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HomeMy WebLinkAbout09/25/97 Library Board MINUTES OF THE LIBRARY BOARD OF THE CITY OF THE COLONY SEPTEMBER 25, 1997 A REGULAR SESSION of the Library Board of the City of The Colony, Texas, was called to order by Chair Jayme Skelton at 7:00 pm. Present: Diana Kruzich Place 2 Lorraine Clark Place 4 Jayme Skelton Place 5 Wayne Bullard Place 6 Joan Sveinsson Library Director Jacqie Waldrop-Hays Library Secretary Absent: Sandri Gehrke-Place 1 (Business) James Althaus-Place 3 (Personal business) Sue Parks-Place 7 (Personal business). 1. Citizen's Input. None. 2. Consideration of approval of minutes of the board meeting held July 24, 1997. Minutes stand approved. 3. Discussion and consideration of proposed revisions to the Circulation Policy. To improve customer service through reasonable accommodation, staff proposed the addition of a statement in the policy that would authorize staff to apply discretionary judgment in negotiating extended loan periods to accommodate patrons's travel schedules. The proposal was approved unanimously. 4. Reports: a. Quality of Life Committee Representative Report: Member Bullard expressed concern that Library representation at the Committee meetings be strengthened. He reported that there was strong representation for Parks & Recreation in attendance at the last committee meeting. Member Bullard asked for volunteers to alternate with him to attend these meetings on Tuesdays. Member Skelton will take Oct. 7th and 28th, Member Clark will take Oct. 14th and Nov. llth, and Member Bullard will take Oct. 21st and Nov. 4th. If the economic development sales tax is passed, the committee will be presenting a list of projects for funding. During the presentations at the last Committee meeting, Member Bullard mentioned the citizen survey results which indicated that people page 1 want the Library to expand. Member Bullard will prepare and present to the committee information from the Library Board regarding the Library's needs. The committee's work has to be finalized and approved by Dec. 1, 1997 for presentation to City Council. b. Chairman: No report. c. NTRLS System Representative: Director Sveinsson reported that the NTRLS system meeting was held today and the System has been going through a lot of changes. She has seen a lot of positive forward motion. The report that the NTRLS Executive Director gave was a formal, well-prepared report. The Texas Library Association and the State Library are looking at initiating a State-wide reading program with the theme "Read for Your Life". In order to support this project, they are looking at the funding aspect. One idea is to re-allocate some of each System's collection development funding to the project. A Federated Friends of the Library is being established. All the Friends of the Library groups in NTRLS are joining forces to raise the funds for the NTRLS reserve fund. Legislation passed allowing NTRLS to roll over some of the current year funds into it, but additional funding is needed. An additional fund-raising project is a major sculpture exhibit and art festival to be held in the spring of 1998 in Fort Worth. Top sculptors around the country will be featured. Also, libraries may exhibit the sculptures; there will be a contact number if someone wishes to buy one. d. Library Director: 1) Usage: Director Sveinsson stated that another circulation record was broken in July; 14,038 items were checked out, which is a 34% increase over July 1996 circulation. 2) Summer Reading Club: A total of 696 children signed up for the 1997 Summer Reading Club; 352 children completed the program. The increase in signups was 5.3% over 1996 and the completion rate improved from 38.88% in 1996 to 50.57% in 1997. One young patron and her mother sent the Library staff a "thank you" note, stating; "You're the best! Thank you for another summer of fun." 3) Staffing: Youth Services Librarian Debbie Brightwell has accepted a position with the public library in Coppell; her last day in the office was August 29th. The position opening has been posted. The librarian salary is becoming even less competitive as area libraries have been increasing their entry level salaries. For page 2 example, Coppell currently pays $26,903 (and has a proposal before Council to increase it to $28,819 in the new fiscal year). Our entry level librarian salary is $23,544. Grapevine currently has a Reference Librarian vacancy; starting salary is $28,140 (with Council approval, on 10/01/97 will increase to $29,952). Staff is preparing for this vacancy. Library Secretary Jacqie Waldrop-Hays will be handling most of the Tuesday storytimes and our Saturday storytime volunteer has been recruited to handle the Friday storytimes also. Additional storytime volunteers would be welcomed! Reference Librarian Sapp has volunteered to cut her vacation short, due to the impending staff shortage. Processing of materials will also be impacted, as Technical Services Librarian May will be needed for more hours on the Reference Desk. 4) Promotional events: In September, Stewart's Creek Elementary School is our School of the Month. The School of the Month program was initiated last May with the inspiration coming from the Ethridge P.T.A. The focus of the program is to encourage students to get a card at the public library. The Open House at City Hall, featuring displays by the City departments and by developers, was very successful. Director Sveinsson was thankful for the assistance of Board Members Kruzich and Clark in staffing the Library's display. 5) Facility & equipment: A panic bar has been installed on the exit door from the staff lounge, creating another emergency exit for the staff area. Technical Services Librarian May has found a printer who can produce barcode labels at a considerable savings; those savings, combined with other savings from the Reference and Adult service area, are being used to purchases the two additional book carts which were cut from the 97-98 budget. A used typewriter has been transferred from the Human Resources Department. It is being tested to see if it is a viable replacement for the one in the worst condition in our department; purchase of a replacement typewriter was an unfunded proposal for next fiscal year. The new file server and workstations will be installed in early September. The new bicycle rack should arrive soon; it was ready to be shipped when UPS went on strike. 6) Collection: Response to the audio CD survey have been very helpful and are continuing to come in. One order of CD's based on the survey has been received and more will be ordered before the end of September. 7) Customer Service: Director Sveinsson then asked for Board input regarding staff's decision in refusing to allow a patron to check out with a fine still on his record. Staff had already page 3 waived part of his fines due to extenuating circumstances. The patron became quite angry. The Board expressed support of the __ staff's decision. The meeting adjourned at 8:15 pm. on, Chair Ja~qi~Waldrop-Ha~s, Secretary page 4