ELISHA D. SMITH PUBLIC LIBRARY TRUSTEES
AGENDA
4:00 p.m. Thursday, May 21, 2009
Gegan Room
(If Board Members cannot attend, please notify the Library Office)
CALL TO ORDER:
PUBLIC COMMENT:
AUTHORIZATION OF BILLS:
- List of bills for May 2009.
CONSENT BUSINESS (Motion to approve all unless separate consideration requested):
2. Minutes. Minutes of Board meeting April 23, 2009.
INFORMATION ITEMS/DIRECTOR’S REPORT:
3. Statistics.
4. Endowment.
5. Investment Committee.
6. Finance Committee.
7. Fox Cities Reads.
8. Diversity Committee.
9. Game Computer in the Children’s Room.
10. May Staff Meeting.
11. Trustee 101 Workshops.
12. WAPL.
13. State of America’s Libraries Report.
DISCUSSION/ACTION ITEMS:
- Trustee Essentials #8.
ANNOUNCEMENTS
15. ADJOURN
UPCOMING MEETINGS & ACTIVITIES
(Including requests for business items for future meetings)
· Library Board Meeting – June 18 at 4:00 pm
· Library Trustee 101 – June 16 or June 18
· ALA Annual in Chicago – July 10-14
· ALA Bus Trip from Appleton to Chicago – July 13
· WiLS World – July 28 & 29
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 – MAY 2009
1. Bills. REQUESTED ACTION: Approval of bills as presented for May 2009.
CONSENSUS ACTION ITEMS:
2. Minutes. Minutes of Board meeting April 23, 2009. REQUESTED ACTION: Approval.
INFORMATION ITEMS:
3. Statistics. The results for April were up slightly after our record year last year. The adult department saw an overall increase of almost 12% while the children’s department fell 12% after their record increase of 32% last April. In the adult department, music CDs led the way with over a 60% increase with periodicals at 29% and DVDs at just under 22%. Books for adults were also up by 1.9%. Overall, the library saw an increase of .1% for the month.
I would also like to point out the meeting room use with 67 uses in April alone. Kris is seeing an increase in the usage of our rooms. We also have a very active Study Room on the main level that saw 28 uses in April.
4. Endowment. We merged two smaller CDs into a larger one that now totals $11,418. It will come due in March of 2010. We are getting 2.15% APR. In your packet, you will find the 1st Quarter Endowment Report. The Community Foundation investments continue to be down due to the economy.
5. Investment Committee. The Investment Committee made up of Stanke and Fuchs will be meeting after the Board Meeting to discuss our Endowment investments.
6. Finance Committee. The Finance Committee is looking for a date to meet in late May or early June. The discussion will be about what the future needs of the library are and what parts of our Long Range Plan will need funding priority as well as budget issues in this uncertain economy.
7. Fox Cities Reads. The 2009 Fox Cities Reads ran from January through April this year, culminating with seven appearances by Wisconsin author Michael Perry on April 14th, 15th, and 16th.
The standing room only event here in Menasha was attended by more than 200 people. Those gathered in the Company E Room heard Michael speak and read from his works, including his latest book, Coop: A Year of Poultry, Pigs, and Parenting. Much like his books, Michael kept the audience riveted with stories that were alternately touching and comic, and sometimes both. Conkey’s Bookstore sold books at each event and Michael stayed as long as necessary in order to speak to everyone.
The library promoted the event a number of ways, including adding multiple copies of his books ahead of the event. These circulated more than 300 times in the months leading up to the appearances! There were also two discussions of Michael’s books as part of the Tuesday Nonfiction Book Club.
The 2009 Fox Cities Reads was incredibly well received and staff heard from many people who were impressed by both Michael and our library.
8. Diversity Committee. One of our very active staff committees is the Diversity Committee. It is made up of Kris Seefeldt, Ana Acosta, Cassie Payne and Anne Keller. At our second meeting, they have already gotten our newsletters onto Meals on Wheels deliveries, have contacted the ARC to have children ride on our truck for the Memorial Day Parade, and are working with Banta teachers to have children in special and regular ed attend a craft together after story times. The group is working on dispensing our newsletter directly to groups that serve diverse segments of our community. Kudos to this creative and active group!
9. Game Computer in the Children’s Room. One part of our Long Range Plan for this year is to get a computer with educational games in the Children’s Department. We are working to get this in place this month so that children will have access to it this summer. The games will be primarily for reading, but may include art, math and other educational content.
10. May Staff Meeting. Our staff meeting is on Tuesday, May 19th at 7:30 am. We will be doing a safety course for staff on how to safely lift boxes, push carts and move heavy items.
11. Trustee 101 Workshops. Winnefox is offering three workshops for library trustees. They will be held on the following dates and times:
June 16th - 5:30 -7:30 pm at the Montello Public Library
June 18th – 1:30 – 3:30 pm at the Green Lake Public Library
September 28th – 5:30 -7:30 pm at the Wautoma Public Library
You can contact either Kris or me to register for the workshop. The library will cover mileage for trustees to attend.
12. WAPL. Three library staff members attended WAPL this year at the Wisconsin Dells. They were Cassie Payne, Vanessa Taylir and me. Cassie presented a puppetry program and I contributed to a podcasting program. The conference was enjoyed by all and offered lots of good ideas.
13. State of America’s Libraries Report. In your packet you will find the Public Libraries section of the State of America’s Libraries Report.
Some of the big points of the report include that there are now more card-carrying library users than ever. 68% of Americans now have public library cards, up by 5% since 2006. Library visits have also increased 10% during the same time period. Satisfaction with libraries rates high even among non-users.
Another factor in the increased usage of libraries is that funding has not increased along with the demand. We are looking at a very difficult budget year for public libraries across the country. Though the report says that the state funding is being cut, our state has slightly increased the funding for library systems and that increase has just passed Joint Finance which bodes well.
DISCUSSION/ACTION ITEMS:
14. Trustee Essentials #8. Ros Stanke will be doing a presentation on Trustee Essential #8. Please make sure to have read it yourself and bring any questions you have. I will need a volunteer for Essential #9.
