Minutes_Library Board of Trustees 9 29 11Carnegie-Stout Public Library
Board of Trustees'
Meeting Minutes of September 29, 2011
The Board of Trustees of the Carnegie-Stout Public Library (C-SPL) met in the
Board Room at 4:00 p.m. on Thursday, September 29, 2011.
Present: President Paula Connors; Vice President Mike Willis; Secretary
Frederick Miller; Trustee John Anderson-Bricker; Trustee David
Hammer; Trustee Diann Guns; Library Director Susan Henricks;
Recorder Denette Kellogg and Jennifer Long
Excused: Trustee Jenny Harris
1. President Paula Connors called the meeting to order at 4:02 p.m. and the
agenda was adopted.
2011."
"Moved to adopt the meeting agenda of Thursday, September 29,
Motion:
Second: Miller
Vote: Aye — 6; Nay — 0
Hammer questioned why Item 5.B. Library Exterior Signage Review was
placed on the Agenda. Henricks stated it was in case the Board wanted to
add anything to the previous discussions on the signage based on the latest
communication from the Historic Preservation Commission.
2. Approval of Library Board of Trustees' Minutes of Thursday, August 25, 2011.
"Moved to approve the Board minutes of Thursday, August 25,
2011."
Motion: Willis
Second: Anderson-Bricker
Vote: Aye - 6; Nay - 0
Board President's Report:
A. Communication with Dubuque City Council for August 25, 2011.
"Moved to receive and file the Communication with the Dubuque
City Council from August 25, 2011."
Motion: Guns
Second: Anderson-Bricker
Vote: Aye - 6; Nay - 0
Anderson-Bricker then asked for an explanation on how the twenty-
five percent reduction in funding to libraries by the legislature will
affect Carnegie-Stout. Henricks reported the Library will not really
notice it since it is a relatively small amount of money; however, what
will be felt more is the cuts to the State Library's funding because they
fund the majority of the cost for one of our most popular databases.
Miller asked for clarification on the terminology of "Lending Library"
mentioned in the third point of the Update and it was decided that for
clarification in the future it would be referred to as the "Lending
Library Vending Machine".
B. Swearing in of Trustee David Hammer: President Paula Connors noted
that David Hammer needed to be sworn in for his new four-year term.
Hammer was then sworn in by Connors.
4. Motion to Receive and File Informational Items:
A. Input from Board Member Frederick Miller: Miller addressed the Board
in reference to the Library's Long Range Planning process and thanked
the Board members and Henricks for meeting with him about his
questions and their feedback. He reported he researched strategic
plans and the process and noted that he found a great variance in
form and substance of what is printed and published and what is
placed on the Internet. He also noted that other libraries use in-house
surveys with drop boxes, focus group meetings, web-based
questionnaires, and mass media promotion for public input such as
advertisements in newspapers. He provided some information on
investigating some issues the Board has reviewed in the past few
months. He then concluded with discussing the Intercultural
Competency Training he attended.
B. Library Director's Report Summary and Update: Henricks provided a
written summary of the following items to the Library Board with the
following additional comments:
1) Library Financial Report — Henricks reported that the month
of August marked seventeen percent of the fiscal year as
lapsed. Revenue was at twelve percent of the budget
projections. Henricks reported that financial reports for
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FY11 came in at about $22,000 under budget and that the
budget planning process for FY13 has begun.
Guns questioned if the change in the Fines Policy which
raised the fine level to ten dollars to remove a barrier in
using the self-check machines is working. Henricks stated
that tracking has begun on the self-check machines and
their use. August showed 10,209 self-check machine check-
outs and there have been more self-check machines and
three DVD unlocks installed and will continue to be
monitored and success should be easier to identify in the
coming months.
2) Library Use Statistics — Henricks reported that there was a
fifteen percent increase in the number of visitors and a
thirteen percent increase in the number of circulations over
this time last year. July and August circulations of
downloadable material are 1,740 titles. Henricks also
reported that Sony e-Reader circulation will began the week
of September 26 and is at the Reference Desk.
3) Lending Library — Henricks reported that the lending library,
located at the Asbury Plaza Hy-Vee, was installed and is
working. She noted that advertisements are running in the
Telegraph Herald, Golden View, 365 ink, Julien's Journal,
and on the Library website. The book/AV drop box is also
installed at the Asbury Plaza Hy-Vee.
Willis inquired about the lending library vending machine
and what were the problems that were noted in the report.
Henricks stated that the machine was asking for a dollar if
the patron used the wrong keypad and there is no place to
put money into the machine, the paper was curling and not
coming out of the machine correctly, and the first two days
there were technical issues which have been corrected. The
van is now equipped with an unlocking device so
maintenance can unlock any DVD that was left locked.
Henricks stated that, so far, children's books and DVDs have
been the most popular. Anderson-Bricker questioned if
eventually there would be a whole row of popular titles and
Henricks replied that eventually that could happen,
depending on funding.
Miller stated he felt the machine needed a sign on top
stating it is "Carnegie-Stout Public Library". Henricks
responded that an LED sign has been ordered and is
coming. Henricks also stated that a thirty-second television
ad is coming and she will send the final ad to the Board.
4) Personnel Update — Henricks reported that she sent a
recommendation to City Personnel for the part-time Library
Aide position in Adult Services. Currently there is a vacancy
in I.T. due to a promotion, for which candidate testing and
interviews have begun. Henricks also reported that she has
requested that a position at the Recommendations Desk
become a full-time position, with the additional cost for
benefits to be funded by a part-time vacancy, which would
be left unfilled; however, this was declined.
