ST. LOUIS COUNTY LIBRARY DISTRICT

MEETING OF THE BOARD

HEADQUARTERS BRANCH

MONDAY, DECEMBER 15, 2008

3:30 PM

 

The monthly meeting of the Board of the St. Louis County Library District was held at the Headquarters Branch, 1640 S. Lindbergh Blvd. 63131, on Monday, December 15, 2008 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:

 

                        Jean Weinstock, President

Dr. Lynn Beckwith, Vice President

Kenneth Stricker, Treasurer

Dr. Ching Ling Tai, Secretary

Mrs. Edith Cunnane, Member

 

 

            Others Attending:

 

Charles Pace, Director; Gary Holdefer, Associate Director and Comptroller; Tim Wadham, Assistant Director, Youth and Community Services; Barbara Brain, Assistant Director for Adult and Support Services; Kristen Sorth, Manager, Human Resources; Marie Conlin, Library Planner; Jim Bogart, Development Manager; Eric Button, North Regional Administrator; Candice Oliver, South Regional Administrator; Lisa Stump, Lashly and Baer; Jennifer Samson, St. Louis County Government;  Joan Masterson, Stilwell, KSSLCL staff attending:  Leander Spearman, Ellen Meschke, Jake Fejedelem, Kathy Wiese, Vicki Krueger, Susan Scupin, Lori Boschert, Scott Holl, Mary Wilson, Nicole Clausen, Carrie Robb, Denise Keller, Anna Kwiatkowski, Laura Kasak, Paul Bayless, Marsha Ramey, Tracy Fletcher, Pat Woodward, Robbin Oehler, Julie Cruise, Stacy Berger, Laura Sorkin, Ken Cieslak, Erin Chapman, Jill Pifer, Emily Althoff, Pete Kruchowski, and Sandra Williams.

 

 

The MINUTES, dated Monday, November 17, 2008, were approved by the (Stricker/Beckwith).

 

PUBLIC COMMENTS:  There were no public comments.

 

TREASURER’S REPORT:

 

The Treasurer’s Report dated November 30 was approved subject to audit (Stricker/Weinstock).  Mr. Holdefer reported that the Library received the RFID grant money totaling $21,000.  He also mentioned that the Headquarters Roof has been completed.

 

DIRECTOR’S REPORT: 

 

Mr. Pace reported on the following.

 

Customer service issues

 

There was nothing major to report in this area during the past month. We had the usual issues related to signing up for the computers and some complaints about the temperature of the buildings being either too hot or too cold. We also received several comments in the past month from customers thanking us for what we do and expressing appreciation for various library programs and services.

 

Major Library events

 

Due to the upcoming holidays and end of the year wrap up there were no major author events scheduled during this time period.

 

Facilities

 

The Headquarters roof is now officially complete with the installation of the sheet metal flashing around the roof perimeter. HVAC projects at Grand Glaize and Cliff Cave are also basically done. Carpet installation has been completed at the Florissant Valley branch. Data rewiring of Headquarters is scheduled to be completed by the end of the month. Four of the five branches included in the original RFID installation are now up and fully operational on the new system. Weber Road is scheduled to go live by the end of December. Planning work is now under way for the major projects included in next year’s budget.

 

Breakfast for Legislators

 

We are currently planning a breakfast for our state legislators on the second Friday in January prior to the start of the legislative session. This January 16th breakfast would basically be a “get acquainted” meeting and we would probably make a brief presentation about the Library. Roughly half of the county’s delegation is new to the legislature so this would be a good opportunity to start educating them about some of the issues we face as a Library District. There are 39 legislators within our district.  The Board is welcome to attend this event.

 

Dr. Beckwith suggested a full breakfast as opposed to a continental breakfast.  Mr. Pace said we would contact a caterer and make it a full breakfast.

 

Implementation of the New Logo

 

The implementation the new logo is underway with the ordering of stationary, business cards, and changes to the website. We will also start putting the logo on signage in our branches as funds permit.

 

 

OLD BUSINESS

 

MATERIAL REVIEW COMMITTEE

 

Mr. Pace presented to the Board information on a proposed system of indicating the age appropriateness of Teen materials.   The Children’s collection will consist of materials up through 5th grade.  Teen material would be for Grades 6-12 and any material labeled High School would be most appropriate for 9th to 12 graders (age 14 and above).

Barbara Brain, Tim Wadham and Mr. Pace conducted a lengthy discussion with the Board.

 The Youth Services Manager and the Teen Services Coordinator will also draw up a list of titles currently in the Teen collection that they feel should have the “High School” label. The Gentle Read” lists will be made more widely available.  Gentle Reads do not contain materials of a violent or sexual nature.

The Board discussed the options available to them taking into account the methods of libraries with similar challenges.  Legal counsel gave advice regarding labeling material that contained sexual content.    The committee stressed to the Board that the collection will inevitably include materials on controversial or sensitive topics. 

Since there is a wide range of maturity and reading levels from age 13 through 18, the committee recommended that St. Louis County Library adopt a system of adding “High School” labels to 9th through 12th grade level materials.  Signage will be posted in the Teen Centers indicating “High School” labeled materials are most appropriate for ages 14 and up.  The committee also recommended that the challenged titles be given “High School” labels except for Escape from Egypt, which is for younger readers, and Growing up Gay in America and A Seahorse Year which are a part of the adult collection.

The Board took a vote on whether to accept the recommendation.  Mrs. Cunnane voted No, Dr. Beckwith voted Yes, Mr. Stricker voted Yes, Dr. Tai abstained and Mrs. Weinstock voted No.  The proposal failed due to a lack of a majority. The Board decided to have further discussion for declarative information in executive session (Beckwith/Cunnane).

 

NEW BUSINESS

 

TELEPHONE SYSTEM

 

The Board approved a recommendation by Jake Fejedelem and an eight member team to accept recommendation for a new telephone system from Trillion Communications (Stricker/Cunnane).

 

 

FOUNDATION

 

Jim Bogart reported on the Foundation Board’s new officers.  Carla Haack was named president; Sally Lee, vice president; Neil Jaffe, treasurer and Anne Gagen, secretary.  The Board approved Brian Davies as the newly elected Foundation Board member (Stricker/Beckwith).

 

Brochures

 

Mrs. Cunnane remarked that she was impressed with the brochure highlighting Headquarters’ events.

 

CLOSED SESSION

Kenneth Stricker moved that the open meeting adjourn.   All approved by individual voice vote.

 

The meeting adjourned at 4:30p.m.

 

Respectfully Submitted,

 

____________________________________________                    __________________

Chingling Tai                                                                                         Date

Secretary