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LAB Minutes 08/27/2014 Library Advisory Board Minutes August 27 , 2014 Naples, Florida, August 27, 2014 LET IT BE KNOWN that the LIBRARY ADVISORY BOARD met on this date in regular session at 10:00 a.m. in the Headquarters Regional Library with the following members present: CHAIR: Doris J. Lewis — District 4 VICE-CHAIR: Loretta Murray— District 1 Carla Grieve — District 2 Connie Bettinger-Hennink— District 3 �S Lillian Cuevas — District 5 OCT 9 ALSO PRESENT: Marilyn Matthes, Library Director eY Karen Tibbetts, Administrative Assistant Roberta Reiss, Literacy Program (Absent) Ellen Taylor, Naples resident, former library employee APPROVAL OF MINUTES Mrs. Lewis asked for additions or corrections to the minutes of June 25, 2014. No corrections were noted. Mrs. Grieve moved to approve the minutes, Ms. Bettinger-Hennink seconded and the motion was carried unanimously. LITERACY PROGRAM REPORT • Mrs. Reiss was unable to attend the meeting. REPORT OF OFFICERS - None COMMUNICATIONS a -Written - None b - Personal - None UNFINISHED BUSINESS 1) Employee of the Month - August • Mrs. Grieve nominated Joan Guthier from the Golden Gate Library for the August employee of the month. Ms. Bettinger-Hennink seconded the nomination and the motion passed unanimously. 2) LEAP Update • Mrs. Matthes reported that the LEAP program has been well received by staff and patrons. • The Board of County Commissioners will review the LEAP program at their September 9th meeting to approve the completion of this initial pilot program in order to be able to replace the students that have left to attend college. • The Friends of the Library wrote a letter expressing their willingness to continue to support this program. • Mrs. Matthes added that once the pilot program is completed, parameters will need to be established to make this a permanent program to run during the school year. 3) Staffing Update • Mrs. Matthes reported that interviews have been scheduled for the Senior Supervisor (Acquisitions Specialist) position. • Several current Library employees have applied. • The person hired will need to be involved with cataloging and tech issues as well as supervising tech services staff. This person may also need to manage parts of the automation system. 1 • Ms. Bettinger-Hennink asked if the RFID system would affect this position. Mrs. Matthes replied that tech services staff will be affixing computer chips into library materials for the RFID system. • The Automation Specialist position will most likely be reclassified to a Branch Manager's position for Headquarters, as Tanya Williams continues to manage the Headquarters Library as well as her duties as Assistant Library Director. • The Library's transition to the County IT Department for technology needs has been slow. They have recommended for some equipment to be replaced, however, the estimated cost is approximately $300,000-$400,000. • Marilyn Matthes requested a timeline to better stage the transition. She will also request from the County Manager additional funds that may be in reserve. • The Library continues to have some employees on FMLA, and it has been difficult to keep the Library fully staffed. Many job bank employees take permanent positions when they become available. • Mrs. Matthes has been processing book orders based on the electronic carts that contain Library staff selections. • Ellen Taylor asked about the possibility of volunteers taking on tasks beyond shelving books. a. Mrs. Matthes reported that it is against County policy to have volunteers to be used in substitution for a paid position. She added that several employees started as volunteers before being hired for paid positions in the Library system. • Interviews are being scheduled for the two Reference Librarian positions open, one at Naples Regional and one at South Regional. • Applicants are being reviewed for the two part-time Library Assistant positions, one at Marco Island and one at East Naples. • Interviews are also being set up for the Program Specialist position at Immokalee Library. • Joanne Gardner was hired as the full-time Library Assistant at Immokalee. • Marilyn McPheron, Reference Librarian at HQ, is back from maternity leave. 4) Friends Remodeling Update • Mrs. Matthes reported that the FOL have contracted with the BSSW firm regarding changes to the Headquarters building. • FOL board members will review the options and come up with a plan in order to find donors to sponsor the remodeling. • Mrs. Matthes plans to set up a construction grant prior to the beginning of February to see if the Library can get state aid to help fund the remodeling as well. Friends would provide all matching money, since Library has no local construction funds available. NEW BUSINESS 1) Hours Survey a. Additional Patron Requests • Mrs. Matthes reported that Karen Tibbetts has been tallying up the printed surveys that were distributed to the public by the Library. • Mrs. Matthes will email the results to LAB members and make an announcement once the tallies are completed on September 2nd • Mrs. Matthes added that her main concern is to provide the services requested by the patrons whose home library is one of the three having their hours of operation expanded. All surveys will be considered when making the final decision. • The first BCC budget hearing is scheduled for September 4th at 5:05 p.m. • Mrs. Matthes is working on the paperwork for the three additional Library staff being hired to support the expanded library hours. It is hoped to have them recruited and trained prior to the hours being changed. • Ms. Bettinger-Hennink asked about the newly elected Commissioner and her views on the Library. 