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Bozeman Public Library Board of Trustees Meeting
Library Director’s Office
Bozeman Public Library
November 20, 2003
4:00 P.M.
ATTENDANCE
Trustees: Brenda Davis, Chair; Jerry Bancroft; Bob Gutzman; Al Kesselheim; Wendy Lewis, Foundation Board; Marcia Youngman, City Commissioner; Paula Beswick, Friends of the Library; Lois Dissly and Terri Dood, Staff; and Alice Meister, Director. Guest: James Goehrung, City Superintendent of Facilities and Public Lands.
CALL TO ORDER
The meeting was called to order by Chair Davis at 4:05 p.m.
APPROVAL OF MINUTES
The minutes of the October 9, 2003 meeting were approved as submitted.
CORRESPONDENCE
Meister read a press release from developer Thomas Mosser, who still is showing the Library in his plans for a downtown plaza. She also read a letter from Cynthia Andrus thanking the Library for advertising in Bozeman’s first Community Cultural Calendar. Congratulatory notes and letters on receiving the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) Award had been compiled and were distributed and included notes from Senator Max Baucus, State Librarian Karen Strege, and Superintendent of Public Instruction Linda McCulloch. One patron suggested using the Award money of $10,000 to purchase books and books-on-tape. Meister mentioned that the Art Committee suggested using that amount on a piece of artwork for the new Library. Davis suggested more staff input; Dissly thought that reading areas on
the east side of the building as suggested by the Design Review Board (DRB) might be a good possibility. Comments from the public included a question asking where the Foundation donation tree had gone and a suggestion to move books via a book brigade to the new Library when it opens. Another suggested keeping several of the original dumb computers near the newspapers and books-on-tape as it makes searching large lists of audio books and subjects much easier. Another patron suggested making copies of the New York Times 2000-2003 Notable Books to put on display, which was done for 2002 as the Library only owns that copy. A children’s chess club was suggested. A young patron loves the Library because she is a “bookworm,” while two patrons commented on the loud noise level and the lack of staff friendliness. Guest book comments were passed around to the Trustees.
FRIENDS OF THE LIBRARY REPORT
Beswick reported that the Friends’ annual meeting on October 15, which featured African drumming, went quite well with 80 attendees though no member of the public attended the Friends meeting which followed the music. The Friends purchased 50 board books which are being distributed to newborns at the hospital this week which is Children’s Book Week, along with a coupon for a library card. They are working with the Foundation on a Target grant, which would allow the Friends to continue this books for newborns project. The book sale with AAUW November 15-17 brought in $7,100, which should net the Friends $3,200 after expenses. Sas Weber is a new Friends Board member. Jeanne Wilkinson, who has served as Treasurer, will be leaving the Board in December, so the Friends are searching for a new
Treasurer. There were 85 memberships received (65 renewals and 20 new members) as a result of their membership drive, which they will plan to do again next spring. Sometime before the end of the year they will be sending tax deductible receipts to those new and renewing members. The Friends will co-sponsor the next “Farsighted” program with the Montana Center for International Visitors on Wednesday, December 17th, which will feature Jay Penchansky’s solo trip throughout Asia. Their November 19th program speaker was MSU Professor of Latin American History Yanna Yannakakis who discussed Mexican issues. The next official Friends meeting will be the first part of January, where they will distribute money to the Library. Beswick plans to attend the IMLS events next week; the Kids’ Book Club was moved to 6:00 p.m. on November 25 to allow people the opportunity to attend the IMLS Award Ceremony.
FOUNDATION REPORT
Lewis showed new fund raising brochures to be used with donors in one-on-one situations. A pocket in the back of the brochure will hold such items as the Bozeman Chronicle editorial on the Library. Senator Burns’ office called to say that $350,000 has been preserved in the FY2004 budget for the new Library project. An IMLS brochure has been mailed to everyone who pledged along with the press article on the Award. The Library model is being displayed at First Security Bank, the Senior Center, the Library, and the Emerson Cultural Center. The Finance Committee will meet again at noon on Wednesday, December 10, to discuss the Building Project finances. At present $11,000,000 has been raised toward the goal of $14,000,000. There should be a better sense of the total financial
picture after December 10th . Invitations are out for the December 5th “Dick and Jane Party” with excellent response; the Foundation will receive 15% of the book sale proceeds. To date there have been donations of $9,000 in cash and $10,000 to $15,000 of in-kind donations toward this special event. Action Regarding closing the Library early on Friday, December 5th, Gutzman moved to close the Library at 3:00 p.m., Kesselheim seconded, and the motion passed unanimously. Lewis would like to begin the general campaign in 2004; she is currently working with Mercury Advertising on such ideas as free-standing displays with photographs and remittance envelopes and how to visibly demonstrate the capital campaign’s progress. She is still working on a special event for a groundbreaking celebration in conjunction with the Montana Library Association Conference next April. She and other Foundation Board
members will meet with Dr. Martin from IMLS on November 24th to discuss author festivals and events. Roberta Greene has been volunteering her time to work on the publicity for Dr. Martin’s visit and will be at the luncheon on Tuesday to introduce people and meet the media representatives.
