HomeMy WebLinkAboutLibrary Board - Minutes - 10/09/2003LIBRARY BOARD MINUTES
REGULAR MEETING - OCTOBER 9, 2003
6:00 P.M.
Council Liaison: Marty Tharp Acting Staff Liaison: Lu Benke
(Phone 221-6678)
Chairperson: Mary Robertson
(Phone: 407-70(
A regular meeting of the Library Board was held on October 9, 2003 in the Ben Delatour Room
of the Main Library at 201 Peterson Street. The following Library Board members were present:
Bob Burns, Rudy Maes, Donald Oehlerts, Ralph Olson, Mary Robertson, and Joan Scheuerman.
Library Board Member Absent:
City Staff Members Present:
Friends of the Library Liaison:
Melissa Pattison
Lu Benke and Marjorie Teklits
Lillys Price
The meeting was called to order at 6:05 p.m. by the Chairperson Mary Robertson. Rudy Maes
moved to approve the minutes of the September 11, 2003 meeting; Bob Burns seconded the
motion, and it was unanimously approved.
Correspondence:
There was no correspondence to be read at tonight's meeting.
Reports/Presentations:
a. Director - Lu Benke for Brenda Carns
On Brenda's behalf, Lu thanked Don Oehlerts, Bob Burns, and Rudy Maes for attending
the September 16`h City Council Study Session and Ralph Olson, Bob Burns, and Rudy
Maes for representing the Board at the October 7`h Council Meeting. As she was unable
to attend, Mary Robertson also expressed her appreciation to those who attended these
meetings. The first reading of the 2004/2005 budget is scheduled for November 41h, and
the second reading is November 18`h.
Copies of an article entitled "Great American Public Libraries: The 2003 HAPLR
Rankings" from the October issue of American Libraries were shared. Hennen's
American Public Library Ratings (HAPLR) assesses and ranks the nation's public
libraries, and the Fort Collins Public Library was ranked in the top ten for libraries in the
100,000 to 249,999 population category. Lu said congratulations are in order not only
for staff, but for the Library Board, Friends of the Library, and all Library volunteers.
An article about this achievement may be published in the newspaper, and Ralph
suggested a Soapbox article would be appropriate as a follow-up to it.
Ralph Olson again volunteered to represent the Library Board at the October 24`h
Harmony Library Advisory Committee Meeting.
b. Friends of the Library - Lil Price
Lil mentioned that there was an excellent article in The Coloradoan regarding their Fall
book sale. The friends cleared close to $35,000 from the sale, a little more than the past
year or two, which is amazing in today's economy. She said they received a lot of help
carting books from CSU sorority and fraternity organizations and, as in the past, the
Friends will present the students with lots of home baked cookies during exam week to
thank them for their assistance. Fortunately, a dealer from Wyoming took the leftover 77
boxes of books, eliminating the necessity of disposing of them in the landfill.
Lil gave each Board member a commemorative coffee mug and pen which the Friends
had purchased for prizes for the Adult Summer Reading Program.
C. Staff Presentation: Children's Services - Lu Benke, Lead Librarian, Children's
Services
Lu's slide presentation included an introduction of the Children's staff, breakdown of the
collections, reader services, technology capabilities, summaries of regularly scheduled
and special programming, and the Summer Reading Program. A brief summary follows:
9.5 Full -Time -Equivalent staff are trained in child development, education and library
science. As part of their duties, they provide booklists, reserve service for teachers, class
and group tours and visits, and homework assistance.
The Children's collection contains 135,000 books, magazines, tapes, CDs, DVDs and
videos, over 1,300 Spanish titles, a world language collection, and homeschooling
materials. There are large print books, holiday books, a parent collection, and yellow
shelf libraries in places like Evenstart, Family Center and United Day Care.
Children's Services has the best technology has to offer: all library computers are
accessible to children; there are Cyberkids Classes on safe Internet use; software
applications and the online catalog; there is inhouse video/DVD viewing and tape/CD
listening; staff are trained in how to assist children using the Internet safely; there are
links to "safe" Internet sites for homework help, games, etc., CD-ROM game computers
and even LeapPad technology.
Programming includes 8 weekly storytimes for 2 and 3 year olds; 4 weekly storytimes for
children ages 4 and up; 2 weekly Mother Goose infant storytimes, monthly bilingual
storytimes, and Animal Afternoons (where therapy animals bring children and books
together). Special programming includes storytelling, craft and booktalk programs,
outreach programs for bilingual children, parenting panels, costumed character
appearances, sign language interpretation, an annual bookswap, author visits and
presentations, multicultural programs, puppetry workshops, partnered programs with the
Poudre School District, programs at CSU's Asian Fest, Cinco de Mayo, and other
community events.
