February 25, 2003 Minutes
Board of Trustees
Fargo Public Library
Minutes of February 25, 2003
Present: Board Members Betty Kerns, Prakash Mathew, Jean Rayl, and Helen Levitt
Staff Members: Library Director Charles Pace, Monique Andresen, Beth Postema, Nancy Giere, and Friends Liaison Bob Mason
LSSI Representatives: Frank Pezzanite and Bob Windrow.
Order of Agenda
Jean Rayl made the motion to approve the order of agenda. Prakash Mathew seconded the motion; the motion carried.
Minutes
There are no additions to the minutes at this time. Helen Levitt moved to approve the minutes of January 28. Prakash Mathew seconded the motion; the motion carried.
Staff Reports
Nancy Giere gave the staff representative report.
Diane Briggs wrote an article for Public Libraries Journal, writing about Outreach Services in Fargo.
LSSI Management Report
Edie Discher will represent Fargo Public Library in Grand Forks next week while we start the implementation planning process for the new Ex Libris system. The schedule of implementation remains the same, with completion date of August 2004.
We are in the process of applying for a Beaumont Foundation Grant. We are eligible to apply for up to 30 new computers, but realistically we are aiming at 12 to 14. Thank you Denise Matulka and Ann Miller for their hard work on this grant. Charles Pace will keep us posted as to the progress and outcome.
We did not win the John Cotton Dana Award for our public relations campaign. However, the judges were especially impressed with our well written proposal and placement of publicity (i.e. grocery store receipts, billboards, etc.). One suggestion was to have conducted a telephone survey to better assess the impact of the campaign on non-users. Of course, this would have required us to hire an outside research firm and was not feasible with the resources at hand. We have learned from the process and benefited from the experience.
The bookmobile has been to the central garage for minor repair work. Several small items have been fixed, including the ringing noise while backing up and the driver’s chair. The generator filters have been cleaned and the injectors need to be replaced. An exhaust pipe from the generator is also going to be extended to eliminate soot coming into the bookmobile.
Diane Briggs has been asked to run for the President of the North Dakota Library Association and Charles Pace has been asked to run for chairmanship of the NDLA Public Libraries section. If elected, they will serve as President-elect and Chair-elect for 2003-2004, and serve the actual terms the following year.
Library Newsletter: March 3, in support of Read Across America, the Fargo Public Library staff, volunteers, and City of Fargo employees (including Mayor Bruce Furness) will read an assortment of Dr. Suess books throughout the day in the library’s lobby.
Dan Haglund presented an online programming series entitled Genealogy Online that examines family history research tools on the Internet. Attendance for the four classes was very successful with over 100 people total.
Winter Read-A-Thon will wrap up March 1, and prizes will be drawn for adults and children in grades three and above.
Board Workshop: The board workshop with Pat Wagner is scheduled March 13 from 3:30 to 7:30 p.m. Supper will be provided. In addition, Pat Wagner is having another all-day workshop March 11 for library board members and directors.
Southpointe News: Program attendance is averaging 60-70% of the main library. The main problem is simply keeping up with demand.
Statistical Reports
January print circulation increased 8% from 2002. Non-print circulation increased 41%, with a total circulation increase of 14%. Door count increased 18%, and electronic usage increased 17%. Our statistics are very strong and demand for library services continues to grow.
The January Financial statistics is a draft because the month of January is not closed yet. LSSI is revamping their system and it created a problem the past two months. Next month the Southpointe financial information will be broken out from the main expenses.
A corporate credit card will be mailed for Charles Pace by tomorrow.
Friends of Fargo Public Library Report
The Friends of the Fargo Public Library met February 11. The cash balance was $8,200 at that time. Memberships were at 155, which is about the same as last year at this time, with around 200 memberships for the year.
The mission statement will be discussed at the next meeting. Fundraising ideas included a Book Bag sale. Other area Friends groups have had success with this.
Two requests for funding were presented. $1,000 for books on CD at Southpointe was approved. $650 for Meyers-Briggs staff training was denied.
The next working meeting to sort books is March 11. Many boxes have been added to the area that need attention.
The next Book Sale is April 11 and 12. The bag sale will be discontinued at this time. The summer book sale is July 17 and 18 during the Street Fair.
Continuing Business
A. LSSI Response to Board Letter
LSSI started as a venture 5 years ago. Many accounts were lumped together with other facilities nationwide. LSSI has changed that process to a project basis. All facilities they service now can be broken down for accounts payable, general ledger, etc. The accounting department consists of four people for all of the accounts. With these process changes, accounts payable will now be more manageable. Frank Pezzanite reviews the accounts payable listing himself every month to make sure that there are no issues. This will continue until he is comfortable LSSI is meeting the needs of the customer.
Charles Pace and Monique Andresen will date stamp the invoices when received by the library office. This will be included in a spreadsheet monthly to monitor the payment process.
Currently, LSSI has a check run weekly. In the past, they paid 30 days from receipt of the invoice. They have now changed the parameters to include the invoice date.
Fargo Public Library staff started to fax invoices as requested by the board, but this was bogging down the system instead of making it more efficient. We now continue to UPS the invoices once per week as we did prior. To date, all invoices are current, or less than 30 days old.
The accounts payable aging report will be run as of the 15th of the month and included in the board packet to give a more current picture of the process. The statement review spreadsheet will also cut off the 15th of the month.
A formal response to the letter will be forthcoming.
B. Review updated registration policy
The registration policy approved last month was distributed for the board policy manuals.
New Business
A. Review and approve revised ILL policy
Jean Rayl moved to approve the ILL policy as written. Prakash Mathew 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 Tuesday, March 25, 2003, at 4:00 p.m. in the meeting room.
The meeting was adjourned at 5:30 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Monique Andresen