2 • Mrs. Lewis will reach out to connect with Penny Taylor, the newly elected District 4 Board of County Commissioner. 2) September 9 BCC Agenda / Library Items • Mrs. Matthes reported that the Library currently has five items scheduled on the BCC agenda for their September 9th meeting. o State Aid to Libraries o Fines & Fees Revision/Waiving Fines/Fees o Uncollectible Fines/Fees o LEAP Program Extension o RFID Contract with Bibliotecha • Mrs. Matthes added that the RFID system would provide staff with more time to help the public. • The first step of the RFID process is to install computer chips into library materials. • The RFID system will be implemented over a 3-4 year period. One regional library will be included in each of the groups being processed. GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS • Ms. Bettinger-Hennink reported that members of the Golden Gate Civic Association have requested for 100 copies of any library materials that they could put in their welcome packets. o This group meets the 2nd Monday of each month. o Mrs. Grieve suggested for her to also contact the FOL for more information. • Ms. Bettinger-Hennink shared a copy of a Tampa Bay newspaper promoting the "Reading with the Rays"program which encouraged children to read in order to get free tickets to baseball games. This program was sponsored by the Suncoast Credit Union. • She stated that the Adult Summer Reading Program Finale Party was better than last year's, was well attended, and the prizes were very nice. However, she was unable to get the statistics regarding this year's program. o Mrs. Grieve also attended the party and added that the speaker was very engaging by impersonating famous historical women of science, beginning with Madame Curie. o Mrs. Grieve added that there was a letter to the editor in the Naples Daily News regarding the Summer Reading Program as well. • Mrs. Grieve shared copies of the Circumnavigator magazine "The Log", which contains articles and pictures of people who travel the world. The magazine does not include advertisements, and a member asked if this publication could be donated to the Library in order to be available to the public. • Mrs. Grieve reminded everyone that September is library card month and many local business offer wonderful discounts. A press release and article in the Collier Citizen newspaper will announce this event. o Mrs. Matthes added that the Marketing Group has produced a document to promote this as well. DIRECTOR'S REPORT — Marilyn Matthes 1) Current Statistics • Mrs. Matthes distributed collection and usage statistics, comparison budget for materials information, and a summary of book purchases. • Mrs. Matthes will review the information, as it appears that some data may be incorrect. • Patrons have not shown as great an interest in Freegal as anticipated. It is being reviewed to determine if the subscription will be renewed. • The summary at the bottom reflects the less than 1% of uncollectible debt that will be shown to the BCC at the Sept. 9th meeting. Some of this debt goes back to 2006. • Debt can be removed for three years prior, as library cards are only valid for three years. The State Library implemented this in order to not inflate the number of active patrons. There are approximately between 180,000-190,000 patrons in the CCPL system. 3 • Mrs. Grieve commented that the reductions in the budget for book purchases and the current weeding process at the Library drives down the size of the collection. • Mrs. Matthes agreed, however, most of the items being weeded are no longer circulated or are out of date, etc. • She added that book shelves that are no more than 2/3 full are more conducive for patrons to look for and check out books. Bookshelves that are overcrowded impede browsing. • She and some other library staff will be attending a Public Library Association (PLA) webinar later today entitled "Weed `em and Weep". • Mrs. Matthes added that the Library is expecting to receive $200,000 from the estate of a Library patron who passed away. 2) Transition Update • Mrs. Matthes reported that the County will need to advertise the Library Director's position nationally when she retires on February 3rd • Tanya Williams has been processing most of the budget prep information as well as the state aid application and AUIR (Annual Update Inventory Report) that provides information regarding Library facilities and collection inventories. • Mrs. Matthes would like to keep the 1.87 items per capita as the standard for library collections since studies are currently being done to evaluate this information. o The Florida Library Association (FLA) is doing a study to revise Florida recommended public library standards which include collection sizes and items per capita. o The County is revising the impact fee study which determines how much it costs for the Library to purchase books and what libraries are currently doing with electronic books. REPORT OF THE FRIENDS • Mrs. Grieve shared a copy of the Friends of the Library newsletter. • The next Bagels & Books Club is scheduled for November. • Ms. Bettinger-Hennink asked if an FOL representative will come to future LAB meetings. • Jon Zoler is slated to become the next FOL President. ADJOURNMENT There being no further business to come before the Library Advisory Board, Mrs. Grieve moved to adjourn, Ms. Bettinger-Hennink seconded and the motion was carried unanimously. The meeting was adjourned at 11:20 a.m. The next LAB meeting will be held on September 24, 2014 at the Headquarters Regional Library. Mrs. Matthes added that Steve Carnell plans to attend this meeting. Approved by: Doris J. Lewis Chair, Library Advisory Board 4