|
 |
 |
     |
|
|
||||
|
MINUTES OF THE REGULAR MEETING OF THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF THE PARK RIDGE PUBLIC LIBRARY HELD AT 7:30 P.M. ON FEBRUARY 20, 2007 IN THE FIRST FLOOR MEETING ROOM OF THE LIBRARY CALL TO ORDER Mr. Van Metre called the meeting to order at 7:32 p.m. ROLL CALL TRUSTEES PRESENT: Richard Van Metre, President Pro-tem; Shlomo Crandus, Secretary; Dorothy Hynous, Treasurer; John Benka, Margaret Harrison Patricia Lofthouse, Eileen O'Neill-Burke (7:34 p.m.). TRUSTEES ABSENT: John Schmidt, President. OTHERS PRESENT: Janet Van De Carr, Library Director; Jodi Bemis Whitney, John Doyle, Linda Egebrecht, Kate Hall, Gretchen Kottkamp, Kathy Rolsing, Tom Weiland, Library Staff; Chuck Baldacchino, Park Ridge Resident. CONSENT AGENDA Mr. Crandus MOVED to approve the Consent Agenda. Mrs. Lofthouse SECONDED the motion. Mr. Benka stated he had some questions. He asked Mrs. Van De Carr if she would be discussing the issue of a possible early retirement package being considered by the City, to which she said she would. He also stated he had a question regarding the Library expenditures line item, which was not on the Consent Agenda, and Mrs. Van De Carr stated that the issue could be discussed later in the meeting. Mr. Benka added that in the January minutes Mr. Van Metre had asked if it would be possible to look at the January attendance numbers for the January programs, to which Mrs. Van De Carr replied that she would discuss that in her Director's Report. Mrs. Harrison asked that under the heading of “Comments from the General Public” in the Board minutes that in the future the term “None” be replaced with “None at this time” when comments appear at the end of (or later in) the meeting minutes. Roll call vote was taken on the Motion. MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. COMMENTS FROM THE GENERAL PUBLIC None. SECRETARY'S REPORT Mr. Crandus circulated two folders of correspondence and information, which included the following:
TREASURER'S REPORT Ms. Hynous reviewed the financial reports for January, stating that the Summary by Line Item Report showed that with 75% of the fiscal year elapsed, 69% of the budget (excluding the Capital Budget) had been expended. Mr. Benka inquired about the Tuition Reimbursement line item, which appears to slightly exceed the budget. Mrs. Van De Carr explained that this is the total expenditure for the year. She added that the City HR Director, who is in charge of the Tuition Reimbursement program for City staff gives the Library the figure to place in that line item. When staff apply for Tuition Reimbursement, they estimate how much their classes will cost, and then the City divides that cost among the departments and tells the Library how much to budget for the Tuition Reimbursement line item. Mr. Crandus asked a question regarding the Public Relations line item, asking if the Library was almost done with that cost, to which Mrs. Van De Carr replied that the March newsletter would be the last item to appear in that category. She added that any overage would come from the Library Per Capita Grant Fund, a portion of which is designated for the purpose of Public Relations. Mrs. Van De Carr directed the Board's attention to page 6E in the Board packet, which shows the transactions over the last month in the Endowment and Restricted Gift Funds. She pointed out that Endowment funds were transferred in January to two 12-month CD's, one for $100,000 and one for $20,000 at Chase Bank. Mrs. Van De Carr added that after the transfers were made, the bank credited the Library with another $389.89 in interest, which the Library will use for purchasing materials. Since the Endowment funds are in CDs, any funds received this year will be deposited in the Restricted Gift Fund until the CDs mature and then the funds will be deposited into the CDs, and the new interest earned used for purchases. The Library will keep an accounting of the money designated for the Endowment Fund to keep them separate. LIBRARY DIRECTOR'S REPORT Mrs. Van De Carr reviewed the Library's statistics for the month, reporting that year-to-date circulation was already quite a bit higher than last year at this time (3%) and that she anticipates that circulation will exceed the 2006 figures. Mrs. Van De Carr reviewed other statistics in the packet, including door counts, and explained in detail the comparison of the door counts to the Library's January program calendar, as well as non-Library programs. Mrs. Van De Carr reported that the City Council had approved Mr. Art Davis as the new Library Board Trustee, replacing Mrs. Janet Joyce whose tenure would have expired June 30, 2007 she stated that his term will also expire June 30, 2007 and that although he was currently out of town, he had already had his Library orientation. Mrs. Van De Carr also stated that two other trustee's terms were expiring this June: Mrs. Lofthouse and Mr. Crandus. Depending on the school board elections the Library would know if Mr. Crandus' would be returning, and she asked Mrs. Lofthouse to write a letter to the Mayor stating her intentions, whether she is seeking another term, and she added that the Library hopes she will continue in her position on the Board. Mrs. Van De Carr informed the Board that the City Council had also approved the early retirement incentive at its February 19 meeting. The early retirement incentive becomes effective March 1, 2007 for one year. It is for non-union IMRF employees and is what IMRF calls a “five plus five” offer, meaning that the employee can pay in to get five more years of credit towards retirement and the City pays their portion for the same amount of time. Mrs. Van De Carr added that the employee has to be 50 years old and have been an IMRF employee for 20 years. Mr. Benka asked if the City was putting in any of the employee's share, offsetting any of that amount, to which Mrs. Van De Carr stated no, the City was only putting in their own share, not any of the employee's. Mr. Van Metre asked if Mrs. Van De Carr knew how many of the Library's employees were eligible for this early retirement incentive, to which she replied that she believed there were maybe 