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HomeMy WebLinkAbout11-20-2013 Library Board of Trustees MinutesBozeman Public Library Board of Trustees Regular Meeting Bozeman Public Library—Staff/Board Room Wednesday, November 20, 2013 Minutes Attendance Present: Board Chair Ron Farmer; Trustees Judy Mathre, Jacki McGuire, Jennifer Pawlak; John Gallagher; Bozeman Public Library (BPL) Director, Susan Gregory; BPL Department Heads Mary Jo Stanislao, Terri Dood, Cindy Christin; BPL Foundation Director Paula Beswick; City Superintendent of Facilities James Goehrung; Community Development Director Wendy Thomas; and Friends Secretary Priscilla Dolan Call to Order The meeting was called to order by Board Chair Ron Farmer at 4:05 p.m. Approval of the Minutes Trustee Judy Mathre moved that the minutes of the October 23, 2013 meeting be approved. Trustee Jacki McGuire seconded the motion. The Board voted unanimously to approve the minutes. Correspondence BPL Director Susan Gregory shared correspondence from Library patrons. A staff member suggested looking into getting a postal drop-off box installed near the Library. There is one on Main Street two blocks west from the Library. Someone asked that their items be renewed while in Italy. Mary Jo Stanislao took care of this. A patron asked that the Library consider shelving all of the DVDs spine out. Stanislao stated that we did shelve the DVDs with the spine out but that the A/V bins made this difficult so we switched to shelving them face out. A patron said that she uses books on tape all the time and wanted to buy any that we were phasing out. While we are not actively purchasing books on tape, we are not getting rid them completely at this time. In the future, it is possible that any books on tape that we discard that are still in good shape will be given to the Friends to sell like we did with the VHS tapes. Pedestrian Access Community Development Director Wendy Thomas introduced plans for improved pedestrian access for the Library. The Library would partner with the owner of the Harrington building to provide a pedestrian walkway from the Library parking lot to Wallace. It would also give the Library an opportunity to create a mid-lot crossing for pedestrians at the same time. This plan would take out four parking spaces. The initial cost estimate is $32,600. There is a possibility that some of the work could be done by City employees which would reduce total cost. Jacki McGuire had a question regarding the pedestrian gate which the private property owner wants to install and asked about the possibility of slightly raised speed bumps. Thomas stated that people would be able to open the pedestrian gate if it is installed and that speed bumps would make snow removal difficult. The reason for the pedestrian gate was that it would slow bike traffic. There was some discussion about adding a sidewalk along the west side of the parking lot and if there would be available space to do that. Farmer asked if the idea was for businesses in that building to use Library parking. Thomas stated that they should have adequate parking of their own. Jennifer Pawlak asked about additional crossings or other improvements to pedestrian access to the Library. Gregory stated that the City Commission had approved the Library’s Capital Improvement plan which includes improvement to pedestrian access. Thomas thinks the property owner would be very amenable to helping complete this pedestrian walkway and just needs approval by the Board to move forward. Action Trustee Judy Mathre moved to approve the conceptual plan. Trustee Jennifer Pawlak seconded the motion with the idea that this would be the first step in a multi step project to improve the parking lot. The Board voted unanimously to approve. City Superintendent of Facilities Report James Goehrung discussed working with the City legal department on the snow removal contracts and stated that the chair rails to protect the walls in the staff hallway are ready to install. Director’s and Staff Reports BPL Director Susan Gregory handed out date books to the Trustees as a thank you for working so hard for the Library (paid for by the Foundation.) The 6th annual Children’s Festival of the Book was a huge success. Gregory stated that she has wrapped up work with the District Task Force which was created to help encourage small rural libraries to form Library Districts and formulate a plan for rural libraries to follow. P.I.E. (Personnel Improvement and Enrichment) Committee did a brilliant job on the All Staff Day. Roberta Stevens, former ALA President, enjoyed her time here in Bozeman and Gregory said she gave a really good presentation. The Foundation provided gifts for staff recognition based on the number of years they have worked at the Library. Terri Dood – Fifty-five (55) people attended a grant writing workshop that was sponsored by the Reference Department and presented by David Young from the MSU Extension office. A second more in- depth workshop will be held Dec 6. Hannah Vidrich has been hired for a 12-hour Reference position. A weeding schedule has been created. Cindy Christin – The Children’s staff will be presenting a workshop called “Fun with Words” which will have various stations for parents to introduce ways to play with words and help them to build their children’s vocabulary. The Marketing Committee is moving forward with the Strategic plan and is looking at what duties a potential marketing person would have in preparation for creating a job description. Mary Jo Stanislao – Stanislao stated that she is continuing to work on revising the Circulation policies gathering input from staff and working with Unique Management and the Montana Shared Catalog. The new bins for the DVDs will be arriving in mid-December and staff will begin shifting materials on the first floor to make room. The open Circulation position closed with 30 applications making it through the first screening by HR. The hiring committee will review the applications and hope to begin interviews soon. Gregory handed out a print-out listing the amount of money the Gallatin County libraries received from the County Commission. Part of the money given to our Library was used to pay for the new DVD bins. Action Items for Discussion/Action The Board approved moving its December meeting to December 18 due to the Christmas Holiday. Action Purchasing Policy Trustee Judy Mathre moved to approve the Purchasing Policy drafted by City Attorney Greg Sullivan. Trustee Jennifer Pawlak seconded the motion. The Board voted unanimously to approve. Friends Report Friends Secretary Priscilla Dolan reported that there were approximately 20,000 books for the November book sale and a record $16,359 was raised. There were 429 boxes and a volunteer sampled over 100 boxes to estimate how many books per box. Dolan said they extended the sale hours by a total of 2.5 hours; $2,050 came from new memberships; and Collectibles earned $1,649. A prospective new Friends board member, Jack Kligerman, attended a recent meeting and will probably be accepted formally in January. The Annual Friends meeting has been scheduled for January 23, 2014 but the details have not been worked out yet for that. The Friends board is moving forward with new policies and passed job descriptions for board members and for officers of the board. Several Friends members have volunteered to be on several joint committees with the Foundation including Membership, Marketing and Advocacy. Foundation Report Library Foundation Director Paula Beswick stated that she is thrilled with new Foundation staff member, Sarah DeOpsomer, and presented an update of her activities including:  Met with the woman who does the membership and annual appeal for the Yellowstone Park Foundation to get ideas for this year’s annual appeal  Working on the FY14 budget  Foundation is looking for new board members  Cindy Christin has taken over the Christmas Stroll activities  Looking into creating an Advocacy Committee  The Children’s Festival of the Book with illustrator/author Henry Cole and author Maile Meloy was a fabulous success and Beswick shared several testimonials  Author Toby Thompson will be reading from his new book "Metroliners" on November 22  Noon Notes at the Library on December 2  Gallatin Art Crossing lecture on December 9  Partnering with MSU College of Letters and Science to host their holiday author reception here on December 5  Met with Gregory and Tony Renslow about landscaping on the east side of Library grounds  Gathering information on the cost of a bookmobile to prepare for a capital campaign Adjournment There being no further business, Board Chair Ron Farmer adjourned the meeting at 5:31 p.m.