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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1997-10-14 PLB MINUTESCall To Order/Roll Call 3400 South Elati Street, Englewood , CO 80110 303-762-2560 Voice 303-762-2576 FAX Minutes Englewood Public Library Board October 14, 1997 The meeting of the Englewood Public Library Board was called to order by Chairperson , Mary Dounay at 7:04 p.m. PRESENT: M . Dounay, M. Giffin, R. Greiner, A . Leonard (left 8:35), S. O'Leary, S. Ostema (left 8:35), S. Smithers, B. Williams, Youth Member, Summer Witt, Youth Member, Mike Heberling and Council Member, A. Habenicht. REGRETS: M. Schwindt. ALSO PRESENT: Unscheduled visitor, Tom Burns, Mayor of Englewood (arrived late , left 8:30), Hank Long, Library Director, and Joan Clayton, Recording Secretary. e 97-28 Motion: That the minutes of the Library Board meeting of September 9, 1997 be accepted as written. Moved by: Sonie Smithers Seconded by Shannon O'Leary 7 Ayes 1 Nay Ms. Smithers reported for the Friends of the Library. The next meeting of the Friends will be on Wednesday, October 22 at 6:30 p .m. The Friends will be having a Bake Sale to benefit Children's Services on Friday, October 31 from 10 a.m. - 4 p.m. and again on Saturday, November 1 from 1 O a.m. - 4 p .m. Ms. Dou nay complimented the Friends group for their sponsorship of the Candidate Forum at Sinclair Middle School that was held on Thursday, October 9. It was unfortunate that more people did not attend. Ms . Ostema reported that the next book discussion group will be held on Tuesday, October 28 when the book, "Plum Island" will be discussed. Ms.Ostema was asked how attendance has been at the book group. She responded that there were usually 3 - 4 people each time. Ms. Dounay reported for the Save the Bookmobile Committee. She sa id that it has been a tough time this fall for the Bookmobile with the driver, Margaret Vogel's illness and the closure for the month of August. Ms. Vogel is now back to work but needs to build up her stamina. 9Vo1unteers have been hard pressed to keep working without the continuity of having Ms. Vogel there each week. Ms. Leonard reported that she has not attended the last Cultural Arts meetings and now finds Page 2 that she will not be able to continue as the liaison for the Library Board to the Cultural Arts Commission . Ms. O 'Leary indicated that she might be interested in being the Library Board Representative. Under the discussion of the monthly statistics and reports Ms . Leonard asked if Internet usage was tracked in such a way as to indicate who is using the Internet. Mr. Long said not at this time. The next item on the Agenda was discussion of the Internet. Ms. Dounay indicated that City Council had been invited to tonight's meeting but Council had declined to attend. City Council had indicated that they would not attend as Ms. Clapp , who was most concerned about Internet use , had been unable to attend tonight's meeting . Ms. Habenicht said she had tried to answer Mr. Vormitag 's questions concerning filtering all information on the Internet as well as Ms. Clapp 's suggestion of having signed permission slips for those under 18. Ms. Habenicht indicated that she had explained that the solution was not a simple one. Ms. Habenicht is forwarding the concerns about the Internet use to the Colorado Municipal League and possibly the National League of Cities who lobbies for issues on a national level. The Board then discussed the pros and cons of having signed permission slips as suggested by Ms . Clapp. The staff time needed to verify signatures on permission slips was brought up as well as how to obtain parent's signatures. Mr. Long said that the system currently in place seemed to be working well. Permission slips for Internet use could adversely affect the staff by creating a negative contact with the public . Mr. Long also indicated that teens , a group who tend to be non -library users , could be negatively affected by being required to produce permission slips. It's hard enough getting them to use libraries anyway . Staff has also indicated a philosophical problem with requiring permission slips for Internet use. These slips would also be staff intensive to administer. Ms. Dounay asked the youth Board members if they cared to share their thoughts about the proposed permission slip policy. Mike Heberling said he felt students doing research would be punished by the use of permission slips as many parents would not sign these slips for a variety of reasons and then research would be unavailable for these students . He further said that he felt parents should be involved with their children and take responsibility for their actions. Summer Witt said she felt it is hard enough to get teens to come in and use the library and that by requiring permission slips teens would feel a lack of trust on the part of the