ST. LOUIS COUNTY LIBRARY DISTRICT
MEETING OF THE BOARD
HEADQUARTERS BRANCH
MONDAY, MARCH 9, 2009
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, March 9, 2009 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 (via telephone)
Others Attending:
Charles Pace, Director; Gary Holdefer, Associate Director and Comptroller; Barbara Brain, Assistant Director for Adult and Support Services; Kristen Sorth, Manager, Human Resources; Marie Conlin, Library Planner; Tim Wadham, Assistant Director, Youth and Community Services; Jim Bogart, Development Manager; Eric Button, North Regional Administrator; Lisa Stump, Lashly and Baer; Jennifer Samson, St. Louis County Government; Lance Carlson, A.J. Gallagher, Inc.; Sarah Siegel, Dierbergs Markets, Inc.; David Baker, Giving Design Group; Suzanne Jackson, patron; Mary Jane Pieroni, Huber, Ring, Helm and Thom Helm, Huber, Ring, Helm; SLCL staff attending: Leander Spearman, Jake Fejedelem, Joyce Loving, Denise Keller, Anna Kwiatkowski, Ken Cieslak, Julia Mangner, Sharon Elliott, Kerrie Coburn, Dorothy Wobbe, Trudy Williams, Scott Holl, Kathy Condon-Boettcher, Anna Schurk, Cindy Fehmel, Donna Spaulding, Pat Woodward, Gerry Burrow and Sandra Williams.
The MINUTES, dated Thursday, January 22, 2009 were approved by the Board (Stricker/Beckwith).
PUBLIC COMMENTS: Ms. Suzanne Jackson spoke to the Board concerning the discontinuing of the internet at Indian Trails Branch. She stated that those causing problems should not result in everyone being denied access to wireless internet service.
Mr. Pace asked for a change in the order of the agenda to accommodate the representative from Dierbergs.
DIERBERG’S PROPERTY – The Board moved to approve a resolution for the sale of property to Dierbergs for $118,482.32. The land is a grassy strip at the northwest corner of the Daniel Boone Branch. The Board approved the use of the sale money for redesigning and resurfacing the parking lot at Daniel Boone. They also approved a request from MSD for an easement at the branch (Beckwith/Tai).
TREASURER’S REPORT:
The Treasurer’s Report dated January 31 was approved subject to audit (Stricker/Beckwith).
Mr. Holdefer reported a major expenditure in January was the annual software maintenance of Innovative Interfaces Inc. He also explained that the administrative staff intends to send the Library’s present ceiling tax rates as the non-binding rates required under SB711 passed last year.
DIRECTOR’S REPORT:
Mr. Pace reported on the following.
CUSTOMER SERVICE ISSUES
During the past month we have received a few letters from area schools that are concerned with planned reductions in Bookmobile service. Copies of a couple of these are attached to the end of my report. No decisions have been made about schools that will be dropped and we are in fact trying to develop guidelines as to what schools we will serve. A survey was sent out to all the schools asking about their opinions of our bookmobile service and other questions related to services the schools provide to their students. We think these letters are likely in response to this survey. Our replies to the letters are also attached. We have also recently been visited by the Paraquad organization regarding accessibility of our facilities to the disabled. We have informed them that they are welcome to visit and make suggestions for improvement but that we will make the final decisions regarding the practicality and cost of any proposals they may bring forward. Other issues during the past weeks related to such typical concerns as building noise levels, temperature, and usage of the internet computers.
MAJOR LIBRARY EVENTS
Due to the fact that we had many, many major events during the month of February I will highlight only a couple of the most important. The library hosted well known African-American poet Nikki Giovanni on February 13. Ms. Giovanni spoke about and read from her latest work “Bicycles: Love Poems”. The crowd for this event was estimated at between 550 and 600; Ms. Giovanni’s event was our headliner program for Black History Month.
Thursday, February 19, the library hosted National Book Award winning and Pulitzer Prize nominated Chinese American novelist Ha Jin. Mr. Jin shared his latest critically acclaimed novel “A Free Life” with a terrific crowd of about 120. With the assistance of our own Dr. Tai, we were able to reach out to the Chinese community for this program.
FACIILITIES
Work has begun on the replacement HVAC system for Indian Trails and will begin on Weber Road later this month. We are currently looking for options to put up a wall around the juvenile area here at Headquarters. This will allow us to better define the children’s space while at the same time helping us to better display the program announcements for our many author events. Additional lighting work at our Sachs Branch is still under way thanks to a generous donation from Lou Sachs. There have been additional contacts between the library and the Sheet Metal Workers union regarding the HVAC contracts awarded by the Board at its January meeting. Additional information will be shared with the Board in executive session.
We have begun work to make improvements to the Natural Bridge Branch. Trenching has been completed and we are planning on a complete rewire of the branch to fix a number of data transmission issues at this location. In addition to this, weeding of the collection has been completed and we are prepared to move forward with a significant expansion of computer capacity. We plan on roughly tripling the number of computers at this facility to better meet patron demand and usage patterns. Our facilities staff is also looking at options to improve lighting and enhance the overall look and feel of this library. At the request of the contracted police officers we have hired to provide security, we have also added an additional security camera to provide better coverage of the teen area. The improvements planned for Natural Bridge are designed to enhance both the aesthetic and practical aspects of this facility for the use of our customers and are consistent with the Library’s Facilities Master Plan.
