all right we'll call to order and statement of compliance with Open Public Meetings Act This meeting has been advertised in accordance with the New Jersey Open Public Meetings Act and is publicly accessible in accordance with with law Roll call please
Here David Citadino Dr George Dr George Sarah here Maria Rosemary Zanab Gina Maddie here Mayor Walker and
Frank Weber here All right Uh so what's the flag Can you hear me No Yes we can hear you Frank We can hear you I can hear you All right I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the
republic for which it stands one nation under all All right Uh we'll make a motion to go into executive session I'll make the motion I'll second Okay Thank you And I am pausing recording All
in favor Hi Hi Hi Um all right Can I have Oh sorry Sorry I'm seeing if um Oh yeah Yeah Yeah Sorry Sorry Sorry I forgot We had to let There we go There he is Okay We're good
Okay Um moving on to the agenda the minutes Can I have a motion for the approval of the regular meeting minutes from March 12 2025 I have a motion Second All right Roll call
Yes Frank Weber Uh pass Sarah yes Maddie yes And Dr George abstain Um and approval of the executive meeting
minutes as well All right Thanks Roco Uh roll call please Frank Dr George Roco yes Sarah yes And Maddie yes
All right uh personnel we uh to discuss activating the 10% out of title stipen for Pam Condello to fulfill the additional student We have a point of order I'd like to make a motion at this point Oh yeah sure To
table this information to the next meeting I've asked questions and I have not gotten answers that clarified a lot of the questions from me So I would like another uh period of time to explore it
further for the per the supervisory responsibilities specifically Dr George the motion that says activate the 10% out of the stipen for blah blah blah blah blah I want move till next I know
if we can because it yeah that's the ahead of Dawn's vacation Yeah the the period is before the next meeting Before the next meeting is May 12th Yeah the question doesn't have to be answered tonight because the matter of fact is
we've had an ongoing system for time in memoriam how coverage is done when the director's been away a week two weeks three days whatever Previous directors have been that way And my point is uh you can make a resolution at the next
meeting if you care to do so and support and and you know resolve it then but I think there's a lot of discussion that needs to take place if we're going forward This is a matter what's called here personnel is really a matter of uh
doing a contract without having the board of trustees as the people who are aware of all the details and what impact it may have on all of our other staff So I just procedurally can we get a motion for
personnel item A motion I'm sorry Second I didn't hear you So Sarah you moved it Yeah I'll Okay Frank you second it Now Dr George you want to make a motion to table this I I don't
know what you're talking about I didn't hear what was moved person a the activation of the 10% out of title work So you said earlier that you would like to table this issue correct Want to table this motion Yes All right So we
have a motion to table Does anyone want to second the motion to table We have a second All right There's no discussion on a motion to table So let's vote on the motion to table Uh Roco
I'll pass for right now Okay Maddie so you can't discuss I know I would have liked I would have liked to discuss this further I don't I feel like I'm being pushed into a corner here I don't know anything about what's going on So So if
you in order to have the discussion on activating the 10% to be in effect the lead supervisor during Dawn's absence for Pam then if you want to do that before Dawn goes
away then you don't want to table it But we do have a motion and a second to table So motion to table means that we talk about this on May 12th Uh if that's what you want to do And motion to not table means we talk about it now Sorry
I I I I say no to table Okay Maddie I say no also Okay Sarah no Dr George yes And Frank Weber yes and I uh make a motion to
table uh to talk to this in close session Uh the motion motion to table fails Okay But now he has made a motion to go into So well now that the motion to table is failed Frank you want to go into executive session Yes I do For for
what purpose Uh I think so that people who are going to vote on this understand some of the historical background and the questions of this is should be a negotiable item with the union Has that been any agreement made there and that
negotiations are led by are led by the board not by the director Ju just just to clarify the language the out of title work is in article 17 of the supervisory contract
and has been since at least 2015 am I wrong didn't we we did this before didn't we not not for Dawn's absence but you have done it before it was for my thought we did it for Dawn's absence a few months ago and this the only reason I'm not trying to have the director make
this decision in any way shape or form I'm following precedent But you don't have the president We did We approved this a few months ago at the same percentage Correct There is president appropriately where we can
tell you we who have been here since this has been in place We've never discussed it in collective bargaining except to raise the amount from 8% to 10% It's never been changed If you
really talk about it at that one meeting the thing that you're invoking has very clear language that says is they have to work 12 days to get this money Why can't we discuss this somewhere so we can tell you where what
it's been since the supervisor's union started in 2006 or something This all predates everybody but Weber and Maria and myself Chris wasn't our attorney All right So can we tell you what we're
