HomeMy WebLinkAbout06-17-15 BPL Board of Trustees MINUTES FINALBozeman Public Library Board of Trustees Regular Meeting
Bozeman Public Library—Staff/Board Room
Wednesday, June 17th, 2015
Minutes
Attendance Present: Board Chair Ron Farmer; Trustees Judy Mathre, Jennifer Pawlak, Jacki
McGuire; Bozeman Public Library (BPL) Director Susan Gregory; BPL Department Head Lois
Dissly; City Superintendent of Facilities James Goehrung; Friends of the Library President
Sharyn Anhalt.
Call to Order The meeting was called to order by Board Chair Ron Farmer at 4:01pm.
Approval of the Minutes Trustee Pawlak moved that the minutes from May 20th, 2015
meeting be approved. Trustee McGuire seconded. The Board voted unanimously to approve the
minutes.
Traffic Study Update The Board discussed their thoughts about the traffic study and the
resulting proposal from the Western Transportation Institute (WTI) presented at last month’s
Board meeting. Trustee Pawlak asked where the funding will come from. BPL Director Susan
Gregory said that Library Foundation Director Paula Beswick has met with the Tax Increment
Finance (TIF) board for Downtown Bozeman improvements, and the Library is eligible for
receiving money from this fund. The TIF board is interested in funding Library parking lot
improvements. Gregory noted that the cost of the traffic study came from state aid, and that
there has also been talk of using the depreciation fund for parking lot improvements. She has not
determined whether the City will be able to contribute funds. Trustee McGuire asked how much
is currently in the depreciation fund. Gregory replied that there should be approximately
$244,000 depending on if projections are correct and what is left at the end of the fiscal year.
Trustee Pawlak said that her priorities for parking lot improvement are sidewalks, a splitter, and
striping of crosswalks, and that perhaps speed tables could be phased in later. Trustee McGuire
said that she thinks that speed tables should be included in phase one, since they will make a big
impact on traffic speeds. She said the splitter may be more hassle than it is worth. Trustee
McGuire said she wanted to prioritize the raised crosswalks and sidewalks. The Board discussed
the need for speed tables, and if speeding is in fact an issue. City Superintendent of Facilities
James Goehrung said that his main concern with regard to parking lot improvement is
accessibility – for instance, maintaining access to the fire hydrant at the south end of the lot.
Trustee Pawlak asked if Taylor Lonsdale had gotten back to the Board with information about
whether disabled parking spots could be carved out of the emergency turnaround area. Gregory
replied that he had not.
Trustee Pawlak suggested presenting both a lower and a higher budget plan to the TIF board.
She asked how the Board gets approval to fund the project, and Gregory replied that if they are
making a capital request, they simply need to submit a dollar amount to the City. The Board
discussed who would coordinate the contractors (WTI would likely be able to help with this),
and when the project could start (summer/fall of 2015 or spring 2016). Trustee Mathre
suggested that the Board submit a proposal to the TIF board before making a capital request.
The Board discussed what should be presented to the TIF board. Gregory suggested a copy of
the WTI report, with a list of items of improvements the Library Board has selected to
implement. Gregory said that she will meet with Beswick to figure out the next steps with the
TIF proposal.
Action Trustee Pawlak moved to approve phase I of the parking lot improvement project, as
proposed by WTI in their report. Trustee Mathre seconded. The Board voted unanimously to
approve the phase I improvements.
Behavior Policy BPL Director Susan Gregory reported that the BPL draft of its new behavior
policy is awaiting review at the City Attorney’s office, and will probably take a month or more to
receive approval. Trustee Pawlak asked if all Library policy changes need to go through the City
Attorney’s office, and Gregory replied that only policies with potential legal ramifications do.
Sculpture Park Lease BPL Director Susan Gregory reported that the new Bozeman Sculpture
Park lease is going back to the City Attorney’s office to a settle a question that the Gallatin Art
Crossing has about insuring individual works of art.
Correspondence BPL Director Susan Gregory shared correspondence from the community. A
patron requested double-sided printing, which is already available on the print command screen,
but perhaps could be better communicated to patrons as an option. Someone wrote to comment
on the need for sprucing up the grounds and getting rid of dead plants and weeds. A patron who
visited the Computer Services desk was disappointed to have to wait ten minutes for service.
Another patron visiting the same desk remarked that Shari Curtis is always patient, helpful and
courteous. Someone wrote to thank the Library for providing ebooks. The Gallatin Valley Land
Trust events coordinator wrote to Gregory to thank her for the Library’s help and encouragement
in producing an event for National Trails Day, and noted that the volunteers at the event enjoyed
the Bozeman Sculpture Park. A patron who attended the Friends of the Library Book Club wrote
to say that Librarian Beth Boyson did an excellent job facilitating the discussion of Jon
Krakauer’s Missoula, and that the group had a great discussion.
Trustee Pawlak said that a patron emailed the Board to ask that the Library start a tool sharing
service. The Board briefly discussed the feasibility of this as well as the concept of a seed
library, which patrons have been requesting over the years.
The Board also discussed a letter from a former BPL employee, who expressed concern about
staffing and security issues, and feels that a department head should be present at closing each
night. The Board discussed the budget request for extended security hours (currently security
makes a sweep through the building after the Library has closed), and what steps are being taken
to help staff feel more comfortable and capable around difficult or dangerous patrons, including
a talk at a quarterly staff meeting earlier this year from a Bozeman police officer about how to
handle potentially dangerous people, and the proposed police substation within the Library.
Gregory will make contact with Childs to discuss the issue further.
