Library Board

Minutes of the Burlington Public Library Board of Trustees The Burlington Public Library Board of Trustees met on Tuesday, June 28, 2011 in the Burlington Public Library Meeting Room. Present were Steve Rauch, Pat Hoffman, Penny Torhorst, Kay Pockat, Dianne Boyle, Scott Johnson, and Pat Hurley. Excused was Mike Kelly. Also present were Library Director Gayle Falk and Administrative Assistant Linda Berndt. Torhorst called the meeting to order at 4:01. Election of Officers and Committee Appointments: Hurley nominated Hoffman for the open position of Secretary/Treasurer. Hoffman accepted the nomination. Nomination passed unanimously. Hurley moved and Johnson seconded the motion to accept the slate of officers as presented with Penny Torhorst as President, Scott Johnson as Vice President and Pat Hoffman as Secretary/Treasurer. Motion passed. Torhorst then made the following committee appointments: Building & Grounds – Hurley, Rauch, Johnson Personnel – Hoffman, Pockat Finance – Torhorst, Boyle, Kelly Minutes of the May 24, 2011 meeting were approved. Hoffman moved, and Johnson seconded. Motion passed. The June 2011 General Fund Bills, Prepaids, Reimbursements and May 2011 General Fund Deposits were discussed and approved. Hurley moved approval and Hoffman seconded. Motion passed. Hurley moved and Johnson seconded the motion to approve the June Trust Fund Bills and the May Trust Fund Deposits. Motion passed. Committee Reports: There have not been any committee meetings recently. There will be budget meetings starting soon. Falk reported there will be some Citizens Budget Committee meetings where she will be presenting the Library Budget. She will update the Board as soon as she has any information. Federated Library Report: The Lakeshores Library System is also experiencing budget cuts. Falk will be attending a Wingspread Seminar on July 11th discussing different ways libraries should approach funding. Old Business: Friends: - Booksale: We will need to rent a tent this year. Arrangements have been made for marking the park for underground wires. DPW/ Water Dept. will lend us tables and help us setup. Julie Caufield is in charge of scheduling the workers during the sale. Johnson, Hoffman, Boyle, Pockat, and the Torhorsts volunteered to work. The Friends have received over $13,000.00 so far for the computer fundraising project. We will be ordering computers, software and desks. After the computers are in place we will consider ordering some laptops for patrons’ use. New software will enable the patrons to log themselves on at the computer. New Business: Summer Reading Program: Everyone should take a look at the children’s side of the library. It has been decorated for the theme One World Many Stories. The children’s SRP is in full swing and many children are participating. The SRP for adults is called Novel Destinations. Twenty people have signed up to take part in the program. There are weekly prizes and a grand prize of a $40.00 gift card to Amazon. Falk asked everyone to look at the children’s early learning computers. They are used all the time by small children. We have an IPad, Nook and Kindle for people to use here in the library. We have also started to check out the Kindles to patrons for home use. Procedures for Overdue Items: Falk reported that, after sending a letter to a patron with over $400 of overdue library materials, she referred the matter to the police. Almost all the materials were returned the same day. Budget updates: Falk talked about the budget in Madison. Library maintenance of effort, originally set up to protect libraries participating in library systems, was eliminated. Wiscnet, a not for profit Internet provider, was originally eliminated in Joint Finance. In the actual budget bill, Wiscnet was restored and will be studied for the next two years. Wiscnet provides low cost Internet access for schools and libraries, including the University of Wisconsin, among others. Directors Report: Gayle reported that the walk-in numbers were down but the internet, Circ and reference numbers are up. Falk mentioned to the Board there has been some concern that during the Farmers Market there are many people using our parking lot. In an effort to help make room in the parking lot—and support the farmer’s market-- the Library staff has been parking on the road or in the parking structure during market hours. Falk is giving out weekly “door prizes” as a thank you to the staff for their support and cooperation. Carol Reed has talked to the Vendors to make sure they are not parking in the Library lot. Gayle is monitoring the number of cars in the lot during the market and will keep the Board informed. Gayle and Joy, the children’s librarian, have been working on a section of the Parent-Teacher collection for books designed to initiate discussion of social issues, following a request by a parent. Falk mentioned that we have had several people in the last several years that have been banned from the Internet. Our procedure is that a person who is banned by the director from Internet use can appeal to the Library Board. BPL in the news: There were calendars of events in the newspaper and also two articles. Public Communication to the Board: There is nothing at this time. Meeting was adjourned at 4:46 PM. Pockat moved and Boyle seconded. Motion passed. Our next meeting will be on Tuesday, July 19th at 4:00 PM in the Burlington Public Library meeting room. Respectfully submitted, Steve Rauch Aldermanic Representative