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HomeMy WebLinkAbout04-03-2019 minutes COLUMBIA HEIGHTS PUBLIC LIBRARY 3939 Central Ave NE, Columbia Heights, MN 55421 BOARD OF TRUSTEES: MEETING MINUTES Wednesday, April 3rd, 2019 Approved 5/1/2019 The meeting was called to order in the History Room by Chair, Patricia Sowada, at 5:32pm. Members present: Patricia Sowada; Catherine Vesley; Stephen Smith; Tricia Conway; Christopher Polley; and City Council Liaison, Connie Buesgens. Also in attendance: Renee Dougherty (Library Director), Nick Olberding (Recording Secretary), and Ben Sandell (City Communications Coordinator). The Minutes of the March 6th, 2019 Board Meeting were approved. Group Photo Break: Ben took the Board out into the Library for a group photo shoot for the City’s promotional use. Bill Lists dated March 6th & 20th, 2019 were reviewed. Each was moved, seconded, and approved. The Year-end 2018 Accounting Sheet was reviewed, and approved (96% spent). Accounting is currently being audited for 2018. Accounting thus far for 2019 was also reviewed, and approved of. • Questions and discussions based on Bills and Accounting: • 4% Remainder: The un-expended 4% from the 2018 budget will roll into the Library’s Reserve Fund, which is a built-in safety net in-case of future budget shortfalls, or to bridge a gap in the release of property tax funds. • Horowitz: 1yr warranty on boilers has expired, so we were charged for replacement of a sensor/maintenance. Things aren’t made as well as they once were (Steve still uses a boiler that is going on 50 years). Also replaced the point-of-use water heater in the staff kitchenette. • Books (2180): Spent 85% ($52,310 of $62,000), and a portion is going to cover over-expending CD/DVDs. Under budget because of running out of time in the year and better than anticipated discounts. To be clear, we are not lacking material, many shelves are overflowing. Next year’s book budget is $60,000. • Gas (3830): Spent 195% ($9,610/$4930). Long lingering cold winter, with lots of snow for the melt system to deal with. We’re still early on in the building lifecycle, so utilities are still based on estimates; we don’t have an established baseline yet. Used fireplace sparingly to save gas, only fired up on coldest days or by request. • Postage (3220): Spent 64% ($190 of $300); mainly for mailing out library cards from applications received. • Repair/Maintenance (4000): TechLogic Preventative Maintenance for the AMH. Charged us $11,000 for 2019 maintenance, but gave us a $3,000 Credit. Finance applied the 3K credit to 2018, and the 11K to 2019 budget. • IT (4040): $58,000 in 2018, $66,700 in 2019. This is mandated by the City, and is based on the amount of computer workstations and technology we have (each city department is charged a proportional rate). • Accounting: Would the Board like to see the accounting status monthly or quarterly? Monthly (unanimously). Old Business: • Staffing Update: Made conditional offers to two applicants (pending acceptance, background check, and drug test), and would anticipate start dates in late April. One applicant lives in Columbia Heights, and the other in NE Mpls. New Business: • Elect Library Board Officers: Nancy Hoium retired from the Board at the end of 2018 (leaving the Vice-Chair position open), and Pat Sowada would like to step down as Chair (after 10 years in the position). Catherine presented Pat with pot of flowers for her 10 years of service as the Chair of the Library Board o Pat nominated Catherine Vesley for Chair. All were in favor, and Catherine accepted. o Steve nominated Pat Sowada for Vice-Chair. All were in favor, and Pat accepted. o Catherine nominated Tricia Conway for Secretary. All were in favor, and Tricia accepted. • National Library Week Proclamation: Renee Dougherty brought forward a Proclamation the Mayor will read and present at the April 8th City Council Meeting in acknowledgement of National Library Week (April 7-13). All three new Officers will be there to accept the Proclamation from Mayor Donna Schmidt. • Policies—Internet Acceptable Use: This policy topic snowballed into a discussion about all policies. The intention was to start with the Internet Policy in an effort to update all the Library’s policies over the course of the year, in addition to creating a new overall Strategic Plan for the Library. During the course of discussion, it was decided to table the Internet Acceptable Use Policy until a larger, more structured process can be put into place for all policies (which may require a special extended session for the Library Board). Between now and June, Renee (Director) and Catherine (Chair) will assemble a preliminary set of documents to assist in structuring the process and assembling a rough draft. Items from the Floor: • Parade: The Library will not be participating in the Jamboree Parade this year. • Fix-It Station: The Library’s bicycle fix-it station was installed by public works. • Upcoming Programs: Drawing to Watercolor (Wed, April 10th, 6pm), Composting 101 w/Jessie Davies (Mon, April 22nd, 4pm), and Intro to Genealogy (Wed, April 24th, 6pm). • Columbia Heights Memories History Program w/Rita Norberg: Occurred this morning, was well-attended (50+ people), and very interesting and nicely done. Ben Sandell recorded it so it should be viewable at some point. • Kanopy: Educational/Independent video streaming service was brought up by Chris Polley. It would be a very good resource if it was available to patrons and school students. Unfortunately, Anoka County subscribed to it without giving Columbia Heights notification or a chance to opt-in. We will look into what our options are directly with Kanopy, but it can cost upwards of $2 per stream (e.g. Dakota County budgeted $8000/month, and their patrons used up the monthly allotment in less than a week). We would likely need to set up a monthly cap per patron in order to make it more fair and allow more availability; still there would be a large cost involved. There being no further business, a motion to adjourn was made at 6:31pm by Patricia Sowada, and seconded. Respectfully submitted, Nicholas P. Olberding Recording Secretary, Library Board of Trustees The City of Columbia Heights does not discriminate on the basis of disability in the admission or access to, or treatment or employment in, its services, programs, or activities. Upon request, accommodation will be provided to allow individuals with disabilities to participate in all City of Columbia Heights services, programs, and activities.