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Home My WebLink About1995-11-13 MinutesFayetteville Public Library Board of Trustees Minutes of Meeting on November 13. 1995 Attending: Michael Thomas, Mark Burdette, Carol Phillips, Steve Singleton, trustees; Linda Harrison. Mary Jo Godfrey, Lynaire Hartsell, June Jefferson, David Johnson, Lolly Maxey, Sandra Hillier, staff; Genie Donovan. Volunteer Coordinator; Karen Duree, Ozarks Regional Director. Absent: Jeff Koening, trustee. President Thomas called the meeting to order at 4:00 p.m. Burdette moved to approve the minutes of the October 9 meeting, Phillips seconded, and the motion passed with the following correction: page 1, last paragraph - Melanie Stockdell's name should be added to the list of staff members working on the HMR -Genealogy project. Correspondence and newspaper clippings were reviewed and discussed. 1. Thomas was commended for his October 18 appreciation letter to Senator David Malone for his assistance with the grant proposal on behalf of the Genealogy collection. 2. A note from Barbara Hale to Godfrey was shared regarding the outstanding reputation of our Genealogy collection as known by the Salt Lake City Library. 3. Letter from Melitta McCorkle, Media Specialist at Wells School in Greenwood, to Jefferson thanking her for recent donations (of discarded collections) to the school in the name of the Fayetteville Public Library. 4. Letter from Harrison to Ann Sugg of the Washington County Historical 35 Society regarding the various fees a.essed by Genealogy. Harrison wrote the letter at Godfrey's request because Mary Jo felt she was in an awkward position in raising the charges of the Historical Society since she is an active member of both the Society and the Genealogy Department. The differential in fees is not yet determined --the Historical Society Board meets November 20. Johnson suggested it should be noted that Sugg recently opened a private business which may influence her actual interest on the lower rate schedule accessed by the Library as opposed to that of the Society or private firms. Phillips said the letter should stand as written. 5. Memo from Karen Duree notifying appropriate individuals of the next Ozarks Regional Library Board meeting scheduled November 15 in Mountainburg. 6. Johnson explained his technology release on behalf of the Genealogy Department as a response to the recent press article penned by Ann Sugg. He wanted the public to be aware that the Fayetteville Public Library has provided this service for years. Johnson's article has not yet appeared in the newspaper. 7. An article in the Washington County Observer pointed out that the small towns in Washington County are forming a coalition to combat "oppressive acts by Fayetteville and Springdale." Among other acts, request by ORL for financial support in the automation project was specifically mentioned. 0. Johnson noted a recent article in the Arkansas Democrat/Gazette regarding changes in the Central Arkansas Library System. Johnson specifically mentioned the addition of free coffee on weekends which opened discussion as to how the Fayetteville Public Library could incorporate this service into our Saturday opening. Arsaga's has agreed to bring an urn into the Library lobby and donate coffee if the Library makes available a contribution jar and retains the money donated. Arsaga's does not want the contribution. Arsaga's will brew one urn of coffee, set up the table, and provide the paper products. Johnson volunteered the Reference staff to pick up empty coffee cups left in the building, and trash cans will be conveniently available. We might try this on a trial basis during the holidays, and after evaluation, carry on into the new year. Because we have irreplaceable items in the Genealogy Department, coffee will not be allowed in that area. Singleton moved that the Library allow Arsaga's to provide coffee for the patrons on Saturday mornings, Burdette seconded, motion passed unanimously. The coffee urn will be placed in the downstairs lobby by the Children's library with a courtesy sign on behalf of Arsaga's. The contribution jar will be placed in a manned portion of the Library. 9. Jefferson was commended for her article which appeared in the Washington County Observer and for her display in the Library honoring Arkansas poets. It was noted that the Observer is carrying a lot of our material. The Statistical Reports were reviewed, and increases in 1995 volunteer hours and registrations were noted. Thomas asked for clarification of Gaylord Bros. as appears in "Office Supplies" account. Harrison explained that the company is a publisher and provider of library supplies. Thomas also mentioned that Office Depot furnishes an advantageous discount for non-profit organizations. Harrison reported on the ALA Conference held recently in Fort Smith. The speakers were excellent, and Johnson was able to make contact with automation vendors. He is in the process of following up with his contacts and receiving information. Harrison was chosen as Vice Chair/Chair-elect for the Public Library Division. Harrison reported that Lynn Stewart has been chosen as a representative to attend training with Young Adult Library Services in San Antonio in January. Competition to attend this training is keen, and based on an essay she wrote, Stewart is one of 30 selected representatives in the nation. The training will be held in conjunction with the ALA mid -winter library conference. Singleton expressed concern over the proposed 20% increase in the 1996 budget the City has allocated for the Library. He stated the increase was misleading; in reality, it is less than funds 3-5 