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OF THE REGULAR MEETING OF THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF THE PARK RIDGE PUBLIC LIBRARY HELD AT 7:45 P.M. ON MAY 16, 2006 IN THE THIRD FLOOR MEETING ROOM OF THE LIBRARY CALL TO ORDER Ms. Gormley called the meeting to order at 7:46 p.m. ROLL CALL TRUSTEES PRESENT: Mary Theresa Gormley, President; John Schmidt, Vice President; Shlomo Crandus, Secretary; Richard Van Metre, Treasurer; John Benka, Dorothy Hynous, Patricia Lofthouse. TRUSTEES ABSENT: Janet Joyce. OTHERS PRESENT: Janet Van De Carr, Library Director; Jodi Bemis Whitney, John Doyle, Linda Egebrecht, Kate Hall, Larry Kleckner, Gretchen Kottkamp, Vivian Mortensen, Kathy Rolsing, Tom Weiland, Library Staff; Dick and Dorothy DuSold, Friends of the Park Ridge Library; Chuck Baldacchino, Park Ridge Resident. CONSENT AGENDA Mr. Crandus MOVED to approve the Consent Agenda. Ms. Hynous SECONDED the motion. Roll call vote. MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. COMMENTS FROM THE GENERAL PUBLIC None. SECRETARY'S REPORT Mr. Crandus circulated one folder of correspondence and information, which included the following:
Mr. Van Metre reviewed the report. Mrs. Van De Carr reported that the period 13 invoices were still being coded, and so there were a few more expenses out of the budget, but that the Library closed the budget year with 87% of the budget expended (with the capital projects) and at 95% excluding the Capital Budget. She stated that the Library ended the year on a very good note. Mr. Van Metre asked Mrs. Van De Carr to explain the issue of the loan held by the City. Mrs. Van De Carr stated that the Library spent close to $1 million dollars on all of the repairs for the building, and the way the Library was able to do this was by borrowing most of the money from the General Fund. Mrs. Van De Carr reported that the Library was scheduled to begin paying back that loan at the amount of $210,000 per year over the next four years, beginning with FY06/07. She explained that, because the Library was under budget in FY05/06, it would like to repay $210,000 out of the FY05/06 budget and therefore be ahead of the repayment schedule by one year, and in turn help out the City by beginning the repayment a year early. Some discussion and explanations ensued regarding particulars of the issue. It was explained that the $210,000 had already been budgeted for the next four years. Mr. Benka asked that a “paper trail” be kept on file of the conversations that took place leading to the consideration of the early repayment of this loan by the Library Board. There was a consensus of the Library Board of Trustees to repay the loan beginning a year early, beginning with the FY05/06 budget. The Board acknowledged the gifts received by the Library for the Endowment and Restricted Gift funds. Mrs. Van De Carr reported that to-date the Library had received $1,206 for the Van Fund from individual donors, in addition to the $5,000 that the Friends of the Park Ridge Library have pledged to the Van Fund. Mrs. Van De Carr stated that a poster listing the last names of those people who have contributed to the fund was posted in the lobby. She added that the Friends of the Library had assisted the Library by including a bookmark in their spring mailer requesting donations for the Van Fund. LIBRARY DIRECTOR'S REPORT Mrs. Van De Carr welcomed Dick and Dorothy DuSold of the Friends of the Library to the Board meeting. She announced that they had recently held a successful spring book sale and invited Mr. DuSold to tell the Board about the sale. Mr. DuSold agreed that the book sale was a success and thanked the Library staff and administration for once again being so helpful as the Friends “took over” the meeting room in preparation for it. He stated that the Friends try to make sure the book sales are a community event, and that this year he had received several compliments (from book dealers who came to shop) on how friendly and easy going everyone was and how refreshing that was. Mr. DuSold also mentioned that many people who had not had the opportunity to see the remodeled room mentioned how nice it looked. Mrs. DuSold reported that the Friends had raised over $6,000 at the book sale. She asked Mrs. Van De Carr if the Library would be preparing the yearly wish list, to which Mrs. Van De Carr replied that that it was being compiled. Mrs. DuSold assured Mrs. Van De Carr that the Friends were going to take care of the wish list, and added that she was certain that the Friends of the Library would be donating additional funds to the Van Fund, beyond those already