September 19, 2000 Minutes
Board of Trustees
Fargo Public Library
Minutes September 19, 2000
Vice-Chair Betty Kerns called the meeting to order at 5:00 p.m.
Present: Betty Kerns, Ryn Pitts, Jean Rayl, Joan England, and Friends liaison Bev Quamme
Absent: Virginia Dambach and David Martin
Order of the Agenda
Rayl made a motion to approve the order of agenda. Pitts seconded the motion; the motion carried.
Minutes
August 15
England made an addition to New Business under the Central circulation desk heading. She added that Devin Mogck would be adding an updated report concerning the central circulation desk.
Pitts corrected a misspelling of Gale Chapman’s name on page 2000 – 251. Pitts clarified a statement that she made on page 2000 – 253. The sentence will read “Pitts said that her understanding was for the board to approve a feasibility study, but not actually building the desk.”
September 12
England asked for a clarifying amendment to page 2000 – 257 under future library management. The minutes will read “Her salary is taken from a vacant position to fund her contracted position.” Pitts made a correction on page 2000 – 257 under Future library management. The minutes will read
“Pitts made a motion to charge board chair Dambach and vice-chair Kerns to explore alternatives for the FPL interim management and present the ideas to the entire board on October 17, 2000.”
Rayl made a motion to accept the amended minutes. Pitts seconded the motion, the motion carried.
Acting Director’s Report
England asked Maxine Hilburn to address the board concerning Youth Services programming. Hilburn discussed the Technology for Kids program, which takes place on Thursday’s for the next five weeks. The program introduces kids to the FPL computers, shows them how to access the FPL Web page, and how to access good sites for homework and fun on the Internet. Hilburn also discussed an interactive arts program called Arts Alive, which takes place on Saturday afternoons for the next 7 weeks. England reported that Devin Mogck spoke to the staff about the centralized circulation desk on September 15, 2000 for continuing education.
Statistical Reports
England stated that the overall circulation is down, but she expects an increase due to the school year starting, fall programming, and the FPL being open Sundays. Non-print is the one media that continues to circulate heavily. The overall door count is up from August 1999. The bookmobile is adding Bennett School as a new stop. England highlighted a report from Youth Services, which compares the 1999 and 2000 Summer Reading Programs. The registration and total books read has increased, but circulation and attendance has decreased. It was noted at other meetings that other libraries are seeing the same trends of lower circulation. Pitts questioned what the coupon boxes were in the summer reading program. Hilburn said that when participants read ten books, they received a coupon that they put in the coupon box. Once a week, three names were drawn from each box and the winners received prizes.
Friends of the Library report
The Friends met on September 12, 2000. The treasury balance is $6,792.78 and the friends have received $6,415 from 2000 memberships. There are 211 memberships in 2000 and any new memberships that come in after October 1st, 2000 will be considered as 2001 memberships. Newsletter material should be submitted to Valerie Hanson by October 20th, 2000. Hanson would like a message from the board chair and the acting director. After the October 9, 2000 meeting, the Friends will meet every other month. Steve Stark is chair of the April library panel and is coming to the next Friends meeting with ideas for the event. Stark believes that the library should have a birthday celebration similar to the Tent Event on the Green every year. The Friends funded a $665 request from Hilburn for the Arts Alive program. Book Talk will meet October 13th at 11:00 a.m. New membership brochures have been printed. Following the September 12th meeting, most of the Friends board stayed to help sort the used book donations. The Friends are having another book sale the first week in December; a date has not been set. As of August 31, 2000, the Friends have made $884.96 from the used book cart, $355.05 from used books and mugs at the Tent Event on the Green, and $1,629.75 from the July book sale.
Trustee President’s Report
England confirmed that the Alex Stern Family Foundation grant was approved and the FPL is expecting a response from the FM Area Foundation in November.
Pitts directed the board’s attention to a “needs to improve” comment that Dambach received during the Fargo Kiwanis meeting. The comment regarded how long it takes to get new material on the shelves for the public. England said there has been problems with processing materials in a timely fashion. The FPL is increasing the amount of pre-processed materials from vendors for books and non-print formats.
England noted that there is a charge for pre-processing and shipments take longer to arrive, but when the books arrive they are checked into the system and available to the public. Kerns asked how long it takes if an order is not pre-catalogued. England answered that cataloguing can take six weeks and in sometimes cases longer. Suzanne Strache, who works part time in Technical Services, is working more hours to aid in processing and cataloguing. A volunteer has been helping the Technical Services department by cleaning videos and assessing if certain videos should be repaired or discarded. England noted that not all vendors offer pre-processed materials, but time is saved if a library can order them when possible.
Attorney Rick Henderson, who is retained by the FPL staff, asked the board about the Research regarding development of FPL Personnel Policies and Procedures in the Trustee President’s Report. Henderson asked if it was the board’s intention or if it was researching the possibility of changing the FPL employees’ Civil Service status, and how this would affect the application of the City of Fargo’s personnel policies. Kerns answered that the FPL has no policies of it’s own, but City of Fargo Attorney Gary Stewart says the trustees can make policies. Kerns stated that the board was trying to start the process of creating the FPL’s own grievance and personnel policies. Henderson asked if it would be possible for the employees to have input into the process. Rayl replied that at the trustee retreat the board learned that employees and their managers should set policies. The board would approve the policies and offer suggestions. Henderson asked if the board had a timetable for the policy making process. Kerns answered no. Pitts disagreed with Rayl saying that the board sets policy and staff will not set policy, but the FPL staff will participate to the point of approving policies.
Kerns reported that Dambach asked if the board was interested in additional training opportunities. Pitts commented that she was interested, but was concerned about the expense of more board training. England commented that if the FPL cannot afford training at this time, it could be planned for spring or fall of 2001. Quamme said that the Friends were concerned about phase two of the planning project. She asked if phase two had begun and when it would start. England confirmed that no meeting dates were set and no committee has been assembled for the phase two planning process.
Continuing Business
Devin Mogck report Central Circulation Desk
Devin Mogck reported that the feasibility study for the central circulation desk had begun and that he is studying the physical parameters of the building structure. Besides the physical structure, the American Disabilities Act requirements and security detection system in the lobby are also things to consider; the display cabinet in the lobby must be removed to meet the physical parameters.
Mogck met with the FPL staff on Friday, September 15, 2000. He is incorporating the staff’s questions and comments concerning library functions and services into the feasibility study. Mogck said that he would meet with staff in a few weeks. Pitts asked if Mogck had a timeline for the feasibility study. Mogck said that he believed that the study should be complete by the board’s next meeting on October 17, 2000 and he will address the board at that time.
New Business
The board raised no new business.
Citizen’s Forum
There were no questions or comments in the citizen’s forum.
Next Meeting
The next board meeting is set for October 17th, 2000 at 5:00 p.m. Kerns noted that she would not be in attendance.
The meeting was adjourned at 5:35 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Rhonda Roesler