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Home My WebLink About2000-06-26 MinutesFayetteville Public Library Board of Trustees Regular Meeting Minutes, June 26, 2000 (Prepared by Steven M. Thomas, M.L.S., Manager of Public Services) Testees present were M. Thomas, S. Singleton, L Gottsponer, B. Schaffer, and R. Alexander. Absent were: M. Roberts, L. Brewer. Staff present were L Schaper, C. Rew, L. Greenwood, S. Thomas, and M. Loots. Press members present were M. Rice, C. Allison, and R. Smith. The meeting was called to order at 4:04 pm. H. S. Singleton moved and M. Thomas seconded motion to approve minutes from the last board meeting. All voted ave. 111. Director's Report: 1.) L. Schaper commented on continuing library issues with roaming profiles on our network; 2.) L. Schaper talked about the success of a recent staff meeting in which a financial overview of the Library was discussed; 3.) L. Schaper said that circulation was up by nearly 24% over last year; L. Gottsponer commented about adult programming being up over 300% over 1999. L. Schaper commented on the excellent County Library Technology meeting in June. 4.) L. Schaper relayed a conversation with J. Moses about bringing our board's bylaws in compliance with Act 402. More information will follow on this topic at upcoming meetings. 5). L. Schaper shared new FPL staff email policy with board members. IV. . Financial Report: 1.) M. Thomas asked whether we are getting bank statements from new Merrill Lynch account — C. Rew responded that we are. 2.) For the month of May, C. Rew said that our supply budget has been dropping and that we continue to be appropriately on pace with materials purchases. 3.) C. Rew also reported that utilities are looking good, although this is partially because we still have three air conditioning units not functioning properly. M. Thomas asked whether the city would help with these repairs, and C. Rew said that she would explore this possibility. 4.) C. Rew said that she would probably do the final long term analysis next month, after which the account will be cleared of funds. 5.) L. Gottsponer asked about monthly report from the Foundation board. L. Schaper asked the Board if it wanted this information in the board packet, given it is about private donations. 6.) R. Alexander moved and M. Thomas seconded a motion to release the interest from the book endowment fund from the FPL Foundation to be used for materials acquisitions. All voted ave. V. " Service Reports: Children's: L. Greenwood said that summer is in huge swing and that we've already nearly matched the summer reading programs for all of 1999 by the middle of lune. L. Greenwood also commented on upcoming Harry Potter programming and discussed community partnerships. Volunteer. S. Thomas spoke about teen volunteers assisting with web design and L. Greenwood spoke about their success helping with the Book Buddies Program. Adult: S. Thomas spoke about the number of people signing up for eBooks as well as upcoming circulation improvements for emailing notices and purging old records. VI. Building Expansion: L. Schaper reported that while she was gone on vacation, the attorneys hired by the City for the library project and the sewage treatment project gave the go ahead for the sewage treatment project referendum to be held about a year in advance of when the tax would start. This opinion opened the way for the library referendum to go first. She said the City Attorney recommended that the Library Board approve a motion to recommend to City Council that the referendum be called for a 1 cent sales tax for 18 months to pay for a new library. S. Singleton asked several questions and made several comments expressing his concern including (I) what the merits of the sales tax are over the property tax; and (2) should we ask people about the sales tax versus the property tax. Several present said that reaction to the property tax has been negative throughout the planning and feasibility process and that the reaction to the sales tax has been more popular. The sales tax would save Fayetteville from the estimated $18M interest payments associated with the bonds sold in association with a property tax. C. Rew said that an average property owner would pay far more in property tax over 30 years than they ever will with an eighteen month sales tax. Also, another comment was that with the sales tax, visitors will help pay for the new library. Schaper said that the City Council would need to pass a motion accepting this, which could lead to a referendum in August if we want the sales tax to kick -in on October 1. L. Gottsponer asked L. Schaper to read the recommended motion: We. the Fayetteville Public Library Board of Trustees authorize and support a request to the Fayetteville City Council to approve an ordinance authorizing a referendum for a 1 cent sales tax for eighteen months for the purpose of funding a new Fayetteville Public Library facility. M. Thomas moved to accept the motion and R. Alexander seconded. All voted ave. R. Alexander asked about the city entering a contract without having the money in hand. L. Schaper said that she believed that this could be done, but it would need further exploration. VII. Other Business: 1.) C. Rew reported on WCLS meeting in which funding allocations were discussed. The formula stayed similar to the original proposal — based on city boundaries with the Fayetteville and Springdale malls being pulled out and redistributed to the libraries. Staff and board members expressed serious disagreement with city boundaries being violated in any funding formulas. C. Rew also stated that the county had released approximately $190K in reserve funding back to the libraries and that WCLS approved a new building and would be vacating FPL space by the end of 2000. 2.) L. Schaper reported that FPL will need to look into interne( service with WCLS out of the building. VIII. B. Schaffer moved and S. Singleton seconded motion to adjourn meeting. All voted aye. The meeting was adjoumed at 5:35 p.m.