AADL Board of Trustees Meeting - May 20th, 2019

[00:00:07.48] [GAVEL POUNDS]
[00:00:07.95] LINH SONG: OK, So call of order. Karen, do we have attendance?
[00:00:12.39] KAREN WILSON: Yes, we do.
[00:00:16.39] LINH SONG: So and then we had a recess to closed session for directors evaluation earlier.
[00:00:22.56] JOSIE PARKER: You are right here.
[00:00:24.44] LINH SONG: We're--
[00:00:25.09] JOSIE PARKER: Right there.
[00:00:25.93] LINH SONG: Right here.
[00:00:26.82] JOSIE PARKER: And you want to--
[00:00:27.78] LINH SONG: So we'd like to add a closed session for next month's board meeting for real estate discussions to the agenda.
[00:00:36.90] JOSIE PARKER: Sorry, you need a motion.
[00:00:39.29] JAIME VANDER BROEK: Oh, I motion to add a closed session for a real estate discussion to the agenda.
[00:00:43.30] JIM LEIJA: I second.
[00:00:44.49] LINH SONG: Thank you. All in favor?
[00:00:45.83] ALL: Aye.
[00:00:46.77] LINH SONG: Any opposed? Great, thank you. Thank you for allowing us to do that work next month.
[00:00:51.90] JIM LEIJA: We don't have to take a week. We are going to-- we're just adding that to the agenda.
[00:00:56.31] LINH SONG: We just add it. We just add it.
[00:00:57.17] JIM LEIJA: Yeah. We'll have to vote on it actually later, right?
[00:01:00.64] LINH SONG: Yes
[00:01:00.83] JAIME VANDER BROEK: I think so, yeah.
[00:01:01.67] JIM LEIJA: Thank you.

[00:01:02.70] COLLEEN SHERMAN: Would you like me to move to approve the agenda as amended?
[00:01:05.52] LINH SONG: Yes, thank you.
[00:01:05.95] COLLEEN SHERMAN: I make that motion.
[00:01:07.44] JIM LEIJA: I'll second.
[00:01:09.06] LINH SONG: All of those in favor?
[00:01:10.85] ALL: Aye.
[00:01:12.47] LINH SONG: So moved. So consent to agenda, we've got the-- we're moving on to citizen's comments.

[00:01:19.56] JOSIE PARKER: You have to get approval for the consent to agenda.
[00:01:22.38] COLLEEN SHERMAN: Oh, yes. I move to approve the consent to agenda.
[00:01:25.95] LINH SONG:Can I get a second?
[00:01:27.52] JAIME VANDER BROEK: Seconded.
[00:01:29.39] LINH SONG: All those in favor?
[00:01:30.92] ALL: Aye.

[00:01:31.80] LINH SONG: Thank you. So moved. Karen, again, citizens comments.
[00:01:37.52] KAREN WILSON: I have not [INAUDIBLE] any requests.

[00:01:40.25] LINH SONG: Per usual, we welcome comments at the end, too. So if you have deep thoughts you'd like to share with us at the end, please do. Moving on to financial reports Bill.
[00:01:57.26] BILL COOPER: Good evening, everyone. You have my report for April. As of April 30, we have received $15,979,550 which is 98.7% of our budgeted tax receipts. Actual cash year to date that we've received is $16,419,488. Our year-to-date revenue over expenditures is $4,122,834. And there were no line items or budget. Any questions?
[00:02:39.38] LINH SONG: Bill, you don't anticipate any surprises before year end, do you?
[00:02:43.17] BILL COOPER: No, I do not.
[00:02:44.78] LINH SONG: Thank you. Any other questions? All right, thank you, Bill.
[00:02:51.64] BILL COOPER: Thank you.

[00:02:54.52] LINH SONG: So committee reports, executive committee. We met just prior to our closed session with Josie. Gosh, it was a quick meeting. We were preparing for this closed session next month. And that's-- I think that's pretty much all that we really recovered.
[00:03:13.14] JOSIE PARKER: The Ladies' Library Association.
[00:03:13.32] LINH SONG: Oh, and the Ladies' Libraries Association is preparing to give us a gift. And we talked about their decision to allocate that, too, their mission wishes art books. Is that right?
[00:03:24.00] JOSIE PARKER: Mm-hmm. They currently have a balance in the library's bank of about $59,000. They'll, because of the way their money is structured and the gift they must give, there'll be another $30,000 coming into the library at the end of this December. So they have instructed us to use that money as we've requested, which is $20,000 to support the art print collection, the maintenance, and selection, and framing, $5,000 for any partnerships we have available to us through the Penny Stamps programming, and then $5,000 for the fine art book collection.
[00:04:03.39] That's for now. They meet again in the fall. So if there are further things that they want to do or talk to us about with their funds-- their mission is to support promotion, understanding in fine arts. And so that's what we try to do.
[00:04:17.94] LINH SONG: So that includes a collection of fine art prints that you can check out. So if you can help us express our thanks and gratitude--
[00:04:26.32] JOSIE PARKER: Absolutely.
[00:04:26.65] JAIME VANDER BROEK: And especially that they're expanding beyond the print collection-- I mean the text printed collection, it's really nice to see them consider other options.
[00:04:35.89] COLLEEN SHERMAN: I was going to ask, have they always encompassed performing arts? Or has it mostly been print?
[00:04:40.90] JOSIE PARKER: They've never perk encompass performing arts. So the funding for our work that we might do with the Penny Stamps galleries is new.
[00:04:48.13] COLLEEN SHERMAN: Fantastic.