talking about And well we not going to discuss it I don't know what we did in January but we did something wrong then in my opinion But could we just You can talk you can talk you can talk right now Joan about what has happened in the past
That's not an executive session issue So if you want to fill in the rest of the board please go ahead Oh it's I'm not giving new information I want to react to information that has
been given out I also attempted to do this by contacting Sarah and contacting Chris I got some answers back from Chris but it didn't address this question in my opinion Okay I may I may
be slower than the rest of you I don't know I just I just think you're opening Pandora's box You're doing collective bargaining negotiations outside of the union and it it defies what we've done
for the last I was appointed to the board I believe in 2006 That's when the union for supervisors started When I was first appointed there was one union Supervisors and rank and file were in the same union I raised the question I
was told I was wrong So we went to Perk and Perk said I wasn't wrong We needed two unions That's when it started Now I don't have a contract from there I don't know what the verbiage was there but the old contracts I have show the only
change that has ever been made in this out of work is from 8% to 10% It has never been raised in collective bargaining by the union We have never to my knowledge had a problem a grievance
or um issue where it was a problem So we can get it resolved But could we have the discussion first so that new people know why we feel the way we do This is the discussion Okay Well go ahead
You know could you tell me why this term and condition of appointment is not covered under collective bargaining It is It's It's in article 17 of your collective bargaining agreement but it's you're not
using it the way article 17 says you'd have to use it Where's the 12 day responsibility that you have to work it What does she mean by 12 days You mean you mean the two weeks right It says I believe it says 12 days It may say two
weeks I I don't know I don't Pretty sure it says two weeks Can you read that But you don't get the money in advance and you don't get it day by day You get it after you work that number of days and that's not covered in this
instant We also I don't know of anything because it hasn't been done I mean I cheered you know negotiations so I have a fairly good memory of what we just we never talked about it and we use it on a kind of regular basis Our library is
open what 60 hours a week and then the director works 35 Obviously there's some coverage when she's not around Okay That has always been handled It doesn't have extra money Every supervisor's contract that I looked at has in it may be
appointed person in charge whatever So we've covered the situation Obviously the director is entitled to 15 days vacation 15 sick and
whatever days of 11 holidays There's a lot of times when the library could be not with the director there but we've covered it it's the supervisor in charge So if we're going to pay this extra I don't have a problem with that
but I think it has to be negotiated and the parameters of it have to be spelled out When you say 10% extra do you mean for the whole day that that supervisor has worked the five hours during the day or whatever and then the nighttime too
so they get paid for 12 hours Should I answer Yeah it would it would it would mean that for the hours and the days that they are in that capacity they're getting their money plus 10% But see that that isn't
Well all right Well I that has to be spelled out All right I think I think it is It says that the person shall be paid an additional 10% over their regular pay What does it say before that But it doesn't say for how long Okay It doesn't
say for the hours they've already worked or for the It says it says an employee with additional lateral duties assigned in an acting capacity shall be paid an additional 10% over his her regular pay The pay increase will be retroactive to the first day worked in the new position
and will be paid until the end of that special assignment Read the 12 days self The employee must work in that special assignment for at least two weeks in order to receive the higher level of pay Differential will only be assigned
when the employee has been formally assigned to this acting capacity in writing by the director Uh so it's actually the board negotiated that it's the director's prerogative to do that but I believe it's been placed on the agenda tonight so the board would be
aware Again that language was meant for a different situation But at any rate will it cause us problems in the future So if if I could if I can add what we've done here and I think it's it doesn't
conflict with the language When I'm on vacation or when I'm sick or any of those things happens I'm still available 24 hours a day seven days a week That's how I handle things Supervisors reach
out to me and if there are any issues rather than supervisors reaching out to the board or anything like that I reach out to Sarah Excuse me You know Dor I understand this I've been here for 20 years on the board I know
how it works okay And I know what your uh availability is okay And I this has nothing to do with with you or the fact that you don't work enough I mean you work certainly as much as you need to It's a matter of getting something in
place that's clear And this isn't clear because the director doesn't have to be around all the time You know there has to be another way where you look think of an emergency and
the only one that anybody could come up with maybe it will snow So how do you close the the building if you're the director in the supervisor in charge Well the director doesn't close the building by herself She usually calls the president of the board and they do
it So those things are in place Yeah but be reaching out to Sarah and and if I have three supervisors on then who's calling The only thing I'm trying to do you don't have three supervisor on at once because our
