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 March 20, 2019 1. CALL TO ORDER AND INTRODUCTION OF GUESTS Acting Chairperson Chet DeLong called the meeting to order at 7:00p.m. The following Board members attended the meeting: Chet DeLong Chrystie Swiney Kathleen Tysse Stephanie Oppenheimer Jeff Peterson Don Camp Youth Representative Tika Wallace (Unexcused absence) Council Liaison, Ross Litkenhous, and Planning Commission Liaison, Rob Puentes, were not in attendance. Others present for the meeting included: Library Project Manager Joel Timmins, Director of Public Works Mike Whitfield, CIP Project Manager Lionel Mallard, Library Director Jenny Carroll and her assistant Claudia Gutierrez. City resident and library employee, Cathy Breen was present as well. To take advantage of the remaining daylight, the Board and guests went outside to view the brick samples for the library addition. There were several samples and the Board chose the extruded brick sample that was the best match for color and texture. The extruded brick would be a cost savings. (See #9 Library Project Update for further discussion.) 2. RECEIPT OF PETITIONS a) National Child Abuse Prevention Month Pinwheel Garden Petition withdrawn by the petitioner, Leslyn Barrows (Human Services). b) Discussion of West Falls Church Economic Development Project Mr. DeLong opened the discussion by recounting which members had been to the West Falls Church meetings. He stated that it was clear from the meeting that there would be no proffers, which the City accepted because of the need for the project income for the debt service. The West Falls Church project will have an impact on the library from the increase in new patrons accessing services and programs (750 apartment/condos; est. 1,000 additional people). The 1 Board discussed expressing their views about this matter to City Manager Wyatt Shields rather than to City Council. The Board does not want to push Council since it has been supportive of the library project. The Director commented that the West Falls Church Project will be breaking ground between 2022-2023 and by that time, the new library will be open; therefore it will be likely that the proffers would go to offset the bond debt. The Director mentioned that Board comments will be sent to City Principal Planner Ms. Carly Aubrey by April3. Comments from all the boards and commissions will be incorporated into one document and forwarded to the developers. Mr. Peterson mentioned that all the comments should be phrased in the context of maintaining the existing positive precedent of the library-specific proffer from major developments and emphasize the impact that this project will have on the library. Mr. Camp will write a draft of the Board's comments, send by email, and revise with any comments by the Board members. The Director, as the Board's liaison, will forward the comments to Ms. Aubrey. Upon a motion duly made and seconded, the Library Board unanimously agreed to make comments, along the lines that the Board members had expressed, about the West Falls Church Economic Development Project impact on the library and a library-specific proffer. Mr. Peterson informed the Board that in the town hall meeting that he attended for the West Falls Church Project, the developers mentioned that they are trying to make the project Falls Church friendly. Mr. Peterson suggested including information/images/references representing the library and/or Ms. Mary Riley Styles, since the library is an important icon of the City. The Board agreed. Mr. Camp will include this request in the draft comments. See attached comments to the developers of the West End Project. 3. APPROVAL OF THE FEBRUARY 27, 2019 MEETING MINUTES Upon a motion duly made and seconded, the Library Board unanimously approved the February 27,2019 Meeting Minutes with minor corrections. 4. LIBRARY REPORT AND ANNOUNCEMENTS • The Director will be attending the Council meeting on Aprill to present a library project update and the FY2020 budget. • The Pancake House fundraised $265.00 and the Cycle Bar $525.00. • This coming Friday March 22, the library will be closed for a staff workday. • The Director received letters of thanks and appreciation written to the library staff by the sixth graders from Saint James School. The writers mentioned different programs they like, finding what they want in the collection, and that the library is quiet so they could study, etc. One of them even mentioned that the library should receive an award. They will be passed on to library staff. Mr. DeLong suggested to the Director taking them to Council when she attends the meeting. 