Minutes_Library Board of Trustees 8 25 11Carnegie-Stout Public Library
Board of Trustees
Meeting Minutes of August 25, 2011
The Board of Trustees of the Carnegie-Stout Public Library (C-SPL) met in
Meeting Room #2, at the Grand River Center, 500 Bell Street, Dubuque, Iowa, at
4:00 p.m. on Thursday, August 25, 2011.
Present: President Paula Connors; Vice President Mike Willis, Secretary
Frederick Miller; Trustee Diann Guns (arrived at 4:15 p.m.);
Trustee John Anderson-Bricker, Trustee Jenny Harris (arrived at
4:38 p.m.), Library Director Susan Henricks, Recorders Denette
Kellogg and Jennifer Long
Excused: Trustee David Hammer
1. President Paula Connors called the meeting to order at 4:11 p.m. and the
agenda was adopted.
2011."
"Moved to adopt the meeting agenda of Thursday, August 25,
Motion: Mike Willis
Second: Frederick Miller
Vote: Aye — 4; Nay — 0
2. Approval of Library Board of Trustees' Minutes of Thursday, June 30, 2011, and
Thursday, July 28, 2011.
"Moved to approve the Board Minutes of Thursday, June 30, 2011."
Motion: Mike Willis
Second: John Anderson-Bricker
Vote: Aye - 4; Nay — 0
Approval of Library Board of Trustees' Minutes of Thursday, July 28, 2011.
"Moved to approve the Board Minutes of Thursday, July 28, 2011,
with the spelling correction on page 5, Item B, Paragraph 3, of hydra
thermographs to be corrected to hygrothermagraph."
Motion: Mike Willis
Second: Frederick Miller
Vote: Aye — 4; Nay - 0
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• Board President's Report - Communication with Dubuque City Council for July
28, 2011.
"Moved to receive and file the Communication with the Dubuque
City Council from Thursday, July 28, 2011, and the Tentative Library
Board Meeting Dates through September 2012."
Motion: Diann Guns
Second: Mike Willis
Vote: Aye — 5; Nay — 0
4. Motion to Receive and File Informational Items:
A. Library Director's Report Summary and Update: Henricks provided a
written summary of the following items to the Library Board with
additional comments:
1) Library Financial Report — Henricks reported that eight
percent of the fiscal year has passed with nine percent of
the budget expended. During a State Library meeting
Henricks attended in Des Moines last week, she reported
that the State Librarian confirmed that funding from the
State of Iowa to libraries will be cut a total of twenty-five
percent. Henricks reported that the utility bills for the
coming year will be able to be covered this year; however
they will be higher than planned on due to the boilers
running twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. Guns
requested that Henricks talk to KJWW, the HVAC
construction program engineer, about this and report back
to the Board.
2) Library Use Statistics — Henricks reported that Library visits
were up twenty-five percent last month, which likely was
record setting. Desk top Internet use is stable; however the
circulation of lap tops increased seventy percent and is very
popular with patrons. The Lending Library will be installed at
the Asbury Hy-Vee on September 6, 2011. It will include a
drive-up materials return box in the parking lot. The
vending machine will hold 246 items and will contain the
newest and most popular materials, including children's
books.
3) Personnel Update — Henricks reported that interviews for the
part-time Library Aide position for the Recommendations
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Desk will begin and seventy-five applications were received.
Ten applicants have Master's Degrees in Library and
Information Science. Part-tinne Library Assistant Karen Kritz
also retired and interviews will begin for this position soon.
4) Long Range Plan Update — Henricks recommended that a
community survey be administered by an outside
organization using scientific methods. She contacted a
couple of companies and discussed the different types of
surveys with them and their costs. The options are
telephone surveys and mail surveys which both have
strengths and weaknesses.
