HomeMy WebLinkAbout1991-04-09 PLB MINUTESEng1ewood PubJic Library
3400 S . Elati St ., Englewood, CO 8011O(303)762-2560
MINUTES
Englewood Public library Board
April 9, 1991
The regular meeting of the Englewood Public Library Board was called to order at 7 :30 by Chairman John
Peter·son .
PRESENT : John Peterson-;-Larilyn Ashlock, Jeff bavis, Mary Dounay, Deryl Gease, Rachel Stoddar·d,
Dorothy Totten, Valerie Williams.
REGRETS : Doug Cohn
ALSO PRESENT : Hank Long , Library Director; Alex Habenicht, City Council Representative to the Board
Roll call was taken and a quorum declared present. Ms . Tatton brought the refreshment for the meeting. Mr.
Long mentioned that Donna Gottberg, Recording Secretary, was ill and that he would be taking the minutes.
Old Business:
Chairman Peterson asked for approval of the minutes of the last meeting of the Library Board .
91-12 MOTION: That the Minutes from the meeting of March l 2, 1'991 be approved as presented.
Moved by: Mary Dounay
Seconred by: Deryl Gease
Motion carr1ed.
There were no sheduled or unscheduled visitors.
New Business:
Chairman Peterson turned the meeting over to Hank Long, for the Library Director's Report.
Director Long informed the Board that he and Pat White (Servicenter Superintenrent) would be flying to
Columbus and Canton, Ohio (April 17-19) to visit the two companies that submitted proposals for the new
Bookmobile (Ohio Bus Sales and Farber Specialty Vehicles) along with several of the libraries to whom they
have sold vehicles. The purpose of this trip is to gather final information before making a recommendation to
the City for award of contract for the new Bookmobile. Mr. Long also mentioned that he planned to have a
contest for the children in Enolewoo:I to name the new vehicle once it arrives. He will be checking with
Worner Brother~ to~ obout continuing to u5e the norne "Rood Runner" in cose thot norne is ::;elected .
Director Long mentioned that the new version of Dynix software (Release 120) is due to be loaded onto the
Library 's PRIME computer triis week . It r1ad or·iginally been scheduled for the previous week, but that
mechanical problems caused the deay .
Director Long passed around a sample of trie paperback books that have been sent to Swedish Hospital as part
of the Library's "lending library." These materials are selected from donations given to the Library, and
only after Library staff have first checked the materials for possible addition to EPL's collection . He also
reported that the "lending library" is being expanded to include three nursing homes in the community
(Julia Temple Nur s ing Home, Cherry Hills Nursing Home, and Cherry Park Health Care), t hanks to the
effort of Circulation Supervisor , LeiOma Koestner .
Director Long distributed copies of the Library's current "Room Use Pol icy", along with a draft of proposed
changes to this poli cy that would allow "rental .. of the two rooms by for-profit groups when they are not
being used by City, City-related, or local non-profit organizations. The new policy would also clarify the
responsibilities and requ i rements for use of the rooms by all groups. The Board will review the draft po l icy
and discuss the proposed changes at its next s-cheduled meeting on May 14.
Director Long asked if anyone from the Library Board planned t o attend the annual conference of the
American Library Association, to be held in Atlanta from June 29 to July 4 (he wi 11 be attending). The
Board agreed to consider the matter and discuss it further at its May 14th meeting.
Director Long talked briefly about tr1e possibility of forming a "Friends of the Engtewood Public Library"
group in the local community and the fact that there have been several attempts at this in years past. He
asked for a comm i ttee of three Board members to meet with him over the coming weeks to review the pros
and cons of forming such a group, along with suggestions on how it might be structured. He has some
information from other· l i braries regarding the structure, responsibil i ties, and limits of t hei r Fr·iends
groups and will be gathering additional information for review by the Board committee . The Board agreed
with the idea and appointed Jeff Davis, Deryl Gease, and Rachel Stodddard to serve on this committee wh i ch
will make its recommendations to the Board at a future meeting. All Board members are invited to provide
input to the committee about their feelings on this subject.
