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HomeMy WebLinkAbout06/19/08 Library MINUTES OF THE LIBRARY BOARD OF THE CITY OF THE COLONY June 19,2008 A REGULAR SESSION of the Library Board of the City of The Colony, Texas, was called to order by Vice-Chair Skelton at 7:02 p.m. Present: Sandy Gehrke Place 1 Wanda Spears Place 3 Jayme Skelton Place 5 Wayne Bullard Place 6 Joan Sveinsson Library Director Jo Chantrill Library Secretary Absent: Diana Kruzich Place 2 Personal Lorraine Clark Place 4 Personal Sue Parks Place 7 Business 1. Citizens Input. None. 2. Consideration and approval of minutes of the board meeting held on March 20, 2008. The minutes were approved as presented. 3. Review of Board member notebooks. Member Gehrke moved to table this item to the next meeting. Member Bullard seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously. 4. Discussion and consideration of proposed revisions to the Proctoring Policy Director Sveinsson explained that the proposed revisions reflect changes in the way the educational institutions process proctored exams, as well as changes in the Library facility. The student now makes the arrangements with the institution and contacts the Reference Librarian to verify if the exam has been received; in some cases, the exam is taken online. Faxing completed exams to the educational institution is at times necessary. One of the new Study Rooms is used for exam proctoring when internet access is not required. Member Bullard moved to accept the proposed revisions. .Member Gehrke seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously. 5. Discussion and consideration of recommendations regarding proposed revisions to the Fees Schedule. Director Sveinsson reported that staff recommends increasing the exam proctoring fee from $10.00 to $15.00 which is still lower than most neighboring libraries charge. Director Sveinsson will present any further recommendations for consideration at the July meeting. 6. Discussion of topics from the CDC Community Master Plan Charettes. Two design workshops regarding the Community Development Master plan were held on Tuesday, June 17, bringing together different groups from staff, council, and boards to discuss priorities and values to be considered in developing the Master Plan. Director Sveinsson attended both meetings. 7. Library Director's report. a. Status re: operations. The Summer Reading incentive clubs already have 380 preschool and school-age members enrolled. The programs are very well-attended. There was some concern that there might be protestors on site during the circus clown program; no protestors showed and the program went very well. The costume character, Lilly, from Lilly's Purple Plastic Purse, visited the Library on June 18th. Lack of adequate parking space to meet the demand during the summer programs was brought to the attention of Director Sveinsson last month. Director Sveinsson obtained permission from the property manager of the shopping center across Main Street for Library and City Hall staff to park in the south end of that lot on Wednesday afternoons during the Summer Reading Club programs. Cooperation from Library and City Hall staff has freed up a goodly number of spaces for parents and caretakers bringing children to the programs. Director Sveinsson noted the additional parking shortage that will be created by the widening of Main Street, which will eliminate part of the current City Hall/Library parking lot. Some work was to be done this summer on the cell tower currently housed in the flagpole in front of the building; this work would have temporarily taken up a number of parking spaces. Director Sveinsson and Youth Services Librarian Snyder met with Assistant City Manager Tony Johnston, who has agreed to arrange postponement of that work until after the last summer program, to discuss future approaches to the loss of parking spaces. This summer, Gabi Estes is again helping in Youth Services part-time and Holly Martin is working full-time in Circulation. The Library was budgeted to replace 15 of the public access computers this year; the IT department found such good prices, that the Library will be able to replace 18 computers and the two aging servers that currently run the public access network. The old reference desk is also budgeted to be replaced this year. Director Sveinsson discussed some input received regarding the formats included in the Library's DVD collection; three contacts, which mayor may not have been from the same individual, have encouraged the Library to cease purchasing full-screen format in favor of wide-screen format. Director Sveinsson noted that staff generally does purchase wide- screen format if it is available; however, she is analyzing the past year's acquisitions. Some of these contacts also specified a preference for more Science and Science Fiction DVD materials. Director Sveinsson toured Dallas Public Library's new children's library "Bookmarks", located in North Park Mall, and the newly renovated Highland Park Library. The Library has added three new electronic resources this year: LitFinder, Encyclopedia Britannica online, and Gale Legal Forms, in addition to the new downloadable audiobook service North Texas Audio On the Go. b. Status report re: grant projects: The Library has received a $2,500 Texas Book Festival Grant to transition more of the audiobook collection to cd format and to fill in gaps in the collection of audiobook series. Staff is continuing to expend the Loan Start Libraries grant funds for the approved projects. Director Sveinsson responded to a survey from the Texas State Library and Archives Commission regarding future grant projects that might be funded if the Loan Star Grant amount were to be increased in FY 2010-2011. Co-Serv Charitable Foundation has awarded the Library a grant of $5,225 in support of the Live Homework Help service. Library Board 6-19-2008 Page 3 The Library received two matching grants of $75 each from the Texas Commission on the Arts to help fund two of the summer reading club programs. c. Update re: Friends of the Library activities. The Library and FOTCPL have decided to forego having a booth at the Liberty By The Lake event on July 4th due to the lack of willing volunteers to staff the booth. The Library and FOTCPL will plan to participate in the Pirates Days events on October 18th and 19th. The next Library Board meeting is scheduled for July 24, 2008. The meeting adjourned at 8:50 p.m.