Sage Council Meeting Minutes

November 15, 2022

Attendees: Beth Ross (Sage), Carrie Bushman (La Grande), Heather Spry (Baker), Cheryl Hancock (Harney), Jon Georg (Sage), Maggie Pando (The Dalles), Dea Nowell (UCSLD), Perry Stokes (Baker), Delia Fields (Hermiston HS), Rachael Fox (Hood River), Michele Timmons (Elgin), Renee Miller (Hood River HS), Kathy Street (OTLD), Maribel Pagan (Klamath Falls CC), Mary Reser (Gilliam), Becky Doherty (Ione), Marsha Richmond (Lake County)

Approval of September 2022 minutes: Perry moved to approve the minutes, Delia seconded, and all were in favor.

Committee Reports

Cataloging Committee – the Cataloging committee met October 3. It was well attended. Book images in the catalog were discussed – where they originate and the process for reporting wrong images and submitting images for display. A new chair was elected – Lisa Hauner (OTLD), with Tracy Hayes as co-chair. Search features and search templates were reviewed. Catalogers were asked to delete French subject headings that are coming in on many OCLC records. Reminders were given on cataloging series.

Circulation Committee – The committee is meeting now on the third Thursday at 1 pm. In the last meeting they reviewed the circulation policy draft and discussed the difference between an alert and a note in the patron record.

Courier Committee – Beth plans on scheduling a meeting.

Old Business

Adoption of Changes to Sage Cataloging Policy – vote on changes to the document was postponed to this meeting to allow more time for review. The proposed policy changes were sent out to the entire Sage membership via the sage-lib-group listserv on October 12, 2022. No questions or concerns were raised. Dea moved that we adopt the cataloging policy as revised, Delia seconded. No votes opposed.

Proposed Bylaws change for number of council seats and representation (Article IV, Section 2)

Section 2. Composition

Voting members of the User Council shall consist of a minimum of 9 and a maximum of 13 voting representatives. There should be an uneven number of representatives to facilitate voting outcomes. Representative classifications are recommended as follows:

1. One representative from Sage’s fiscal agent;
2. One representative of circulating schools;
3. Three representatives of public libraries serving fewer than 5,000 people;
4. Two representatives of public libraries serving between 5,000 and 15,000 people;
5. Two representatives of public libraries serving over 15,000 people;

       6.  One representative of academic libraries;

1. One representative of resource-sharing partner institutions and special libraries.

With approval of the above language, the intent is to go out to the entire Sage membership. A special meeting would be scheduled in order for us to adopt the bylaws change. Potential problem – two candidates in a category where there can only be one. It is unlikely that there would be any contention but the language does read “representative classifications are recommended” and allows some flexibility. Perry moved to accept the language and moving forward with adoption procedures, Rachael seconded.

New Business

Systems Update (Jon)

On Sep 27th, DB1 crashed. We temporarily setup DB2 as the main database server while we [Dell, Equinox, EOU and I] tried to figure out what the issue was.

EOU set up remote bare metal access for me to DB1 so I could reboot it regardless of error state, and install firmware remotely, which I did. The same has been done for DB2. EOU physically reseated the relevant hardware. Each time we made changes, we ended up having to wait a few days to a week or more to see if the issue was resolved because it was intermittent and we had not figured out a pattern to it yet.

We replaced the first piece of hardware on 10/25, and then more hardware on 11/9. On 10/31 DB1 crashed twice. Once in the morning which it had been doing every few mornings, but was coming back up reliably. I was in constant communication with everyone about the issues as we tried to isolate the problem.

The second crash on 10/31 however required Equinox to rebuild the database. Thankfully, that was not an issue due to the redundancy we have in our system, with extra backups being written directly to the NAS. The decision was then made to completely take DB1 out of circulation and permanently leave DB2 as the primary server while we waited for the hardware which was on backorder. After installing more hardware on 11/9 and fixing a software issue related to the crash, Dell asked me to wait until 11/14 to see if there were any more issues. Thus far there have not been any more hardware issues. As a precaution, I intend to wait a few more days before asking Equinox to put DB1 back into circulation as the backup server. If it continues to perform as expected, we’ll then assign it report duties. If we have any more hardware issues, the next step would be to replace the motherboard itself. Thankfully, the server is under warranty.

Update – DB1 was placed back into service as the backup server. If there are no error messages in the next week, it become the reporting server as well. Jon is looking at monitoring software.

Question – if we had to replace the motherboard what would be the cost? None. Beth asked what our warranty period is and the answer is another 4 years. Dea expressed thanks for the effort Jon put towards resolving these issues.

Request to drop Harney ESD as a circulating school library and move items to a shelving location under Harney County Library. (Cheryl)

The ESD does not function as a typical school library, does not have staffing or open hours to the public. The ESD library serves rural schools (11) and the Early Childhood Center (Head Start). The rural schools all have their own library now and are not really using the ESD but the Early Childhood Center is. Only teacher resources have been added to the collection in the last couple years. Last summer the ESD talked about closing the library. Harney County Library staff are the ones actually maintaining the library and are currently removing hundreds of materials, such as VHS tapes. Most of the items going out are going to the Early Childhood Center and they could be provided by the Harney County Library if need be. Beth indicated that the ESD collection could be a shelving location under Harney County. They have paid their Sage fee for the past 4 or 5 years but it really not being utilized. They are keeping the library open for this year but it isn’t expected to last beyond that. There is a financial impact to the budget but it is minimal and can be covered by surplus funds.

Dea moved that we allow the Harney ESD to be dropped as a circulating schools library and be subsumed under Harney County Library. Delia seconded the motion.

Friday Feature blog posts (Beth) – We’ve talked about needing regular updates from the systems staff and there are features out there that are unknown or not really being utilized. The thought is that if we regularly scheduled an update on Friday we could cover some of these topics. She would welcome suggestions.

The blog posts will appear on the sagelib.org/staff website and an email will be sent out the sage-lib-group listserv.

Circulation Policy draft (Kathy) – concerns were raised about libraries having different policies on the adult age for patrons and its impact on patrons using multiple libraries within a district. Also, a question was raised on the number of holds allowed in the policy. Someone advocated that the number of holds be raised to 15.

In the past there has been discussion that the larger libraries bear the brunt of increased hold levels. Hold levels were raised at many libraries during the pandemic closures but the committee recommends that we go back to a standard amount such as 10.

Questions – For larger libraries set at a higher number, are you adversely affected? The consensus was no. Concern was raised on whether the higher hold limit would impact courier traffic –  more pulling, more storage of materials, more staging space needed, more courier runs? How many patrons are taking advantage of the higher hold limits?

An issue with Educator cards was raised, they tend to be at the high end on both checkouts and holds and have longer checkout periods as well. If we are going back to a standard we may need to look at multiple profile groups and standardize them as well. Is there any concern that patrons would object to lowering the hold limit from where it was during the pandemic? Most likely not. Circulation statistics have been down in Baker and they are trying to build back usage. There was general approval for setting the holds limit to 15. If there are adverse effects, it could be dialed back.

Are patrons good about picking up holds or are materials being sent back? Most patrons pick up holds.

If there are any questions, please contact Kathy. She will send out the changed policy draft, specifying the increase to 15 holds.

Meeting adjourned at 10:55 am.

Next meeting will be January 17, 2023.