[00:04:50.21] LINH SONG: Thank you. Thank you for leading that. And moving on, strategic planning committee. Jamie?
[00:04:58.71] JAIME VANDER BROEK: Actually, I was not able to attend that meeting because I was in New York.
[00:05:02.98] LINH SONG: Oh, that's right. You were on the phone.
[00:05:04.20] JAIME VANDER BROEK: So Victoria, were you there?
[00:05:05.21] VICTORIA GREEN: What?
[00:05:06.77] [LAUGHTER]
[00:05:09.65] I was on the phone.
[00:05:12.60] LINH SONG: And if it was there.
[00:05:13.85] VICTORIA GREEN: And then maybe what we'll do is bat the ball back and forth a little bit on this. And Joyce will help us, too, which is we held a meeting a couple of weeks ago in which we were primarily focused on the agenda for the retreat that we had last week. And I think--
[00:05:30.34] LINH SONG: We talked about a couple of big themes about the strategic plan, about not wanting it to be really programmatic or prescriptive, but bigger ideas, bigger challenges. So we've met all of our strategic goals easily, handedly. So we're hoping that this process will bring out some bigger visions for the library.
[00:05:53.26] COLLEEN SHERMAN: Right, fewer bullet points, bigger, more latitude to accomplish them as opposed to tactical, this is how to do it. And there is-- the strategic plan, we have another six months before we're complete. So you will hear from us at the next meeting as well. Are there any questions about strategic planning folks have?
[00:06:14.37] JOSIE PARKER: The retreat.
[00:06:15.86] LINH SONG: The retreat-- should we give a little quick overview of the retreat? We had the retreat last week up on the fourth floor. It was a great opportunity to hear some of Josie's-- she was very candid about the challenges that the library faces, about how-- and very hopeful because of the staff and the resources that we have here and that our history of doing so much with what we have. All the trustees were in attendance. We broke out into small groups. We did visioning work with sticky notes.
[00:06:55.33] And I think we had a bunch of themes pop up besides just not the-- not just that the strategic plan shouldn't be like an operations manual, but we talked about the library of the future. We talked about equity, being where the people-- where our community is. I don't know. Does anyone else want to jump in?
[00:07:18.30] JAIME VANDER BROEK: We had a really interesting summary of the use of the buildings, particularly the meeting rooms. That was super informative. It was the only use of a word cloud that I would ever sanction, I would say.
[00:07:33.16] LINH SONG: Yes. There's some fascinating word clouds.
[00:07:37.24] DHARMA AKMON: Pull us out of 2005.
[00:07:39.06] LINH SONG: Yes. The word clouds were based on the room bookings. So you can see the names of people who've booked it. I assume Yousef Rabhi is the Yousef that was in though in the word cloud. So I'm glad he's a fan of our libraries.
[00:07:53.97] JOSIE PARKER: Westgate.
[00:07:55.18] LINH SONG: At Westgate in particular. It was a good overview of each library branch and its use. And again, we were able to see how Westgate's popularity is, I think, beyond our expectations. Anything else from it? It was a long day. I think it was-- was it 3:00--
[00:08:14.09] JOSIE PARKER: 3:00 to 7:00.
[00:08:15.22] LINH SONG: Yeah, it was four hours.
[00:08:16.93] COLLEEN SHERMAN: 4:00 to 7:00.
[00:08:17.62] VICTORIA GREEN: 4:00 to 7:00
[00:08:18.03] LINH SONG: Three hours.
[00:08:19.13] JOSIE PARKER: I'm sorry. For some of you, it was 3:00 to 7:00, a little mix up you know.
[00:08:24.48] COLLEEN SHERMAN: Great retreat.
[00:08:26.73] LINH SONG: So thank you to Bridgeport Consulting for guiding us through that again. It's nice to have that continuity--
[00:08:34.88] DHARMA AKMON: To the staff who came to a retreat, too, it's great to see
[00:08:37.58] LINH SONG: --and help arrange it and present. So Eli presented-- every year he presents a nice-- normally, I don't think many of us are fans of PowerPoints. But Eli somehow manages to do these amazing PowerPoints that are very-- I don't know, it's like an exciting PowerPoint. I don't know how to describe it. And I think it makes all the data nerds on the board get really, really excited.
[00:09:05.03] COLLEEN SHERMAN: Eli's presentation style doesn't hurt either. It's just like, really, that happened!?
[00:09:11.11] LINH SONG: Yeah. So it's surprising every year. We ask for a general overview of what you see and what you do. And then you always-- it's always just blown on the water. So, thank you. Any other thoughts about the strategic plan?
[00:09:22.96] JAIME VANDER BROEK: Yeah. I guess the retreat really reflected a completed transition from the former way we used to have retreats to everyone in the room participated in every activity. So I thought that was really nice. And a number of staff members were the ones to do the report out at the different tables. And they really owned it and did a great job. So I think the staff was really great. And if only we had more people from the community side maybe we can--
[00:09:56.48] LINH SONG: I ask people about that. I asked in-- so the feedback that I've gotten so far has been that there's such great trust in the library--
[00:10:03.47] JAIME VANDER BROEK: Yeah.
[00:10:04.76] LINH SONG: --that they feel like that conversation doesn't really--
[00:10:09.52] JAIME VANDER BROEK: Yeah, sure.
[00:10:09.74] LINH SONG: --they don't really need to be at the table. But, I mean, the invitation is always there.
[00:10:13.73] JAIME VANDER BROEK: Exactly.
[00:10:14.85] LINH SONG: But if anyone should have more free afternoons, there is follow-up sessions for strategic planning where we'll have more community conversations.
[00:10:25.34] COLLEEN SHERMAN: The July board meeting, when we have people come in for summer game and we get testimonials, I find that's always kind of a version of that. It's a half an hour of whatever we spend, or 45 minutes, or whatever it is of this just really open conversation with the public. And I hope we'll continue to have that this year.
[00:10:44.45] LINH SONG: Oh, sorry, I should also note that a couple of things-- one thing that is notable out of the retreat was how I really like how imaginative folks were when we were talking about the library of the future. We talked about using VR technology, services on demand. I mean, we were thinking like 20 years from now, so maybe drones, multi-generational use-- or multiple generations within one facility somehow working more collaboratively together.

