Library Board

October 21, 2013 Board Member Larry Jirsak called the meeting to order at 4:07 p.m. in the library board room with the following members present: Larry Jirsak, Connie Schmeichel, Cindy Slykhuis, Jan Therien 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, online at www.fremontne.gov/library and distributed and emailed to the Library Board members on October 16, 2013 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. Board Member Therien moved to approve the minutes of the regular meeting on September 16, 2013. Board Member Schmeichel seconded the motion. Carried. Unfinished Business – Library Cards for Residents of Somers Point Apartments: Discussion centered on the fact that Somers Point Apartments are Fremont Housing Authority properties and provide homes to low income seniors. Board Member Schmeichel moved that residents of Somers Point Apartments be eligible for Library Cards with no fee. Board Member Therien seconded the motion and it was approved unanimously. New Business – Board Calendar: Director Davenport provided an example of a calendar with Board meetings, Board specific activities and Library recognition events. Members suggested adding Friends events, and Programming. It was suggested this be established on a webpage created to provide Board information. Library Message – Who We Are and What We Do: Board members presented several examples of what the library provides: Prime Time, knowledgeable staff, community space, childhood literacy, book clubs, keeping up with technology and something for everyone. These concepts can be used to inform the various groups and individuals the Board talks with about the library as we work toward creating a message for the library. Year End Statistical Review: Yearend statistics reveal declining circulation, but increasing library use. Director Davenport pointed out this is in keeping with national trends. Use of electronic materials is increasing. Statistic collection is being reviewed and additional information on electronics use and on community use will be included in this year’s collection. The Board requested a total of registered borrowers be shown in addition to new registrations. Article “The Library as Catalyst for Civic Engagement” (sent on October 9th): Board members indicated they appreciated receiving articles such as this and ask the Director to continue to send other articles she believes they will find interesting. Appointment for New Liaison to the Friends of Keene Memorial Library: Board Member Jirsak agreed to continue as Board Liaison to the Friends of the Keene Memorial. Director’s Report  Gail Formanack the new executive director of the Eastern Library System will visit the library on September 18 as she gets to know libraries served by the System.  Laura England-Biggs has been elected to serve on the Board of the Eastern Library system  Improvement projects have been completed. New chairs funded by the Friends of the Library and the Keno Matching Grant have arrived. Landscape projects to fill in the beds beside the library and renovate the plantings around the east building have been completed.  Request for quotations on snow removal have been sent.  The Vestibule Project bids were opened and the recommended contractor was Gifford Realty. The base bid was $26,300 with 2 alternatives. Alternative A  was $2,800 adding heating units to both the vestibule under construction and the existing west vestibule. Alternate B was $1975, provides for purchasing a new handicapped control mechanism for the east door if the existing cannot be reprogrammed. The project bids came in well under budget. The award of the project to Gifford Realty will be on the City Council Agenda October 29th. Work will be done some time in later fall. During that time there will be limited access to the east doors which are our primary entrance. The work is required to be completed in under 2 weeks to limit the disruption.  Laura England Biggs and I have attended two conferences in late September and October. The Association for Small and Rural Libraries held their national conference in Omaha on September 26-27. Nebraska Library Association met in Kearney October 9, 10 and 11. Ms. England-Biggs presented at the conference.  We have had a high turnover in library aides as individuals moved on to other employment. We have interviewed and have 2 new employees starting on October 28.  The Fremont Early Childhood Coalition is working with NET on a project, “Fremont Ready to Read”. They will hold a kickoff event on November 14 to introduce families to the PBS children’s early learning apps for iPad, iPhone and other devices. The library will participate in the project as a public access point for using apps on iPads we will be purchasing for use within the library.  Keene Memorial Library’s One Book Nebraska programming is going well. Our first 2 programs were well received. The last two programs, showing the Hallmark movie of O’Pioneers on October 19th and Nebraska in Song and Story by Dan Holtz will be October 24th  Our second Prime Time Family Reading Time program is underway. We have had 2 programs and have a group of 18 participants.  Beth Maline a student of the UNO library sciences program has been interning at the library and assisting with programming events. Following is the report of the Library Director for September, 2013: September September Year to Year to 2013 2012 Date Date 2012-13 2011-12 No. of items issued: 10,627 11,484 138,249 153,880 Attendance: 9,751 10,002 123,815 120,468 Days Open: 29 29 Av. Daily Circulation: 390 Av. Daily Attendance: 349 Reference Questions: 315 404 4,138 6,400 Database Searches: 2,533 793 15,462 7,954 Overdrive (downloadable bks) 544 387 5,608 3,839 Interlibrary Loans: 74 95 1,017 1,252 Borrowed 12 10 109 133 Lent 62 85 908 1,119 Meeting Held: 63 79 941 942 Internet/Computer Use: 2,780 3,062 32,480 32,912 Items Added: 531 Items Discarded: 357 Vol. in Collection: 96,416 Friends of the Library’s Report – The Friends of the Library will be hosting a Chamber of Commerce Coffee on Tuesday November 19. The Board is invited to attend. Board Member Slykhuis moved to adjourn and Board Member Therien seconded, with no further business, meeting was adjourned at 5:34 p.m. (Signed) by Janet Davenport, Library Director