Library Board

April 18, 2016 Board President Larry Jirsak called the meeting to order at 3:37 p.m. in the library board room with the following members present: Larry Jirsak, Lori Dahl and Connie Schmeichel. Also present was Interim Library Director Laura England-Biggs. 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 April 13, 2016 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 Schmeichel moved to approve the minutes of the regular meeting on February 15 , 2015, Board Member Dahl seconded the motion. Carried. Unfinished business – Library Director Search – The candidate who was offered the position turned it down. We will continue our search with an advertisement appearing in the American Library Association jobs listings. As of this afternoon, there are 5 applications on file at Human Resources. Library Projects – The library has ordered four titles from the Great Courses catalog. Board Chair Jirsak suggested that the Friends might be asked to pay that bill as part of the next request. PRIME TIME Family Reading Time wrapped up another successful session last week. Computer classes in Spanish will be offered at the Library over the next two weeks as part of a joint project with the Center for Rural Affairs' Rural Enterprise Assistance Project (REAP) Latino Business Center. A new project library staff are working on is the Fantastic Future Me tour. This traveling exhibit will be installed from May through August at the library. It is a traveling version of the FFM exhibit at the Omaha Children’s Museum and is aimed at children of all ages. The exhibit gets them thinking about what they want to be when they grow up. Along with the career exploration, parents are encouraged to invest in their children’s education with a NEST (Nebraska Educational Savings Trust) account. Fremont was identified by the State Treasurer as a community with low participation in the NEST program, and that’s why we are hosting the exhibit. Volunteer Policy – The group reviewed the proposed policy. Board Member Schmeichel made a motion to accept the policy as written. Board Member Dahl seconded. Carried. New Business – Wall Project – the wall on the southeast corner of our property has sustained damage and is crumbling into our neighbor’s yard. Interim Director England-Biggs is working with City Engineers to create a drawing of the replacement wall and obtain bids for the work. It was suggested that this might be a good project for the Friends to fund as it is tangible and permanent. Every Student Needs a Card – Homeschoolers – After discussion, it was decided to leave these cards to the Director’s discretion on a case-by-case basis. New Board Member – Board Member Dahl shared the news that Shari Kment was appointed to the Library Board back in January. Because of the turmoil that was going on, the news was never shared with the Library. Director England-Biggs will track down contact information for Ms. Kment and invite her to the next board meeting. Following is the report of the Library Director for February, 2016: February February Year to Year to 2016 2015 Date Date 2015-16 2014-15 No. of items issued: 10,049 10,556 52,732 54,143 Attendance:** N/A 7,073 N/A 37,466  Days Open: 29 28 Av. Daily Circulation: 347 253 Av. Daily Attendance: Reference Questions: 256 403 1,102 1,478 Web Visits: 1,175 1,395 5,997 6,373 On-Line Learning Sessions: 17 2 140 64 Database Searches: 11,270 1,554 58,259 10,858 Internet/Computer Use: 1,783 1,842 9.297 9,788 Interlibrary Loans: 71 84 372 384 Borrowed 13 11 38 46 Lent 58 73 334 338 Meeting Held: 79 78 362 341 Items Added: 241 Items Discarded: 2,289 Vol. in Collection: 102,543 **Attendance not available at this time. Following is the report of the Library Director for March, 2016: March March Year to Year to 2016 2015 Date Date 2015-16 2014-15 No. of items issued: 11,241 9,941 63,973 64,084 Attendance:** N/A 7,876 N/A 45,342 Days Open: 30 31 Av. Daily Circulation: 375 321 Av. Daily Attendance: Reference Questions: 222 348 1,324 1,826 Web Visits: 1,117 1,569 7,114 7,942 On-line Learning Sessions: 54 37 194 101 Database Searches: 12,655 4,229 70,914 15,090 Internet/Computer Use: 2,152 2,087 11,449 11,875 Interlibrary Loans: 80 73 452 457 Borrowed 8 13 46 59 Lent 72 60 406 398 Meeting Held: 77 64 439 402 Items Added: 474 Items Discarded: 502 Vol. in Collection: 102,515 **Attendance is unavailable at this time. DIRECTOR’S REPORT February 8: Prime Time Family Reading Time meeting, PT agreement approved by Council and sent in. February 19: Milliken Park was the first third grade tour February 25: worked on refreshing JTAcq ordering software skills March 2: City Staff meeting March 4: Read Across America at Bennington for Susan Allen March 8: Fire Alarm Inspection took place March 21 & 23: Day in the Past at May Museum (telling story of how Fremont got its first library) March 24: Vacation day April 14: PRIME TIME Family Reading Time session wrapped up another successful program run  Lawn Service and Sprinkler Service are out for bids  Elevator inspection was scheduled for April 18  Tracy Parr (new Senior Office Associate) started today  Pinwheels in the lawn are from the Bridge, represent the number of children served in Dodge County last year (approximately 240)  Getting ready to launch Beanstack, new Summer Reading Program software for this year Staff sharing duties during transition  Kelly has been pulling money  Dorlissa has been receiving books and magazines  Jess helped planning Ready for Kindergarten storytimes  Bob is taking care of the postage meter postage refills  Laura has been doing deposits and ordering  Bert has been back part time to help with invoicing and requisitions Friends of the Library’s Report – The Book Sale was another success, bringing in over $12,000 again this year. The Friends turned down a request to fund the ad in ALA for the library director’s position, citing the belief that this should be funded by the City. That ad is running currently, and was charged to the library’s advertising budget. We hope to have information on the Wall Project in time for the May 2 Friends Board meeting. Board Member Schmeichel moved to adjourn and Board Member Dahl seconded, with no further business, meeting was adjourned at 4:35 p.m. (Signed) by Laura England-Biggs, Interim Library Director