MUSSER PUBLIC LIBRARY
BOARD OF TRUSTEES MEETING
WEDNESDAY, SEPT. 19, 2007 – 5:00 P.M.
LIBRARY CONFERENCE ROOM
PRESENT:
Drake, Durham, Johnston, Koehrsen, Nus, Ward.
VISITING:
Pam Collins, recently hired director.
STAFF:
Chaudoin, Warschauer.
ABSENT:
Lande, Martin.
M I N U T E S
I.
CALL TO ORDER:
With a quorum present, Pres. Johnston called the meeting
to order at 4:40 p.m.
II.
APPROVAL OF AGENDA:
Ward moved to approve the agenda as printed.
Second by Durham. All ayes. Motion carried.
III.
APPROVAL OF MINUTES:
Nus moved, second by Durham, to approve the
minutes of the July, 22, 2007 meeting. All ayes. Motion carried. Nus moved,
second by Ward, to approve the notes of the Aug. 22, 2007 meeting. (There was
no quorum present, so no official business was transacted.) All ayes. Motion
carried. Koehrsen moved, second by Drake, to approve the minutes of the Sept.
13, 2007 Special Meeting. All ayes. Motion carried.
IV.
BILLS FOR PAYMENT:
Nus moved to approve payment of the bills dated
9/04/07 totaling $9,405.73 and the bills dated 9/18/07 totaling $7,798.78. Second
by Durham. All ayes. Motion carried. Chaudoin handed out copies of :
1) the Year End Revenue Summary for FY2006/07 showing our total revenues at
$140,728.22,
2) the Year End Expenditure Guideline showing that we had $2,789.87 left in
our FY2006/07 budget,
3) the Expenditure Guideline for July 1, 2007 through Aug. 31, 2007, showing
we’ve so far used about 16% of our 2007/08 budget,
4) the August 2007 Revenue Summary,
5) the Trust Fund Summary. Trust fund earnings were reported to be in the 5%
range, an improvement from past years.
V.
CITIZENS SPEAK:
None present. No reports.
VI.
COMMUNICATIONS:
A.
Staff Liaison
– Bobby Fiedler has begun taking masters courses on
Wednesdays. Terri Anderson will replace him as staff liaison.
B.
Interim Director’s Report
–
1)
Fiedler and Chaudoin set up a table display at Heritage Days at Wild
Cat Den Park. they had more than 250 visitors during the course of the day.
Howell came in the afternoon to relieve Fiedler. As they packed up to leave
around 4 p.m. one of the other exhibitors complemented them on their display.
2)
Staff worked hard to spruce up the library so we could put our best foot
forward for the director interviewees. One applicant stated how clean the library
looked. Closets were emptied and obsolete items were tossed.
3)
Three articles were handed out to trustees: 1) a New York Times Sept.
6
article about electronic books, 2) an article entitled
10 Reasons Why the Iinternet
Is No Substitute for a Library
, and 3) an article entitled
12 Ways Libraries are
Good for the Country
.
4)
Chaudoin and Warschauer attended the Muscatine Cultural Alliance
meeting on Sept. 4 to discuss the future of EchoOnline.
5)
Howell and Warschauer attended a volunteer management seminar at
the MCSA on Sept. 12, learning ways to improve our volunteer program.
6)
Weekend hours changed after Labor Day to Saturdays from 9:00 a.m.
to noon, and Sundays from 1:00 to 4:00 p.m. Sundays are usually busy.
7)
Chaudoin is working on the Annual State Survey due on Oct. 31
st
.
8)
Tuesdays2@ theLibrary featured singer/songwriter Danny Santos.
There was a small audience of 15 people.
9)
PAMS, our Internet software management program, will be ending.
We will need to choose another similar software company.
10)
We’ve received our first international request for Grossheim photos
from the UMV website. Pablo Medrano Bigas from Barcelona Spain is working
on his masters thesis entitled “Advertising in U.S. and European Pioneer Tire
Companies”. He requested four photos, two of the Root and Volger Tire Shop,
one of the Wyninger Tire Shop, and one of the Pitchforth Battery Co. There is no
charge per our photograph policy for educational research ventures. Chaudoin
asked him to credit the Oscar Grossheim Collection to our library and to send a
copy of his thesis to us.
11)
The poster of the “Sierra Leone’s All-Star Refugees” event, a free
community screening of the “Point of View” documentary, was handed out and
discussed. The library presents this in cooperation with the New Iowan Center,
Lutheran Services in Iowa and Humanities Iowa on October 18, 2007 at 6:30 p.m.
There will also be a panel discussion featuring local refugees and a representative
of the Stanley Foundation.
VII. COMMITTEE REPORTS:
A.
Long Range Planning
– Koehrsen reported on progress with the Pearl
Pavilion project. Lande continues to work in the background with potential
funders. Gary Carlson, no longer with the Chamber of Commerce, still wants to
be involved. The progress has slowed due to the director’s position being vacant.
B.
Operations :
1. Reproduction of Photographs Policy
(C-37) – Working well. Mark it
“Reviewed 9/19/07”.
2. Collection Development Policy
(C-4) – Mark “Reviewed 9/19/07”.
In-depth study of our collection is necessary to address community needs, what to
weed, and the role of inter-library loan.
3. Annual Report
– Trustees received printed copies of the Annual
Report for FY2006/2007. Chaudoin highlighted changes from last year. Lessons
on the use of downloadable books was discussed. Nus moved, second by Durham,
to approve the Annual Report and send it to the City Administrator. All ayes.
Motion carried. Trustees agreed that a smaller, reduced version of the annual
report would be nice to hand out to the public or put on the website. They also
plan to discuss an updated format for the library newsletter at the next meeting.
VIII. OLD BUSINESS:
A.
Report from Director Search Committee
– With the search complete
and a new director selected, trustees discussed the need for a photo and bio
information necessary for a public announcement. A public reception will be
planned. Collins estimated her start date to be toward the end of October.
B.
Discussion of Board Vacancy
– The candidate for the board position
must reside within the city limits. Suggestions were to search for a graduate of the
Leadership Muscatine program or someone from a local corporation.
C.
Vernon Market Research
– This Cedar Rapids firm gave a brief
presentation at the July board meeting about polling voters to learn their
attitudes about the library and the proposed building project. This is one of several
market research firms we could use if we decided to purchase this service.
IX.
NEW BUSINESS:
A.
Computer discussion
– Two Circ computers still have Windows 2000
and will not work with the new receipt printers. They need to be replaced. The
Power Mac used by Sam for the Echo has been sitting idle. B. Fiedler has
consented to take the Power Mac and switch his old computer to Circ, so only one
is needed to replace the other Circ computer, payment to come out of Library
Operations. A new computer for the new director will be purchased out of the
encumbered monies from FY2006/07.
B.
Closing Sunday Dec. 23
rd
– Staff has asked the board to consider closing
the library on the Sunday before Christmas. After brief discussion, Nus moved to
close the library on Dec. 23. Second by Drake. All ayes. Motion carried.
X.
ADJOURNMENT:
The meeting adjourned at 6:05 p.m.
Respectfully submitted by,
Paula Durham, Secretary
/iw