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HomeMy WebLinkAbout~Master - Ames Public Library Board of Trustees Minutes of the Regular Meeting 05/21/2015Ames Public Library Board of Trustees Minutes of the Regular Meeting May 21, 2015 The Ames Public Library (APL) Board of Trustees met in regular session on Thursday, May 21, 2015 in the Dale H. Ross Board Room, Ames Public Library, 515 Douglas Avenue, with Bradley, Briese, Butler, Campbell, Linch, Manus, Rohret, and Stow present. Acker was excused. Library Director Carey and Librarians Dornink and Ziegler were also in attendance. Call to Order: Board Vice President Briese called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. Consent Agenda Moved by Stow, seconded by Bradley, to adopt a resolution approving the following items on the consent agenda: 1) Donations a) From ISU Women’s Club Genealogy Division for genealogy books ........... $52.00 2) Minutes of the regular meeting of April 16, 2015 3) Payment of Claims 4/1/2015 – 4/30/2015 4) Authorization of the FY16 Enrich Iowa Agreement (Direct State Aid, Open Access, and Interlibrary Loan Reimbursement) Vote on Motion: 7-0. Approved unanimously; resolution adopted. Public Forum: None. Ames Public Library Friends Foundation (APLFF) Report: Trustee Stow reported that the campaign currently underway has brought in $10,000 thus far and a memorial gift of $5,000 was also received. Catherine Noble, the Development Director, will have office hours Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. The Teen Advisory Group (TAG) continues to be busy with monthly activities and is working hard on planning summer and fall programs. Over $9,000 was raised through the annual book sale and Stow credited much of the success to its being held in the new Farwell T. Brown Auditorium. The fall book sale has been scheduled for the weekend of October 10. Smaller sales will be held on June 6 (featuring fiction) and June 26 (featuring Iowa Authors). Stow said the Churchill event was also very successful, with over 200 in attendance. Carey added that the TAG has developed a very detailed budget for its fall Zombie Run and has also set a fundraising goal of $10,000. Administrative Staff Report: Carey spoke about a grant that APLFF is seeking in collaboration with Raising Readers, Story County, and ISU. The grant supports a program offered by the LENA Research Foundation that helps teach parents the importance of speaking with their babies. Carey said the project falls right in line with other initiatives that seek to increase early literacy development in the Ames community. Information was distributed about two upcoming, related events: Presentation of a 2014 Pacesetter Award to the Ames Community by Ron Fairchild of the National Grade-Level Reading Campaign on June 3, and introductions of the LENA program by Beth Dresser, National Director of Development for the LENA Research Foundation, on June 3 and 4. 2 Carey advised the trustees about efforts to augment staff through AmeriCorps Vista, Experience Works, interns and volunteers. She also said two practicum students have been selected to start in the fall to help establish a formal library intern program. Additional updates included: • A project with the ISU Design College that will focus on connecting ISU students with APL is scheduled to start the last week of May. • The Sawyer School bookmobile stop will be moved to Trinity Lutheran Reformed Church on Ontario for about 18 months and the Kate Mitchell stop will be suspended over the summer while both schools undergo renovation. • A revised organizational chart that includes the Library’s relationship with the APLFF and a block showing volunteers was distributed. • A new sculpture, called Cohesive Narration by Kristin Garnet of Comanche, Iowa, has been installed on the pad at the northeast corner of the building, courtesy of the Public Art Commission. • Landscapers are still assessing the plants around the building and an anonymous helper has been removing weeds. Youth Services Summer Programming: Youth Services Librarian Danielle Ziegler distributed copies of the brochures that are being handed out to children this summer. She spoke about ways in which the 2015 theme, “every hero has a story,” is being incorporated into summer reading programs for all ages. Building Project Update: Carey discussed the adjustments (shown in bold face) in the Project Cost Summary dated 5/19/2015. The last $90,000 deposit from APLFF and the grants from the Roy J. Carver Charitable Trust ($60,000) and the Kinney-Lindstrom Foundation ($15,000) are now included, bringing the project total on this sheet to $20,160,000. Stow asked how the outstanding pledges that had been discussed at the APLFF meeting factored in. Carey said that this total will not be affected if those pledges are not fulfilled. APLFF raised more than the required $1,000,000 and transferred that much to the City. APLFF is holding the extra donations in an equity fund and the money may be transferred if needed. Carey mentioned the pending change order requests shown in the Professional Services section. She said MSR submitted a request for an additional $82,000 because the project went on so long. Carey has requested detailed explanatory documentation and noted that the Library has kept its own accounting of additional costs that were related to design issues, so conversations are