Nebraska Library Commission - Minutes
Nebraska Library Commission
May 9, 2008
MINUTES
The Nebraska Library Commission held its regular
meeting Friday, May 9, 2008, at the Nebraska Library Commission, Lincoln,
NE. Notice of the meeting was submitted to local newspapers (Lincoln Journal Star,
Omaha World Herald) and
posted on the Nebraska Library Commission Web site.
CALL TO ORDER
Vice-Chair Mary Nelson called the meeting to order at 9:30 a.m. Members
present: Jean Ahrens, Charles
Gordon, Patrick Gross, Mary Nelson, and Carol Spencer. Staff present: Rod
Wagner, Maria Medrano-Nehls; Guests: Krista Davis, Auditor-in-Charge, and
Don Dunlap, Assistant Deputy, Auditor of Public Accounts.
Approval
of Agenda: A motion was made
and seconded to approve the agenda. Motion carried on roll call vote:
Jean Ahrens
- aye; Charles Gordon - aye; Pat Gross - aye; Mary Nelson - aye; and Carol
Spencer - aye. Motion approved.
Approval of the
Minutes (March 14, 2008): A motion was made and seconded to approve the
March 14, 2008, meeting minutes with corrections. Carol Spencer observed
that there was an error on Commission members who attended the March
meeting. Motion carried with corrections on roll call vote: Charles Gordon -
aye; Pat Gross -aye; Mary Nelson - aye; Carol Spencer -aye; and Jean Ahrens
- aye. Motion approved.
PUBLIC FORUM
No general public was in attendance.
NEBRASKA LIBRARY
COMMISSSION AUDIT REPORT
Krista Davis and Don Dunlap from the State Auditor's
Office reviewed points of interest from the final report of the recent audit
conducted of the Library Commission. Don Dunlap stated that in their
opinion, the schedule of revenues, expenditures, and changes in fund
balances are accounted for on the NIS system, except for one adjustment
approved by the Director. Don noted that it is common to see an increase in
the general cash fund. He noted that in NIS there was a negative balance on
the NEBASE fund and this is where the adjustment was made. The manual record
recorded the correct information so it was requested that they work with NIS
to reconcile the amounts to read correctly in both reports.
Mr. Dunlap reported on the deficiencies of internal
control compliance. The area of deficiency is in the segregation of duties.
Ms. Davis reported that auditors noted that there were
not two individuals assigned to open the mail together. Ms. Davis said that
money donated to the Talking Book & Braille Service was sent to the TBBS
Director instead of going to the accounting department and recorded; one
person was able to prepare invoices and apply cash received. It was
recommended that all invoices be reviewed by another individual to insure
their accuracy. Two staff members of the Commission are able to perform
alternate actions with NIS. It was recommended that another individual be
trained to perform this job. Also, no one independent of the function of
processing revenues reviewed the invoices, documents or reports generated on
NIS to show that all monies where properly deposited.
Ms. Davis stated that there were some issues with the
segregation of payroll duties. It was noted that there is one employee who
did all functions of payroll processing with no independent review to insure
the employees pay and hours worked were accurate. There are only two
employees in the Commission who are able to perform payroll processing. It
was suggested that another person be added to assist in this area.
Ms. Davis stated that only one person is
able to perform all functions of capital asset processing including
processing on NIS and performing the annual inventory. There also wasn't a
timely complete inventory of the Library Commission's cataloged library
collection preformed. It was recommended that there be a periodic
independent management review or training of an individual independent of
the capitol asset processing to review some of the reports generated in NIS.
Ms. Davis stated that the audit report is on the State Auditor's web site
and available to the public.
Carol Spencer asked that when the report states "prior
year comment" did it mean this issue had showed up on a previous audit
report. Ms. Davis stated that the issue of segregation of duties was also
listed in the 2005 audit report.
Rod Wagner stated that all of the issues in the audit
report are being addressed and changes have been made in staff
responsibilities and procedures.
