Meeting of the
                                          Columbus Public Library Board
                                                         

                                                      November 8, 2007


The regularly scheduled meeting of the Columbus Public Library Board was called to order at 4:30 PM on Thursday, November 8, 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, Joie Taylor, Sharon Farritor, and Jim Schaefer. Also in attendance were Brad Hruska, the Children’s Librarian, Jill Owens, the Reference Librarian, 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 October 11th were reviewed and allowed to stand as presented with a motion from Sharon Farritor and a second from Carol Keller. The motion passed by voice vote.

The Director distributed the Financial Reports for the City Library, Platte County Library Service, and the Columbus Library Foundation. This is the second month of the budget year. There was a discussion about some of the items listed, including a request for $1000 to pay the Friends of the Columbus Library a portion of the proceeds from the August Book Sale. A motion was made by Carol Keller and seconded by Joie Taylor to accept the reports. This motion passed by a roll call vote: Neid-aye, Keller-aye, Farritor-aye, Taylor-aye, and Schaefer-aye.

Under the Director’s Report, Trautwein noted that the new garage door had been installed. It was also noted that the use of the Wi-Fi system is holding steady at around 100 uses per month. Craig Neid asked about the computer lab. Trautwein said that in the next month or so, he will be purchasing a management system for the lab.

There were no Committee Meeting Reports.

There were no items of Communications,

Old Business, The board reviewed the library’s “financials” for the closeout of the 2006-07 budget, as prepared by the city’s Finance Department. It was noted that no revenue was received in the “State Aid” category. Trautwein said that once the Library and Library Board are “certified”, the Library will again be eligible for State Aid.

Craig Neid asked about the role of the Library Board in the preparation of the budget. Trautwein said that over the years, the Director had worked with the City Administrator and the Finance Officer to develop budgets to meet the guidelines set by the City Council. He said that the Library Board may want to become more involved, especially if there is a large project the Board would like to accomplish using city funds. Mr. Neid said that a “facilities master plan” should be developed and used as a building remodeling/improvement plan.

This year, we are planning to remodel the 1st floor bathrooms, but we have no building improvement plans for future years. Trautwein said that in the past six or seven years, much of the building has been remodeled. A half-million dollar heating, air conditioning and ventilation system was installed in 2000 and ceilings and light fixtures were replaced in both wings on the east side. Trautwein said that the remodeling has been cyclical and it will soon be time to renovate the first floor (west) reading room. The restrooms on both the 2nd floor and basement levels could also be remodeled.

Regarding future plans for the Library, Trautwein said that the Board should be giving some consideration to purchasing property, building a new library, and vacating the current building. To plan for this, he suggested that the Foundation consider the purchase of property for a new location. He said that he could see the post office or the court house moving elsewhere. If either facility were to be moved, the traffic to the present library building would lessen greatly. Mr. Neid said that such planning for the library should be addressed outside the normal library board meetings. He noted the “strategic planning” session recently conducted by the library board. He said that it didn’t address 3, 5, or 10 year term plans.

Joie Taylor said that there should be a regular painting and carpeting schedule to update and clean various parts of the building. Mr. Neid said that a “building plan” should be one part of a master “strategic plan” that would concentrate on services. Mr. Schaefer said that long-term planning is easily sabotaged by the progress of technology.

Carol Keller asked about the progress of the restroom remodeling project. Trautwein said that he hadn’t begun work on that. He said that as the project is under $20,000, the Library doesn’t need to go through the formal bidding process. He said, however, that the Library might get the most for its money if specifications were written and bids solicited. He will visit with the City Engineer about the advantages of bids rather than quotes.

On the topic of the open house for the Children’s Room, there was a short review. Jim Schaefer asked that a letter be sent to both Karen Mroczek and Larry Mares for their efforts. Mr. Neid asked about the cabinetry work to be done. Trautwein said that the old tables and chairs have not yet been sent to Lincoln to be refinished.

Under New Business Trautwein said that he had reviewed the earlier proposed book sale contract between the Friends of the Library and the Library Board. Mr. Mangiamelli had also reviewed it and offered suggestions. The Friends submitted a revised draft which was again reviewed by both himself and Mr. Mangiamelli. The major differences between the original draft and the one presented today include the use of the phrase “the Friends” in place of “Contractor”.


Also, in paragraph V. “Considerations”, it is recommended that it read:
The Friends shall retain all revenues received from the sale or other disposition of material provided by the Board. The Friends shall be solely responsible for all expenses and taxes, federal, state, or local, incurred in performing its duties. The Friends shall exercise its discretion in determining the use of proceeds consistent with the terms of this contact.

In Paragraph III, “Duties of the Friends”, the Board asked that the first phrase be written to read: “The Friends shall, in a manner acceptable to the Board:” and the phrase “…in a manner acceptable to the Board” be deleted from sentence “g” of that paragraph.

In addition in paragraph IV “Term” it was recommended that the last sentence should read:
In the event of termination, all materials held by the Friends will be returned upon request of the Board and all moneys received or held by the Friends from the sale of materials will be forwarded to the Columbus Library Foundation as directed by the by-laws of the Friends.


Following a discussion, Trautwein said that he could make the above changes, submit the contract as amended to both the Friends and to Joe Mangiamelli. He would ask Mr. Mangiamelli for permission to ask the City Attorney to review it prior to bringing it to the Board for approval.

On the topic of a representative to the next Friends of the Columbus Public Library meeting, Jim Schaefer volunteered to attend the meeting on November 20th.

Regarding “Continuing Education Credit hours”, it was noted that Joie Taylor received 7 hours of continuing education credit for attending the Nebraska Library Association conference in late October. The board presently has 9 credit hours and needs 11 more hours for certification.

The last item of business was the review of the policy regarding complaints about materials selection. This policy was last revised 3/14/02. Following a discussion, it was decided to allow the policy to stand as last revised.

The announcements were read. It was noted that at the December meeting, Kathy Ellerton, the Director of the North East Library System, will be present to review with the board the first 3 chapters of the Library Board Manual.

There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned.