HomeMy WebLinkAbout~Master - Ames Public Library Board of Trustees Minutes of the Regular Meeting 12/19/2019Ames Public Library Board of Trustees
Minutes of the Regular Meeting
December 19, 2019
The Ames Public Library (APL) Board of Trustees met in regular session on Thursday,
December 19, 2019, in the Dale H. Ross Board Room, with Butler, Kluesner, Myers,
and Raman in attendance. Briese was in attendance via conference phone. Barchman,
Glatz, Looft, and Marshall were excused. Director Schofer and Adult Services Librarian
Brown were also in attendance.
Call to Order: President Kluesner called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m.
Consent Agenda:
President Kluesner pulled the Minutes of the regular meeting of November 21, 2019
from the consent agenda.
Moved by Myers, seconded by Raman, to approve the remaining consent
agenda items as follows:
1. Resolution approving donation:
A. In memory of Dave Gostele from
• Mark and Kim Aarsvold .............................................................. $25.00
• Anonymous ................................................................................ $20.00
• Clayton and Barbara Armstrong ................................................. $20.00
3. Payment of the claims 10/1/19 -10/31/19
Vote on Motion: 5-0. Approved unanimously. Resolution No. 2019-L028
adopted.
The Board discussed the request from Glatz to correct the minutes adding the word
"Community" in the APLFF report to correctly reflect the Story County Community
Foundation.
Moved by Raman, seconded by Myers to approve the November 21, 2019
minutes as amended. Vote on Motion: 5-0. Approved unanimously.
Public Forum: None
Financial Reports: Director Schofer reviewed the budget narratives, highlighting the
increase in electronic resources, Youth Services staff hours, and change in Resource
Services staff. She has a budget meeting with the City Manager on January 8, with a
Budget and Finance Committee meeting the same afternoon, and will be presenting the
budget to City Council on February 4.
Activity Reports:
Assistant City Manager Schildroth was not present.
Administrative Staff Report: Schofer gave a brief report to the Board.
• Customer Account Services Library Assistant Hernstandt retired after 25
years of service. Her retirement party was held on December 16 with
December 18 being her last day.
• City Council approved our FTE request that changed two Youth Services
Library Assistant positions from half-time to three-quarter time at their
November 26, 2019 meeting. We are in the process of advertising for the
open Youth Service position as well as the opening in Customer Account
Services.
• Schofer is looking at having a position re-evaluated. Human Resources
will review the job description and determine if it should be moved to a
higher pay grade.
• Youth Services had Santa visit today with different crafts and activities
going on.
• The December Page One has a new look to page one, more magazine
like, and features a lot of the upcoming programs.
• The Strategic Planning process is going well.
o We are doing tweaks to the survey after receiving feedback from
ISU Statcom and Customer Account Service Manger Briseno's
mom who is a professional analyst. Once it is finished it will be sent
out.
o There has been great work happening with the Data Team pulling
groups of active library users, users that have been blocked or
lapsed, and looking at a Cyride survey who had people who self
identified as less than proficient at English. They have met with
someone who does English as a Second Language at schools, and
are trying to find who isn't using the library. We plan to take the
book mobile to those areas not using the library in hopes of
introducing all the things the library has to offer and to obtain
information from those not currently using the library.
o The Community Engagement Team is also moving along. They did
get dates set to have focus groups. There are groups for Arts and
Culture, Educators, Service Providers, and Small Business, as well
as one for Inclusive Communities.
o The Board/StaffNolunteer Engagement Team is posting questions
on boards around the building getting staff input on various items.
The Board Engagement focus group is being planned for February
6 and will include members from both the Ames Public Library
Board and the Ames Public Library Friends Foundation Board.
o Ocken will be working on the marketing pieces for the Strategic
Plan.
• Yesterday Schofer provided a library tour with new Council Person Junck,
Mayor Haila, and City Manager Schainker. They are interested in
sustainability and very engaged. Sch of er ended the tour with a recent
story about a library user who will be 88 yrs. old on December 16 that
uses the library for Genealogy research. He recently was in contact with
the library and commented about his upcoming birthday. The staff person
decided to send the gentlemen a birthday card that resulted in the person
making a generous donation to the library in response.
