Minutes - 2009 - Eagle Public Library - 11/09/2009 - Regular EAGLE PUBLIC LIBRARY BOARD OF TRUSTEES
MINUTES
November 09. 2009
Library Workroom
Board President Mary Berent called the EPL Board of Trustees meeting to order at 7:08 PM.
Present were Board Members Danae Curtis, Margo Walter,Nancy Marshall, and Maureen
Germano. Also present were Councilman Norm Semanko, Library Director Ron Baker, and
Terri Lenigan, Administrative Assistant. Due to a conflict,the meeting was held in the library
workroom.
Margo Walter made a motion that the agenda be approved; Danae Curtis seconded the motion
and the agenda was unanimously approved.
Danae Curtis made a motion that the minutes for the 12 October 2009 meeting be approved;
Maureen Germano seconded the motion and the minutes were unanimously approved.
Danae Curtis made a motion that the bills be approved for payment; Margo Walter seconded the
motion and the bills were unanimously approved for payment.
Friends of the Library Report (Friends' President absent)
Director Baker reported in the absence of the Friend's President. The Friends presented the
Library with a check for $1,904.95 for the net proceeds from their fall sale. Frank Thomason,
Editor of the Valley Times was on hand for the presentation. An article and photo of the
presentation will appear in the next issue of the newspaper.
Director's Report
Statistical reports (handouts): Finally, the anticipated drop in circulation has happened. There
was a 17% drop from the previous month. There are several possible reasons for this drop:
• Less open hours
• Boise patrons using the Library! at Cole and Ustick
• Less money for acquisitions
• Fewer new materials
• Not able to re-establish Wednesday circulation and reference traffic
Borrowing is still showing an increase for Eagle patrons using their own library, up from 65%to
66%this month. Boise patrons using EPL has continued to drop from 17% to 16%.
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Open Access Agreement with Boise: The City Council unanimously approved the Open Access
Agreement between EPL and BPL. The convincing statistic was the 103,000 items borrowed
from other libraries that were checked out to EPL patrons.
The Directors continue to work on the new LYNX! Consortium contract which will probably not
be completed until next year.
Holiday hours: Holiday hours have been confirmed as follows:
Thanksgiving: Two paid holidays: Thanksgiving Day and the Friday following. Open regular
hours, 1 to 5 p.m., on the following Saturday.
Christmas: One paid holiday: Christmas Day. Closed the following Saturday.
New Year's Day: One paid holiday: New Year's Day„ Closed the following Saturday.
All staff members who are working on Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve will be assigned
circulation duties, so these duties may be completed in a timely manner, ensuring staff members
will be able to get home safely before dark.
Maureen Germano made a motion to accept the holiday closures as outlined above. Danae
Curtis seconded the motion which carried unanimously.
Periodical vendor contract renewal: Two vendors, W. T. Cox and EBSCO, asked to quote on our
periodical requirements. Each company presented its quotes. As their pricing was substantially
varied, we asked each vendor to re-quote their best price. The bidding war victor was W. T.
Cox, resulting in an additional $400 dollar savings. Margo Walter suggested that we post a sign
letting patrons know that they can still make cash donations.
Maureen Germano asked if the Library was on the Hewlett Packard Donor List. HP gives either
a"Gift in Kind" or a cash donation. Director Baker will provide Mrs. Germano with our non-
profit ID number and she will contact the HP project co-coordinator.
New EPL webpage: The web page is up and running. Typical of any start-up, there were some
initial problems. Patrons complained that they were not able to place holds on first available
copies. The links to Horizon were done in an I-frame format which the web browsers did not
recognize, especially older Internet Explorer version 6 and 7. This took about a week and a half
to fix. The direct link from My Account to return to the home page was missing. This had to be
re-designed and then Boise staff had to re-install.
Compact storage at City Hall: The Library has been given permission to use some of the
compact shelving at City Hall. This will provide storage for approximately 3,500 items and
allows for a 2-1/2 year solution to our current over-crowded shelves. Seven hundred adult non-
fiction books and Halloween holiday books have been transferred. Other holiday books will be
added after their celebrated season. The branch collection is next on the list to be transferred. A
retrieval schedule will be worked out by Circulation Manager Carol Berry. Adult fiction and
reference volumes will be stored on-site in the workroom.
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Director's absence, Dec 4-8: Director Baker will be out of town and is excused from the next
Board meeting scheduled for 07 December 2009. In his absence, Assistant Director Janice
Campbell will report to the Board.
Library Liaison/City Hall Reports (Councilman Semanko)
The Board extends congratulations to Councilman Semanko on his election to City Council.
