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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2007 9-1Library Advisory Board September 20, 2007 Members Present: Elizabeth Bryan, Frank Oddo, Jacqueline O’Grady, Gwen Rohler, Elizabeth Stanfield-Maddox, Paul Walker, John Gangemi Friends of the Library: John Danylyk Staff Members: David Paynter, Harry Tuchmayer Absent Members: Eleanor Lipscomb-Warren, Conrad Luhmann, Mary Hatcher, Dean Gattone Meeting began at 2:45 PM Public Comment: None July 2007 Library Advisory Board Minutes Approved. Banners: The Centennial Banners have been recently replaced with the new & colorful banners. Signage: Permission has been granted for the new Blade Signs at the Northeast and Main branches. These will read LIBRARY and PARKING. Communication: The Scuttlebutt Newsletter will be reduced to four issues per year. However, the new Library Calendar will be issued monthly to keep you abreast of all activities. The Library is in the process of getting wireless communication installed. By the end of October, we expect to have this available in all branches, except for Carolina Beach whic?h is not serviced by Time Warner Cable. Rob McGee, the RMG Consultant, came down to asses our needs. He will be doing a technology plan for the Library. He was quite impressed by what we already have. The County’s IT Director has also attended all of the meetings to date. The next phase of planning will be in October. Mr. McGee will be at the Library Board meeting on October 15th. The Library recently encountered various computer issues that have since been worked out. During the upgrade of our Virtua software to a new version, we discovered that this required some additional background software. At the same time the County’s network was also in the process of upgrades. A power shortage also corrupted a file that effected Pharos, the Library print management software. To date, all systems are back up and running smoothly. On a side note, during the downage, we received numerous emails from patrons who use the software to alert us of the issues. These calls reflect how much our system is being utilized by the public. The Summer Reading Club has seen much success. Margaret and her staff have been working very hard on this project. This year, cash points were earned for hours read, volunteering and attending programs. The children were invited to attend an auction where they could turn in their points for prizes. A survey conducted afterwards confirmed that the auction was very successful and the kids loved it. Correspondence A Northeast patron complimented the Library on their Bilingual collection. Julie Criser in the Children’s Department at the Main Library and Bratis Roseboro, a new employee at the Main Library, both receive positive comments from patrons. David Paynter was recognized for his 25 years of service with the Library. We did receive one negative comment from a patron at the Northeast Branch. He was displeased with the inability to use our meeting room on an ongoing basis. Newton Trammell will be donating his personal collection of genealogical records to the Library. Friends’ Report: John Danylyk reported that The Friends of the Library Board of Directors met on Tuesday, September 11, 2007, and we were pleased to have Elizabeth Stanfield-Maddox in attendance. His report is below: Most of our energies over the past month have been focused on preparing for the Fall Book Sale at Northeast Regional. • Board members Dennis Fuller and Rita Lewis – along with the unsung heroes on the Book Sale Committee – have been laboring intensely to ensure that everything is laid out for “opening night,” Friday the 28th. • Ruth Ann Southworth has been especially busy phoning folks on the Friends’ Volunteers List to line up the needed cashiers, “tally-ers,” and folks to restock and straighten out the tables. • With the resignation of our remaining Publicity Co-Chair at mid-year, I assumed the responsibility for publicizing the event. Of course, I could not have done it without the help of the Library’s very own Dorothy Hodder, who worked her usual magic with the local media; together we also worked on tweaking the posters, flyers, and bookmarks. Several Board members assisted me with the distribution of those materials. Otherwise, thing have been fairly slow. The Friends Active Membership remains at about 850. The Library held a very successful children’s event at the Main Library on September 7, when nearly 100 children and adults gathered to listen to Madafo Lloyd Wilson; the Friends provided refreshments. Responding to a suggestion from Board Member Dennis Fuller, the Board of Directors decided to create an Advocacy Committee to work on ways to better promote the Library’s priority issues – namely, a new and expanded facility at Myrtle Grove and a larger operational budget to better staff the library – vis-à-vis the County Supervisors. Board Member Tami Hinshaw was eager to assume the Chair of our new committee. We expect to work together with the Library Advisory Board to achieve these goals. Beyond the Fall Book Sale (September 28 – October 4), we have one other event on our calendar this year: • The Friends’ Annual Meeting remains scheduled for Thursday, November 8, at Northeast Regional. After the General Membership casts their votes for Officers and Board Members for 2008, we will all enjoy “The Star-Spangled Girls” musical review. And, of course, refreshments will be served. Committee Reports The Board will meet in November to review the committees and policies. We need to determine if anyone is interested in changing their committee assignments. Old Business IT Consultant Visit: Some preliminary finding from our consultant: • We have a very strong info structure in place. • There are issues in the authority control and our cataloging system. • The expense of a new Circulation System (Virtua) would be hard to justify. Parking Lot: The Northeast Branch permits were issued yesterday (9/19/07). We are looking at 6-9 months out before completion of the lot. Parking Deck: We have had some issues with speeding on the parking deck. Cars are cutting the corners on the way down the deck and crossing into the path of other cars. We have a new Security Guard on the deck that has been stationed on the 3rd level Library entrance at 8:00 a.m. The guard has been directing all Cape Fear Community College students to use the upper levels. The company who runs the deck will be looking into speed signs, mirrors and security cameras. New Business New Members: Gwen Rohler was introduced to the Board. Some of you may recall that her father, Lloyd Rohler, was a previous member of the Board. Gwen is the owner of Dougherty Book Store on Front Street. Meeting Times: The Board will send out a survey to see if there is a desire to change the meeting times of the Board. New Branch Managers: David Paynter introduced two new Branch Managers, Teresa Bishop & Paige Owens. Teresa Bishop is the Branch Manager at Myrtle Grove and Carolina Beach. She came to us from the Charlotte area where she worked at the Cornelius Branch for 15 years. Even though Charlotte is are big area, she noted that she was very impressed with the systems we have here and has found NHC departments to be very collaborative. Teresa sees lots of enhancement opportunities for Myrtle Grove and Carolina Beach and is excited about the possibilities. Paige Owens is the Branch Manger at Northeast. She has been at this branch since it opened and has held various positions. The branch is extremely busy and they have received numerous compliments on the building and architecture. Paige noted that what separates her branch is the volunteer involvements. They have over 60 volunteers on a constant basis. basis. Northeast has become a community center and they are excited to see a coffee kiosk coming this winter. Both sites have been testing additional programs such as the new DVD systems. New locking cases will allow the CD/DVDs to be kept in the cases at all times. There will also be a theft prevention tags in place. Customer Service: All branches have established Best Practices for Circulation meetings. The Library has started their own customer service program to compliment the County’s “Fish” and “Rise To Excellence” programs. The new program will be called “Starfish”. It is a reward based recognition program. Staff will be recognized for dong a good job to encourage their customer service. Their next meeting will be held the first week in October. Additional information will be coming out to the staff. Reminders Elizabeth Stanfield-Maddox reminded the board that the Spelling Bee will be held tonight at 7:00 p.m. We hope to bring home the trophy again this year. The Book Sale will be held on Sept. 28th for members. Doors open at 6:00 p.m. Meeting adjourned at 4:00 PM. The next meeting is scheduled for Monday, October 15th at 2:30 p.m. at the Northeast Branch.