HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes_LAB_01.09.2012Minutes of the Meeting of the
Library Advisory Board
Of Georgetown, Texas
January 9, 2012
MEMBERS IN ATTENDENCE. Betty Ann Sensabaugh, Marisue Miller, Shana Forte
Nichols, Lydia Harkey, Karen Limbaugh, and Glenn Mautner.
ABSENT: None
STAFF IN ATTENDENCE. Eric Lashley - Library Director
OTHERS IN ATTENDENCE: Linda Nix — CTLS Lay Representative
AGENDA'
1. Minutes of last Meeting: The meeting was called to order by Chair Betty Ann
Sensabaugh at 6:30 PM Glenn Mautner made the motion to accept the
minutes of the December 2011 Library Advisory Board Meeting and Lydia
Harkey seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously.
2. DIRECTOR'S REPORT
Director Lashley reported the statistics were very good for the month of December Eric
reported circulation was high considering patron attendance was down for the month of
December. Patrons checked out over 500 eBooks in December, a record high. With
the addition of Brenna Normann, the library cataloged 1,391 items in December
compared to 430 items in November. The backlog of uncataloged materials is being
reduced.
Eric, Sue and Linda noted the large amount of materials returned during the holiday
closures. The library closed four days at Christmas and two days at New Years, due to
the holidays falling on Sunday. The library will not have this problem next year.
Representatives of the Smithville Public Library toured the library on December 7.
Smithville is expanding their library and came to get design ideas from our library.
Director Lashley also reported that he and Linda Nix would be attending a Central
Texas Library System meeting in Temple on January 27. CTLS is considering changing
their bylaws to allow them to operate as a more versatile organization.
Eric noted that the library now has the majority of the checkouts coming from the self -
check computers. This has been a big step to allow staff members to better serve
patrons who have more time -intensive issues.
Eric reported Cactus Groove performed at the library on December 18 and that Matt
Graves will be performing on January 15 at 2:00 PM.
Director Lashley read aloud and discussed the patron comments for December.
CONSIDERATION OF AND POSSIBLE ACTION ON THE FOLLOWING:
1. Bookmobile — Eric Lashley: Eric reported the library will be applying for a
$2,500 Texas Book Festival grant to purchase materials for the vehicle. Michele
Harbor has collected over 800 titles for the bookmobile.
2. OverDrive Consortium— Eric Lashley: Eric reported Sheri Miklaski and Brenna
Normann attended a meeting of the Central Texas Digital Library consortium on
Friday, December 16 in Pflugerville to discuss the management of the
consortium. The consortium has grown to 31 libraries and there is a need to
coordinate the collection development of all the member libraries to better serve
our patrons. Georgetown patrons continue to be heavy users of the consortium.
The consortium decided to divide the leadership amongst four individuals. The
focus of collection development will be to purchase high demand materials.
3. Read It Forward Program — Eric Lashley: Eric introduced the title of the Read
It Forward program, Strange Case of Origami Yoda by Tom Angelberger. Read
It Forward is a program in which the librarians try to get all of the kids in middle
school to read a particular book. The library will host a number of activities
related to the book.
4. Part-time library assistant position — Eric Lashley: Eric announced the part-
time library assistant position closed on January 6, 2012 and that the library
received 158 applicants. Rosa Garcia will narrow the applicants down to five or
six candidates and conduct interviews in the next week. With this position filled,
the library will be fully staffed for the first time in months.
5. Pilot art center — Eric Lashley: Eric showed a PowerPoint presentation
outlining a proposed pilot project to establish an art center on the first floor of the
old firehouse building located on Main Street. Eric explained that library staff
members are responsible for the Arts and Culture Board and that the art center
project falls under the library's mission of life-long learning. The art center will be
run as a partnership between the City and a nonprofit arts organization. The goal
of the pilot project is to prove that an art center can be successful enough to
allow it to move into a larger and permanent location in the old police facility
when it is vacated in 2014.
6. Schedule of future meetings - Eric Lashley: There were no changes to any
future scheduled meetings.
Chair Betty Ann Sensabaugh adjourned the meeting at 7:40 PM.
Respectfully submitted,
Marisue Miller, Secretary
Betty Ann Sensabaugh, Chair