CALL TO ORDER AND APPROVAL OF AGENDA
The regular meeting of the Rochester Public Library Board of Trustees was called to order by President Deborah Westerland.
Members Present: Farhan Hussein, Lisa Lundquist, Judy Ohly, Kathryn Ramage, Mary Tigner-Rasanen, Tom Sherman, Judith Taylor and Deborah Westerland.
Staff Present: Audrey Betcher, Library Director; Kim Edson, Head of Readers Services; John Hunziker, Communications Manager; Jean Jahn, Automation Services Manager; James Rentz, Head of Technical Services; Andy Stehr, Circulation Services Manager; Beth Warfield, Head of Children's Services and Purna K Gurung, Administrative Services Coordinator.
Others Present: Shirley Edmonson, Friends of the Rochester Public Library (RPL).
AGENDA
"Outstanding Women in Leadership Roles" was added under Informational Items.
Judy Ohly moved, seconded by Mary Tigner-Rasanen to approve the revised agenda. Motion carried.
CONSENSUS AGENDA
Tom Sherman commented on the high amount of overdue fines collected and wanted to continue to explore ways to lower revenues from overdue fines. Audrey Betcher explained that most of these are small fines across the board and that patrons can still check out materials until they reach the $10 limit. The Library does not always have multiple copies of popular items and charging fines is an incentive for patrons to return items on time. We do work with patrons and waive overdue fines. The Board can discuss the issue of reducing overdue fines during the budgeting process.
Motion by Mary Tigner-Rasanen, seconded by Judith Taylor to approve the minutes from January 16, 2008, the monthly bills, and the monthly report. Motion carried.
PRESIDENT'S BUSINESS
Foundation Report
The Board has not met. Wit, Wisdom, & Wine raised $22,151.32. It was the most successful event yet.
The Events Committee is starting to plan the Amuzing Race. It is scheduled for June 21st. The Committee is looking for sponsors for the event.
Bill Wiktor from IBM is being recommended for the RPL Foundation Board. He has been a board member for Choral Arts, he is a Rotarian, and he was recommended by Valerie Pace and Dave Nelson.
Motion by Mary Tigner-Rasanen, seconded by Lisa Lundquist to approve the appointment of Bill Wiktor to the Foundation Board. Motion carried.
Friends Report
Shirley Edmonson reported that the Friends had a well attended Annual Meeting. The February Booksale took in $1,319.25. Another Booksale is coming up on Sunday, April 13th. The Friends received a $500 donation from Dorothy Gauthier. Ms. Gauthier is new a member of the Friends. The Board will be meeting again in April.
SELCO
The SELCO Board has not met. Leslie Redinger has been appointed as the County Representative to the SELCO Board. The Board discussed inviting Leslie to future RPL Board meetings. Audrey Betcher and Deborah Westerland are having lunch next month with Leslie and will follow up with her.
The ELM Database Resolution was attached to an Omnibus bill. John Hunziker attended the meeting at the State and reported that a majority of the time was spent discussing finances. He added that the Minnesota Library Association (MLA) is also talking to legislators. Senator Ann Lynch has been working very hard on our behalf. A Senator from East Grand Forks is opposing the bill even though East Grand Forks Library stands to gain from its passage.
COMMITTEE REPORTS
Finance: No report.
Personnel: No report.
Policy: The Policy Committee discussed a new wireless policy that covers the public wireless network. There is a wireless network available to the public and patrons are asking for help troubleshooting their computers. Everyone is filtered in the public internet.
The Board unanimously approved the Wireless Policy.
The Committee has also been discussing a policy that pre-approves expenditures under certain conditions rather than waiting for Board action each month. The City Attorney has said that approval of bills is needed unless there is a policy in place. There are different ways to implement this policy. Lisa Lundquist asked members to review the policy and added that it will be brought back for discussion and a vote at the next Board meeting.
Planning: The Planning Committee met to review the Strategic Plan. They added a Strategic Issue 6 that focuses on evaluation. The goal is to get a better handle on whether the library is serving patron needs. A discussion ensued.
Audrey Betcher added that Jean Jahn, Deborah Westerland and she met with Phil Wheeler from the Planning Department to explore ways we can analyze the library's data better.
The Board unanimously approved the 2008-2033 Strategic Plan.
Young Adult: No report.
NEW BUSINESS
Report on 2007 Action Plans
Audrey Betcher explained that when the Strategic Plan was created, it called for a mid-year and final report on Action Plans. She added that the Action Plans are tasks put forth by staff on how to achieve the goals in the Strategic Plan. The Library strives to measure as much as we can so we have benchmarks to work with.
Judith Taylor asked if carrel seating is included as workstation seating. "Yes", it is considered workstation seating. Mary Tigner-Rasanen inquired if staff have investigated to see what kind of seating is being used. Staff have not done that study. Judy Ohly commented that the County uses a "Managing for Results" approach and suggested Audrey contact Mary Callier at County Administration for more information.
The Board praised staff for the results and also on their grasp of the details of the Plan.
Minnesota Annual State Report
It is a State requirement that the Library Board approve the annual state report.
Motion by Farhan Hussein, seconded by Mary Tigner-Rasanen to approve the 2007 Minnesota Annual State Report. Motion carried.
DIRECTOR'S INFORMATION ITEMS
Art prints
Back in 2003 the Board decided that the library could cease the art print collection since it wasn't mission critical. We have not added to the collection since that time, and we've gradually been weeding the collection. Staff has now pulled the collection from the public area and we will no longer be circulating art prints. There were 96 checkouts for all of 2007. Some of the prints will be sold at Wit, Wisdom and Wine and others at the Friends Book Sale.
Vending of Office Supplies
We are investigating putting a vending machine for office supplies in the public area. Many people come to the public desks asking for office supplies. Audrey Betcher has talked to another librarian about their experience. This project is not a big money maker, but helps to make the transactions self-service.
Tutor.com
Kim Edson is chairing the implementation committee for Tutor.com. We have representatives from the Rochester Public Schools, Byron Public Schools, Dover-Eyota Public Schools, and Rochester Catholic Schools as part of the implementation team.
We will also be receiving $5,000 from the Rochester Rotary U.S. Bank Holiday Classic community grant program to underwrite costs.
2008 "Outstanding Women in Leadership Role" Award
Vicki Ernster and Katherine Stecher were 2 of the 6 women recognized for 2008.
OTHER NEWS
Lisa Lundquist noted that a patron called to complain that they did not like the Materials Handling System. The patron commented that the screen was hard to see due to the light and that another patron behind was honking. Audrey Betcher replied that we are working with the vendor on some issues with the external library mate. There is also a learning curve for everyone and we hope that continued use and practice will help.
Deborah Westerland noted that there was a good article on John Hunziker in the Post Bulletin Section on Baby Boomers.
There being no other business, the meeting was adjourned at 5:30 PM and Board members proceeded to the tour of the Computer Center and the Materials Handling System.
Mary Tigner-Rasanen
Secretary
The next regular meeting of the Library Board will be Wednesday, April 16, 4:30 p.m. in Meeting Room B.