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HomeMy WebLinkAboutBoard of Library Trustees 2019-09-10 Minutes 1 LIBRARY BOARD OF TRUSTEES MINUTES _____________________________________________________________________________________________ San Rafael Library – 1100 E Street, San Rafael, CA September 10, 2019 – 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, Jaimi Cortes, Claudia Fromm, Beverly Rose, Robert Ross, and Catherine Sumser Board Members Absent: None Staff Present: Henry Bankhead, Assistant Library & Recreation Director/City Librarian, Susan Andrade-Wax, Library & Recreation Director, Jinder Banwait, Senior Administrative Assistant, Jill Tokutomi, Librarian II, and Luz Rodriguez, Substitute Library Page AGENDA AMENDMENTS None MINUTES 1. Approve regular meeting minutes of August 13, 2019 Chair Libresco requested the following changes: 1. Change the word “judgement” to “judgment”. 2. In the previous meeting, the City Attorney mentioned that there are two options that the Board Members have if they are dissatisfied with the 2 performance of Library staff. The minutes only show one option, what is the other option? 3. Remove the petty/silly dialogue at the start of the last meeting under “Agenda Amendments”. 4. Change “Matters Before the Commission” to “Matters Before the Board”. Chair Cortes requested the following change: 1. Change how a statement was transcribed in the previous meeting, from “She continued and said there has never been an issue, but this new process has been an issue. Board Member Cortes expressed that everyone is making a big deal out of things, that the City Clerk is attending our meetings and now the City Attorney” to “She continued and said that there has never been an issue, but this new process has been an issue including that the City Clerk is attending our meetings and now the City Attorney”. A motion was made by Board Member Cortes, seconded by Board Member Rose, to approve the minutes of the August 13, 2019 meeting. The motion was approved unanimously. MEETING OPEN TO THE PUBLIC 2. Introductions/Awards/Recognitions/Presentations Ms. Tokutomi and Ms. Rodriguez presented information about the library’s Teen Advisory Board (TAB). The program is designed to engage with students from grades 7th to 12th to gain input on how the library can improve services to better serve this demographic. TAB’s focus is on inclusiveness and hearing the needs and wants of the community. TAB provides leadership opportunities for teens as well as the chance to give back to the community. TAB organizes events such as the CAIR (Council on American-Islamic Relations) workshops to address bullying, events targeted to provide help and resources for LGBTQ+ teens, and other programs such as the origami club, face painting, game night, button making, 3D printing, and much more. TAB allows teens to take ownership and help the library implement ideas they themselves have planned and developed. 3. Public Comment from the audience regarding items not listed on the agenda A member of the public asked when the New Library Facilities Report will be presented to the City Council. Ms. Andrade-Wax replied, October 7, 2019 at 7 p.m. in the City Council Chambers. 3 MATTERS BEFORE THE BOARD 4. Mr. Bankhead presented information about elimination of library fines. He explained that the Marin County Free Library, the largest member of the MARINet Consortium has already eliminated fines and that this is now a national trend. Mr. Bankhead clarified that the library users who fail to return items would still be responsible to pay replacement/processing fees. He shared that the youth fines that were eliminated in 2015 had no negative impact, that in fact it benefited the community by increasing morale, enthusiasm for the use of the library, and removed barriers that pre vented access to resources. Mr. Bankhead said that the fines revenue has been decreasing in the last few years and that it was slightly less than $20,000 for fiscal year 18/19. He explained that the amount of time and resources required to collect the fines and issue refunds outweighs revenue collected. He also said that collecting fines places the library in an adversarial relationship and reduces access. Mr. Bankhead explained that eliminating fines would bring consistency across the consortium, which will also remove any confusion among users. Board members accepted the report, however, would like to do their due diligence and requested additional data detailing the actual cost of collecting fines/fees before providing feedback. Ms. Andrade-Wax replied that the City is currently reviewing the Master Fee Schedule and has hired a consultant to conduct a comprehensive fee study. The results will be shared with the Board. Board Member Ross made a motion to request additional information about the cost of collecting fines/fees and its effect on staff before the Board can recommend eliminating the fines. Board Member Sumser seconded the motion. AYES: Board Members: Libresco, Fromm, Rose, Ross, and Sumser NOES: Board Members: Cortes, in favor of eliminating fees without additional information ABSENT: Board Members: None The motion passed. 5. Mr. Bankhead presented information on the department merger. He said that both departments met on August 28th where the new department mission, tagline, vision and values were presented as well as a snapshot of the organizational chart. A question and answer session concluded the meeting. The name of the department is Library and Recreation, where Library includes Library & Arts (Falkirk House) and Recreation includes Recreation & Childcare. The department became official on July 1, 2019. The newly formed department plan will be presented to City Council for acceptance and approval on September 16th along with the newly created position of Assistant Library & 4 Recreation Director. Mr. Bankhead’s new title is Assistant Library & Recreation Director/City Librarian. Ms. Andrade-Wax shared some results from the staff survey (taken before merger process began): 1. 