River Forest Public Library
Board of Trustees
Minutes of Regular Meeting
November 9, 2005

Call to Order
President Molly Ryan called the regular meeting of the Board to order at 7:17 p.m. Present were Director Mrs. Bussey and Trustees Molly Ryan, Mark Coe, Diane Daly, Lenny Soffer, Margaret Horstman, Elizabeth Fischer and Joan Cusack.

Visitor and Trustee Comments
There were no visitor comments.  President Molly Ryan commented on the attractive new front door. She thanked Mrs. Bussey, Mrs. Fischer and Ms. Horstman for their many hours of work as members of the Board’s Capital Improvements Committee.

Presentation by Joy Donahue
Joy Donahue, Head of Technical Services, gave an informative presentation about what her department does, as well as innovations in the library’s technical services department.

Consent Agenda
The October Treasurer’s Report will be submitted for approval in December. Trustees reviewed the minutes of the October 18, 2005 regular meeting.  They reviewed the Warrant List of Bills Payable for the period of October 20, 2005 to November 9, 2005, including checks # 5704 to # 5751 and the payroll and benefits list for a grand total of $30,461.22. Mrs. Fischer moved that the Board approve the minutes and the Warrant List. Mrs. Cusack seconded.  A roll call vote was taken. Voting aye were Ms. Ryan, Mrs. Cusack, Mrs. Fischer, Ms. Horstman, Mr. Coe, Mr. Soffer and Mrs. Daly.  There were no nays: the motion carried unanimously.

Communications
A. Announcements:
	Mrs. Bussey shared the following with the Board:
	-A letter from the FOL President Mary Liebner
	-An invitation to the Library’s Holiday Party
	-An article by Head of Adult Services Rebecca Vnuk in the Library Journal
	-An announcement that Rebecca Vnuk will be speaking at two conferences
	-A thank you note to Ellen Cutter from the fourth graders at Lincoln School
B. Patron Suggestions:
	Nine patron suggestions (# 137-145) and the Director’s replies were recorded for 
	October, 2005.

Director’s Report
A. Statistical Report:
	Statistics show that usage of the library and card renewals are up.  The 
	computer classes have been successful and patrons are asking for more classes.  
	Mrs. Bussey is considering expanding computer classes done in “demo” mode.
B. Written Report:
	 Mrs. Bussey reported that most of her time in October was spent with capital 	improvements and work with the library staff.  She reported that the new Time 	Capsule was buried on October 22, 2005. 
C. Departmental Reports –
	Board members reviewed the reports for October from Adult Services, Technical 	Services, the Children’s Department, Circulation, Public Relations and 	Outreach.

Old Business
A. Capital Improvements Committee Report 
	Mrs. Bussey reported on progress with the roof repairs.  By the December 	meeting, she will have three proposals regarding the chiller. 
B. Board of Trustees Retreat Planning
	Ms. Ryan asked that this agenda item be revisited at the December Board 	meeting.

New Business
A. Levy Resolution:
	Mr. Coe moved that the Board accept the Levy Resolution.  Mr. Soffer seconded. 	
	A roll call vote was taken. Voting aye were Trustees Coe, Soffer, Cusack, Fischer, 
	Horstman, Ryan and Daly. There were no nays. The motion carried unanimously. 
	Secretary Daly signed the resolution.
B. Processing Fee-
	Mrs. Bussey asked that the Board approve a $5 processing fee for lost items. Mrs.  
	Cusack moved that the processing fee be approved and Mrs. Fischer seconded. A 
	vote was taken: there were all ayes and no nays hence the motion carried 
	unanimously.
C. Meeting Room Usage Policy Revision:
	Mrs. Bussey suggested three revisions to the Policy for Use of the Meeting Room:
	1. Meetings may be scheduled for before or after hours usage with approval of the 
	Library Director.
	2. All before or after room usage requires a security monitor fee of $20 per hour
	and a certificate of insurance from the organization sponsoring the meeting.
	3. Before or after hours usage can be scheduled by contacting the
	Circulation/Information desk to determine availability, filling out an application
	and submitting it to the Library Director for approval.
	Mr. Coe moved that the Board adopt the changes to the policy and Mrs. Daly 
	seconded. Board members discussed the $20 per hour monitor fee, suggesting it 
	should be higher. This suggestion will be revisited at a later time.  A vote was
	taken and the motion carried unanimously.
	
 D. Endowment Program:
	After discussion it was agreed that the Finance Committee will meet to review 
	information about the endowment program sponsored by the Community
	Foundation. Finance Committee members will present their findings to the Board 	at the December meeting.

E. Consideration of Next Steps re: Interior/Exterior Design Consultants
	-Mrs. Fischer gave a report of the Capital Improvements Committee’s review of qualifications and interviews with several design consultants. Among other criteria, the committee evaluated the firms based on experience and creativity, and found one to be outstanding in both areas.  A lengthy discussion regarding the hiring of this firm ensued. It was concluded that a member of the Capital Improvements Committee will contact this firm to glean the following further information:
1. A concrete definition of the scope of the project
2. A concrete list of deliverables
3. A statement communicating what about their end product is special – what is different about how they work
4. A cost estimate

	-Ms. Ryan announced that effective December 31, 2005, all trustees will sit on a new Ad Hoc Committee, the “2007-2011 Strategic Planning Committee”, the purpose of which will be 1)to create and implement the Library’s next Strategic Plan and 2)to work simultaneously with the Capital Improvements Committee.

	-Mrs. Bussey spoke with Alice Calabrese, the head of the MLS.  Ms. Calabrese told Mrs. Bussey that the MLS can provide a strategic plan consultant at a reasonable cost, but they do not have a master/facilities plan consultant on staff.

	-Ms. Ryan will call Frank Paris, Village President, and invite him to meet with the Strategic Planning Committee to discuss coordinating the facilities plan part of the library’s strategic plan with the 2003 Village Plan.

Executive Session
At 10:00 p.m. Mrs. Cusack moved to go to executive session. Mr. Coe seconded and the motion carried unanimously.

Adjournment
At 10:05 p.m. Mr. Coe moved that the regular meeting be adjourned. Mr. Soffer seconded.

Respectfully submitted,
Diane Daly, Secretary