River Forest Public Library Board of Trustees Minutes of the Regular Meeting January 11, 2006 Call to Order President Molly Ryan called the regular meeting of the Board to order at 7:15 p.m. Present were Director Dawn Bussey and Trustees Molly Ryan, Mark Coe, Lenny Soffer, Joan Cusack, Elizabeth Fischer and Diane Daly. Excused was Margaret Horstman. Audience to Visitors, Trustee and Staff Comments A. Library Board Vice President Mark Coe announced the creation of the Dr. Edwin and Mary Liebner River Forest Public Library Endowment Fund. The fund was created to honor the many contributions of the Liebners to the community and to the library. Further, the fund will greatly benefit the library. The Community Foundation will be the trustee of the fund. Due to the hard work of Director Mrs. Bussey, the foundation has awarded a $20,000 matching grant. Mr. Coe announced that $5,000 has already been contributed to the fund. Both Dr. and Mrs. Liebner spoke and graciously thanked the Library for this honor. B. Rebecca Vnuk, Head of Adult Services presented a “2005 Year in Review” highlighting the major changes in Adult Services which occurred last year. These changes included 1)the purchase of 4,500 new books for the collection, 2)several section revamps, 3)the replacement and finishing of some of the collections, 4) the weeding of just over 9,000 books, 5)a 10% increase in circulation for all adult materials, and 6)the addition of more family based and new programming. Board members congratulated Mrs. Vnuk on the great progress she made during the past year. Consent Agenda Included in the Consent Agenda were the minutes of the December 14th regular meeting, the December Treasurer’s Report, and the Warrant and Benefit List for the period of December 14, 2005 to January 11, 2006 including checks # 5873-5924. Total expenditures for the period including payroll and benefits were $88, 550.57. Mrs. Daly suggested an addition to the December minutes: “Respectfully submitted, Margaret Horstman”. Mrs. Cusack moved that the Board accept the Consent Agenda with the minutes as amended. Mr. Soffer seconded. Roll call vote was taken. Voting aye were Ms. Ryan, Mr. Coe, Mr. Soffer, Mrs. Fischer, Mrs. Cusack and Mrs. Daly. There were no nays: the motion carried unanimously. Communications A. Announcements- Mrs. Bussey shared the following with the Board: a. The Friends of the Library purchased “Families of the World” DVDs for children in the amount of $424.15. b. Membership of the Friends of the Library is now 426 members. Board members requested that those numbers be included in the statistics on a quarterly basis c. Two donations were given during the month of December: $100 from Mr. and Mrs. Popowits and $200 from Margaret and Michael Jones (specified for children’s books). Mr. Coe moved that the Board accept these donations. Mrs. Cusack seconded. The motion carried unanimously. c. The Girl Scouts collected toy donations using the library as the drop off spot. d. There will be a fund raiser for literacy on January 27 sponsored by the Rotary Club. e. A letter written by Mrs. Bussey to Alice Calabrese, Executive Director of MLS regarding the library’s dissatisfaction with the Millennium Software, Release 2005, which has created many problems for staff and patrons including providing incorrect statistical data. B. Patron Suggestions- Nine patron suggestions (# 153 -#161) and the Director’s replies were recorded during the month of December, 2005. Director’s Report Board members reviewed the statistical report for December 2005, Mrs. Bussey’s written report and the departmental reports from the Children’s Room, Community Outreach, Public Relations, Adult Services, the Teen Department, Technical Services, and Circulation. Old Business A. Capital Improvements Progress Report – Mrs. Bussey updated the Board as to the progress being made on the following capital improvements: -Roof repairs – the repair of the active leaks was done in December -Fireplace cleaning was done -Circulation modernization – the print-time management system has been pushed off as new technical management firm has been hired to begin in February or March, and the new library cards are here and are being distributed -HVAC – ultimately a new chiller is needed – Mrs. Bussey will continue to eval- uate the cost of new chiller and feasibility of placing it on the ground instead of the roof -The thermostats need to be inspected as the heat in the library is not well controlled -“As built” drawings – Despite intense research, Mrs. Bussey has been unable to locate the drawings other than the ones found at the library. She has put together the drawings she does have which will be submitted to a blueprint firm in the area. Mrs. Bussey will then get the RFP together and submit it to firms she has been working with to obtain reasonable quotes for “as built” drawings. She expects to have the drawings by March or April. B. Strategic Planning Update President Molly Ryan has scheduled a meeting for a Strategic Planning Meeting of the Whole on Tuesday, January 24 at 7:00 p.m. for Board members to meet with Village President Frank Paris, Village Manager Chuck Biondo and Steve Gutierrez. The focus of the meeting is to discuss joint planning on the library’s parking issue and other issues on which the Library may need input from the Village of River Forest. Ms. Ryan asked Trustees to reread the Village Comprehensive Plan to prepare for the meeting. New Business A. Amnesty Period/Food for Fines: Mrs. Bussey asked that the Board consider a suggestion from a staff member to give an amnesty period for one week in February in which patrons would give food donations in lieu of fines. Board members expressed concern about the use of library funds for non-library purposes and suggested just holding a food drive during February instead. B. By-laws amendments- Mrs. Bussey proposed three amendments to the by-laws. After discussion, Board members decided to table further discussion and the vote until the February meeting. NOTE: There will be changes to the regular meeting schedule. The February meeting will be held on Tuesday, February 21st and the March meeting will be on Tuesday, March 21st. C. Public Relations Committee Policy Recommendation Mrs. Daly will email the document drafted by the PR Committee, “PR Policy Recommendations”, to Board members and will work with Ms. Ryan to draft a statement of the library’s PR policy. The PR policy will be brought to the February meeting for the Board’s approval. D. Schedule Finance Committee – Budget Meeting- The Finance Committee of the Board will meet on Thursday, February 2nd at 7:00 p.m. There was no executive session. Adjournment At 9:18 p.m., Mr. Coe moved that the meeting be adjourned. Mr. Soffer seconded. Respectfully submitted, Diane Daly, Secretary