MUSSER PUBLIC LIBRARY
BOARD OF TRUSTEES MEETING
WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 19, 2008 – 4:30 P.M.
LIBRARY CONFERENCE ROOM
PRESENT:
Drake, Durham, Koehrsen, Lande, Marten, Stelzner, Ward.
STAFF:
P.Collins, Derbin, Benefiel, Warschauer, Friends Rep. Gabbard.
ABSENT:
Johnston, Nus.
M I N U T E S
I.
CALL TO ORDER:
Pres. Durham called the meeting to order at 4:35 p.m.
II.
APPROVAL OF AGENDA:
Lande moved to approve the agenda as printed.
Second by Koehrsen. All ayes. Motion carried.
III.
APPROVAL OF MINUTES:
Ward moved to approve the minutes of 10/15/08 as
printed. Second by Martin. All ayes. Motion carried.
IV.
BILLS FOR PAYMENT:
Lande moved to approve payment of the bills dated
11/4/08 totaling $7,255.12 and those dated 11/18/08 totaling $7,985.54. Second by
Koehrsen. All ayes. Motion carried. The monthly bill from Muscatine Power &
Water covers our service upgrade, above and beyond the standard service provided
free to the City Departments. The upgrade was necessary to keep up with our many
internet computers and high volume usage.
V.
CITIZENS SPEAK:
Roberta Gabbard was introduced as the new Friends Board
liaison. She will receive a spot on the Agenda for a Friends report. Loanne Worth is
the acting president. The group is reactivating and plans to have a presence at the
Holiday Stroll, help with the Fairy Tale Extravaganza, and make changes in the book
sale. Trustees are invited to attend the Friends Board meetings the second Wednesday
of each month at 4:45 p.m.
VI.
COMMUNICATIONS:
A.
Staff Liaison:
Derbin reported on plans for the Fairy Tale Extravaganza, a
lights out event for grade school age children, scheduled for Saturday, Jan. 3
2009 from 6-9 p.m. Punch cards for activities at the Art Center and the
Library will allow kids to earn prizes by attending a variety of events. The
Extravaganza will feature about 10 different activities with costumed
storybook characters. Groups will move from station to station through a
fairyland of experiences. The Friends are helping and the Trustees are
welcome to help.
B.
Director’s Report:
The written report was received. The new website will
be up and running by Dec. 10 - 15. A mock-up of the new newsletter, named
Watermark
, is coming tomorrow. Various city departments have asked to
have some of our excess shelving.
VII.
COMMITTEES:
A.
Long Range Planning: A draft of the Refurbishing Plan was handed out.
Trustees were enthusiastic about the proposed changes. Funding was
discussed and would likely come from the William Cory memorial bequest,
the Friends and the Trust. The kitchen project was dropped because
insurance companies would require a sprinkler system or firewalls. Koehrsen
moved to make a more detailed plan to discuss with the two potential funders
and disburse funds for the project. Second by Drake. All ayes. Motion
carried. To move forward, the next step is to consult with Kim Keitzman of
Southeastern Library Services about space use and specifics, and with
decorator Rochelle Conway about design elements. Durham will attend the
next Friends meeting with a list of costs. Stelzner will work with HNI to find
affordable furniture. Since this is only a temporary fix for the needs of the
library, no big announcement will be forthcoming, but the City Administrator
will be kept informed.
B.
Activate Budget Committee:
The budget draft needs to be set by Dec. 19,
although we can still make changes into January. Goals for next year will be
discussed via email before the December meeting.
VIII.
OLD BUSINESS:
A.
Contract with Fruitland:
Collins reported on the meeting with Fruitland’s
council. Koehrsen moved to inform Fruitland their contract will be non-
negotiable for the amount of $2500, and that it be given to them in time for
their upcoming budget meeting. Second by Martin. All ayes. Motion carried.
IX.
NEW BUSINESS:
A.
Hiring of Collection Agency:
Circulation Manager Greg Benefiel reported
on the problem of enormous amounts of overdues and unreturned items.
Unique Collection Agency specializes in library collections. They use
seminary students from Indiana to call people using gentle means to get a
huge rate of return. Other libraries in the PALS system use this company.
There is a free 90-day trial period and if we decide to purchase the service we
pay a one-time fee of $2000 for the service module, payable with Enrich
Iowa funds. A flat fee per person is charged and the money collected goes
into the library’s general fund. Ward moved to run the 90-day trial period to
decide whether to purchase the software module. Second by Koehrsen. All
ayes. Motion carried. Collins said the staff is planning for another one-day
amnesty on fines in May before the summer reading program begins. It was
very successful last year.
B.
New Year’s Eve hours:
Trustees gave permission to close at 5 p.m. on New
Year’s Eve as in the past. They also approved closing all day Saturday, Nov.
3 to prepare for the Fairy Tale Extravaganza that evening. There will be a dry
run on Friday evening for City employees’ families.
C.
PR Messages / Plans:
The public relations workshop was great. A
knowledgeable and professional PR person conducted it. Koehrsen gave an
overall review, but due to time constraints decided to email more information
prior to the next meeting in preparation for in-depth discussion.
X.
ADJOURNMENT:
The meeting adjourned at 5:51 p.m.
Respectfully submitted by,
Dianna Stelzner, Acting Secretary
/iw