Library Advisory Board Minutes - 08/23/2005LIBRARY ADVISORY BOARD MINUTES
August 23, 2005
MEMBERS PRESENT:
Andrea Williams, Chair
Dr. Jim Sernoe, Vice Chair
Irene Lambert
Dr. Richard Sutton
Nell Lister
Allison Reynolds
Teresa Wilcox
EX- OFFICIO MEMBERS PRESENT:
Linda Hughes, Library Administrator
MEMBERS ABSENT:
Melinda Brinkley
DeDe Chandler
RECEIVED IN
CITY CLERK'S OFFICE
Date
By _..__� �— Time : D R'1
Ms. Williams called the meeting to order at 4:15 P.M. A quorum was present. The minutes of the
May 24, 2005 meeting were approved as submitted with minor typographical corrections.
Ms. Hughes introduced two new Advisory Board members. Ms. Hughes reported that summer
reading club activities were well attended; 267 children earned certificates for reading at least 15 hours
during the program. The departure of three staff members allowed the Management Team to realign some
positions. Plans are being made to move the Genealogy and Texas - Southwest reference collections to the
first floor. One Librarian will then be able to focus on service to young adults, a rapidly expanding user
group. Beginning September 1, the Library will participate in a free 90 trial of a collection service designed
especially to encourage cardholders to return overdue materials. The Library will attempt to get the
materials returned for 60 days, at the end of 60 days the account will be turned over to Unique
Management. The collection service makes an additional four contacts to get the materials returned to the
library, then, if unsuccessful, reports the person to a national credit bureau as a bad debt. At that point, the
Library will issue a citation for unlawfully detaining Library materials. Currently over $55,000 worth of
city owned materials have been checked out and never returned. Other cities using Unique Management' s
services have cut their losses due to unretumed materials by at least 60 %. Ms. Hughes also passed out a
current Library Return on Investment report. Using state standard fees for materials, fee - for -use Internet
access, private information service searches, and programs, Wichita Falls taxpayers receive over $12
million in benefits for a $1.5 million investment in the Library.
Discussion then turned to the One Book, One Community project. Ms. Williams explained the
project to the new members. Ms. Hughes has written one grant for State fiends and has others in progress;
however, she said she has been hampered by not having an exact budget figure. She requested that the
OBOC Executive Committee meet and devise a realistic working budget to submit with future grant
requests.
Board Members received copies of the Library Policy Manual. Ms. Hughes said that review of the
manual was put on hold due to the focus on the One Book, One Community project. She said that staff
members had reviewed the manual made adjustments to reflect changes that have been made, new services,
and new procedures. She suggested that the members review the policy manual, asking questions, and
offering suggestions at regular Board meetings and then vote on adopting the updated manual at its
December meeting.
In the Friends of the Library report, Ms. Lister said that with the recent death of long -time
volunteer Martha Allensworth and the loss of two volunteers who are teachers, the Book Store desperately
needs additional workers, especially on Monday from 12 to 2. Anyone with some time to spare should
contact Gracie Gregg, President of the Friends and Book Store Coordinator. The Friends donated $100 to
Hospice in honor of Ms. Allensworth. Ms. Hughes commented that the Library had received several
donations in memory of Ms. Allensworth.
The Board will meet next on September 27, 2005 at 4:15 in the Library Conference Room. Ms.
Williams adjourned the meeting at 5:10 PM.
Minutes submitted by Linda Hughes, Library Administrator.
Minutes approved, September 27, 2005
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Andrea Williams, Chair