REPORT OF THE DIRECTOR
Winnefox Library System
Wednesday, May 28, 2003
LEGISLATIVE UPDATE Mark and I will report briefly on the latest
from Madison as it relates to library and system issues. Discussion. Action Requested: none except talk to legislators.
WINNEFOX STAFF MANUAL Exhibit A contains revisions to the
PROPOSED REVISIONS Winnefox Staff Manual that have been compiled by Mark Arend, Rick Bowman
and Julie Schmude (language to be deleted is overstruck
and new language is in italics).
Additionally, grammatical changes recommended by Board member, Merry
Whipple, have been incorporated into the document and are identified in
blue. None of these changes make any
substantive changes to the Staff Manual provisions. The changes suggested by Board member, Scott Woldt, are
incorporated into a separate document contained in Exhibit B. As you will recall, these are not all
recommended changes from Scott, but are items he felt the Board should make as conscious
decisions.
The changes recommended by staff and Merry Whipple (Merry’s
suggestions are shown in blue) fall into three categories: 1) cleaning up
language (changing inconsistencies,
redundancies and grammar); 2) changes to reflect current operations (i.e.
Assistant Director vs. Coordinator, paychecks are now direct deposit, etc.);
and 3) clarifying part-time staff benefits.
Vacation, sick & personal
time is pro-rated for anyone working more than 86 hours in a month (20 per
week). Holidays are eliminated because
they're difficult to calculate, but an increase in personal time makes up for
it. Health insurance is eliminated, but
no employees are affected by this change since none of the current drivers are
taking it anyway.
The alternative
language suggested by Scott is shown in Exhibit B. In order to expedite discussion and action of the Board, I would
recommend that the Board consider each section of Exhibit B as a possible
amendment to the Staff Manual changes as proposed in Exhibit A. When you have finished with all sections and
completed actions on any amendments, you can then act on the Staff Manual in
Exhibit A as amended. Action
Requested: Vote to remove the Staff Manual changes topic from the Table.
I have reviewed the
suggested language changes in Exhibit B and have underlined language I would
recommend adopting. My reasons for
support and non-support are as follows:
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Preface - I would not recommend support of these
changes. All of them taken together
seem intended to change the nature of our Personnel Policy to a document of
guidelines which we can change at any time and to change the status of
employees to “at will” employees who may be dismissed at any time. Action Requested: None – don’t accept
these changes.
II. Dismissals – I would not recommend support of this
change. This change, which removes
dismissal for just cause takes some assurances away from employees that they
won’t be dismissed for arbitrary and capricious reasons. During the time we have had this language in
our policy, we have dismissed at least two employees and the presence of the
language was not an impediment to those actions. Action Requested: None – don’t accept these changes.
III. Resignation – I would recommend support of this
change. Adding a two-week time period
for notification by employees of resignation is very reasonable and not an
uncommon standard. Action Requested:
approve as an amendment to the Staff Manual as proposed in Exhibit A.
VIII. Conditions
of Employment – I would not
recommend support of this change. As
with the changes suggested in the Preface and Dismissals, this language removes
the just cause protection and makes employees at will employees. Action Requested: None – don’t accept
these changes.
IX. Vacations – I see no reason not to support the changed
language in sections A-D. The change
proposed in section E which takes away an employee benefit of paying out unused
vacation at separation that has existed since before I came to Winnefox. Action Requested: approve as an
amendment to the Staff Manual as proposed in Exhibit A.
XIII. Holidays – I see no reason not to support this
change. Action Requested:
approve as an amendment to the Staff Manual as proposed in Exhibit A.
XV. Maternity Leave – I would recommend support of this
change. I think it actually liberalizes
our present policy by providing an option of reasonable accommodation for a
pregnant employee. Action Requested:
approve as an amendment to the Staff Manual as proposed in Exhibit A.
