HomeMy WebLinkAboutLibrary Board - Minutes - 08/08/2003A regular meeting of the Library Board was held on May 8, 2003 in the Ben Delatour Room of
the Main Library at 201 Peterson Street. The following Library Board members were present:
Rudy Maes, Donald Oehlerts, Ralph Olson, and Joan Scheuerman.
Library Board Members Absent:
City Staff Members Present:
Friends of the Library Liaison:
Visitor:
Bob Burns, Melissa Pattison, and Mary Robertson
Brenda Cams, Kim Crowley, and Marjorie Teklits
Lillys Price
Jean Blaylock, League of Women Voters
The meeting was called to order at 6:00 p.m. by Vice Chairperson Rudy Maes. Rudy Maes
moved to approve the minutes of the April 10, 2003 meeting; Don Oehlerts seconded the motion,
and it was unanimously approved.
Correspondence:
Brenda shared some photos taken at various schools by Teen Librarian Sue -Ellen Jones who took
her "Reading Picnic" program to various schools. 60 teens recently attended a poetry "slam"
program at Harmony Library. Brenda also shared a copy of the newsletter designed by the
Library's teen reading group, also known as the IRS (Interesting Readers Society).
Board packets included copies of an article co-authored by Harmony Library's Manager Ken
Draves and Front Range Community College's Librarian Karen Dornseif entitled "The Joint Use
Library: The Ultimate Collaboration."
Final copies of the Board's March 30`h memo regarding "Budget Recommendations" and April
5`h memo "Policy Agenda Items for Council" were also distributed to Board members.
Reports/Presentations:
a. Systems Administration Presentation - Kim Crowley
Technology Coordinator Kim Crowley gave a presentation on what Systems
Administration staff do at the Library. The Systems staff has grown over the years to 4
full -time -equivalent employees, one 1/4 time Library Assistant and one 1/4 time hourly
staff member as well as a handful of hourly lab monitors and training Librarians.
Kim acts as a liaison between Systems staff, Library staff and management, and the
City's Information Technology department. Her duties include managing projects,
budgeting, and long range planning for technology.
The team includes a Systems Administrator who sees to the automated library system and
acts as the end user support for staff; a Technical Support Specialist who lends PC
hardware, software, server, and application support as well as running a help desk; a
Training Librarian who supports desktop applications, coordinates, plans and teaches
classes for the staff and the public; and a part time Library Assistant who specializes in
web page creation.
In 2003, Systems Administration supported 9 servers, 3 terminal servers, 20 printers, 203
work stations, and 17 switches/routers. Applications supported include the III automated
library system, the circulation module, cataloging, serials and acquisitions, OWL (Our
Web Library), web reports, Office Suite (Word, Excel, Powerpoint), Adobe Pagemaker,
Illustrator, Linus, Unix, NT server, Apache webserver, Windows NT, Windows 2000 and
the GroupWise and Pine email systems.
Last year's technology training included 78 classes for the public which had 764
attendees, 48 classes for staff with 221 attendees. Some classes for the public were also
given in Spanish. A variety of topics included: computer comfort, the basic catalog,
email, Cyberkids, Word and Excel.
Special projects Systems staff are working on include the new 3M Self -Check machines,
Prospector (Colorado Unified Catalog and patron -initiated borrowing), My Millennium (a
module of III which allows customers to renew online), a customer sign-up system and
the Local History web server.
Systems Administration funding is $169,000/year from the base budget and
approximately $400,000/year from Building Community Choices capital funds which
expires at the end of 2005. Ralph asked if there are lottery funds available for funding;
Kim said there aren't as yet.
Board members thanked Kim for her enlightening presentation.
b. Director - Brenda Cams
Brenda mentioned problems encountered by the Pueblo Library District concerning
alleged misconduct by the President of their Board. An attorney from their County is
examining the situation.
State Bill 326, regarding Regional Funding Authorities for libraries, is going to the
Governor next week. Our City Attorney's office is doing a summary of the legislation,
and Ralph asked to see a copy of it when it becomes available. Council members are
interested in forming a special committee to study County funding and to review this new
legislation. Joan Scheuerman moved that Mary Robertson would be the first choice to
represent the Library Board on a Council committee and Ralph Olson was selected as
second choice if Mary is unable; Don Oehlerts seconded the motion, and it was
unanimously approved. Ralph asked that discussion about the Senate Bill be included on
next month's agenda if Council has appointed a committee by that time.
