Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout2009-02-16 MinutesFayetteville Public Library Board of Trustees Regular Meeting February 16, 2009 Minutes Prepared by S. Terry, Communicatlons Manager • Board Members present: L. Brewer, D. Ferritor, M. Hunt, E. Jordan M. Malone and B. Schaffer. Absent: Staff present: J. Atha, M. Burdette, S. Daniel, L. Greenwood, S. Houk, S. Palmer, C. Raw, L. Schaper, S. Terry, S. Thorup and L. Yandell. Press: S. Descant, The Morning News; D. Tracey, The Northwest Arkansas Times. I. The Board of Trustees meeting was called to order at 4:05 p.m. by D. Ferritor. II. Introduction of Mayor Lioneld Jordan: D. Ferritor thanked Mayor Jordan for his ongoing support of the library. Jordan said the library means a great deal to him. Jordan said, "this library is absolutely one of the prize treasures of this city. This is just something that takes my breath away to come into it. This place offers hope when a lot of folks don't think they have a prayer. They can read and they can learn, and they can be anything they want to be if theyre a reader." Jordan said the best days of this library lie ahead, no matter what the economy says. III. Resolution and presentation to staff, thanking staff for the work during the ice storm in January, especially thanking S. Thorup and J. Atha. The library was without power for about 48 hours and reopened to the public, giving people a place to gather, charge phones, watch family movies and enjoy electricity. B. Schaffer made a motion to approve the resolution. L. Brewer seconded. All voted aye. IV. Election of officers: M. Malone said the nominating committee recommended L. Brewer as president, B. Schaffer as vice-president, E. Jordan as treasurer and Malone as secretary. D. Ferritor said a second is not required for the motion. All voted aye. V. Approval of minutes. B. Schaffer made a motion to approve minutes from the December 15 meeting. D. Ferritor seconded. All voted aye. VI. Reports. A.) Management reports — L. Schaper described the librarys event to mark the millionth checkout on Dec. 26. Jim Blair checked out the one millionth item, Roy Reed's biography of Orval Faubus. S. Terry noted that the library has replaced its monthly print newsletter with an online newsletter and calendar. L. Yandell has replaced catalog and internet PCs with thin clients, which use a tenth of the power of a PC. S. Thorup noted the launch of a Blu-ray collection to much success; she also said the library will have iPod-compatible downloadable books by spring. Thorup said the library has a new dragon mascot; suggestions for names are currently being • accepted. Thorup noted the 3'" annual Adult Winter Reading Festival has kicked off. Schaper said the library is making mini -laptops available for 2 week check outs. Schaper said that with unauthenticated wireless access authenticate an accurate count is not available. B.) Financial Report — C. Raw said line items are low, as usual, but utility costs were over budget because of the power outage/HVAC shutdown; the systems had to be restarted. VII. Unfinished Business. A.) Discussion of strategic directions and Issues — Moved to New Business C. B.) NEH status —This is the third year of the five year grant. The library must raise $435,000 in 2009. Approximately $135,000 has been received in gifts and pledges since letters were sent in early December. Bill Mitchell has been hired by the library to develop a plan to meet the NEH goals. The library has asked the remaining capital campaign donors to direct their pledges toward the NEH campaign. VIII. New business. A.) Budget line Item adjustments —As part of year-end process, the library reviews the money it has in each line item to see whether it can be used elsewhere. That includes $25,500 to new materials collection; A/V Technology was given an increase in money; $10,000 was added for Children's Library technology upgrades; and other improvements were made, such as adding a Blu-ray player in the Walker Community Room. M. Malone moved to approve; B. Schaffer seconded. All voted aye. B.) Budget roll forward from 2008-2009: Roll overs are items that have been ordered but do not come in by the end of the year; this year the total is $24,000. Any money left from IT and building improvement budgets will go into the designated Board restricted funds to be discussed and voted on at the next Board meeting. M. Malone made a motion to approve. D. Ferritor seconded. All voted aye. C.) 2009 Objectives / Discussion of strategic direction and Issues — L. Schaper said S. Thorup led a manager and staff based input process to develop a set of objectives for 2009 that help the library meet the goals of the 2006 strategic plan. The objectives were discussed and will be added to the agenda for the April meeting. IX. D.) Proposed revisions to policy KV: Meeting Room Use — S. Thorup said a task force suggested five changes: prohibiting fundraising that does not support FPL, update the equipment list to reflect the audio upgrade, suggest using FPL equipment, require 24-hour notice for set up changes and modify language to follow the practice. D. Ferritor made a motion to approve. B. Schaffer seconded. All voted aye. E.) Space study update: L. Schaper said MS&R was selected to do the space study; the cost of the study will be about $10,000. This will be funded through a vacant position. There is no money set aside for this; if not for the vacant position, it would havto to be funded out of reserves. Schaper said staff and public input will be critical to the process, which will likely be done during the spring. C. Raw said any extra money needed for the study would come from reserves. D. Ferritor made a motion to approve. M. Hunt seconded. All voted aye. X. 'Executive Session: Board entered Into executive session at 5:43 p.m. D. Ferritor. M. Hunt seconded. All voted aye. The board approved trustee emeritus status. The board agreed to have a special meeting with executive session Feb. 23 at 4:30 p.m. D. Ferritor moved to come out of executive session at 6:49 p.m. E. Jordan seconded. All voted aye. •XI. Adjournment: B. Schaffer moved to adjourn. D. Ferritor seconded. All voted aye. Meeting adjourned at 6:50 p.m.. is 0 -5-