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 February 15, 2017 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 ChetDeLong Ed Rose Terry Zawacki Don Camp Jeff Peterson Stephanie Oppenheimer Eema Ahmed (Youth representative) was absent. Councilwoman Ms. Karen Oliver, Library Director Ms. Mary McMahon, and her assistant, Ms. Claudia Gutierrez, were also present. 2. RECEIPT OF PETITIONS None. 3. APPROVAL OF THE JANUARY 18, 2017 MEETING MINUTES Upon a motion duly made and seconded, the Library Board unanimously approved the January 18, 2017 meeting minutes with one minor change. 4. ARTS AND CULTURAL DISTRICT TASK FORCE (CATCH) REPORT The Library Director informed the Board that she attended the meeting, and there was no discussion directly related to the library. She said that it might be good to have the library's presence at these meetings so that we would know what is going on around the city in terms of the arts and humanities. She said that perhaps a library staff member can attend these meetings. Councilwoman Ms. Oliver mentioned that ArtSpace is launching a new space this month in the Kensington. 5. LIBRARY FOUNDATION REPORT Mr. Camp informed the Board that there was a notable donation of $1,000. He is still trying to find out who donated it because the check came from a charity consolidator. Once he fills out the forms from the consolidator, he might be able to find out who made the donation. He also informed the Board that currently the Foundation checking account has around $19,000 in it. 1 6. COUNCIL LIAISON REPORT Ms. Oliver informed the Board that Council is going into budget season. The City Manager will be presenting his budget on March 13th. Council will approve the budget by the end of April. She also said that Congressman Don Beyer is planning to attend the Council meeting on the 13th to talk about the impact of the Federal government's budget on local governments. She also mentioned that the community meeting for the high school campus project was very well attended, and people were very focused on the issues around the campus build out. There were a lot of comments from that meeting, and the information is being transcribed by staff members and will be posted on the City's website when done. The schools are also pursuing some other options to reduce the costs. She said that Council has formed their economic development working group which is composed of two Council members, two School Board members, two Planning Commission members, and two Economic Development Authority members. The group will give recommendations on developing the economic portion of the project. Ms. Oliver also said that some people are thinking that the school campus project might go to referendum in November 2017. 7. STUDENT LIAISON REPORT No report. 8. DRAFT SCOPE OF WORK FOR THE EXPANSION/RENOVATION LIBRARY PROJECT The Library Director handed out comments from Mr. Jeff Peterson about the Draft Scope of Work that she wrote. The Director said that she has not had an opportunity to talk to James Mak, who will possibly be the project manager for the library project, but that a meeting is scheduled in a week. She asked the Board to discuss both the Draft Scope of Work and Mr. Peterson's comments so that there is time for the architectural firms to prepare their presentations and proposals and a selection of a firm can be made before the end ofthis fiscal year. Mr. Don Camp suggested including in the Scope more information about the library of the future and how digital technology will play a part in its operations-not only in digital books/audios, but also other services and programs. Mr. DeLong said that the architectural firm chosen should not repeat the public meetings done by previous contractors. He also said that any reference to a future library expansion/renovation should be deleted from the Scope. The Director said that she felt it is important to engage the public, and that they will probably want to give their input about the design of the project, as will other leaders of the City. The Director stated that the City has adopted the Silver LEED standard as the minimum standard for all new or renovated City buildings. She also said that the City will pay the LEED certification fees as part of the $8.4M budget. She will verify the fees associated with the final certifications. Mr. Peterson wanted to know how the City will use any funds from the bond sales that do not go for the project or the financing of the project. The Director will investigate this and inform the Board. Mr. DeLong said that all that bond information should not be included as part of the Scope of Work. There was also a suggestion that the Program Phase in the Draft Scope of Work should not be written too broadly, and that the Vision section should be more concise. Mr Peterson asked about the timing and procedures for the Program and Design phase. He also wanted to know when the money will be ready to start the project. Councilwomen Oliver said that when there is a project with architects, Council must give approval to the City Manager to sign the contract before any work or selling of bonds can take place. The Director said that the interim Finance Director informed her that the City usually sells bonds in the fall, and that they would not sell all the bonds at one time-the initial sale 2 will be for about $1.5M and cover the first year's architectural and permitting/testing fees. When construction is ready to start, the City will then sell the rest of the bonds. By following this strategy, the City minimizes the amount of interest it pays. The Director said that the location of the library entrance will depend on the final design of the project. It could be on Park A venue facing Cherry Hill Park, which would integrate the library more with the City campus project and would also be what the Board presented it to the public. If this option is more expensive, then the Board will need to decide if they have to leave that option out. The Director will ask about how important the new entrance is to the Planning Commission, which will approve the library's site plan. In addition, Board members wanted a small change in wording regarding the recommendation by the firms for either an east or west expansion option. 