promised. Mrs. Van De Carr and Ms. Gormley thanked the DuSold's. Mrs. Van De Carr reviewed the Library's statistics. She announced that the Library had broken all previous circulation records in 05/06, even though the door counts had dropped a little, and stated that obviously the people who are coming in to the Library are finding a lot of material that interest them. Mrs. Van De Carr reported that the Library had hosted the Annual Volunteer Appreciation Tea wherein the Library volunteers are recognized for their hard work. Mrs. Van De Carr added that the Library has 50 regularly scheduled volunteers and 28 special project volunteers who together have given over 3,200 hours of service to the Library in the past year. Mrs. Van De Carr stated that Library staff had been very busy planning all of the summer events and programs, including the reading clubs. She announced that Ms. Mortensen and Mrs. Hall would be reporting at the June Board meeting about the different activities that would be taking place. Mrs. Van De Carr invited the Board members to sign up for the adult reading club. Mrs. Van De Carr reviewed the statistics and reported that the circulation of e-Books is increasing slowly, with a 45% increase in circulation over last year, as are video games, which have had a year-to-date circulation of 244. She stated that a report would be given to the Board at the June meeting regarding the first quarter results of the Young Adult video games collection. Mrs. Van De Carr added that the staff is working on reducing the size of the adult non-fiction collection to accommodate the changes that will be occurring on the second floor and anticipate that it should be concluded by the end of the summer, with the moving of the shelving to most likely take place during non-business hours due to the noise. Ms. Gormley stated that total audiovisual circulation is 24%. Mrs. Van De Carr stated that one should recognize that the turn-around time for the audiovisual collection (DVD's and videos) is faster than that of the printed materials one DVD can be borrowed more times in a year than a book because its borrowing time is one week and that of a book is 2 or 3 weeks. Mrs. Van De Carr informed the Board that on May 1 the Library had put into place the new library card registration policy, adding that Mrs. Hall, the Children's Services Manager, has had a number of people coming in for Library cards for their young children. Mrs. Hall stated that more and more people have come in every day, with about 15 who came in on the previous Saturday to get a library card. Mr. Benka inquired if the Board should be addressing anything regarding the drop in the number of visitors to the Library in the last year, to which Mrs. Van De Carr replied that staff should keep aware of the situation, that if circulation were dropping as well that would be an even greater concern, but that overall she and staff would be monitoring both the circulation and number of visitors to the Library. Some discussion ensued. Mr. Crandus suggested that the Planning & Operations Committee decide which parameters to look at to better understand what the statistics are saying. Mr. Van Metre inquired if the number of “visitors” to the Library website was tracked, and if so, was it going up. Mrs. Rolsing replied that statistics were not yet available for May because the Library depends on NSLS (the North Suburban Library System) to provide those, but in April there were 90,000 “hits” to the website. COMMITTEE REPORTS Marketing & Fund-Raising: In Mrs. Joyce's absence, Ms. Hynous reviewed the Committee meeting minutes. Ms. Hynous reported that the Committee had discussed the “Buy A Brick” Program and had revised the policy in order to reflect the change in brick sizes that would be available for engraving. As explained at last month's meeting, the bricks chosen by the landscaping company were of different sizes and colors than what had been researched for the “Buy A Brick” program and so the pricing structure had to be revised. The “Buy A Brick” Program Policy was revised to reflect the changes in brick size and cost. Ms. Hynous stated that the Library hopes to begin selling bricks in June, to coincide with the Summer Reading Clubs Kick Off on June 3. On behalf of the Committee, Mrs. Hynous made a MOTION: To accept the revised “Buy A Brick” Policy I A 5. Roll call vote. MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY. Mrs. Hynous reported that the Committee reviewed the solicitation letter for the silent auction portion of the art auction that the Library hopes to have in the fall. The date of the silent auction will be set as soon as an