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HomeMy WebLinkAboutLibrary Board - Minutes - (6)„i • • City Clerk LIBRARY BOARD MINUTES Regular Meeting — March 11, 1999 6:00 p.m. Council Liaison: Chris Kneeland Staff Liaison: Brenda Cams (Phone 221-6670) Chairperson: Jack Steele (Phone:225-0877) A regular meeting of the Library Board was held on March 11, 1999 in the Ben Delatour Room at the Main Library. The following Library Board members were present: Ed Jakubauskas, Rudy Maes, Mary Robertson, Jack Steele, and M. Madeleine Wawro. Library Board Members Absent: City Staff Members Present: Friends of the Library Liaison: Anne Ostrye-Macdonald Brenda Cams, Marty Heffernan, Carrie Daggett, Kimberley Crowley, and Marjorie Teklits Larry Webber The meeting was called to order at 6:05 p.m. by the Chairperson, Jack Steele. The minutes of the February 11, 1999 Regular Meeting stand as written. CORRESPONDENCE Marty Heffernan reminded Board members that their input on the City budget preparation is requested by May J”. Copies of City Manager John Fischbach's February 18"' memo asking for this information were mailed to Board members in February. Copies of a flier regarding the April 30`h workshop, "Strengthening Board Effectiveness," were distributed to Board members. Jack Steele, Ed Jakubauskas, and Rudy Maes expressed interest in attending. Brenda Cams shared a memo from Rick Paton from the Denver Public library in which he mentions they do not receive funding from the Denver's Cultural and Scientific District. (Subsequent contact with Rick Ashton, Director, Denver Public Library, clarified that his legal 1 advisors did not consider the library eligible.) Jack Steele distributed a copy of a letter from Library Board members thanking Brad Goetz for the support he provided to the Board at their February 11`" meeting by creating drawings and a model for a possible underground addition to the Library. REPORTS/PRESENTATIONS A. Technology Update — Kim Crowley Kim described the "millennium bug," how it could affect the library, and steps being taken to resolve potential problems. Equipment is being inventoried, tested for Y2K compliance, and contingency plans made in the event problems arise. A model of the Dynix system has been developed and is scheduled to be tested shortly by loading software and records and then moving the date to the year 2000. It is expected to result in Y2K compliancy, however, as the Dynix system does not have enough memory to add more users and is having other performance problems, it is planned to issue an RFP for a new integrated library system in April. A new system could be installed in approximately one year at a cost between $250-375,000. Six or seven vendors are expected to submit proposals, and demonstrations of their systems would be presented in July or August. A new, enhanced integrated library system would provide an all PC network, graphical interfaces on every computer, enable time limits on workstations, library card login from home, and a one -card system for printing. If the Dynix system fails Y2K testing, its hardware will have to be upgraded by the end of this year at a cost of approximately $90,000. It would cost $144,000 to upgrade the hardware and to acquire the enhancements listed above. The library's greatest concern at this point would be the ability to check-out books on January 2"d should the system fail, although check-out could be done on a manual basis. Equipment for the computer lab at Harmony Library, the popular Electronic Literacy Connection classes, and computers for the Northside Aztlan Center and Barton Early Childhood Center, a CD-ROM station and furniture for the library's children's area, a scanner, and a video of the Summer Reading Program for staff to bring on school visits, are all made possible with funds from the Technology Learning Grant, Capital Improvement funding and the LINC program. Service trends from this past year show that technology is being used more. In 1997, 24,495 renewals were placed from home computers, or 15% of total renewals; in 1998, that rose to 18.6% and YTD 1999 is 20.6%. In 1997, there were 13,501 holds placed from home computers, or 21.5% of total holds; in 1998, that rose to 22.6% and YTD 1999 is 26.9%. 2 In 1998, 788 customers attended technology programs consisting of eight community classes at various sites, 16 Tech Talks, 30 PAC training sessions, and 20 Electronic Literacy Classes (ELC). There are waiting lists for upcoming ELC classes, and hourly librarians have had to be hired to teach the classes. Electronic resources currently offered by the library include Electric Library, College Source, American Business Disk, Contemporary Authors, CQ Researcher, Well - Connected, and First Search. Future needs for library technology include a full time trainer to teach staff, the public, and to help design the Electronic Literacy curriculum. As the need for more technology steadily increases and funding from the CIP runs out in 2004, including three full-time staff positions, the library will need to plan how to keep money available for technology. B. Tax District Options Committee Status — Ed Jakubauskas, Carrie Daggett Carrie Daggett, Assistant City Attorney, distributed an outline summarizing provisions in Colorado law regarding the establishment and functioning of districts or authorities in order to provide background information for the Board and staff in general discussions regarding options for formation of taxing districts or authorities related to library services. A Metropolitan Library District would not be a realistic option as a combined population of the jurisdiction must be at least 500,000 people. A Public Library District is most commonly used; it would be' -,the simplest mechanism for forming a District. A Regional Service Authority is a statute that provides for a long list of services for which authorities may be established. It is intended to be a mechanism to provide a particular service and is more commonly