SWAN ADMINISTRATORS’

QUARTERLY MEETING

RAILS 125 Tower Rd. Burr Ridge, IL

Thursday, June 7, 2012, 9:30 A.M.

SWAN Administrators’ Quarterly Meeting 125 Tower Drive Burr Ridge, IL 60527

June 7, 2012 9:30 A.M.

1. Call to Order and Welcome

2. Introduction of New Library Directors

3. Approval of the March Quarterly Meeting Minutes – Action Item

4. Announce Board Election Results – Information Item

5. SWAN Fees Committee Update—Information Item

6. SWAN Financial/Personnel Committee Update – Information Item

7. SWAN Strategic Planning Process – Information Item

8. FY2013 Database Group Purchase for LLSAP Member Libraries – Information Item

9. Reports

a. President’s Report

b. SWAN Executive Director Report

10. Announcements and Questions

*Member Comment after each agenda item

Next SWAN Board Meeting Dates: 6/15/12 | 7/20/12 | 8/17/12 | 9/21/12 Next SWAN Administrators’ Quarterly Meeting Dates: 9/6/12|12/6/12

SWAN Administrators’ Quarterly Meeting 125 Tower Drive Burr Ridge, IL 60527

March 1, 2012 9:30 A.M.

1. Call to Order and Welcome

The SWAN Administrator’s Quarterly Meeting was called to order at 9:35 a.m. by President Rauch.

2. Introduction of New Library Directors

Anthony Molaro, Director of Prairie State College Library

Sue Pajor, Assistant Director/Adult Services Manager represented Alsip-Merrionette Park Public Library District

Ursula Stanek, Head of Circulation represented LaGrange Park Public Library

Brian Vagt, Head of Technical Services/Administrative Support represented Richton Park Public Library

3. Approval of the December 2011 SWAN Quarterly Meeting Minutes – Action Item

Deiters moved, seconded by Brennan to approve the December 2011 SWAN Quarterly minutes. Motion carried by unanimous voice vote.

4. Approve revised SWAN Intergovernmental Agreement – Action Item Dilger-Hill moved to approve the SWAN Intergovernmental Agreement. The roll call vote was called by Dilger-Hill. The motion carried on a roll call vote: Eric Werthmann, Acorn Public Library - yes; Sue Pajor, Alsip Public Library - yes; Jill Grosso, Beecher Public Library - yes; Jimmi Wooten, Bellwood Public Library - yes; Tammy Clausen, Berwyn Public Library - yes; Jim Dieters, Blue Island Public Library - yes; Lori Kinzel, Bridgeview Public Library - yes; Melissa Gardner, Broadview Public Library - yes; Kim Litland, Brookfield Public Library - yes; Lauren Denney, Calumet City Public Library - yes; Mike Davis, Chicago Heights Public Library - yes; Kathy McSwain, Chicago Ridge Public Library - yes; Jane Schoen, Cicero Public Library - yes; Lori Craft, Clarendon Hills Public Library - yes; Suzanne Bleskin, Crestwood Public Library - yes; Jane Schulten, Crete Public Library - yes; Laura Fazio, Dolton Public Library - yes; Rick Ashton, Downers Grove Public Library - yes; Ron Stoch, Eisenhower Public Library - yes; Shawn Strecker, Elmwood Park Public Library - yes; Nikki Seidl, Evergreen Public Library - yes; Megan Millen, Flosmoor Public Library - yes; Rodger Brayden, Forest Park Public Library - yes; Kathy Parker, Glenwood-Lynwood Public Library - yes; Karen Keefe, Hinsdale Public Library - yes; Judy Young, Hodgkins Public Library - yes; Cindy Rauch, Homewood Public Library - yes; Jamie Bukovac, Indian Prairie Public Library - yes; Jeannie Dilger-Hill, La Grange Public Library - yes; Ursula Stanek, LaGrange Park Public Library - yes; Al Morrow, McCook Public Library - yes; Kathy Berggren, Matteson Public Library - yes;