auctioneer is found. Planning & Operations: Mr. Crandus reported that the Committee had discussed the supper that was held on the evening of May 15 for the City Council and other guests. Mr. Crandus stated that the supper was very enjoyable and it was nice to be able to put faces to the names and to have an interaction that was leisurely. He added that there were many compliments about the room. The Board announced who from the City had attended the dinner: Mayor Frimark, Alderman Baldi, Alderman DiPietro, Alderman Jones, Alderman Parker, Alderman Radermacker, Alderman Wsol and Alderman Wynn Ryan. Mr. Benka asked if a thank you note would be sent to those who were at the dinner, to which Mrs. Van De Carr stated that there would be one sent. Mr. Baldacchino asked if this event was a meeting, to which Mrs. Van De Carr replied that the Library had hosted a supper the previous evening to invite the Mayor and full City Council to come and see the result of the first floor meeting room remodeling and to thank them for their support. She added that she had spoken to the City Attorney about the event, posted that the event was going to occur, and emphasized that it was not a meeting, per se, and that no business was conducted at the supper. Mrs. Van De Carr stated that many of the Aldermen had never met face-to-face with the Board members, and so this supper was to thank them for their support, to make acquaintances, and to show them the finished meeting room. Mrs. Van De Carr mentioned to the Board that she had seen a few of the Aldermen at City Hall that morning and they had thanked her for hosting the supper and stated that they had enjoyed seeing the room and meeting everyone. Mr. Baldacchino asked why the meeting was not posted on the City's website, to which it was stated that the supper was posted in the Library and on the Library's and Community's web calendars and Library website. Mrs. Van De Carr stressed that it was not a meeting of any kind, that no city business was discussed, that it was a social reception for the Aldermen. She added that the Architect was present so that they could meet him, and that it was a thank you for their support and to have them see the new facility. Mr. Baldacchino asked that in the future, should another event be planned, that the Library ask the City to post it on their website as well. Mr. Crandus reported that the Committee reviewed progress on FY 2005/06 goals and decided that the Committee goals should be revised for FY 06/07, and coordinated with the financial cycle, which is May through April. He added that action steps would be drawn up for the different committees. Mr. Crandus reported that the Committee reviewed the issues being discussed in Committees over the coming weeks, that they had previously looked at the Mission and Vision statements and that in May they would be taking a look at Service and use of space in the library. Building & Grounds: Mr. Schmidt reviewed the minutes of the Committee meeting, stating that the Committee had been working on and identifying the seven issues and goals. He announced that there would be a special Building & Grounds Committee on Thursday night, May 25 at 7:30 p.m. Mr. Schmidt reported on ADA & meeting space. The Committee discussed various ADA related matters and determined that very little can be done with the building, per se, because ADA requirements limit physical changes and additions that may be made to a building; that if any physical changes are made to a building, the addition or changed areas must then be made compliant with ADA. The Committee determined that if adjustments can be made to the building, the first priority on ADA compliance should be the washrooms. Mr. Schmidt stated that the Committee also discussed the availability of meeting room space in the building. There are currently three meeting rooms in the building and the Committee discussed that if a fourth meeting room be added they may have to resort to a trailer on the grounds, if not other means. The Committee will discuss this in relationship to the “storage” discussion that will occur at the May 25 meeting. Ms. Gormley stated that the Committee also thought it might have someone come to the Library and review where the building is in regards to ADA compliance. Mrs. Van De Carr stated that the Library had done a self-inspection two years ago. Mrs. Van De Carr added that Mr. Weiland had contacted the offices of the government that handles ADA compliance issues and found out that since 1996 the requirement has been that if an entity does any additions or renovations to the existing facility they must make the entire facility