Minutes

Ottawa Public Library Board

April 16, 2012

 

A regular meeting of the Ottawa Public Library Board was held on Monday April 16, 2012 at 17:00 hours at Ottawa City Hall in the Colonel By Room, 110 Laurier Avenue West, Ottawa, ON.

Present:         Chair                                                                           Jan Harder

                        Vice-Chair                                                                  Jim Bennett

                                                                                                             Amelita Armit

                                                                                     Patrick Gauch

                                                                                     David Gourlay

                                                                                                             Christine Langlois

                                                                                                             Shad Qadri

                                                                                                             Doug Thompson

                                                                                                             Tim Tierney

                                                                                                             Marianne Wilkinson

                                                                                                             Rose Zeidan

                                     

Regrets:                                                                                              André Bergeron

                                                                                                             Keith Egli

                                                                                                             Danielle Lussier-Meek

                                                                                                            

Also Present:Chief Executive Officer                                           Danielle McDonald

Acting Div. Mgr. Facilities and

Business Services                                                    Elaine Condos

Div. Mgr. Service Excellence                                  Monique Désormeaux

Acting Div. Mgr. System Wide

Services and Innovation                                         Jennifer Stirling

 

Recorder                                                                     Marc Pellerin

 

 

1.     Call to Order

The meeting was called to order at 17:00.

 

2.    Excused Absences

Regrets were received from Trustee Bergeron, Trustee Egli, and Trustee Lussier-Meek.

 

3.    Declarations of Conflict of Interest

None declared.

 

4.    Approval of Agenda

 

       TOPIC: APPROVAL OF THE AGENDA

       MOTION: 026-12

      

Moved by Trustee Armit, seconded by Trustee Gourlay to approve the agenda as presented.

 

                                                                                                                                       -CARRIED.

 

5.    Approval of Consent Items

 

TOPIC: APPROVAL OF CONSENT ITEMS

MOTION: 027-12

 

Moved by Trustee Armit, seconded by Trustee Gourlay to approve the following on consent:

 

-     Doc #2:     April 16/12: Governance and Audit Committee Report

-     Doc #3:     April 16/12: Adoption of 2012 Board Work Plan

-     Doc #4:     April 16/12: CLA Conference Trustee Attendance

-     Doc #6:     April 16/12: City of Ottawa’s New Smoke-Free Regulations

-     Doc #7:     April 16/12: Contract Extension Approval for Rural Courier Services

 

                                                                                                                                       -CARRIED.

 

And to receive the following reports:

 

-     Doc #8:     April 16/12: Monthly Report

-     Doc #9:     April 16/12: Public Library Association Conference Report

-     Doc #11:  April 16/12: 2012 Calendar of Reports, Outstanding Inquiries,

                                                  Motions and Unscheduled Reports

-     Doc #12:  April 16/12: Monitoring Report: A.2 Staffing and Staff Relations

-     Doc #13:  April 16/12: Monitoring Report: A.7 Compensation and Benefits

-     Doc #14:  April 16/12: Monitoring Report: A.22 Safety and Security Practices

 

                                                                                                                         -RECEIVED.

 

Trustee Langlois requested more information on Item #7 Contract Extension Approval for Rural Courier Services.  Mathew Pritz, Manager, Business Services noted that subcontracting is used to deliver materials to some rural branches.

 

6.    Chair’s Remarks

Chair Harder gave her verbal report.

Teen Tech Week: As part of Teen Tech Week, OPL launched the 2nd annual video contest.  Teen Tech Week is aimed at teens interested in the Library’s non-print resources.  The event raises awareness about OPL’s digital offerings, including e-Books, audio-books, OPL blogs and the OPL application.  The top 10 finalists will be announced at the Awards Night & Video Screening on Thursday, April 19 at the Chamber at Ben Franklin Place.

CLA 2012: The 2012 CLA Conference will be held in the new Convention Centre from May 30 to June 2.  Chair Harder thanked all trustees who had expressed an interest in attending.  The 2012 CLA conference will serve as a great opportunity to showcase what Ottawa has to offer.

James Bartleman Archives and Library Materials Centre:  Chair Harder attended the Commemorative Naming Ceremony of the James Bartleman Archives & Library Materials Centre held on April 3rd.  Trustees Egli, Gauch, Gourlay, and Wilkinson had also attended the event. 

