HomeMy WebLinkAbout1995-03-13 Minutesf
MINUTES OF THE FAYETTEVILLE PUBLIC LIBRARY BOARD OF TRUSTEES
March 13, 1995
Attending -- Mark Burdette, Jeff Koenig, Carol Phillips, Anne
Prichard, Michael Thomas, board of trustees; Linda Harrison,
director, Fayetteville Public Library; Karen Duree, director,
Ozarks Regional Library; Mary Jo Godfrey, Lynaire Hartsell,
June Jefferson, Lolly Maxey, Susan Sissom, staff; Michelle Parks,
Northwest Arkansas Times; Steve Davis, City of Fayetteville.
Special Meeting
President Thomas called the meeting to order at 4:02 p.m. The
board met in special session to consider revisions to the library
policy manual.
Harrison noted that the policy regarding genealogy charges are
still low, but it is an improvement over what the library had
charged for mail inquiries previously. The policy the board
approved limits patrons to one letter with two specific questions
per week. Research is limited to two hours of staff time, and
patrons will be charged a minimum of $2.50 an hour. Copies will
be limited to 10 pages at a charge of 25 cents a page.. Microfilm
rental charges are payable before the film is ordered, and they
should cover the cost of rental and postage.
Godfrey told the board the policy was an improvement over what
the library previously had. Harrison said the staff was
comfortable with the new policy. She said the policy would allow
for changes in postage and other costs that could change.
The next matters dealt with personnel policy, Harrison told
the board. Changes in federal legislation and more specific
policy statements than are now in place were included in the
proposed changes, she said, including city and regional library
policies.
"Disability" was added to the equal employment opportunity
statement to encompass the Americans with Disabilities Act,
which was enacted by the federal government. The board approved
the addition.
Number PA (work hours) merely defined working hours, Harrison
said, something the policy had not previously done. The previous
policy defined a work week, she said.
Number P structures outside employment, Harrison said, which
is another area not covered by current policy. The statement
is designed to cover situations that might present a conflict
of interest, Harrison said. Thomas asked about the phrasing
of the statement in indicating employee availability; Harrison
said that employees must be available to work during the
library's operating hours. The phrase "and for other hours as
required" indicates that the employee must be available for
the library's convenience, Harrison said.
(During a brief interruption, Phillips noted that the change
of meeting time for the board should be addressed. In the past,
the board has begun its regular meeting at 4 p.m. on the second
Monday of each month, with the special meetings to review policy
being held at 3. In the last three months, however, the board
has met in special session at 4 p.m. and conducted its regular
meeting at 5.
(Koenig noted that a later starting hour was more convenient
for him. Phillips said that the regular meeting time was set
and that the later hours had been interim. If. a permanent change
is to be made, she said, the board should do so formally. It
is important for purposes of complying with the state's Freedom
of Information Act, she said, to establish a regular meeting
time. Thomas suggested continuing the 3 p.m. special meeting
until the policy is reviewed.)
On policy EJ, the board asked to change "local librarians" to
"department supervisors." Koenig suggested that librarians find
a substitute if they know in advance they'll be absent from
work; if the absence is without prior notification, he said,
supervisors should arrange to cover the absence in the schedule.
Thomas suggested making coverage a supervisor's decision in
any event. The board concurred.
2
On policy EID, the board recommended deleting section 4, dealing
with insurance (the policy was copied from the regional library's
policy). Burdette asked about maternity leave policy and was
told that would be covered in the family leave policy. Section
6 in that statement clarifies the policy on retirement benefits
as it applies to absences without pay. Koenig recommended having
the retirement -plan expert look over the statement.
The EO policy on political activity is based on the regional
library's policy, Jefferson told the group, because it is a
detailed policy. The board asked to delete references to Crawford
County (from the regional policy) when the policy was adopted.
The statements advising that employees must take leaves of
absence without pay 30 days before an election are designed
to avoid any conflict of interest, Harrison said. Koenig said
he was unsure if the policy could withstand a legal challenge.
Jefferson said the policy was compatible with the city's policy
on political activity.
On Policy ES (drug-free workplace), Harrison said the policy
was based on city policy and was necessary by law. The board
approved changing "regional library director" to "library
director" in Section 4.
Policy EN (travel expenses) has never been addressed before
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in the Fayetteville policy, Harrison said. References to the
regional library were deleted. Koenig said it is standard
business policy to exclude the purchase of alcohol from
reimbursement provisions. Koenig and Phillips suggested that
lodging expenses be limited to "what is reasonable for the area"
in which the library staff member is staying. Thomas noted that
lodging costs can vary greatly nationally, particularly in cities
such as New York and Chicago. Phillips said "reasonable
reimbursement" would eliminate the need for the board to come
back and revise a dollar amount over and over again in each
new situation.
