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HomeMy WebLinkAboutAgenda Packet - LB - 2001.10.16 URLINGAME PUBLIC LIBRARY B"rL'"SAME 1 Board of Trustees Agenda a October 16, 2001 - 5.30pm Ge, + RP �C Lle' 480 Primrose Road - Board Room SUGGESTED ACTION 1. CALL TO ORDER 2. ROLL CALL 3. WARRANTS & SPECIAL FUND Approval 4. MINUTES Approval 5. CORRESPONDENCE AND INFORMATION Information a. Holiday Schedule (City Hall) b. Letter: Jonson 6. FROM THE FLOOR (Public Comments) REPORTS a. City Librarian Report - Escoffier Information b. Foundation Report—Dunbar, Herman V-f Information 8. UNFINISHED BUSINESS a. Employee Achievement Awards Status—Herman> Information b. Employee Recognition Dinner—Herman Information c. Donor Vine Status 12.I C1 Information 9. NEW BUSINESS a. Potential Closure —Day After Thanksgiving �^() j �� Action �) '�l� Tt �ryY kt/ W, V 10. ANNOUNCEMENTS 11. ADJOURNMENT A � Adjourn Vv r (BURLIIYGAME I r 6 U R L I N G A M E P U B L I C LIBRARY Burlingame Public Library Board of Trustees Minutes September 11, 2001 I. Call to Order The meeting of September 11, 2001 was called to order by President, Mary Herman, at 4:30 pm. A moment of silent prayer was observed for the many people who lost their lives, as a result of the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center, their families and loved ones. II. Roll Call Trustees Present: Cecile Coar, Jane Dunbar, Andrew `- Gurthet, Mary Herman, and Catherine McCormack Staff Present: Alfred Escoffier, City Librarian Sidney Poland, Recorder III. Warrants and Special Funds Trustees unanimously agreed to approve the warrants as presented. M/S/C /(Gurthet/Dunbar) IV. Minutes The Trustees unanimously agreed to approve the minutes of the August 21, 2001 meeting. M/S/C (McCormack/Dunbar) V. Correspondence Correspondence mailed in the packets was reviewed. A. Long Range Planning - Due to schedule conflicts and cost concerns for the Public Library Association Planning Session in San Diego on October 16th, the City Librarian suggested an alternative plan to the Trustees. He recommended retaining Sandra Nelson, workshop leader, to hold a private planning workshop at the library. Cost would be less and convenience a plus. 4 8 0 P r i m r o s e Road B u r l i n g a m e • C A 9 4 0 1 0 - 4 0 8 3 Phone ( 650 ) 342 - 1038 • Fax ( 650 ) 342 - 1 948 • www . p1s . Iib . ca . us / pls / pls . html IX. New Business ~" Trustee Dunbar made a motion to move agenda item 9a to the next order of business in order that Paul Constantino could present information on The Library of Vietnam Project. M/S/C (Dunbar/Coar) A. Paul Constantino explained that a reform economic policy initiated in Vietnam in 1986 has brought about successful foreign investment. The Global Community Service Projects, a non-profit organization located in Falls Church, VA, is promoting the construction of new libraries. Mr. Constantino served in Viet Nam east of Khe Sanh and is therefore personally interested in having a library built in this city. He requested that the Trustees consider being a "sister library" to the library in Khe Sanh. B. Trustee Dunbar felt the Trustees needed more information on the manner in which the Global Community Service Projects implemented its services. C. Mr. Constantino agreed to provide the Trustees with more information on the organization at the next board meeting. VI. From the Floor Members of the public did not attend. VII. Reports A. City Librarian's Report - Al Escoffier, The City Librarian reviewed his report highlighting the following issue. 1. Easton Branch Renovation Project - City staff is reviewing the Easton Branch Library Improvement Project proposal prepared by Dahanukar Brandes which will be discussed at a study session October 16th at 6:00pm in conference room A. Council members, staff, architects, library trustees and the City Librarian will attend. City staff has requested a site survey of the Easton property. 2. Disaster Training - Disaster training was offered to all full time and part time staff by Ken Musso and John Parkin of the Burlingame Fire Department. Public Service Personnel are required to serve as disaster workers either in Burlingame or their city of residence in the event of a major disaster. 