October 26, 2004 Minutes
Board of Trustees
Fargo Public Library
Minutes of October 26, 2004
Present: Betty Kerns, Helen Levitt , and Jean Rayl
City Commissioner: Linda Coates
Friends of the Fargo Public Library Liaison: Robert Mason
Director: Charles Pace
Staff Representative: Nancy Giere and Edie Discher
Order of Agenda
Helen Levitt moved to approve the order of the agenda. Jean Rayl seconded the motion; the motion carried.
Minutes
Jean Rayl moved to approve the minutes of September 28, 2004 . Helen Levitt seconded the motion; the motion carried.
Guest Linda Coates
A poll quoted in the Forum was very positive for the sales tax amendment. Many informative letters to the editor also has helped educate the public. Brochures continue to be distributed. Ads continue to appear in the newspaper. WDAY radio sales staff raised $1,250 to run radio ads on behalf of Citizens for Better Libraries. Radio ads are also running on KFGO.
Staff Report
Nancy Giere reported on recent programming. Pumpkin painting had 102 people at Southpointe and 130 people at the main library. The October jazz concerts averaged 100 people on each Sunday. 45 people attended a duct tape demonstration on how to make wallets and purses. Volunteers cleaned a portion of the book stacks on the adult side last weekend.
Edie Discher reported on the status of system migration. Our data has been extracted and converted. Currently we are checking in and out items on the Pals system and Aleph simultaneously. All of the fines collected and new cards issued between now and the go live date will need to be re-entered into the live Aleph system. Cataloging and acquisitions is virtually stopped until the go live date. Books are still arriving and being checked off packing slips to match with invoices, but no records are able to be added to the system. Interlibrary loan is continuing, although the module in Aleph will not be completed until sometime between February and May. We have tested much data on very short notice. The go live date will be in mid-November. There will be a great back log for cataloging and circulation functions when that date comes.
Because of the postponement of system migration, book ordering has been irregular. We originally suspended book ordering in June and July for the original migration dates, but now have been trying to spend out the book budget while also going through the migration process
Directors Report
Charles Pace finished a collection development class for Emporia State University . Hosting the program has been beneficial to both Fargo Public Library and Emporia . The library card campaign is starting to wind down.
As of last week we have registered 2,668 new borrowers which puts us on track to reach our goal of 3,000 new borrowers.
There was an incident of theft at the library. Money was taken from the office safe and personal credit cards were taken from the office managers purse. Doors are now locked at all times and money handling procedures are being reviewed. Due to the use of the credit cards, a search warrant helped to close several other open theft cases. The persons also confessed to taking the money from the safe.
The contract for staff entrance ramp has been approved and awarded. It should be completed within the next few weeks.
The library is participating in the POP plenty of parking program. A machine at the adult circulation desk can now validate two hours worth of parking in the civic parking lot during daytime hours. Weekends and evenings, unless an event at the Civic Center , the gates should be left open for additional parking.
Statistical Reports
Statistics reports may change with the new system. The reports may change slightly. This month circulation increased 8% as compared to September 2003. Attendance measured by the door count increased 8% also.
Financially we are under budget at this time. Part-time hours have increased due to system migration issues. Maxine Hilburn unfortunately took some unpaid leave due to surgery. This will reduce the full-time staff expense line and provide for some of the increased part-time hours. Adjustments were made by the city increasing the full-time staff budget and reducing the other services line item. This was to accommodate the directors salary and benefits which was taken from other services last year.
Friends of the Fargo Public Library Report
As of October 12, approximately $10,000 was in the bank account. 204 memberships were received to date. 150 tote bags for children were purchased and are now on sale for $6 each. The December book sale will be December 10-12. There was a funding request for $400 for a holiday party that was approved. Citizens for Better Libraries used the Friends mailing list and the Childrens Museum donor list to mail flyers supporting the sales tax home rule charter amendment.
Continuing Business
A. Select date for library board workshop
A decision will be made at the next meeting between January 28-29 and February 4-5.
New Business
A. Request to close library on Sunday, November 14 in order to manually input data into the new ALEPH system.
Helen Levitt moved to close the library on the Sunday closest to the go live date for the new Aleph system. Jean R ayl seconded the motion; the motion carried.
Public Comment
There is no public comment at this time.
Next Board Meeting
The next board meeting will be held November 23, 2004 , at 4:00 p.m.
The meeting was adjourned at 4:50 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Monique Andresen