The board does encourage training, Koenig said. Maxey said she
had attended an event at her own expense. Board members told
her to submit her expenses. Thomas said he didn't want to hear
that an employee didn't go to a training event because there
was no travel and training budget. Board members indicated that
some provision could be made to reimburse staff members for
training expenses.
On policy ET (distribution of personnel policies), Harrison
said the main problem might be that each employee understand
the statement she is to sign. There have been problems in the
past with personnel understanding policy statements, she said
wryly, which emphasizes the importance of the policy review
the board has undertaken.
The tuition assistance statement is provided with an eye toward
the time that money is available for additional education,
Harrison said.
Maxey asked for a clarification on the problem patron policy
as it applies to the children's library. Questions were raised
at the February meeting on the advisability of asking disruptive
children to leave the library. Harrison posed the questions
to City Attorney Jerry Rose, but she has not received an answer
yet, she told the board. Maxey asked how she should instruct
her staff on unattended children in the meantime.
Harrison said that if unattended children were present when
the staff began to close the library, the parents should be
called. Maxey asked what to do if parents could not be reached
or had not arrived by closing. Maxey said her staff had been
faced with this decision on two separate occasions, and no one
knew what to do, whether to leave the children or stay with
them.
Sissom said that she and another staff member had discussed
this problem. The other staff member, who worked at the Central
Arkansas library in Little Rock, said police were called in
to take responsibility for minor children without parents, Sissom
said. Duree said she had read of this policy being implemented
in an article in a professional journal.
Sissom said the Fayetteville Police Department had expressed
its willingness to assist the librarians in security matters
in other areas (vandalism, suspicious people in the building,
etc.) and that officers would respond quickly at closing times
to aid the staff.
Koenig suggested that the staff follow this policy until Rose
responds to the questions about security raised by the board.
The police would take the child to the police station, board
members said. A staff member noted that the one time she could
remember such an event taking place, the parents were so
"discombobulated" by having to pick up their child in front
of police at the scene that the behavior was not repeated.
In response to a question by Phillips, Sissom suggested staff
members post a note on the door to let parents know that the
child is with the police.
The meeting was adjourned.
* * *
President Thomas called the regular session to order at 5:06
p.m.
The minutes were approved as submitted.
Harrison said the correspondence included in the board members'
packets was self-explanatory.
Koenig made the motion that the Fayetteville library board go
on record to encourage the Washington County Library Board to
respond to an editorial of February 16 in the Washington County
Observer, with the headline "Hiding behind a log," to indicate
that the information presented was incorrect and to encourage
the Observer to write another editorial retracting its
misstatement. Burdette seconded the motion.
4
In discussing the motion, Koenig indicated he would be happy
to write the letter, but it was the responsibility of the
Washington County board to respond to the erroneous statements
presented in the editorial as fact. He added that it was not
Duree's responsibility, unless directed to do so by the county
library board. If the Fayetteville library board and the county
library board intend to pursue another attempt to gain voter
approval of a county -wide library millage, Koenig said, the
issues of the regional library's "hiding revenue" raised by
the editorial must be addressed. Thomas indicated that he thought
the recommendation was appropriate. The board approved the
motion.
Other items of correspondence required no board action.
Harrison said the statistical report also was largely
self-explanatory.
5
Harrison said the statement of revenues and expenditures was
current and encompassed the income from both city and county
resources and that the expenditures column had been changed
to reflect the reopening of the library on Saturdays, beginning
on April 8.
Phillips asked if this schedule included just the Tuesday and
Thursday evening hours in the schedule. Harrison confirmed this
and told Phillips that she was correct that this schedule could
be maintained until December 31. Phillips said the library was
reopening on Saturdays "knowing full well that this (closing)
will happen again next year if we don't have some sort of
(financial) relief."
Harrison also noted that the column marked "Excess After
Transfer" on the financial statement reflected building insurance
that the library never actually has in hand.
Thomas asked if the library had prepared a press release on
the reopening. Sissom replied that a release had been drafted,
but the staff was awaiting a definite date and board approval
of that date before sending out the release.
Phillips asked if notice could be given in the local press that
a $10,000 bequest from the estate of Mary Alice Pearson had
been used to reopen the library on Saturdays. Ms. Pearson's
family was "almost non-existent" and could not be thanked
personally, Phillips noted, but she thought it would be
appropriate to make public notice of the gift. Thomas said he
wanted to see that included in the press release. Phillips said
she'd like to see "credit where credit was due." Sissom said
that would be included in the release.
