Hennepin County Library - 6-23-99 Library Board Meeting Minutes

MINUTES OF
HENNEPIN COUNTY LIBRARY BOARD MEETING
OF JUNE 23, 1999

The Hennepin County Library Board met on Wednesday, June 23, 1999, at the Edina Community Library.

PRESENT:	Jack Cole, President John Gibbs Peggy Kelly Richard Mueller Carol Walsh J.L. (Bob) Zaragoza
LIBRARY STAFF ATTENDING:	C.Brown, D.Cramer, S.Charles, N.Perron, C.DeGraff, C.Muchow, E.Feinberg, S.Louis, J. Morgan, M.Wattson, P.Chisenhall, M.Schuster, V.DeFord, C.Ahrens & B.Berg.
GUESTS:	JoAnn Harris (OBF)

WELCOME & PUBLIC COMMENT
President Cole called the meeting to order at 4:00 p.m.

Public Comment: None.

Because Library Board had recently met at Edina Library, no agency report was requested; however, President Cole did acknowledge that this was the first Library Board meeting at Edina since Marcia Wattson became the Senior Librarian there.

APPROVAL
The minutes of the May 26, 1999 meeting had been mailed to Library Board members. Motion to approve the minutes was made by P. Kelly; seconded by B. Zaragoza; motion passed.

COMMITTEE REPORTS

Ways & Means Committee: B. Zaragoza reported on the June 9 Committee meeting; there were no action items from that meeting; however, the Chair wished to make some comments on the meeting. The priority of the June 9 meeting was to address the 2000 Budget; all Trustees were present. Budget was reviewed at a macro level. Trustees had ample opportunity to raise concerns, obtain answers, and have complete discussion. Chair individually polled Board members to ascertain a need for a June 16 meeting; a majority was satisfied with the presentation at the macro level and saw no need for an additional meeting; therefore, the tentatively scheduled June 16 meeting was cancelled by the Chair. Trustees understand that further refinement is required by library staff and trustees will be updated. The Ways & Means Committee provides macro comments and suggestions to the Director regarding the budget; the budget does not require a vote of approval to the full Board from the Ways & Means Committee; therefore, none was taken. As an advisory body, the Ways & Means Committee examined the monetary issues at a macro level, made suggestions to the Director, and concluded the meeting.

UNFINISHED BUSINESS

Budget 2000 Update: D. Cramer reported there was not much to update. Since the June 9 Ways & Means Committee, staff has been busy entering the budget data on computer system. Appreciates comments and suggestions from 6/9 Ways & Means Committee that assisted staff in the preparation process.

Budget Breakfast with County Board: J. Cole asked if Library Board members wished to again schedule a breakfast with Commissioners after Sept. 14, perhaps discuss some of the information from the Aug. 10 Briefing in addition to budget issues. Looking at late September/early October for a date. May begin discussion at July 14 Board meeting, and schedule additional discussion after the August 10 Briefing. For future discussion.

County Board Briefing Update: C. Brown reviewed materials that were mailed to Library Board and the draft outline. He also presented background on the two presenters--Joey Rodger (ULC) and Peter Young (LC). Input from Library Board was requested. Poll of Library Board members able to attend the 8/10 Briefing--everyone has date in their calendars.

Building Updates: Charles Brown reported on various projects.
Ridgedale: on schedule. The August 4 Lib Bd meeting was cancelled, but if members still have date available, a Rd tour will be planned. Make sure to calendar the October 7 & 10 re-opening events.
Brooklyn Park: currently closed for renovation; have run into slight delay so re-opening now scheduled for Tuesday, July 6. Any public ceremony will be held after Labor Day.
St. Anthony: shopping center was recently sold; staff is looking into if library meets new owner's "vision." Lease expires spring of 2000.
[Board member Mueller arrived.]
Edina: City Council did not approve the site for a charter school.

NEW BUSINESS

Library Board Policy Committee: J. Cole has appointed Carol Walsh and John Gibbs to the Policy Committee; Julia Morgan will continue as the staff contact. Library Board members received a proposed schedule of policy review dates. Board also received a memo from M. Jackson on last year policy development status/activities; President referred her memo to the new Policy Committee. It was noted that a recent issue of the LDS newsletter has a listing of policies and Committee may wish to review that also. C. Walsh was appointed as convenor of the Committee. B. Zaragoza remarked, and P. Kelly agreed, on the "Policy to Review Policies" which may have gotten too bureaucratic; he hopes the new Committee will take his remarks into consideration as review begins.

Added note: J. Cole reported there is some interest from the Foundation Board to hold a social event with the Library Board as an opportunity to meet each other and discuss mutual goals informally.

