Hello SWAN board reps-
It has been a roller coaster week, but I wanted to update you on a recommended solution for our "dead" BLUEcloud Mobile app.
First off, we have removed the BLUEcloud Mobile app from appearing in the Google Play and Apple App stores. There is unfortunately nothing we can do about the app that is already installed on a device. It will continue to display outdated information to users.
SirsiDynix and its partner on the BLUEcloud Mobile app continue to lay blame on each other for the situation. I will approach our legal firm KTJ to look over our SirsiDynix contract to see if there is anything we should know around legal recourse.
I will be meeting on Monday next week with SirsiDynix representatives to determine our refund for the BLUEcloud Mobile app.
Secondly, I have a recommendation for a replacement app for SWAN, which would be to move forward with Aspen LiDA. I will be meeting later this afternoon at 3:30pm with ByWater reps to review an addendum to our existing agreement. I won't sign off on anything yet, but I want to have a solution ready to go next week.
If you think there should be other app options explored, we can talk about that, but at this point, it makes tremendous sense to work with the company that is supporting our current discovery solution, Aspen Discovery. The LiDA mobile is our best candidate for a solution, and we can move forward with this quickly. I have requested that ByWater Solutions shift any up-front costs for the app to instead occur on our May 1, 2024 renewal of the Aspen hosting and support.
What will happen is on May 1st the SirsiDynix renewal will decrease and the ByWater renewal will include additional costs for the LiDA mobile app. I do not expect there to be any increase in cost to SWAN.
Tara Wood and I will present as our first topic at Quarterly this proposed solution, which will cover the LiDA app features and when we estimate it will launch. I will outline the costs and what should be a net result to SWAN.
I suggested to Jennifer that we also post a SWAN Board meeting to take place at Oak Brook Public Library after the Quarterly meeting. That would be just in case some action needs to be taken. We would need to make sure we have a board quorum for a possible meeting after Quarterly. *Please reply to me if you are able to attend next week at Oak Brook in person.*
I will be sending out a membership update about the Quarterly meeting and that we have an app solution in the works.
Best,
Aaron
Aaron Skog
Executive Director
aaron(a)swanlibraries.net<mailto:aaron@swanlibraries.net> * 630-326-7022
My pronouns: he/him/his
SWAN Library Services
800 Quail Ridge Drive, Westmont, IL 60559
swanlibraries.net<https://swanlibraries.net/> * catalog.swanlibraries.net<https://catalog.swanlibraries.net/>
Hello SWAN Board reps-
The agenda and packet for this week's meeting at Palos Heights Public Library is now posted. The packet is large-130 pages! This is due to the SWAN employee handbook revisions being included for approval.
https://support.swanlibraries.net/meeting/92358
One important note is that the financial audit that is due for acceptance at this meeting has not been delivered yet. If I am provided the audit documents before Friday, I will update you. I requested our auditor Selden Fox to provide us the final audit by November 8th. I have left the acceptance of the financial audit for fiscal year 2023 on the agenda for now.
Let me know if you have any questions!
Regards,
Aaron
Aaron Skog
Executive Director
aaron(a)swanlibraries.net<mailto:aaron@swanlibraries.net> * 630-326-7022
My pronouns: he/him/his
SWAN Library Services
800 Quail Ridge Drive, Westmont, IL 60559
swanlibraries.net<https://swanlibraries.net/> * catalog.swanlibraries.net<https://catalog.swanlibraries.net/>
Hello SWAN board reps-
The agenda and packet for Friday's meeting at Acorn Public Library District are now available.
Meeting details with PDFs of the agenda and packet.
https://support.swanlibraries.net/meeting/92357
The meeting has a somewhat complex series of action items to approve amendments to the LIMRiCC agreement. I have included a memo detailing the recommended changes, and our agenda has the resolutions to approve those amendments, plus the final, revised intergovernmental agreement.
Also, we have the draft of the membership survey ready for discussion. The document on exhibit page 96 provides an overview and two suggested directions for the survey.
Please let me know if you have any questions!
Aaron Skog
Executive Director
aaron(a)swanlibraries.net<mailto:aaron@swanlibraries.net> * 630-326-7022
My pronouns: he/him/his
SWAN Library Services
800 Quail Ridge Drive, Westmont, IL 60559
swanlibraries.net<https://swanlibraries.net/> * catalog.swanlibraries.net<https://catalog.swanlibraries.net/>
Hello SWAN Board reps-
I have a draft of the survey we discussed at the September 15th SWAN Board meeting. I have included my thoughts on the approach in the overview document shared via Google Drive below.
Overview of the survey
Please feel free to share your thoughts about the drafted survey in the document. Anyone with this link will have full editing rights to the document.
