HomeMy WebLinkAboutLBMinutes_2014_04_08BROOKINGS PUBLIC LIBRARY
BOARD OF TRUSTEES
April 8, 2014
MINUTES
The Board of Trustees of the Brookings Public Library met Tuesday, April 8, 2014 at 5:30 p.m. in the
Historical Room of the Brookings Public Library
MEMBERS PRESENT: Bill Gengler, Mac Harris, Janell Hoffelt, Larry Rogers and Kyle Schaefer
OTHERS PRESENT: Elvita Landau, Alice Hayes and Cathy Enlow
President Larry Rogers called the meeting to order.
Larry Rogers called for approval of the meeting agenda. Janell Hoffelt moved to approve the agenda.
Mac Harris seconded. Motion carried.
Larry Rogers called for approval of the minutes from the March 11, 2014 meeting. Kyle Schaefer moved
to approve the minutes. Mac Harris seconded. Motion carried.
Bills and Salaries:
Elvita Landau noted that the Axis 360 annual fee was paid in March. Janell Hoffelt moved to approve the
list of bills. Kyle Schaefer seconded. Motion carried.
Financial Report:
Elvita Landau said that there are upcoming expenses for the building maintenance line item. Two water
fountains need to be replaced, at a cost of $680.00 plus labor each. Elvita requested that one be paid
from the General Fund and the other be paid from the Fines Account. The Board agreed.
Librarian’s Report:
Elvita Landau noted that circulation was down a little bit in March. Ebook usage continues to increase.
Computer use has also increased. Staff is currently purging the patron database, removing inactive
records. There was discussion of name tags for the staff. Elvita shared a letter of appreciation from
Kristian Nixon to Katherine Eberline.
Mango Tree Coffee:
The Board discussed the fact that agreed-upon hours of operation are not being observed. The Board
agreed that Harsha needs a fall-back person to cover for her in case of her illness or other reasons for
being closed. The coffee shop has been closed seven days since the first of the year. Kyle Schaefer noted
that the coffee shop is a service that the Library promotes as being available. Larry Rogers stated that
we need to put in writing the expected hours and encourage Harsha to proceed with approved signage.
Elvita mentioned the possibility for negative consequences, such as a penalty for days closed, be
included in the new contract. The Board agreed that Larry and Elvita write a letter regarding the
concerns about hours and back-up personnel. Elvita reminded the Board that a new contract must be
approved by the end of June. The Board agreed to make hours effective on receipt of the letter, but to
allow more time for Harsha to find fall-back/back-up employees. Elvita will send the letter to Board
members for review before giving it to Harsha.
Topics for Mayor’s Tea:
The Board discussed issues for Larry Rogers and Bill Gengler to present at the upcoming Mayor’s Tea/
A. Needing to change our Library software at a cost of as much as $70,000.00. The deadline for this
will be the end of 2015.
B. Inter-library loan availability will be impacted
C. Database availability will also be impacted
D. The Library’s goal to continue to meet the needs of the public, following the 97% approval rating
from the Library’s recent survey. Community approval is high.
Zinio Downloadable Magazine Service:
Elvita Landau explained that this new service would cost approximately $2,000.00 for software the first
year, plus $1,000.00 for 50 magazine titles, with a projected total around $3,500.00. The Friends of the
Library are willing to pay for this service if the Board will allow them to. Bill Gengler moved to accept the
Friends of the Library offer to pay for Zinio. Kyle Schaefer seconded. Motion carried.
2015 Budget Discussion:
The Board engaged in a preliminary discussion of the Library’s 2015 budget. The Library’s strategic plan
states that the Board will review hours of operation annually. Elvita presented a handout with projected
costs for various changes in hours: $450.00 to be open on Sunday’s in August and $3,600.00 to be open
one hour earlier. Bill Gengler said that he is opposed to being open on Sundays in August, since staff
should be allowed to have that time off. Mac Harris also said he does not believe we need to be open
on Sundays in August. It was suggested that because the survey was taken during the Summer Reading
Program, the requests for earlier hours might be skewed. The consensus was that perhaps we could try
opening at 9:30 a.m. year round.
Elvita explained the need to add personnel during the coming year, specifically to provide additional
help in the children’s area. Katherine currently does 8-9 story times each week. We already have
someone working 22 hours per week for 14 weeks during the summer. What is proposed is someone to
work 18 hours per week year round, at a cost of around $8,000.00.
With the upcoming dissolution of SDLN, the Library will need to have funding for computer services and
databases. SDLN pays for EBSCO Host and Gale Virtual Reference Library. We may lose access to those.
Elvita will discuss funding of the conversion with Jeff Weldon before the next Board meeting. Elvita
shared an update on the SDLN situation.
The general session of the meeting ended at 6:45 p.m. The Board continued with the South Dakota
Trustee Academy viewing and discussion.
Respectfully submitted,
Elvita Landau, Library Director