12 eligible employees. Mrs. Van De Carr announced that the Library was, for the fourth year, offering voter registration through March 20 for residents wanting to vote in the April 17 municipal election. She explained that in addition to the Library staff that is trained to conduct voter registration (which includes everyone in the Business Office and some of the librarians who work the Reference service desk), members of a citizen's committee working with District 64 are providing additional Saturday voter registration in the Library's second floor lobby from 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. through March 17. Mrs. Van De Carr added that voter registration is available at the Library from 9:00 to 5:00 p.m. Monday through Friday in the Administration Office, on Saturdays in the Reference Department, and on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday evenings from 5:00 to 9:00 p.m. in the Reference Department. Mrs. Van De Carr reported that the last time there was a national election the Library registered a large number of people. In reply to a question from Mr. Crandus, Mrs. Van De Carr stated that early voting is available at City Hall but not at the Library. Mrs. Van De Carr reported that another program coming up in the Library is the “Art and Architecture in Illinois Libraries” exhibit. On Sunday, March 18 the Library will host an opening reception to kick off the month-long exhibit highlighting the unique art and architecture of public libraries. Mrs. Van De Carr explained that there would be a reception with refreshments in the meeting room; the exhibit panels will be installed in the second floor lobby area, and Mr. Eugene Kwok, a local pianist, will be providing background music in the first floor meeting room. In addition, the Library will be hosting a number of programs throughout the month related to this theme; details will be included in the next issue of the Library newsletter. Mrs. Van De Carr added that the Library has also invited representatives from the local arts groups to display information about their organizations at this reception to raise awareness of the contributions they make to the community. She invited the Board members to attend. Mrs. Van De Carr distributed the agenda for the February 23 Staff In-Service Day, reviewing some of the training sessions slated for the day, during which the Library would be closed to the public. She invited the Board members to attend. Mrs. Van De Carr brought the Board's attention to the new gift brochure as well as the Library flyer listing all of the resources the Library has on Park Ridge history which were included in their packets. Mrs. Van De Carr showed the Board a full page article on OCLC that appeared in the February issue of Governing magazine, which promotes the value of public libraries to local government; she explained that OCLC is the Library's international cooperative cataloging consortium and provides many resources for libraries. Mrs. Van De Carr reported that in the last issue of the Maine Township newsletter, the Library was given credit for its contribution to the Maine Township food drive over the holidays. Mrs. Van De Carr stated that Mrs. Lofthouse, Mrs. Van De Carr, Mrs. Hall, Children's Services Manager and Ms. Hommel, Young Adult Librarian, had attended a discussion on video games and learning that was hosted by the MacArthur Foundation at the Newbery Library last week. She explained that a panel of national experts talked about the use of video games by young people, how over 80% use them regularly, and how this will impact learning in the future. Developers of video games discussed how to use them to teach young people skills and knowledge on a wide variety of subjects. There was discussion on how young people learn, how the ways they learn are changing, and how libraries will change to make learning relevant to young people. She passed the brochure for the Trustees to review. Mrs. Lofthouse explained some of the background on how children and teens learn through video games, how schools, research institutions, and the government were all looking at teaching through video games. She added that she was pleased that the Library had integrated video games into its collection. In response to Mrs. Lofthouse's inquiry, Mr. Benka replied that although the subject was interesting, he stated that it was one thing to talk about children developing learning techniques through the use of video games and another to provide random video games in a collection without drawing a link between what the Library is providing and what it is trying to accomplish. Mr. Benka added that he believes that the Library's video game collection is just a source of recreation and that the building of the learning strategies of young adults through video games is not an objective of the Library's collection at this point in time, other than by coincidence. Mr. Benka asked Mrs. Van De Carr to research the possibility of beginning a dialog with District 64 and/or 207 to see if they are looking at this issue. If so, to see if the Library could work with their curriculum specialists to develop some kind of mini program to be held at the Library (possibly on a weekend) with a teacher and interested students to use video games to develop learning strategies, or even support any similar program that might already be in effect at the schools. Mrs. Van De Carr announced that the Library had just purchased a new online language series called the Rosetta Stone Foreign Language Series, an online tutorial type of program to teach people a language, and those offered by the Library are English, French, Italian, Polish and Latin American Spanish. She explained that the Library anticipates that English will be the most used, and that it will complement the books on CD and tapes for learning languages. People use the Rosetta Stone product in the Library or at home with a Park Ridge Library card. Mrs. Van De Carr stated that a copy of a page from the Des Plaines newsletter highlighting the various library buildings from their old Carnegie-funded building in 1907 through to their present Library was included in the Board packets. Mrs. Van