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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1993-02-09 PLB MINUTES• 1°1•1 i.!j:: i:!iti :11;11 j•;i1' ·'?·! l!ill: iit1; llil,j jl,1:1 •t :II Eng 1 e wood Pub 1 i c Library 111!1! 3400 S . Elati St ., En9lewood, CO 80110 (303)762-2560 i!l!:: ...---------~!·•':; Minutes Englewood Public Library Board February 9, 1993 The regular meeting of the Englewood Public Library Board was called to order by Chair Larilyn Ashlock at 7:05 p. m. PRESENT: Larilyn Ashlock, Rachel Stoddard, Marilyn Brenengen, Doug Cohn, Mary Dounay, Gloria Ulrich, Valerie Williams, Stephanie Thiessen, Youth Representative, Alex Habenicht, Council Representative to the Board. • REGRETS: Sunday Aigbe, Carolin Atkins • ALSO PRESENT: Hank Long, Library Director, Donna Gottberg, Recording Secretary, Dr. Simon, 8 scouts and Scoutmaster of Troop 92 Roll call was taken and a quorum declared present. There were no unscheduled visitors. Scheduled visitors: Troop 92 and Scoutmaster who came to see how this type of the governmental system works, and Dr. Simon who came to take pictures of the troop. 93-4 MOTION: That the Minutes from the meeting of January 12, 1993 be approved as presented. Moved by: Mary Dounay Seconded by: Gloria Ulrich Motion carried. Chair Ashlock turned the meeting over to Hank Long for the . Director's Report. The committee Mr. Long is on met and came up with suggestions and recommendations for potential changes to the City•s 1993 Budget. This memo will be forwarded to the City Manager·s office. Mr. Long distributed an article a New York library as to its cuts. There was brief discussion. Ms. Dounay asked when the MAS survey would be available to the public? Mr. Long deferred to Ms. Habenicht for an answer. Ms. Habenicht and Council met last Thursday with City Manager Roger Fraser. regarding the study. The City Manager's office is finalizing the information gathered. She does not want to comment at this time, but she does see a need to proceed on our great retail potential for a strong shopping area. The preliminary report is positive over the long term. Discussion followed. When the release is final, a copy could be sent to each Board member. Mr. Long will be sending a survey to all area schools for feedback regarding Bookmobile (stops, times. day and area served) and other EPL services. Mr. Cohn wanted to make a suggestion for raising revenue with the sale of Christmas ornaments (these ornaments can be made in many forms - he thought the horsecar would be of local interest). These can be purchased for $1 and sold for $5. He passed around a sample. He further suggested flyers or bookmarks stating to ·Buy in Englewood.· He further asked if funds could be taken from the Board Budget. One of the Scouts present suggested that City Council could advertise more for Cinderella City. Another suggestion was made for billboard space to be purchase.d, advertising Cinderella City from Evans to Dartmouth along Santa Fe. Ms . Habenicht explained the sensitivity to Government. and the private sector. There are many barriers. It is important for the citizens to understand that the government is listening to the community problems. Decisions made by the Board and suggestions from the Board should be put to the public so they understand how and why cuts need to be made. Director Long would like a list of such recommendations from the Board as he has requested and received from the staff. He read the list received from staff. If you think of anything over the next week, call him or Donna, so these ideas can be forwarded. Ms. Dounay suggested the Boy Scouts make a list of Library related cuts or revenue increased that thought might be of interest. and come back again for discussion . Scouts agreed. Ms. Dounay suggested cutting the Bookmobile to half time . but keep Library open on Sundays. This was not the consensus of the entire Board. Mr. Cohn recommended a salary freeze city-wide. There would be no • • • • • • need for cuts if this would take place . Dr. Simon asked for the floor and stated if the Library presents its cause to a local community group, pointing out what good the program would do for the Library with a dollar figure, they might be responsive. Ms. Dounay would like to get local businesses to advertise through the Library's periodicals. There could be a bookplate on the periodical noting that this was a gift from Blan le and Blan le Co., along with an address and phone number. Sponsorship could be considered one year at a time this way. Other suggestions were cut the book budget, present a wish list to the community, and re-negotiate employee contracts . A list of overall suggerstions is attached for your review and for discussion at next meeting. There was brief discussion on the staff suggestion that the record collection be eliminated. Board supports this recommendation . Mr. Long informed those present that the remaining Board Budget funds from 1992 were transferred to the Library Boole Budget. Mr. Long thanked Ms. Habenicht for the suggestion . This will be an ongoing process at the end of each year. Ms. Dounay was re-appointed to the Board for another 4 years. Ms. Carolin Atkins is the new appointee. She could not attend this evening due to a previous committment . Ms. Atkins replaced Jeff Davis and her term runs to 1997, as does Ms. Dounay's. Mr. Long is