ANN ARBOR DISTRICT LIBRARY BOARD
343 S. FIFTH AVENUE, ANN ARBOR, MI
MINUTES OF THE ANNUAL MEETING
MONDAY, JANUARY 21, 2013
13-001 I. CALL TO ORDER
President Leary called the meeting to order at 7:06 p.m.
13-002 II. ATTENDANCE
Present: Head, Kaplan, Leary, Murphy, Barney Newman, Rosenthal, Surovell
Absent: None
Staff: Choate, Neiburger, Nieman, Parker, Wilson (recorder)
13-003 III. ADMINISTRATION OF OATH OF MEMBERS
Judge Elizabeth Hines, Presiding
Judge Hines administered the oath of office to the following returning trustees: Rebecca Head, Nancy Kaplan, Margaret A. Leary, Prue Rosenthal.
“I, (name stated), DO SOLEMNLY SWEAR THAT I WILL SUPPORT THE CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES AND THE CONSTITUTION OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN, AND THAT I WILL FAITHFULLY DISCHARGE THE DUTIES OF THE OFFICE OF MEMBER OF THE DISTRICT LIBRARY BOARD OF THE ANN ARBOR DISTRICT LIBRARY, WASHTENAW COUNTY, MICHIGAN ACCORDING TO THE BEST OF MY ABILITY.”
Director Parker presented Judge Hines with a bouquet of roses on behalf of the Board and staff in acknowledgement of recent awards she received and as a thank you for attending tonight’s meeting.
13- 004 IV. PRESIDENT’S REMARKS
President Leary acknowledged her second year as Board president by thanking each Board member for their participation. She thanked the Friends of the Ann Arbor District Library led by Pat McDonald for their support and Ellie Serras for chairing the Advocacy group for a new downtown library. She also thanked Director Parker and AADL staff for a job well done.
Director Parker presented President Leary with a bouquet of roses on behalf of staff and administration in acknowledgement of her service as Board President.
13-005 V. APPROVAL OF AGENDA
(Item of action)
Secretary Barney Newman, supported by Trustee Head, moved to move the Approval of Agenda to after the Election of Officers.
AYES: Head, Kaplan, Leary, Murphy, Barney Newman, Rosenthal, Surovell
NAYS: None
Motion passed 7-0.
13-006 VI. ELECT LIBRARY BOARD OFFICERS
1. PRESIDENT
(Item of action)
Roll call vote
Trustee Barney Newman, supported by Trustee Murphy, nominated Prue Rosenthal for Board President. No other nominations were made.
A roll call vote was taken.
AYES: Head, Kaplan, Leary, Murphy, Barney Newman, Rosenthal, Surovell
NAYS: None
Motion passed 7-0.
2. VICE PRESIDENT
(Item of action)
Roll call vote
Trustee Surovell, supported by Trustee Rosenthal, nominated Jan Barney Newman for Board Vice President. No other nominations were made.
A roll call vote was taken.
AYES: Head, Kaplan, Leary, Murphy, Barney Newman, Rosenthal, Surovell
NAYS: None
Motion passed 7-0.
3. TREASURER
(Item of action)
Roll call vote
Trustee Head, supported by Trustee Murphy, nominated Nancy Kaplan for Board Treasurer. No other nominations were made.
A roll call vote was taken.
AYES: Head, Kaplan, Leary, Murphy, Barney Newman, Rosenthal, Surovell
NAYS: None
Motion passed 7-0.
4. SECRETARY
(Item of action)
Roll call vote
Trustee Rosenthal, supported by Trustee Kaplan, nominated Rebecca Head for Board Secretary. No other nominations were made.
A roll call vote was taken.
AYES: Head, Kaplan, Leary, Murphy, Barney Newman, Rosenthal, Surovell
NAYS: None
Motion passed 7-0.
13-007 VII. INSTALLATION OF OFFICERS
President Leary administered the oath installing Board officers for 2013: Trustee Rosenthal as President, Trustee Barney Newman as Vice President, Trustee Kaplan as Treasurer, and Trustee Head as Secretary.
“I, (name stated), DO SOLEMNLY SWEAR THAT I WILL ABIDE BY THE BYLAWS, RULES, AND REGULATIONS OF MY OFFICE AS TO THE BEST OF MY ABILITY.”
13-008 VIII. OFFICERS RELINQUISH CONTROL TO NEW OFFICERS
President Leary relinquished control to the new officers. President Rosenthal presided over the remainder of the meeting.
13-009 IX. APPROVAL OF AGENDA
(Item of action)
Secretary Head, supported by Treasurer Kaplan, moved to approve the agenda. Trustee Leary presented a friendly amendment to the agenda under New Business E. Appointment of Board Committee Members. The revised agenda was voted on.