3. Friends of the Library- The Friends held a one day book sale on August 25th and netted $1,200. B. Foundation Report - Dunbar/Herman 1. Donor Event - Invitations for the donor event have been sent out. Andrew Bradford of Copper Iron Designs, Inc. has confirmed that the vine will be installed before October 14th. Library Board of Trustee Minutes 2 September 11, 2001 2. Employee Awards Dinner - Employees will receive ~" nomination forms for the employee achievement awards within the next week. Forms should be returned to Mary Herman by October 12th. The awards will be presented at the annual employee awards dinner to be held on December 2nd. Andrew Gurthet and Katie McCormack volunteered to help with the event. VIII. Unfinished Business A. Draft Letter: Johnson - The Trustees reviewed the draft letter to Mr. Jonson which advised him of the Library Trustees decision regarding his request to open the Burlingame Library on Easter Sunday. Trustee Coar recommended that the Library Closure Schedule for the years 2001-2002-2003, which was approved by the Library Trustees at the August 22nd meeting, be enclosed with the letter. Trustee Dunbar made a motion to approve the letter to Mr. Jonson with the suggested changes and further to enclose the Library Closure Schedule. M/S/C/ (Dunbar/Coar) B. Easton Meeting Status - October 16th, 6:00pm - Mr. Escoffier advised the Trustees that before this meeting he would contact Hal Brandes to determine if his firm has the capabilities to be the Construction Manager for this job. C. PLA Workshop - This item was previously discussed under Correspondence. D. Duncan Trust - The City Librarian was unable to obtain the information the Board requested from The Peninsula Community Foundation regarding the definition of "Endowment Pool." E. Donor Recognition Event - Discussed under Foundation Report. IX. New Business - A. Vietnam "Sister Library" - Paul Constantino - moved by motion of the Board to beginning of agenda. B. Marble Status - The Trustees decided to delay any decisions on the future of the marble until more information is available. X. Announcements - A. October Meeting - The Board agreed to have the October meeting begin at 5:30pm. After which they will attend the study session on the Easton Branch renovation at 6:00pm. B. November Meeting - The City Librarian reminded the Trustees that the November meeting was previously changed to November 13th due to the Thanksgiving holiday. Library Board of Trustee Minutes 3 September 11, 2001 C. Powersearch Workshop - In answer to the Trustees request ` to have Tracy Hammond hold a powersearch workshop for interested patrons, Tracy felt the advance searching techniques would be too advanced for the general public. In her view, a more basic approach would be more appropriate and recommended printing a "Search Tools Chart" and a 'Search Tools Quick Guide" found on the Infopeople website (infopeople.org) and distributing it to the public. XI. Adjournment - The meeting was adjourned at 6:00pm. The next meeting of the Library Board of Trustees is scheduled for October 16, 2001 at 5:30pm in the Library Conference Room. Respectfully Submitted Alfred H. Escoffier City Librarian Library Board of Trustee Minutes 4 September 11, 2001 2002 BURLINGAME CITY HALL HOLIDAY SCHEDULE DATE DAY HOLIDAY January 1 Tuesday New Year's Day January 21 Monday MLKing Jr's Birthday February 18 Monday Presidents Day May 27 Monday Memorial Day July 4 Thursday Independence Day September 2 Monday Labor Day October 14 Monday Columbus Day November 11 Monday Veteran's Day November 28 Thursday Thanksgiving Day November 29 Friday Day after Thanksgiving December 24 Tuesday (1/z day) Christmas Eve December 25 Wednesday Christmas December 31 Tuesday (1/2 day) New Year's Eve January 1, 2003 Wednesday New Year's Day V October 2,2001 zooz David Jonson 336 Clarendon Road Burlingame CA 94010-2807 e-mail: d.jonson@att.net September 23, 2001 Mary Herman President, Board of Trustees Burlingame Public Library 480 Primrose Road Burlingame CA 94010-4083 RE: YOUR LETTER DATED SEPTEMBER 12, 2001 Hello Ms. Herman, found your letter interesting and, in parts, amazing. Mostly amazing because after 6 months of deliberation, discussion and research on the part of the Board around the issue of whether to continue the policy of closing the library on Easter Sunday, the Board has chosen to maintain that policy of closing which I heard stated by the City Librarian