City of Pendleton Public Library
Library Board
Minutes
June 10, 2014
Library Meeting Room
There was no public comment.
The meeting was called to order at 6:05 PM by Sean Degan, Board Chair.
In attendance were Sean Degan, Kathy Aney, Rachele Johnson,Will Perkinson, and John Brenne, Mayor’s Representative. Staff: Mary Finney, Interim Director.
The April minutes were approved as written.
There John Brenne asked to move New Business to the front of the agenda because he was having to leave before 7 for another meeting.
NEW BUSINESS
New Staff: Mary Finney reported that Benjamin Byrd-Jolley has accepted the position of Library Assistant I. He will begin working on Thursday. He is a student at BMCC working who will ultimately go on to a military training program. He is very excited to get the position.
New designations: Finney reported that both she and Jennifer Furuyama have been designated as interims. Finney being the Interim Director and Furuyama the Interim Assistant Director.
Library Board Terms/Officers: Finney reported that the terms of Sean Degan and Will Perkinson were ending this year and asked if they would like to continue another year. Both indicated they would continue. Degan may be relocating out of the area and asked to be replaced as board chair. Finney will send an email to board members not in attendance so they can be considering election to the chair
position. Questions were asked whether Perkinson’s term was actually up this year. Finney will check on that.
REPORTS
Board Chair: Degan reported that he may be relocating to Maryland for a new position. As these moves often take some time, he will continue on the board until it is more certain.
Interim Director’s report: Finney shared with the board the use statistics for May. Numbers continue to ease downward. Some are very close, but media continues to drop. That may be a reflection of other methods of accessing video format. Lower children’s non-fiction numbers may be a factor more children accessing information for reports on the internet. Attendance for both adults and children’s programs rose markedly. The adult numbers included the Gone With The Wind Adult Prom attendance as the program was largely facilitated by Furuyama. Figures for what the Pendleton Friends Of the Library (PFOL) netted from the prom are yet to be determined.
Finney also reported that the PFOL Annual Dinner while sparsely attended had a great program speaker. Philip Margolin was an excellent speaker. About 40 persons attended the function.
The Summer Reading programs are under way. Sign up began on the June 1st with the program beginning June 16. There is a lot of interest in the science themed program. Johnston commented that the display of science books was great and wondered if the science theme and displays would bring the non-fiction numbers up. We will know next month. Everyone was encouraged to sign up for the adult reading program.
OLD BUSINESS
Survey:
Finney reported that 514 paper surveys have been returned to the library. She asked for volunteers to tally the surveys. Kathy Aney, Rachele Johnson, and Perkinson volunteered. Finney will also email the remainder of the board to seek volunteers to help with the tallying. Degan suggested that Finney sent out the survey results to board members as soon as possible so they can be thinking of what to ask in
the next survey. Finney indicated that she would do so. It was also suggested that the planning for the survey should begin earlier in the year. As the next year will not include strategic planning, that can easily be done.
Strategic Plan and Goals Setting:
Finney projected the action plan from the strategic plan and projected it for all to read. She then discussed each portion of the plan. There were no suggested changes. Everyone thought it was a good plan. Finney will email those not present for consensus to accept the plan.
Budget Process:
Finney reported that the budget was approved by City Council as presented. Discussion followed about the reductions that were made to make the budget work. Finney said that the salaries budgeted represented the library as it is, with no director. Degan reiterated that that would only work for one year as that was not sufficient to hire a director. Finney agreed and said that the City was looking at ways to increase their support of the library. The board realizes that the money required to fund the director’s position may not be easily found by the City.
Fundraising
Finney reported that the PFOL will be increasing their fundraising efforts since the Foundation is up and running. She and Furuyama will be assisting the Foundation to establish policies, procedures and forms for the program. It was suggested that PFOL might consider creating a webpage where their fundraising efforts would be more visible to the public.
Visitor Count Week
Finney projected the breakdown of the numbers gleaned from the visitors count so the board could see the breakout. Discussion was held as to why certain hours showed higher visitation and what hours were consistently lower. There were 1,420 visitors during the week.
Other business:
There was no further business.
The next meeting will be July 8th at 6:00 PM in the Library Meeting Room.
