June 24, 2003 Minutes
Board of Trustees
Fargo Public Library
Minutes of June 24, 2003
Present: Board Members Betty Kerns, Prakash Mathew, Jean Rayl, Virginia Dambach, and Helen Levitt
Library Director Charles Pace
Staff Members: Monique Andresen, Beth Postema, Nancy Giere, and Friends Liaison Bob Mason
Order of Agenda
Virginia Dambach 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 May 27 and June 4. Virginia Dambach seconded the motion; the motion carried.
Staff Reports
Nancy Giere gave the staff representative report. The summer reading program kick off had 750-800 people in attendance.
LSSI Management Report
The Supreme Court recently ruled on the Child Information Protection Act (CIPA). This affects libraries involved with E-rate, a federal subsidy for smaller libraries. It also affects libraries that receive Library Service and Technology Act (LSTA) grant money, requiring those libraries to install filtering on all computers.
Work is continuing on the conversion to ExLibris. Edie Discher attended training in Grand Forks June 13-15 relating to the circulation module. The current plan is to have the new system in place by May 2004.
Charles Pace, Betty Kerns, and Helen Levitt presented the budget to the Budget Committee June 16. Charles Pace will keep the board posted on the budget preparation process.
Rhonda Pole from Human Resources Department spoke at the staff meeting June 20. The staff did a communication exercise and wrote comments on what topics from the Human Resources Department might be appropriate in the future. Staff meetings will continue in the summer every third Friday of the month at 8:00 a.m.
Library Newsletter:
An estimated 750-800 people attended the Summer Reading Program kick off June 9. Other summer reading programs are also drawing large crowds.
Community Survey:
The final detailed report from Jim Danielson and Philip Baumann was distributed in the board packets.
Southpointe News:
The new book drop has arrived and been installed at Southpointe. It is substantially larger than the previous book drop. The first two summer reading program activities at Southpointe each drew more than 100 people to the branch.
Staff News:
The Youth Services Librarian position has been posted.
Statistical Reports
Door count increased 33% from May 2002. Programs year to date increased 45% from 2002. Year to date Internet signup increased 103% from 2002. Total circulation increased 20% from this time last year.
At the end of May, there is 58.3% of the year remaining and 60.2% of operating expenses remain. Concern was expressed regarding the statement review report and the timeliness of bill payment. The library subscription to the Forum had lapsed this month. A letter will follow to Frank Pezzanite of LSSI.
Friends of Fargo Public Library Report
The annual meeting was held June 10. Board members leaving office include Gini Duval, Valerie Hanson, and Sandy Huseby. New board members are Irene Askelson, Annette LaPalm, and Jennie Millerhagen.
As of June 10, there were 215 memberships and an account balance of $8,686.
Many funding requests were presented. Not approved at this time were $2,000 for a cubicle office area on the mezzanine, and rocks to replace the flowerbeds.
Approved requests include $300 for flowers, $40 for reading magnifiers, $260 for outreach book bags, $1,800 for a laptop to teach seniors the internet, $500 for two chairs at the reference desk, $100 for lemonade at the Southpointe and Main Lemony Snicket summer reading programs, and $500 for a Southpointe anniversary program.
Continuing Business
A. Discuss and approve policy on law enforcement inquiries
Helen Levitt moved to approve the policy on law enforcement inquiries as written. Jean Rayl seconded the motion; the motion carried.
New Business
A. Discussion of possible fines amnesty
Helen Levitt moved to approve a fine amnesty week with the time and details to be determined by the staff. Jean Rayl seconded the motion; the motion carried.
B. Discuss and review library technology plan
Charles Pace presented the two-year technology plan compiled by the technology team.
Public Comment
There is no public comment at this time.
Next Board Meeting
The next board meeting will be held Tuesday, July 22, 2003, at 4:00 p.m. in the meeting room.
The meeting was adjourned at 8:00 a.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Monique Andresen