language is that the supervisor who's on that night is the one in charge We've talked about it in the past There was a suggestion made that we put a little sign up and say this you know Sarah Marino is the supervisor in charge tonight stick the sign up so the public
knows who to talk to That that's the kind of discussions we've had But we've never had a problem with coverage uh when the director was away And our directors all got the same kind of vacation you have We had a director that that was here much more than the
time that he needed to be away and not by the phone But at any rate my point is whatever the board wants to do is fine with me I don't care I just want it clear and I want it in the contract so
that when somebody who is covering tonight because you're not here says well why don't I get the 10% Well we know we can say you didn't work for 12 days so you don't get it for for that reason but you know if we have language
they would know when they get it Well the l the language to your point John the language is that that directive has to be in writing from the director So somebody can't say "I was in charge on Tuesday because if the director hasn't formally notified them that they're in
charge they're not eligible for this bump." But I I think then we also have to know when the director is is going to be uh be in that position to be in charge All right So is it when she's on
vacation but the vacation is in China or is it if she's on vacation and she's in Long Beach Iowa and you can't call her up I don't know That That's what you talk about and you make clear We've never So John this is the second time that you've used this What are you going
to be away this time Yes Like really And you don't need details but are you going to be really away Yes What about last time I was really away Okay I only do it when I'm not in the country Inaccessible Yes When I was in Florida I don't ask for this because you can reach me in Florida and it's easy still to get a phone call Oh we've had lots of
directors in Florida full-time Well too soon And I will say that when Don was in Where were you Switzerland Don So I'm I I was away Sorry When you I remember when you were
there the we had gotten snow like twice that week right So I remember talking to whoever was like shadowing you then So there are things that come up for sure and you were in a different time zone So if the power goes out um you know there
there are things like that and and I appreciate Dr George what you're saying with it being clear I think it kind of steps a little bit over that you would put that into the contract when the director is out of the country then you can do this I
just you can go wherever you want on your vacation You have three weeks You can go block yourself in a closet in your apartment if you want to That's not business I don't tell you where to go We don't talk about that in public What
Being locked in your Yes Whatever Let's not pick on the directive for crying out loud And I just would like to know from somebody tell me all the emergencies we've had and I I'll be
glad to hear them because we have never had one Okay So we had power go out We we had when the power goes out it doesn't if the director isn't here we don't all die of
somebody in charge who's this without phones you can't without phones without bathrooms without heat you can't be open and what are you going to do about it I'm going to close the library you're going to close the library or you and the president may talk about it you
may have to call public works across the street a thing where you have to get in charge with the police The director is not the only person in charge of the library to make all the decisions That's never happened But you know I I don't
want to take all night on this I think the thing that that bothered me to start with it looks like to me it's a termin of employment and it's subject to collective bargaining but I'll defer to what Chris's advice is on that Uh but I
I don't think that the director can make up rules that that we have not that are not in collective bargaining Now I don't know where the union is and I don't get involved in unions as a trustee I would have perhaps if I was uh on the board
but they have never come to us and said we need help We need some clarification here All they came to us on is we want 10% not 8% That's the only thing I have and I have records on that Um so whatever you want
to do we will do Uh I would say postpone it until the next meeting and let's have some kind of a discussion I don't know who the personnel committee is because in all honesty I haven't gotten a list of committees that I asked for I think
two or three meetings ago I don't know who's on what committee So I can't ask a colleague on a committee because I don't know who they are So just procedurally at this point Sarah the uh the motion to table has failed Okay We're in
discussion of this motion So if there's no other discussion vote on the motion I have I'd like to make a comment Um as we all ma uh remember the terrible tragedy of 911 I was on the board of ed at that point and I was the president of
the board and obviously none of us were prepared for that Um I worked in the area uh in for a real estate company and I was able to get to the uh board of education headquarters and uh
collectively uh the superintendent at the time uh myself and other administrative people we worked out you know what can we do We got phone calls from some parent that was worried about a plane f flying
directly into Cheesequake School and and certainly you know I understand the panic involved there but you got through those things So one of the things I might suggest certain protocols such as what do you do about snow What do you do about this What do you do about that
