Sage Council Meeting Minutes
For
March 17, 2020
Attendees: Marsha Richmond, Ryan McGinnis, Dea Nowell, Mary Reser, Mark Rose (Chair), Delia Fields, Lili Schmidt, Becky Doherty, Jon Georg, Perry Stokes (Vice-Chair), Rachael Fox, Denine Rautenstrauch, Kip Roberson, Beth Ross
Approval of Minutes: January 2020 minutes adjustment – add adjournment to end of document. Dea moved to approve both November and January minutes, Delia seconded. Approved unanimously by council.
Committee Reports
Cataloging Committee – Summary by John Brockman (committee chair): The Cataloging committee met on February 3rd to discuss its goals for the year in addition to smaller matters of cataloging minutia and general reminders. The two primary goals for the year are 1) Clarifying qualifications and permissions for the different cataloging levels as well as procedures for advancement and regression; and 2) Changing our cataloging content standard from AACR2/RDA to only RDA. The proposal for defining Cataloging levels has been approved and a subcommittee has been formed. The training portion covered proper protocols for entering and sourcing summaries in the MARC record. Most of the reminders were in regards to new features and terminology within the web client after the January upgrade. As always, time was allotted for general cataloging questions, of which there were none.
Circulation Committee – The committee is continuing to review policies and standard loan rules, trying to pull together a document that is more succinct and less scattered. They are meeting once a month and the next meeting is mid-April.
Potential impact to Sage of closures due to Coronavirus – Several libraries have closed. How does this affect Sage? Beth described a new feature call the Emergency Closing handler. This allows us to specify a range of dates for which the library is closing due to an emergency. It automatically extends due dates, patron record expiration dates, hold shelf expiration dates, and will not assess fines during the closure. In regards to the Orbis Cascade courier – materials being sent to closed libraries will be held until re-opening. As courier issue come up we will address them via the listserv. The main thing is keeping communication lines open and letting us know if you have decided to close. Beth will put together a spreadsheet and make it available on the web.
Do we want to post a message on the OPAC since as libraries close patrons may have to wait longer for the fulfillment of holds? Beth would also like feedback on changing notice texts to cover different circumstances.
Mark asked about curbside service. Would the emergency closing handler still be needed? Beth felt that it was still be useful for extending due dates. Hood River is suspending pulling holds. There was agreement that an OPAC message would be good for patrons. Beth will send out a draft to the listserv for that OPAC message. Most notices are Sage-wide so the language can’t be too specific but needs to provide enough guidance.
Beth can also enable another library setting called “Skip for hold targeting” so that a closed library not filling holds will be skipped in the hold fulfillment process.
Perry wanted to discuss sanitation of library materials. Clorox wipes are being used by some libraries. Others are keeping them in quarantine for a couple weeks and then cleaning. How should check-in be handled? Beth is concerned about patron anxiety if the materials are not checked in. Why not check them in and put in the holding area? What about holds placement on those items? Could change status of check-in items.
Is there any concern about damage of interlibrary loan materials with cleaning? What assumptions can we make of materials arriving? Enterprise patrons expressed concerns on where the items are coming from. Denine indicated that if they are concerned they should wait to place holds. Perry provided a link for a UV sterilizer (www.cureuv.com/collections/handheld+sterilizers). Proper protective gear is necessary.
Potential use of Automatic Renewal – a new feature – no discussion at this time
Evergreen App – the app is functioning well but one of the features that we use quite a bit was not programmed into the app – parts holds. Several libraries feel this is an important feature. I contacted the programmer and he gave an estimate of an additional 750-1200 cost for programming this feature. Beth indicated that there is money in the Sage budget and is asking the council for approval of this spending. Perry moved that we expend the funds to add parts holds functionality. Kathy seconded the motion. Voting unanimously in favor.
Sage budget for fiscal year 2020/2021 – Review and vote – Perry presented the budget overview. Budget includes up to a 3% COLI increase in salaries. Should Beth decide to opt out of the district health insurance, Perry proposes that this amount be rolled into her salary. The reasoning behind keeping the total amount in the budget is for when a replacement is needed for Beth. General consensus was that this was a good idea. Perry asked if we could agree that our compensation level for IT management is less than it should be. There was agreement. Mark expressed a concern that if we zero out the insurance and add the amount to the salary whether that will cause problems in the future. This is a temporary move of dollars and is flux and could always be reallocated.
An overview of other budget lines was presented. Most lines were relatively the same with some slight increases. Perry expressed concern that the Sage courier allocation compared to LSTA courier grant is moving away from being 50/50. Beth indicated that when she pulls the reports she adds in what the Umatilla County Special Library District spends on courier and the in-kind costs that the libraries are spending on staff and supplies.
Motion made by Kathy to approve the budget, Denine seconded the motion. Vote unanimously in favor, with an abstention from Perry since he created the budget.
Sage member pricing structure changes – Review and vote
There were 22 responses to survey that Perry sent out. 14 were in favor of moving to a usage based formula and 8 members voted for no change (keeping current structure with a 2.5% increase). If we change, the preferred basis for weighting of population was service population and the preferred rate for ILL was .50
Perry reviewed the pricing structure spreadsheet that was first presented in January. Dea asked for clarification on process – If we vote to approve a change, does it then need to go out the general membership for a vote as well? Perry believes that would be good practice. With only 40% participation in the survey and not overwhelming support for a change within that subset, it would be best to have a larger consensus for such a major change. This is a rough year to implement such a big change, the timing may be wrong. The Wallowa libraries would have trouble staying in Sage if the structure changes, even though they support the reasoning behind a possible structure change. We would need a vote from every member.
Dea proposed that maybe we should not move forward with such a big change, given the current circumstances surrounding libraries with Covid-19. Perry was in total agreement with that. It could present an extra hardship for some libraries. Dea moved that we continue the current fee structure with a 2.5% increase and continue to explore re-structuring with libraries. Marsha seconded the motion. Vote was taken, all in favor.
Appreciation was expressed for all the work that Perry did on these re-structuring proposals.
Request to purchase more Library2Go titles – Perry asked if we wanted to use contingency funds to increase Library2Go availability. Beth asked if this was going to happen right away to improve access for patrons during the Coronavirus closures. Perry felt that it could be acted on quickly. Kathy moved that Sage allocate $15,000 towards high hold queues in Overdrive, Ryan seconded the motion. Vote taken – all in favor.
Meeting adjourned at 11:35 pm