Staff and Director’s Report Gregory circulated information about the three-year cycle of pay
negotiation with the Montana Public Employees Association (MPEA). She explained that in
June Board meetings in a negotiation year, the Board usually moves to approve a raise similar to
what is negotiated by the union for non-MPEA, part-time staff. This will be on the July agenda.
Gregory touched on Library statistics. From July 2014 through the present, fiction remains the
most circulated category. In May, there were 31,183 visitors. Laptops were borrowed 300 times,
and almost 6800 questions were asked at service desks. With 8% of the fiscal year left, 12% of
the total budget remains. Gregory reported that Head of Reference and Adult Services Terri
Dood is retiring. Her last day will be June 30th. The Library will hold a celebration for her in
July.
The City Commission reviewed the Library’s general fund request at their meeting on June 8th.
The Commission had no questions about the Library budget this year. Final approval will occur
on Monday, June 22nd. Kelly Pohl spoke at the meeting on behalf of the Friends of the Library
and detailed the services they provide, and asked that the Commission pass the budget in full.
The budget request asked for $200,000 for materials this year, as well as more funding for the
Computer Services program. Last year $200,000 was requested for materials, with $175,000
granted to the Library.
Steve Crawford, Bozeman’s new Police Chief, visited the Library for a tour and orientation led
by Gregory. She and BPL Foundation Director Paula Beswick showed Crawford the space
formerly used by Yellowstone Public Radio that the Library is proposing to convert into a police
substation or some kind of space for Bozeman Police use. The Library is talking to an architect
about the cost of creating a door from that room directly to the lobby. Crawford is interested in
getting more officers over to the Library on a regular basis. He is open to the idea of the
substation, which might be a good place to house police volunteers in addition to regular
officers. Gregory reiterated that increased police visibility at the Library could help to
discourage undesirable behavior. She is exploring several ways to partner with the police,
including encouraging them to book the Library’s public meeting rooms for their professional
functions and meetings.
Five BPL staff members along with Friends and Foundation staff are attending the American
Library Association (ALA) conference in San Francisco next week. Gregory and Carmen Clark
will be attending an all-day preconference workshop on homelessness in libraries that Gregory
has helped to produce, and going on a bus tour of five recently remodeled branches of the San
Francisco Public Library System. Gregory hopes the tour will give BPL insights on good uses of
physical space as BPL navigates its own space usage issues.
Gregory and the department heads have been talking about how to best approach a revisiting of
the Library’s strategic plan two years into the process. Gregory would like input from the Board
about whether to involve the public or revise the plan internally, and in addressing issues such as
making the plan more precise, perhaps by reducing the number of committees from five to three
or four, as the committees currently have some overlap in goals.
Gregory also reported that Cindy Christin planned and carried out a spectacular summer reading
kickoff event on June 13th, where children could meet real life heroes including EMTs, fire
fighters, search and rescue volunteers, and police officers. A highlight included a helicopter
landing in front of the Library.
Lois Dissly reported that Michelle Dorrence has been hired for the 20-hour per week position
vacated at the Information Desk by Carri Genovese. Her department is in the process of hiring a
replacement for Michelle. The Info Desk and Reference staff are working together on a new
readers’ advisory project. Dissly mentioned that the department heads attended a training for a
new online staff evaluation system. One of the takeaways from the recent quarterly staff meeting
was the desire on behalf of the staff to receive more training in mental health awareness. Ginny
Cowan recently attended a mental health first aid training, which the staff is interested in
pursuing for this year’s staff retreat. The catalog is changing to a new patron interface that will
look different and offer new features. The new public address system is almost ready, and
allows staff to page specific areas without broadcasting to the entire building. This will be
especially helpful when one wants to page staff only areas, or exclude public meeting rooms
when making the closing announcement.
Facilities City Superintendent of Facilities James Goehrung reported that his staff is trying to
take care of the weed situation around the Library. There is an upcoming meeting to discuss the
triangle on the far north end of the property, including irrigation needs. Goehrung’s staff is
currently in a training session in Salt Lake City with the International Building Operators
Association to extend their certificates. The installation of the public address system speakers on
the outside of the Library is ongoing. Once installation is complete, staff will be trained in using
the new PA system. The electrical unit for amplification for outdoor concerts will be installed
soon. This power source will negate the need for a generator to power concerts this summer.
Friends of the Library Report Friends of the Library President Sharyn Anhalt announced that
the next Friends book sale is July 17th-19th. With so many volunteers, the Friends Board is
working on coming up with clearer volunteer policies, starting with creating a better volunteer
application. At the May Friends Board meeting, the Friends awarded $3,000 to the Library for
Teen improvements, including new shades and computer desks for the Teen room. Friends staff
member Erin Mock will be traveling to ALA next week and will share what she learns with the
Friends board.
Foundation Report Gregory distributed the Foundation report to the Trustees, which included
information on the Library summer concert series, Foundation marketing efforts, One Book One
Bozeman, and bookmobile fundraising. Gregory mentioned that Library Foundation Director
Paula Beswick has suggested moving the Foundation office to where the staff copy room is to
free up the front office for a new public meeting space. Trustee Pawlak asked about the
proposed computer lab expansion, and Gregory explained that the idea is to extend the computer
lab all the way to the windows on the north east corner. A modular wall could be installed to
create a small public meeting space on one end. The wall could be removed to open the space up
for large computer training sessions that need the space.
Other Business Board Chair Ron Farmer announced that the scheduled executive session will
be postponed until next month. The Board cut cake to celebrate the end of Trustee Jacki
McGuire’s term. McGuire has served on various Library-related boards (including the
Foundation and Library boards) for seventeen years.
Adjournment There being no further business, Board Chair Ron Farmer adjourned the meeting
at 5:30pm.