Parks and Recreation - Advisory Board

Minutes of the meeting of the Mount Vernon City Library Board of Trustees April 3, 2014 Board members present: Bill Craig, Carrie Odlin, Marija Anderson and Laura Riquelme. Excused absence: Sharon Sackett. Library staff present: Director Brian Soneda and Deputy Director Sara Holahan. A. Call to order: Mr. Craig called the meeting to order at 5:30 PM. Mr. Soneda requested addition of item “Computer Use Policy revision, First Reading” to the agenda. B. Approval of minutes from the March 6, 2014 meeting: Ms. Riquelme moved that the minutes of the March 6, 2014 meeting be approved as submitted. Ms. Anderson seconded the motion; all were in favor. C. Visitors: There were no visitors present. D. Surplus material: Ms. Riquelme moved that items withdrawn between March 5 and March 26, 2014, be declared surplus and transferred to the Friends of the Mount Vernon Library. Ms. Odlin seconded the motion; all were in favor. E. Budget Reports: Ms. Soneda noted spending was overall roughly on track for the year, with some lines slightly skewed by the main purchase in that line coming early in the year, referencing some of the computer-related lines. He also noted that spending in the Salaries Part Time Employees line was comfortably within budget so far; at this time last year overspending in that line was becoming very apparent. Ms. Anderson asked about possible reasons for this improvement. Mr. Soneda mentioned several, including stronger efforts on his and staff’s part to address the problem in this line from 2013, some early year staff turnover and thus several short periods of positions being vacant before being refilled, and the slightly bigger allocation to this line in 2014. F. Approval of Disbursements: Ms. Odlin asked if the $8,000+ disbursement from the Digital Content line was an example of a big purchase and a line “slightly skewed” by an early in the year purchase; Mr. Soneda responded that this was an excellent example. Ms. Odlin then moved that disbursements from Period 3 in the amount of $25,973.85 be certified as reviewed. Ms. Anderson seconded the motion; all were in favor. G. Monthly statistical reports: Mr. Soneda reported that several statistics from March 2014 continued a pattern of lagging behind corresponding numbers from 2013. In particular, circulation was down for the third month in a row of the year corresponding to the previous year. Mr. Soneda repeated earlier comments that many libraries across the country were seeing some decline in circulation statistics from a high of a two to three years back, and that most library professionals believed that this was at least in part due 1 to the truism that hard times tended to support rising library use and better times tended to feature decreasing library use, as patrons had increased discretionary income and the “free” resources of the library had less allure to many in those better times. H. Director’s Reports: a. Computer Use Policy revision, First Reading. Mr. Soneda presented for first reading the draft of a Computer Use Policy revision prepared by Electronic Resources Librarian Michael Thompson, with library Tech Committee input. Mr. Soneda noted that some changes to the policy were necessary due to new and simpler ways that patrons could register for and regularly access both hardwired computers and WiFi. Since these changes needed to be made, it was also a good time to address some quirky language in the policy as well. As this was a first reading, there was only a short discussion; Ms. Riquelme did make a wording change suggestion that Mr. Soneda noted he would take back to staff for study. He also invited any further thoughts on suggested wording changes trustees might have that could be incorporated into a further revision of the policy to be brought back to the May meeting for second reading and potential final approval. Ms. Holahan left the meeting to attend another meeting at this time; Mr. Soneda asked Ms. Holahan to send Library Specialist Charlene Patten in on the pretext that an issue needing her attention had come up. Mr. Soneda actually wanted Ms. Patten to have an opportunity to say good-bye to trustees and vice-versa, as this would be the last time she did meeting prep for a Board meeting before her departure from library staff on April 11. Mr. Soneda and the trustees expressed appreciation for the great work and attention to detail Ms. Patten brought to her tasks in meeting prep as well as to her accounts payable role. Ms. Patten thanked Mr. Soneda and the trustees for the opportunity. b. WLA Institutional Membership renewal. Mr. Soneda requested that the board support and vote approval for renewal of the library’s Washington Library Association Institutional Membership. He noted that the 2014 dues would amount to $460.59 and that he considered library support of WLA a crucial professional responsibility, as WLA did so much to promote staff training, networking and library issue advocacy. Mr. Soneda shared that in his time as WLA President, his hardest and proudest efforts were on behalf of work to convince every director of every library that WLA institutional membership was an essential professional requirement of every library. He noted that while he had some notable successes in those efforts he certainly had some notable failures as well. Ms. Riquelme added that in her field (legal profession) as well as in all professions, membership in and support of that field’s professional associations was indeed a responsibility. Ms. Riquelme then moved that the Board vote approval of the Library’s 2014 Institutional Membership in WLA. Ms. Anderson seconded the motion; all were in favor. c. New Library planning update. Mr. Soneda reminded trustees about the April 10 events and asked for confirmation of