{"body": "LibraryBoard", "date": "2006-10-11", "page": 1, "text": "Chy\nOF\nRE\nRATER\nMinutes of the\nALAMEDA FREE LIBRARY BOARD\nOCTOBER 11, 2006\nThe regular meeting of the Alameda Free Library Board was called to order at 7:02 p.m.\nROLL CALL\nPresent:\nKaren Butter, President\nRuth Belikove, Vice President\nAlan Mitchell, Board Member\nLeslie Krongold, Board Member\nAbsent:\nMark Schoenrock, Board Member\nStaff:\nJane Chisaki, Library Director\nMarsha Merrick, Recording Secretary\nCONSENT CALENDAR\nAn asterisk indicates items so enacted and adopted on the Consent Calendar.\nA.\n*Report from Library Director highlighting Library Department activities for the\nmonth of October 2006. Accepted.\nB.\n*Draft Minutes of the Regular Library Board meeting of September 13, 2006.\nApproved.\nC.\n*Library Services Report for the month of August 2006. Accepted.\nD.\n*Report from Finance Department reflecting FY 2005-06 Library expenditures (by\nfund) through September 2006. Accepted.\nE.\n*Bills for ratification. Approved.\nBoard Member Mitchell questioned the expenditures in Equipment Acquisition which put\nthe Library $16,000+ over budget in that account. Staff will re-direct the charges so they\nappear under the appropriate line item.\nPresident Butter inquired about bottled water services. Library Director Chisaki said the\nservice would not be continued for the Main Library once the move was complete, however,\nthe branches will continue the service due to their aging facilities.", "path": "LibraryBoard/2006-10-11.pdf"}
{"body": "LibraryBoard", "date": "2006-10-11", "page": 2, "text": "Page 2 of 7\nMinutes of the\nLibrary Board Meeting\nOctober 11, 2006\nPresident Butter also asked about an increase in the collection budget. Director Chisaki\nindicated that the Library had received a 2% increase. She had been hoping for more;\nhowever, because of staffing additions, the collection increase was low. Chisaki remarked\nthat when mid-year budget adjustments come around, there will be several areas she will\nrequest increases for. A lot of additional expenditures have arisen with the new building\nthat were unexpected. As an example, 6 new phone lines have been added to help monitor\nsecurity and AED equipment. Another concern will be the late billing received from the\nAlameda Unified School District for utilities charges. The Library will still be liable for\nseveral months' worth of charges later this year, perhaps into next year, depending on how\nthe billing cycle works out. The recent payment of $50,000 to AUSD for space rental will\ncarry us through the month of November; no further charges to this account are expected.\nBoard Member Mitchell mentioned an article he had read about a bomb planted at a library\nin Salt Lake City. Mitchell inquired as to whether we would have security monitoring\nequipment in the new library. Director Chisaki responded in the affirmative - there will be\nvideo cameras strategically placed around the building, and will show on monitors at the\nCirculation Desk. The cameras are not recorders, however.\nPresident Butter wanted to know how statistics would be calculated going forward due to\nthe changes occurring. Supervising Librarian David Hall is currently looking into how\nnumbers will be extracted from our new systems.\nPresident Butter asked about a payment that had been made to Tapes Unlimited, and was\nbilled to janitorial supplies. Recording Secretary Merrick explained that Tapes Unlimited is\nthe dba name for Alameda Office Supply. The City purchases both office and janitorial\nsupplies from this entity on a regular basis. Alameda Office Supply gives a 30% discount to\nthe City of Alameda.\nBoard President Butter asked for a motion to approve the Consent Calendar as presented.\nBoard Member Mitchell so moved; Board Member Krongold seconded the motion which\nwas carried by a 4-0 vote.\nUNFINISHED BUSINESS\nA.\nMaterials Security and Inventory System - Update (J. Chisaki)\nDirector Chisaki stated that the tagging process continues and is nearing completion.\nThe RFID gates arrived and have been installed. They were tested then de-mounted\nfor safety purposes. With all the contractors, equipment and opening day collection\nmovement going through the area, there was the real possibility of damage to the\ngates. The gates are also installed at the branches, but won't be operational until the\nMain goes live. The project is moving forward very well.", "path": "LibraryBoard/2006-10-11.pdf"}
{"body": "LibraryBoard", "date": "2006-10-11", "page": 3, "text": "Page 3 of 7\nMinutes of the\nLibrary Board Meeting\nOctober 11, 2006\nB.\nMeeting Room Use Policy - Final Review (J. Chisaki)\nDirector Chisaki sent out the room use policy in the board packet once again as the\nCity Attorney's office made some language changes and additions. President Butter\nasked about groups setting up and putting away chairs, etc. for their meetings.\nDirector Chisaki explained that depending on how large the group is might\ndetermine whether or not we would require them to do this. Mostly it would be for\ngroups that have some very specific idea on how they want things set-up.