AADL Board Meeting - October 21, 2019

[00:00:16.78] LINH SONG: So we were just coming from recess for a closed session. Do I convene the meaning or no, we move right to approving the agenda. Can I get a motion to approve the agenda?
[00:00:29.88] S. KERENE MOORE: Motion to approve the agenda.
[00:00:32.01] JAMIE VANDER BROEK: Seconded.
[00:00:32.93] LINH SONG: All right. Any discussion? All right. All those in favor?
[00:00:37.04] BOARD MEMBERS: Aye.

[00:00:38.45] LINH SONG: OK. The consent agenda. Can I get a motion to approve the consent agenda?
[00:00:44.89] S. KERENE MOORE: Motion to approve the consent agenda.
[00:00:47.26] JAMIE VANDER BROEK: Seconded.
[00:00:48.91] LINH SONG: Discussion. All those in favor?
[00:00:52.25] BOARD MEMBERS: Aye.

[00:00:52.81] LINH SONG: Oh, I should have asked opposed. OK. Great. So moving on, citizens comments. Karen, do we have anyone up for citizens comment? OK, great. So we have an opportunity at the end of the meeting should anyone feel so moved. We're going to move pretty quickly along. Josie, on financial reports?

[00:01:20.26] JOSIE B. PARKER: So in this packet-- you guys can hear me? In this packet, we have financials for three months, July, August, and September bringing forward to you at this meeting for you to see, and have questions, and approve. So what you'll see also is we have a new format for the financials. And hopefully this will help answer some questions we've had about understanding the budget and the transparency in the budget.
[00:01:54.67] So if you look at page 21 for the period of July, just for that month, what you see is the July actual. And the year-to-date actual would be absolutely the same, because it's a one month. The next one is the budgeted number. The budget remaining in dollars. But on the far right is the percentage year-to-date, and it shows you it's all positive in that revenue line, obviously.
[00:02:23.94] If you go down and look at expenditures, what it shows you is the percentage of the budget that has been expended in that month from that line. And I'll give you an example of something that you would be watching for as a board member. Look at accounting and audit. In the first month of the year, you are 37% spent. That line will go over.
[00:02:53.76] COLLEEN SHERMAN: Josie, how far down are you? I'm sorry.
[00:02:55.77] JOSIE B. PARKER: I'm on page 21 in Expenditures under Purchase Services--
[00:03:00.21] COLLEEN SHERMAN: Thank you.
[00:03:00.70] JOSIE B. PARKER: --on the Accounting and Audit Line.
[00:03:02.65] COLLEEN SHERMAN: Got it.
[00:03:03.34] JOSIE B. PARKER: So I'm just pointing this out. So this is an obvious one, because of the situation we're in with a person who's out, we're contracting services for accounting. And so that's going to push this over. So at the end of the year, we will have to do our reconciliation moving money from a line that's underspent into an overspent line.
[00:03:27.25] But what this is telling you over there is what that looks like. So if you go further down, the 24% on communications, that's probably about right at the beginning of the year. And we should see that stretch itself out through the normal part of the year. So you as board members are able to see what we see internally in terms of what is spent out of the line, and what we're used to, and the question Jim's been asking me for years is, tell me what's in your head.
[00:04:05.05] So you're going to see the representation of what's in our head.
[00:04:10.38] COLLEEN SHERMAN: Yeah.
[00:04:10.75] JOSIE B. PARKER: We know more behind it why than you do, but you're not going to have that information. So this is helpful in this way we've done this quarter. Because if you go all the way to the end of the financials to August for that same page, which is-- through September-- 27, you're seeing accounting and audited at 99%.
[00:04:36.49] So you could have anticipated that happening by what you saw in July. And then if you look at communications, it's only 39%, and it was 24% at July. So you're seeing how that's going to work itself out.
[00:04:51.40] COLLEEN SHERMAN: It works as a conversation starter, the percentages. So I like this format very much. I find it very understandable. And the questions we have, if we read the check registry, or the door count, or the things that indicate to us, hey, let's ask a question, or what's going on, or what's interesting about this, there's a story, let's ask about the story, the story the budget can tell us is those huge variations can tell us something pretty cool.
[00:05:22.27] JOSIE B. PARKER: So I'm able to say that it's good. We're in good shape. And you can tell from the balance sheet what's in the capital fund, the grants, total governmental funds. Because this format adheres to the governmental accounting format that we must use for auditing purposes as a government unit. But by adding that year-to-date percentages column, we're giving you that information about the line items that we haven't been able to accomplish.
[00:05:55.72] So now we're trying to do that.
[00:05:57.67] JAMIE VANDER BROEK: Thanks. OK.
[00:05:58.93] JOSIE B. PARKER: If you have a detailed question about the budget, I will promise to do my best to answer it.
[00:06:06.07] VICTORIA GREEN: I just have a comment, which is I agree that the percentages are really helpful. But I would just remind everyone that the percentage-- in looking at the percentages, look at the amount too. Because if we're 100% on an amount, a budget, a line item that's $10,000 versus $10 million, it makes a big difference.
[00:06:22.02] JOSIE B. PARKER: Yep.
[00:06:22.08] COLLEEN SHERMAN: Great.
[00:06:22.21] VICTORIA GREEN: But we can also see that at the bottom, because the total expenditures, for example, is 23%, which is 8% times 3.
[00:06:28.32] JOSIE B. PARKER: Right. --which we're doing very well. But I only pointed this out on those line items because I wanted to make sure-- because we, for years, had the statement, we're over budget in this line. It will come back at the end of the year. And that was not helpful. So now you're seeing what we meant by that.
[00:06:45.79] And in the narrative, you have a little bit better information about the revenue, the expenditures, the revenue over/under, and grants and memorials. And so I just wanted to make sure that you saw the difference and were OK with the difference.
[00:07:02.56] LINH SONG: So did this come from-- is it Manor
[00:07:05.77] JOSIE B. PARKER: We talked to Manor about your request and what you were trying to accomplish. It was Manor and the auditors who told us, you cannot abandon the governmental accounting format, but you can add this to help with the understanding of the budget.
[00:07:25.80] LINH SONG: Great.
[00:07:27.80] VICTORIA GREEN: Thank you.