Chair's Report and
Commissioners' Comments
Vice-Chair Mary Nelson stated that there are several
library building projects going on in central Nebraska. Kearney public
library is planning an expansion. Hastings is starting a building project
and Holdrege is considering building changes. The Phelps County READS
program started in March and 260 books or CD's of
The Worst Hard Times have been
checked out. The grand finale will be during the Phelps County 125th
anniversary in Holdrege. Mary shared a book about the food product, Spam.
The book was written by the son of one of the Holdrege library board
members. Mary also stated that Phil Soreide, husband of Pam Soreide,
Holdrege Public Library Director, has an article in
Nebraska Life magazine this month.
His article is about the "Chicken Dance Trails" (bird trails located in the
western part of Nebraska).
Carol Spencer reported that Bill Kloefkorn attended a One Book One
Nebraska book discussion on his book,
Restoring the Burnt Child, at the Broken Bow public library. There were
approximately 40 people in attendance.
This summer the library will host a teen and adult reading program.
The Broken Bow public library was one of 3,000 in the United States to
receive a We the People bookshelf, which includes a set of classic books for
young readers from kindergarten through high school. The grant is provided
by the National Endowment for the Humanities to promote among youth the
fundamental value of human equality.
Patrick Gross reported that Wayne public library held its annual book
sale. Lauran Lofgren, Director, Wayne public library, sent Rod Wagner a
letter thanking the Library Commission for a continuing education grant. The
grant allowed her and two staff members to attend the Public Library
Association conference in Minneapolis.
Charles Gordon reported that he attended the Public Library Association
conference. Charles had sent documents and notes for NLC meeting packets
concerning conference programs. Bill Kloefkorn will teach a writing workshop
in Fremont on how to write about your past. Charles stated that the Fremont
public library has been trying to get an addition built for the last few
years but is again placed on the back burner since the high school is
seeking an addition. Mary Nelson
suggested contacting Steve Fosselman, Grand Island public library director.
Mary said that Mr. Fosselman had an interesting approach for an effective
approach to making the case for a library building addition.
Jean Ahrens stated that the Scottsbluff public library is also having
difficulty in getting city funds for its building project. City officials
are reluctant to spend money for the library addition so their suggestion is
to use an empty building that the city owns. The City of Gering got involved
and suggested that the library be split and an adult library could be placed
in an empty grocery store in Gering and a children's library could be housed
at the current Scottsbluff public library. The people in Scottsbluff want
the library kept in the current location. Jean stated she was glad to see
that one of the city administrators will be attending the Nebraska Libraries
Future Search conference. Alliance public library is having a Mother's Day
program called Read Around the Posies.
Planters with flowers will be used for a silent auction. Public
libraries are gearing up for summer reading programs.
Director's Report
Rod Wagner reported that the Library Commission
received a thank you letter from Wayne public library staff for a continuing
education grant to attend the Public Library Association conference.
Recently, the Library Commission and the regional library systems arranged
for Ben Mikaelsen to travel around the state and give presentations at
public libraries and schools. Mr. Mikaelsen was well received. Suzann
Christensen, Media Specialist at Hastings Middle School, had students,
teachers, and parents write notes about Ben Mikaelsen's visit to the
Hastings school. Ms. Christensen sent copies of the notes to the Commission.
Rod Wagner distributed folders with information on
Return on Investment (ROI): Measuring the Value on Your Public Library. Kit
Keller, Mary Jo Ryan, and John Felton have been presenting this information
at the Nebraska Library Association public library spring meetings.
Personnel - Rod Wagner reported that Shannon White will
be leaving the Commission in early June. A reception will be held for
Shannon on May 28. Kit Keller is also leaving the Commission staff.
Kit has accepted a position as
Director of Library Services for Nouveau University. Kit's last day at the
Commission will be June 13. A farewell event will be held for Kit on the
evening of June 13. Both positions have been posted for applications.
Karin Dalziel, a University of Missouri - Columbia library science student, is
serving an internship at the Library Commission. She is working on a
re-design of the NebraskAccess website.
Office Space Changes - Rod Wagner stated that
re-painting has been the major activity for much of the Library Commission's
public areas and offices. Building work has also included sound proofing
improvements in the downstairs studios. It was decided not to do the
extensive changes on the first floor.
