ANN ARBOR DISTRICT LIBRARY BOARD
343 S. FIFTH AVENUE, ANN ARBOR, MI
MINUTES OF THE REGULAR MEETING
MONDAY, AUGUST 19, 2013
13-161 I. CALL TO ORDER
President Rosenthal called the meeting to order at 7:01 p.m.
13-162 II. ATTENDANCE
Present: Head, Kaplan, Leary, Murphy, Barney Newman, Rosenthal, Surovell
Absent: None
Staff: Choate, Neiburger, Nieman, Parker, Wilson (recorder)
13-163 III. APPROVAL OF AGENDA
(Item of action)
Vice President Barney Newman, supported by Treasurer Kaplan, moved to approve the agenda.
AYES: Head, Kaplan, Leary, Murphy, Barney Newman, Rosenthal, Surovell
NAYS: None
Motion passed 7-0.
13-164 IV. APPROVAL OF MINUTES OF JULY 15, 2013
(Item of action)
Trustee Leary, supported by Trustee Surovell, moved to approve the minutes of July 15, 2013.
Trustee Leary requested clarifying quotation marks be added to statements made by Bob Rorke in public comments regarding paraphrasing of board email communications.
AYES: Head, Kaplan, Leary, Murphy, Barney Newman, Rosenthal, Surovell
NAYS: None
Motion passed 7-0.
President Rosenthal stated for the public record that Allerton Hill Consulting was engaged to provide only a communication audit for the Ann Arbor District Library. That the Ann Arbor District Library was not doing a survey. That the Ann Arbor District Library was not seeking a bond referendum in 2013. That the Ann Arbor District Library Board had not engaged in any violation of law.
13-165 V. CITIZENS’ COMMENTS
Libby Hunter
While I am aware that you have hired Allerton Hill Consulting Firm for $28,000, now this is a bill paid by the Ann Arbor taxpayers, your stated goal for this hiring is to improve communication with the public. However, there are some effective, simple and much more cost effective ways that could at least help achieve that goal. And one would be, as has been mentioned before here, hold your monthly board meetings on a night other than when city council meets. Tonight is one of those meetings, in fact maybe every board meeting conflicts. The Protect Our Libraries PAC has looked at all of the other public bodies that meet in the library district and found that there are nights in which there are no conflicts that would be free on the calendar when the board could meet. I don’t have those with me but, a further way to improve communications with the public would be to televise the board meetings and the equipment is all here. Other groups use this room to meet precisely because of the video capabilities built into this room and televising meetings has really become the standard for public bodies in this community. And finally just a last note opening up all committee and subcommittee meetings to the public could also help further this communication goal. And that’s it. Thank you very much.
Tom Brown
Hi, my name is Tom Brown and I live at Cranbrook. I want to thank Josie for her warm reception when we did summer games. Lydia and I, my daughter, we came up and talked with Josie and she was very helpful and very supportive of Lydia’s future so we really appreciate that. Also I wanted to say that Lydia and I have gotten out and done a lot of different things because of the summer game and we went to all of the parks and that was really neat. So I really thank the whole Board here and all the folks who provide support for the summer game. And I would like to say I’m glad that it’s not televised today because I didn’t really dress for it.
Lydia Brown
Hello, I am Lydia Brown and live on Cranbrook Road. I’m really excited about this summer reading game. I just started doing it for the prizes but now I’m definitely just doing it for fun. I’m twenty-fifth on the leader board which is really exciting. And I got a chocolate pack and it informed me that a local chocolate company, Schakolad, so I’m going to go there in the future. That’s why I like the summer reading game. Thanks.
Lyn Davidge
I’m Lyn Davidge and I live on North Maple Road. And Lydia I hope you saw the code on the door. Yes, I have it written down. I’m here actually tonight to make a request and I realize that it is not something you would probably be prepared to do tonight, but I would ask your consideration for future meetings. There’s always a place in the agenda for the approval of disbursements which is one of your jobs. But for those of us who are curious enough to glance through it, I think that in the interest of communication which we’ve been talking a lot about lately, you might want to consider just some little explanations of some of the larger amounts that are on those disbursement lists. For example, I am dying of curiosity on this month’s, the one you are going to be acting on tonight, to know about the $79,000 plus to American Express. And I’m curious of the $48,000 plus to the University of Michigan. Those both just kind of popped out at me. I’m sure that each of your constituents would have different thing pop out based on our backgrounds and so on. I’m cool with $66,000 to Innovative Interfaces because I know all about them and how important they are. But the other two are kind of vague in my mind and I’m just not quite sure what they might represent. So if you could consider that in the interest of open communication with your constituents in the future, I think that would be most appropriate it. Thank you very much.
