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Minutes Library Update 10 27 05 Carnegie-Stow Puh/ic Ubrwy Librar)' Board of 71'ustees Update Froll1the Meeting of October 27, 2005 ~ Staff Update - Genesis Gaule has been hired as a part-time Clerical Assistant in Administration, Genesis worked in the library for two years in Circulation before she and her husband moved to California for his internship through Wartburg Theological Seminary and is now back in the area, Mirdza Berzins has been hired as Library Aide filling a vacancy due to the retirement of Sherry Ewert. Mirdza holds a Masters Degree in Library and Information Science and has worked in two public libraries in the Chicago suburbs before returning to Dubuque. The Relations Committee agreed to review various evaluation tools prior to scheduling the Library Director's annual performance evaluation. ~ Departmental Review Update - The Library Department Review has been completed. Consensus on priorities and recommendations and the executive summary needs to be completed. This will take place after the FY 07 budget activities are concluded. ~ Programs and Events - The annual Christtnas tree lighting ceremony program is scheduled for December 4. A holiday reception for staff, board, Foundation, Friends and volunteers will be held prior to the board meeting on December 15 at 3 :00. ~ Art work - The library-owned Grant Wood works Appraisal and Victorian Survival are on display at the Cedar Rapids Museum of Art and from there will travel to the Smithsonian Renwick Gallery in Washington, D.C. The Library has been contacted by a broker with an exploratory offer of $5,000,000 for the purchase of Appraisal. The board determined the picture is not for sale pending further information such as a current appraisal and terms of the Lull Trust fund from which the work was originally purchased. ~ Window Treatment CIP - Payment for the new draperies has been withheld pending rework of the window treatments on second floor which were too short. ~ Budget Update - the only CIP submitted for funding consideration this year is for an HV AC maintenance fund. The HV AC system is due for replacement next summer, however with the renovation plan likely, repairing the existing system until it is replaced in the renovation is the recommended approach. A list of 19 Improvement Package proposals was reviewed and priorities established prior to submission to the Budget Director by November 4. It was agreed the first priority was the need for security guards to cover 40 - 64 hours. Staffing requests are based on the goal to have each library department stand on its own without drawing from staff in other library departments in order staff public desks. In most cases the cost of filling in is high salary-wise as well as in the loss of effectiveness and efficiency of the loaning department. 25% of the fiscal year has lapsed with 23% of the budget expended and 17.6% of projected revenue generated. ~ Long Range Planning - Preliminary nominations were reviewed for the Community Planning Committee. Stakeholders should represent diverse groups in the community: youth, seniors, minorities, business, government, social services, finance, churches, education, etc. Board members will submit additional names which the Director will compile for further discussion and final selection at the November board meeting. 15 will be selected. Dates for the community planning meetings are Saturday, January 14 and February I 1,2006. ~ Renovation update - Library managers will meet with OPN Architects on November 2 to review preliminary drawings for the proposed renovation. When the plans are revised and refined they will be presented to the Library Trustees and Foundation Board. Following Trustee approval the plans will be presented to the City Council for their review and request for support in moving forward with the project. Presentation to the City Council will take place in the spring of2006. ~ Friends and Foundation update - Friends of the Library raised about $4,000 during their annual book sale with nearly $1,000 of that from the silent auction put together by the Director and Administrative Assistant. Friends announced a half-price sale of all books in their inventory through the end of November. The Foundation has kicked off its Annual Fund drive with a goal of soliciting higher contributions. Dubuque Community Foundation Executive Director Nancy Van Milligen visited with the Foundation Board to discuss investing in the Foundation. The Library Foundation agreed to invest $10,000. ~ ILA Conference - The Iowa Library Association Conference was held in Dubuque October 19 _ 21 at the Grand River Center and was the largest conference the city has hosted in the new facility. People raved about the conference center and facilities. Author Louise Erdrich was the keynote speaker at the Friday luncheon event and visited the Library the evening before which 145 people attended. The Library was the successful bidder at the ILA silent auction ($650) for a service called WorldCat Collection Analysis. This service is value at $4,000 and is a collection evaluation and comparison tool. The outcome of the analysis will be to better plan our acquisitions budget while meeting community needs. Live Homework Help was launched in September through a Library Foundation grant. This interactive live homework help is presented via the Internet. Students from early elementary school through the first two years of college can visit with professional teachers to receive homework help from any computer (at home, school, or the library; anywhere there is Internet access) using their library card. Students receive assistance with a variety of subjects including math, science, social studies, and English. Many Spanish- speaking tutors are also available. The service is available every day from 2:00-11 :00 p.m. A supplementary reading component is offered during the summer. The interface includes text discussion, a whiteboard for the illustration of science, the diagramming of sentences, or to work out a tricky mathematical problem. Links to online resources may also be provided. The service always asks for student or parent feedback. Comments so far include: "Now every day my child can have help while I am at work!" "My tutor was the best. She even gave me a web site to help me with commas. I really improved my grades," "I think homework help is great. Every day my son comes on here. Thanks." "My tutor was awesome! He helped me understand everything step by step." 100% of the users responded that they were "glad the program is offered" 69% of the respondents said the service helped them to be more confident. 69% of the respondents said the service helped them to improve their grades. Librar\, Board oj'Trustees Alan Avery, Board President Susan Henricks, Director Sue Lindsay, Vice President Kristen Smith, Board Secretary Diann Guns Beverly Kolz Michael Shubatt