Report_Library Board of Trustees 7 25 13Carnegie -Stout Public Library
Library Board of Trustees Update
From the Meeting of
July 25, 2013
Present: Paula Connors, President; Frederick Miller, Secretary; Trustees,
Daniel Boice, John Anderson - Bricker and Jenny Weiss
Excused: Diann Guns and Mike Willis
The Board met Thursday, July 29. Below is a summary of their meeting:
• June 30 closed fiscal year 2013. Expenditures were at 99 percent and
revenue at 123 percent of projections ($127,888). The balance of the
operating budget at the end of June 30 was $16,490.34. A carryover will
be requested for unfinished CIPs and for the continuing education and
travel /conference lines to pay expenses for the ALA conference which was
budgeted for and started in FY 13 and but ended in FY 14. Even with
adjustments, the library will come in under budget for the 11th consecutive
year.
• The "Geek the Library" marketing campaign will launch on August 1 and
will run for six months. In this context, Geek is a verb and is used to
describe something that you enjoy or love. The message is that whatever
one geeks the library supports it. This campaign is intended to raise
awareness of the library and what if offers.
• Adult Services has begun targeting the audience of "younger adults" —
those ages 18 — 35. Once young adults leave school they often leave
behind their visits to the library and are not seen again until they have
children. The librarians have done an excellent job of promoting programs
to reach this demographic. One example is the "Artemis" program held on
Wednesday, July 17. This is a Star Trek themed program that is a
multiplayer, multi - computer networked game. Players assumed the roles
of the captain and bridge crew of a starship, with the networked computers
providing work stations (helm, engineering, weapons, and so on) as well
as mission objectives, friendly starbases, and enemy ships. The program
filled and attendees completed an evaluation at the conclusion of the
event. Over 62 percent were within the targeted age group and 31
percent reported that this was the first time they had attended a library
event.
• The month of June reflected a sharp decrease in business, which has
gradually declined beginning in January of this year. A certain level of
decrease can be expected as the renovation is no longer a novelty. During
our pre - renovation planning a 25 percent increase in business was
projected before seeing a decrease and leveling of business. Our
increase actually hit 31 percent before it began to decrease in January of
this year. When we compare the end of this fiscal year to the end of the
last year pre- renovation we realize an increase of about 25 percent. Five
factors have been identified that likely have influenced this decrease:
o A predicted decrease in business after the dramatic increase post -
renovation
o Economy rebounding (library use is conversely related to the
economy)
o Lack of awareness of what we offer
o Position of weakness to exploit digital materials. (Quoting librarian
Andrew Fuerste - Henry: " ... more people are embracing e-books
and we're not fully able to serve them. I doubt our increase in
digital library use is keeping up with the overall increase in digital
media use. A lot of this is due to the continued reluctance of major
publishers to enter the library e-book market."
o Perception of crime /safety in downtown Dubuque
Ideas to overcome these challenges include marketing and outreach. We
will discuss specifics during our upcoming strategic planning sessions.
• The Board approved an updated meeting room policy
• The Board approved the recommendation made by the Art Subcommittee
to offer four recently donated portraits, painted by Joseph Walter, to the
Dubuque Museum of Art. The works require extensive restoration.
• The Board considered a request for a loan of Appraisal for an exhibit in
Texas and concurred with the recommendation from the Dubuque
Museum of Art to not loan the painting.
• The annual meeting of the Board of Trustees is scheduled for August.
Library Board of Trustees
Paula Connors, Interim Board President
Mike Willis, President
Frederick Miller, Board Secretary
Daniel Boice
John Anderson - Bricker
Diann Guns
Jenny Weiss
Susan Henricks, Director