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HomeMy WebLinkAboutBoard of Library Trustees 2020-01-14 Minutes1 LIBRARY BOARD OF TRUSTEES MINUTES _____________________________________________________________________________________________ San Rafael Library – 1100 E Street, San Rafael, CA January 14, 2020 – 6:00 P.M. CALL TO ORDER Chair Libresco called the meeting to order at 6:00 P.M. Roll Call Board Members Present: Josh Libresco, Claudia Fromm, Beverly Rose, and Robert Ross Board Members Absent: Jaimi Cortes and Catherine Sumser (Catherine has resigned) Staff Present: Henry Bankhead, Assistant Library & Recreation Director/City Librarian, Susan Andrade-Wax, Library & Recreation Director, Jill Harris, Supervising Librarian, Miriam Wallen, Librarian II, and Jinder Banwait, Senior Administrative Assistant AGENDA AMENDMENTS Item 4 - Allergy Awareness Signage A motion was made by Board Member Fromm, seconded by Board Member Rose, to postpone Item 4 - Allergy Awareness Signage, to the February 11, 2020 meeting. The motion was approved unanimously. MINUTES 1. Approve regular meeting minutes of November 12, 2019 2 Chair Libresco requested that the following be added to page 3, item 7, at the end of paragraph 3: “Chair Libresco noted that these same concerns about Ms. Andrade-Wax’s comments related to the results of the City Council meeting were raised by Foundation Board members at the November 8, 2019 meeting.” A motion was made by Board Member Rose, seconded by Board Member Fromm, to approve the minutes of the November 12, 2019 meeting. The motion was approved unanimously. MEETING OPEN TO THE PUBLIC 2. Introductions/Awards/Recognitions/Presentations Presentation - New Teen Area and Lobby Painting Projects Ms. Wallen presented pictures of the recently painted lobby area. New updates include self-checkout furniture, a bench, a bulletin board, and a help phone. Ms. Harris presented pictures of the newly created teen area upstairs. New book shelving, tables, and seating was added to the area. Ms. Wallen and Ms. Harris lead the Board Members on a tour of the lobby and the teen area. No action required. 3. Public Comment from the audience regarding items not listed on the agenda A member of the public asked if there were any updates about the new library project and whether there was a timeline as to when the staff are going to the City Council. Ms. Andrade-Wax replied that an update would be provided during agenda item 7, Staff Reports and Comments. MATTERS BEFORE THE BOARD 4. Allergy Awareness Signage - Postponed until February 11, 2020. 5. Review of Board of Trustees Meeting Schedule for 2020 Ms. Andrade-Wax presented the Board’s Meeting Calendar for 2020 and mentioned there was only one (1) potential meeting conflict on March 10, 2020 with the Jewish Holiday, “Purim”. The Board Members all agreed that March 10th would not present a conflict with anyone’s schedule. A motion was made by Board Member Rose, seconded by Board Member Ross, to approve the Meeting Calendar as presented and to look at agenda items month by month to determine potential meeting cancellations. The motion was approved unanimously. 3 BOARD REPORTS AND COMMENTS 6. Board Member Rose attended the Boards and Commissions Holiday event at Falkirk and thought it was lovely. She said it was great to meet staff from other departments, volunteers, and City officials. STAFF REPORTS AND COMMENTS 7. Staff provided updates regarding the following meetings and events: A. The Parcel Tax Committee finalized the FY18/19 Measure D report and presented it along with a staff report to the City Council on December 16, 2019. The report is available through the City Clerk’s webpage. The Committee is currently looking to fill one (1) committee member vacancy. B. The Friends of the San Rafael Public Library met on Wednesday, January 8th and discussed future book sales. The Friends Book Store anniversary celebration will be from May 5-9, 2020. There will be a Lawn Sale sometime in June. Now that Recreation has combined with the Library, the Friends can possibly utilize one of the community centers for their Rare and Special Books Sale. This will help the Friends save on facility rental costs. Board Member Ross recommended that the Library Board sponsor the Friends events as an outreach opportunity. Mr. Bankhead explained that Boards and Commissions members are welcome to attend meetings of any other group and report back to the group. C. The San Rafael Public Library Foundation met on Friday, January 10th. They received some additional funding from a trust and are always looking to raise money for the new library. The Foundation mails approximately 1,000 appeal letters annually, which include library statistics, community pictures, and testimonials. They received 50 donations in December totaling roughly $160,000. The Foundation wants to focus on outreach and marketing as something ongoing moving forward and are researching various options. D. MARINet Board met twice since the last Library Board meeting in November. The MARINet consortium include seven (7) public libraries, Dominican University, and College of Marin. Therefore, the MARINet Board is looking to rewrite the Joint Powers Agreement (JPA). The Board is also working on placing book drops in areas of the county that are less accessible. One location is near Lucas Valley Road between Los Gamos Dr. and Miller Creek Rd. The delivery contract with Sprint 4 Delivery Services will increase by 25% as part of the contract. Which will have an impact on the overall consortium budget. The Board is also looking more into RFID technology. E. NorthNet North Bay Cooperative Library System has not met since the Library Board’s last meeting. F. The Zip Books program has received additional state funding. This program allows users to order books and audiobooks that aren’t available in the consortium’s collection and have them delivered directly to their residence. The Northgate Mall would like to continue the lease agreement with the City and County libraries. There may be an option to expand into a larger space in the future. McMillan, one of the big five publishers, have instituted an embargo where they will only sell one (1) eBook to a library during the first eight (8) weeks. Blackstone Audio has also implemented such a policy. MARINet has not decided to join the nationwide libraries boycott. The message from these companies is that they value libraries less than the retails space. McMillan may change direction due to the libraries boycott but having one (1) book available for the community is better than none. Staff is working on a draft Request for Proposal (RFP) for a conceptual design of the Albert Park option for the new library and community center. Having a conceptual design will help the Library Foundation with fundraising. Ms. Andrade-Wax explained that the staff will also be working on a potential reuse plan for the Carnegie Building and are also looking at the two previous (2003 & 2017) Group 4 studies that were completed on the Carnegie Building. The new conceptual design, the current library location option report, and the reuse plan of the Carnegie Building will then be presented to the City Council. Both sites will be considered by the City Council. No decision is being made, but equal amounts of information will be presented so that both sites can be reviewed and considered. The recent studies can be found here: 2017: https://www.cityofsanrafael.org/documents/service-and-facilities-vision/ 2019: https://www.cityofsanrafael.org/documents/library-facilities-planning-study/ NEXT MEETING: February 11, 2020 FUTURE AGENDA TOPICS Chair Libresco recommended having “New Library Update” as an ongoing standing item on all future agendas. Ms. Andrade-Wax explained that the staff are developing a Work Plan for the Board to review and consider which will help with setting the Board’s future meeting agenda topics. ADJOURNMENT 5 The meeting was adjourned at 7:36 P.M.