2  • As requested by Mr. Camp, the Director informed the Board about her attendance at the COG Library Director's Meeting. Directors from DC, Anne Arundel, Fairfax, Alexandria, Frederick, and Prince George's County attended the meeting. They gathered at the Cleveland Park Library. This library building was razed and built with 26,000 sf at a cost of $19M. One of the senior architects that worked on the building now works with BKV on the MRSPL project. Topics of discussion included: Friends and other non-profit support groups, budget issues, auto-renewal, going fine free, and public safety. Most library systems have a Friends group or other non-profit that raises money. Several systems are revisiting their Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with these groups. Mr. DeLong cited that when they set up the Foundation, they were thinking about having a Friends group, but decided to be more formal. They set the purpose of the Foundation to supplement the City funding and the money would always go to the library. Another topic was the budget: some of the libraries are experiencing cuts, and some of them have a flat budget. Fine elimination was discussed - some libraries eliminated fines for kids, DC eliminated all fines and also has no charge for printing (with a limit of20 pages per patron). A Board member asked what the mechanism for returning books was. If a book is not returned, the patron is still billed for the item. The Director has not heard of a significant issue with people not returning their books. Auto-renewal of items was discussed and some systems are implementing that. Public safety was an issue raised by the DC Director. Two library systems reported employing off-duty police officers and sheriffs for security. There was a question if there are any similar issues at MRSPL. The director mentioned that the library has had odor issues, sleeping in the library, storing belongings in the library, and restroom problems among some of the regular issues. There are community resources including showers and restrooms at the community center that are free to the public. There are not major problems at MRSPL such as substance abuse or violence on a regular basis. About a year and a half ago, a staff member was assaulted. The Falls Church Police Department has always been very responsive and attentive to library needs. COG Directors will meet two times a year. There was a question about libraries developing apps to access library catalogs. Several libraries mentioned wanting to have a functional website on mobile devices as their priority. Arlington has their own app that was developed in house and they have dedicated staff to their website and social media. 5. LIBRARY FOUNDATION REPORT Mr. Camp gave special thanks to Ms. Oppenheimer who successfully organized the Cycle Bar Fundraiser. He informed the Board that last week the Foundation had their monthly meeting. The Foundation will continue to provide funds to cover half of the cost of Free gal and the Summer Reading Prizes. This year, the Foundation will withhold a large part of the money normally given to the library and will provide it in December of2020 when the library may need other items. The Foundation is aware that there will be no book sale while the library is in the temporary location and there may be a demand on Foundation resources to fill in the gap. The average profit from book sale is approximately $10,000 to $15,000 every fiscal year. 3  Ms. Tysse attended the Foundation meeting and she proposed the creation of a development committee. The committee consists of Don Camp, Kathleen Tysse, Suzanne Coyle and Jess Sabo, who is former library staff. This committee will be working on the Library Giving Day and increasing the Foundation's social media presence. The committee presented an excellent plan for National Library Week in April for fundraising focused on the 1501h birthday of Mary Riley Styles. Mr. Camp stated that they will try to increase the size of the donor list as it is the most valuable asset. Another item that the Foundation discussed was honoring Chet DeLong and Mary Hassan, who contributed $250K to the Foundation, in the new library. One of the ideas is naming a conference room after the honorees. Mr. DeLong accepted the honor as long as the Foundation does not raise funds in his name while he is a member of the Library Board. Ms. Tysse informed the Board that the development committee wants to celebrate the library staff on Tuesday, April gth as part of National Library Week (sponsored by ALA). The Foundation provided the committee with funds for purchasing food and treats for staff. The second event is Library Giving Day on April 101h. This event consists oftrying to raise as much money online as possible during a 24-hour period. The library will be providing bookmarks to patrons after they check out their books and the committee will utilize all the social media resources. Ms. Tysse encouraged the Library Board to spread the word about Library Giving Day. 6. COUNCIL LIAISON REPORT No report 7. STUDENT LIAISON REPORT No report 8. ARTS AND HUMANITIES COUNCIL REPORT (CATCH) No report. Ms. Oppenheimer informed the Board that their next meeting will be tomorrow. 