ANN ARBOR DISTRICT LIBRARY BOARD
343 S. FIFTH AVENUE, ANN ARBOR, MI
MINUTES OF THE REGULAR MEETING
MONDAY, JULY 16, 2018
18-114 I. CALL TO ORDER
President Vander Broek called the meeting to order at 6:03 p.m.
18-115 II. ATTENDANCE
Board Present: Victoria Green, Jan Barney Newman, Colleen Sherman, Linh Song (arr. 6:29 p.m.), Edward Surovell, Jamie Vander Broek
Board Absent: Jim Leija
Staff: Josie Parker, Eli Neiburger, Bill Cooper, Len Lemorie, Rich Retyi, Karen Wilson (recorder)
Others Present: William Stapleton, Hooper Hathaway
18-116 III. RECESS TO CLOSED SESSION FOR DISCUSSION OF REAL ESTATE
18-117 IV. RECONVENE TO REGULAR MEETING AT 7:00 P.M.
President Vander Broek reconvened to the regular meeting at 7:02 p.m.
18-118 V. APPROVAL OF AGENDA
(Item of action)
Trustee Sherman, supported by Secretary Surovell, moved to amend the agenda by adding under New Business a vote to cancel the August 20, 2018 Board Meeting.
AYES: Green, Barney Newman, Sherman, Song, Surovell, Vander Broek
NAYS: None
Motion passed 6-0.
Trustee Barney Newman, supported by Trustee Sherman, moved to approve the agenda as amended.
AYES: Green, Barney Newman, Sherman, Song, Surovell, Vander Broek
NAYS: None
Motion passed 6-0.
18-119 VI. CONSENT AGENDA
(Item of action)
CA-1 Approval of Minutes of June 18, 2018
CA-2 Approval of June 2018 Disbursements
Trustee Sherman, supported by Trustee Barney Newman, moved to approve the consent agenda.
AYES: Green, Barney Newman, Sherman, Song, Surovell, Vander Broek
NAYS: None
Motion passed 6-0.
18-120 VII. CITIZENS’ COMMENTS
Onna Solomon
My name is Onna Solomon and I live on Madison Place near Eberwhite on the Old West Side. In the spirit of the summer games I have written the library a love letter. Dear Library, I love you. I have loved you as only a poet can love you. For the catalog of twin volumes lovingly selected, the obscure, the contemporary, the local I’ve delighted in finding on your shelves. Knowing they are there means more than just my chance to take them home. It’s a reminder that I am not alone in my love of these little books and little presses. To find them there is a gift of connectedness. I love you as only a mother can love you. For the daily ritual of storytimes where members of the magically society of storytellers miraculously arrive with puppets and felt boards and old folk songs that save me and my ilk of the travelled, sleep deprived crazed new mothers and fathers, day after day, week after week, year after year helped raise children delighted by stories. By the rhythm of calm response, balance of stillness and the mysterious pleasure of communal listening. I have loved you as everyone has loved you because you are a unicorn or maybe a narwhal among government institutions. A place of imagination, a place of play, a place of calm, a place of innovation, a place that brings people together. I love your codes and your badges, your fish and your tents and your hoola hoops, your Secret Lab, your lawn games, your disco balls, your Theremins, your art. I love you for what you are and what you have been and what you will become. With summer games in my heart, yours truly, Onna Solomon.
Linda Peck
Good evening, my name is Linda Peck and I’m a member of the League of Women Voters. And we’ve just held a poster contest that invited all high school students in Washtenaw County to invent a poster with the theme Vote 2018. So we had 103 entries and they’re fabulous. So we just heard today from Terry Soave that the library is willing to work with us and display some of these posters Downtown and at the branches. So I wanted to just show you a couple. I’ve got ten here: You are not alone, let them know, vote; my point in coming here: Not voting isn’t a protest, you’re forfeiting your freedom when you do not vote, you have no right to object. So I’ll just stop there with demonstrating and just say that we’re really thankful that the library is willing to work with us. They hosted our awards ceremony at the Pittsfield Branch. It was packed to the gills and it was great and so now as a committee, a poster committee, we would like to ask the library to break with tradition a little bit and consider doing an exhibit that would include our posters, it would bring some reference material from the library into a clue, so it would be informational not just pictures on the wall. If that would be possible. I know that it’s kind of like an old-fashioned idea and I understand that there are no tables for display so it could be problematic. But that’s kind of what our idea was that we could work together and come up with something that would be attractive with these beautiful posters and also informational. And we have a lot of free bookmarks with the logo Vote411.org. Which if you go to the link, a league link, which gives all the information, if your registered, how to register, forums, everything. So we would give you those to distribute. Thank you very much for your time and we’ll see what happens. We’ll work with Terry on that suggestion, to go with a little bit more complete exhibit. We’ll work with you any way we can to get that to happen. And the other point is if we can hang a 103 posters it would be so nice to take examples from the ones in the neighborhoods around the branches. So that when people come and say, oh, that’s so and so, I know him, I went to school with him. Thank you so much.
