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HomeMy WebLinkAboutLibrary Board - Minutes - 07/08/2004LIBRARY BOARD MINUTES REGULAR MEETING - JULY 8, 2004 11 6.00 P.M. Council Liaison: Marty Tharp Staff Liaison: Brenda Cams (Phone 221-6670) Chairperson: Ralph Olson A regular meeting of the Library Board was held on July 8, 2004 in the Ben Delatour Room of the Main Library at 201 Peterson Street. The following Library Board members were present: Rudy Maes, Don Oehlerts, Ralph Olson, and Melissa Pattison. Library Board Members Absent: Bob Burns, Mary Robertson and Joan Scheuerman City Staff Members Present: Brenda Cams, Marty Heffernan, and Marjorie Teklits Friends of the Library Liaison: Gwen Kelly for Lil Price Guests: Wayne Givens, President, Library Trust John Kefalas The meeting was called to order at 6:00 p.m. by Chairperson Ralph Olson. Rudy Maes moved to approve the minutes of the June 10, 2004 meeting; Don Oehlerts seconded the motion, and it was unanimously approved. Correspondence: There was no correspondence to be read at tonight's meeting. Reports/Presentations: a. Director - Brenda Cams A written Director's Report was included in tonight's packet. It contains the latest information about recent program attendance which has shown an increase this summer. Copies of information from the City's web page concerning the Building on Basics campaign (BOB) was included in packets. Details about the project were discussed later in the meeting. Some hourly funds for the Bilingual Outreach Library Assistant position were approved. Unfortunately, the person currently covering those duties has taken another position, however, she has committed work 6 to 8 hours a week to help with key projects. The problem with hiring another person on an hourly basis is that it takes time to train employees if they dons have prior library experience and they often move on to other opportunities. The Library is hopeful that City management will unfreeze the position so that there will be an opportunity to hire a full-time, classified employee. Marty Heffernan said once there has been six months of positive tax returns, Council may be asked to discuss unfreezing some of the 60 City positions which are on hold and/or if they are willing to provide compensation for existing employees whose wages have remained frozen. The Outreach position is one of CLRS's critical frozen positions, and it is hopeful it can be filled in the coming months. During one of the computer upgrades recently done by the City, Library computers became vulnerable to viruses for a short time. The "window" was open longer than expected and it affected nearly all computers. It created a huge effort on the part of Library Systems staff as each computer had to be rebuilt one at a time. Interestingly, we found that it takes one third more staff to handle questions from the public when computers are down so, in fact, technology is saving one third of personnel costs, or around $1 million a year. b. Friends of the Library - Gwen Kelly Ralph Olson welcomed Gwen to the meeting and explained to tonight's guests how so many special library programs are dependent on funds received from the Friends of the Library. Brenda added that the Friends gave almost $68,000 this year alone. Gwen mentioned the upcoming Friends of the Library book sale July 16-18 at Harmony Library, and welcomed all to attend. She also said the Friends Book Shop is doing very well. C. Library Trust - Wayne Givens For guests and newcomers at tonight's meeting, Wayne explained the Library Trust was formed in 1999 as a 501(c )(3) charitable trust organization to raise private funds to support the library system (programs, materials, technology, etc.). It follows a model used in many cities of a foundation in support of library systems, and private support of public dollars is the basic theme. In the beginning, they embarked upon a quiet campaign but due to a downturn in the economy, it was a tough sell. Even though potential donors felt the library is important, it didn't rank as high on their charitable donation list as health needs or even building campaigns. Although some money came in, it was decided to try a direct mail campaign to selective addresses. In mid June, over 4,000 letters were sent with pledge cards to citizens in the community and to date approximately $7,000 has come in. A database will be kept and the list of supporters will be contacted for other fundraising events such as breakfasts, etc. Even though it has been frustrating at times, Trust members have learned a lot, continue to meet roughly every month, and feel they are getting better positioned for the future. Wayne shared copies of the fundraising letter and pledge cards with Board members, Melissa suggested including a contact telephone number in future efforts. She also said many companies offer to match funds raised for various causes, and this could be an additional donation source. Don said that between 1967 and the present, there must have be a dozen technology companies which moved to Fort Collins. He asked if anyone knew of incentives they may have been offered. Marty said he knows Anheiser-Busch was offered some, but that the City doesn't easily make those kinds of offers. Don did recall offers from Latimer County. OLD BUSINESS: County Funding Update - Marty Heffernan Members of a Library Funding Taskforce are scheduled to meet on July 12d to continue discussions about different funding options for library services in Larimer County. Pros and cons of the options were discussed at a previous meeting in May, and Monday's meeting will provide an opportunity for the group to discuss which options hold the most interest, what individual library needs are, and determine if it is better to work together or individually. The group consists of representatives from the libraries in Fort Collins, Loveland, Berthoud, Wellington, and Estes Park, the County Manager and Commissioner, and our Interim and Deputy City Managers. NEW BUSINESS: Building on Basics (BOB) - Marty Heffernan Marty explained that BOB is the current campaign to renew the Building Community Choices (BCC) sales taxes which expire next year. One quarter cent has already been extended for 25 years; another quarter cent usually goes to street maintenance, and, with voter approval, the final quarter cent can be extended for a variety of capital projects which are listed on the City's web page (mentioned above). One quarter cent produces $50 million over a 7 or 8 year period, and the amount needed for all the projects totals over $200 million. We are now in the public outreach phase of the campaign, and Open Houses will be held from 4:30 to 7:00 p.m. at Harmony Library on July 281' and Lincoln Center on August 2"d. These meetings present a good opportunity for the public to provide their input and show interest in the various projects. After public input is received, City Council will make the determination of which projects will go to voter approval at the April 2005 election. The Library has four major projects that will be considered: Technology, a Southeast Branch, a new Civic Center Library to replace the Main Library, and funding for Library Materials. Marty concluded by showing a video about the campaign and thanked Board members for their support at the Open Houses. Other: Brenda shared copies of the Library's presentation of the four projects, including charts indicating why the improvements are needed, statistics on circulation per capita, operating expenditures per capita, information on why new libraries are needed, explained that funding from BCC, the sole financial source for all computerized library functions, expires in 2005, and these funds are not provided in the regular operating budget. Ralph said it tells the story well and encouraged Board members to attend the Open Houses. Gwen Kelly asked if a new Civic Center Library would replace the present Main Library. Brenda replied that it would and that a compatible use would be found for the present building. Guest John Kefalas, Democratic candidate for House District 52, said he is running for this office to represent ordinary interests, focus on bread and butter issues, the economy, education, affordable housing, and healthcare reform. He came tonight to share with the Library Board the issues he is interested in and to learn more about the challenges the library faces. He is very supportive of the library's bilingual outreach and storytelling efforts and is interested to learn how the State fits into this. He asked what the role of the State has been, and Brenda explained the State at one time provided $8 million statewide but after services were cutback, it was reduced to only $600,000. In conclusion, John said tonight's meeting was very instructive and he appreciated the opportunity to attend. Don asked Ralph about the Board's postponed visit to The Coloradoan. Ralph said he will reschedule the meeting. Marty and Brenda feel optimistic about discussions of creating a Southeast Branch in a new Lifestyle Center and will keep the Board appraised of developments. Don Oehlerts moved to adjourn tonight's meeting; Rudy Maes seconded the motion, and it was unanimously approved. The meeting was adjourned at 7:35 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Mar Ve Teklits Administrative Secretary