9. LIBRARY PROJECT UPDATE Project Manager Joel Timmins reported that the preference for the exterior brick was the extruded sample for both color and cost savings; the mortar selected is an exact match. The cost savings of approximately $24,000 was not included in the value engineering exercise. The other issue for the Board to consider is the cornice. The architects have three different options: Option 1 - to replicate the existing wood cornice of the building, which does not address maintenance concerns. However, this would be the best match for the existing cornice. Option 2 is using polyurethane cornice only in the new construction. It would not match the existing wood cornice, however it would be used at different elevations so possibly not as noticeable. There would also be less maintenance for the polyurethane. Option 3 is utilizing polyurethane for new construction and replacing all of the existing cornice with polyurethane. The polyurethane cornice would be off-the-shelf and possibly smaller than the existing wood cornice. 4  The Director asked the Board for their input about the bricks and the cornice. In order for BKV to move forward, they would like to know what is more important for the Board between uniformity and maintenance. There is currently no precise cost estimate for the different cornice options. The architect would price depending on the Board's decision. Mr. Timmins mentioned that the architects assumption is that the cost of using wood in the cornice of the new construction would be almost the same cost as replacing all of the cornice with polyurethane. After discussing the different options, the Board agreed on uniformity as the highest priority (without having cost information). Addressing low maintenance by using the polyurethance cornice was also acceptable if uniform. However, the Board likes the look of the wood cornice. Mr. Timmins will ask the BKV architects to provide the pricing data for both matching the new addition to existing wood cornice and utilizing polyurethane for the entire building. As for the brick, after discussing texture and colors to match the existing brick wall of the library building, there was a consensus from the Board to go for the extruded option since it is the best color match and low cost. Mr. Timmins informed the Board that they are working with a sustainability team about what it will take to get to LEED certification and LEED silver. After the descoping of certain items: the HV AC unit, the humidifiers and the lighting controls, the library LEED rating was brought down to 1-point below being certified. The City's policy is to be LEED silver. The architects are going back and adding the rooftop unit, humidifiers, lighting controls, and trying to improve the windows to see how close they can get to LEED silver. Currently, the library is 4 points short ofLEED certification (36 points). Mr. Timmins added that LEED Certified is 40 points and LEED Silver is 50 points. The library construction is under the most recent version of LEED, which has more requirements than the previous version. The Director mentioned that it would be challenging for the library to reach LEED silver, however, with the descoping ofthe RTU units, VAVs (controls for HVAC system), humidifiers, and storm water treatment. Both the age of the building and the cost are an issue. The Board discussed the Council's feedback on the project. Members ofthe Board felt that while Council wants LEED Silver and adherence to streetscape standards, there was no comment on how to achieve that fiscally. There was agreement on Council that the library project receive the voluntary concessions and less agreement on the remaining bond issuance fees. The Director stated that she thought that the bond issuance fees were a moot point if Council agreed to issue more debt to cover the cost of the project. Council wants to move forward with construction documents and to receive a Guarantee Maximum Price (GMP) that includes the costs for LEED silver and streetscape. The Director said that Council believes the library project should not be short-changed and she was encouraged by their response. The GMP is scheduled for September and the library will be moving to the temporary location in early fall. The trailers in the temporary location will be available in July and there will be some prep work to get them ready. When the GMP is accepted, the expectation is that the library building will be ready to turn over to the CMAR. A Board member stated that there had been a question from Council as to what the building would look like if LEED and streetscape requirements were addressed and adhered to the budget. The Director stated what she told Council--that there would be no addition and only a renovation. There was also a concern that since there will not be a tax rate increase for FY2020, what would happen in September if the GMP came in higher and the CIP could not be amended. Mr. Whitfield stated that in spite of the fact that there will be no tax rate increase in FY2020, the CIP can still be amended. 