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HomeMy WebLinkAboutLibrary Board - Minutes - 04/14/2005LIBRARY BOARD MINUTES REGULAR MEETING — APRIL 14, 2005 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 April 14, 2005 in the Ben Delatour Room of the Main Library at 201 Peterson Street. The following Library Board members were present: Nina Bodenhamer, , Bob Burns, Ralph Olson, Mary Robertson, and Molly Thompson. Library Board Members Absent: City Staff Members Present: Friends of the Library Liaison: Guest: Don Oehlerts and Melissa Pattison Brenda Cams and Marjorie Teklits Sharon Bleicher Jean Blaylock, League of Women Voters The meeting was called to order at 6:05 p.m. by Chairperson Ralph Olson. Bob Burns moved to approve the minutes of the March 10, 2005 meeting; Molly Thompson seconded the motion and it was unanimously approved. Corresoondence: Copies of the March 21 memo from the Library Board to the Mayor and City Council Members regarding their recommendation on Ballot Issue #1 (Grocery Tax Repeal) were distributed. Copies of the article from the winter issue of Colorado Libraries entitled "Why Book Clubs in the Technology Era? Book Clubs at the Fort Collins Public Library" written by Librarian Sarah Scobey were distributed. In addition to recent newspaper articles concerning the library, Brenda brought to the attention of the Board the "Thumbs Up" article she submitted thanking them for the $94,788 donation to the Library from their 2004 book sales. She told Friends President, Sharon Bleicher, how much the Library staff appreciates the Friends and everything they do for the Library. Reports/Presentations: a. Director's Report - Brenda Cams Plastic cant' bags and window slicks with "I (heart) My Library" purchased with donated funds from the Friends of the Library for National Library Week were given to Board members. The bags were offered to customers for their checked out books as part of the week's festivities. In past years, the Library has had a booth at NewWestFest staffed by volunteers from the Board and the Friends. This year's event is August 20-21, and Brenda asked if Board members had any interest in participation again. Ralph and Mary felt that the Library's table didn't attract that much interest and perhaps wasn't worth the effort of staffing it for the 17 hour period required. Therefore, it was decided not to purchase booth space this year. Highlights of the written Director's Report contain information about the upcoming Summer Reading program, National Library Week celebrations at the Library, and a new fax service where patrons will be charged $1 for the first page and 25 cents for additional pages to receive library material by fax at their home or business. In addition, almost 1,600 customers came to the spring break puppet shows while over 300 had to be turned away due to fire code restrictions. Staff offered storytimes to those who couldn't be accommodated. Darin Atteberry presented a story full of animal sounds that the youngest of Fort Collins' citizens helped him with at the April 41n storytime at the Main Library. Parents and staff appreciated the time and attention he shared with the enthusiastic audience. b. Friends of the Library — Sharon Bleicher The Friends' March book sale raised $6,634, slightly more than the March 2004 sale. The Friends Gift Shop brought in an additional $1,000. The next book sale is scheduled for July 15-17 at Harmony Library. The Friends are co -sponsoring the Read On Fort Collins program, and the author will be in town for a discussion of his book on Sunday. c. Emerging Trends — Bob Bums Bob brought the following recent articles of interest for the Board. Copies will be made and distributed: "Libraries are an essential service, too" (Christian Science Monitor, 3/11/05) From the NY Times Book Review (4/10/05): "No Place to Hide" by Robert O'Harrow, Jr., and "Chatter: Dispatches From the Secret World of Global Eavesdropping" by Patrick Radden. Copies will be ordered for the Library's collection. . "The tale of the Iraqi librarian who saved books she loves" (Christian Science Monitor, 2/22/05) . "The World's Biggest Book Market" (China's publishing industry) (NY Times Book Review, 3/13/05) Old Business: a. 2006/2007 Budget Marty Heffernan explained that the City is entering the 2006/2007 budget cycle. City staff provide input to the City Manager who then makes recommendations to Council who eventually adopts a new budget. As the process begins, there are a lot of factors different from the previous cycle: a new Council, a new City Manager, a difficult financial environment, and the fact that City employees haven't had raises in 3 years. The City manager is looking at an outcome -based budgeting process, the premise of which is, through outreach efforts, to take a look at what citizens really want with their tax dollars. When this is known, Council takes the information and develops goals. Once set, staff receive a directive to develop performance measures to achieve and justify services relative to those goals. Input from the various Boards and Commissions will be an important part of the process. Marty said the Library Board's task is to inform Council of their recommendations about the upcoming budget. Ralph said the Board has talked about Technology funding and the Southeast