CALL TO ORDER AND APPROVAL OF AGENDA
The regular meeting of the Rochester Public Library Board of Trustees Meeting was called to order by Dave Nelson.
Members present: Ed Haskell, Tonya Holt, Betty Hutchins, Naomi Lipsky, Elisabeth Miller, Dave Nelson and Chris Colby.
Members absent: Jerry Balm, Dick Hall and Steve McMaster.
Staff present: Audrey Betcher, Library Director; Tom Dyer, Head of Communications; Jean Jahn, Head of Automation; Carrie Farrow, Head of Circulation Division; Kim Edson, Head of Reader Services; Louise Moe, Head of Information Services; Beth Warfield, Head of Children's Division; Purna Gurung, Office Services Coordinator.
Others present: Al Dollerschell, Friends of the Library. Some students from John Marshall and Century High School.
APPROVAL OF MINUTES
Ed moved, Tonya second to approve the meeting minutes from April 16 and April 30, 2003. Motion approved.
APPROVAL OF BILLS
There were no unusual bills for the month. Audrey pointed out that Purna had consolidated the reporting for Baker & Taylor, Baker &Taylor Entertainment and Ingram.
Ed moved, Tonya second to approve the bills as submitted. Motion approved.
MONTHLY REPORT
Ed moved, Tonya second to approve the March 2003 reports as submitted. Motion approved.
FOUNDATION REPORT
The Development Committee has been working behind the scenes. A draft brochure has been completed. We are in the process of getting some feedback from a professional in development. The foundation is working to expand the database for its annual fund drive which should be going out in a month.
SELCO REPORT
The bylaws changes passed at the April meeting. SELCO has agreed to the July 18th extraction date. They are on track for their September conversion.
COMMITTEE REPORTS
Ad Hoc Budget Committee: The committee reviewed the board target plus 25% budget proposal put forth by staff on May 15th. We are also looking at ways to increase revenues. We have not heard anything new from Steve Kvenvold but are hopeful that there will be no more cuts for 2003. Ed stated it was unlikely the city would institute across the board cuts for 2004. Audrey explained that Maintenance of Effort may help us if the LGA cuts to Rochester are as deep as projected since 90% of the 2002 figure is close to the $740,000 figure given to us by the City. Although the $740,000 cut would be devastating, MOE may prevent even deeper cuts. Audrey reiterated that the attached spreadsheet was not a blueprint but rather a guideline on different options to achieve these cuts. Chris Colby saw merit in taking an expanded view to soften the effect for 2004. Ed asked if we should announce these cuts to the public. The library has already provided budget information to the public including flyers in the library and a link on the first page of the web site. Audrey is not comfortable communicating deeper cuts to the public until the City gives us a budget number.
Planing Committee: The Planning Committee met on Thursday, May 15th. They talked about revisiting some of the roles on the board manual. It was agreed that the Board would prioritize and provide overall direction to library staff using some of the metrics figures as key milestones. Staff will figure out the best way to implement these directions.
Policy Committee: Naomi reported that the in the past, the Policy Committee had explored the possibility of allowing patrons to buy beverages from vending machines and consume these in restricted areas in the library. Maintenance staff had talked to other libraries that allowed drinks and in most cases, the perceived problems were greater than the actual problem. AT had done significant research on this topic and had agreed to try it on an interim basis. However, this was put on the back burner due to problems with implementation (extremely hard to enforce/too much staff time) and other priorities.
This topic was revisited during the 5/15 Ad-Hoc Budget Committee meeting. Naomi sent an email to the Policy Committee regarding their views on a possible revision of the food and drink policy. This could open the door to vending for profit in the public area. Staff is willing to try the new beverage policy on a trial basis for 6 months. Instead of allowing beverages only in restricted areas, it will be allowed throughout the library. The Policy Committee recommended the revision in the beverage policy to allow drinks in the library. Staff will first start with a bottled water and pop vending machine and will investigate the possibility of having coffee as well.
