HomeMy WebLinkAboutLibrary Board Minutes 09.13.2011 Minutes of the
Laurel Public Library Board of Trustees
September 13, 2011
Attending:
Bruce McCullough (presiding) Dixie Feller
Nathan Baillet Clair Killebrew
Nancy Schmidt
Minutes:
Minutes from August 2011 board meeting were read, corrected and approved.
Correspondence:
Nancy received a check from the Montana State Library in the amount of $1,465.53 for our share of the annual
state aid appropriated by the legislature.
Christy Smith gave the Board a Thank You card thanking us for the 'going away' party and gift card. She also
expressed her pleasure serving as a Board member and stated that the library continues to be an asset to the
community.
Circulation Report:
Traffic: up 17.4%; circulation: all items circulated went down 4.5%, book circulation rose 0.7%, media
circulation fell 25.5 %; computers: internet use up 36%, children's use up 18 %, wi -fi use up 35%; patron cards:
reported numbers are skewed because we have patron cards listed in 3 categories that we do not use. I will
change these patrons to the proper UserCatl before the next month's statistics so we have a proper
accounting of City, County, and NonCounty users.
Old Business:
Nathan gave a report on the progress of the Library Foundation. There have been not interviews scheduled at
this time. Nathan will continue to pursue development of the foundation through the college. He will talk with
his English Professor and discuss the possibility of taking this to other departments. Nathan will also discuss
this issue with the MSU -B Library instructor.
Patti McGahan is working out great as our part-time technology trainer. As part of her duties she will train
other staff members on all of our computer /programs so they may be able to help patrons when Patti is not
available. Patti will attend webinar /online trainings as needed.
Nancy reported that the budget had been finalized at the City Council meeting on September 6, 2011. She will
make copies of the final budget for all Board members after she receives them from Shirley Ewan.
New Business:
Nancy distributed copies of the Library's patron conduct rules for review. She asked that Board members
review the rules over the next few weeks and bring suggestions for changes to the next Board meeting.
Revisions will be made at that time along with adoption of the new rules.
Patti McGahan has created a list of Computer Usage Guidelines for the Library. Nancy asked Board members to
take a copy and review them so that changes could be made at the next meeting along with adoption of the
guidelines, if appropriate.
Mike Furman and Nancy are scheduled for training at the Fall Workshop in Bozeman September 23` & 24
They will report on their attendance at the next meeting. Nancy is also scheduled to attend a meeting of the
Montana Shared Catalog members October 6 & 7 in Bozeman. Training is being offered on Thursday,
October 6 on the Symphony ILS that may help with some of the problems that staff members are running into
during checkouts, etc.
Nancy brought up the library website to show Board members some of the improvements that have been
made to the site. The site has a new design that is friendly and clean with multiple pages for information.
Included on the new site are Library databases from EBSCOhost and Tutor.com. The amount of information
included in these two databases is almost overwhelming when you first look at them. Part of the training that
Mike and Nancy will be receiving in Bozeman will center on using these databases. Board members expressed
their enthusiasm for this information and commented on the need to advertise this information to the public.
Laurel Public Library has been asked to pay for part of the renewal of Heritage Quest online. After much
discussion it was decided that Laurel patrons were not benefitting from this subscription as much as we would
like to see. Some patrons expressed frustration with lack of information contained within the site while others
found it to be unfriendly to users. Nancy commented that some information that should be on the site is
seriously lacking when the same information can be found on Ancestry.com without difficulty. Clair motioned
that we not contribute to the cost of the Heritage Quest subscription this year. Nathan seconded the motion.
Motion passed.
Other:
The Montana State Library had sent out a report on Public Computer Centers in Montana. The survey
responses were minimal but gave a snapshot of how patrons are using computers in our public libraries. Nancy
gave a copy of the report to each Board member.
Board members received their MLA cards. They are more informational than anything else but can be used to
identify which library they are from.
Nancy has stated that the Book Sale is tentatively planned for the end of October (21 -22, or 28 -29). She will let
everyone know at the next Board meeting.
Addressing the Board:
Next regular meeting:
September 13, 2011
Bruce McCullough motioned to close the meeting. Clair seconded the motion. Motion passed.
Future Considerations:
Overdue Collections Policy Personnel Evaluation
Technology Plan Update Library Personnel Policy
Library Partnerships