LIBRARY ADVISORY BOARD                                                                                               UNAPPROVED                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      

REGULAR MEETING MINUTES

NOVEMBER 3, 2009

 

Session 09-10 a Regular Meeting of the Library Advisory Board was called to order on November 3, 2009 at 6:10 pm by Chair Eileen Faulkner at the Homer City Hall Cowles Council Chambers located at 491 E. Pioneer Avenue, Homer, Alaska.

 

PRESENT:          BOARDMEMBERS SEAMAN, WAGNER, FAULKNER, HAWFIELD

 

ABSENT:           BOARDMEMBERS BEATTY, LARSON (EXCUSED)

 

STAFF:              LIBRARY DIRECTOR HILL 

                        DEPUTY CITY CLERK KRAUSE

 

Chair Faulkner announced that Boardmember Beatty will be resigning as she has accepted a position in the Lower 48. The Boardmembers acknowledged and welcomed Representative Seaton.

 

Approval of the Agenda

 

The agenda was approved by consensus of the Board.

 

Public Comments Regarding Items on the Agenda

 

None.

 

Reconsideration

 

There were no items for reconsideration.

 

Approval of the Minutes

 

A.            Regular Meeting Minutes from October 6, 2009.

 

HAWFIELD/WAGNER - MOVED TO APPROVE THE MINUTES.

 

There was no further discussion.

 

VOTE. YES. NON-OBJECTION. UNANIMOUS CONSENT.

 

Motion carried.

 

Visitors and Communications

 

A.            Friends Report

 

Boardmember Seaman stated she was unable to attend the full meeting but did give a report on the work being done by the Board.

 

Library Director Hill stated that they will be putting together a Spelling Bee in late November to be held at Islands and Ocean Visitor Center. The next meeting is scheduled for Wednesday November 11, 2009. The meeting will start at 6:00 p.m. On that agenda will probably be the budget. Boardmember Wagner volunteered to attend that meeting.

 

There was no further discussion.

 

 

B.         Visitors

 

There were no visitors.

 

Library Director’s Report

 

A.          Director’s Report for November 2009    

 

Library Director Hill asked for any questions or comments. Boardmember Hawfield questioned the status about the Budget and Public Hearings. Chair Faulkner inquired how the event for Halloween went. Library Director Hill responded it went very well with reading, games, decorations and treats in various shapes, insects, and body parts. Good attendance.

The pre-sale, which is open only to Friends members, was the best attended she has seen. The preliminary report on the amount collected was around $2500.00. There were quite a few high quality donations this year. The average book cost is $0.50 - $1.00. Children purchases are ˝ price.

 

There was no further discussion.

 

B.         Monthly Statistics – October 2009                       

 

Library Director Hill distributed the statistics for October. She pointed out a few areas of note to the boardmembers. She responded to what may be the reasons for the increased patronage can be due to the new facility, free video rentals, etc. Library Director Hill commented that she knew several people who cancelled their home internet and come to the Library due to costs and some did not want to deal with dial-up.

She responded to questions regarding the process for downloading information to a jump drive and further elaborated on a state program for homework help that is available for students from home or the library. This can be found on a link on the Library website or  http://sled.alaska.edu/homework.html. These programs are available through funding from the State. There are a number of databases also available through the Public Library such as general reference and business, auto and engine repair, and crafts. The auto databases are very popular. These are accessible from home too.

 

There was no further discussion.

 

Committee Reports

 

A.         Art Selection Committee Report

           

Chair Faulkner stated that holding elections would be impossible since they do not have the members. She did meet with the new representative from the Public Arts Committee and explained the processes involved to her. There have been no submissions to date.

 

There was a brief discussion on the current display at the library.

 

There was no further discussion.

 

B.         Landscape Committee Report – Kyra Wagner

 

Boardmember Wagner reported that emails were traded and it has been established that meeting would be scheduled with Ms. Adams.

 

Chair Faulkner acknowledged the exhaustive research performed by Deputy City Clerk Krause on possible grants and information from three different sources. The Department of Agriculture actually does have grants for dealing with invasive species but the time has passed to apply so it will have to be kept on the back burner and apply next year.

 

There was no further discussion.

 

Public Hearing

 

None.

 

Pending Business

 

A.            2010 Budget

 

Chair Faulkner briefed the Board on the effects of current/proposed cutbacks on the Library Budget for 2010 being considered by City Council. She stated the City Manager expressed this as a 5% cut in the budget. She distributed an item created from the friends regarding computer use, attendance, etc. She will distribute this information to City Council and reiterate the need to the community the Homer Library fulfills.

 

Boardmember Seaman commented that there are a lot of nice things being cut and was wondering if there were other areas that may be cut instead of the individual departments. Library Director Hill responded that it was recommended by the auditors to increase reserves to a six month level and due to previous cuts in prior years they are getting close to that but this may allow some items to be put back into the 2010 budget. She commented that she did not feel that their department has been targeted.

 

Comments and discussion ensued regarding the Community Schools and the devastating effect that losing that facility and services it provides to the community. There was a brief discussion on what processes have been reviewed trying out every possible scenarios so the library would not have to be closed the entire day. The Boardmembers included topics on what items over all have been cut or reduced from the 2010 Budget.

