Library Board of Trustees

MEETING MINUTES 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 August 17, 2016 1. CALL TO ORDER Board Chairman Brad Gemand called the meeting to order at 7:00p.m. The following Board members attended the meeting: Brad Gemand Chet DeLong Ed Rose Don Camp Terry Zawacki Jeff Peterson Excused Absence: Stephanie Oppenheimer Library Director, Mary McMahon, was also present. 2. RECEIPT OF PETITIONS None. 3. APPROVAL OF THE JUNE 15, 2016 MEETING MINUTES (There was no regular Board meeting in July 2016 due to the Council and Town Hall meetings about the library project.) A discussion took place about the informal tone of the June 2016 Board minutes. All agreed that they needed to be more formal when noting names and titles of people. Upon a motion made and seconded, the Library Board unanimously adopted the New York Times style guide, particularly for titles and names of people mentioned in the minutes. Upon a motion duly made and seconded, the Library Board unanimously approved the June 15, 2016 meeting minutes as amended with minor changes. 4. ARTS AND CULTURAL DISTRICT TASK FORCE (CATCH) REPORT None. 5. LIBRARY FOUNDATION REPORT Trustee Don Camp informed the Board members that there would be a Foundation Board meeting on August 23, 2016 to discuss ways to help support the library referendum. Some ideas include yard signs, mailings, and development of a slide show and present a series of informational talks to various civic groups over the next few months. In addition Mr. Camp also said that the Village Preservation and Improvement Society (VPIS) had given the Foundation $500 for use in the library' s Local History room. He said that if Board members wanted to give the Foundation donations before the end of the year, it would be very helpful since the Foundation is facing expenses in regard to advertising the referendum. 1  Chairman Brad Gernand told Mr. Camp that he would be glad to be a speaker if the Foundation needed one. Trustee DeLong also said that he would talk with the Citizens for a Better Community (CBC) to see they have a list of City organizations with contact information to begin to schedule speaking dates. Trustee Peterson said that he would contact VPIS, and Trustee Oppenheimer could perhaps talk with the schools for the PTAs' contact information. 6. COUNCIL LIAISON REPORT None. 7. DISCUSSION OF THE DRAFT PROJECT FACT SHEET The Director presented the Draft Project Fact Sheet. She said that it was a City template used for the City Hall renovation project. Many changes were suggested, and Ms. McMahon will make them before submitting the fact sheet to the City Attorney for approval before dissemination to the public. There was also discussion about whether this same fact sheet or one with a more positive viewpoint can be displayed by the Foundation in the library. The Director was asked to check with the City Attorney about that as well. 8. DISCUSSION ON BOARD AND FOUNDATION INFORMATION CAMPAIGN ABOUT THE PROJECT AND POSSIBLE LEAGUE OF WOMEN VOTERS FORUM IN THE FALL ABOUT THE PROJECT The Library Board members discussed what might be needed for an information campaign about the proposed expansion and renovation of the library. Chairman Gernand said he would help get the information out to the public about it. The members also discussed contacting various civic organizations to do informational presentations about the project as well as contacting the PTAs. The Director said that the Falls Church League of Woman Voters plans to do a forum on the project in the Fall-more information about that will be forthcoming when a date is announced for the program. 9. DISCUSSION ABOUT MEETING WITH STUDIO 27 TO HEAR ABOUT THEIR CREDENTIALS (DURING A REGULAR MEETING OR A SPECIAL MEETING CALLED IN SEPTEMBER) All Board members stated that they are interested in hearing from Studio 27 about their credentials and library projects they have done. Since several members will be away in September, it was felt that the presentation could wait until October--either during a regular meeting or a special one depending upon what else was on the agenda for that night. It was noted that the presentation would probably take about an hour with follow-up questions from members to the architectural team, so it might need to be a special meeting. The Director said she would contact Studio 27 to see when they might be available to do a presentation in October. 10. DISCUSSION OF THE TOWN HALL MEETING ON JUNE 20, 2016 Board members felt that the Town Hall meeting was successful. However, they would like resolution ofthe tax rate ambiguity that was brought up at that night. Does the project add 1. 7 cents on the tax rate, or if it were figured like that ofthe school projects, would the cost be less? Upon a motion made and seconded, the Library Board of Trustees unanimously approved a motion that the Chairman of the Board of Trustees ask the City Manager, Wyatt Shields, what 2 the true tax rate consequences are for the library project and have the City advertise how it will affect the tax rate once the total is known. 11. DISCUSSION ABOUT THE SHARED/LEASED PARKING AGREEMENT WITH 313 PARK AVENUE (ASSISTANT CITY MANAGER CINDY MESTER TO ATTEND THE SEPTEMBER MEETING OF THE BOARD TO RELAY STATUS OF AGREEMENT) This item was postponed until the September meeting when Ms. Mester can attend the meeting. 12. 2016 LIBRARY USER SURVEY RESULTS The Director noted that most of the same themes appeared again this year: patrons want more books, longer hours on Friday evening and Sunday, more parking, more space for programs and more programs (particularly children's programming), and restoration of Wednesday morning hours. She noted that the library remains very important or extremely important to 94% of the respondents and many come to the library multiple times a week. Ms. McMahon also noted that it was evident from the responses that patrons are not using the Find It VA app made by Boopsie and provided free to the library by the Library of Virginia. She said that staff will begin a campaign to make more people aware of it. 13. LIBRARY REPORT AND ANNOUNCEMENTS • Ms. McMahon said that the animated flyover video of the proposal expansion options is almost complete. It has been shortened into one video that presents both options and takes about three minutes to watch. It will be posted on the library's website. • Three new employees have been hired to fill vacancies: 2 new library Pages and one temporary Library Assistant I in Youth Services. All but one Page have begun work. • The water fountain in the staff area downstairs is being replaced. It was tested for lead and while there was a lead reading well below the FDA standards and posed no health hazard, the Department of Public Works (DPW) is going to replace it in an abundance of caution. • This year's Summer Reading Program has over 2,200 people registered for it-that includes children, young adults, and adults. It surpasses last year's numbers. • There are problems with HVAC unit RTU2. One ofthe two compressors is bad and cannot be refilled, so it must be replaced. The unit is operational with one compressor, but it is a strain on the unit. DPW is in the process of getting quotes to replace the bad compressor and also find out how much it would be to replace the entire unit since it is the oldest one. They will decide their course of action once both quotes are available. • DPW staff are going to paint all the outdoor metal surfaces (e.g. stair handrails etc.) when the weather gets cooler. • The library's integrated library system (ILS) by Innovative Interfaces, Inc. is being upgraded. The Millennium platform has been done, and Encore is next. We are waiting on RAM to be shipped and installed before Encore's software can be upgraded. When the upgrade occurs, it may cause some difficulties for people signing in remotely, and it could take approximately a day to complete the upgrade. Once we have a firm date for it, we will let the public know. • The Director will be on vacation from September 1st through September 11th. 3 14. BUSINESS NOT ON THE AGENDA Trustee Jeff Peterson said that he would miss the September Board meeting, and Trustee Terry Zawacki may miss it as well. 15. ADJOURNMENT There being no further business, upon a motion duly made and seconded, the Board of Trustees voted unanimously to adjourn the meeting at 8:45 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Mary W. McMahon Library Director Approved: B~d, ~ 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 ofthe Americans with Disabilities Act. To request a reasonable accommodation for any type of disability, call 703-248-5032, TTY 711. 4