Laverne Jackson Barker
Good evening. How are you? So I’ve thanked some of the other librarians around town where I’ve stopped from time to time for all that you do. You’re so forward thinking. You provide me, at one point you provided me with a computer and a printer. I had water damage at my home and before I told them to not pack my computer and printers, they packed them and moved them away from my house. And so the library saved my life. I was able to come and keep doing what I do with your computers and with your printers so I am thankful for that. In addition to that I’m thankful for all the activities, all the opportunities, in addition to, oh my god, the game, the summer game. I love the summer game. So, thank you for all of that, all of the events, all the speakers, the crafts that you can come to the library and the thing about it is that it’s not just thrown together its well planned, well prepared, it’s just well done. So thank you, thank you very much. And, oh my god, the code.
Madeline Fay
Well, this is Madeline Fay and she plays the summer game. She lives in Burns Park and she wanted to say thank you before we got here for all the great books that are helping her learn to read when she gets ready kindergarten.
Kathleen Mozak Betts
Hi, so I wanted to say thank you and echo everyone about the summer games. As the years have gone by you have become more mindful of person with disabilities. Clues have become easier to find. They’re not in stairwells or in levels that we can’t access so I want to thank you for that. I also would like you to consider and think about two areas of accessibility needs here at the main branch of AADL. First one being in this room here. This weekend specifically I came for the booksale and they had books up on the stage area and I was not able to access the audiovisual materials. So I’m wondering what the library is considering to do in the interim. The other area that I would like the library to think about is the patio area off the first floor. I don’t know if any of you have attended the summer festival but they have the amazing little pre-fab ramps that hook to a curb and I know it’s not a very long way down. So I would like the library to consider making some changes if it could as we’re still talking about possibly having a new library altogether. But I want to thank you for everything you do, I appreciate it.
Melanie Baldwin
Hi, you guys all know me, Melanie, I’m with the Friends and staff.
I love the summer game and I love helping you guys with it from the Friends point of view and just from playing it. It’s just awesome and I and just want to say thanks and get the code.
Edward Vielmetti
Hi, I’m Edward Vielmetti. I live on Brooklyn Avenue halfway between Malletts Creek and Downtown. I wanted to thank you for the summer game. It reminds me how much I love the library every year and it reminds me to come back to check out some books, because I have zero checked out at the beginning of the summer, now I have several. I want to thank you for the acquisitions budget, for getting new books all the time, which is really great. I lived in a town that had a library that had a zero dollar budget one year which was really, really sad. But I don’t live in a town like that right now which is perfect. I want to encourage you all to as soon as a spare moment comes free to, I’m very much looking forward to MeLCat coming back as we all are. I know that it’s a bunch of work to do that, that you’re facing two complex systems, it’s a very complex problem but I’m very much looking forward to MeLCat again.
Joshua C.
My name is Joshua, I live on Fountain Street. I love this library. I love to check out books here. I come here like once a week, sometimes twice. I also love the videos from here. I think that the library should have more classic Dr. Who. I also came here to get this.
Kim Borger and James Borger-Moore
I’m Kim and this is Jamie. His first visit to the library was at six days old and he spent most of his first birthday here playing with the green toys bus, he loves and also the rocket ship. His favorite book is touch and feel sounds. Thank you.
