ANN ARBOR DISTRICT LIBRARY BOARD
343 S. FIFTH AVENUE, ANN ARBOR, MI
MINUTES OF THE ANNUAL MEETING
TUESDAY, JANUARY 16, 2018
18-001 I. CALL TO ORDER
President Vander Broek called the meeting to order at 6:16 p.m.
18-002 II. ATTENDANCE
Board Present: Victoria Green, Jan Barney Newman, Colleen Sherman, Linh Song, Ed Surovell, Jamie Vander Broek
Board Absent: Jim Leija
Staff: Josie Parker, Eli Neiburger, Bill Cooper, Karen Wilson (recorder)
Others Present: William Stapleton, Hooper, Hathaway
18-003 III. RECESS TO CLOSED SESSION FOR DISCUSSION OF REAL ESTATE
18-004 IV. RECONVENE ANNUAL MEETING AT 7:00PM
President Vander Broek reconvened the annual meeting to order at 7:07 p.m.
18-005 V. PRESIDENT’S REMARKS
President Vander Broek briefly remarked on her tenure as president and thanked her Board colleagues for their support.
18-006 VI. ELECT LIBRARY BOARD OFFICERS
1. PRESIDENT
(Item of action)
Roll call vote
Trustee Sherman, supported by Trustee Song, nominated Jamie Vander Broek for Board President. No other nominations were made.
A roll call vote was taken.
AYES: Green, Barney Newman, Sherman, Song, Surovell, Vander Broek
NAYS: None
Motion passed 6-0.
2. VICE PRESIDENT
(Item of action)
Roll call vote
Trustee Vander Broek, supported by Trustee Green, nominated Linh Song for Board Vice President. No other nominations were made.
A roll call vote was taken.
AYES: Green, Barney Newman, Sherman, Song, Surovell, Vander Broek
NAYS: None
Motion passed 6-0.
3. TREASURER
(Item of action)
Roll call vote
Trustee Sherman, supported by Trustee Song, nominated Jim Leija for Board Treasurer. No other nominations were made.
A roll call vote was taken.
AYES: Green, Barney Newman, Sherman, Song, Surovell, Vander Broek
NAYS: None
Motion passed 6-0.
4. SECRETARY
(Item of action)
Roll call vote
Trustee Barney Newman, supported by Trustee Sherman, nominated Ed Surovell for Secretary.
Trustee Barney Newman elaborated on her nomination as follows: Over 20 years ago, prior to the separation of the library from the Ann Arbor Public schools, a committee was formed to consider the separation and the establishment of a standalone district library that would serve all the counties included in the Ann Arbor Public School District. The committee that was formed included representatives of the schools and the Friends of the Library. Robert Potts, from the school system, and Don Axon, from the Friends, are names that I recall on that committee. I was an ex officio member of the committee, as representative of the Ladies Library Association.
At that time, the active Friends of the Library worked to assure that the new district library would have supportive funds from the district, to be served and the 2 mill allocation of taxes gathered from various counties was assured. State regulations required that a seven member board to govern the library be elected by the community, three candidates proposed from the school board, three from city institutions, and one by a consensus of the other six.
Ann Arbor citizens, including Bill Martin, urged Ed Surovell to be a candidate. There was a great interest in the issue and many candidates running to be trustees of the Ann Arbor District Library. Ed was a natural selection, and has remained so for many reasons.
One, he was at that time member of the Library of Michigan Foundation, a fundraiser for the Library of Michigan, a central supplier of public library services throughout public libraries in the state. The Ann Arbor District Library was also to be a recipient of those funds. He was appointed twice by the mayor to serve on the Ann Arbor Planning Commission, and has spent a three-year term on the Ann Arbor DDA Board.
Governor Granholm appointed him to the Michigan Historical Commission. He's an active member and supporter of both the American Library Association and the Michigan Library Association, and was named Trustee of the Year by the Michigan Library Association.
He's a member of the University of Michigan Library Leadership Council, a primary supporter of the U of M libraries, as well as being on the Board of Governors of the Clements Library. As a member of the National Grolier Club, a group of supporters of the printed word, and a nationally known collector of rare books, Ed has been an important voice on the AADL Board. He was appointed to serve on the Michigan History Center in Lansing and a number of local institutions, including the University Musical Society for two terms, and the Kerrytown Concert House for 30 years.
