St. Louis County Library District
Meeting of the Board
Thornhill Branch
Monday, April 16, 2007
3:30 p.m.

The monthly meeting of the Board of the St. Louis County Library District was held at the Thornhill Branch, 12863 Willowyck Dr., St. Louis, MO 63146 on Monday, April 16, 2007, at 3:30 p.m. The agenda had been posted in all branches of the Library District at least 24 hours before the meeting.

Attendance

Library Board Members

Richard J. Bagy, Jr., President
Bettie Gershman, Vice President
Kenneth Stricker, Treasurer
Jean Weinstock, Secretary
Chingling Tai, Member

Others Attending

Charles Pace, Director; Gary Holdefer, Associate Director and Comptroller; George Durnell, Assistant Director; Barbara Brain, Assistant Director; Darold Crotzer, Crotzer, Ford & Ormsby Counsel; Kristen Sorth, Manager, Human Resources; Jim Bogart, Development Manager; Jake Fejedelem, Manager, ITS; Mary Jo Tuchschmidt, Manager, North County Regional branches; Kalyani Veeraraghavan, Mgr., Thornhill Branch; Marie Conlin, Planning; Mary Mosqueda, Wachovia Insurance Services; Melissa Tow, Wachovia Insurance Services; Tom Curran, St. Louis County; Mike Jones, St. Louis County; Dana Tennill, Tennill & Associates, Inc.; and Sandra Williams, Executive Assistant.

The Minutes dated, Monday, March 19, 2007, were approved by general consent.

Treasurer's Report

The Treasurer's Report dated March 31^st was reviewed by the Board. The report was accepted by general consent, subject to audit. Mr. Holdefer reported that the Pension contribution has been made, and the Teen Grant was received.

Director's Report

Customer Service Issues - Mr. Pace reported that Lynn Grimshaw and Heather Pierson both received accolades from members of the public for providing assistance in the Reference area. A patron was also grateful to a staff member at Grand Glaize Branch who was very helpful when her children were accidentally locked in the car.

Policy Issues - Mr. Pace reported that the meeting room and circulation committees are continuing their work. The Pharos system is currently scheduled to be installed the week of May 7-11. The computer use committee has worked out a number of other procedural issues regarding the implementation of this time management software.

Branch Visits - Dr. Tim Wadham, professor of children’s literature at the University of Arizona, visited on April 6. He conducted a training session for our youth services staff and visited five branch libraries. He provided helpful tips and ways to improve our children’s services.

Facilities - The alarm system in the Business Office area has been replaced.

Staff - Steve Hibler has been hired as Coordinator of Building Maintenance; Sharon Elliott has been hired as supervisor of Thornhill Branch. Jennifer Jung has transferred to supervisor of Grand Glaize from Thornhill and Cheri Remington is now supervisor of Bridgeton Trails Branch.

Upcoming Author Events - On April 20, former U.S. Senator and Presidential candidate Bill Bradley will be visiting the Library to discuss his latest book. On April 25 award winning author Nathaniel Philbrick is coming and on May 4, Walter Isaacson will visit. Celebrity chef Paula Deen will be at our Library Thursday, April 26.

Jim Bogart is to be commended for bringing the authors.

Old Business

None

New Business

Capital Improvements (LC and TH) - The Board approved the low bidders of Air Masters Corporation for $308,620 for the Lewis & Clark Branch and Corrigan Company for $424,300 at Thornhill Branch to replace the HVAC systems. (Weinstock/Gershman).

Building Operations (Grounds) - The Board approved EMH Services, Tennant Services and Total Landscape for lawn mowing throughout the Library District (Stricker/Gershman).

Professional Service (Planning Consultant - The Board approved Robert H. Rohlf Associates to prepare the Strategic Plan at a cost of $80,515 (Stricker/Weinstock).

Proposed Salary Increases - The Board approved Wachovia’s recommendations for merit increases averaging 4% with a range of 0-7%. The total cost is $471,269 and is within the budgeted amount for 2007 (Weinstock/Gershman).

Technology - The Board approved using the Western States Contracting Alliance for purchasing computers. The alliance allows public entities to use existing contracts that were bid by member states (Stricker/Weinstock).

Closed Session - Mr. Stricker moved that the open meeting adjourn and the Board reconvene in closed session pursuant to Section 610.021 subsection (1), (2), (3), (9), (11), (12), (13) and (14) to discuss matters relating to legal actions, causes of action or litigation; property acquisition or sale and any personnel matters involving hiring, firing, discipline and promotion. Mrs. Gershman seconded. All approved by individual voice vote.

The meeting adjourned at 5:05 p.m.