Library Board

July 20, 2015 Board President Larry Jirsak called the meeting to order at 3:30 p.m. in the library board room with the following members present: Larry Jirsak, Jan Therien, and Connie Schmeichel. Also present were Library Director Janet Davenport. The meeting was preceded by publicized notice in the Fremont Tribune 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 July 17, 2015 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 May 18, 2015, Board Member Schmeichel seconded the motion. Carried. Library Staff Member Visit – Jess Hill, Library Assistant III - Youth Services Jess Hill told the Board about her duties working with youth and young adults at the library. The Board was interested in her background, raised in Fremont, and education at Ashland College in Wisconsin. When asked about her favorite children’s books Jess had a hard time selecting one. As Jess was shift manager on duty over the previous weekend when a fight between two customers necessitated calling the police in Board members asked her about that event. The board expressed appreciation to Jess for the excellent work she does for the library and community. Unfinished business – E-Reader Circulation Policy and Procedures – After some test checkouts to selected customers, the library is prepared to start circulating 10 Kindle Fires purchased for that purpose, funded by the Friends of the Library, A Trust. The Policy on Circulation of E- Readers was reviewed in preparation for the implementation. Board Member Therien asked about training classes for customers. Director Davenport indicated there would be classes as well as individual introductions by staff members as outlined in the policy. New Business – Election of Officers - Board Member Therien moved that the existing slate of officers be nominated to continue for the coming year. They are President – Larry Jirsak, Vice President – Connie Schmeichel and Secretary – Jan Therien. Board Member Schmeichel seconded the motion. Carried. Library Budget - Director Davenport provided copies of the budget request as submitted to the City Finance Department for the Board to review. The request maintains existing levels of services and expenditures with increases to account for inflation. An increase of $5,000 was requested for the materials line for each of the two years covered in the budget. Director Davenport reported indicated the City Administrator had indicated the library’s requests for small changes in staff classifications in the personal services would not be funded. Reviewing the estimated year end expenditures the Board requested Director Davenport work to keep expenditures close to the budgeted amount. Following is the report of the Library Director for June, 2015: June June Year to Year to 2015 2014 Date Date 2014-15 2013-14 No. of items issued: 13,881 15,472 99,350 103,912 Attendance: N/A 10,474 N/A 50,307 Days Open: 30 30 Av. Daily Circulation: 463 516 Av. Daily Attendance: N/A 349 Reference Questions: 281 346 2,768 2,778 Web Visits: 1,809 1,610 12,746 11,430 On-line Learning Sessions: 23 55 164 232 Database Searches: 1,654 3,603 22,252 41,364 Internet/Computer Use: 2,211 2,526 17,928 20,157 Interlibrary Loans: 74 63 714 794 Borrowed 13 7 95 139 Lent 61 56 619 655 Meeting Held: 75 75 637 637 Items Added: 708 Items Discarded: 1,396 Vol. in Collection: 106,280 **Attendance is unavailable at this time, will update when it becomes available. Director Report: News  The visit of OverDrive’s Digital Bookmobile on Friday June 19th, drew 45 visitors to learn about e-books and e-readers. Library staff was available at a booth to assist customers with information about Keene Memorial Library’s e-resources as well.  Using a new module of the Horizon Software, “Mobile Circ” we were able to wirelessly register our first borrower via iPad at the Digital Bookmobile event.   The dedication ceremony returning the La Brezza statue to the library took place the morning of Saturday July 11, Friends of the Library President Janet Lowe served as master of ceremonies and Daniel Christiensen and Stephanie Cattlet , from the Facebook group “You Know you Grew Up in Fremont When…” spoke about their memories of La Brezza and performed the unveiling. The event had an audience of 45 including Pete Wroblewski, a bronze artist the Friends had commissioned to clean and refurbish La Brezza, former Library Directors William McDermott and Ann Stephens and the daughter of Wilma Tiegler, Paula Tiegler Baack.  The Friends of the Library’s annual J.C. Fremont Days activity was themed “Frozen Lemonade on the Lawn” was also held July 11. The afternoon event featured games and crafts with a “Frozen” theme, a princess fashion show and refreshments. The event was well attended with approximately 250 participants.  The two Friends activities in one day were well organized and carried out by Jan Kruse, Mary Lou Carlson, Pam Primm and Vicki Hunzeker as well as other Friends Board members and volunteers. Their hard work and strong support are so important to the Keene Memorial Library and personally greatly appreciated.  The Fremont Area United Way has let me know they will be honoring Keene Memorial Library as one of their Literacy Champions at their annual “Hats off to Literacy” Luncheon. The luncheon is on Tuesday July 28th. Our two youth service staffers, Laura England-Biggs and Jess Hill, will join me at the luncheon.  The TRIP paranormal event, scheduled for July 16, has been postponed to a later date.  Programing for the Summer Reading Program has drawn to a close with the “Stuffed Animal Sleepover” on Friday July 17. Reading for the program is continuing through August 31 with prizes available into the first week of September. We have 220 youth participating and an additional 25 adults. They have read 5,999 books. Attendance at the Monday Programs was 1,700. I will have additional statistics on the program to date at the meeting.  A small team working on programming for adults has met with Dorlissa Beyer now on staff. Kelly Olson, Barb Bandlow, Dorlissa and I are planning for more events this coming fall. One Book, One Nebraska, and a Humanities speaker are in planning stages. We will try offering computer classes before the library opens on Monday and after closing on Sunday using the public computer stations. Personnel  We have had two resignations of Library Aides and are advertising for applicants. Facilities  Refurbishing the terrazzo floor in the central walk way of the library will start on Friday August 7th or Saturday August 8th. Work will be done after hours and is expected to take no longer than a week.   The parts are on order to replace a faulty igniter in one of the boilers which is hoped to remedy the cold temperature issues in some parts of the library. Mark Your Calendars  Jerry Barlow, Celtic guitarist, returns on Wednesday September 9th.  A Screening of the film “Consider the Alternative” from Nebraska Loves Public Schools will take place on Wednesday September 16 at 7 pm. The screening will be followed by a discussion. This will be marked as the first of an irregular “Community Conversations” series of programs. Friends of the Library’s Report – The “Frozen Lemonade on the Lawn” event on July 11 was a success and drew a large attendance. Board Member Therien, having attended with a grandchild, commented on how well done the event was. The La Brezza dedication was also successful with over 40 in attendance. Board Member Schmeichel moved to adjourn and Board Member Therien seconded, with no further business, meeting was adjourned at 4:44 p.m. (Signed) by Janet Davenport, Library Director