Fortunately, Ed was on the AADL Board when circumstances required appointing a director to replace Mary Ann Hodel. Ed's recognition of the talent and advocacy of the promotion of the then youth librarian to fill that post, rather than staging a national search, and his continued support of Josie Parker has been important through the years of her directorship.
He's been elected and re-elected for four-year terms over two decades since 1996. And with the exception of the year he traded two years of his term to Prue Rosenthal, who faced running for an abbreviated term when she was appointed to replace a resigned trustee. As a resident of Ann Arbor Township, he represents voices of the constituents of the district who are not Ann Arbor residents.
Though his failing eyesight leaves him unable to see across the room and causes him to rest his eyes at meetings, his cogent comments on issues discussed reveal that he probably hears better with his eyes closed. In fact, in my view, he often opens them to make some of the most helpful contributions to the issues discussed. In his last year of more than two decades as trustee, I hope he can continue in the office of secretary to the organization that can still benefit from his knowledge and years of experience.
No other nominations were made.
A roll call vote was taken.
AYES: Green, Barney Newman, Sherman, Song, Surovell, Vander Broek
NAYS: None
Motion passed 6-0.
18-007 VII. INSTALLATION OF OFFICERS
Trustee Vander Broek administered the oath installing Board officers for 2018: Trustee Vander Broek as President, Trustee Song as Vice President, Trustee Leija as Treasurer and Trustee Surovell as Secretary.
“I, (name stated), DO SOLEMNLY SWEAR THAT I WILL ABIDE BY THE BYLAWS, RULES, AND REGULATIONS OF MY OFFICE AS TO THE BEST OF MY ABILITY.”
18-008 VIII. OFFICERS RELINQUISH CONTROL TO NEW OFFICERS
Officers for 2018 remained the same as 2017.
18-009 IX. APPROVAL OF AGENDA
(Item of action)
Secretary Surovell, supported by Trustee Sherman, moved to approve the agenda.
AYES: Green, Barney Newman, Sherman, Song, Surovell, Vander Broek
NAYS: None
Motion passed 6-0.
18-010 X. CONSENT AGENDA
(Item of action)
CA-1 Approval of Minutes of December 18, 2017
CA-2 Approval of December 2017 Disbursements
Trustee Barney Newman, supported by Secretary Surovell, moved to approve the consent agenda.
AYES: Green, Barney Newman, Sherman, Song, Surovell, Vander Broek
NAYS: None
Motion passed 6-0.
18-011 XI. CITIZENS’ COMMENTS
There were no citizens’ comments.
18-012 XII. FINANCIAL REPORTS
Bill Cooper, Finance Manager
Finance Manager Cooper presented the December 2017 financials in the Board Packet. He noted that $15,115,223 in property taxes, 96.9% of the budgeted amount, has been received year to date. Currently year to date expenditures are under budget by $886,238.
18-013 XIII. COMMITTEE REPORTS
18-014 A. EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE
President Vander Broek reported the Executive Committee met and discussed the draft EPIC-MRA survey.
18-015 XIV. DIRECTOR’S REPORT
Josie B. Parker, Director
Director Parker congratulated Lance Warner, Director of the Kent District Library on being chosen as the 2018 Librarian of the Year by Library Journal.
Director Parker thanked staff who worked nonstop during the website/catalog upgrade including Eli, Kip, Eric, Ryan, Glen and Troy. She also thanked the remainder of the IT department staff and staff on the public desks who worked with the public on making the transition as smooth as possible. She expressed her appreciation to all.
18-016 XV. OLD BUSINESS
16-154 A. AADL STRATEGIC PLAN GOAL 3.3: REIMAGINE THE ANN ARBOR DISTRICT LIBRARY’S DOWNTOWN PRESENCE
(Item of discussion)
President Vander Broek informed the Board that she has spoken with John Cavanagh regarding Board questions and concerns on the EPIC-MRA survey. She noted that Mr. Cavanagh watched the previous Board meeting obtaining Board member comments and adjusted the survey. A final draft has been presented to the Board for additional comment.
Trustee Green asked that the last sentence in questions 15 and 16 be more consistent.
Vice President Song inquired when the survey will take place. Director Parker stated it will be scheduled for mid-February with reporting back to the Board scheduled for the March Board meeting. She also reported that a survey response from 400 to 500 is the goal, contacting both cell phones and landline phones.
