Finger Lakes Library System

Connecting public libraries in Cayuga, Cortland, Seneca, Tioga and Tompkins Counties

FALCONS Meeting Minutes – May 2015

FALCONS Meeting Minutes – May 2015

Date:     May 21, 2015

Present: Apalachin, Auburn, Aurora, Candor, Cato, Cortland, Dryden, FLLS, Groton, Homer, Lansing, McGraw, Newark Valley, Newfield, Nichols, Ovid, Poplar Ridge, Seneca Falls, Spencer, TCPL, Trumansburg, Union Springs, Waverly, Weedsport.

Absent: Alternatives, Berkshire, Cincinnatus, Fair Haven, Interlaken, Lodi, Marathon, Moravia, Owego, Port Byron, Waterloo

Announcements:

Linda Beins

  1. There has been a change to the Library Lending policy – TCPL is now allowing all their BOCDs to be placed on hold. Please let Linda know if your library has made any changes so that the spreadsheet can be updated.
  2. Suggestions are wanted for purchases to be made with CBA funds. Eric is working on an online form however submissions can be made to Amy Humber (TCPL) or Linda Beins (FLLS) until that is ready to use.

Amanda Schiavulli

  1. Amanda thanked everyone who responded to the Early Literacy Needs Analysis.
  2. “Tablet Tales” is part of the Family Literacy Grant and statistics are needed if a library uses the tablets for Story Hour. Amanda will come out and run a Story Hour and/or train library staff on how to utilize the tablets if requested.
  3. 55% of the member libraries are now contributing to Overdrive.
  4. The Summer Reading Program report draft has been sent to the libraries. This will be updated to include information related to 4-H.
  5. “Chat and Chew” will be held on June 4th. Suggestions for the agenda are requested by May 28th.

Rex Helwig

  1. Polaris was not putting blocks on patrons who had “missing items”. Rex has written a script and fixed the problem.  The block will be erased when the missing parts are returned and checked in.  You will still need to go into the Item Record and manually remove the Missing Part message.
  2. Polaris documents are no longer available in PDF format. There are only online help files available at this time.

Approval of Minutes:  Libbie Messina (CATO) made a motion to accept the February 2015 minutes.  Priscilla Berggren-Thomas (HOM) seconded this motion.  The minutes were approved unanimously.

OLD BUSINESS

System-wide Common Card Circulation Policies – Lisa Carr (AUB) will send an e-mail.  She is looking for 1 representative from each county to serve on the committee.  Rex is looking into webinar software or “Go To Meeting” to enable remote meetings to be held.

Power PAC Committee – Jen Schlossberg (TCPL) will chair this committee to discuss new features and features we would like to see on Polaris.  Recommendations will be sent to Rex.  She is also looking for 1 representative from each county.

Holds Queue (update) – Rex has added a “note” to patrons on the website to better explain how the queue works.  The note is a hyperlink to the library lending policies document.  The holds queue can be removed from a specific library’s PAC.  No one is able to change the order of the queue except FLLS staff.  Patrons can de-activate themselves from the queue if they are going on vacation and they will be re-entered into the correct order when they re-activate themselves.

NEW BUSINESS

Polaris Upgrade – Rex reported that Polaris will be upgraded to 5.0 SP1 on Wednesday, July 15th in the morning.  Wednesday mornings tend to be the least busy time system wide, although some libraries will be affected.  This upgrade will allow Overdrive items to be integrated into the PAC.  New content will be added and old content deleted automatically.  A training server will be available in June so the new PAC can be reviewed.

Library Card Reminder – Remember to enter the old barcode number into the “former barcode” field in a Patron Registration when giving a patron a new card to help us resolve Overdrive issues with the patron not being able to access their account with the old card number.

ILL

  1. If an item is renewed DO NOT cross out the original due date.
  2. Please DO NOT affix anything to ILL books, including post-it notes.
  3. Please DO NOT do any repairs to ILL books.
  4. Linda asked for input on her placing a block on patrons who abuse the system because this inhibits our ability to borrow books from certain libraries in the future. Patrons need to realize that their behavior can jeopardize the entire system. Jacie Spoon (CORT) suggested sending a letter to the patron and Lisa Carr (AUB) requested that the libraries also receive a copy of any notification sent to the patron.
  5. Linda would like to launch a 3 month trial for being a lender for ILL. Currently FLLS is only a borrower and at times this limits what we can borrow from outside of our system. Only books will be loaned.  The box for “loanable outside system” will need to be checked in item records.  This can be done for a bulk record set and Rex will send out directions for how to do this.