98% of staff felt they understood what is expected of them in their job 2. 88% feel they have the support and resources they need to complete their job 3. 87% feel that teamwork within the departments is good 4. 87% feel that department-wide communication is good 5. 85% feel that morale is good Ms. Andrade-Wax shared some of the concerns staff had (taken before merger process began): 1. How will my role change? Example, librarian today, pool lifeguard tomorrow? No , but there will be more opportunities for collaboration and professional growth. 2. Does the funding change? Example, does the library start charging for programing like recreation does? No, the philosophy stays the same. 3. Is the change going to be inclusive? Yes, staff from both departments have been involved throughout the process and guided by a professional consulting firm. 4. Marketing, will we be able to enhance our marketing efforts and combine resources? Yes, already happening. Example, the Recreation Activities Guide already includes information about library programs and services. 5. Sharing facilities? Yes, Recreation has a lot of facilities and vehicles that the library can now use at no charge. Ms. Andrade-Wax explained that financially, the library funds (come from the City’s General Fund and the Measure D Parcel Tax) will remain separate from the Community Services funds (100% cost recovery, only partial funds come from the City’s General Fund). The new department will offer complementary programs and not competing programs. For example, if someone is interested in art lectures, they can attend a sampling program at the library, and if they would like to take classes, they can enroll in fee-based classes at the community center. The Board Members accepted the report as presented. BOARD REPORTS AND COMMENTS Board Member Ross asked whether there is funding available for Board Members to attend conferences and training events. Mr. Bankhead replied, no. Ms. Andrade -Wax explained that the Board Members can benefit from attending other City Boards & Commissions meetings as liaisons and by attending conferences and training 5 opportunities that may help Board Members do their job even better. She said she would look at the budget to see if there are any funds available. STAFF COMMENTS Mr. Bankhead shared updates about Library groups and other relevant information with the Board Members. A. The Parcel Tax Committee hasn’t met, and the next meeting is scheduled for October 1st, 2019. B. The Friends of the San Rafael Public Library did not meet in August and will be meeting on September 11th, 2019. C. The Library Foundation did not meet in August. Their annual dinner is coming up on October 10th. All Board Members are invited to attend. Invitations will be going out. Jane Light, pervious San Jose Library Director will be speaking at the event about libraries of the future. D. MARINet Board will be meeting in the upcoming week. E. NorthNet Board has not met, but the sub-committee did meet on August 29th, 2019 to discuss the unfunded retiree liability for the previous organization, North Bay Cooperative Library System. The discussions are ongoing as to what the commitment is to the former members in terms of healthcare and what current members can afford. F. Lynda.com and Kanopy services will be discontinued at the end of September. The users have been notified of this change. An alternate service, Hoopla, is available to replace Kanopy and staff are currently researching an alternative to Lynda.com. G. New furniture was placed in the lobby as part of the lobby improvement project. Additional ADA compliant furniture will be purchased along with a new bench. New paint and a digital display will be installed as well. H. Jill Tokutomi’s, Librarian II, presentation was selected to be presented at the All Things YA event in Corona, CA. The presentation focused on serving LGBTQ+ youth at the library. I. The camera door counter at the E St. entrance was replaced as it was not accurately counting users. It was replaced at no charge through t he library’s existing service contract. J. The Friends of the Library Buck a Book sale will be on Saturday, September 14th, 2019. K. A flyer with events and programming information at the Falkirk House was provided to all Board Members. L. City staff were given an opportunity to attend an hour-long training covering emergency preparedness, PG&E shutoff preparedness, and their role as a disaster worker. A brochure with information was provided to all Board Members. M. Ms. Andrade-Wax explained that going forward, the minutes for the Library Board of Trustees should be brief-summary/action only minutes instead of verbatim minutes. Capture the thought process of the group, not the individual. 6 N. Mr. Bankhead shared that he reviews books for the Library Journal. A summary of this was included in the recent City Friday Memo. The Friday Memo goes to all City staff and Boards & Commissions. NEXT MEETING: Board Member Fromm shared that she will be unable t o attend or only attend partial of the October 8, 2019 meeting due to the Jewish holiday. Ms. Andrade-Wax explained that at some point in the future, the Board will be provided a yearly calendar of meetings and agendas so that the Board can decide to reschedule or cancel meetings due to conflicts. She explained that if there is no item on the tentative agenda, the meeting will be cancelled. Board Member Sumser left at 7:40 p.m. The remaining Board Members agreed not to meet on October 8th. Ms. Andrade -Wax informed the Board Members that she would notify them if the meeting was re-scheduled to October 15th. ADJOURNMENT The meeting was adjourned at 7:48 P.M.