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HomeMy WebLinkAboutLibrary Board - Minutes - 09/11/2003A regular meeting of the Library Board was held on September 11, 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, Melissa Pattison, Mary Robertson, and Joan Scheuerman. City Staff Members Present: Brenda Carns, Ken Draves, and Marjorie Teklits Friends of the Library Liaison: Lillys Price Guests Wayne Givens, President, Library Trust Jean Blaylock, League of Women Voters The meeting was called to order at 6:00 p.m. by the Chairperson Mary Robertson. Rudy Maes moved to approve the minutes of the July 10, 2003 meeting; Bob Burns seconded the motion, and it was unanimously approved. Correspondence: Copies of the July 31 memo from the Boards and Commissions Coordinator regarding the Study Session Follow -up --Boards and Commissions Periodic Review Process were distributed. As suggested in the memo, a quarterly update on trends and issues relating to the Library will be given to Council. Brenda thanked Rudy Maes and Ralph Olson for representing the Library Board at the July 22 Study Session. Brenda pointed out an article appearing in today's Coloradoan regarding a proposed wellness services center being considered by the Poudre Valley Health System which mentions a potential library branch in partnership with the City. Reports/Presentations: a. Staff Presentation: Harmony Library - Ken Draves, Branch Manager Harmony Library is a joint use facility in partnership with the City of Fort Collins and Front Range Community College. Opened just a little over five years ago, it is a busy full service library serving residents in the south side of Fort Collins as well as College students, faculty and staff. The College provides a campus librarian, maintains the building, parking lots, and grounds while the City provides staff and most library services. Both FRCC and the FCPL purchase materials, which are arranged together on the shelves, for the library's collection. Harmony Library has approximately 140,000 items, and approximately 11,000 belong to the College. Usage statistics are impressive with a great staff and facility and great resources to serve diverse users. Approximately 750,000 items were checked out last year, and 68,000 reference questions were answered. Children and adult programs were attended by more than 12,000. Staff work continuously to find ways to improve services and collections; they rely on the strengths and resources of the staff at the Main Library as well as FRCC, and get vital help from dedicated volunteers and the Friends of the Library. 53% of registrations for the children's Summer Reading Program were at Harmony Library. Harmony also has popular collections for teens as well as a teen librarian who plans teen programs, book talks, poetry events, and after school book discussions. FRCC students enjoy a good collection of books and periodicals (academic journals), a campus librarian, the benefit of library instruction, databases, internet access, computers, study rooms, reserves, listening and viewing stations, and reference assistance. Adults using Harmony Library also have a strong collection of popular books, videos, audio books, reference books, periodicals and music. They, too have reference assistance, internet access, computers and classes, online databases, quiet areas, photocopiers, various programs throughout the year, use of the Community Room, and the Friends Gift Shop. Harmony also offers services from home, such as telephone renewal, reference, the online catalog and various databases. New at Harmony are faster computers with Internet and Microsoft Office, improved self - check machines, self-help holds, circulating magazines, Prospector, credit card payments, an adult Summer Reading Program and a new campus librarian. Wayne Givens asked about Harmony's capacity; Brenda said it was designed to house 160,000 items; Ken said the Children's area is almost full but there is some room left in non-fiction and fiction. Bob asked about the operating budget; Brenda said staffing costs are in the area of $365,000 for 16.5 FTEs; the facility itself is paid for by the College. Library Board members thanked Ken for his interesting and informative presentation. b. Library Trust - Wayne Givens Wayne shared copies of a list of Library Trust members as well as a folder containing information about the Trust's mission and goals. He said they have been working with professional fundraisers throughout the year in a silent campaign to build a solid base of $1 million before attempting to seek smaller donations from the community. Although the economic climate is difficult at present, $150,000 has been raised thus far and their goal is to raise $2 million by the end of 2004. Trust members have all participated in this effort and have made pledges. The Trust wants to set up an endowment where the interest would provide a steady flow of funds to the Library. Wayne said it would be beneficial if a new building project was being planned as many potential donors state they would be interested in a specific project rather than contributing to an endowment. The question arose as to whether or not the City would reduce funds to the Library if interest from an endowment was available. Wayne said he has discussed this with the City Manager who felt they would do everything to prevent that from happening. It was suggested that the endowment could be set up with the specification that it would end in the event the library budget was reduced; it could be set up for a specific purpose or project and control would remain with the Trust. Bob asked if the Trust is asking for matching funds; Wayne said that they are using that approach for fundraising. Joan asked if plans are more or less on hold until they reach the first million; Wayne said their Board is planning to discuss this in the near future. Melissa asked when the fundraising