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FALCONS Meeting Minutes February 2020

Eric Franks 1943 Views 6 min read

FALCONS Meeting Minutes

Minutes from FALCONS meeting held on 2/20/20 – Meeting was called to order at 9:31 AM.

Present:  Lisa Carr (AUB), Linda Kacapyr (CAN), Marcia Enright (CAN), Diane Pamel (DRY), Kayli Thompson (GRO), Asia Bonacci (TCPL), Melanie Pacelli (TCPL), Cheryl Austin (WEED)

Remote via ZOOM:  Cathy Sorber (APAL), Sandy (AURO), Fran Miller (BERK), Gayle James (CATO), Jen Graney (CORT), Allen Tompkins (FAIR), Chelsea Hastings (INT), Heather Cobb (MCGR), Erin Chapman (NEVA), Sue Chaffee (NEW), Jenny Burnett (SENF), Elizabeth Helmetsie (SPE), Carla Piperno-Jones (UNS), Chris Brewster (WAV)

Annual Election:  Cheryl Austin (Weedsport) volunteered to be Vice Chair.  Lisa Carr (AUB) volunteered to continue as Secretary.

Introductions:  Welcome to new Library Directors Erin Chapman (NEVA) and Jen Graney (CORT)

Announcements:  Connie Wilson from Polaris provided Mrs. Field’s cookies for the meeting today.  Thank you, Connie!

Sarah (FLLS):

  • FLLS must submit annual reports to the state by March 1st.
  • Tuesday 2/25 is Advocacy Day
  • FLLS will be advertising for a new director and a bookkeeper for the Port Byron Library

Jenny (FLLS):  Jenny will be in and out of the office over the next few weeks (attending PLA and holding training sessions at member libraries).  The best way to connect is via email.

Lisa (Seymour/AUB):  Seymour received a grant to develop an oral history collection and will be hiring a summer intern as part of this project.  If you know of a college student who may be interested, the job description is available at https://seymourlibrary.org/jobs-at-the-library/.

Motion to approve the minutes from the November 2019 meeting made by Linda (Candor)/2nd by Cheryl (Weedsport)

One Card:

  • Rex has been working on patron records identified as duplicates. With the annual patron record purge happening at this time, it has caused a set back with clearing up duplicate patrons.  Rex continues to work on this project.
  • TCPL asked that member libraries who routinely waive the processing fee to consider changing the default to what you actually want to charge so other libraries know how to proceed with charges. Please talk to Rex about changing the default processing charge for your library.

Authority Records/Catalog Clean up

Deb (FLLS) gave an overview of the project.  She is working to clean up records before sending to BackStage for processing.  She estimates the project will be done at beginning of May.

BYOD printing:  Rex will send an email to member libraries asking for a firm commitment.

Census 2020

  • The census postcard will be mailed around March 12th.
  • There is information on the FLLS website and a Census section in the weekly bulletin.
  • There is money available from counties to libraries. Talk to your local count group.
  • Keep track of everything your library does for the census count: reference questions, programs, number of attendees, computer sessions, displays, and marketing materials.
  • Computers & technology
    • Rex will set up a secure way for patrons to access the census website. Patrons will need to ask library staff for the password.
    • If your library is dedicating a specific laptop or desktop, there is a way to lock into the website. Call Eric for more information.

Computers

  • All computers should be up to date with the Windows 10 features update. If you have not done this yet, there are instructions on the FLLS website.
  • No one should be using Symantec antivirus. FLLS is now using Windows Defender.  Directions to remove Symantec are on the FLLS website.
  • Bulk Buy
    • Eric will have forms ready before the May FALCONS meeting.
    • Support for Windows 7 has ended. These machines need to be replaced.
    • Office 2010 support will end this fall. If you need Office 2019, buy it now from TechSoup so you will have the license keys for Eric when the new machines come in.
  • FLLS Network Upgrade: Rex notified us that the firewalls will be replaced between now and March 6th.  You may not be able to connect while it’s happening.
  • Rex reported FLLS is in the process of applying for eRate.

New York State SHIELD Act (Sarah)

This new law (July 2019) helps protect consumers’ private information, and holds businesses/nonprofits who collect customer data accountable.  This will mostly affect FLLS.   Member libraries should not collect & store credit card numbers, driver’s license numbers, EBT card numbers, SSN, etc on the patron registration screens in Polaris.  If you collect this information and keep it on paper applications, you are required to keep the paper applications locked.

  • Member libraries should review their data collection policies and amend procedures.
  • Member libraries should check insurance policies pertaining to cyber security coverage and may consider enhancing/upgrading existing policies.

Polaris In-Transit & Transferred items (Rex)

Please check holds with a status of in-transit or transferred. 

Open Request Manager and review the BY or STATUS fields.  Sort by DATE, reviewing the oldest items.

  1. Make sure BY field is set to Item (these are items you’re sending out)
    1. Check your shelves to see if the item is on the shelf
    2. If you find it, check it in to generate in-transit slip and ship to requesting library
    3. If you don’t find it, change item record Circ status to MISSING
  2. Change Status to EXPIRED
  3. Change BY to Pickup Location (these are items that have been sent to your library)
    1. Check your shelves – did the item get shelved without getting checked in?
    2. If you find it on the shelf, check it in to get to the correct status
    3. If you can’t find the item, contact the owning library to let them know the item isn’t here and still has a status of PENDING.

Reminder:  Library staff should NOT bypass blocks when placing holds.

Open Discussion

Lisa thanked FLLS staff for making the annual report process smoother.  Eric suggested member libraries should consider using google analytics to get their website counts.

Rex explained that he canceled the proposed Polaris upgrade due to the bug he mentioned at the last FALCONS meeting pertaining to bib record object locks.  The next upgrade will come out at the beginning of April and will include a fix for this bug.  It will also include a “preferred name” field and a fixed format for phone numbers.

Sarah & Jenny reviewed upcoming workshops/trainings at FLLS.

Respectfully submitted,
Lisa Carr

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