The regular meeting of the Rochester Public Library Board of Trustees was called to order by President Paul Barton. Also attending were Ed Haskell, Frank Iossi, Ann Larson, Susan Lee, Naomi Lipsky, Jeanne Parker and Amit Raikar.
Absent with notification: Dick Hall.
Staff present: Connie Jo Ozinga, Audrey Betcher and Kathy Olson.
Paul Barton read a letter from Maggie Brimijoin, resigning from the Board due to scheduling conflicts.
Ed Haskell, Jeanne Parker second to approve the meeting minutes from January 12, 2000. Motion approved.
There were two separate bill sheets this month. The bill sheet dated 1/28/00 is only invoices being paid from 1999 funds. The bill sheet dated 2/9/00 contains mostly invoices paid from 2000 funds, although there are several that will be paid from 1999 funds.
At this time we anticipate that the 1999 budget will be underspent by approximately $5,000. This would take into account the revenue shortfall of approximately $13,000 and requested encumbrances of $20,000.
Circulation for the year was approximately 3% below 1998.
We have purchased a Rocket e-book which will soon be available for the public to use in the library.
Included in the Board packets was a spreadsheet which listed the circulation by month for the various types of materials.
Tim Burchill from the Metanoia Group will be at the March Foundation Board meeting to discuss what the Foundation has accomplished to date and where they go from here.
Ed Haskell reported that the Personnel Committee has met several times to discuss how to proceed in hiring a Library Director and has gathered documents from the last search. The Committee will be meeting with key people in the next several weeks for input on the search process. The committee will also be updating the job description and will distribute to the Board for comments.
Jeanne Parker moved, Ann Larson second to direct the Personnel Committee to meet with the City Administrator and Director of Human Resources to arrive at compensation for the Interim Director, Audrey Betcher. Motion approved.
Paul has not spoken with Board members regarding committee appointments for the year 2000. If anyone has a preference for committees to serve on they should contact Paul. Naomi Lipsky volunteered to serve on the Policy and Planning Committee and Ann Larson volunteered to serve on the Joint Fundraising Committee.
Kathy Olson distributed a spreadsheet which shows the fund drive history. In 1999, 496 donors contributed $24,194. This is several thousand dollars less than received in the past several years.
The Board discussed who should receive the fund drive appeal letters. In the past, letters have been sent to prior donors who have contributed in the last five years, Friends of the Library members, and new cardholders in the past year. The Board discussed expanding the list to include new cardholders in the past two years. They also questioned whether this can be targeted to people who actually use the library as opposed to someone who gets a card for a one-time use. The matter was referred to the Joint Fundraising Committee.
At the January meeting, the Board requested that this matter be referred to the City Attorney for a recommendation. The City Attorney recommends that the section on Harassment be replaced with a new paragraph on Disorderly Conduct.
Jeanne Parker moved, Ed Haskell second to revise the Code of Conduct as recommended by the City Attorney. Motion approved.
A test of the Output Measures Survey will be conducted next week on two separate days, in two hour periods. The test will be to determine if the form works, if the data entry mechanism work, etc. A business stats class from RCTC has volunteered to distribute and collect the survey forms and to do the data entry.
Last fall, the Board approved applying for an accessibility grant to install automatic door openers on the public and staff restrooms. We did not have a completed building accessibility study for the first two rounds of grant applications. We have completed our building accessibility study and are now eligible to apply for the third and final round of grant applications. Our grant proposal includes adding automatic door openers to the restrooms, plus assisted listening devices for use in the auditorium. If all portions of the grant are approved, we will need to find matching funds of approximately $15,000.
Jeanne Parker moved, Frank Iossi second to approve a resolution in support of the grant application. Motion approved.
Judy Kereakos is planning to retire by the end of 2000. In addition the Library Associate I in Adult Services unexpectedly retired due to a medical problem. For some time we have been discussing possible changes in job responsibilities in the Adult Services division and this seems an opportune time to implement those changes. The proposed reclassifications reflect a change in focus for the division and recognizes changes that have been implemented over the last several years.
The proposed changes have been communicated to staff and were positively received.
The next step would be to submit a formal proposal for the job reclassifications to the Personnel Department, who would review the request and forward a recommendation to the City Administrator for action by the City Council.
Ed Haskell moved, Frank Iossi second to refer the proposed reclassifications to the Personnel Committee for a recommendation. Motion approved.
There being no further business, the meeting adjourned
.Respectfully submitted,
Susan Lee
Secretary
The next regular Board meeting will be Wednesday, March 8, 2000, at 4:30 p.m. in Meeting Room B on the second floor of the library.