ELISHA D. SMITH PUBLIC LIBRARY TRUSTEES
AGENDA
4:00 p.m. Thursday, September 17, 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 September 2009.
CONSENT BUSINESS (Motion to approve all unless separate consideration requested):
2. Minutes. Minutes of Board meeting August 20, 2009.
INFORMATION ITEMS/DIRECTOR’S REPORT:
3. Statistics.
4. Endowment Quarterly Report.
5. 2010 Library Budget.
6. WLA Conference.
7. Used Book Sale.
8. Summer Reading Programs.
9. Fall Presentations.
10. Wisconsin Center for the Book.
11. Director’s Performance Review.
DISCUSSION/ACTION ITEMS:
- Trustee Essentials #11.
ANNOUNCEMENTS
13. ADJOURN
UPCOMING MEETINGS & ACTIVITIES
(Including requests for business items for future meetings)
· Library Board Meeting – October 15 at 4:00 pm
· WLA Annual Conference in Appleton – Oct 20-23
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 – September 2009
1. Bills. REQUESTED ACTION: Approval of bills as presented for September 2009.
CONSENSUS ACTION ITEMS:
2. Minutes. Minutes of Board meeting August 20, 2009. REQUESTED ACTION: Approval.
INFORMATION ITEMS:
3. Statistics. I am running out of adjectives for our circulation increases. In August we saw nearly a 20% increase in circulation overall! Adult circulation increased by 23% and children’s increased by 16%. Once again the increases were for books and other materials types like DVDs, music CDs and Books on CD. Our library is definitely hopping and so are our staff! Kudos to everyone for not only surviving such a busy summer month but excelling at customer service despite being so rushed.
4. Endowment Quarterly Report. Our Endowment shrank considerably in the previous year thanks to the economy, but we saw some recovery in the Community Foundation this last quarter. We are in the process of merging some of our First National CDs, so they are over $10,000. We get better rates with that size of CD than with two smaller ones. We can always split them or remove funds from them when they come due, so this doesn’t impact their flexibility.
5. 2010 Library Budget. The 2010 budget process has been delayed a bit due to a new budgetary software system at the city. I had been waiting for figures from the HR department using the new software, but was just told to go ahead without them. Our bottom line is fixed because we are being held to MOE. The Finance Committee can select a day/time to meet and finalize the lines of the budget.
6. WLA Conference. The Wisconsin Library Association Annual Conference is in Appleton this year. The conference will run October 20-23. I encourage you all to attend since it is so nearby this year. The conference has specific programs for trustees and you are welcome to attend any programs that interest you. You can register for a single day or for the entire conference. The library will pay your registration fee and meal costs. See you there!
7. Used Book Sale. The Friends of the Library will hold their semi-annual Book Sale on September 25-28. We will have a preview sale that first evening where we charge at the door to enter. The general sale starts on Saturday and runs through Monday. We complete the sale with a bag sale at $3 for a bag of books. Any books left over are given to a local charity.
8. Summer Reading Programs. In your packets you will find the reports from Kathy Beson, Head of Children’s Services, and Vanessa Taylir, Teen Librarian (who ran both the teen and adult summer reading programs.) Our in-house numbers for the children we up slightly, though the school/daycare program fell by almost half. For the teen and adult programs, we saw significant decline in registrations, which I believe was caused by having information out later because of a new staff member being hired right when the information was traditionally released. Despite the lower participation numbers in most cases, our book circulation was up across the board. As we do each year, we will be looking at the programs and tweaking them to make them more appealing and effective.
9. Fall Presentations. I will be speaking several places this fall. On September 18th, I am speaking at the Appleton Public Library’s staff meeting about Library 2.0. At WLA, I will be speaking three times. One is a solo presentation on Twitter in Libraries. The other two are panel presentations: one on recommended websites and the other on hiring decisions. Finally, in November I will be doing an online webinar for South Western Library System on Library 2.0 which was rescheduled due to technical problems.
10. Wisconsin Center for the Book. I have been invited to join the Wisconsin Center for the Book board. The Center celebrates books, reading and writing and the Wisconsin literary tradition. I will be the only librarian on the board amongst authors, poets and educators. I am very happy to be a part of celebrating books in this way.
11. Director’s Performance Review. Materials for my review are scheduled to be handed out next month. I want to mention it now so that any changes to the format could be considered ahead of time.
DISCUSSION/ACTION ITEMS:
12. Trustee Essentials #11. Jill Enos will be doing a presentation on Trustee Essential #11. Please make sure to have read it yourself and bring any questions you have. I will need a volunteer for Essential #12.
