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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1998-03-10 PLB MINUTES• Call To Order I Roll Call 3400 South El ati Street, E nglewoo d , CO 80110 303-762-2560 Vo ic e 303-762-2576 FAX Minutes Englewood Public Library Board March 10, 1998 The meeting of the Englewood Public Library Board was called to order by Chairperson , Bervette Williams, at 7:03 p.m. PRESENT: M. Dounay, M . Giffin, S. O'Leary , L. Parkinson, S. Smithers , B. Williams, Youth Member, Mike Heberling , and Youth Member, Summer Witt. REGRETS: S. Ostema and Council Member, L. Clapp. ALSO PRESENT: Hank Long, Library Director, and Joan Clayton, Recording Secretary. Ms. Clayton noted a correction to the January 13 , 1998 Minutes. Ruth Greiner's name was omitted from Regrets and needed to be added. • 98 - 4 Motion: That the minutes of the Library Board meeting of January 13, 1998 be accepted as amended. Moved by: Sonie Smithers Seconded by Mary Dounay The Motion passed 5 Ayes. Mr. Parkinson abstained , as he was not present at the January meeting. Ms. Williams welcomed Mr. Lou Parkinson to the Library Board. Mr. Parkinson retired as Municipal Judge from the City of Englewood in December of 1997. Ms. Smithers reported for the Friends of the Library. The Friends will be having a Bake Sale on Friday , April 3 from 10 a.m. - 4 p.m. All were invited to bake and buy. All profits will benefit children 's services. The Friends are beginning to plan a cookbook to be available in 1999. Staff, Board Members, volunteers and Friends will be asked to submit tried and true family recipes. Forms for recipes will soon be available. The committee is asking that those submitting recipes not just copy recipes from books but turn in only those they have personally used. Personal notes will also be included with the recipes. The Friends ' meetings have increased in size with more people and workers. Ms. Williams spoke about the Book Drop Off at the Foley 's building scheduled for Saturday, March 28 from 9 a .m. -noon. Friends will be .present to accept book donations . The books will then be stored in the Foley 's building until the Sale in June. A list of dates when the Friends will be sorting books for the Sale will be forthcoming. Beginning Sat., May 30th through Friday , June 5th the conference rooms will be available for sorting and setting up for the sale . There will be a preview party for Friends members and City Hall staff from 4 p.m. - 8 p.m. on Friday, June 5. On Saturday, June 6 the Page 2 • sale will be open to the public from 10 a.m . -4 p.m. On Sunday , June 7 the sale will be from 10 a.m . -noon, closing from noon until 1 p.m. and reopening at 1 p.m. for the "Bag Sale". During the entire Book Sale there will be a silent auction of select books of value. Bill Clayton , as one of the co-chairs of the Book Sale, suggested a dedicated phone line for the Friends Book Sale information. From this suggestion the Library Information Line has evolved creating a change of phone numbers for the Library. The information Line will be 762-2560 and Library Administration's number will change to 762-2572. Mr. Long reported that the John Dunning program , held Saturday, March t h, that was sponsored by the Friends had been very well attended . Mr. Dunning talked about evaluating books for value. Several attendees brought books for Mr. Dunning to evaluate. The next Book Discussion Group will be held on Tuesday, March 31. The book to be discussed is , "The Notebook" by Nicholas Sparks. Ms. Dounay said that there is no real Save the Bookmobile Committee that meets on a regular basis. The Committee had grown out of a need to "save the bookmobile " and now that the Bookmobile has been saved , there does not seem to be a need to meet. The Bookmobile stop at Clayton Elementary has grown to be an extremely active one. The volunteers are supportive. Ms . Dounay said there has been no need for her to call substitutes for quite a while which is always a sign that things are going well. Mr. Long asked if the Committee .would consider giving some of the balance of the Bookmobile account towards the Summer Reading Program for the summer of 1998 . Ms. Dounay said that she would take the request back to the Committee. Ms. O 'Leary said that the last meeting of the Cultural Arts Commission was the best one she had attended. The Commission is working on art in public places. Currently the Commission is working with City Attorney , Dan Brotzman on a contract for the placement of art in public places. There is a call for art to be placed at the RTD stop here in Englewood. It was announced at the Cultural Arts Commission meeting that the City had purchased the Gothic Theater. Mr. Long said that he is part of the Committee from the City to work on ideas for development. Ms. O 'Leary said she has a conflict on Commission nights with her son 's Cub Scout meetings . She is having to leave the Cultural Arts Commission meetings early in order to take her son to his meeting. The Board indicated that they had no problem with Ms. O'Leary leaving the meetings early to take her son to his Cub Scout meeting. Mr. Long asked if there were any questions regarding the Volunteer Reception . The majority of the cups given to the volunteers have been handed out. Ms. Smithers said she thought the reception had gone very well. All those who worked on the reception were thanked. Mr. Long noted that the number of volunteer hours are ahead of those hours in 1997. Mr. Long said he is very proud of all the volunteers in every facet of the Library operation . • There was a brief discussion about the number of patrons in the Library and why that number has gone down. It was pointed out that there isn 't any nearby draw, like Cinderella City to bring patrons to the area and then into the Library . When Cinderella City was open and had active businesses then the number of patrons in the Library was much higher. There is considerable feeling on the part of the staff that the patron counter previously used may not have been accurate. The new security systems ' counter is slightly different and uses different Page 3 •controls. The difference in number of items checked out is not that different from this time last year. Ms . Giffin reported as chair of the committee to examine two challenged books. Ms. Giffin passed out a brief