Minutes_Library Board of Trustees 6 19 14Carnegie -Stout Public Library
Library Board of Trustees Update
From the Meeting ofJune 19, 2014
Present: Mike Willis, President; Frederick Miller, Secretary; Trustees, John
Anderson -Bricker, Daniel Boice, and Diann Guns
Excused: Jenny Weiss, Vice President and Paula Connors
• Diann Guns and Fred Miller were recognized for their contribution to the
Library through their years of service on the Board of Trustees. Their
terms expire on June 30. Guns is now the President of the Library
Foundation.
• May marked 93% of the fiscal year passing and 91 % of the budget
expended. Revenue generated is at 103% of projections. The library is
well on target to come in under budget and present a savings to the City
as it continues to seek funds to compensate for a revenue shortfall this
current fiscal year.
• Increased use was seen in the number of minutes per session on Internet
computers by children, check out of children's books and DVDs, and
wireless access in the library. Downloadable materials were up 57%
compared year-to-date to last year. Check out of materials appears to
have rebounded somewhat from earlier months and is showing a less than
1% decrease by Dubuque card holders both month and year-to-date.
Open Access checkouts are down 5.8%.
• The Library Services Advisory Committee met on June 6 to discuss the
draft summary of the Committee's work, which when completed will be
presented to the Library Board of Trustees.
• The position of Circulation Assistant has attracted 154 applicants; the IT
Assistant position, 47; and the position of Clerk, 86 applications.
Interviews should begin within a week. The process has slowed due to the
migration of the new operating system. The migration has been a time-
consuming project for the supervisors in IT and Circulation.
• The migration to the new operating system was better than anticipated
and went quite smoothly. Work remains, which was expected due to the
scope of the project and staff continue to perform this work as well as
identify other areas that require attention. As glitches are identified they
are dealt with immediately and we are very pleased with the
responsiveness of the company we are working with: ByWater Solutions.
• Minutes of the last meeting (April 22, 2014) held with our architect,
engineering company, HVAC maintenance contractor and board members
Mike Willis and Paula Connors were received. Henricks is planning to
meet with Steve Sampson Brown for input prior to responding to the
minutes.
• Replacement elm veneer panels were not acceptable but time had run out
and another replacement product could not be made and installed by the
start of the summer reading program when space needed to be reclaimed
for public use. The new elm veneer was applied with a glue product over
the existing veneer, which left a very unsightly facade. We decided to
install the reworked elm veneer over the old veneer because even though
it does not look well it is much better than leaving the old panels exposed
with very large splotches of white glue. The contractor will return after the
summer reading program to complete the work. The elm veneer
replacement scheduled in other areas of the library will continue as
planned and include: the first floor kiosk desk, the Recommendations
Desk, and the Internet kiosk desk.
• The date for Library Board of Trustees' strategic planning session has
been confirmed for Saturday, September 27 from 8:30 until 2:30.
• On Monday, June 9 Ginger Lacy and Linda Avery -Lacy visited Dubuque.
They are cousins and great-granddaughters of Benjamin Lacy who was a
prominent person in Dubuque in the 19th and early 20th century. Benjamin
Lacy was very active in the Young Men's Library Association and an
advocate for the free public library. He served on William Boyd Allison's
campaign for US Senator. Allison went on to manage the US Treasury
and was a friend of Andrew Carnegie. These connections were influential
in the founding of Carnegie -Stout. Benjamin Lacy was the first person to
donate funds when the fundraising for furnishing the original library fell
short and contributed $1,000 which, today would be worth $25,000. Lacy
was appointed to the first Library Board of Trustees and served until his
sudden illness (a stroke) and death in 1912. Within a month the Mayor
appointed his son, Frank R. Lacy, to take Benjamin's place on the Library
Board and Frank served until 1951. When Frank died the Lacy gift trust
was established with a $12,000 donation. This gift fund is restricted.
When the interest builds we purchase books in the areas of history,
geography, travel, and biography in keeping with the wishes of the trust.
Although no Lacy family members live in Dubuque now their ties and
interest in the library have lasted. The Clive and Mona Lacy Trust (Clive
was another son of Benjamin) donated $100,000 to the library during our
renovation project. The Lacy women were in the area to donate artifacts
to the Center for Dubuque History and to the Women's Archives at the
University of Iowa. They asked for a tour of the library and later we visited
about a "wish list" because they indicated the Lacy Trust was considering
funding projects in Dubuque again.
• Henricks attended a meeting with John Gronen, Gronen Properties;
Sharon Covey, YM -YWCA; Wendy Knight, NICC; Megan Starr, in the
City's Economic Development department; David Sprugeon, McGraw-Hill,
and his co-worker, Jeff. The meeting was intended as a brainstorming
session for repurposing the lower level of St. Mary's Church (adjacent
buildings and the upper level are already planned). As it turned out all of
us were interested in the same thing — Maker Space. Physical space is,
and will remain, a challenge in the library and we will need to consider
where the equipment can be housed when not used during time of
outreach. Gronen has hired Braren, Mulder, German as a fundraiser and
they are in the process of a feasibility study. He also has been working
with an investor who has expressed strong interest in this space. There
are many possibilities and this was just a brainstorming session. We plan
to give John Gronen the ideas so that he can present them to his investor
and we'll meet in another month to continue to brainstorm; this is still in
the idea and "wish list" stage. This topic will also be discussed as part of
the Trustees strategic planning sessions.
Library Board of Trustees
Mike Willis, Board President
Jenny Weiss, Vice President
Frederick Miller, Board Secretary
John Anderson -Bricker
Daniel Boice
Paula Connors
Diann Guns
Susan Henricks, Director