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Library Board Meeting Minutes |
Minutes
On motion of Sarnecki, seconded by Hemes, the Board approved the minutes of the regular Board meeting of June 15, 2005. (Malueg, Widener, and Irish abstained.)
Library statistical reports
Proces mentioned the number of programs offered by the Youth Services Department during the month of June in conjunction with the Summer Library Program. He noted the amount of work involved for each program and commended Youth Services Department staff for their efforts. Proces pointed out that overall circulation is still up 4% for the year.
Bills for consideration
On motion of McIntosh, seconded by Piergrossi, the Board unanimously accepted the June bill payment report.
Director’s report
Proces presented program & exhibit guides from the ALA conference that he recently attended in Chicago.
Trust fund reports
Trust fund reports from the trust companies were available for the Board to view.
American Library Association conference report
Proces thanked the Board for allowing him to attend the American Library Association conference in Chicago in July. He felt it was a good experience and appreciated the opportunity to attend. It is a good way to stay current and to re-energize. Proces noted that the Public Library Association would be held in March next year. Widener asked that the Finance & Personnel Committee put a line item for the director to attend national conferences in the upcoming budget.
Request to accept a quilt for permanent display
Lakeview 4th grade teacher Mary Schreier has offered next year’s quilt to the library for permanent display. Proces noted that the library already owned a quilt made by Hoover students that hung in the temporary library but now sits on a shelf. He noted the lack of space to add permanent hangings/paintings/artwork. The Board discussed how the quilt would/could be displayed at the library and the acceptance of gifts from individual classes. On motion of Sarnecki, seconded by Malueg, the Board declined the acceptance of this generous offer. (Wiswall abstained.)
2006 budget
Proces noted that the Finance & Personnel Committee needed to set a date to review his 2006 budget recommendations. It was decided that the Finance & Personnel Committee would meet on August 10th at 4:00 p.m. in the Carpenter Conference Room.
Winnefox Library System issues
Proces reported that a meeting between Oshkosh library director John Nichols, Fond du Lac library director Ken Hall, Menasha library director Jack Fry and himself occurred on June 29 to try to reach common ground regarding some of the controversy over a dual Winnefox/Oshkosh Public Library director. He reported that a good deal of progress was made on some of the key issues. Among those issues:
Security camera system upgrade/additions
Proces requested that the current security system be upgraded to a digital system. The current system for viewing the security tapes is a VCR/Multiplexer that records at 32 images per second and that requires the viewing of an event in very jerky real time. The quality is also not particularly good from the specialized printer. The new digital systems can record at 120 images per second and stores the information on a massive disk drive. A photo may be sent to any color printer with much better resolution. The cameras can also be set to record movement only, thus saving enormous amounts of time reviewing tapes. Further scenes may be replayed at any speed, instead of only real time and may take place on any library PC that has the needed software. Total cost for changing to a digital system would be around $6,500.00. Proces noted that the existing cameras would work with a digital system. The current system has been in place for five years. The VCR/Multiplexer, which runs 24/7, will likely soon need to be replaced. Hanes added that if the current system does not produce good quality imaging, this would be a something the library needs to do. Wiswall noted the ease of use and felt that the money was being well spent. The school district recently upgraded to digital. The Board discussed how to pay for an upgrade. Wanting to not add to City capital budget requests, on motion of Widener, seconded by McIntosh, the Board voted unanimously to use available building trust funds to upgrade to a digital security system.
The Mayor had asked the City IS director to look into adding a camera that would take shots of different locations in Shattuck Park. (The cost of this camera would be approximately $5,500.00.) A special camera could be mounted on the roof of the library building that would take shots in sequence of different Shattuck Park locations. On motion of Sarnecki, seconded by Hemes, the Board voted unanimously to accept a camera being placed on the library roof to view Shattuck Park as long as the mounting of the camera does not pierce the roof.
Proces noted that there have been many times when it would have been nice to have a camera face the parking lot to monitor activity there (such as the recent truck running over the landscaping, the man burning papers outside the building, the woman driving away after staying in the building past closing). The cost of a special camera would be approximately $1,000.00. On motion of Hemes, seconded by Sarnecki, the Board voted unanimously to add a camera to cover the parking lot at a cost of $1,000.00 funded from the building maintenance fund.
Library staff surveys – 2005/2002 comparisons
The Board discussed the 2005 library staff survey as compared to the identical survey given in 2002. Proces noted that, overall, the responses were more positive for 2005 than 2002. All 32 employees responded positively to the final statements: “Generally speaking, I like what I do at the library,” and “Generally speaking, I am happy working here.”
Raab, Britten, and Anderson left the meeting.
City staff survey - 2005
The City HR Dept. also conducted an employee survey. HR distributed a copy of page one of the survey (general employment issues) to all staff. Part two, which dealt with supervisors and department heads, was limited to department head and Library Board of Trustees use. The Board discussed the survey, noting the similarities in responses between the library and city surveys. The Library Finance & Personnel Committee will use the information from both surveys for the director’s annual performance review.
Next regularly scheduled meeting
The next regular meeting will be held on August 17, 2005, at 4:00 p.m. in the Carpenter Conference Room.
Adjournment
At 5:00 p.m., on motion of McIntosh, seconded by Hemes, the Board voted unanimously to adjourn.