The meeting was adjourned at 7:54PM
Submitted by Mary Finney, Interim Director
Secretary to the Board
Library Board
Minutes
June 10, 2014
Library Meeting Room
There was no public comment.
The meeting was called to order at 6:05 PM by Sean Degan, Board Chair.
In attendance were Sean Degan, Kathy Aney, Rachele Johnson,Will Perkinson, and John Brenne, Mayor’s Representative. Staff: Mary Finney, Interim Director.
The April minutes were approved as written.
There John Brenne asked to move New Business to the front of the agenda because he was having to leave before 7 for another meeting.
NEW BUSINESS
New Staff: Mary Finney reported that Benjamin Byrd-Jolley has accepted the position of Library Assistant I. He will begin working on Thursday. He is a student at BMCC working who will ultimately go on to a military training program. He is very excited to get the position.
New designations: Finney reported that both she and Jennifer Furuyama have been designated as interims. Finney being the Interim Director and Furuyama the Interim Assistant Director.
Library Board Terms/Officers: Finney reported that the terms of Sean Degan and Will Perkinson were ending this year and asked if they would like to continue another year. Both indicated they would continue. Degan may be relocating out of the area and asked to be replaced as board chair. Finney will send an email to board members not in attendance so they can be considering election to the chair
position. Questions were asked whether Perkinson’s term was actually up this year. Finney will check on that.
REPORTS
Board Chair: Degan reported that he may be relocating to Maryland for a new position. As these moves often take some time, he will continue on the board until it is more certain.
Interim Director’s report: Finney shared with the board the use statistics for May. Numbers continue to ease downward. Some are very close, but media continues to drop. That may be a reflection of other methods of accessing video format. Lower children’s non-fiction numbers may be a factor more children accessing information for reports on the internet. Attendance for both adults and children’s programs rose markedly. The adult numbers included the Gone With The Wind Adult Prom attendance as the program was largely facilitated by Furuyama. Figures for what the Pendleton Friends Of the Library (PFOL) netted from the prom are yet to be determined.
Finney also reported that the PFOL Annual Dinner while sparsely attended had a great program speaker. Philip Margolin was an excellent speaker. About 40 persons attended the function.
The Summer Reading programs are under way. Sign up began on the June 1st with the program beginning June 16. There is a lot of interest in the science themed program. Johnston commented that the display of science books was great and wondered if the science theme and displays would bring the non-fiction numbers up. We will know next month. Everyone was encouraged to sign up for the adult reading program.
OLD BUSINESS
Survey:
Finney reported that 514 paper surveys have been returned to the library. She asked for volunteers to tally the surveys. Kathy Aney, Rachele Johnson, and Perkinson volunteered. Finney will also email the remainder of the board to seek volunteers to help with the tallying. Degan suggested that Finney sent out the survey results to board members as soon as possible so they can be thinking of what to ask in
the next survey. Finney indicated that she would do so. It was also suggested that the planning for the survey should begin earlier in the year. As the next year will not include strategic planning, that can easily be done.
Strategic Plan and Goals Setting:
Finney projected the action plan from the strategic plan and projected it for all to read. She then discussed each portion of the plan. There were no suggested changes. Everyone thought it was a good plan. Finney will email those not present for consensus to accept the plan.
Budget Process:
Finney reported that the budget was approved by City Council as presented. Discussion followed about the reductions that were made to make the budget work. Finney said that the salaries budgeted represented the library as it is, with no director. Degan reiterated that that would only work for one year as that was not sufficient to hire a director. Finney agreed and said that the City was looking at ways to increase their support of the library. The board realizes that the money required to fund the director’s position may not be easily found by the City.
Fundraising
Finney reported that the PFOL will be increasing their fundraising efforts since the Foundation is up and running. She and Furuyama will be assisting the Foundation to establish policies, procedures and forms for the program. It was suggested that PFOL might consider creating a webpage where their fundraising efforts would be more visible to the public.
Visitor Count Week
Finney projected the breakdown of the numbers gleaned from the visitors count so the board could see the breakout. Discussion was held as to why certain hours showed higher visitation and what hours were consistently lower. There were 1,420 visitors during the week.
Other business:
There was no further business.
The next meeting will be July 8th at 6:00 PM in the Library Meeting Room.
The meeting was adjourned at 7:54PM
Submitted by Mary Finney, Interim Director
Secretary to the Board