Bozeman Public Library Board of Trustees Meeting
Library Director’s Office
Bozeman Public Library
October 7, 2004
4:00 P.M.
ATTENDANCE
Trustees: Ron Farmer, Chair; Jerry Bancroft; Al Kesselheim; Wendy Lewis, Foundation Development Director; Lois Dissly and Terri Dood, Staff; and Alice Meister, Director. Guests: James Goehrung, City Superintendent of Facilities and Public Lands; and Walter Goldstein, Library Foundation President.
CALL TO ORDER
The meeting was called to order at 4:07 p.m. by Chair Farmer.
APPROVAL OF MINUTES
The minutes of the September 15, 2004 meeting were approved as submitted.
CORRESPONDENCE
Meister received a letter from the RSVP Program Director thanking the Library for completing an evaluation form and noting that RSVP will be visiting workstations in the near future. There will be some workshops for Public Library Trustees in Missoula and Billings later this fall. In response to a public comment, a hook was installed and a latch was repaired in the women’s restroom. A patron suggested that the desk and book stacks in the Carnegie Library be re-used in the new facility.
FRIENDS OF THE LIBRARY REPORT
Meister reported that the Friends are planning their annual meeting on November 10 to honor Bozeman author Mary Murphy, who won this year’s Montana Book Award. The next book sale, in conjunction with AAUW, is scheduled for November 6-8. The Friends will be wrapping books and selling “Hoot & Howl @ Your Library” tickets for the Foundation this Sunday at the Jan Brett book signing at Borders. The next “Farsighted” series on China will be held on October 19. Tara Gallagher has left the Friends Board, and Twila Saylor, who used to be on the Board, has replaced her. The next meeting will be Monday, October 18 at 7:00 p.m.
FOUNDATION REPORT
Goldstein reported that the Foundation is sending invitations for the “Hoot & Howl” fund raiser at the Library on Friday, October 29, which will feature twelve guest authors. The Foundation has raised $3,200,000 to date. The Foundation Board will meet on Wednesday, October 13, at 8:30 a.m.
DIRECTOR’S REPORT
Meister reported that the August circulation increased nearly 3% and that reference and information questions increased almost 25%. The number of items in the collection is now at 100,550. The monthly financial report shows 74.56% of the budget left with 75% of the year left to complete. The total Project Report for the new Library showed $4,506,758.40 spent to date. In her Director’s Report, Meister reported that staff had received three days of instruction on the new automated cataloging/circulation system called Sirsi, which the Library plans to start using toward the end of October. The Library plans to open two hours late on October 11 in order to get all staff trained. The Library will join the Montana Shared Catalog (MSC), which consists of 56 Montana libraries. On October 1
the Library hosted a MSC meeting of 50 librarians from around the state. The USS Constitution events will take place this weekend at the Library. An “Old Ironsides” teacher workshop was held October 5 from 4:30-6:30 p.m., and a public program attracting 136 people was held at the Museum of the Rockies on October 6. The shelving position has closed with five applications received. Interviews will be scheduled, and an individual selected by the end of the month. The Circulation Department registerd 438 patrons during September, which is Library Card Sign-Up Month. The Reference staff recorded 400 visitors at the Library this summer from around the world with 70 from Russia, Poland, the Czech Republic, Britain, and Australia. Beth Boyson gave a presentation to a dozen people at Aspen Pointe about starting a book club. There will be a bulletin board about voter information starting next week. Staff members will be
attending OCLC training in Belgrade October 25-26. The design presentation by Mark Headley attracted 30+ people on September 15. Mike Myers gave a raptor program on September 27, which brought in 26 people. The Great Decisions discussion on October 14 will be “US-Latin American Relations Post-9/11.” Cindy Christin and Renee Meyer gave a presentation to 40 people on “Raising Readers @ the Library” on September 24 as part of the State Library Fall Workshops. Four other staff members attended these two-day workshops. Teen Read Week is scheduled for October 17-23 with the theme of “IT’S ALIVE! @ Your Library!” Meister will be on vacation October 11-22 and will return on October 25. The Gallatin County Libraries Long-Range Planning Committee will be meeting in Belgrade, and Farmer will be the Board liaison. Kesselheim will be the liaison to the Broad Valleys Federation meeting, which meets in
the springtime. Meister reported that a patron, who was barred from the Library for having a weapon, had written a letter to the Library. A “no contact” order will be stipulated against him. There was also a report that feces had been smeared on four children’s books, and two of them had to be discarded.
ITEMS FOR DISCUSSION: BUILDING PROJECT
Discussion ensued about the building project. Goldstein complimented Farmer on his suggestion to several Commissioners at a recent meeting that they need to step forward and help the Library with the bridge financing necessary to make the project move forward. He also felt there were several possibilities of either going back to the voters for another bond and/or selling off the triangle properties at the new Library site. Goehrung reported that Maxim Technologies is coming to do the needed tests on the southern end of the property in order to expedite the removal of the buildings there and have a clean site. There were questions about whether the project was being “value engineered” too much, and whether the square footage cost was adequate. After more discussion, the Board felt
they needed to make a very creditable presentation to the City Commissioners with a business plan and a cash flow scenario in order to see where the Commissioners stand. Meister will contact the City Clerk of Commission about getting on the November 1 agenda. There was also discussion about the Overland Partners contract and whether to roll the contract over to Mark Headley and his firm StudioFORMA Architects so that the project can proceed in a timely manner. The Trustees agreed to have Goehrung negotiate with Headley for the lump sum previously given the Board and do a staggered contract in a phased format. Goehrung will also ask Headley to put together a realistic time line in order to meet a February bid date. He expressed concern about building an adequate facility that would not need perpetual maintenance.
BOARD MEMBERS’ AND CITY COMMISSIONER’S REPORT
There was none
PUBLIC COMMENT
There was none
ADJOURNMENT
The meeting was adjourned at 6:08 p.m. The next regular meeting will be Wednesday, October 27 at 4:00 p.m. in the Library Director’s office.
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