Update/Status of Strategic Plan 1998-2001: C. Brown reported that staff is working on a report to be presented at the July 14 Library Board meeting. He has scheduled meetings with the head of County Planning (Gary Cunningham) to begin looking at the library plan for 2001+.

Resolution for Staff Development Day: Draft had been mailed to Library Board. P. Kelly moved approval of the delayed opening time, B. Zaragoza seconded. A minor revision was suggested by C. Brown: third whereas clause to read "WHEREAS, this is the fourth annual Library Staff Development Training Day, and previous sessions have been productive and well-received by staff." Resolution was approved as changed.

Undesignated Gift Fund: Report on fund balance was distributed in mailing packets; J. Cole gave some background on this fund.
1) J. Cole requested a motion to pay cost of Retreat refreshments from the Fund; P. Kelly so moved; C. Walsh seconded; motion passed.
2) Second item was regarding the Ridgedale re-opening. P. Kelly requested an update on activities from N. Perron; Kelly asked for any additional corporate contacts from Board members. P. Kelly moved donation of $1,000 from the Fund to the Ridgedale re-opening event, seconded by B. Zaragoza and C. Walsh; motion passed.

J. Gibbs asked that the preliminary list for the gala event be shared with Library Board for the July 14 meeting -- to review for possible additions.

DIRECTOR'S REPORT
C. Brown had nothing further to add and asked if Library Board members had any questions. B. Zaragoza asked about the two electronic resources demonstrations Brown attended. C. Brown reported that the County Committee approved the resolution for coffee shop RFP at Rd & Sd--now needs full County Board approval on June 29.

BOARD MEMBER REPORTS

J.Cole, President: Reported on remarks made by Wendy Wustenberg (Governor Relations Office) at the Legislative Forum; morning panel stressed that legislative proposals should focus on outcome to users and users/public should testify before Committees.

P. Kelly: Asked if Profiles of Learning came up at the Forum, J. Cole said it did come up, and it was suggested to link library services to the Profiles.

D. Mueller: Distributed information/data on usage of home computers which may impact the 8/10 Briefing. Looks like Internet Filtering law will be passed, tied into gun laws and e-rate discounts.

Budget questions from Mueller: 1) why is $200,000 budgeted again for 2000 for Bestseller Express? [D. Cramer responded that it is too early to fully evaluate the 1999 program; program will be evaluated and staff will then determine its scope/direction for next year.] 2) New department was added to the 2000 budget--Library Foundation; is that legal due to the Foundation's 501 status? [D.Cramer explained that this is just an internal bookkeeping function, has no bearing on 501 status.]

C. Walsh: 1) MELSA is on hold for planning the next trustee event, but she is advocating to host next training at Ridgedale. 2) Profiles of Learning--invite Commissioner Jax or other educational commissioners/staff to the Ridgedale grand opening; any additional names should be shared with N. Perron. 3) Noted that MPL Board has also been invited to the August 10 Briefing.

OTHER

Grants: C. Brown reported that this will be a standard agenda item to update the Library Board on any recent grant activity. The Library recently received a $3,000 grant for the One World program series.

Gift Acceptance
Motion was made by D. Mueller to accept the gifts; seconded by P. Kelly; motion passed.

$ 600.00 Rosemarie L. Peterson (Estate) c/o Sue Donkers to the Augsburg Park Library for the Agency Gift Fund.
575.50 Friends of the Brooklyn Park Library to the Brooklyn Park Library for summer program materials.
273.00 Friends of the Brooklyn Park Library to the Brooklyn Park Library for children's program and sign.
181.94 Friends of the Eden Prairie Library to the Eden Prairie Library for 80 copies of Face to Face.
3500.00 Friends of the Edina Library to the Edina Library literature and AV display fixture.
1850.00 Friends of the Wayzata Library to the Wayzata Library for Easy Bin from Paul's Woodworking.
937.45 Friends of the Plymouth Library to the Plymouth Library to purchase children's videos, puppets, browsing materials, flowers for planters and MELSA summer program materials.
200.00 The Women's Club of St. Louis Park Library to the St. Louis Park Library for general purposes for children.
158.96 Friends of the Wayzata Library to the Wayzata Library for books and prizes for the summer Reader's Raffle.
67.47 Friends of the St. Louis Park Library to the St. Louis Park Library for a tablecloth and puzzles for the children's area.
40.10 Penn Lake Staff to the Penn Lake Library for 2 copies of Musicant Ivan Empire by Default.
25.00 Gamma Alpha Delta Kappa to the Brookdale Library Agency Gift Fund.
49.95 Friends of the Wayzata Library to the Wayzata Library to purchase new coffeemaker for staff.
53.10 Friends of the Wayzata Library to the Wayzata Library to purchase prizes for Parenting Fair held in February.

ADJOURNMENT
Motion to adjourn was made by C. Walsh, seconded by B. Zaragoza, and passed.

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