HomeMy WebLinkAboutLibrary Board - Minutes - 09/14/20000
LIBRARY BOARD MINUTES
Regular Meeting — September 14, 2000
6:00 p.m.
II Council Liaison: Michael Byrne Staff Liaison: Sue -Ellen Jones
Acting Library Director
(Phone 224-6164)
Chairperson: Edward Jakubauskas
(Phone: 223-7428)
A regular meeting of the Library Board was held on September 14, 2000 in the Ben Delatour
Room of the Main Library. The following Library Board members were present: Carolyn
Haase, Lisa Helme. Edward Jakubauskas, Rudy Maes, Mary Robertson, Charles Robles, and M.
Madeleine Wawro.
City Staff Members Present:
Friends of the Library Liaison:
Sue -Ellen Jones, and Marjorie Teklits
Larry Webber
The meeting was called to order at 6:03 p.m. by the Chairperson, Edward Jakubauskas. Line 4
of paragraph six on page 2 of the August 10" meeting was amended to read "...attend if Ed is not
able to go." Carolyn Haase motioned that the minutes of the August 10, 2000 meeting be
approved as amended; Rudy Maes seconded the motion, and it was unanimously approved.
Correspondence
Copies of the September 7"' memo from the City Clerk's office regarding Boards and
Commissions Annual Recruitment were distributed for the Board's information.
Copies of a flier from the City of Fort Collins and the Fort Collins Chamber inviting input in
determining how the City's web site can best serve users were distributed.
Copies of the August 23 memo from the City Manager regarding Boards and Commissions Web
Page Policies and Procedures on the City's web site were distributed.
Repo rts/Presentations
a. Acting Director — Sue -Ellen Jones
The Chamber Music Association will be doing lectures at the Library to promote their
concert.
The August 26" Annie Walk & Pet Fest was a great success. Led by the Mayor, an
estimated 140 walkers participated in the walk itself and approximately 350 people joined
in other activities offered in the park. Proceeds from the event, totaling $1,356, will be
used to enhance the children's collection. Library staff thank the Friends of the Library
for sponsoring this popular yearly program.
The Library now has art on display on the second floor, near the periodicals section.
Staff are also working with Serendipity, a local non-profit art education organization, to
produce art for the Main Library.
As book reviewers are needed for the monthly "Library Focus" newspaper article, CSU's
English Department as well as a local writers group have been contacted for possible
assistance.
The Young Adult Summer Reading Program enjoyed its biggest year with 332 teens in
Grades 7-12 participating. 119 teens reached the 4-prize level and were eligible for a
drawing for a grand prize. Thanks go to the Friends organization who provided increased
funding, allowing the Library to offer better prizes, which in turn attracted more
participants.
The Children's Summer Reading Program attracted 6.018 children and met their
"Readers to the Rescue" goal of reading enough extra hours to raise $2,000 for the Dian
Fossey Gorilla Fund International. 310 infants under two years of age also participated in
the program.
Copies of articles relating to the upcoming Dr. Laura program concerning libraries and
pornography on the Internet were distributed. Library staff are well aware of the
American Library Association's policies on intellectual freedom and are able to provide
copies of these policies to interested customers at the reference desks. Two staff
members have been designated to speak to the media in the event of questions concerning
library Internet policies as a result of Dr. Laura's program.
b. Friends of the Library — Larry Webber
The Friends' fall booksale at Foothills Fashion Mall is scheduled for October 6-8.
In an effort to increase interest on their funds, the Friends have switched from CD
investments to a money market fund.
Yesterday's special program hosted by the Friends at the Main Library on historical quilts
stitched by Patricia Hubbard attracted a sizeable audience.
Nominations for new officers are in, and the election is scheduled to take place next
month. The Friends currently have 247 members, 31 of whom have life memberships.
Larry said the new construction recently completed on the first floor of the Main Library
looks very nice.
After reviewing latest "How'd we do?" forms concerning the new computer system,
Larry said that he was also looking for the best seller list; Sue -Ellen mentioned that staff
have been working on its development, and it should be available by the end of this week.
She also mentioned that the naming contest for the system ends on September 15. The
system also has the capability for customers to give their comments to the library.
C. Committee Reports:
County/State/National — Carolyn Haase
Organized opposition to Amendment 21 appears to have far exceeded support. If passed,
many services provided by local governments, including some library services, could be
cut or phased out. Carolyn encouraged Board members to vote early as the ballot this
year is extensive, and long lines are expected on Election Day.
