Minutes of the Quarterly
                                                           Meeting of the
                                                  Columbus Library Board
                                                          February 10, 2005

The regularly scheduled meeting of the Columbus Public Library Board was called to order at 4:30 PM on Thursday, February 10th by the President of the Board, Jerry Jirka. Other Library Board members present included Jolaine Nielsen, Lynne Rambour, Craig Neid, and Jim Schaefer. Also in attendance was Robert Trautwein, 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 to the January 13th Library Board meeting were reviewed and allowed to stand as submitted with a motion from Craig Neid and a second from Jolaine Nielsen.. The motion passed by voice vote.

The Library Director distributed the February financial reports for the City Library and the Platte County Library. He noted that the reports were for the 5th month of the fiscal year. Following a review, a motion was made by Jim Schaefer and seconded by Lynne Rambour to accept the reports. This motion passed by roll call vote: Jirka-aye, Rambour-aye, Nielsen-aye, Neid-aye, and Schaefer-aye.

Trautwein reviewed his monthly report. He noted that since September, Brad Hruska has been attending classes at Wayne State College on Thursday evenings. Because of his class schedule, he has not been attending the Library Board meetings. Mr. Hruska is working on his master’s degree in literature.

There were no committee reports.

There were no items of correspondence.

Under Old Business, Trautwein said that he appreciated his annual review. He said the review demonstrated the strong interest that the Library Board has in library service to the community.

The board discussed the prospects of additional on-line subscription services. Prior to the Library Board meeting, the Director demonstrated the car repair manual service that the Library now has available to the public. Trautwein said that he is looking into an antique identification and price guide that he could purchase and make available to library card holders. Also, he said that both the Lincoln and Omaha public libraries have recently signed contracts to allow their patrons to download talking books. Trautwein said that he would like to offer that service within the next year or so. He said that he foresees that eventually the library will no longer have audio tapes or CD’s of talking books. Instead, the library would contract with on-line companies to supply talking books via Internet downloads directly to the card holder’s home. With any of these types of on-line database services, the Library can get monthly statistics which show the use made of the service by card holders.

Under new business, Trautwein said that he had included in the board packet
a draft of the Library’s portion of the proposed revised city code. This draft had been worked out in two separate meetings that he had with the City Attorney (Steve Hansen), the City Administrator, and the City Clerk. The draft better reflects the State Statutes and the current way the Library and the city work together. Trautwein said that the draft may undergo more changes as the City Attorney reviews the State Statutes. He said that he would keep the Library Board informed regarding any changes to the draft.

A motion to adjourn was made by Jim Schaefer and seconded by Jolaine Nielsen. This motion passed by voice vote.

The Board watched an old video produced by the state of New Mexico about the discovery and historical significance of the Villasur Skin Paintings.