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HomeMy WebLinkAboutBoard of Library Trustees 2019-11-12 Minutes1 LIBRARY BOARD OF TRUSTEES MINUTES _____________________________________________________________________________________________ San Rafael Library – 1100 E Street, San Rafael, CA November 12, 2019 – 6:00 P.M. CALL TO ORDER Chair Libresco called the meeting to order at 6:02 P.M. Roll Call Board Members Present: Josh Libresco, Jaimi Cortes, and Beverly Rose Board Members Absent: Claudia Fromm, Robert Ross, and Catherine Sumser Staff Present: Henry Bankhead, Assistant Library & Recreation Director/City Librarian, Susan Andrade-Wax, Library & Recreation Director, Jamie Poirier, Circulation Supervisor, and Jinder Banwait, Senior Administrative Assistant AGENDA AMENDMENTS None. MINUTES 1. Approve regular meeting minutes of October 15, 2019 Board Member Cortes asked what happens to the “draft” minutes once they are revised and approved. Ms. Andrade-Wax explained that the Board “approved” version of minutes becomes the permanent record. 2 Chair Libresco requested that staff include the link to the Downtown Library Survey with the October 15, 2019 Library Board of Trustees Meeting permanent record . Ms. Andrade-Wax said that the link and a copy of the survey will be included as part of the October 15, 2019 minutes. A motion was made by Board Member Rose, seconded by Board Member Cortes, to approve the minutes of the October 15, 2019 meeting. The motion was approved unanimously. MEETING OPEN TO THE PUBLIC 2. Introductions/Awards/Recognitions/Presentations Ms. Andrade-Wax announced that the City of San Rafael recently received the League of California Cities’ 2019 Helen Putnam Award for Excellence in internal administration for its initiative Together San Rafael. A. Presentation on the “Values of Libraries” grant by Jamie Poirier. Presentation on the California State Library’s “Measuring the Value of California’s Public Libraries” project. The San Rafael Public Library received a $3,000 grant from the CSL Values of Libraries project which facilitates community educational programs such as virtual reality and 3D printing at the Northgate Library Branch. The Marin County Free Library also received the grant and uses the funding to facilitate programs at the Northgate Library as well. This “Values of Libraries” fiscal agent is the Black Gold Cooperative Library System. No action required. 3. Public Comment from the audience regarding items not listed on the agenda A member of the public shared concerns about the future of the existing library Carnegie Building and the funding for the proposed new Library and Community Center at Albert Park. A member of the public asked whether the large donations that the library has received is earmarked specifically for the library, Carnegie Building, or a new library. Chair Libresco commented that the information regarding the Library’s budget and related funding sources and donation accounts would be discussed late r in the meeting under Item #6. 3 MATTERS BEFORE THE BOARD 4. Discussion of Macmillan eBook Embargo Mr. Bankhead presented information on the Macmillan eBook embargo that limits libraries to one copy of a Macmillan ebook for the first 8 weeks after the book is released. The Board accepted the report as presented. 5. Discussion of Nut Allergy Verbiage Mr. Bankhead shared verbiage to communicate awareness of peanut and tree nut allergies to library users. Ms. Andrade-Wax suggested Board Members provide feedback as to which specific area or areas in the library they desired to be nut free zones. Board Member Cortes replied that it makes more sense to ban nuts in the Children’s Room and Meeting Room areas. Additional feedback included posting signage in both English and Spanish with graphics and minimal verbiage. The Board accepted the report as presented. 6. Discussion of Q1 Library Budget Mr. Bankhead presented the first quarter 2019/2020 fiscal year budget report that the Board Members found to be very informative and helpful. Ms. Andrade -Wax said that the quarterly reports can be presented to the Board every quar ter going forward. The Board accepted the report as presented. BOARD REPORTS AND COMMENTS 7. Chair Libresco stated that both he and Board Member Rose attended the Library Foundation Dinner on November 7, 2019 and the Library Foundation Meeting on November 8, 2019. Board Member Rose said the dinner event was lovely, well organized and well attended. Chair Libresco agreed with Board Member Rose’s comments and shared feedback regarding the former San Jose Library Director Jane Light’s presentation. He also stated that although Ms. Andrade-Wax’s feedback regarding the Library Study and Planning efforts were enthusiastic, they she may have mis-stated what was discussed at the October 7, 2019 City Council Meeting. He explained that the City Council did not give direction to proceed only with the Albert Park site but that more detailed studies regarding the Albert Park site were needed. Additionally, the Council asked staff to review the prior studies that had been done on the Carnegie Library site to see what we could learn from them and if there were any gaps of information, then maybe additional 4 studies of the Carnegie Library site might be warranted. 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 meeting. Ms. Andrade-Wax shared that it was not her intention to mislead anyone . She explained that she was asked to provide a welcome and a few comments about the Library Study and Planning process at the Foundation Dinner. Given the amount of time she had to speak, she limited her comments and did not include all of the feedback that the City Council provided. She agreed with Chair Libresco’s comments regarding the City Council’s feedback at the October 7th City Council meeting and apologized on how her abbreviated comments at the Foundation Dinner could have misled the attendees. Board Member Cortes shared information about the recent Libraries, Literacy, and Equity event she attended on November 4, 2019 at the Marin Co unty Free Library. She provided the Board Members with material showing statistics about racial and income opportunity gaps that exist in the education system. STAFF REPORTS AND COMMENTS 8. Staff provided updates regarding the following meetings and events: A. The Parcel Tax Committee will meet on November 19, 2019. The members have drafted the end of the year report and will meet one more time before presenting it to the City Council. B. The Friends of the San Rafael Public Library will meet on November 13, 2019. C. The Library Foundation met on November 8, 2019. D. MARINet Board met in conjunction with the North Bay Cooperative Library System Board about the unfunded pension liabilities that the previous members are responsible to fund. The liability for San Rafael could be approximately $7,000/year. E. NorthNet North Bay Cooperative Library System has not met recently. F. The new Library & Recreation Department had an opportunity to bond during the recent Power Safety Power Shutoff event. Employees worked together to provide crucial services to the community. They set up and managed charging stations, worked in the City’s call center, and assisted the City’s Emergency Operations Center personnel. G. Board and Commissions Recognition Event on December 3, 2019 at the Falkirk Cultural Center. NEXT MEETING: December 10, 2019 5 FUTURE AGENDA TOPICS Chair Libresco commented on our Privacy Policy. He stated that staff has sent out confirmation emails asking users to verify their personal and contact information in the same email which is not a best practice nor industry standard. He also mentioned that the password strength requirements of the system have also not kept pace with industry best practices and standards and recommended requiring users to create more sophisticated passwords. Mr. Bankhead agreed with the comments made and shared with the Board that the software that is currently being utilized is under the purview of the M ARINet Consortium and therefore is not under the City of San Rafael’s direct control. However, staff has provided similar feedback to the Consortium and will continue to do so. ADJOURNMENT The meeting was adjourned at 7:49 P.M.