City Council Relations — Charles Robles
Charles discussed the negative affects of Amendment 21 to libraries during a meeting
with the Mayor yesterday. Charles also stressed to Board members the importance of
meeting with their Council representatives.
Mary is scheduled to meet with Chuck Wanner tomorrow; he hadn't heard about the
formation of the Library Trust and was pleased to learn about their plans.
Charles also encouraged Board members to attend the dedication for the new Justice
Center tomorrow and open house sessions over the weekend. He said the facility is an
excellent example of what can be accomplished.
Community Public Relations — Mary Robertson
The Board's public relations committee has not had an opportunity to meet since its last
meeting.
Mary represented the Library Board at yesterday's Library Trust meeting. The Trust has
written some proposals for incidental funds to cover expenses for letterhead, brochures,
etc. Future plans include preparation of a grant to the National Endowment for the
Humanities, due in the spring, and to have an event in January or February to attract the
public and develop other areas of fundraising. Mary stated that Trust members are very
supportive of the library and are excited about the vision of a new library.
Mary applauded library staff on all the partnerships they have created with other
organizations and said that Library Trust members were also very pleased. She said such
arrangements make a big difference in the public's perception of the library. Sue -Ellen
mentioned how partnerships benefit everyone involved as shown by how productive it
has been for library staff to meet with media specialists from the school district. Larry
suggested the library produce a brochure for the public highlighting its partnerships with
other organizations or perhaps ask Deb Maltby to submit a Library Focus article on the
subject. Ed said that the partnership concept has tremendous appeal to the public and that
a Library Focus or Soapbox article might even come from the Library Board. Marge was
asked to have Deb Maltby contact Mary to discuss details.
Sue -Ellen mentioned that, besides being a librarian, an important part of herjob is to get
kids interested in reading. She told an inspirational story on how she accomplished this
at one point, and Mary suggested having it published. that these are the kinds of stories
the public needs to hear. These inspirational experiences could be highlighted in a
Library Focus article or similar column.
Further, Larry mentioned the recent LSTA grant awarded to the library which funds
various diversity programs that enable the library to partner with other organizations to
produce twice -monthly programs. Sue -Ellen said these programs have themes that will
appeal to many, and they will be held in the library as well as off site.
Sue -Ellen informed Board members that a member of the Reference staff is-atherina
statistics on information and literacy which might be useful to them for newspaper
articles.
Lisa and Mary have been reviewing the goals and objectives document from last years
Public Planning Process and will be bringing suggestions to make it a more effective
document to a future meeting.
NEW BUSINESS
HealthAware Library and Space Issues
Carolyn distributed copies of the HealthAware Library's information brochure. She said
the library is an outstanding resource for information on health related matters and
encouraged Board members to visit it. She suggested that the Library Board speak to
them about their impending closure. and Sue -Ellen mentioned that library staff are in the
process of preliminary discussions with them on housing the collection and databases.
Among things to consider are adequate space to accommodate the collection and
sufficient staff to assist customers needing information on health issues.
Lisa mentioned that the library appears to be such a comfortable place that space
shortages are not always obvious to the public. Mary suggested that signage visible to
the public be placed in the window of Technical Services informing them that the space
4
was rented due to overcrowding at the Main Library. Use of temporary structures to
house collections. such as that from the HealthAware Library, might be an alternative to
not being able to accommodate them at all. This displacement would also illustrate to
the public that staff are doing all they can to offer the best collection possible but more
space is needed.
Lisa also said that sharing statistics with the public on the number of items having to be
discarded due to lack of space would help create awareness of the need for a new, larger,
main library. Mary said that the public should be also be made aware of the Public
Planning Committee's recommended volumes per capita goal and that there simply isn't
enough space to accommodate the volumes the library needs to have. Sue -Ellen also
added that the public might be interested in the fact that, although a 70,000 s.f. library
facility was recommended 25 years ago, only a 33,000 s.f. facility was approved. In
comparison, we now have a 33,000 s.f. facility and only a 100,000 s.f. facility is being
planned —a difference of only 30,000 s.f. over 25 years.
Ed asked that the HealthAware Library be included on the next meeting agenda.
The meeting was adjourned at 7:35 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Marjorie Teklits
Administrative Secretary