DEARBORN DEPARTMENT OF LIBRARIES

LIBRARY COMMISSION MEETING

SEPTEMBER 15, 2006

 

1. ATTENDANCE

In attendance were: MRS. NANCY ZAKAR, Chairperson; MR. MARCEL PULTORAK, Vice-Chairperson; DR. ALEX SHAMI, Secretary-Treasurer; MRS. CANDYCE ABBATT,

MRS. DIANE PEPPER, MR. ROBERT TAUB, Commissioners;

MRS. MARYANNE BARTLES, Library Director; MRS. JULIE SCHAEFER, Deputy Library Director; MS. TARA GNAU, Administrative Librarian,

MRS. MARGE ECKERT, AAUW.

EXCUSED:  MRS. SYLVIA PRESSMAN, MR. RONALD WATTERS,

MR. DAVID SCHLAFF, Commissioners.

 

2. APPROVAL OF MINUTES

The minutes of the June Commission Meeting were approved as submitted.

 

3. COMMISSIONERS AND PHONE PARTICIPATION

Mr. Pultorak reported that he had not yet had an opportunity to check with the Legal Department regarding Library Commissioners being able to participate in meetings via conference call and vote by phone.  He does know that the Cities Pension Boards have done this at their meetings in the past.  He will check with the Legal Department on this issue.  If the decision is made to do this it will require a change in the Library Commission by-laws.  Mrs. Zakar stated that this would be a good time to review our by-laws entirely.  A committee will need to be appointed for the by-laws review.  Mrs. Zakar stated we would discuss formation of a by-law review committee at the October meeting. 

Mrs. Bartles reported that she spoke with Commissioner Sylvia Pressman today.  Mrs. Pressman’s health is not good and she has decided to resign from the Library Commission.  Mrs. Zakar stated that we had planned to present Mrs. Pressman with a proclamation at today’s meeting honoring her for 40 years of service to the Dearborn Library Commission but since she was unable to attend today’s meeting we are not able to do so.  Mr. Pultorak suggested sending some flowers to Mrs. Pressman along with the proclamation and the Library Commission’s get well wishes. Mrs. Bartles reported that she will take to proclamation to Mrs. Pressman’s home and present it to her and other Commissioners are welcome to attend if they wish.  Mrs. Bartles will advise the Commissioners when a date has been set to visit Mrs. Pressman.  Mrs. Bartles will also notify Mayor Guido about Mrs. Pressman’s resignation.  He may have someone in mind to replace her on the Commission. 

 

4. FOUNDATION UPDATE

Mrs. Bartles reported that the last foundation meeting was held on Sept. 11, 2006.

Representatives of the Friends of the Library attended the meeting and introduced themselves to the Foundation.  The service agreement between the City and the Library Foundation is moving forward.  The foundation has developed a marketing plan and by laws.  Mr. Pultorak stated that he would follow up with Bill Irving in the Legal Department on the status of the service agreement.  Mrs. Pepper asked if the foundation had determined what their first project would be.  Mrs. Bartles stated she hoped that the Children’s areas upgrade would be their first project.  Mr. Pultorak advised that for the next two years money may be donated from retirement accounts tax free as part of the new tax laws which could be a benefit for the Library Foundation.  The foundation also has a new member, Maria Dwyer, who is also an attorney.  She is working on the insurance and liability issues for the foundation.  Mrs. Bartles reported the foundation board had questions about where to submit their annual report.  They thought it may have to be submitted to the City Council if they were the body that chartered the foundation.  We did some research and found that the Library Commission drove the development of the foundation so they may have to report to the Library Commission.  The next meeting of the Library Foundation is Oct. 17, 2006. 

 

5. BUDGET AND STAFFING UPDATE

Mrs. Bartles announced that Julie Schaefer is the new Deputy Library Director. Mrs. Schaefer’s old position will be filled and is currently posted as a promotional opportunity for Librarian I and II’s until Sept. 22, 2006.  All subsequent vacancies that are created by the promotion will be filled with the exception of an Assistant Librarian position. There is a promotional list for Librarian I positions that is still in effect and the first person on that list is currently an Assistant Librarian. If promotions result in a Librarian I position becoming available that person would be promoted. Three part time Department Specialist will be hired.  A bachelor’s degree will be required for these positions. 

 

6. BUDGET UPDATE

Mrs. Bartles reported that our budget is pretty tight.  Most of our expenditures are for daily operating needs, maintenance contracts and things of that nature. Departments have been asked to begin work on the 2007-2008 budget now.  Typically we will be asked to submit it sometime in November.  They are asking departments to brain storm to find ways to generate more revenue or to cut costs further such as community partnering.   The City will be hosting a series of public education forums with a different topic for each meeting.  The meetings will have speakers relating to the budget and the challenges facing the City.  They hope to have community input.  Mrs. Bartles will notify the Commissioners when she has more information. 

