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Home My WebLink About1996-08-12 MinutesBoard of Trustees Meeting Fayetteville Public Library August 12, 1996 Present: Board members: Mark Burdette, Steve Singleton, Mary Parsons, Maury Roberts, Michael Thomas, Library staff: Linda Harrison, June Jefferson, David Johnson, Mary Jo Godfrey, Grace Kerr, Karen Duree, City Administrator Steve Davis, and Chris Battle of the Northwest Arkansas Times. 1. Call to Order: Thomas called the meeting to order at 4:00 pm in the Fayetteville Public Library Meeting Room. 2. Approval of minutes: Burdette moved and Roberts seconded to approve the minutes of the July 9 meeting as submitted. Singleton stated that he had misunderstood the motion to get a bid on the lights. He said when he voted "nay" he was under the impression that the motion was to buy the lights before getting the bid. A vote on approval was unanimous. 3. Correspondence: Harrison reported on (1) a letter to Sara Beth Parker informing her of the reclassification of the book she had objected to, (2) a letter to Southside Lawn and Landscaping informing them that the Library will not enter into a multi-year contract with them, (3) a letter to the Andersons about an anniversary gift, (4) a letter from Boatman's Trust Co., (5) a memo to the Advertising and Promotion Commission updating the progress on the 1996 grant to the Genealogy Collection, (6) a Thank -you letter to Maxey and Loots about the summer reading program, (7) a Thank -you letter to Genealogy for their good service, (8) press releases about Genealogy being open on Sunday of the 4 -Corners Ancestor Fair, and (9) newspaper clippings about magazine sponsors. 4. Report on Library Retirement Plan: Theresa Ewing of Boatman's did not come as scheduled. 5. Librarian's Reports: a. Statistical and Financial Report: Harrison presented the statistical report. Circulation was up, building attendance was about the same as last year, and the number of library cards issued was down. Roberts asked what is total books checked out, registration, and building and program attendance. Harrison replied that total books is total circulation including magazines and audio-visual, registration is new library cards issued, attendance is total number of people who come through the door as measured by a counter, and program attendance is the number of people attending a program. Jefferson stated that if a Board member is asked to speak on behalf of the Library at any program the number of people present should be counted and turned in to the Library to be included in these program figures. Harrison presented the financial report. Harrison pointed out that there will be new accounts on the statement of revenues and expenditures of equipment -long term and office supplies - long term in conjunction with the automation project. Burdette suggested that in the future we get another balance system. Johnson said this software ranks 3rd in accounting spreadsheet programs. Burdette said maybe this one just needs cleaning up. Roberts asked when the Library is audited, and Harrison replied the first of the year. b. Automation Project: Johnson said we have the full specs for the power and communication cabling, the specs for the hardware and computers are falling into place, and we're ready to get the bids sent out. Thomas asked if there was a limit that required an Engineer's stamp. Davis said there was a $75,000 limit which required an Architect's seal, and he thought a $100,000 limit which required an Engineer's stamp. Harrison said our preliminary numbers were below these amounts. Roberts asked if we had a need for any old 286 computers because the VA had some in surplus. Johnson said they might be suitable as a dumb terminal. Roberts said the only catch is that the library would have to pay a state tax of 10% of the original cost of the machine. Johnson said he would find out what the minimum requirements for the dumb terminals were and let Roberts know if they would be suitable. Thomas asked Duree if these machines might be used in a small library. Duree said the 286 software might not be powerful enough for their needs. Johnson said the cost of an upgrade might be less than the purchase cost of a new machine, and should be looked into. c. Report on new lawn -service: Harrison reported we have a new lawn service - Acme Lawn Care owned by Christina Buxton who is employed part-time by the city to co work on the square. She has a Horticulture degree, only lives three doors down, and the price is the same as Southside. Harrison said Maxey, who is on vacation, asked her to present to the Board an offer she has received. A musical group wants to do a Children's program, charge admission, and donate the money to the library. Harrison said she thinks the library cannot charge admission to programs, but we could accept donations. We could not use the word "admission", should publicize the event as a fund raiser, and be sure no child was turned away because they did not have a donation. Burdette moved and Roberts seconded that this program be advertised as a fund-raiser for the Children's department of the library, with no admission charge, but donations would be accepted. All said "AYE". 6. Trustee's / Committee's Reports a. Treasurer's Report: Parsons .said she will be leaving on August 31 and will sign checks through August 30. She will return September 26. Parsons brought Harrison the letter from the Victims of Family Violence from the Safe Deposit Box. b. Alternative Fund Raising: Singleton summarized a fund-raising publication which said that fund-raising should be an outgrowth of long term strategic planning. He also stated that it is not useful to ask for donations for operations, people want to donate items that are visible. He said when we have a list of items needed, we can ask for donations of these items. Harrison said these things will come from budget requests. Singleton suggested maybe a good thing to ask for might be computer terminals or internet access, etc. c. Long-term planning: Roberts thanked participants for the questionnaire responses. He will collate the responses so they can be used in long range planning. The last mission statement and long range planning goals for the library were written in 1986, and are now obsolete. Roberts said, and all agreed, that a retreat for long range planning would be more productive with the expertise of a professional facilitator. He is looking for someone like this who will donate their time. d. Volunteers: Burdette reported that the semi-annual volunteers meeting was again postponed because Genie had to be out of town, and will be held a half hour before next month's meeting. The number of volunteer hours was up. Jefferson stated that this increase is due to there being 5 weeks in this month, and this is the time of the summer reading program which uses more volunteers than other times. Johnson reported that for the Books on Wheels project he has been waiting on Genie Donovan to tell him what the response has been from the Friends. She was hoping to get 15 volunteers for this program. Burdette reminded the Board members to fill out Volunteer forms for any time spent working on library business. 7. New Business a. New Pay Matrix: Thomas reported the City Administration is still working on the request and has not gotten back to him yet. b. 1997 Operations Budget: Harrison stated item 7a on the agenda was worded wrong and should have been scheduling a special meeting to discuss the 1997 operations budget which is due in August 22. Harrison suggested August 20, but said it would be hard to get the figures to the Board before then. Davis said we could go another week, so the meeting was scheduled for August 26 at 4:00. 8. Other Business: Burdette moved and Roberts seconded to move into executive session for a personnel matter at 5:15. Respectfully submitted by Carolyn Diemente.