[00:11:19.39] That was nice. It was nice to dream beyond a space and dream with communities. Great, so moving on to Josie, director's report.
[00:11:30.26] JOSIE PARKER: Thank you. While we're sitting here tonight upstairs in the lobby is the author George-- and now I've gone blank on the first name.
[00:11:40.43] ALL: Elizabeth.
[00:11:41.29] JOSIE PARKER: And Elizabeth George is a fabulous and very well known mystery writer. And she will-- I don't know how many people are there, but it will be a huge crowd. And so that's happening while we're here tonight.
[00:11:56.01] She's here for the Detroit Book and Author Luncheon. And that is an annual event in the Detroit area. And many, many-- almost every year, authors who are coming to that ask to come here. And so the people who are organizing that through their publishers arrange for them to also be here.
[00:12:14.19] So I think tonight Nichola's is selling books. We alternate that within our program so that all the bookstores in town have opportunities to sell at some of the big, big, big draw author events. And that's what this one up there will be.
[00:12:28.58] Also tomorrow evening, Cecile Richards is here, the daughter of Ann Richards, to discuss her book, Make Trouble, Stand Up, Speak Out, and Find the Courage to Lead. This is a woman who led the pro-choice movement for almost 20 years and has grown up in the politics of this country with a mother who was governor of Texas. And she herself has served on the staff of Nancy Pelosi.
[00:13:07.17] This event and the content of the book and her life are controversial. We have already received some comments from our public telling us they're very disappointed in us for having her here. And I've responded to those. And I did copy one of those comments and my answer in this director's report because it happened in the last couple of days.
[00:13:32.51] I will say to you what I said to this person. The public library's always been that place in this community and others all across the country where controversial topics can be discussed with civility and respect. And we want it to stay that way.
[00:13:50.32] And while we hope that-- I told us, I hope that you can understand your ability to write to me and voice your concern and your disapproval is actually part of that freedom. That you can do that is also part of that freedom. And I want to be able to say to all of you that while we expect a huge crowd tomorrow evening, we're not sure of the mix of that crowd. And the library's taken steps to cope with whatever might be presented to us at this evening and without putting too fine a point on it.
[00:14:27.95] We've had to do that before. And this is not going to-- this isn't the first time that we've needed to do that. Safety is paramount, hers as well as all the people who are coming to the event. So I just want you to be aware of this, that there is some concern.
[00:14:43.26] There's a rally on campus that's popped up since our invitation to her. She's opening that rally, and then she'll be coming over here. So I don't know. So we will see. I'm sure it will be a very interesting discussion, very interesting talk. Sherlonya has agreed to sit on the stage and be the person who's having the conversation with Miss Richards. And she's, I'm just a lucky duck.
[00:15:10.37] I grew up when Ann Richards was my heroine. It was just like amazing. And so to have her daughter here and to talk about her life, and her book, and her growing up is for me a special moment. And I hope that's not saying too much about me, but it is. So I'm glad she's here, and I want appreciate-- I want to say how much I appreciate Sherlonya being willing to do this, especially under the circumstances. And thank you, Sherlonya.
[00:15:38.00] I want to also say to you that we have been-- we're being honored by the Ann Arbor Historic District Commission in celebration of the National Historic Preservation Month, representing an award to us at the June 3 city council meeting. And this is for the AADL Archives, for all the work that has been done here to develop what was the Ann Arbor News and all of the photographs and the information that was never public and digitize it in the way that the public can have access to it.
[00:16:12.33] And so I want to point out the two people who've been part of this in a very significant way and directly involved in the archive itself were Andrew MacLaren and Amy Cantu. And they will accompany me and Eli to city hall to accept that award. There is a reception after. I am certain that if you all wanted to attend that celebration, there would be more than happy to have you as well. So I just want to say thanks to the two of them and congratulations about the archive.
[00:16:43.34] LINH SONG: Yes, Thank you.
[00:16:44.40] [APPLAUSE]
[00:16:48.18] JOSIE PARKER: And so many other people who work in the archives who have over the years-- Debbie Gallagher's retired from here. She was incredibly important to the archive. Darla Welshons is a-- Darla is one of those people who loves to do the genealogy research for people and the obit searches for people.
[00:17:06.15] And we get checks all the time from people who are grateful and thank you've got a Jim and Darla. And here's money, thank you-- because we do not charge for obit searches and genealogy work research. And so they're used to paying for it, and so they send money. But they make sure we know it's about Darla. So she's our best advertising for that.
[00:17:28.83] Visions was held on Wednesday in the downtown library. And Visions is the conference that we have that's dedicated to technology and services for the blind, visually impaired, and physically disabled. It's part of the services of the WLBPD.
[00:17:43.98] We had about 2,400 people come through for Visions, which is huge. And I want to thank Katie Monkiewicz for her work, and leading that, and pulling it all together. She was-- she'll tell you, she wasn't the only one, but she was the point person and did a remarkable job.
[00:18:03.54] Shoshana Hurand did a great job of getting all volunteers. We use volunteers to help the people who attended to be guided through this building because it's very hard to find where everything is in a building like this when you've not been in it and used it before. A guide dog can't do that necessarily for you. So we had volunteers.
[00:18:25.29] Kapnick volunteered their staff to come for the day. And so they did. And then we had our regular volunteers who volunteer for the library on a routine basis also helping with that. It was a wonderful day. It was a great day. The talks were outstanding.
[00:18:39.24] Saturday and Sunday, the DIY Fest on Saturday with another 2,600 people in the door, and then on Sunday 1,900 because we had all that rain for AACME. And there's a picture later. And I'll show-- somebody talked to me about it, the same thing. And I'll talk to you about that.
[00:18:58.44] And Malletts, Malletts is still closed. We're not going to get Malletts open before early June. But we did say six to eight weeks, so it's going to be more like eight weeks. And we're fine.
[00:19:09.09] You can see the new cork has gone down, new carpets down. So they're doing the study room walls. And I think the painting's done. Lynn can talk to you more about it if you have questions.
[00:19:22.38] That is the fourth floor staff lounge. And if you go up there and take a look at it, you'll see-- what you don't see is behind the counter where the steps-- where the stools are is a kitchen. We celebrated on Friday with a lunch for everybody who could come in the system to come have lunch there. And a lot of people did. And these are the cubicles spaces now.
[00:19:44.43] So we went from-- I don't know. I don't know the numbers. We went from like seven or eight people up there in cubes to 18, more, 20, something like that, and nice space, and good color, and a lot of light because now all the light's coming across into-- from the east windows. So we're very happy about that.
[00:20:05.12] VICTORIA GREEN: Josie, are they shorter? Is that why there's more light?
[00:20:09.42] JOSIE PARKER: They are shorter. They're shorter than the big, tall ones that were there, so it's helpful. But we changed-- we added-- did we do the lighting? We didn't. They're-- that are not there, that's right, that blocked light, so that they're not there.
[00:20:29.79] So the Westgate iPads are going out this Friday. So we had to wait for a part. And so that's happening.
[00:20:36.66] We did get an alert today I got an informational alert from staff at Westgate saying that a person was saying they hoped that the iPads do come. They're a person who feels they should. And they knew there had been push back about them, but they wanted to be a person on record saying that they think they should be there. So that's going to-- I hope that person will come and prop me up after Friday.
[00:21:02.91] This is a summary of our comments. And I'm going to get my sheet here. This is-- one mom captured a moment between a dad and his two-year-old doing puzzles at Westgate, which was very sweet. Sunday fun day at Westgate for this little reader and her family. She's obviously having a good time.
[00:21:24.63] Our old friend Papa Bear Down and his not so little took in one of the A2-- Ann Arbor Symphony Orchestra's KinderConcerts in this very room. And you can see we've been doing indoor concerts for all of the years I've worked here and probably before with the local musicians.
[00:21:46.73] All About Ann Arbor featured the AADL archives and archives manager Andrew MacLaren. And an interesting behind-the-scenes story-- and this came out before we knew we were being honored by the City of Ann Arbor Historic District Commission. Andrew did a great job talking about what we do here and all about that.
[00:22:06.18] AADL invited dance instructor Ashleigh DeWeese to Westgate to try and help teens dance at prom without looking awkward or feeling awkward. And we can't guarantee the results, but a good time was had by all. And this person said, wait, this is awesome. Wish I'd had AADL as a resource when I was in high school.
[00:22:25.25] LINH SONG: Great graphic.
[00:22:26.62] JOSIE PARKER: Photographer Alex-- and that's all we know-- took some amazing photos of poet Morgan Parker's visit to the library last week. This is what we talked about earlier. This is a Pokemon terrarium. This gem is what brings in people who are much younger than me and you--
[00:22:49.41] LINH SONG: Yes.
[00:22:50.16] JOSIE PARKER: --to use the library. And it's one example of around, what, 160 Pokemon-- 160 people came to do. And I would like to acknowledge staff person Melanie Baldwin because she's sitting back there. This was her program. So stand up Melanie.
[00:23:06.05] JAIME VANDER BROEK: Good for you!
[00:23:06.98] [APPLAUSE]
[00:23:10.68] JOSIE PARKER: Thank you very much, Melanie.
[00:23:12.16] JIM LEIJA: That's your Pokemon?
[00:23:13.33] MELANIE BALDWIN: That's mine.
[00:23:14.26] JOSIE PARKER: As an example, yep.
[00:23:16.91] LINH SONG: It's like learning a new language.
[00:23:19.51] MELANIE BALDWIN: [INAUDIBLE]
[00:23:20.91] LINH SONG: Thank you.
[00:23:23.48] JOSIE PARKER: Chef Keegan helps again. Following another of his French Macarons 101 events at the library two weeks ago. One happy couple made something that quote "turned out a, edible, and b, somewhat resembling." It actually does.
[00:23:39.21] JAIME VANDER BROEK: It looks very good, I think.
[00:23:40.66] LINH SONG: It looks good.
[00:23:42.51] JOSIE PARKER: AADL continues its partnership with Skyline, bringing the video game tournament to the students for a prefinals party. Students face off against teachers in games Just Dance and Mario Kart. I think it would've been really fun to see the Just Dance thing because of what we just saw about teaching-- helping kids learn to dance and feel good about going to dance for the prom.
[00:24:05.65] Because I read in a kindergarten-- and in pre-K class every Tuesday. And the teacher has something called something doodle, something noodle-- GoNoodle.com.
[00:24:15.40] LINH SONG: GoNoodle? I know GoNoodle.
[00:24:17.10] JOSIE PARKER: It's great.
[00:24:18.00] LINH SONG: Yes.
[00:24:18.55] JOSIE PARKER: And so I'm there with a roomful of rising five-year-olds who can out-dance anybody I've ever known who dance well. And they do it every Tuesday morning. And Miss Parker has to do it too.
[00:24:34.15] And so it's-- and they're more forgiving of me than they might be of anyone else. But it's great fun. So it would be interesting to know how-- did the kids win?
[00:24:44.77] ELI NEIBURGER: In Antoinette's group.
[00:24:46.44] JOSIE PARKER: Yeah. Let's take a moment to spotlight the secret lab beginning with another A2 steam field trip working with letterpress and typography. And Rich told me, he thought that this was-- Chuck Hat sixth graders? Nathan Hat, sorry. Oh, Chuck Hat was a person with the school system. I have to look it--
[00:25:07.71] LINH SONG: Yeah, he's at [INAUDIBLE] Park.
[00:25:09.04] JOSIE PARKER: He is, right? Yeah, OK. So Nathan Hat's sixth graders. So we were learning how to do all of that.
[00:25:16.57] AADL teamed up with Michigan Medicine and they're talented nurses to offer a special program to IST students teaching them about blood pressure checks, studying heart models from our tools collection, and more. And it was about just being heart healthy and what that-- how you know and-- how we know how to do that.
[00:25:36.57] Finally, the Community Action Network and UofM Slate mentors introduced teens to button makers, soldering tools, and more. And that was also in here in the secret lab.
[00:25:48.39] And I did have a conversation today with one of the staff who was in the library Sunday during AACME. And he was in the-- I suppose it was a secret lab where the soldering tools were out. And he said, Josie, it was so interesting because it was never not busy. People really like learning how to do something that they don't have access to.
[00:26:12.32] And it's fun. And it's an instant effect. It's an instant thing. When you do it, you see your actions.
[00:26:20.37] And so I just thought I'd pass that along to you because this is one group, but yesterday was an entirely different group for something as simple as-- something I grew up at my disposal, my whole childhood at my daddy's shop. But most people do not ever see one and don't know how to use one safely. So it's good on us is what I'm going to say, good on us.
[00:26:40.89] So that's my report. Unless you have questions for me about anything, there are a lot of upcoming-- oops, excuse me-- a lot of upcoming events, a lot more programs in the lobby. Summer games starts June 14. It'd be a big year. A2CAF, which is the Comic Art Festival, is coming up, which is huge for us and for the community. Summer Fest and all our activities around Summer Fest take off.
[00:27:10.57] ELI NEIBURGER: Bob Ross.
[00:27:11.61] JOSIE PARKER: A Bob Ross at Summer Fest, wow.
[00:27:14.01] LINH SONG: Great!
[00:27:14.60] JAIME VANDER BROEK: That's awesome.
[00:27:15.64] JOSIE PARKER: That will be-- that will be pretty amazing, yeah. Any questions for me?
[00:27:20.74] JAIME VANDER BROEK: The gardening program was awesome. I saw Dharma there. We went to a nature journaling thing together with Audalie. Audalie briefly attended a very quiet nature journaling event.
[00:27:32.53] But just like the-- I had had a crap day, and I walked into the library, and it just felt so warmly at home. It was amazing. I love the lobby, the craft fair events that you do.
[00:27:47.80] But then you don't just do that. Then there was something down here, and then we went up to the fourth floor and there was something up there. And everything was just like humming, and busy, and so awesome.
[00:27:58.38] JOSIE PARKER: Thank you. Glad it was fun for you and Audalie in a quiet journaling-- were the goats here this time?
[00:28:04.24] ELI NEIBURGER: Yes.
[00:28:04.97] JOSIE PARKER: Did she see the goats?
[00:28:06.22] JAIME VANDER BROEK: No. We were actually-- we went to everywhere because Aaron had told us we might see animals. So we were looking for them and never found them.
[00:28:14.33] JOSIE PARKER: Well, I can't help--
[00:28:15.64] ELI NEIBURGER: --evidence.
[00:28:16.51] JOSIE PARKER: Yeah, I can help you with that because my dairy goats have kidded. And I love saying it. They have kidded, and so I have baby goats. So if you want Audalie to have access--
[00:28:29.04] JAIME VANDER BROEK: That's a great idea.
[00:28:29.80] JOSIE PARKER: --and experience, just let me know.
[00:28:30.88] JAIME VANDER BROEK: OK.
[00:28:31.83] JOSIE PARKER: And that's not for the public. That's for Jamie.
[00:28:36.71] LINH SONG: I just wanted to jump in and say that I brought my family to yesterday's event. And I brought-- my parents were visiting from California, including my father, who had worked at Ford as the noise and vibration hardness engineer for over 20 years. So he loved all the exhibits. He loved explaining sound waves and whips and how it cracks the sound barrier.
[00:29:01.53] Gosh, we met so many folks here in town who-- we met one exhibitor who said he was here when the library actually first opened. And he's a longtime townie/nerd/exhibitor and big fan of the library.
[00:29:12.69] JOSIE PARKER: So if I'm not mistaken in a conversation I had with Jaken, your son, is your dad not responsible for how the Mustang sounds?
[00:29:24.85] LINH SONG: Well, he--
[00:29:26.78] JOSIE PARKER: Say yes.
[00:29:27.99] LINH SONG: Well, he helped with the F-150 and Mustangs,
[00:29:30.33] JOSIE PARKER: Uh-huh.
[00:29:30.98] LINH SONG: --so yeah.
[00:29:31.67] JOSIE PARKER: So this is a very proud grandson about an engine sound. And I totally-- I thought it was totally cool. And I agreed with him.
[00:29:39.06] LINH SONG: Oh, thanks. Yeah, that was part of his work at Ford. So he went from being a refugee janitor to putting himself through school, learning English, and then working at Ford.
[00:29:51.11] So it was really nice to be able to-- one, my parents were very impressed that we could park in the back staff lot and have this secret entrance to the library. So this is the perks of being an elected official. Yeah, especially my mom, who thought it was like VIP parking, and then coming into to see the library being filled with folks of all ages.
[00:30:17.49] Every space was used. From the second floor, people were throwing out paper airplanes down. So it was snowing paper airplanes as you walk through the exhibits. And then just the sound of kids pounding out metal coins to my girl having this plan.
[00:30:34.17] She planned it out. She's like, I'm going to do soldering a pen in the basement, and then I'm going to move up and get a snack at Sweetwater's and sit at the table, and then go through every exhibit. So she had a plan. And then my oldest, so Jaken, he also went through a couple of talks that were in the Children's Corner.
[00:30:50.28] It was just a-- they felt-- we came I think at 12:30. It was a 12:00 to 4:00 event. And they didn't leave until I think 4:30 or 5:00. They really enjoyed it, so thank you. Thank you to the staff. It was a really amazing event, really great. Any other thoughts? Thank you, Josie.
[00:31:09.22] JOSIE PARKER: Thank you.

