HomeMy WebLinkAbout11/29/2012 LIB
MINUTES
CITY OF THE COLONY
LIBRARY BOARD
NOVEMBER 29, 2012
A REGULAR SESSION of the LIBRARY BOARD of The City of The Colony, Texas, was
called to order by Chair Gehrke at 7:03 p.m.
PRESENT: Sandi Gehrke Place 1
Marlene Martin Place 2
Frederick Rushing Place 3
Nicole Rodriguez-Terrell Place 4
Joanna Krueger Place 5
Jade Kelly Place 6
Audra Preston Place 7
STAFF: Joan Sveinsson Library Director
Jeannie Baellow Recording Secretary
1. Citizen Input.
None.
2. Consider approval of the minutes of the October 19, 2012 Regular Session.
Vice-Chair Rushing moved to approve the minutes as presented. Member Rodriguez-
Terrell seconded the motion and the motion passed unanimously.
3. Board policies and procedures.
Director Sveinsson reported that City Council will be considering proposed amendments
to the Code of Ordinances regarding Board and Commissions at the December 4, 2012
Council meeting; she distributed copies of the proposed amendments. Under the current
ordinance, a Board member "who is absent from three consecutive meetings, or 25% of
scheduled meetings during the six-month period immediately preceding and including the
absence in question shall, upon approval of the city council, forfeit his or her position". As
the Library Board is scheduled for only one meeting per month, the 25% rule translates
to only one allowable absence in a six month period. The proposed revision to Sec. 2-
204 - Attendance would add "Due to the diversity of some boards in regard to the
number of meetings held each year, or in the number of extracurricular activities or
events board members may attend while serving that capacity, the city council reserves
the right to consider the number of meetings or activities when evaluating attendance." A
proposed addition to Section 2-203 - Meetings states "Guidelines for citizen input shall
reflect those adopted for city council meetings." Basically, if the topic brought up in
Citizen input is not an agenda item, the Board may direct that the topic be put on a future
agenda or may request the staff liaison to follow up with the citizen, but the Board may
not discuss the issue with the citizen during the current meeting; the Board may only
discuss topics that are on the agenda. A proposed amendment to Section 2-207 -
Presiding officers would eliminate the limitation that the board chairperson could not
serve consecutive terms, but add that "elections shall occur at the first meeting
following the start of new terms".
Additionally, Director Sveinsson reported that on several items from a recent training for
staff liaisons and recording secretaries: all future board agendas and minutes should
mirror the City Council format; minutes are required to be kept permanently, agendas for
two years, supporting meeting documents for five years; meeting notes for 90 days after
Library Board 11-29-12 Page 2
the minutes are approved; when sending emails to the Board as a whole, the email
addresses will be only in the blind carbon copy field to avoid inadvertent replies to the
entire Board that may violate Open Meetings law; Board members are required to attend
Open Meetings Act training within 90 days or appointment or reappointment and
members are encouraged to complete the training annually.
4. Reports and discussion regarding Library Board goals and projects for 2012:
a. Board presence at TCPL events and TCPL public relations activities: reports
and discussion of participation by individual board members.
Member Martin attended the October 27th Teen Halloween Movie Night; Members
Kelly and Martin assisted with the October 30th Snapshot Day; Member Martin
provided a table and chairs and Chair Gehrke, Vice-Chair Washing, and Member
Kelly assisted at the TCPL booth at the November 10th American Heroes Salute to
Veterans.
b. Library visits: reports and discussion of visits by individual board members.
Member Preston gave a PowerPoint presentation about her visit to Plano Public
Library System's Parr Library. There are five libraries in the system. Parr is a 30,000
square foot facility; in the lobby is a display by the Interurban Railway Museum, book
sale area, and an automated book return where customers can watch returned
materials be conveyed by belt from drop point through RFID automated check-in.
Within the library, there is a college area promoting various colleges; a Young Adult
area with computers and furniture. In the children's area there are "clouds"
suspended from the ceiling. The signage was clear and precise. There were locked
display cases adjacent to the drive up book returns. Staff appreciation certificates
were made available on counters for patrons to recognize excellent service by library
staff.
5. Discuss Library Board goals for 2013.
Discussion was held regarding consideration of goals which included potential
opportunities to partner with the community as well as possible creation of a speakers'
bureau to include Library Board members who would promote TCPL and its services at
various public venues. Goals will be further discussed and set at the January meeting.
