Appleton Public Library
Board of Trustees Minutes
May 14, 2003
Present: Bergman,
Bergen, Bloedow, Chandler, Ducklow, Eng, Schuessler
Excused: de
Young, Dunlap
Others present: Dawson, Kelly, Lemke, Lenz, Muench, Shriver, Wiltzius,
Asst.
City Attorney Christopher Behrens
President Bergman called the
meeting to order at 12:05 PM.
Dawson introduced and
welcomed Alderperson Hank Eng as the new City Council representative. Eng spoke about of the importance of libraries
and told the Board he had expressed a desire to serve on the Library Board to
the Mayor.
Dawson read a letter he
received from Jim Trojanowski, Director of the Ashland Public Library
commending the Appleton Public Library as a leader in Wisconsin Libraries. He also recognized the involvement of many
Appleton Library staff that are or have been involved in
Wisconsin Library
Associations over the years.
A letter was received
from the Fred Gaines stating that the volunteers serving the County Jail
appreciated for the books withdrawn from the Library that were donated to their
program.
E-mail was forwarded from
the Convention & Visitors’ Bureau from a parent visiting the library, with
his daughter, expressing his great pleasure in being able to use such a
wonderful facility.
Dawson recently attended
the Wisconsin Association of Public Librarians conference in Stevens Point and
one of the topics for discussion was library privacy issues. There is a need to review the implications of
the Patriot Act and have staff trained and up to date with the policy. Dawson asked that the Policy Committee meet
to address this issue, after budget work was completed.
He read a letter from a
patron who had returned his library card as a protest against the Patriot Act.
Schuessler moved and Ducklow seconded approval of the April 9, 2003, minutes.
The motion passed. Ducklow
moved approval of the April, 2003 bill register, Bloedow seconded. After an explanation of the line items “Lost and
Paid” and “Other Contractors” the motion was
approved. Eng suggested adding a column
to the Bill Register that would show the per cent of monies spent or available.
Director’s Report
Dawson explained that APL is the only one of the
52 libraries in OWLSnet that is buying their own library cards. The APL orders 20,000 cards every two and
half years at a cost of $3000.00. There
would be a savings of approximately $1,000.00 per year if APL were to obtain their library cards from OWLSnet, but the
cards would not have APL on them. Bergen
made the motion to use the cards from OWLS and Schuessler seconded. There was concern that APL would lose their
identity and after discussion, Bergen amended her motion to read “use the cards
from OWLS and revisit this procedure in one year”, Schuessler seconded the
amendment and the motion passed 6-1.
Dawson noted that the Board workplan
includes a Board Retreat on the Friday after Memorial Day. However, due to the
fact that the budget is due one month earlier and there is a state library directors’
meeting in Madison on the same date, Dawson asked the Board to delay the
retreat. By consensus, the Board agreed
to change the retreat to June 27th with details to be announced.
The City Finance Department has informed us that
we should be prepared to cut our 2004 budget by 20%. The Mayor has suggested ways to cut the
Library Budget but the Board is ultimately responsible for the Library Budget
and the final cuts will need Board approval.
The Board’s Finance Committee will meet on June 9th to
finalize the budget for Board approval on June 11th and submit to
City Finance by June 13th.
Dawson met with Sandy Neisen, Human Resources
Director, to discuss differences between the Library and City Personnel
policies. He and Neisen have agreed that
the Library should identify areas of differences, particularly with regard to
statutory authority. Library staff will
work to develop language expressing differences for inclusion in City Policy,
and once in Library and HR staff are in agreement, the Library Board and City
Council should approve the modified policies.
Neisen and Dawson will meet with the Board’s Personnel Committee later
this summer to discuss details.
Other
Dawson announced to the Board that he had been
nominated for Vice-President/President –elect of the Wisconsin Library
Association.
The Valley Transit Smoking Policy was approved by
the City Council; both it and the Library’s policy will go into effect June 2nd. The City Health Department is seeking funding
for signs. The staff and Board
acknowledged and thanked Assistant City Attorney Chris Behrens for all the work
he put into seeing this policy to implementation
Schuessler made a motion to adjourn, Ducklow seconded.
The meeting adjourned at 1 PM.