Loading...
LAB Minutes 04/15/2015 Naples, Florida, April 15, 2015 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 (absent) Carla Grieve — District 2 Connie Bettinger-Hennink— District 3 Vacant — District 5 ALSO PRESENT: Tanya Williams, Interim Library Director Karen Tibbetts, Administrative Assistant Carey Hunt, Acquisitions Specialist Vacant, Literacy Program Specialist Joanne Fowler, Friends of the Library Board Member Kathy Naas, Library Patron APPROVAL OF MINUTES Mrs. Lewis asked for additions or corrections to the minutes of March18, 2015. One minor correction was noted. Ms. Bettinger-Hennink moved to approve the minutes with this correction. Mrs. Grieve and seconded and the motion was carried unanimously. LITERACY PROGRAM REPORT • Ms. Williams reported that the literacy program is sustaining the conversation classes. • This vacant position will be restructured to include a larger technology component. • The Literacy Program Specialist would also be expected to go into the community more often, make use of the Library computer labs, and perhaps teach classes on-site throughout the community, without replicating services already being offered by other sources. • The Library would like to hire another Librarian to work with literacy. • Ms. Williams added that eRate funds are used to support technology costs. eRate funds are derived from the universal surcharges on phone bills. REPORT OF OFFICERS — None COMMUNICATIONS a —Written — None • Mrs. Grieve reported that the articles she contributes to the Collier Citizen do not always get published on the first Saturday of the month as was anticipated. • She is hoping that perhaps a "Voice from the Library Director" section can be created in the local paper for more consistent public exposure to the Library. b— Personal — None PUBLIC COMMENTS • Mrs. Naas attended this meeting to discuss her concerns pertaining to Library hours of operation, self-check kiosks, programs, fines/fees, and acquisitions. • Mrs. Naas stated that she has been a Collier County resident since 1993. • She shared a Library bookmark that listed the wrong hours of operation for some locations. It was determined that the bookmark was an old version. • She inquired about expanding Library hours to include later evening hours and/or Sundays. • She added that she has seen lines of 50-60 people waiting for the HQ Library to open on Sunday. 1 • Ms. Williams reported that the Library surveyed the public regarding expanding evening hours of operation or adding Friday hours to three locations. The public overwhelming requested Friday hours. • Mrs. Naas commented that currently there are only four locations opened on Saturdays. As an option, she stated that some libraries in Tallahassee are closed on Sundays & Mondays to allow for Saturday hours of operation. She feels that the Library hours of operation do not reflect what the community needs. Her husband sometimes works six days a week and is limited to when he can get to the library. • Mrs. Lewis explained that the statistics show that Collier County residents do not use the Library as often on Saturdays as they during weekdays. Many residents are involved in extra- curricular activities, such as sports, and other activities with their families on Saturdays. • Ms. Williams added that the Library lost 30% of its workforce and the County put a hiring freeze during the recession and hours were also cut back. • Ms. Williams added that the Library has had budget restrictions and staff shortages; however, Friday hours of operation were recently added to three branches. • Mrs. Naas asked if the self-check kiosks were really necessary. She felt that the money could have been used to expand hours since staff is already available to assist patrons with checkout. • Ms. Williams explained that some funds are limited to what they can be used for. For example money generated by eRate funds can only be used for technology. • Mrs. Naas questioned public use of Library computers. She has seen patrons watching television shows. • Ms. Williams explained that this is not in violation of the Library's public computer usage policy. • Mrs. Naas commented that many of the programs are reserved by the Friends of the Library members and that the general public is limited as to what programs are available at the time general registration opens. • Mrs. Naas questioned the number of items being ordered for best sellers, as she has been on long holds for some of her materials requests. • She added that a recently released DVD had 94 holds with only one copy available in the system. • Ms. Hunt explained that sometimes there are back orders on current popular items. • Mrs. Naas suggested limiting the number of holds for an item to 40, and any additional requests would need to be made at a later time. She felt that the reserve policy is too lenient and that items should be picked up within 3 days, not within one week. She also felt that DVDs should be borrowed for 3 days and not one week. • Mrs. Naas suggested charging the public for library cards. Ms. Williams