There can be a pre-plan for it or some instructions that at least people have a know how to deal with it Now I'm I'm on here quite a while is my uh and uh we've never had anything that's come up Uh
obviously the proximity to the police station has been able to deal with a lot of things that if there were issues uh town hall is right here So I'm just saying that I I tend to agree with Joan that we
should have a clarification on exactly when Now let I'm not being a wise guy but if you're going to be gone for 12 days um are we going to you know are we going to have that siphon list for the 12 days
or or or what I I meaning because Pam's not going to be here the library hours constantly She'll be available by phone So she'll be she'll have to be
contactable for any issue Yeah And if and if there are some schematics that could be written for certain issues because the police department and the police force uh constantly they decide
what the issues are about snowstorms ice storms all of that early dismissals they you know you can get a lot of advice there So anyway discussion You could collaborate but you still need
somebody in charge You can call the police You can call whoever but you somebody's got to be in charge You move the microphone down because I can no longer hear what's being said [Music]
I'm sorry I didn't hear you Maddie I said that you can collaborate with the police department with other departments but you still need somebody in charge of the library during that time I agree with you and that's why the
supervisor is in charge You also a name was brought up This thing is not written for one supervisor there the supervisors are all equal and each supervisor's job description has can be appointed
uh supervisor in charge So it's there I don't know if you're creating another job or another responsibility or modifying a job description for one person We haven't done that Um if you have a snowstorm that starts at 6:00 in
the morning who would be the person to close the library because it's got to be closed before people start heading out to work Well first of all you usually know the night before but it it's my
understanding that the director would call the president of the board and they would decide who needs to be called Again closing the building involves as Frank said the police because you're talking about parking lots You're
talking about differences that neither of those two people know Uh you know yeah the board of education is a good place to uh toward your question Don Uh obviously they're
transporting 80% of 8,000 students every day So they uh among themselves super among themselves they discuss the weather They discuss it with their local police departments and they usually make a situ
determination long before six o'clock whether they're going to open or close to the day or delay the opening for two hours or so And having done this for a really long time I I always consult with the schools I always consult with the police department You cannot do so
exclusively The schools are not open at night The schools are not open on the weekends And I consult with DPW I talk to everyone But ultimately the library makes the decision in that particular weather event Or at least that's how
we've conducted ourselves thus far The reality is there's not likely to be anything So if it's all right with everyone I I appreciate however you want to lay this out The reality is when you have a library this size and with this
many employees you typically have an assistant director who stands in when the director's gone We don't have one I'm okay with that All I'm ask all I was asking for and the board makes this decision not me I'm well aware of it was just to have that one person who knows
that they're on call for the 247 for that week That's all But if that is in collective bargaining and negotiations then I need to go back and and learn something because you're making a whole new job description
You're eliminating union people who have the right to serve in it in their contract and doing something new You really want an assistant director We ought to fight about that because that's what what the bottom line is That's it Just there is language to this but I
think is is anyone any other discussion on this I I think we should just call this to a vote I think I do too It's been like almost a half hour Linda sure Um Frank Weber no Dr George no
Yes Sarah yes Maddie yes Let me ask a dumb question Is there anybody out there in Zoom land besides me and Joan Yes there's what's that There is there's one employee on the Zoom call and myself
Sarah Oh no other trustees No other trustees though I I am on Zoom No I know I'm saying other than you No it's five people Okay Well that's a problem I mean three of three covers the
majority but uh it's it's unfortunate that that seems to be happening more frequently than not Yes All right We have another agree We have an additional personnel item So based upon our discussions in executive session we have a motion on
the table to terminate the employment of employee number 1488 effective April 30th 2025 I'll move it Second roll call
Yes Frank Weber Yes But I'm sorry that it has to come to this Unfortunately we have to deal with what we're we're able to work with [Music] Maddie Um
No Sarah Yes And Dr George Yes Did you go Yes All right Sarah we're on to finance Um so moving to finance Can I have a
motion to take action on the April 9th 2025 bill listing in the amount of $214,57563 Have you or did Marie tell you Let Maria tell you she went for it We got to make the motion first So I'll make the motion
I'll second I can second it Okay Question on who's on the finance committee Uh as far as I know who's on the finance committee it's Maria and Frank Correct But I'm I I don't I can't get any
response from Maria when I try to call or I know that she goes through the bills and that she lets Irene know if there are any questions and then she had she'll send them directly to me if she has questions and she had no questions this time