Cynthia Maeillo-Gluecklich, Melrose Park Public Library - yes; Mary Beth Sharples, Midlothian Public Library - yes; Robert Lifka, North Riverside Public Library - yes; Sharon Highler, Northlake Public Library - yes; James Casey, Oak Lawn Public Library - yes; Dee Brennan, Oak Park Public Library - yes; Robin Wagner, Orland Park Public Library - yes; Elaine Savages, Palos Heights Public Library - yes; Sheila Sosnicki, Palos Park Public Library - yes; Anthony Molaro, Prairie State College Library - yes; Ruth Faklis, Prairie Trails Public Library - yes; Brian Vagt, Richton Park Public Library - yes; Sophia Anastos, River Forest Public Library - yes; Cathy Albert, River Grove Public Library - yes; Katrina Harris, Riverdale Public Library - yes; Tina Setzer, Schiller Park Public Library - yes; Meg Klinkow, South Holland Public Library - yes; Sangeeta Kumar, South Suburban College Library - yes; Lisa Korajczyk, Steger-South Chicago Public Library - yes; Sarah Cottonaro, Stickney Public Library - yes; Hadiya Drew, Summit Public Library - yes; Anne Kozak, Thomas Ford Public Library - yes; Rich Wolff, Tinley Park Public Library - yes; Fidencio Marbella, Westchester Public Library - yes; Christine Kuhn, Westmont Public Library - yes; Susan McNeil-Marshall, Woodridge Public Library - yes; Carol Hall, Worth Public Library - yes. Ayes: 57. Nays: None. Abstentions: None. Absent: 23

5. Approve revised SWAN By-laws – Action Item Bukovac moved to approve the revised SWAN By-laws as amended. The roll call vote was called by Dilger-Hill. Motion carried as amended on a roll call vote: Eric Werthmann, Acorn Public Library - yes; Sue Pajor, Alsip Public Library - yes; Jill Grosso, Beecher Public Library - yes; Jimmi Wooten, Bellwood Public Library - yes; Tammy Clausen, Berwyn Public Library - yes; Jim Dieters, Blue Island Public Library - yes; Lori Kinzel, Bridgeview Public Library - yes; Melissa Gardner, Broadview Public Library - yes; Kim Litland, Brookfield Public Library - yes; Lauren Denney, Calumet City Public Library - yes; Mike Davis, Chicago Heights Public Library - yes; Kathy McSwain, Chicago Ridge Public Library - yes; Jane Schoen, Cicero Public Library - yes; Lori Craft, Clarendon Hills Public Library - yes; Suzanne Bleskin, Crestwood Public Library - yes; Jane Schulten, Crete Public Library - yes; Laura Fazio, Dolton Public Library - yes; Rick Ashton, Downers Grove Public Library - yes; Ron Stoch, Eisenhower Public Library - yes; Shawn Strecker, Elmwood Park Public Library - yes; Nikki Seidl, Evergreen Public Library - yes; Megan Millen, Flosmoor Public Library - yes; Rodger Brayden, Forest Park Public Library - yes; Kathy Parker, Glenwood-Lynwood Public Library - yes; Karen Keefe, Hinsdale Public Library - yes; Judy Young, Hodgkins Public Library - yes; Cindy Rauch, Homewood Public Library - yes; Jamie Bukovac, Indian Prairie Public Library - yes; Jeannie Dilger-Hill, La Grange Public Library - yes; Ursula Stanek, LaGrange Park Public Library - yes; Al Morrow, McCook Public Library - yes; Kathy Berggren, Matteson Public Library - yes; Cynthia Maeillo-Gluecklich, Melrose Park Public Library - yes; Mary Beth Sharples, Midlothian Public Library - yes; Robert Lifka, North Riverside Public Library - yes; Sharon Highler, Northlake Public Library - yes; James Casey, Oak Lawn Public Library - yes; Dee Brennan, Oak Park Public Library - yes; Robin Wagner, Orland Park Public Library - yes; Elaine Savages, Palos Heights Public Library - yes; Sheila Sosnicki, Palos Park Public

