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HomeMy WebLinkAbout03-15-17 BPL Minutes FinalBozeman Public Library Board of Trustees Regular Meeting Bozeman Public Library—Board Room Wednesday, March 15 th , 2017 Minutes Attendance Board Chair Judy Mathre; Trustee Ron Price; Bozeman Public Library (BPL) Director Susan Gregory; BPL Department Heads Lois Dissly, Mary Jo Stanislao; Administrative Assistant Lauranna Cossins; Friends of the Library President Pam Henley; community member Teri Ball. Call to Order The meeting was called to order by Board Chair Judy Mathre at 4:00pm. Approval of the Minutes Board Chair Mathre explained that because there was not a quorum, the Board would not be able to vote on agenda items at this meeting. Meeting Room Policy Board Chair Mathre pointed out that the policy refers to ‘applicable city ordinances’ and asked if these should be cited in the policy. Trustee Price said that these might be too numerous to cite. He requested that future drafts of policies show the tracked changes. Lauranna Cossins agreed. The Board and Library staff discussed the new rule in the policy that rooms cannot be reserved more than three months in advance. The thinking behind this is that the Library needs flexibility for its own programs that may be scheduled with shorter notice. Trustee Price suggested adding language clarifying that in the case of questions, exceptions or disputes, the Library Director will have final say. Correspondence Gregory shared correspondence from the community. A patron sent a letter expressing concern about the presence of transients and homeless people in the Library. Gregory said that she had replied to the complaint and shared it with the Board. In her letter to the patron, Gregory explained what steps the Library has taken to alleviate issues that have arisen at the Library, including the creation of the Bozeman Police Department substation, daily police walkthroughs, and staff involvement with local social service organizations. She said she spoke with Children’s Dept. Head Cindy Christin about her experience with families in the Library and the homeless population; Christin said that families have generally been compassionate and she has not heard of anyone avoiding the Library because of it. Gregory reported that City staff had notified her of a citizen complaint to the City Commission about a BPL Facebook posting from the American Library Association regarding immigration and immigrant rights to legal counsel. She shared her email message to the citizen that explained the posting was informational and not intended to be inflammatory; she offered to meet with the person to talk about the issue but had not received a response to the invitation yet. A patron sent an email saying that she loved the Library and included a photograph she had taken of the building. The Children’s Department suggestion box yielded a request for a book made out of candy. There was a request for a Quickbooks class, and a question about double- sided printing (the Library will make signage to make it clear that this is possible and to ask a librarian). A patron requested more paperbacks for the book exchange, and someone else requested that the Library keep the book genre stickers in fiction. There was a communication from a staff member about a patron who had started to light up a cigarette in the lobby, and was told not to do so. The patron pointed out that there were not any signs in the lobby prohibiting smoking. Gregory noted that there is signage on both Library entrances that says the Library is a smoke-free facility. She reported that she asked City Facilities to provide an ashtray for the Library grounds, near the street, to keep people from smoking too close to the Library building. This has made a positive difference in keeping the entrances smoke-free. Director and Staff Reports BPL Director Susan Gregory reported that she met with Police Chief Steve Crawford and Lt. Peter Oliver of the Salvation Army (SA) in Bozeman to discuss ways to address challenges in dealing with transients who are disruptive or offensive in their poor personal hygiene. Lt. Oliver followed up by talking with the regular SA clients, warning them about their behavior and possible loss of Library privileges and giving them laundry vouchers. She said that there have been immediate signs of improvement to the behavior and cleanliness of some of the population that eats breakfast at the Salvation Army and frequents the Library afterward. The Library will continue to work closely with Lt. Oliver and the SA staff on this issue. Technical Services Dept. Head Lois Dissly reported that she and some of her staff visited the Gallatin Mental Health Center to learn about its services. She learned that starting on April 1 st , visitors will have to have referrals to be there in the morning, and will also have to participate in group activities. She noted that the center has a washer and dryer, and serves breakfast and lunch. Dissly said she spoke with staff there about ideas for activities for the Library’s homeless patrons, including games, art activities, and computer classes. Gregory noted that at the end of this month, the Warming Center closes and the Salvation Army ends its warm breakfasts for the season. The Salvation Army will continue to serve sack lunches. Dissly reported that she attended the Broad Valleys Federation Meeting in Butte this month to represent Gregory, who was attending the City of Bozeman Strategic Planning workshop at the same time. Dissly heard from libraries around Montana and attended workshops including one by BPL Friends of the Library President Pam Henley, who presented on the role of Library boards and Friends of the Library groups, and another on community partnerships. Dissly said a takeaway from the latter was the idea of asking ‘why?’ before proceeding with new projects. She mentioned that one of the goals of Broad Valleys’ service plan is library board involvement. Gregory mentioned that a state library trainer will be conducting a training on library boards at BPL in September and would encourage our Trustees to attend. Dissly said that a 20 hour per week position in Technical Services will close on Friday. Another 20 hour per week position in Interlibrary Loan should be posted soon. She and Mary Jo Stanislao spoke about a new policy where patrons will be notified by email when their library cards are about to expire. Friends of the Library Report Friends of the Library President Pam Henley reported that the February book sale made about $13,000 for the Friends, with collectible books making about $1,000. February coffee shop book sales were lower than usual ($1,100, when lately the average is closer to $2,000). The next Friends book sale will happen in June. The Friends will participate in the Give Big Gallatin Valley event on May 4 th and 5 th . The next Friends meeting is April 4 th . The Friends did not receive a request for funding at the last meeting. They are looking forward to partnering with the BPL Foundation. Other Business Board Chair Mathre reported that David Kingman is talking to contractors about construction of the proposed outdoor labyrinth at BPL. He received an estimate for $75,000 for construction of a 50 foot labyrinth, a design that would include benches in the center. Mathre noted that the new Story Mill Park will also build a labyrinth. Adjournment There being no further business, Board Chair Mathre adjourned the meeting at 4:56pm.