ELISHA D. SMITH PUBLIC LIBRARY TRUSTEES
AGENDA
4:00 p.m. Thursday, March 18, 2010
Gegan Room
(If Board Members cannot attend, please notify the Library Office)
CALL TO ORDER:
PUBLIC COMMENT:
AUTHORIZATION OF BILLS:
- List of bills for March 2010.
CONSENT BUSINESS (Motion to approve all unless separate consideration requested):
2. Minutes. Minutes of Board meeting December 17, 2009.
3. Minutes. Minutes of Board meeting February 18, 2010.
INFORMATION ITEMS/DIRECTOR’S REPORT:
4. Statistics.
5. Read Off Your Fines.
6. Winter Reading Program.
7. Spring Book Sale.
8. Winnefox Services.
DISCUSSION/ACTION ITEMS:
- Annual Report.
- Library System Effectiveness.
- Endowment CD Investments.
- Food for Fines – National Library Week.
- Trustee Essentials #15.
ANNOUNCEMENTS
14. ADJOURN
UPCOMING MEETINGS & ACTIVITIES
(Including requests for business items for future meetings)
· Library Board Meeting – April 15 at 4:00 pm
· Fox Cities Book Festival – April 12-18
· Wisconsin Association of Public Libraries Annual Meeting – April 28-30
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 – March 2010
1. Bills. REQUESTED ACTION: Approval of bills as presented for February 2010.
CONSENSUS ACTION ITEMS:
2. Minutes. Minutes of Board meeting December 17, 2009.
3. Minutes. Minutes of Board meeting February 18, 2010.
INFORMATION ITEMS:
4. Statistics. February circulation was basically unchanged from 2009 with a minute .2% decrease, or a difference of 101 circulations overall. Our circulation of adult materials increased 3.4% while our children’s materials decreased 4.5%.
5. Read Off Your Fines. The Children’s Department repeated their successful Read Off Your Fines program where children were allowed to spend time reading in exchange for paying off their fines. Six children took advantage of the opportunity and read off $93.60 in fines. Every fifteen minutes of solid reading was worth $3.00 in fines. We plan to offer this again in February of 2011.
6. Winter Reading Program. Chill Out and Read was the theme for this year’s Winter Reading Program in the Children’s Department. 288 children participated in the program this year, which is an increase from last year. The children receive small prizes and books for participating.
7. Spring Book Sale. The Friends Book Sale in February took in $2211.25. This is a very respectable number. The funds raised were designated for adult and teen programming. A big thank you to everyone who helped, including staff members Kathy Hannah, Dave Powell, and Marina Nelessen.
8. Winnefox Services. Winnefox provides us with information on the services that all libraries in the system receive and also a detailed sheet on what our library in particular received in 2009. As you can see we take advantage of many of the system’s services including computer support, continuing education, interlibrary loan, printing and graphic design, and refinishing of our DVDs and CDs.
DISCUSSION/ACTION ITEMS:
9. Annual Report. I have completed the state annual report. It shows that we had a healthy increase in circulation and usage in 2009. We saw increases in our door count, usage of public Internet stations, and a large increase in use of our online databases. There were some decreases in program attendance and children’s circulation. Nicely, our circulation that counts towards county funding increased as well. REQUESTED ACTION: Approve 2009 Annual Report.
10. Library System Effectiveness. I recommend that this year we say that the library system has been effective in supporting our library. I see many positive changes in our system and their approach toward innovation and change. Additionally, they are starting another strategic planning process of which I am a part. Though the issue with the joint system and OPL directorship has not been remedied, it was again discussed at a system board level in 2009. REQUESTED ACTION: State that the Winnefox Library System did provide effective leadership to our library.
11. Endowment CD Investments. At the request of board members, I looked at Community First Credit Union’s rates on CDs. From their website, it looks as though their rates are superior to First National Bank. The rates we are receiving from First National for a 12 month CD is 1.60% APR. Community First is higher at 1.90%. When our next CD comes due, we could work with Community First on it and future CDs unless unexpected issues arise. My only concern is that we work with one primary bank rather than many different ones. In my previous library, we worked with many different banks and it was overwhelming to keep track of the CD investments as we chased the best rates. After a certain point, the board limited their investments to two banks because of the complexities involved.
12. Food for Fines – National Library Week. While National Library Week is about celebrating libraries, I feel strongly that it is also about celebrating our community, which is what makes us special. As part of our National Library Week events, the planning committee for the celebration came up with the idea of having a spring Food for Fines. The fall program is very successful and well-loved and we have requests throughout the year for us to have it more often. I think it would be seen as a very positive statement in this economy if we offered it more than once a year. REQUESTED ACTION: Approve spring Food for Fines program to run during National Library Week.
13. Trustee Essentials #15. Sue Werley will lead us through Trustee Essential #15 on public records law.
