Session 05-09 a Regular Meeting of the Library Advisory Board was called to order at 6:00 p.m. on September 6, 2005 by Chair Mauger at the Homer City Hall Council Chambers located at 491 E. Pioneer Avenue, Homer, Alaska.
PRESENT: BOARDMEMBERS MAUGER, WAGNER, BURSCH, SEAMAN, LORD, KEFFER, HAWFIELD
STAFF: LIBRARY DIRECTOR HILL
DEPUTY CITY CLERK JACOBSEN
A. Minutes of August 2, 2005 Meeting
The minutes were approved as amended by consensus of the Board.
APPROVAL OF AGENDA
The agenda was approved by consensus of the Board.
LIBRARY DIRECTORS
REPORT
A. Statistical Report for August 2005
Library Director Hill commented that she has been reviewing applications for the library aide position and hopes to make a selection by the end of the week. Mrs. Hill advised the Board of events with the Friends of the Library. She passed around a sign-up sheet for helpers for the book sale that is coming up on Saturday September 24 at 10:00 am. Mrs. Hill spoke about a program with Sandi Sumner about Women Pilots of Alaska. Ms. Sumner gave a reading and slide presentation at the Islands and Ocean Visitor Center on August 27th and about 60 people were in attendance. Mrs. Hill reported that Library Technician III George attended a library conference in Sitka and found it to be very invigorating and an excellent program. Mrs. George told Claudia Haines with the Friends about the speaker Nick Jans, the author of Grizzly Maze: Timothy Treadwell’s Fatal Obsession with Bears and now he will be in Homer to do a presentation that will be co-sponsored by the Friends and the Homer Bookstore. Lastly, Toby Tyler who gave the library his travel journals and drawings of his world trip in 1957 and 1958 will be giving a presentation on September 21 at Islands and Ocean Visitor Center. His two-volume work is called Around the World with Pencil and Pen. This event is also co-sponsored by the Friends and the Bookstore.
Library Director Hill commented on the statistics. She reported that circulation was up 750 and attendance was close to 1000 more than last year. Fewer books were borrowed on interlibrary loans but more were loaned out. Story hour had 96 more participants than last year, the program never slowed down over the summer. Internet use was up by more than 250 users. The attendance at the ice cream party for the summer reading program was more than last year. Volunteer hours were down because there is no campaign going on now. Revenue is down from last year but the library did get a state grant for $6,500.
COMMITTEE REPORTS
There were no Committee reports.
Frank Vondersaar commented if anyone wanted more information on wi-fi to let him know and he will email information.
UNFINISHED BUSINESS
A. New Library Construction Update
Library Director Hill commented that she did not have any information. Chair Mauger commented that she saw an ad in the paper for the Library Project Inspector. Mrs. Hill stated that the architect, Brian Meisner, will be in town on Thursday and she did not have any news for the board until then. She said she will talk to Mr. Meisner about colors, fixtures and things of that nature to see if those are items that are already taken care of or if there are decisions that need to be made.
The Board discussed whether or not a decision has been made whether there will be a fireplace or a water fountain. The LAB and the Building Committee were split 50/50 between the two. There was discussion about the costs. It was pointed out that the fireplace was significantly more than the water fountain. Mrs. Hill stated she would ask Mr. Meisner if he has any information on the fireplace versus the water fountain. She added that because of the LEED requirements there is question about what is a wise use of energy. Boardmember Bursch commented that if it is split down the middle he feels they should go with the more cost saving option.
Boardmember Lord questioned whether or not there had been any decisions regarding a flagpole. Boardmember Keffer informed the group that John Bushell had offered to sell a cedar ship mast that has historical significance to the library for a reasonable price. She will remind Public Works Director Meyer to check into that.