stated that Florida Statutes do not allow for the Library to charge for services or checking out materials. • Mrs. Naas also questioned the fines/fees policy that allows for patrons to continue borrowing materials even if they owe money to the Library. She felt that they should not be allowed to check out additional materials until after their debt is paid. • Ms. Williams stated that the new Library Director starts on Wednesday and will be creating a community-based strategic plan for the Library, which will include more focus groups in the community. • Statistics will be generated and reviewed to determine the best direction for the Library to move towards. UNFINISHED BUSINESS 1) Employee of the Month —April • Ms. Bettinger-Hennink nominated Sharon Keshock from the Tech Services for the April employee of the month. Mrs. Lewis seconded the nomination and the motion passed unanimously. 2) LAB District 5 Representation — Follow-up 2 • Only one person submitted an application for the vacant Library Advisory Board position for District 5. • Marjorie Hall Gagnon was a former LAB board member. • Mrs. Grieve moved to appoint Marjorie Gagnon to the vacant District 5 position. Ms. Bettinger-Hennink seconded the nomination and the motion passed unanimously. • Ms. Williams will complete the necessary paperwork for the BCC to approve this recommendation. 3) Library Binders (from the BCC Workshop) • Ms. Tibbetts created and distributed binders to each library location at the last branch managers' meeting. They are available for the public to view upon request. 4) Non-Resident Cards • This item was discussed at the March 18, 2015 LAB meeting. • Ms. Williams stated that Florida statutes do not consider timeshares as real property and therefore, timeshare residents would not be considered permanent residents or real property owners to be eligible for a free library card. 5) Meeting Room Rentals • This item was discussed at the March 18, 2015 LAB meeting. • There was concern regarding liability with alcohol consumption at Library programs. • Ms. Williams will discuss this concern with the new Library Director, Valerie Kocin. • The Library Advisory Board agreed that a revised policy should be created and modeled in the same fashion as the one used by the Parks & Recreation Division. NEW BUSINESS 1) Library Acquisitions & Donations (Special Guest: Carey Hunt) • Ms. Hunt commented that the Library received a few concerns from patrons regarding its donation policy. • She distributed a draft of a revised Library donation policy for the LAB's review. • Appointments may be required for large donations. • Ms. Bettinger-Hennink asked for a better definition of a "large" number of items to be donated. • Ms. Hunt will revise the donation policy verbiage to include a more definitive number. • She presented a PowerPoint program on "Donation Handling at Collier County Public Library". • She explained the Collection Development Policy as it pertains to adding to the collection and deselecting (weeding) from the collection. • She reported that the Tech Services staff recently attended a SWFLN seminar on weeding, donations and collection development. • Each library location receives donated materials daily, and it is estimated to take the three Technical Services at least one hour each day to sort through the donations received. • Ms. Hunt reported that 100's of titles and many boxes of DVDs and other items are donated daily to each library location. • Tech Services staff visit each location to assist with weeding. • Unfortunately, much of the donated items are not usable by the Library. Many items are in poor condition, out-dated (VHS tapes), etc. • Some items are selected to become a part of the collection, and others are selected to be sold in the book sales. • DVDs that have been opened need to be cleaned by the Tech Services Dept. There is a volunteer that comes one day/week to clean the Library collection DVDs and the donated ones that are to be added to the collection. It takes 10-15 minutes to clean each DVD. • Mrs. Naas asked if the DVDs are previewed to make certain that the movie on the disk is labeled correctly. She added that she has heard of improper movies being recorded over the original movie. 3 • Ms. Williams and Ms. Hunt replied that Library does try to scrutinize all donations. Any damaged DVDs should be directed to Tech Services for review. • Book sale materials include: dated cookbooks (spiral bound); dated history or political topics; coffee table books; and popular titles that are no longer current. • The Library partnered with Goodwill to accept items that were not sold at the book sale. • Ms. Hunt added that she is looking into Better World Books as there may be an opportunity for them to sell donation items from the Library of which the Library would receive a portion of the sales of those items. • Ms. Bettinger-Hennink commented that many assisted living centers and shelters accept donated materials as well. • Unusable items include those that are: in bad condition; left in