March 21, 2006 Minutes
Board of Trustees
Fargo Public Library
Minutes of March 21, 2006
Present: Betty Kerns, Herb Snyder, Richard Zeck, Helen Levitt, Prakash Mathew, Leo Wilking, Suzanne Morrison
Staff: Maxine Hilburn, Beth Postema
Director: Charles Pace
Others Present: Kent Costin, City of Fargo Finance Director, Richard Moorhead of Image Group
Order of Agenda
Helen Levitt moved to approve the order of the agenda. Herb Snyder seconded the motion; the motion carried.
Minutes
Herb Snyder moved to approve the minutes of February 21. Prakash Mathew seconded the motion; the motion carried.
Staff Report
Maxine Hilburn reported Summer Reading Program details are being finalized. 628 children participated in the winter reading program.
April will have five different author events. Thom Tammaro and special guests will perform original poetry April 4, during National Library Week. Annelee Woodstrom, author of War Child, will be at the library April 10. Childrens author Diane Stanley will be at the library April 19 and childrens author John R Erickson April 20. Lorna Landvik, author of Patti Janes House of Curl and Oh My Stars will be at the library April 25.
A teens writing contest on Urban Legends will be held in conjunction with National Library Week. We will also be asking people of all ages to write how libraries have changed their lives.
A new monthly employee recognition program was started this month with Monique Andresen and Suzanne Strache being the first recipients. Meridyth Morgan has started work as a Library Associate I. A tea was held at Waterford in honor of the Outreach volunteer who brings books to that site.
Discussion of Sales Tax Income
Kent Costin reported on the first twelve month of sales tax collections for the library project. $8,244,000 has been collected, which is 3% ahead of projections. The money given the city has a two month lag from the time it was collected at cash registers. This process will be followed after the expiration to make sure the library gets credited for all taxes collected for the period. New tracking software is being implemented state wide to help with dividing the collections properly. There is volatility from month to month based on collections, the state cut off, and calendar for collections.
Recently the state streamlined taxes by lifting the $2,500 limit of collecting taxes. The public can now request a refund up to three years from the time of purchase. With education, refunds are starting to increase. The finance department will continue to monitor the information from the state to analyze trends. The state is processing refund forms as they receive them.
The projected total sales tax collection for the library is $12.4 to $12.5 million.
Directors Report
Construction bids were approved by the City Commission March 13 for Northport. A preconstruction meeting was held March 20 with demolition to start later this week. The estimated timeline shows construction complete June 3. After adding furnishings, shelving, and books Northport could open in July. Furniture and equipment bids will be open March 22 and a recommendation will go to the City Commission March 27.
The bookmobile will end most services the end of March. It will continue to go to Northport two days per week through April. A van from central garage will be a part of the budget request for 2007 as options are continued to be explored.
Weeding teams are continuing to go through the collection. After discarding them from the collection, books and materials are given to the Friends of the FPL to be sold at book sales.
Charles Pace sent a letter to the mayor to present funding requests to the congressional delegation. It outlined several green design possibilities if federal funding were available.
David Baker of Hodge Cramer will be in Fargo March 22 to March 24. H2M, a marketing firm in Fargo, was contacted to help with concepts for marketing and public relations regarding the capital campaign.
The bookmobile collection has started to be tagged for RFID technology which will be in place at Northport. The collection is now labeled Northport.
Statistical Reports
The door count was down slightly this month, but overall circulation increased 2%. The web page statistics were not available this month. The city IT department has been contacted to fix the problem. The library has 51,520 patrons. Program attendance increased 29% from last year at this time. 11% of the budget is expended through 16% of the year.
Friends of the Fargo Public Library Report
The Friends of the Fargo Public Library met for sorting, shelving and boxing. Not all books discarded can fit on the shelves allocated to the Friends book sale. There is approximately $13,000 in the treasury. A book sale will be held April 7 for Friends only and April 8 for the public. Both sales will be bag sales. Some books depending on out of date material or the condition of the book go to the landfill. Other discarded books go to the prison.
Continuing Business
A. Library Design Process
Richard Moorhead discussed the construction bids for Northport had a very good response. The bid was awarded to RDA Inc. It was just under the budgeted amount. This is a volatile construction period. Thirty sets of bid documents are out for the furnishings and equipment bids as well.
MS & R architects are working on the preliminary design for the south branch. Elevation studies will be arriving shortly. Site diagrams were discussed at the last building committee meeting. An L-shaped building was discussed to house the park district and the library with shared toilets and multipurpose room. The separation from adult and childrens areas is still under consideration with questions of opaque versus transparent and solid versus permeable. Elevation studies from MS&R will be the next step allowing for the two identities of the park district and library reflected in the exterior. The library will be more transparent with windows showing the building is alive with activity while the park district will be more opaque for the offices. Both the park district offices and the library at this point will be built at the same time.
New Business
A. Centennial North Dakota Library Association (NDLA) Conference
Beth Postema discussed the NDLA conference in Fargo September 20 to September 22. The slogan for the conference is Celebrating our past, embracing our future. There will be a centennial quilt and cookbook. Photos are being collected for a video continuous feed. Alumni of NDLA are invited. This also is a continuing education opportunity for many librarians throughout North Dakota. Leif Enger, author of Peace Like a River, will speak on September 21. Michael Gorman, current president of ALA, will be the keynote speaker. Herb Snyder will speak on asset management and fraud protection. Suzanne Morrison is helping with the opening reception. An auctioneer will run the post-banquet fundraising auction. A half day pre-conference will be presented by Hodge Cramer and Associates on fundraising. The state library proposed a post-conference training for trustees September 23.
Public Comment
Charles Pace was highlighted in the Movers and Shakers section of Library Journal. Congratulations.
Next Board Meeting
The next board meeting is scheduled for April 18 at 4:00 in the City Commission room.
The meeting was adjourned at 4:55 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Monique Andresen