[00:31:11.47] LINH SONG: OK, old business, Len? How's the construction going?
[00:31:17.03] LEN LEMORIE: It's going well. As Josie mentioned, we've completed the fourth floor staff area. And everyone's super excited about it. And it's gratifying to see everyone in there and happy, so say a huge success for us.
[00:31:28.91] Malletts Creek has turned the corner. We are putting things back together. The carpet is down. The cork is down. There is some touch-up painting left to do, nothing serious.
[00:31:39.01] The pieces of woodwork we wanted refinished have been completed. We start moving all the shelving and furniture back tomorrow. And so we're in the homestretch.
[00:31:48.64] LINH SONG: Are we good for another 15 years?
[00:31:50.87] LEN LEMORIE: Oh yes, absolutely.
[00:31:52.02] LINH SONG: OK.
[00:31:53.91] LEN LEMORIE: Any questions?
[00:31:55.77] JOSIE PARKER: We will open with a category system for the collection. And so signage will be at Malletts like the signage at Westgate. So just so you all know we're preparing for that, we'll have a lot of us there to help people find things that first week so that no one needs to be disappointed about not knowing where something is.
[00:32:18.89] Even without changing to categories, everything is in a different place pretty much. So it was going to be-- nothing's where it was even if it had remained the same system. So we're going to be there to help people find what they need.
[00:32:32.44] LINH SONG: So can you remind us-- can you remind us besides the flooring, and we had also changed some of the meeting space, or did we not? Yes, we did.
[00:32:45.57] LEN LEMORIE: For the-- For Mallets Creek?
[00:32:46.47] LINH SONG: For Malletts Creek.
[00:32:47.58] LEN LEMORIE: Yes. So there was, I think, three ranges of shelving that er moved forward and then removed two tables so they'll op each other.
[00:32:57.54] LINH SONG: OK.
[00:32:57.86] LEN LEMORIE: And then the back, that little cove is now a meeting room as well that had that pie shape to it.
[00:33:04.41] LINH SONG: OK.
[00:33:04.79] LEN: Yeah. The floor plan's a little bit different. Seeing it in person, it's not dramatic. Once you're in the space, it's smaller than I thought it was when you see it in the plan.
[00:33:14.73] LINH SONG: OK.
[00:33:15.38] LENLEMORIE: Seeing it in person, it's nothing that-- if you didn't know it was there, I don't know that you would notice it. It'll blend right into the back. It looks really nice the way it's been done.
[00:33:24.93] LINH SONG: And that would be a bookable--
[00:33:26.52] LEN LEMORIE: Yes.
[00:33:27.22] LINH SONG: --bookable space? OK.
[00:33:28.26] LEN LEMORIE: Yep.
[00:33:29.05] LINH SONG: Well, any questions for Len?
[00:33:32.16] LEN LEMORIE: And one other thing, we are working on the fourth floor meeting room where we used to meet with our board meetings to improve that space, improve the podcast area with the control room. We removed that fixed furniture last year, so we're continuing with that.
[00:33:49.88] That's the same architect that we worked with for Malletts, and Pittsfield, and Traverwood on the meeting room project. He's helping us with some ideas. So we're hopefully really close to some final drawings there. That's going to be a really special space I think.
[00:34:04.54] VICTORIA GREEN: But Len, this is the fourth floor meeting room, not the Whiffletree and the--
[00:34:08.34] LEN LEMORIE: No, this would be our fourth floor meeting room here. Once we removed the fixed furniture, we feel like we can still increase that room by another maybe 20 to 30 seats per event and just improve the space overall. We have some dead space in there. And some of our staff have some great ideas. And we're trying to accommodate those.
[00:34:29.65] LINH SONG: This is where the cooking lessons are too, right? Is that Keegan's, no?
[00:34:34.91] ELI NEIBURGER: Not so much anymore.
[00:34:37.60] LINH SONG: Oh.
[00:34:39.02] ELI NEIBURGER: It was [INAUDIBLE] drawing classes [INAUDIBLE].