5 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- -~- The Director informed the Board that she will be attending the Council meetings on April 1st and May 201h to present updates. She estimated that by May the interior design might be ready and will be presented to staff, the Board, and City Council. Mr. Peterson had a question about where the architects were with roofing. Mr. Timmins stated that slate was still in the plans. The Director stated that there were maintenance concerns for slate. It was not an item that was descoped. 10. BOARD CHAIR TERM DISCUSSION The Director provided information about bylaws of other library Boards and City boards and commissions in regards to terms of service for officers. The Board discussed the wording on how long the terms that the Chair may serve. The Director will make all the changes discussed and will bring the bylaws to the next Board meeting for a second reading and approval. 11. BUSINESS NOT ON AGENDA None 13. ADJOURNMENT There being no further business, upon a motion duly made and seconded, the Board of Trustees voted unanimously to adjourn the meeting at 8:54p.m. Respectfully submitted, 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 ofthe Americans with Disabilities ct. To request a reasonable accommodation for any type of disability, call 703-248-5032, TY 711. 6  April 3, 2019 Mary Riley Styles Public Library Board of Trustees Comments on West Falls Church Project 1. The Library Board has welcomed the City ofFalls Church's policy of requesting proffers benefiting the library from major construction projects such as Founders Row. Since West Falls Church condominiums and rentals will increase usage of the library significantly, we would welcome a similar proffer from the developer of West Falls Church. We understand that this project is different from previous construction projects in Falls Church and that the city did not request a proffer in this case. The library would welcome a voluntary contribution by the developers given the important role the library plays in the city. Such a contribution could be directly to the library or to the library's 501(c)(3) charitable foundation. This would be especially timely given the recent news of the budget shortfall pertaining to the library renovation and expansion project, which is deep into the planning process and expected to commence this summer. 2. The Library Board welcomes the efforts by the developer of West Falls Church to ensure that this new development reflects the character of the City of Falls Church. We urge that there be special efforts to acknowledge the city's Mary Riley Styles Public Library and its role in the city as part of the West Falls Church development. Such efforts could take many forms. These might include: • Acknowledging the distinctive arches of the library in some structure in the project • Designing special manhole covers or other physical objects reflecting institutions and people who have influenced the city, including Mary Riley Styles (examples of such covers: https://www.citylab.com/design/2012/02/worlds-coolest-manhole-cover-designs/1 269/) • Displaying photography or art work derived from and attributed to the library' s local history collection • Other displays as appropriate Mary Riley Styles Public Library • 120 North Virginia Avenue • Falls Church, Virginia 22046 • 703 - 248-5030 •703 -248-5144 FAX • www.fall schurchva.gov/library 7  • • rary Gi g Summary for the Library Board of Directors First Annual Library Giving Day Announced! Online fundraising drive benefits public libraries The MRSPL campaign will be launched on April 1, and will run through Library Giving Day on April 10. We hope that our Board Members will consider supporting the campaign in the following ways: * Please forward our e-mail announcements with local contacts, clubs, churches, etc: any group that might be willing to spread the word about Library Giving Day. * We will e-mail you and ask that you re-post our Facebook and Twitter announcements with the hashtag #LibraryGivingDay. Please also consider asking your local friends and contacts to re-post as well. * Please consider participating by making an online donation after 4/1! The national campaign recommends that we encourage every Board and Foundation Director to make an online donation (of any amount). Having all of the Directors participate is a powerful statement of support. Additionally it ensures that all library leadership is familiar with our online giving system. Thank you for supporting our first Library Giving Day! Please contact the Development Committee Members with questions or suggestions. National Library Week: April 8-11 National Library Workers Day: April 9 National Library Giving Day: April 10 MRSPL Foundation Development Committee Don Camp Suzanne Coyle Kathleen Tysse Jess Sabo donacamp@aol.com suzannemcoyle@gmail.com kathtysse@gmail.com jrosesabo@gmail.com ' ' . . MARY RILEY STYLES PUBLIC LIBRARY BOARD OF TRUSTEES MEETING March, 20 2019 SIGN-IN SHEET NAME ADDRESS EMAIL jJ1fW\lW~ l{to)'), VVbJe_Ae_ r::;jJS~ ~~~fAIV'ws ~!cwt~Iv ~ PL't e- ~ h;1-.(' c!t-J 3t'O /{. r- k /+v(, ~~ /> t'Avl't4 ~vvA ,:+H&lde-fJ&,AI/ chi/. L\M\t\ ~1\\ ~.4 '!iJ() YtAIIL ~\k_ f~ lWI-,I\ ().vzl@,~/fsr ~()~ hvo ,cJ fADLV~ Brr,t/\ ~ ILt [\A~c\ '0--lt ~-\- r~ ~0?reU\__02_.Avl~ U>M I Page 1