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Home My WebLink About07-10-2019 minutes COLUMBIA HEIGHTS PUBLIC LIBRARY 3939 Central Ave NE, Columbia Heights, MN 55421 BOARD OF TRUSTEES: MEETING MINUTES Wednesday, July 10th, 2019 Approved 8/7/2019 The meeting was called to order in the History Room by Chair, Catherine Vesley at 5:30pm. Members present: Catherine Vesley; Patricia Sowada; Tricia Conway; Stephen Smith; Christopher Polley; and City Council Liaison, Connie Buesgens. Also in attendance: Renee Dougherty (Library Director), and Nick Olberding (Recording Secretary), and Jane Polley (CHPL Foundation President). The Minutes of the June 5th, 2019 Board Meeting were approved. Bill Lists dated June 5th & 19th, 2019 were reviewed. Each was moved, seconded, and approved. The Accounting Sheet was reviewed, and approved. Thus far at 39% spent in 50% of the year. Questions and discussions based on Bills and Accounting: • Setpoint ($975): Eric Hanson (City Facility Maintenance Supervisor) called in the building systems company to adjust the HVAC systems for better energy efficiency. • Community Room A/C: Occasionally cuts out and Eric needs to manually restart it; cause currently unknown. • Scholastic ($498): Prize books for the Summer Reading Program purchased with 21st Century Grant funds. • Lights: Library LED lights are controlled by timers; some remain on after we leave (and for when the custodian is here). The illuminated library acts as a security feature, and adds some aesthetics to Central Ave. • Food Supplies (2175): Budgeted for coffee/tea for meetings and programs. Slightly over the $100 budget. • Other Communications (3250): Library’s Internet--currently budgeted at $2500/year; we are told the city is scheduled for a new contract in 2021, and the Library should anticipate the cost to increase. • Book Sale: Items rotate regularly and is mostly stocked with donated material that doesn’t make it into the circulating Collection. The Library doubled the amount of sale items the week of the City Garage Sale and raised over $100 that week (typical total for a year has been about $500, so it was a profitable week). New Business: • Request from Jane Polley of the Library Foundation: The Library Foundation’s Spaghetti Dinner is scheduled for Wednesday, September 11th, and runs from 4:30-7:00pm. This year tickets will only be available at the door, and for the first time Save-the-Date cards will be printed and passed out. Jane is hoping several members of the Board are able to volunteer for a shift (4:30-5:45 or 5:45-7:00). All members seemed open to helping with the event, and will confirm with Jane of their preference. • Staffing Update: Renee was happy to announce that our Youth Librarian (Bri) had her baby last week; she will be out on maternity leave for the next 12 weeks. Luckily, our Library Aide (Farrah) started just in time for Bri to train her in on tasks she will be handling during the leave (liaison for youth programs and summer lunch, as well as various other tasks); the rest of the staff will also provide coverage and assistance in areas where they can. Abby (ECFE) will be overseeing StoryTime for the remainder of the summer session and starting off the fall session; some of her time will be covered by her ECFE Internship, and the rest will be compensated by the Library. In other news, one of our newest Pages (Jacqui) has left for a full-time library opportunity in her home state of Iowa, so congratulations to her. At this time, we will not be posting to fill the position. o The Board inquired as to whether the Library could keep a short-list of candidates for future hiring in situations like this to speed up the process. We can see if that’s a possibility, but Steve noted that his employer did this in the past and it doesn’t work as well as intended. • Proposed 2020 Budget: The Library submitted a budget with a 5% increase. Renee will be presenting the proposed budget to Finance on Friday; no need for a Boardmember to be present at this stage. o Personnel: 69% ($36,500 of $52,900) of the budget increase are for personnel costs relating to wage increases from bargaining unit contracts, part-time staff (which have not had scale increases since 2016), and the addition of the Library Aide position (14 hours/week). o Supplies: Relatively unchanged from last year, but a slight increase to purchase RFID tags which haven’t needed replenishing since 2015. Also, $1800 will be moved from Line 2189 to a new Line 21XX to budget for digital media streaming for patrons (most likely Kanopy). o Other Services: Utilities were figured in at 5% above 2018 actual costs; Line 4000 includes an increase in anticipation for a yet-to-be-determined replacement patron computer/print management system in which Anoka County is currently drafting an RFQ. Also, an increase for Information Systems services from the City, which has risen steeply over the last 5 years (2016: $22k / 2020:$70k) in part due to increased technology in the new Library building. • Strategic Planning Update: Renee would like to have the Board look into a resource called” Center for the Future of Libraries” to help guide us on trends related to libraries around the country (we will send out some links). Trends of note include the aging population in MN (in the near future 20% of Minnesotans will be 65+), the rise in co-work/co-living spaces, online and lifelong informal learning, and diversity (which is very prevalent in Columbia Heights). As for previous thoughts of hiring a facilitator for the process, the Board will look at options, but may try to see how it goes without one in the short-term; there are a few facilitator options available out there that may be beneficial, but will have to weigh the cost/benefit. o Renee had said that CHPL patrons could account for nearly 25% of all of Anoka County patrons with fines exceeding $25. The Board would like the Library to pull together relevant statistics on patrons, fines, material, and other categories in order to better strategically plan and get a baseline. o Fines account for ~$13k/yr for CHPL, and over 100k for ACL. In regards to the trend of libraries discontinuing late fees, we would have to make up for the income we would lose, and that is something taxpayers would object to (per Connie). o Catherine would like everyone on the Board to think of their single-most-important issue they would like to explore in the strategic planning process o Tricia made a Motion to Schedule a Strategic Planning Special Session for Saturday, September 14th from 9-11am at the Library; Seconded…Approved. The Board would also like to invite representatives from the Friends, Foundation, and other stakeholders (as Open Meeting rules would likely apply). Items from the Floor: • We received a confirmation letter from the MN Department of Education that our Annual Report was received and it meets their qualifications. • Due to popular demand, a second Bike Fix-It Clinic will occur this Saturday (11am-1pm). • The Library will have a table at this Saturday’s HeightsNEXT Pride Fest at Sullivan Lake Park (2-5pm). • The Adult Book Club will meet Wednesday, July 17th (10am) to discuss Lorna Landvik’s “Best to Laugh”. • Siama’s Congo Music will perform Wednesday, July 17th (2pm) for families in the Community Room. • Teens will learn about Aquaponics Agriculture on Thursday, July 18th (2pm) in the Community Room. • Mandy Meisner will host a Community Coffee & Conversation with a Commissioner in the Community Room on Saturday, July 20th (11am). • Summer Lunch @ The Library has been going well...averaging about 25 lunches a day. There being no further business, a motion to adjourn was made at 6:53pm by Patricia Sowada, and seconded. Respectfully submitted, Nicholas P. Olberding Recording Secretary, Library Board of Trustee