6. Receive update and discuss the following Friends of the Library activities:
a. Adopt-a-Chair.
Director Sveinsson reported that nineteen of the twenty chairs have been adopted;
Member Rodriguez-Terrell immediately adopted the final chair.
b. December events:
i. FOTCPL PRESENTS! Pictures with Santa 2-01-12.
Staffing for the event will include volunteers Paul LeMaire, Eric Brophy, two
volunteers, and Support Services Clerk Carolyn LeMaire, Administrative Assistant
Jeannie Baellow, and Library Page Marsha Fargusson. The Fiddle Rascals have
volunteered to provide musical entertainment for those waiting their turn to visit
and pose with Santa.
ii. FOTCPL PRESENTS! "Nutcracker in a Nutshell" puppet show 12-20-12.
S&D Puppetry will perform this annual holiday family favorite.
Library Board 11-29-12 Page 3
7. Receive update from staff and discuss the following items:
a. Public relations events and programs:
i. Writers' Workshop 10-17-12.
Due to the presenter's illness, the workshop has been rescheduled to December 8
at 2:30 p.m. Adult Services Librarian Nancy Boykin is coordinating the event and
the presenter is local author Keneshia Hill who will provide guidance to writers
who wish to turn their ideas into books.
ii. Teen Halloween Movie Night 10-27-12.
TAP members decorated the room Saturday afternoon. Fourteen teens attended
to view The Ring and participate in the costume contest. Member Martin attended
on behalf of the Board.
iii. Library Snapshot Day 10-30-12.
Administrated Assistant Jeannie Baellow coordinated the event initiated by the
Texas Library Association. Customer surveys, photos, and statistics of a day in
the life of the Library were collected. Board Members Kelly and Martin assisted in
distributing surveys to patrons. Patron responses were overwhelmingly positive.
Administrative Assistant Baellow distributed patron responses and statistics to the
Board.
iv. Nook Ereader demonstration 11-01-12.
There were three attendees at this demonstration.
v. TCPL booth at American Heroes: A Salute to Veterans 11-10-12.
Director Sveinsson and Circulation Clerk Holly Martin staffed the event together
with a total of twelve Board, FOTCPL, and TAP volunteers. TCPL was provided
space with under a large tent with eleven other booths. Two hundred ninety-one
contacts were made; three library cards were issued.
vi. Holiday in the Park 12-01-12.
Director Sveinsson will attend this event on the Library's behalf along with four
teen volunteers, two of whom will begin at the start of the parade route, and two at
the end; they will walk the route handing out Library flyers for the December 6
Read the Movie and the December 20 puppet show. Parade festivities will
culminate at Perryman Park (near the central fire station); in addition to
distributing information about TCPL events and services, tickets will be issued for
door prize drawings.
b. Recruitment for Youth Services Librarian.
To date, nineteen applications have been received, three of which did not meet the
required qualifications. Director Sveinsson will begin interviewing candidates shortly-
c. Service improvements:
L Fall Reading Club sponsored by In-N-Out Burger.
Forty-seven participants enrolled in this program for children between the ages of
four and twelve. Certificates for an In-N-Out Burger were awarded with each five
books read up to three certificates per participant.
ii. New electronic resources:
Director Sveinsson introduced the following new resources:
a) TumbleBookCloud
Director Sveinsson demonstrated this resource which includes online ebooks,
enhanced novels, poetry, drama, audiobooks and videos for the middle school
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and high school age audience. Quizzes and lesson plans are also included.
TCPL was able to realize a 50% savings in the purchase of this resource by
partnering with Little Elm Public Library.
b) Learning Express Library
This resource offers twelve learning centers designed for different ages and
needs; each center include practice tests, exercises, skill-building courses, and
ebooks. Subject areas include college prep, GED, workplace skills, software
tutorials, career/academic preparation, occupational practice tests, and
citizenship.
c) Job & Career Accelerator
This online tool helps cardholders assess work-related interests and identify
related careers, explore occupational profiles, find jobs and internships,
prepare resumes and cover letters, and organized their career search. Users
must register and create a profile.
8. Review list of December and January library programs.
The Board members reviewed the lists.
The next Board meeting is scheduled for January 24, 2012.
The meeting adjourned at 8:53 p.m.
Sandi Gehrke, Chair
Z,l Jeannie Baellow, Secretary