XXV. Lay-Off – I would not recommend support of this
change. I don’t believe it is fair to
employees to lay off anyone without any notice. Action Requested: None – don’t accept these changes.
Discussion. Action Requested: approve Staff Manual (Exhibit A) revisions as amended.
WINNEFOX AUTOMATED LIBRARY Exhibit C contains a proposed revision
SERVICES (WALS) AGREEMENT – to the WALS Agreement. This revision REVISION primarily changes the makeup of members
as
defined in the Agreement by including Fond du
Lac Public Library. Ken Hall and I have
been working together in order to expedite approval by his library board to
formally join the WALS consortium by approving a revised version of our WALS
Agreement. There are no significant changes to the Agreement except minor
wording changes for updating and clarification. Otherwise, it is the same
as the Agreement we are and have been operating under for the past 16-17
years. The Agreement has been approved
by the Library Boards in Oshkosh, Neenah, Menasha, Berlin, Ripon and Fond du
Lac and is now ready for your adoption.
Discussion. Action Requested: approve revised WALS Agreement as contained
in Exhibit C.
WINNEFOX 2003 BUDGET Exhibit D contains the letter from
Rick Grobschmidt accompanying our second System Aids check. It represents $209,428 for a total of $837,711 for 2003 that is 3.75% less than we received in 2002. There is no need for any adjustments to the budget at this time since we knew the amount we would be receiving. It is important to note that instead of making any progress toward the statutory level of 13%, the amount of System Aids has now dropped to 8.8% of the amount spent on local library service in the State. This is making it extremely difficult to keep up with the growing need for library services support from our member libraries. Discussion. Action Requested: none.
ASSISTANT DIRECTOR’S REPORT Mark’s report is included as Exhibit E. It
addresses a number of items which we may discuss further at the meeting.
MISCELLANEOUS REPORTS
· An Overview Of Winnefox Member Library Activities In 2002– Exhibit F contains a report prepared by Mark, which gives an overview of activities of our member libraries. As you can see, our members have been experiencing significant circulation growth over the past few years. There are many reasons for that – new buildings, growth in participation in the shared automation system (providing patrons with access to a richer collection of materials), new media formats like DVDs, hard working and innovative library staffs, and even the recession. We have extremely well used libraries in Winnefox.
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· An Overview of Winnefox Library System Activities in 2002– Exhibit G is another report prepared by Mark on System activities for 2002. Due to the increases in service use in our member libraries, Winnefox support services are growing accordingly. Intra-library loan and delivery volume are two of the most noticeable areas that we may need to address before too long.
· Winnefox Technology Update – a more detailed report on activities in support of the WALS automation consortium by Karen Boehning is included as Exhibit H. I marvel now at the growth in size and complexity of the computer network and server environment we now manage for our 24 participating libraries.
· Library Information & Technology Advisory Committee (LITAC) – as you may recall, I serve on this committee which advises the Division of Libraries, Technology & Community Learning (DLTCL) on library technology development issues. I’ve included the minutes from our February meeting (Exhibit I) and just attended another meeting last week. Based upon surveys of system and public library directors, the highest priorities for the use of Library Services & Technology Act (LSTA) federal grants and state funds continues to be development of and participation in shared automation systems; linking shared systems;
encouraging physical and electronic delivery of information; promote direct internet access for patrons and staff; support library access to electronic information resources and facilitate training, planning and coordination of all of the above.
CORRESPONDENCE Exhibit J contains some of the
correspondence we have received in
response to our letters to legislators on library issues that matter to us as well as a nice letter we received from Marty Kaszar at Packwaukee Public Library for the financial support to attend the WAPL conference by Winnefox through the Kay Swan Continuing Education grant.
PRESENTATION If
time permits, we will prepare and present
information
on the first random survey of public library use and support for Wisconsin in
over 20 years. This survey was funded
and coordinated by the Wisconsin Public Library Consortium (WPLC).
Respectfully submitted,
John V. Nichols
Director