[00:34:40.91] LINH SONG: OK. Great, thank you. Any other questions? Great, thanks Len. We have a resolution, a resolution to extend space use agreement with our Friends of the Ann Arbor District Library. This is page 26.
[00:34:57.78] JIM LEIJA: It's on page 26.
[00:35:00.89] LINH SONG: Do I have anyone who would like to read?
[00:35:04.92] JAIME VANDER BROEK: You're holding back, Jim.
[00:35:06.60] LINH SONG: I know. Such restraint by Jim Leija-- Christie Leija. Does anyone move to read?
[00:35:14.75] VICTORIA GREEN: I'll read it.
[00:35:15.59] LINH SONG: Thank you.
[00:35:17.21] VICTORIA GREEN: The Board resolves that the president of the Board of Trustees of Ann Arbor District Library be authorized to sign a one-year extension of the space use agreement along with the president of the board of the Friends of the Ann Arbor District Library. Two, all resolutions and parts of resolutions that conflict with the provisions of this resolution are rescinded.
[00:35:37.18] ALL: Seconded.
[00:35:39.88] [CHUCKLES]
[00:35:41.69] JAIME VANDER BROEK: I think I'm going to get a T-shirt that says "all resolutions and parts of resolutions that conflict with the provisions of this resolution are rescinded."
[00:35:49.77] JIM LEIJA: That would be a summer game.
[00:35:51.66] JAIME VANDER BROEK: Yes!
[00:35:52.80] JIM LEIJA: Thank you.
[00:35:53.83] JAIME VANDER BROEK: There's gotta be something there.
[00:35:55.02] LINH SONG: But it'll be Robert's Rules people who may not line up excited for that. Any discussion-- or no, we're actually voting on this because we've already-- yeah, we have discussed this.
[00:36:07.56] JOSIE PARKER: Just ask if anybody has questions about it.
[00:36:09.05] LINH SONG: Are there any questions or discussions?
[00:36:11.68] VICTORIA GREEN: I had a brief exchange with Pat who was happy with the arrangement on behalf of the Friends.
[00:36:16.68] LINH SONG: He was a-- and Pat is-- can you explain?
[00:36:19.02] DHARMA AKMON: Pat McDonald, who's the Friends' president.
[00:36:23.43] LINH SONG: Great. I think-- so this is something-- Josie, if you can remind us, this comes up every year. This is--
[00:36:32.88] JOSIE PARKER: It does. And it's the space the Friends you use for the bookshop and the first floor. And it's also the space that's used for sorting down in the lower level. And this base use agreement changes which space in our lower level is used for sorting.
[00:36:50.74] So where the Library for the Blind material is being emptied out and going back to the Lansing, the cassettes, that is where the front space will be. And it is smaller, a smaller footprint than what they currently have, and they are aware of that, because we need the storage because we've rented two storage units in the last couple months that we had to have. And storage is just something that we don't have enough of.
[00:37:15.87] So they know that. We are working with them on making that switch over. And Len's talking with Rachel, who's here about how to do that well and carefully. So [INAUDIBLE].
[00:37:28.85] LINH SONG: Well, thank you to staff for working on this with them. That's a transition. And all transitions can be exciting. Great. So all those in favor.
[00:37:40.90] ALL: Aye.