[00:07:28.60] LINH SONG: Do we have any other questions for Josie on the financial report? Or is there anything else you'd like to add, Josie?
[00:07:38.01] JOSIE B. PARKER: No. I'm prepared to, if you had a question, I'm prepared to answer it. And if I can't do it by myself, I'll get Eli to help me.
[00:07:45.79] JIM LEIJA: The only thing I don't still quite understand, because I think the percentages are helpful in keeping the conversation going, is the-- I mean, I understand what we need to have just in terms of the law, in terms of how our budget is presented. But then what is to stop us from having also just a supplemental financial system that did what the other document used to do? I mean, why is it that we can have a narrative report that essentially doesn't necessarily follow that governmental accounting format but we cannot have another supplemental report that does that? That's a little convoluted, but I--
[00:08:32.56] COLLEEN SHERMAN: Can I field this one?
[00:08:33.73] JIM LEIJA: Yeah, sure.
[00:08:34.56] COLLEEN SHERMAN: What is it-- so rather than answering that question, I'd like to ask a question in return, which is, what is it you want to get? I understand you want some projections. But I'm failing to understand what you can't see here that you want to see.
[00:08:50.49] JIM LEIJA: Well, I mean the reason that we made the shift to the other system was to be able to understand how expenditures are made and projected over the course of the year, which is not a division by 12.
[00:09:04.23] COLLEEN SHERMAN: Mm-hmm, right.
[00:09:05.13] JIM LEIJA: Because everything is not spent in 12 equal increments. So we can see that fits and starts here.
[00:09:12.94] COLLEEN SHERMAN: This appears to be doing this.
[00:09:13.87] JIM LEIJA: --which sort of does it, but we still don't really--
[00:09:18.93] COLLEEN SHERMAN: But if you read this next to the budget, doesn't that give you what you are looking for?
[00:09:23.70] JIM LEIJA: I mean, it does and it doesn't. I mean [LAUGHING].
[00:09:26.02] COLLEEN SHERMAN: But I think I hear what you're suggesting, and it sounds like make work. I mean, so if you write a report of here's what the financials say versus doing a whole other financial report, that sounds laborious and potentially expensive. And it's not a thing I want to see. So if it costs money to get you the information you want, then I would say, is there another way we can get you what you want?
[00:09:57.45] JIM LEIJA: My assumption is that the staff has to do that kind of projecting anyway. That's just a part of how business is done. I mean, you all don't split up how you spend your funds over 12 years. You know that you have a Summer Game and that requires x number of funds in July versus September, right?
[00:10:13.46] LINH SONG: Is that something that can be resolved if you worked with Colleen as treasurer?
[00:10:19.38] JIM LEIJA: Well, we already did the thing that I'm suggesting. And what we were told was that we could no longer present it because it does not follow governmental reporting standards.
[00:10:28.42] LINH SONG: Right.
[00:10:29.16] JIM LEIJA: But that is not to say that it should sto-- but my question, legally, is-- and this was unresolved-- was whether or not we could not have a supplemental report? So this is our official governmental accounting.
[00:10:43.89] JOSIE B. PARKER: Right.
[00:10:44.43] JIM LEIJA: And we can have, theoretically, a set of tools that help us interpret this, including a written report.
[00:10:51.64] LINH SONG: I don't know if it's really an interpretation. This is what's on public record, or like this is what's required legally of us.
[00:10:57.69] JOSIE B. PARKER: And it's-- that's right. This is legal. This is what is required. And we tried to add something that gives you an idea of the expenditure according to what's been used of the line amounts. Because the law requires you to pass a line-item budget.
[00:11:19.35] And Jim's right. The staff have to bring a budget to you. Because it's a line-item budget, frankly, it's a lot harder to do than it was 10 years ago--
[00:11:29.23] JIM LEIJA: Right.
[00:11:29.43] JOSIE B. PARKER: --before we had line-item budgets. But when we were required to begin line-item budgeting, we had the history of budgeting that we used to decide how to estimate these lines.
[00:11:41.01] JIM LEIJA: Yeah, you had the actuals for years, and years, and years, right?
[00:11:43.56] JOSIE B. PARKER: So all I can say is that we decide what we are presenting in a budget to you as what's appropriate in each line based on the prior year, what we see coming-- for instance, I could not have seen accounting and audit. I couldn't have seen that coming.
[00:12:06.72] JIM LEIJA: Right.
[00:12:07.17] JOSIE B. PARKER: So I know that's going to be totally out of whack.
[00:12:09.09] JOSIE B. PARKER: There's likely to be something that's less this year because of a different condition that changes in the middle of the year. And that money will come and balance out that overage.
[00:12:25.70] JIM LEIJA: Yeah, I mean, I know we're just--
[00:12:26.46] JOSIE B. PARKER: I mean, I try not to say this in an arrogant way, but when you do this enough, you know what you're doing.
[00:12:34.74] JIM LEIJA: Oh, I agree.
[00:12:35.35] JOSIE B. PARKER: And you know what your numbers are likely to be. The collections budget, the full budget is what it is and within it, people meet and talk about what that looks like, and what the events are going to be, and what kind of materials we need.
[00:12:50.97] And they do it monthly. And so they have a big amount of money. And they talk monthly about, over time, how to spend that money. So it's not a one decision up front that determines how that's going to happen.
[00:13:04.17] LINH SONG: For the year, no, right.
[00:13:05.33] COLLEEN SHERMAN: That's not what you're asking for, is it, Jim?
[00:13:06.95] JIM LEIJA: No, no. I mean, I don't have any--
[00:13:08.41] COLLEEN SHERMAN: See? I don't think that's what you're asking for.
[00:13:09.93] JIM LEIJA: Yeah, I mean, I have no concerns about how the decisions are made about-- again, it's this question of just budget transparency for a board that's supposed to understand how money flows. You're empowered to make decisions about how the funds are spent.
[00:13:34.14] JOSIE B. PARKER: Within these lines.
[00:13:35.43] JIM LEIJA: Within these lines, exactly. And so this is not a message of mistrust.
[00:13:46.75] JOSIE B. PARKER: I didn't take it that way.
[00:13:48.30] JIM LEIJA: It's more about being able to have a working knowledge of what's happening.
[00:13:57.06] JOSIE B. PARKER: Right.
