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HomeMy WebLinkAbout~Master - Ames Public Library Board of Trustees Minutes of the Regular Meeting 08/20/2015 Ames Public Library Board of Trustees Minutes of the Regular Meeting August 20, 2015 The Ames Public Library (APL) Board of Trustees met in regular session on Thursday, August 20, 2015 in the Dale H. Ross Board Room, Ames Public Library, 515 Douglas Avenue, with Acker, Bradley, Briese, Campbell, Linch, Rohret, and Stow present. Butler and Manus were excused. Library Director Carey and Librarian Logsdon were also in attendance. Call to Order: Board President Acker called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. Consent Agenda: Acker said she had received a request to pull approval of the minutes for separate consideration. Moved by Bradley, seconded by Stow, to adopt a resolution approving the following items on the consent agenda: 1) Donations a) From Maryanne Wiggers, in memory of Mary Van Marel ............................. $25.00 2) Payment of Claims 7/1/2015 – 7/31/2015 (FY15 accruals) 3) Payment of Claims 7/1/2015 – 7/31/2015 (FY16) Vote on Motion: 6-0. Approved unanimously; resolution adopted. Moved by Linch, seconded by Stow to approve the minutes of the regular meeting of July 16, 2015. Trustee Linch pointed out a typographical error on page three and said he did not feel the essence or length of the discussion on the rainbow banner display were captured. The motion was postponed by consent until September so that an expanded version of the discussion can be provided. Public Forum: None. Ames Public Library Friends Foundation (APLFF) Report: Stow reported that APL had 83 teen volunteers over the summer and over 250 youths attended teen programs. He distributed a flier on the Teen Advisory Group’s 2015 5K Brain Dead Fun Run & Shuffle and invited the trustees to volunteer. Stow said the APLFF is in the process of updating its bylaws and reviewing its policies. Literary Grounds income exceeded $2,400 in July and over $400 was earned in online sales; in total, APLFF raised over $80,000 for the library in the last year. Art Committee Report: Acker said the committee had met to review policies. It will continue that work and then start to consider acquisitions. Strategic Planning Committee Report: Carey said the manager’s team developed questions for a survey to submit to STATCOM in September. The two consultants originally contacted to assist with strategic planning are no longer interested in working on the project, so Carey has put in a call to Jamie LaRue. Community focus groups are still being identified. 2 Acker said the committee had started out with the idea of developing a strategic planning document that would offer guidance for staff and the two support boards, but the consultants seemed to have a broader vision that wasn’t the same concept. She stated that the committee wants to look at specific things that can resonate with staff. Administrative Staff Report: Carey spoke about: ● APL programming; ● upcoming interviews for the open half-time clerk position; ● a successful Polaris upgrade; ● her work on the City’s Human Resources Director search team; ● possibilities for several grants for which she has written applications; ● an upcoming training session for library trustees on August 27 at Nevada Public Library; ● topics discussed at the Iowa Urban Public Library Association (IUPLA) meeting; and ● a meeting with representatives of Bibliotheca. Story County Library Association statistics were shared and Carey noted that the Board of Supervisors was very pleased with the level of cooperation among the county libraries and particularly appreciated Ames’ willingness to embrace the new method of distributing the funding allocation. Although the new method could potentially have reduced Ames’ level of income, the result is that APL will receive a little over $128,000 this year, rather than the estimated $119,000. Discussion ensued about year-end statistics and some questions that had been asked of Trustee Campbell by members of the public. American Library Association (ALA) Conference Report: Adult Services Manager Mary Logsdon spoke about ALA sessions she attended in San Francisco on programming, trends in technology, ways of engaging with the community, and others. One session on adult literacy focused on how libraries can foster successful access to communications (to help people apply for jobs or file taxes electronically, for example) and another introduced ideas about brain fitness and interactive library programming that can help engage critical thinking. Carey mentioned several sessions she attended (on marketing ideas, new ways of measuring libraries’ impact on people and communities, organizational change, grant decision making, and citizenship education) and a tour she took of five libraries in the San Francisco Library System. Both Logsdon and Carey thanked the trustees for supporting conference attendance via the budget; both were pleased to have come away from ALA with ideas and measurements for success that may be tailored to the Ames community. There was discussion about APL services for non-native speakers and those in the southern part of the city where non-motorized travel is difficult. Building Project Update: Carey provided information on numerous aspects of the project: ● City Council accepted completion of the Samuels Group construction contract, though the firm continues to respond to warranty issues. 3 ● Staff members from SBD, the custom furniture provider, are working in the building again this week. ● Two bids were received for the meeting room monitors. Carey said they were very close in price but nearly impossible to compare, so more information is being sought from the vendors. She hoped it would be possible to award the bid soon. ● New trees have been selected for the plaza; the planting schedule has not been determined. ● The Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Commissioning agent was at APL last week and is getting ready to file the final report. Library Security Cameras Policy: Moved by Stow, seconded by Linch, to adopt a resolution approving the revised Library Security Cameras Policy as presented/amended. Carey advised that there were not many substantive changes. The language was altered slightly to allow the cameras to be used to gather data related to workflow and analysis of traffic patterns. Stow said the policy indicates that the library is not obligated to retain images longer than 14 days, but he did not see anything about having extended retention based on a court order or a law suit. Carey acknowledged that the Library sometimes does, when necessary, create a DVD so the images can be used as evidence. The matter was postponed by consent until language about possible retention is added and the entire policy is reviewed by the City Attorney. Agreement with APLFF: Carey asked the board to review the agreement, which was signed in 2011. She said the APLFF Board of Directors will be asked to do likewise. If any issues are identified or changes are suggested, she would like representatives of both boards to meet and craft a proposal. The trustees immediately noted that the existing agreement does not acknowledge that the APLFF may need to use some of the money it raises to cover its own operations or personnel, nor does it mention the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) that is generated annually. The Board agreed to address the matter after comments are received from the APLFF. Director’s MLS requirement: Acker said that the request to waive requirement for the Library Director to have or attain a Master’s Degree in Library Science was denied by the Iowa Commission on Libraries. A copy of the letter was distributed, which explained that there is some lee-way in terms of the timing, so Carey actually has two more years to complete the requirement. There was discussion about whether or not there is an appeal process and the potential impact on community and staff if APL were to forego future accreditation. It was suggested that the Strategic Planning Committee discuss this matter to determine what losses or opportunities are associated with accreditation. It was also pointed out that the discussion is related to the definition of the Director’s job and job performance and Campbell suggested that perhaps Carey should be afforded the opportunity to request a private conversation with the Director Evaluation 4 Committee. Carey said she would like to ask the City Attorney to determine whether or not this discussion falls under job performance. It was agreed that the question would be referred to the City Attorney and Acker asked the trustees to reflect and visit with community members about their sentiments. Trustee Comments: Briese said he was pleased to see that program attendance was over 28,000 in a down year (when the library was closed for a month). Stow complimented staff for completing the first year in the new building and doing such phenomenal work. Adjournment: The meeting was adjourned by consensus at 8:49 p.m. The next regular meeting will be on Thursday, September 17, 2015, at 7:00 p.m., in the Dale H. Ross Board Room, Ames Public Library, 515 Douglas Avenue.