Di rector Long reminded the Board about their previous approval of hi s suggestion for tr1e purchase and sale
of "cloth book bags" to the public. These wou l d be purchased from the Library's "Gifts and Trust Fund " and
the money would go back into that account to restock the bags . He has examined bags fr-om several out-of-
state companies, but is still trying to locate one i n Englewood (or at least, in Colorado) that ca n prov i de them
at the price and quality needed. He then presented the Board with four possible "graphics" that would be
screened onto the cloth bags (in City green) and asked them to select one. He will take the one that they chose
(see attached rough draft) and send it to Englewood Carbon Copy for final "camera-ready copy ."
Director Long mentioned that he had placed an order for the 300 computer "shareware" programs that he had
discussed with the Board at earlier meetings. These IBM (MS-DOS) programs, along with backup copies,
will be cataloged and ma:le available for free checkout to the public. They will consist of a variety of
subjects , e.g. spreadsheets, word processing, home finace, etc. These have proven very popular with
patrons at the Vail and the Aurora public libraries, end EPL has received inquiries/requests to make them
available here. Patrons will be able to make their own copies of the programs under the "shareware"
concept.
Director Long passed around copies of the new "Preschool Story Times" handout for 3 -5 year olds. He
pointed out the new "Pajama Stories" program that will be held on Thursdays at 7 :00 p.m. The Board
suggested sending copies to the local churches for their "parents day off" programs and to the Rocky Mountain
News and Denver Post for their community information columns .
Director Long also mentioned that the r-1arc~1 budget printout for the L i brary Board Md not yet been run but
would be placed in the members' packets as soon eis it arrives.
Chairperson's Report:
Chairman Peterson thanked Vice-Chairman Larilyn Ashlock for directing the t1arch meeting of the Board
during his absence . He described the recent trip that he and wife Erica took to New York and Paris. He
further noted the upcoming Englewood School Board election and candidate forums in the community.
Members' Choice :
Ms. Stoddard mentioned that she was excited about being a ju~e for the upcoming "Battle of the Books"
program (Director Long is also a judge).
Ms. Dounay mentioned that Englewood Public Schools had-another Boettcher Scholarship winner. Ms. Dounay
also inquired as to how long it would take to get the new Bookmobile once the controct is approved. Director
Long said that it takes from 6 to 8 months to build and deliver a new vehicle from time of contr·act signing.
Mr. Davis mentioned his recent letter in the Englewood Sentinel and added that tr-1ey had made several changes
to the original. He suggested that the Library consider the possibility of getting some well-known authors to
have "autographing parties" in the Library. Director Long said that he has discussed this idea with Mary Lou
Tatum, EPL's Programs Librarian, and that they were exploring their options in this area with possible co-
sponsorship by one of the local bookstores. Mr. Davis further suggested that it might be possible to put the
new Bookmobile on display at Cinderella City for a short while after its initial arrival for the public to
exemine. Director Long said thet he would check into this with the mall .
Ms. Ashlock mentioned that she would like to discuss "volunteer opportunities the Library" at an upcoming
Board meeting. She also said that she would like to re-examine the Library's current policy of providing
income tax forms for the public, i .e. whether to continue providing tr1em at all if we can't provide fill forms.
Discussion of the pros and cons followed, with the decision to discuss the matter in more detail at an
upcoming meeting. Ms . Ashlock also asked Director Long if he knew of any reason for the drop in circulation
statistics at Alice Terry School, and Director Long replied that he had no answer for the trend.
Mr. Gease mentioned that he was upset by the recent Supreme Court decision regarding acceptance of coerced
confessions into a court of law and by the current shift to "political correctness" that seems prevalent on
college campuses. He said that he was concerned about how these trends might lead to attempted censorship of
1 i brary books.
Committee Reports:
There were none.
Statistical Report for March. 1991 :
Other than the question about statistics at Alice Terry School, there was no discussion on the Statistical
Report.
All agenda items being covered, the meeting was adjourned at 9 : 15 p.m .
4/ 11 /91 HL