HomeMy WebLinkAboutLIB 2008-11-20 MinutesMINUTES OF THE LIBRARY BOARD
OF THE CITY OF NORTH RICHLAND HILLS, TEXAS
HELD IN THE LIBRARY BOARD ROOM
LOCATED AT 9015 GRAND AVENUE
November 20, 2008
Present: Kay Schmidt
David Nelson
Don Tipps
Avis Crisp
Mike Madar
Jane Birkes
Kathy Antropik
Chair
Vice-Chair
Board Member
Board Member
Board Member
Board Member
Alternate
Absent: Mary Shilcutt
Staff Present: Steve Brown Library Director
Kelly Preston Administrative Secretary
Jared Miller Assistant City Manager
Vickie Loftice Parks and Recreation Director
Jared Miller introduced Ms. Vickie Loftice to the Library Board. Vickie is currently the
Director of Parks and Recreation, and will be appointed to Interim Managing Director
while Jared is deployed overseas with the military.
CALL TO ORDER
Chair Kay Schmidt called the meeting to order November 20, 2008 at 6:00 p.m.
APPROVAL OF MINUTES
Minutes of the October 16, 2008 meeting were approved with one correction to the Long
Range Planning Discussion on Library Services.
LIBRARY DIRECTOR'S REPORT
Mr. Steve Brown updated the Board on the following:
The number of loans is up, and the number of renewals is down. Overall, circulation is
up compared to the same month last year. The number of holds/reserves is up 1,000
over the same time last year. The web visits are up by 20,000 compared to the previous
year. The number of reference questions is 900 higher than this time last year.
Attendance for Children's programs doubled over this month last year. There were 2,806
items added to the inventory last month. The Technical Services staff is almost caught up
with processing and cataloging items that were back-logged during the RFID tagging
project and the move to the new library. The number of volunteer hours is also up over
this time last year.
A citizen survey was conducted by the University of North Texas Survey Research
Center. The survey compares North Richland Hills services with other cities in the
Metroplex. The North Richland Hills Library had 58.2% "excellent" ratings compared with
42.5% in other Metroplex suburban cities.
Helen McClaine, Library Clerk for seven years, retired November 19, 2008. The City is
experiencing delays in hiring, and Helen's position will not be filled at this time.
The Book Sale held on October 25th was successful with sales totaling almost $3,000.
There were more books in the sale than in past years due to the heavy weeding prior to
the move, and a higher number of book donations.
The Children's Department will hold the annual Christmas Tree Decorating program on
December 3rd and 4th. Children will make and hang their ornaments on the Christmas
tree located in the Children's Library.
Steve Brown was elected to a two-year term on Texas Municipal League Board of
Directors.
Steve presented the Board with a sample of the new online electronic audio picture
books for kids called TumbleBooks. Children and parents can view the books from their
home computers by linking through the Library's website. The Library recently purchased
a set of the online books for $399.
LONG RANGE PLANNING DISCUSSION ON LIBRARY SERVICES
Steve gave a brief summary of the Library Board's discussion on Long Range Planning
from the October 16th, 2008 Board meeting. The Board identified three primary roles of
the Library including: Lifelong Learning Center, Preschoolers Door to Learning, and
Popular Materials. The Board also identified two secondary roles including, Formal
Education Support Center, Reference and Community Information, and Commons.
Vice-Chair David Nelson suggested including one of the Roles identified by the Public
Library Association, "Connecting to the Online World/ Public Internet Access" as one of
the primary roles for NRH Library. Mr. Mike Madar suggested incorporating it with
another primary goal, "Popular Materials". A suggestion was made to rename the
primary goal, Popular Materials and Services, and to include the phrase, "Taking
advantage of the ever-growing resources".
It was the consensus of the Board to change Reference and Community Information from
a secondary role to a primary role. The primary roles will now include Lifelong Learning
Center, Preschoolers Door to Learning, Popular Materials and Services, and Reference
and Community Information. The secondary roles will now include Formal Education
Support Center and Commons.
Ms. Avis Crisp suggested that genealogy and local history be included in the Plan of
Service.
It was the consensus of the Board to change the Plan of Service from five years to three
years.
NEXT MEETING DATE
January 15, 2009 at 6:00 p.m.
ADJOURNMENT
Meeting adjourned at 7:20 p.m.
Ka midt, Chair
ATTEST:
Kelly Preston, dministrative Secretary