library. Ms. Witt said she also felt that requiring permission slips would keep good students from using the Internet when they in fact are not doing anything improper. Ms. Habenicht said she had talked with Ms . Clapp about the staff time required to deal with permission slips. Ms . Greiner shared that she had discussed the Internet concerns with her family. Ms. Greiner's daughters asked who these people are who are access ing pornography and why are they doing this . Ms. Williams said she felt it is not the library 's role to act in "locus parentis". In addition she feels it would be very hard to patrol the use of permission slips. Ms. Ostema stated she would be very offended if she came into the library and saw pornography on Internet screens . Mr. Long asked if this has occurred and Ms . Ostema said no , but it is available and could happen. Page 3 Mr. Long relayed information from the Colorado Library Association Conference he had attended the previous weekend. In talking to a participant at the conference who is both a librarian and a lawyer it seems that the media has taken hold of the Internet access topic and blown it up. The courts will decide what are the community standards for the community and what will be considered obscene. This is a very difficult issue. Mr. Long explained that the Internet is a tool to be used for gathering information. Mr. Long said that he had had Cyber Patrol installed on his computer so he could do searches and see what is filtered out and what could possibly slip through the filters. Examples of both good filtering and filtering that did not work were used. As with anything the filters are not perfect and some objectionable material will get through. It is necessary to not depend only on technology but to also work with children and educate them in choosing appropriate books, videos, tapes and Internet sites. Mr. Long and others present reminded each other that what is done in a school setting is different than a public library where adults as well as children are served. Ms. Giffin agreed, using her experiences as a substitute in the Sheridan High School media center, which also serves as a branch library of the Arapahoe Library District. Ms. Habenicht spoke to the Internet issue as a private citizen. She passed out copies of articles she had read concerning the Internet in the October 13 th issue of Newsweek. She reiterated that this is a very complex issue and one that the Library Board will be reviewing e policies for a long time. Ms. Ostema said that while she agrees that it is up to parents to take care of their children, she feels that the stance of the Library regarding parental roles, ie., in loco parentis, is assumptive in that the Library assumes parents are responsible enough to make sure their children are protected, particularly since it is not well known just how dangerous pornography I obscenity is on the Internet. Ms. Ostema asked for information regarding damage done by viewing of pornography on the Internet. She was undecided as to what type of information could be considered to address this request. Ms. Ostema felt that the Board needs to show it cares and supports the community desires. By not providing information from psychologists as to damage from viewing pornography she felt the issue is not being addressed. Ms. Dounay briefly recapped what the Library Board has considered and discussed for the benefit of Mayor Tom Burns who had arrived during the Internet discussion as an observer. She related how the Board had voted to have filters for the 2 terminals in the Children's area while leaving the 6 terminals in the adult area unfiltered. The Board felt that the 6 terminals in the adult area were in full view of staff and in close proximity for staff to monitor. In the case of patrons using the Internet improperly, when staff has addressed the situation it was taken care of with no repeat offense. Ms. Dounay went on to say that she felt that permission slips could create a false sense of security. As of now there is no written policy regarding the Internet but that the Board planned to do this at the November meeting. a Ms. Habenicht asked that any policy recognize the problem and she will ask for the support of • Colorado Municipal League and National League of Cities governing bodies to protect the youth. She further asked that the Library Board seriously consider a permission slip, based possibly on the suggestion of Mr. Heberling of opting "out" rather than a permission to use. Page4 Ms. Habenicht said on a personal level she does not like the idea of being monitored as to her use of materials in the Library. Mayor Burns asked to speak to the issue of Council and policy for the Internet. He said that City Council felt that the Library Board needed to address the issue of a policy for the Internet and that they were willing to let the Board do this. Ms. Dounay brought forth for discussion staff appreciation from the Board. Ms. Williams suggested possibly having a coffee during the day instead of a dinner as in the past. It was decided to have a subcommittee meet and plan for some sort of staff appreciation. Ms. Williams, Ms. Greiner and Ms. Smithers indicated they would be willing to serve on this committee. In addition to the staff appreciation Ms. Dounay asked for ideas regarding the volunteer recognition. 