Guns inquired as to the need for the change from part-tinne
to full-time. Henricks reported it is more about retaining a
strong staff. Henricks reported that since there is a shortage
of jobs for professional librarians, the Library has attracted
professionals in paraprofessional positions due to the
salaries; however, retention will be difficult because they
want benefits and a full-time position in their field. Guns
questioned how the savings will be seen from Betty Baule's
retirement if a person has been promoted to her position
and a new full-time person is hired. Henricks stated that
since Betty was at the top of her rate, and had longevity, the
new people start at the bottom of the pay range with no
longevity which accounts for a savings of over $50,000 by
2017. Also, a separate vacancy would not be filled, which
would provide for $13, 000 annually that could be
reallocated to benefits for a full-time position.
Henricks reported that next to the Circulation Desk, the
Recommendation Desk is the second busiest.
5) Construction Update — Henricks reported that Wisconsin
Window Concepts has been in to repair the shade in the
auditorium. Tim Wilgenbush, foreman from Tricon, came
September 30, 2011 to meet with Wisconsin Window
Concepts (who was at the Library to reinstall the shade)
about the issues with the shade and reported that he
believes the shade is still incorrectly installed. Tim also
reported that a Wisconsin Window Concepts repair person
broke a glass panel in the skylight in the auditorium and a
tear was found in the shades from France. Tim stated they
would repair the glass and repair or replace the shade that
was torn. Miller asked if the shade was now repaired and
Henricks responded she did not believe so.
Henricks stated that Wisconsin Window Concepts is coming
back Thursday, October 6, 2011, to determine if debris is
settling on the glass. Guns questioned if the manufacturer
suggested a barrier to stop the debris. Susan stated she did
not recall seeing anything about that in their report and
would need to review the material from the manufacturer.
Guns stated that if the debris continues to be an issue after
the shade is properly installed, then OPN would need to be
contacted about the design problems.
Steve Brown, City Engineering, sent a draft of the letter
regarding outstanding issues with Tricon Construction Group
for Barry Lindahl's review. Willis questioned if the
attachment noted on the letter was included. Henricks
stated she did not receive the attachment. The Board
requested Henricks review and approve the attachment so
that the letter could be sent to Tricon as soon as possible.
Guns questioned how the Heating Ventilation and Air
Conditioning (HVAC) system is working. Henricks reported
that Engineered Controls, Geis ler Brothers, and another
company were in September 30, 2011, to try to balance the
system. Henricks reported progress has been made but she
needs to review concerns expressed by Maintenance staff
regarding open issues.
C. Library Comment Cards - The Library Board reviewed the comments
cards.
"Moved to receive and file the informational update from the
Library Director on the Library Financial Report FY12 and Budget
FY13, Library Use Statistics, Lending Library Update, Personnel
Update, Construction Renovation Update and Library Comment
Cards."
Motion: Miller
Second: Hammer
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Vote: Aye — 6; Nay — 0
5. Items for Action:
A. Long Range Plan: Community Survey — Henricks reviewed what
Himmel & Wilson, Library Consultants, would include in their cost to
conduct a community survey as requested from the previous Board
Meeting, and stated it would be a mail survey that would be expected
to yield scientific data that can be generalized to the population as a
whole with a ninety-five percent confidence level. Himmel & Wilson
would begin by visiting with the Library Board and Henricks to explore
areas of interest to the Board and to create the survey tool which can
also provide the framework for the Library's Strategic Plan. Himmel &
Wilson's fee included conducting the survey, analyzing the data, and
presenting the results. Henricks questioned Himmel & Wilson on how
they would receive back the desired four-hundred surveys required to
achieve the desired results and was informed that they would send out
around a thousand surveys, with more surveys released if needed.
Henricks reported that Himmel & Wilson stated that the more
promotion done to inform the public of the upcoming survey, the
better the results. Guns asked Henricks for her recommendation.
Henricks reported that her concern with doing a telephone survey is
that many cell phone numbers in Dubuque do not have a telephone
number with a 563 area code, and many younger people do not have
landlines. Henricks recommended the mail survey over phone for
these reasons, with Himmel & Wilson administering and reporting on
the survey due to their experience in working with libraries.
"Moved to contract with Himmel & Wilson, Library
Consultants, to conduct the Library's community survey with the
funding to come from the Maher Trust Fund."
Motion: Guns
Second: Hammer
Vote: Aye — 6; Nay — 0
B. Library Exterior Signage Review: Henricks reported that the Historic
Preservation Commission (HPC) was interested in seeing a new sign
design and shared the letter written from the HPC to the Board of
Trustees requesting that their initial recommendations for the signs be
adopted. The new design was sent; however, unchanged except for
color. The Board agreed to follow their original plan to only change
the color of the sign. Hammer expressed his frustration at the amount
of time the Board has spent on the sign issue. Lange Sign
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acknowledges that they did not have a permit in hand when they
installed the sign. Henricks asked if painting the columns could be
done, even if the signs are left, as they are chipping and peeling.
"Moved to go before the City Council, with Henricks
representing the Board, and ask for a waiver on the signs, with the
understanding to the incongruity of the paint color on the columns
that the Board recommends repainting the columns and the top
and ask the City Council to waive the signs with that
recommendation."
Motion: Guns
Second: Hammer
Vote: Aye — 6; Nay — 0
6. Communications/Public Comment: Henricks informed the Board she had
spoken with Brad Brown from OPN Architects and the Library has won a
design award. Henricks reported she will get a copy of the award and
present it to the Board upon its receipt.
7. Library Board Adjournment - The Board adjourned at 5:17 p.m.
"Motion to adjourn."
Motion: Miller
Second: Anderson-Bricker
Vote: Aye -- 6; Nay — 0
Frederick K. Miller,
ep
oard Secretary
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