Mr. Bartleman spoke very passionately and convincingly about the value of public libraries.  The 2012 Ontario Association of Architects (OAA) award for Design Excellence will be presented for the James Bartleman Centre.  A total of 160 submissions were reviewed by a jury of peers.  More than 30 winners in nine categories will be recognized at a formal awards ceremony in May.

Community Access Program (CAP) Funding:  The OPL received notification on April 5, 2012 that Industry Canada cancelled funding for the Community Access Program (CAP).  The program was established in 1997, which provided funding for community agencies to provide free public internet access to those with limited means.  The OPL had 17 branches that received limited funding through the CAP program as part of Ottawa CAP network. Funding has been used to purchase assistive workstations and furniture, add PCs to branches with high use and to upgrade Microsoft Office suite to a multilingual platform.  The final CAP submission is currently being processed for the period ending March 31, 2012.  The public should not notice any changes to their access to public computing services at the library as a result of this loss of funding.  Chair Harder mentioned that the CAP funding will be further discussed at the Board’s next Finance and Budget committee meeting.

National Volunteer Week:  National Volunteer Week takes place April 15-21, 2012.  Chair Harder thanked OPL Board Trustees with a box of cameo chocolates for their valuable contribution.  Some of the Board’s 2011 accomplishments included the opening of the Greely branch, attendance at conferences, the approval of the 2012 budget, and the recruiting of the new CEO.

Retirement Announcements: On April 13, 2012, the City held an event to recognize dedicated employees who retired in 2011.  At the OPL, Josephine Norton, Manager, Public Services, Rurals is retiring after more than 50 years of service.  Linda Daly, Planning Consultant, is retiring after more than 40 years of service.  Chair Harder thanked and congratulated Josephine and Linda for their long term contribution to libraries.

Congratulations to Trustee Lussier-Meek:  Chair Harder mentioned that Trustee Lussier-Meek had announced the arrival of Hugo, her new baby boy.  Chair Harder extended best wishes to Trustee Lussier-Meek’s family in this exciting new stage of their lives with their new son.

 

7.    Approval of Minutes

Trustee Langlois referred to page 5, section 10 of the draft minutes dated March 5, 2012 and advised that three of her inquiries were missing from the minutes.  Chair Harder advised that corrections will be made and the minutes will be re-circulated amongst members of the Board. 

 

TOPIC: APPROVAL OF MINUTES

MOTION: 028-12

Doc #1 Approval of Minutes: February 22, 2012; March 5, 2012

 

Moved by Trustee Langlois, seconded by Trustee Thompson that the OPL Board approve the minutes of February 22, 2012 as presented and the minutes of March 5, 2012 as amended.

 

 -CARRIED.

 

Trustee Gauch arrived at 5:17 p.m.

 

8.    Rollup of 2011 Performance Reports

Trustee Zeidan referred to page 7, section 2.4 of the report and inquired about the decline of 20.2% in Arabic circulation materials.  D. Clark, Manager, Strategic Coordination explained that world language materials have a tendency to fluctuate, depending on the changing needs.  Each year, Collection Management staff review where the collections are held.  The next review will be conducted in October 2012.  The system currently in place does not allow for renewals tracking.  Monique Brûlé, Manager, Collection Management, added that with the change from Horizon to Symphony, the OPL has been unable to monitor the traveling collection in 2011, with one of the major travelling collections being the Arabic collection.

Trustee Bennett referred to the executive summary on page 1 and noted the 5.65% increase in total annual circulation in 2011 compared to 2010 and congratulated OPL employees for their outstanding service to OPL customers, which provided impetus for the significant increase in total annual circulation in 2011.

Trustee Bennett inquired about any other figures that merit the OPL’s acknowledgment.  D. Clark reiterated the fact that the hard work of staff and managers are contributing factors that have resulted in such increases.  D. Clark acknowledged overall uses, seeing an increase of 9.1% in 2011.  In addition, increases in French language circulation were noted.  Rural branches were also widely used in 2011.

Trustee Bennett referred to page 4, table 2 of the report and noted the significance and large increase of downloads circulation.  He noted that the OPL should explore ways to increasingly meet customer service needs in a virtual context.  He further noted the decrease in library database usage.  In 2011, 99,917 sessions were initiated on OPL databases, a decrease of 3.5% over the 103,579 sessions initiated in 2010.  Trustee Bennett inquired about the decrease in database usage.  D. Clark explained that the lack of promotion may be a contributing factor leading to a decrease in usage.  Trustee Bennett suggested that Twitter be used to better promote OPL’s resources.

