MINUTES OF THE RUPERT J. SMITH LAW
LIBRARY
BOARD
OF TRUSTEES REGULAR MONTHLY MEETING
December
3, 2010 at 3:30 p.m.
Location: 221 S. Indian River Drive, Fort Pierce,
Florida 34950
TRUSTEES
IN ATTENDANCE: Hon.
Burton C. Conner, James T. Walker, Esquire &
Jim Wilder
TRUSTEES
ABSENT: Paula
A. Lewis, County Commissioner & Jonathan Ferguson,
Esquire
OTHERS IN
ATTENDANCE: Nora J.
Everlove, Librarian & Lynn T. Atkinson,
Secretary
______________________________________________________________________________
I. MINUTES:
The October 2010 Minutes reflect an amendment to line
#49, to correct misspelling and insert the word “bringing.” Mr. Walker moved to approve the Minutes as
present with the above correction. The
motion was carried unanimously.
II. FINANCIAL STATEMENTS:
Mr. Walker inquired as
to why the October financial report reflects expenditures but no revenues. Ms. Everlove reported that every October this
is the case as the revenue earned in October is not received until November
because of the end of the fiscal year. The September financial statements reflect two
months of income. Further discussion was
had concerning the September and October 2010 Financial Statements and as there
were no other concerns the September and October 2010 Financial Statements were
unanimously approved under motion to approve by Mt. Walker and seconded by Mr.
Wilder. Ms. Everlove reported that she
is still happy with the cash flow which is considerably higher than a year
ago. A year ago we based our budget on
$18,000.00 per month in revenues and we are now closer to $35,000.00 per month.
III. LIBRARIAN’S REPORT:
Ms. Everlove reported
that the computer was down at St. Lucie West last month. Ms.
Everlove went ahead and purchased a new computer and had it installed &
high speed access is still working. St.
Lucie West is up and going. FastCase has
expired and she would like to replace/upgrade it with LoisLaw which is considered
by far to be the better of the second tier databases. The cost for this would be $1,800.00. Mr. Walker inquired as to why not West or
another first tier database. Ms.
Everlove replied that West’s last quote was $1,000.00 per month. Mr. Walker made a motion to purchase LoisLaw
for the St. Lucie West Branch of the Law Library. Mr. Wilder seconded the motion and it was
carried unanimously.
Ms. Everlove reported that West has not sent about four
pages of items that she ordered for St. Lucie West. She stated that she has brought this to
West’s attention before. After a month
of trying to straighten this out with a representative from West, ten minutes
before this meeting Ms. Everlove received an e-mail saying that everything was
shipped today.
Ms. Everlove reported that it is taking more time than
she imagined to take care of all of the replacements.
IV. NEEDS ASSESSMENT/TRUSTEE WILDER:
Mr. Wilder stated that
he had been tasked with mentioning a needs assessment of the Law Library to the
general community. He brought this
matter to COSA and basically he realized that the pro se community does not
have enough knowledge to do conduct needs assessment. For this to be truly effective we would have
to create some type of vehicle that would guide the community. Mr. Wilder and Ms. Everlove will put their
heads together and come up with some type of needs assessment that they can
present to the general public.
V. TRUSTEE WALKER:
Mr. Walker inquired if Ms. Everlove had provided Mr.
Ferguson with a list of the subscriptions/books (secondary sources that would
be expensive for attorneys to maintain) that have been reinstated.
Secondary Sources: ALRs
and encyclopedias were to be reinstated and Ms. Everlove was to investigate form
books and National Reporters and present a suggestion to the Trustees. Ms. Everlove reported that the ALRs are
being updated at this time. There has
been a delay on the encyclopedias as there are volumes that are out of print,
AMJUR specifically. The books are not
currently available but the vendor gave December 2, 2010 as the day they should
be shipped.
In some instances it was cheaper to replace an entire set
versus replacing the last year of volumes.
Bottom line Ms. Everlove is still working on the list of subscriptions
that have been reinstated. She has not
yet done the recommendation on the National Reporters yet.
Ms. Everlove is to meet with the Port St. Lucie Bar to
give them updates on the St. Lucie West Branch.
Antivirus Software: Ms. Everlove reported that the purchase was a fraction of the
$500.00 that was previously approved for this purchase. She stated that she went with Norton because
she could get a five license package. It
was approximately $130.00. Mr. Wilder
inquired if a webroot was included. Ms.
Everlove stated that she did not know but would inquire.
Tax Materials: Ms.
Everlove stated that she would like to provide more estate planning and gift
tax materials. On the bottom we have the
CCH estate and gift and we let this go with last year’s big cuts. It was last updated in December. CCH is approximately $1,900.00 for the annual
subscription. Mr. Walker made a motion,
Mr. Wilder seconded the motion and it was carried unanimously.
Ms. Everlove is authorized to move ahead with the
purchase of the CCH annual subscription.
Tax materials are expensive.
There is a big jump to go to general tax materials. The better tax material sets start at around
$4,500.00 annually. Ms. Everlove stated
that if the Trustees want to investigate this purchase she will bring a blurb
on the three major sets and what they cost for consideration by the Trustees. Ms. Everlove will present
information/recommendation at the next meeting.
Additional Reinstatements: Ms. Everlove reported that forms and National Reporter Systems as
discussed previously, covers the majority of what is left of the
reinstatements. She would like to put
more of her time into assessing what has been ordered and what has actually
been received. Ms. Everlove reported
that she will be able to address this at the February 2011 meeting. The January 2011 is cancelled as Ms. Everlove
will not be able to be present.
Ms. Everlove is to canvass the Bar Associations
concerning the purchase of tax materials for the Law Library. How many times per year do you access these
materials and do you have a preference between these three sets? Ms. Everlove stated that there are tax
portfolios that are small enough to be mailed to attorneys in other counties if
they have an account with the Law Library.
A full blown tax service will cost anywhere between $4,000.00 and
$5,500.00 annually. The survey should
contain the information concerning this type of service.
ISSUES FOR MS.
EVERLOVE TO REPORT AT FEBRUARY 2011 MEETING:
1) List for
Mr. Ferguson as set forth above.
2) Tax
Material Recommendation(s).
3) Recommendation
concerning National Reporters.
As there was no further business to discuss the meeting
was adjourned.
Approved: February ______, 2011.
_______________________________________________________
BURTON C. CONNER, Chairman
_______________________________________________________
JIM WILDER, Member
_______________________________________________________
JOHNATHAN FERGUSON, Member
_______________________________________________________
PAULA A. LEWIS, Member
_______________________________________________________
JAMES T. WALKER, Member