De Carr announced that SIRSI Dynex, which provides the Library's online catalog circulation system, had been purchased by Vista Equity Partners. She stated that the Library has been told that it should not see any changes in the near future. There are not that many integrated library system vendors in business there may currently be five and many have merged or bought each other out in the past few months. Because the Park Ridge Public Library is part of a consortium, it deals with such companies at the consortium level and at this point CCS (Cooperative Computer Services) does not anticipate difficulties. COMMITTEE REPORTS Planning & Operations: No Committee meeting held. Marketing & Fund-Raising: No Committee meeting held. Library Resources: Mr. Benka reported that the Committee had discussed a memo from Mr. Larry Kleckner, Access Services Manager, requesting that the Board approve the purchase of a new server. It was explained that the present server, a Dell 4400, was purchased in 2000-01 and assigned a life expectancy of three years so it's past its lifetime, it is no longer under warranty, and it is filled to capacity. Mr. Benka explained that Mr. Kleckner has served as Access Services Manager for ten years and has directed the purchase of all Library servers and that this purchase is his recommendation. After reviewing the material, the Committee agreed that it was time to purchase a new server and that the money is in the budget. On behalf of the Committee, Mr. Benka made a MOTION: to approve the purchase of a Dell Poweredge 2950 rack mount server at the cost of $7,435.00. Roll call vote. MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. Building & Grounds: Mrs. Lofthouse reported that Mr. Weiland had reviewed the bid process for the work on the HVAC system for the replacement of two HVAC Pneumatic Control Assemblies and two water circulation pump assemblies. He also explained the result of the bid opening and the thought process which led to his recommendation to have North Town Mechanical conduct the work on the HVAC system; the Library has worked with them before and Mr. Weiland believes them to be very reliable. After reviewing the information, the Committee agreed to accept the bid from North Town Mechanical. In response to an inquiry from Mr. Crandus, Mrs. Van De Carr stated that the $33,784 is only slightly higher than the $30,000 anticipated amount budgeted 3-4 years ago. She added that the $3,000 difference would come from the unspent funds in the regular operating budget. On behalf of the Committee, Mrs. Lofthouse made a MOTION: to accept the bid from North Town Mechanical to conduct the replacement of two HVAC Control Assemblies and two water circulation pump assemblies at a cost of $33,784.00. Roll call vote. MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. Mrs. Lofthouse stated that Mr. Weiland reported that the relations with the new building cleaning crew from Best Quality Cleaning are improving and they are doing a better job. Mrs. Lofthouse reported that the Committee had inquired about the parking issue in the Central Lot and Mrs. Van De Carr replied that she was still waiting for some information from the City Attorney, Mr. Buzz Hill. Mr. Hill had provided her with drafts of new leases that appeared to indicate that the 40 spaces in the Central Lot were being relocated, but more information was necessary. Budget & Finance: Although no Committee meeting was held, Mrs. Van De Carr reminded the Board that the City Budget review was scheduled for Saturday, March 10 in the City Council Chambers at City Hall. She announced that she would notify the Trustees of the estimated time that the Library budget is scheduled on the agenda as soon as the City informs her. The closed session would begin at 8:30 a.m. and the open session would begin at 9:30 a.m. Mrs. Van De Carr stated that she would be attending a City Department Head meeting on Tuesday, February 27, and she anticipated that more information would be available at that time. FRIENDS OF THE LIBRARY Nothing to report. UNFINISHED BUSINESS Mr. Benka stated he noticed that something was mentioned about the City Commons project going out for bid in the Spring. Mrs. Van De Carr replied that the City had gone out for bid on the Commons project. She stated that it seems to be on schedule (early spring) and that the bids were due on February 21; starting dates will depend on the weather. Mrs. Lofthouse asked if the Buy-A-Brick would be in the last phase of the Commons project. Mrs. Van De Carr replied that she didn't know, because she has been emphasizing at every meeting that the Library must be able to be open during the whole project. She added that the way the bricks are set in the ground, whenever someone purchases a brick, a blank one can be removed and the engraved one put in its place. In response to a question, Mrs. Van De Carr stated that the Library has only 26 Buy-A-Bricks sold so far, but it may be the case that once people see them in the ground that more will sell. Mr. Benka stated he noticed there was a sheet listing talking points for speaking with the Aldermen. Mr. Crandus stated the staff had provided those sheets to use as a basis for talking with the (now) candidates for the City Council about the Library, and to hear their views about the Library. He added that the Board would be discussing those talking points at the March Committee meetings. Mrs. Lofthouse also asked Mrs. Van De Carr that the article from the Evanston Library about library Trustees meeting with Aldermen be re-distributed to the Board. Mrs. Van De Carr invited the Board members to visit the third floor Reader Services office to see the new wall in the Young Adult Loft, as well as the second floor lobby. She added that she has received many positive comments from patrons about the remodeled second floor lobby and the new lighting and book display shelving. NEW BUSINESS Nothing to report. COMMENTS FROM THE GENERAL PUBLIC None. ADJOURNMENT Mr. Van Metre MOVED to adjourn the Board meeting. Mrs. Harrison SECONDED the motion. Voice vote. MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. The meeting adjourned at 8:25 p.m. |
|||
 |
 |
