ST. LOUIS COUNTY LIBRARY DISTRICT
MEETING OF THE BOARD
INDIAN TRAILS BRANCH
MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 21, 2009
3:30 PM
The monthly meeting of the Board of the St. Louis County Library District was held at the Indian Trails Branch, 8400 Delport Dr., 63114 on Monday, September 21, 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
Others Attending:
Charles Pace, Director; Gary Holdefer, Associate Director and Comptroller; Barbara Brain, Assistant Director for Adult and Support Services; Marie Conlin, Library Planner; Eric Button, Regional Branch Administrator; Jim Bogart, Dev. Mgr.; Lisa Stump, Counsel, Lashly & Baer; Jayne Kasten, patron; and Jennifer Samson, St. Louis County Government.
SLCL staff attending: Leander Spearman, Anna Kwiatkowski, Ken Cieslak, Robbin Oehler, Kathy Wiese, Joyce Loving, Nicole Clawson, Susan Scupin, Laura Kasak, Kathy Condon-Boettcher, Vicki Krueger, Julia Mangner, Parkie Peck, Paul Bayless, Trudy Williams, Donna Spaulding, Emily Althoff, Sharon Elliott, Kathy Muller, Marsha Ramey, Michael Cohen, Parkie Peck, Kate Grantham and Sandra Williams.
The MINUTES, dated Monday, August 17 and Monday, August 31, 2009 were approved as amended by the Board (Beckwith/Cunnane).
PUBLIC COMMENTS:
Library patron Jane Kasten, addressed the Board regarding maintaining copies of the play files.
TREASURER’S REPORT:
The Treasurer’s Report dated August 31, 2009 was approved subject to audit (Stricker/Beckwith). Mr. Holdefer announced that the Indian Trails parking lot was recently repaved (Beckwith/Cunnane).
DIRECTOR’S REPORT:
Customer service issues
The implementation of the firewall caused some disruption of services earlier in the month due to the fact that we had to reconfigure all of our applications to work through the firewall. Unfortunately, we had a number of customers who were quite upset, particularly due to the interruption in database access. The reason the firewall had to be implemented at this time was to protect the security of the network since we were getting very close to capacity in terms of network traffic. I continue to monitor the situation closely and have contacted an outside network consultant to perform an assessment of our systems.
Other issues of concern ran the gamut during the past month; we have a number of people who don’t like the new centralized phone system. We also had one individual who was very upset with our holds limits on DVD’s and she may come to a future Board meeting to express her concerns. I also received a letter from a customer who was concerned about food and drink in the library. A copy of this letter and my response is attached to my report. On the positive side, we had many favorable comments from customers who like the new display fixtures and the merchandising we have begun at many of our locations. We also received many, many favorable comments regarding the Summer Reading Program this year. People especially liked the better quality prizes that were provided.
Major Library events
On Wednesday, August 12 the Library hosted best selling mystery writer J.A Jance. In Fire and Ice, Ms. Jance teams up once more two of her most popular characters Detective J.P. Beaumont and Sherriff Joanna Brady, in the grittiest and most gripping thriller to date.
On August 22 at 2 pm the Library hosted Grammy award winning singer/songwriter Bill Harley. Bill Harley has been recognized as one of America’s finest performers for families. Armed with a guitar, songs and slightly offbeat tales, Bill Harley delights audiences of all ages. We estimate about three hundred people attended this event and we had many favorable comments from customers.
Library Card Campaign
The Library card campaign kicked off on August 22 with a variety of programs and events across the system. I am very pleased to say that we are close to our goal of 10,000 cardholders. Branch and Outreach services staff have been very energetic and creative in reaching out to the various institutions in their communities and raising the profile of the Library. I feel confident that the outreach and contacts that staff members are making now will pay long term dividends for the system. The library has had a staff presence at many community events and programs and sign ups have been conducted at locations ranging from grocery stores to Laundromats. I should be able to present preliminary final results from the campaign at the October Board meeting.
Facilities
The new service desk has been installed at the Florissant Valley Branch and has been well received by the public. We have also put in place self check and RFID at Florissant. If you are in the area, I encourage you to stop by and take a look at the new layout in this location. At Headquarters, we are currently in the process of repainting the children’s area to give it a more bright and cheery appearance and to make the area more appealing overall. New interior lighting is scheduled to be installed at the Natural Bridge Branch in October. The parking lot overlay at Indian Trails has been completed. We are also currently working on a new exterior sign for the Thornhill Branch with the hope that this will become a prototype sign we will use at other locations.