[00:13:57.62] LINH SONG: So you're asking for a fuller picture. Because I think this is pretty workable. And this is also something that covers three months. So this is a sizable--
[00:14:07.74] JOSIE B. PARKER: So a fuller picture, I still don't know what that means.
[00:14:13.59] VICTORIA GREEN: So I'd like to-- these--
[00:14:15.32] COLLEEN SHERMAN: Let's cont--
[00:14:15.83] LINH SONG: Can you come to the podium, Eli?
[00:14:17.09] JOSIE B. PARKER: Yeah.
[00:14:18.00] ELI NEIBURGER: Can I just take a stab at this? Jim, would it help you answer the question that you're looking to answer if this column that said year-to-date percentage for each line was then compared to what that had been for that month for the previous several fiscal years?
[00:14:32.80] JIM LEIJA: Yeah, that actually might--
[00:14:33.87] JOSIE B. PARKER: For years? For several years?
[00:14:34.67] ELI NEIBURGER: That's what you're looking for. You want to know where-- 19%, is that above? Is that below? What is that? That's the expertise you're looking to have encapsulated.
[00:14:42.40] JOSIE B. PARKER: Prior years?
[00:14:42.78] COLLEEN SHERMAN: Comparative data.
[00:14:43.32] ELI NEIBURGER: Prior years.
[00:14:43.53] JIM LEIJA: I mean, you could have your FY'19 actuals alongside your FY'20.
[00:14:49.71] ELI NEIBURGER: So we can say, last year--
[00:14:51.19] JIM LEIJA: --so there is an actual number against an actual number. So you're talking apples to apples and not ratios, right?
[00:14:57.78] COLLEEN SHERMAN: Yeah.
[00:14:58.29] JIM LEIJA: Just to have a sense of that.
[00:15:01.08] ELI NEIBURGER: If it's percentages, then that would account for the budget being different year over year. So we would know, for example, we increased the communications budget. But now we know that typically at this point in the year, we've spent 30% of it. Last year, we'd spend 23% of it, so we're ahead. Is that the sort of thing that you're looking for?
[00:15:18.70] JIM LEIJA: I think partially, yes. Yeah.
[00:15:20.25] COLLEEN SHERMAN: So I think there are a couple of things we can do. So when we-- when I first looked at this format, I went and I looked at last month, and I looked at one year ago, so I could see three different budgets side by side to see the variation. And I do like the new one. But I think that has to do with how I read numbers, and the percentage serves me.
[00:15:38.47] So when I look at the year over year, to me, it's a matter of, oh, if I want to know, I just go back to my records and I can check it out. But I'm interested in best practices, because we're not the only library, and we're not the only library in a market of our size.
[00:15:55.57] So it seems to me that this question has come up before for library boards who are looking at budgets. And so I wonder if perhaps there's some questions we can ask of other libraries, where we can get some information and see how it's done differently? I mean, that's all public information.
[00:16:14.07] JOSIE B. PARKER: Yes.
[00:16:15.52] COLLEEN SHERMAN: Again, I don't want to go to make work, but I also think that what you're saying is true. The more information we have, the better decisions we can make, the more informed our decisions are. If we look at a sheet of paper and it looks like numbers, and we don't understand what those numbers mean, then we don't have the information we need to make an informed decision based on the analysis. Right? So you're saying, do business like business.
[00:16:41.91] JIM LEIJA: Do business like business. Victoria's been trying to get in.
[00:16:44.50] VICTORIA GREEN: Yeah.
[00:16:44.94] COLLEEN SHERMAN: Sorry.
[00:16:45.20] LINH SONG: Go ahead.
[00:16:45.64] VICTORIA GREEN: So, it does seem to me-- I do understand what you're saying, Jim, about when you look at numbers and you're like, is it OK that we spent 30% or not and having to ask for that, as opposed being able to figure it out yourself.
[00:16:56.63] JIM LEIJA: Yeah.
[00:16:56.98] VICTORIA GREEN: And I was thinking about month-to-month projections. But I thought Eli's suggestion about seeing not the budgeted amount the previous year but the actual amount--
[00:17:04.51] JIM LEIJA: The actuals.
[00:17:05.14] VICTORIA GREEN: --seems like it be very little work for the staff. They wouldn't have to do much. They could just give the actual number from the previous year. So it's one extra column. And then we have a question, I mean, we all know the budget was fine last year. And that would give us an easy way to say, oh OK, this happened last year, and we think we're fine overall.
[00:17:23.70] LINH SONG: OK.
[00:17:24.89] JIM LEIJA: Yeah.
[00:17:25.45] VICTORIA GREEN: Because the bottom line would also be there. I mean, I don't care about the budget last year. We care about the actuals last year.
[00:17:31.03] JAMIE VANDER BROEK: We can also guess on-- sorry, I'm making a sound. We can also guess based on the categories, right? We know Summer Game is a lot of expenditures in certain areas. And so we can expect to see certain things be up higher, right?
[00:17:43.27] VICTORIA GREEN: But we'd like to need less local knowledge in order to be able to interpret the numbers, right?
[00:17:48.34] JIM LEIJA: Yeah, I mean, I think the year-to-date percentages are really, really helpful and another tool to understanding the thing we're talking about, which is unusual variances and just trying to grapple with those, which may not actually change the course of how we are agents of this budget, but help us understand, and interpret, and be able to intelligently represent it.
[00:18:16.63] In an ideal world, you would have your-- I guess you don't need the projections anymore in this model, because they don't exist. They're just divide by 12. And that has always been the frustrating thing to me, which is that we're not dealing with real numbers.
[00:18:30.62] It's like we spend a dollar, we make a dollar, everything equals out to zero, and we have no-- it's like nothing ever happened. [LAUGHING] And part of understanding how the flow of activity and expenditures work has been my interest.
[00:18:49.34] LINH SONG: Well, I mean, if you're looking for--
[00:18:50.59] COLLEEN SHERMAN: But this new version-- I'm sorry.
[00:18:51.22] LINH SONG: --comparisons over time versus with what's happening month-to-month within the year, is that where we're at? Is that what you're asking for? The movement within the year and the percentage increase or decrease you're looking for over time compared to last year?
[00:19:09.86] VICTORIA GREEN: The actuals?
