Hennepin County Library Board Meeting Minutes 5-22-02

MINUTES OF
HENNEPIN COUNTY LIBRARY BOARD MEETING
OF MAY 22, 2002

The Hennepin County Library Board met on Wednesday, May 22, 2002, at the St. Anthony Community Library.

Present: President David Pratt, John Gibbs, Gerda Haas, Dawn Harris, Patricia Izek, Cynthia Steinke, Carol Walsh.
Library Staff Attending: C.Brown, D.Cramer, J.Morgan, N.Perron, L.Larsen, V.DeFord, M.Ranum, M.Bell, J.Jones, C.Ahrens, & B.Berg.
Guests: Hattie Jackson (OBF) and Richard Johnson (County Admin.).

Call to Order/Welcome/Public Comment
The meeting was called to order by President David Pratt with a welcome to guests and staff, and introduction of Jill Jones, St. Anthony Librarian. Ms. Jones reported on the Library opening at this new site on May 19 and the great public response to the new facility. There was no public comment.

APPROVAL OF MINUTES
A motion was made to approve the minutes of the April 24, 2002, meeting was made by C. Walsh, seconded by G. Haas; motion passed.

PROGRAM: V. DeFord lead the discussion on follow up to the March retreat with review of "Next Steps" piece. Library Board needs to develop an action plan for the year. Members will work to create a priority plan which can be done via e-mail. C.Ahrens will send out "Next Steps" electronically to Board along with the request that they submit the following: Action Items priority 1-3, and Discussion Topics priority 1-2. Await scheduling next retreat until after June ALA and June Board meeting. Next retreat will be 2 - 2-1/2 hour informal discussion. C. Brown and D. Pratt did meet and discussed the naming issue; they plan to discuss with commissioners when they schedule individual meetings.

COMMITTEE REPORTS

Policy Committee: P. Izek reported that the following policies had been mailed for Board review:
LB4 - Ethics Policy: Revisions have been made to clarify and credit origination of the policy; motion to approve by P.Izek, seconded by C.Walsh; passed.
LB12 - Internet Public Use Policy & Guidelines: No revisions recommended at this time, has been extensively revised in the past and is working very well with staff and public. Question was raised on the Guidelines--statement differs from that in the Policy (Guidelines uses "may," Policy uses "will" when referring to loss of privileges from mis-use of the Internet); decision that Guidelines will be changed to same meaning as the Policy. C.Steinke moved approval of the policy with Guidelines change, P.Izek seconded, passed. Internet training sessions will be scheduled in June and Library Board will be notified of dates for possible participation.
LB15 - Mission/Vision: No changes; C.Steinke moved approval as it stands, C.Walsh seconded, passed.
LB21 - Revenue Policy: C.Steinke reported that Julia Morgan had done a great job of revising this as a policy rather than procedure; change recommended to item #2. C.Steinke moved approval with the 2 changes recommended during discussion, P.Izek seconded, passed.

UNFINISHED BUSINESS:

Operating Budget 2002/2003: C.Brown reported that the Library has made some reductions to the 2002 budget ($324,000). Guidelines for 2003 budget have been received; June 28 is date for budget submission, so final Library Board review of 2003 will be done at the June 26 meeting. Richard Johnson presented context of the 2003 budget based on legislative action. D.Cramer reviewed the 2003 guidelines and fixed cost increases.
C.Brown will work to get the 2003 budget proposal to the Library Board at least one week prior to the June 26 meeting so there is time for full review.
J.Gibbs made the following budget suggestions: 1) try to find information on impact of a healthy library system, e.g. the community economic impact; 2) look at ways to save on collection budget through expanded electronic use, are we doing more duplication of materials in formats than needed?
Discussion of budget implications and questions from Library Board were addressed.

NEW BUSINESS
Nothing.

DIRECTOR'S REPORT
Charles Brown had sent a written report of activities. Brookdale groundbreaking: David Pratt was present; Commissioner Opat made opening remarks. St. Anthony opening on Sunday, May 19, saw 500 attendees, Commissioner Stenglein was present with his children. Maple Grove: Myer, Scherer & Rockcastle are project architects. Eden Prairie groundbreaking: scheduled for June 12, 1:00 p.m. C.Steinke reported that the EP Art Committee is moving along. C.Brown reported on his meeting with Mitch Pearlstein, Executive Director for Center for the American Experiment.

MEMBER REPORTS
David Pratt: Attended the Library Foundation Board meeting where there was discussion of concern expressed/misunderstanding about amount of 1% for art -- the 1% is based only on the actual construction costs, not total project costs.
Gerda Haas: Distributed a report on her attendance at ALA National Library Legislative Day. She also reported on an excellent computer training class she took at Ridgedale and highly recommended it to other Board members.
Dawn Harris: Raised a question about a letter the Board received from a patron complaining about inability to reserve DVDs; N. Perron has drafted a response, she will discuss with David Pratt who will sign the response.

OTHER
Motion to approve the gifts was made by P. Izek & seconded by C. Steinke; motion passed.

$140.00	Friends of the Augsburg Park Library to the Augsburg Park Library for a performer during Winter Family Fun Day.
75.00	Dr. and Mrs. Irving Gottesman to the Edina Library for the framed art print; The Reader.
155.76	Friends of the Excelsior Library to the Excelsior Library for 2 cast iron/wood decorative benches for the front patio.
131.00	Friends of the Minnetonka Library to the Minnetonka Library for an easel.
60.00	Great Harvest Bread Company to the Minnetonka Library for cookies during the Dr. Seuss program.
145.89	Friends of the Rogers Library to the Rogers Library for 3 poster frames.

ADJOURNMENT
Motion to adjourn made by P. Izek, seconded by C. Steinke; meeting was adjourned.

_____________________________
Dawn Harris, Secretary

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