Library - yes; Anthony Molaro, Prairie State College Library - yes; Ruth Faklis, Prairie Trails Public Library - yes; Brian Vagt, Richton Park Public Library - yes; Sophia Anastos, River Forest Public Library - yes; Cathy Albert, River Grove Public Library - yes; Katrina Harris, Riverdale Public Library - yes; Tina Setzer, Schiller Park Public Library - yes; Meg Klinkow, South Holland Public Library - yes; Sangeeta Kumar, South Suburban College Library - yes; Lisa Korajczyk, Steger-South Chicago Public Library - yes; Sarah Cottonaro, Stickney Public Library - yes; Hadiya Drew, Summit Public Library - yes; Anne Kozak, Thomas Ford Public Library - yes; Rich Wolff, Tinley Park Public Library - yes; Fidencio Marbella, Westchester Public Library - yes; Christine Kuhn, Westmont Public Library - yes; Susan McNeil-Marshall, Woodridge Public Library - yes; Carol Hall, Worth Public Library - yes. Ayes: 57. Nays: None. Abstentions: None. Absent: 23

6. SWAN Fees Committee Update—Information Item Sosnicki stated that the charge of the SWAN Fees Committee was to present a report on alternative fee structures to SWAN and to make a recommendation of a fee structure to the SWAN Board on July 20, 2012. The current fee structure is comprised of seven components: 1. Access fees, licenses or ports per each library 2. Patron Circulation Access Fee: 11 percentile ratings times the total SWAN operating

cost 3. OPAC fee 4. Telecom fee 5. Reserve fund 6. Database fee: number of titles held times a set rate per title. Includes a discount for

cataloging libraries 7. Equalizer fee: adjusting library rates decreasing or increasing

The question the committee heard from membership was: is the formula equitable for all? Secondly, the membership asked if this formula could be simplified. In their study, the committee requested information from 15 different consortia regarding fee structure including an explanation of components used in the formula. Their questions included: the name of the ILS, the number of members, any tiers of service and overall circulation of the system. They also asked about budget information and reserve funds. SWAN has 80 members, 13 million items available for circulation, no tier service and uses the Millennium ILS. The committee discovered that the non-library cooperatives did not present good models. An example was electricity which is based on actual power used, a flat meter charge, delivery up to a certain point and then a surcharge. This was not translatable into number of library patrons, items, or circulation.

The committee has received information from the State Library on circulation, size of collection and population of each library in the SWAN system. The next few meetings will consist of actually using the numbers with the various formulas from: Bibliomation, MAGIC, Minuteman Library Network, MassLNC and South Central Library System.

7. SWAN Personnel/Finance Committee Update – Information Item Bukovac: the recent Committee meeting of the Whole provided good discussion regarding taking over management of the staff. The SWAN Board appreciated the discussion regarding health insurance, pension benefits and keeping the same employer contribution for the insurance premium for the first year. With July 1, 2012 coming up quickly SWAN doesn’t want to change the contribution and have the staff to contribute more funds towards health insurance. Bukovac sent the pension paperwork to IMRF and is waiting for a response. ICMA is another pension option. Bukovac attended a SWAN staff meeting with the ED where the finer points of personnel/finance issues were discussed. These discussions will be continued at the Personnel/Finance Committee meeting Thursday, March 8, 2012.

8. SWAN Board Election Process—Information Item Dilger-Hill is chairing the nominating committee for the SWAN Board elections. She provided handouts to the group. Other committee members are Rodger Brayden and Jim Casey. Three year terms for the board have just been approved in the By-laws. Those elected for 2 year terms will finish their terms. Anyone newly elected from this point on will serve a 3-year term. An exception is that in order to get into a 3-year rotation, an At-large term will be a 2-year term. In year 1 elect an A, B, and C; in year 2 elect an A, B, and C; in year 3, elect an At-large. The Board discussed a wide variety of possible rotations. They chose this rotation so that no more than three board members are up for election at one time. Year 1 – elect one representative each from Groups A, B, and C Year 2 – elect one representative each from Groups A, B, and C Year 3 – elect one representative as an At-large representative Currently, the committee is accepting self-nominations. They hope to recommend two candidates for A, two for B and two for C and for At-large to recommend an A, B and C for a total of nine people. Those nominated or self-nominated will be required to fill out a statement of interest. The ballot will not indicate if they were self-nominated. The ballot will be posted online in May for a couple of weeks. The results will be announced at the next quarterly meeting. The available positions are: Group A, Davis’s position; Group B, Rauch’s position; Group C, Wolff’s position; and the At-large, Gardner’s. The nominating committee meets Thursday, March 29, 2012.