[00:19:10.31] COLLEEN SHERMAN: Right. Actuals.
[00:19:11.45] LINH SONG: All right, so I think the staff has agreed that this is doable, yes?
[00:19:15.85] ELI NEIBURGER: We'll have to ask for people to do that work.
[00:19:19.07] LINH SONG: And then we also expect an increase, then, in our accounting and auditing.
[00:19:22.87] [LAUGHTER]
[00:19:26.78] JIM LEIJA: Everybody seems really annoyed about this. I'm not here to do this.
[00:19:29.95] LINH SONG: No, I don't think it's annoyed. I think-- So we're--
[00:19:33.09] JOSIE B. PARKER: I don't think--
[00:19:33.51] LINH SONG: No, no, no.
[00:19:34.33] JOSIE B. PARKER: From our part, it's not annoying. I'm having trouble understanding what you need, and that bothers me personally, because I would like to be able to know that.
[00:19:47.89] JIM LEIJA: Yeah.
[00:19:48.26] JOSIE B. PARKER: And so I'm having trouble understanding that. And that's how about you. It's totally about me. And so we just have to come to some place where we can do that. And we can talk to our auditing company and see what-- our accounting company and find out.
[00:20:04.14] The other thing we can do is go look at other big, classic district libraries online, presentations, and see how different they are.
[00:20:11.58] LINH SONG: That'd be great.
[00:20:13.05] JOSIE B. PARKER: If they're different.
[00:20:14.28] COLLEEN SHERMAN: OK, I do want to make something clear. Jim, I heard you say this is a divide-by-12 budget. The percentage isn't that divide-by-12, though.
[00:20:21.97] JOSIE B. PARKER: They're not.
[00:20:24.18] JIM LEIJA: Now I'm really confused.
[00:20:25.52] S. KERENE MOORE: Oh no.
[00:20:26.11] JIM LEIJA: Because that was the change back.
[00:20:27.35] LINH SONG: Oh no.
[00:20:28.63] JIM LEIJA: Well, we just have to move on.
[00:20:31.52] LINH SONG: OK. So if we can just make sure, if there's time with staff, and then the finance committee, if we can include Jim in some of these discussions before next meeting, I think that's workable.
[00:20:42.60] COLLEEN SHERMAN: Great.
[00:20:42.96] LINH SONG: All right. Yes? OK. Anything else?
[00:20:46.98] JIM LEIJA: I just must say-- on the record, in a public meeting--
[00:20:50.20] LINH SONG: Yes, yes.
[00:20:50.40] JIM LEIJA: It is really important that we understand what is happening here. And it shouldn't be a private conversation-- not a private conversation.
[00:20:56.89] LINH SONG: No, it will be reported out.
[00:20:58.50] JIM LEIJA: It shouldn't be an executive committee conversation, or a conversation happening in the budget and finance committee. The fact that I do not understand this, this is the space for me to understand it.
[00:21:09.29] LINH SONG: Right. But if it's something then it's more extensive than what this meeting can allow, it can happen in committee, or in partnership between committees.
[00:21:17.43] JIM LEIJA: But I think there are other people who don't understand either.
[00:21:19.94] LINH SONG: Is it? I mean?
[00:21:21.35] S. KERENE MOORE: I honestly-- [LAUGHING]
[00:21:23.36] LINH SONG: Kerene, go ahead.
[00:21:24.09] S. KERENE MOORE: Did you really not understand the percentages?
[00:21:26.76] JIM LEIJA: No. I mean, the last time this was presented to me, it was-- we haven't also seen financials since the new fiscal year, which is when all this has happened. So it's the first time I am looking at the new format, as we are getting this packet. And I think that there's-- so the way that all of this was described to me is that we could not use projections because they were not a divide-by-12 scenario.
[00:21:52.57] So is that not the case? And whoever explained it to me did not explain it to me accurately.
[00:21:57.19] JAMIE VANDER BROEK: Well, maybe there's a couple of different questions on the table. One of them is what do we have to have in this document that is our public presentation at work?
[00:22:05.97] JIM LEIJA: Exactly.
[00:22:06.94] JAMIE VANDER BROEK: But then your question about there is also narrative accompanying it, could something else accompany it? That's a different question, I think.
[00:22:13.38] JIM LEIJA: Yes.
[00:22:13.71] JAMIE VANDER BROEK: But Colleen's point that that would cost staff time is valid, I think. Preparing additional material for our benefit, which I think, I hear from you, would be for the public benefit as well. But I feel like if you had a more extensive conversation about what would meet your needs, even if that was offline, you could still report back about it. And you might get something out of it that is hard to do right now.
[00:22:39.37] I'm not saying that you should take it underground. I don't mean that at all. It's just that maybe if the two of you just talked a little bit more about what it is you want to see, and then come back. I don't mean to--
[00:22:50.17] LINH SONG: And then maybe even bring Manor in on the conversation too.
[00:22:53.44] JOSIE B. PARKER: Well, I think it's fair, in the prior year, in '19, Bill tried to change the budget to show from not an accrual basis. And the problem was it did not balance.
[00:23:06.01] JIM LEIJA: Yeah.
[00:23:06.23] LINH SONG: Right.
[00:23:06.44] JOSIE B. PARKER: It did not balance. So when we were going through with this, we had to balance it. And therefore, we know that, what you saw the last few months of the year, we can't do because it did not balance. And I'm talking about the balance sheet balance, which is huge.
[00:23:23.63] And so what we're doing is we've gone back to accrual accounting, but we added this column in the hopes of giving some transparency to the lines. And so we so we're a step ahead. We're one step closer to what it is we're looking for. But I do think I need a conversation with [? Manor, ?] and with you, Jim, to see what is not here that would give you what you need that we can add to this in the format of these documents that lets us comply with what we have to comply with.
[00:23:58.69] If it can be done within the narrative, in the context of narrative, then we can try that, rather than in the numbers. I don't know. I'm going to have to find out.
[00:24:09.58] LINH SONG: Right.
[00:24:10.39] JOSIE B. PARKER: I don't know.
[00:24:10.99] LINH SONG: Thank you for finding out, Josie. And Thank, you, Jim. Really, it is important feedback. And it's been a while since we've looked at this, so it's great to get the full weight of your thoughts on this.
