North Central District Advisory Committee
Meeting Minutes of November 19, 2014
The meeting was held at the James V. Brown Library in the Lowery Room on November 19, 2014, with the
following in attendance:
Shirley Alters, CFO, James V. Brown
JA Babay, Montgomery House Warrior Run
Gail Broome, Degenstein
Charlene Brungard, Jersey Shore
John Confer, Trustee, JV Brown
Roberta Greene, Public Library for Union County
June Houghtaling, North Central Library District
Jennifer Johnston, Snyder County
Jeff Johnstonbaugh, Priestley Forsyth
Lydia Kegler, Columbia County Traveling Lib.
Shelby Kinsey, Potter-Tioga Library System
Ann Kruger, Commonwealth Libraries
Barbara McGary, James V. Brown/Lycoming Co.
Hal Pratt, Bloomsburg
Wendy Rote, West End
Melissa Rowse, James V. Brown
Kelly Walter, Herr Memorial
Diane Whitaker, A.H. Ross
Sue Williams, Milton Public Library
Leslie Wishard, Green Free Library
President, Roberta Green called the meeting to order at 9:04 a.m.
Minutes of the previous meeting were reviewed. A motion to accept the minutes of September 24, 2014, was
made by Hal Pratt and seconded by Jennifer Johnston. Motion Carried.
Updates and Announcements
State Updates —Anne Kruger, Commonwealth Libraries
Ann announced the opening of the 2014- 2015 LSTA Competitive Grant application cycle. Applications will be
due by December 17th.
The Pennsylvania State Library will be providing scholarships for three Pennsylvania public librarians to attend
the Research Institute for Public Libraries conference in Colorado Springs in July 2015. The scholarships will
cover the cost of enrollment, curriculum materials, three nights lodging, food and travel to the conference. The
deadline is December 22.
A Director’s Institute will offered in the Spring. This institute will focus on using directors with 2-7 years
experience as leaders for new library directors.
Commonwealth Libraries has some new faces—Linda Pierce has been hired as the new Fiscal Technician;
Hadiyah Cleveland has been hired as LSTA grant coordinator; Stacey Mulligan has been named Keystone
Grant coordinator; and Brian Dawson has been named new Bureau Chief of Library Development.
There is currently no timeline for changes to the state regulations to be put out for review.
District Updates (June Houghtaling)
Mandatory reporter training: 50 attended in-house training at James V. Brown, while 89 participated in the
virtual training.
Bylaws: We approved our current set of bylaws based on the fact that we had been considered a Region by the
state. Now, since the Region concept has reverted back to the District, we need to re-adopt a new set of bylaws
as a District Advisory Council. Changes suggested for the new set of bylaws includes changing the voter count
for a quorum from a specific number of members present to “50% of the members present.” District Advisory
Council Membership rules require at least 5 librarians and 5 trustees. Therefore we need to work at recruiting 5
trustees from the various corners of the district. Please send names of selected or potential representatives to
June.
A motion to approve the bylaws with the proposed changes was made by John Confer and seconded by
Diane Whitaker. Motion carried.
Public Innovation: June attended a 3-day Public Innovators Lab seminar in Atlanta, GA. The seminar is part of
ALA’s Libraries Transforming Communities initiative. The Libraries Transforming Communities project, made
possible through a grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, addresses a critical need of the field by
developing and distributing new tools, resources and support for librarians to engage with their communities in
new ways and strengthens librarians as community leaders and change agents. June asked meeting attendees to
participate in an Aspirations exercise using the following questions—What does your community aspire to?
What challenges are standing in the way of those aspirations? What changes need to happen so that your
community can reach the level of aspirations desired?
Strategic Plan: June conducted a review of the current strategic plan. The main goal of the current strategic plan
is to increase technology skills. June reviewed which goals have been reached and which have not. The current
plan carries through 2015 and may need to be extended to complete all of the goals currently set. The
consensus of the group is that we have not met all of the goals of the strategic plan and that we should continue
with the goals of the current plan.
Continuing Education Committee: The DAC bylaws require that we appoint a Continuing Education
Committee. Shelby Kinsey, Jeff Johnstonbaugh, Jennifer Stocker, J.A. Babay, and Diane Whitaker agreed to
participate on this committee.
IT Updates (Jerry Tiede): Jerry will be contacting members to make visits to libraries. It would be helpful if
you would make a list of problems, questions, etc. for him so that he can focus on those items during his visit.
Youth Services Update (Nina White): Summer Reading manuals have arrived and are available for you to take
with you following the meeting. PA One Book Orders are due by the end of December. This year the State will
be doing Summer Reading Training, not the District. Locations for the training are currently unknown.