9. SWAN Strategic Planning Process – Information Item

Rauch reported that the SWAN Board has identified a need for strategic planning. Consultants have been contacted regarding their processes and pricing. During their next meeting on March 9th the SWAN Board will choose from two consulting services. Rauch said the timeline will be to have the strategic planning process in place when the newly elected members begin July 1, 2012.

10. RAILS-SWAN FY2013 Agreement – Information Item The SWAN Board met with the RAILS Executive Director, the RAILS Associate Executive Director and two RAILS Board members and the draft contract was reviewed. To date, SWAN has not had a response from RAILS about the draft. The SWAN attorney has looked at it and proclaimed the contract is ready to go. One member asked for the high points of the FY2013 contract in how it’s the same or different. Rauch responded that it does not include assigning a fee to pay to RAILS to provide SWAN with staff. SWAN showed RAILS cost savings by taking over the costs of the staff health benefits and the manager’s salary. SWAN is asking that other services be funded with these monies. The new contract will still ask for use of the facility, financial services, IT support, email services, etc. The ED will meet with the Associate Executive Director to review the contract. The third version of the FY13 contract will be reviewed at the next SWAN Board meeting March 9, 2012. RAILS indicated it wants to increase support to its LLSAPS from the Area and Per Capita (APC) grant. The challenge is to do it equitably amongst all of the LLSAPS. Rauch said the RAILS LLSAP Task Force had developed a definition for the LLSAP in RAILS. Now the task force is examining what the LLSAP definition means in expectations and responsibilities. The definition will be brought to the RAILS Board meeting for approval. Question: what if RAILS doesn’t provide funds? Rauch answered that the SWAN budget is set up to allow SWAN to move forward regardless. Another member asked: what’s beyond one year, is SWAN in a position to bring in more libraries? The ED responded that it is difficult currently to bring in more libraries because of the way the ILS is currently arranged. He said that part of the strategic planning is to ascertain SWAN’s ability to grow and to take on more member libraries. SWAN also needs to research and evaluate the next server platform and to look at the staffing footprint. The question becomes: where do the APC funds fit into this. Rauch said that SWAN needs to define how to continue functioning for the current library members and then, also how to change in order to help other libraries. School libraries have different priorities.

11. FY2013 Database Group Purchase for LLSAP Member Libraries – Information Item The RAILS Resource Sharing Manager presented the update for the FY13 Database Group Purchase. The Database Group Purchase Advisory Group has met twice. The group discussed this year’s offerings and some goals for the FY13 purchase. One of the group’s goals is to improve the selection from the quality databases, picked from Gale and EBSCO. The group recommended not renewing Grolier’s Lands and Peoples because of several issues including the difficulty of getting statistics. They are looking for a replacement. Culturegrams is one option and pricing is being looked at now.

They are expanding the group purchase this year to members in other LLSAPS. There was a lot of discussion about developing a package that’s affordable for all members in order to gain as many participants as possible. Currently the group is waiting for all of the pricings to come in. At the next meeting March 2012 they are hoping to make the decision. The group is exploring having the vendors bill each library instead of the libraries reimbursing the LLSAPS. This will eliminate the contract progress and gives the group more time to focus on resources and coordination. At the next meeting the RSM will present to the group a comparison of last year’s pricing formula with the formula based on population and total operating expenditures. That figure was taken from the last IPLAR report. The decision will be pricings as equitable as possible for the majority of participants. The group is carefully considering all of the options before making further recommendations to the SWAN Board. One member asked: when a contract is signed for a group purchase, does the library pay out of their share or can the library pick or choose from packages? The RSM responded the packages are still being worked out and the group hopes to provide the ability to choose from available packages. Another member offered that different organizations are aggregating database information. Would it be useful to have a vetting process for newly born databases and types of information on line? The RSM responded with a “Yes”. The member continued that they are looking at the cost of databases relative to operational budget and population and would it be useful to have some statistics pointing to cost of databases and cost of items and return on investment to help inform decision? The RSM responded with a “Yes”. The SWAN Board noted that the database vendors provide usage statistics that can be used to evaluate ROI.

