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12-04-1990 u ~ CITY OF EDGEWATER LIBRARY BOARD DECEMBER 4, 1990 MEETING MINUTES CALL TO ORDER Chairman Mary Rice called the meeting to order at 1:30 p.m. in the Edgewater Library. ROLL CALL Present were: Mary Rice, Jean Haughwout, Lilian Bond-Nelson, and Jan Dudley. Lauretta Shafer was excused. Also present was Gayle Harmon, Librarian, Sue Habel of Volusia County Library Services, and Fran Byrne of Friends of the Library. APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES April 4, 1990 - Mrs. Rice asked for Bond-Nelson moved they be accepted. Minutes were accepted as written. any corrections or additions. Mrs. Mrs. Haughwout seconded the motion. INTRODUCTION OF MS. SUE HABEL, VOLUSIA COUNTY LIBRARY SERVICES MANAGER - OPERATIONS - Mrs. Rice introduced Ms. Sue Habel, stating she comes to us from Ohio. She explained the County decided there should be a new position in the Volusia County Library System and the position is titled the "Library Services Manager-Operations". She said there were 43 applicants for the position and Ms. Habel was chosen. She briefly reviewed some of Ms. Habel's prior experience and read a letter of acknowledgement from a prior Director. Ms. Habel explained she worked at OSU in the Library and she'd majored in Art History and wanted to teach art history. She said she went to Europe and went to the art museums and came back to OSU and went to the library school to be a librarian. She said they had an International Library and she could live overseas and she worked at Pratt Institute week-ends and supervised the librarian there and graduated from Pratt. She said she stayed with Brooklyn Libraries in the subject divisions in the art and music and history divisions. She said after that she took a position in the acquisitions department to get a well rounded view. She added she'd worked in technical services for 4 years as acquisition manager and worked with the publishers. She stated the library had an operating budget of $40 million. Ms. Habel said she came to Florida because New York was becoming a place she didn't want to live and she feared for her safety. She said her husband's retired and they visited Fort Meyers and other areas and decided Orlando is centrally located so she looked for a job in that area and when she got the job with Volusia County, they moved from Orlando to Daytona Beach. She commented on the good staff and the libraries being at an exciting point in history with the reorganization. She explained Jim Wheeler is Director, Gene Allison is Collections Programs in charge of ordering books and special programs such as children programs and computer programs, etc., and she's in charge of overseeing the operations of the 14 branches. She explained the regional system. She stated the Ormond Beach Library is beautiful and within the next five years they'll complete three other regional facilities in Port Orange, Deltona, and New Smyrna Beach. She noted that New Smyrna Beach received a State matching grant of $400,000 and they were the only library in Florida to get approved for 1990-91. She said Edgewater is the only full service library so ,far and it's not as big as regional and not as small as a community library. She explained a full service library is a minimum of 60,000 volumes and regional is 100,000. She said there are seven community libraries. Ms. Habel stated she started July 2nd and they've had to revise the 1 and 5 year plans and they submit it to Tallahassee each year. Ms. Habel stated she made a presentation at the first ever "Staff Day" in August and they closed the entire libraries for one day and brought staff together with speakers and workshops. She explained some of the items on that day's agenda. <.) ~ INTRODUCTION OF MS. SUE HABEL, VOLUSIA COUNTY LIBRARY SERVICES MANAGER - OPERATIONS (Continued) Ms. Habel stated in October they do the biennial cycle of performance evaluations and she's responsible for reviewing those for the branches, which was 54 in one week. She said she attends the City and County advisory board meetings. Ms. Habel stated she's working with regional librarians on a policy and procedure manual that will be uniform throughout the system. Mrs. Haughwout asked if she's getting cooperation to do the things she wants to do. Ms. Habel replied yes, but change comes slowly and the commitment could be made verbally but it's not accepted mentally. Mrs. Haughwout stated it takes perseverance. Mrs. Bond-Nelson commented that it's a lot to absorb. Ms. Habel stated the regional librarians she's working with on the manual are a wonderful group of bright people. She thanked the Board for inviting her. REPORT OF THE LIBRARIAN Mrs. Harmon distributed copies of the monthly reports since the last meeting. She noted that each month they gain. She briefly reviewed the annual circulation report with 118,657 items this year compared to 110,193 last year. Mrs. Rice pointed out this was in addition to getting automated. Mrs. Harmon agreed it was difficult and they're looking forward to automation. She explained there's an annual report in the packet and a statistical report at the end with the circulation this year to last year and the narrative portion is broken down a little bit. Ms. Habel stated all the annual reports come to her first and this was the best one she read. Mrs. Rice commented on her enthusiasm for Gayle Harmon. Mrs. Harmon noted she's been here almost 20 years. Ms. Habel commented on the response to a report on services prepared by Mrs. Harmon. COMMUNICATIONS Advisory Board in the Sunshine memo - Mrs. Rice stated they have a memo from Mr. Wheeler and he suggested she check with the City Clerk on interpretation of the Sunshine Law as it pertains to the board and she's assured her they're on line. She pointed out they all know they're not supposed to have two or more members discussing business that might come before the Board. State Library Cutback memo - Mrs. Rice read the September 17, 1990, memo from Mr. Wheeler regarding a freeze on hiring and reduction in State aid. She expressed concern if the new Governor could make any changes in the budget. Mrs. Harmon said not at this time because that budget was set. Mrs. Rice stated that Charles Parker is a friend that should help next year. UNFINISHED BUSINESS None NEW BUSINESS Discussion of Library Parkinq lot - Mrs. Rice stated the problem with parking has bothered her and people ask where they can park because sometimes it's impossible to find a place. She noted that Mrs. Harmon has done some work on this. Ms. Harmon said she has not had many results and the City Manager's aware of it and they've discussed it several times. She added she'd asked for shell to be placed where her car's parked below and she thought it might accommodate some overflow parking and then he came back with a plan for a parking lot that was nearly $20,000 and would probably be more than that and it would involve a lot of changes, such as the pond and the bulk of the parking would be put into the expansion area so she put the skids on that because she didn't think it was a satisfactory plan. She pointed out the ideal position 2 Library Board Minutes December 4, 1990 ~. (.J u NEW BUSINESS Discussion of Librarv Parkinq lot (Continued) would be to acquire more property but it's prime real estate and she doesn't know if it's possible. She said they have to look at different ways to cope with on site retention ponds and use that space more effectively. She suggested since they have a City Engineer on staff that perhaps they see if they can have an appointment with him to discuss the problems and see what he can come up with. Mrs. Rice agreed it's a good idea, and requested a motion. Mrs. Haughwout so moved. Mrs. Bond-Nelson seconded the motion. Mrs. Dudley referred to the dead grass area. Mrs. Harmon explained they had a problem with chinch bugs and had it sprayed. Mrs. Dudley said they have cars parked there at night when they have activities, and they've blocked her many times. Mrs. Haughwout stated impervious concrete has been used many times but only for small projects. Mrs. Dudley asked the owner of the property to the East. There was discussion regarding ownership and possibility of acquiring. Mrs. Haughwout said she'd find out the price. Mrs. Dudley asked about financing and suggested they can ask the new City Council. Mrs. Rice asked if a letter from the Board might help. Mrs. Harmon suggested they explore some ways. There was discussion about the traffic problems and the success of the library at this location. Mrs. Dudley suggested they have a committee, and asked how many car spaces they could get. Mrs. Harmon said she thinks it's a little over one acre and it would park quite a few cars but they need landscaping buffers and the engineer would have to answer that question. There was discussion about who's in charge of Magnuson properties now. Mrs. 1\ ll>~ Harmon noted that Mr. .-Alal1 came back into the picture regarding fund V~~raiSing and she told him the land is needed more than anything. Mrs. Haughwout had left the meeting to inquire about the land's availability and upon her return she advised she wasn't able to get the information. Ms. Habel asked if they want to double it. Mrs. Harmon replied they now have 27 parking spaces. Ms. Habel stated that 100 doesn' t seem unreasonable. Mrs. Dudley said she thought the parking had to be equivalent to the number of people. Mrs. Harmon explained there was a summary to go by and they went by it but they didn't take into consideration the meetings and programs. Mrs. Dudley noted there's not a problem at night because they can park at the shopping center. Mrs. Rice said it's unjust that the Librarian has to park in a pasture. Mrs. Harmon said she hates to see people inconvenienced when they cannot park. Ms. Habel asked if the Library's heavily used by outside organizations. Mrs. Harmon replied yes. Ms. Habel asked if the community would agree to help. Mrs. Dudley explained they've been so tax burdened and it's usually the retirees on fixed incomes. Mrs. Harmon pointed out the City's going into a big capital improvements program that's expensive and they just put money into this facility two years ago. She added the City uses it for their meetings when theirs is too tightly used. She said perhaps a shuttle bus may be cheaper than a parking lot. Mrs. Haughwout stated she'll meet with the Engineer. She requested they get all the papers together. Mrs. Rice suggested tabling it until the next meeting. Mrs. Harmon suggested they vote on the motion and bring a report to the next meeting. Mrs. Bond-Nelson stated Jean Haughwout and Gayle Harmon will contact the City Engineer. Motion unanimously CARRIED. Report on Library Day in Tallahassee Mrs. Rice stated the City sent one Board member and four others attended and it was a very satisfactory meeting as it always has been. She said it's paid off quite well but this year nobody gets extra money. Report on Head Librarians' Meetinq held in Edqewater July 18, 1990 - Mrs. Rice stated she and Lauretta Shafer attended the Head Librarians' meeting on July 18th and it was extremely interesting because each person gave a report on what they had done and there were representa- tives from all 14 libraries. She added they later had lunch at Indian River Lodge. 3 Library Board Minutes December 4, 1990 , u ~ Ms. Habel stated the dates for the 1991 Library Day are March 19 and 20. MISCELLANEOUS Publications received bv Chairman: FLASH: Intellectual Freedom Manuals: Technical Bulletins from State Librarv of Florida: and WHCLIST L.I.S.T.E.N. - Mrs. Rice stated these publications come to her regularly and the members might be interested in them. There was discussion about complaints regarding My Friend Flicka. Mrs. Harmon briefly reviewed their procedure for handling complaints. ADJOURNMENT Mrs. Dudley moved to adjourn. Mrs. Bond-Nelson seconded the motion. Meeting was adjourned at 2:20 p.m. Minutes submitted by: Lura Sue Koser 4 Library Board Minutes December 4, 1990