MINUTES

Board of Trustees Regular Meeting

Thursday, December 12, 2002

Traverse Area District Library

(minutes are unofficial until approved by the Board of Trustees)

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

 

Motion by Welch, supported by Lawrence to approve the minutes from the Regular meeting of November 14, 2002.  Carried.

 

Motion by Maxson, supported by Luyt to amend the agenda to include under Old Business, item a., Consideration of approving the conceptual design of the Long Lake Branch Library; and, to add as item d. under New Business, Consideration of increasing certain fees effective January 1, 2003; and, as item e., Consideration of accepting the Director’s request regarding his pay.  Carried.

 

McGuire reported that the Village Eatery in Kingsley has been vacated, and the Friends of KPL are interested in that building for expansion.  He has hired a firm to do a structural examination of the building and would like the Facilities and Services Committee to meet to discuss this and other issues.  Quick asked McGuire to set up a meeting.

 

On December 11, McGuire, Brown and Lawrence attended a teleconference on the USA Patriot Act.  All thought it was a very good teleconference.  TADL will need to develop a procedure in case information is requested and also will need to examine the Library’s record keeping to be sure that the only records kept are those that are really necessary for library operations, and that those are only kept for as long as they’re needed.  Once TADL has the procedures developed, which McGuire hopes will be by the middle of January, they will be shared with the Member libraries.  TADL will be receiving a videotape of the conference, which will be available for trustees and the member libraries to review.  Also, Brown mentioned that there will be a day-long conference on the same topic on March 3 in Mt. Pleasant.

 

Representatives from several libraries have been meeting to look at the possibility of a shared circulation system throughout the Mid-Michigan Library league area.  LSTA grants this year will be for the purpose of developing such systems, leading to the possibility of a statewide borrowing system.  This could be good or not so good.  There are still a lot of unanswered questions.

 

A courier service has been started to go twice a week to all of the Member Libraries and Mid-Michigan Library League.  This is being done on a trial basis to see if it saves money without hurting services.

 

McGuire attended a public input session on the Woodmere enhancement project.  One major concern raised by several of the people present was the plan for a median strip across from the south library entrance, which is shared by the offices at 620 Woodmere.  The presence of the median would require clients going to 620 Woodmere to enter through the Library’s north entrance drive and drive through the Library’s parking lot.  McGuire has discussed this with City representatives.

 

There will be a retirement open house for Judy Anderson at Interlochen Public Library on Saturday, December 16.  McGuire will be going out and would like to have some of the TADL trustees attend also.

 

The most recent MERS (retirement system) quarterly statement shows that during the quarter ending September 30, 2002, the value of TADL's account dropped 9%.

 

Starting in January, each month the head of one of the departments of the Library will attend the Board meeting to talk about what the departments do, what some of their concerns are, and just generally to help the trustees become more familiar with library operations.

 

Quick reported that the Breton Group has finished their feasibility studies regarding the potential for the Long Lake, Blair, Kingsley and Fife Lake communities to raise funds for the construction of new branch libraries.  They have met with all of the communities to present their report, and now it's up to the committees to determine how to proceed, based on the reports.  The Facilities and Services Committee has been meeting with Long Lake Township regarding the design for a branch library.  This will be addressed under Old Business.  The committee has given McGuire their recommendations regarding parking, and he has been in contact with the City regarding some of the recommendations.  The committee received a letter from the Kingsley Public Library regarding possible relocation plans.  McGuire addressed this in his report. Also, the committee is looking at the possibility of hiring a consultant to study ways to improve district-wide delivery of services.

 

Maxson reported that the Finance Committee had met primarily to review the need for budget adjustments.  He pointed out that the Financial Report for November, which was included in the meeting packets, projects that revenues will exceed budgeted expectations by about $100,000, but expenses will exceed expectations by almost $200,000, creating a deficit of about $118,000, which is what prompts the need for budget adjustments.  The adjustments will be dealt with under new business.

 

Mesch reported that the Personnel Committee would like trustee comments on staff job descriptions and the most recent planning calendar, which were included in the meeting packets, as soon as possible so that action can be taken at the next meeting. In response to a comment from Welch, McGuire explained that the revised job descriptions were the result of his reviews with administrative staff members.