12. Reports a. President’s Report

There was no report.

b. SWAN Executive Director Report

The SWAN executive director presented an overview of the present 3 Q12 quarter and projections for the upcoming 4 Q12 quarter. SWAN’s vendor, Oracle examined the Report Server recently, found no issues and it is back on line. In the future, SWAN plans to move off of the Oracle/Sun server. SWAN IT staff checked data of the report server and found gaps. Innovative performed data resynchronization to eliminate those gaps. Encore was scheduled to upgrade to the next 4.1 version in February but had to stop due to other considerations. SWAN is working with Innovative on how to make changes without a lengthy downtime of Production and Encore servers. Now there’s awareness that there’s a tighter integration between the Production server and the Encore server,

the upgrade of Encore will require Production server downtime. The SWAN staff will follow up with Innovative services. SWAN’s “12 gifts” have all been delivered. The template workshops were very successful. The goal was to give participants an idea of how to edit receipts, hold slips, etc. Brochures as handouts gave information on the three WebPAC features: My Lists/Wish Lists, Freeze holds and Email preferred searches. These three features were deployed on February 1, 2012. One member lauded SWAN regarding the 12 Gifts saying it was a huge accomplishment. She suggested that the WebPAC promote features with messages inserted in the WebPac. The ED commended the Bibliographic services for the great work they do in processing requests and loading records, particularly the three OverDrive consortia My Media Mall, eMedia Library and Media on Demand. The SWAN Bibliographic Services Manager will facilitate Quick Clicks training in the libraries that have purchased the service. Millennium Acquisition workshops will be facilitated by an Innovative trainer for the current SWAN Millennium acquisitions libraries. Continuing education for circulation is ongoing; a new series of workshops is being prepared by the Circulation Advisory Committee. Changes between OverDrive and SWAN are being planned. Currently SWAN uses EZProxy when the patron goes into OverDrive. If a patron has download issues, currently they need information from EZProxy to fix the issue. SWAN will convert to the SWAN Patron API which has better OverDrive support, where a library staff member will only need the patron barcode. One area of concern for the switch from EZProxy to Patron API will be that SWAN PIN will need to be used instead of last name. A member offered that the language in the data entry fields be changed for the use of the PIN instead of a password. The SWAN Personnel/Finance Committee is setting up the SWAN staff for management. Their projected deadline is June 30, 2012. RAILS completed a study of its existing data centers. The RAILS Data Center study’s goal was to give the RAILS Board a recommendation on existing data centers, plus other options for commercial or colocation lease. The study examined nine elements needed in data centers: size, power, telecom, etc. The six month study by the four LLSAPS and the RAILS IT manager was completed. Using a point system, Burr Ridge was chosen as the best data center location. The ED mapped out how IHLS, through an extensive investigation, decided on Polaris as their ILS vendor. Polaris was the front runner in each of the three phases of testing. The three phases consisted of: evaluating the responses from the RFI release, onsite demonstration evaluations and evaluating the responses from the best and final offer.

They have 430 libraries with a combined circulation of eleven million. IHLS realized that they needed the support (buy-in) of all of their libraries for the migration later this year. They will also have their official LLSAPs formally dissolve, consolidate funds and divide migration costs and will need new intergovernmental agreements with their member libraries. PrairieCat is also going through a migration with Innovative Interfaces’ Sierra. Their “go live” target date is July 5, 2012. The Pinnacle Library Cooperative of six libraries will use Polaris as their new ILS. Their “go live” target date is June 16, 2012.

The ED’s presentation is available on the SWAN governance page.

13. Announcements and Questions One member thanked the SWAN Board, the ED, the IT Manager and the Resource Sharing Manager. Their hard work was recognized with a round of applause. Another member invited everyone to attend “The Burr Ridge Neighborhood” meeting on RAILS initiatives updates and to discuss strategies for communications later that day. A member invited all to register for the LACONI trustee banquet. The director of the Midlothian Public Library announced that their renovation is completed and their library resumes regular business hours starting Monday, March 12, 2012. Another member thanked everyone who had contributed to his survey for his graduate degree program.