\nBoard Member Mitchell asked about item 13 regarding advertising or selling of\nproducts or services being prohibited. Director Chisaki explained that for instance,\nif you were giving a lecture and wanted to sell your book to a participant that would\nbe okay. However, you could not leave any books, business cards, etc. behind in the\nconference room - all items must be cleared away when leaving the room.\nBoard Member Krongold made an inquiry about the rooms that are non-reservable\n(the small study rooms). If you are using one of these rooms and you want it for a\nlonger period, you could stay in there as long as nobody else wants to use the room.\nThe Reference Desk will be in charge of the sign-ups for these rooms.\nBoard Member Butter asked about item 9 regarding decoration restrictions in the\nconference rooms. The language comes straight from Park & Recreation's room use\npolicy. The language will be revised slightly to direct meeting room patrons to use\npush pins on the tackable wall surfaces, and not use other wall surfaces.\nPresident Butter asked for a motion to accept the Meeting Room Use Policy with\nchanges. Board Member Mitchell so moved, Board Member Krongold seconded,\nand the motion was carried by a 4-0 vote.\nPresident Butter asked Director Chisaki to provide an update at the January 2007\nBoard Meeting and note any problems that have been encountered with meeting\nroom use. In six months, the Board will re-review the policy and make any\nnecessary changes.\nNEW BUSINESS\nA.\nBranch Library Report (A. Benzie-Youssef)\nSupervising Branch Librarian Arta Benzie-Youssef was in attendance to give the\nBoard an update on how the branches were coping during the closure of the Main\nLibrary. Benzie-Youssef first thanked the Board for inviting her to the meeting. She\nwent on reminding the Board of the two-week Main Library closure earlier in the\nyear when the RFID tagging process was underway. This was a good \"trial run\" for\nthe branches to see how they would do when the lengthier Main closure occurred.", "path": "LibraryBoard/2006-10-11.pdf"}
{"body": "LibraryBoard", "date": "2006-10-11", "page": 4, "text": "Page 4 of 7\nMinutes of the\nLibrary Board Meeting\nOctober 11, 2006\nDuring the March closure, circulation at the West End Branch increased by almost\n2,500 items over the same period last year, and at Bay Farm Island, over 1,300\nitems. Hours had not been extended, and it was quite rainy which tends to depress\ncirculation. During the current Main closure, West End hours were extended to\ninclude Sundays, 1:00-5:00, and Bay Farm is open on Fridays, 9:30-5:30. All Main\nLibrary reserves are being picked up at the West End, and all Main check-ins are\nbeing handled there as well.\nSome reference items are now at the West End - the Reference Department is sorely\nmissed. Lots of questions on local history, etc. are difficult to answer without them.\nAt the heart of the operation now are the Library Aides. They make sure everything\ngets back on the shelves quickly, and with increased circulation there is a lot more to\nthis. The Aides have also been doing a great job at keeping the shelves in order, and\nBenzie-Youssef is very pleased with this.\nThe biggest challenge for the branches is the lack of phones. More specifically, with\nthe Main being unreachable, it is very difficult to help with delinquent collections,\nobituaries, homebound items, etc.\nThe branches will pick up some extra staff now to help with the increased demand\nfor services. Between the two branches, there is a Library open 7 days a week.\nBenzie-Youssef suspects that after the new Main opens, it will be very quiet at the\nbranches, as everyone is so excited about the new building opening.\nB.\nAlameda Free Library Foundation (A. Mitchell)\nBoard Member Mitchell was very disappointed that there were not firmer plans in\nplace for the Gala. It was as if the Foundation was still trying to figure out what to\ndo. Director Chisaki said that is usually how the meetings go. They are now\nmeeting every week, and at last weeks meeting they were still going sideways. Part\nof the problem is there is no set agenda, and when they get off the subject being\ndiscussed, they don't come back to it.\nThe Foundation is halfway to their goal of selling 300 tickets. Now that the event is\ndrawing closer, ticket sales are picking up. Letters encouraging attendance have\ngone out to Board and Building Team Members, Department Heads and Council\nMembers. No comps are being offered, so everyone pays their own way. The\nFriday edition of the Alameda Journal is supposed to have an ad on the Gala and\ninformation on how to purchase tickets.\nThe banner advertising the Gala, Grand Opening and Family Day events will go up\nover Central the last two weeks of October. The supplement for the opening will", "path": "LibraryBoard/2006-10-11.pdf"}
