HomeMy WebLinkAbout1996-10-18 MinutesBoard of Trustees Meeting
Fayetteville Public Library
October 18, 1996
Present: Board members: Mark Burdette, Steve Singleton, Maury Roberts, Mary
Parsons, Michael Thomas, Library personnel Linda Harrison, June Jefferson, David
Johnson, Lolly Maxey, Grace Kerr, Mary Jo Godfrey, Melanie Stockdell, ORL
Director Karen Duree, and City Administrator Steve Davis.
1. Call to order: Thomas called the meeting to order at 3:00 pni.
2. Approval of minutes: Burdette moved to approve the minutes and Roberts
seconded for both the regular meeting of September 9, 1996, and the special
meeting of September 18, 1996. Two of the numbers in the minutes of the
September 18 meeting were in error and need to be changed. All voted AYE to
accept the minutes with the changes indicated.
3. Correspondence: Harrison reported on (1) a Morning News clipping about the
library donations, (2) Northwest Arkansas Times story about a benefit for the
Children's Library at which $130.00 was donated, (3) a Washington County Observer
article about the Winslow library, (4) Morning News note about Arkansas Womens
History Institute state conference at which Jefferson was a presenter, (5)
Northwest Arkansas Times picture of Maxey with children who helped make a video
about Fayetteville, and (6) press release about the library having available
tapes of University Press authors reading from their works for in-house listening
by library patrons. Also scheduled to celebrate Arts & Humanities week is a day-
long reading. Harrison asked if coffee and coffee -cake could be served at this
event. Discussion followed about letting patron groups serve coffee. Singleton
said he felt we should not do it if we don't let patrons. Access to a clean-up
area and kitchen is limited to the staff room; events which have been excepted
from the policy by the board have been library events. It was suggested that
there be staff input about concerns and/or complications of offering food by the
public. At this point, each request will considered on a separate basis.
Thomas said he had contacted the Fayetteville police about doing a Drug Awareness
presentation at the library as a public service the library's contribution will
be the facility). All thought this was a good idea.
4. Librarian's Reports:
a. Statistical and Financial Reports: Harrison presented the statistical and
financial reports. One thing Harrison pointed out was a check to Applegate
Consulting for $1062.50 which she said Johnson wanted to talk about. There were
no questions about these reports.
b. Automation Project: Johnson said he felt the bill from Bruce Applegate was
for more time than he felt it should have taken him. Johnson said he was not
going to use Applegate every time he has a question now, because he feels he
charges too much. Duree said ORL had discussed this issue with Applegate, and
he had adjusted their bill. Burdette and Thomas asked Johnson to ask Applegate
to adjust our bill. Johnson said ETI, who is doing the cabling and wiring, are
doing a good job.
Johnson said he and Duree are considering two bids on the hardware from HAMCO and
ETI. He said some factors that are being considered are price, type of machines,
and ongoing service. Johnson said FPL will be buying some other equipment on
another bid. He is looking into software training offered at several local
sources. He would like for one person from each department to take the training
and then teach others. Johnson said he is happy with the way things are going.
Burdette suggested that if there is any questions about anything in the future
to make it clear before writing the check.
c. Report on Arkansas Library Association Conference: Harrison said FPL was well
represented at this conference by herself, Johnson, Jefferson, Maxey and
Hartsell, and they all came back with many new ideas. Harrison said she will be
the Chair of the Public Library Division next year, and Johnson will be the Vice -
Chair of the Reference Division next year. Harrison said the theme of the
conference was the evolving staff roles with automation and computerization in
the library. Harrison said by this time next year everyone's job in the library
will be affected by automation. Jefferson said what she found was that FPL's.
efforts to deal with the situations of needed funding, understaffing with greater
service demand, and the impact of new technology were right on track with what
other successful libraries are doing. The conference was useful for all staff,
who reported similar experiences.
d. Budget "news": Harrison noted a memo from Ben Mayes, Administrative Service
Director for the city, about the proposed CIP budget. She noted that the request
for money for books had been reduced by $3,000. She said she felt we needed to
go to the budget meeting and request this be reinstated because the patron survey
showed that the thing the patrons want most is more books. It was agreed that
attendance would be a good idea.
The Washington County Library Board agreed to increase FPL's 1997 millage
appropriation to correspond with the contributions by Fayetteville citizens.
Alternative funding sources: Thomas said an area that was suggested for
alternative funding was the Parks and Recreation Department's Hotel, Motel, and
Restaurant (HMR) assessment. Davis said a case could be made for the library
being a recreational facility to the Parks and Recreation Board. Duree said the
Parks and Recreation Board is an Advisory Board and can only make recommendations
to the Mayor. Davis said there was still some time to approach this board.
Singleton offered to contact Susan Driver of the PRC Board and report back.
