HomeMy WebLinkAbout1987-12-14 MinutesBoard of Trustees Meeting Fayetteville Public Library December 14, 1987, 4:00 p.m. Present: Board Members Dorothy Bowen, Bobbye Hay, Carol Phillips, and Margaret Salassi; Library Director Linda Harrison. President Hay called the meeting to order at 4:00 p.m. The minutes of the previous meeting were approved as mailed. Library Director Harrison presented the Statisitcal and Financial Reports noting that fines were down because of the three-week grace period during November. Two noteworthy items on the Financial Report were that the expenses for Building and Grounds were higher than usual because there were several things in the building that did not work after the ceiling installation but which could not be directly blamed on the contractor. Also, the $70,000 under "Miscellaneous", should have been listed under "Transfer". This amount was the Dee Carr McLucas bequest of which $250 was given to the Endowment Fund and the balance of $69,750 was invested in a 6 -month Certificate of Deposit at First National Bank (as authorized by the Board at the October meeting). Mrs. Phillips reported that the Endowment Fund currently consists of $47,465.24 in investemnts ($15,102.07 at First Federal Savings and Loan and $32,363.17 at First Federal of Arkansas). The Memorial Fund currently stands at $1,698.75 and the checking account at First National contains $1,756.10. Treasurer Phillips asked the Board for their recommendations for maintaining the investments at savings and loan organizations or banks. The Board recom- mended that we continue with the savings and loan companies. General comments on the budget included the recognition that the only item that reflects overspending is "Equipment Maintenance" which is a result of the unexpected elevator repairs and the Board has yet to be invited to discuss the 1988 budget request with the city officials. This will force us to hold with the 1987 budget until we hear from the City. Reflected in the Financial Report is $1,816.06 paid to Otis Elevator for installation of a new thrust bearing. When this did not seem to solve the problem, the Otis mechanic recomemnded that we would need a new worm gear, at the least, or a new elevator. City Engineer Don Bunn contacted Montgomery Elevator for a second opinion. Since Otis left the machine disassembled, Montgomery first had to put it together in order to try to find the problem. Montgomery then made several adjustments, actually checked the worm for wear, and checked the new bearing. Montgomery's opinion was that the bearing Otis installed was not a thrust bearing but a radial bearing which would work, though improperly, for a short period of time before totally disintegrating. Montgomery then installed a thrust bearing and left the elevator operating safely. Ms. Harrison has contacted David Hopper at the Otis offices in Little Rock about this matter. He, in turn, sent the Otis mechanic back to look at the elevator. The Otis mechanic believes that the bearing they had installed "is a better bearing than the original" in that it is a radial thrust bearing. The Board instructed Ms. Harrison to contact Mr. Bunn about the situation. With regard to the staff request to play music, it was the concensus of the Board that because of the physical set-up, there is no way to play music in the workroom area without receiving objections from patrons and other staff members. The policy discussion concerning patrons request for reconsideration of library materials, the following motion introduced by Carol Phillips and seconded by Dorothy Bowen passed unanimously. "The Fayetteville Board will follow the same procedure as the Ozarks Regional Board for materials owned by the Fayetteville Public Library. Items of New Business included a report by Ms. Harrison on the computer meeting at the Springdale Library. Springdale and Fayettevilel are in a similar situation of having the funds for automation. Neither of the options presented at the Springdale meeting seemed to have immediate applications. The IBM representative present did seem to be willing to cooperate. Ms. Harrison stated that further investigation is necessary, with possible 1 -day excursions to Tulsa, Conway, etc. and that we must bear in mind that what we purchase must be compatible with future plans of Ozarks Regional Library System. Ms. Harrison announced that Mim Neralich has been selected as Head of the Children's Department. Ms. Neralich's classroom experience, educational background and prior experience in the Children's Department make it possible for her to take over as the director. Although the vacancy for the Children's Librarian is now filled, there are three other positions which must now be advertised. One is the vacancy caused by Ms. Neralich's promotion, that of job -share with Mary Loots. The other two are part- time positions which could be combined into one part-time position. These vacancies are caused by Teresa Arnett's resignation to work as a teacher's aide at Washington and Pam Sabo's resignation to work another position with the County Health Depart- ment. A policy regarding smoking in the library will be on the January agenda. It has recently come to the attention of the library staff that someone has been checking out library books (both Fayetteville owned and Ozarks Regional owned), removing the book pockets, making new labels for the spines, and placing them in a lesser edition of the title (usually a paperback edition is swapped for a hardback) and then returning it to the library. Upon checking the book cards, there is only one library card number that appears on each book, therefore causing the staff to suspect this one individual. According to the check-out dates, this procedure has been occuring since 1985. Although only 12-15 books have been discovered at this point, Ms. Harrison requested Board advise. The Board directed Linda Harrison to consult with City Attorney Jim McCord and to follow his advise. In other business, Library Director Harrison reported receipt of a letter from EEOC in Washington, D. C. which upheld the decision of the Little Rock office in regard to Nor Jones' charges of sexual discrimination. Also, a letter from Steve Martin, trust officer at Mcllroy Bank which verifys that there are no restrictions on how the Dee Carr McLucas money is to be spent and that the final accounting should be approved by the Court on December 21, 1987, after which we can expect approximately $20,000. President Hay reminded the Board that under the new By -Laws, election of officers will be held in January. She also appointed the following people to cover certain areas for long-range planning: Carol Phillips - Liaison between the Fayetteville Board and the Ozarks Regional Board. Foster Park - Branch libraries Bobbye Hay - Finances Linda Harrison - Statistics. There being no further business, the meeting adjourned at 5:10 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Margaret Salassi, Acting Secretary