CALL TO ORDER
The regular meeting of the Rochester Public Library Board of Trustees Meeting was called to order by President Richard Hall.
Members present: Jerry Balm, Ed Haskall, Dave Nelson, Jeanne Parker, Betty Hutchins, Steve McMaster, Naomi Lipski, Elisabeth Miller
Members Absent: Paul Barton
Staff present: Audrey Betcher, Library Director; Kim Edson, Head of Reader's Services; Tom Dyer, Communications Manager; Jean Jahn, Head of Automation; Rebecca Splittstoesser, Head of Technical Services; Kathy Olson, Administrative Assistant, and Manual Thomas, Office Services Coordinator.
Others present: Al Dollerschell, Friends of the Library.
CONSENSUS AGENDA
The following items were added to the agenda:
Approval of Minutes
Jerry Balm moved, Betty Hutchins second to approve the meeting minutes from May 15, 2002. Motion approved.
Approval of Bills
Ed Haskall moved, Dave Nelson second to approve payment of the June 2002 bills. Motion approved.
Approval of Monthly Report
Ed Haskall moved, Jeanne Parker second to approve the May report as submitted. Motion approved.
PRESIDENT'S BUSINESS
Foundation Report
The Library Foundation Finance Committee has had a series of meetings with investment firms. The Committee was preparing a recommendation to the Foundation Board on the selection of money managers for the endowment. Final decision will be taken by the Foundation Board in its meeting on June 26, 2002.
Committee Reports
The Youth Advisory Board was given the responsibility of designing a signage for the Young Adult area in recognition of the Mayo donation. The Youth Advisory Board prepared some designs that were distributed in the meeting. It was recommended that the signage should read "Rochester Public Library Teen Space" on the top and "Sponsored by Mayo Clinic" at the bottom. Elisabeth and Audrey are to take the design to Mayo to get feedback and to insure that the proper Mayo emblem is used on the signage. Audrey and Elisabeth will make arrangements for a sign hanging ceremony.
Personnel Committee
Mary Lynch, a 20 hr. authorized employee has announced her retirement. We are planning to convert this position into a 40 hr. full time authorized position as the 20 hr. employees also get full benefits. Audrey will send the details to the personnel committee for approval. The Board authorized Audrey to take necessary steps for recruitment of a 40 hr. full time authorized person after getting the approval of the Personnel Committee.
Finance Committee
The Finance Committee met on June 10. The Committee is looking forward to more historic data on the sources of library funding as well as expenditure. The next meeting is scheduled for July 8.
Policy Committee
Policy committee met and reviewed the meeting room policy. The major change in the policy is a new fee structure for the auditorium: $25 with no set up and $45 if set up is required. The Board approved the meeting room policy.
The Committee also discussed policy on allowing beverages in the library. Based on the information collected from other libraries, the Policy Committee felt that the reading area on the 2nd floor could be designated as beverage area and install some vending machines there. More details are being worked out before coming back to the board with a recommendation.
OLD BUSINESS
Measurement Statistics
There were no comments from the Board members on the documents passed out in the last meeting. More detailed analysis of key data is being done.
NEW BUSINESS
2003 Budget:
The 2003 budget is under preparation. It will be presented to the Finance Committee in its next meeting and then to the Library Board.
City Charter:
It was felt that there is a need to review the City Charter to make sure that there are no discrepancies between the City Charter and the library By-Laws. Jeanne Parker, Naomi Lipski and Dick Hall volunteered themselves for this.
Copyright:
It was felt that the proposed new copyright laws, being promulgated apparently under pressure from the recording and publishing industry, could have a big impact on "fair use". Audrey will get more information on the proposed changes in the copyright laws.
DIRECTOR'S INFORMATION ITEMS
LDS Cuts
The recent staff lay off in LDS including its Director will leave a huge vacuum in leadership for libraries in Minnesota. It may also have federal funding implications.
Legislative Wrap-Up
No discussion was held on the Board notes.
CIPA
No discussion was held on the Board notes.
Fire Department
Maintenance staff will be monitoring the Fire Station 4 HVAC system at the library location. The Fire Department will pay for the time that the maintenance staff puts in for this.
RochesterFest
Library is participating in the RochesterFest parade on Friday, June 21st.
ALA Conference at Atlanta
Kim Edson attended the ALA Conference in Atlanta. She attended a program on e-libraries, patron-centered web pages that focus on different services. The way the web pages have been designed has a lot of potential for us. It uses database technology and all that one needs to do is enter information into a database and the pages are dynamically created.
There are some new emerging technologies in e-books that offer a lot of potential for public libraries. New products that are going to be released will automatically check in and out e-books from the library web page. Patrons would be able to download e-books from the library web page to their computers. This technology will be available by the end of this year/early next year.
Some of the new copyright laws really limit people from information. The idea was to protect the producers but it has strong implications as far as libraries are concerned.
There being no further business, the meeting adjourned.
Respectfully submitted,
Betty Hutchins
Secretary
The next regular meeting of the Library Board will be Wednesday, July 17, 2002, at 4:30 pm in Meeting Room B on the second floor of the library.