Library Board

March 19, 2012 Board President Jirsak called the meeting to order at 6:00 p.m. in the library board room with the following members present: Larry Jirsak, Connie Schmeichel, Courtney Fedde, Sheila Sookram and Jenice Wolfe. Also present was Director Janet Davenport. The meeting was preceded by publicized notice in the Fremont Tribune and Radio KHUB and the agenda displayed in the municipal building, the Keene Memorial Library, Fremont Police Station and the Dodge County Courthouse and distributed and emailed to the Library Board members on March 14, 2012 and is open to the public. A copy of the open meeting law is posted continually for public inspection and is located near the entrance to the Board Room. Moved by Board Member Schmeichel and seconded by Board Member Fedde to approve the legality of the meeting. Carried. Approval of the February 20th meeting has been moved to April’s meeting. Unfinished Business –Board By-Laws: Revisions to the Bylaws of the Keene Memorial Library Board of Trustees were presented for review at the previous Library Board Meeting, February 20, 2012 and presented for action at this meeting. Board Member Schmeichel moved their approval and Board Member Fedde Seconded the motion. The revised Bylaws were adopted unanimously. Library Board Meeting Times: Meeting times were discussed after discussion it was determined the Board preference was to return to the 10:00 a.m. time which had been tried for several months at the end of 2011. Board Member Schmeichel moved the Library Board meeting time be moved to 10:00 a.m. on the Third Monday of the Month. Board Member Wolfe seconded the motion. The motion was approved. New Business – Every Child Ready to Read: Director Davenport presented information on this early literacy program a project of the Public Library Association. Keene Library plans to begin using this program in September of 2012. With the Every Child Ready to Read program the library will offer a series of workshops for parents and care givers which teach techniques that help babies and toddlers learn the skills that build a base on which reading skills will be built. Youth Services Librarian Laura England-Biggs has attended a workshop on the program and is excited to be introducing it in Fremont. Library Board members were please with project and supportive of its introduction as a Keene Memorial Library program. Library Director Report An oral report was given to the Board with this written report to follow up. The overgrown shrubs had been removed and planning is going forward to remove the wall that separates the two parking areas in the east. The wall is in disrepair and blocks the view of the second parking lot which can be a security risk. It will be removed in sometime this coming fall.  The first “Rotary Reads” program was a success, although there were more readers than children all enjoyed the event. The Friends of the Library will be requesting grants for two different projects. One would pay for new landscaping now that the shrubs have been removed; a $3,000 request. The other will replace children’s area furnishings and add colorful whimsical furnishing; a $5,000 request. The city is migrating its web site to a new version of the CivicPlus software. As a result the library pages will also have a new look toward the end of April. An example of the new library home page was shared with the Board. Laura England-Biggs, Youth Services staff and her team are conducting tours for Fremont 3rd Graders. This is done annually and is a part of the schools social studies curriculum. National Library Week is April 8-14. Keene Memorial Library will have festivities all week including a “Cookie Kickoff” with balloons, cookies, face painting and one of the special readers for the week. Afterschool story time will feature guest readers from 4- 4:30 each week day afternoon. Saturday we will have a ”Music in the Library” performance. Over the course of the week there will be an online trivia contest and a “Make your own Book Mark” contest. A sheet providing statistical information on Nebraska’s libraries was shared with the Board. The Public Library Association met in Philadelphia the previous week, March 13-17. I (Janet) was able to attend and Nancy Black a part time library aide and library school student was able to attend on a scholarship through the Nebraska Library Commission. It was a fun and educational event. My April Director’s Report will provide more information. The outsourcing of Cataloging activities to create cost reductions has had several problems. It was determined we could not use the less expensive OCLC module for this process and are returning to the full cataloging module. The Friends Book Sale is coming up in April, April 12-15. I am looking forward to my first opportunity to attend this event. Following is the report of the Library Director for February, 2012: February February Year to Date: Oct. Year to Date: Oct. 2012 2011 2011-Feb. 2012 2010-Feb. 2011 No. of items issued: 12,158 11,914 60,117 63,959 Attendance: 10,218 9,882 47,554 49,617 Days Open: 28 28 Av. Daily Circulation: 434 426 Av. Daily Attendance: 365 353 Reference Questions: 624 445 2,449 1,913 Magazine Articles Accessed: 0 0 17 13 Database Searches: 27 670 1,822 2,274 Overdrive (downloadable bks) 320 134 1,405 693 Interlibrary Loans: 124 88 520 528 Borrowed 10 9 38 75 Lent 114 79 482 453 Meeting Held: 67 95 398 314 Internet/Computer Use: 2,560 2,377 12,820 12,698 Items Added: 226 Items Discarded: 184 Vol. in Collection: 94,096 Friends of the Library’s Report – No report With no further business, Board Member Schmeichel made a motion and Board Member Fedde to adjourn at 6:49 p.m. Carried (Signed) by Janet Davenport, Library Director