HomeMy WebLinkAbout1998-10-13 PLB MINUTES.. , .
Call To Order/Roll Call
3400 South Elati Stree t , Englewood , CO 80110
303 -762-2560 Voice 303-762-2576 FAX
MINUTES
Englewood Public Library Board
October 13, 1998
The meeting of the Englewood Public Library Board was called to order by Chairperson,
Bervette Williams, at 7:08 p .m.
PRESENT: C. Belt, M. Dounay, L. Parkinson, B. Williams, Youth Member, Mike Heberling, S.
Smithers, and R. Ottoson.
REGRETS: M. Giffin S. O'Leary, Council Member L. Clapp.
ALSO PRESENT: Hank Long, Library Director and Joan Clayton, Recording Secretary.
98-14 Motion: That the minutes of the Library Board meeting of September 8, 1998 be
accepted as written .
tltoved by: Carol Belt
Seconded by: Robin Ottoson
The motion passed unanimously.
The next meeting of the Friends of the Library will be Wednesday, October 28 th . There will be
a brief business meeting at 6:30 followed by a program at 7 p.m. featuring local author,
Shannon Jacobs. Ms. Jacobs will be presenting a program based on her new book titled,
Healers of the Wild: People Who Care for Injured and Orphaned Wildlife.
Ms. Williams reported that the Friends have new bags to be given to new members as well as
pens to be given to renewing members. The Friends are also selling 1999 Book Lover's
calendars as a fund -raiser. The calendars are available at the Circulation Desk . There will be
a Bake sale to benefit Children's Services on Friday , October 23'd from 9:30 a.m. - 3 p .m.
Ms. Dounay reported for the Bookmobile Committee. All is going well, though in the last week
many volunteers were ill with a flu bug.
There was not a formal report from the liaison to the Cultural Arts Committee. Mr. Heberling
reported from the Cultural Arts Committee , as he is the Youth Member to that committee as
well as being the Youth Member to the Library Board. At the last meeting of the Cultural Arts
...... ommittee the Museum of Outdoor Arts gave a presentation of their plan for the use of the
.ley's building cultural arts space. It was stated that the MOA would be paying $1 per year in
rent for the space i n the Foley 's building. In turn the City would be paying $130 ,000 for the art
to be distributed throughout the site from the MOA collection plus an additional $45,000 in "in
kind " services. This would be based on a 20-year contract between the City and MOA. This
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was a synopsis of what was presented to City Council by MOA on Monday, October 12. A •
lengthy discussion of the MOA proposal followed. Mr. Parkinson thanked Mr. Heberling for his
informative report. It was decided that a representative from the Library Board is definitely
needed to the Cultural Arts Commission.
Motion 98 -15: That Bervette Williams be the liaison from the Library Board to the Cultural
Arts Commission.
Moved by: Sonie Smithers
Seconded by: Mary Dounay
The Motion passed unanimously. Ms. Williams accepted the appointment.
There were no comments on either the monthly statistical or financial reports.
Mr. Long passed out a memo regarding the recent Smart Card demonstrations. (see attached
Memo) Mr. Long asked those present to read the memo and his recommendation regarding
the two companies who had done the recent demonstrations . A discussion followed. A
question was raised regarding the number of "incidents" on the Internet terminals. Mr. Long
responded that there was no tracking of the number of patron complaints with regard to other
patrons accessing inappropriate sites; rather, the tracking had been done of the total number
of incident reports given to Mr. Long by staff. When asked about how the staff felt regarding
the use of Smart Cards, Mr. Long said that the majority of staff feel it is the best solution
available to address the problems, given all the available options. He felt that staff, for the •
most part, would approve the recommendation to pursue the use of Smart Cards, as it will
help them do their jobs as librarians instead of serving as "policemen".
Discussion continued about Mr. Long's proposal; i.e. the use of filtering software, funding of
the system, and privacy issues. Mr. Long stated that with the Amazing Controls -GuardiaNet
system, all terminals would be filtered. The filtering system for each terminal would be
dependent upon the individual card user designation of full, partial, limited access. However all
terminals would be filtered for pornography. The initial cost of the system would not come out
of the Library Budget, however all future annual maintenance costs would become a
budgetary item for the Library. Concerns regarding patron privacy were voiced by several of
those present.
Discussion continued with regard to benchmarks for contract talks. If the recommendation
from Mr. Long to proceed with contract talks were accepted, the City Attorney as well as the
Purchasing Department would be involved. When asked if the system could be paid for
through user fees, Mr. Long said that the philosophy of the Library has always been one of
free use and free information.
