October 21, 2008 Minutes
Board of Trustees
Fargo Public Library
Minutes of October 21, 2008
Present: Herb Snyder, Gale Chapman, Richard Zeck, James Council, Gregory Heller
Absent: Suzanne Morrison, Dawn Morgan
Others: Friends Representative Carol Sawicki, Media
Staff: Tim Dirks, Eve Haaland, Beth Postema, Kristin Hektner, Ginny Mueller
Order of Agenda
Richard Zeck moved to approve the order of the agenda and Greg Heller seconded the motion; the motion carried.
Minutes
A motion was made by Greg Heller to approve the minutes of August 19, 2008; seconded by Jim Council; motion carried.
Staff Report
Eve Haaland began by thanking the Programming Team and Staff Development Team for the work they have done in lining up excellent programs. Children’s Services programming has included Story Time, Outreach visits, Fire Safety Event, new Kids Book Club, and the Therapy Dog Program. Adult programs presented were the Orphan Train Riders, Jazz Fall concert series, and computer classes. Pumpkin Painting and Ghost Stories for Grown-Ups are coming up prior to the end of October. A very beneficial program was presented to the library staff on Non-Verbal Communication.
Director’s Report
Tim Dirks reported that he has attended several activities and meetings, which are detailed in the Director’s Report distributed. The Library Associate positions have been filled and Sarah Kauffman is our new Children’s Services Coordinator. Our only open position is for Sarah Kauffman’s replacement.
Work is progressing on New Main, focusing on the installation of curb, sidewalk and ramp before freeze-up. Ceiling grid installation, sheeting rocking and painting continues and we can expect power and heat within the week. A walk-through of the Carlson Library is scheduled for tomorrow, October 22nd.
Statistical Reports
A. September Usage
Per the materials distributed, library use for the month of September is up from September 2007 in all categories – door count, program attendance, volunteer hours, internet sign up and web page hits. A new informational report was prepared by Ben Deauber was reviewed, providing statistics on the use of e-audio books. The report was found to be interesting to the Board and Ben will continue working on tracking of its content. It is important to keep patrons informed of the availability of these resources and training for them.
Total circulation for both print and non print materials was up 8.95 compared to September 2007, and up 17.83% compared to YTD 2007.
B. September Financials
With 75% of the year represented, the library is at 64.7% of its budget expended.
Friends of the Library Report
Carol Sawicki presented the Friends of the Library Report. They held their regular meeting last Tuesday. At that time, Marilyn Hedberg was elected to the Board and there is still one vacancy on the board to be filled. The Friends have approximately $17,000 in their treasury and approved purchasing children’s chairs for the Carlson Library. Also, they are willing to help with the opening day events. A fund raising letter is planned to be sent out by mid-November. A brochure detailing the mission and work of the Friends will be included.
New Business
A. NDLA Conference Staff Report
There 5 reports in the board packet for review. Kristin Hektner was present and reported on one of the sessions she attended at the NDLA conference – “Competitive Intelligence.” The session outlined where business information can be found on the web and the number of free sites available to access specific information. This can be very useful for our reference staff. Also, Kristin spent time in the vendor areas. As a Collection Manager, she interacts with a number of vendors and it was good to meet our sales representatives.
Tim reported that Beth Postema, Lori West and Karen Kohoutek all gave presentations at the state conference so Fargo Public Library was well represented.
B. New Main Opening Events Committee
A motion was made by Richard Zeck, seconded by Jim Council to establish an Ad Hoc Committee for the purpose of planning a series of events celebrating the opening of New Main. Motion carried. Gale Chapman and Greg Heller volunteered to represent the Board on this committee, which will include 3 library staff and 2 members of the Friends of the Library. Herb will visit with Dawn Morgan regarding her interest/ availability to serve on the committee. Issues to be dealt with are working with an event planner, providing direction for special events, length of the “grand opening” and funds. The library should be opening no later than May 2009.
C. RFP for New Main Coffee Vendor
A revised Request for Proposal for Coffee Bar was distributed for the Board’s review. The City Attorney and City Finance have both reviewed the proposal. Gale Chapman made a motion to accept the revised Request for Proposal; Greg Heller seconded; motion carried.
D. Training Laptop Purchase
Tim stated that computer classes offered have been very successful. We have waiting lists of individuals wanting to attend. We have worked with the IT department to acquire used laptops, and we presently have 2. The appeal of the laptop is the flexibility it provides in offering classes at different locations and setting up only as many as needed for that session. Additional laptop computers would assist in our goal to provide availability and training to the public of electronic resources.
Ben Daeuber has recommended that we purchase 10 Lenovo ThinkPads, at the total cost of $5870.10. Tim requested that $2935.05 become available from the Special Project funds to pay for ½ of the laptop computers. Greg Heller made a motion to accept the proposal of purchasing 10 Lenovo ThinkPads, with $2935.05 be made from the Special Project funds. Richard Zeck seconded the motion; motion carried.
Public Comment
There was no public comment at this time.
Next Board Meeting
The next regular Board meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, November 18, 2008, at 4:00 p.m. in the City Commission room.
The meeting adjourned at 4:50 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Ginny Mueller