9. DISCUSSION AROUND VARIOUS TOPICS WHEN PLANNING THE PROJECT: • BOOK COLLECTION SIZE: THREE POSSIBLE OPTIONS o Reduce the collection per the recommendations of the Master Plan o Maintain the current size of the collection o Increase the collection size based on the expected increase in City population and patrons • SLATEROOF • PUBLIC SPACE ALLOCATION • EAST VS WEST OPTION FOR EXPANSION • QUALITY OF THE ADULT READING ROOM There was a discussion about the future size of the book collection. Mr. DeLong said that the size of the collection should be preserved due to the projected increase in City population. The Director explained to the Board that eBooks will not take the place of print books to help reduce the space of the collection because their cost is very high and print items remain very popular. Ms. Zawacki said that the public needs to know that, as people are using more and more devices for reading. The Director said that according to the latest year end publishing sales figures, eBook sales went down. Another factor affecting space is the trend is to have lower shelves in order to improve visibility. The Scope of Work needs to be clear and specific about the size of the shelves and also about keeping the size of the book collection as it is currently and must have all the library needs reflected in it. The Director informed the Board that the 1992 addition has a flat roof, but it was designed in such a way, that it is not visible to the public so it gives the illusion of a slate roof. The Board can choose to have a slate roof for the new addition, and while it would be very expensive in the short term, it will also last longer so costly repairs might be minimal. Mr. Peterson said that people are asking if the additional space that will be built is enough for the needs of the library. The architectural firms also need to plan and show what the ratio of the public space is to the total space since the project was presented to residents as adding additional public, not staff space. Mr. Peterson also said that the adult reading room is one of the favorite places for the public, and that the quality of the current reading room must be carried over to wherever the reading room gets relocated. The Board feels that the adult reading space must be carefully designed with enough lighting, window seats, high ceilings and its own defined space so people feel as comfortable as they currently do. Mr. Rose suggested that the Board take a look at the Front Royal library, which is a new small library with desirable features. The Director also commented that by looking at other libraries, you can see a lot of things that you might not have thought of and ideas that you might like or not when they are actually executed. There are new libraries in Fairfax County (Thomas Jefferson, Culmore, Dolly 3 Madison and others as well as several new libraries in Loudoun County). She suggested that the Board might want to visit other new libraries for ideas that could be incorporated into the project. 10. LIBRARY REPORT AND ANOUNCEMENTS • The Director informed the Board that the Circulation Supervisor interviews have been completed, and selection has been made and an offer will be given. • The negotiations are still going on with Innovative Interfaces Inc. (III) regarding the ILS. • The library had a demo with another ILS company from Texas called Biblionix. This company only works with and sells to public libraries with collection sizes of no more than 300,000 items. • The Director reminded the Board that the library will be closed on Monday, February 20 1\ for Presidents Day. • Over $1 ,600 has been donated for the Beverly Rausch Memorial, and quotes for the bench and plaque have been solicited from area monument companies. • The thermal cameras have been circulating, and the feedback has been positive with patrons saying they are easy to use. Numerous holds have been placed on both cameras. • The Director informed the Board that a former staff member's husband died suddenly, and that she sent a sympathy card to the family on behalf of the Board and library staff. • Two very successful adult programs were held recently on Social Security and planning for retirement. They were well attended, and patrons made other suggestions of programs they would like to attend in the future. • The library has added the Consumer Reports database to its services, and it can be used remotely. We expect it to be very popular. • In a recent budget meeting the City Manager said that there is a shortfall for the FY18 City's budget between what has been proposed on the general government's side and the City's revenue. Each department has been assigned an amount to cut from their operating budget. The library's amount is $8,068. The Director asked the Board's permission and approval to reduce the FY18 budget in different line items since there is not time for her to bring the budget back for their approval before it must go to Council. Upon a motion duly made and seconded, the Library Board unanimously authorized the Director to cut the library's proposed FY18 budget by $8,068 and to try, as much as possible, to avoid cutting the materials budget. • The Director informed the Board that she will be out of the office on February 16th and 1ih. 11. BUSINESS NOT ON AGENDA None. 12. ADJOURNMENT There being no further business, upon a motion duly made and seconded, the Board of Trustees voted unanimously to adjourn the meeting at 8:35 pm. 4  Respectfully submitted, M~1ff:~ f/IIM#/ 3, IS, I ( Library Director Approved: 3 - JS- 1? 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. 5