DEARBORN DEPARTMENT OF LIBRARIES

LIBRARY COMMISSION RETREAT

BRYANT BRANCH LIBRARY

May 10, 2003

1.ATTENDANCE:

The retreat began at 9:30AM. In attendance were:

MRS. CANDYCE ABBATT, Chairperson; MRS. NANCY ZAKAR, Vice-Chairperson; DR. ALEX SHAMI, Secretary-Treasurer;

MRS. LILA ALCODRAY AMEN, MRS. SYLVIA PRESSMAN, MR. MARCEL PULTORAK, MR. ROBERT TAUB, MR. RONALD WATTERS, Commissioners; DR. PARTRICK COADY, City Librarian; MRS. MARYANNE BARTLES, Assistant City Librarian, MS. CAROLYN HOOK and MS. TARA GNAU, Administrative Librarians; MRS. CARLA EGGERT, Recording Secretary.

ABSENT; MR. DAVID SCHLAFF, Commissioner.

2. ESTABLISHING A COFFEE SHOP:

CAROLYN HOOK reported that she met with the staff at Bryant regarding the possibility of Bryant becoming a reading room/coffee shop. Staff have many questions about reference services, circulating materials, Internet service and programming. Also of concern were the hours of service and how the building would be staffed. How would patrons be made aware of the change? Would the name of the building be changed?

MS. HOOK received some information from Economic and Community Development on coffee vendors. NANCY ZAKAR asked how the staff felt about the idea. MS. HOOK reported that staff were shocked at first but were a little more receptive once they understood that they would not be making coffee. Some could see the appeal of Internet and coffee service. CANDYCE ABBATT asked what the next step would be with the City? DR. COADY stated that City Administration should not be approached until after budget discussions are complete. MR. WATTERS asked what caused us to look at using this location as a coffee shop as there seems to be quite a bit of competition in the same area? DR. COADY reported that it came up in discussions as a possible way to use the building in a reduced capacity but still as a library in order to prevent the property from reverting back to the Ford family. It was decided that the next step would be to contact some possible vendors and look into the cost of a feasibility study.

3. FOUNDATION BOARD:

The foundation sub-committee’s first choice for chairperson has declined the position. The sub-committee feel that we should look at the list of potential trustees again and re-evaluate the criteria used to select potential trustees. The original list included a lot of attorneys because of the initial thoughts about estate planners. The sub-committee feels we may need to look more towards those with fundraising abilities and towards the younger up and coming members of the community. Also the foundation chair will need to be a regular library user and have a passion for the position.

4. FEES FOR HOLDS:

DR. COADY explained what holds are. We are currently processing around 7000 holds a month for the entire system. The first concern in implementing a charge for holds is whether or not holds are a core service. Core services must be maintained. How does the public look at this service? MRS. ABBATT asked how a charge for holds would be implemented and how much would it cost to implement? MARYANNE BARTLES advised that she would have to investigate the capability of Dynix. The system does have the capability but she is unsure of how it would work and will have to look into it further.

5. ARTS/BEAUTIFICTION PROJECTS:

MRS. ABBATT distributed a packet of possible library beautification projects and asked that the Commissioners look it over. The foundation chairperson will want to have some direction as to specific projects that the foundation hopes to accomplish. This item will be added to a future meeting agenda.

DR. ALEX SHAMI

SECRETARY-TREASURER