• The Director Evaluation Committee met and reached out to the Assistant
City Manager Schildroth to ensure that asking for feedback from Schafer's
direct reports was not in violation of any Human Resource policies. The
Committee will be completing this evaluation and will be doing another
evaluation in a couple months to have Schafer on the regular schedule.
Secretary Johannes will assist with survey preparation and emailing it to
the appropriate persons. Schafer did prepare goals for the Director's
Evaluation Committee.
APLFF Report: Myers reported that Schafer shared information with the Ames Public
Library Friends Foundation Board about the Black Arts and Music Festival scheduled for
February 8-9, 2020. APLFF funding makes programs like this possible.
They have talked a lot about the budget. They are starting a new initiative for people
who haven't donated before, but by and large they are financially in a good place.
The APLFF Finance Committee gave a presentation about where the money goes
including the difference between restricted versus non-restricted donations. They are
looking at going to a drop box and obtaining a credit card for APLFF needs.
Board Education: Adult Services Librarian Brown gave an informative presentation
about Diversity and Inclusion. She has taken the lead on the Black Arts and Music
Festival, is part of the City of Ames Diversity and Inclusion Team, and attended a recent
Diversity and Inclusion Symposium.
The Black Arts and Music Festival is a celebration of African and African American art
and performance. This is being planned in partnerships with Iowa State University
(ISU), City of Ames, Ames Branch of the National Association for the Advancement of
Colored People (NAACP), and the Ames Community Arts Council. This illustrates the
Library's commitment to inclusive programs focused on underrepresented members of
our community. The Black Arts and Music Festival will include a visual art exhibition the
week proceeding and after the actual festival. The goals of the festival are to celebrate
the talents of the visual and performer artists and strengthen our relationship with that
community. Interested artists filled out an application which was reviewed by the
Selection Committee to ensure it fit the groups' goals. The Selection Committee just
notified 13 finalists including spoken word artists, dancers, youth entries, and musicians
from Ames and Central Iowa. Performances will be held in the auditorium with
workshops including artist demos and exhibits in various locations in the library. Artists
are being allowed to sell their works.
The City of Ames Diversity and Inclusion Team is new, holding their initial meeting in
May of 2019. The team is made up of ten active members (full and part-time
employees) from across the different City departments. They will be acting act as a tool
for Human Resources and fostering work environments. They have six primary goals
including creating a working definition of inclusion and diversity, doing a swat analysis
for the City, building and improving city perspective and promoting best practices
polices that are supporting with Excellence Through People (ETP), providing training,
increasing knowledge and skills in this area, and recommending best practices to recruit
and retain employees. So far they have created the definitions. They meet monthly and
are still trying to figure out the best way to approach achieving their goals.
Brown also recently attended the symposium with Briseno and Schofer on Diversity and
Inclusion. This symposium covered practical strategies and several breakout sessions
related.
Trustee Comments:
• Raman appreciated being better informed
• Butler commented that everyone is so busy and works so hard. It is great to be
a part of it.
• Myers thanked Schofer and Brown for all of their work.
• Briese stated that he appreciates everyone and finds the Data Team GIS work
very interesting.
• Kluesner thanked the Director Evaluation Committee for their work as well as
the Board that was present and all the staff.
Adjournment:
Moved by Myers, seconded by Butler, to adjourn at 8:08 pm.
Vote on Motion: 5-0. Motion approved unanimously.
The next regular meeting will be on Thursday, January 16 , 2020, at 7:00 p.m., in the
Dale H. Ross Board Room, Ames Public Library, 515 Douglas Avenue .
M a ~ 7').-hc..,.-. ~ 1
....!.M....:.e~l>J.jis~s~a ~J...:;io...:h:::..a.s!n:!i..n4er::s.:_, L~i~b:::::.:ra::::::r=y""s""e""'c-r-e-ta_r_y ___ f6 anneMarshall, Board Secretary