The Boardmembers discussed their frustration with not knowing what their role needs to be as the construction of the library progresses. In their eyes there are a lot of loose ends regarding decisions that may or may not have been made and if the progress is in line with what they had promised to donors. Boardmember Hawfield questioned if the City may be looking for some kind of advisory group, such as the LAB or a task force, to address purchases that need to be made of furniture, fixtures and things of that sort. He is lost as to who is making the decisions on the ideas that have always been there and been part of the sales pitch that was made to donors. It seems to him that progress is at a point where the wheels are just spinning as to what do we do with this and what do we do with that He feels they are the only voice of the community to address those things. Chair Mauger expressed that her frustration is the lack of communication, which is the whole point of having the construction update monthly. That communication needs to be kept open, because it is the LAB’s opportunity to give feedback each month at the meeting. They need to impress upon the Public Works Director and City Manager the importance of them attending the meeting or providing a written update.
The Board discussed the possibility of scheduling another walk through of the library construction site. Comment was made that they may want to join the Friends of the Library who will be doing a site visit. Deputy City Clerk Jacobsen reminded the Board that if a group of them plan to go with the Friends to let the Clerk’s Office know so that it can be advertised.
B. Planning for the Future: Roles of the LAB and Friends of the Homer Library
Boardmember Lord stated that it annoys her that this isn’t taken care of. This is an important document and it needs to be done. Chair Mauger commented that they may need to express to City Manager Wrede more clearly the value of the document. She feels that he may be unsure of why all the work has gone into this and how to sell it to the City Council. They need to make sure that he and the Council understand that this is a very valuable document in that it spells out a clear role for everyone as the library moves in to the new building and it was a very valuable document when they went for funding. They hope to continue to look for funding for things related to the library, whether it be through the Friends or the City, and need this document in place. Boardmember Lord explained that the Friends need to be recognized by the City for their role and to have clarity for everyone. There are a lot of people who don’t know the difference between the Friends of the Homer Library and the LAB. It needs to be clear that there is a non-profit organization out there, The Fri, that is doing all these things and what their role is and what the confines of everyone’s roles are.
The Board continued to discuss that the MOU makes clear that the Friends are not going to be asked to run the library in lieu of the City. The example was brought up that there is already some confusion about where the responsibilities lie regarding the coffee cart. The MOU needs to be in place so the polices that are needed can be identified.
The Board discussed drafting a cover letter that can be sent to the City Manager with the most recent version of the MOU that is firm about the timeline in which the LAB would like to see this be approved. It will clarify that there is a reason to pass this the in light of the new building so new policies can be made regarding the opportunities that the new building will provide, and the groups, the LAB and the Friends, have matured since the beginning of this campaign. The Friends mission statement has changed since the last MOU. Chair Mauger agreed to prepare the letter and would send it to Boardmembers Lord and Hawfield to review.
C. Budget Planning Process
Boardmember Wagner reported that she had talked with Ty Gates of Captains Coffee. His comments were that leasing the space is a good idea so the business taking it on is responsible for maintaining the space. Mr. Gates offered his opinion that whoever takes the space would have to sell $400-$500 per day worth of coffee to make it worthwhile, due to the cost of an espresso machine, materials and an employee. She is planning to talk to Mike at K-Bay Caffe who has done a lot of the small coffee spaces. Boardmember Lord suggested it might be a good idea for the City to do an RFP for the space and see what kind of response they get.
The Board briefly discussed renting space in the new library for functions. Library Director Hill commented that she found the policy for the Haines Library that she will email out. Question came up whether there would be security issues with letting people use the space after hours. Mrs. Hill agreed there would be. Boardmember Lord agreed to do more research on this and report back.
Chair Mauger commented with regard to the Borough service area, that Mike Mason with KBBI spoke with the three candidates for the Borough Seat and asked them if they thought the Borough should take on Library, Police and Animal Shelter powers. Ms. Mauger continued that their answers were kind of muddy, but she was glad to hear that it is a public discussion that others are thinking about. She suggested that conversations with the candidates are important to try to flush out the idea. The Boardmembers recapped the Borough service area discussion from last months meeting for Boardmember Lord and discussed how library powers are established through state statue and the Borough could take on library powers. Chair Mauger clarified that what they are asking is for the Borough to assume library powers, but take on no powers just the ability to tax people for the library and allow local control of library policy. Library Director Hill commented she thought that is how the Mat-Su Borough handled it with the Palmer and Wasilla libraries. Ms. Lord added that the new Borough Mayor could also be a good advocate for it.