[00:24:22.56] JIM LEIJA: [LAUGHTER] The full, heavy weight.

[00:24:25.05] LINH SONG: Yes. And we'll lift it all together. Great. So moving on to committee reports, Executive Committee. The Executive Committee met earlier today at 5:00. And we just caught up with each other. I reported out how Josie, Eli, and I had met with the SmithGroup. And that's a consulting firm that the city council has contracted to look at the parcels, real estate parcels, and how they're looking to develop them.
[00:24:58.41] And this was a conversation on the Y Lot. So they're just looking for feedback from neighbors. And we are a neighbor that's been here for a while and has seen, I think, every iteration of the lot of the Y Lot. And then I think the Smith Group is actually publishing their report in November. So we eagerly anticipate what the results are.
[00:25:26.36] The one thing that we did communicate and just really wanted to emphasize to the consulting firm is that the library is an entity that serves a wider demographic, a bigger geography. So it's not just the city that we're accountable to, but also the townships. So when we talk about our service area, we mean much wider than what the city needs to meet.

[00:25:53.56] So I think that's really it that's happened on the executive level. Am I missing anything, Jim? No? OK. Josie, I miss anything? Nope? OK, great. So moving on to Strategic Planning Committee. Jamie, please.
[00:26:11.96] JAMIE VANDER BROEK: Thank you. We've met, gosh, I don't remember the exact date, maybe three weeks ago with Kerry and Anika, the two consultants that we've been engaged. Sorry. I'll move closer to us. That's the issue, right, Eli?
[00:26:29.03] So we met with our consultants recently, and they presented to us some draft values. I think that I mentioned this last time, but I'm not 100% sure. So as a committee, we're working on this new strategic plan. But in the course of doing that, we were investigating the library's values, which were last discussed and enacted about 20 years ago.
[00:26:53.24] So we decided that it would be a good opportunity to refresh the values to make sure they reflect the contemporary mission of the library and the way that I think we see things being defined here. So Kerry and Anika brought us a draft of a new revision.
[00:27:13.75] And to be honest, I think through the course of the discussion we were really not satisfied. It was a really good discussion. I think that all of us benefited from just seeing something that we weren't sure about, because it made us sure when about a week ago we got new draft values from them. And I feel much better about them.
[00:27:37.85] So I think by the time you see something, the committee and also the staff will be pretty excited about what we're going to see from them. And it's been an interesting experience to really think about, well, why are we here, and why do all of us participate in this, and what is this library do.
[00:27:59.59] So I just saw the draft a week ago. And all of us did on the group. So it should be I guess next month, maybe, that we'll have something more public on the value side. And then we're not due to complete this until January. So it's a very extended, luxurious amount of time to work on this, which is nice. Questions?
[00:28:20.47] JOSIE B. PARKER: They've asked to meet directly, individually with managers.
[00:28:24.08] JAMIE VANDER BROEK: Oh, good.
[00:28:24.34] JOSIE B. PARKER: So we'll have to get that done. And I'm not sure how the time will go on that. So we're working right now and organizing that.
[00:28:33.04] JAMIE VANDER BROEK: OK. Well, we won't make any promises on November, December. Other questions?

[00:28:43.50] LINH SONG: Great. Thank you. So moving on to our Director's Report. Josie?
[00:28:48.96] JOSIE B. PARKER: Thank you. So this first slide is just letting you know that Pittsfield Branch is closed. We'll announce a reopening soon. We will open within the allotted time frame. The glass is, as it was the case of Traverwood getting the field measurements and getting the glass ordered puts the situation where the glass comes in after we reopen.
[00:29:14.38] And then they'll be doing that what they call, third shift. They'll be putting it in when we're not open. So we won't lose time when that's happening. So that's what won't happen. We did take the opportunity to move the Bernoulli machine--
[00:29:27.10] [SIGHS]
[00:29:27.91] --away from what will be a meeting room over to the youth area. So that's going to happen. And you'll see. Bernoulli is down and in pieces right now. It goes back up tomorrow. So that'll happen. So that's the way that is. We will announce the Traverwood closing when we know the opening date for Pittsfield, because they are [? queued ?] together. So that will happen.
[00:29:52.18] This is the Traverwood Drive Project. It's nearing completion. If you've been up there to see, this is the corner right here on Parkway and Traverwood, what this looks like. The parking goes all the way now almost to Plymouth Road on the west side, which is the library side of Traverwood. And there's a bike lane on the east side all the way from here on Parkway to Plymouth.
[00:30:14.26] LINH SONG: This has been happening pretty quickly.
[00:30:15.70] JOSIE B. PARKER: It did happen very quickly. They were ready to go as soon as the vote occurred. They had the contracts ready to go.
[00:30:20.98] LINH SONG: OK.
[00:30:21.33] JOSIE B. PARKER: And it started that next week.
[00:30:22.66] LINH SONG: Hmm. OK.
[00:30:25.16] JOSIE B. PARKER: This is our Downtown-- I looked, because I thought for a moment I was in one place I'm not. This is the new drop box off the front porch. So this is the interior side and then the exterior. The drop box on William Street will be closing sometime this week. And we're bricking them over. So they're unmistakably closed.
[00:30:46.66] [LAUGHTER]
[00:30:47.11] And we'll make sure that we have the signage. There's a banner that will go up saying where the new drop box is. The thing to know about this large box here is the flap out front's lockable. This is movable. When there are major events, like Tiny Expo, where we need the space for tabling, we will close it, move this out of the way.
[00:31:09.58] People will come in and put things in the interior drop right inside the front door. That's how we see that happening.
[00:31:15.22] LINH SONG: Nice.
[00:31:17.41] JOSIE B. PARKER: I thought you would be interested in knowing that Joyce Hunter, the CEO of the African American Cultural History Museum did this great interview on Comcast. And a part of it was talking about the ADL Oral History Project. And Joyce said-- she did fabulous job-- and you can search it and listen to it.
[00:31:36.93] JIM LEIJA: The link is in there.
[00:31:38.11] JOSIE B. PARKER: Yeah, sorry. Yeah, the link is in the packet. She was so complimentary of the work of the library and what it's meant for them and their ability to get people to talk. And the group that was speak-- that did this latest one, reception was at Westgate probably a month ago now.