97-29 Motion: That volunteer recognition be held on odd years, the next recognition to be held January of 1999. Moved by: Sonie Smithers Seconded by: Bervette Williams The Motion did not pass. 97-30 Motion: That Volunteer recognition be held once a year every year. Moved by: Margaret Giffin Seconded by: Shannon O'Leary The Motion passed unanimously, with Ms. Leonard and Ms. Ostema having left prior to the vote. A committee composed of Ms. Greiner, Ms. Dounay, Mr. Long and Ms. Clayton will work with staff to plan the next volunteer recognition program. Ms. Dounay passed around photos of flowers sent to the Library Board by the Cultural Arts Commission in recognition for the remodeling project. Mr. Long presented a copy of the policy on Public Posting and Distribution of Literature in the Library. In considering a City Policy for public posting and distributing of literature it was found that the Library's policy was in violation of City Policy. Mr. Long worked with Jerrell Black, Acting Assistant City Manager to draft a new City Policy with exceptions for the Library, the Recreation Center, the Malley Center and the Golf Course. In looking at the policy as approved by the Library Board in July of 1997 corrections needed to be made to bring the policy into compliance with City Policy. 97-31 Motion: That the policy on Public Posting and Distribution of literature be approved as amended. Moved by: Sonie Smithers Seconded by: Bervette Williams The motion passed with 6 ayes. Page 5 e Ms. Dounay asked how the Intellectual Freedom Policy of the library would limit access to the Internet if the policy states that the collection is not restricted. Mr. Long said that the Internet is a service provided by the library rather than a part of the collect ion. This means that as a service it would not fall under the collection development policy. City Attorney Brotzman has reviewed the policy and has indicated that there are no problems as the policy is written . There is no way of knowing if the library is protected from the law until it is challenged. Nor is there a way to predict how permission slips for use of the Internet would affect the policy. There are currently 2 books being reviewed for reconsideration by staff. The staff recommendations will be coming to the Board at the next meeting. Mr. Long noted that the same books have been recently challenged at other libraries. There has also been a challenge of a video, in the same series as the video challenged earlier this year. The video is in the process now of review for reconsideration. Member's Choice Ms. Smithers said that the previous weekends Leadership Englewood retreat had been very successful. Ms. O 'Leary who attended as a participant concurred . Mr. Heberling said that the Englewood High School Marching Band had placed first in competition at CSU last weekend . The judges at CSU had commented that the 2 tuba players e sounded like 4 , Mr. Heberling being 1 of the 2 tuba players. Englewood High also placed 4th at regional competition at Littleton High School. Ms . Williams said that there were several Littleton Symphony members who would be interested in coming into the library in the spring to provide music. The cost would be between $100 -200 to have them come. She will work with Mr. Long on this for spring. Ms. Giffin said that she is now doing some library consulting part-time. Ms. Habenicht said she is now a mother-in-law, her daughter's wedding having gone off well. She shared that City Council is working with CRNA Compass group in coming up with a development plan tor Cinderella City. The feasibility of using the Foley's building is being looked at , following a walk through showing the building to be in excellent shape. There is the thought of using Foley 's tor a City Hall , Library, retail and transportation stop. Ms . Dounay passed out copies of the American Library Association magazine which she gets each month as the Board chair. She passed around a thank-you note from Sonie Smithers tor being able to attend a recent workshop on Library Trustees. Flood Middle School will be having a ceremony on November 14 celebrating the school's Blue Ribbon Status. All city Board and Commission members are invited to attend. Mr. Long gave a brief overview of the recent Colorado Library Association conference. e There be ing no further business the meeting was adjourned at 9:20 p.m.