12/13/2007 - Minutes TIGARD PUBLIC LIBRARY
BOARD MINUTES
Thursday, December 13, 2007
Call to Order: 7:10 p.m.
Roll Call
Present at the meeting: Brian Kelly, Chair; Board members Jan Thenell, Richard Heath,
Scott Libert and Alternate Jennifer Vasicek; Library Director Margaret Barnes and Alison
Grimes, Executive Assistant. Karen Levear, Cecelia Nguyen and David Burke were
excused.
Minutes
The November 8, 2007 Board meeting minutes were reviewed and, there being no
additions or corrections, the minutes were approved as read.
Motion — Heath Second — Kelly
Burke — Excused Levear— Excused
Heath —Aye Nguyen — Excused
Kelly —Aye Thenell -Abstain
Libert —Abstain
Agenda Additions and Deletions
Added Discussion of Council Goals to Other Business.
Call to the Public
Trish Stormont, Library Volunteer Coordinator, introduced by Barnes to the Board,
presented some Library-wide volunteer statistics and gave a brief overview of the
Library's Volunteer Program. The Tigard Library utilizes the largest contingent of
volunteers within the City's departments. Financially, in FY 2006/07, volunteers saved
the Library approximately $277,800 by working 14,800 volunteer hours. This equates to
$18.77 per hour. Volunteerism is up, Stormont noted, due to the retirement of younger
baby-boomers who wish to give back to their community and more young people who
are volunteering to meet college requirements. Also, Library volunteers appear to be
having such a positive experience at the Library that they are recruiting their friends.
Stormont invited Board members to attend any of the volunteer orientations she has
planned for January so they might learn more about the program.
Monthly Reports for November, 2007
The monthly statistics for November, 2007 were reviewed. Programming still remains
popular as does wireless use. The comfy new upholstered chairs finally arrived and are
now available in the lobby for patrons.
The agenda and accompanying statistics for this Board meeting were not only snail-
mailed but also emailed to Board members as a test run. Board members agreed they
liked receiving the information via their email but decided to continue normal mailing
plus emailing their agendas for three more months to see if it continues to work well.
Library Policies
Updated Library policies were distributed to Board members for their manuals.
Library Operations
The Library parking lot project is finally completed; parking spaces have received new
striping and the bare areas have been seeded for grass. The inventory project is
moving forward; staff is now in Adult Fiction.
As an FYI to the Board, Barnes noted that the City recently purchased the house and
property on Hall Blvd. next to Tigard Christian Church. It is unknown what plans the
City has for the property.
Annual Library Survey
The Library's Annual Survey is scheduled for the first two weeks in February, 2008.
The survey will be available in the February Cityscape and a survey table will be set up
in the inner lobby of the Library. Administration staff is in the process of finalizing the
various aspects of the survey. Barnes asked if the Board had ideas for specific
demographic and quality of performance questions for the survey. Some of their
suggestions included:
✓ Ask program-related questions — How does the patron find out about Library
activities?
✓ Ask about building services outside the Library proper (Community Room,
Sesame Donuts) — Does the patron utilize these services?
✓ Ask about their comfort level — Is the seating comfortable? Are there tables
available? Does the Library provide enough of a particular item?
✓ Ask about the mode of transportation used to get to the Library— Does the
patron use public transportation to get to the Library? How did you get here
today? Car? Bus? Bike?
WCCLS Update
With the restructuring of the MIX Agreement, there may be funding available for
additional services to patrons county-wide. The Board had a discussion regarding
possible services for patrons. At the end of the discussion the Board's top
recommendations were outreach services and the development of a leased bestseller
collection. There is approximately $100,000 available to the cooperative to spend.
Other Business
Discussion of Council Goals:
Tigard City Council is again asking for goal requests from the various city boards. Last
year the Library Board suggested:
✓ Open Spaces/Park
✓ Downtown Development
✓ Connectedness —Town Hall, Library, Public Works
✓ Culture and Communication
During a quick brainstorming session, Board members came up with the following:
✓ Open space/Public space/Community space
✓ Community gathering place = Library; youth engagement to activities; skate park
a success —what other activities are important to youth
✓ Community involvement/engagement; volunteerism
✓ Civil discussion — promote exchange of ideas; foster community participation
✓ Civic pride, recognition of outstanding achievements
✓ Increasing sustainability— "Green City"
✓ Support community events; Cook Park a great spot for concerts
Attending Board members were assigned a topic— Heath - youth engagement; Thenell
— community connectedness; Vasicek— sustainable "green" city; Libert— recognition of
efforts and Kelly— open space/public space and will email each other with their
suggestions by Saturday, December 15.
Library Trends:
The latest trend appears to be delivering reading material in an electronic format—e-
books, portable reader systems (PRS).
Adiournment: There being no further business to come before the Board, the meeting
adjourned at 8:58 p.m.
The next Library Board meeting is scheduled for Thursday, January 10, 2008 at 7:00
p.m. in the Conference Room at the Tigard Public Library, 13500 SW Hall Blvd.