Lat Brown and Tom Brown
I’m Lat and this is my dad, Tom. (Tom) Hi, that’s all I need. (Lat) We live at Cranbrook Road and we are at the Malletts Creek Library, that’s our library. (Tom) So, first thing, these blankets we got from the summer game. These are so great. We’ve laid out on many nights watching shooting stars and they are fantastic, but they are really hard to fold back up. We have some other stuff too. We got these bags, right? I use this everyday going to school. I work at Dearborn High School. We’re hoping maybe there could be a summer game code in Dearborn, but then we said the might be a little too far. (Lat) And I work at the Ypsilanti Public Library, at the café in Beezy’s and sometimes people recognize my Ann Arbor District Library stuff and we’ve got a competition going on. We also got these binoculars so we can see all of you better, and here’s a coaster, it’s very vintage. We like the crafting events because you get to make cool stuff. I also work at the Scrap Box and I’m in contact with the librarian to get a code at the Scrap Box this year, it’s very exciting. (Tom) Very exciting. (Lat) And sometimes I get so excited that I have to pour myself a drink. Sometimes I drink on the go. Sometimes it’s too much water altogether. (Tom) And our most useful item, according to the wife is the pizza cutter. (Lat) We use the pizza cutter a lot. Anything else we have? (Tom) I made this here at (Lat) The summer game kick-off. (Tom) Yes, sometimes I’ll come to an event just to get the code and I then I wind up doing the crafty thing, whatever it is, and wow, that was really fun, that was cool and that was great. I went to see the speaker about Albert Kahn, and I thought ugh, this is going to be, and it was fantastic, I was really impressed. So thank you for all that stuff, for the codes, for the game and for the library. (Lat) Thank you very much.
Cherie & Ajay Burkheiser
(Ajay) I love the summer game. (Cherie) I rediscovered the library about six years ago, he’s six and a half, and I discovered the summer game about half way through that year. And the following year I became very, very competitive. And the following couple of years I was so competitive that it drove me insane. I was probably in the top ten player somewhere. It drove me so crazy that I’m like, I’ve got to stop. So I don’t know where I am anymore, but I know I’m nowhere near top ten because I had to back off, it drives me crazy. He inspired me a little bit, because I remembered that I had this in my purse that I got from the summer game. I was so excited that you guys offered it because I have a backstory for it. So many, many years ago when we drove down to Tennessee for a passing in my family and on our way back we reached this horrible snowstorm in Ohio and it was so bad, that we could have made it home, we were like 45 minutes from home, but it was so bad and it was the middle of the night and we were so tired and pulled over into a hotel and stayed the night in the hotel and this was like April, June, it was like May, it was like past when you would have your snow scrapper in the car, right? And we came out to a front windshield is covered in ice. But I think we actually had our snow scrapper, maybe we didn’t, I don’t remember, but anyways you offered this and I keep it in my purse that I got in the summer game. So another thing I wanted to say was a couple years ago I was up here getting my code and I mentioned how one of the other local libraries and by the way if you think you recognize me you do. I’m able to be a part of another library around here because I work in that district. They offer Amazon e-books, and I came up here and said please, it’s so wonderful that they offer Amazon e-books and you guys expanded your e-book and we are loving it. And he’s loving it and he’s reading them and he’s having so much fun. He’s actually filled out his own card. I actually made him do his own reading this year because he learned how to read this last year. I’m reading chapter books to him so I filled my card out with all the chapter books. So I don’t want to take up more of your time but we love the summer game. So thank you.
Amanda Reel
Hello, I’m Amanda Reel. I most often frequent the Downtown branch and the Westgate branch, which is lovely. Good job on that. I work for the United Way of Washtenaw County and I support our grant making and also our volunteer centers, so thank you for volunteering and all that you do. But I just wanted to say as a non-profit public sector person thank you for serving all of our community and all that you do. I know that sometimes that’s challenging but it’s also very important. I really appreciate it that the library’s there for everybody. Kudos to your staff for continuously evolving programming. I’m just amazed at the creativity that comes out of the Ann Arbor District Library and high praise for the summer game. Whoever came up with that is a genius for putting it out into the community and driving me crazy finding codes but encouraging people to go places and do things that might be out of their comfort zone. So thank you very much.