[00:37:42.86] LINH SONG: Any opposed? OK, resolution passed. Thank you. Next resolution, a resolution adopting revisions to rules of behavior policy.
[00:37:54.95] JIM LEIJA: The board resolves as follows, that rules of behavior policy 5.1 is revised as proposed and that all resolutions and parts of resolutions that conflict with the provisions of this resolution are rescinded.
[00:38:07.61] COLLEEN SHERMAN: Seconded.
[00:38:09.73] LINH SONG: Any discussion? So I wanted to just quickly thank Trustee Moore and staff-- yes-- for just helping us take a closer look at our policies and then just adding language to make it more clear as to what options folks have should they find themselves not able to return to the library and how to come back to the library.
[00:38:42.43] JOSIE PARKER: And since the last meeting and the last language there was language added in the last page about the board may choose to call a special meeting to address an appeal request if the person who's wanting an appeal is not able to come to a regularly scheduled board meeting. That is at your discretion.
[00:38:58.72] And I think-- oh, we changed in the new numbering, it would be 11. Handicapped has been changed to persons with disabilities. And we just took the word handicapped out of the new numbering for eight and just no one secures bicycles to a ramp railing. And so we don't call it anything. So we did that. And I think those are the things that were changed from a month ago.
[00:39:31.11] LINH SONG: OK. Great.
[00:39:34.98] VICTORIA GREEN: I'm sorry, I'll just ask one clarifying point. We do provide bicycle parking at all of our branches, right? We do at all the ones I'm thinking of.
[00:39:42.83] JOSIE PARKER: Yes, we do. Yes, we do.
[00:39:45.95] LINH SONG: OK. All those in favor.
[00:39:48.90] ALL: Aye.

[00:39:50.03] LINH SONG: Opposed? All right, resolution passes. Thank you. Moving to new business, a resolution to approve the annual budget for fiscal year 2019 to 2020 on page 39. Can I have someone--
[00:40:05.80] JIM LEIJA: Pressure?
[00:40:06.68] COLLEEN SHERMAN: Yes. I move that we approve the budget. We discussed the budget last month. Can I get a witness?
[00:40:15.72] KERENE MOORE: Second.
[00:40:17.95] JIM LEIJA: Second.
[00:40:19.25] LINH SONG: I think Kerene Moore seconds it.
[00:40:21.64] JIM LEIJA: Yes, sorry.
[00:40:24.74] LINH SONG: Great, any discussion?
[00:40:27.66] COLLEEN SHERMAN: Building on last month, we've got Bill back up here, too.
[00:40:31.65] JOSIE PARKER: Would you like to explain what changed?
[00:40:33.51] BILL COOPER: So, yes. So there has been a slight change in the budget from what was proposed last month that's for the positive. So the draft budget, I had an estimate of an increase in the tax base of 5%. It actually increased 5.24%. And I had an estimate that the millage would go down by 1 and 1/2%. It only went down by 0.8%.
[00:40:57.63] So that gave us about $130,000 more to put into the budget. And so we had a lot of requests for personnel. So instead of just picking some specific positions to fill, we just put the money into the salaries and benefits line. And then we'll fill slots as they are needed throughout the year and next year.
[00:41:17.03] COLLEEN SHERMAN: That sounds very reasonable. So, I believe we can move on that motion unless there's further discussion, again building on what we started talking about budget and then unpacking it over the last couple of months. We haven't had a finance committee meeting in the last month because we did a lot of the heavy lifting the month before. I feel very comfortable with the budget. That change sounds excellent.
[00:41:46.44] LINH SONG: I feel like we should talk a little bit about the Headlee amendment or at least review what Headlee is.
[00:41:54.60] JOSIE PARKER: The Headlee Act.
[00:41:56.14] LINH SONG: Yes.
[00:41:56.68] JOSIE PARKER: The Headlee Act was adopted in the mid-1990s. And its function was to prevent people who were retired or older from being taxed out of their homes by rising property taxes in a really good economy. This is pretty much in a nutshell. There's a very complicated formula that does that.
[00:42:20.41] And so what happens, though, the way the act was written is that when the property tax revenue goes down, millages are adjusted down so that entities like ours can't adjust up to recover that and levy that same tax. The difficulty with Headlee is that then when there's a recovery in the economy and property values go up, Headlee does not allow those millages to rise back up. They are forever down. So once down, that's your new normal.
[00:42:58.13] There is something called a Headlee override. It's a vote that an institution can take if they make a case that they need to increase their tax millage revenue for a certain reason or for a specific period of time, then they can go before the public in an election and ask for that. But Headlee has affected us. The library's elected millage was to 2.0 mills. The library is now living at 1.8519.
[00:43:29.44] I can say to you that in my time here, the lowest it's been-- was it 1.55 at one time? Yes, at one time. But it was an amazing boom time. So 1.55 brought a good deal of money in. And then it was raised to build the branches. And then it was lowered again when the branch buildings were finished. And what we have in the fund balance is what was left from the money that was raised to build the branches. And that's why it's there.
[00:43:59.38] Plus what's left-- what comes in the budget like this year, when we calculated and tax was brought-- or more taxes were actually received than estimated, so that money then goes into the fund balance. So that's what Headlee-- in a nutshell, that's what Headlee does. Anything you'd say more differently?
[00:44:20.62] BILL COOPER: No, that covers it.
[00:44:22.57] COLLEEN SHERMAN: So, there is language on 42 I have to read. I apologize. I thought we could improve it. The board approves and doves the budget for the fiscal year ending in June 30, 2020, as presented that all resolutions and parts of resolutions that conflict with the provisions of this resolution be rescinded.
[00:44:42.52] LINH SONG: Where we jumped in discussion we can jump back into discussion.
[00:44:46.17] COLLEEN SHERMAN: Yeah.
[00:44:47.54] LINH SONG: Any other--
[00:44:48.66] VICTORIA GREEN: I guess I have two points. First of all to fall upon what Josie said about the Headlee, I want to reminds us all that our voters said we want to support the library to the rate of two mills. But the Headlee Amendment prevents us from doing that at this point. And on an ongoing basis, it's lowered by 7 and 1/2% of what voters said that they were willing to support. And as Josie talked about, there are Headlee overrides which other organizations have sought and received.
[00:45:17.76] Our budget is balanced. We have a balanced budget here. We don't have a crisis. But the Headlee Amendment prevents us without going back to the voters from having the flexibility to use those funds. They're not available to us unless voters reiterate their willingness to under set two mills.
[00:45:35.31] LINH SONG: Correct.
[00:45:35.61] VICTORIA GREEN: So, I think everybody can get that. The second thing I wanted to actually ask a question about, so our operating capital outlays are greatly reduced in this budget versus last year. Can we talk about why we're comfortable having fewer funds there?
[00:45:52.71] BILL COOPER: Yes. Len gave me his budget. If you look in the narrative, it has the projects that are outlined for what he wants to do. And we also have the capital project fund for others-- for other projects that are not going to be part of--
[00:46:09.45] VICTORIA GREEN: Right. There's a balance in that at this point.
[00:46:11.33] BILL COOPER: Yes.
[00:46:11.63] JOSIE PARKER: Yes. And that's the fund that goes over budget years. It's not part of the operational budget.
[00:46:17.39] VICTORIA GREEN: So it's not that our expenditures are actually decreasing next year, it's that we have funds that we've saved from prior years that we're able to fund our capital expenses--
[00:46:26.57] JOSIE PARKER: And that we voted to put into that, yes.
[00:46:29.15] VICTORIA GREEN: Right. I want to be clear that it's not that somehow we've turned a corner and our maintenance costs have gone down. I mean, our capital costs are still up there.
[00:46:36.50] JOSIE PARKER: Right.
[00:46:37.29] JAMIE VANDER BROEK: I don't think this has come up before in our discussion, but I'm glad to see the downtown-- the children's area bathrooms being redone. There are-- I think there are only gender-neutral bathrooms that are in the public area. And that's just seems like an important thing to make as nice as all the other bathrooms. Plus, that one door is just so weird. I'll be glad when that's--
[00:47:02.25] JOSIE PARKER: Well, it no longer needs to be the handicapped-- the disability-accessible bathroom--
[00:47:07.70] JAMIE VANDER BROEK: Right, right, of course.
[00:47:09.05] JOSIE PARKER: --the lobby bathroom now is. And that's why that was done that way all those years ago because there was not one in the library. So when we redo this, that's not necessary the way it's done now.
[00:47:21.99] JAMIE VANDER BROEK: Yeah.
[00:47:23.76] JOSIE PARKER: I think it will be accessible for sure, but it's not exclusively accessible.
[00:47:29.60] LINH SONG: Mm-hmm, great. Thank you. Thank you, Bill. Let's move on to vote. All those in favor?
[00:47:37.05] ALL: Aye.
[00:47:38.71] LINH SONG: Opposed? The budget and resolution passes. Thank you. Thank you, staff for all of your hard work and to the finance committee for working on this for several months. So, thank you.
[00:47:52.46] DHARMA AKMON: Does anyone know why this camera keeps the noise?
[00:47:54.92] JIM LEIJA: Yeah, we're hearing noise.
[00:47:56.16] JOSIE PARKER: We got a noise up here.
[00:47:57.12] AUDIENCE: It's this camera.
[00:47:57.56] JOSIE PARKER: Yeah.
[00:47:58.43] ELI NEIBURGER: Sounds it's making?
[00:47:59.69] JAMIE VANDER BROEK: It's like the camera's playing video games or something.
[00:48:02.23] LINH SONG: Is it a Pokemon? Did a Pokemon freeze?
[00:48:05.04] JAMIE VANDER BROEK: Yes, it might be a Pokemon.
[00:48:08.19] JIM LEIJA: This is the longest resolution ever.
[00:48:11.58] COLLEEN SHERMAN: I think you should read it.
[00:48:13.35] LINH SONG: --to read it, Jim.
[00:48:14.16] JIM LEIJA: --next one's the longest one.
[00:48:15.06] LINH SONG: Yes.