Ed Haskell moved, Dave Nelson second to accept the Policy Committee's recommendation on changing RPL's beverage policy. Motion approved.
ILS UPDATE
The contract was approved by city council on May 5th. The signing of the contract was completed by both parties on May 14th. Our project manager has been assigned and we are working on the final schedule. We currently have an interim schedule, which is not as fast as Sirsi sales had led us to believe. We might have a possible live date during late November. The Administrative Team has decided for a later live date to ensure proper conversion.
ADVOCACY
We see the Board as RPL's community supporters and advocates. Chris Colby stated the Foundation has an Advocacy Committee, of which he is the Chair. He pointed out that this committee's approach might differ from that of a similar committee on the board since the former is more of a fund-raising vehicle. In the past, we have pulled in members from both the foundation and the board to advocate with members of the city council. We expect the Board's role as advocates to grow especially during this period of budget cuts.
NEW GUN LAW
The new gun law does not allow the public library to ban guns from the library. There is concern in many cities that the new law does not give cities enough ability to restrict guns in public places.
LIBRARY WEB SITE CONTACT INFORMATION
We have agendas, meeting minutes and other information on our web site, but we do not have a way for patrons to communicate with board members. We would like to add the list of board members and e-mail contacts. We will create accounts on our e-mail server and forward any e-mail through to whatever e-mail account you prefer. Board members were instructed to provide their preferred e-mail account to Purna. Ed was concerned that his account would get inundated with junk email. Staff will research an email provider that ensures a high level of protection and security, ease of use, and is free to the Board. RPL's Webmaster can easily turn off this feature if there is a problem with spam mail.
SPANISH STORY TIMES
Beth reported that the library began a Spanish story time on May 8th, lead by Laura Randolph, a staff member who is fluent in Spanish. This story time will be held every Thursday through the end of May. We do not expect huge turnouts initially but hope that it will grow gradually over time. The first story time had 2 attendees and the second had 15 attendees. Tom has been and is working on getting more PR for this program.
ROCHESTERFEST PARADE
The library will be represented in the RochesterFest parade. Volunteer staff will dress up in storybook character costumes.
HARRY POTTER EVENTS
Merchants Bank has donated $500 to the library to purchase extra copies of the Harry Potter book. The list price of the new book is $29.99 and as of May 14th, we already had 87 reserves on it. On Saturday, June 21st, the release date for the new book, the library will be hosting a Harry
Potter party where people are encouraged to dress up as their favorite character and watch the movie, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone.
LEGISLATIVE UPDATE
It looks like both the House and Senate will approve a change to maintenance of effort. MOE will be 90% of the approved amount for 2002. The law sunsets in two years. Though painful, this is much better than a repeal of the law.
ROCHESTER READS UPDATE
Rochester Reads was very successful. We did very well and Carrie compared some of the Rochester Reads numbers to the Duluth model. Carrie thanked the Friends for buying extra copies of the books. The biggest draw was the author events, plays and worker's panel. The committee is already talking about next year. Due to the budget cuts and feedback from the evaluations, we will be scaling the event back next year. Tom passed around the framed Rochester Bulletin advertisement for Rochester Reads (which the newspaper had done on a pro-bono basis).
STAFFING UPDATE
Roger Leachman has given his notice. He has elected not to have a party. With the city's hiring freeze, the position will remain unfilled.
OTHER NEWS
Audrey and Greg Sauve were interviewed by Somali TV. This telecast ran about 2 weeks ago. Audrey was also on Minnesota Public Radio talking about the US Patriot Act.
IBM is giving the library a new computer.
There being no further business, the meeting adjourned.
Respectfully submitted,
Betty Hutchins
Secretary
The next regular meeting of the Library Board will be Wednesday, June 18, 2003, at 4:30 pm in Meeting Room B on the second floor of the library.