DEARBORN DEPARTMENT OF LIBRARIES

LIBRARY COMMISSION MEETING

October 12, 2007  

1. ATTENDANCE

In attendance were: MR. MARCEL PULTORAK, Chairperson; Dr. Alex Shami, Vice-Chair, MRS. CANDYCE ABBATT and MR. ROBERT TAUB, Commissioners.

MRS. MARYANNE BARTLES, Library Director; MRS. JULIE SCHAEFER, Deputy Library Director; MS. TARA GNAU, MR. STEVE SMITH, Administrative Librarians.

EXCUSED:  MRS. NANCY ZAKAR, Secretary-Treasurer and MR. DAVID SCHLAFF, Commissioner.

 

2. APPROVAL OF MINUTES

The minutes of the September Library Commission meeting were approved as submitted.

 

3. FOUNDATION UPDATE

Mrs. Bartles reported that at the last Library Foundation meeting the costs for the children’s upgrade project were presented. Chris DeBear of Library Design priced each element of the design separately. The Library Foundation asked Library Administration to consult with Chris DeBear regarding the pricing structure and if there were any opportunities to reduce some of the costs.  They do not wish to reduce the quality of the materials used.  Mrs. Bartles state that Chris DeBear is very familiar with libraries and how they function.  Also important is his relationship with the fabricators who do a lot of custom work for libraries.  Mrs. Bartles suggested that the Foundation might want to consider completing one piece of the children’s upgrade and then use the story boards to showing additional upgrades as a fund raising tool.  The Foundation is currently hoping to do a much bigger portion of the project and then encourage donations for the branches.  Mrs. Abbatt asked if they were getting any donations yet.  Mrs. Bartles stated they have not.  They do not have their web site up yet.  They have contracted with a web site designer but they have not given him the information about what is wanted on the web page. Mrs. Bartles stated that if we have time we may put up a link on our web page about helping the library and then give information on donating to the library directly, donating to the Library Foundation and/or to the Friends of the Library. Mrs. Abbatt asked if they were planning to send out a letter for annual giving as the end of the year is coming.  Mrs. Bartles stated that she mentioned at the last Foundation meeting that this is the time of year that people are looking to donate and we do not want to miss out on that.  The next Library Foundation meeting is Tuesday, Oct. 23rd at 6pm.

 

4. BUDGET UPDATE

Mrs. Bartles reported that they have not received any information as of yet on the preparations for next year’s budget.  Mr. Pultorak asked if there were any changes to this year’s budget and Mrs. Bartles explained that the biggest change is that library aid monies now go to the general fund rather than to the library.  In the past this money went into its own separate fund that the library could carry year to year if it was not used.  This allowed us to save the funds for a big project.  We used these funds to purchase Dynix, Envisonware and the upgrade to Horizon.  We may not be able to do that any longer.

 

5. INFORMATION ITEMS

1.   Word Processing-Branches-Steve Smith reported that word processing will be added at the Bryant Branch on Tuesday or Wednesday of next week.  Word processing will be added at Esper next which seems to have the highest demand for word processing of all the branch location.  We will add word processing at Snow Branch after Esper.  Word processing should be launched at all the branch locations by the next Library Commission meeting. 

2.   New Commissioners-Mrs. Bartles reported that she got an email earlier in the week from the Mayor’s secretary relaying a question from Mark Guido about the four candidates submitted for the vacancies on the Library Commission.  Mrs. Bartles has not heard anything further since then. 

3.   Henry Ford Statue update-Rededication ceremony Tuesday, Oct. 16, 2007 @ 3:30pm.-Mrs. Bartles shared the mock up of the program, which was sent to the printer, with the Library Commission. Dr. Shami asked if the media had been invited to the event.  Mrs. Bartles explained that the Department of Public Information will notify the media of the event.

4.   Library Systems Manager-Mrs. Bartles explained that Steve Smith’s old position was a Librarian II position. The position is more of an IT position than a librarian position.  We had to go through the Civil Service Commission and the City Council to have the position reclassified which took a long time.  The position no longer requires a Master’s Degree in Library Science.  We promoted Mark Hancock, who was the Microcomputer Specialist, to the new Library Systems Manager.

5.   Red Tag DVD cases-Mrs. Schaefer explained that starting about two weeks ago our new DVD’s are being shipped in cases that have a red security tag inserted into the case. Both of our major distributors are sending our new orders with the tags.  The tag prevents the case from being opened.  Patrons have to bring the case to the circulation desk to have the tag removed.  Mrs. Schaefer demonstrated the new tags.

6.   Commission Agenda-Mr. Pultorak explained the change in the Library Commission format.  Instead of old and new business the items on the agenda will be listed as information items and action items and a separate section for new business.  Items requiring a vote will be listed as an action item. 

7.   New Business-Mrs. Bartles advised the Library Commission that we received a complaint through the Mayor’s office that we do not charge enough for Internet use.  Mrs. Bartles is preparing a reply and she will tell the complainant that she will bring his suggestion to the Library Commission. Mr. Pultorak asked if the Library Commission could see information on what portion of Internet users at the libraries are residents vs. non-residents.  Mrs. Bartles stated she would prepare a packet for the next meeting. 

        Dr. Shami stated that he thought the HFCL building looks very nice and he                    would like to commend those responsible for the flowers and the building                  up keep. Mrs. Bartles explained that the Garden Club of Dearborn supports              the library by planting the flowers all around the building.  Mrs. Abbatt also           said that Bryant Branch looks wonderful as well.  Mrs. Bartles stated that                        the Department of Public Works handles Bryant. Mr. Pultorak stated we                should send a letter to the Dearborn Garden Club and DPW to thank them                for their support.

        Mrs. Bartles advised the Library Commissioners that there is a link to the                   City Charter changes on the City of Dearborn web site.

         

6. ACTION ITEMS

1.     Five Year Technology Plan-The five year technology plan was distributed to the Library Commission. Mrs. Bartles explained that it was due to the CDI Technology Committee after the last Commission meeting so she was not able to present it to the Commission before turning it in.  It is an estimate of technology needs so that the City can better plan for upcoming initiatives. There were questions and discussions related to some of the possible projects such as wireless Internet access and RFI tags. The Library Commission received and filed the 5 year Technology Plan.

 

The meeting was adjourned at 5:05pm.