between 6 libraries collaborated on a
book bag project. A second project with Hastings Highlands and funded
primarily by LSDF is about The project with Hastings Highlands is also
with Community Care – through the project will provide services for
those unable to use the library - they bought a new machine to be able
to record someone reading the local newspapers and local history
materials. They purchased Daisy printers and Daisy media (Daisy is the
format used for talking books now for “those unable to use print” – in
the same way that tapes used to be the format of choice). The Lions and
Rotary Clubs are also helping out.
As an aside, the Rideau Talking Book Pool is also available to anyone
– most details are posted at
http://www.sols.org/resourcesharing/pools/talkingbooks/Index.htm.
You pay for the number of items used – e.g if you get 25 talking books
in a year from the Rideau collection, then you pay $25.00 for the year.
| Kim also mentioned that some attended a meeting in
Trenton regarding the $15 million and heard about a
library-organized group in the north that meets and
discusses fundraising, marketing and library "issues". One
example is the Blue Sky Region that has a Learning Library
Campaign by PALS - Public and Academic Libraries Sharing.
With budgeting dollars so tight, volunteers so scarce, etc.,
etc.; we decided that there is power in numbers and we would
like to meet and see how we can 'help ourselves'. In
arranging the meeting, it was decided that this could be
part of the regular Tri-County Library Committee meeting.
For those unable to attend, notes will be provided. |
At the meeting, we talked about being able to collaborate on:
- programming (for example, hiring someone to go around to different libraries)
- having an IT person who could go from library to library
- developing an advertising strategy – for example, including a map to area libraries, list of
services offered
- buying directional signs for local libraries
In the end, one of the ideas that will be pursued for now is:
- an idea of having a “visit the
library’ campaign for a smaller prize (with each library looking
after a local smaller prize)
- another contest with those who
sign up as members being entered into a draw for a computer
(with Karen and Barbara following up on getting a donated
computer
- have a PSA (public service
announcement) about the contests which Barbara Sweet offered to
look after but which individual libraries would have to arrange
to submit.
- create a brochure and map to area
libraries (someone on PEC staff will look after this)
Here is a copy of the notes provided by Kim to the entire Tri-County
e-mail group:
…. to send a follow-up of our new library cooperative to
the libraries that were unable to attend:
- As the members at the table were from Prince Edward,
Hastings and Lennox and Addington Counties, we have
decided to form a partnership with these boundaries. I
believe that we are more than willing to exchange ideas
with outlying areas that would be interested in forming
their own cooperative.
- Each initiative will be entered on a voluntary basis
by each library and the buy-in will be pro-rated
according to library size. Peggy has offered to assist
us with stats.
- Name of this initiative and defining details are to
be decided at a meeting later in the year. We kept this
one short as time for discussion was brief. Put your
thinking caps on and bring your experience from other
boards that you found worked well.
- Barbara Sweet (PEC) brought a membership initiative
to the table and will be meeting with Belleville and
Trenton to see if they are interested. Details will be
released shortly with Ontario Public Library Week being
key to the timing. Decision on whether to participate or
not will need to be made quickly as timing for printing
is short.
- Peggy has sent pictures taken yesterday to be used
with press release showing members from all 3 areas
described above.
I look forward to meeting with everyone at a later date
to structure our group - don't forget to bring ideas for
fund-raising or library promotion or a good library laugh. I
can see that we will need a strong chair (hint, hint,
Barbara) to keep things on-track and timely. We do love to
visit... Let's try for November so that we can review the
Membership Initiative and I'll let you know how the Bag O'
Books Silent Auction went over.
Also a reminder that the OLA Super Conference is around
the corner and for those of us lucky enough to go, make sure
that you give a little thought to our new venture and bring
home some good suggestions. As I learned a couple of years
ago, it is ok to "shamelessly steal" a good idea and make it
your own. Chat soon.
|
As clarification, Peggy provided the following background information
on meetings: The Library Committee meetings are not SOLS meetings. We
have organized them to be networking opportunities for the libraries
within a geographical area. True, we usually have time for an update on
SOLS operations and to share information about the larger picture such
as new legislation – but a great part of the meeting is for roundtable.