Yeah I didn't hear I didn't hear from her either and she usually she had called me before My observation of what board committees are about is if trustees members of the boards have a question that they want to ask they can ask a member of a committee because
you've shared it the business with them and they've had extensive discussion and whatever if we don't know who the members of the committees are and they're not four uh you know three and the president um it kind of limits
questions we can ask who do we ask I I don't know I had questions on the bill list who am I going to call and uh don't tell me Maria because she doesn't answer uh she's busy doing whatever she's doing I don't know I just get a feeling that
we're operating not as a through but just I don't know as is whatever Is it helpful if Linda and I send the last committee um list to Sarah before the next meeting so that it can be confirmed
Well first of all the committees are Sarah's business She's the president of the board and the committees are board committees They're not administrative committees And with all due respect uh you know you can certainly handle all the paperwork but I would like to know
from Sarah who she has appointed to the committees and that's all of them Uh we've never ever existed Everybody that volunteered I'm sorry I have a list of everybody that volunteered after my email so I can pull it together and reshare with
everyone you make the decision because whether people volunteer if if that isn't what you think is a good fix it's up to you This is you know this is you and we respect that I just want to know Okay So So Sarah will share that out to all the trustees Yes
And might suggest when when uh Maria is reviewing those if she I ask that you just send an email I've reviewed all of these I don't have any problems or I have this problem or that problem So it's in writing
We can make that request to her Thank you The listing Rocka yes Sarah yes Maddie yes Dr George and Frank Weber yes
Okay Um any old business to discuss Just a question The budget is that coming out sometime Well uh again I haven't heard anything from Maria on it about a meeting but uh I
will have if I do not hear anything till the next meeting I will have some uh questions that I will uh talk to Dawn u so I understand what what those thing are and if I still don't hear anything from Maria then I'll uh make my
reactions to that and I'm sure D and I will be able to work it And the budget is for this year and we're now in April That's Yes So we're way ahead of last year Great That's wonderful Still not ideal And the it was
submitted to the committee in I believe February February or March No it's not your issue It's you know we just the committee hasn't done what it's supposed to do up I also in the past realized that you only had a two member committee
and I volunteered to serve in the third person and um Kevin evidently that was not to his pleasure so I never heard it never happened and but I will again volunteer to serve as a person on the finance committee if you
need one We need one three people on it Well that's not up to you Frank That's up to Sarah But no I was commenting on the condition of having only two Well you know anyway it just and I agree with
with what Sarah said in her thing asking for volunteers It's time to have some new voices and some new people on committees That's important You needed you know I agree I agree with that Dr George I think they will I that's how
they learn Okay And yeah no I agree with that And I I agree I agree with you too So I'll take a look at what I have I'll refresh it a little bit and then I'll send it out by the end of the week Thank you Sarah Yeah of
course Um okay Uh new business Do we need a motion to approve the late opening of the library on Saturday April 26 2025 with an opening time of 11:30 a.m due to the annual
mayor's annual health and wellness 5K I'll make the motion I'll second Okay Roll call please Sure Roco yes Maddie yes Dr George yes Frank Weber yes
Sarah yes Um director's report Don Yes Um we do have a couple of important issues Um one um sorry this is actually uh bathrooms so it's buildings and grounds I met with
the engineer for the architects to go over that Um health waiverss Thank you Chris those are in use Now when we have programs like yoga and reiki we have a sign off so that we're covered That makes me feel really good Um before I
forget um the board is going to come under scrutiny from the state for a strategic plan So considering how busy we are and how underststaffed I'm not sure if anybody
wants me to solicit proposals um from people like um library strategies It is a requirement of the state that we have a strategic plan and work was done on our last one but it was
not finalized So that's only a reminder for the board I'm not telling anyone what to do Um I just like I said if people want to start from scratch I can assist with that And if we want to work from the draft that's another issue but
it's just a reminder We've always had a a committee formed from the people you know trustees I would not want to form uh out to some strangers the a plan for what they're going to do with my library and my money
and whatever I think that ought to come from the board of of trustees from the board of directors here and we had a plan If it never got approved it's because it wasn't followed through I think you start with that as a basis and
then go on from there But I would not d think it's a good idea to go out to a commercial third person to come up with a strategic plan for your library I I can find uh a copy of that I don't sure I'm not sure if I have it electronically
Would it be helpful if I sent that out to board members It could hurt Okay And if we need to form a committee I'd be more than happy to to be on that committee if you wanted I'll even volunteer to chair So if we can get this done as fast as possible
