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Home My WebLink AboutMin - LB - 2001.05.22 r 6URLIIYGAME 1 B U R L I N G A M E �,.. PUBLIC LIBRARY Burlingame Public Library Board of Trustees Minutes May 22, 2001 I. Call to Order The meeting of May 22, 2001 was called to order by President Cecile Coar at 4:30 pm. 11. Roll Call Trustees Present: Jeff Berger, Cecile Coar, Jane Dunbar, Andrew Gurthet, Mary Herman City Attorney: Larry Anderson Staff Present: Alfred Escoffier, City Librarian Sidney Poland, Recorder Public Present: Dave Johnson VIII. Unfinished Business A. Easter Sunday Closure - Trustee Dunbar proposed a motion to change the order of the agenda and move the discussion of Easter Sunday closure to the first item of business. M/S/C (Dunbar/Berger). 1. Easter Closure Information - City Attorney, Larry Anderson reviewed the three key constitutional questions that have to be considered when dealing with the issue of Easter Sunday closure: a. Is there a clearly secular purpose? Is the Easter closing for a clearly governmental purpose? b. Is the primary effect of the closing to advance a religion or a religious belief? c. Is there an excessive entanglement with a religion? 4 8 0 P r i m r o s e R o ado B u r I i n g a m e • C A 9 4 0 1 0 - 4 0 8 3 Phone ( 650 ) 342 - 1038 • Fox ( 650 ) 342 - 1948 • www . pis . lib . ca . us / pls / pls . html 2. Court Cases - Mr. Anderson provided examples of how both a federal and a state court perceived the issue of religion vs. �- secular. a. Secular/Governmental Purpose - Federal Courts have ruled that Christmas is a secular holiday. It is predominately non-religious and does not have a governmental purpose. Christmas is always December 251h whereas the date for Easter is set by the religious calendar and changes every year. b. Specific Religious Purpose - A California court ruled that a government official who closed offices to specifically encourage employees to attend Good Friday services was clearly advancing a religion or a religious belief and therefore was not in compliance with the law. c. Excessive Entanglement with a Religion - This test is not related to the issue of Easter closure but deals with religious activities occurring on public property. 3. Factors for Closing Easter Sunday - The City Librarian presented factors that have precipitated Easter closure in the past. a. Closure - The Burlingame Library has closed Easter Sunday for at least the past 30 years and most likely longer. All PLS Libraries are closed on Easter Sunday. (Attached is a copy of libraries in the area closed on Easter Sunday and their reason for closing. Note that 3 libraries close for Spring Break) b. Cost - Opening Easter Sunday would cost approximately double the cost of a regular Sunday; staff would have to be paid at a premium rate. The library is presently having difficulty staffing weekends on a regular basis and it is becoming increasingly difficult to find staff that will work a three day weekend. Also, additional costs for HVAC and electricity would be a concern. c. Staffing - To staff on Easter Sunday would require a "meet and confer" session for employee bargaining groups since this holiday falls under the "past practice closure" category for the City. d. Services - Burlingame is dependent on the PLAN Central Site for specific services i.e., Internet, library catalog. If all other libraries are closed for Easter Sunday, certain services may be unavailable. e. Traffic - Traffic is anticipated to be much lower than on a regular Sunday due to Easter activities both of a religious and non- religious nature. Library Board of Trustee Minutes 2 May 22, 2001 4. Other City Departments - Larry Anderson, City Attorney, noted that Easter Sunday is not considered a city holiday. Police and fire department employees do not receive an additional benefit for working Easter Sunday. 