Branch and they would be supportive in improving the salary structure as well. He said the Board could ask for prior cuts of approximately $200,000 to be reinstated. The Library has been losing ground when compared to the increase in use and the loss of budget in recent years; it would be good to contrast the continuous growth and loss in operating funds. Ralph asked Brenda for more detail in what has been sacrificed in recent years. Brenda said in Circulation alone 5% of the shelving staff was eliminated along with the remote book drops. As a result, Circulation responses to customer problems is slower, access to items previously shelved sooner is restricted, more customers are sent to the collection agency as only one overdue notice is given, and a fee is now charged for out-of-state searches for library materials. Bob Burns asked how quality of life services play with the new Council as opposed to essential services, such as police and fire. Marty said this is a question we frequently struggle with; if you look at the campaigning before the election, you could discern some of that, but we just don't know their position yet. Nina volunteered to work with Molly to develop a one -page fact sheet to attach to the Board's recommendations. Bob said a copy of "Libraries are an essential service, too," from the March 11`s Christian Science Monitor might be of interest to them as well. Ralph said he will contact new Council members Kelly Ohlson and Ben Manvel to discuss their views on library services. New Business: a. Alternate Funding Sources Ralph Olson said the Library needs to find an alternate funding source for the future — one that doesn't impact programming, staffing, etc. - and takes advantage of growth as Fort Collins and the surrounding area expands. For the newer Board members, Marty gave the background of the Library Funding Task Force which met three times last year to talk about Library District and Authority concepts. The group consists of Latimer County Commissioners, Library Directors and some of their Library Board members, the City Manager and Diane Jones. After the September 2004 Task Force meeting, representatives from the various Libraries were to introduce the Library Authority concept to their governing bodies to ascertain their interest. Bob Burns said you have to be very careful about a concept such as the Authority because if libraries receive some funding from taxes collected through an Authority, the cities could reduce the funding they provide. Mary Robertson said the Library District concept should be explored and strongly urges the Library to, move in that direction. Over a period of time, both the City and customers would benefit and the Library would have a stable, secure funding stream. Ralph agreed and said the library would then have its own funding base. Marty Heffernan said the difficulty with creating a District is that it is hard to get approval from the City as they would no longer own it, and you have to go to the voters to ask for the money. An Authority provides the flexibility to keep governance in place, you just have to partner with another government entity and get a commitment from the City that existing funding not be taken away. Nina Bodenhamer asked if the Library District concept is a trend. Brenda said it is and seems to have worked for many libraries in the state. Brenda said she has heard positive feedback from Jamie Lame who created the Weld and Douglas County Library Districts. Marty added it is better to form a District right from the beginning. Bob Burns said he would like to better understand the matter of governance. He would like to read information about it and the alternatives. He asked Brenda to prepare a position paper for the Board. Marty Heffernan said the library funding issue is scheduled for a Council Study Session on July 12 when it is planned to ask the City Manager's approval to proceed with the Authority concept. If the Library Board is interested in a Library District, that could be a complication because, as far as is known, the City is not interested in a District. Brenda said it is important to take an objective look at the different models. Bob said it is a very large topic that merits more time and recommended it for a future agenda. Brenda said the State Library web site has information on advantages and disadvantages of the concept. It was agreed to include the topic on the next agenda and to form a recommendation to endorse one alternative or another from the Board for the July City Council Study session. Round -Robin: Nina Bodenhamer continues to work with Ken Draves, Harmony Library Branch Manager, on the Read Fort Collins campaign. She will share a list of "celebrities" in Fort Collins who will be invited to appear on the posters. The Library Board might be interested in posing as a group, too. Marty Heffernan thanked the Board, and Mary Robertson in particular, for their support on defeating Ballot Issue #1. The magnitude of the defeat lessens the chances of it being presented again. Ralph Olson asked Marty if he knew who might be appointed the Library Board's new Council Liaison. Marty said Council will probably discuss it at their Retreat at the end of April. The meeting was adjourned at 7:45 p.m. Respectfully submitted, ;�JJ7 Marjorie Teklits Administrative Secretary