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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes_LAB_02.16.2015Minutes of the Meeting of the Library Advisory Board City of Georgetown February 16, 2015 The Library Advisory Board met on Monday, February 16, 2015 at 6:30 p.m. in the staff conference room of the Georgetown Public Library, 402 W. 8t" Street MEMBERS PRESENT: Michael Barnes, Stephanie Blanck, Lois Case, Tom Hagen, Linda Nix, Pete Rose and Margaret Thompson OTHERS PRESENT: Pat Baldwin Regular Session A. Citizens wishing to address the Board. None were present. B. Consideration of minutes of the January 20, 2015 meeting. — Michael Barnes made the motion to accept the minutes of the January 2015 Library Advisory Board Meeting. Stephanie Blanck seconded the motion, which passed unanimously. C. Consideration of Library Director's Report — Eric Lashley — Lashley reported that Blanck would be leaving the Library Board to become the chair of the new ADA Board within the City. Lashley thanked Blanck for her service. New board member Pat Baldwin was in attendance and she introduced herself to the board and the board members introduced themselves to her. Pat is a professional journalist that is currently teaching at Texas State University. Lashley noted that circulation and visitations were slightly down for the month of January. Lashley reported that the library has cataloged 1,000 less items than during January of the previous year. Lashley noted a backlog from our book vendor, vacations and illness have put the staff behind in getting new materials processed and out on the shelves. Lashley reported that the library has discontinued with paper library card applications. The library began tax assistance the last Saturday in January and to date the volunteers have handled more than triple the number of customers over last year. Lashley explained that OverDrive circulation continues to climb, for both e -books and audio books. Internet usage was also higher this month, while Bookmobile checkouts remained steady. Lashley read the patron comments and responded to a comment concerning a request to change the policy of having 7 day checkouts for high demand items. Lashley used the example of the recent John Grisham book in which the library purchased 44 copies at a cost of $674.00. Lashley explained if the checkout period was extended to 14 or 21 days the library would have to purchase approximately 80 copies for over $1,000 to keep up with patron demand. Before a Grisham book is purchased the library automatically has 305 patrons on hold for the book due to the Author Express feature. The 7 day checkout policy will not be changed at this time. D. Report on 50th Anniversary Committee — Linda Nix — Nix reported that the committee has selected a logo design and a tagline "Make Some Noise" for the 50th anniversary celebration of the library. Nix gave a list of events that the staff and committee are scheduling. A soft kick-off for the 50th Anniversary will be held on Monday, March 16, 2015 at 10 a.m. Lashley reported that he had met with Anna Aiken, one of the founding members of the library and read from a speech Anna gave in October 1965. E. Report on new parking lot design. - Eric Lashley — Lashley reported that the City will be advertising for bids on February 22 and March 1. The City plans to hold a pre-bid meeting March 3rd or 4th and hope to open bids on March 10th or 11th. Construction will begin after the Red Poppy festival. F. Report on library budget for FY 2015-2016 — Eric Lashley — Lashley passed out a list of priorities for next year's budget (attached to these minutes). The list included an increased library materials budgets, a Cataloging Librarian position, a Library Assistant position or more funding for Temp/On-Call hours. The list also included, funding for Marketing & Graphic design, a Technology Strategic Plan and a plan for a west side library. G. Consideration of dates of future Board meetings. — Eric Lashley — The board members had no need to change the date of the March meeting. The next meeting will be Monday, March 16, 2015. Chair Linda Nix adjourned the meeting at 7:40 P.M. Respectfully submitted, Margaret'�Fhompson, Secretary Linda Nix, Chair Library Budget and Planning 1. Increase Materials Budget Traditionally, there are two basic statistics used to measure success in libraries: materials checked out and visitations. We have seen a slight decline in items checked out in the last few months due to the lack of new materials. Approximately 30% of our monthly circulation comes from our new materials and DVDs. Visitations have continued to stay steady or have risen during this same period. We average around 4,300 materials on reserve at any given time. To continue to serve the number of visitors and patrons waiting for materials, we need to increase the materials budget. 2. Cataloging Librarian If we increase the materials budget, we will need to hire a Cataloging Librarian to help process the increase materials. We currently have 1.5 staff members cataloging. We need an additional staff member to help keep up with the current workflow. Last FY, our catalogers added 14,635 items and deleted 10,599 items. 3. Desk Coverage — Library Assistant or additional Temp/On-Call Staff 4. Marketing — Graphic Design — Promotional Materials 5. Technology — Need to have a strategic plan for the library's public technology (public computers, photocopier, projectors, and PA systems) 6. Planning: Westside Library — satelite, storefront, or full service branch. Possible land acquistion.