DIRECTOR’S REPORT
Meister noted that the October circulation was down by .19%, while web site visits were up nearly 31%. InfoTrac Database usage is down nearly 20%; the Web Site Committee is promoting its usage through a contest. Adult and children’s programs and attendance have increased. The budget report showed that after five and a half months or 45% of the fiscal year, there was 61% left in the budget. The amount remaining in the bond account is $177,015.63; outstanding amounts still owed include $40,620.90 to Resource Technologies Inc. and $72,621.51 to Envirocon. The Montana Department of Environmental Quality has been paid $38,897.10 and Overland Partners $459,611.73 to date. Regarding the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) Award that the Library will be receiving, Meister
reported that IMLS Director Dr. Robert Martin flies in Monday, November 24th. There will be a staff and volunteer breakfast on November 25th, a luncheon for community leaders that day, and a local Award Ceremony that same night followed by a public presentation of the site plan and new building. Sixteen entries were received for the essay contest of how the Library affected people’s lives; the winner will be announced Tuesday night as well. The site plan has gone through three meetings on October 28, November 4, and 12 with the Development Review Committee (DRC), which has unanimously passed the project onto the City Commission with some recommendations. The DRB also met on November 12th and passed the site plan (with one nay vote) onto the City Commission with the following five recommendations: 1) resubmit formal plaza/trail plan; 2) resubmit exterior lighting plan; 3) use a darker color brick which contrasts more with
the building; 4) add seating areas on the east side of the building; and 5) investigate federal funding for the storm water system. The site plan will be on the City Commission agenda on November 24th. Letters of resignation were received from Library Aide I Kristine Prouse and substitute children’s librarian Maurene Hinds. Anne Botkin, a library science student at the University of North Texas, has requested to do her practicum at this Library, which consists of 120 hours this spring. Current staff member Mary Ann Childs is also working on an online MLS and did a collection development project. Dissly and Mary Jo Stanislao recently attended a Dynix workshop in Salt Lake City November 5-7 to learn more about Radio Frequency Identification (RFID), aspects of self-check, and upgrading to a Horizon system for the BridgerNet Consortium. Architect Ray Johnston was here November 13-14 to discuss service desks and the ramifications of RFID on
the new Library. He will return December 11 and 12 for additional discussions. The Marketing Committee has promoted different Dewey classifications in monthly book displays; statistics show a measurable increase in the number of books circulated. Stanislao and Dood did an inventory of the Montana Room and discovered 14 books missing since the last inventory three years ago. Dood will contact appropriate people to judge the value of the remaining materials and make a recommendation for their safety. Pam Henley was recently elected Chair-Elect of the Mountain Plains Library Association Public Library Division.
CITY COMMISSIONER’S REPORT
Youngman reported that she had just come from a meeting with Administrative Services Director Miral Gamradt, who was talking to each City Commissioner about five funding alternatives for the new Library. These are: 1) the City would sign the construction documents when all funding has been raised for the project; 2) the Trustees could trim the current project budget back to meet the revenue amount raised; 3) the City could advance the Library money based on future donations or use Library operating funds to pay for the advance along with interest; 4) the City would advance the Library money and ante up the money; or 5) a combination of any of the above. There would be serious consequences to the Library budget if operating funds were used to pay back the advance. Currently the City has many big projects
on its list (i.e. waste transfer station, new City Hall), and the Library might not be high on that priority list. Davis and Meister told Youngman about the proposal from the County to help with the Library project. Youngman also indicated there will be one more City newsletter by the end of the year if we wished to include an article about the Borders Books book drive for the Library. Bancroft suggested adding donor names to the Library web site.
ITEMS FOR DISCUSSION: ART POLICIES; CLOSING AT 3:00 P.M. ON DECEMBER 5; PROJECT COSTS; REMEDIATION; PROJECT MANAGER
Goehrung reported that the remediation was completed, and there had been some discussion about whether to incur the cost of reseeding the property. He felt it was safer to do so and had given Resource Technologies Inc. the authorization to proceed. He also mentioned the possibility of contamination outside the property and whether cleaning that up will be done and if so, whether it would slow down our building process. His concern with the Controlled Allocation Liability Act (CALA) process is whether it is tied in with the closure on cleaning up the site the Library needs to receive from the Montana Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ) and whether the Library site is considered separately or combined with the neighboring properties for CALA purposes. Also MDEQ had approved the Library’s
clean-up plan but still stipulated that the Library clean up the Wallace Avenue right-of-way, which was not in the plan. Kesselheim felt it was critical that our site clean-up is separate from the other sites and that CALA be a win-win proposition for all. It was decided to wait for Staff Attorney Tim Cooper’s memo on the matter and then take a vote, if necessary, on whether to withdraw the CALA petition. Also MDEQ needs to formally give the Library approval on a clean site before there can be actual construction; that date needs to be known as soon as possible. It is still advantageous to go out for bid in January, as there can as much as a 5-9% savings that time of the year. Goehrung then discussed the concept of project manager and said that it will not become an issue until ground is broken for the site, which hopefully will be March 2004.
BOARD MEMBERS’ REPORTS
Building Committee Chair Bancroft reported that the Building Committee had met on November 13th and looked at the site plan. Both DRB and DRC have passed the site plan on to the City Commission with recommendations. The Community Transportation Enhancement Program (CTEP) funding will determine the plaza plan, and City Grants Administrator Sara Folger is currently working on the CTEP funding. Laura Fedro had presented the color palette with interior colors and finishes to the Building Committee, whose members liked the choices. Tony Martel is doing a new cost estimate, which is scheduled for completion November 25th. He has recommended in-kind contributions from subcontractors, add-alternate items, and hard cuts to stay within budget. Bancroft reminded the Trustees
that the design development set of documents is available at the circulation desk for people to review. There was a general consensus not to cut the Montana Room budget if possible, as it is viewed as a showpiece within the new Library.
PUBLIC COMMENT
There was none.
ADJOURNMENT
The meeting was adjourned at 5:55 p.m. The next regular meeting will be Tuesday, December 16 at 4:00 p.m. in the Library Director’s Office.
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