2008 Legislative Session - Rod Wagner stated that with
the 2008 legislative session ending a few weeks ago eight state senators
finished their final session due to term limits. Rod stated that the bill to
permit employees of regional library systems to participate in state
employee insurance coverage did not come up for final action before
adjournment. The bill to allow sanitary improvement districts to contract
for public library services passed earlier in the session.
Western Council of State Libraries Meeting - Rod Wagner
stated that he recently attended the Western Council of State Libraries
meeting in Salt Lake City. The main discussion item was the new policy
interpretations that the IMLS has presented to state library agencies for
administration of the LSTA State Programs. Another major topic was the
National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped's change
to digital talking books. The National Library Service has a new service
that allows borrowers to download books directly from the NLS web site.
National Library Legislative Day - Rod Wagner stated
that Judy Henning, NEMA president; Pam Springer, NEMA past-president; Jenni
Puchalla, NLA legislative committee chair; Patricia Gross, State Advisory
Council on Libraries vice-chair; and Rod Wagner will represent Nebraska at
National Library Legislative Day in Washington, D.C. Michael Cartwright,
Nebraska Book Festival Director, and Garry Alkire, vice-president of the
Nebraska Center for the Book, will be attending the annual Idea Exchange for
state Center for the Book affiliates at the Library of Congress, and may
join the group for some of the activities.
Appointments have been made with the Nebraska
Congressional offices. The issues are similar to those in the past - funding
for the Library Services and Technology Act, federal funding for school
libraries, e-Rate policies for schools and libraries, and copyright issues.
Statewide Open Source ILS Symposium - Rod Wagner stated
that the Commission's Network Services staff has planned and arranged a
symposium on open source software developed for integrated library systems.
The symposium will be held May 22 at Bellevue University. There has been
hope and prospect for collaboration among libraries to install integrated
library system software offered through an open-source license.
Future Search Conference - Rod Wagner stated the
Nebraska Libraries Future Search Conference will be held June 9 & 10, at the
Saint Benedict Center near Schuyler. Rod stated that from 85-90 participants
are expected to attend. People were invited from different types of
libraries, city council members, mayors, one state senator, teachers, school
administrators, representatives of non-profit organizations, the business
sector and others.
FINANCIAL REPORT
Rod Wagner referred to the March and April financial
reports included in the meeting packets. Rod stated that the budget has been
updated to reflect some additional funds that were added to the Commission
budget due to salary increases for state employees covered under the labor
contract and some funds appropriated for employee health benefits. The
operating budget is in line with expectations for this point in the fiscal
year. This being the first year of the biennium budget, funds remaining at
the end of June 2008 will be carried over into the next year's budget.
Rod stated that state agencies will
be using new software to prepare budget requests this year.
UNFINISHED
BUSINESS
Jim Conner attended the March State Advisory Council on
Libraries meeting and gave a short presentation. Carol Spencer asked about
Jim Connor's title. Mary Nelson stated that Jim is an independent
businessman who speaks about issues related to library boards and
foundations. He also has a lot of experience since he has served on library
boards and serves on the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, library program
advisory group.
Rod Wagner stated that trustee issues is a topic that
will continue as an agenda item for future meetings.
NEW BUSINESS
Out-of-State Travel Request - Rod Wagner requested
permission to travel to Anaheim, California, to attend the ALA annual
conference and Friends of Libraries USA Board meeting on June 27 - July 1,
2008. A motion was made and seconded
to approve Rod Wagner's out-of-state travel request. Motion carried with
correction on roll call vote: Charles Gordon - aye: Patrick Gross - aye;
Mary Nelson - aye; Carol Spencer -aye; and Jean Ahrens - aye. Motion
approved.
A retirement party for Jean Ahrens will be held May 16,
2008, 2-4 p.m., at Western Nebraska Community College.
July Meeting - The next meeting will be held July 11,
2008, at the Nebraska Library Commission offices.
Adjournment - Mary Nelson adjourned the meeting at
11:30 a.m.
Sincerely,
_______________________________________________
Maria Medrano-Nehls, Secretary
All attachments are available upon request. If you would like a copy,
please contact Sue Biltoft at the Nebraska Library Commission,
800-307-2665 or 402-471-2045.