Minutes of the Meeting
                                                  Of the
                               Columbus Public Library Board

                                         February 8, 2007

The regularly scheduled meeting of the Columbus Public Library Board was called to order at 4:30 PM on Thursday, February 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, Lynne Rambour, Jerry Jirka, and Jim Schaefer. Also present were Brad Hruska, the Children’s 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 and in the Public Library. All proceedings hereafter shown were taken while the convened meeting was open to the public.

The Minutes of the January Board meeting were reviewed and allowed to stand as presented with a motion from Lynne Rambour and a second from Jerry Jirka. The motion passed by voice vote.

The Library Director distributed the January Financial Reports for the City Library and the County Library Services. Trautwein noted that January was the fifth month of the 2006-07 budget and that only thirty three percent of the budget has been spent.

For the City Library, Trautwein drew special attention to the five hundred dollar payment to the Ponca Public Library. Several months ago the Ponca library advertised some unwanted shelving units. The asking price was three thousand dollars; however, Trautwein decided to offer five hundred dollar. After some time, his bid was accepted. A majority of the newly purchased shelving would go to the cataloging room. The shelving that was once down in cataloging would be moved upstairs and put up in the Large Print section of the library.

Regarding the County Library Services budget, Trautwein said that an additional thousand dollar repair will need to be done on the old bookmobile. To cover the cost of the repair, Trautwein visited with Anne Kinnison, Finance Director. She has agreed to set up an account that will be used to cover any additional costs for the old bookmobile. That account will be paid off using revenue obtained when the old truck is sold. The remaining proceeds will then go to the bookmobile’s sinking fund. It was also noted that, at this time, a five thousand dollar check has been received from the Pennsylvania library as a down payment. The remaining balance will be paid once the driver from Pennsylvania picks up the vehicle. A motion was made by Jerry Jirka and seconded by Jim Schaefer to accept the financial reports as presented. This motion passed by roll call vote: Neid-Aye, Keller-Aye, Jirka-Aye, Rambour-Aye, and Schaefer-Aye.

In reviewing the Director’s Report, Trautwein added that the Library did hire a new Library Aid I, Nicole Freeman. She accepted the position vacated by Jill Owens, who took the Librarian Aid III position left by Donna Thiem, who moved to the cataloging position left by RoJean Lambrecht when she retired. Trautwein mentioned that there were thirty-five applicants. Each candidate was tested on their grasp of grammar, spelling, math, and the Dewey decimal system. Out of all the candidates tested and interviewed, Ms. Freemen proved to be the best choice.

There were no Committee Reports

There were no items of Correspondence.

Under Old Business:
Trautwein said that the renovation of the Children’s Room was moving right on schedule. He noted that it is now in the bid stage. Bids are due by March 7th when they will be analyzed by the City Engineer, City Clerk, and Library Director. Trautwein will then submit the committee’s recommendation to the Library Board. If all goes according to plan, the Board will pass their recommendation on to the City Council for the acceptance of the bid. It is anticipated that sometime toward the end of March the children’s room will be closed. A concern was brought up about the possibility that the City Council would change its mind and decided not to pay for the renovation. Trautwein said that there should be no problem because the Library Foundation has agreed to pay for half the project.

Under New Business:
The “By-Laws of the Columbus Public Library” were adopted. There was, however, a minor typo pointed out on page two, section five. The mistake was noted and corrected. A motion was made by Jerry Jirka to accept the by laws. This motion passed by roll call vote: Neid-Aye, Keller-Aye, Jirka-Aye, Rambour-Aye, and Schaefer-Aye.

A motion by Craig Neid to move the meeting into Executive Session to consider the performance review of the Library Director. This motion passed by roll call vote: Neid-Aye, Keller-Aye, Jirka-Aye, Rambour-Aye, and Schaefer-Aye.

A motion to move from the Executive Session to a public meeting was made by Carol Keller and seconded by Jim Schaefer. This motion passed by voice vote.

The President adjourned the meeting.

Respectfully submitted,
Brad Hruska
Children’s Librarian