HomeMy WebLinkAbout09-04-2013-BLT-APPROVED MINUTES
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CITY OF NEWPORT BEACH
Board of Library Trustees MINUTES
Regular Meeting
September 4, 2013 – 5:00 p.m.
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The agenda for this Board of Library Trustees Regular Meeting was posted on Thursday,
August 29, 2013 at 4:00 p.m. on the City Hall electronic bulletin board located inside the Council
Chambers, 100 Civic Center Drive, Newport Beach, CA 92660.
CONVENED AT 5:00 p.m.
1) CALL MEETING TO ORDER – Chair Johnson-Tucker called the meeting to order.
2) ROLL CALL – Roll call by Administrative Assistant Elaine McMillion.
Trustees Present: Jill Johnson-Tucker, chairing the meeting
Jerry King
Robyn Grant
John Prichard
Trustees Absent: Eleanor Palk
Staff Present: Cynthia Cowell, Library Services Director
Tim Hetherton, Library Services Manager
Elaine McMillion, Administrative Assistant
Leonie Mulvihill, Assistant City Attorney
Municipal Recruiter: Teri Black, Teri Black & Company
Public Present: Jim Mosher, Resident
3) PUBLIC COMMENTS REGARDING CLOSED SESSION
Mr. Mosher asked the Board of Library Trustees to consider opening the closed session to
the public. He provided written comments which gave examples to the Board as to why they
should consider opening this meeting to the public.
Chair Johnson-Tucker thanked Mr. Mosher for his comments and moved the meeting to
Closed Session at 5:05 p.m.
Members of the public and staff vacated the meeting room.
4) CLOSED SESSION
A. PUBLIC EMPLOYEE APPOINTMENT/PUBLIC EMPLOYMENT
(Government Code § 54957)(B)(1)
Title: Library Services Director
5) RECONVENENED FOR REGULAR SESSION – 6:07 p.m.
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6) ROLL CALL
7) CLOSED SESSION REPORT – Assistant City Attorney Leonie Mulvihill stated that there is
no closed session report.
8) PUBLIC COMMENTS ON AGENDA ITEMS
Prior to this meeting Jim Mosher emailed seven pages of type-written remarks on eleven
agenda items. He again asked the Board to allow the public to comment on agenda items as
they come up instead of at the start of the meeting prior to the items being presented. There
are details that come up during the presentation, even though written reports are provided
prior to the meeting.
Assistant City Attorney Mulvihill exited the meeting.
9) APPROVAL OF MINUTES – August 5th Regular Meeting / August 16th Special Meeting
It was moved, seconded and passed (Trustee Grant/Trustee Prichard) to approve the
minutes from the Monday, August 5, 2013 Board of Library Trustees meeting as amended:
Change the word ‘notoriety to ‘publicity’ on page 3, line 6 under 2. Check Approval.
Motion carried by all Board of Library Trustees present.
It was moved, seconded and passed (Trustee Grant/Trustee Prichard) to approve the
minutes from the Friday, August 16, 2013 Board of Library Trustees special meeting as
amended:
Page 2, paragraph 2: change “Terry Black and Associates” to “Teri Black & Company” and
change “Terry” to “Teri”.
Page 2, the end of line 3 from the bottom: add the word “role” after “and the Board of Library
Trustees”.
Page 3, paragraph 2: add the word “need” after “….so that applicants”.
Motion carried by all Board of Library Trustees present.
10) CURRENT BUSINESS
A. CONSENT CALENDAR
1. Customer Comments – Monthly review of evaluations of library services through
suggestions and requests received from customers.
Discussed and reviewed the comment regarding monitoring the internal circulation of the
various newspapers in order to help make them more readily available to customers.
2. Library Activities – Monthly update of library events, services and statistics.
3. Expenditure Status Report – Monthly expenditure status of the Library’s operating
expenses, services, salaries and benefits by department.
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4. Board of Library Trustees Monitoring List – List of agenda items and dates for monthly
review of projects by the Board of Library Trustees.
It was moved, seconded and passed (Trustee Prichard/Trustee King) to approve the
Consent Calendar Items as presented. Motion carried by all Trustees present.
B. ITEMS FOR REVIEW AND POSSIBLE ACTION
1. Board of Library Trustees Monitoring List – It was noted that Review of Library
Expansion Donor Wall Naming will be given at a future meeting as Tracy Keys was unable
to present this agenda item at this meeting as previously planned. The Board of Library
Trustees Monitoring List was reviewed and updated to move the agenda date for the Arts
and Cultural Update to November 4, 2013. The Annual Budget Update will be given in
February 2014.
Chair Johnson-Tucker offered to fill it in with suggested dates and bring it back to the next
meeting for review and action.
2. Report on the Summer Reading Program – Youth Services and Branch Coordinator
Debbie Walker gave a recap of the Summer Reading Program (SRP) which was kicked off
on Saturday, June 22 at the Central Library and three Library branches and lasted for seven
weeks, with the last day of the program held on Friday, August 9. Almost one hundred
percent of this program was funded by the Friends of the Library. The grand prizes for the
Adult SRP were donated by the NBPL Foundation and the Newport Theatre Arts Center.
Over 1,200 surveys were collected and will provide information that will help staff in the
planning and presentation of future SRP programs. Many positive comments were received
from customers.