garages, dusty, moldy, smelly, written in or highlighted, etc. • Items to add include: hot titles (books & DVDs, preferably 5 years old or newer); items about Florida; and music CDs, etc. • Some materials, such as self-published or older series items need to be evaluated when considering to be added or not. For example, the Stargate TV series (10 seasons) would take staff over 4 hours to process into the system. • The return on investment, turnover rate, staff time, number of checkouts, space, and subject matter regarding what circulates needs to be determined as well. • Ms. Hunt shared some samples of some recent donated materials. • She added that quarterly reports will be generated to determine what materials each branch circulates the most. For example, the Immokalee branch does not circulate audiobooks much at all. • Bookmarks and "last chance" displays may be created to educate the public on the weeding process. • Ms. Hunt requested feedback from LAB members regarding the draft donation policy. 2) LEAP • Ms. Williams distributed a Gantt chart showing the timeline for LEAP students. • She provided Bobbi Skaggs with two budgets for the Friends of the Library to consider for continuing the LEAP program and possibly year-round. • She added that in years' past, some former Library Page employees advanced their employment with the Library and some became Librarians. • Ms. Bettinger-Hennink added that Spencer Sneed began as a LEAP student at GG and has applied for a full time position at HQ. GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS • Ms. Bettinger-Hennink wanted to express kudos to those that coordinated the Volunteer Appreciation events. • She added that the volunteers appreciated seeing in attendance at the events: Steve Carnell, Public Services Department Head; Amanda Townsend, Director of Operations and Veteran Services Division; and Tanya Williams, Interim Library Director. • Ms. Bettinger-Hennink reminded everyone that she will be unable to attend the May 20th LAB meeting due to a conflict in her schedule. She will be attending the State Library Advisory Board meeting. DIRECTOR'S REPORT 1) Current Statistics • Ms. Williams shared circulation statistical information for March. • VB, EV and the jail have shown an increase in circulation. EN experienced a very small decline. • Fridays are showing a slight increase and will continue to be monitored. • The Library cancelled a part of the Ebsco subscription, saving $65K/year. 4 • One Click Digital provides unique audiobook titles unavailable elsewhere. • Ms. Hunt has been working on merging OverDrive and One Click Digital into the Library catalog. • The recent audiobook/ebook survey did not get a great response. It was determined that there were some questions that were not asked that answers are needed in order to make better decisions. • The door count information that Catherine Cowser was to provide was delayed due to issues with the IT migration of files. 2) FY16 Budget— Staffing & Saturday Hours • Ms. Williams reported that she is working with Steve Carnell on the possibility of adding new positions and staff for Saturday hours. • The FY16 budget will include a 3% increase in operating expenses. • The County is being conservative with a tax neutral budget. Mileage rates will stay the same as last year. • The preliminary budget is due April 22. The County Manager will review budgets during the second week of May. • There will be a 1.5% cost of living adjustment for all staff members. • The County-wide position description questionnaire found that 20% of the County titles were below the marketable value; however, Ms. Williams did not know if any Library titles were affected. • The County IT migration will add $700K/year to the Library operating budget. • The IT transition was delayed as files needed to manually be transferred. The vendor could not provide this service in a timely manner. • The HQ Construction Grant will be brought to the BCC at their 4/28 meeting. REPORT OF THE FRIENDS • Friends of the Library Board Member, Mrs. Joanne Fowler, attended the meeting. • She reported that the FOL is winding down from another successful year. • Since the Nick Linn lecture series moved to the Ritz Carlton, 550-600 people have attended each of the four lectures. • She commented that many people have renewed for next year's series without even knowing who the authors will be. • The four non-fiction author series breakfasts have grown from 35 in attendance to 70-100 registrations. • The two Bagels & Books Club events accommodate 170 people and are already sold out. Sue Monk Kidd is scheduled to speak on May 12. • The Friends of the Library are hoping to provide more money to the Library. • The LEAP program has been very well received by the public and will continue. • The FOL membership has remained stable. 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 11:45 a.m. The next Library Advisory Board regular and annual meetings are scheduled for May 20, 2015 at Headquarters. Approved by: Doris J. Lewis, Chair, Library Advisory Board 5