Trustee Armit suggested that some of the executive summary highlights be communicated to OPL users, through the OPL website.

Chair Harder requested that a news release and a Councillor’s article be developed by staff, on a weekly basis, to convey to the public OPL’s good news stories.

 

TOPIC: 2011 PERFORMANCE REPORTS

MOTION: 030-12

Doc #10 Rollup of 2011 Performance Reports

 

Be it resolved that the OPL Board receive the Rollup of the 2011 Performance Reports.

 

 -RECEIVED.

 

9.    Approval of 2012 RFID Tenders

Jennifer Stirling, Acting Div. Mgr. System-Wide Services and Innovation gave a verbal update on the 2012 RFID tenders recommended for Board approval.

 

The proposed contracts originated as a result of three separate competitive processes, a strategy developed based on the nature of the contracts sought.  The proposed contracts provide the OPL with the ability to address its current needs in a most cost effective manner in the case of RFID tags, technical suitability and price for tagging services, and contracts for security gates, staff workstations, customer self-service stations, and the sorting system for the Hazeldean branch.

 

The equipment purchase recommendations for Hazeldean were based upon price quotes from the vendors that qualified for consideration under a request for standing offer process.  Specific equipment purchase recommendations were based on the best combination of technical score, ability to meet OPL’s tight timelines, suitability of equipment for the Hazeldean’s physical space, and overall costs.

 

J. Stirling explained that a Request for Standing Offer (RFSO) is often used in IT technology projects.  The process is intended to provide the OPL with a flexible list of qualified vendors who passed a series of contractual and technical evaluations for specific categories of RFID-related equipment. From this approved pool of vendors, OPL will evaluate and select equipment on a branch by branch basis as RFID equipment is rolled out to other branches.  This is a standard procurement process relied on by ITS to provide flexible equipment procurement and services with multi-year implementations, with an emphasis on ensuring that all equipment meets the strict technical requirements and standards adherence. 

 

J. Stirling introduced Craig Ginther, Acting Manager, Digital Services, and Colin Tuthill, Purchasing Officer, City of Ottawa Supply Branch.

 

J. Stirling mentioned that a press release would be issued regarding the RFID project, upon the Board’s approval of Board Report #5, Approval of 2012 RFID Tenders.

 

Chair Harder inquired about the review of best practices and processes undertaken by other library systems with respect to RFID.  C. Ginther explained that most libraries have assumed the tagging component themselves, but have taken a different approach.  The OPL intends on tagging the entire collection in the first stage, with the benefit of having this process completed within the span of one year.  As equipment is being rolled out to other branches, the OPL will not have to duplicate the process, nor purchase any hybrid equipment.

 

Trustee Bennett referred to page 2, Request for Tender (RFT) section of the report and inquired about the standards for which the RFID tags must comply, considering the fact that a competitive process is not required.  C. Ginther responded that the standards refer to ISO standards.  There are existing ISO standards that govern the communications protocol between the reader and the tag itself.  The OPL has clearly indicated that vendors must meet ISO standards requirements. 

C. Ginther added that high frequency tags would be purchased.

 

Trustee Bennett inquired about the approximate cost per tag.  C. Ginther answered that each tag would cost approximately 16.5 cents.

 

Trustee Zeidan referred to page 5, section 3.2 of the report and asked as to why SirsiDynix (Bibliotheca ITG Inc.) is being recommended, as 3M Canada was the lowest bidder.  She further inquired about maintenance for dual aisle security gates.  C. Ginther explained that standard practices have omitted the need for manual maintenance on security gates.  SirsiDynix (Bibliotheca ITG Inc.) was selected as a result of their ability to provide the specified equipment that would fit in Hazeldean’s existing configuration.

 

Trustee Zeidan referred to page 5, section 3.3 of the report and inquired about the capacity for RFID Library Solutions Inc. to provide maintenance services, given the fact they are located outside of Canada.  C. Ginther explained that the RFSO specified the need for vendors to provide a local sub-contractor for maintenance support.

