HomeMy WebLinkAboutLibrary Board - Minutes - 03/11/2004LIBRARY BOARD MINUTES
REGULAR MEETING - MARCH 11, 2004
6:00 P.M.
Council Liaison: Marty Tharp Staff Liaison: Brenda Cams
(Phone 221-6670)
Chairperson: Ralph Olson
(Phone: 898-0863)
A regular meeting of the Library Board was held on March 11, 2004 in the Ben Delatour Room
of the Main Library at 201 Peterson Street. The following Library Board members were present:
Robert Burns, Rudy Maes, Don Oehlerts, Ralph Olson, Mary Robertson, and Joan Scheuerman.
Library Board Members Absent:
City Staff Members Present:
Visitors:
Melissa Pattison
Brenda Cams and Marjorie Teklits
Jean Blaylock, League of Women Voters
Journalist student from CSU
The meeting was called to order at 6:00 p.m. by Chairperson Ralph Olson. Mary Robertson
moved to approve the minutes of the February 12, 2004 meeting; Joan Scheuerman seconded the
motion, and it was unanimously approved.
Correspondence:
Brenda shared a reminder with Board members that the Diversity Data Survey is due in the
Clerk's office by Monday, March 15. There was no other correspondence to be read at tonight's
meeting.
Reports/Presentations:
a. Director - Brenda Cams
Lingzhen Zhao started her duties this month as Library Technology Specialist. Ling
comes to us with technology experience in the private sector, and staff are very pleased to
have her on board.
The Technical Services move to their new location at 256 W. Mountain has been
completed, and an Open House is planned for March 26`h from 8 to 10 a.m.
Staff are involved in a project to connect the FRCC campus and Harmony Library into
our fiber-optic network. Making this connection will increase speed and dependability,
and it is a project the library is enthusiastically pursuing.
Five new Prospector Libraries have been added in the past month, and there continues to
be an increase in requests through Prospector, both borrowing and lending. Delivery of
these materials is tied into the courier service subsidized by the State, and Brenda
encouraged everyone to contact legislators in support of continuation of funding.
Nine staff members attended the Public Library Association conference in Seattle, thanks
to funding from the Friends of the Library. Staff were able to do a lot of networking and
are very excited about implementing some of the things they learned at the conference.
This year, the adult, teen, and children's Summer Reading Programs will each have their
own slogan relating to "Imagination."
Two staff members are helping with program arrangements and an author visit for this
year's Read -On Fort Collins event. Sue -Ellen Jones, our teen librarian, is leading an
inter -generational discussion of the chosen book, Holes, and Pamela Piesman will lead a
discussion about the book in Spanish.
The "Here and Now" best seller rental collection has begun. To date, 260 items have
checked out 767 times, and we are noticing that many people are reading their materials
in up to six days rather than three weeks.
Brenda shared a copy of an article and cartoon about library funding needs from the local
Fort Collins newspaper in 1937, and Ralph said it would make a good Soapbox article.
Business Librarian Jean Anderson has been asked to be the information officer on the
City's planning committee for the Economic Vitality and Sustainability group.
b. Friends of the Library
The Friends' first book sale of this year will be at Harmony Library, March 12-14, and Lil
reminded everyone that members get first choices. Ralph offered to call The Coloradoan
to make sure they know about the sale.
Brenda said the first storytimes in the southeast area of Fort Collins will start in April
with funds provided by the Friends. The storytimes will be at the Fort Collins Youth
Clinic on Saturday mornings, and they are expected to be very well attended.
C. 2004 Committee Meetings and Schedule Draft
It was decided that since there are no new Board members, repeating department head
presentations would not be necessary this year. However, representatives from other city
departments could be invited to speak from time to time. Board members felt inviting the
Council Liaison on a quarterly basis would be helpful and beneficial to all.
d. Emerging Trends - Bob Burns
Bob's presentation tonight focused on new trends in public library buildings/programs
and the merging of these two in the architectural design of buildings. He proposed
forming a committee to concentrate on new library buildings in the United States and
setting up a file of architectural designs for a new facility. He shared his enthusiasm for
the subject by describing how architectural design is a wonderful process that takes ideas
that transform from pencil and paper, to blueprints, to concrete and steel. Bob spoke
about new public library buildings in the U.S. and how programs they offer influenced
their design. He brought various articles about the topic to share which will be routed to
members and kept in the above mentioned file for future reference.
C. Public Relations - Ralph Olson
Topics suggested for the next Board quarterly newsletter:
Affects of not replacing the bilingual outreach coordinator, such as, decrease in
the number of Spanish-speaking customers using the library and numbers of
questions being asked in Spanish.
Complaints about removal of the remote drop boxes.
Results of the Friends of the Library book sale; also, book donations from the
public reflect a lot of community support for the library.
Itemize what the Friends are contributing this year and what projects the money is
being used for that the Library's budget can't cover.
Year-end circulation figures.
Ralph asked Bob to research procedural requirements for having the Library Board meet
with The Coloradoan as a group to talk about concerns, future growth of the library, use
of the 1/4 cent sales tax, and the 5 year plan presented to Council.
OLD BUSINESS
a. Capital Sales Tax Proposal Input - Library Board
Mary Robertson said that 1/4 cent of the sales tax has already been extended for 20 years
and is earmarked for open space; a second 1/4 cent for the next 7 to 10 years is wanted
for street maintenance which leaves the last 1/4 cent for all the City's capital projects,
although some want to reserve it for transportation. If voters approve the last 1/4 cent for
transportation needs, there wouldn't be any money for other capital projects in the next 7
to 10 years.
A cover letter for the Board's input was finalized and the inclusion of another item,
Materials Funding, was added. Don Oehlerts moved to include Materials Funding in the
list of capital projects; Bob Burns seconded the motion, and it was unanimously
approved. Board members all agreed that additional materials funding is needed to
address needs in the collection area, help with materials replacement and acquisitions.
Mary Robertson moved to change the priority of the projects established at the February
121h meeting to include Materials Funding as the second in priority, moving a Southeast
Branch and New Main Library to the third and fourth priorities. Library Technology
remains the first priority. Ralph Olson seconded the motion and it was unanimously
approved.
The Board agreed that the Library's capital needs are important and, without technology
funding, there would be a drastic impact to the Library.
Southeast Branch - Brenda Carns
Brenda told the Board that the City Manager has been talking to potential developers of a
Lifestyle Center about inclusion of a branch library in their plans. She will advise more
details are known.
NEW BUSINESS
a. Activities related to Library Goals and Activities - Brenda Carns
Brenda reviewed for Board members the 1998-99 Public Planning Process. Citizens
representing a cross section of the community gathered to determine what the priorities of
the library should be. They went through a detailed, structured approach to assess the
community, its demographics, what role the library needs to fulfill and what the library
should provide for the community. Using the planning process designed by the Public
Library Association, they selected the following five areas on which to focus: 1)
General Information; 2) Current Topics and Titles; 3) Commons; 4) Cultural
Awareness; and 5) Lifelong Learning.
Other:
The Library Management Team is now in the process of updating this information by
defining objectives, activities, and the departments and groups responsible to achieve
them. Library Board members discussed activities to fulfill objectives for which the
Library Board would be responsible, and copies of the completed document will be
shared at a future meeting.
Ralph felt that a calendar of the Board's meeting attendance would be beneficial.
Ralph asked Bob to be the contact person for Karen Weitkunat as she is the Council Rep
for his district.
The meeting was adjourned at 8:20 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Marjorie Teklits
Administrative Secretary