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 A venue Falls Church, VA 22046 September 23, 2015 1. CALL TO ORDER Board Chair Brad Gemand called the meeting to order at 7:03p.m. The following Board members attended the meeting: Brad Gemand ChetDeLong Ed Rose Terry Zawacki Jeff Peterson Excused Absence: Don Camp and Stephanie Oppenheimer. Jacob Bruner, Youth Representative was absent. Also present were, Councilwoman Karen Oliver, Johannah Barry, a City Resident, Kathleen Tysse, Library Director Mary McMahon and her assistant Claudia Gutierrez. 2. RECEIPT OF PETITIONS None. 3. APPROVAL OF AUGUST 19, 2015 MEETING MINUTES Upon a motion made and duly seconded, the Library Board unanimously approved the August 19, 2015 meeting minutes with no changes. 4. ARTS AND CULTURAL DISTRICT TASK FORCE (CATCH) REPORT Ed Rose informed the Board that the name ofthe Arts and Cultural Task Force (CATCH) has been changed to the Falls Church Art and Humanities Council. In additional business, they have been discussing long term funding and finalized an action plan. 5. LIBRARY FOUNDATION REPORT The name of the Library Foundation will change to "Incorporated" from "Trust" mainly for tax reasons. The incorporation papers are being sent to the Foundation board for signature once they are drawn up. The Registered Agent will be listed as the Library Director, Mary McMahon and the registered location for the Foundation will be 120 N. Virginia Avenue, Falls Church, Virginia, 22046. The previous bylaws ofthe Foundation will be rewritten to reflect the incorporation, but the operation will remain the same. 6. USER SURVEY RESULTS FOR 2015 The Library Director outlined the 2015 MRSPL User Survey results. It remains consistent with past years: patrons like the library, and it is important for them. 57% of patrons come on a regular 1 basis. Patrons find the staff helpful, most often find what they are looking for, but that more multiple copies of popular titles would be appreciated. The Director reported that 76% of the respondents were aware of the proposed expansion/renovation project and 17% of the respondents were not aware of it. Almost 87% said that they would like to learn more about the library renovation/expansion project, and 42% said they would be interested in attending a public meeting to learn more about the project. In a question directed only to City residents, 64% said they would vote for the proposed expansion/renovation project in a bond referendum, 9% against, and 26% indicated they were not sure how they would vote. The Director stated that the Board will need to do a public education campaign to make people more aware of the project and work to convince the 26% unsure voters about the need for the expansion/renovation. When asked what areas of the library the public would like increased, the most popular answers were: library materials, parking, programs, the teen area, and meeting space. Jeff Peterson advised against too much optimism about the results of the survey because it is not a statistically valid survey. He suggested that a more reliable survey be used so the Board has more statistically relevant results and thus a truer picture on where the project might stand with the voters before the question goes to the referendum. The Director informed the Board that she had talked about it with the IT Department, and they said that the City had standardized on Survey Monkey. The Director said it can be discussed at the next Board meeting when Cindy Mester and the IT staff are present. 7. TRANSPORTATION SURVEY FOR THE LIBRARY There was no discussion about this survey that is currently being conducted. The Director asked the Board to fill out a survey that evening. 8. COLLECTION DISCUSSION Jeff Peterson wrote to the Library Director with some questions about the collection statistics. The Director explained that there was a mistake in the formulas and that is why statistics showed a significant decrease in the collection. The formula has been corrected and shows that the collection totals have not decreased dramatically. The Director also explained that approximately 15,000 items are weeded and added every year which keeps the collection size relatively stable, which is necessary since the shelving has just about reached its maximum capacity and there is no space to add additional shelving in the building. Weeding of the collection is based upon the age of materials, the content currency, the condition of materials, the number oftimes it has circulated, etc. Weeding is also done in each section of the collection on a continuous basis, and selectors are expected to weed their entire section in a year's time. Selectors also check reviews and consider what other libraries have in their collections. In the past the children's collection was not weeded regularly, but that is not the case now. A heavy weeding is taking place to remove very dated material, material in poor physical condition, and also to create more space on the shelves so patrons can access materials easier. The Director assured the Board that there is better circulation of books when there is more space on the shelves. Too full shelves make it difficult for patrons to find or access books. There was also a discussion about what the size of the collection should be when the renovation of the library occurs and how library collections will change in time. Any decision about the collection size can be made when the project planning starts. 9. LIBRARY REPORT AND ANNOUNCEMENTS The Director reported the following: • There are big personnel changes at the library: Jo Murphy is retiring after 43 years, Sheila Frost resigned from the library and now will be working at Aurora House, Julie Scheina in the Youth Services department has left as has the temporary Library 2  Assistant at Circulation. It has been challenging to fill all the positions, and it has been very time consuming, but replacements are being found. • The closing of Tysons Pimmit Library is coming in January, and MRSPL will get many of the patrons who use that library. There has been some talk in the past about the possibility of sharing staff from that library, but no agreements have been signed. The Director is very concerned about how busy the library will become with all those extra patrons. Upon a motion made and duly seconded, the Library Board adopted a resolution to communicate to the City the staffing shortfalls at the library and request City help to cover the short term staffing needs in anticipation of the neighboring library closing. • The back door of the library has been an issue. It was replaced, but this took 6 days instead of the planned one day, causing inconvenience for library staff. • The Summer Reading Program had over 2,220 children participants and close to 500 adults. The prizes provided by the foundation were given away: 2 Kindle Fire tablets, 2 iPod shuffles and 6 gift certificates from One More Page bookstore. 10. BUSINESS NOT ON THE AGENDA The Library Director asked the Board to adopt the Legislative Agenda proposed by the Virginia Library Association so that it can be included in the Council Legislative Agenda for the City. It was included in the Board packet but not included on the Agenda because it came late. The first priority is to increase the State Aid to public libraries by $2.5M in 2017 and 2018 for use on Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) materials to help children. Two other items included on the Library's Legislative Agenda are: a request to prohibit guns in libraries, and to increase support for the Virginia State Library. Upon a motion made and duly seconded, the Library Board unanimously approved the Library Legislative Agenda for 2016 and will send it to City Council for inclusion in the City's overall Legislative Agenda. The Planning Department has provided Mason Row Project plans for Board and Commission consideration and comment. The Director said that the packet is a large one, so she is unable to make individual copies, but there is a complete packet in the public review section in Reference for the Board members to review. She said that they might want to pay particular attention to the Voluntary Concessions (proffers) as they relate to the library. Originally, the City included a proffer amount of $250,000 for the library based upon a formula from state library standards. Councilwoman Karen Oliver said that they are still in negotiations about proffers. The Director had included in the Board packet an email (May 2014) from a citizen who expressed concerns at that time about the project. The project has changed substantially since that time, but the email might provide some insight into areas of note in the latest plan. The Director asked that the Board review the plans and then formulate any comments for the October meeting. Upon a motion made and duly seconded, the Library Board unanimously approved the next scheduled meeting of the Board be rescheduled from Wednesday, October 21,2015 to Tuesday, October 20, 2015 in the library conference room. 3  ---- -- - ' . ~ 11. ADJOURNMENT There being no further business, upon a motion duly made and seconded, the Board of Trustees voted unanimously to adjourn the meeting at 8:53 p.m. Respectfully submitted, :/ib-~2~?kfllltU.wv--- Library Director Approved: ~ Br~and, Chair Copies: Board of Trustees, 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