Library Board of Trustees

SPECIAL MEETING OF THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES MARY RILEY STYLES PUBLIC LIBRARY Held in the Library Conference Room, 120 N. Virginia Avenue, Falls Church, VA 22046 November 6, 2013 1. Call to Order Board Chair Brad Gemand called the meeting to order at 7:30p.m. The following Board members attended the meeting: Brad Gemand Chet DeLong Nancy Bentrup Sally Phillips Jeff Peterson Ed Rose Excused Absence: Don Camp Also present were Councilman Phil Duncan, Director Mary McMahon, her assistant Claudia Gutierrez, and Stephanie Oppenheimer (professional communicator and marketer strategist as a special guest of Sally Phillips). 2. DISCUSSION CONCERNING FOLLOW UP STATEGIES REGARDING THE DRAFT MASTER PLAN DEVELOPMENT AND SPACE STUDY REVIEW REPORT Included in the Board packet for the meeting is an email from the consultants stating that they are willing to return to do additional services to help the Library Board to obtain additional information through conversations with the City and the public should the Board want to engage them. The Director then reported the following items had been accomplished since the last Board meeting: • A news release was composed and sent to all local news media and blogs that alerted the public to the report and solicited their comments about it. To date there have been no comments and the due date for them is November 15,2013. • The full report was posted on the library's website. • An email address was set up to receive comments from the public regarding the study (mrspl@fallschurchva.gov), but the Library has not received any comments. • A report was placed on public review in the Reference area. • Staff comments were solicited. It was also noted that VPIS is having their Fall meeting on November 14, 2013 and hosting a panel of speakers on the population growth of the City and how it affects various City departments and services. The library has not been asked to be on that panel, and the Board feels that it should be represented. One member will contact VPIS and ask to have a few minutes to speak to the library's issues and recent study. The Board discussed meeting with the three new Council members before they are sworn in, giving them a tour of the library and talking with them either one on one or as a group one evening. They decided they would contact each of them personally and invite them to a meeting on Wednesday, November 13, 2013 at 7 p.m. in the library for a tour and discussion. Copies of the draft report will be given to each candidate. The Director was asked to provide the Chair with the email addresses and phone numbers of each new Council member so he could invite them. The Board then discussed sending a single memo to all Boards and Commissions for their comments and directing them to the library website for the full report. Comments from Boards and Commissions can be as an individual as well as the full group by Monday, November 18, 2013. Upon a motion duly made and seconded the Board voted to have a special meeting on Monday, November 18, 2013 at 7:30p.m. in the library's Conference room in lieu of its regularly scheduled meeting on Wednesday, November 20, 2013. The motion passed unanimously. Upon a motion duly made and seconded the Board voted to formally ask the library staff to make comments about the report without a specific due date for those comments. The motion passed unanimously. The Board then stated that it would also like comments from the Greater Falls Church Chamber of Commerce and the Planning Commission and will reach out to them. Further discussion ensued about developing guidance to the public on what the Library Board is thinking. It was felt that salient points need to be developed about the report since the public cannot be expected to read all 234 pages of the document. The guidance should also include a paragraph about the basis of the decision the Board is leaning toward and then what that decision is. The Board then discussed the two options presented in the report, weighing the pros and cons of both options. After much discussion the Board felt that it must move forward in a timely manner with a decision as to which option would work best for the needs of the library and the community. With that in mind, the following motion was made. Upon a motion duly made and seconded the Library Board, after reviewing the study by McMillan Pazdan Smith and the other consultants, believes that based on the information to date, the option that best serves the public and the library is to tear down the existing structure and build a new one. However, if efforts of the City open other alternatives with neighboring property owners for parking, then this matter will be revisited. The motion passed with one member opposed. 3. BUSINESS NOT ON THE AGENDA None. 4. ADJOURNMENT There being no further business, upon motion duly made and seconded, the Board of Trustees unanimously agreed to adjourn the meeting at 8:56p.m.  Respectfully submitted, Mary W. McMahon Library Director Approved: Copies: Board of Trustees, City Manager, Library Reference Desk, Staff Bulletin Board, City Clerk, City Council, Historical Commission, Library Web Page