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Home My WebLink About~Master - Ames Public Library Board of Trustees Minutes of the Regular Meeting 06/16/2016Ames Public Library Board of Trustees Minutes of the Regular Meeting June 16, 2016 The Ames Public Library (APL) Board of Trustees met in regular session on Thursday, June 16, 2016, in the Dale H. Ross Board Room, 515 Douglas Avenue, with Acker, Barchman, Briese Butler, Glatz, Linch, Marshall, and Rohret in attendance. Campbell was excused. Library Director Carey was also present. Call to Order: Board President Acker called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. and welcomed new trustee Joanne Marshall. Board Education: Volunteer Coordinator Sarah Bohlke said the Library has about 500 volunteers in a normal year. About 160 of them are youth volunteers who participate in the program known as APL-Y. The full age range this year is from 6 to 93. The oldest volunteer works from home, labeling uncataloged books and folding bags. Youths are able to volunteer independently starting at age 10 or 11, while younger children may work under the supervision of a parent or grandparent. Bohlke said families are encouraged to volunteer together—the program offers a way to work off fines and teach civic responsibility—and the Library is a good environment for teens because they can step in and successfully engage in meaningful work with just a little bit of training. Anika Slowing, age 14; Malik Davis, age 13; Leif Minion, age 5; Leif’s mother, Kirsti Minion; and Leif’s grandmother, Ingrid Place, all spoke about their volunteer experiences at APL. Rachel Brooks, the Library’s summer Youth Volunteer Coordinator Assistant who was hired through AmeriCorps, stated that she focuses on getting youth involved in the community and organizing the free food programs on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. The summer APL-Y participants help with the food and she directs them into other activities. Bohlke talked about the many roles APL-Y volunteers take on in the summer, not only helping process materials, shelving DVDs, and organizing items in the youth department, but assisting staff with programming by providing a safe environment, watching for children who might wander off, putting stickers in prize books, helping kids enter their summer reading program information, giving out prizes, inspecting and cleaning books. Participants are able to select the work they want to do using an online scheduling application, but Bohlke, whose background is in social work, said she counsels them on the tasks they are selecting and sometimes directs them to jobs they are better suited for or will be more fulfilling to them. She also includes some structured, fun activities in the program and holds a party at the end of the summer. At present, there are 63 APL-Y participants. Bohlke said that a lot of the kids who start in the summer programs at age 11 or 12 learn about the Teen Advisory Group (TAG). TAG members donate about 60 hours per month and participate on a board of directors. Consent Agenda: Moved by Rohret, seconded Butler, to adopt a resolution approving the following items on the consent agenda: 1) Resolution accepting donations: a) In memory of “J” Andreae from i) Lynne Carey ..................................................................................................... $50.00 ii) Mary Jo Johnson............................................................................................. $100.00 2) Motion approving minutes of the regular meeting of May 19, 2016 2 3) Motion approving payment of claims 5/1/2016 – 5/31/2016 Vote on Motion: 7-0. Resolution No. 2016-L026 approved unanimously and adopted. Public Forum: None. Ames Public Library Friends Foundation (APLFF) Report: Acker reported that over 70 lunches are being served Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays with APLFF support. Annual elections were held with no changes from last year. Income from Literary Grounds exceeded $2,300 last month and revenue from the spring mailing has exceeded the $15,000 target. The first Author Café fundraiser was successful and a major book sale will take place July 8-10. Art Committee: Carey stated that some old photos were put on display in the Gallery at the time of the Historic Plaque tour (a self-guided downtown walking tour which ended at the Library). Because of the positive response, the photos have been left on display. She said the triptych that was commissioned for the auditorium of the 1984 addition is also now hanging in the north stair well and can be viewed from the Gallery. Carey said the 84-foot-long mural created for Youth Services created by Tim Read will be unveiled on Saturday, July 9, at 10:30 a.m. The artist will talk about his process and may read some of his stories. Carey said the mural is visually exciting and very colorful, and it will be visible from outside. Installation of the Youth Services “Wow Wall” will take place after August because materials have been delayed. The sound mitigation project in the Storytime Room is now going to fun, functional, and artistic—the acoustic tiles will be covered in colored fabric to depict Smyles, a tree, and a doghouse in tangrams. Administration and Strategic Planning Reports: Carey stated that: • The summer food program is very successful; food is prepared by Mary Greeley Medical Center and leftovers are shared with Youth and Shelter Services’ houses. • APL recently tripled its band-width capacity at very little cost through new program offered by Iowa Communications Network. • The Author Café was successful, and now that the structure of the program is in place, the planning group will just have to follow the template. • APLFF included the Library’s funding requests in its budget for next year. APLFF will be acknowledged with stickers in the book club books and on printed materials. Mango Language Learning has been purchased for next year and APL was given free services for the month of June. • After seeing that Mango was available, a Chinese family contacted the Library about offering programs related to language learning at the Library. APL presently offers Conversations in English, Spanish, French, and will soon be offering Conversations in Chinese. These programs support the strategic initiative of reaching out to the local multilingual community. • An author program with Matt de la Peña will take place at APL on June 30. Three public presentations will be given and the trustees will be invited to join him for lunch. • A teen overnighter in celebration of TAG’s successful 5K took place on June 10. • In Youth Services, Jill Philby was hired to fill the three-quarter-time Library Assistant position vacated by Mary Gen Davies, so the half-time Clerk position Jill vacated is open. 3 • Applications are under review for the full-time Librarian position in Adult Services which was vacated by Emilyn Linden. • Interviews will be taking place for the open Public Relations Internship position. • The annual performance appraisal process is being completed now, with conversations about the written evaluations and goal setting for the next year. • Because of recent changes to the Fair Labor Standards Act, the Library is working with the City to make sure that policies and procedures are fair and meet the letter of the law. • Page One is now being produced in-house. Samples of a test printing done on glossy paper were passed around. The June issue included an insert on youth programs that was designed by one of the interns. • APL is participating in and promoting a nationwide program called “1000 Books before Kindergarten.” The local program is based on Smyles and features four incentivized “steps” as children progress toward 1000. • Small Talk has started working with its second cohort. The first group, which met on Saturday mornings, will graduate next week. The next group will meet on Tuesday evenings and organizers will try a weekday morning after that. A portion of the big grant was also received this month. • Fall author presentations taking place in partnership with the Iowa State University Committee on Lectures have been scheduled as follows: o Thursday, September 15, 7 pm at Stevens Auditorium – Cheryl Strayed o Tuesday, October 11, 7pm at the Great Hall, Memorial Union – Gloria Steinem o Tuesday, November 1, 8pm at the Great Hall – Margaret Atwood Building Project Update: Carey said that the sound mitigation project will not be completed by June 30, but the anticipated cost will be carried over into fiscal year 2016/17. Financial Limits Authority Policy: Moved by Briese, seconded by Glatz, to adopt a resolution approving revisions to the Financial Limits Authority Policy as presented/amended. Vote on Motion (as presented): 7-0. Resolution No. 2016-L027 approved unanimously and adopted. Bylaws Policy: Moved by Rohret, seconded by Barchman, to adopt a resolution approving revisions to the Bylaws as presented. Vote on Motion: 7-0. Resolution No. 2016-L028 approved unanimously and adopted. Trustee Comments: None Adjournment: The meeting was adjourned by consensus at 7:59 p.m. The next regular meeting will be on Thursday, July 21, 2016, at 7:00 p.m., in the Dale H. Ross Board Room, Ames Public Library, 515 Douglas Avenue.