falcons meeting minutes february 2026

FALCONS Meeting Minutes – February 19, 2026

Minutes taken by Eric Franks (FLLS)

Attendance:

Aimee Dorward (CORT), Allen Tompkins (FAIR), Amy (PORT), Carla Piperno-Jones (UNS), Christine Jordan (CAN), Deborah Geier (FLLS), Elizabeth Helmetsie (SPE), Eric Franks (FLLS), Erin Chapman (NEVA), Fran (BERK), Gayle James (CATO), Jaymie Closson (CIN), Jenny (FLLS), Jenny (SENF), Jesseca M (CORT), Kathy Kirk (POP), Laura, Martsje Vanderschaaf (HOM), Mary Frank (MARA), Sandy (AURO), Sarah Glogowski (FLLS), Sophia McKissick (TCPL), Theresa Mekeel (CORT), Tracy Savard (APAL), Wayne Stephenson (FLLS)

Introduction & Announcements:

Introduced Emerson as the new director of TCPL. He was not in attendance but was available the previous week during the monthly Director Meeting.

Sarah Glogowski spoke about the five year Plan of Service for Finger Lakes Library System. New Plan goes into effect January 1, 2027. We will meet with the members about our services and where we can improve. Sarah will send out documents from our current plan and ask for volunteers to join a committee that will help guide changes and additions for our new plan. Would like a representative from each county, and it doesn’t need to be a library director.

Motion to approve the August minutes: Jenny B motioned for approval.

Old Business:

  • eContent Committee:  February 23, 2026 there will be a selector committee virtual meeting.
  • Lost Item Policy
    • Presented One Card, Many Libraries: Handling Other Libraries’ Materials policy at the last FALCONS meeting.
    • Sophia (TCPL) asked about marking items as lost, does that constitute notifying the owning library. No, must still contact owning library. Need to test if transacting library can change status. Prefer that transacting library not mark item as lost, contact owner.
    • Mary (MARA) asked who should be contacted about list items. Recommend the director. If a larger library has a contact person, will make it known. FLLS will send contact info to the members.
    • Lisa (AUB) will send email to FALCONS list about the topic of damaged items.
    • We’re removing a section of the policy as it relates to documenting billing and payment for items as that is handled automatically by Polaris.
  • 2025 Bulk Buy
    • All computers have been sent to member libraries. If you have received them but not yet scheduled their install, reach out via email or open a helpdesk ticket.
  • Princh
    • Start working the second week of March to bring libraries online.

New Business:

  • FALCONS Committee
    • Lisa (AUB) proposed forming a committee to discuss issues to be brought to the FALSCONS meetings for discussion.
    • Topic examples; One Card, Easy Reader Collections, what’s working or not with patrons.
    • Lisa will follow-up on the FALCONS list to ask for volunteers..
  • Hold Requests
    • Had an issue come up where a larger library requested all of a smaller library’s collection of holiday books.
    • Owning library placed holds to bring them back and holds were overridden.
    • Please be considerate when requesting items, try not to request an entire collection from one library and don’t override holds.
  • Vega
    • Asked Polaris about promotional material. Have not heard back, will follow up.
    • Martsje  (HOM) asked if reading list is maintained in Vega. Will ask Polaris.
    • Sophia (TCPL) asked if Vega is an overlay for Polaris. Yes, the backend of Polaris stays the same.
    • Martsje (HOM) asked which libraries are shown as owning a title and need to expand to see all. Appears to be alphabetical and some amount of library names are shown.
  • Website Hosting Price Increase
    • Moved to a new server and added storage in 2025.
    • Previous price was approximately $12 per year for hosting, now $28.
    • Able to save a couple dollars on ThemeGrill pricing.
  • Open Discussion
    • Deb (FLLS) spoke about ILL
      • Overview of how ILL books are requested.
      • Tips
        • Please do not remove yellow band sent with the book.
        • Check out books with proper due date from the yellow band.
        • Please do not waive overdue or lost/damaged fines.
        • Please put in request ID number when requesting renewals.
        • Please email ill@flls.org for questions, it’s monitored every day.
      • Martsje  (HOM) asked about borrowing trends but there isn’t one. Plenty of art books, but also historical books. Cornell is heavy lender and often academic.
      • Sophia (TCPL) asked about due date for the book and due back to owning library. Approximately 3 days between date due to us to process book back to owning library.