President Vander Broek will contact Mr. Cavanagh with tonight’s feedback.
16-154 B. AADL STRATEGIC PLAN GOAL 4.3: IMPLEMENT THE NEW WEB PRESENCE - UPDATE
Eli Neiburger, Deputy Director
Deputy Director Neiburger updated the Board on the transition to the new website. Currently staff is focusing on core services and slowly adding other services to the website.
Patrons can text messages to 4200 for a faster response. These messages go to all public staff desks. A summary of patron comments were reviewed.
He reviewed with the Board upcoming updates to the website that will address concerns being expressed by patrons.
Trustee Green inquired about the Summer Game. Deputy Director Neiburger stated that staff will begin the rebuilding process of that website in March.
AADL’s fiber infrastructure has recently transferred from Comcast to the City of Ann Arbor.
Deputy Director Neiburger thanked all of the IT team for their great work on the new website and handling the equipment changes needed. Circulation and YASC supervisors were also commended on their handling of public inquires.
18-017 XVI. NEW BUSINESS
18-018 A. APPROVAL OF BOARD MEETING DATES FOR 2018
(Item of discussion & action)
Trustee Sherman, supported by Trustee Barney Newman, moved to approve the 2018 Board meeting dates as presented.
The Board discussed having a retreat in April. Administration will check for availability.
Trustee Green inquired about remote attendance for Board meetings. Director Parker noted that the Bylaws do not address this; however, they do establish the number of board members being physically present at a meeting to establish a quorum. The Board had a brief discussion on topic.
AYES: Green, Barney Newman, Sherman, Song, Surovell, Vander Broek
NAYS: None
Motion passed 6-0.
18-019 B. APPROVAL OF BOARD BUDGET & FINANCE COMMITTEE APPOINTMENTS
(Item of discussion & action)
President Vander Broek presented Treasurer Leija, Trustees’ Green and Sherman as appointments to the Budget and Finance Committee.
Trustee Sherman, supported by Trustee Barney Newman, moved to approve the Budget and Finance Committee appointments.
AYES: Green, Barney Newman, Sherman, Song, Surovell, Vander Broek
NAYS: None
Motion passed 6-0.
18-020 C. VOTE FOR CLOSED SESSION AT THE FEBRUARY 19, 2018 BOARD MEETING FOR DISCUSSION OF REAL ESTATE
(Item of action)
Roll call vote
Trustee Sherman, supported by Trustee Barney Newman, moved for a closed session at the February 19, 2018 board meeting for discussion of real estate.
A roll call vote was taken.
AYES: Green, Barney Newman, Sherman, Song, Surovell, Vander Broek
NAYS: None
Motion passed 6-0.
18-021 XVII. CITIZENS’ COMMENTS
Dave
Hi, I’m Dave and I live on the west side of Ann Arbor. I am active in the tech privacy scene and care especially about it in relation to intellectual freedom. After the last board meeting I read a link to some announcement for a new collaborative program between Library Freedom Project and New York University. It’s known as the Library Freedom Institute. I quote from the Library Freedom Projects website “The Library Freedom Institute (LFI) is a privacy-focused six-month program for librarians to teach them the skills necessary to thrive as privacy advocates; from installing privacy software to influencing public policy.” The program is new this year with its inaugural course beginning in June. It is now accepting applications for the first cohort of librarians. I want to suggest to the Board that the AADL circulate the application and encourage library staff to apply and ideally have somebody join the cohort. The application deadline is soon, February 1st for the Library Freedom Initiative, so action would need to be taken before the next board meeting. I’ve printed out a few copies of the application and the announcement that I read which both have additional info about the program. But briefly there is no cost, it is an expected load of five hours a week for six months with a cohort of forty privacy advocates geographically dispersed across the U.S. In addition the Library Freedom Project is available for contact if you have any questions about it. I can also circulate and provide specific references if you have any requests. I understand that there is no dialogue at these comments so I would like to request that the Board provide a public response in writing on the website. But again I hope you circulate the application. I encourage, I hope you encourage staff to apply. I believe that we have an awesome library. I think participating in the program would make it even awesomer, I know that’s not a word. Thanks for your consideration.
18-022 XVIII. ADJOURNMENT
President Vander Broek adjourned the meeting at 8:17 p.m.