SOCIAL WORKERS
The County would like to put social workers in the community to provide resources to the public. We have agreed to provide space at the Natural Bridge Branch for the social worker to use. They would like to start in Mid April. Mrs. Cunnane requested a report on the progress of the social workers. Mrs. Weinstock suggested advertising the service in the Normandy Advocate.
CHALLENGED MATERIALS ISSUE
There has been some follow up media coverage regarding the decision the Board made in January to affix high school labels to some materials in the teen collection. Much of the coverage has focused exclusively on sexual content in books therefore the library has issued a press release to clarify the purpose and intent of the high school labels. A copy of the press release is attached to the end of my report.
MIDWINTER CONFERENCE
I attended the American Library Association Midwinter Conference in Denver from January 23-28. A number of different issues related to the library profession were discussed at these meetings including the development of core competences in librarianship, approval of legislative priorities for the Association, dealing with the impact of the economic downturn on ALA’s finances and so forth. During my time in Denver I was also able to tour four branches of the Denver Public Library and meet with some of their key staff, Assistant Director Tim Wadham accompanied me on this visit. I think we learned a great deal from our time in Denver and brought back some useful ideas to share with the staff here at the St. Louis County Library. It was a very productive series of meetings and I would like to thank the Board and the taxpayers of St. Louis County for making possible my participation in the governance of the American Library Association.
DIVERSITY UPDATE
Immediately following my report Lee Spearman will report on the Library’s efforts to recruit and maintain a diverse workforce and will provide an overview of his recent activities as our Recruitment Coordinator.
LIBRARY ADVOCACY DAY
Gary Holdefer, Laura Kasak, Michael Cohen, Eric Button, and I all attended Library Advocacy Day on February 10. We had the opportunity to visit with many of our legislators and I think it was a nice follow up to the breakfast we held for them in January. We visited with the legislators in their offices on Capitol Hill in Jefferson City most of our meetings were positive and supportive. I believe we made real headway in building relationships with our legislative delegation.
Mrs. Weinstock said she is looking forward to the eco programs.
FLICKR PAGE
The Library now has a photo page on Flickr, which will feature pictures from author events and other programs. We hope to start promoting the page through various outlets, i.e. eNews, the website, and our Facebook page.
DIVERSITY REPORT
Leander Spearman presented a power point presentation on his recruiting efforts and the methods now used by the County Library. He also distributed handouts used for recruiting purposes and called attention to a display set up in the rear of the room used at recruiting fairs. The presentation consisted of past hiring practices and new hiring practices. Dr. Beckwith applauded the diligence of Lee Spearman. Dr. Beckwith also stated that he wants more branch managers held accountable for their hiring practices. Mr. Pace said he would make sure the Power point presentation was forwarded electronically to the Board.
OLD BUSINESS
NONE
NEW BUSINESS
LIBRARY AUDIT
Mr. Holdefer introduced Mary Jane Pieroni with Huber, Ring, Helm. She gave a report on the firm’s findings. The auditors issued an unqualified (clean) opinion. Dr. Beckwith asked if a management letter accompanied the audit. Ms. Pieroni replied that no letter was issued due to the excellent recording keeping and internal controls. The Board approved the report and instructed staff to send the report to the State Auditor as required by State Statutes (Stricker/Beckwith).
INSURANCE RENEWALS
Lance Carlson of Arthur J. Gallagher, Inc. reported that renewal rates for insurance coverage had decreased. He recommended the Library renew with the current carriers, Firemen’s Fund and St. Paul Travelers. The Board approved the recommendation (Beckwith/Cunnane).
PENSION CONTRIBUTIONS
The Board approved the amount requested by the Pension Board ($665,000) be transferred to the Pension Plan. 2008 was the worse investment year for the Plan but the Pension plan is still 112% funded (Stricker/Beckwith). Dr. Beckwith recommended notification to all employees and retirees of the status of the Plan.
SMOKING
The Board approved the recommendation from staff to adopt the following statement (Beckwith/Stricker). “Smoking is prohibited within 25 feet of building entries, outdoor air intakes and operable windows at all St. Louis County Library locations.”
BUILDING REPAIRS (ROCK ROAD)
The Board approved staffs recommendation to accept the quote of Bartch Roofing for $80,959 to replace the roof at the Rock Road Branch with an energy efficient material (Beckwith/Stricker). Bartch Roofing was the lowest and best bidder.
FUNDRAISER CONSULTANT
Mr. David Baker of Giving Design gave an update of his fundraising activities. A handout was distributed.
CLOSED SESSION
Kenneth Stricker moved that the open meeting adjourn.. All approved by individual voice vote.
The meeting adjourned at 5:04 p.m.
Respectfully Submitted,
___________________________________________ __________________
Chingling Tai Date
Secretary