Minutes Of the Columbus Public Library Board August 9, 2007 The regularly scheduled meeting of the Columbus Public Library Board was called to order at 4:30 PM on Thursday, August 9, 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, Jerry Jirka, Lynn Rambour, and Jim Schaefer. Also present were Joe Mangiamelli, City Administrator, 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 special Board meeting held on July 23 were reviewed and allowed to stand as presented with a motion from Jim Schaefer and a second from Lynne Rambour. 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 11th month of the budget year. It was noted that this is the second year that the Endowment Fund has contributed $40,000 to the materials budget with the City’s share increasing each year by $2,000. Following a discussion of some of the items listed, a motion was made by Jim Schaefer and seconded by Jerry Jirka. This motion passed by a roll call vote: Neid-aye, Keller-aye, Rambor-aye, Schaefer-aye and Jirka-aye. The Director’s Report was briefly reviewed. A question regarding the thin client lab upgrade was discussed. Trautwein said that he will be using the remainer of the “computer” portion of the sales tax allocation to partially pay for an upgrade to the thin client computer lab. The remaining cost will be paid with the 2007-08 budgeted sales tax allocation. Following the installation of the upgrade, a grant application will be submitted to the Nebraska Library Commission to request funds to help reformat the lab from a pay-per-use lab to a free-to-library-card-holders-type of lab. The earliest the new “free” lab can be installed is April, 2008 as the Commission grants are not awarded until March 31st. Regarding the use of wireless access at the library, Trautwein said that in less than a month, there have been 76 uses. A question was asked about the book sale. Trautwein said the total of the two book sales held this year was $5,500.00. There were no Committee Reports and no items of Correspondence. Under Old Business, the first item was the consideration of change order number 4 to leave exposed the ductwork in the ceiling of the Children’s Room. A quote from Bierman Contracting in the amount of $1,455.00 was distributed. Mr. Neid reviewed the previous change orders including #2 for changing the direction of the lighting in the north section of the room and adding four additional light fixtures for $1,932.00. The 3rd change order was for $151.00 to leave the joists exposed and painted. The sum of the four change orders is $3,538. A motion was made by Jerry Jirka and seconded by Jim Schaefer to accept the change orders. This motion passed by a roll call vote: Neid-aye, Keller-aye, Rambor-aye, Schaefer-aye and Jirka-aye Regarding the progress of the 2007-08 budget, Trautwein said that all had progressed well until this past Monday evening when the City Council determined that no additional property tax should levied. The City Administration was asked to find cuts of $60,000 for the overall budget. Each department was asked for contributions to the reduction. The Library offered $3,000 in “Computer Support” and $2,000 in “Electronic Cataloging”. Trautwein explained his reasoning in these cuts. Mr. Neid asked about the capital improvements part of the budget for the Library. Trautwein said that those items—for restroom remodeling and a new garage door—are still in the budget. On the topic of the Summer Reading Program, Trautwein read a report from the Bookmobile Librarian about the number of participants (587) and the number of volunteers who helped her manage the circulation of the items from the bookmobile. The disposition of the 1915 oak library furniture was discussed. Trautwein said that he encourages the Library Board to dispose of most all of this furniture. It was all moved from the old library when the new library was opened in 1976. Ever since, the furniture has been an excess moved from one area to another. The next city auction will be held in October. Mr. Mangiamelli said that there may be a special auction to dispose of these pieces. Trautwein said that one shorter table and 6 children’s chairs may be refinished for the remodeled Children’s Room. Before the regularly scheduled auction, it will be determined what should be retained for the Children’s Room. The remaining furniture will be sold. Under New Business, the Board discussed a list of recommendations Trautwein had drafted as possible board replacements for Lynne Rambour, who had completed two terms, and Jerry Jirka, who had completed one full term. From that list, Trautwein was asked to contact five persons to learn which would be willing to serve on the Board if asked by the Mayor. In contacting the noted persons, if only one volunteers to serve, Trautwein was instructed to submit a newspaper article about the opening with some qualifications. It was suggested that an e-mail message could also be sent to all of the “Friends”. Mr. Jirka said that he would be willing to retire from the Board if a second qualified candidate would volunteer. On the topic of recertification of the Library Board, Carol Keller said that she had learned from Carol Speicker that there are means of obtaining continuing education credits that don’t involve traveling and attending conferences. She suggested that some of the Board could meet earlier, before a Library Board meeting, or following a meeting to watch a video. Trautwein said that in 2004, he had notified the Board that it had 3 years in which to obtain 20 hours of CE credits. Now, in 2007, the Board needs to recommit to gaining those hours to become re-certified as quickly as possible. He mentioned a marketing workshop that Carol Keller had attended earlier that day. The two hours she spent at that workshop would qualify. He said that he would record those hours toward certification. Trautwein distributed a list of library-related videos from the Nebraska Library Commission. Several board members said that they would be willing to watch training videos at home. Jim Schaefer excused himself. The next item of business was a discussion of the west roof. Trautwein said that when the workmen cut into the roof for the skylight, it was discovered that the fiberboard between the concrete portion of the roof and the Styrofoam insulation was wet. The workmen and the custodian assumed the roof covering had failed and the roof needed to be replaced. Trautwein took a look at the fiberboard and questioned if it was the same fiberboard that had been on the roof prior to the new (1984) roof. The earlier asphalt roof had completely failed causing buckets of water to pour into the library in the spring of 1984, after the snowmelt. Trautwein visited with the city engineer who asked him to visit with one of the Moore brothers from Central Insulation and Roofing. This is the company that had installed the elastic membrane (rubber) roof. In his visit with the Moores, he learned that they were not sure if the fiberboard had been replaced when the Styrofoam and rubber liner had been installed. Moore said that the concrete surface above the corrugated metal is in good shape. Because of this, he said that he would not be concerned about the condition of the fiberboard under the Styrofoam. Trautwein said that as there have been no serious leaks in the present roof, he feels comfortable in leaving the roof as it is until, and if, a major water problem occurs. By then, the cost of a new roof could be included in the city’s capital outlay budget. Mr. Neid thanked the Director for advising the Board of this potential problem. The last item of discussion was “Libraries Transform Communities”. He distributed his notes to the four meetings he attended on the topic at an American Library Association conference in Washington, D.C. He asked the Board to review his notes and he would keep the topic on future agendas for more discussion. There was a discussion of library websites. Carol Keller recommended that members view the Seward Public Library website. Regarding the September Library Board meeting, it was decided to change the meeting date to the following Thursday, September 20st at 4:30 PM. The president thanked Lynne Rambour for her 8 years of service on the Library Board. There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned. Respectfully submitted, Robert Trautwein Library Director