Board members noted that the rates on certificates of deposit
were rising now and that the board should try to find the most
attractive rate available in May, when the next CD is due to
roll over. Phillips noted that special coverage on CDs to make
sure that amounts of more than $100,000 are insured. She said
she had gone to the Federal Reserve Board for one bank to insure
the amounts. Another bank insures through bonds.
Parks asked for clarification on where the additional revenue
had come to allow for the reopening of the library on Saturdays.
The board reaffirmed that the money came from an increase in
Fayetteville's share of the county library millage, surplus
funds from the city, the Mary Alice Pearson estate and the
closure for the first quarter of 1995. Koenig added that the
library was reopening "with the caveat" that no additional
financing had been promised for 1996. Thomas noted that the
board would be facing the same closing decision next year without
additional revenue.
Thomas also noted that he had asked the city attorney for an
opinion on whether the board could accept a loan from a local
6
bank based on the promise of the city council to grant a
discretionary mill to be dedicated to library services.
Koenig said he didn't want to appear pessimistic about the
millage proposal, but he has heard that the city's Advertising
and Promotion Commission is considering asking for a tax. That
situation could complicate the library's asking for a millage
vote, he indicated, and he expressed concern on the matter.
Harrison and Duree noted that a change in forms from the county
tax collector's office could affect the collection of the
voluntary millage in the city of Springdale. Residents must
now add on the voluntary millage, they said; previously the
voluntary millage was added by the tax collector's office and
presented as a total amount. Residents who didn't wish to pay
the voluntary millage could subtract the amount from their tax
bill.
Harrison noted that a decrease in revenue from the voluntary
tax in Springdale could have an effect on the way that facility's
governing board views increasing the county's library millage.
Koenig also informed the board about proposals concerning the
state's school -funding formula, which had not been finalized
by the legislature.
Phillips summarized the discussion by saying that the bottom
line of the matter was that the Fayetteville library had reopened
on Saturdays. Koenig said the matter of library funding would
continue to be a matter of great concern. After the board
questioned Davis on the matter of the city's surplus funds that
were added to the 1995 operating budget, Davis speculated that
the amount could become part of the base amount of the operating
budget for the 1996 fiscal year. Davis indicated that he had
not discussed the matter with the city's finance office at that
time and that the city had not yet begun financial planning
for the 1996 fiscal year.
Koenig reiterated that the amount could not be counted on for
1996 and noted that no help had been pledged by the county quorum
court for financial aid. Duree noted that no county general -fund
revenues had ever been dedicated to the library's operating
budget.
Prichard noted that the county should be counted upon as a source
of revenue.
The board members further discussed asking the city to dedicate
one mill of discretionary tax to the library. Koenig said he
was willing to ask for the millage. Burdette said it was
important to ask openly for more support so that the public
would be aware of the need and the request. Thomas noted that
the library needed to know which funds would be available.
7
Hartsell reported that the library would be purchasing the
overdues software that Susan Epstein had recommended but that
changes in procedure would require that the staff make some
adaptation to the program. She noted that time constraints had
impaired her ability to work with the program. Illnesses have
forced Hartsell to fill in for absent staff members.
Harrison told the board that training sessions had been scheduled
for the new genealogy computers that have arrived. Godfrey told
Thomas that she would be able to present a report on the new
computersjat the next board meeting.
Burdette reported that two meetings on the volunteer committee
had been held and that the response from staff members and
volunteers had been very good. He said that Genie Donovan, the
former adult services supervisor, had agreed to serve as the
volunteer coordinator and that Donovan herself would be a
volunteer. It will be Donovan's job to interview volunteer
applicants, accept them into the volunteer program and place
them in appropriate departments, he said. Burdette said Donovan
was an excellent choice.
Burdette said staff members in each department would be
responsible for training. If a volunteer doesn't perform as
expected in a department, he/she will be relocated to a different
department. If that doesn't solve the problem, he said, the
volunteer then will be released from the volunteer program.
He noted that the genealogy department, which has 10 volunteers,
was serving as a model for the program and that volunteers would
be recruited through the Friends of the Fayetteville Public
Library organization. The Friends will publish a call for
volunteers in their newsletter in early April, he said. Harrison
said volunteer applicants would be contacted within two weeks
following their application for a volunteer position.
Phillips told Godfrey that she could advertise the Four Corners
Ancestor Fair in the Advertising and Promotions newsletter if
she could submit information by April 1. The event is to take
place in July and will attract patrons interested in the
genealogy library. The fair is being sponsored by the county
historial society and will be held at the Springdale Holiday
Inn.
The board adjourned at 5:48 p.m. (Koenig, Phillips).
Respectfully submitted by;
Susan M. Sissom
Library Staff