The Council has voted to annex a parcel of BLM land for a future regional park. An application
to acquire has been sent to the BLM agency. This approximate 600 acre parcel will be zoned
recreational and will provide a pathway to the M3 project.
A representative from Zion's Bank gave a presentation on debt service regarding purchase versus
renting City Hall. Discussing options -- buying, renting, or moving -- will be included on the
agenda of a future council meeting. It has been suggested to schedule some Town Hall style
meetings to get citizen input on this "hot button" issue.
An all city department orientation should be presented to the newly elected and incumbent
Councilmen. If the Mayor does not plan an all department orientation, the Library will definitely
schedule a Library orientation for all Councilmen.
Unfinished Business
Strategic Plan: An interim plan will be written to extend the life of the current plan. Margo
Walter and Maureen Germano have volunteered to be the Board representatives for the
Committee. Terri Bath, President of the Chamber of Commerce, will represent the
business/service club community. Anne Ritter will represent the Friends of the Library and the
education community. Joan Spriggs will be the Library staff representative.
The duration of this supplement was discussed.
The Committee should prepare a document that parallels the previous plan. It should compare
and contrast statistics from the previous document to present day. The latest Idaho Public
Library Statistics and the new LYNX! Membership Standards will be referenced. The document
must be completed by 01 March 2010 to be a reference source for budget planning.
Mary Berent will contact the following people to see if they are interested in serving on the Plan
committee:
Jeanie Jackson-Heim
Ivy Dehart
Wendy Steed
Terri Sayers
Claus Eggers
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Jill Mitchell
Each would bring unique bring strengths to the committee. A kick off meeting has been
scheduled for 18 November 2009 at 7:00 p.m. in the Library workroom.
Maureen Germano made a motion to develop a strategic plan extension providing future library
planning for the period from 01 October 2010 through 30 September 2012. Danae Curtis
seconded the motion which carried unanimously.
New Business
Community Room booking period: Community organizations are booking the Community Room
before the Library staff has the chance to arrange library programs. The current policy allows
reservations to be made up to three months in advance and recurring bookings (same day and
time) up to three months in advance. With the cut back in hours, there are only four nights and
four Saturday afternoons available for programming per month. Community organizations are
monopolizing the room, which does not give library staff the time and flexibility needed to put
together library programs. Both Janice Campbell, who coordinates adult programming, and
Diane Matejka-Lund, Youth Services Manager, recommend that we change the Community
Room reservation period from three months to one month. This would allow Library
programming to be planned and scheduled prior to community group activities. The staff
recommends that the first sentence of Section VI: 3 of the Bylaws and Policy Manual of the
Eagle Public Library be amended to read: "Reservations may be made up to one month in
advance as long as the Library retains a 40-hour-per week open schedule." It was further
recommended that recurring bookings also be eliminated as they would defeat the purpose of the
one-month booking.
Maureen Germano made the motion that the manual be amended as proposed. Nancy Marshall
seconded the motion which carried unanimously.
Carry forward funds: The final accounting for FY 2008/09 confirms a positive carry forward as
follows:
$10,693 Above and beyond the $145,000 budgetary cuts
4,378 Additional Savings from cut backs
$15,071 Total Carry Forward
Previously,the Board had decided that if there was a sufficient carry forward, it would be used to
hire a much needed 19-hour LAII for the Youth Services department. This staff member would
assist Youth programming, staff the Youth reference desk, and perform other duties as needed.
This would be a ten-month position, starting 01 December 2009 through 30 September 2010.
Total salary, including benefits (i.e., FICA, Workmen's Comp, etc.) would be $11,746.42. There
are three possible candidates from the RIF'd employees, who would be given first consideration.
The Board agreed unanimously that the funds be allocated and the Director should proceed with
filling this position.
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Additional Items or Public Comment
There were no additional items or public comment.
Selection of Next Meeting Date
The next meeting of the Board of Trustees will be held on 7 December 2009 at 7:00 PM in the
Library Workroom.
Adjournment
There being no further business, Maureen Germano made a motion to adjourn the meeting.
Danae Curtis seconded and the meeting was adjourned at 9:10 p.m.
Respectfully Submitted,
Terri T. Lenigan
Administrative Assistant
Motions:
Holiday closures approved
Develop strategic plan supplement - Duration 10-01-2010 through 9-30-2012
Community room booking period—Changed from three months in advance to one month
Topics:
City Council unanimously approved Open Access Agreement between EPL and BPL
Holiday hours
Periodical vendor contract renewal
New EPL webpage—Initial startup problems resolved
Compact storage at City Hall
Strategic Plan—Duration, Charge to committee, Committee appointments
Community Room booking period changed
Carry forward funds—Allocate to hire LAII for Youth Services
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