[00:31:56.35] And one of the people had been in Ann Arbor all her life. And she was 99 years old. And they did the taping in her home. And she passed away--
[00:32:10.20] SPEAKER 5: Oh, no.
[00:32:10.54] [MURMURS]
[00:32:10.81] JOSIE B. PARKER: --shortly within a few weeks of that. And so her son, his children, other people in the family were there, and it was their time to see this president-- her talking. It was very moving and very, very lovely. And a lot of people in the community who knew her, who grew up in the neighborhood around her were there. It was quite, quite an afternoon. So we had standing room only for this particular one. It was really good.
[00:32:39.66] Wayzgoose brought 2,600 people to Downtown. And I think you'll be interested in knowing that we will host the National Amalgamated Printer's Association Wayz-- I got it, didn't I?-- Association Wayzgoose in June of this year, which will be huge.
[00:32:56.92] LINH SONG: Yeah.
[00:32:57.41] JOSIE B. PARKER: Huge. The Wayzgoose included an event at Ann Arbor Arts Center with Amos Kennedy, who is a letterpress artist who's amazing. And if you want to see his work, it is hanging at the Ann Arbor Art Center still.
[00:33:17.75] ELI NEIBURGER: It's down.
[00:33:18.39] JOSIE B. PARKER: It's down now? That's too bad. It was in here for the last Board meeting. And then that was letterpress printing on old maps of certain states that have a political and a historical meaning to segregation and racism and his words, and the words he used. It was amazing. So it was incredible.
[00:33:44.40] We hosted Dia de La Familia here. And we had about 275 people in attendance here at the Downtown library. This is something we do. We trade off locations each year with Ypsi District Library. Eli and I are working with a Stamps School class. The topic is art in social spaces. And there are seven projects. Did we go down from nine to seven? I think so.
[00:34:14.82] ELI NEIBURGER: It's a little unclear.
[00:34:15.84] JOSIE B. PARKER: Yeah. It's a U of M class. So We're having good-- it's an undergraduate class, so it's interesting all the way around. They are looking at putting temporary art installations in this library and in a number of places. And we've been working with them on what those spaces are, what can be in the building safely, and where. And so they'll be here tomorrow with us in the morning looking at the spaces again and showing us, I think, some mockups of what they're talking about doing.
[00:34:45.69] They'll install them in November, and they'll be here until sometime in December, unless they hold up for longer, depending upon--
[00:34:55.99] [CHUCKLING]
[00:34:56.85] --how they're made, and how many hands touch them, and that sort of thing. So it was something that the professors were very interested in our being involved because we have the most public spaces. And the students had to understand about sharp edges, materials. You know, if you want to do something in the youth department., what do they have to take into consideration and that sort of thing.
[00:35:21.61] So it's been so far very fun and interesting. So you won't miss them if you come in in November, because they're hanging them, some of them, in some very obvious places. So we're doing that.
[00:35:35.64] AADL volunteers are amazing. You should know there were 500-plus volunteers so far involved in our volunteer efforts, 169 people during summer. The hours of service are there. They assisted at over 164 programs. And the major, major, major thing we thank them for is they packed over 3,000 Summer Game shop orders, which is a huge amount of work, very laborious, and not all that exciting.
[00:36:02.13] But they try to have fun while they're doing it. And it looks like they do. And I want to thank Shoshana, who it sitting in the back row, for coordinating and organizing the library's volunteers. So I just want to make sure you get recognized.
[00:36:17.06] We did have the RFP looked at by Bill Stapleton from Hooper Hathaway for a coffee shop. He gave us back a couple of edits that were different from the RFP that we did on a coffee shop for Westgate. And it's more about its location in this building than it is anything else. So we are prepared to put it out and see what happens. And we wanted to make sure before we do that if there was a conversation that needed to happen still about that, we're here to do that.
[00:36:53.30] The summary of the staff comments, the second grade visits-- is that where I am? No. Yes, I am. Right-- the second grade visits have begun. Kids from Steiner Lower school paid us a visit last week and walked away with their books, their bags, and their library cards.
[00:37:12.65] Australian fantasy author Garth Nix was here. He's just one of more than a dozen authors appearing at the ADL in October. He's posing with a big fan, taking a selfie. And he packed the lobbytorium And as you can see, he was happy about that.
[00:37:27.13] The AADL's drag bingo was a ton of fun, with Jadein Black as the caller and a packed MPR waiting to shout bingo. One happy family took this photo after the event. So we wanted to make sure you saw that.
[00:37:39.85] This caption from Westgate reads, less than 48 hours in Ann Arbor, and I've already visited two library branches. This is just one of the many inviting spaces at the Westgate location, which is sure to become a happy place for me. I can't wait to get a library card.
[00:37:55.29] Play date at the library. And even Teddy bears participate in yoga for kids.
[00:38:01.88] JAMIE VANDER BROEK: Awww. Cool.
[00:38:04.83] JOSIE B. PARKER: The A2 Skatepark met in one of our meeting rooms to welcome a new youth member and talk about upcoming plans. This is one of the worst meeting rooms in the whole library--
[00:38:14.73] [LAUGHTER]
[00:38:15.60] --and they still met there. This is in the Downtown branch. And it's one of those that we're trying to make a little nicer and better. But that's upstairs on the second floor.
[00:38:29.60] This is a fall photo from the Mallett's rain garden with caption, my new favorite grant writing spot, from someone. And the other thing I just wanted to bring your attention is a comment that I answered at the end in my Director's Report. You probably have seen it, and if you haven't, you're about to hear me say, there's been a trend in public libraries to eliminate fines.
[00:38:56.03] And I had a person ask me about an article in the Wall Street Journal and asked me about this library's position on that. And I wanted to-- you can see what I answered. But I also wanted to say to you why we don't eliminate fines and have this opportunity if we need a conversation about it further, then we should have one. But if I'm answering these questions, you should know too what I'm saying to people.
[00:39:23.78] First of all, the amount of fine-- the amount of cards-- we have 58,000 active cards, meaning people have used a card within the last two years. Less than 3% of those are blocked due to fines. Correct? Or am I correct? Less than 3% of those, which is a very small number.