Monica Milla
Hi, there. I have to say I’m really impressed at how many people wrote things down. It didn’t even occur to me to write things down. I’m on Fernwood and Malletts Creek is my branch. I’m a very long time library user. In fact I used to go the Loving branch. And in fact as a master gardener, I wrote for the master gardener newsletter and I was on the Malletts roof when the rain, water roof, rain roof, what is that called, was planted which was really fun. I love all of your books, but also your videos. I’m a big British TV fan. I’m always impressed when I look up a video, like they’re not going to have this, its super obscure and then you have it. I also really like your library lockers. I sometimes work crazy hours and it’s a real nice way for me to still get my books at a time that’s convenient to me. I also love the summer game and I got super crazy with last year, was also in the top ten and totally had to scale back this year. I would say that I don’t know where I am, but I’m 241. I really like the branch explorer badges because mostly everyone just goes to their own local library branch and I think it’s neat to go out and see the other branches. I love the parks one. A friend and I go on regular walks to get to like four or five parks and we’ve been able to go to different ones that we wouldn’t necessarily go to so that’s all. Thank you, got my code.
Emily Hein
I am Emily Hein. I confess that I could see the code from back there and considered maybe not coming up here. But here I am and I want to say, so my first branch when my son, who is now nine, was a toddler was the branch that was in the Plymouth Mall and so I saw that sort of expand to the Traverwood Branch and then my next local branch was the Malletts Creek Branch and now we live close to the Westgate Library. And when I go to the Westgate Library it is really very clear how much the renovations there transformed that library branch into something, not that it wasn’t a great branch before, just exciting in a new way. Especially as a parent I love the Sweetwaters connection and being able to take my kids to a free place to play that also has so much else going on. I don’t know where you guys are at with talking about any renovations for the Downtown Library, but I was going to say, give my support for renovating that space the way it changed Traverwood and Westgate. Thanks.
Meg Hixon
Hello, I prepared my remarks as well sitting here. So I currently live at the confluence of 14 and 94 in that area. Altogether throughout the course of the past fourteen years I have lived in Ann Arbor for ten of them. And I realized that at some point in my life, given that I did a lot of apartment hopping when I was at school, every single branch has been my home branch. It’s now Westgate. This is the first time I really spent time out there so I was never in the old space. So I’ve really come to appreciate use of the branches. I’m really glad to have a local branch no matter where I’ve been living, in town or working or whatever branch was accessible to me. So I came here for the summer game code, not surprisingly like a lot of people but, before I, I knew that I had to talk, oh now what am I going to say, and what makes the AADL so special and why I am invested in this summer game thing and there are a lot of reasons. I’ve lived in a lot of places and all those places I was very fortunate to have free good and a variety of well supported library systems. It’s truly astonishing that the AADL is able to offer in the terms of the breadth of its programs and the diversity of its programs and the amount of its programs not just during the summer. I mean, I’ve seen concerts, I’ve played video games, I’ve made a flashlight, I’ve participated in a spelling bee. And that’s like what has happened in the last month and a half at the library. So I guess that’s just really cool. It’s just amazing for such a city that it really isn’t that huge population wise or size wise, but the library’s so well supported and so much part of the community that you can offer so many enriching events and so many events that I didn’t even know that I wanted or needed. I also wanted to say about the summer game, that I think it’s truly amazing that it gives adults especially the chance to play, you know the play.aadl.org. I think it’s something that we don’t really think about in our culture that we really don’t emphasize enough. And as an avid board gamer player, old school video gamer, I love the opportunity to see something, just to have fun with it. To go out and explore these parks that I’ve never even heard of just by living here ten years. To go out and to compete, you know a little girl power competition or to do a scavenger hunt in a branch or to see one pop-up in the library where I work. It’s a lot of fun and I think it really just brings a nice community spirit to Ann Arbor and its one of the things that after a few years living away and coming back it’s really made Ann Arbor feel again like home to me. Just the library and summer games. So thank you for all that you do its truly appreciated and I think you are really leading the way in public libraries.
Paul and Sara
Hello, I’m Paul and this is Sara and we are Malletts Creek patrons. (Paul) A little while back, last winter we were looking into insulation for the house and doing some research and we saw a lot of really cool pictures of heat escape from a house based on a special camera that takes pictures of heat escape. So I said, yeah that’s something the library probably has. A camera that would do that. So I have to say congratulations, on training, conditioning your patrons on something like that. I know that its risky stuff, by making that sort of outlay for circulating things. Please in the future take more risks even if they are not all successful. It’s really great to see that you are taking risks and seeing what sort of future libraries will have. (Sara) Thank you.
