November 2010 Board Meeting Minutes

Call to order at 4:01 p.m. by President Enos

Present: Derouin, Eisen, Enos, Wicihowski

Absent: Brunette, Werley, Wisneski

Absent due to resignation: Nebel

Also present: Director Saecker, K. Seefeldt (Administrative Assistant)

 

Paul Eisen commended the director and staff for their work on the library’s monthly newsletter Books & Beyond. He extended an invitation to them to share with the Board what all is involved in preparing this publication.

 

1.      Motion to authorize payment of the November bills from the 2010 budget by Eisen, seconded by Wicihowski and carried unanimously.

 

2.      Approve minutes from the Library Board meeting of October 21, 2010.

Motion to approve the minutes of the Library Board meeting of October 21, 2010, as presented by Eisen, seconded by Wicihowski and carried unanimously.

 

3.      Statistics.  Lending statistics were down 9% overall from October 2009. Some contributing factors were our decreased materials budget in 2010, pleasant fall weather which encouraged people to spend time outdoors, and a strong lending increase in 2009. A decrease of 2% could be attributed to our recent phasing out of audiocassettes and videos.   Our Re-visioning Committee is continuing with plans to make changes which we anticipate may entice patrons to check out additional materials.

4.      Resignation. Technical Services employee Kathy Stumpf recently announced her resignation, effective November 26. Due to budget constraints, Director Saecker recommended that Kathy’s hours not be replaced. WiLS (Wisconsin Library Services) has been invited to evaluate our Technical Services Department following Kathy’s departure. There is no charge for their services. They will spend a couple of days with staff and offer constructive insight into the department’s workflow.

5.      Presentations. Director Saecker recently made a presentation on Twitter and Facebook for the Eastern Shores Library System. She plans to make presentations to the Fox Valley Library Council and The Winnefox Library System on the use of iPads in libraries. She will also be speaking before the Menasha Rotary in January 2011 about our library and its services.

6.      Meeting Room Policy Changes. Administrative Assistant Kris Seefeldt recently attended a Legal Update program sponsored by the Outagamie Waupaca Library System (OWLS). Legal expert Thomas Lipinski suggested the following changes would strengthen our Meeting Room Policies:

1)      Remove “more frequent room uses may be permitted on a temporary, ad hoc basis” from Chapter 4.4.g

2)      Create text to clarify our currently unwritten policy of allowing unlimited use of meeting rooms by library staff, City, County or State government agencies 

A consensus was reached to eliminate the text in item (1) and to create text to clarify item (2). The Policies and Personnel Committee will draft text for the Board’s consideration at a future meeting. Additional meeting room policy concerns will be discussed in the future by the Policies and Personnel Committee. 

Motion to approve removal of the text “more frequent room uses may be permitted on a temporary, as hoc basis” from Chapter IV Services & Facilities, Meeting Room Use Regulations by Derouin, seconded by Wicihowski and carried unanimously.

7.      2011 Budget. We are still waiting for some decisions to be made by the City for meeting its 2011 budget. In the meantime, we have learned that the library will be held to MOE. Director Saecker stated that library budget details will need to be discussed at the board’s December meeting.   

8.      Trustee Essentials #19. This item was tabled for the December board meeting.

 

Kathy Wicihowski shared comments she received from a member of the community regarding library book sale volunteers and memorial donations made to the library. 

 

Motion to adjourn the meeting at 4:24 p.m. by Derouin, seconded by Wicihowski and carried unanimously.

 

The next regular board meeting will be held in the Gegan Room on Thursday, December 16, 2010 at 4:00 p.m.

 

Respectfully submitted,

Paul Eisen, Secretary

Kris Seefeldt, Recording Secretary