Minutes of the Meeting
Of the Columbus Public Library Board
May 14, 2009

The regularly scheduled meeting of the Columbus Public Library Board was called to order at 4:30 PM on Thursday, May 14, 2009 by Jim Schaefer. He read aloud and signed the “Certification of Compliance,” regarding the “Open Meeting” law. Other Library Board members in attendance included Sharon Raimondo, Joie Taylor, and Craig Neid. Carol Keller was excused. Jill Owens, Library Director, and Brad Hruska, Youth Services Librarian were also present. Notice of this meeting was published in advance. All proceedings hereafter shown were taken while the meeting was open to the public.

Sharon moved to accept the minutes from the April meeting. Joie seconded. The motion passed unanimously with no discussion.

The financial reports were presented. Jill noted that the OCLC (Online Computer Library Center – see OCLC.org) bill (paid through the Nebraska Library Commission) hadn’t arrived before claims were due in May, so it could be double next month, depending on the timing of the next bill’s arrival. The large Menards bill was mostly due to buying ballasts for the lights. Some of them don’t last as long as the bulbs. Craig moved to accept the financial reports. Sharon seconded. The roll call vote passed as follows: Nied, aye; Raimondo, aye; Taylor, aye; and Schaefer, aye.

The Director’s Report was presented. Sharon asked Jill for numbers for context on the meeting room data because each month the report contains a stand-alone meeting room reservation number. Jill will talk to Melodee Pederson about making a table. Each month after the total reservations are counted, the meeting room reservation pages are given to Melodee Pedersen who is compiling the data. Perhaps she now has enough information to create a list or table.

Under the Committee Reports section of the agenda, Craig reported that he had discussed the library’s website with Melodee Pedersen, Secretary of the Friends of the Library. Melodee offered to share this responsibility with Craig. Previously Craig was the only person on the Website Committee. Craig reported for the Facility Committee that there were four very qualified firms to be interviewed on the 15th as a result of the RFPs sent out for the Quality of Life Initiative. All four have experience with libraries, and some have done large local projects. The four are: HDR, BCDM with RVW and Lamp Rynearson, Schemmer, and Clark Enerson.

Craig had the idea that the Foundation be asked to purchase a Kindle electronic device so staff and patrons could learn about this format of reading. All present agreed that the library needs to stay in front of reading innovations. Jill was concerned about damage and theft in light of the way print materials are sometimes abused and go missing.

There was no correspondence.

The board members present thanked Joie Taylor for earning 4.5 more continuing education credit hours.

The American Library Association Annual Convention was once again discussed under Old Business. As it is difficult for board members to get away for this convention, Jill was to ask the Commission whether we would lose all or just half of the grant if a board member is not free to attend. Jill will still be able to use a part of the grant money to attend even if a board member cannot attend, or can only attend for a part of the convention. One board member is going to check her schedule and the schedule posted online for the convention to see if she can attend part of the convention. The rest of the board members are relatively certain they cannot attend.

Craig was excused from the meeting.

The proposed changes to the policy, Limiting the Borrowing Privileges of Patrons Who Have Had Long Overdue Materials were discussed. The director also recommended combining this policy with the policy, Suspension of Borrowing Privileges. Joie moved to accept the changes with a redundancy corrected. Sharon seconded. The roll call vote was unanimous and passed with no further discussion.

Due to the length of the meeting, it was decided to table the discussion of the agreement or document of understanding for non-library fundraisers.

Brad Hruska shared the hand-outs for the Summer Reading program, and spoke briefly about the upcoming events.

Jill Owens shared the preliminary 09-10 budget work with the board members. Joie expressed that she’d like to see more of the professional staff be able to attend conventions. It has always been a challenge to have people out for training as the staff who remain in the building are stretched even thinner, but more training money has been requested in the budget. After discussion about the need for trained staff and the fact that there is now more staff, it was decided that Jill will increase that line.
When capital improvements were discussed it was decided that Jill will ask the city to fully fund the materials budget. If any future money comes from the Foundation it will be seen as a gift or a windfall, rather than an expectation. Jill will adjust the “Capital Improvement Worksheet” accordingly.
Because more patrons are giving cell numbers as their only telephone number, and all such numbers are not local, the long distance telephone bill has been increasing for some areas of the library. Jill will look into whether it is possible to get another cell phone number attached to the bookmobile account for unlimited calling. Perhaps overdue and other calls can be made more economically than dialing long distance. This may only be a savings if the long distance bill exceeds the cost of another phone.

After the announcements, President Schaefer declared the meeting adjourned.