Minutes Of the Columbus Public Library Board September 11, 2007 The regularly scheduled meeting of the Columbus Public Library Board was called to order at 4:30 PM on Tuesday, September 11, 2007 by the President, Craig Neid. He read and signed the “Certification of Compliance,” regarding the “Open Meeting” law. Other Library Board members present included Carol Keller, and Jim Schaefer. Also present were Joe Mangiamelli, City Administrator, and Robert Trautwein, the Library Director. Notice of this meeting was given in advance with a copy of the agenda posted at City Hall, the County Court House, and in the Public Library. All proceedings hereafter shown were taken while the convened meeting was open to the public. The Minutes of the Board meeting held on August 9th were reviewed. Carol Keller asked about the proceeds of the book sale. Trautwein said he had deposited that money with the city rather than giving any portion of it to the Friends of the Library. He said that he felt uncomfortable in handing over money received at the Library to an organization other than the city. He said he is working with the city to develop a contract to describe the responsibilities of both the Library and the Friends and how the money should be split. Craig Neid said he had been in communications with Diane Klug, the Vice-president of the Friends Group. She had sent him copies of the minutes of the March and April meetings of the board of the Friends. Reading from those minutes, Mr. Neid said that in the March minutes, Trautwein had said $2,400 had been budgeted back to the city but the Friends could keep anything in excess. In the April meeting, Trautwein had corrected himself by saying it was $3,000 going to the city with the remaining going to the Friends. Trautwein said that he had issued a voucher for $1,000 to be given to the Friends rather than the excess over $3,000. He said that he had decided that since he and his staff had done the majority of the work in preparing for the book sale, a $1,000 amount to the Friends would be reasonable. He said that he would like to see the Friends assume full responsibility for the book sale and to allow a reasonable compensation for their work. He had received a copy of book sale contract between the Fremont Library and their Friends group. He has retyped that contract and has “tweaked” it to make it relate to the locale. Craig Neid said that he would be uncomfortable with an amount. He would rather see a percentage for future years. He said that in the contract design, he would like to see specifics in what is expected of the Friends and what is expected from the Library. Regarding the voucher for the $1,000 check, Trautwein said that the check will be held until a mutually-agreed upon contract has been signed. Trautwein said that he would be meeting with the Friends group next Tuesday. The minutes were allowed to stand as presented with a motion from Jim Schaefer and a second from Carol Keller. The motion passed by voice vote. Joe Mangiamelli, the City Administrator, jointed the group. The Director distributed the financial reports for the City Library, Platte County Library Service, and the Columbus Library Foundation. He explained that this is the last month of the budget year. It was noted that a coffee-making machine had been order and a cabinet is being built by CK Planing. A new directory was purchased for the first floor landing, off the stairs. Also noted was a voucher for a partial payment of the “thin client” computer lab upgrade. Trautwein said this money will be used to upgrade the server and replace the “box” as well as the keyboard for each client station. Following a discussion of some of the items listed, a motion was made by Jim Schaefer and seconded by Carol Keller. This motion passed by a roll call vote: Neid-aye, Keller-aye, and Schaefer-aye. There was a discussion about a newspaper article that appeared in the “letters to the editor” about charging for Internet. The Board decided to respond to the article. Trautwein was directed to draft a news release and share it with the Board before sending it to the newspaper. Trautwein was asked about the reopening of the Children’s Room. He said that most all of the construction work will be done by the 26th when there will be an “All City Employees” meeting in that room, but it will take a while to finish the interior decorating and the reshelve of all the books. The Director’s Report was briefly reviewed. Craig Neid asked about the possibility of using the ISBN’s to identify book sale books of greater value. Trautwein said that this type of identifying and selling of use books will be a decision for the Friends of the Library. There were no Committee Reports and no items of Correspondence. Under Old Business, on the topic of the renovation of the Children’s Room, Trautwein said that the ceiling tile will be put in place on the 12th and on Wednesday, the 19th, the stacks in the north section of the room will be moved to the south end and the north area will be carpeted on the 20th. After the carpet is laid in this area, the stacks will be put in place and other shelving from the south side will be moved to the north side so the carpet can be laid there. Joe Mangiamelli asked about the leaks in the roof. He said that the Board has an obligation to examine the areas around the leaks. He suggested that a roofing contractor looks over two downspouts were the leaks occur. Neid asked if the wet roofing materials and the leaks were the same issues. Trautwein said that he thought they were two issues as the leaks occur only after a rain or snowmelt. Trautwein said that he would call the Moore brothers to have them examine the roofing materials around the downspouts. On the topic of the budget, Trautwein said that all is progressing well. On Monday, the 17th, the budget will be approved—both regular and capital expenditures. Mr. Neid asked about the restroom remodel capital expenditure. Mr. Mangiamelli said that the project is in the budget. Mr. Mangiamelli excused himself. Carol Keller asked if the other members of the Board had seen the upcoming budget for the Library. Trautwein said that he would e-mail a copy of the proposed budget to each member. On the topic of the disposition of the old oak furniture, Trautwein said that there would be a city auction on Saturday, October 20th. He referred to the list of furniture passed around at the last Board meeting. He said that he would keep the fancy oak table that the Board had seen as well as the original oak paneled card file. He said that prior to the sale, he would visit with Karen Mroczek about the use of several of the small round oak tables and chairs. He said that they could be stripped and re-stained and varnished at the prison in Lincoln for a nominal charge. Regarding Library Board Recertification, the Board discussed the merits of various non-library types of continuing education units. It was noted that last month, Carol Keller had been granted 3 hours of continuing education units for attending a GM marketing meeting. Trautwein suggested that for additional credits, the Library Board could ask Richard Miller of the Nebraska Library Commission to attend a Board meeting and speak on the process of hiring a new library director—evaluating resumes and working with the city’s human resource person, etc. Mr. Neid said that other topics could be the “duties and roles” of a library board and the roles of a friends group and a library board. Neid said that if we could have 3 one-and-one half hour presentations from Mr. Miller, we could easily meet the 20 hour CEU requirement. Neid suggested these presentations be held every other month—like November (general accreditation), January (friends) and March (recruitment). Jim Schaefer asked about the process of hiring a new director. It was suggested that when the time comes, a subcommittee of the board be formed to work with the city’s HR person to write ads, pre-select and interview candidates. That committee could then make its recommendation to the Library Board. Under New Business, it was announced that Sharon Farritor and Joie Taylor have been recommended by the Mayor to fill the two positions vacant on the Board. Trautwein distributed the 2006 “Nebraska Library Board Manual”. He will be able to give each of the two new board members a manual when they attend the next meeting. He suggested that the Board systematically review these manuals—a chapter at each meeting. He said that he thought that such a review would merit continuing education credits. Carol Keller asked about the Northeast Library System providing resources/CEU’s for the Board. Carol suggested that Kathy Ellerton, the Director of the Northeast Library System, attend the November meeting to lead the discussion of general accreditation. Trautwein said that he would contact the System to learn if that is possible. The last item of discussion is the “transformation of libraries”. Trautwein said that he would like to table this discussion until the new board members are in attendance. There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned