Library Board of Trustees

MEETING OF THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES MARY RILEY STYLES PUBLIC LIBRARY Held in the Mary Riley Styles Public Library 120 N. Virginia Avenue Falls Church, VA 22046 Apri115, 2015 1. CALL TO ORDER Board Chair Brad Gernand called the meeting to order at 7:00p.m. The following Board members attended the meeting: Brad Gernand Chet DeLong Ed Rose Stephanie Oppenheimer Jeff Peterson Don Camp Terry Zawacki Excused Absence: Jacob Bruner Also present were the City Manager Wyatt Shields, City Finance Director Richard La Condre, Foundation members John Rodock and Deane Dierksen, Council member Karen Oliver, the Library Director Mary McMahon, and her assistant, Claudia Gutierrez. 2. RECEIPT OF PETITIONS None. 3. APPROVAL OF MARCH 18, 2015 MEETING MINUTES Upon a motion made and duly seconded, the Library Board unanimously approved the March, 18, 2015 Meeting Minutes with minor changes. 4. ARTS AND CULTURAL DISTRICT TASK FORCE (CATCH) REPORT Ed Rose reported that there would be a meeting of CATCH the next day about possible grant applications. 5. LIBRARY FOUNDATION REPORT Mr. Camp, Chair of the Foundation Trust, informed the Board that since the Trust was begun in 2002, it has raised a total of$182,905; it has given the library $103,029 for its needs, and the Trust has a current endowment of $98,000. 6. BEQUEST DISCUSSION The Library Director said that Mr. Foster Friedman, an attorney in Alexandria, contacted her to say that a patron, Mrs. Mary Prior Hassan, died February 16,2015 and bequeathed a total of$250,000 from her estate for the "general mission of the library," and all her books are to go to the library. Mrs. Hassan was a resident of Arlington where she was a nurse for many years, and her husband was a doctor. After his death, she moved to Greenspring Senior Living. The Director said she has received the check, and it is made out to the Library's Foundation Trust. Additional refund payment documents (if there are any future claims or debts made against the estate of Mrs. Hassan) must be signed by the Foundation and returned to the attorney. A copy of Mrs. Hassan's Trust, which documents the gifts, 1  also accompanied the check. John Rodock, a member of the Library Foundation Trust, informed the Library Board that the Foundation Trust has been putting money from its annual fall solicitation into an endowment fund it has established, and the foundation's policy of 3% of the endowment principal is sent to the library for its needs based on requests submitted by the Library Director. Don Camp, Chair of the Foundation Trust, then told the Board that he researched Foundation records and found that Mrs. Mary Prior Hassan donated to the Foundation: in 2010 and 2013. He also remarked that the Foundation makes the solicitation every fall and sends the letters by Thanksgiving time to donors. He thinks that the solicitation letters might have motivated her to think of considering the library in her estate. The Foundation has had some preliminary discussions about how the money will be used, but because of the refund payment documents, members felt that the money cannot be used immediately and should be invested for two years in the endowment fund to make sure there are no further estate claims that must be settled. They also feel that the money should be used for something "substantial" and should in no way supplant City funding in the future for the library. The City Manager suggested that the Library Board and Foundation Trust might want to work together to formulate policies on how large donations, such as this, will be handled so there is agreement by both bodies. He also felt that both bodies should confer about what the Foundation is thinking the money might go for to help the library. Discussion then centered on who would make the announcement of the gift and what it would be used for, and it was decided that it would be a joint press release from the City, Library Board and Foundation Trust with the help ofthe City's Office of Communications, who could coordinate the distribution of the release to media. The Director also informed the Board about a celebration of Mrs. Hassan's life on Sunday, April26, 2015, which Chair Brad Gemand, Foundation Chair, Don Camp, City Manager Wyatt Shields, and the library Director will attend. The City Manager stated that he thought it might be the largest monetary bequest ever given to the City of Falls Church; he also said that he will glad to work with the library Director, the Library and Foundation Boards, and Susan Finarelli, Communications Director for the City on the public announcement of the bequest and what the money may be used for. The Board also discussed a way to recognize Mrs. Prior, not only with a plaque on a wall, but with something more significant. The Foundation Board discussed ways to encourage people to donate to the library. Councilwomen Karen Oliver suggested contacting Susan Kearney from Network for Good which has a donation platform and software programs to work with organizations for donations. It was also suggested to include the ability to make donations online though such mechanisms as PayPal. 7. FY16 CIP AND BUDGET UPDATES • LETTER FROM BOARD TO COUNCIL CONCERNING THE PARKING DECK The Director informed the Board that a community meeting about the budget was held on Saturday, April 13 1h, at City Hall. There were few positive public comments about the library project or the proposed parking deck. Some people do not see that the library needs more space, and that it appears to be maintained in good condition. However, if they come on a regular basis, patrons will notice that it is very busy, it does not have enough space for programs and study, and there are many infrastructure problems that occur frequently. The Director had been asked to draft a letter to City Council for the Board to review that would support the proposed parking deck in the FY16 CIP budget. After discussion the letter's content and the possible linking of the project to the library and its expansion/renovation, the general feeling of the Board was not to send it. 2  Upon a motion made and duly seconded, the Board voted not to send a letter to Council supporting the inclusion of the parking deck in the City's FY16 budget CIP program. The vote was: six nays to send the letter, and one yea. 8. DRAFT PHONE USE POLICY- FIRST READING The Director explained that library staff is having problems with people wanting to use library phones. The draft policy under consideration is to address the issue since once on the phone, patrons tend to stay on too long and generally abuse the privilege. Staff felt that by having a policy in writing, it would clarify the limits and make it easier for staff to enforce public phone use. The policy would limit calls to 1 minute, in order to leave phones available for emergencies and library business. There was discussion about long distance and cell phones numbers that might be long distance, that the area code 202 will soon split, staff making the calls for patrons, and the reasons why people "need" to use the library phone. The Board asked that the area codes listed in the policy be omitted. Upon a motion made and duly seconded, the Library Board unanimously adopted the first reading of the new phone policy with the understanding that they will revise it after seeing how it works for a month or two. 9. FY15 UPDATED WORK PLAN The Director presented the status of the current year's library work plan--what was completed and what is still in progress. 10. DRAFT FIVE YEAR PLAN, 2016-2020-FIRST READING The Director asked the Board to review a draft of the FY16library work plan and the new draft Five Year Plan, 2016-2020. A Board member asked that the list of items from the consultants' Draft Master Plan be drawn up and added to the Five Year Plan and indicate, in some manner, that a task is directly related to the Draft Master Plan. The Director stated that she would do that. She also reported that the consultants' recommendation to convene an Ad Hoc committee about the Local History Room was in progress. A Board member also asked that the Village Preservation and Improvement Society (VPIS) be contacted as a potential member of the Ad Hoc committee. The Director assured the member that organization was already included in the planning for the meeting. The Board did not vote on the first reading ofthe Draft Library Five Year Plan, 2016-2020. 11. DRAFT USER SURVEY FOR 2015 The Board suggested some modifications to the user survey, including an option to ask if patrons use the eDatabases. They also dropped some of the questions and made some wording changes. The Director will release the survey probably in June after the Board approves it with all the corrections. A Board member reminded the Board that the results of this survey are not statistically valid. 12. LIBRARY REPORT AND ANNOUNCEMENTS The Director reported the following: • There have been some building issues: leaking by the backdoor near the Reference desk from a downspout that may not be sized properly and caused the flooding. There have also been issues with leaks coming in near the biography section of downstairs due to rainwater leaking from a downspout. Both issues are being addressed by Public Works. • The air conditioning system is being monitored with the start of the spring/summer season. • The Director will be off next week to attend to some personal business. 3  -. • There are some changes coming in how library computer services are handled. Currently, the library pays for 60% of a senior level IT staff member and 60% of his time was devoted to fixing library IT issues, equipment, software, etc. The remaining 40% of his time was spent on Citywide IT issues. With the new structure, the library would continue to pay for 60% of his salary, but 60% of his time would not be dedicated solely to the library and its IT issues. Instead, other IT team members, with different expertise levels and specialties will respond to IT issues at the library. The Director requested that Mike Kibsey, who was hired for his experience in library-related automation systems and software, continue to attend library management team meetings due to his background and also his three years on the job at the library. This suggestion was accommodated. The Board Chair, as a library Director himself and having had this happen to his library, commented that this change does not sound very positive since it did not work well in his library, and it seems that the library is not getting what it is paying for. Additional Board members expressed concern and reservations about this change and would like more information. They asked the Director to express their concerns to the Director ofthe IT department, Cindy Mester, since well-functioning IT for both the staff and the public is critical to the core operations of the library. 13. BUSINESS NOT IN AGENDA None. 14. ADJOURNMENT There being no further business, upon a motion duly made and seconded, the Board of Trustees unanimously adjourned the meeting at 8:50 p.m. Respectfully submitted, l&lfJ.Jilf w, Wl~~ Mary-W. fltcMahon Library Director Approved: I) . ~~ Bradley E. Gdrnand, Chair Copies: Board ofTrustees, City Manager, Library Reference Desk, Staff Bulletin Board, City Clerk, Library Web Page The City of Falls Church is committed to the letter and spirit of the Americans with Disabilities Act. To request a reasonable accommodation for any type of disability, call 703-248-5032, TTY 711. 4