Library Advisory Board Minutes - 10/19/2010LIBRARY ADVISORY BOARD MINUTES
October 19, 2010
MEMBERS PRESENT:
Donna Jane McGough
Jennifer Andrews
Arthur Bea Williams
Amy Bobrowitz
Jeff Tillman
Jean Hall
Julie Carter
EX- OFFICIO MEMBERS PRESENT:
Lesley Daly, Library Administrator
MEMBERS ABSENT:
Carrie Ann Taylor
Cari Guidry
A quorum was present and the meeting was called to order at 4:15 pm.
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Librarian's report:
City Employee of the Month: Ms. Daly reported that Allison Steger, the Youth Services Librarian, had been recognized
as the City's Employee of the Month for October at the October 4 City Council meeting. Ms. Steger started work at the
library in June 2009, literally being thrown in at the deep end with the onset of Summer Reading and subsequent
programs. She quickly familiarized herself with the various collections in the Youth Department and was able to
confidently direct youngsters and their parents to where they needed to be in a very short space of time. She has made
thoughtful, significant changes and suggestions for the Youth department in general over the past fifteen months, and is
a valued employee.
Arno Leer: As a direct result of Ms. Steger's being named Employee of the Month and the resulting publicity that she
received, the library was contacted by the Robert & Ruby Priddy Charitable Trust and invited to apply for one of its
current grants, the AMO LEER program. (Amo Leer translates into "I love to read ").
The Trust donated approximately $10,000 worth of bilingual and Spanish materials suitable for children in grade 3 and
under to 32 different rural libraries: since the Priddy Foundation and Trust typically limit their giving to small,
underfunded libraries, this was truly an extremely welcome surprise! The only `catch' was that in order to receive
funding, Ms. Steger had to attend a forum hosted at the Quartz Mountain Resort in Oklahoma — there she met the other
grant recipients and attended workshop sessions to learn how to best use the new books and promote them within the
community upon her return.
Statistics: Ms. Daly distributed graphs illustrating annual circulation and door counts. She noted that while the library
saw a 15.9% decrease in hours open for the majority of the 2010 fiscal year, the annual circulation figures for that year
only dropped 16.5% from the prior cycle. Interestingly, the door counts for the same periods of time only decreased by
3.6% - the library is actually realizing many more visitors than ever before, but is checking out almost the same amount
of materials. The conclusion of staff and the board was that people are primarily coming to the library to use the
computers: these sessions are currently not included in the annual circulation statistics. A question was also raised as to
whether the circulation counts included e -book and downloadable audiobook checkout — Ms. Daly agreed to investigate
further.
Equipment Issues: The library is currently dealing with some unexpected technical difficulties in a couple of areas. Six
of the sixteen security cameras in and outside the library need to be replaced. The estimated cost is $4,500 — there is no
money in the current budget, but Ms. Daly is hoping to expend some special funds in order to bring all cameras back
online.
The library traccard machine that dispenses printing cards to the public has just used its 8th (if not 9`h) life: the vendor
has had to retrieve parts from all over the country in order to restore the equipment. Replacement and upgrade is
expected to cost at least $6,000 — since there have been so many improvements and additions made to the hardware and
software capabilities in this area over the past few years, library staff intend to visit the vendor in the upcoming weeks
to determine what will be the best solution for a future purchase.
Old Business:
Ms. Daly reported that the North Texas Regional System Assembly meeting held at the Forum was a success. The State
Librarian, Peggy Rudd, was in attendance and gave a presentation that outlined the general fiscal picture for Texas.
Unfortunately, the State Library is anticipating further budget cuts for the upcoming year: Ms. Rudd applauded the far-
sightedness of the North Texas system in establishing itself as a non - profit entity and for its continued excellence in
service.
Fine & fee raises: Ms. Daly noted that while there have been some patrons visibly and audibly upset by the raise in non-
resident fees, there have also been several individuals who have been quite happy to pay the extra money and who have
thanked staff for great service. The question of offering family discounts to non - residents was raised: this had been
discussed by library staff but had not been taken to city officials or council. There are no plans at this time to offer any
such discount: instead, library staff are advising non - residents that they can obtain Texshare cards at their local libraries
that will be honored at WFPL. The Texshare program is a free collaborative program across the state, but it is more
restrictive in the total number of items allowed for checkout: participating libraries write their own policies, so there are
considerable differences from institution to institution.
Friends of the Library:
The Friends of the Library Annual General Meeting is to be held Monday, October 25 at 7:OOpm in Room 205.
There being no further business, th meeting was adjourned at 5:05 pm.
Next meeting: November 23, 4:15 m
Chair