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Minutes - 2008 - Eagle Public Library - 08/11/2008 - Regular i fa..s 1 EAGLE PUBLIC LIBRARY BOARD OF TRUSTEES MINUTES August 11, 2008 Community Room Board President Margo Walter called the EPL Board of Trustees meeting to order at 7:33 PM. Present were Board Members Jane Marrs, Danae Curtis,Nancy Marshall, Aaron Ricks, Library Director Ron Baker, EPL Administrative Assistant Terri Lenigan and Council Liaison Norm Semanko. Aaron Ricks was excused at 8:00 PM. Director Baker requested that two items be added to the agenda under Director's Report: Janice Campbell's leave of absence and update regarding the Arthur Hart book on the history of Eagle. Nancy Marshall made a motion that the agenda be approved as amended; Jane Mans seconded the motion and the agenda was unanimously approved. Dance Curtis made a motion that the minutes for the Jul 07, 2008 meeting be approved as written;Nancy Marshall seconded the motion and the minutes were unanimously approved. Jane Mans made a motion that the bills be approved for payment; Aaron Ricks seconded the motion and the bills were unanimously approved for payment. Friends of the Library Report (Friends' President) Director Baker reported in the absence of the Friends' President. The annual fall book sale is scheduled for Saturday and Sunday, October 11 and 12, 2008 respectively, in the Community Room. Friday, October 10, 2008 has been set aside as a workday to ready the room for the sale. During their monthly meeting, Director Baker shared likely budget cuts regarding equipment and programming to see what the Friends might be willing to support. They were quite interested in promoting the Mother/Daughter Book Club. Director's Report Summer Reading Program: final report: The final report was not available and will be reported at the next meeting. However, Youth Services did disclose the following: Total Registered: 1,449 Teens Registered: 104 (Up from 14 the previous year) Teen Volunteers: 36 Teens Volunteered: 279 Hours Shared/EPL ADMIN/Board Minutes/Aug 11,2008 1 Schools represented by the highest number of registrants were Galileo Magnet School with 143 registered, Andrus Elementary with 93 registered, and Eagle Elementary and Eagle Hills Elementary a close third with 78 each. Staff vacancies: Filling the vacant circulation position is still on hold until the budget is approved. An announcement for the Library Assistant III IT Specialist has been written; the job will be posted in early September. We are working with our IT vendor regarding qualifications for this position. Our vendor will also be a member of the search committee. AG opinions on open gun law: status: There has been no reply from the Attorney General, but several more incidents at BPL of patrons openly bearing arms. Part-time employee leave benefits: Even though the Board had approved this issue to be forwarded to Council, Director Baker has decided to hold off until the budget has been approved. This is not a budget issue and should not be presented at this time. Councilman Semanko suggested placing the issue on the September Council agenda. Statue dedication: Director Baker has not been able to confirm a date for the dedication, but will keep trying to work with the Baker family. BPL announcement it will not honor LYNX! Open Access agreement after FY2008-09: Boise Mayor, City Council, and the BPL Library Board has determined that BPL cannot continue to meet reimbursement costs of the LYNX! Open Access agreement after FY 2008/09. Currently, it costs Boise nearly $1,000,000 to reimburse the other Consortium libraries. LYNX! Committee to renegotiate Open Access agreement: A committee of Library Directors has been formed to re-negotiate the agreement, with February/March as their goal to write a new open access policy. Director out of state Aug 14 to evening of Aug 19: But will return in time for the Budget Hearing scheduled for the evening of the 19th Janice Campbell's leave of absence: Due to knee replacement surgery, Janice Campbell will need 6 to 8 weeks recovery time. Mrs. Campbell has accrued enough vacation to cover 6 weeks. Approval is required for any leave beyond 2 weeks or any unpaid leave. Upon receipt of Doctor's final orders, the Board may be asked to approve extended vacation or unpaid leave time. Arthur Hart's book on the history of Eagle: Caxton Press has agreed to do the printing. However, all word processing was transferred from Microsoft Word to Adobe Creative Suite. During this process, page numbers changed and pictures were inserted. These changes necessitate changing the index. Director Baker estimates 25-26 hours to complete the new index and would like Board approval to use City time for this project. The printing deadline is fast approaching in order to have the book available for a November 22, 2008 book signing. The Board unanimously approved. Shared/EPL ADMIN/Board Minutes/Aug 1 I,2008 2 Library Liaison/City Hall Reports (Councilman Norm Semanko) City Councilmen met with members of the North Ada County Foothills Association to discuss necessary improvements imposed by an increasing population. The Eagle Water Company has temporarily tied into the City water system to help alleviate problems at a local mobile home park. Unfinished Business Budget process and progress; Public Hearing 19 Aug. 2008, 7:30 PM: Councilman Semanko informed the Board that the draft budget has been published and a public hearing is set for August 19, 2008 at 7:30 PM. In addition to some line item by line item questioning, there are several concerns that may spark some interesting discussions, such as increased personnel costs recommended by the Comp & Class Study, a proposed 3% property tax increase, and