Dave
Hey, I’m Dave. Incidentally I don’t really play the summer game. My life’s just really busy right now. But I do have to say that it’s really cool, I’ve been coming to library programs for probably the better part of a year and to see like so many more attendees during the summer, probably because of the summer game, it’s just really cool. So I wanted to talk about events a bit. I go to a lot of events. I actually help run a few here which is really cool, like probably every three months. But as far as events go I have these programs tonight that I carry with me pretty much all times and give them out to people and I realize in doing that, that this might be the only exposure that people get to the program. So if they might not go online and check what’s coming up or they might not come into the library and see the poster and go that’s what’s going on this week or this is what’s going on today. Some people might just look here through here. This month in particular I noticed the last two pages have an error. Sewing lab came twice so I don’t know if something was missing there that should have been there. While an event that I had come to monthly for a while was not on the program, but I found it on the website. So, like if I didn’t check multiple places I might not know. So I’m thinking similar to how we have the weekly like the what’s going on this week it might be cool to have a poster that like oh, this is a roster of programs of these are new programs that are added that aren’t in the printed programs. So people can actually be aware of them. So that’s pretty much it. Again props to everybody here for playing the summer game. I hope you all have a fun time. Thank you.
Tammy and Kathy
I’m Tammy. I’m Kathy. (Tammy) West is our branch. We love our new branch, thank you. So we do spend a lot of time here because of the secret lab next door. So thank you for that. Which we love the name secret lab we tell everyone about it, just so you know it’s no longer secret. So I want to tell you that this is my friend her name is Kathy, but her second name is the enabler. I didn’t know anything about the summer game several years ago my friend Kathy said you what! And now it’s pathetic. I have gotten things for my house. I made a rug for my house. I made coasters for when my friends come over. I know where to go because I found a new B & B. I, let’s talk about food, Keegan Rodgers, love him. I cook once a year, ask my friend, she comes over and is my souse chef for Thanksgiving, literally one day a year. Now I can cook more. Who knew you could do so much with garlic scapes. I just found that out. It’s a vegetable that he taught us about last week. And let’s talk Zingerman’s. Brilliant move, thank you, the bacon. And from the game shop, you’ve enabled me to keep my keyboard work dry. I have the umbrella. Fourth of July that is my blanket so people can find me on State Street. Look for my library blanket, and by the way if you need help folding, see me. The soft-sided cooler, every year I go on vacation and it enables me to bring back chocolate from the Chocolate Garden for my friends. And thank you for the West Branch which we can both walk to it is so close. I started looking up how many events I did. It’s an average of ten to twelve a month. Now, you might think that I don’t have a life going to that many things, I work three jobs. A full-time job and two part-time jobs. That is how good you are. You have that many things that I can’t choose. I would probably go to twenty, but I do have three jobs. Also I would like to thank you in a kind of backwards way because I love all the cool things you do and I do mean cool because I confess I don’t have air conditioning. With the expanded hours at Westgate I have taken advantage of the 8:00 p.m. Saturday and Sunday with no air at my house, so thank you. (Kathy) I just want to thank you for the variety of programs and tools that you have available here and honestly I just came for the code.
18-121 VIII. FINANCIAL REPORTS
Bill Cooper, Finance Manager
Finance Manager Cooper presented the June 2018 financial statements in the Board Packet. Currently year-to-date expenditures are under budget by $1,145,542. He noted that $15,634,833 in property taxes, which is $36,775 more than budgeted for, has been received. We are ending the year under budget by $1,529,022.
18-122 IX. DIRECTOR’S REPORT
Josie B. Parker, Director
Director Parker submitted her written report in the packet and highlighted the following:
On Sunday, August 19th, at 3:00 p.m. AADL will be hosting a reception for the Japanese Calligraphy Exhibit from sister state Shiga Prefecture.
Three more large events will be held in August. The annual Lego Contest on August 9th, the Ann Arbor Wayzgoose & Printing Festival on August 25th and the Summer Game Game Over Gala on August 31st.