Bulk Computer Purchase (Eric Franks)

  1. A handout with the information and pricing was provided and the information is also available on the website.
  2. Desktops, all-in-ones and laptops are available.
  3. The prices are similar to last year, with a $100 increase for the laptops, which have been upgraded.
  4. All options come with Windows 8.1.
  5. The All-in-One computers are a good option for saving space. They have fewer cables and a larger monitor than the traditional stack.
  6. Licensing will migrate from the computer being replaced to the new computer. Additional licenses will need to be purchased if the number of computers is increasing overall.   The price for Deep Freeze fluctuates depending on the number of licenses needed.
  7. Orders are needed by June 12th.

 

Tablet Purchases (Eric)

  1. Reviews for Windows based, iPads and Android based products were compared.
  2. Eric did not put together an order form prior to the meeting however depending on the product prices can range from $250-$500.
  3. NYS Contract offers a discount for Apple products to libraries.
  4. When determining which type of tablet to purchase, the goal of use should be determined (library staff vs patron). Software can be put on all of them to lock them from downloading.
  5. Libraries can order their own products through Tech Soup. Tablets are good for running Polaris LEAP remotely.  Windows and Apple products should be able to connect to either a wireless or Bluetooth scanner but it is uncertain what can be used with Android products.
  6. Carla Piperno-Jones (UNS) reported that the Union Springs School District is providing students with Chrome Books and asked Eric for information regarding their operation. These are not traditional laptops.  They run off an Android operating system and all documents are saved on the “Cloud” through a Google Account.  They should be able to print documents as long as a driver is set up.  Lisa Carr (AUB) reported she has been using them to teach classes at the library and they are working well however she has not needed to print often.  They seem to be sturdy and they cost less than a traditional laptop.
  7. Diane Pamel (DRY) asked for people who have been using tablets at the library to post to the listserve ways in which they are being used so that she can justify a purchase to her Board of Trustees.
  8. Sandy Groth (AUB) asked for people to post what items their patrons are asking for and seem to prefer.

Receipt Printers – as the Ithaca Printers begin to fail they will be replaced with Star Printers.  With the Ithaca Printers, the drivers do not work for remote printing.

Wireless Devices – “Libdata” is now available to track WiFi usage for wireless devices.  The cost would be $1200/wireless component (to gain usage statistics for wireless), with $250 annual maintenance starting in year 2.  If you currently aren’t using Libdata for your PC and Print Management then you would also need the Libdata Control Center which is $500 to purchase and $250 for annual maintenance starting in year 2.

PRESENTATION OF HOOPLA

Erin Horne from Midwest Tape presented information regarding “Hoopla Streaming Video”

  1. Hoopla is a multiple access platform for streaming audio and video (rather than a 1 copy, 1 user model). Music albums, movies, audiobooks, TV programs, e-books and comics are available.  There are approximately 300,000 titles available and more are added each week.  Many classic movies and music titles are available and they are working with movie studios to gain access to more current titles.  Marked records for a discovery layer can be loaded and a filter can be set up to show titles available for children.
  2. Mobile devices can either stream or download content for later use. There is a loan period so content will not stay permanently on the device.  No holds are needed and content is always available.
  3. All content is available to patrons immediately after they are authenticated. Depending on download speed there should be no buffering.
  4. Renewal of content is available and a patron can watch as many times as they wish within the circulation timeframe (typically 7 days for music, 3 days for TV/movies, 21 days for books).
  5. There is no “platform fee”. All money goes towards circulation fees.  There is a charge per circulation and the library only pays for what is borrowed.  Libraries can budget a certain $ amount/per month and once that is reached, patrons can no longer borrow items.  This typically breaks down to a daily cap so the money will last throughout the month.  Libraries can see usage statistics on their “dashboard” and can set their caps after a period of seeing what circulation looks like for their library.
  6. FLLS would need to pay a $35,000 advance deposit. This will give all libraries in the system access to all Hoopla content.  As each patron borrows an item, the cost is deducted from the deposit.  Unused funds rollover to the next month.  The average cost per item is $1.92 (although this can fluctuate depending on media type) which would result in approximately 18,000 circulations.  We can get a free trial.

Meeting adjourned:  The meeting adjourned at 11:45.

Next meeting:  August 20, 2015 (9:30 -11:30) at FLLS.

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