Boardmember Keffer reported in regard to seeking gifts for the library, that she spoke to Joy Steward who thought that kind of gift coming to the City through the Homer Foundation would probably be a pass through, but that wasn’t really where the LAB’s conversation went. She wasn’t able to speak to Ken Castner prior to the meeting but will be doing so at a later date. Chair Mauger clarified the discussion was that the City would set up an endowment for the library, where the City would provide the initial sum and it would be different than the Friend’s endowment. Ms. Steward thought having a City Library fund endowment might be a hard sell for donors. Boardmember Lord commented that the Friends have established a new endowment and doesn’t want to take away from that.
The Board is mindful that the City Council has tasked them with looking for ways that will help fund the operating budget for the library. The point was brought up that that is what taxes are for and the City needs to use the tax-generated dollars to pay for the basic operations of the library. It is public function. It was also mentioned that the Board has explained to the City Council all of the things they have done such as the way they have designed the building to make it more efficient, the fines and fee and helping with the sales tax. It may end up that they send a memo to Council saying there are no other good ways to raise operating funds for the City for one of their departments. The Board will continue, in good faith, to look at these options and see if they can come up with other creative ideas and if they can’t, it is probably not out there, but they will do the research and offer pros and cons to establish whether or not the ideas are feasible.
There was discussion about programs where people can donate specific items like magazine subscriptions, books, videotape series and things of that sort. They are items that, if they weren’t provided, would have to come out of the operating budget to purchase. It would be a way people could make donations that would be more attractive. Boardmember Hawfield suggested calling it the “In-Kindness Fund”.
D. Elections
Boardmember Hawfield nominated Boardmember Lord for Chair. Mr. Hawfield stated he would be willing to serve as Vice Chair and Boardmember Keffer expressed her willingness to continue as Secretary.
MAUGER/WAGNER MOVED FOR NANCY LORD AS CHAIR, MICHAEL HAWFIELD AS VICE-CHAIR AND ANN KEFFER AS SECRETARY.
Boardmember Lord advised the Board that she will be gone for the October and November meetings and probably miss two meetings in the summer months. Boardmember Hawfield stated he would be gone at the October meeting but would be willing to Chair the other meetings when Ms. Lord was absent. Chair Mauger agreed to be Acting Chair for the October meeting.
VOTE: YES: UNANIMOUS CONSENT.
Motion carried.
Chair Mauger agreed to continue as the liaison between the LAB and the Friends.
E. Review of Bylaws
The Board discussed whether they should make the clerical revisions now or wait until the February meeting when they are planning to do more significant revisions.
HAWFIELD/LORD MOVED TO ACCEPT THESE CHANGES AND PRESENT THEM TO THE COUNCIL FOR THEIR APPROVAL.
There was brief discussion of the bylaws content.
VOTE: YES: UNANIMOUS CONSENT
Motion carried.
NEW BUSINESS
A. Proposed 2006 Budget
Library Director Hill reviewed her draft budget with the Board. She explained that she took into consideration that they will have seven months in the current library and five months in the new building and there are still some unknowns. Mrs. Hill also explained the areas where the City Manager provides numbers and areas where the Finance Director provides items such as salary, liability and property insurance. She stated for the purpose of preparing this draft for the Board she plugged in numbers for the City Manager’s area. He is out of town and has not seen this budget, so those numbers will change. Mrs. Hill added that under the 2006 objectives she was thrilled to be able to take off “Raise funds for the New Library”. She added an item 5, which is to focus on transition from current to new library. Under Program Changes it has always stated, “No changes due to Space Constraints” and this year she was able to change it to “ It is under development and will be working with Friends of the Library, Library Staff and the City”.