AYES: Head, Kaplan, Leary, Murphy, Barney Newman, Rosenthal, Surovell
NAYS: None
Motion passed 7-0.
13-010 X. APPROVAL OF MINUTES OF NOVEMBER 19, 2012
(Item of action)
Treasurer Kaplan, supported by Trustee Surovell, moved to approve the minutes of November 19, 2012.
AYES: Head, Kaplan, Leary, Murphy, Barney Newman, Rosenthal, Surovell
NAYS: None
Motion passed 7-0.
13-011 XI. CITIZENS’ COMMENTS
Sahba Laal and George Kachadoorian
My name is Sahba Laal and my partner George Kachadoorian, we are local architects and all of the curiosity and interest in our library, main library here, we have been preparing a proposal for the library, has renovation and perhaps additions. We are here to ask that you will consider looking at this proposal at one of your future meetings. Thanks.
Lynn Davidge
Hi, I’m Lynn Davidge and I’m speaking to you as one of your constituents, just one individual citizen who cares about the library and has, I think you all know by now, various ideas. First, I wanted to express my disappointment that you canceled the December meeting. There were so many views expressed by electorate leading up to the bond issue vote, that surely we’re all aware of vast amount of public interest in the library as an institution, and in this building in particular and in, there is a renewed, or a new perspective I think, of some of the financial issues and I believe that the constituents deserve regular monthly updates on things like finances and services and policy. And I felt it was especially important for the constituency in December to hear something and I realize it might have been a very short report but something from the Facilities Committee. Thank you.
Lou Glorie
Good evening and congratulations to all of you on your elections. I have some comments that are germane to the agenda tonight because you are going to be working on the schedule for the coming year and in the interest of greater transparency and better engagement with the public I wanted to suggest first of all that the Board consider, I wish I had known that you already put the schedule together, consider alternating your meetings so that they don’t work out on the same evenings as city council meetings because many people attend city council meetings and cannot attend both, obviously. So it would really be helpful for the sake of bringing more citizen involvement in board meetings to have your board meetings on alternate Mondays or another day of the week. Since council meetings are generally on the first and third Monday’s of the month and also along with that I’m always shocked when I hear people tell me they’ve been watching the city council meetings on TV. I mean, I could never sit through that. I have to go to them, you know, it’s part of the live buzz going on there but people watch these things on television, on CTN, even YouTube. So, I would like to ask that that be considered in getting these meetings recorded so that the community can watch them whenever they are able to and finally I just want to note that this is Martin Luther King Day and the city council for instance, postponed its meeting until tomorrow because a lot of people are busy going to events on Martin Luther King Day. In fact there is one here in the library tonight I’m going to scoot out to in a little bit. So that’s another thing I would like to see reflected in the scheduling, some sensitivity for these kinds of holidays. I know the library is open, I’m glad it is open today, but in terms of the board’s business it might be better if more people could attend who aren’t going to other festivities today. That’s all I have to say and I should mention that I am a member of the Protect Our Libraries group and I look forward to collaboration.
13-012 XII. FINANCIAL REPORTS
Associate Director Nieman reported November and December reports were in the Board Packet. December showed unrestricted cash balance just over $13.2 million. Tax receipts just over $10.8 million, reflecting 97% of the budgeted amount, have been received through December. The fund balance stands at just over $8 million. Four line items are over budget but are expected to come into line later in the year.
13-013 XIII. APPROVAL OF DISBURSEMENTS
(Item of action)
Secretary Head, supported by Trustee Leary, moved to approve the November and December 2012 disbursements.
AYES: Head, Kaplan, Leary, Murphy, Barney Newman, Rosenthal, Surovell
NAYS: None
Motion passed 7-0.
13-014 XIV. COMMITTEE REPORTS
13-015 A. FACILITIES COMMITTEE
President Rosenthal reported the Facilities Committee had met and discussed the loss of the bond millage.
13-016 XV. DIRECTOR’S REPORT
Director Parker began her report with the video viewing of the 2011-2012 Annual Report. The report can be found on the AADL website. She thanked Tim Grimes, Eli Neiburger and the Community Relations staff for their creation of this report.
Director Parker reported the 2012 second grade visits were a success again. 56 classes with over 1,200 students visited the downtown library for a storytime, tours and library cards. Transportation for this event was sponsored by the Friends of the Ann Arbor District Library.
The WLBPD received two commendations from the state after our site review. The first was for a working towards a national wiki for libraries serving the blind and physically handicapped; the second for a very successful Visions Vendor Fair in 2012. Celeste Choate, Terry Soave and ONS staff were congratulated and thanked for their work.