[00:39:47.31] The fine revenue here compared to the full amount of the budget at the end of last year was less than $200,000 in fine revenue in a 16-something million dollar budget. So what that says to me is that we're doing some other things really right.
[00:40:05.67] And what we're doing right is we're waiving fines. Prior to this, in the last year, when we talked to you about changing the circulation policies, we were able to tell you when we were using Millennium system that we had waived about $200,000 in fines that year. We also eliminated all the fines when we moved over to Evergreen.
[00:40:24.96] It's a little harder in Evergreen to determine that number. So I'm not giving it to you right now. We have empowered everyone on the desk to waive fines, whenever they can, to waive the overdue fines. And we do. And we keep doing it, and we keep doing it.
[00:40:41.53] The thing, what fines do is it reminds a person who uses the library they're borrowing it. And when we borrow something, we bring it back. And two things that fines do. It helps us with our wait list, our holds lists, getting material back. It also brings material back in the library that serves the browser's experience.
[00:41:08.43] So the fine revenue is not about the library. It's not about punitive. It's not about our bottom line. It's not about being rule-oriented. It's about the other person who wants what you've borrowed the next time it comes back in.
[00:41:23.94] The other thing I want to say about this movement to drop fines is if there is a very ugly, dark side to that that isn't talked about. And I'm going to give you two examples. And these are two that have been very well written about so far. And I'm not beating up on any library. These are documented facts that you can go out find on their websites,.
[00:41:51.74] In our system, for an item to be considered lost, it has to be 45 days overdue. 45 days overdue for it to be lost, before we decide that you owe us the money for that object. That's not about the fines, because if we get it back, we waive all the fines, right? We do that.
[00:42:13.79] In the system, in one system just south of us over the border, the time frame for calling something lost is two weeks from due date. Two weeks. The amount of money being held up by the library's dropping fines is far greater on that side of things than being able to waive the fine. So it's far more punitive.
[00:42:44.01] And Chicago, it's three weeks. You're going to be charged for the item if it's overdue. What Chicago has done, though, is a little bit like what we've done by offering people unlimited renewals, which we did years ago. Chicago now does 15 renewals automatically before somebody is overdue.
[00:43:07.50] But once they are, they have three weeks and it's called lost. And then it's the price of the material plus the replacement fee on top of it. And if you've got multiple things on your card, that can be a lot of money fast. So we are approaching this in a very different way. And we think because of the low percentage of people who use their cards who are in this position that our ability to manage this way is fairer and more compassionate.
[00:43:38.49] The other thing that you probably all know is this library gives all the staff who work the desk full authority to waive fines. It's totally within their ability to make that decision and waive a fine, and there's no question asked about it. So we do that. And then I wanted you to hear me talk about this from both sides of this to understand why this library has not gone down that path.
[00:44:06.00] It's important to get the material back. It's important as stewards of public goods to get the material back so that the next person can borrow it. And that's what we're trying to do.
[00:44:17.55] COLLEEN SHERMAN: Do we document our policy about fine waivers?
[00:44:21.14] ELI NEIBURGER: It's not a policy.
[00:44:22.46] JOSIE B. PARKER: It's not a policy. It's procedure. It's part of our acting, our procedure.
[00:44:27.43] COLLEEN SHERMAN: So people don't know that.
[00:44:29.20] JOSIE B. PARKER: So that's the dilemma, right?
[00:44:30.41] COLLEEN SHERMAN: Yeah, I appreciate that.
[00:44:30.66] JOSIE B. PARKER: So do you say to the world, we're going to waive all your fines? Or do you just make it happen?
[00:44:36.30] JAMIE VANDER BROEK: I was thinking about that, Josie. I guess the one coming I wrote down down is, the one thing is the one kid who would never think to come up to the desk, and might keep it secret that they, or not even honestly remember, and then the family all of a sudden gets a collection bill-- speaking as someone who has gotten a collection bill from the library--
[00:44:56.40] [LAUGHTER]
[00:44:57.24] I'm telling you all. I'm totally this person who has books all the time. And I always have fines. I don't mind paying them. I'm not anti-fine. But what do you do about the handful of people who might end up in a bind?
[00:45:11.70] JOSIE B. PARKER: Well, I waived $300 today in lost material fees for a gentleman who's homebound now. And what he wouldn't say, but what I could hear in the conversation, was that someone who cared for him took it.
[00:45:30.04] JAMIE VANDER BROEK: Oh.
[00:45:31.23] JOSIE B. PARKER: And he felt compelled to-- he wanted to pay it off by the month. And I said, that's not required at all.
[00:45:36.79] VICTORIA GREEN: Yeah
[00:45:37.10] JAMIE VANDER BROEK: Yeah.
[00:45:37.58] JOSIE B. PARKER: No, it's gone. It's done. It's over. And I don't want you to lose your ability to use the library. And we're good. We're good. Now that's considered a lot of money in our world.
[00:45:50.32] JAMIE VANDER BROEK: Yeah, I would think so.
[00:45:50.68] JOSIE B. PARKER: And so those calls usually come to me. It is very rare for me to not do that. I think that the family-- children's cards do not get letters.
[00:46:06.90] JAMIE VANDER BROEK: They don't?
[00:46:07.79] JIM LEIJA: Collections.
[00:46:08.19] JAMIE VANDER BROEK: Oh, OK.
[00:46:08.88] JOSIE B. PARKER: No, they do not.
[00:46:09.63] JAMIE VANDER BROEK: That answers my question then. I think I feel differently.
[00:46:11.77] JOSIE B. PARKER: No, they do not. Because children are not why their material did not come back to the library on time.
[00:46:17.43] JAMIE VANDER BROEK: Well, right.
[00:46:17.85] JOSIE B. PARKER: People who took it out with them, and who get them back and forth to the library, or get them here are-- little children, little children. So we don't send children's cards. They don't go that way.
[00:46:30.85] JAMIE VANDER BROEK: OK, cool. That answers my question.
[00:46:32.48] LINH SONG: But is this, with the second grade field trips coming through, is this a message--
[00:46:35.94] JOSIE B. PARKER: Yeah, absolutely.
[00:46:36.90] LINH SONG: --the kids are getting too?