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ozPpDYhspGu2w_o-o488BXVgXZ-I0vj7/edit?u…
Survey Link
This is read-only, and as I note in the overview, the platform used is Qualtrics, which is free to use with a single account. There are other features in a paid subscription, but Qualtrics is often favored in academic research. This link is in a preview mode, and it will record submissions that can be discarded later. It is mobile friendly.
https://qualtricsxmdnfv2mpsq.qualtrics.com/jfe3/preview/previewId/26586490-…
I have noted that Jennifer, Dorothy, and Colleen offered to help with the survey and represent the board for the disastifaction diagnosis. The environmental scan step we discussed will include Jesse and Anna. Jennifer wanted to make sure both teams could provide input. I suggested to Jennifer that I share this draft with the full board and see what additional steps are needed from all of you before the October 20th SWAN Board meeting.
Best,
Aaron
Aaron Skog
Executive Director
aaron(a)swanlibraries.net<mailto:aaron@swanlibraries.net> * 630-326-7022
My pronouns: he/him/his
SWAN Library Services
800 Quail Ridge Drive, Westmont, IL 60559
swanlibraries.net<https://swanlibraries.net/> * catalog.swanlibraries.net<https://catalog.swanlibraries.net/>
Hello SWAN Board reps-
The agenda and packet for Friday's meeting at Acorn Public Library District is now available:
https://support.swanlibraries.net/meeting/92356
The agenda is fairly light but does have 2 sets of financial statements we will discuss and approve. We want to talk about the September Quarterly meeting, and I included some of the SirsiDynix information that was shared at that meeting in my written Executive Director report.
If you have any questions or are unable to attend, please feel free to email me directly!
Best,
Aaron
Aaron Skog
Executive Director
aaron(a)swanlibraries.net<mailto:aaron@swanlibraries.net> * 630-326-7022
My pronouns: he/him/his
SWAN Library Services
800 Quail Ridge Drive, Westmont, IL 60559
swanlibraries.net<https://swanlibraries.net/> * catalog.swanlibraries.net<https://catalog.swanlibraries.net/>
Hi SWAN Board reps-
I am going to be sending you appointments for your work calendars for the next four meeting. It will include the hosting library and address.
Aaron
Aaron Skog
Executive Director
aaron(a)swanlibraries.net<mailto:aaron@swanlibraries.net> * 630-326-7022
My pronouns: he/him/his
SWAN Library Services
800 Quail Ridge Drive, Westmont, IL 60559
swanlibraries.net<https://swanlibraries.net/> * catalog.swanlibraries.net<https://catalog.swanlibraries.net/>
Dear SWAN Board:
This is just a quick note to let you know that last week that several SWAN staff and the Strategic Planning Committee of the SWAN board attended a webinar on using the Harwood Institute model for strategic planning. While the webinar itself was somewhat disappointing because it focused more on product than on process, I followed up by email and then phone with one of the presenters and learned more about how they used the Harwood process, and I found it intriguing. I've been interested in Harwood for some time and think there is potential to use it for a focus group process with SWAN directors and other key staff in SWAN libraries. Pioneer Library System in Oklahoma (the library system that delivered the webinar) used a train-the-trainer model where they sent 2 staff to Harwood Institute to be trained and then those 2 staff trained the facilitators for their internal process. I suspect there are a number of directors within SWAN membership who might appreciate becoming "trained trainers" for the SWAN process because then they could apply it to the strategic planning process at their own libraries without having to pay to go to Harwood themselves.
Obviously, we will need to discuss this both at the committee and board level before moving forward on anything like this. Nevertheless, Aaron is going to be giving a presentation on the history of the last couple of strategic planning processes at quarterly next week; he and I thought that I might just mention, as President and member of the Strategic Planning Committee, that Harwood is something we're considering using, just to get a read on how the membership feels about Harwood.
Would you be okay with my doing this?
TO AVOID OPEN MEETINGS ACT VIOLATIONS, PLEASE DO NOT "REPLY ALL" TO THIS EMAIL. Please reply to me individually if you wish to simply give a "yes" response. If you have concerns that this is not a good idea, please send a more detailed individual reply or give me a call on my direct line, (708) 470-7321. Thanks!
Jennifer Cottrill, Library Director
Pronouns: She/Her/Hers (What's this?)<https://www.thehrcfoundation.org/professional-resources/talking-about-prono…>
Midlothian Public Library
14701 S. Kenton Avenue
Midlothian, IL 60445
(708) 535-2027
jcottrill(a)midlothianlibrary.org
www.midlothianlibrary.org<http://www.midlothianlibrary.org>
[cid:bb0daefb-f3b1-4af0-ba36-101e929a4754]
Hi SWAN Board reps-
The Expo registration closed at the end of last week, and we have 213 attendees registered. Last year had 149 attendees, with Warrenville Public Library District having the more staff in attendance at 22, and for this year it looks like Matteson Area Public Library District will have 32 staff in attendance!
