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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes - Minutes - Library Advisory Board - Meeting Date: 1/9/2013 City of Glendale Library Advisory Board Meeting Foothills Branch Library Hummingbird Room 19055 N. 57th Avenue Glendale,Arizona 85308 Wednesday,January 9,2013 6:00pm Members Present: Others Present: Ms. Char Sharp, Chairperson Ms. Cheryl Kennedy, Chief Librarian Ms. Holly Fallucca Karen Reed, Foothills Branch Manager Ms. Susan Shelly Ms. Karen Aborne, Vice Chairperson Ms. Susan Sommer Mr. Chase MacKay Mr. John Fernandez (arrived late) Ms. Bernadette Bolognini (arrived late) Members Absent: None CALL TO ORDER Chairperson Char Sharp called the meeting to order at approximately 6:04 pm. APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES—December 12,2012 Chairperson Sharp called for a motion regarding the Minutes of December 12, 2012. Board member Aborne asked to make a couple of corrections to the minutes. She suggested additional clarification on the goals when addressing them in the minutes and not only refer to them as lb. or lc. Under Topics of Interest, she would like it clarified that information of authors who have given presentations at the libraries should be kept and not simply use the word "authors". Board member Shelly made a motion to approve the minutes as corrected. Board member Sommer seconded the motion,which passed unanimously. INTRODUCTION Ms. Cheryl Kennedy, Chief Librarian, introduced Foothills Branch Manager, Karen Reed who will be providing a tour of the facility. BUSINESS FROM THE FLOOR Chairperson Sharp called for Business from the Floor. There was none. LIBRARY DIRECTOR UPDATE 1 Ms. Cheryl Kennedy provided updates to the Board. Ms Kennedy introduced Ms. Karen Reed, Foothills Branch Manager. The Board members and Ms. Kennedy introduced themselves and provided some background information. Ms. Kennedy announced that the Employee of the Quarter was Lesa Holstine, Branch Manager at Velma Teague, however, noted she recently resigned. She summarized her many accomplishments including winning the Outstanding Librarian for the Arizona State Library Association as well as being instrumental in bringing top authors to speak at Velma Teague. She indicated she will be a great loss to Glendale and will be missed. She passed out a letter of appreciation for the Board members to sign. It will be mailed to her at a later date. Ms. Kennedy reported on Staffing and Cross Training. She said they relocated the reference desk at the Main Library in order to combine reference and service. They will continue to cross train people in this area. Board member Sommer asked if the children's area had been changed around. Ms. Kennedy replied they had moved the desk for people to have a better visual down the hallway. They have also started cross training at Velma Teague in circulation functions. She explained cross training has stopped at Foothills momentarily since they are focusing on Polaris in order to have employees familiarize themselves with the program. Ms.Kennedy reported on the Big Read Program. She said "Grapes of Wrath"was this year's selection. The Main Library recently had a program with Ms. Cathy Della Penta leading a book discussion on the topic. She will get back to the Board on the turn out for that event. She said that on Saturday, January 12th from 1:00pm to 4:00pm there will be a"Grapes of Wrath" film discussion as well as a Bonnie and Clyde film viewing and discussion. This discussion is to examine the impact of the Great Depression on the movie industry. Ms. Kennedy was glad to announce they received a sound system that had been installed at the Council Chambers. The Council Chambers received a new sound system and gave their old one to the Main Library. The library has had the same sound system since 1987 when it was first built;therefore this was a great addition. They are now able to control things from a laptop without having to run back and forth to the stage. Other news coming up: The Read Local Romance will begin and tie in with the Chocolate Affair beginning in February. On January 26th, local writers will come and write romance novels, sign and plug their books at the Velma Teague Library. Chairperson Sharp asked if there were any new updates on the budget. Ms. Kennedy noted that at last night's Council meeting, the Council voted to keep things as they are for now until a new city manager is hired. They will be doing a national search for a city manager which might take four to five months. She said things seem to be in limbo at the moment. She added the Council will be having their yearly Council Retreat to set new priorities and goals for the future of Glendale. LIBRARY ADVISORY BOARD 2013 GOALS 2 Chairperson Sharp asked for a motion to approve next year's goals. She asked for any additional comments or clarifications anyone wished to make at this time. There were none. Board member Sommer made a motion to approve the 2013 Library Advisory Board Goals. Board member Aborne seconded the motion, which passed unanimously. Tour of Foothills Branch Library The Board toured the Foothills Branch Library, led by Foothills Branch Manager, Karen Reed. Everyone thanked Ms. Reed for a wonderful tour and all were very impressed with the facility. Board member Bolognini inquired about the Lego tables and asked if anyone is getting them for the Velma Teague Branch. Ms. Reed explained they received those as part of a grant and believes they were not very costly; however they do need additional space. Ms. Kennedy noted they have received donations from supporters such as Friends of the Library Group in the amount of$4000 and Vice Mayor Frate also gave money to help with Teen Programming. She noted the Health Programs at Foothills are done by Mid-Western professionals. The goal is to collaborate with partners to defer some of the cost and personnel time. LIBRARY ADVISORY BOARD COMMENTS AND SUGGESTIONS Chairperson Sharp asked for any comments and suggestions. Board member Aborne remarked that at the last meeting, she proposed sending letters of appreciation for funding to supporters. She updated the Board on her progress and read aloud the three thank-you letters she wrote to Vice Mayor Frate, Councilmember Clark and Councilmember Alvarez on behalf of the Library Advisory Board. Everyone agreed to sign and send them out as soon as possible. The Board had a discussion on Glendale's rich past history. Board member Sommer stated her new year's resolution was to become more technically proficient. Board member Shelly recommended they think of ways to better communicate with the public and Council. Further, she suggested possibly sending out a thank-you letter to Glendale citizens for voting in the sales increase to help the city budget. Board member Bolognini noted the downside to that suggestion was that the Council will start doing their budget again with possibly more cuts. She suggests they wait until things are more stable. Board member Bolognini remarked about the importance of writing letters to the editors in order to make people aware of how important and vital the libraries are to everyone. She hopes they can keep the libraries out of private hands. Ms. Kennedy indicated she came up with a new staffing model to keep them out of the hands of private companies and so far she is supported and was asked to move forward with it. 3 Board member Fallucca stated that if something like privatization happens to the libraries, all the citizens who voted in favor of the tax will feel betrayed and feel their vote was ignored. Board member Aborne noted the City Council should be aware how citizens feel and why they voted the way they did. Ms. Kennedy agreed and hopes the city moves forward successfully with the new Council. Chairperson Sharp inquired if it was appropriate for the Library Board to have an information table at the Chocolate Affaire. Ms. Kennedy said she would look into it. ADJOURNMENT Board member Bolognini made a motion to adjourn the meeting. Board member Aborne seconded the motion, which passed unanimously. The meeting adjourned at 7:25 pm. The next meeting will be held at the Main Library Boardroom on Wednesday, February 13, 2013 at 6:00 pm. 4