 

7. CELL PHONE UPDATE

Commissioner Watters had suggested putting a message regarding cell phone use on our public Internet stations.  We put a message on the screensaver which says “As a consideration to others, please silence your cell phone”.  This seems to have helped and has reduced the number of cell phone problems. 

 

 

8. WELCOME WAGON INITIATIVE

Ms. Gnau reported that on August 7th she and Mary Orrin met with representatives of the Welcome Wagon organization who send out coupons and advertising to new residents in the area.  They get names of new homeowners from the Wayne County Registrar of Deeds.  They currently service zip codes 48124, 48125, 48127 and 48128.  This includes part of Dearborn but also includes Dearborn Heights as well which does not apply for our needs.  The charge would be $380 per month to participate in the Welcome Wagon program.  Ms. Gnau then spoke with the City of Dearborn Assessors office and found that they give out a new resident packet.  We will develop a brochure to become part of the package given out by Assessors.  Mrs. Bartles stated that our current brochure pales in comparison to those given out by other libraries.  We need to develop a more professional brochure.  We will contact the Southfield library to see how much they paid for their brochure, which is very nicely done.  Mrs. Bartles has spoken a local real estate agent about putting library brochures out in her office. 

 

9. VOLUNTEER REPORT

Mrs. Gnau showed the Library Commissioners the service badges that were given out to the volunteers at the volunteer luncheon.  She gave the Library Commissioners who did not attend the volunteer lunch their badges.  Ms. Gnau passed out the volunteer report to the Commission and went over it.  We had 4,993 hours of volunteer service in 2005-2006.  The Bryant volunteers helped to process 8,277 new paperback books into the system in 2005-2006.  The Volunteer Committee conducted a survey of Bryant volunteers during the month of June.  They asked the Bryant volunteers how they would rate their volunteer experience with the library and if they had any comments or suggestions about the volunteer program.  The responses gave us a 90% positive rating.

We have received a lot of inquires from high school students wishing to do community service volunteering at the library.  This is due to new requirements for community service work as part of the high school experience for National Honor Society and college programs.  We met with Paul Smith, Director of Secondary Education Instructional Service Dept. for the Dearborn Public Schools and three counselors from the Dearborn high schools who would coordinate the library program for National Honor Society Students.  We are hoping to have high school community volunteers do shelving, assist with the Internet and computer usage services, reestablish the Reading Buddy program and check cd’s, dvd’s, audio and video tapes.  We are hoping to implement the high school community service program this fall.  On October 18th we will have a volunteer orientation at HFCL for new volunteers. 

 

10. UNATTENDED MINORS

Mrs. Schaefer reported that an amendment was made to an existing ordinance to state that children under the age of six must be with someone 13 years old or older in a public building.  We have posted this information on our web site in English and Arabic.  We are also developing posters to put in our buildings and we have put notices in the local Dearborn newspapers.  Dr. Shami suggested we might want to send information to the churches and mosques to notify members of the community of this change. 

 

11. MISCELLANEOUS

1.  MLA MEMBERSHIP AND MEETING-QSAC CERTIFICATION-

Mrs. Bartles reported that we pay for MLA membership for the Library Commissioners.  The MLA meeting is being held in downtown Detroit this year.  The brochure in the Commissioners packet gives more information. Commissioners may attend the conference if they would like. We have about six staff members attending.

QSAC certification is a three step process, basic, intermediate and excellent.  We are close to completing the requirements for basic certification.  One of the requirements is that new trustees attend a trustee training workshop.  This workshop will be available at the MLA conference.  Mrs. Bartles stated that she would double check the dates and times of the trustee orientation workshop and let the Commissioner know on Monday.  A Commissioner asked if there was a charge.  Mrs. Bartles stated that the trustee workshop is free.  There is a charge for the MLA conference. 

2.  CONGRATULATIONS LETTER TO MAYOR-

The Commission had asked Mrs. Bartles to send a letter to the Mayor congratulating him on his position as President of the United States Conference of Mayors.  Mrs. Bartles sent the letter to the Mayor. 

3.  CHARTER COMMISSION-

Mrs. Bartles reported that the library presented to the Charter Commission in May.  We gave a presentation about the library.  We want to remain part of the charter and not be grouped with another department.  The Charter Commission has not met much this summer.    

