MUSSER PUBLIC LIBRARY
BOARD OF TRUSTEES MEETING
WEDNESDAY, JUNE 18, 2008 – 4:30 P.M.
LIBRARY CONFERENCE ROOM
PRESENT:
Drake, Johnston, Lande, Martin, Nus, Stelzner, Ward.
STAFF:
P.Collins, Fiedler, Warschauer.
ABSENT:
Durham, Koehrsen.
M I N U T E S
I.
CALL TO ORDER:
President Johnston called the meeting to order at 4:32 p.m.
II.
APPROVAL OF AGENDA:
Agenda items were approved as printed.
III.
APPROVAL OF MINUTES:
Lande moved to approve the minutes of the May
14, 2008 meeting as printed. Second by Nus. All ayes. Motion carried.
IV.
BILLS FOR PAYMENT:
Lande moved to approve payment of bills dated
6/3/08 totaling $11,700.93 and those dated 6/17/08 totaling $18,166.73. Second
by Ward. All ayes. Motion carried. Collins explained the library would be moving
from monthly payments to yearly payments wherever possible, easing much
budget apprehension at the end of the fiscal year.
V.
CITIZENS SPEAK:
Trustees reported good comments about the new look,
openness and welcome improvements made to this building.
VI.
COMMUNICATIONS:
A.
Staff Liaison:
Fiedler thanked the trustees as he ends his year as staff
liaison. He said the experience gave him good insight into how things work.
B.
Director’s Report:
A written report was received.
1)
Project Insect
continues at the Art Center with Jessa painting and James accompanying her some
of the time. He has been released from his portion of the contract due to a number
of issues. This has had little impact on the library programming. Children’s
expectations continue to be met with other programs and a nice mix of activities.
2)
Revision to the white paper continues. The concepts remain unchanged, but can
be addressed in separate facilities while still moving ahead.
VII. COMMITTEES:
A.
Long Range Planning:
The Pearl Pavilion project had not generated to
date the kind of private donor leadership we had hoped for. Also, the general
state of the economy and the City’s very tight budget makes the committee feel
that we should investigate alternative means to achieve our goals. With this in
mind, the Art Center is looking at an addition to the Stanley Gallery and the
Library is looking at a major remodeling in its present location. Keeping the joint
proposal as we move forward will help strengthen donor support. One aspect of
the joint proposal is to move the Grossheim collection to the Art Center for better
display, though the library will retain ownership. In turn, the Art Center has a
rare books collection that would come to the library and be made available to
scholars. There is another committee meeting scheduled for Friday, June 20.
B.
Operations:
1.
Meeting Room Policy
– Ward moved to amend the policy to
reflect the new hours. Second by Martin. All ayes. Motion carried.
2.
Fees Policy
– Collins suggested reducing the card replacement fee
from $5.00 to $2.00, the same as most other PALS libraries, since our new cards
will be less costly without the embedded chip. She also recommended the hourly
charges for research fees be increased to $25 per hour or $10 per obituary. Ward
moved to approve these changes in the policy. Second by Stelzner. All ayes.
Motion carried.
3.
Election of Officers
– Johnston reported the slate of officers was
drawn up via email. The slate of officers is as follows:
President
Paula Durham
Vice Pres.
Dianna Stelzner
Secretary
Eugene Johnston
Lande moved to accept the slate of officers. Second by Ward. All ayes. Motion
carried.
4.
Director ‘s Evaluation
– Johnston reported that the trustees were
generally very pleased with the work done by the director to keep the organization
moving forward and to accomplish the reorganization, including working in
cooperation with the Art Center. The need for a paper trail of the evaluation was
requested. Johnston thanked the trustees for their input and comments.
5.
Review of Mission & Vision Statement
– tabled.
6.
By-Laws
– The Policy Manual contains only a Draft 1 Revision of
the By-Laws begun several years ago and to be reviewed by former trustee Jim
Nepple. Warschauer will search for a copy of the original by-laws and send to all
board members for discussion at the next meeting.
VIII. OLD BUSINESS:
A.
Jump to Japan
– We encountered a slight problem: it doesn’t fit through
our doors. The Art Center is also interested in sharing in this traveling exhibit, but
despite the good price, it is on hold until it becomes affordable at a future time.
The Oregon Museum of Science & Industry has a traveling display called “Brain
Teasers” that consists of 21 different interactive puzzles and would go along with
next year’s summer reading theme “Get Creative”. It is affordable and exciting.
B.
City Smoking Policy
– The state passed a new smoking law that restricts
smoking within 25 feet of a public building, or for us, extending to the street. The
City will take care of new signage and our library policy will become moot.
C.
Web Page Contract
– Trustees viewed the contract proposal from Sedona
Technologies. Fifty percent will be due now and the rest due upon completion. It
will take 6-8 weeks to develop the website. The estimated price is between 9,550
and $10,300 to be paid out of the Trust, with an annual hosting fee of $300. The
high cost is due to the many links we need to have. We will be able to update the
site ourselves and have complete control of the site. Lande moved to approve the
contract with Sedona. Second by Stelzner. All ayes. Motion carried.
IX.
NEW BUSINESS:
A.
Nus inquired about flood damage to surrounding libraries. Collins reported
that Cedar Rapids Library was not as bad as they feared. Waterloo, Davenport,
Burlington, Columbus Junction and Iowa City’s libraries are fine. The University
Library moved 100,000 books from their special collection in the basement and
the water never came in. There will likely be some stress on public funds due to
road repair after the flood subsides.
B.
The August board meeting is scheduled over Collin’s vacation. This will
be on the agenda to discuss at the July meeting.
X.
ADJOURNMENT:
The meeting adjourned at 5:35 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Bill Nus, Acting Secretary
/iw