December 2010 - Board Minutes

Owatonna Public Library Board Minutes of December 21, 2010

The Owatonna Public Library Board of Trustees convened their monthly meeting on Tuesday, December 21, 2010, in the Gainey Room at Owatonna Public Library. The meeting was called to order at 4:30PM by President Don Overlie. Also present were Russ Dunn-Foster, Jill Holmes, Eric Mattison, Angela Sager, Assistant Library Director Renée Lowery, Director Mary Kay Feltes and Gail Plathe. Approximately 30 students from Owatonna High School attended to fulfill their SCIP (Student Community Involvement Project) requirement for social studies class. Because of the large number of students attending, board and staff took time throughout the meeting to explain background and history.

Russ explained their responsibilities as community representatives on the Library Board of Trustees. Board members are appointed by the Mayor. Board duties include making recommendations and serving as sounding board for library administration, representing residents, and “…is empowered to do all things necessary for the efficient operation and management of a public library facility…” Owatonna City Code. Section 245:15.
http://ci.owatonna.mn.us/city/city-of-owatonna-city-code/city-of-owatonna-city-code-details/?id+152 (Accessed January 18, 2011.)

The November minutes were approved on a motion by Russ seconded by Jill. All ayes.

The November financial report was reviewed. Mary Kay described the program budget format to the students. She pointed out the library budget equals 6% of the total city budget. Funding from Dodge County for Blooming Prairie Branch Library and Steele County is not included in that figure. She noted to board members the financial report for January’s meeting will reflect the totals for 2010.

Darla’s report on Children’s Services for November was presented. Highlights include “Gobble, Gobble, Gobble,” an evening family story time held in partnership with Early Childhood Family Education (ECFE). Stories with a Thanksgiving theme were read to 103 children and adults. ECFE provided after-story crafts. The monthly collaboration with ECFE is interpreted with American Sign Language. Library staff outreach opportunities included visits to Migrant Head Start, Wilson Elementary School, and Kids’ Korner Educare Center. Details are included in the attached report.

Comparing November, 2009, to November, 2010, the number of check-outs at Owatonna Public Library increased 6%. Blooming Prairie Branch Library circulation showed an increase of 2%. In November there was an 8% increase in the number of people who came into the Owatonna Public Library, and a 28% increase at Blooming Prairie Branch Library. There were 153 new borrowers registered at Owatonna Public Library, and Blooming Prairie Branch Library had 6 new borrowers. Eighty-five percent of Owatonna residents possess a library card.

Renée reported on use of Freegal the downloadable music service recently added to Owatonna Public Library’s services. The library pays an annual fee and library patrons can then legally download music. All that is needed is an Owatonna Public Library or Blooming Prairie Branch library card. With access to the Sony Music Entertainment catalog, Freegal offers hundreds of thousands of songs, over 100 genres of music, and more than fifty record labels. Library patrons do not need to download special software or have any digital rights management (DRM) to deal with. It’s not just “old people” music, according to one board member, who quoted her teenage daughter. Access to Freegal is limited to residents of Steele County. Library users can download music at home or at the library. At this point there are about 70 downloads per day. It’s the coolest new thing. The Owatonna Public Library was the first library in Minnesota to offer Freegal to its customers.

The library director at Owatonna Public Library oversees operation of the branch library and hires the manager. In addition Owatonna Public Library staff chooses the books and other materials. The November meeting of the Owatonna Public Library Board of Trustees was held at the Blooming Prairie Branch Library. Blooming Prairie can offer the Freegal service to their patrons too.

The bookmobile is still for sale. There has been one offer. Another potential buyer recently expressed interest in purchasing the bookmobile. There has been a surge in the use of mobile retail, for example food trucks are becoming more prevalent.

There was a motion by Russ seconded by Angela to approve the closed dates for 2011 as presented:

2011 Closed Dates
Saturday January 1: New Year’s Day
Monday January 17: Martin Luther King Jr Birthday
Monday February 21: Presidents’ Day
Monday May 30: Memorial Day
Sunday April 24: Easter
Monday July 4: Independence Day
Monday September 5: Labor Day
Friday November 11: Veterans’ Day
Thursday November 24: Thanksgiving Day
Friday December 23: Christmas
Saturday December 24: Christmas
Sunday December 25: Christmas
Monday December 26: Christmas
Sunday January 1, 2012: New Year’s Day
Monday January 2, 2012: New Year’s Day

All ayes.

In other business, OverDrive, the downloadable audiobooks service is scheduled to be operational through Southeastern Libraries Cooperating (SELCO) in January. The library purchased three models of eReaders for library patrons to view and investigate. The Barnes and Noble NOOKcolor™, the Sony Reader Daily Edition™, and the Sony Reader Pocket Edition™ were purchased with gift funds. All will work with OverDrive. However the Kindle from amazon.com will not. The public was invited to an evening program where Renée demonstrated all three eReaders. People were encouraged to come and learn about the eReaders and see how they work.

Gift money is used to purchase public use computers, databases, genealogy materials, all large print books. In addition new services and products are also purchased with gift funds. Since it was built in 1900 the library has been fortunate to have a supportive community. Money is left to the library in wills, given to the library in memory of friends and family members who have died, and donated for special programs. Community members also support library programming by volunteering. For example a Kiwanis group participated in a recent Read Around the World event. The local chapter of Delta Kappa Gamma provides staffing for a children’s summer reading program book giveaway.

As the meeting closed, students were encouraged to use the library databases. They are excellent resources, other than Google. There was a time in the not too distant past, when books were used for research, now it is databases and online resources. Mary Kay talked about services available for young patrons including Internet access. There are 2 laptop computers and 4 computers in the teen internet room available for 14 to 17 year old library patrons.

With no further business to discuss the meeting was adjourned at 5:45pm on a motion by Jill, seconded by Eric.

The next meeting of the Owatonna Public Library Board of Trustees will be held January 18, 2011.

Respectfully submitted,    
Gail Plathe
January 12, 2011