14. Adjournment The meeting was adjourned at 11:22 a.m.

Next SWAN Board Meeting Dates: 3/9/12| 4/13/12|4/20/12|5/18/12 Next SWAN Administrators’ Quarterly Meeting Dates: 6/7/12 | 9/6/12|12/6/12

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Date: Monday June 4, 2012

To: All SWAN Library Administrators

From: SWAN Board

Re: SWAN Staff Benefits Package

Beginning July 1, 2012, SWAN will be hiring its own staff, rather than contracting with RAILS for staffing. All current SWAN employees are being offered the same position within SWAN.

The SWAN Board has been working on a benefits package to offer staff members, in addition to their current salaries. We want to share the details of the total benefits package with our members.

Health Insurance: Medical, dental, and vision will be provided by LIMRiCC. Benefits coverage will not change for current employees. SWAN currently pays 80% of employee premiums and 70% of family premiums (by reimbursing RAILS). This percentage will stay the same for the first year, but in 2013-14 we will review these percentages.

Retirement: The SWAN Board spent a great deal of time considering retirement packages. The two best options were (1) to become an IMRF entity (an irrevocable decision) or (2) to offer a 401a (employer contribution) plan. There were a number of factors that went into this very difficult decision.

After much debate, the SWAN board voted to offer its employees a 401a plan. A 401 is flexible and gives control of the staff pension plan to SWAN. This decision was made in an effort to keep the consortium fiscally stable for the future. Keeping in mind what SWAN would have paid to IMRF for its program, the board has voted that the employer contribution rate for FY13 will be 9.75%. Staff who are hired as of July 1, 2012 will be vested immediately (staff who are hired after that date will be vested after 1 year.). When staff leave they are able to take the employer contribution with them. Staff will also have the options of contributing to a 457 plan and an IRA Roth.

In order to help staff make the transition, SWAN is providing financial planning assistance at no cost to assist employees individually with investment decisions.

Life Insurance: SWAN is considering life insurance. A decision will be made at the June 15th SWAN Board meeting.

Disability Insurance: In lieu of the disability benefit offered by IMRF, SWAN is considering disability insurance. A decision will be made at the June 15th SWAN Board meeting.

Cost of Living Increase: All current SWAN employees who sign on with SWAN will receive a 1.5% cost of living increase in salary. These employees have not received any salary increases since July 2009. The 1.5% increase was included in the 2012-13 budget adopted in December.

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Employment Incentive: The Board is offering a 6.25% “signing bonus” to those employees who agree to join SWAN by mid-June. This amount would be paid out by RAILS, but RAILS would be reimbursed by SWAN. The money for this is currently available in the 2011-12 salary budget, due to unfilled positions.

The SWAN board voted to offer its employees this incentive in order to retain current staff, and to express how much we value them and want them to continue working for us.

Vacation and Sick Time: SWAN Board will offer the following vacation and sick time.

VACATION

Executive Director and Managers:

0 – less than 10 years of service 20 days per year

More than 10 years of services 25 days per year

Other staff who work at least 20 hours per week

0 – less than 10 years of service 15 days per year

More than 10 years of services 20 days per year

SICK

Full-time employees receive one sick day per month. Part-time employees who work at least 20 hours per week on a consistent basis earn the same on a pro-rated basis.

Holidays:

The SWAN Board will be voting on holidays in June. The Personnel/Finance Committee will recommend having fewer holidays that RAILS currently observes, for service reasons.

Seniority:

For SWAN staff hired on July 1, 2012, service as an employee of the Reaching Across Illinois Library System, the Metropolitan Library System, and the Suburban Library System will be counted toward SWAN seniority for vacation and other benefits.

Other Benefits: The SWAN Personnel/Finance Committee is nearly finished creating a complete Personnel Manual/Employee Handbook, detailing benefits and other such policies as travel reimbursement, pay periods, and the like. The committee compared the MLS and RAILS handbooks that current SWAN employees have been operating under, as well as looking at some public libraries’ handbooks, in order to come up with the most fair and equitable benefits possible.

