HomeMy WebLinkAbout052014 Port Townsend Library Advisory Board
Business Meeting Minutes
Date: May 20, 2014 Time: 3:00-4:57
Location: City Hall Scribe: Lisa Crosby
Members Present: Ian Keith, Jennifer Cohn, Ann Healy-Raymond, Lisa Crosby
Members Absent/Excused: Larry Fisher, Ellen Frick
Staff Present: Bev Shelton, Interim Library Director; Ken Clow, Public Works Director;
Mayor David King; David Timmons, City Manager
Guests: Todd Wexman, Sheila Khalov
1) Introductions/Welcome to guests
2) Communications
None to report.
3) Minutes of April 15, 2014 LAB business meeting approved as amended.
4) Library Staff Report—Bev Shelton
Anne and Bev interviewed 5 final candidates from a pool of more than 30
qualified applicants for the youth services position.
Review of April statistics.
5) Friends of the Library Report—Jennifer
They will have a retreat in early June and an annual meeting on June 30th.
The Friends will provide a small music and food event for the re-opening of the
Library.
There is a small, temporary storage shed in back of the Library for book
donations.
Patrons can use Amazon Smile to make small donations to the Library
Foundation.
6) Public Comments
Todd Wexman expressed concern about a new sample light fixture installed in the
Library. He felt that this new fixture has inferior light quality compared to the
current lights, and also is less historically accurate. He hopes that sample light
not become a prototype for the replacement of all the lights in the library. Ian and
Ken assured him that the sample fixture is a closer match to those originally
placed in the Library than the current lights. There was agreement that light
quality is of high importance.
7) Business
A. Move Back—Ken
The move back is well underway thanks in large part to Ian and Keith.
Part of the walkway had to be taken up in order to place an IT conduit
between the Library and the Pink House. The carpet will be installed in
early July and then the shelves and books will go in. The Library will
close on July 13th. The best prediction for a soft opening of the Library is
August 3rd. Mayor King would like to mention these dates in his
newsletter.
David Timmons said that they purchased high quality carpet for the
Library. Honeywell looked at the HVAC and heat exchangers. There will
be significant savings if changed out and also sound and air quality
improvements. This could happen next year, along with Mountain View.
They will pursue funding for an automatic door. They didn't get funding
for this it year, but will try again next year.
B. Information Sharing with City Partners and Next Steps
David Timmons told the LAB that this has been an incredibly busy time
for him and the City. Multiple staff changes, the new water treatment
system and Mountain View have taken lots of time. He has not been
ignoring the LAB, but there is much that is demanding his attention.
He is looking at things in terms of four basic steps for the Library. The
first is the move back. This is critical for the moral of the organization
and the community.
Secondly, one needs to look at finances. He has financial concerns for the
Library. The LAB can play a role in getting an understanding of the
budget. If voters are to be asked in the future for increased Library
funding, they will need a credible explanation of how these funds will be
used.
Third is the Library Director recruitment process. This will begin in
September. A goal beforehand is to have all stakeholders on the same
page in preparation for presenting ourselves to Library Director
candidates. To this end, David is looking to engage all stakeholders in a
professionally facilitated conversation. Ian agreed that it would be best to
put past challenges behind us. David sees the LAB as being somewhat of
a neutral party in this area and could act as a center point to help frame the
discussion.
Mayor King talked about creating a vision for the Library involving its
engagement with the High School and with the Maritime STEAM
collaboration. The LAB could play a role in this. A goal is to leverage the
resources we have.
Mayor King said that they need to do a better job of describing the
financial constraints to the LAB. David Timmons will provide the LAB
with more detailed budgetary information for our next meeting following
the City Council's approval of the budget based on Cost Recovery.
David will also get back to the LAB on the Library Director job
description sometime in September.
8) Agenda items for next meeting
The LAB will focus on the Library Budget.
9) Next meeting: June 17th, 2014. 3:00-5:00pm