at the Board meeting in May of this year. You have also misrepresented my concerns. My concern is not whether the library is open or closed on Easter Sunday. The issue is that the policy is, and apparently has been for decades, to close on Easter Sunday because it is Easter Sunday, which I _ believe is illegal and discriminatory. Although you allege otherwise, the Board's disingenuous attempt to maintain its policy by simply removing the label "Easter Sundays from the schedule while continuing to select that day as a holiday is evidence of its attempt to maintain a decades old policy in substance while hoping to appear otherwise. It is notable that you close on only one other Sunday of the year, the one of Labor Day Weekend. You stated that "all libraries contacted during the course of the study do close on Easter Day". That may be the case and there may be a variety of reasons they do so and they also may be in violation of the law. That does not excuse the Burlingame Public Library for doing so. You mention that they do so because of"difficulty in staffing that day, cost of staffing at premium pay, and the anticipated low traffic that day'. I would imagine that if they have been closing for decades as BPL apparently has been that the public would come to expect it to be closed and might not try to visit. How could you know the use would be low unless it was open and made known that it would be so? Have there been use surveys done of the various days? Is the Board suggesting that the use on a Sunday during the school year has been determined to be less than, for example, the Sunday of Memorial Day weekend when many schools have closed and vacations have begun? What about the traffic during a Sunday in July or August when many people are on vacation? Would Easter, coming in the middle of the school year be less than that? The library chooses to close on Labor Day Sunday yet that is a time when it might be assumed that many students are preparing to return to school or have already done so and may be able to use the library's services. In the May Board meeting and in your letter the issue of staffing is raised, yet many retail stores and restaurants are open on Easter Sunday and seem to manage to be appropriately staffed. Has the staff ever been asked if they would be willing to work on that day if given another day off in its place like the Sunday of Memorial Day weekend when they would have two consecutive days off? I would think that would be a more popular choice. The issue of "premium pay" was also raised again. This indicates what seemingly is a religious bias in the thinking of the Board and a confusion about the difference between a day for a religious celebration among those of a particular belief and a legal holiday. Easter is not a legal holiday and it is inappropriate for employees to expect or for a public agency to pay a premium for that day, it would be equally inappropriate for BPL to tolerate such a demand from any union and for the same reasons. In any case, if cost is an issue, another Sunday can be selected although I don't recommend you choose the preceding Sunday which was Passover this year and the library was, interestingly, open for business as usual. Perhaps the first Sunday of each quarter could be chosen if cost is the major concern. To cite the unavailability of the electronic catalog as sufficient reason to close also surprises me. That suggests;that the only services offered by the library are related to that system. It is an important resource but not the only or an essential one. I have been in the library when the system was down yet the building was open and operating in a seemingly normal manner providing all its other services. If the electronic catalog is so essential why doesn't the library close every time it goes down? I also suspect the policy of closing on Easter predates the use of the electronic catalog. More importantly, you are addressing what amounts to matters of administrative convenience. I am concerned about matters of law and the constitutional requirement for the separation of church and state. I do not think the two subjects are in the same category of importance. BPL has a pattern of closing the library specifically on one particular religious day of one particular religion to the exclusion of all others. At