Aaron Skog
Executive Director
aaron(a)swanlibraries.net<mailto:aaron@swanlibraries.net> * 630-326-7022
My pronouns: he/him/his
SWAN Library Services
800 Quail Ridge Drive, Westmont, IL 60559
swanlibraries.net<https://swanlibraries.net/> * catalog.swanlibraries.net<https://catalog.swanlibraries.net/>
Dear SWAN Board:
As discussed at our meeting Friday, I would like to suggest that we each take on the task of reaching out to 4 or 5 of the new Directors in SWAN (prioritizing those who have never been SWAN Directors before).
Aaron, would you please create a document using something like OneDrive, SharePoint, or Google Docs, that contains the list of all the new directors? If possible, please note which ones are NOT new to being directors in SWAN.
Board Members, would you then each sign up for 4 to 5 directors you would like to reach out to in the next 4 to 6 weeks? I recommend picking folks you don't already know well. Outreach can be either a phone meeting, a videoconference, or an in-person meeting. Please work out what's most convenient and appealing for you both.
I have started a list of Basic Talking Points:
* SWAN can provide you with consultant visits to help you better make use of SWAN services.
* SWAN can provide your staff with training to help them better utilize SWAN services.
* Aaron is approachable, wants to be contacted by member directors, is not "too busy," and will respond if you call/email him.
* Your board members are here to listen to your concerns and bring them to board meetings. We're also here to point you in the right direction to get your questions answered or your issues resolved. We don't know all the answers, or even most of the answers, but we will work to find the person who does.
And some Basic Questions:
* What questions do you have about SWAN, what it does, and how it works?
* What could we do, as your board, to represent you?
If you would like to add Talking Points or Questions, to avoid possibly veering into "deliberative" comments and therefore violating OMA, please email me individually your suggested additions by Monday, July 31, and I will send out an updated list.
Thanks, everyone!
Jennifer Cottrill, Library Director
Pronouns: She/Her/Hers (What's this?)<https://www.thehrcfoundation.org/professional-resources/talking-about-prono…>
Midlothian Public Library
14701 S. Kenton Avenue
Midlothian, IL 60445
(708) 535-2027
jcottrill(a)midlothianlibrary.org
www.midlothianlibrary.org<http://www.midlothianlibrary.org>
[cid:54a234f2-e7a3-48b8-9ede-4e9c4c469067]
Hi SWAN Board reps-
The schedule for the upcoming meetings & locations were approved. I will be sending out calendar appointments for you with the locations. Samantha-since you were not there Friday, I hope this February 16th date is one you can work with to host the meeting, 9:30 a.m. to 12 noon.
SWAN Board & Membership Meeting Schedule 2023 & 2024
Friday, July 21, 2023
Regular SWAN Board Meeting
Midlothian Public Library
Friday, August 18, 2023
Regular SWAN Board Meeting
Canceled
Thursday, September 7, 2023
SWAN Quarterly Meeting
Oak Brook Public Library
Friday, September 15, 2023
Regular SWAN Board Meeting
Acorn Public Library District
Friday, October 20, 2023
Regular SWAN Board Meeting
Acorn Public Library District
Friday, November 17, 2023
Regular SWAN Board Meeting
Palos Heights Public Library
Thursday, December 7, 2023
SWAN Quarterly Meeting
Oak Brook Public Library
Friday, December 15, 2023
Regular SWAN Board Meeting
Homewood Public Library
Friday, January 19, 2024
Regular SWAN Board Meeting
Homewood Public Library
Friday, February 16, 2024
Regular SWAN Board Meeting
Roselle Public Library District
Thursday, March 7, 2024
SWAN Quarterly Meeting
Oak Brook Public Library
Friday, March 22, 2024
Regular SWAN Board Meeting
Bloomingdale Public Library
Friday, April 19, 2024
Regular SWAN Board Meeting
Bloomingdale Public Library
Friday, May 17, 2024
Regular SWAN Board Meeting
Blue Island Public Library
Thursday, June 6, 2024
SWAN Quarterly Meeting
Oak Brook Public Library
Friday, June 21, 2024
Regular SWAN Board Meeting
Midlothian Public Library
Aaron Skog
Executive Director
aaron(a)swanlibraries.net<mailto:aaron@swanlibraries.net> * 630-326-7022
My pronouns: he/him/his
SWAN Library Services
800 Quail Ridge Drive, Westmont, IL 60559
swanlibraries.net<https://swanlibraries.net/> * catalog.swanlibraries.net<https://catalog.swanlibraries.net/>
