HomeMy WebLinkAbout011014 Port Townsend Library Advisory Board
Business Meeting Minutes
Date: January 10, 2014 Time: 8am-12:10pm
Location: Carnegie Library Scribe: Lisa Crosby
Members Present: Ellen Frick, Lisa Crosby, Larry Fisher, Ian Keith, Jennifer Cohn,
Members Absent/Excused: Ann Healy-Raymond.
Staff Present: Bev Shelton, Interim Library Director; Cris Wilson, Adult Services
Librarian; Keith Darrock, Technical Services Manager; Lori Lisowski, Librarian;
Mirandy Cook, Library Associate, Youth Services
Guests: George Randels, Jameson Hawn, Claudia Wagner, Carol Baker, Annick Fariss,
Chelcie Liu, Janie Kimball, Ellen Dustman, Carol Costello, Jim Todd, Sheila Khalov,
Mirandy Cook, Julie Jaman, Anne Metcalfe, Charlie Bermant, Susan Hargleroad,
Cameron McPherson, Geralynn Rackowski, possibly others who did not sign in.
1) Introductions/Welcome to guests
Jennifer Cohn begins meeting by stating that this meeting has to do with moving
the Library home. Discussion for the long term future of the Library will happen
at another time once the Library has moved back. Comments from the public are
welcome, especially by email.
2) Brief Public Comments Related to Agenda
George Randels wishes everyone luck on the day's meeting
3) Library Return Plan Introduction
Bev Shelton expressed desire to move ahead. That the Library became the focus
of so much rancor during the past year made her very sad and she hopes that all
can now come together to move forward. Many people worked hard on a big
dream for the Library, but we need to listen to voters.
4) Library Staff Presentation
Keith Darrock, Cris Wilson, Bev Shelton and Lori Lisowski presented material
from the below links to the audience and to the LAB.
Return-Plan
Return-Objectives
Library-Space-Service Priorities-Policies
Service-Priorities
5) Break
6) Questions from Library Advisory Board to Library Staff
Lofty Goals
Jennifer read and elaborated upon a quote pertaining to the importance of having
"lofty goals."
Seating
Lisa asked about seating capacity of library and whether LAB recommendations
on this matter are an example of the "conceptual guidelines"being requested of
the LAB from the City Council. Chris replied that previously the Carnegie
Library had seating for 33 people. Official library recommendations place the
desired number at 45-50 seats. Bev said that the LAB could recommend that the
Library aim to have seating numbers in accordance with current standards.
However, recommendations may need to change as funding and space constraints
become more clearly defined.
Programming
The large room in the Library Learning Center will be used for programming,
including the children's story programs. The second floor of the Carnegie will
rarely be used for programming and community events (at most a couple times a
year).
Grants
Jennifer asked about the McEachern grant revision for furnishings and equipment
for the early childhood learning center. This grant was originally for the much
larger space that would have resulted from the expansion. A revised proposal has
been written for an expenditure of funds for movable furniture, given that the
expansion is not happening. Jennifer asked for a copy of the revised grant
request, as well as the revision of the Gray Wolf grant application for
computer and technology equipment.
Jennifer also would like a status report on the Heritage Capital matching
grant. There is a time-frame for this grant to be matched. Some of this grant is
matched and available.
Computers and Check out services
The Library plans to purchase more computers and tablets. The Library currently
owns 16 computers, but many of them are in bad shape and need replacing.
There is a plan to have 2 self-checkout stations. These will take up space, but can
be a continuation of the circulation desk. At the County Library, the self checkout
station that allows patrons to sit gets double the use as the standing checkout.
"Weeding"
Jennifer asked for data on book acquisition versus "weeding." Keith said
that he will get her these numbers. The Library has a set of criteria for choosing
which books to keep and which to remove from its collection. Measures that lead
to this determination include circulation reports, service reports of what small
libraries should keep, condition of book, and also local relevance.
ADA accommodations
Ian and Jennifer asked about ADA accommodations. The restrooms are in
compliance with 1989 standards. Ian noted that the changes to bring to current
standards are not major. Some offices will be on the 2nd floor of the LLC and
hence not accessible. But there will also be accessible office space on the 1st floor
of the Library.
Assumptions
Capital Campaign
Ellen asked what was meant by the assumption "There will not be a major capital
campaign in the next 5-7 years." She asked that this be clarified since she was
interpreting this to mean something different than other LAB members.
