MINUTES

Board of Trustees Regular Meeting

Thursday, October 10, 2002

Traverse Area District Library

 

 

            The meeting was called to order at 5:30 p.m. by President Brown.  Present were Brown, Welch, Quick, Lawrence, Maxson, Mesch and Luyt.  Also present were Judson (Counsel), McGuire, Schneider and Buchanan (Staff).

 

Motion by Welch, supported by Maxson to approve the minutes from the Regular Meeting of September 12, 2002, the Special Meeting of September 26, 2002, and the Study Session of October 1, 2002.  Carried.

 

McGuire brought to the trustees’ attention several items that were included in the meeting packets:

 

·        A revised organizational chart due to moving the Public Computing Center staff from the Technology Department to the Adult Services Department.

·        The Director’s report “A Sense of Community,” previously submitted to the Board in October 2001, sent again for review by trustees.

·        A revised planning calendar, which will be revised monthly and included in the meeting packets.

 

McGuire reported that TADL has been chosen to be one of eight regional digitization centers in Michigan.  The State has received a grant to be shared among the eight centers.  TADL’s grant is $37,000, to be used for equipment and for training of staff.  TADL staff will then assist staff from other libraries who bring to the center materials unique to each library (local history, yearbooks, etc.), to be scanned and preserved in digital format.  TADL is the only public library to be chosen as a regional center.

 

Schneider reported that TADL, in conjunction with several other area groups, is sponsoring “Traverse City Reads,” a program to promote reading by asking everyone in the area to read the same book, “Peace Like a River,” by Leif Enger.  The promotion will run from November through January and will include a number of seminars and book signings.

 

Live @ the Library will present author David Sibley on Tuesday, October 15.  130 of the 150 available tickets have already been taken.

 

TADL is now hosting a series of “Business Connections” seminars to help small businesses deal with technology issues.  Each seminar will be co-sponsored by an area technology-related business and will be scheduled twice.

 

            The American Heart Association and North Flight have provided TADL with an automatic external defibrillator, and about 12 employees have so far been trained in its use.

 

            Employee Margaret Braden and trustee Gregory Luyt have been accepted into the Grand Traverse Leadership Academy.

 

            Brown requested that representatives of the various departments of the Library make presentations to the Board so that trustees can become more familiar with the workings of the departments and the Library as a whole.

 

            Quick reported for the Facilities and Services Committee that the Breton Group has completed its presentations to the communities involved in the feasibility study.  Three of the communities have issues to be resolved before they proceed with plans for branch libraries.  The committee feels that the TADL Board needs to look at the best way to deliver services to those areas.  They recommend that the Director work on developing a report on the best way to deliver services to the entire district over the next three to five years.

 

            Maxson reported that the Finance Committee had met after the last regular Board meeting to help finalize the budget and look at staff issues.

 

            Mesch reported that the Personnel Committee had sent a memo to all trustees regarding the Director’s evaluation.  This will be addressed under Old Business.

 

            Lawrence said that she will be looking through the Library’s policies and contacting Policy Committee members in the next few weeks.  McGuire and Lawrence agreed that the committee should review the question of fees.

 

            J. Anderson, Interlochen Public Library, thanked TADL for the rotating DVD collection.   IPL has received a donation from a patron for a small garden with seating, so they will be able to do some story times outside.  They had a successful Friends Annual Meeting.

 

            J. Maxson, Peninsula Community Library, reported that their circulation is up 645 items over a year ago.  They are partnering with the Old Mission School Youth Friends to mentor students.  They have received some generous gifts to their endowment fund in the last month.  They recently lost their Board President, William Harding, who had been very influential in the ongoing development of PCL.  He will be greatly missed by the Library and the community.

 

            E. Kage reported that September was a great month for the Friends.  The Billy Collins program was a sellout and received rave reviews by all who attended.  The program was taped for tctv2 and will be broadcast four times starting in mid-November.  The Almost-Rare Book Sale was very successful, with proceeds higher than any previous year.  The Gift Shop is improving, with new merchandise and procedures.  Volunteers are always needed and welcome.  They are starting to plan for 2003 and will be focusing on the Foundation.  They are working with a professional PR person for publicity for the Foundation.

 

            Mesch said that Long Lake Township would like to invite the TADL Board to hold its November meeting at the Township Hall and to have the meeting filmed for tctv2.  Brown accepted the invitation.  Mesch also said that the Policy Committee has talked about having some of its meetings at the branch and member libraries.  Brown asked McGuire to coordinate this.

 

            Brown reported that he had received a letter from Long Lake Township requesting financial support for helping to develop funding sources.  The letter had been forwarded to the Facilities and Services Committee.  The Committee said that at present they don’t feel prepared to recommend further financial support, and Township officials will be so notified.

 

            Motion by Welch, supported by Luyt to enter into closed session at the Director’s request immediately following public comment to discuss the Director’s performance evaluation, pursuant to Section 8(a) of the Open Meetings Act.  Roll Call vote was as follows:

           

            Quick – yes                  Brown – yes                 Maxson – yes               Luyt – yes                   

            Lawrence – yes            Mesch – yes                 Welch – yes                            

                                                                                   

Motion carried.

 

            Motion by Maxson, supported by Welch to authorize payment in the amount of $192,818.75 to fifth Third Bank for bond interest.  Carried.

 

            Motion by Lawrence, supported by Mesch to adopt a “Policy on the Authority of Committees” as recommended by Counsel.  Quick requested that the word “approval” which appears twice in the proposed policy be changed in both instances to “authority.”  Lawrence and Mesch agreed to this change.  Motion to adopt the policy carried.

 

The meeting was opened for public comment.  There was none.  The meeting recessed at 6:30 and was reconvened at 7:10 following a closed session as approved above.

 

Motion by Luyt, supported by Maxson to increase the Director’s salary by 2.3% effective January 1, 2002.  Carried.

 

The meeting was again opened for public comment, and again there was none.  The meeting was adjourned at 7:16 p.m.

 

Respectfully submitted,

 

Dawn Buchanan, Recording Secretary             

 

Douglas Brown, President

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