actually started; Wayne said active fundraising began a little over a year ago. He said the Library Trust is open to ideas or help from the Library Board. Mary thanked Wayne for attending tonight's meeting and for keeping the Library Board up-to-date on the Trust's activities. C. Director - Brenda Cams Brenda thanked Rudy, Ralph, and volunteers from the Friends of the Library for helping staff the Library's table at this year's NewWestFest event. She also thanked Rudy, Ralph and Joan for helping with the tours of the Poudre Valley Creamery in August. Thanks were extended, too, to Joan and her family, Lil and Hugh Price, Corrine Peck and Pat Walsh for helping with this year's Annie Walk on August 23`d. Brenda attended a meeting with Latimer County Library Directors regarding the formation of a District. Loveland was asked by their city government to find outside funding; Berthoud is not interested in forming a District but is interested in a Library Authority (this would allow the library to stay within city control but receive funds from city and non -city residents to pay for services). Wellington said their Council would most likely take the funds if they were under an Authority. Participants at the meeting are in the process of determining the amount of income that would be available from a tax increase of 1 Mil. The Thursday night tours of the Poudre Valley Creamery received mixed reaction. Some thought using the site was a great idea while others said it should be torn down. Joan said folks seemed to like the location but whether or not to keep the building was another issue. Brenda said local historical preservationists want to keep it, Ralph believes its stand-alone historical value is questionable. Children's Lead Librarian Lu Benke and Brenda met with representatives from the School District about the formation of a partnership. They are formalizing a process to improve communication and capitalize on the strengths of both organizations. The coffee cart business owner at the Library wasn't doing enough business to make the venture profitable and, therefore, decided to remove the cart. We continue to receive inquiries about the cart from interested vendors and are open to discussion about providing this service should someone wish to make the investment in the equipment. The 1001h birthday celebration went very well with approximately 500-600 attending festivities in the Park. Brenda thanked Lit Price for helping out once again. Approximately 100 people attended a recent subversive book checkout demonstration in the Park. It was good to have the public be aware of concerns about the Patriot Act. d. Friends of the Library - Lit Price The Friends are getting ready for their upcoming Annual Fall Book Sale at Foothills Mall October 3-5. They are looking forward to the sale and hope it will be a huge success. She asked Board members to let her know of any organization who might be interested in taking the leftover books so that the Friends do not have to haul them away. After the sale, the Friends will review the Library's request list for next year. New Board members will be elected at the Friends November 1 l m meeting. e. Centennial Celebration - Melissa Pattison Melissa said Library staff did a wonderful job with the centennial celebration on August 24. Brenda said the Library Trust decided not to do a big fundraising event in November as originally planned but might, instead, postpone it until next spring and consider an author dinner or cocktail party reception, perhaps at the CSU book store. Public Relations - Ralph Olson, Joan Scheuerman Ralph and Joan shared a draft of a quarterly report which touches on the success of the Summer Reading Program, shows some statistics, such as the number of hits on the library's web site and how long people have to wait for best sellers. He and Joan will continue to work on it and bring it back to the October meeting. Mary suggested using the same category of statistics each quarter to show how they continually increase. She said the document is a great idea and it reflects how important the library is in the community. I g. Emerging Trends - Joan Scheuerman, Bob Burns Joan's handout included information on how other cities in the nation, such as Fossil (Oregon), Seattle, Las Vegas, and Minneapolis are also having funding problems and some of the solutions they are trying. Funding alternatives that are working include corporate sponsorships, library bookstores, coffee shops and restaurants, Friends of the Library, and Library Trusts. Additional possible sources for funds are fundraising events which are either annual events or have specific goals. Many of them are grassroots efforts, such as bake sales, runs, ice cream socials, flee markets, and street fairs. Joan offered to research additional information about any of the material. Wass AlICIRM11 a. Naming Policy - Brenda Carns Copies of a draft document that provides guidance when faced with the issue of creating a distinct name for a City facility were distributed. In summary, it may be appropriate to name a facility for an individual or organization, and a donation of 50 percent or more of the value is a good baseline in determining a naming opportunity. The draft further states that facilities shall not be named after products or commodities and staff and Council need to have the ability to use judgment and view each situation on a case by case basis. Brenda said feedback about the draft policy from the various Boards would be appreciated. OTHER Mary Robertson thanked all the Library Board members and Friends who helped out with Library events this summer. Rudy inquired about the vacant Bilingual Library Assistant position; Brenda said she didn't have any updated information about filling the vacancy at this time. The meeting was adjourned at 7:40 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Marjorie Teklits Administrative Secretary