 

Trustee Qadri asked as to whether or not upgrading costs were considered.  J. Stirling responded that upgrading costs/lifecycle requirements would be covered under the nine year capital forecast.  Standards compliance and interoperability were deemed as important deciding factors when evaluating each respective vendor.  Software upgrades are carried out as per the vendor’s schedule.  Information would be made available on upgrading requirements.

 

Trustee Qadri inquired about whether the depreciating value of the equipment was taken into account.  J. Stirling answered that the depreciating value would be covered under the City’s tangible capital asset process.

 

Trustee Langlois asked as to whether or not a list was developed with respect to the next branches in which RFID would be rolled out.  J. Stirling confirmed that no list has been developed as of yet.  Priority would be given to branches scheduled for renovations.

 

Trustee Gauch inquired about the process of implementing RFID technology to other branches, with either the use of the same competitive process, or the assumption of a preferred vendor for future implementation phases.  J. Stirling explained that as the Request for Standing Offer pre-qualifies vendors for a long period of time, price quotes will be obtained from vendors, as opposed to re-qualifying vendors.  In addition, the equipment will be evaluated in accordance to branch requirements.

 

Trustee Gauch noted an approximate difference of $900,000 between the highest and lowest bidder and asked as to whether or not the OPL added a clause that would necessitate the vendor to cover any unexpected costs.  Colin Tuthill, Purchasing Officer, City of Ottawa Supply Branch explained that the difference may be attributed to some vendors purchasing equipment outside their country of origin, resulting in additional transportation costs, as well as other costs. 

C. Ginther added that the lowest bidders are well known within the library community.

 

TOPIC: RADIO FREQUENCY IDENTIFICATION TECHNOLOGY CONTRACTS

MOTION: 029-12

Doc #5 Approval of 2012 RFID Tenders

 

Moved by Trustee Bennett, seconded by Trustee Zeidan that the Board approve the following contracts related to the implementation of RFID in 2012 totaling $1,141,011.81:

1. RFT Tender for $398,457.10 (including net HST taxes) to Bibliotheca ITG Inc. for the purchase of RFID tags

2. RFP Purchase of $603,009.67 (including net HST taxes) to Bibliotheca ITG Inc. for RFID tagging services

3. Purchase of $139,545.04 (including net HST taxes) for the following RFID equipment to be installed at the Hazeldean branch, obtained through the RFSO:

3.1. $32,674.28 to SirsiDynix (Bibliotheca ITG Inc.) for five employee stations and three customer self-service stations

3.2. $12,798.60 to SirsiDynix (Bibliotheca ITG Inc.) for dual aisle security gates

3.3. $94,072.16 to RFID Library Solutions, Inc. for a 3-bin sorting system and book returns

 

 -CARRIED.

 

10. Genealogy Services at OPL

Jane Venus, Manager, Lifelong Learning and Literacy gave a PowerPoint presentation on genealogy services and resources available at the Ottawa Public Library.

 

J. Venus linked genealogy services with OPL’s strategic values and directions 2012-2015.

 

Access and Inclusion:  Ottawa Public Library enriches the personal and civic lives of the people of Ottawa by providing free and equal access to information system wide to genealogists through a variety of means.

 

Informed Community:  Genealogy is based on a specialized methodology. Some of these methods and techniques of evaluation of information are taught in Ottawa Public Library genealogy workshops. New genealogists may take OPL basic computer courses before going on to take more specialized genealogy workshops.

 

Service Excellence:  The OPL is committed to Service Excellence by providing services aimed at the full range of demands from the genealogist community.  Genealogists make heavy use of the electronic database Ancestry Library.  Both the circulating and the reference collections are well used.  

 

Genealogy services include the provision of staff resources, programs and workshops, e-resources, collections, outreach and partnerships.

 

Staff Resources:  A small group of staff members with specialized expertise form the core of those who serve genealogists include:

·         Diana Hall, Librarian, Main Library

·         Romaine Honey, Librarian, Main Library

·         Johanne Chesnichesky, Public Service Assistant, Cumberland

·         Branch info staff

·         Programming committee

 

Programs and Workshops:  Sixteen genealogy workshops have been offered in the past 15 months. Workshops at Main, Nepean Centrepointe and Greenboro are hands-on in the Computer Lab.  PowerPoint presentations are offered in other branches.  Programs aimed at genealogists occur throughout the year.

