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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes_LAB_07.10.2006Minutes of the meeting of the Library Advisory Board of Georgetown, Texas July 10, 2006 MEMBERS IN A 11'ENDANCE: Judy Johnston, Ruth Lawrence, Sissy Lego -Pederson, Anja Lip- pincott, Ruth Anne Mallory, Linda Nix, Stephanie S. Sorensen MEMBERS EXCUSED ABSENT: Patti. Jennings Moore, Marc Parish, Judy Parks (CTLS Lay Rep- resentative) STAFF IN A II ENDANCE: Eric Lashley MINUTES The meeting was called to order by Chair Judy Johnston at 6:30 p.m. Ruth Lawrence moved and Linda Nix seconded acceptance of the minutes of the June meeting with the correction that Ruth Anne Mallory was excused at the June meeting. The motion passed unanimously. DIRECTORS REPORT Monthly Statistics: The visits were slightly down, nevertheless the circulation was slightly up. The number of discarded titles is going up in preparation for the move and the up- coming inventory. The library was closed on Sunday, June 25, due to a. power surge knocking out the AC, computer and the phone systems. It happened the previous night and caused a small fire in the AC. closet. The AC was repaired on Monday, June 26, around noon. The staff conducted interviews for the replacement of Ethel Barnes. Eric reported that the library made an offer on July 10 and the candidate accepted. Depending on the drug screen test, criminal background check and other City procedures, he may start next Monday. INTRODUCTION OF LIBRARY STAFF MEMBER AND HIS/HER DUTIES This month Eric Lashley wanted to introduce Travis Cook, but he is on. vacation. He will speak to the Library Advisory Board at the next meeting. PRESENTATION OF RESULTS OF THE CUSTOMER SERVICE SURVEY The staff and Eric Lashley are stillworking on the location survey, but he gave a brief up- date. The primary traffic area of the library is the computer area, but these users were not using other parts of the library. The survey also revealed that the computer area is also highly used by the African -American and Hispanic population. The location survey showed also that the Texas History Room was mostly empty, which is consistent with the user survey (88.92°/0). Ralph Love was out at the time of survey, but he does get most of the questions via the phone, via email or fromtravelers coming in just for their research. Ruth Lawrence made the point, that the Texas History Room is not very well advertised, even though Georgetown seems to have more materials on Williamson County than Round Rock does*. In response, Eric expressed his hope that the records from the Georgetown Heritage society will boost utilization of this resource. Attendance at meetings of the Williamson County Historical Museum and the Georgetown Heritage Society, which may be held in. the community rooms of the new library, may increase usage of the genealogy material. Stephanie Sorensen interjected another reason for the low usage of the room All the ma- terials displayed there are available over the Internet. (*Clarification added after correc- tion at 9/11/06 meeting by Ruth Lawrence.) 424 people answered the Customer Satisfaction Survey. Overallthe users are satisfied with the library Eric was very pleased with the high satisfaction marks the library re- ceived at the Check -Out desk (80.90%), the Reference desk (53.07%) etc. Only nine library patrons weren't satisfied with the operating hours, another nine with the materials (ask - mg for more, especially DVDs) and three with the bad coverage of the children's area. desk. Eric was disappointed about the rare usage of the online -catalogue (32.31%). Interestingly the access on the library s website is much higher (42.22%). Eric expected it to be more equal. But the numbers prove many people just come to the library and browse the shelves. Some of the changes that people asked for in their survey responses are already planneed for the new library: drive -up book -drop, coffee shop, more comfortable furniture, longer open hours (Monday -Saturday opening at 9 a m , Sunday hours remain the same), and better coverage of the children's desk. Ruth Lawrence asked if there would be enough employees in the new library since the City rejected some of the requested positions. Eric answered that the goal is to have a minimum of six people working at all time (one person in the kids room, two upstairs and three downstairs). Instead of authorizing a maintenance person for the new building, the City suggested that use fees from the meeting rooms be used to pay for a maintenance person. Although the City did not authorize a full-time tech support person for the li- brary, funds will be allocated to upgrade an existing position to include technical respon- sibilities or to include computer support as part of the job description in the upcoming job listings. Some survey respondents askedfor a branch of the library in Sun City and Judy Johnston mentioned that Marc Parish is looking into the possibility of at least having a book drop there, maybe at the fire station. Eric responded that establishing a book drop in one neighborhood would encourage others neighborhoods to ask for them. Logistically and financially, this is not feasible The Board agreed. UPDATING THE LIBRARYS LONG-RANGE/STRATEGIC PLAN The subcommittee (Judy Johnston Linda Nix, Marc Parish) and Eric Lashley met on Thursday, July 6, 2006. Eric passed out the new draft of the long-range/strategic plan. Layout changes were made to allow easier reading. Changes to the contents of the plan included Marc's suggestion to create an electronic forum for comments on library ser- vices, materials, book reviews and also to pose genealogy questions (Goal I/Objective 5). Eric added he already spoke with the webmaster about this idea. Many goals and objectives are in the plan because the State of Texas mandates them (goal IV - goal VI). The most changes were made on Goal VII (Promote the arts and culture in the City of Georgetown) as the Library Advisory Board had discussed this point. Goal VII is still in the plan because the administrators see the new library as becoming a meeting place for art and culture. Many cultural events will happen in the new building. The library also provides a staff liaison for the Arts and Culture Board. Ruth Lawrence recommended drafting a common calendar for Georgetown where all cul- tural and artistic events of