comply. Mr. Schmidt asked if anyone had any questions for Mr. Weiland regarding his Monthly Maintenance Report, which was included in the Board packet. Mrs. Lofthouse asked Mr. Weiland if the pneumatics on the front doors had been changed. Mr. Weiland replied that they had not, but that the Library was currently obtaining bids to have the center post between the front doors removed and a steel lintel placed across the top of the doors, in order to widen the entry way. Mrs. Van De Carr stated that the Library would be looking at different options for the type of front doors to be installed. Mr. Schmidt stated that the Library grounds project is progressing; as of the day of the Committee meeting the issue of a building sign had not been resolved. He reported that a change had occurred in the mean time. Mrs. Van De Carr explained that she had a meeting with the design company. She distributed copies of the revised drawings and explained the proposed changes to the wall and sign that would be in front of the Library building, as well as some of the other items on the drawings. Mrs. Van De Carr stated that she believed that all of the Board's concerns had been addressed. Mr. Benka complimented Mr. Crandus and the Library staff first Mr. Crandus on the matrix that he compiled for the staff to use. He added that the staff made the Building & Grounds Committee's job easier by virtue of their filling out the matrix with some very high quality work and provided a lot of information to think about. Library Resources: Mrs. Lofthouse reviewed the meeting minutes, stating that the Committee discussed some minor wording in some of the Library policies. There were no inquires about the changes. On behalf of the Committee, Mrs. Lofthouse made a MOTION: to approve Policies 1A6, 1B2, 1C2, 1C6, 1C6a, 1C10, 1D2, 1E1, 1E3, and 1F1 as revised. Mr. Schmidt SECONDED the motion. MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY. Mrs. Lofthouse reported that the Committee worked on the Committee Goals. At the April Committee, it was discussed that staff would be providing more detailed information on collections, circulation etc. in the coming months, and they are beginning to do that. At Mrs. Lofthouse's request, Mrs. Van De Carr explained that as part of National Library Week, the staff wore “Ask Me” stickers to promote technology, walked around the floors and actively engaged patrons every fifteen minutes. Mrs. Van De Carr stated that even though the staff didn't feel that the exercises prompted any more questions than they would have normally received had they not been wearing the stickers, about 65% of the staff would like to conduct the exercise again next year during National Library Week. Mrs. Lofthouse asked Mrs. Van De Carr to review her report on the Interlibrary Loan figures. Mrs. Van De Carr reported that the Interlibrary Loan circulation continues to increase and is up 27% for the year. She added that it continues to be a large part of the overall circulation. Much of the growth is due to the way that the system works, when patrons place a “hold” on a book, the system picks the most available copy; therefore people are getting the materials they want more quickly because they don't have to wait for the Park Ridge copy to come back, they can borrow a copy from another library. The total number of items that passed through Interlibrary Loan for the year was 43,187 out of the 699,189 total items that were checked out of the Library. Discussion ensued about the intricacies of the software and how materials are chosen for Interlibrary Loan. Mrs. Lofthouse stated that the Committee discussed a possible change in the way Committee meetings are recorded. It was determined that Library staff would not be able to transcribe recorded minutes from Committee meetings with sufficient time to prepare the Board packets with the Committees having the current schedule. The Board would have to move the Building & Grounds and Resources Committee meetings to another night, possible a week earlier. Ms. Gormley stated that, due to the fact that the same issue came up in the other Committee meetings, that the Board would discuss this under “New Business”. Mrs. Lofthouse stated that the Committee discussed the Library Award, which this year was awarded to Mrs. Judy Donovan of the Friends of the Park Ridge Library. The Committee decided that it would be reasonable that the Award be moved to the purview of the Marketing & Fund-Raising Committee. Mrs. Lofthouse reported that the Committee felt that letters should be sent to the nominees of the Library Award to let them know that they had the honor of being