ST. LOUIS COUNTY LIBRARY DISTRICT
MEETING OF THE BOARD
HEADQUARTERS BRANCH
MONDAY, JULY 21, 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, July 21 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
Kenneth Stricker, Treasurer
Edith Cunnane, Member
Excused absences: Dr. Lynn Beckwith and Dr. Chingling Tai
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; Jennifer Samson, St. Louis County; Leander Spearman, Recruitment Coordinator; Eric Button, North Regional Administrator, Candace Oliver, South Regional Administrator; Julia Mangner, Prairie Commons; Lynn Grimshaw, Prairie Commons; Matthew Lakin, Coordinator of Training; Stephanie Nordman; System Administrator Manager; Cindy Fehmel, AV Selector; Jake Fejedelem, Manager ITS; Erin Dominquez, ITS; Nicole Clawson, Manager, Youth Services; Dottie Wobbe, Oak Bend Manager; Anna Schurk, Assistant Manager Oak Bend; Mary Arnhart, Manager, Business Office; Joyce Loving, Manager, Special Collections; Sarah Windaw, Teen Coordinator; Nicole Clawson, Manager, Youth Services, Tracy Fletcher, Catalog Manager; Nicole Head, Children Services Coordinator, Kerrie Coborn, Assistant Manager, Cliff Cave; Sharon Elliott, Assistant Manager, Thornhill; Karen Sieber, Assistant Manager, Jamestown Bluffs; Mary Wilson, Reference; Jenny Via, Coordinator of Purchasing; Vicki Krueger, Manager, Jamestown; Kalyani Veeraraghavan Manager, Thornhill; Susan Scupin, Manager, Reference; Roz Drohobyczer, Assistant Manager, Sachs, Lori Boschert, Circulation Manager, Laura Sorkin, Manager, Indian Trails; Stacy Davis, Assistant Manager, Natural Bridge; Carrie Robb, Adult Programming Coordinator; Mary Jo Tuchschmidt, Manager, Rock Road; and Sandra Williams, Executive Assistant and Friends Coordinator.
The MINUTES, dated Monday, June 16, 2008, were approved by the Board (Stricker/Cunnane).
PUBLIC COMMENTS: There were no public comments.
TREASURER’S REPORT:
The Treasurer’s Report dated June 30 was approved subject to audit (Stricker/Cunnane). Gary Holdefer reported that the 2008 budget revision would be ready the first week of August.
DIRECTOR’S REPORT:
CUSTOMER SERVICE ISSUES
Mr. Pace reported that everything was fairly quiet this month and there was no real pattern to the patron comments that were received. There were the usual comments on sign up times for the computers as well as some additional concerns regarding weeding and merchandising but they were of a scattered nature.
There was a phone call from one of our patrons who was upset about the fact that the Library would not purchase a circulating copy of a particular reference book for his use at the Cliff Cave Branch. The item in question is the “North American Electrical Code Handbook” and sells for about $130 a copy. This complaint was handled by the reference department.
MAJOR LIBRARY EVENTS
Mr. Pace reported that on July 9 the library hosted local author Harper Barnes to talk about his latest book. About 85 to 90 people attended this event as Mr. Barnes spoke about the East St. Louis race riots of 1917. Mr. Pace said he was pleased that the library is able to provide educational programs such as this and that we can talk about areas of history that many people would like to forget.
FACILITIES
Mr. Pace reported that HVAC installation at the Bridgeton Trails Branch is basically complete. The Branch is waiting for Laclede Gas to complete its final inspections and finish up.
Carpet choices have been made for Headquarters and we are expecting the carpet to be laid this fall. Work is continuing to progress on the new computer lab at Oak Bend, the walls are up, wiring has been installed, and the computer furniture has arrived we are expecting it to be completed in the next few weeks. All of the branches rewiring projects have been completed at this time and we are expecting rewiring to get underway here at Headquarters in the next few weeks. The maintenance department is also looking at options for new hand dryers that will be less noisy than the ones we have been installing and expects to make a final recommendation in the next couple of weeks. Glass has been ordered to repair the windows broken at the Lewis and Clark Branch last month. The type of glass needed is not commonly manufactured anymore and had to be special ordered.
