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Library Advisory Board Minutes - 09/26/2000LIBRARY ADVISORY BOARD MINUTES September 26, 2000 MEMBERS PRESENT: Dr. James Snowden, Chair James Bracket Andrea Williams Gracie Gregg Shirley Harris Dr. James Semoe Ruth Jones Irene Lambert Patsy Klein EX- OFFICIO MEMBERS PRESENT: Arthur Bea Williams, City Council Liaison Robert Powers, Assistant City Manager Linda Hughes, Library Administrator David Sinclair, Friends of the Library Liaison CITY CLERK'S OFFICE MEMBERS ABSENT: Ms. Klein called the meeting to order at 4:16 P.M. Ms. Hughes introduced Richard Guinn, Cataloging Librarian. Mr. Guinn told the Board that he is responsible for both original cataloging of materials for which no cataloging record can be found in the Online Consortium of Library Catalogs (OCLC) database, and for editing and correcting catalog records of materials which are found. He brought examples of the forms that must be correctly filled out for each item in the collection. Ms. Hughes explained that if the various fields, spacing and punctuation were not correctly filled out, the information the patron viewed could be unreadable and the computer searches would not work properly. Mr. Guinn also shared a copy of the new XML MARC cataloging record form currently being developed and used by Stanford University. This form addresses the problems in cataloging electronic resources such as online database subscriptions, CD -ROM products, e- books, and Internet resources. It is a more flexible format with more points of search indexing and may in the future be adopted by the Library of Congress as the standard format. Ms. Hughes told the Board that Mr. Guinn and Richard Maruscsak, Technical Services Manager, cataloged approximately 17,000 items this fiscal year. Dr. Snowden asked if the catalog was available from home computers. Mr. Guinn replied that the full catalog is available through the Library website <www.wfpl.net >. Ms. Hughes explained that the library's records are uploaded into the OCLC international database and that Wichita Falls' records had been well received due to the careful attention to detail by Mr. Maruscsak and Mr. Guinn. Dr. Snowden declared a quorum to be present. He introduced Gracie Gregg as a returning Board Member. Ms. Gregg has served on the Library Advisory Board before and was a member of the Library Relocation Task Force. David Sinclair joins the Board as the newly elected President of the Friends of the Library, serving as the Friends liaison to the Board. The minutes of the May 2000 meeting were approved. Dr. Snowden called on Ms. Hughes for the Librarian's report. Ms. Hughes pointed out that the statistics indicated the change in demands on library services. While circulation has remained stable, the use of computers in the library for Internet and word processing has increased over 200 %. She said that the summer reading program was shortened to accommodate the SAM school schedule to allow those students to participate in the full program. One major weekly program for children was scheduled in place of the regular story times. Participants and parents were surveyed at the end of the program and overall were pleased with the new format. She reported that the TexShare cooperative borrowing program under the auspices of the Texas State Library and Archives Commission was put in place faster than expected. Wichita Falls has already issued nine TexShare cards to Wichita Falls citizens who may in turn use them at any participating library in the state. To date the Library has only had one TexShare card from another institution presented to be honored. Board member Ms. Andrea Williams, a librarian at MSU, commented that they perceive it to be a way to allow non - students to borrow materials from Moffat Library without having to pay the annual use fee. They are currently promoting the TexShare card to those requesting borrowing privileges at the university library. Ms. Hughes shared information on the Texas Reads license plate that is now available. Funds collected from the sale of the special plates will be channeled into direct aid for Texas public libraries. She said that the staff was happy about Judge Buchmeyer's ruling on the book issue; however, the staff had not focused on the issue since the temporary injunction was ruled last year. Dr. Snowden asked if the Library heard much about the matter. Ms. Hughes replied that a small flurry of interest arose after the ruling was announced. Ms. Hughes said that the staff is involved in putting all shelves in order, choosing books to be discarded, and placing genre stickers on fiction books. This will be long -term project since only part of one day each week can be dedicated to it. She hopes to have the entire collection weeded by the end of next fiscal year. Mr. Powers asked what criteria were used to discard books. Ms. Hughes replied that books that have not circulated over two times in the last six years, books in poor condition, and nonfiction books containing outdated information are considered "weeds." She said that the Library checks each title pulled through the catalogs of standard public and school library collections before discarding. Titles listed in the catalogs are those which have proved to be enduringly popular or regularly appear on educational reading lists. Under new business, Ms. Hughes said that some time ago the Friends had received a donation of a motorized cart for use by physically challenged patrons. She asked the Board to help draft a use policy. The Friends will be purchasing a basket for the front of the cart to hold a patron's selections. She agreed to contact the City's Legal Department concerning liability issues. Under Old Business, Ms. Hughes reported the results of the in -house test of the Library Service Survey. The survey was administered on a Saturday afternoon in late August by staff. She said there were many comments on the surveys from patrons concerning services currently offered of which they were not aware. Requests for Sunday hours and branch services were on a majority of the surveys. Ms. Hughes has requested that the survey be included in the City's Falls Focus newsletter. The paper has offered to run the survey. She will also check with MSU about the possibility of the survey being a class project. Mr. Sinclair reported that the Friends would be underwriting the cost over $10 for Library Staff shirts. The polo shirts have the library logo and are very good advertisement. In the future, the Friends will present a free shirt to all new staff members on the completion of the six -month probationary period. The Friends will host their second annual library volunteer appreciation dinner in October. Currently the only volunteers are employed in the Library Bookstore; the recognition program may expand as the Library's volunteer program expands. Mr. Sinclair said that the Friends have decided to suspend the Meet the Author series until they decide the best way to proceed. Suggestions include staging one event per year with a widely popular author rather than more frequent programs with local authors and poor attendance. The Friends will also provide protective holders for the library cards. Councilperson Arthur Bea Williams officially swore in Gracie Gregg as a member of the Library Advisory Board. Dr. Snowden announced the next meeting to be Tuesday, October 24, 2000, at 4:15 P.M in the Library Conference Room. He adjourned the meeting at 5:30 P.M. Respectfully submitted, Linda Hughes, Library Administrator