Donald Salberg
Thank you. My name is Donald Salberg and I live on Lexington Drive in northeast Ann Arbor. I’m speaking tonight sort of to update some concerns that were voiced before the referendum about the status of the building and its functioning. I believe there were three issues that were raised prior to the referendum. The first was inadequate power that prevented a number of patrons from being able to hook up their electronic devices. I want to thank Josie Parker for meeting with me and informing me that there have been new power strips installed for laptop use and that apparently the power problem has been resolved. Another possible issue was compliance with the American Disabilities Act. There was a question related I believe to the elevators and maybe some other areas of the library. I was told though in meeting with Josie Parker that we’re in complete compliance with the American Disabilities Act. I’m very happy to hear that. And finally there was some concern about whether any of the heating and cooling units would need to be replaced soon. And I’ve been told that these units are working very well, that it’s very difficult to predict when they would need replacement that it could be years. And I was very pleased to hear that. I must commend Josie Parker and the staff for being excellent stewards for our library. Thank you.
13-166 VI. FINANCIAL REPORTS
Associate Director Nieman reported July showed unrestricted cash balance just over $7.8 million. Tax receipts just over $1 million, reflecting 9.5% of the budgeted amount, have been received through the end of July. It was noted the majority of taxes are received in August and September. The fund balance stands at just over $8 million. Four line items are over budget and will come back into line later in the year.
Treasurer Kaplan inquired about the 2013 penal fines figures distributed in the board packet. Associate Director Nieman reported that roughly $26,000 was received over the budgeted amount.
13-167 VII. APPROVAL OF DISBURSEMENTS
(Item of action)
Trustee Leary, supported by Secretary Head moved, to approve the July 2013 disbursements.
AYES: Head, Kaplan, Leary, Murphy, Barney Newman, Rosenthal, Surovell
NAYS: None
Motion passed 7-0.
13-168 VIII. COMMITTEE REPORTS
13-169 A. COMMUNICATIONS COMMITTEE
Chairperson Kaplan reported the committee had met with Allerton Hill for an update, but received no written report. The communications audit will be ready in several weeks and the committee will met again at that time. The report will be made public.
13-170 B. FACILITIES COMMITTEE
Chairperson Leary reported the committee met on July 16th and received an update on the general conditions of all facilities.
Administration reported that the Downtown library front entrance doors are breaking down frequently due to metal fatigue among other stressors. Director Parker will be seeking professional advice regarding action to be taken. Facilities will meet to discuss any options provided and bring recommendations to the Board for action.
13-171 IX. DIRECTOR’S REPORT
Director Parker reported the life-sized Angry Birds program held at the Meri Lou Murray Recreation Center was a great success. Staff at the center expressed interest in partnering again with the library to provide another event at their location.
The 8th annual Lego Contest was held at Kensington Court and had over 500 attendees. Contestants leave their entries for judging and return in the evening for announcements of winners and then take their Legos home. Prizes are paid for with monies from the Friends.
The summer game wraps up at the end of August. There have been over 500 visits to the catfish in Josie’s office. Kudos was expressed for all staff that had a part in making the game a success.
Associate Director Choate was congratulated on receiving the Sewell Stipend from the Public Health/Health Administration of the Medical Library Association. She will be co-presenting a paper at the American Public Health Association’s annual meeting.
13-172 X. NEW BUSINESS
13-173 A. BIKE SHARE PROGRAM
Heather Seyfarth, Program Supervisor of the Clean Energy Coalition presented an overview of the bike share program being established in Ann Arbor. The bike share program is a partnership between the Clean Energy Coalition, the Ann Arbor Transportation Authority, the City of Ann Arbor, and the University of Michigan. The program is slated to begin April 2014. The Downtown Library location is under consideration as a possible B‐cycle station site.
