Library eyes audio visual, website upgrades

By NEAL RENTZ

The Pound Ridge Library board of trustees has interviewed representatives from two companies under consideration to upgrade the audio-visual systems in the Schaffner Room, members said at its meeting Feb. 25.

The room hosts monthly library board meetings and several events, including musical performances and talks. Board meetings are broadcast live via Zoom.

The board held interviews with Don Gamsjager, certified technology specialist, founder and CEO of DNR Laboratories, the library’s current vendor, whose company made a $95,957 proposal; and Joe Harrington, president of Hudson Valley Audio Visual, which made a proposal of $67,783.

However, Gamsjager cautioned that his company’s initial proposal was based on specifications related to grant funding which were no longer applicable. “The grant requirements were very strict about a complete redo,” he said. The initial proposal called for potentially using some of the library’s equipment, including microphones, adding the grant is no longer a possibility for the project.

Harrington told the board that his New Paltz-based company was proposing to install a projector and a screen as part of the plan. In his discussion with Library Director Jennifer Coulter, Harrington said he learned that “your biggest concern is you have poor audio quality on these calls. So, we proposed a high quality microphone system that is wireless that’s easy to deploy.”

His company is also proposing installing two cameras — one facing the front of the room and the other facing the rear— to provide flexibility on the room set-up, Harrington said. It would not be necessary to switch cameras during the filming of a program, adding the library could purchase a controller to enable filming from either direction.  

Harrington said he didn’t see any major issues with the competing proposal. He pointed out a major difference was that DNR Laboratories recommended a significantly larger projector with 10,000 lumens versus roughly 6,500 lumens in his proposal, which would be 30 percent brighter, he said.

DNR was also proposing a significantly larger speaker, he noted, which Coulter seemed to indicate the library did not need.

If his company changed its proposal to include the larger speaker and projector, the cost would rise by about $23,000, Harrington said. About 70 percent of the larger cost would be from the projector.

The proposed microphone system is wireless, using Wi-Fi, Harrington said. Each mic would be housed in a charger and can operate for seven to eight hours before needing a recharge. The mics would be paired with an audio processing system to smooth out people’s voices, he said. 

Hudson Valley Audio Visual proposed six desktop mics, two lapel mics and two handhelds. The entire project would take about four days to complete, Harrington said.

Board President Valerie Nelson said the mics would be located on the tables in front of the board members and would not have to be held. 

DNR’s current proposal was based on a thorough audit of the library’s audio-visual system, Gamsjager said, including the service calls his company had received from the library, as well as having conversations with Coulter. “It’s not a random guess,” he said. “It’s very methodical about how we came up with a bunch of the solutions.” Among his company’s clients are more than 150 libraries. 

Regarding the grant situation, the library was planning to apply for a grant from the National Arts Foundation,” Coulter said. “The National Endowment for the Arts would not accept a pass-through grant, so that’s off the table.”

As a result, “at this point I need to submit a new proposal to you,” Gamsjager said. “My proposal is invalid at this point.” He said he hoped to submit another proposal within the next seven days. 

Website discussion

Also during the meeting, the trustees discussed the potential upgrading of the library website. Trustee Robert Bellhouse recently did research and said it should be “more user-friendly.”

Bellhouse said his company redesigned its website, but did not know how people were using it. It would be useful for the library to revamp at a reasonable cost, he said.

“It would be great to understand what the user journey was in our website,” Bellhouse said. “There are apps out there that do this.”

Nelson said she was hesitant about upgrading the website because of its potential cost. The library is going forward with a project to upgrade its audio-visual system in the Schaffner Room, as previously discussed at the meeting, and the trustees have been discussing a potential parking lot expansion, she said. 

Trustee Jenna Wise said the library should have “a brand update” before upgrading the website.

Coulter said the current system “is just a huge waste of time” and is inefficient. The WordPress system “does not have the ability to create recurring programs,” Coulter said. “We have to go in and put one program in at a time. We do so many weekly programs that at the beginning of the year I have to put in 52 programs, for recurring weekly events, she said. “Librarians should not be doing “technical stuff,” she said.

“I get constant complaints about how bad our website is,” Coulter said.

The board did not make a decision on whether to go forward with a website upgrade at the meeting. However, a committee was formed to get comments from the library’s staff and patrons about the website, which will include Bellhouse, Wise and trustee Selena Shen.