HomeMy WebLinkAbout10/27/05 Library
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MINUTES OF THE LIBRARY BOARD
OF THE
CITY OF THE COLONY
October 27, 2005
A REGULAR SESSION of the Library Board of the City of The Colony, Texas, was called
to order by Chair Bullard at 7:09 p.m.
Present:
Sandi Gehrke
Diana Kruzich
Lorraine Clark
Jayme Skelton
Wayne Bullard
Joan Sveinsson
Jo Chantrill
Absent:
James Althaus
Sue Parks
Place 1
Place 2
Place 4
Place 5
Place 6
Library Director
Library Secretary
Place 3 (medical)
Place 7 (business)
1. Citizens Input.
Monica Hazelwood, 4424 Jenkins, The Colony, Texas, spoke about the importance of a
library to the community and expressed her desire lead a fund-raising effort to help
improve the Library or build a new library; she would offer this assistance at a reduced
rate from her normal fees. This effort would target corporate funding. She mentioned
several ideas for raising money, including hosting a fun run or an entertainment event;
she proposed a holiday event to be held this December. Ms. Hazelwood plans to
present her suggestions to the Friends of the Library; due to the timeframe suggested
by Ms. Hazelwood, the Friends officers have agreed to move the November meeting
from the 10th to the 3rd in order to receive her presentation in as timely a fashion as
possible.
2. Minutes.
Consideration and approval of minutes of the board meeting held September 22, 2005.
The minutes were approved as presented.
3. Discussion and consideration of proposed revision to the Circulation Policy to expand
Section II. C. 3. b. Day Care kits to include loan of the kits to operators of Registered
Child Care Homes.
Director Sveinsson reviewed the background of this proposal; after further research,
staff had found that there were more registered child care homes than had been
previously understood. Staff's recommendation is to approve this revision. Member
Clark moved to approve the policy. Member Kruzich seconded the motion and the
motion passed unanimously.
4. Library Director's Report:
a. Status report re: operations.
Conversion to the new integrated library automation product has been completed,
but took much longer than anticipated and there are still some problems that staff is
working with the vendor to resolve. Staff and volunteers are working to clear the
backlog that accumulated during the time that the Library was operating on manual
checkout. Director Sveinsson noted that the conversion effort was led by Technical
Services Librarian Cary Herzig, who did an excellent job at working with the vendor
to resolve problems, and that Circulation Clerk Julie Conlee provided a great deal of
assistance in identifying and helping to resolve problems, as well as in drafting new
procedures and training other staff members.
The Teen Read Week celebration went well; Children's Book Week will be
celebrated the week of November 15th.
It was noted that it would be helpful to expand the Circulation Clerk temp pool.
The Annual Volunteer Recognition Banquet hosted by the City will be held on
Thursday, November 17th.
b. Status report re: Tutor.com service.
The Library will launch a new service in December that will link a student with a
tutor via an online classroom. This service will be accessible from the Library's
public access computers, as well as remotely via a link from the Library's website.
Core academic assistance in math, science, social studies and English for grades
4-12 and introductory college courses will be available from 3 p.m. to 10 p.m. 7
days a week. Live Homework Help en Espanol will provide the same service for
core academic assistance in math and science for grades 4-12 from 3 p.m. to 9
p.m. Sunday through Thursday. The staff sees a lot of students who need
homework assistance, which is beyond the scope of reference assistance; the
reference staff can help them find materials and guide their research, but the staff
are not teachers and do not have the subject specific training to address all levels of
these subjects - nor does the Library have enough staffing to provide that level of
service. Some public libraries have developed after-school homework programs,
but they are largely dependent on educators who volunteer their time. This program
is a more flexible option that is more viable for this community.
Director Sveinsson had been very interested in providing this service ever since she
first became aware of it, but the cost was prohibitive; what has made it possible now
is that the Library is getting a greatly reduced price by participating in a consortium
of libraries from the Northeast Texas Library System and the North Texas Regional
Library System. Director Sveinsson is, however, seeking a corporate sponsor for
this service so that it won't impact other areas of the operating budget.
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c. Status report re: grants.
The Library received a grant from Sam's Club of $875 to purchase library furniture.
d. Update re: Friends of the Library activities.
The next book sale will be held on Saturday, December 3rd. The Pictures with
Santa event will also be held on the 3rd. The Friends are offering new book bags for
sale; the reading tiger design used several years ago on a smaller book bags is now
featured on the larger book bag.
The next meeting will be held on December 1, 2005, at 7:00 p.m.
The meeting adjourned at 8:54 p.m.
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Chantrill, Secretary