Board members asked the following questions: Is an earlier start date of March being considered? What type of business plan is being developed for long term sustainability? Are there other vendors available besides B-cycle that offer bike share programs? Will helmets be provided as part of the program? How does the program extend use time of the bicycle if it is needed? Was the AATA downtown location considered as a site as opposed to the Library? May bikes be returned to any station? Is liability insurance covered by the bike share program or do host station sites need to provide it? Will there be a written agreement with host station sites providing all details?
Director Parker noted that only very preliminary discussions had been held with the Clean Energy Coalition regarding the possibility of the Library being a host station site. She felt that tonight’s presentation was necessary for Board consideration and input before any decisions were made.
13-174 B. RESOLUTION TO AMEND THE 2012-2013 APPROVED BUDGET
(Item of action)
Secretary Head, supported by Trustee Leary, moved the Board resolves to transfer $4,000 from Capital Outlays to Utilities. To transfer $4,000 from Capital Outlays to Communications. To transfer $3,000 from Circulation Supplies to Software. All resolutions and parts of resolutions that conflict with the provisions of this resolution are rescinded.
AYES: Head, Kaplan, Leary, Murphy, Barney Newman, Rosenthal, Surovell
NAYS: None
Motion passed 7-0.
13-175 C. RESOLUTION OF THANKS TO VICKI BROWNE UPON HER RETIREMENT
(Item of action)
Trustee Murphy, supported by Trustee Leary, moved the Board resolves that it would like to officially thank Vicki Browne for her service as an employee March 14, 1988 to June 30, 2013 of the Ann Arbor District Library. That all resolutions that conflict with the provisions of this resolution are rescinded.
AYES: Head, Kaplan, Leary, Murphy, Barney Newman, Rosenthal, Surovell
NAYS: None
Motion passed 7-0.
13-176 D. PRESENTATION ON NEW AADL MONTHLY STATISTICAL REPORT
Associate Director Neiburger presented a new model for organizing in-depth, in-house statistical information. The report outlines the tangible collection alongside the digital collection. It breaks down library card holder usage alongside usage via the AADL website. Actual patron visits to AADL locations alongside entry to AADL through various webpages of our website. Usage is broken down by checkouts and downloads. Attendance at the various AADL events is broken down by category and location. Posts to the website are also broken down by category.
Vice President Barney Newman left the meeting at 8:14 p.m.
Board members expressed their very favorable impressions of the format.
13-177 E. UPDATE ON 2010-2015 STRATEGIC PLAN
Celeste Choate
Associate Director Choate highlighted 2012-2013 activity under the six strategic initiatives of the 2010-2015 AADL Strategic Plan.
13-178 F. CONTENT LICENSING UPDATE
Eli Neiburger
Associate Director Neiburger updated the Board on direct licensing that the library is pursuing. Products range from ebooks, graphic novels, musical and video recordings.
13-179 XI. CITIZENS’ COMMENTS
Bob Rorke
Bob Rorke, Wynnstone, Ann Arbor, Michigan. First, Trustee Leary, my apologizes. There are no quotes I noticed in any of the minutes and that’s because I had only one copy at the last meeting. I will email a copy to Karen so she can put in the proper quotes. I had no intention of putting words in your mouth. So I will correct that. As to some of the other comments that were made, that there was going to be no bond in 2013 after reading the data released in the FOIA I understood that, my question I guess to the trustees and the Administration is there any talk of the bond for 2014 or bringing forward another proposal to replace this library with another building. I was also interested in the fact there’s no survey requested for Allerton Hill I wondered if there was any other contract or of this being thought of for Allerton Hill either for the remainder of this year or next year. And finally I’m interested in whether any of the trustees or administration have discussed the possibility of a new bond with Allerton Hill or has Allerton Hill discussed that possibility with the staff of the library or trustees for the future. So do I have to send an email with questions or do you have the questions. Thank you.
13-180 XII. ADJOURNMENT
Trustee Murphy, supported by Trustee Leary, moved to adjourn the meeting.
President Rosenthal adjourned the meeting at 9:22 p.m.