best, the library's policy is insensitive to the beliefs and points-of-view of those in the community who are not practicing Christians (and incidentally also support the library with their tax dollars), and at worse, it is illegal and a violation of our constitution. I have not seen in your letter or heard any compelling reason why the Board's policy should be continued. I expect to decide by October 31St whether or not I will bring this issue to the attention of others who I believe may share my interest and concerns. i suggest the Board may want to revisit the issue between now and then and let me know if it plans to maintain its current egregious policy. Sincerely, David Jon n BURLINGAME PUBLIC LIBRARY STATISTICS FOR THE MONTH OF August 2001 Registered Borrowers Previous month's total #Added Total Registered Burlingame Adults 13,584 136 13,720 Burlingame Children 3,867 29 3,896 Hillsborough Adults 2,167 18 2,185 Hillsborough Children 1,096 10 1,106 Non-San Mateo Co. Borrowers 1,011 25 1,036 Totals 21,725 218 21,943 Circulation Activity Main Branch Adult Print Materials 19,085 907 Children's Print Materials 9,088 1,048 AudioNisual Materials 7,482 205 Circulation Totals This month total Main 38,235 This month previous year 34,962 9.4%Increase This month total Branch 2,497 This month previous year 2,138 16.8%lncrease This month Grand Total 40,732 This month previous year 37,100 9.8%Increase Reference Activity Inter Library Loans Questions Directions Lent 2,944 Reference 2,851 329 Borrowed 2,403 Children's 969 1,114 TOTAL 5,347 Lower Level 1,288 2,914 Branch 120 124 TOTAL 5,228 4,481 Collections Main Titles Added Main Volumes Added Branch Volumes Added Adult Non Fiction 327 105 20 Children's Non Fiction 96 178 46 YA Non Fiction 5 7 2 Adult Fiction 234 324 69 Children's Fiction 73 161 39 YA Fiction 24 27 1 Cassettes 23 193 3 Compact Discs 35 47 0 Videos 24 41 0 Children's Audio 0 21 0 Children's Video 0 1 0 ;hildren's Compact Disc0 6 0 OTALS 841 1,111 180 BURLINGAME PUBLIC LIBRARY STATISTICS FOR THE MONTH OF August 2001 PAGE 2 Other Material Volumes added Total Held Adult un-cataloged books 99 3,728 Children's un-cataloged 70 3,055 books Foreign Language un- 120 434 cataloged Deposited with the City Treasurer Main 7,01926 Branch 383 Total 7,402.26 Other Deposits Rental 154.00 PLS Video 42.00 Photocopies* 820.40 *This Figure is included in the "total main deposit". Estimated User Traffic 30,626 Daily Average 988 Community Room Adult TOTAL MEETINGS HELD: 5* ATTENDANCE: 121 Friends Book Sale—8/24—8/25 Children's programs are discontinued for the month of Au ust. Children's and Young Adult Attendance Pre-school programs School-Age K-5 Book rou ies Total Internet Use One Hour Express Childrens Total 1,333 2,070 52 3,455 Potential Closure: Day After Thanksgiving, 2001 Recommendation: The City Librarian recommends that the library close on the day after Thanksgiving, November 23 for a general cleaning. Background: The library needs a general cleaning of carpet and tile and I would like to do it while we are closed. Typically we are open the day after Thanksgiving, even though this is an official City Holiday. As a holiday, the library is obliged to pay premium pay for all staff who work, so we would have a substantial savings by closing. It would also allow us the freedom to do carpets and other cleaning without worrying about the safety of the public. There are only two libraries in PLS which are open that day. September 12, 2001 Mr. David Jonson 336 Clarendon Road Burlingame, CA 94010 Dear Mr. Jonson: RE: Easter Closure I am writing to you to inform you of the findings of the Board of Trustees regarding your request that the Library remain open on Easter day. The Board reviewed a number of sources both locally and nationwide in preparation for their decision. On August 21, 2001, the Board took action on the 2002 closure schedule. This schedule included closure on two Sundays, one in March(the Sunday formerly identified as Easter Day) and one in September(the day before Labor Day), as well as several additional closures. The Trustees made the following findings: 1) All libraries contacted during the course of the study do close on Easter Day. The closures are not for religious reasons. Reasons cited for closing included: difficulty in staffing that day, cost of staffing at premium pay, and the anticipated low traffic that day. 2) The Peninsula Library System automated catalog is not available Easter Day because the PLAN computer center and network, located at the San Mateo Community College District offices is closed that day. This would mean there would be no access to the online catalog, the library's primary finding tool for items in the collection. 