ANN ARBOR DISTRICT LIBRARY BOARD
343 S. FIFTH AVENUE, ANN ARBOR, MI
MINUTES OF THE REGULAR MEETING
MONDAY, AUGUST 20, 2012
12-174 I. CALL TO ORDER
President Leary called the meeting to order at 7:05 p.m.
12-175 II. ATTENDANCE
Present: Head, Kaplan, Leary, Murphy, Barney Newman, Rosenthal, Surovell
Absent: None
Staff: Choate, Neiburger, Nieman, Parker, Wilson (recorder)
12-176 III. APPROVAL OF AGENDA
(Item of action)
Trustee Surovell, supported by Trustee Head, moved to approve the agenda.
AYES: Head, Kaplan, Leary, Murphy, Barney Newman, Rosenthal, Surovell
NAYS: None
Motion passed 7-0.
12-177 IV. APPROVAL OF MINUTES OF JULY 16, 2012, JULY 30, 2012 AND AUGUST 6, 2012
(Item of action)
Trustee Head, supported by Trustee Kaplan, moved to approve the minutes of July 16, 2012, July 30, 2012 and August 6, 2012.
AYES: Head, Kaplan, Leary, Murphy, Barney Newman, Rosenthal, Surovell
NAYS: None
Motion passed 7-0.
12-178 V. CITIZENS’ COMMENTS
Ellie Serras
Good evening Board members, Josie, library staff, audience. I am speaking to you on behalf of the Our New Library Downtown Campaign Committee. A group of citizens committed to the library and its contributions to the quality of life in Ann Arbor. The campaign committee became official on July 17th which is the day after this Board voted to put a bond to rebuild the Downtown Library on the November ballot. Since July 17th the campaign committee has been working to get the word out to voters to reaffirm that this additional cost is an investment in our community and its intellectual sustainability. These are values we all treasure.
I would like to give you an update of our progress and intention to share information with the voters in Ann Arbor about the library system and the downtown library specifically. In order to connect with all stakeholders we developed several outreach strategies, a website, twitter account and Facebook status have been established. We’re averaging about twenty visits a day, but that’s climbing on the website. But the most important metric is the average visit duration, it’s quite high. It’s over four minutes per visit. And that tells us that people are reading just about everything that’s on the site. We have one hundred fans on Facebook and twenty-one twitter followers. Twitter, as I am told by the experts, which is pretty much anybody younger than me, likely we won’t gain a large number of followers, but the quality of the followers is more the goal. Of those twenty-one followers the majority have two hundred to three thousand followers each. So when they share our tweets it has a big reach.
A communications letter was mailed last week describing the current condition of the downtown library, the demand on it, its relevance to the community, the emerging expectations and the vision for the next generation. This letter was mailed to approximately one thousand voters asking for their support. Yard signs displaying the message “Vote Yes For Our New Downtown Library” will be distributed in the next few weeks.
Meetings are ongoing with individuals and business for fundraising purposes and information sharing. We have plans for neighborhood coffees, association meetings and formal presentations all on the calendar for September and October. Individual donations and business contributions have been very supportive thus far. Those training just report at the library with the many diverse sections of our population.
It is our privilege to work on this project for the good of our city because it’s a quality of life issue. But that’s not the most important reason, not to me, anyway. The most important reason is for the good of each and every citizen who expects demands and deserves access to make sure this library system emerges as a center for learning and sharing culture and information. We’re not spreading anecdotal stories or hearsay. We’re sharing hard facts about the library’s critical role and relevancy in our world. This campaign is committed to the individuals who represent the six hundred thousand plus visits to the downtown library every year. To the individuals who use the internet seventy-five thousand times per year. To those individuals who need jobs and training. To the individuals who count on the library for meeting space and over five hundred enrichment events every year. To the individuals who are visually impaired and are physically disabled. To the children and on and on and on, every one you need, we need, this library for our individual reasons that add up to the common good for everyone.
We feel that this is the time to correct the deficient infrastructure and improve accessibility in this important cultural and learning institution for everyone in our community. The website is ournewlibrary.com. Go there, check it out, sign-up for Facebook, learn how to do it, if you don’t know how, but sign up. Get email updates, contact information is on the website, you can sign up to participate, get a yard sign, host a coffee, contact us and let me know what associations you are part of. We can come, Josie will have on her calendar every name in Ann Arbor, if we can touch those people, we will come and talk to them. We’re committed to this and we want to let everybody know how important this is. I thank you for the opportunity to work on this, it’s a life changer.
12-179 VI. FINANCIAL REPORTS
Associate Director Nieman reported July showed unrestricted cash balance just over $8 million. Tax receipts just over $1.1 million, reflecting 10% of the budgeted amount, have been received. The fund balance is at just over $8.1 million. Three line items are over budget but are expected to come into line later in the year. The figures are pre-audit and the auditors are expected to be here in September.
12-180 VII. APPROVAL OF DISBURSEMENTS
(Item of action)
Trustee Head, supported by Vice President Rosenthal, moved to approve the July disbursements.
AYES: Head, Kaplan, Leary, Murphy, Barney Newman, Rosenthal, Surovell
NAYS: None
Motion passed 7-0.
12-181 VIII. DIRECTOR’S REPORT
Director Parker deferred her report to the trends presentation under New Business.
12-182 IX. NEW BUSINESS
12-183 A. 21ST CENTURY TRENDS AFFECTING PUBLIC LIBRARIES
Eli Neiburger, Celeste Choate
Associate Director Neiburger provided scenarios regarding digital media as it relates to the future of libraries. He outlined the various routes the publishing world could take regarding this media and possible outcomes. He stated libraries need to create their own infrastructure and storage.
Associate Director Choate offered an overview of the newest collection of musical tools and telescopes. Several other alternative collections are in the works. These collections are well received and offer an introduction to items that may not be affordable to the general public.
Associate Director Choate also provided and update on the WLBPD patron survey. All 446 active patrons were contacted. Responses were positive for the program and patrons would recommend this service to others.
12-184 B. VOTE FOR EXECUTIVE SESSION AT THE SEPTEMBER 24, 2012 REGULAR MEETING FOR OPINION OF LEGAL COUNSEL
(Item of action)
Roll call vote
Trustee Head, supported by Vice President Rosenthal, moved to hold an Executive Session at the September 24, 2012 regular Board meeting for opinion of legal counsel.
A roll call vote was taken.
AYES: Head, Kaplan, Leary, Murphy, Barney Newman, Rosenthal, Surovell
NAYS: None
Motion passed 7-0.
12-185 X. ADJOURNMENT
Treasurer Murphy, supported by Secretary Barney Newman, moved to adjourn the meeting.
President Leary adjourned the meeting at 7:50 p.m.