Appleton Public Library

Board of Trustees Minutes

April 14, 2004

Present: Bergen, Bergman, Bloedow, Ducklow, Eng, Moua

Excused: Chandler, de Young, Dunlap.

Others present: Attorney Behrens, Dawson, Kelly, Shriver, Wiltzius

President Bergman called the meeting to order at 12:01 PM.

Minutes and Bill Registers

Eng moved and Bloedow seconded approval of the March 10, 2004 minutes. Motion passed unanimously. Ducklow moved and Eng seconded approval of the March 2004 Bill Register. Motion passed unanimously. Bergman appointed Bloedow as acting secretary to sign the Bill Register

Planning Committee report

Bloedow reported that the committee met and had a general discussion of the planning process. Dawson had surveyed the staff about priorities for library services. Basic services came out on top, but nothing was considered unimportant. There was discussion of how to prioritize, and how to compare with other libraries.

Personnel policies

Dawson presented revised City policies (Workplace Violence, Drug Free Workplace Act of 1988 and 49 CFR part 40, Drug Free Workplace Act of 1988) for approval by the Library Board. Each had a small revision proposed by the City HR staff. Bloedow moved to accept all three. Eng seconded the motion, which passed unanimously.

Summer library hours

Dawson outlined the savings that have been made due to vacancies that remained open longer than anticipated. All current vacancies are now filled, but there were sufficient savings to allow the library to open in summer at 9 AM, effectively restoring 2003 hours as of the day after Memorial Day. Bloedow moved, and Eng seconded the motion to move the money from the 6101 and 6107 benefited staff lines into 6108 unbenefited staff line in order to restore the hours. Bergen noted that the principle that the Board has the authority to make such changes was important. The Board voted unanimously in favor of approving the motion, noting that this was a good thing for the community.

OWLSnet agreement

Dawson presented the automation agreement with OWLSnet for board approval. Ducklow moved, and Eng seconded approval of the agreement. Motion passed unanimously. Bloedow suggested that an OWLS board report be a part of the agenda of future meetings.

Director’s Report

Three new full-time staff have been hired in the last month. Ellen Peters is the new Reference Librarian and web manager. Ellen Jepson is a new Librarian in Children’s Services. Maureen Ward is the new Library Secretary.

OWLSnet will be planning a process for automated system migration to new software. The process is expected to take at least two years but should not involve significant out of pocket costs to member libraries, as OWLS has been saving monies against this need.

Barbara has been appointed as the Library representative on the Board of Directors of the new Fox Cities Rotary Multicultural Center. We are a supporting organizational member of the center.

Friends of Appleton Library will hold their Annual Meeting next Tuesday evening, April 20 at 6:30.

Volunteer of the Year Sandra Stutz, a volunteer in Reference and a Walking Books volunteer will receive her award both at the FOAL Annual Meeting and at City Council the next evening. Mayor Hanna will read a proclamation for National Library Week, and Barbara will present the Award to Sandra.

Dawson presented information about a person requesting the use of some green space on the south side of the City parking lot in front of the Library for play space for her childcare center. There are sensitive issues related to the donors who have bricks, concerns about traffic, busses, loitering, etc. It isn’t clear what space is being requested.

The Governor signed AB169 last week. The Bill allows custodial parents of children under the age of 16 access to the child’s library records. This new law will necessitate a modification of our circulation and privacy policies. Staff will work with the State library staff and the City Attorney’s office to develop proposed policy changes.

March was a very busy month. Circulation is down slightly, but overall checkouts are up because interlibrary loan is way up. Reserves have increased significantly over previous years.

Bloedow, Dawson, Shriver and Wiltzius attended the Chamber of Commerce sponsored Presidential appearance.

The meeting adjourned at 1:07PM.