It is at these roundtable discussions that libraries are welcome to
discuss local issues or issues affecting a larger area. I would hate to
see you try to organize another group to allow time to discuss
initiatives of local/regional interest since that is one of the purposes
of the Library Committee meetings …. One of the reasons that we have
gone to 2 presentations/clinics and left one of the 3 meetings open is
so that there is more time for discussion of issues. The reason that
SOLS organizes these meetings is that we know that library staff are
busy and we can facilitate the organization of such meetings. Obviously,
if you feel that another group is necessary, that is fine, you just
don’t have to form another group if it is just to find time for
discussion.
| October 1st – Update from Barbara Sweet
We are working away on the brochure for the joint
promotion for Ontario Public Library Week. It should be
ready soon. I will send off a draft for everyone to check
their information to make sure it is correct.
Karen has contacted Tyendinaga Computers, and I will
follow up.
Mark (Gagnon) has contacted MicroAge so we will see soon
if we have a donated computer.
Everyone contacted has wanted to participate. I think in
total about 19 libraries in the region. Further updates
soon. |
Roundtable (Highlights)
Quinte West/Frankford branch – the Friends of the Library
group have an ongoing book sale at the Frankford branch. They bring in
about $500-$600 per month. Linda noticed that they can’t seem to sell
Harlequin paperbacks. Others noted that they have people who do read
them – some have an exchange spot where people can take some, return
some.
Addington – June Phillips has upgrades to a satellite with
1250 mb – which means that she should have plenty of space for downloads
and uploads.
Bancroft – Kim McMunn reported that they had a fundraiser with
author Robert Sawyer . Another fundraising idea that Bancroft has used
is the “Bag of Books Silent Auction” – presently they have 7 bags – each
is a dollar store bag with some extra pockets and contains several good
hardcover donated bogs. Each bag has a reserve bid on it, but through a
silent auction, these bags are auctioned off by a certain date.
The library currently has a Trillium application in and hopes that it
is successful. There is a new plan for a new library facility using some
municipal land – stay tuned.
Prince Edward – Barbara reported that they had been offering a
tutoring program at the library. When the money ran out, they started to
get calls and so had the Friends group support the continuation and it
has grown. Due to a staff change, the position of Children’s Librarian
has been changed and it is more of a programmer position which includes
the tutoring program and outreach. On the issue of summer students,
Barbara noted that they received them far too late.
Kanhiote Tyendinaga - Like Barbara, Karen Lewis at Kanhiote
has been frustrated with summer students. The cooperative summer camps
for the reserve worked well – and they did come to the library. Karen
reported that the First Nation Strategic Plan is being implemented with
LSDF funding. This will provide some advocacy work under the title of
“Knowledge Keepers: Speak up for First Nation Libraries”. The launch of
First Nation Public Library Week will be at Kanhiote this year.
Wollaston-Limerick – Bonnie Weise reported that they need to
do a fair bit of work around their policies. She explained that there is
yet another allergy concern at the school next door, which means that
the relationship between the school and the school/public library is not
yet resolved.
Quinte West – Linda Wallington had a question about who offers a
shut-in-service (at the table: Deseronto, Prince Edward, Addington
Highlands)..The question of how the service happens will be brought to
the next meeting . But in the meantime – Prince Edward does advertise
their service, anyone can use it if they feel they need to, no police
check required for the service.
Deseronto – There is a new library clerk in Deseronto. Through Job
Connect (the wage subsidy of $2/hour), the library created a full-time
job for the summer. The library was approved for the Sarah Badgeley fund
and will start a “Bag a book” program at the library with the Friends,
the Early Years program and Greenley’s bookstore. If the person comes
back to the library 10 times, they get their name in a draw.
The library plans to go live with Mandarin very soon.
Stirling – Sue Winfield reported that the children’s librarian has
resigned and will be replaced. However, the summer programs were very
successful and ran 1 week each month (mornings only) on two themes –
Charlotte’s Web and James and the Giant Peach. The two summer book sales
brought in $600. The library continues to run computer classes – with
the next set in October and November (last year, the 2 months were
entirely booked). These are tutorials with 5 people per class – learning
“how to” on using a mouse, windows, etc. They are offered one hour
before the library opens except Wed. 7-8 when the local history group is
here and the library is open to them.The library staff participated in
the Shirt Tale Parade, held as part of the Town’s 150th anniversary
celebrations.
The date of the next Trustee Council meeting is Saturday, November
22, 2008 at Deseronto (time to be confirmed).
The date for the next two Library Committee meetings are:
- Monday, March 23, 2009 at Tyendinaga Township (will include a free clinic on the
requirements for the new Accessibility Standards)
- Monday, June 1st at Prince Edward/Picton.
The date for the next Friends of the Library Gathering is Saturday,
April 25, 2008 – 10 am to 2 pm (location to be determined)