13-017 XVI. NEW BUSINESS
13-018 A. RESOLUTION TO HOLD THREE 2013 BOARD MEETINGS IN AADL BRANCHES
(Item of action)
Treasurer Kaplan, supported by Secretary Head, moved whereas the AADL Board wants to encourage members of the public to attend and comment at board meetings; whereas, as we intend to facilitate this participation by meeting in a variety of braches to offer options that may be more convenient for members of the public; whereas, information on the location of meetings shall be posted on the annual meeting schedule on the library website and posted at all library branches; now, therefore be it resolved to schedule one board meeting in 2013 at each of the three branches that can accommodate a board meeting, Malletts Creek, Pittsfield and Traverwood; that all resolutions and parts of resolutions that conflict with the provisions of this resolution are rescinded.
AYES: Head, Kaplan, Leary, Murphy, Barney Newman, Rosenthal, Surovell
NAYS: None
Motion passed 7-0.
13-019 B. APPROVAL OF BOARD MEETING DATES FOR 2013
(Item of action)
Trustee Leary, supported by Secretary Head, moved to approve the proposed 2013 Board meeting calendar.
AYES: Head, Kaplan, Leary, Murphy, Barney Newman, Rosenthal, Surovell
NAYS: None
Motion passed 7-0.
13-020 C. RESOLUTION ESTABLISHING A SPECIAL FACILITIES COMMITTEE
(Item of action)
Trustee Surovell, supported by Trustee Murphy, moved to approve the resolution establishing a special facilities committee as read by Trustee Leary: The Board resolves as follows: that a special Facilities Committee be established; that the charge to the special Facilities Committee will be to recommend to the Board steps needed to develop and maintain clean, safe, physical facilities that creatively meet the needs of the community and staff with an emphasis on sustainability, accessibility, and flexibility; that the committee shall serve through 2013; that all resolutions and parts of resolutions that conflict with the provisions of this resolution are rescinded.
AYES: Head, Kaplan, Leary, Murphy, Barney Newman, Rosenthal, Surovell
NAYS: None
Motion passed 7-0.
13-021 D. RESOLUTION ESTABLISHING A SPECIAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMITTEE
(Item of action)
Vice President Barney Newman, supported by Trustee Leary, moved to approve the resolution establishing a special Communications Committee as read by Trustee Murphy: The Board resolves as follows: that a special Communications Committee be established; that the charge to the special Communications Committee will be to recommend to the Board steps needed to develop a communications audit and plan; that the committee shall serve through 2013; that all resolutions and parts of resolutions that conflict with the provisions of this resolution are rescinded.
AYES: Head, Kaplan, Leary, Murphy, Barney Newman, Rosenthal, Surovell
NAYS: None
Motion passed 7-0.
13-022 E. APPROVAL OF BOARD COMMITTEE APPOINTMENTS
(Item of action)
President Rosenthal distributed her selection of Board Committee members for Board authorization.
Trustee Murphy, supported by Treasurer Kaplan, moved to approve the special Communications Committee consisting of Nancy Kaplan as chair, Margaret Leary and Ed Surovell.
AYES: Head, Kaplan, Leary, Murphy, Barney Newman, Rosenthal, Surovell
NAYS: None
Motion passed 7-0.
Vice President Barney Newman, supported Treasurer Kaplan, moved to approve the special Facilities Committee consisting of Margaret Leary as chair, Rebecca Head and Ed Surovell.
AYES: Head, Kaplan, Leary, Murphy, Barney Newman, Rosenthal, Surovell
NAYS: None
Motion passed 7-0.
It was the consensus of the Board that the regular committees stand as presented.
13-023 F. PRESENTATION OF HR INFORMATION
DeAnn Doll
DeAnn Doll, Finance/HR Manager gave an overview of the organizational chart and various staff positions. She reported that the compensation structure developed in 1997 was reviewed in 2008 and will be looked at again in 2013. Staff as of 12/31/12 numbered 227. Employees are classified as either regular or casual. The library does not use the designation of full-time or part-time as it is a misnomer in our system.
13-024 G. VOTE FOR EXECUTIVE SESSION AT THE FEBRUARY 18, 2013 REGULAR MEETING FOR OPINION OF LEGAL COUNSEL & DISCUSSION OF REAL ESTATE
(Item of action)
Roll call vote
Secretary Head, supported by Treasurer Kaplan, moved to hold an Executive Session at the February 18, 2013 regular Board meeting for opinion of legal counsel and discussion of real estate.
A roll call vote was taken.
AYES: Head, Kaplan, Leary, Murphy, Barney Newman, Rosenthal, Surovell
NAYS: None
Motion passed 7-0.
13-025 XVII. ADJOURNMENT
Vice President Barney Newman, supported by Trustee Leary, moved to adjourn the meeting.
President Rosenthal adjourned the meeting at 8:09 p.m.