Minutes of the Quarterly
                                                           Meeting of the
                                                  Columbus Library Board
                                                               And the
                                      Platte County Library Advisory Board
                                                       June 8, 2006

 The regularly scheduled quarterly meeting of the Columbus Public Library Board and the Platte County Library Advisory Board was called to order at 4:30 PM on Thursday, June 8, 2006 by the President of the Board, Craig Neid. Other Library Board members present included Jerry Jirka, and Lynne Rambour. Members of the County Advisory Board included Carolyn Rohde, Carol Rosendahl, and Clayton Brunt. Also in attendance were Brad Hruska, the Children’s Librarian, and Robert Trautwein, Library Director. Carol Keller had called earlier to ask to be excused as she was out of town and would not be able to attend.

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

Jim Schaefer joined the meeting.

The Library Director distributed the June Financial Reports for the City Library, the County Library Service, and the Library Foundation. He noted that June is the 9th month of the 2005-06 budget year. A motion was made by Lynne Rambour and seconded by Jerry Jirka to accept the expenditures for the Platte County Library Services. The motion passed by roll call vote: Jirka-aye, Schaefer-aye, Rambour-aye, Brunt-aye, Rhode-aye, Rosendahl-aye and Neid-aye.

Trautwein reviewed the financial reports for the Foundation and the city library. A motion was made by Jerry Jirka and seconded by Jim Schaefer to accept the financial reports. The motion passed by roll call vote: Jirka-aye, Schaefer-aye, Rambour-aye, and Neid-aye.

The Director’s Report was briefly reviewed.

There were no Committee Reports

.

Under Correspondence, Brad Hruska, The Children’s Librarian, discussed the R.E.A.D (Reading Education Assistance Dogs) pilot program that he is planning to host for four weeks in June. Children—especially those who have reading problems—will be given the opportunity to read to a trained dog. There will be 3 dogs involved and the program will take place on Wednesdays from 9:00 AM until noon. A parent will register his child to read for a specific ½ hour block of time each week. Around 9 children will be able to participate during the month-long program.

The last item of correspondence was a letter of resignation from the Library Foundation by Robert Labenz. The Board discussed the need to fill this vacancy.

Under Old Business, On the topic of the new bookmobile, Trautwein said that the vehicle will be delivered in late June, in time for the July 2nd Columbus Days parade. He passed around a drawing of the vehicle with the signage on it. Mrs. Rosendahl asked about one door on the vehicle. Trautwein said that the library staff is planning a retirement party for the bookmobile driver, Larry Nagorski. This party will be at Dusters on the night of Friday, June 16th.

Regarding the “Prime Time” Humanities grant report, Trautwein said that he had not been able to get that report completed. He will present it next month.

On the topic of the forming a “Friends of the Library” group, he said that the steering committee is about to publish the third newsletter. There are 58 paid members (households). The by-laws have been completed and the request to the IRS for 501 c3 designation is being prepared. The IRS will issue a “provisional” 501 c3 designation and for 5 years the financial reports of the “Friends” group can be audited to determine if it is indeed a 501 c3 organization. The first membership meeting will be held on Sunday, June 25th. For entertainment at this meeting, a Humanities program, “Mark Twain on the Lecture Circuit” will be performed by a re-enactor from Alliance, Nebraska.

Trautwein said that Larry Mares, an architect for RVW, was in a few days ago to visit about their progress. Mr. Mares said that he hopes to have a final report with recommendations done by the end of June. Mares said that there was a possibility of installing windows on the west side of the building. In response to Trautwein’s suggestion of windows on the south side, Mares said that the sandstone façade could easily be disturbed if a window were cut into it. It would be better, but far more expensive, to take down the façade and, after the window was in place, re-install the sandstone. Trautwein also reports that Mares said that RVW was also considering sky lights.


Under New Business, Trautwein said he had made the revisions (in large cap) to the following policies that had been reviewed at the May 11th meeting:
Confidential of Library Records.


Dealing with Unattended Children.
Emergency Closing of the Library. .

A motion was made by Jerry Jirka to accept the changes in the above policies. This motion was seconded by Lynne Rambour and the motion passed by voice vote.

Jim Schaefer excused himself from the meeting.

The Board reviewed other policies including:

Staff in Charge of Building and Personnel
Library Auditorium and Meeting Room Policy
Holiday Closing of the Public Library

Regarding the Staff in Charge… policy, Trautwein said that in the 3rd paragraph, he would like to see the phrase “….all thermostats and blowers are adjusted at night/weekend setting;” eliminated as the building’s heat and cooling is now regulated by a computer. The Board agreed to this change.

Regarding the Holiday Closing…policy, the Board questioned the closings on Sundays prior to the “Memorial Day”, and “Labor Day” holidays. Mrs. Rambour said that as a public building providing public service, she believes the Library should be open as much as possible. Trautwein reviewed the city’s policy about closing on a Monday if the holiday falls on a Sunday and closing on Friday if the holiday falls on a Saturday. Mrs. Rambour said that the city’s policy doesn’t apply as the holiday falls on a Monday. Jerry Jirka asked why the prior Sunday to “President’s Day”, which falls on a Monday, is not listed as a day off. Craig Neid said that the Board should be consistent: we should either allow all Sunday’s prior to a Monday holiday or just allow the Library to be closed on the Monday holiday. Mr. Neid asked that a decision regarding the “Holiday Closing…” policy be delayed until the July meeting when there should be more board members present. Trautwein said that he could modify the policy for both Memorial Day and Labor Day to exclude the prior Sundays.

On the policy of “Library Auditorium and Meeting Room”, Trautwein said that other than one typo, he didn’t see anything in the policy that needs to be changed. He said that at one time, he had included in the policy that patrons booking the meeting rooms had to visit the Library and fill out a form. He said that this proved to be too great of encumbrance. Now, patrons can phone in to book a meeting room.

Prior to ending the meeting, Trautwein reviewed the announcements.

A motion to adjourn was made by Jerry Jirka and seconded by Lynne Rambour. This motion passed by voice vote.