3) The Board further determined from the City Attorney that in Burlingame, opening on Easter Day would require a"meet and confer"with union representatives regarding staff working that day. Staffing on a day when the Library's past practice was to close would likely require premium pay. In 2002, the Library will be closing some additional hours during the year because of the high staffing cost of remaining open. This will result in closure on the day after Thanksgiving (an official city holiday) and closure for '/2 day on December 24th and day on December 31St(official city holidays). Staffing these days has become unreasonably expensive. The Library has issued a list of annual closures based on the City's approved holiday schedule. In addition, the Board may determine other days when the Library may be closed for cost considerations, building maintenance or technology maintenance. The Burlingame Public Library has the longest open service hours of any library in the Bay area, 73 hours per week. We pride ourselves on our excellent customer service and our ability to maintain a strong schedule of open hours. Thank you for your interest in the Library's schedule. If you have further questions, please feel free to contact City Librarian Alfred Escoffier or me. Sincerely, Mary Herman President, Library Board of Trustees Enclosure: Closure Schedule C: Library Board, City Attorney, City Manager f BURLIfiGAME I B U R L I N G A M E P U B L I C LIBRARY City Librarian's Report October 16, 2001 Easton Branch Renovation Project The Dahanukar Brandes Easton Branch Study will be reviewed by City Council on October 16, 6 PM. The meeting will offer an opportunity for Board, Architects, Staff and Council to discuss the Easton Project and set a direction for it. Friends Book Sale Success! The Friends of the Library held their fall sale and earned $ 2,873 to be spent toward library programs. We are indeed proud of our Friends of the Library and their efforts in support of library programs. California Library Association Awards CLA awarded Burlingame Public Library two of their PR Awards for 2001. We captured awards for the Foundation Newsletter and our Adult Programming materials. We are indeed proud of our talented staff, particularly Linda Santo and Maryam Refahi, as well as our entire PR Committee for their hard work and talent on our PR efforts. Donor Recognition Vine The Donor Recognition Vine is scheduled to be installed the week of October 8th. The project is jointly funded by the Foundation and the Board of Trustees. The Donor Party has been postponed until a later date. We will plan some publicity for this visible reminder of our generous community. r Programs and Exhibits The Friday Evening Book Club convened on September 14, with volunteer Pam Gehrke leading 11 participants in a lively discussion of Virginia Woolf s Mrs. Dalloway. Sue Reiterman was the Library's representative. 4 8 0 P r i m r o s e R o a d • Bu r l i n g a m e • CA 9 4 0 1 0 -14 0 8 3 Phone ( 650 ) 342 - 1038 • Fax ( 650 ) 342 - 1948 • www . pis . Iib . co . us / pls / pls . html Reference Services Al Escoffier and Pat Harding participated in the City's booth at "Art and Jazz on the Avenue." The Library had PR materials for visitors stopping by the booth, including bookmarks for our new service "Q & A Cafe." On September 11, Ross MacDonald installed our new Audio Visual shelving for the CD's and cassettes on the Lower Level. The new shelving system makes it much easier to locate A/V materials and reshelve them. Upcoming Events: October 16, Library Board, 5:30 PM October 16, Council Study session, 6 PM October 24, All Staff Meeting, 8 AM October 29, Author Arturo Perez-Reverte, Noon November 2-5, CLA Conference, Long Beach November 12, Veteran's Day, Closed November 13, Library Board, 4:30 (Note date change to second week) November 21, Close 5:30 PM November 22, Thanksgiving, Closed Alfred H. Escoffier City Librarian October 9, 2001 2