attendance by trustees at the core stakeholders meeting at 3 PM that day. Ms. Odlin and Ms. Riquelme confirmed 2  their intent to attend. Mr. Craig had a work conflict and his attendance was very unlikely. Ms. Anderson might be able to attend, but with a new staff member in the Finance Department in a very early and crucial training stage, she could not commit to attendance with any certainty. Mr. Soneda thanked trustees for their support and noted that the evening’s public open house following the core stakeholders meeting would also be a good opportunity to be part of the process as well as part of the “celebration” of how far down the road the new library effort has come from the beginning days of the Sonya Beard pledge and the founding of the Library Foundation back in 2010. Ms. Odlin agreed that the open house was an appropriate celebration of a “significant milestone” in the road to a new library. d. 2014 Calendar of trustee library support opportunities. Mr. Soneda brought the 2014 calendar of library support opportunities back to the trustees with more precise information on location and time of the events incorporated into the calendar. Mr. Craig and Ms. Riquelme stated their intent to be present at the first of the upcoming opportunities, the April 9 City Council request by Mr. Soneda for a mayoral proclamation of National Library Week. Mr. Soneda concluded by asking trustees to consider helping out at two upcoming library support opportunities, the Friends Book Sale on April 25-26 and the library booth at the Mount Vernon Farmers Market, every other Saturday starting on May 31, and gave an early mention to an evolving and very promising “Read the Book, See the Movie” partnership with the Lincoln Theater and the Elks Club for a July showing of the first two movies in The Hobbit series. e. Staffing update. Mr. Soneda reported that Melisa Kosmal had been hired as a part-time Public Services Assistant I with primary duties in circulation. With the resignation of Charlene Patten as of April 11, Mike Bonacci had been selected to fill the soon to be vacated slot of full-time Library Specialist as of April 14. Interviews for applicants to fill Mr. Bonacci’s current role as part-time Technical Services Assistant II were being held the week of April 7. I. Around the Table: Ms. Anderson stated that she “would really miss” Ms. Patten, who was a resource not just to the library but also to the Finance Department in her role as primary daily link between the two departments. Ms. Anderson said she had something on her mind, that several years back she had talked to then Mayor Bud Norris about how impressive and beautiful Coeur D’Alene’s waterfront was and that Mr. Norris had been very receptive to this idea working in Mount Vernon along the Skagit riverside. While Mayor Boudreau and many others had done great work in recent years in getting the Riverwalk/Flood Protection project from dream to near reality, Ms. Anderson wanted to note Mr. Norris’s early and important efforts in the project. Mr. Soneda related his attendance at the groundbreaking ceremony for Phase II of the project, where Mayor Boudreau had some very gracious words to say acknowledging former Mayor Norris’s role. 3  Ms. Riquelme noted how important and good it was that the project in effect shifted downtown Mount Vernon’s perspective from “back to the river” to “overlooking the river.” Ms. Odlin agreed that this was positive but noted how understandable it was that longtime residents such as her would tend to look at the Skagit River in a sometimes adversarial way that contributed to the “back to the river” attitude. Anyone who had participated in major flood fights would be foolish not to be wary of the river in addition to being appreciative of its beauty. J. Board Chair’s Report: Mr. Craig mentioned some upcoming Tulip Festival events he was involved in, the Tulip Pedal and the Salmon Barbecue at Hillcrest Lodge. On the issue of enhanced water/riverfronts and what they could mean to a community, he noted that Boise and San Antonio were rightfully noted for the way they came to terms with their rivers in ways that made the cities national attractions. Referencing the Read the Book, See the Movie concept, Mr. Craig made a pitch for a Captain America version of that program. Mr. Soneda noted that both the original library led effort (Harry Potter) and the upcoming effort (The Hobbit) had roots in acclaimed works of literature, and that the Captain America comics probably fell short of that bar. Ms. Odlin and Ms. Requelme both spoke in response to the value of comics and graphic novels in drawing reluctant readers into reading and lifelong literacy; Ms. Odlin noted that her brother went from confirmed and potentially permanent reluctant-reader status into avid reader via television’s Star Trek: the Next Generation and then the numerous books written that followed and extrapolated on the TV episodes. She drew a clear line from her brother’s current great success in the computer field back to voracious reading that began with comic books. Mr. Soneda somewhat sheepishly stood down from his possibly elitist comments about Captain America and fully acknowledged that anything that brought children and adults for that matter from non-reader or reluctant reader status into lifelong reader status was something that libraries and librarians should support. On that theme Mr. Craig put in a plug for the annual Free Comic Book Day; Ms. Odlin reminded all that it was on Saturday, May 3, and that the library was a participant in that program. K. Adjournment: There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 6:38 PM. The next meeting of the board of trustees will be on Tuesday, May 6, 2014, at 5:30 PM at the library. Minutes by Brian Soneda, Library Director 4