Library Council Update #43
Carnegie-Stout Public Library
Library Board of Trustees Update
From the Meeting of
June 28, 2007
Present: Sue Lindsay, Vice President (chaired meeting), Kristen Smith, Secretary; Diann
Guns, and Beverly Kolz
Excused: President Alan Avery, Becky Hauder and Michael Shubatt
* Election of officers for the coming fiscal year was held. Alan Avery, President; Diann
Guns, Vice-President; Kristen Smith, Secretary. Committee appointments will be made
next month.
* May represented a lapse of 92 percent of the fiscal year. Expenditures were at 89
percent and revenues at 105 percent of projections. We will end the fiscal year under
budget.
* Stormy Mochal has been appointed the part-time Library Aide in Youth Services.
Tom Resnick is moving to San Francisco to pursue work in his chosen profession now
that he has earned his degree. Recruitment for a Youth Services Manager will begin on
July 8th.
* The Library's art audit is nearly complete. Gary Germain of Germain Fine Arts has
begun a valuation of all art works previously not appraised with a targeted completion
date of the end of August.
* The Board discussed the East Dubuque Public Library's fundraising and proposed
bond referendum for a new library and has stated their support for the project.
* The Board approved a proposal to form an ad hoc committee that will include two
Library Board members, two Dubuque Museum of Art board members, the Art Museum
and Library Directors to explore the possibility of revising the current loan agreement
when the Library's capital campaign has been completed.
* The Campaign Silent phase of seeking lead gifts is beginning July 9. We have raised
about $500,000 to date.
* The Library was awarded a $250,000 grant as an "Iowa Great Place" by the Iowa
Department of Cultural Affairs. The funding will go toward the glass floor
mezzanine work and the reconstruction of the skylight above it.
* The Library Board has pledged $63,125. The Administration Offices will be named
for the present library board when the renovation is complete.
A special meeting was held on June 15, 2007; a summary follows:
Discussion was held regarding the status of the funding available for the Library
Renovation Project. Henricks met with Mike Van Milligen who said he would not
recommend release of city funds until the Library raised $2.7 million. The Council was
scheduled to begin the process to release the projects to bid on July 2, with a Council
award date of August 20.
The Library has talked with Dubuque Bank and Trust to underwrite the balance of what
was left to fundraise, pledging Library-owned art works not acquired by a Trust fund.
Doug Horstmann and Ron Sterr agreed with this and understood the City would not be
involved in the agreement. An appointment was set with American Trust to request the
same. The Board felt confident that a match of the City’s FY 08 contribution would be
met by August 20 and an underwriting of the project would assure the City that the
project was secure. The City Manager did not support this option and remained
concerned about the potential risk.
The City Manager pointed out that there is not a compelling reason to meet an aggressive
construction schedule, which was set to avoid the escalating cost of material increases
and to be prepared for the Iowa Library Association Conference which will be held in
Dubuque in October 2008.
The Board approved postponing the original date for release of bids.
Library Board of Trustees
___________________________ _____________________________
Alan Avery, Board President Susan Henricks, Director
Sue Lindsay, Vice President
Kristen Smith, Board Secretary
Diann Guns
Becky Hauder
Beverly Kolz
Michael Shubatt