used for utility -type services rather than libraries. A Scientific and Cultural Facilities District is more of a funding mechanism and may levy a sales tax throughout the district area of up to 0.31 % for a period of up to ten years. It is not clear if this is even a funding option for libraries. Carrie said that, depending upon the objectives to be served, it may be the above structures may or may not be advantageous, and the Library Board will need to discuss this. Any increase in taxes would require voter approval regardless of the structure used. Ed Jakubauskas mentioned that the Board needs to discuss whether or not the library would be better funded if it went in this direction. The question would be how to go about it and how to prepare people for it; would citizens support a Library District over the status quo. He added that a strong public relations campaign would be needed. Madeleine Wawro said that the drive for a Library District would have to come from a change in circumstances which would make the work involved worthwhile. She also said Harmony Library could be another thing to consider, however, Marty Heffernan said that he did not believe this would be a significant issue. 3 Carrie Daggett said these options allow for a variety of different structures, and the Board should focus on what their objectives are, what they want to accomplish and how they want it to work. Jack Steele asked the Library Board's Tax District Options Committee to continue to work with the outline they provided and to return to the June Board Meeting with a status report. Ed Jakubauskas agreed that it is important to continue to explore the options and feels there is a need to focus on public relations at present. C. Public Support Committee Status — Mary Robertson This sub -committee of the Library Board is discussing development of public relations between the community and the library to gain public support for library issues. It will be important to sell.a vision to the public of what the future library will look like. The committee is discussing how to develop that vision, how to get people to visit the library and enjoy their experience. They want the library to relate that the public has ownership in the library and to attract support from the adult working community, women's networking groups, community leaders, fundraisers, the business community, City Council and others. It will have to be a sustained effort that needs specific, targeted ideas to sell, and the Committee will try to develop plans on how to accomplish this. Madeleine Wawro suggested asking Brad Goetz and his students to develop models of a New Main Library for use to arouse public interest. As funding for the design of a New Main Library was approved=' by voters from Building Community Choices, this option could be explored. Marty Heffernan suggested the committee meet with the performing arts/cultural group to see how they are raising funds; it might also be fruitful to hire a fundraising consultant. D. Library Director — Brenda Cams Technical Services moved to 101 Remington on February 15"i. By moving on a City holiday, very few working hours were lost. The area they vacated at the Main Library is being painted and recarpeted and will be occupied by the Reference staff upon completion, allowing Local History to expand into part of the old Reference area. Renovations will be conducted in three phases; phase one and two will be completed within the next few weeks and phase three will be completed next summer. Part of these changes include moving adult media items to the second floor which will provide more study areas for adults and children. Staff will also be exploring options for offering a coffee service to the public and will evaluate how successful other libraries have been. Brenda thanked Rudy Maes, Larry Webber, and Jean Dietemann for their participation in Legislative Day on February 17" and for their promoting support of Senate Bill 093. 4 The Children's Summer Reading Program theme will be "So Many Pets —So Many Books." The Friends of the Library are sponsoring the library's participation in the St. Patrick's Day Parade, and it is planned to have the "Annie The Railroad Dog" character join staff and Friends who will distribute bookmarks providing information on the upcoming Annie Walk and Summer Reading Program. The old blue and white library cards will be discontinued this spring and holders of these cards will be issued the current purple cards. Media items can now be borrowed through InterLibrary Loan. The School District is very pleased as teachers will now be able to fulfill their media needs through ILL. E. Friends of the Library — Larry Webber $2,496.15 was raised at the Friends' February 26-28 booksale at Harmony Library; $800 alone was collected at the presale on the 26th. Friends' membership is now up to 170. The Friends' now have a web page which is linked to the library's page. A new Friends brochure has been printed and is ready for distribution. Volunteer hours will be recorded with other library volunteer hours and will be included with library statistics. Jean Dietemann is working on a draft letter to City Council candidates to ascertain their feelings on library issues. A memo from all Larimer County Friends' groups supporting Senate Bill 091 is being prepared. NEW BUSINESS As the Library Board Vice Chair position has been vacated due to the resignation of Jacqueline Wallace, Mary Robertson made a motion to appoint Ed Jakubauskas as Vice Chair; Rudy Maes seconded the motion, and it was unanimously approved. April Agenda: The New Downtown Main Library Committee: Status and Discussion. Library Budget Needs — Brenda Carns 5 May and June Meetings A major portion of these meetings will be dedicated to Library Board committee status reports. The meeting was adjourned at 8:20 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Marjorie Teklits Administrative Secretary Minutes approved at the April 8, 1999 Library Board Meeting