ongoing. Cornerstone Commissioning has also requested a change order because of the length of the project. Carey is still negotiating on that as well, with the help of the Purchasing Division. She noted that if the firm’s extra work was needed because of a design issue, it may be possible to request payment from MSR; if tied to the length of the project, charges could possibly go back to the Samuels Group. Continuing down the page, Carey explained that: • The purchase of Renewable Energy Credits (REC) provides a way to be awarded two extra LEED points and may allow APL to reach a higher level of certification. • Expenses for furnishings were separated out to show the amount already paid, but the lump sum total was not changed. Staff continues to discover needed items while working through the first year. 3 • The $50,000 formerly set aside for “book security system” is now shown for “opening day collection” farther down on the list, as discussed by the Building Project Committee long ago. • A new line was added for art work without an associated dollar amount. It was suggested that the Art Committee should recommend an amount for that line. • A new line was included for an interactive play wall. Carey explained the concept, the potential location in the Youth Department, and the effort being made to tie the play wall in with a mural. She said the mural and play wall installations will be quite costly, but would be an appropriate way to spend the $60,000 grant from the Roy J. Carver Charitable Trust, and there is also an unspent $15,000 grant from the Kinney-Lindstrom Foundation. She said there is no requirement for public art to be included in municipal buildings, but the library could use this opportunity to take leadership. In response to questions, Carey said that the leaks in the chilled beam system seem to have been repaired, the construction advisor is still on retainer and is helping with negotiations, and the property at 809 East Lincoln Way has been vacated for several months. It was agreed that the cost of the construction advisor was money well spent. Stow requested that the Project Cost Summary be updated monthly. Collections Policy: Moved by Manus, seconded by Campbell, to adopt a resolution approving changes to the Collections Policy as presented/amended. Resource Services Manager Alissa Dornink stated that the Selectors Team and other groups reviewed the existing policy to make sure it fit with recent changes and reorganized it a bit. Trustee Linch said that he had raised some questions earlier in the day about the section entitled “Exclusions from Collections” on the amended version of the policy. He wanted to know if Section 728 is the only section that refers to obscene material in the Iowa Code, and also wondered what APL’s practices were in following this policy, or if staff could offer any examples of materials that have been excluded that would show that the policy is actually being followed. Carey said that she and Dornink had spoken to Mandy Easter, the legal librarian at the State Law Library, and Carey is now inclined to recommend that the statement simply be removed from the policy. She distributed copies of Section 728 and stated that it is the only section that deals with obscenity. The definition of the word “obscenity” is not limited to minors, but the rest of the legislation in that section refers to only to minors. Section 728.7 also exempts public libraries from the “use of appropriate material for educational purposes,” and it doesn’t seem to make sense for the policy to refer to a section from which the library is exempt. Carey went on to say that while APL does not actively seek out items that might be seen as offensive, it is hard to define a “community standard.” What is highly offensive to one person may not bother someone else. Dornink noted that the selectors use professional vendors and rely on reviews and respected library journals when choosing materials for the collection. Linch agreed that it might be better to be silent on the matter than to risk being drawn into a discussion of what is and what isn’t obscene. The law focuses on minors and what is directed toward them. He sensed it would be better to indicate that the library will not marshal any resources to remove items from the collection and that parents are responsible for their own children. 4 Carey said staff had looked at the policies of other Iowa libraries and distributed one from Iowa City Public Library that references the American Library Association’s Library Bill of Rights and the concepts of intellectual freedom. The trustees were in favor of taking a similar approach. Moved by Linch, seconded by Stow, to table the Collections Policy until the next meeting so that corrections can be made to the “Exclusions from Collections” section. Vote on Motion: 7-0. Motion carried unanimously. Director’s FY16 Goals: Carey distributed the second draft of her goals, into which she said she incorporated some of the feedback she had received. Brief discussion ensued. Moved by Stow, seconded by Bradley, to approve the Director’s Goals for FY16 as presented. Vote on Motion: 7-0. Carried unanimously. Trustee Comments: None Adjournment: The meeting was adjourned by consensus at 8:00 p.m. The next regular meeting will be on Thursday, June 18, 2015, at 5:30 p.m., in the Dale H. Ross Board Room, Ames Public Library, 515 Douglas Avenue.