ST. LOUIS COUNTY LIBRARY DISTRICT
MEETING OF THE BOARD
HEADQUARTERS BRANCH
MONDAY, OCTOBER 20, 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, October 20, 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
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, SLCL staff attending: Leander Spearman, Ellen Meschke, Jake Fejedelem, Emily Althoff, Cheri Remington, Jennifer Alexander , Kathy Wiese, Vicki Krueger, Karen Sieber, Joyce Loving, Susan Scupin, Christel Maassen, Parkie Peck, Kerrie Coborn, Michael Cohen, Donna Spaulding, Lori Boschert, Scott Holl; Pete Kruchowski, and Sandra Williams. Patrons included Marilyn Angeli, Ruthie Angeli and Jay Arnold.
The MINUTES, dated Monday, September 15, 2008, were approved by the Board with a correction. State Representative Jane Cunningham attended the Special Board Workshop on September 29, 2008(Stricker/Beckwith).
PUBLIC COMMENTS: A Library patron who did not give his name, cited concerns regarding empty shelving at certain branches, lack of good large print books, and wanted to know who decides how books are discarded. Mr. Pace addressed the concerns. He responded that Library policy determines how we discard books and many times it is based on usage, currency or information and physical condition of books. He also pointed out that Barbara Brain, Assistant Director of Adult and Support Services, was available to receive any other questions at a later date.
Ruthie Angela, a patron, addressed the Board concerning teen material. A copy of her letter was given to the Board for record.
Dr. Beckwith asked for clarification on time limits and responses. Mrs. Weinstock responded that patrons have three minutes. Dr. Beckwith asked that responses to patrons be given at the following meeting in accordance with policy.
TREASURER’S REPORT:
The Treasurer’s Report dated September 30 was approved subject to audit (Stricker/Beckwith). Mr. Holdefer reported that over $40,000 had been received from the Hazelwood TIF.
DIRECTOR’S REPORT:
The major customer service issue of the past month has been related to our decision to start a leased collection for DVD’s and to make certain blockbuster titles not available for holds during the first four months they are on the shelf. Some customers are irate over this issue, others appreciate our ability to have more copies of the individual DVD’s on the shelf at any given time. However, our own statistics show that the DVD’s that cannot have holds placed on them circulate more than those on which holds can be placed. We will reevaluate the progress of this experiment after six months or so.
I am happy to report that we also received a number of letters during this past month that complimented staff on their hard work and dedication. Some of these will be added to the testimonials section of our webpage.
Major Library events
On September 9 the library hosted Alan Weisman author of the “World Without Us”. Dr. Weisman frequently writes on issues of the environment. His program took place in the author’s nook at Headquarters and about a hundred people attended. Many favorable comments surrounded this timely program about the human impact on the environment.
September 18 at 7 pm the library presented Sandra Brown, talking about her new book “Smoke Screen”. This program was presented as an on stage interview conducted by local mystery writer Susan McBride. Ms. Brown was very witty and charming throughout and about 125 attended this program.
September 22 we hosted Naomi Wolff as she discussed her newest book “Give Me Liberty”. Ms. Wolff was very passionate in her opinions regarding our current political situation and exhorting the audience to take direct action on the issues of the day. Roughly 150 persons were present for this event.
More than 500 people attended a program presented by Bob Schieffer of CBS’ Face the Nation. Mr. Schieffer spoke about his book “Bob Schieffer’s America” and relayed many witty anecdotes regarding elections past and some of the famous people he has spoken to over the years. This program took place on September 24.
On September 27 the library hosted a book launch party for our own author in residence, Julius Hunter. There was a pre-event reception which was well attended. CBS Early Show host Russ Mitchell emceed at this activity and there were about 125 people who stayed for Julius’s lecture on his newest book.
Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson returned to the library on October 17 to do a “Science Fair” demonstration and discuss their recent book by that title.
