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Home My WebLink AboutBoard of Library Trustees 2017-03-14 MinutesMinutes of the Library Board of Trustees, p. 1 MINUTES OF THE REGULAR MEETING OF THE SAN RAFAEL LIBRARY BOARD OF TRUSTEES REGULAR MEETING, MARCH 14, 2017 SAN RAFAEL PUBLIC LIBRARY – DOWNTOWN MEETING ROOM 1100 E STREET STREET, SAN RAFAEL 6:00 PM SARAH HOUGHTON, LIBRARY DIRECTOR, AND CAROL MANASHIL, CHAIR, PRESIDING MEMBERS PRESENT: CAROL MANASHIL, CHAIR JOSH LIBRESCO MELANIE LEAVITT CANTARUTTI KAREN NIELSEN MEMBERS ABSENT: NONE OTHERS PRESENT: SARAH HOUGHTON, LIBRARY DIRECTOR HENRY BANKHEAD, ASSISTANT DIRECTOR JOSHUA ALPERIN, PICKLEWEED LIBRARY SUPERVISING LIBRARIAN APPROVAL OF AGENDA Agenda was approved unanimously on a motion by Cantarutti and a second by Libresco. APPROVAL OF MINUTES February minutes were approved unanimously on a motion by Nielsen and a second by Cantarutti. PUBLIC COMMENT None STAFF PRESENTATION Joshua Alperin, Pickleweed Supervising Librarian, presented about some of the recent efforts at the Pickleweed Library. Pickleweed has been offering additional adult programming, including salsa making and quilt making, and a coloring club as well. These programs are taught by members of the Canal Community. The library has started having a rotating series of gorgeous displays made by one of the substitute library assistants. The library staff continues to work in the community with partners such as Canal Alliance, Parent Services Project, and Marin Community Clinics. The LEGO program is a regular monthly program and quite successful. The book club for tweens is very popular with the 15 participants. The Spanish language book club for adults is also popular. Reading buddies is still very popular as a weekly program Minutes of the Library Board of Trustees, p. 2 serving 8 students per night. Coming up is Dia de los Ninos at the end of April, a countywide weeklong library effort. CORRESPONDENCE None REPORT FROM LIBRARY DIRECTOR Personnel Updates The Downtown Library currently has a vacancy in Adult Services for a Librarian I/II. Facility Updates The desk in the Library Director’s office has been replaced, including secure storage for historical city and library materials. The ramp at the Friends’ Annex next to the Downtown Library has been fixed. Library Activities Technical Services Update By Jamie Poirier The Technical Services department has a new supervisor, Jamie Poirier. Jamie previously worked at the Roseville Public Library. Jamie started on November 15, 2016 and is a member of the library’s Leadership Team. Recent changes made in Technical Services include: delivery of all items (new and updated) directly to Circulation, allowing holds to be filled quicker and items available sooner; introduction of an standardized item “slip,” used when materials need changes, updates, etc.; streamlining and reduction of stickers on item spines, thereby eliminating duplication of information; lastly, implementation of a project board to track current projects and schedule future endeavors. Upcoming projects include researching shelf-ready and pre-processed materials, working with selectors to streamline the ordering process, and continuing to review the workflow in Technical Services. New Adult Programs for Spring By Pam Klein The Adult Services Department is busy with programs and events for Spring. Librarian, Bonnie Groshong, has arranged for a new series of art classes on Zentangle. Zentangle is a fun, relaxing and easy-to-learn art form that uses repetitive patterns to create beautiful images while improving focus and creativity. We are starting a new Adult Reading/Discussion Group on the first Monday of each month at 6:30-7:30 p.m., which will include shorter classics, magazine articles and essays, poetry, plays and short stories. The first discussion will be on Monday, March 6, when the group will discuss George Orwell’s Animal Farm and plan for future readings. The first One Book, One Marin book discussion program on Anthony Marra’s The Tsar of Love and Techno met on February 27th. Upcoming programs on Russian art and culture include Us Versus Them in a Russian Context on Thursday March 9, 6:30-7:30 p.m., Armchair Travel to Russia with Rea Franjetic, of Cosmopolitan Tours on Thursday, March 30, 6:30-7:30 Minutes of the Library Board of Trustees, p. 3 p.m., and a fun art program, Decorating Faux Ukranian Eggs, using papier mâché eggs, paper, and washi tape, on Sunday, April 2, 1:00-4:00 p.m. Teen Librarian, William Calhoun, has made arrangements to meet with the librarian from Terra Linda High School in order to familiarize him with useful electronic subscriptions and databases that the library owns for High School students. Our new Teen Advisory council and other local teens, will be