Bozeman Public Library Board of Trustees Meeting
Library Director’s Office
Bozeman Public Library
August 22, 2001
4:00 P.M.
ATTENDANCE
Trustees: Brenda Davis, Chair; Jerry Bancroft; Holly Brown; Al Kesselheim; Molly Richardson, Foundation Board; Liza McClelland, Staff; and Alice Meister, Director.
CALL TO ORDER
The meeting was called to order by Chair Davis at 4:20 p.m.
APPROVAL OF MINUTES
The minutes of the July 18 meeting were approved as submitted.
CORRESPONDENCE
Meister reported on public comments: a request to check out materials for more than three weeks for those on vacation; a request for more children’s books-on-tape and more history books-on-tape; a request to add rap compact discs; a request to eliminate paper due date slips and return to stamping due dates; several complaints about noise from children and lack of parking space; and several complaints about the naked sculpture which was part of the Sweet Pea juried art show. A Wyoming library director wrote to offer consulting services, and a thank you was sent to Cindy Christin for her assistance in choosing appropriate books for a woman’s grandchildren. Meister had received her second notice of jury duty for the Bozeman Municipal Court for a year’s period of time. Hallie Rugheimer had
just delivered a letter regarding the CMC property accompanied with some information about The Trust for Public Land and articles about brownfields funds. Meister will acknowledge with background of the Library’s dealings with The Trust and brownfields appropriations.
FRIENDS OF THE LIBRARY REPORT
Meister reported that the August 11 book sale had grossed $3,300 and netted $2,900. More book bags will be reordered. The Friends will donate $250 to help sponsor David Shenk at the annual Community Internet Festival on November 3. The annual Friends meeting is slated for October 18 with a presentation by the Mountains and Rivers lecture series. Tara Gallagher and Cameron Hildreth will become the new co-presidents then.
FOUNDATION REPORT
Richardson reported that the Foundation had interviewed a third capital campaign consultant, and the Executive Committee will meet to review the candidates. The Board hopes to make a decision at its next Board meeting on Wednesday, September 12, at 7:45 a.m.
DIRECTOR’S REPORT
Meister reported that the July circulation increased over 11%, and door traffic increased nearly 7%. Last year’s budget would be $4,358.28 in the black if the mail ballot expenses for $22,112.30 and roof repair expenses had not been charged to the Library’s budget. The current budget report shows over 90% of the budget remaining after one and a half months, which is good. Two new reference librarians have been hired to replace Mary Etta Parkinson and Cynthia Harrison; they are Liz Babbitt and Katie Biehl. Additional employees are being sought for a shelving position and Library Aide II and Library Assistant II positions. Mid-Management has gone through the Pay for Performance review and been given raises for next year. There will be an all-staff meeting on
Friday, August 31. Four staff members hold Montana Library Association positions and attended a retreat recently. The Library received $10,000 from the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) to continue our model civic discourse project. Meister will attend a NEH meeting in Washington DC September 10 and also attend the first National Book Festival on September 8. Tom Henley and Al Kesselheim will discuss our successful bond referendum at the Montana Festival of the Book program on September 8. The Sweet Pea Juried Art Show and reception were quite successful; currently there is a quilting display on view through the beginning of September. The Gallatin County Long Range Planning Committee meets at the Three Forks Library on Monday, September 17. A grant for a countywide reading and discussion series called “Let’s Talk About It” was approved and will start next January. There were 46 participants who turned in 74
reading logs for the first Adult Summer Reading Program. The final celebration of the summer reading program was held on August 18 with 140 people in attendance. More RIF (Reading is Fundamental) books were distributed by Sunrise Rotary. The theater, puppet, and writing workshops entitled “Live @ Your Library” were well-received and well-attended. The Library is currently in the process of installing a T-1 line to increase connectivity speed for our BridgerNet consortium. New Learning at the Library classes will be starting this fall. Lois Dissly was accepted into the Chamber of Commerce Leadership Bozeman XIV group for this coming year. Cindy Christin gave two presentations at the PNLA (Pacific Northwest Library Association) Conference August 9-10; she has also been retained by the Montana State Library as a consultant to help with children’s services statewide. She will be presenting a workshop
at the State Library Fall Workshop September 21-22. Liza McClelland attended a class on learning more about census information on the Internet.
ITEMS FOR DISCUSSION: SELECTION OF ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT FIRM
Meister noted that the new holiday schedule showed that the Library would be closed on Monday for Veteran’s Day instead of Sunday. Motion: Kesselheim moved to approve the holiday schedule for this fiscal year; Bancroft seconded and the motion passed unanimously. Meister passed out a memo from Staff Attorney Tim Cooper about procurement of environmental remediation services, which suggested a meeting be held to discuss the process. Meister will work with Cooper on setting up a meeting and notify appropriate Trustees. Brown reported on the contract with CMC Heartland Partners which would allow the earnest money to be non-refundable no matter what the title survey reveals. Brown, Ron Farmer, Security Title Company, and the City Attorney’s Office have checked the title and see no
difficulty in allowing this contingency. The Library also would have allowed the release language so that was included. CMC still has to do the title survey; the company has not paid taxes since 1994 but will do so at the closing on October 1. The closing fee of $200 will be evenly split between CMC and the Library. Motion: Brown moved to approve the contract to purchase 14.3 acres of East Main Street property from CMC Heartland Partners Inc.; Kesselheim seconded, and the motion passed unanimously. Chair Davis then proceeded to sign the contract. It was decided to keep the complete Due Diligence Site Investigation reports in the Director’s Office with no copies allowed until the contract is signed. The Library still owes Resource Technologies, Inc. $1,000. Motion: Brown moved to ask the Foundation for this amount; Bancroft seconded and the motion passed unanimously.
BOARD MEMBERS’ AND CITY COMMISSIONER’S REPORTS
There were none.
ADJOURNMENT
The meeting was adjourned at 5:45 p.m. The next meeting will be Wednesday, September 19, at 4:00 p.m. in the Library Director’s Office.
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