overview. A discussion followed of the entire Board. Ms. Giffin gave a brief history of the challenge tor Mr. Parkinson's benefit. Ms. Giffin said that her personal opinion was that one of the books was not appropriate tor the juvenile area , but her professional opinion was the same as the committee. The Committee unanimously recommended that both books be retained on the shelves in the juvenile area. 98 -5 Motion: The Board recommends that the two challenged books remain on the shelf in the juvenile section of the Library . Moved by Margaret Giffin Seconded by Sonie Smithers The Motion passed unanimously . Mr. Long passed out the most recent information he has received from GuardiaNet, (see attached). Mr. Long then gave, tor the benefit of Mr. Parkinson , a brief overview of the Internet since it was installed in the Library in January of 1997 until the present , beginning with the • Board's decision , after much debate to install tilters on 2 Internet terminals in the Children's area and placing 6 other terminals without tilters in the adult area. A practice was put into place awaiting the decision of the U.S . Supreme Court regarding the Communications Decency Act before approving a formal policy. This practice included staff watching tor the display of inappropriate picture on the screens . When this occurred the patron was asked to exit the site and I or leave the Library. This practice was used a handful of times in the first 6 - 7 months of having the Internet. In August of 1997 a patron had a problem with access to pornographic sites and went to his City Council person who referred him to the Library Board. This individual came to the Board meeting in September with his complaint. The same individual later met with Mr. Long and discussed the issue. In the meantime City Council person Clapp brought forth tor discussion at a City Council meeting , potential access to sexually explicit Web sites. In November a special meeting of the Library Board was held in order to gather public comment. In early December Mr. Long , Ms. Giffin , City Attorney Dan Brotzman and Council Member Clapp attended an Internet Conference in Washington , D.C. The conference examined the issue from a wide variety of viewpoints. At the conference Mr. Long saw the GuardiaNet product which he felt might address the concerns of the groups disturbed by the easy access to pornographic sites on the Internet and those concerned with First amendment rights. The product using software with a type of "smart card ", is aimed at the home market, but the company felt there existed the possibility to adapt it to the public sector. This is what M r. Long is currently pursuing , under the Board's direction , with GuardiaNet. Costs and other factors are currently being collected tor evaluation. Once these tacts are fully known , then Mr. Long will bring a proposal to the Board tor action. Mr. Long went on to explain • he felt that this system could give parents an opportunity to choose tor their own child. Costs of the system will need to be addressed with regard to additional staff time that will be required in order to implement the system. Ms. Smithers said that she felt there was nothing else tor the Board to discuss until more tacts are known . Mr. Parkinson said that who decides what is " pornography" has never been looked upon favorably from a historical viewpoint. Page 4 .Ms. Williams said she is concerned about the 2 vacancies created by the resignations of Ame Leonard and Ruth Greiner. If any Board Member knows of someone who would be interested in serving on the Board, please ask them to get an application form the City manager's office. It is unclear at this time when the vacancies will be filled by City Council. Mr. Long said that he recently arranged for advertisements for the Library to appear in the final 2 issues of the Englewood High School newspaper, "The Pirateer". Claudia Tomass recently began as the new 30 hour a week Children's Services Librarian. On Wednesday, April 15 the Library will be open until 11 p.m. for Tax Night. Darrell Chayne , volunteer coordinator is asking for volunteers for 2 hour shifts, beginning Fri., April 1 Oto help with patrons needing forms, copies of forms and general help. On Tax Night Latte Daze will be open to provide coffee and food to those who come in for help. Mr. Long reminded those present of the Englewood School District Art Show currently going on in the Library. Many good comments have been heard about the art on display. Member's Choice Ms. Smithers said she has once again retired . She is no longer working for the Chamber of .Commerce. Ms. Dounay said she had recently attended the Englewood High School play and thought it was very well done . She commented that Mr. Heberling had done a good job in his part in the play. A copy of the play's program was passed around the table. Ms. Dounay asked if it would be possible for the Library Board to do a walk through of the Foley 's building. Mr. Long said he would check on this. Ms. Witt said she was looking forward to Spring Break in 2 weeks. Ms. Giffin said she has learned that the Sheridan School District has been awarded 2 grants that she had written in December. The grants are in collaboration with the Sheridan Schools, the Englewood Public Library and the Littleton Historical Museum. Ms. O'Leary commented that she thought the possibility of future cooperation between the Library and the high school regarding joint sponsorship of public programs is exciting. Ms. Clayton said her daughter, Jennifer will be going to Galway in Ireland next year for her second semester. All present congratulated Jennifer. Mr. Long said he and Ms. Tatum will be meeting with Dr. Jim Walpole of Englewood Schools to discuss summer reading programs at the Library . • Mr. Heberling said the play had been fun. He added that he thought the play was the best one ever done at Englewood. Swimming season had gone well. Rehearsals for "Arsenic and Old Lace " will begin soon. Page 5 •Mr. Parkinson said he was glad to be on the Board. He said he wants to learn more about what a library does, how the books are selected, the criteria of collection development. He thanked Mr. Long for taking the time to bring him up to speed on the Internet issued and background. There being no further business the meeting was adjourned at 9 p.m. 3/98jc • •