meeting with City government officials and local business people on the third Tuesday of each month, to discuss current issues and topics of interest. Their first meeting is with Mayor Gary Phillips on March 21. A Look at the Past at San Rafael Public Library By Pam Klein In 1909, the year when the Carnegie Library was erected, the library had only three employees including Miss May Cooper, the librarian and a janitor. It was open daily except for holidays from 10 a.m. to 12:00 noon, from 1:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. and from 7 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. One can just imagine poor Miss Cooper running back and forth to eat and do errands throughout her long day. The library subscribed to 40 magazines and 8 newspapers and owned 7,247 books with a circulation of 5,511 annually. Then as now, Fiction books circulated the most. (Taken from California State Library News Notes (Volume 4- January/October, 1909). CENIC Update The project to bring gigabit broadband connections to all public libraries in Marin has been slowed down about a month due to unexpected network equipment issues. The anticipated launch date is still undetermined. It looks like mid-late March at this point. What we know about the Sierra outage The outage began a February Thursday night around 10pm. Initially one hard drive of four failed on the server that runs Sierra, marinet.lib.ca.us, the WebPAC, all logins for catalogs, ebooks, Envisionware, etc. A replacement drive was put in, but the server crashed again. Innovative Interfaces started building a new set of hard drives on Friday. The first hard drive was replaced, but then a second drive failed. Innovative Interfaces began preparing an entirely new-new set of hard drives but they said it would take them the weekend to complete this work. The new-new set of drives was installed on Monday morning and services were restored Monday afternoon. MARINet staff and all member libraries will be working hard to ensure that such another outage does not occur as we realize the impact on the public was substantial. Board member Libresco expressed concern both that the outage occurred and that it took so long to fix. This raises questions for him as to whether we are using the right software and/or the right provider, and whether the system has enough back-up capabilities in place. Minutes of the Library Board of Trustees, p. 4 REPORTS FROM LIBRARY SUPPORT GROUPS AND OTHER RELATED GROUPS Friends of the Library: - Friends Books is having an in-store sale this week. The Friends Board may have a new member. SRPL Foundation: The Foundation has hired an administrative assistant and tomorrow night is the Group 4 community survey report to the Foundation and the New Library City Council Subcommittee. Parcel Tax Committee: Nothing to report OLD BUSINESS None NEW BUSINESS Review of February outage of MARINet services: Houghton discussed a bit more detail about the outage and relayed that MARINet is now building $40,000 into their budget to save for a new server replacement cycle every five years, which should mitigate the risk of any future massive equipment failure. Virtual Reality update: Houghton showed a brief video created by a Community Media Center of Marin volunteer highlighting the libraries’ pilot program for offering virtual reality technology. https://vimeo.com/200257485 Pickleweed Library has the Oculus Rift and is continuing programming. The Downtown Library is waiting for its new HTC Vive system, and once staff is trained will begin programs again as well. The success of this pilot has turned into a project where the State Library will fund VR equipment in 100 libraries throughout the state. The San Rafael Public Library staff is very thankful to the Marin County Free Library for letting us be part of this initial pilot and look forward to continued partnerships of this nature. 2017/2018 budget proposal (initial): Houghton discussed two projected budget documents, both of which are still in the process of being vetted by the Finance Department and City Manager’s Office, before they go to City Council. The first document showed the Library’s overall projected budget for 2017/2018, compared to this current fiscal year, and reflecting anticipated staff cost changes of 5% (still waiting on final figures) and the anticipated revenue increase from Measure D. The second documented outlined, in a rough way, the anticipated 9 year budgeting projections for the Measure D budget specifically, making adjustments annually based on CPI, additional, senior exemptions, and staff cost increases. As more budget documents become final, Library staff will bring these before the Board as well. ADJOURNMENT Meeting adjourned at 7:09 pm. Respectfully submitted by Sarah Houghton