years ago. Singleton and Harrison will meet to determine exactly what information needs to be extracted from the financial history reports (book budget and operating budget) so Singleton can formally state his comments. Johnson reported on the status of the magazine project. All subscriptions will be funneled through an account with EBSCO. Lori Young is the representative/contact person at EBSCO. Each donor company will receive a contract for a 3 -year commitment which will be billed annually. Samples of the magazines we are requesting are available for review by the donor organization. Each magazine will have a label affixed recognizing the donor company. EBSCO will be responsible for those magazines which do not arrive. EBSCO will be responsible for billing the contributor. Harrison reminded the Board this is a trial project and try to wait until first year renewal time to see how this works. If the donor company doesn't pay at renewal time. there is nothing we can do. Johnson said this would be a good opportunity for us to contact like companies to see if one of them might want to continue the subscription in its name. The success of the project should be tracked prior to upscaling. Johnson is to contact Lori at EBSCO to determine if they will contact the donor company at renewal time; however, he suggested we might want to do that ourselves on a more personal basis. A press release will be prepared recognizing the contributor organizations. Phillips suggested we call attention to this effort of trying to fund some of our projects to the City when we turn in our budget. Johnson has prepared a list of possible donor companies. Singleton suggested any staff member, Board member or Friends member who has a personal relationship with any of the companies on the list might want to individually contact that company. Johnson reported that Melanie Stockdell met with Marilyn Johnson recently to discuss the HMR tax. Marilyn suggested the Library divide increments on how they want materials over a 7 -year period. The City Advertising and Promotion Committee is willing to fund the Library from these tax collections. This will not be acted upon until the first of the year. Thomas also spoke with Coy who also suggested the Library spread the request over a multi-year period. The $90,000 requested for the Genealogy collection will not be discussed again by the City until after January 1. David Malone's convincing presentation for the funding was the deciding advantage for the Library. Burdette reported the invitations for the December 1 Volunteer Reception had been mailed. He is hoping for participation from the news media. Thomas will follow up with the medias! Danpvan suppasted fanner Award members and Friends Board members be added to the invitation list. Jefferson requested the names and addresses of those individuals by November 15 so invitations can be sent immediately. Donovan agreed to gather that information for her. The reception has been funded by the Library staff ($30), Library Board ($270), and John Lewis ($100). No City monies will be used. Appropriate thank yous will be noted at the reception, and Mayor Hanna and John Lewis will be asked to say a few words. Phillips has contacted the caterers (Tuesday's) and is confident they will most efficiently handle the reception. The musicians as previously discussed will be unable to participate; however, Maxey will contact John Finch to see whether or not he is willing to play his cello for the reception. Donovan shared the success of the volunteer program. We have 32 volunteers, with lq hPing npw recruits. The volunteers per department are as follows: Adult 9 total with 5 new Children's 3 total with 2 new Genealogy 20 total with 8 new There are 4 students who no longer volunteer because they have returned to school, and there were 2 no-shows. Even though we want to expand on volunteer application/retention, it was determined that media exposure should not be increased at this time until available tasks for future volunteers are defined. We will always accept applications from patrons who ask to volunteer. Burdette will meet with Donovan and the Library staff after the first of the year to review/evaluate the volunteer program. Phillips stated the Board needs to elect a secretary to take the minutes of the meetings. That position has been vacant since Ann Pritchard resigned. None of the remaining Board members felt confident enough to take on the task. Singleton moved that until such a time as we have a Board member who can take/transcribe minutes, the Board engage an outside source to be responsible for the minutes, excluding the Library staff unless someone there wants to earn the extra money. Burdette seconded. The motion passed. (Burdette, Thomas, Singleton -yea; Phillips -nay) Harrison stated the '96 operating budget will need to be adjusted for this expense. Singleton mentioned the budget will also need to be adjusted for the voter registration staff overload. Karen Duree asked for approval of ORL lease for coming year. The ORL Board wants to act on this at their next meeting November 15. Phillips moved to extend ORL contract for one more year, Singleton seconded. The motion was unanimously approved. Maxey reported on the Halloween story hour. 120 children and adults participated. Prior to its recent sale, Food -4 -Less donated plastic jack -o - lanterns and treat bags which the Library provided to the children attending the story hour. Channel 3 has televised the story time, and Maxey has a couple of copies of the tape should anyone wish to view them. The meeting adjourned at 5:10 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Sandra Hillier