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Overall, the SWAN Board attempted to balance the desire to offer an appealing benefits package to attract and retain good employees with the need to maintain fiscal stability for the long-term health of the organization. If you have any questions or would like more details about the benefits package, please feel free to contact the SWAN Board President.

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Date: Monday June 4, 2012

To: Current RAILS/SWAN Staff

From: Cindy Rauch, SWAN Board President

Re: Becoming SWAN Employees

As Board President, I wanted to reach out to SWAN staff to convey our concerns and express empathy

for all that you have had to withstand over the last three years. There has been a great deal of change

within library systems over the last three years, and for the last six months many of you have been

readying yourself for further change. Some of these changes will not be easy and as a SWAN Board

member, I wanted to first acknowledge this and provide some background as to why some of these

decisions were made.

Faced with diminishing state funding SWAN became its own legal entity in 2010 and was thus able to

better establish fiscal sustainability. In July of 2012 SWAN will begin another new and exciting phase as

the organization assumes the responsibility of directly hiring and managing its staff. It is intended that

this transition will provide a more stable working environment supported by the consortia and not

affected by further state funding shortfalls. Transitioning to this new model has been a complicated

and time consuming process with all decisions being made by the Board after long and thoughtful

discussion. Now that the employee benefit package is almost complete, I would like to share with you

some of the considerations the Board reviewed as this work was being done.

Once the Board decided to move forward with having its own employees a major over-riding factor was

the realization that we wanted all current RAILS/SWAN employees to become SWAN employees. Each

of the Board members recognized the value of you as employees and knew that your knowledge and

expertise would be critical to maintaining SWAN operations. In an effort to build an attractive

employee package the Board adopted several programs and policies. The Health Plan offered to SWAN

employees will be the same plan currently offered to RAILS/SWAN employees. There will be no

reduction in coverage or benefits. SWAN employees will be given an increase in salary and will also be

granted more vacation days that what RAILS employees are given. Current RAILS/SWAN staff who elect

to take employment with SWAN will be given a signing bonus equal to 6.25% of their first year salary.

Years of experience and seniority will also be carried over for current RAILS/SWAN staff.

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One of the hardest employee benefit decisions the Board needed to make was choosing a retirement

plan. After a long analysis the Personnel committee recommended two choices for the Board to

consider. These were joining IMRF or establishing a 401(a) plan. It was determined that the 401(a)

would be a better choice as it had several strengths over IMRF. While IMRF is currently a well-funded

pension it continues to be subject to state legislation. With the state still in an economic crisis it is

possible that IMRF will someday be affected. IMRF also dictates that an employee must contribute to

the pension but with the 401(a) plan the employee can elect what is contributed. Under a 401(a) plan

an employee can manage their own investment, can take what has been invested in the plan if they

change jobs and the vesting period is only one year. While the board recognized that IMRF was a good

retirement plan, it was decided that moving to a 401(a) plan would provide more flexibility and certainty

in the future. It should also be noted that adopting IMRF would have had to be a permanent decision

for the SWAN organization as it is not possible to stop participation once started.

The SWAN Board has spent the last two years establishing an operation that we know can sustain itself

if state funding continues to diminish. This has been a process that has caused heartache and headache

but the consortium is now poised to move forward confidently. On behalf of the Board I would like to

thank you for your willingness to look forward with us as we start this new partnership. You are our

most valuable asset.

MEMBER INPUT SESSION QUESTION: As you anticipate the coming 3 years, what accomplishments would you like to see the SWAN Consortium put into place that will support our current and future member libraries? May 21, 2012

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Monday May 21 Member Input Group: Jim Casey (Oak Lawn), Tammy Clausen (Berwyn), Pierre Gregoire (Frankfort), Karen Keefe (Hinsdale), Anne Kozak (Thomas Ford), Doug Losey (Hillside), Susan McNeil-Marshall (Woodridge), Andrew Murgas (Matteson), Cindy Rauch (Homewood), Shawn Strecker (Elmwood Park), Stacy Wittmann (Eisenhower), Rich Wolff (Tinley), Jeanne Diger-Hill (LaGrange)

