HomeMy WebLinkAbout09/23/04 Library Board
MINUTES OF THE LIBRARY BOARD
OF THE
I CITY OF THE COLONY
September 23, 2004
A REGULAR SESSION of the Library Board of the City of The Colony, Texas, was called
to order by Acting Chair Bullard at 7:10p.m.
Present:
Sandi Gehrke Place 1
Lorraine Clark Place 4
Wayne Bullard Place 6
Sue Parks Place 7
Joan Sveinsson Library Director
Jo Chantrill Library Secretary
Absent:
Diana Kruzich Place 2 (Personal Business)
James Althaus Place 3 (Personal Business)
Jayme Skelton Place 5 (Personal Business)
As both Chair Kruzich and Vice-Chair Skelton were absent, Member Bullard agreed to
serve as Acting Chair.
1. Citizens input.
I None.
2. Consideration and approval of minutes of the board meeting held July 29, 2004.
The minutes were approved as presented.
3. Review of Library Policies.
Discussion and consideration of revisions to the Materials Selection Policy was
inadvertently omitted from the agenda; it will be placed on the agenda for the October
meeting.
a. Discussion and consideration of revisions to the General Facility Rules.
Director Sveinsson requested, and the Board agreed, that this item be tabled to the
October meeting, allowing additional time to research some of the issues discussed
at the last meeting.
4. Library Director's Report:
a. Status report re: operations
The FY 2004-2005 budget has been adopted by City Council. The Library's budget
cuts were implemented in the final budget; no new staff positions have been funded.
The fund balance was reduced to fund additional public safety positions without
increasing the tax rate.
I All the City departments are to review operations, programs, and services, seeking
ways to further reduce expenses and, if possible, to generate more revenue. This
review is to be completed by December 10, 2004. In addition, any positions that
become vacant will undergo a thorough review and justification process; vacancies
will not automatically be approved to be filled.
In Board discussion of this pending review, Director Sveinsson addressed the
question of operating hours. Currently, the Library is open 44 hours per week. The
current minimum criteria to maintain accreditation with the Texas State Library
requires the Library to be open at least 40 hours per week. The proposed Texas
Public Library Standards would set 45 hours as the minimum for Basic Service
Level for The Colony's service population.
City Manager Cheatham held employee meetings to review the budget, the status
of current projects, and the results of the citizen and employee surveys.
b. Status report re: Denton County Library Funding
The Denton County Commissioners Court passed the budget for FY 04-05 with the
Library funding being at the reduced level that was approved in May. The Colony's
allocation will be $58,644. This allocation is a reduction of $ $4,882 compared with
the FY 03-04 allocation. Further reductions are anticipated next year.
c. Status report re: grants
Via the Friends of the Library, two grants were received from Wal-Mart: $1,000
matching the June fund-raisers and a $1,000 bonus grant.
The Colony will receive a Loan Star Libraries Grant again in 04-05. This funding is
used for the Computer Assistants who help patrons with use of the public access
computer network. This service is particularly valuable during the Library's busiest
hours as it allows the librarian staff to concentrate on providing reference services.
Director Sveinsson noted that more of her time will need to be devoted to fund-
raising and grant applications and grant management, given the current and
anticipated future reductions by existing funding sources.
d. Update re: Friends of the Library activities
The September book sale was quite successful, raising over $945. Included in that
amount is $130 from a buyer who paid $3 per box for all the remaining items after
the sale. The Chick-Fil-A fund-raiser brought in $38.50.
The next book sale will be on December 4th. FOTCPL is also planning a Mr. Jim's
Pizza fund-raiser for December.
e. Long range planning:
Given the current tight economy for the City, planning for the new Five Star Library
building is on hold indefinitely. Director Sveinsson noted that her priority now is to
raise funding to adapt the current facility to meet current and near future needs;
after that, attention can be directed towards plans to raise the funding necessary for
planning the Five Star facility.
The next meeting will be October 28, 2004, at 7:00 pm.
The meeting adjourned at 8:08 p.m. (a~
.~...-
~ ~t~\.~ WaY~lIard, Acting ohair
Chantrill, Secretary
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