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HomeMy WebLinkAbout12/16/81 Library Board MINUTES OF THE LIBRARY BOARD OF THE CITY OF THE COLONY HELD ON DECEMBER 16, 1981 A REGULAR MEETING of the Library Board of the City of The Colony, Texas, was called to order at 7:30 p.m. at City Hall with the following members present: George C. Gillett, Jr. Place 1 Patricia DelGado, Meeting Chairman Place 2 Charles Hammons Place 3 Elaine Gayle Place 4 Fredda Holmes Place 5 and with no members absent; thus, a quorum was established. Also present at this meeting were Mr. Bill Davis and Ms. Patricia Spear of the North Texas Library System. 1. APPROVAL OF MINUTES Member Gayle moved that the minutes of the regular meeting of November 19, 1981, be approved as presented. Seconded by Member Gillett, the motion was passed by the following vote: Ayes: All members present voted aye Noes: None 3. HEAR REPORT FROM REPRESENTATIVE OF NORTH TEXAS LIBRARY SYSTEM CONCERNING PARTICIPATION IN STATE LIBRARY PROGRAM Member Gillett moved that the Board move to Agenda Item 3, due to the presence at the meeting of the two representatives from the North Texas Library System. Seconded by Member Hammons, the motion was passed by the following vote: Ayes: All members present voted aye Noes: None Dan Savage, City Manager, deferred the introduction of the North Texas Library System representatives to Ann Beckel, The Colony Public Library Director, and she introduced Mr. Bill Davis and Ms. Patricia Spear, stating that she had met them a year ago and again in August. At this time, Chair- man DelGado asked if Ms. Spear had any suggestions on how The Colony Public Library should go about getting started. Ms. Spear stated that there were several requirements that must be met in order to be eligible for member- ship in the North Texas Library System. These requirements are spelled out in greater detail in the Texas Library Systems Act. Ms. Spear mentioned the following requirements: 1. Library must have $1.50 per capita support for each individual in The Colony. (She did state that this could be based on the 1980 census figure.) 2. The library must have one item of material for every person in the city. 3. Library must be open to the public no less than 30 hours per week. 4. A library staff person must be employed 30 horus per week. (This requirement could possibly be met by more than one staff person sharing the 30 hours.) Ms. Spear then went on to explain the method of application for membership in the Library System as follows: -1- 1. An annual report must be filed usually before the end of February, which includes budget information as well as certain other statis- tical information. 2. Library submits a written application indicating interest in membership. If the library is deficient in two of the required areas, the membership will be denied, advised Ms. Spear. Mr. Savage wished to clarify that the additional $6,000 budgeted for the lease of the space occupied by the library could be used in determining the per-capita support, and Ms. Spear stated that it could. Mr. Savage aslo stated that at present only 20 hours per week is budgeted, and it will probably be the end of the 1981/82 fiscal year before the library is staffed 30 hours per week. Ms. Spear did state that there is a probationary period of three years which may be used to make up any deficiencies. Member Gillett wanted to know if the requirement of one item of material per person in the city could include resources other than books, and Ms. Spear said that it could include various items, such as tapes, magazines and records. Ms. Spear also clarified for Chair- man DelGado that items which could be used separately would be considered as separate items for the purpose of this determination. Member Gillett then asked if a set of encyclopedias would be considered as one item, and Ms. Spear answered that it would. Member Holmes wished to know if the library could use the services of the System during this probationary period, and Ms. Spear stated that they could use all of the services except Collec- tion Development which provides credit for purchase of library materials. Ms. Spear explained further that this credit amounts to an allotment which can be spent through the System, based on a formula involving local materials expenditure, for magazine subscriptions, book money, software, film strips, etc. Ms. Spear went on to list quite qa few services provided by the System. They include: 1. 16mm films of an entertainment, educational and recreational nature. These are circulated to member libraries in the System; the System does not circulate to individuals. Mr. Savage asked if these films could be used on the basis of charging admission, and Ms. Spear stated they could not but suggested the sale of refreshments for the purpose or raising money. 2. Feature films which are leased by the System. These are current box-office attractions. 3. Video cassettes for home viewing. 4. Mail-a-Book for home-bound persons. There followed a lengthy discussion concerning corporate funding. Ms. Spear stated that this was becoming more prevalent and would certainly be worth checking into. Mr. Savage asked about the availability of an inter-library loan program. Ms. Spear answered that this would be available through a separate grant program which the library would be able to apply for as soon as they were officially open. The Colony's contact would be in Fort Worth for this service. Ms. Spear did go on to point out the following limitations of the program: 1. No paperbacks available. 2. No best sellers available. 3. Some libraries will not loan material free. 4. Magazine articles are available, but the library msight have to pay for copying. 5. Patrons might be asked to pay for the mailing charges on anything obtained this way. 6. This program is rather slow. Mr. Savage asked about the possibility of a joint school system-city library system. Mr. Davis stated that there were one or two of these in operation, but usually these do not work well because of politics. The City of Olney has managed to do this successfully. -2- Chairman DelGado inquired about obligations involved in membership in this System and was told that this is mainly a time commitment. It was also brought out that probably the earliest that The Colony Public Library could attain full membership would be September of 1982. 2. CONSIDER OPERATING POLICIES OF THE COLONY PUBLIC LIBRARY In opening the discussion of library policies, Ms. Spear suggested a little more work on the regulations affecting the public. Concerning Member Gillett's question about the importance of reference material, it was pointed out that this material is very expensive; a good reference collection would probably take an expenditure of about $1,500 and, unfortunately, this material does become outdated very quickly. The Board was advised that after about five years, reference material is no longer really up to date. Mr. Savage asked about establishign a non-resident user fee as a member of the System. This could be done for anyone outside the local taxing area, he was advised, but everyone included in the local tax base must have free access to library services. The Board was advised further that a charge could be established for replacement of library cards, as long as the first card issued was free. Mr. Savage asked if an inter-local agreement could be worked out to provide service to a specific community. Ms. Spear answered that this could be done, and the community would be asked to contribute their pro- rata share of the expense. Member Gayle then asked if either Ms. Spear or Mr. Davis had any specific suggestions on the library policies, and Ms. Spear offered to provide the Board with a written report which they could go over later. She did go on to mention some areas that need work: 1. Adult cards 2. Phone renewals 3. Fines 4. Willful detention of materials 5. Damage to materials 6. Problem patron policy There was some further general discussion of policies after which Mr. Savage announced that the next regular meeting of the Library Board would be on Thursday, January 21, 1982. At this time, Chairman DelGado thanked Ms. Spear and Mr. Davis for attending the meeting. Member Holmes then made the motion to adjourn. Seconded by Member Gayle, the motion was passed by the following vote: Ayes: All members present voted aye Noes: None Chairman DelGado adjourned the meeting at 10:10 p.m. Barbara Stiefer, ~cretary Patricia DelGado, Ch~man