the Library, Southwestern University, the Downtown George- town Association, Georgetown High School, and the Recreation Center, among others, are displayed together. This would not only allow an easier overview, but also make it possi- ble to coordinate events. Eric said that the Arts and Culture Board already had discussed an online calendar. It just has to set a deadline. He willmention it on the next Arts and Culture Board. meeting. The updated long-range/strategic plan will be presented to the City for approval. There is still time for changes. Eric asked the board to go over the revised plan and to make sug- gestions for improvement before the Library Advisory Board meeting in. September. STATUS OF CONSTRUCTION OF NEW LIBRARY Eric Lashley handed out the Facilities Construction Progress Report from June 30, 2006, and gave a short update on the newest developments. ® On the outside the wall for the coffee shop is up and the workers have started with the southern wall. The concrete for the sidewalks is poured and the front stairway is formed. Inthe next weeks the stone and the brick will go up. On the inside, construc- tion work has begun on the HVAC system. a After finishing most of the outside work, the construction will move inside to install the dry wall, the electrical system, etc. The last step will be the terrazzo floor. Eric will organize another ' Hard Hat Tour" for the coming weeks. He also passed around picture examples of the furniture selection (style, not color). The final furniture selection will happen by August 1. REPORT ON CAPITAL CAMPAIGN Ruth Anne Mallory reported that the Campaign raised $213,516 in pledges and $89,677 in cash Eric Lashley added that today he got another check for more than $100, so the cash amount rises to $89,777. The contract with Michael Bacon the consultant who has been working with the Capital Campaign Committee, has ended. The group is now reorganizing itself and refocusing. They will back off the plan to concentrate mainly on large donation amounts and instead promote programs where every amount is welcome. In September the publicity campaign starts with a series of articles promoting the new li- brary and updates on the pledges. IN -LIBRARY STORE PROPOSED FOR NEW LIBRARY BUILDING Some time ago the Friends of the Library (FOL) approached Eric Lashley with the idea of an in -library store. He has proposed space for a store on the second floor of the new li- brary. During discussions with Helen MacAskill, Martha. Lawlor and Judy Johnston, Eric Lash- ley made clear that the FOL has to run it without involving library staff. This means a long-term commitment. They willhave to pay for the outlay of the store and equipment to lock up the store when it is closed. The legal issues are taken care of. Library books are not seen as surplus material. That means the library can give books to the FOL and they can sell them. All donations given to the library would go to the FOL. Only bestsellers would be added to the library collec- tion. Currently, Eric is not satisfied with the look of the book sale area, but the library still makes an average of $20 per day. The money goes directly to the library and is used to buy books, cards etc. He is concerned that the new arrangement would force him to go to the FOL to get money that is readily available now. Eric displayed pictures of the store in the Seattle Public Library. The shop is based on li- brary compact shelving. It opens and closes using a track mounted in the floor. In addi- tion to books, the shop offers merchandise such as cards, bags and artwork. This shelving system is very expensive and not feasible for the new library. Design possibilities that are considered are 1) shelving that can be moved apart, 2) cubicle walls that can be used as dividers with a small opening that may be closed off; 3) four corners that come apart to a center. Eric mentioned that he would talk with the Sun City Woodworking Club Maybe if the library pays for the material, they would donate the labor. The cooperation would de- pend on the costs Eric introduced the topic to the agenda to find out what the Advisory Board thinks about the proposed idea. Judy Johnston, who coordinates the volunteers working at the library, mentioned that the FOL have a steady stream of people wiling to help. For some to work in the shop could be a welcome diversion from shelving books. In this context she rec- ommended to have shifts of 2 hours. Through talks with Helen MacAskill and Martha Lawlor, she reported that the FOL is thinking about selling more than just books. Ruth Lawrence disagreed; the sale should be limited to books and CDs. Other merchandise, such as bags, art work or stationary, should not be included. Linda Nix intervened on this point, suggesting the shop should start small, to see how it goes. Maybe later the shop could increase the merchandise. Sissy Lego -Pederson made the point that the prices have to be reasonable. Eric suggested handling pricing as the library does it now: the buyer decides for himself how much he would like to donate. Or, if the FOL insists on prices, they could be posted as "suggested" prices. This would still avoid charging sales taxes. Judy Johnston remarked that fixed prices are more for the rare book collection and the sales tax is unavoidable. Even as the Advisory Board reacts positively to idea of an internal bookstore, there are still two concerns. The yearly book sale was a big event in the city. Many people look for- ward to it. An event of this size will not be possible, as the library hasn't the storage room to collect donated books over a long period of time. There are already talks about having a book sale in another form. Maybe it will happen twice a year, using the community rooms of the new library. The other issue is that since the bookstore wouldn't have to pay rent, it might be perceived to be unfair competition for other local used bookstores, such as Dog - Eared Books. AUGUST MEETING Judy Johnston asked the board if it would be necessary to have a board meeting in Au- gust. Ruth Anne Mallory moved and Linda Nix seconded that there will be no Library Advisory Board meeting in August. The motion passed unanimously. Linda Nix made a motion to adjourn. Sissy Lego -Pederson seconded. The motion passed unani- mously. Respectfully submitted, Anja Lippincott, Secretary 3v,§t(f VA/Vg• Judy Johnston, Chair