awaiting an answer back from the City Attorney regarding insurance questions on the proposed Art Display Policy . . As previously discussed, Mr. Long will send a survey form to each area school principal and teachers. regarding ways the Library and Schools can work together. It was suggested he include parent groups. Mr. Long answered Ms. Ulrich 's concern from the last meeting regarding the Rocketry Association meetings at the Library and its meeting room conflicts. There was no Chair Report. Members' Choice Ms . Brenengen asked if Board members would automatically become members of the Colorado Library Assoc. (CLA)? There was a form from CLA sent to each member. Yes. all Board members become members each year, answered Mr. Long. Ms. Brenengen asked if the Policies and Procedures would be finalized soon? Mr. Long stated there was still work. being done on these at the present time. They will be presented to the Board at a later date. Ms. Dounay had a flyer regarding a Legislative Issues work.shop put on by Central Colorado Library System (CCLS). She asked Mr. Long to let her know if he knows of any bills that could affect Englewood Public Library and she will be glad to make phone calls as needed. Mr. Long will pass along information if input from the Board is needed. Ms. Stoddard was delighted to receive a copy of letter from Jan McCleary. She is very supportive of libraries. Also Ms. Stoddard thanks the Board for having the confidence in her to elect her Vice-Chairman for 1993. Mr. Cohn thought the information mailed earlier on the Library·s upcoming Compensation and Benefits Plan was a good idea . Mr . Cohn asked if Board members vote on the CLA resolutions. They do not, answered Mr. Long. Dr. Simon wanted to know why the Platinum Contributors Club is no longer advertised. That"s a good way to bring revenue in . Mrs. Simon served on this Board for 21 years and they both feel a ·Friends· group is needed. Those members could come to civic club meetings and use this avenue for advertising the library. Mr. Long replied the Platinum Contributors Club is still active. and in fact we recently purchased another plaque to add the names of contributors . He would look. into getting information out to the public for those who do not know of the Club. Mr. Long has put the ·Friends· group on hold at the present time. Initial citizen response was very poor. and interest by the few participants dropped very quickly. Ms. Habenicht mentioned that there were many applicants for the Board positions. and she was sure this was a group of supportive citizens. This group could be contacted to come to the ·Friends· meetings. The Statistics for January 1993 were briefly discussed. Mr. Long is going to check. the placement of the counter on the Book.mobile . He feels this could be the problem with the patron count being low. but the check.outs remaining high. The Library Board Summary Expenditure Report for January was not available for this evening·s meeting. The Board thanked Doug Cohn for having his Scout Troop join us this • • • • • • evening and for serving refreshments . The Board thanked the Scouts for their suggestions and interest in the Library. Meeting adjourned at 8:35 p.m. 2-10-93 dg Library Board Suggestions for Possible Revenue Increases and Costs Reductions by Library and/or City 1 . Reduce Bookmobile schedule by half i n order to reduce costs , continue service , and keep from cutting hours and services at Main Library. 2 . Freeze emp loyee salaries and "cost of living" raises across City for next few years until current economic cris is passes . 3 . Increase Library overdue fines and other charges (e .g . computer usage , video rentals , etc .) 4 . Lease "bill board" space along Santa Fe (Evans to Dartmouth) to promote .all Englewood businesses (e .g . Cinderella City , Broadway corridor, etc .). 5 . Library purchase and sell Christmas ornaments at markup . These brass ornaments can be specially made to reflect the local area (e.g . have the Cherrelyn Horsecar on the front . Apparently Castle Rock did this last year and made money for th~ir city. Board Member Doug Cohn will pursue source and (our) price for these ornaments to see if it's feasible for us to consider a similar option . 6 . Library print and distribute "Shop Englewood" bookmarks. Doug Cohn passed out sample of a flyer that Castle Rock merchants made available this past holiday season (see copy below). 7. Library/City prepare "w ish lists" of needed services/items and make presentations to local civic groups to fund or under-write their costs. 8 . Local businesses could "buy" advertising space on the magazines' plastic covers). This is not a long- term solut ion , but one that might get us through the next couple of years. 9 . City renegotiate employee contracts to reduce costs . 1 O.Reduce Library's annual "book budget" ($99 ,700 for 1993) by 15%. T~is would save $14 ,955 in 1993 . 11 .Develop community support (e.g . establish "Friends" group and promote "Contributors ' Club") to sol icit funds for Library . What does 1t mean in $ to the Town of • Castle Rock when you shop locally? •. -~., l, . ·.~~~.~:f&•;-. Retail sales of $1.5 million generate $30,000 In sales tax revenues for the general fund -enough for a firefighter. This information 1s brought to you by your Castle Rock Chamber of Commerce ~~ .. , SHO AROUND ·THE· RQCK BUY CAS TL E ROCK