 

Lawrence reported that the Policy Committee had emailed information about policies that are being considered for review to all trustees.  The committee would like all trustees to look at and comment on the policies, especially the Materials Selection Policy, including the Freedom to Read statement.  The committee hopes to have changes ready for Board action by the next meeting.

 

J. Maxson, Peninsula Community Library, said their library keeps getting busier and busier.  Recently they were asked to do a children's program for a Head Start group in the Long Lake area, and then they were asked to do another program for another group.  They are happy to do this kind of thing, because they think that the library needs to get out and take programs to kids who may not be coming to the library. PCL has asked their Friends group to reprint an oral history book they used to have but sold all the copies and now have more people interested. They are planning an adult reading group for this winter.  Participants who read three books in three months can put their names in for a drawing for a catered dinner for two.  The Acting Up Theatre Company from Cheboygan recently presented a program at PCL.  This is the third evening program for parents and children that PCL has done this year, and they will be doing more, because they have been well received.  They are very glad for the courier service and don't think it will diminish service.

 

            C. Downey, Fife Lake Public Library, reported that their board is going through a change.  They have lost two board members, both officers, so at their last meeting they elected new officers.  They are going to be sending a letter to community members explaining where they are with the feasibility study.  The FLPL board has not yet met with village officials as reported in the TADL Board's November minutes.  FLPL also thinks the courier service is a good idea, but the courier now goes on Tuesdays and Fridays, and FLPL is closed on Tuesdays, so they need to work out how to handle the Tuesday runs.   TADL staff will work with them on this.

 

E. Kage reported that the last Friends’ board meeting was devoted to planning for next year.  They have a very energetic year planned, beginning in January with a Live@the Library program with Leif Enger, author of the book chosen for Traverse City Reads.  The Foundation will be sending out a letter in late January or early February looking for grant proposal requests.  Friends groups from the district met in November and plan to meet again in January.  They also would like to have a workshop in March or April for anyone within the district who is interested in Friends groups.  The Friends are planning for a rare book auction in the spring and have several people working on it.  In June, the first anniversary of the Friends' Gift Shop will include a children's book sale, which in previous years has been in the summer in conjunction with the Summer Reading Club final party.  They are looking forward to Friday Night Live, with ideas for some new and exciting activities, and they are exploring the possibility of hosting another major author in October 2003.

 

McGuire reported that he had received a copy of a letter that the 620 Woodmere Association sent to the City regarding plans for Woodmere.  He suggested that the Library might also want to send a letter.

 

Brown reported that he had put in the meeting packets copies of the Michigan Library Association's legislative agenda.  If any trustees have comments on how to prioritize the items on the agenda, the comments can be given to Brown, and he will pass them on to MLA.

 

Motion by Quick, supported by Welch to approve the conceptual design of the new Long Lake Branch Library.   Carried.

    

Motion by Welch, supported by Lawrence to adopt the following adjustments to the 2002 General Fund Budget:  Increase "Personnel Services" by $134,000; increase "Supplies" by $1,000; increase "Other Services and Charges" by $33,800; increase "Capital Outlay" by $2,500; and increase "Transfers Out" by $16,000.  Following discussion of the need for budget adjustments, Welch and Lawrence amended their motion to increase the "Personnel Services" increase to $138,000 and to increase the "Other Services and Charges" increase to $36,800.   Motion carried as amended.

 

Motion by Lawrence, supported by Welch to enter into an agreement with Last Step for janitorial services at the Woodmere facility.  Carried.

 

Motion by Mesch, supported by Luyt to increase the fee for replacement of a lost library card to $2.00 and for an inter-library loan request to $2.00 effective January 1, 2003.  Carried.

 

Motion by Luyt, supported by Mesch to accept the Director's offer to decline the pay increase recently approved by the Board.  Motion did not carry.

 

The meeting was opened for public comment.  There was none.  The meeting adjourned at 6:55p.m.

Respectfully submitted,

Dawn Buchanan, Recording Secretary

 

Douglas Brown, President  

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