 

E-resources:  The OPL subscribes to a number of databases that are available to customers free of charge. Ancestry Library is the most important and most popular of these.  Ancestry Library is available free within any OPL branch, having the second highest usage of any of OPL’s databases.

Other databases are also available to genealogists.

 

Collections:  Circulating collections for genealogy are available in or through all of the OPL branches. Types of material include guides; books on genealogical standards; identifying useful web sites; using genealogical software packages; creating personal web pages; dating old photographs; planning family reunions and genealogical scrapbooking.

 

Reference collections for genealogy are located in three designated branches: Main, Nepean Centrepointe and Cumberland.  This collection includes such sources as census indexes; indexes to civil registration; cemetery transcriptions; church register transcriptions; newspaper indexes; indexes to passenger lists; indexes to land records; city and county directories; family histories; surname directories; biographical dictionaries; genealogical and historical society newsletters; local and county histories, and historical maps and atlases.  The Ottawa Room at the Main Library contains a wonderfully comprehensive collection of genealogy and local history material for the Ottawa Valley.

 

Outreach and partnerships:  The OPL participates in the following:

·         Display at Heritage Day

·         Ottawa Branch, Ontario Genealogical Society genealogy conference (Gene-O-Rama)

·         British Isles Family History Society genealogy conference

·         LDS (Mormon Family History Centre) Family History Fair

·         OPL participates in guest lectures at the Algonquin College Library Assistant Program

      

       Other partnerships include:

·         Genealogy Summer Camp—with Ottawa Branch, Ontario Genealogical Society

·         Cumberland Branch houses the collection of the Cumberland Township Historical Society in its local history room

·         For many years, the Ottawa Branch of the Ontario Genealogical Society held its annual conference in the Council Chambers, in the lobby and in the Library’s meeting room at Nepean Centrepointe

 

Chair Harder noted the lack of genealogy services and resources in Ottawa’s west end and mentioned that more resources are needed to serve that area.

 

Trustee Gauch inquired about the geographical extent of OPL’s genealogy databases.  J. Venus answered that the databases access worldwide genealogy information.

 

Chair Harder invited a member of the public, Mr. John Reid to ask questions.  Mr. Reid had signed in as a delegation prior to the beginning of the Board meeting.

 

Mr. Reid noted that local genealogy societies are open to a variety of cooperation.  He asked as to whether the OPL would be interested in cooperative initiatives.  J. Venus confirmed that the OPL would be open to cooperative initiatives.

 

Mr. Reid inquired about the possibility for the OPL to cooperate with existing genealogy societies in order to replace the OPL card index (birth, marriage, death announcements) from the Ottawa Journal with an online version.  J. Venus responded that OPL staff would be open to discuss such collaborative opportunities.

 

Mr. Reid inquired about the possibility for the OPL to digitize selective material from the Ottawa Room, which in turn, would facilitate access to such materials.  J. Venus explained that most of the material located inside the Ottawa Room would most likely be subject to copyright protection.  The lack of resources to engage in such an initiative also poses an issue.

 

11. In Camera

 

TOPIC: IN CAMERA

MOTION: 031-12

 

Moved by Trustee Thompson, seconded by Trustee Gauch to move in camera:

1.  To discuss the Order of Friendship Nomination

2.  To discuss personal matters about an identifiable individual; labour relations or employee negotiations

 

                                                                                                                                       -CARRIED.

 

TOPIC: order of friendship

MOTION: 032-12

Doc #C1: Order of Friendship

 

Moved by Trustee Zeidan, seconded by Trustee Armit that members of the Innes Family be awarded the Ottawa Public Library Order of Friendship in recognition of their outstanding support to the Manotick Branch of the Ottawa Public Library.

 

-CARRIED.

 

TOPIC: RETURN TO OPEN SESSION

MOTION: 034-12

 

Moved by Trustee Gourlay, seconded by Trustee Wilkinson to return to open session at 19:10.

 

                                                                                                                                -CARRIED.

 

 

12. Adjournment

 

TOPIC: ADJOURNMENT

MOTION: 035-12

 

Moved by Trustee Tierney to adjourn the meeting at 19:11.

 

                                                                                                                                       -CARRIED.

 

 

 

Minutes approved by:

 

                                                                         

                                                     

 

            

Chair

 

Secretary