Upcoming Author Events and Programs
Thursday, September 17 at 7 pm we will welcome Stefan Merrill Block, author of The Story of Forgetting. This remarkable debut novel concerns the efforts of two generations of men to unravel their shared genetic history and to understand the mystery of Alzheimer’s disease. This is a “Read St. Louis” event.
Tuesday, September 22 at Library Headquarters, we will host an ensemble of the world renowned St. Louis Symphony Orchestra. While the orchestra is performing, acclaimed Missouri artist Billyo O’Donnell will be creating an original painting of the event. A limited number of signed prints of this painting will be sold with the proceeds to benefit the Library Foundation.
September 23 the Library is pleased to present Greg Maracek, author of The St. Louis Football Cardinals: A Celebration of the Big Red. This keepsake book documents the complete history of the coaches, players, and games that brought thrills to countless St. Louis Cardinals football fans.
Mr. Pace also presented the Strategic Goals to show where we are in the third quarter.
Dr. Lynn Beckwith stated that the goals presented should have been edited for uniformity and to show common terms. He also requested that Stephanie Nordmann, system administrator manager, present statistics to the Board that indicates how many card holders are actively using their cards.
Mr. Pace introduced Ken Cieslak, manager of Indian Trails. Ken Cieslak gave an overview of the Library community which is surrounded by Vinita Park, Overland, Pagedale and Wellston.
UNFINISHED BUSINESS
COLLECTION (HIGH SCHOOL LABELS)
Barbara Brain, Assistant Director for Adult Services, informed the Board that procedures have been codified for making determinations as to which materials will receive High School labels. A Consideration Committee is being formed. The Children’s Collection Development specialist will check for reviews in School Library Journal (SLJ) and the Voice of Youth Advocates (VOYA) as a part of the selection process. The Consideration Committee consists of the Manager of Cataloging, Manager and Assistant Manager of Youth Services, and the children’s collection development specialist. If further evaluation is needed, the title will be submitted to Administration. All materials recommended for 9th to 12th graders will receive a “High School” label, and a note will be inserted in the bibliographic record.
MANAGEMENT EVALUATION
The Board approved the administration recommendation that they (the Board) work with Lockton Companies to provide consulting services on the development of an evaluation tool for the director. The cost for this service is $5,750 (Beckwith/Stricker).
NEW BUSINESS
2009 ASSESSED VALUATIONS
Mr. Holdefer reported that Post Board of Equalization Assessed Valuations have been received from John Friganza, County Collector. The new assessments show an additional revenue decrease of $984,000. Mr. Holdefer passed out information showing ten accounts where expenses could be decreased. Dr. Beckwith stated that he is against eliminating the Pension Plan contribution. Mr. Pace suggested a bond election for Tesson Ferry in 2011 and putting the rebuild project on hold. Mrs. Cunnane, Dr. Beckwith and Mrs. Weinstock agreed with the findings. Mr. Stricker suggested a line by line review. Mrs. Cunnane is against cutting Sunday hours or off duty police officers from the branches. The Board was assured that all accounts will be reviewed during preparation of the 2010 Budget.
PROFESSIONAL SERVICES (HVAC ENGINEER)
The Board approved KJWW Engineering Consultants to be the mechanical engineer for the DB HVAC project and any other approved HVAC projects. They ranked the highest and their consulting will cost $35,400 (Cunnane/Tai).
BUILDING REPAIR (PARKING LOT)
The Board approved the staff recommendation for the low bidder, Gershenson Construction to do parking lot work at Daniel Boone. The cost is $76,708 (Stricker/Beckwith).
CREDIT CARDS
The Board approved the Administrations request to order ten additional credit cards through Commerce Bank for Branch Managers’ purchases (Stricker/Cunnane).
Dr. Beckwith asked for a copy of the credit card use policy.
BOARD BYLAWS (POLICIES I & II)
The Board approved a request to add to Board Policies I and II (Stricker/Beckwith).
The recommendation was a result of the passage of House Bill 1549 which was effective August 31, 2009. Contractors and professional service firms with projects over $5,000 are required to verify their enrollment in a Federal Work Authorization Program (FWAP). The construction contractors also must provide a 10 hour Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) safety program for their employees.
CLOSED SESSION
Mr. Stricker moved that the open meeting adjourn for closed session. Dr. Beckwith seconded. All approved by individual voice vote.
The meeting adjourned at 4:50 p.m.
Respectfully Submitted,
___________________________________________ __________________
Dr. Chingling Tai Date
Secretary