ELISHA D. SMITH PUBLIC LIBRARY TRUSTEES
AGENDA
4:30 p.m. Thursday, December 18, 2008
Gegan Room
(If Board Members cannot attend, please notify the Library Office)
CALL TO ORDER:
PUBLIC COMMENT:
AUTHORIZATION OF BILLS:
1. List of bills for December 2008.
CONSENT BUSINESS (Motion to approve all unless separate consideration requested):
2. Minutes. Minutes of Board meeting November 20, 2008.
3. Minutes. Minutes of Policies & Personnel Committee December 9, 2008
INFORMATION ITEMS/DIRECTOR'S REPORT:
4. Statistics.
5. Third Quarter Endowment Report.
6. Library of the Year.
7. Teen Librarian.
8. Self Checks.
9. Policy Clarification.
10. Public Faxing.
DISCUSSION/ACTION ITEMS:
11. Art Wall.
12. 2009 Budget.
13. Retirement Gifts.
14. Director's Evaluation.
15. Library of the Year Fundraising Event.
16. Library Logo.
17. Trustee Essentials #6.
Adjourn into closed executive session pursuant to WI Statute 19.85(1)(c) for the purpose of considering promotion, compensation or performance evaluation of employees.
18. Approval of Step Promotions.
Adjourn closed session and reconvene in open session.
ANNOUNCEMENTS
19. ADJOURN
UPCOMING MEETINGS & ACTIVITIES
(Including requests for business items for future meetings)
• Library Board Meeting - January 15, 2009 at 4:30 pm.
• Holiday Closings: Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, Early Closing at 5:00 pm on New Year's Eve, New Year's Day.
Menasha aldermen may attend meetings of this body. A quorum of the Common Council, Board of Public Works, Administration Committee, or Personnel Committee may attend this meeting. No official action of any of those bodies will be taken.
ELISHA D. SMITH PUBLIC LIBRARY
DIRECTOR'S REPORT -- DECEMBER 2008
1. Bills. REQUESTED ACTION: Approval of bills as presented for December 2008.
CONSENSUS ACTION ITEMS:
2. Minutes. Minutes of Board meeting November 20, 2008. REQUESTED ACTION: Approval.
3. Minutes. Minutes of Policies & Personnel Committee December 9, 2008. REQUESTED ACTION: Approval.
INFORMATION ITEMS:
4. Statistics. November showed us another high increase in circulation with a 17.8% increase! DVDs led the way with an almost 37% increase, children's books followed with a 32.5% increase, and we saw large increases in books, periodicals for all ages, and children's DVDs too. Adult collection use increased by 14%, while children's usage increased by 22.4%. Astonishing!
5. Third Quarter Endowment Report. I have prepared the third quarter Endowment report for your information. Not much has changed. We did liquidate a CD and move it to the checking account in anticipation of paying more for the Self-Check machines. That funding was not needed, so funds will probably be moved back to a CD to earn at least some interest.
We have also renewed a $5583.19 CD until July 6, 2009 with an APR of 3.116%.
6. Library of the Year. The planning committee for the Library of the Year celebration met in December. It was decided that we would loosely model the celebration on the gala for the opening of the new library five years ago. We plan to have the Ambassadors band play in the main area of the library and have a juggler and balloon animals for the children on the afternoon of Saturday, January 31st. We will offer cake and cookies to the people who attend. Additionally, we are looking at doing a slide show of photographs of the library in its building process and in the years before and after. Some issues came up at the meeting that I felt should be addressed by the library board. They follow in the discussion/action section of the agenda.
7. Teen Librarian. We are getting a great response to our teen librarian job ad with over 30 applicants at this time. The deadline for applying is December 15th and we plan to do interviews (probably starting with phone interviews) in the beginning of January.
8. Self Checks. Our self checks are up and running! Usage is growing and we are planning ways to get more people to use the self checks, including a prize drawing for those who check out using the machines. We decided to launch the machines fairly gently to learn how to use them ourselves first. So look for more promotion in the new year. We are happy to demo the machines for any of you who would like to try them out.
9. Policy Clarification. We have new copies of Chapter VII, Page 37, Number 6 for you so that our policies reflect our changed Saturday policy in relation to time and a half pay for summer Saturdays. The new policy reads as follows:
Staff working summer Saturdays will be compensated at time and a half for their work, if they were hired before April 2008. Those hired after April 2008 will be compensated at straight time.
10. Public Faxing. You may remember that we started doing public faxing recently. This year, as of November 26th, we have taken in $756.10 in fax charges! It is certainly a popular service and one that we started offering in response to public requests.
DISCUSSION/ACTION ITEMS:
11. Art Wall. One of the pieces of our Long Range Plan was to encourage creativity and expression by community members. With our very successful Green Scene and Heard this year, we hope to be able to have space in the library specifically for displaying art. We plan at least three art shows in 2009 and will also use the space to do more informal displays of art as well, including student art. Two of our committee members from Green Scene and Heard investigated various ways to hang art and have returned with a recommendation to modify one of the walls near the Fireplace Room to a fabric covered wall that will accept nails and other sorts of hanging devices without damage. The cost for the project has come in at $1985. My recommendation is that we pay for this project out of general Endowment funds. REQUESTED ACTION: Approve art wall in the library.
12. 2009 Budget. The Finance Committee met on December 11th to discuss changes to the 2009 budget to reflect the amount our budget was reduced. REQUESTED ACTION: Approve new budget line amounts.
13. Retirement Gifts. As mentioned at the November meeting, we have two long-term staff members retiring in early 2009. The Board has traditionally given gifts to retiring staff members of about $100. REQUESTED ACTION: Approve amount for retirement gifts for De Dalum and Barb LaFontaine.
14. Director's Evaluation. The Personnel Committee met on Tuesday, December 9th to discuss the tool for my evaluation. Trustees will be given the tool at the December Board Meeting and are asked to return it to Keith Fuchs no later than January 8th.
15. Library of the Year Fundraising Event. It was mentioned at the Library of the Year planning committee meeting that it would be a good idea to have a fundraising event later in the year. I was unclear if that was the desire of the board or not. If we do plan to have a fundraising event, we will also need clarity about what our goals are for the funds we collect.
16. Library Logo. This item was also mentioned at the Library of the Year meeting. I felt that it was not the job of the Library of the Year committee to redesign our logo or to revert back to a previous one. I would like direction from the board on this.
17. Trustee Essentials #6. Keith Fuchs has agreed to lead the discussion of Trustee Essential #6. For January, we can return and cover the skipped Trustee Essential #5. I will be looking for a volunteer to lead the discussion.
18. Approval of Step Promotions. At the December meeting, the Board approves for step promotions staff due to move up. These are increases based on satisfactory job performance. All staff in the library have had their annual evaluations, and I recommend that all staff eligible receive their steps. REQUESTED ACTION: In closed session, approve salary step increases for specified staff members.