Renovation — Open Issues — A meeting was held on
Thursday, August 18, 2011 for the Heating Ventilation and
Air Conditioning (HVAC) system. Scot Geis ler, from Geis ler
Brothers, two mechanical engineers from KJWW (including
the designer), three representatives from Engineered
Controls, Fred Miller from the Board, Steve Brown from City
Engineering, and three library staff members attended the
meeting. The outcome was that KJWW would be in contact
with Library Maintenance staff daily to receive an update on
the system's performance and will work directly with
contractors to resolve the outstanding issues. The belief is
that within three weeks the HVAC system will be fully
operational.
Henricks reported no further progress has been made on the
letter from the City Attorney to Tricon Construction Group
outlining our concerns with a deadline for completion of
corrective measures. Henricks will follow up with City
Engineering.
Tricon met with the manufacturer of the non-functioning
shade over the skylight in the auditorium. The manufacturer
found some problems with the installation which was
performed by Tricon's subcontractor, Wisconsin Window
Concepts. Tricon has been providing Henricks with weekly
updates and the last report was that the manufacturer
would write up a summary of their findings. It has been
twenty-four months since the shade was installed and it has
operated seven months out of the twenty-four. As a
resolution is negotiated, if the shade is kept, Henricks would
like to insist on an extended warranty as the warranty is four
years and two have already passed.
6) Art Subcommittee Meeting Minutes — Henricks reported that
the Art Subcommittee is currently receiving applications for
the Art @ Your Library® art exhibits and will be reviewed at
the September meeting.
B. Library Comment Cards - The Library Board reviewed the two
comment cards.
"Moved to receive and file the informational update from the
Library Director on the Library Financial Report, Library Use Statistics,
Long Range Plan Update, Personnel Update, Renovations — Open
Issues, Art Subcommittee Meeting Minutes, and Library Comment
Cards."
Motion: Willis
Second: Guns
Vote: Aye — 6; Nay — 0
5. Items for Action/Discussion: Community Survey - Henricks provided
proposals from Alta Vista Research and Himmel & Wilson, Library Consultants.
Alta Vista Research proposes telephone surveys, which would include cell
phones, with the target being 400 completed surveys that will be
approximately seven to eight minutes in length. Himmel & Wilson, Library
Consultants, can conduct telephone surveys, mail surveys, and web-based
surveys. Henricks suggested an outside firm conduct the surveys due to the
amount of time it would require and that the information would be more
readily accepted by City Officials. Guns stated she is in favor of a survey,
however, questioned doing only telephone surveys as Alta Vista Research
proposes since many people no longer have land lines. Miller questioned if
the survey would be only for people on the west end or if it would be for the
whole community. Henricks responded it would be a community wide survey.
Harris wanted to clarify that Alta Vista Research would do land lines and cell
phones or mail survey; however, she wanted to make sure she understood
correctly that the Himmel & Wilson, Library Consultants, proposal included
phone surveys, mail surveys, and web surveys. Henricks stated that this was
included in the strategic planning; Henricks thought it included all but the
staff and public focus groups. Henricks stated she would get clarification on
what is exactly included with each company for just the survey. Miller
questioned whether on the library card database, a patron's age and usage is
tracked. Henricks stated that birthdates are entered, but once a person is
issued an Adult card, it is not age specific. Guns stated it is important to
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reach out to those not using the Library and to get their support for future
spending. Guns stated it is most important to know what both traditional
Library users and non-traditional Library users are wanting. Harris is
concerned about the web survey being ignored because it is easier to click
"No" than to say "No" to a live person. Henricks stated she would rather
have a phone or mail survey over the web survey, and she would like to be
involved in the development of the survey questions.
The Board requested that Henricks contact Himmel & Wilson, Library
Consultants, and ask for a quote for just the survey and exactly what would
be included for that cost and then report back to the Board.
6. Library Board Adjournment - The Board adjourned at 5:26 p.m.
"Motion to adjourn."
Motion: Harris
Second: Anderson-Bricker
Vote: Aye — 6; Nay — 0
Frederick K.
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