3. Circulation Policy – Support Services Coordinator Melissa Kelly presented suggested
amendments to the current Circulation policy. The revisions include the new types of
materials such as iPads and eReaders, and the associated circulation rules. The revisions
to this policy create more consistency and include a decrease in the fine for overdue videos
from $1.00 per day to 25 cents per day. The differences between regular library cards,
guest cards, and lifetime cards were explained. Other items discussed were budget
implications caused by the reduction of overdue fines, and minor editing in the wording in
the other sections.
It was moved, seconded and passed (Trustee Prichard/Trustee King) to approve the
adoption of the amendments to the Circulation Policy as presented and defined at this meeting.
Motion carried by all Trustees present.
4. Circulation iPad and Laptop Policy – Library Services Manager Tim Hetherton reviewed
the Laptop/iPad Borrowing Policy and the relation of these items and the Cassie system.
This policy has been working well. Bullets five, six and seven were a bit confusing and
suggestions were discussed to help revise the wording and make them more concise.
Trustee Prichard volunteered to revise these sections of the policy and to bring his
recommendations to the next meeting.
5. Media Center Update – Library Services Manager Tim Hetherton gave an overview on the
use of the Media Center since it opened. A recent media blast has been sent and there has
been an average of four people using this area in the mornings. A press release will be sent
next week to help promote this service. One of the Wish List items presented in May
included signage for this area which will better direct customers and help advertise this area.
Staff is planning on reintroducing the Tuesdays-at-Two and Wednesdays-at-One training
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sessions that went on hiatus during the Library construction. The Media Center would be a
good location to hold these classes, and if they prove to be popular then they may be
expanded to other days of the week. Suggestions on ways to promote this new service area
were made, and included outreach, target marketing, and sponsorships that may help to
promote this service.
C. MONTHLY REPORTS
1. Civic Center Update – Staff has been working with 24 Carrots to get the bistro operating
soon. Most of the building issues have been resolved. It is evident that the public is
enjoying the new space. The Library Directors from Orange County were here a couple of
weeks ago for a meeting and enjoyed a tour. The past Chair of the Board of Library
Trustees Theresa Chase will be here next Monday, September 9 and also receive a tour of
the Library expansion.
2. Library Services Director Report – Staff has asked the Board to consider a 6:00 p.m.
closure instead of a 9:00 p.m. closure of the Central Library and the three branches on
Thursday, December 26, 2013 to accommodate staff holiday leave requests. Historically
the day after Christmas has not been a busy Library use day. This will be put on the
October 7 Board of Library Trustees meeting agenda as an action item.
Today a $5,000 donation was received through the NBPL Foundation, and designated for
the Balboa Branch Library. Currently donations of $5,000 or less are accepted through the
City Manager and not required to go through City Council. This $5,000 donation has to be
accepted by the Board before it can be allocated. Allocation of this donation could possibly
be toward programming, collections, a self-check kiosk, or a maritime database at Balboa.
The NBPL Foundation has asked the Board to accept this gift and allocation of funds by
October 1, 2013. This will be an action item on the next meeting agenda.
Staff also asked the Board of Library Trustees to decide on gift thresholds for accepting
through the City Manager or City Council. This also will be on the October 7 meeting
agenda.
Friends of the Library Liaison Report – Trustee Grant reported that the Friends have
been cataloging assets they have such as VCR’s, and other equipment. They reviewed
possible funding on some of the Pitch-an-Idea proposals that they have received from
Library staff. Director Cowell explained the Pitch-an-Idea program and how it works from
the beginning when the projects are submitted through a formal proposal, approval and then
on to the funding agency. The Friends have worked with staff and located a dedicated
Library space to work on their online book sales. They reported that the recent book sale
was one of their best. They have set the date for their Christmas luncheon for Monday,
December 9, 2013 at 11:30. It will be held at the Newport Beach Yacht Club.
3. Library Foundation Liaison Report – Trustee King reported that the last meeting that he
attended wasn’t very well attended. There was discussion on possible programs that have
not yet been fully contracted. By their next meeting they should have a full list of confirmed
speakers.
4. DSLS Liaison Report – Trustee Prichard is the back up for this group and did not attend
the last meeting, and Trustee Palk was not at this meeting to give a report.
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6) BOARD OF LIBRARY TRUSTEES ANNOUNCEMENTS OR MATTERS WHICH
MEMBERS WOULD LIKE PLACED ON A FUTURE AGENDA FOR DISCUSSION, ACTION
OR REPORT (NON-DISCUSSION ITEM)
Early closure on Thursday, December 26, 2013 for all Library locations.
Allocation of the $5,000 Balboa Branch Library donation.
Donation/gift amount thresholds for approval by the City Manager and City Council.
After the opening of the Bistro and a final report is given on the Civic Center Update
agenda item it will be removed from the Monthly Reports section of the Board of Library
Trustees meeting agenda.
Approval to issue a lifetime library card to Library Services Director Cynthia Cowell.
7) PUBLIC COMMENTS ON NON-AGENDA ITEMS
Jim Mosher thanked Cynthia Cowell for her service.
This afternoon while at the City Hall Planning Division he was looking at a document about a
residential area being proposed for in the old City Hall location. While reading through the
environmental impact report he found a statement about the impact it would have on library
services over the next few years. Also noted were the current library locations and the possibility
for another branch. He hopes that the Board of Library Trustees are leading policy on that
instead of catching up on policies being led by City staff.
He noted the absence of any public dialogue between the Trustees and the public regarding the
recruitment process for the Library Director position.
8) ADJOURNMENT – 7:30 p.m.
Submitted by: Jill Johnson-Tucker
Chair Approval of Minutes