Floor Loading Capacity
Lisa mentioned that the assumption of floor loading capacity has come into
question by some members of the public. Jennifer wondered what relevance this
matter had for the LAB since there is no plan to put the full weight of books onto
the second floor at this point anyway. Lisa said that this matter is relevant
because it keeps on coming up as an area of uncertainty and it would be good to
resolve this issue. Lisa emailed Ken Clow about this on Jan 9°2014 and he
responded, explaining that one can consider the 2nd floor of the Carnegie
Building as divided into roughly thirds —eastern, western, and center thirds. The
initial floor loading calculations are based on the length of floor joists supporting
the floor. The eastern and western thirds have essentially the same length joists so
they can carry essentially the same loads. The center third is somewhat different
as some load bearing walls were added on the 1 st floor as part of the 1989
expansion project. These walls aren't continuous or symmetric so that the
allowable floor loading above in the center third varies somewhat from location to
location. Some places are roughly the same as the eastern and western parts and
other places are probably capable of carrying somewhat heavier loads. The city
didn't ask for a more detailed analysis of the loading initially because the plan had
been to keep this space much more open than before the library moved out of the
Carnegie Building. The city has now asked the architect to give them a cost for
having a more detailed structural review done by the structural engineers and are
waiting for his response.
Ellen said that from her reading of the actual calculations (she is a former
structural engineer), she was satisfied with the floor loading assumptions and
thought that there was even more specific information one could glean from these
calculations than Lisa's summary of what she learned from Ken. Ken could be
asked to summarize the report for the people who are not engineers.
Ian said that a more detailed structural review would require ripping out
sheetrock, and this would make no sense at all given that there is no plan to put all
the books on the second floor anyway. Let's move on.
Teen Space
Discussion of the suggested teen space included whether it made sense to remove
the wall between the two small rooms in the 1989 addition (formerly the room
containing the audio collection and the small adjacent office) to make for a single
larger space. Staff prefers removing this wall if funding is available. Staff
believes this space is large enough to accommodate the number of teens they
think will want to make use of this room. The books for this age group will be in
the downstairs collection, with the new-adult books being in a focused collection
upstairs.
Noise and Quiet Space
Discussion of quiet space included questions about noise from copy machines and
also from the services desk. Staff seems to think that quiet space can be achieved
in a number of ways such as placement of chairs and stacks and also possibly
having special times of the day set apart as quiet times. The idea of putting up a
wall on the 2nd floor is not currently being considered as an option.
Are there any sacrifices?
Cris said that staff will have to give up space, the children's space will be smaller,
the children's programming will take place without the children's collections
being in the same room, and a certain percentage of the total collection will need
to be stored off-site.
Books stored off-site
It's not yet known what percentage of the collection will be stored off-site. If
pressed to give an estimate, staff said that perhaps 40% of the collection would be
stored off-site, with daily courier service allowing for next day delivery of books.
Focused collections will allow for a flow of materials from off-site storage to the
Library.
The Friend's book sale donations will also need to be stored off-site.
Search engine
Jennifer raised a concern that the CLAN search catalog may not allow for patrons
to find books if books are off-site. Both Larry and Jennifer noted that the catalog
requires rather precise wording to locate the desired book. Larry said that much
more robust search systems are available, and it could be well worth the
investment. Staff replied that lack of funding and also being part of the CLAN
system does not allow for a change in search engine right now. Of course, staff is
available to help patrons with searching for books.
Former Technical Services area
Ian asked if it one might remove the partition between these two small rooms. He
noted that access to the back room necessitated walking through the front room,
and there could be another configuration that would make better use of the space.
Ian also wondered what the plan was for this space, since removing another wall
could join this space up with the larger outside room.
7) Library Advisory Board Discussion on Service and Space Priorities
Beverly said that the City Council wants to receive the LAB's recommendations
before moving forward on meeting with the architect. This came as a surprise to
some LAB members who had assumed that our recommendations would also be
informed by meeting with the architect. Beverly explained that the
recommendations from the LAB are of the type listed on the last page of the
Library Space and Service Priorities 2014 (see the 4th link above). This was the
page we had projected on the screen during our discussion. Jennifer and Beverly
asked if there were any items that the LAB would like to add or subtract from this
list. While some LAB members were a bit surprised that this list seemed so basic,
Beverly noted that there are people who don't necessarily agree with these
priorities. The LAB made no additions or subtractions to this list.
Further discussion and possibly finalization of our recommendations will happen
at the LAB's next meeting.
8) Public comment
Six members of the public made brief comments. Comments included the
following:
Thanks were given to the Library Staff for their fine work and positive attitude.
Noise is an important issue. Please consider a partition and research best
practices for sound.
It would be nice if the Library could have a graphic or some other posted material
at Mountain View to update patrons on the status of the Library.
Expression of appreciation for a second floor reference desk. Also suggestion
that computers be spread throughout Library rather than grouped together.
Idea that a branch library could be a way to store books and also provide service
to Castle Hill.
Suggestion to look at current and past Library budgets to see how funds are being
used. It's important to know where the money is going.
Preference for a quiet room (wall) rather than a quiet space.
9) Next Meeting: Tuesday, January 14, 2014. Special Meeting 3:00-5:00 pm City
Hall