 

The Boardmembers pointed out that closing the Boys & Girls Club will leave no place for the kids to go and this may cause more behavioral problems and burden on library staff and possibly law enforcement. The Boardmembers agreed that not funding positions that were already vacant was not really a cut to the budget in their eyes. They agreed that it would be nice to see a report from each department on what the cuts would do to the department and for the public to be able to view this information. Library Director Hill responded that the City Manager had requested a statement on the effects to the Departments the cutbacks will present. She stated that this will be in the next council packet and available to the public and media.

 

Vice Chair Hawfield commented that the public does not make the connection when voting on tax related issues. It would be very beneficial to show the relationship between the services expected and how it is paid for; he for one who lives outside the city is very thankful there are so many happy property owners willing to pay the taxes so he can benefit from those services also. He believes that losing services will give cause for people to relate it to … this portion of his statement was inaudible for transcription.


 

 

A few additional comments were

-       That translating government action is never there.

-       The loss of the Boys & Girls Club will affect the community dynamics.

-       The tax was on food and some do not believe in taxing food.

-       they did not vote for the college when they turned down a new city hall

-       Combining the Public Library and the College Library was considered when designing the building, but that will not be happening. Library Director Hill believes the school is going another direction.

-       The workload is only increasing with less staff.

-       Some services should be lessened in response to the funding.

-       Statewide municipalities are searching to find ways to fund the services expected

 

Representative Seaton gave a brief report on some programs being funded and apprised the Board where they could possibly look for additional funding within the Peninsula non-incorporated communities. These communities receive funds form the state through the revenue sharing and most monies used on trails, Snomads. This money is for maintaining established services and the entity that receives the donation does not need to be located within the community. These funds are usually distributed in September and communities hold meetings to decide how to use the funds.

 

There was an in-depth discussion on what types of things have been funded by this process, when and how the process works and how long this has been funded by the State and the amount funded so far by the State.

 

Vice Chair Hawfield will attend the council meeting also.

 

The Boardmembers thanked Representative Seaton for his comments and input.

 

There was no further discussion.

 

B.            Library Improvement Plan

a.         Follow-up on meeting/discussion with City Manager

 

Chair Faulkner spoke with City Manager Wrede on October 21, 2009 and the Engineer from Anchorage in the West Campus would inspect the system at the Library for no additional charge however he never showed up. She reported that Deerstone was expected to submit their report at any time. Public Works has located a way to install LED lights on the new sign. The new signage that will be attached to the building has been approved by the City Planning Department. The High School attendance policy has been brought to the City Manager not only by the Board but the Economic Development Commission also.

Chair Faulkner summarized the attendance requirements that have free periods to Vice Chair Hawfield who had missed that discussion.

Boardmember Wagner elaborated new information on what that requirement to leave campus during a free period was imposed. It was basically to implement increased enrollment. The Connections students who had two or more classes at the high school but had a free period in between would stay on campus and cause disruption. So to alleviate that problem you had to enroll for more classes, as a teacher aide or leave the campus.

 

There was no further discussion.

 

C.            Library – Comments, Responses, Issues, and Challenges

 

There was only one comment received.

 

There was no further discussion.

 

NEW BusinesS

 

A.         2010 Meeting Schedule

 

HAWFIELD/WAGNER – MOVED TO APPROVED.

 

There was a brief review of the schedule and no conflicts were found.

 

VOTE. YES. NON-OBJECTION. UNANIMOUS CONSENT.

 

Motion carried.

 

B.         Grants – Where, When and How?

 

This topic was postponed to the December meeting agenda.

 

C.         Boardmember Campaign

 

Postponed to the December meetings.

 

D.         Proposed Bylaw Changes

1.         Rotating Friends Liaison

 

There was a brief discussion on changing the word rotating. This appears to limit the attendance where one could say they were not rotating if someone who was also a Friends member was able to attend two meetings in a row.

           

            2.         Teleconferencing

 

The Boardmembers agreed by Consensus that they would like to have the ability to teleconference.

 

Informational Materials

A.         Funding for Public Libraries – The National Picture October 2007   

 

Postponed to the December Meeting.

 

Comments from the PUBLIC

 

Representative Seaton advised the Board that the School District purchased the Discovery Education Curriculum that is internet based for the next three years. The Library may see an increase in children coming into the library to work on their projects.

 

COMMENTS OF THE CITY STAFF

 

Deputy City Clerk Krause commented that Representative Seaton should visit more often.

 

Comments from the Board

 

The Boardmembers thanked Representative Seaton for attending.

 

 

COMMENTS OF THE CHAIR

 

Chair Faulkner stated next City Council meeting was on November 23, 2009 at 7:00 p.m.

adjournment

 

There being no further business to come before the Board Chair Faulkner adjourned the meeting at 7:30 p.m. The next Regular Meeting is scheduled for December 1, 2009 at 6:00 pm in the City Hall Cowles Council Chambers located at 491 E. Pioneer Avenue, Homer, Alaska.

 

                                                                       

 Renee Krause, Deputy City Clerk I

Approved: