CALL TO ORDER AND APPROVAL OF AGENDA
The regular meeting of the Rochester Public Library Board of Trustees was called to order by President Jerry Balm.
Members Present: Jerry Balm, Tyler Hoecker, Farhan Hussein, Steve McMaster, Tom Sherman, Judith Taylor, and Deborah Westerland.
Staff Present: Audrey Betcher, Library Director; Carrie Farrow, Communications Manager; Andy Stehr; Circulation Services Manager; Purna K Gurung, Administrative Services Coordinator.
Other Present: Al Dollerschell, Friend of RPL
CONSENSUS AGENDA
Jerry Balm asked that the following changes be made to the August 16 minutes.
Under Consensus Agenda "motion by Farhan Hussein"
Under President's Business "The Foundation did not meet in July"
Motion by Farhan Hussein, seconded by Tom Sherman to approve the revised minutes from August 16, 2006, the monthly bills, and the monthly report. Motion carried.
PRESIDENT'S BUSINESS
FOUNDATION REPORT
The Foundation Finance Committee met prior to the Foundation Board meeting and there was a discussion about the procedures for the endowment payout to the library. We have received 90 RSVPs to date for the September 21st Donor Appreciation Luncheon.
FRIENDS REPORT
Al Dollerschell reported that the Friends are partnering with the United Way and the Dolly Parton Foundation for the Imagination Library. This program gives a free book a month to a child living in Olmsted County from birth to age 5. The Friends will now include the Imagination Library brochure in all the Books for Babies packets. They are also working on a cartridge recycling project with an Eagle Scout group. Al noted that the Bookstore was doing about $4,000 in sales a month. They have also raised about $5,000 by selling books on Amazon. A number of Friends are judges in the Youth Writing Contest.
SELCO
We have received a response from SELCO to the Balm/Westerland letter about the exclusion of RPL from a recent group database purchase. Deborah Westerland noted that SELCO claims we do not qualify for databases since we are not an online member. SELCO also asserts that databases are considered value added services. A discussion ensued. The Board agreed that the response did not answer most of the questions posed in the initial letter. Jerry Balm and Deborah Westerland will be meeting with Ann Hutton for an orientation session around the 3rd week of October and will bring up the Board's questions at this meeting.
The Board briefly discussed the possibility of a branch in Byron. Audrey met with the Byron school superintendent and city and school officials a few years back before the construction of the school. It was decided at that time not to add a public library to the new school building.
COMMITTEE REPORTS
Policy: No report
Planning: Audrey has completed the estimated costs of running a branch. She will e-mail these worksheets to the Planning Committee and also schedule a meeting in the near future. Core values will also be part of the agenda.
Personnel: No report
Finance: No report
Young Adult: Tyler Hoeckler reported that the award ceremony for the Writing Contest was being held on Sunday. About 90 youth read more than 3000 books during the Summer Reading program. The top 5 films from the Short Film contest will be screened and the audience will pick the winner. Lynette Perry, Young Adult Coordinator, is currently working towards arranging for the winning film to be screened at Chateau Theatre.
OLD BUSINESS
COUNTY BOARD
Audrey Betcher, Deborah Westerland and Purna Gurung met with the County Board on August 29th. Topics included the community survey, strategic planning, the 2007 budget and working together more closely with the County and Association of Minnesota Counties. Audrey spoke to Richard Devlin after the meeting. The County Board is anticipating a tight year with big cuts from the federal government for social programs. A large portion of the County's funds are earmarked for state mandated programs. Jerry Balm noted that he spoke to Paul Wilson.
STRATEGIC UPDATE
FOUNDATION PROCEEDS
At a recent Foundation Finance Committee meeting, questions came up in the procedures for allocation of Foundation proceeds. After much discussion, it seemed that the problem was at the Library Board level rather than at the Foundation Board. The concern is whether the Library Board feels they provide enough input and direction as to how the Foundation proceeds are spent.
The Library Board had a discussion about the current procedures. The Foundation Finance Committee decides on the amount of money to be given to the Library. The Library Board decides on what projects to fund with the proceeds. A comment was made that the Library Board rubber stamps the projects that the Administrative Team (AT) recommends. Audrey stated that the Planning Committee works from the Strategic Plan and Action Plan so they are involved in the decision making process. Based on Ed Haskell's comments from the Foundation Finance Committee, he would prefer that the Foundation select and fund the projects they want from a list that the Library Board generated. He also noted that big projects will not be funded with only a 5% payout a year. Audrey stated that the Foundation has a role to play but that we need to work with the City and County to fund bigger projects. The general consensus of the Foundation Finance Committee was that they did not want to get involved in deciding which projects to fund. They thought that this was a discussion more suited for the Library Board. Staff need a timeline to get a better feel for the dollar amount we can expect.
Steve McMaster asked if there could be an earlier stage for the Board to give input. Audrey replied that this can be done during the July Finance Committee meeting which meets to review the Operating and CIP request. Tom Sherman noted that this was more of an issue than a problem. The Board agreed that possible projects for the Foundation will be discussed during the July Finance Committee. The projects identified will then be part of the budget discussion during the July board meeting.
MAINTENANCE OF EFFORT
Maintenance of Effort (MOE) is a state law that says counties/cities must provide operating funding to libraries equal or more than what they gave 2 years ago. A letter comes from the State Library Agency that gives the certified amount for year. The positives are that cities/counties cannot zero library funding which ensures a continuous funding source. The negatives are that the funding can stay flat and some funding agency might only give the minimum each year. Cities and Counties are less likely to give one time funding to a library because then it must be counted as part of the base.
We have a 1989 contract with the County based on a formula derived from County circulation and registrations. Judith Taylor asked if annexing of City property will lower the County funding base. Audrey replied that annexing is done at very low levels and has not affected the base noticeably. She stated that during the LGA cuts in 2003, the state law was changed to 90% of MOE.
Audrey added that the County Board was impressed by the community survey results that indicated that County residents value the library a little more than City residents.
DIRECTOR'S INFORMATION ITEMS
INTERNET CARD
As of 9/9/06, we ceased charging $2 for a visitor's Internet card. This does not change our charging for a non-resident/visitor card that provides full service. The state has guidelines regarding those cards and we comply with guidelines.
SOMALI OUTREACH
The new staff member has resigned. We are re-evaluating the position and the way we will fill the position. We do think this is an important outreach effort and we expect to find a way to make it work.
LIBRARIAN I
We will soon be interviewing for this open position.
MURAL
We are exploring how much it would cost to have a mural painted in the skyway. We think that it would make the walk through the skyway significantly more interesting, and we hope it will change the perception about the length of the skyway.
BRIDGE TO THE ARTS
RDA is sponsoring a contest to put art on the skyway between the library and civic center. The art will be unveiled on Sunday, October 1st.
QUESTION TIME
Tom Sherman noted he was impressed by the Lock-A-Shelf machines. He added that the diversity of patrons using the library is fascinating. Jerry Balm asked that Audrey periodically express to staff the Board's appreciation for their work.
Audrey will e-mail information to the Board about training for non-profits to get more involved in the political process.
There being no other business, the meeting was adjourned.
Deborah Westerland
Secretary
The next regular meeting of the Library Board will be Wednesday, October 18, 2006, at 4.30 p.m. in Meeting Room B.