River Forest Public Library
Board of Library Trustees
Minutes of Regular Meeting
December 19, 2006

Call to Order
	President Mark Coe called the meeting to order at 7:30 p.m.

Roll Call
	Present were Director Dawn Bussey and Trustees Soffer, Coe, Fischer, Cusack, Ryan, Horstman and Daly.

Audience to Visitors, Trustee and Staff Comments
A. Samantha Cresswell, Head of Circulation
	Ms. Cresswell talked about the new River Forest Public Library tote bags. Also, she told the Board that the staff is considering some type of food drive which would be tied to the waiving of fines. No decisions have been made at this time.
B. Maria Segal, Rusty Walker and Eric Kuntz of Holabird & Root
	The architects of Holabird & Root presented four separate 1st and 2nd floor schemes. Board members as well as staff and visitors asked questions. The Board agreed to further discuss the schemes and obtain staff input in order to report back to Holabird & Root by mid January. Board members also want to examine the redesign as part of a potentially larger project which may involve other Village entities and which may require greater funding. 
Consent Agenda
	Ms. Ryan moved to adopt the Consent Agenda which included the minutes of the November regular Board meeting, the Warrant and Benefits List including checks #6697-6770 for a grand total of $72,153.92 and the November Treasurer’s Report. Mrs. Daly seconded. Voting aye: Mr. Coe, Ms. Horstman, Mrs. Cusack, Mrs. Fischer, Ms. Ryan, Mr. Soffer and Mrs. Daly. There were no nays. The motion carried unanimously.

Communications
A. Announcements – Mrs. Bussey announced the following:
~The endowment contributions, including the Community Foundation Matching Grant, now total $41,980.
~Mary Liebner, President of the Friends of the Library, fell but is recovering well.
~There was a large turnout (75) for the Children’s Chorus event.
~The surveys have been completed. Mrs. Bussey pointed out that 94.7% of those completing the surveys said that the service at the library was always/frequently excellent, and 89.1% said that their needs at the library had always/frequently been met.
B. Patron Suggestions: Numbers 230-233 and their responses were recorded for the month of November, 2005.




Director’s Report
A. Statistical Report- Mrs. Bussey commented that in 2005 the statistics were skewed due to the software upgrade to the catalog system “Release 2005”, so comparing this year’s to last year’s data is not accurate because of the inaccuracy of the 2005 data.
B. Written Report – Board members questioned the low attendance at adult library programs. It was requested that this be a future agenda item and that Adult Services Head Rebecca Vnuk give a presentation to the Board about programming in the future.
C. Departmental Reports – These were reviewed by Board members.

Old Business
A. DVD/Loan Rule – Mrs. Bussey
	The current loan rule is that patrons under the age of 14 are allowed to check out videos and DVDs from the juvenile collection only, regardless of rating.  The proposed change is that “Patrons of all ages will have access and borrowing privileges for all materials in the River Forest Library, including videos and DVDs. This loan rule conforms to the library card agreement signed by all patrons and patrons’ parents/guardians.” Mr. Soffer moved that the Board adopt the policy change. Ms. Ryan seconded. A vote was taken: all ayes, no nays: the motion carried unanimously.
B. Committee of the Whole Meeting- Scheduled for January 3, 2007.

New Business
A. Trustee Candidate Information- This information was included in the packets.
B. ASK Program Financial Support- Mrs. Bussey told the Board that Youth Services Township asked if the Library Board would be contributing funds to the ASK Program.   She noted that the program has benefited the library by filling the needs of the ‘tweens as well as relieving the congestion in the Children’s Room and proposed that $1000 of library funds be budgeted for this program. Board members discussed the appropriateness of using Library funds for this purpose. It was suggested that income from the Liebner Endowment Fund be used for the ASK Program because a lesser duty of stewardship is owed by trustees on these funds than other funds. Mr. Soffer noted that funds are not segregated in a way that permits designation of expenditures as being from a particular source and, in any event, a fiduciary duty is owed on all of the Library’s funds. Mrs. Daly moved that the Board approve an expenditure of $1000 for the funding of the ASK Program.  Mrs. Fischer seconded. A vote was taken: there were six ayes (Coe, Cusack, Daly Fischer, Horstman, Ryan and one nay (Soffer): the motion carried. 
C. Reconsideration of Library Resources Policy- This has been tabled.

Executive Session
	At 10:30 p.m. Mr. Soffer made a motion to convene executive session. Mrs. Cusack seconded. The motion carried unanimously.

Adjournment 
	At 11:10 p.m. Mr. Coe moved for adjournment, and Mr. Soffer seconded.

Respectfully submitted, 
Diane Daly, Secretary