Okay I'll I'll join you And uh I was the uh long range chairman for the uh board of education for 15 years for long range planning which evolved uh the fruition of it as we passed a referendum in
2001 which was very successful So uh I have some experience in it I'd be happy to help Great Okay Fantastic All right Um next we uncovered the
RFID project is already paying for itself because this is the bad news we've uncovered a pretty big problem and that is that when we ask the consortium to give us the number for uh physical
items that we own it is significantly different than the number of items that we actually own over 40,000 items is anticipated So what the cover I mean if you roll a screwdriver
is that in it I mean I don't know what items you're talking about CDs videos books things that we lend Oh we never had an inventory of what we own Interesting There was an inventory over 20 years ago Okay So this has uncovered
a big problem with the catalog So the the well there's a little more bad news So the cost for RFID that we already paid um that project is heading toward completion they are anticipating that they are
going to have to tag 44,000 more books than was originally estimated and 9,300 more um AV items So a total of 50,000 items that we're not finding in
the catalog The estimate that we were given was to include all of these items There will be an additional $5,000 needed Let's pay it Okay That's that's what that's what I thought I just want to make sure the board's aware But we
are going to have to involve multiple departments But I'm actually excited that we might have when we talk about the circulation statistics and I've said I'm hesitant to report them because I know that they're not accurate The data is not accurate We're cleaning it up
once we get this done Good Yep Okay Moving on We have another opportunity with buying computers So the consortium sent out an email and they have
prices that are um wow over over $200 um in savings on the lowest prices found on the computers that we need Dell Optiplex 7020 micro PCs So this is an opportunity to buy
computers below state contract pricing So there's no bid threshold involved there Um the other part of this is that the consortium needs the order by the end of
April Frank I know you're going to ask so I've been very very careful in asking that I get all of the information Last year with that large purchase that we did we bought 19 computers and replaced
um machines that were some of them up to 10 years old um this order and request um that we're putting in if we wanted to completely update our computers so that every computer that we own in this
building would be from 2023 2024 or 2025 which is three years So it's not like we would be being extravagant Um that cost would be $26,72 that is for 22 um
computers And I made sure that I brought information on how old those 22 computers are And they go back as far as 2013 and the most recent
one beyond that was purchased in 2018 So any computers we replace are those that are seven years old at this point But like I said all of our none of our computers would be more than three years
old in the building And this is everything from our catalog stations Hi To our staff computers um to our public computers Everything
would be more recent So the total purchase price for 22 computers is how much The total purchase price for 22 computers is $26,7248 This also came with a caution from the
consortium that prices are expected to increase um with economic measures being taken and there will not be another opportunity to buy the computers at a discount in the next year
And who is the consortium I mean the the county group Stella LMXAC Okay Uh the question I have the question I have is for uh somebody who needs a high-powered computer uh you know depending on what kind of
work they're doing Um what's the majority do you have any survey information is what's the majority of our uh patrons use the computers for that requires a certain level of so first of all we're not
buying highowered computers for the public computers these are only 16 gigabytes of RAM so these are not highowered by any stretch of the imagination the other thing is that um while a few of these are public The rest
of them are for um staff If I can I can tell you youth services that's a replacement of three computers Um their public desk two computers need to be replaced One of our passport computers
needs to be replaced Two of our reference computers need to be replaced Two of our technology computers need to be replaced Um the digital support services desk is one other and then the remaining 12 computers are those
available to the public And again the cost of these computers is 900 sorry the cost of the computer is $95061 So I'm just showing you all that
information so you know that this isn't a high-powered computing station These are sort of the bare minimum of what a taxpayer should expect when they come in And who's the manufacturer of the computers
These are sorry I've got a bunch of pages here These are Dell Optiplex and Dell Monitors Okay Could you send me a copy of those to my email address Okay
Thank you Is that how is this something that we then put on a motion to vote Chris or how does this work Yeah if you want to move forward with the purchase we would need to have board action on that And what's the expiration date is the 30th
of this month Yeah Unfortunately the email just came in yesterday or I would have had this to you sooner And of course yeah the orders are due by April 30th if we want to go ahead with it Otherwise if we're looking at 22 computers and you're talking about a
cost of about $200 more per computer then we're talking about potentially being into $4,000 Is that right As long as they're not coming from China Yeah saving a savings of about at least $4,000
