FALCONS Meeting Minutes – November 2014
Date: Nov. 20, 2014
Present: Auburn, Aurora, Candor, Cato, Cortland, Dryden, FLLS, Groton, Homer, Interlaken, Lansing, McGraw, Newark Valley, Newfield, Nichols, Ovid, Poplar Ridge, Seneca Falls, Spencer, TCPL, Trumansburg, Union Springs, Weedsport
Absent: Alternatives, Apalachin, Berkshire, Cincinnatus, Fair Haven, Lodi, Marathon, Moravia, Owego, Port Byron, Waterloo, Waverly
Announcements:
Rex reported that FLLS has hired an interim Director to serve while Amy is out on medical leave. Her name is Deborah Schmidle. She will be at FLLS two day a week and can be contacted at dschmidle@flls.org.
Linda reported she has looked into digital magazines and has not yet found anything affordable. Zinio has a $20,000/yr. platform fee. Overdrives platform is $7500/yr. EBSCO does not have a platform fee but the subscription costs are astronomically high.
Amanda reported the HOOPLA will be adding audio books. She will be offering trainings on how to order on Overdrive. Email Rex is you want to start ordering so he can set up an account for you.
Also there will be a training on January with 4-H on incorporating STEM books and 4-H into library activities.
Minutes: Motion to accept Aug. minutes: Diane Pamel, DRY made a motion to accept the minutes, Lisa Carr of AUB seconded. Motion approved.
Old Business
Budget for CNS:
The budget as presented in August was approved by FLLS Board of Trustees. The increase in fees to member libraries will be effective Jan. 1, 2015
Streaming video:
Rex mentioned that 3-M will start offering audio downloadables, making it a more viable alternative to Overdrive in the future. It still does not have e-books that are compatible with Kindle paperwhites.
Hoopla charges per circulation for streaming. Usually $1-3/circ. They have video and will start offering audio soon. Patrons would be able to use up to an amount that the library allots. We would be able to limit how many circs per patron. Once the amount for the month was used, there would be no more circulations until the next month.
Overdrive streaming selection is very limited.
For Overdrive to be integrated into the catalog would require the system purchasing a $2000 plug-in. Rex will look for a webinar or demonstration for the plug-in. There is also an annual maintenance fee.
System Wide Common Card:
Jen from TCPL brought up the need for a discussion of policies related to the common card. Rex has sent out a basic draft of policies to start the discussion. A list of things to include in a common card circulation policy needs to be created including privacy, what in patron registration needs to be included by all libraries, etc.
The group felt there was a need for an Ad Hoc committee to begin to work on internal policy issues related to a common card. Lisa from AUB will chair the committee, which will start meeting in January. Having one large library and one small library from each county was suggested as a good committee make-up.
Bulk Computer Purchases:
The computers have all been stages and delivered. Eight-four computers in total were purchased and staged by FLLS staff. Eight libraries received theirs through delivery. The other 16 libraries had their computers delivered and set up by CNS staff.
The next bulk purchase will most likely be in May of 2015. Prices will mostly likely be about $50 higher per computer than this year. Libraries should plan on replacing computers every 5 years. The recommended formula to figure out how many computers to replace each year is (Total number of computers in the library divided by 5 rounded up to the next whole number). This will ensure that all the library computers are under warranty.
Lisa requested that next year’s purchase include a price for tablets. Apple does have a small discount for educational purchases, although it’s unclear whether libraries qualify. There is no state discount for iPads.
Polaris Leap runs on HTML5 compatible browser. If libraries want to run a receipt printer from a tablet it would need to have drivers to do that. Amanda will contact Apple re: iPads for libraries.
Deep Freeze:
Corrected instructions were handed out for using Deep Freeze. Instructions for working with the Deep Freeze Console will be available soon. Lisa requested that instructions be dated so we can tell which are the most recent.
New Business
FLLS Move:
The move Date is scheduled for 1/12/15. Rex hopes Polaris will only be down for ½ day. The worst case scenario is that it will be offline for 1-2 days.
Linda reported the delivery schedule would change after the move, because they will now have to deliver to TCPL also. TCPL will be the first stop on the North Route and the last stop on the South route. Libraries on the South Route will need to separate and forward sort TCPL items. They are not sure yet how much change in delivery times there will be. If library directors are concerned about the time of deliveries they should contact Linda.
Out-of-system ILLS will need to be back to FLLS before the move. There will be a shorter loan period until the move is completed. Please explain this to patrons if there are questions. Also, patrons who request a lot of out-of-system ILLs should be asked to delay some of their requests until after the move.
This information will be put on the catalog, alerting patrons to the need to not request items between mid-Dec. and mid-Jan.
If you need story time materials please plan ahead and assume there may not be access from mid-Dec. to late Jan.
Please don’t return Floating Collection materials to FLLS until after the move.
There will be no deliveries for about 1 week during the move, possibly longer.
FLLS will provide instructions on when to stop pulling books on the request manager list and when to restart.
Polaris:
Polaris upgrade is scheduled for Wednesday, 12/10. Libraries should plan on Polaris being down until 3 pm. Rex will send out a “What’s New in 5.0” document.
If using Polaris Offline, there will be a time when you have to record things manually. If you get a message to log out of Polaris Offline, please do so and don’t log back in until Rex says it’s okay to so.
Polaris Leap is on the training server. Try logging on and playing with it. A handout was given on how to login. This training server is not live, so we can feel free to play with it as much as staff need to. Leap will be on the production server starting Dec. 10th.
Rex will check into Bluetooth wireless scanners. They will most likely be in the $250-450 range. He is not sure if we can use the camera on a tablet as a scanner.
For the time being, we will be able to use Polaris Leap with the Polaris client, so we can use Leap on laptops outside the building without have having to purchase another Polaris client.
New Patron Codes:
AUB requested a new patron code for Limited Access to be given to patrons who have had bad past behavior and are endeavoring to regain library privileges. There is currently an MIA code that is much more restrictive than what Lisa is envisioning.
TCPL would like a Baby code for cards given out to newborns at the hospital. It could include such parameters as fine-free baby books.
Each library would have to supply Rex with the parameters they wish these codes to have (borrowing privileges and limits) and whether they will use these codes. Lisa and Jen will send out what limits they are considering using.
Holds with Multiple Bib Records, Holds Queue Issues:
Lisa brought up the issue of holds being placed on a Bib Record that wasn’t the home library’s copy, even though the library actually had a copy of them item and wondered if there was a way to fix it. Consolidating bib records was discussed, but some librarian’s felt they had patrons that did prefer paperback over hard cover or vice versa. Sandy was not available to discuss the topic from the cataloging department’s perspective. There will need to be further discussion to see how to best serve patrons.
Meeting adjourned: Motion to adjourn was made by Lisa Carr, AUB and seconded by Libbie Messina of Cato. Motion passed. Meeting adjourned at 11:40 am.
Next Meeting: Feb. 19, 2015.