[00:46:38.76] JOSIE B. PARKER: They talk about their borrowing it. They talk about they have to bring it back. They are told about the fines. All of the outreach we do to all the groups in town that their country's public library service is not a tradition, it's talked about in terms of how it works. And that while it's borrow, it's, you can come and get it, you can't keep it past a certain point in time.
[00:47:02.66] Remember, too, we do the pre-notice of overdue and the due dates. It's three days ahead of time. I think without taking that librarian hat, and I don't want to be that pointy-finger librarian, but there is a responsibility of when you borrow that you bring it back, and that we talk about that without it being a heavy part of a message.
[00:47:29.60] But there will always be, I think, Jamie, that family, who doesn't come back in because of they owe and they don't want to walk back into a place where they owe. And by pushing it out as far as we do-- and they get three letters. And it said in the letter, call the library. Talk to the library.
[00:47:56.60] And another thing you all should know is the public libraries in Michigan are not able to actually-- this is not against someone's credit in Michigan any longer. So it doesn't affect a person's credit. It did 20 years ago, but it doesn't now. That help?
[00:48:12.60] JAMIE VANDER BROEK: Oh, it totally helps. And I did appreciate that it didn't affect my credit.
[00:48:15.49] [LAUGHTER]
[00:48:17.43] JOSIE B. PARKER: I'm glad. Anything else?
[00:48:21.15] LINH SONG: Well, I know when we lost the Katy Perry CD, it's become legend in our household. It's our frame of reference for how to be responsible library patrons. We can't let that happen again, in case there are other Katy Perry fans just waiting for another, another copy.
[00:48:37.62] JOSIE B. PARKER: It's under the car seat. It's always under the car seat or in the dog bed.
[00:48:42.81] LINH SONG: You know, it was under my husband's card too. So he was so embarrassed. He had to say it was actually our 9-year-old. So--
[00:48:49.38] JOSIE B. PARKER: Thank you.
[00:48:49.92] LINH SONG: Yes. Thank you.
[00:48:51.45] JOSIE B. PARKER: I wanted that discussion so you would hear me say why we are not going down that path.
[00:48:58.90] LINH SONG: Brilliant. Thank you, Josie.
[00:48:59.88] JOSIE B. PARKER: Thank you.
[00:49:01.14] LINH SONG: Moving-- well, Josie, you're up again.
[00:49:02.77] JOSIE B. PARKER: I am.

[00:49:04.65] LINH SONG: We're going to get an update on construction projects. And then with Len being out, being sick.
[00:49:09.66] JOSIE B. PARKER: Right. So Pittsfield relabeling is on schedule. Actually, we learned today it's a little ahead of schedule, which is really great. The more we do that, the faster that goes in moving things over to the category system from the Dewey system. So the staff are down there daily working on bringing that collection up with those labeling.
[00:49:29.93] The electrical work is being done this week and next week at Pittsfield branch, so that's part of the process. We'll be ready to open it on time. So the Traverwood schedule closer will be announced after Pittsfield reopens, which we talked about earlier.
[00:49:46.71] The fourth floor meeting room, final drawings have been approved. And that work is out for bid.
[00:49:51.39] LINH SONG: Oh, great.
[00:49:52.05] JOSIE B. PARKER: So we don't have anything for you this evening, which is good, because I'm glad. Because Len would have been the right person to bring it to you. But when we get those bids and we've reviewed them, we'll bring them forward to you.
[00:50:03.06] We're still waiting for budget numbers from O'Neill on the generators, on all of them in that project. And when we get that, I think Len's getting pretty frustrated with the delay. So I expect you'll see something in November on those.
[00:50:18.46] LINH SONG: And that's a sizable cost.
[00:50:20.19] JOSIE B. PARKER: That's a lot of money.
[00:50:21.03] LINH SONG: Right.
[00:50:21.49] JOSIE B. PARKER: Yes, it is. It's a lot of money. But it's that question of a place for people to be when there's no power in huge neighborhoods if the library can be open. And it also is going to save us money on damage to our infrastructure, because of what's happening to the-- when those power surges happen, we're spending thousands of dollars on repairs because of that. So these generators will resolve that.
[00:50:51.70] LINH SONG: Great.
[00:50:53.66] JOSIE B. PARKER: Any questions for me?
[00:50:55.47] VICTORIA GREEN: I had a question about another issue, Josie. Last time we talked about yet another sewage issue in the Downtown Branch. And we were going to get a new part. Am I remembering my pieces correctly?
[00:51:10.41] JOSIE B. PARKER: Umm-- Yes.
[00:51:11.46] VICTORIA GREEN: And has that work been completed?
[00:51:14.28] JOSIE B. PARKER: For that repair project, yes. For the long-term--
[00:51:19.41] VICTORIA GREEN: Yes, yes.
[00:51:20.48] JOSIE B. PARKER: For the long-term change, no. But for the repair part, yes. I'm confirming with Eli, because I'm understanding your question. I just-- no, we have not made the big change. That's another number that will have to come to you.
[00:51:33.49] VICTORIA GREEN: Right, yup.
[00:51:34.86] LINH SONG: And are these parts that-- will they be manufactured forever? Is there a point where we start stocking up on things in advance?
[00:51:44.38] JOSIE B. PARKER: Well, I think Len will tell you--
[00:51:46.63] JIM LEIJA: Len said that.
[00:51:47.38] JOSIE B. PARKER: --that he's going to stock up.
[00:51:48.13] LINH SONG: OK.
[00:51:48.47] VICTORIA GREEN: Yeah, he does.
[00:51:49.35] JOSIE B. PARKER: As a matter of fact, he did. On this go round, there's an extra one. And so I think Len would tell you, yes, he's going to stock up on that. Yeah.
[00:51:59.78] LINH SONG: OK.
[00:52:00.39] JOSIE B. PARKER: Thank you for asking.

[00:52:03.50] LINH SONG: Great. We are to the end of our meeting. That was super fast. We had no resolutions tonight, so great. Do we have any other? Do we have any citizens' comments? Anyone moved to the podium? Great.

[00:52:26.66] All right. Well, with that, we're in adjournment. Thank you.
[00:52:29.65] [GAVEL RAPPING]
[00:52:31.30] SPEAKER 1: This program was recorded on October 21, 2019, at the Ann Arbor District Library.

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October 21, 2019

Length: 00:52:33

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AADL Board Meeting