 

12. NEW BUSINESS

1.  ANNUAL REPORT-

Mrs. Bartles reported that the copy of the annual report in the Commissioners folder is the final version that was submitted to City Administration.  Mrs. Bartles also discussed the annual report database which allows staff members to enter information relating to their agencies activities throughout the year.  Administration can access this information for the annual report making it much easier to keep track of events during the year. 

2.  WORD PROCESSING-

A survey was done of local class 6 libraries in Wayne, Oakland and Macomb counties by our new Assistant Librarian Henry Fischer to see if they offer word processing.  He found that almost all of the libraries surveyed offer this service to the public.  Mrs. Bartles asked the Library Commission for permission to allow the staff to investigate adding this service.  Mr. Pultorak asked about licenses.  Mrs. Bartles explained that we have enough licenses at this time to offer the service without purchasing additional licenses.  The most pressing issue with offering word processing is maintaining the security of our system.  Mrs. Bartles explained that Systems Administrator, Steve Smith, feels that it is possible to do using a separate VLAN which would isolate viruses. The Library Commission approved having the staff investigate this service and come back to the Library Commission with a proposal. 

3.  COFFEE SHOP-

Mrs. Bartles stated that she has a grand vision for a café at HFCL but we do not have the funding at this time.  Mrs. Bartles would like to investigate offering a reasonably priced beverage only service to patrons.  She would like to see what vendors are out there to provide this service and what amount of revenue would be generated for the library.  Mrs. Bartles is asking the Library Commissions permission to look into this and get proposals from vendors.  The Library Commission approved looking into beverage only service. 

4.  BRYANT BRANCH AND PAID PARKING UPDATE-

Mrs. Bartles reported that paid parking is now in effect.  We have validation stickers for part time staff and volunteers so that they do not have to pay for parking themselves.  We have to pay for this out of our budget.  Full time staff members have been given parking passes. Mrs. Zakar asked if staff could not park at Ford Field for free.  Mrs. Bartles stated that they could but it is quite a distance to walk at night or in the winter.  The Commissioners discussed the small Bryant lot and how it is being used.  Mrs. Abbatt suggested changing the allowed parking time in these spaces from 2 hours to 1 hour to allow more library patrons to utilize the spaces. 

5.  INTERNET USER CARD-

Mrs. Bartles reported that it has been a year since we switched to the Envisonware software to manage public computer usage and we are happy with the product. In the past year patrons who did not qualify for a Dearborn library card or those who did qualify for a library card but did not want to get one could purchase a daily use pass for $1 or an Internet user card, valid for one year, for $1.   Pat Coady was really concerned when we started to use Envisonware that if there were problems with the software or the system was not working well in the beginning patrons would be angrier if they had paid a substantial amount of money for the card so we decided to charge $1. We have been using the system for a year now and it is working fine.  Patrons are confused when you say to them that they may buy a daily pass for $1 or a yearly pass for $1.  We are proposing changing the cost of the yearly pass from $1 to $10 for non residents.  The Commission discussed the rationale behind not charging residents who do not wish to get a library card.  The Commission felt residents should pay the fee for an Internet user card as well if they do not wish to get a library card.  Mr. Taub motioned that anyone, including residents, who gets an Internet only user card will pay $10 for one year effective immediately, seconded by Mr. Pultorak, all approved.

6.  LONG OVERDUE-PUBLIC AGENDA REPORT-

Mrs. Bartles reported that the handout given to the Commission is a summary of the key findings of a full report about public views on libraries.  Mrs. Bartles has the full report if any of the Commissioners are interested in seeing it. 

7.   ADDITIONAL ITEMS-

New library statistical information cards were handed out to the Commissioners.  They have been revised to include the mission, vision and value statements developed by the Library Commission in the past year. 

 

Library patron Mary Jo Durivage spoke to the Library Commission.  She passed out a handout listing the attendance records of the Library Commissioners and the meeting times of other Dearborn commissions.  She asked the Commissioners to look over the hand out and to consider changing the current Library Commission meeting time from 4pm to later evening hours to allow more Dearborn resident participation and possibly make it easier for Commissioners to attend as well.  Mrs. Durivage also asked Mrs. Bartles where the new part time staff members would be assigned.  Mrs. Bartles stated they would most likely be assigned to Bryant Branch.  Mrs. Durivage asked why $25,000 was budgeted for overtime for the libraries.  Mrs. Bartles explained that when the budget was submitted we were not sure if the union contract would allow librarians to receive overtime pay on Sundays so we had to budget for it.  The STP contract did not change and librarians do not receive overtime pay for Sunday’s work. 

 

Mrs. Eckert advised the Library Commission that the AAUW book sale is being held at the Dearborn Ice Skating Center Thursday, Friday and Saturday of this week. 

 

The meeting was adjourned at 6:05 PM.