Web Services: The Web Services contract with Charles Ormsbee is up for renewal. The description of services
has been changed somewhat in order to be more specific to the services that Charles has been providing.
Charles has been working with member libraries on upgrades to their websites. If you request a website
upgrade from Charles, please copy June on the email.
PaLA Updates (Melissa Rowse)
There were 653 registrants for the annual conference; 52 speakers; 122 exhibitors.
There are 1230 personal member sin PaLA and 181 institutional members.
The West Branch Chapter of PaLA is holding a bi-monthly chapter meeting today. The Chapter is open to
public, school, or academic librarians. Please join and participate!
PA Forward currently has 2 Facebook pages. These pages are going to merge into 1 external page. There are
now 35 PA Forward partners. PA Forward is looking for a viral video to feature on their Facebook page.
Glenn Miller, Executive Director PaLA sent out an email on the history of PaLA and how it lobbies each year
for funding.
Questions were raised about new Governor elect Tom Wolfe’s stance on libraries. Mr. Wolfe says education is
his top priority. PaLA is looking hard at how best to work with Mr. Wolfe going forward.
Member Updates
Hal Pratt reported that Bloomsburg has completed their 125th anniversary celebration.
Kelly Walter reported that Herr Memorial Library is celebrating its 80th anniversary. The library held a dinner
and live and silent auctions during October. Herr has submitted a LSTA grant application.
Wendy Rote reported that she has now been the director of the West End for 3 whole months! The library is
holding a Pampered Chef fundraiser and other activities.
Gail Broome reported on Degenstein Library’s Boo Bash Halloween featuring games, films, and trick or
treating in the library courtesy of the library staff and community organizations. The library is working on long
range planning.
Diane Whitaker reported that the Ross Library received a grant from Dominion Gas and Oil for $5,000 for
technology. The library has learned that the Friendship Community Center which houses the Beech Creek
branch of the library is planning to close at the end of December. Ross is uncertain of what they will do to
maintain services in that part of Clinton County.
Barbara McGary reported that the Lycoming County Library System members all received broadband
microgrants to replace aging technology. The J.V. Brown Library opted to purchase iPads for the children’s
area. The System also received a $10,000 from the Community Foundation for the One Book program so that
every pre-school age child in the county could receive a copy of Number One Sam. James V. Brown hosted a
meeting of District Administrators and Consultants to create a common core message on the role districts play
to move libraries and communities forward.
Roberta Greene reported that the Public Library for Union County completed a drastic weeding effort in the
adult nonfiction area. All adult nonfiction has been shifted into a lower shelving format with shelves going
from 8 feet high to 4.5 feet. Not a popular project with the staff, but everyone is pleased with the results.
Melissa Rowse reported that James V. Brown hosted children’s book author author Lindsay Barrett George as
part of the PA state initiative “Speak Up For Libraries” on November 6th. The library is in its 7th month of the
Geek the Library Campaign. There is an initiative to get all of the schools in the county to get children set up
with library cards.
Sue Williams, Milton Public Library, reported that the library was holding a BINGO fundraiser and a family
and pet photo shoot. Deb Fisher is current artist on display. Deb’s collection features quilts and seed bead art
creations.
Jennifer Johnston, Snyder County Library, reported that the library seen a great increase in the number of
children in the library. The library is working on a new program for mothers in the upcoming new year. The
library is working closely with the Selinsgrove school district to keep a tutoring program going during the
summer and to reach out to Title1 families.
Shelby Kinsey, Potter-Tioga Library System Administrator, reported that her office would be moving from
Coudersport to Knoxville in December. She is working to establish a union catalog and to move toward one
card for the whole county.
Leslie Wishard reported that the Green Free Library was the recipient of a Broadband grant. The library was
preparing for the Dickens Christmas Celebration on the first Saturday of December. The library will hold a weelong book sale, basket raffles and an open house during the event. Tioga County was selected for a One Book
author visit.
Lydia Kegler reported that the Columbia County Traveling Library Bookmobile was now 18 years old and
about to roll over to 100,000 miles. A celebration will be held.
Jeff Johnstonbaugh reported that Priestley Forsyth Library had just completed its first Family Place program.
The library had a grand time with its Halloween party. Over 600 trick-or-treaters were treated to staff in
costumes and a fog machine.
J.A. Babay reported that Montgomery House would be holding their annual toy auction. This is the largest
fundraiser of the year for the library, typically bringing in $10,000-$14,000.
The meeting was adjourned at 11:18 a.m.
Next DAC meeting to be announced.
Respectfully submitted, Charlene Brungard, Secretary