Talk like our computers are old right The that second wave we had said that we wanted to replace them pretty soon after Right Okay I'm ready to make a motion if people are in alignment unless there's more comment The only question that I
have about computers and I I sit and looking at old one is not the age of the computer so much but what it's being used for and I don't who's getting 22 computers How many computers do we buy in the last purchase 19 So 19 and 22
that's how many new computers we have in the library Right But that's not for the all for the public A lot of these are staff machines Well that's what I need to look at Okay Does every staff member have a
computer Who has computers Um nearly every staff member if you go to um circulation every staff member doesn't have a computer There are are two staff computers in that department in addition to the ones that they have
at the desk So there are three at the desk two for working and one for Alicia or for Felicia So circulation has a total of six computers Oh plus the the smart pay monitor The smart pay monitor is how
people make their payments That's another computer So there are seven computers at circulation as an example As long as if I'm a part-time library assistant do I have a computer that I can take home No
not at all We have no take-home computers No laptop used on site or whatever Yeah And I don't think the age is as important to me Uh as long as it works I'm sitting
looking at a computer that's not brand new But I think you need to have them all working and people have who have them to work with have a massage probably And as long as you say that's so and the director of computers whoever
that is agrees with you that's fine they run the library That That's what we pay you for Go buy the computers And I think anybody who's saying we're going to postpone buying them isn't reading the newspaper because God knows what
computers will cost in five years I who knows So Sarah you want to make that motion Yes please I'll second it All right So what are we voting on on the purchase for on the purchase of
$26,72 for 22 Dell Omniplex computers and and replace obsolete equipment Uh roll call please Rocka yes Maddie yes Sarah yes Dr George
yes And Frank Weber yes Uh and one item of discussion Dr George says "You don't know where the prices on computers are going." I bought an IBM PS2 when my son was three He's now 34 So uh that computer cost
$2800 then Wow Hard little hard disc and you have more power on your telephone now Even a cheap phone Well God help us all Let's get them while we can get them at a decent price
And uh yeah that's all right Do we have do do we have a a way of disposing the ones that are still serviceable to uh some organizations that get them either to a foreign country or somewhere in part of the country where they have some use
Um you get into a very difficult situation there of disposing of publicly purchased materials um with who you're giving them to um if you're just giving them out to the public and with those materials I think
that they're better off being recycled because most schools and places and Frank I I know there was a time when people wanted any computer um that was donated but now when it comes to like a machine from 2013 we're not going to
have takers on that Well there were a lot of rules and regulations in the past on selling them too I know we've gone through that but I can't imagine what you'd sell a used computer for when you can buy a new one for three years Well I'm not saying I'm
not saying sell them I'm saying donate them to some that raise more questions than it answers Frank isn't that a sad commentary on this human condition Yes it is Yes it is
Um that's all I have Everything else is with policy and budget Okay Um moving to committee reports buildings and grounds Roco Whoops I had a question Under I'm sorry you moved fast Uh under
the director's report how are we doing with those bags of books that are not in the class in the schools yet Are they going to get there before the end of the term or Yes I' I've been told that they're going
to be going there Yeah we're going to be uh delivering them in the next couple I would imagine within the ne after spring break Uh we're going to start delivering them and and starting putting them to use Um it's just been a little bit held up with some of the other things that have been going on in the district but
um I think you've had a lot to deal with We we've got quite a few things going on but uh after spring break they will be going out and being delivered Okay My point was that if they didn't don't get done you know within in that time then perhaps it's better to wait till September because teachers and classes
change I mean you know you taught third grade last year now you're going to teach fifth grade So you want it to be useful where it was planned for So just so that we get them out and uh just keep us posted on what's happening with the
project if you please Absolutely And just as a point of information what was the the cost of this project $10,000 Okay And I believe we've come in under that but I have to get you numbers
Roco back to you Sorry Uh no report for building and grounds at this time Okay Um finance Mar I'll minimally I will just try and if you appoint another uh if you point
to Dr George or whomever you choose u try and have we'll try and have a review a meeting between now and next meeting and a review on what Don has given us Perfect Thank you um outreach and marketing
Don't know who the committee is Um I I I can add one thing on to that because we haven't had a committee meeting but I will shortly be sending um recommendations to the committee um for when I went to the conference that I
went to I saw some really really successful um marketing campaigns and I have contacts and our staff I have Pam going up to some other libraries and those kinds of things So Frank I'm gonna have lots of things to send you soon