Further suggestions to the library include use of Long Term Development funds and
designated funds. Thomas indicated that he reiterated to city administration
that LTD funds are committed as are designated funds. Singleton inquired about
the "voluntary millage" concept and/or the 5 city discretionary millages. Davis
clarified that none of the 5 mills are used; Thomas reminded of a committment by
currently elected officials that the mills would not be used if the sales tax was
passed. There was discussion about sales tax collections; are they corresponding
to the area's growth? Springdale's voluntary millage was discussed and the
problems of possible low revenues because of its clear placement on the tax bills
this year. People are now more aware of the choice to pay it or not. How is a
voluntary millage implemented? Passage of a resolution or enacting an ordinance
is done by city government approval and forwarded to Quorum Court for inclusion
on an annual basis on the tax bills. Discussion continued of the support which
was indicated by the citizens of Fayetteville for a millage in the county millage
campaign. Alternative funding possiblities will continue to be examined.
5.Trustee/ Committee Reports
a. Fund Raising: Singleton said the next meeting of this committee is Monday at
4:00. At the last meeting there was discussion of approaching an ad agency and
graphic designer about making a new logo for the library, draft some copy about
a general "How to help the Library" brochure suggesting ways people could help
by volunteering their time or giving money, etc. The "want list" would be listed
by departments based on the discussions had during the budget process. Also
included would be information about where the library's money comes from with a
chart indicating what comes from the city, county, and from fund raising.
Another activity of this committee was to compile a list of accomplishments of
the library for donor information.
b. Long -Term Planning: Roberts asked about FPL getting funds from the United
Way. Harrison said this had been looked into before, and there were a number of
restrictions that made them decide not to do that such as FPL would have to have
the United Way logo on our letterhead, FPL could not do any fund raising without
the United Way's permission, and FPL could not do any fund raising of their own
while the United Way Campaign was on, i.e, during October when we have our
Friends Books Sale, etc.
c. Volunteers: Burdette said volunteer hours were up for 1996, but he felt more
could be done.
6. Retirement Plan: Burdette said he had spoken with the fund managers in St.
Louis and with Theresa Ewing, and is comfortable with the plan as it is, and
feels that it should be reviewed annually.
7. Personal Day Policy: Harrison said she had been approached by staff members
who want to take the "personal day" either the day before or the day after
Christmas this year. Harrison asked the Board if the FPL might close an extra
day, either the day before or the day after Christmas. Burdette said he felt
that this was not the intent of the policy. The intent was a personal day during
the year such as a birthday or something special for that person. Roberts and
Singleton agreed that the intent was not to close the library, and the Board did
not approve closing an extra day at Christmas.
8. Proposed Library Laws: Harrison expressed concern about the proposed change
in library laws which said that all library boards except the system library
board be advisory, and only the system library board, such as ORL, be
administrative. Duree stated she had pointed this out before, and that the state
board needs feedback on this issue. Harrison said another area of concern was
page 4 (f) that states that the system board will have exclusive control of the
finances, i.e. any money generated by FPL will be given to the ORL Board to be
meted back to FPL as the ORL Board sees fit. Duree said this also goes with the
issue of the ORL system board being the only "administrative" board and all to
others being on "advisory boards". Harrison said these changes might affect
staff and retirement and insurance plans. Duree said she went to a meeting last
week of this commission where it was discussed to make it an option for
situations like ours where the city library boards are administrative boards and
want to stay that way. Duree reiterated that the 17 member commission needs
input as to how this board feels about these changes. She said most of them are
from Little Rock, and that the system board being the administrative board is the
way it works down there, and they may not understand how things work in the rest
of the state. Singleton asked who to contact. Duree said she could give us the
names of all 17 people on the commission. Burdette said it might be a good idea
to send a letter to each of these people. Singleton moved, Roberts seconded, and
the vote was unanimous to send an appropriate letter to this commission from our
entire board. Harrison said she would write the letter and circulate it.
9. Other Business:
a. Harrison told the board about a workshop on fund raising strategies and board
training by Keith Vire. Parsons said she would like to go, and Harrison said she
might. Thomas said if Harrison goes, he felt the library should pay for it.
b. Discussion of rent rate change for ORL: Harrison presented a proposal which
includes a rate change for increased operating costs per square foot, and a
decrease in amount of square footage charged for by the amount of the staff room
and garage. Discussion followed about maintenance needed on this building and
advantages of renting to ORL such as having the Talking Books in the same
building and a cost avoidance in the hard wiring into the new automation system.
Roberts moved and Singleton seconded to accept the new rate. All AYE.
c.A sample name tag was presented by Thomas who suggested idenitifying Library
staff some way. Staff in attendance today recalled for the rest of the board
that the issue of using names rather than positions rests on a history of
harrassment of staff by some public. Security balanced with responsiveness to
patrons is the question which will be presented to the staff at their meetings
this month. Cost of the tags presented by Thomas are $5.50 each which would
total several hundred dollars unanticipated in the budget. Other tag formats and
costs will also be investigated.
d. Mary Jo Godfrey presented, for board information, a draft of the request for
a continuation of the Genealogy A & P grant.
10. moved, seconded, that the Board go into Executive session for the
purpose of evaluation of the library director's job performance.
