MUSSER PUBLIC LIBRARY
BOARD OF TRUSTEES MEETING
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 21, 2007 – 4:30 P.M.
LIBRARY CONFERENCE ROOM
PRESENT:
Durham, Johnston, Koehrsen, Nus, Ward.
STAFF:
Chaudoin, Grossklaus, Press, T.Schulte, Warschauer.
ABSENT:
Coffman, Drake, Lande, Martin.
M I N U T E S
I.
CALL TO ORDER:
Pres. Johnston called the meeting to order at 4:34 p.m.
II.
APPROVAL OF AGENDA:
Nus moved to approve the agenda as printed.
Second by Koehrsen. All ayes. Motion carried.
III.
APPROVAL OF MINUTES:
Nus moved to approve the minutes of the Feb. 21,
2007 meeting as printed. Second by Ward. All ayes. Motion carried.
IV.
BILLS FOR PAYMENT:
Ward moved to approve payment of the bills dated
2/27/07 for $7,158.87 and those dated 3/13/07 for $2,193.58. Second by Nus. All
ayes. Motion carried.
V.
CITIZENS SPEAK:
None present.
VI.
COMMUNICATIONS:
A.
Staff Liaison
– T.Schulte reported on discussions at the Circulation
meetings concerning the Internet Use Policy (coming up for review by the Board
in April.) The staff would like wording added into the policy concerning the
wireless connection, and also the issue of the right of patrons who have fines on
old cards to get new cards so they can use the internet. The board’s input is
needed for clarification of this policy.
B.
Director’s Report
–
1)
Chaudoin reported that the County Supervisors
have allocated all $101,430 of our request for FY 07/08. This is a milestone!
2)
Jenny Howell and Chaudoin gave a Grossheim program at Bickford Cottage on
the 13
th
of March. It was well-received by the residents. They also gave a program
of Tidbits of Muscatine History to Senior Circle on March 7
th
.
3)
Representatives
from the HGA architectural firm will be visiting the library on Tues., March 27.
They will get a tour of the facility and opportunity to talk with staff.
4)
Chaudoin
will be speaking with the Muscatine County Genealogists on Thursday to
encourage them to help fund the digitization of the city directories and the
Alexander Clark files. She is also asking them to subscribe to the Historical
Newspaper archive for the library and asking if they are still interested in
purchasing a new computer for the genealogy department.
5)
Mark Blando, our
Information Pathfinder, has resigned and will be leaving on April 20
th
. He has
accepted a position as library director at a small public library in Ellsworth,
Wisconsin. We will shift staff internally and the open slot will be advertised.
C.
Other
– Trustees received a Cedar Rapids Gazette article concerning the
reaction to their library’s budget cuts. They also received Trust Fund summaries
and financial reports.
VII.
COMITTEES:
A.
Long Range Planning
– Ward and Koehrsen reported positive responses
from two of the architectural firms (HGA and Frye) and one negative response.
HGA will be visiting to get a flavor of the community.
B.
Operations:
1.
Overdues & Fines Policy
– Debbie Grossklaus reported staff
discussions on lowering the maximum video and DVD fine to $5.00 to be in line
with what other libraries charge. A patron who has ten long-overdue videos might
choose to keep them if he owes $100, but might be more inclined to return them if
he owes only $50. Hopefully the lower maximum would result in more materials
being returned. Nus moved to lower the maximum fine on AV items to $5.00.
Second by Durham. All ayes. Motion carried. Mark the policy “Reviewed and
Amended – 3/21/07”.
VIII. OLD BUSINESS:
A.
Budget Cuts
– Chaudoin reported that the recommendations will remain
the same as shown in the capital outlay budget for 2007/08. We will not be
growing our collection or buying multiple copies of anything with this budget.
B.
Phone Conversation with Buffalo Prairie Supervisor
– Kenneth
Parchert, supervisor for Buffalo Prairie Township, was very noncommittal about
the increases. He claimed that no one he talked to used the library. Chaudoin
encouraged him to talk to Brenda Fikes who knows many library users. Trustees
agreed that if the township can’t pay its fair share, they should go elsewhere for
library services. It is their problem to solve.
IX.
NEW BUSINESS:
A.
Amnesty Day
– The staff would like to try to hold an amnesty during
National Library Week. We have not had an Amnesty Day for about 20 years.
People could return long-overdue materials without paying fines with no
questions asked. Nus moved to have an Amnesty Week at the discretion of the
library director and staff. Second by Koehrsen. All ayes. Motion carried. There
will be plenty of publicity for this event in hopes that the library will be able to
retrieve a lot of its missing materials.
B.
Request from Business & Industry Museum
– Melanie Alexander,
director of the Business & Industry Museum, was approached by Arcadia
Publishing company to help their author with writing a book about the button
industry using some photographs from the Grossheim collection. She asked for a
waiver of the $25 per photo usage fee. After some discussion, Ward moved to
waive the fee for use of the Grossheim prints with the stipulation that the library
will receive photo credit for each photo used and will receive at least four (4)
copies of the book for the library’s collection. Second by Durham. All ayes.
Motion carried.
C.
Special Library Levy
– A petition with 158 signatures must be submitted
to the County Auditor by Sept. 20
th
in order to get the levy onto the ballot. Rules
allow Friends of the Library to advocate any way they wish, but rules strictly
forbid board members or staff as advocates. Nus volunteered to contact the State
Ethics Board regarding exact rules, and Chaudoin will contact the State Library. If
the levy were to pass, the library would get $180,380 at 27c per $1000 assessed
property valuation. It requires 50% plus 1 vote to pass. Should the levy pass, the
library could begin to rebuild its materials collection which has been slashed in
recent years. Echo and the Hispanic Library Assistant position could be retained.
Peter Press thanked the board for their support of Echo, reminding them that
publishing director Sam Morter has worked on far more than the Echo publication
alone, benefiting the library and the community as a whole. Press feels that the
popularity of the Echo, the ongoing need for Hispanic library services, the
expectations of past donors’ that we would eventually hold a levy, and our vision
of a library of the future, all make it imperative that the process get underway.
Any doubts about the levy will be discussed at the next board meeting, when
hopefully all trustees will be in attendance and a vote will be taken. In the
meantime, trustees are encouraged to exchange views and ideas via email.
Chaudoin will investigate using the library as a voter registration place.
D.
New Director Discussion
– The board discussed whether it needs to
pursue hiring another director. Chaudoin has been doing a fine job as Interim
Director and the library staff runs like a well-oiled machine keeping day-to-day
operations flowing smoothly. Ward offered to set up a meeting with Human
Resources Coordinator Stephanie Romagnoli to discuss our options.
X.
ADJOURNMENT:
The meeting adjourned at 6:20 p.m.
Respectfully submitted by:
Paula Durham, Secretary
/iw