Good Thank you Yep Okay Uh personnel I think we hit on everything that we need to talk about policy Yeah just uh one thing that is currently in the works right now that um we may be
bringing to the board uh within probably the next month or two months uh and that deals with um artificial intelligence and AI the use of AI platforms on our computers and devices Uh this is something that um you know I have a little bit of experience with because
I'm on the AI committee uh for the Aldidge Township Public School District Um so I'm looking over right now some of the policies that Dawn sent in terms that are built for the libraries Uh and we're going to probably have a meeting within you know probably sometime before the next month and maybe draw up a
formal policy uh to look at So we have a couple of things to go on Um I know the state of New Jersey uh some of the law firms here have been producing stuff for us to look at as well So we'll get there Yeah I think most of it pertains to staff right more so than the public
Okay Um and then finally technology I think we just covered that one Yeah perfect Very exciting Okay moving to public comments Yes I stopped and I happened to be dropping off the library real quick Actually I want to just preface briefly
um that I uh this is not what I came in here for but I I agree with Mr Weber about like the de accessioning of um computers being you know outside of just recycling e-waste because I I I'm very involved in the vintage computer federation Um and so like we we still
hold on to stuff that's like that super old but there is definitely a market and I know that does raise more questions sometimes than you know but I just don't like seeing things being recycled for e-waste if they don't have to be But understood Anyway with that said what I did come here to talk about was to say
that I went to Maker Day Um and I was very pleasant Uh I I I this is not the first one I've gone to but I quite uh enjoyed it I'm very glad that the library invests in that and I'm glad that our maker space now is finally being reopened I've wanted that to be reopened for a while now and I hope that
the library continues to invest in um maker or even just the take-h home crafts and things like that I think it's really a great enrichment to our town to be able to uh have that available to everybody Um and I I love that this is now a part of this sort of bigger um
movement Um and I as well have been to East Brunswick uh maker space too and they also have a lot of interesting stuff some different some you know some similar and so I I uh I hope that we continue to invest in that going forward So and and just so you know our buildings and grounds committee is
looking at a refurbishment of that area So hopefully we have that coming as well So stay tuned and we really appreciate your feedback um coming in and and talking to us and and letting us giving us that are we going in the right direction So I thank you for that We
really appreciate it If I happen to be here anyway you know I think sometimes you identify the last person who spoke because we didn't hear who it was The only name that we have up here is Mr Garrett as you know Yeah Kind of loud though to the microphone Yes Tyler
Denique Thank you Thank you Uh I just and I have one comment real quick Uh just to say uh you know I'm always proud whenever we make connections with the with the public schools Um two things that have been
kind of besides the books that are going to be going out Um the uh we currently are preparing for our presentations for getting our students ready for summer and uh the bridge public library again is participating in uh producing a video for us that's going to be sent out
districtwide to how to prevent the summer slide Uh and so we are working on that again Um and the you know it's a great way for the public library to get their information out to the school district and to our students that there's going to be all these activities to help them over the summer to come in
read some books and stay on top of their literacy skills Uh and then on top of that we also have in a couple of weeks there is going to be a um connection with the SAT the Princeton Review uh and they're going the Obridge Public Library is going to be giving out a uh practice
test for students who uh are interested Uh it was put out on on Township Public Schools Twitter Uh and I think we're going to just keep recirculating it to make sure students come out Uh it's a nice way to get some free SAT prep So again thanks to the Obridge Public
Library for doing all of that If I thanks Rocka can I add one more thing from the director's report There was a long-standing discussion about some databases that weren't performing very well Last year I
asked for us to continue them One was job and career accelerator and one was um universal class And the quality is just not there So we have decided not to uh carry those forward So just so you I
just want you to know that I'm following up on our conversations even a year later to make sure that we're making the best choices with our our money for databases and research tools And uh the public library has also been very good at helping getting us
materials that we may be lacking at the public school level Uh we had a just right now I'm holding right here a couple of books for a special education teacher Uh the high school books may uh these students are a little bit below the high school reading level uh because they're special needs students and
library was able to get us the books that we needed and they were also to get us other video materials and things like that whenever we have asked very quickly So again another thank you public library will be closing in 30 minutes Please bring all items to the I think that's
it Great Um all right Any other comments or a motion to adjurnn Motion to adjurnn Second All right Roll call or all in favor
Which one I All in favor I Okay Thanks everyone There were at least three eyes there