Motion 98 -16: Moved that Mr. Long pursue further contract negotiations with Amazing
Controls I GuardiaNet to purchase a Smart Card System for the Library.
Moved by: Carol Belt
No Second
The Motion died for lack of a second.
Further discussion followed about Smart Cards. Ms. Dounay asked Mr. Long if the $108,000
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"8)f/ere available to be spent on something else for the Library would he chose to use it for
•mart Cards. Mr. Long said "Probably not". The use of the Smart Card system is a change in
philosophy for the Library staff as it reflects the use of a filtering system as opposed to all
having free access to the Internet.
When asked when Amazing Controls I GuardiaNet could develop a plan, Mr. Long said that it
would probably be February of 1999 before there would be a product available for use.
More discussion ensued. Comments were made about the lack of a decision being made and
why there was so much talk. It was stated that the laws, filters and technology continue to
change so quickly. It was mentioned that the Board could make recommendations to City
Council, but that Council can override and direct that further negotiations take place.
Motion 98 -17: Moved that Mr. Long pursue further negotiations with Amazing Controls I
GuardiaNet to purchase a Smart Card System for the Library.
Moved by: Carol Belt
There was no second. The Motion died for lack of a second.
Motion 98 -18: Moved that a portion of the $108,000 proposed for the purchase of a Smart
Card System be used to hire additional staff to maintain the present policy; • instead of installing a filtering system for all Internet terminals .
Moved by: Mary Dounay
Seconded by: Lou Parkinson
Ayes: 3 Nays: 2 Abstain: 1
The Motion passed. Mr. Long thanked the Board for their thoughtful discussion and
recommendation. He said he would forward the Board's recommendation on to the City
Manager and City Council.
Ms. Ottoson reported that the committee reviewing the challenged book agreed with the staff
recommendation that the book be retained in the children's area. The committee members,
Ms. Ottoson, Ms. Belt and Ms. O'Leary, were unanimous in their recommendation.
Motion 98 -19: Moved that the challenged book , Good Luck, Bad Luck, be retained in the
Children's collection as recommended by staff.
Moved by: Mary Dounay
Seconded by: Sonie Smithers
The Motion passed unanimously.
Mr. Long reported that the recommendations for the 1999 budget had all been accepted by
City Council .
• r. Long invited all Library Board Members to attend a meeting of the Araphaoe Library
Boards at Koelbel Library on Tuesday, November 17 at 7:30 p.m. The purpose of the meeting
is for the four boards to have a discussion regarding a proposal for state funding of public
libraries. At present Colorado is one of only a few states not to have state funding for libraries.
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With the recent resignation of Judy Courtwright due to work demands, there is a vacancy on
the Library Board. City Council will be reviewing Board and Commission vacancies in January.
At the October 19th meeting of City Council the "Seeing the Possibilities: Expanding Library
Services to the Blind and Visually Impaired" grant will be brought forth for Council's approval.
There was applause for the awarding of this grant by the State Library to the Englewood
Library and the Colorado Center for the Blind.
There was an update provided by Mr. Long of the newest floor plan design for the Library in
the Foley's building. The Board members expressed their approval of the proposed changes.
Mr. Long noted that Ethel Altenbach, the Library's 1998 volunteer of the Year, has been
hospitalized after a fall at home. The family has asked that cards only be sent to the home for
Ethel.
It was also noted that Sheryl Rousses, a longtime City employee who most recently worked as
Project Coordinator in Human Resources died unexpectedly on Saturday, October 10.
Members' Choice
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Ms. Dounay passed out handouts with the results of SAT test taken in the metro area and
pointed out that Englewood schools are doing well in comparison to other districts. The poll •
she referred to was from an article published in the Rocky Mountain News. Charter Schools
were not reflected in this poll. Ms. Dounay further said that most of her spare time is being
taken up with the upcoming Bond election.
Ms. Ottoson said that things at her work goon. She will be attending the CLA convention in
Colorado Springs this weekend .
Mr. Heberling said that the Englewood High School Marching Band had placed second at the
regional band competition last weekend. He recently tried out for All State Choir and is waiting
to hear if he has been accepted. Mr. Heberling said he is working 25 hours a week and going
to school, so he is very busy.
Ms. Smithers said she is baking , baking, baking for the upcoming Friends Bake Sale.
There being no further business the meeting adjourned at 9:30 p.m.
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