[00:48:15.46] JIM LEIJA: They're both the long ones. The board resolves as follows, that as to the 2019-2020 fiscal year, the Ann Arbor District Library and as to that portion of said library within the City of Ann Arbor and that portion of the library within the territory townships or areas outside of the city of Ann Arbor, the voted millage for library operational purposes shall be the amount of 1.8519 mills.
[00:48:44.55] Two, that the foregoing amounts are levied by the Ann Arbor District Library and the secretary of the Board of Trustees is authorized and directed to report the same as the library tax levy the proper assessing officers of the appropriate agencies. And the secretary may provide copies of this resolution when requested by any appropriate agency.
[00:49:08.39] That the amount certified are essential for the fiscal year of the Ann Arbor District Library commencing July 1, 2019, except as subsequently altered or amended by the appropriate certification; four, that a certified copy of this resolution may be issued as though the original with the certification; five, that all resolutions and parts of resolutions that conflict with the provisions of this resolution are rescinded.
[00:49:36.17] JAMIE VANDER BROEK: Second.
[00:49:38.34] LINH SONG: Thank you. That was fast.
[00:49:40.40] JOSIE PARKER: So what's interesting about this-- and I'm going to pop in here because we're talking about what all this means and talking of the Headlee--
[00:49:48.71] LINH SONG: Yes.
[00:49:49.10] JOSIE PARKER: --there are a couple places where I just have you read to yourself and think about what you're saying is that first of all, we have to tell the appropriate agencies in our townships and city who levy taxes, who collect taxes, what our millage rate is. So once this is done and signed, that's what Bill does. He contacts them all and says, for this coming year, this is the millage that the board voted for the District Library.
[00:50:21.92] If we don't do that, they will either levy last year's rate, in which they can't do because we're below, or they won't levy essentially. So this is a responsibility. This is why we have this.
[00:50:35.42] The other one is that the amount certified are essential to the-- for the fiscal year of the Ann Arbor District Library. This is about not levying money to bank it basically, to not levy all you can just bank it. And that's why that's in there. So I think it's important to point those two things out for people. If you're not used to reading it, and you haven't read it, it can go by you. But that's what that's about.
[00:51:05.77] VICTORIA GREEN: And that's not new this year, Josie.
[00:51:07.80] JOSIE PARKER: No, this has always-- this has been in here for all the years I've been doing this. But it's easy to just pass it over because that's the responsibility we have is to tell you this is the amount of money we need to run the library, and these are things we're going to do with it, and these are the things just like we lay out in the narrative of the budget proposal and not two million more just because we can basically, and because we can't. But if we could, you wouldn't, not without a purpose, not without a stated purpose.
[00:51:37.41] LINH SONG: And a separate process.
[00:51:38.67] JOSIE PARKER: That's right. Great. Let's go right to a vote then. All those in favor?
[00:51:45.85] ALL: Aye.

