The Burlington Public Library Board of Trustees met
on Tuesday, November 28, 2006 in the Burlington Public
Library meeting room. Present were Penny Torhorst, Pat
Hoffman, Ken Jaeger and Scott Johnson. Excused were
James Beardsley, Yvonne Braunschweig, Kay Pockat and
Barb Beere. Also present were Gayle Falk and Linda
Berndt.
Torhorst called the meeting to order at 4:02.
Minutes of the October 24, 2006 meeting were
approved. Hoffman moved, and Johnson seconded. Motion
passed.
The November General Fund Bills, Prepaids,
Reimbursements and October General Fund Deposits were
approved. Jaeger moved and Hoffman seconded. Motion
passed. The November Trust Fund Bills and the October
Trust Fund Deposits were approved. Hoffman moved and
Jaeger seconded. Motion passed.
Committee Reports:
Hoffman will meet with Board members later in closed
session to discuss the director evaluations she has
received.
Federated Library:
We are working toward the merger which is supposed to
take place in January.
Old Business:
Falk renewed a CD at 1st Banking Center
for 5.3%.
Technology Plan:
Falk distributed copies of the technology plan
approved at the last Board meeting. Although we are
covered by the Lakeshores technology plan, the
technology department at the Department of Public
Instruction advised development and approval of our
plan. We have submitted the plan to the Division of
Libraries, Technology and Community Learning of the DPI
for certification.
Book Prospector:
Falk distributed information about a company that
will give quote on individual books, which they then
sell on e-bay or other on-line sources. It may be
feasible to go through the books collected for our
booksale and determine which are too valuable to sell in
the booksale.
Bookdrop update:
The new book drop is functioning well. It has not
sustained any auto damage yet.
New Business:
Torhorst saw a former Board member who expressed
interest in returning to the Board.
Strategic Planning:
After discussion, the Board chose Thursday, January
18, from 6:00- 8:30 PM for the strategic planning.
Playaway:
Playaway is a pre-packaged audiobook on an MP3
player. It cannot be recorded over or changed in any
way. Playaway is complete and ready to use, except that
patrons will have to provide their own headphones, or
purchase a set at the library for $1.00. The Library
also offers Overdrive for its patrons. With Overdrive,
patrons can check out an audiobook over the computer. It
can be downloaded to an MP3 player, or played on the
computer.
Board Bylaws:
Changes in state law will have an impact on our city
ordinance, our library by-laws, and our Board
composition. Falk is working with the City Attorney’s
office, and will have information at the next meeting.
As our library board grows, we will also need to change
the number needed for a quorum.
Personnel Policy:
Falk summarized changes in city personnel policy as
contained in the city’s non-represented employees
ordinance. Falk had updated the Library Personnel Policy
to reflect many of these changes. Jaeger made a motion
to approve Burlington Public Library’s Personnel Policy
as amended on November 28, 2006. Hoffman seconded the
motion. Motion passed.
Director’s Report:
Employee Appreciation:
Falk requested $200.00 for employee appreciation from
Friend’s funds. The Management Team had not offered any
suggestions for the gift. The Board offered suggestions,
including a green plant once a month. Jaeger made a
motion to approve up to $200.00 of Friends money for
employee appreciation, with Falk reporting back to the
Board as to what was purchased. Hoffman seconded the
motion. Motion passed.
Falk reminded the Board the Doug Lind, our long time
maintenance person for the City, is on leave. She was
hoping that the Board could send a note thanking him for
his many years of service to the library. Jaeger made a
motion that the Board use Friends money to purchase a
Chamber of Commerce gift card in the amount of $100.00
for Doug and his family to use as needed. Hoffman
seconded the motion. Motion passed.
Falk reported that the City workers would not be able
to get to the Library to decorate it for the Christmas
season any time soon. The Board suggested that she ask
our new janitor, Dave Stowell, if he would be interested
in decorating for us. Falk will ask him.
Torhorst also suggested that she will talk to the
Garden Club and see if they would like to take over the
maintenance of the landscaping and flower pots around
the library. These are all things Doug would have done
in the normal course of things.
Monthly Report:
Falk reported to the Board that it was Ruhama’s idea
for the Playaway books on MP3.
Falk reported that it appears that kids may have
tampered with the checkpoint counter at the main door.
We are keeping track of the numbers to see if it happens
again.
The book binder displaying new books is creating many
more holds being placed from our patrons. They are using
the new book lists to place the holds themselves or
through the reference department.
We have received many magazine donations from patrons
who don’t want their favorite magazines discontinued.
Hopefully this will continue into the next year also.
While Torhorst was in Florida, she read an article
saying that literary readers are more active in
volunteering in the community. She thought it was
something that should be brought up in the Strategic
Planning session. Falk kept a copy.
$50,000.00 federal money was used for a study on if
school libraries are a value to students. Next year they
will be doing a study on what the value of public
libraries is to a community.
The HAPLR index came out and we are still #1 in the
County.
Meeting was adjourned at 4:50 PM. Jaeger moved to
adjourn into executive session. Torhorst seconded.
Motion passed.
Our next meeting will be on Tuesday, December 19th
at 4:00 PM at the Burlington Public Library.
Respectfully submitted,
Yvonne Braunschweig
Secretary