As the weather warms up, Library Park has been visited more frequently by the transient
population. The City Manager's office has provided three security check walk-throughs
daily by Anlance Protection to help with security concerns.
The Summer Reading Program begins May 16. Funds from private donations will pay
for special celebrations to go along with the theme "Celebrate a Century at the Fort
Collins Public Library." In addition to the program for children, a Summer Reading
Program for adults is planned for this year.
In view of the present economic slump, City departments have been asked to project how
they would implement both a 5 and 10% ongoing budget reduction and the resulting
impacts in the event the situation does not improve. For the Library, a 5% reduction
equates to $185,228 and a 10% reduction would be $370,455. The Library Management
Team has been trying to define areas and programs that would be cut back in the event it
becomes necessary while, at the same time, trying to maintain service standards. Brenda
told Board members that she will keep them informed of the situation. As part of the
City's efforts to plan for the 2004/2005 budget, City staff will not be receiving labor
market adjustments or merit increases and will be expected to pay a larger portion of
benefit costs. The City will pay an extra $100 for employee insurance to help offset the
pay freezes.
Ralph Olson asked how much InterLibrary Loan services cost the Library and if the
Library might consider charging fees for borrowed materials to offset the cost. Brenda
said traditional InterLibrary Loan items cost about $30 per item and loans originated
through Prospector cost about $5. While the Library does not wish to begin charging fees
for certain services, it may become necessary at some point. Popular book rental could
be considered for customers who want material faster rather than being put on a long
reserve list, and it would help pay for the multiple copies needed for best sellers.
Joan asked what Prospector actually is; Brenda said it is a small network consortium; it
shows which libraries have a certain item, and all the customer has to do is click on the
item to reserve it. It is completely customer initiated whereas with InterLibrary Loan, a
slip has to be filled out, staff has to do a search for it, and paperwork has to be generated.
There is also the expense of mailing or courier costs. Then, when the item is returned,
the processed is reversed. Lil felt the customer should be charged a fee relative to the
Library's cost of providing this service.
Don Oehlerts said that the Library does a good job of trying to keep its standards of
service, even through hard times. Most people in the community are not aware of the
volume of business. Rudy believes many people would most likely prefer paying a fee
for certain services rather than having a tax increase.
C. Friends of the Library - Lillys Price
The Friend's Board is scheduled to meet next week. As General Meeting attendance has
been low, the Friends are exploring options on how to get the general membership more
involved. Along those lines, they are partnering in June with the Grayrock program and
CSU.
Wal-Mart presented the Friends with a $1,000 donation to be spent by the library for
literacy.
d. Centennial Celebration
As Melissa was not able to attend tonight's meeting, a report will be scheduled for the
next meeting.
Public Relations - Joan Scheuerman, Ralph Olson
Joan will email the schedule of Soapbox articles to Board members.
OLD BUSINESS
a. Periodic Review Questionnaire - Ralph Olson
The Board reviewed the list of questions and suggested draft responses.
Regarding current duties of the Board, they suggested omission of "and oversees the
Library Fund Committee." at the end of item (5) on page 37 of the Boards and
Comrrrissions Manual.
They agreed the Board's workload is about right.
They agreed the Board effectively accomplishes its annual work plan.
They agreed the Board meetings are conducted in an effective manner.
They agreed the size of the Board is appropriate.
In order to improve communications between the Board and Council, Board members felt
it has been especially productive to hear from Library staff groups about the duties and
responsibilities of the various departments in the Library. The Board would like to have
an opportunity to showcase library accomplishments and challenges to Council members.
They recommended time for 15 to 20 minute presentations from the various City Boards
from each service area be scheduled to help Council become more familiar with
departmental services and concerns.
Other comments included a need for Council members who interview potential Board
members to make clear that there are time commitments to make appearances and
contributions beyond the meetings.
Marge will email this draft information to Ralph so that it can be finalized at the next
meeting
The meeting was adjourned at 7:20 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Marjory Teklits
Administrative Secretary