HomeMy WebLinkAbout08-07-2019 minutes
COLUMBIA HEIGHTS PUBLIC LIBRARY
3939 Central Ave NE, Columbia Heights, MN 55421
BOARD OF TRUSTEES: MEETING MINUTES
Wednesday, August 7th, 2019
Approved
9/4/2019
The meeting was called to order in the History Room by Chair, Catherine Vesley at 5:31pm. 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).
The Minutes of the July 10th, 2019 Board Meeting were approved.
Bill Lists dated July 3rd, 17th & 31st, 2019 were reviewed. Each was moved, seconded, and approved.
The Accounting Sheet was reviewed, and approved. Thus far at 48% spent in 58% of the year.
Questions and discussions based on Bills and Accounting:
• 21st Century Grant: A 3-yr grant awarded to ISD13; the Library was invited to participate as a subcontractor of
Recreation in year two (2018-19) and again for year three (2019-20.) The STEAM program series offered at the
CHPL is eligible for reimbursement from the grant.
• Boiler Loop Replacement: One of two Boiler Loop Pumps was squealing and needed rebuilding. It was stated that
many foreign-made electronic/mechanical parts don’t go through QC Testing, because it’s too expensive, and
cheaper to just replace the parts that fail.
• Lyric Arts: Held a 3-day storytelling camp for teens (6 hours). $750 cost reimbursed by 21st Century Grant.
• BookPage: 50 copies/month subscription for patrons to take; donated by “Friends of the CHPL”.
• E-Books: We were assessed our portion of E-Book services by ACL ($7,215); a little more expensive than
budgeted, which will be covered by funds from print book budget. Statistics show that only 3.5% of our patrons
utilize our E-Books; so much for the skeptics that assumed E-Books would kill libraries (people spend so much
time in front of a screen, that when they read a book, most prefer a print book).
• STEAM Camp: 3-day science camp teaching things like circuitry/hydraulics. Reimbursed by 21st Century Grant.
• 4000 vs. 4010 vs. 4020: Repair/Maintenance (4000) covers service contracts for printers, copiers, AMH, and other
non-building equipment; Building Maintenance Labor & Burden (4010) covers personnel costs associated with
Public Works and Custodial Services; Building Maintenenance (4020) covers building costs, repairs, and contracts
like pest inspections, landscaping, window cleaning, and HVAC maintenance.
Old Business:
• 2020 Budget Update: Draft budget has been submitted to the City; the City Manager has recommended no
changes at this point. The Council will set the tax levy in September. Department heads will present detailed
budget overviews at October and November work sessions.
• Information on Columbia Heights Library Cardholder Debt: 39.8% of Columbia Heights patrons have fines of a
penny or more (5,540 out of 13,911); the Board received some pertinent fine statistics which required some
explanation, so here you will find a summary. The library has collected a net of $4,958 in fees so far in 2019, and
generally estimates about $12,500 in revenue from these fees. Currently the overall outstanding debt by
Columbia Heights past/present patrons is $131,986, which includes:
o $34,715…Overdue Fees (late fees)
o $84,875…Lost/Processing Fees (the system automatically assesses items as lost after 30 days late, then
clears it if the item is returned and assesses a maximum overdue fee)
o $572……..Damaged Items (usually caused by liquids, children, or pets)
o $808……..Unpaid DVD Rental Fees (from the $1 rental of new DVDs)
o $11,016…Other Fees (lost cards, collections referral fees, sale items, etc.)
• Strategic Planning: As we continue with Strategic Planning Renee and the Board would like to keep it simple. The
Board will focus on a Vision, a Mission, and 3-4 Long Term Goals/Objectives; it will be up to Library Staff to
interpret them into an actionable plan. The Board will continue to narrow down their focus into a handful of
important goals over the next couple months, and are holding a special meeting for strategic planning on
September 14th. We may utilize a patron survey to help guide the future of the library. The Board had been given
resources to look over, including documents from the ALA’s Libraries of the Future, and some recent sample
Strategic Plans from other library systems (the Board feels like our library already accomplishes much of what
other systems are aspiring to in their current strategic plans).
o Some possible strategic goals discussed tonight included (bold items were the most popular): Short
Reading (targeting reluctant readers), Belonging (the sense of community), Aging Advances
(youth/senior outreach), Writing/Author Courses, Co-Working (spaces for independent/collaborative
work), Bookmobile, Lifelong Learning (alternative credentialing and adaptive learning), Collection
Diversity (to reflect the city demographics), Promoting Services, Community Education (programs
hosted by community members/organizations), Youth Video Production.
New Business:
• June/July Read-Down Results: In June 37 individual youth participated and totaled $176 in waived fines; In July
45 individual youth participated to waive $196 in fines. (Approximately 93 hours of in-library reading).
• Patron Use Survey: Tabled till a later date.
Items from the Floor:
• US Citizenship Course: In partnership with the North Metro Adult Education Center, we are holding a 14-class
citizenship course in the community room this fall. Students will register and test into the class via the Adult
Education Center (4111 Central Ave NE). More information available at 763-706-3833.
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