nominated for the first Annual Library Award. In closing, Mrs. Lofthouse informed the Board that the Committee discussed the lack of a Mayoral appointment to fill the still-vacant seat on the Library Board of Trustees. She added that in the time since the Committee meeting, the Mayor had recommended an appointee to the City Council and so the Library will be anxiously awaiting the result. Mrs. Lofthouse stated that she had researched the issue and had discovered that the Mayor was not in violation of any law or Illinois Library Act, per se, but if the Library wished to force the issue the Board would have to file a Writ of Mandamus to bring the issue to the forefront which, at least for now, it does not need to enact upon, but the Board now knows the steps to take if necessary. Ms. Gormley stated that the City Council would hopefully be approving that nominee at the June 5 City Council meeting. In response to Mrs. Lofthouse's inquiry, Mrs. Van De Carr stated that once a person gets approved to be on the Library Board of Trustees, she contacts them and sets up a meeting. She added that now that the Board has an Orientation Manual and process set up, the new Trustee would get paired up with a current Board member to through that orientation process. Personnel: Meeting held this evening at 7:00 p.m. no report. FRIENDS OF THE LIBRARY None. UNFINISHED BUSINESS None. NEW BUSINESS Ms. Gormley raised the issue of how Committee meeting minutes are recorded. Currently, the Chairman in each Committee runs the meeting and records what is transpiring in the meeting at the same time. The result is that many of the minutes are more of a summary than a detailed report. It was determined that Library staff would not be able to transcribe recorded minutes from Committee meetings with sufficient time to prepare them for the Board packets with the Committees having the current schedule. The Board would have to move the Building & Grounds and Resources Committee meetings to another night, possible a week earlier. Ms. Gormley suggested that the Committees may want to discuss that possibility at the next meetings. Mrs. Hynous stated that at her meeting there were several people on the Committee who didn't feel it was necessary to change the way the meeting minutes are recorded, that in fact the level of detail was sufficient. That what the Committee was designed to do was to deal with an issue and bring the consensus to the full Board of Trustees and if there was further discussion or clarification necessary, it would occur at the Board meeting. Mr. Schmidt added that at the regular Board meeting the presiding officer (the President) does not take the minutes, and with a Committee meeting there is nothing that says that it has to be the presiding officer (the Chair), that someone else can. It was stated that then the person who is taking the minutes may not be contributing fully to the discourse. Mr. Crandus suggested that it be put to a Committee to determine. Ms. Gormley reported that not all of the Board members had yet set up interviews with the members of the City Council members; Mrs. Van De Carr stated that all of the talking points had not been compiled, but as soon as they were ready the meetings could be arranged. Mrs. Van De Carr and Mr. Crandus agreed to attempt to finish the list in order to get them to the Board members. Ms. Gormley reminded the Committees that the Board wanted to put together a brief summary of the accomplishments of the goals of the Strategic Plan. Mrs. Van De Carr added that she would be compiling a summary of where the Committees were in completing the 05/06 goals so discussion could ensue regarding the new goals, as well as the ones that need to be continued into the next cycle. Mrs. Van De Carr asked Ms. Gormley which Committee should decide about the recording of Committee minutes. Ms. Gormley replied that all the Committees should discuss it, but mainly the two Thursday night Committees would be the ones most impacted by any change. Mr. Van Metre stated that the issue was already discussed in all of the Committees. Ms. Hynous stated that no votes were taken. Mr. Benka suggested that all of the Committees address the issue in June. Mr. Schmidt stated that with a new Board cycle beginning, that it may be prudent to wait until they decide what they want to do. It was decided to revisit the issue at the next Committee meetings. ADJOURNMENT Mr. Benka MOVED to adjourn the Board meeting. Ms. Hynous SECONDED the motion. Voice vote. MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. The meeting adjourned at 9:33 p.m. |
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