Facilities
The roof work at the Daniel Boone and Headquarters facilities is nearing completion and should be wrapping up in the next couple of weeks. The HVAC replacement project at Grand Glaize is nearly complete. Soil boring work is scheduled to take place in the next few weeks at the Tesson Ferry branch in order to see what mitigation efforts would be needed if we were to build again on that site. Bids for data cabling at Headquarters and for computer furniture will be presented at the October Board meeting. Carpeting projects here at Headquarters and at the Florissant Valley Branch should be getting underway in the near future. Burglar alarm system installations have been completed at all branches.
RFID gate and pad installations have been completed at Sachs, Weber Road, and Jamestown Bluffs. Sachs is now live on the new system and Weber and Jamestown are scheduled to go live as soon as they complete the tagging of their collections. Early reports have been very encouraging in stating that customers love the new self-check system.
Missouri Library Association
Many library staff members attended the MLA meeting that was held in downtown St. Louis. There were a number of good programs presented and by all accounts it was a successful conference. Staff who attended included the following: Gary Holdefer, Barbara Brain, Tim Wadham, Candice Oliver, Eric Button, Barb Urban, Jennifer Jung, Pat Woodward, Jason Kuhl, Lynn Grimshaw, Trudy Williams, Sarah Windau, Nicole Clawson, Andrea Walther, Desiree Schuman, Kelly Bono, Jennifer Alexander, Kay Rader, and Paul Steensland.
Upcoming Author Events
Richard Paul Evans will be at the library on October 21 to talk about his latest book.
The Library will be hosting Mary Englebreit on October 24.
Famous children’s author Lemony Snicket will be doing a book signing at the Daniel Boone library on November 8.
The Library will be hosting noted Presidential historian H.W. Brands on November 11.
RECRUITING COORDINATOR
Leander Spearman, discussed his progress as recruiting coordinator since his June appointment. He reported that he had visited nine college fairs, established relationships with a number of organizations and the University of Missouri – Columbia. He is currently working on a 2009 Library Career Fair. The University Missouri –Columbia is offering a scholarship for a future librarian.
Strategic Plan – Information Fluency
Barbra Brain introduced reference librarian Jennifer Alexander to talk about the Information Fluency plan. Following Jennifer Alexander, Scott Holl, and Susan Scupin reviewed their findings and plans. Former Thornhill manager Kalyani Veeraraghavan, contributed to the research but is no longer with the Library. Three objectives were discussed:
Objective 1: Review annual reference service delivery statistics and patterns in order to best utilize professional staff and collections to better serve the information needs of library customers
Objective 2: By 2012, eighty percent of all library customers surveyed will indicate they were satisfied with their ability to find what they needed at the library.
Objective 3: Establish a core reference collection policy that governs all reference collections throughout the system. The Policy is to be completed by July 2008.
OLD BUSINESS
TITLE CONSOLIDATIONS
Human Resources manager Kristen Sorth reported on title consolidations. The Board approved consolidating the Library clerk and Library Assistant titles. Seventy-five employees will receive a salary increase as a result of this consolidation. They will not be considered for merit raises. The Board approved the request (Stricker/Beckwith).
NEW BUSINESS
FURNITURE
Gary Holdefer requested approval of 8 sided workstations by Duenke Cabinet for $24,880 for use at 10 branches. The Board approved the request (Stricker/Beckwith).
CAPITAL IMPROVEMENTS
Jake Fejedelem reported that the low bidder for wiring the Headquarters had dropped out. The new low bidder is now Comm World of St. Louis who bid $42,604. The Board approved the quote (Beckwith/Cunnane).
EASEMENTS
The City of Chesterfield is constructing the new road that will connect Burkhardt Place and Lydia Hill Drive. This project is part of the City’s Central Park Master Plan. The City has requested that sanitary and storm water easements be granted by the Library. The Board approved the request (Stricker/Cunnane).
SPECIAL BOARD MEETING
Mrs. Edith Cunnane reported that the Board met on September 29 to discuss the teen challenged material. Mr. Pace announced that recommendations will be made at the December meeting.
CLOSED SESSION
Kenneth Stricker moved that the open meeting adjourn. All approved by individual voice vote.
The meeting adjourned at 4:20 p.m.
Respectfully Submitted,
____________________________________________ __________________
Chingling Tai Date
Secretary