Library Director Hill further explained she has proposed that one of the part time people go to full time, which will be apparent as a department request for additional personnel and will come out to the City Council in their packet. Boardmember Lord clarified that Mrs. Hill is only looking at another half person when the new library opens. Mrs. Hill concurred. Ms. Lord questioned if Mrs. Hill was going to be able to operate the new library with only one more half time person. Library Director Hill explained her feeling that they are going to have to move into the building and figure out how to operate. The workflow is going to be completely different with the bigger spaces and different rooms. In order to make a good justification for more staff, they are going to have to “try on” the building and see what the need is. She knows they need a full time person right away and that is what she is doing by taking the half time person to full time. She believes this is a more comfortable way to do it rather than asking for everything right away, before really know what is needed. Once they are in the new library with the new full time person, they will need to figure out if they need the equivalent of one or two more people, then do they need full time or part time people, do they need a cataloguer, a youth services librarian or a volunteer coordinator. Those are questions that are up in the air. She believes they need to see how it is all going to fit together. Mrs. Hill pointed out that by the time they move into the new building, the budget process will be starting over again. At that time they will be beginning to figure out how many people the library needs. That is when she can really get going with the request for more staff.
Chair Mauger commented that it doesn’t seem unreasonable to request another half time person. The present staff will be doing two jobs moving from one library to the other and having to cover the open times of the library. She feels it will be too much for them and they should have another half time person to help cover the floor when they get into the new building.
Library Director Hill did not disagree with Chair Mauger but stated that there is no way to add another person at the current library, there is no space to put another person. The training that would be needed to get up to speed on the new software leaves her questioning if they really want to be training a new person when they are working to get themselves up to speed. Staff has really thought through this carefully and believes that this is the best way to do this.
Boardmembers Lord, Bursch, Hawfield and Chair Mauger devoted considerable time explaining to Library Director Hill why she needed to add more staff to the budget. They expressed their concern that when they make the move there is adequate staff. They also expressed their concerns that Mrs. Hill ask for what she needs. There has already been the sticker price shock because the LAB told the Council to expect increased operating expenses.
Library Director Hill continued to reiterate her feeling that they need to get into the new building and determine their needs. She has to be able to justify her requests and doesn’t believe she can do so adequately until they moved into the new building. She pointed out that the new software for the library will stream line things and will save time in certain areas, like acquisitions and over dues. This backs her conservative approach; they need to figure out what the time savings are and how everything works. Mrs. Hill advised the Board that not everyone out there is excited about the new library and she needs to find a balance. Boardmember Wagner concurred with Library Director Hill on that point and stated that she has heard negative comments as well.
Library Director Hill finished by advising the Board that the City Manager and the Finance Director will review this budget and a final draft will be forwarded to the Council.
COMMENTS FROM THE
PUBLIC
Frank Vondersaar asked about the new computers for the library. Library Director Hill answered that they are working on getting the new computers this month and she is still working on Wi-Fi.
COMMENTS FROM THE
BOARD
Boardmember Hawfield said he is glad Chair Mauger had a good trip to the North Slope and is happy to see that Boardmember Lord will succeed her.
Boardmember Wagner commented that the Friends are co-sponsoring a show at the Council of the Arts called “Art and Poetry”. She said it is awesome and encouraged everyone to visit.
Boardmember Lord thanked the Board for their confidence in her. She commented that she visited several libraries in her travels this summer and enjoyed the free internet access in each of them. She said it is fun to see other libraries and the range of what they do. She is sorry she will miss the next two meetings.
Boardmember Seaman thanked everyone.
Boardmember Bursch thanked Chair Mauger for all of her work. He explained that he agrees that Library Director Hill has vision and thanked her for hearing their suggestions.
Boardmember Keffer thanked Mr. Vondersaar for being a loyal library supporter.
Chair Mauger thanked everyone for their great support. She commended Library Director Hill for all of her work between meetings and how much she does to keep things moving. She appreciates that more having served as Chair. She also thanked the Clerk’s office; she has a better understanding of the depth of their effort and energy to keep the Committees going, kudos to all those folks.
ADJOURNMENT
There being no further business to come before the Board, the meeting was adjourned at 9:08 p.m. The next Regular Meeting is scheduled for October 4, 2005 at 6:00 p.m. n the City Hall Cowles Council Chambers located at 491 E. Pioneer Avenue, Homer, Alaska.
MELISSA JACOBSEN, DEPUTY CITY CLERK
Approved: