Appleton Public Library

Board of Trustees Minutes

October 9, 2002

Present: Bergen, Bergman, Bloedow, de Young, Ducklow Dunlap, Nagler, Schuessler

Excused: Chandler

Others present: Dawson, Kelly, Lemke, Muench, Shriver, Wiltzius

Minutes and Bill Registers

President Bergman called the meeting to order at 12:05 PM. Nagler moved and Schuessler seconded approval of the minutes of the September 11, 2002, meeting. The motion passed.

Ducklow moved to approve the September, 2002 bill register Bloedow seconded, and the motion passed.

Committee Assignments

A copy of the 2002-03 committee appointments was distributed. Terry Bergen will continue as the Board’s representative on the OWLS Board.

Director’s Report

Dawson asked Wiltzius to review the process used in awarding the Frank P. Young Scholarship. The process begins in October with letters sent to all the library schools in Wisconsin and establishing an application deadline early enough to make the award in February, 2003. The Frank P. Young Scholarship Committee will meet soon.

The Mayor’s executive budget was published the first week of October and included a half time circulation clerk position. On October 26^th the City Council will meet to debate the budget. The public will have two weeks to review and comment. The budget should be approved in mid-November.

Dawson stated that the workplan has a Library Board planning retreat scheduled for November 22. Bloedow, as chair of the Planning Committee, asked the members of the Board for input on selecting topics for discussion at the retreat. A suggestion was made to ask a member of the Foundation Board to attend a Board Meeting.

A progress and planning meeting will be held in Green Bay November 11^th for libraries receiving a Gates Grant. Barbara Kelly, Meg Shriver and Kurt Riechers will be attending. At this meeting, purchase orders will be given out and the computers may then be ordered. Three library staff employees will be going to Seattle on December 7^th for training in software to be installed on the computers and computer technology. Construction of the lab is expected to cost about $23,000 and should be done during December. The complete project must be finished by February 8, 2003, according to grant criteria.

Dawson distributed the latest Board Member list and asked that each Board member check the information that we have on file for them.

Other Business

Dawson distributed the statistics for September, 2003 and commented that circulation was up 18%, the door count up 13%, program attendance up 57%, and web page access up 98% from 2002. Meeting room usage declined slightly, but we are at or near capacity on the number of events that we can hold with staff time available for setup. We have purchased new tables for the meeting room so we can now seat 140 people in a classroom style.

Bergen made the motion to adjourn, Bloedow seconded and the meeting adjourned at 12:55.