AADL hosted Ann Arbor Public Schools staff and students on half-day visits for the rising 6th-9th graders in the English Language Learning Summer program. Arrangements were made by the Outreach and Neighborhood Services staff.
The Translation and Documentation Library at the University of Salamanca in Spain blogged about our recent MLive photo gallery on the tools collection.
Planning for the bookable meeting rooms at Traverwood, Pittsfield and Malletts Creek branches is nearing completion.
Administration is working with Cook Ross on providing training for managers and supervisors on identifying and eliminating unconscious bias in the hiring process.
A summary of public and staff comments were viewed.
The Summer Game Spectacular held at Veterans Park saw attendance of over 1000 people. AADL partnered with the City of Ann Arbor Parks and Recreation Department for this activity.
18-123 X. OLD BUSINESS
16-154 A. AADL STRATEGIC PLAN GOAL 3.3: REIMAGINE THE ANN ARBOR DISTRICT LIBRARY’S DOWNTOWN PRESENCE
President Vander Broek solicited comments from Board members regarding their impressions of the retreat. Board members appreciated the different perspectives of those present at the retreat. Board members anticipate continuing discussions this fall.
18-124 XI. NEW BUSINESS
18-125 A. RESOLUTION TO AMEND THE 2017-2018 BUDGET
(Item of action)
Bill Cooper, Finance Manager
President Vander Broek, supported by Trustee Sherman, moved the Board resolves as follows: to transfer $3,545.80 from Salaries and Wages to Purchased Services; to transfer $12,090.05 from Salaries and Wages to Building Rental; to transfer $870.87 from Salaries and Wages to Capital Outlay/Maintenance; to Amend Grants and Memorials to reflect the $200,000.00 actually received; to move $500,000.00 of the $1,698,737.00 revenue over expenditures to the Capital Project Fund and the remaining balance to the General Fund; that all resolutions and parts of resolutions that conflict with the provisions of this resolution are rescinded.
AYES: Green, Barney Newman, Sherman, Song, Surovell, Vander Broek
NAYS: None
Motion passed 6-0.
18-126 VOTE TO CANCEL THE AUGUST 20, 2018 REGULAR AADL BOARD MEETING
Trustee Barney Newman, supported by Trustee Sherman, moved to cancel the August 20, 2018 AADL Board meeting.
AYES: Green, Barney Newman, Sherman, Song, Surovell, Vander Broek
NAYS: None
Motion passed 6-0.
18-127 XII. CITIZENS’ COMMENTS
Santhi Priya
I am Santhi Priya. So I am very happy for this library. I like the books and also how to use the Internet and I appreciate that. Also one thing that I (unable to decipher) that when if you have something for kindergarten to fifth grade over here, but the same thing at another library branch, then the kids are fighting, Momma I want to go to this library, the other saying, no that is not where I want to go. But actually, I don’t know how to drive and I had to board the busses and come so please consider that the same group of the grades should all be in the different branches at the same time. Thank you for that.
Joy Schultz
Hi, I’m Joy. I live in Glencoe Hills and I normally go to Malletts Creek. I prepared some things while listening to everyone. I share the love for Malletts Creek lockers which have just enabled me to go at midnight like, if I want to go and pick up my books at 3 a.m. I can go do that. Which has just been delightful. In an odd kind of way delightful is sort of the theme I’ve got. The summer game in particular but the library in general. If you’re a library newbie or if you’re an Ann Arbor newbie here’s all these things that you can learn about like how to use the catalog really, really effectively and just learn facts about you know, like dynasties in China or mysteriously disappeared colonies in Virginia. All the things that you learn about the city which you know I tend to keep to myself and so again this encouragement to go places that you wouldn’t normally go. And Maggie’s point about giving adults a chance to play that I’ve often thought in the years of work that you lose the sense of season’s if you just go to work day in and day out like you don’t have summer vacation, you don’t have fall break, like you just have vacation when you take it if you get that. And so to have something that says its summer, I’m really grateful for that. And so I just want to thank the library for existing year round. I want to thank them for the summer game. I want to thank Erin who interacts with people who comment on the badges for her patience and graciousness and to whoever describes the items in the games shop. Thank you all for your time and your attention.
18-128 XIII. ADJOURNMENT
President Vander Broek adjourned the meeting at 8:17 p.m.