The Summer Reading Program, which won first prize in state competition four times
since 1986, is for infants through sixth grade. Children receive individualized reading
encouragement and are given prizes for time spent reading. The Readers to the Rescue
program encourages children to keep reading and raise money to help animals in need.
During the summer, Library Pals and Puppet Pals is offered to children in grades 5-9. A
Clean Air program, partnered with SmartTrips, rewards children for saving clean air on
trips to the library.
Statistically, Children's Services represents 41% of the Library's circulation, 22.2% of
material expenditures, 35.1 % of the collection, and 81 % of program attendance.
Included under the realm of Children's Services is Homebound and Volunteer services.
More than 85 homebound customers have materials delivered to them once every three
weeks, and a profile detailing specific interest is kept for each customer. A corps of
volunteers help the Special Services Coordinator select and deliver materials as well as
keep records. Lu added that this program is nearing capacity. The Special Services
Coordinator also oversees the recruitment, placement, orientation, and recognition of
over 200 library volunteers. The library has the second highest number of volunteer
hours contributed among all City departments, and the number of incoming volunteers
has exceeded the capacity of staff to train and oversee them.
Needs of Children's Services include more space for the collection, more seating,
updating of the collection, and enhanced use of the collections through more avenues.
The Library Board thanked Lu for her presentation
d. Emerging Trends - Bob Burns
Bob reported that President Bush signed H.R. 13, the Museum and Library Services Act
of 2003 into law. This legislation sets the authorization level for library programs at
$232 million, and if funding is achieved at that level, the new formula distribution would
take place and the base amount given to each state would double. Bob said it is important
for Board members to write their Senators and members of Congress to thank them for
their role in this and urge them of the need for funding the law at the proposed level of
$232 million for library programs.
Bob then mentioned an article, "Ashcroft will delcassify public library report," which
appeared in The Coloradoan on September 18`h. The article said Ashcroft would
declassify a report on how often the agency sought information from public libraries
under the Patriot Act.
Also, there is a bi-partisan interest in the senate for legislation, possibly an amendment to
the Senate FY 2004 appropriations bill for the Departments of Commerce, Justice, and
State that would address the use of funds for implementation of FISA (Foreign
Intelligence Surveillance Act) Court orders under Section 215 of the Patriot Act. Bob
said it is important for people to call their Senators to urge support of legislation that
seeks to recognize the problems of the Patriot Act related to libraries and library records.
In addition, there is proposed legislation, which has bipartisan support, that would curb
the overly -broad powers allowed to law enforcement by the Patriot Act (The Security and
Freedom Ensured Act of 2003, the "SAFE" Act). Essentially, it would: restore privacy
protections for library and bookseller records, allowing law enforcement to obtain records
of individuals only when "there are specific and articulable facts giving reason to believe
that the person to whom the records pertain is a foreign power or agent of a foreign
power;" exempt libraries from "national security letters" (which are non judicial
subpoenas issued internally in the FBI that allow the FBI to get email and Internet
"transactional records"); add oversight provisions to the Justice Department's request for
records from libraries and bookstores; extend the sunset provision of the Patriot Act; and
provide other civil liberties protections. Bob said it is important to contact Senators to
support this bill.
Lastly, Rep. Bernie Sanders was named Library Journal's 2003 "Politician of the Year"
and was featured on the cover of the September 15 issue. He was honored for his efforts
to repeal Sec. 215 of the Patriot Act.
The National Commission on Libraries and Information Sciences have issued a new
video narrated by Walter Cronkite entitled "Trust and Terror." Brenda will review the
video to determine if the Board might be interested in seeing it as well.
C. Public Relations - Ralph Olson, Joan Scheuerman
Work is still being done on the quarterly newsletter. The success of the Summer Reading
Program would be a good article to include. It will be important for Council members to
have it as they review the upcoming budget; it might help elevate the Library as an
essential service rather than a secondary service. Lu suggested having the office's CSU
marketing intern assist with the publication or perhaps a volunteer. Mary said she looks
forward to the first issue.
Joan will bring the Soapbox article schedule to the next meeting.
The meeting was adjourned at 7:10 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Marjorie'Teklits
Administrative Secretary