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HomeMy WebLinkAboutLAB012018 MinutesSt. Lucie County Library Advisory Board Minutes-January 22, 2018 1 Library Advisory Board Meeting Minutes Monday, January 22, 2018 Vice Chair Jewel Armstrong Player called the meeting to order at 5:35 PM in the Kilmer (Fort Pierce) Branch Library Meeting Room. Members in attendance: Jewel Armstrong Player, Michael Millstone, Rudy Widman, Eukeba Jones and Marjorie Harrell. Also in attendance: Susan Jacob, Library Director and Nancy Woodfin, Library Administrative Specialist. Absent were Carnelle Clifton, Eloise Cumings and Ethel Rowland. The minutes from the last Board Meeting dated 7/17/2017 were distributed. A motion was made and seconded (Eukeba Jones/Rudy Widman) to accept the minutes as distributed with two corrections. The motion passed unanimously. The board welcomed new member Michael Millstone. Old Business:  Library Director gave a report on the first three months that the Paula A. Lewis Branch Library has been open. The branch opening was met with high acclaim. LD reported that children’s material is circulating higher at Lewis than at any other branch illustrating the need by families with children for a branch in this location. Saturdays hold very popular with teens who are hanging out, reading and using the game room. LD reported that the branch is less busy in the mornings. They are beginning to bring programming to the patrons which will build morning traffic. LD said that the Law Library, as reported by Jim Wilder, Friends of the Library liaison for the Rupert J. Smith Law Library, is busier than expected. LD reported that Lewis Branch had received the certificate of occupancy today which clears the way to filing for the remainder of the $500,000 state grant which must be submitted by June, 2018. Several board members commented on the appeal of the Lewis Branch describing it as modern and innovative.  Raising the age on an adult library card was discussed. Library Director informed the board that St. Lucie County was one of only two library systems in the state that had their adult card age at 14. She said that the age for an adult card was important because it affects how things are filtered on the internet when someone logs in using their Library Card. This in turn affects the Library’s compliance with e-rate which allows significant savings in internet billing. LD also explained that a 14 year old could not enter into a St. Lucie County Library Advisory Board Minutes-January 22, 2018 2 contract so they could not be held liable for fines or lost books. Discussion ensued as to the pros and cons of raising the age for the adult card and to what age. A motion was made and seconded (Rudy Widman/Eukeba Jones) to raise the age of an adult card to 16. The motion passed 3 to 2. New Business:  The updated Collection Management Policy was discussed. The policy was distributed for review prior to the meeting. LD told the board that the policy was formerly called Collection Development. She briefly discussed the purpose of the policy and how it now addresses challenged material. The new policy includes a form for patrons to complete if they wish to challenge material in the collection. She said that the Library generally gets about two challenged items per year. It is also an opportunity to correct the document so that Library Manager now reads Library Director. A motion was made and seconded (Rudy Widman/Marjorie Harrell) to accept the policy as written. The motion passed unanimously.  The Library Director reported on FY19 budget priorities. She sai d that she is again asking for $50,000 to fund a streaming service called Hoopla for videos much like the free music download service, Freegal that the Library provides. Last fiscal year that request was denied. She reported that she is asking for funds to update furniture at the Port St. Lucie Branch. Aside from those two items there won’t be much change in the FY 19 budget. LD is not asking for more service hours and there are no new positions this year. Friends of the Library Report:  Rudy Widman reported that the Friends have approved a $5,000 grant for this year’s Summer Reading Program. He said that the Friends had also approved a subscription to Book Page, a publication that provides book reviews, that will be distributed free of charge to patrons. He reported that the Friends sponsored a Library float in this year’s holiday parade and that staff were quite enthusiastic about it. The Friends donated $500 towards the float and entry into the parade. Library Director’s Report:  LD discussed the Long Range Plan/Service Plan. The Long Range Plan received a two year extension and we will begin working on the new Plan in an updated format. LD distributed samples of what the new plan would resemble. LD explained that the Long Range Plan outlines goals and objectives for the Library. The Service Plan outlines how the Library expects to achieve goals and objectives for the year. Both the Long Range Plan and the Service Plan are required to be submitted to the state in order to get State Aid to Libraries grant. LD distributed Service Plan for 2018. She said that both plans will be in line with St. Lucie County’s strategic objectives. LD said that she has completed St. Lucie County Library Advisory Board Minutes-January 22, 2018 3 filing for the State Aid to Libraries grant and we should see about $100,000 from it. She said that about $85,000 will go towards the joint use agreement with Indian River State College Pruitt Campus Library and the remainder will go towards rehab of the Kilmer (Fort Pierce) Branch.  LD reported that we are well on our way to funding a robust Summer Reading Program. The Friends have pledged $5,000. We received a $3,000 grant from the Association for Children’s Library Services Baker & Taylor Summer Reading Grant and LD is preparing to submit a request for $4,000 from the Children’s Services Council of the Treasure Coast. She reported that this year for the first time we will expand our outreach with two additional programs, one for babies and one for pre-school kids. LD said that there are many other small grants out there and that she intends to en courage senior staff to write and administer them.  LD talked about the rehab project at Kilmer Branch. We are looking at new flooring, paint, new Circulation des, and some reupholstering for the first floor. County has budgeted $160,000 to get similar work done on both floors.  LD reported that the City of Fort Pierce is building a public bathroom in the green space behind the Library. The architecture will mirror that of the Library. Board Comments:  Regarding the Long Range Plan, Rudy Widman commented that he would like to see a summary of what your goals are and how you achieved them. This could be a bulleted list or a graph on the last page. He said it would be helpful to “grade yourself on how you did.”  Marjory Harrell commented that she didn’t think that the sample of Book Page that was handed out was diverse enough. Rudy Widman responded that the Friends were subscribing to it as a trial.  Michael Millstone commented that he was unable to pick up his wife’s books on hold at the Lewis Branch because he did not have her Library card. Library Director responded that it is a confidentiality issue but that we could work towards some kind of solution like a form that patrons can fill out or a family card.  Michael Millstone asked the board to think about h ow he could best serve the board and the Library as a new board member. Next meeting scheduled for April 16, 2018 at 5:30 PM at the Fort Pierce Branch. Meeting adjourned at 7:00 PM. Minutes approved by the Library Advisory Board on April 16, 2018