an alternate budget proposed by Councilman Al Shoushtarian. Director Baker explained that the Library would not be affected if the proposed 3% property tax were not approved. The library levy rate is adjusted to meets income needs and once set, is reported to the State. He also drafted a memo to the Board in response to the alternative budget proposal and the impact to the library. Should the alternative budget be approved, there will be drastic consequences to the library, which might include closing the Library ten hours per week and/or cuts in materials, equipment, programming, and other services. After requesting clarification about changes to some of the line item accounts, Councilman Semanko had a positive opinion about the library budget and the draft budget in general. New Business EPL response to BPL's announcement that it will not continue to honor LYNX! Open Access agreement: The LYNX! Open Access agreement allows consortium libraries to be reimbursed costs for excess services provided to other libraries' residents. The agreement is open ended, which makes estimating costs very difficult and different from year to year. Currently,the cost to BPL is approximately $1,000,000 per year. Director Baker feels that EPL has always been a team player and has provided realistic assessments for our reimbursement portion, including several years, 1999 to 2002, without dunning BPL at all for excess service. Spiraling costs and increased patron usage has made the agreement difficult to manage. New branch libraries will alter usage patterns making it harder to predict future usage. Patrons enjoy the ability to place holds from the consortium catalog. Currently, EPL handles 150 holds per day; ACL 250 holds per day; BPL 350 holds per day, which require two full-time positions to maintain this service. Some libraries, like EPL, limit the number of holds per patron. However, space to shelve the holds, the sheer volume of Shared/EPL ADMINBoard Minutes/Aug 11,2008 3 holds, and reimbursement costs are out of control. One suggestion is to cap the cost at $3.02 per circulation instead of the open ended agreement. The Open Access Committee has its work cut out to develop new strategies and solutions. EPL and the districtization issue: Should EPL become a self-governing "Library District"? There are already three library districts in the valley, Meridian, Ada Community, and Kuna library districts. Several considerations were discussed: • Becoming a district library would lessen the sense of community • Bonds would be more difficult to pass in a district • Smaller communities within a district would loose against larger communities • When the ACL facility becomes a Boise Public Library branch, what will happen to ACL and its branches, SBL and HSB? • What are the future library needs of the planned communities M3 and Avimor and who will administer these libraries? • Should the LYNX! Consortium fall apart, would it be possible to contract IT support from Boise Public Library? The Director and Operations Manager Jeanie Comerford will prepare a cost and benefit analysis for being part of the LYNX! Consortium. For example, as part of the Consortium, we qualify for a cooperative purchasing agreement, which allows for larger discounts from several major library materials vendors. We would loose this advantage if EPL became a self-sufficient district. Since the future is uncertain, it is apparent that further investigation is needed before any decision can be made. Capital fundraising and a Grant Search Committee: To raise funds for a capital campaign to add the north wing, should EPL start its own foundation or couple with the Idaho Community Foundation? Since the expansion project is still in its preliminary stage, this topic was tabled for the November Board meeting. Recognition of teen volunteers: President Walter has suggested a pizza party to recognize the outstanding work by our teen volunteers during the Summer Reading program. Volunteers will receive a Certificate of Recognition to acknowledge their hard work and many hours contributed to the library. Media coverage should be arranged with local publications. Additional Items or Public Comment Handicap parking used as loading zone: Councilman Semanko noted that a handicap designated parking space is being used as a loading zone by our consortium courier. Handicap spaces should remain open for handicap use only. Director Baker will contact the City's Public Works Department regarding re-painting the parking lot to include a loading zone and the required number of handicap spaces. Shared/EPL ADMIN/Board Minutes/Aug 11,2008 4 Selection of Next Meeting Date The next meeting of the Board of Trustees will be September 8, 2008, at 7:30 PM in the Community Room. Adjournment There being no further business,Nancy Marshall made a motion to adjourn the meeting; Jane Marrs seconded. The meeting was adjourned at 9:39 PM. Respectfully submitted, Terri T. Lenigan EPL Administrative Assistant encl. Memorandum: Potential Library Dept. cuts under Draft Two of Alternative Budget Proposal Topics: Summer Reading Program: update Staff vacancies: LA III IT/Circ Part-time employee leave benefits Statue dedication BPL announcement to not honor LYNX! Open Access agreement LYNX! Committee to renegotiate Open Access agreement Janice Campbell: Leave of absence Index correction for Arthur Hart's book on the history of Eagle Budget progress; Public Hearing 19 Aug 2008 EPL response to BPL announcement re: LYNX! Open Access agreement EPL and the districtization issue Capital fundraising and Grant Search Committee Recognition of teen volunteers: Summer Reading Program Handicap parking used as loading zone Shared/EPL ADMIN/Board Minutes/Aug 11,2008 5