{"body": "LibraryBoard", "date": "2006-10-11", "page": 5, "text": "Page 5 of 7\nMinutes of the\nLibrary Board Meeting\nOctober 11, 2006\ncome out on October 20th The invitations for the Grand Opening still aren't quite\ndone, however. The graphic designer has put together some really nice drafts, but\nthe invitations aren't at the printer yet. Foundation members will go into the Library\nright after the docent training on October 24th and put the shelf tags in place.\nThere have been donations of water, some wines and hors d' oeuvres from local\nrestaurants for the Gala. There will be music in four different areas in the building.\nThe architect, Tom Hacker, will be attending and he may be asked to speak. Yuki\nNagase, artist of the Oracle of the Tree behind the circulation desk, and the Cadence\nof the Water limestone medallions on the outside of the building, will be in\nattendance as well.\nAll the posters advertising the Gala have been distributed around town. There are\nplenty of bookmarks and pamphlets still available, which won't be any good after\nthe Gala event.\nC.\nFriends of the Alameda Free Library (M. Skeen)\nFriends President Molly Skeen was not in attendance for the meeting, so Director\nChisaki spoke in her place. The book sale the previous weekend at the O'Club\ngrossed $13,000. $8,000 came in on Friday night alone. It was a very nice turnout.\nThere were 100 boxes of children's books because two elementary schools weeded\ntheir collections. The Friends beautiful new book bags were on sale as well.\nD.\nLibrary Building Watch (M. Merrick)\nRecording Secretary reported that because of having no office equipment to speak of\ndue to the move, it wasn't possible to release an issue of the Library Building Watch.\nMerrick is hopeful, however, of getting one more issue out prior to the Gala and\nGrand Opening events, to make them fresh in people's minds.\nBoard Member Krongold suggested having something visible at the Gala so people\ncould sign up to receive the newsletter. Perhaps people could just drop a business\ncard if they were interested. Having some copies of previous issues displayed was\nalso suggested.\nE.\nPatron suggestions/comments (Speak-Outs) and Library Director's response.\nDirector Chisaki indicated that there were no speak-outs this month from either the\nbranches or the Main Library prior to it closing.", "path": "LibraryBoard/2006-10-11.pdf"}
{"body": "LibraryBoard", "date": "2006-10-11", "page": 6, "text": "Page 6 of 7\nMinutes of the\nLibrary Board Meeting\nOctober 11, 2006\nORAL COMMUNICATIONS, NON-AGENDA (Public Comment)\nLi Volin was in the audience and mentioned that she went to the Independent Booksellers\nAssociation the prior weekend for an author signing. She brought along the new Friends\nbook bag and it was decided that it rated number two from the assortment that day. The\nonly bag scoring higher had pockets for a cell phone and water bottle on the outside.\nLIBRARY BOARD COMMUNICATIONS\nPresident Butter commented that she received information on The Hummingbird's Daughter\nbecause she was on the San Francisco Friends group mailing list. There was a nice\npamphlet describing how book clubs could participate, discussion questions, etc. Director\nChisaki said the \"One Book Program\" is definitely something she would like to see happen\nat the Alameda Free Library as well. There are generally events all year long relating to the\nbook that's being promoted, such as themed and cultural programs, etc. The Friends and\nFoundation have already expressed their interest in assisting with this endeavor. President\nButter said the Board would also be interested in participating in any way they could.\nPresident Butter requested that \"Selection of Art for the New Library\" be put on the agenda\nfor the November meeting.\nBoard Member Mitchell mentioned one library that had a swashbuckling theme for their\nreaders and it was very well received, probably due to the Pirates of the Caribbean movie\ncoming out at the time.\nDIRECTOR'S COMMENTS\nDirector Chisaki spoke about how well the building was coming along. It is the third day of\nthe collection move, so books can now be seen through the front window. The Library has\nnot experienced any problems with the moving company, Doubleday. Circulation\nSupervisor Laura Chaquette is the lead for the move, and deserves a lot of the credit for how\nsmoothly things are going. The staff furniture was delayed, which delays installation of\ncomputers and phones. The furniture did arrive and is being installed now. Everything\nseems to be right on schedule.\nThe invitations have not been delivered to the printer yet as the speaker list is still being\nfinalized. Director Chisaki was uncertain if she should speak herself. The board\nencouraged Chisaki to do so, perhaps at the end of the program to thank everyone for\ncoming out. Board Member Krongold said that it might be the first time the public in\ngeneral would see her, so she might want people to know who she is.\nBoard President Butter inquired if all board members would be attending the Grand\nOpening ceremony. The members present responded in the affirmative, and Director\nChisaki said that Member Schoenrock, who was absent, would be there as well.", "path": "LibraryBoard/2006-10-11.pdf"}
{"body": "LibraryBoard", "date": "2006-10-11", "page": 7, "text": "Page 7 of 7\nMinutes of the\nLibrary Board Meeting\nOctober 11, 2006\nADJOURNMENT\nBoard President Butter called for a motion to adjourn the meeting at 8:07 p.m. Board\nMember Mitchell so moved, Board Member Krongold seconded the motion, and it was\ncarried by a 3-0 vote. (Vice President Belikove left the meeting at 8:02 p.m.)\nThe next meeting of the Alameda Free Library Board will be held in the new Main Library.\nRespectfully submitted,\nJane Chisaki\nLibrary Director and\nSecretary to the Library Board\nThis meeting's agenda was posted 72 hours in advance in accordance with the Brown Act.", "path": "LibraryBoard/2006-10-11.pdf"}