Library Board

Minutes of the meeting of the Mount Vernon City Library Board of Trustees February 6, 2014 Board members present: Bill Craig, Carrie Odlin, Marija Anderson, Sharon Sackett and Laura Riquelme. 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. B. Approval of minutes from the January 7, 2014 meeting: Ms. Riquelme moved that the minutes of the January 7, 2013 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 Riquelme moved that items withdrawn between January 4 and January 29, 2014, be declared surplus and transferred to the Friends of the Mount Vernon Library.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: Mr. Soneda noted that it was very early in the budget year and that it was hard to look at trends at this early point but that things looked fine. Mr. Craig noted that the library budget for 2013 ended up 98.5% spent out. He further asked if any specific lines that were overspent were officially adjusted in late 2013; Mr. Soneda responded in the negative and Ms. Anderson added that this was the norm as unless there was a very significant overspending in a line, Finance Department did not favor such adjustments, as long as the bottom line for the department was not overspent. F. Approval of Disbursements: Mr. Soneda noted that there would be need for two motions, as the two runs were for separate years (Run 13 from 2013 and Run 1 from 2014). Ms. Anderson explained the normal run sequence (two per month) and further explained the different status for this set of motions. Ms. Sackett then moved that disbursements from Period 13 of 2013 in the amount of $15,841.41 be certified as reviewed. Ms.Odlin seconded the motion; all were in favor. Ms. Riquelme then moved that disbursements from Period 1 of 2014 in the amount of $1,520.69 be certified as reviewed. Ms.Sackett seconded the motion; all were in favor. G. Monthly statistical reports: Mr. Soneda noted that many of the numbers in the January report were “frankly disappointing” including Items Circulated and In-House Use. Ms. Requelme asked for a definition of In-House Use, which Mr. Soneda described as items pulled off the shelf and used but not checked out. He noted that it was a manually kept statistic. Ms. Sackett noted that some other statistics fared much better, such as Library Attendance and the computer use related statistics. Ms. Requelme asked about the statistic for Tests Proctored; Mr. Soneda responded that while staff did not 1 proctor a lot of tests over a year, it was certainly a valued service to offer both students and educational institutions looking for a trusted and professional site for proctoring. H. Director’s Reports: a. Early Learning Public Library Partnership. Mr. Soneda presented a request to renew the library’s ELPLP membership, which would total $307.00 for 2014. He noted that the library was a charter member of the partnership, which was established in 2007 as a way to “make sure public libraries in Washington had a seat at all Early Learning tables” and that in that time ELPLP had accomplished much in increasing public library clout at such tables. Ms. Requelme stated that she recognized the advocacy value but did ELPLP also provide other benefits such as training? Mr. Soneda thanked Ms. Requelme for the question because it reminded him to speak to the value of ELPLP’s annual symposium, which brought experts in Early Learning from both inside and outside the library world together for staff members of ELPLP libraries to attend. He had attended once and other staff members had attended as well in past years and always found the symposium of great value. Most but not all public libraries in the state were members, up from 17 charter members in 2007 to 30 currently. He added that as a charter member and as an elected officer in the Washington Library Association he had always encouraged non-member library directors to join ELPLP. Ms. Requelme moved that the Board approve payment upon receipt of invoice for the library’s 2014 membership in ELPLP. Ms. Sackett seconded the motion; all were in favor. b. New Library planning update. Mr. Soneda reported things were firming up with the Needs Assessment/Feasibility Study schedule and that he expected to have some confirmed dates for when the consultants (SHKS Architects) would be in Mount Vernon to meet with core stakeholders as well as the general public. The City’s Community and Economic Development Director, Jana Hanson, and Mr. Soneda will meet with SHKS staff on February 14, in Seattle. Mr. Soneda shared that library staff and library stake holders would need to be very visible and “out there” during the course of the Needs Assessment to get the very best community input into the process. He noted that the library would be at Farmers Market more often (every other Saturday) and in a more high profile way over the course of the Market season as part of this high visibility effort. c. The “Bookless Library” and other ideas. Mr. Soneda noted the starting point of this discussion was the news of the bookless library in Texas, but that as Mr. Craig had shared, no one was advocating for a completely bookless library here, but rather that it was in the library’s interest to be very open minded and forward looking on new ways of providing services the public desired. Being able to evolve at a fairly rapid pace was important; Mr. Craig referenced the demise of Blockbuster as an example of a business that was not able to evolve with changing technology and customer expectations. Several trustees advocated for more computers in the library, including laptops or tablets. Ms. Requelme expressed support for the idea of checking out iPads or other tablets to the public. 2  Mr. Craig added that this might be feasible based on the experience of his son at school; in the grant funded program that provided an iPad for each class member, he was not aware of any loss or damage to an iPad, which spoke both to student/family responsibility and the sturdiness of tablets these days. d. Staffing update. Ms. Holahan announced the very recent selection of Charlene Patten as the new Library Assistant. After interviewing the six in-house applicants from the library’s part-time staff, Ms. Patten was the choice of a three person interview committee of Ms. Holahan, Mr. Soneda and City HR Director, Kandy Bartlett. Ms. Patten’s first official work day in the position would be February 18. Ms. Holahan and Mr. Soneda both commended all six applicants on presenting themselves very well and bringing some very creative programming and service ideas to their interviews. Mr. Soneda added that he was committed to following through in 2014 on the best of these ideas with the help of the originators of the ideas. Ms. Holahan noted that the internal hire of Ms. Patten meant that her twenty hour part-time slot (although not most of her current job duties, as some of them would travel with her to her new position) on staff needed to be posted and filled as soon as possible. e. other. Mr. Soneda referenced his inclusion in the clippings compilation of the Skagit Valley Herald story on the passing of Herald photographer, Frank Varga. He noted that Mr. Varga in his library-related photos over the years had not just taken excellent pictures, he had spent much time and effort in getting the photo right, including talking with Mr. Soneda about exactly what he envisioned as the perfect photograph. Mr. Soneda stated that he didn’t just see this as the Herald losing a staff member and a real professional; he saw this also as the library losing a friend. Mr. Soneda then noted that the trustee training featuring Washington State Library staff member Carolyn Petersen had been rescheduled from April 26 to May 10, with the training still at the Burlington Public Library. The move was necessitated by the overload of activities on April 26, including the Tulip Festival Street Fair and the Friends of the Library Spring Book Sale. I. Around the Table: Ms. Riquelme asked how one went about getting email notifications about upcoming library programs and events. Mr. Soneda responded that it was an opt- in feature that could be accessed on the library webpage and that he had signed up to receive updates about things like upcoming library programs and library board meeting minutes. Ms. Odlin passed. Ms. Sackett asked about the 2014 Library Board meeting schedule; Mr. Soneda shared where that schedule was posted. Ms. Sackett also commended staff member Mike Bonacci for his recent poetry reading at the Museum of Northwest Art, saying, “He’s an excellent poet!” Ms. Anderson passed. 3 J. Board Chair’s Report: Mr. Craig talked about the Golden Circle, a good model for leadership, including trustee leadership. The important point was to focus on “why” the library did things, not “what” the library did. Starting with “why” and satisfactorily answering that question about for instance a new program would help ensure that the “what” turned out well. Mr. Craig concluded by stating that he was honored to be the new Chair of the Library Board, took that responsibility very seriously and was committed to coming to meetings well prepared and ready for productive meetings. K. Adjournment: There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 6:53 PM. The next meeting of the board of trustees will be on Thursday March 6, 2014, at 5:30 PM at the library. Minutes by Brian Soneda, Library Director 4