5. Comments from Mr. Johnson - Mr. Johnson identified himself as the person who made the inquiry regarding the closure of the library on Easter Sunday, April 15, 2001. Following is a summary of his comments on the issue: a. Practical issues, such as those stated by the City Librarian for closing on Easter Sunday, are of no significance. It is the City Librarian's job to solve these problems, at whatever cost, and open the library for public use. b. Sensitivity to people not of the same faith is most important. It is bad form and bad taste to close the library on this holiday. c. Issues against closing the library on Easter Sunday are overwhelming. d. There is nothing special about Easter Sunday and by offering time and a half to employees to work that day, the library is making it special. Premium pay is not justified. e. The Trustees are spending too much time researching �. and debating the issue of Easter closure. f. The Burlingame Public Library should take the lead in influencing other libraries in the area to close on Easter Sunday. g. Close another Sunday that would not be related to a religious holiday such as Mother's Day. 6. Library Calendar - Library Board determines the calendar for the coming year in October, 2001. 7. Easter Closure Follow Up - President Coar will check out of state libraries to determine if they are open Easter Sunday. The City Librarian will prepare a survey for the staff to ascertain if enough qualified staff are willing to work Easter Sunday. He will also find out the level of services the library could offer on Easter Sunday if all other libraries in our system are closed. 8. Board Action - Trustee Berger made a motion to continue discussion on the subject of Easter Closure at the June 19, 2001 Board Meeting. M/S/C (Berger/Dunbar) Library Board of Trustee Minutes 3 May 22, 2001 III Warrants & Special Fund �-' The Trustees unanimously agreed to approve the warrants as presented. M/S/C (Dunbar/Gurthet) IV. Minutes The Trustees unanimously agreed to approve the minutes of the April 17, 2001 meeting. M/S/C (Herman/Gurthet) V. Correspondence Correspondence mailed in the packets was reviewed. VI. From the Floor (Public Comments) Please note Mr. Johnson's comments Section VIII. Unfinished Business. VII. Reports A. City Librarian's Report - Al Escoffier The City Librarian reviewed his report highlighting the following issues. 1. Easton Branch - The City Librarian met with Mr. Brandes and his cost consultant last week. There will be two levels of cost: completion of code requirement work and building replacement. Some of the staff will visit libraries in the bay area that are similar in size to the Easton Branch on May 31St. Two of the libraries Albany Branch of Alameda and Rockridge Branch of Oakland were designed by Mr. Brandes. 2. Embezzlement Case Status - Judy Gladysz was sentenced for embezzlement of$129,000 in the criminal case and will serve 1 year in the county jail. She has made restitution for $153,000 to date. The Civil case is scheduled for trial in July. 3. Budget - The budget has been approved by the City Manager and has been given to the City Council. Mike Coffey will meet with the City Librarian to review the budget the first week of June. On June 51h a study session of the entire City budget will be held with the City Council. L Library Board of Trustee Minutes 4 May 22, 2001 B. Foundation Report - Jane Dunbar �-' The Elegant Affair previously scheduled for October of this year has been cancelled. It is hoped that the plans for the Easton Branch renovation will be far enough along by next year to provide a worthy cause for a fund raiser. In October of this year the Foundation will hold a reception in the Library for our major donors. C. Budget Presentation (Power Point) - Escoffier The power point program will be presented at the next meeting. Copies of the program will be mailed to the Trustees before the next meeting. VIII. Unfinished Business B. Donor Vine - The Burlingame Library Foundation agreed to fund half of the donor vine and paid the first invoice in the amount of$2,500. It is expected that the work will take 10 to 12 weeks to complete the vine and solder the leaves. IX. New Business - A. Duncan Trust Request - The City Librarian requested that the Board approve funding from the Duncan Trust for �. Burlingame's portion of the "Project Read" literacy project in the amount of$8,000 and an upgrade of the Macintosh workstation in the amount of$9,100. M/S/C (Herman/Berger) X. Announcements Larry Anderson, City Attorney, informed the Trustees that the City Council had appointed Catherine McCormack to the Library Board of Trustees to fill the chair that will be left vacant by Jeff Berger on June 30th. XI. Adjournment The meeting was adjourned at 6:00pm. M/S/C (Herman,Guerthet) The next meeting of the Library Board of Trustees will be held June 19, 2001 in the Library Conference Room. Respectfully Submitted a4l-�W,Aj- . gu;/,- Alfred H. Escoffier City Librarian Library Board of Trustee Minutes 5 May 22, 2001