BE A LIBRARY TECHNOLOGY

VISIONARY

OFFER INTERACTIVE

PATRON-CENTRIC CATALOG

CONTINUE A HEALTHY VIBRANT

ORGANIZATION

CREATE A FLEXIBLE

MEMBERSHIP MODEL

MIGRATE

FREE OUR

DATA

DEVELOP & PROVIDE VIRTUAL SERVICE

SWAN will be a leader of statewide LLSAPs

Interactive social catalog

Philosophy of succession planning/ continuity

Develop a philosophy of growth in terms of membership

Migrate to next generation ILS

Web analytics

SWAN will implement database analysis

Broaden IUG membership participation

Greater patron acc’t self service

Maintain operational & fiscal stability

Expansion of membership beyond MLS borders

Be along the path to new ILS

Easy manipulation of data & statistics

More online support (paperless, virtual mtgs, online training)

Flexibility w/adding new technology

Facilitate patron interface (social media interaction, accommodate physical & virtual formats, interactive community

End-user focus greater than membership

SWAN will offer more variety of services for a variety of & levels

Improve ILS patron & internal operation

Add APIs APs - tool sets for libraries

SWAN certified training for staff & patrons in a 24/7 format

SWAN will host an e-book server

Integrate e-content in ILS

Maximize resource sharing

Create tiered levels of service

Full-scale evaluation of ILS options

Partnering w/3rd party vendors & advocacy w/3rd party vendors

Better patron services, perhaps with new ILS

Have a financial plan members can work with

Define clearer vision of optimum size

SWAN will lead/ inform/train libraries in new technologies

Catalog that is user-friendly

Clarify what member can/cannot do on their own re: technology

MEMBER INPUT SESSION QUESTION: As you anticipate the coming 3 years, what accomplishments would you like to see the SWAN Consortium put into place that will support our current and future member libraries? May 22, 2012

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Tuesday May 22 Member Input Group: Rick Ashton (Downers), Dee Brennan (Oak Park), Jamie Bukovac (Indian Prairie), Sarah Cottonaro (Stickney-Forest View), Melissa Gardner (Broadview), Meg Klinkow Hartmann (South Holland), Christine Kuhn (Westmont), Kathy McSwain (Chicago Ridge), Meg Millen (Flossmoor), Kathy Parker (Glenwood-Lynwood), Elaine Savage (Palos Heights), Kristin Schultz (Bellwood), Sheila Sosnicki (Palos Park) Vickie Totton (Cicero)

PROVIDE STATE-OF-THE-ART ILS THAT IS USER-

ORIENTED, INTUITIVE AND

FLEXIBLE

EXPAND MEMBERSHIP

SERVICES AND OPTIONS

EXPAND MEMBERSHIP

TRAINING

NIMBLE ORGANIZATIONAL DECISION MAKING

IMPLEMENT INTEGRATED

E-STRATEGIES

IMPLEMENT UNIFORM

STANDARDS

USE TECHNOLOGY

FOR IMPROVED COMMUNICATION

PLAN FOR SWAN’S FUTURE

Migrate to a more modern interface and platform

A la carte member options

More member driven groups – CE modeled after Circ du SWAN

Quick decision making process - proactive rather than reactive

SWAN’s own e-content consortium

Uniform best practices everywhere

SWAN member website overhaul

Developing a plan for technological growth

New ILS platform Add new members Member ambassadors

Acknowledgement of binding board decisions – can act more nimbly

Integrated e-content strategy

Implementing best practices: circ rules, reimbursement

Redo member services website to communicate existing services better

Plan for life after RAILS

Improve OPAC New IT consultant

Plan, direction contract for new ILS

Maintain competitive pricing

Online training for members

Investigate migration to accomplish within 3 years

Centralized services: collection development, cataloging and ILL

Multi-level training Less cumbersome decision making with stronger board and staff structure

Coordinate group purchases of e-products

Uniformity for patrons

Responsive communication from SWAN staff

Bring back E.T.C (Emerging Technology Committee)

Minimal downtime Tiered services to enable expanded membership with more resources

Educating members on new trends

Be agile, be nimble, be quick

Add suggestion box to SWAN for patrons

Google-like search with Amazon-like Interface (FRBR that users recognize)

Create orientation for directors and department heads

Lead the way