RADIO FREQUENCY IDENTIFICATION (RFID)
RFID installation has been completed at the Meramec and Eureka Hills branches facilities. However, we do not have full functionality yet due to a software upgrade that we are waiting on from our online catalog vendor. As soon as that application is added we should have RFID fully operational at both branches. Tagging of materials is continuing at a steady pace at the Sachs Branch.
MEETING IN CLAYTON
Mr. Pace reported that he and Tim Wadham had an informational meeting with Dr. Don Senti of the Clayton School District and Craig Owens, the City Manager of Clayton on July 14. There had been some earlier informal conversations with both the Clayton Schools and the City regarding the possibility of relocating our branch library facility in Clayton to the area of the new Brown Shoe development around the Center of Clayton. Obviously these are very preliminary discussions and we would have a number of steps to take before anything was proposed to the Board. We will be making a more formal presentation to the Board later this fall regarding this issue and what some of the potential benefits as well as the obstacles would be to the realization of this project.
ALA CONFERENCE
Mr. Pace thanked the Board for the opportunity to attend the ALA (American Library Association) Conference in Anaheim on June 26-July 2. The conference went fairly smoothly and was attended by several other SLCL staff members. Tim Wadham, Candace Gwin, Lee Spearman, Trudy Williams, and Jason Kuhl also attended. The feedback from other staff members was largely positive and most of the attendees felt it was a good conference overall.
This was the Library’s first year to actually have a booth in the Placement Center and turnout was somewhat disappointing. The Library will try again next year when the conference will be held in Chicago and hopefully have a better pool of applicants to choose from. I would like to take this opportunity to thank the Board and the citizens of St. Louis County for making available these kinds of professional development events to myself and other library staff members.
AUTHOR EVENTS
Mr. Pace announced that on July 16 the library hosted local author and media personality Don Marsh.
On July 29 Daniel Silva will be talking about his latest book “Moscow Rules”. We are looking forward to a good turnout for this program as well. Mr. Silva will begin speaking at 7 pm. Doors will open to the public at 6 pm.
Mrs. Weinstock complimented Mr. Jim Bogart, Development Manager and his assistants for bringing in a myriad of speakers.
CONNECT TO THE ONLINE WORLD
Jake Fejedelem, Manager of Information Technology Services (ITS), led a presentation titled, “Connect to the Online World”. This is the technology portion of our Strategic Plan. He, along with Mary Wilson and Dan Gibbons, gave four objectives of the plan. They include increasing our electronic resources for library users remotely; expand access to the library’s online resources, develop technology competencies for all library staff and support with ongoing training, and evaluate the network infrastructure and connectivity yearly.
UNFINISHED BUSINESS:
LEGISLATION (SB711) – Gary Holdefer reported to the Board information on SB711 sponsored by Senator Gibbons that was signed by the Governor July 1st. Under the new law, tax rates set by the Board in August will become the “tax ceilings” for 2009 regardless of any assessment increases. The Board may want to consider assessing rates at the Library’s tax ceilings and designating part of the funds.
NEW BUSINESS:
FURNITURE (AUDITORIUM CHAIRS) – The Board approved the purchase of 165 auditorium chairs manufactured by Kreuger International. The Perry (non-fabric) chairs cost $16,400 and will be purchased from the U.S. Communities Cooperative Purchasing Agreement (Stricker/Cunnane).
PROFESSIONAL SERVICES (FOUNDATION) – The Board approved the recommendation to use the services of David Baker of Giving Design Group in conjunction with the Foundation’s contract for development services (Cunnane/Stricker).
PROFESSIONAL SERVICES (HUMAN RESOURCES LEGAL) – The Board approved the recommendation to continue to use the McMahon Berger law firm for employment related matters (Stricker/Cunnane).
EMPLOYEE BENEFITS (EMPLOYEE ASSISTANCE PROGRAM) – The Board approved the recommendation of the Daniel and Henry Co. to use the services of H & H Associates who provide an Employee Assistance Program. The annual fee is $9,900 (Stricker/Cunnane).
BOARD POLICY (HANDOUTS) – The Board approved a revised Handouts Policy that allows brochures and flyers to be accepted for distribution or posting from organizations that are for profit but are sponsoring community related programs (Stricker/Cunnane).
CLOSED SESSION
Kenneth 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. All approved by individual voice vote.
The meeting adjourned at 4:20 p.m.
Respectfully Submitted,
____________________________________________ __________________
Chingling Tai Date
Secretary