[00:51:46.95] LINH SONG: Opposed? Resolution passes, thank you. Can I get a volunteer for our next resolution.
[00:51:54.70] JIM LEIJA: The Board resolves as follows, resolution establishing policy for disbursements whereas on an annual basis the board adopts an operating budget for the library and whereas the Michigan Department of Treasury's Uniform Accounting Procedures Manual includes the following requirements for approval of disbursements. All disbursements must be approved by the legislative body prior to disbursement unless addressed otherwise in the charter. The legislative body may establish a formal policy to authorize payments prior to approval to avoid finance or late charges and to pay appropriated amounts and payroll, including related payroll taxes and withholdings. This policy must be very limited. And a list of payments made prior to approval must be presented to the legislative body for approval.
[00:52:39.19] Now therefore be it resolved that, one, appropriations by the Board, as a legislative body of the library, the Board hereby appropriates for fiscal year 2019-2020 the amount of $17,672,236 for the expenditure category set forth in the budget; two, disbursements for payroll and related payroll taxes and withholdings. As provided by the Uniform Accounting Procedures Manual of the Department of the Treasury, the director of the library, the finance manager of the library, or senior human resources specialist of the library each as authorized officer are hereby authorized to provide for the disbursement of library funds for payroll including related payroll taxes and withholdings provided such disbursements are within the budgeted amount set forth in the approved budget.
[00:53:26.37] Three, disbursements for recurring expenses that are necessary to avoid finance of late charges. As provided by the Uniform Accounting Procedures Manual of the Department of Treasury, each authorized officer is hereby authorized to provide for the disbursement of library funds for payments that are for recurring expenses and are necessary to avoid finance or late charges such as payments for utilities, equipment leases, and similar expenses provided such disbursements are within the budgeted amount set forth in the approved budget.
[00:53:56.25] Four, disbursements for the appropriated amounts. As provided by the Uniform Accounting Procedures Manual of the Department of Treasury, each authorized officer is hereby authorized to provide for the disbursement of library funds for expenditures that have been previously appropriated by the Board pursuant to paragraph number one of this resolution provided that such disbursements are within the budgeted amounts set forth in the approved budget.
[00:54:19.58] Five, presentation of disbursements to the library board. All disbursements made pursuant to the authority of this resolution must be presented to the library board for approval at a subsequent board meeting. Six, limitation of disbursements to $33,000. Notwithstanding any provision to the contrary in this resolution, no authorized officers shall be allowed to approve any single expenditure in excess of $33,000 unless that expenditure has been previously approved in a resolution by the library board or in an agreement authorized by the library board.
[00:54:55.43] Seven, requirement for dual signatures. Nothing in this resolution shall be construed as modifying the current library board policy that requires two authorized signatures on all checks excluding payroll checks in the amount of $2,500 or more. Eight, prior resolutions. All resolutions and parts of resolutions insofar as they conflict with the provisions of this resolution are hereby rescinded.
[00:55:23.53] JOSIE PARKER: So I would like--
[00:55:25.07] COLLEEN SHERMAN: Second?
[00:55:25.89] JOSIE PARKER: Oh, you have to have a second?
[00:55:27.27] JIM LEIJA: Yes.
[00:55:28.21] LINH SONG: Yes. Sorry, discussion.
[00:55:31.34] JOSIE PARKER: I would like to talk about this one for a second before you ask your questions. This came about probably 10 years ago because of massive fraud in state government. Before that time, the library's budget was an amount. And within it were categories. And the library finance manager, the director, assistant director could move that money around within those categories as long as at the end of the year the budget balanced.
[00:56:04.32] So it was-- if things changed, we could take money from personnel, and we could move it to capital outlays or collections to something else. It was very fluid within it. And the expenditures were made. The library board was not apprised of all of the expenditures in the same way-- in the way this lays them out.
[00:56:31.07] So because of all the massive fraud in state government, Michigan, the state treasury changed the rules which says that we have a line item budget now. So that's why we pass a line item budget. And that's why if we need to move money from one line to the other, it requires your vote to your knowledge.
[00:56:52.36] Being able to pay the bills needed to be strictly pointed out in here that we have the ability to pay the bills within the budget, that you know that's what we're going to do, and we don't have to come to you for every bill that needs to be paid. The same thing with the check register, the disbursements, you receive the disbursements from the prior month in the month following always. It never-- it's how it has to be done. It's the only way that we could function without one of you coming in and signing off on all the check disburse-- checks that have to go out the library.
[00:57:27.65] So there were things that made it really hard for a large institution to function. And that language the state-- the treasury worked with attorneys of government units to figure out how do you keep running and keep paying the bills and not run afoul of the new changes in the state treasury rules. So that's why this thing is long. And that's why it says what it says.
[00:57:53.86] The $33,000 is a number that is up to you. That's not imposed on you by any outside agency. That's one the library board chose, so just to point that out. And it's worked, but it's just something you should know.
[00:58:10.97] LINH SONG: Great.
[00:58:12.10] COLLEEN SHERMAN: Is there any reason we should change that number? Is it still working?
[00:58:16.65] ELI NEIBURGER: It goes up by cost of living--
[00:58:18.10] JOSIE PARKER: Yeah.
[00:58:18.85] ELI NEIBURGER: --it's a CEI correction every two years--
[00:58:19.70] COLLEEN SHERMAN: Oh, great.
[00:58:20.87] ELI NEIBURGER: It's in the policy.
[00:58:21.68] JOSIE PARKER: Yeah, it's in the policy. And when I began my job, it was $28,000, and it's now $33,000. So it's been-- it works.
[00:58:27.98] COLLEEN SHERMAN: Great.
[00:58:30.83] LINH SONG: Great, anything else? Great, let's vote. All those in favor?
[00:58:36.00] ALL: Aye.

[00:58:37.05] LINH SONG: Opposed? It passes, great. Thank you. So moving on, director's evaluation letter from the AADL board. We actually in closed session presented-- we did not present your draft letter. We were-- we had a compilation of trustee feedback from the feedback forms that Bridgeport consulting had created for us last year. So the thought was-- and I should have actually changed the-- amended the agenda beforehand-- was that given the feedback today, I can present a fuller letter at the next board meeting.
[00:59:16.40] JIM LEIJA: I think I can move to table this agenda item to the next meeting.
[00:59:20.65] LINH SONG: Thank you. We have a second?
[00:59:22.59] JAIME VANDER BROEK: Seconded.
[00:59:24.24] LINH SONG: All those in favor?
[00:59:25.30] ALL: Aye.
[00:59:26.74] LINH SONG: Thank you. Opposed?
[00:59:29.30] LINH SONG: Great. Thank you, thank you for that. So we will next month continue that. Thank you, Josie.
[00:59:36.23] JOSIE PARKER: Yep. So now your closed session.
[00:59:38.70] LINH SONG: Yes, so getting back to closed session.
[00:59:42.53] JIM LEIJA: I would like to move for a closed session for the discussion of real estate before the June public meeting.
[00:59:52.23] COLLEEN SHERMAN: I second.
[00:59:53.64] LINH SONG: All those in favor?
[00:59:54.76] JIM LEIJA: This is a roll call.
[00:59:55.51] LINH SONG: Oh yes, that's right.
[00:59:59.21] KAREN WILSON: Dharma Akmon?
[01:00:00.20] DHARMA AKMON: Yes.
[01:00:01.13] KAREN WILSON Victoria Green?
[01:00:02.44] VICTORIA GREEN: Yes.
[01:00:02.86] KAREN WILSON: Jim Leija?
[01:00:03.55] JIM LEIJA: Yes.
[01:00:03.89] KAREN WILSON: Kerene Moore?
[01:00:04.86] KERENE MOORE: Yes.
[01:00:05.26] KAREN WILSON: Colleen Sherman?
[01:00:06.14] COLLEEN SHERMAN: Yes.
[01:00:06.56] KAREN WILSON: Linh Song?
[01:00:07.37] LINH SONG: Yes.
[01:00:07.70] KAREN WILSON: Jamie Vander Broek?
[01:00:08.56] JAIME VANDER BROEK: Yes.

[01:00:09.79] LINH SONG: Thank you. Thank you, Karen. Thank you, everyone. Great, moving on to citizen's comments. Karen, do we have anyone signed up for comments?
[01:00:19.36] KAREN WILSON: I haven't received any.
[01:00:21.16] COLLEEN SHERMAN: Linh, before we adjourn, can I thank the members of the finance committee and Bill and all the staff. It was my first year as treasurer. Working through the budgeted process, couldn't have done it without you guys. Thank you. I really appreciate your patience and helping me get up to speed. And it felt like it was smooth, and I learned a lot. Thanks you, guys.
[01:00:40.81] DHARMA AKMON: You did a great job. Thank you.
[01:00:41.26] COLLEEN SHERMAN: Thanks you guys.
[01:00:41.86] LINH SONG: This is actually a really remarkable meeting to pass a budget, go through director's reports, go through construction, strategic planning, board retreat. And we haven't even had the first announcement go up over the speakers in closing.
[01:00:57.88] JOSIE PARKER: And you won't for 40 more minutes.
[01:00:59.68] LINH SONG: Yes, so--
[01:01:00.49] JIM LEIJA: So let's sit here silently for [INAUDIBLE] minutes.
[01:01:04.50] LINH SONG: --so kudos to the trustees for moving along line in the agenda, and actually in coming earlier to for closed session.
[01:01:11.50] JOSIE PARKER: And kudos to our president for helping us get through--
[01:01:14.30] LINH SONG: Yes. Well, you're welcome.
[01:01:17.20] [LAUGHING]

[01:01:19.12] All right, well, thank you. I think we're adjourned. Thank you. [GAVEL POUNDS]
[01:01:22.49] NARRATOR: This program was recorded on May 20, 2019 at the Ann Arbor District Library.

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May 20, 2019

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AADL Board Meeting