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Library Board Budget & Finance Committee April 5, 2010 Meeting Summary

Library Board Members Therese VanBlarcom, President Claudia Kelly, Vice President John Pacheco, Secretary Brandi Brown Caitlin Cahill John Gibbs Holly Guncheon Sandy Johnson Jill Joseph Kathleen Lamb Gary Thaden Library Director Lois Langer Thompson

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Attendees: Library Board Committee members: Committee Chair Jill Joseph, Brandi Brown and Kathleen Lamb; Library Board Member Gary Thaden; Staff: Nancy Palmer

Welcome and Approvals

Jill Joseph called the meeting to order at 4:35 p.m. Ms. Joseph made a motion to amend the agenda, adding Options for the Future and placed before "Proposed 2010 Committee meeting dates"; seconded by Brandi Brown. Ms. Joseph made a motion to approve the agenda as amended; seconded by Ms. Brown. Motion passed. Ms. Joseph made a motion to approve the meeting summary of Feb. 24, 2010; seconded by Ms. Brown. Motion passed.

Capital Budget Update

Hennepin County’s Capital Budget instructions have been sent to departments. Ms. Palmer reviewed the County Administrator’s directives and some of the highlights. Department requests for new/revised projects were due to Property Services March 12 in order for them to begin estimating project costs. The group briefly discussed three projects. Facilities Modifications is an on-going effort to address smaller projects such as those under a certain dollar amount or those which are done to address a particular need at a series of locations. HCL has a backlog of Facilities Modification projects due to the amount of major construction over the last few years. Furniture and Equipment is a new project for 2011 and is intended to meet three of the library’s needs. Through budget cuts over the years, HCL has been unable to keep up with furniture replacement necessitated by high use. Four Automated Materials Handling (AMH) machines have been scheduled to change from pneumatic to electronic controls. And, there is a need to supplement our collection acquisition funding. All three items have been placed into this new project. The last new project is $5 million for Southdale. This is in response to the need to refresh the building – carpet, furniture, relocate the periodical collection, enhance the job and career section, and reorganize the work room area/replace the current automated check-in and sorting system with an AMH to improve material access and customer service.

Ms. Lamb made a motion that the signage at Minneapolis Central be fixed to align with the agreement of the merger documents. Further, that staff be requested to come back to the committee with recommendations on how to fund the changes; seconded by Ms. Joseph. The motion passed. In further discussion, the Committee requested the following:

1. Information on the signage audit which was performed at the Minneapolis Community Libraries;

2. The status of the signage changes going on at those locations;

3. The naming convention intended for use at those locations.

Operating Budget Update

All Hennepin County departments are being required to take a 2.5% reduction to the property tax/state aid portion of their budgets. The library’s share of that reduction is $1.4 million. Library Administration has not yet begun planning for that reduction. The Library has maintained vacancies which may reduce the impact on staffing and services if they are required.

The Library Director, along with the Division Managers attended the County Board budget planning retreat March 16, 2010. There was insufficient time for the Library to present, so the presentation will continue at the April 15^th retreat. Following the March meeting, the Library was asked to revise the format of the presentation several times, moving from broader questions regarding the mission and general services to be provided, to specific questions with dollar amounts attached.

Options for the Future – Budget & Finance Committee

Ms. Joseph outlined several questions regarding the future of the Budget & Finance Committee. Among those questions are the frequency of meetings necessitated by the current budget environment; the charter of the Budget and Finance Committee and whether its work is duplicated by the Executive Committee; number of members of the Committee; and, establishing a process for the succession of leadership for the committee. After discussion, the next meeting of the Budget and Finance Committee was set for 4 p.m., Wed., April 28, 2010 immediately preceding the Library Board meeting at Minneapolis Central Library. The room for the meeting will be determined.

Adjourn

Ms. Joseph made a motion to adjourn the Library Board Budget & Finance Committee meeting at 5:30 p.m.; seconded by Ms. Brown. Motion passed.

Approved April 28, 2010