Carnegie Public Library

Board of Trustees Meeting

Minutes May 14, 2009

 

Present: Kathy Agnew, Chair; Susie Mosness, Vice-Chair; and trustees Dale Garrett, Betty Streeter, and Linda Larson.  Librarian Kate Lewis was also present.  

Guest:  Kathy Jones, President of the Big Timber Friends of the Library was present to discuss spending the procedure that will be adopted for the use of funds from the Capital Resource Fund.  It was suggested by Chair Agnew that for any expenditure, the funds would be transferred from the CRF to the FOL making it possible to use the FOL credit card for purchases.   Currently the signatories for the CRF are Kathy Agnew and Susie Mosness.  A change of signatory from Mosness to Trustee Garrett was also discussed since Garrett sits on the Board of both the FOL and the Carnegie Library.  It was decided that it was necessary to consult with Mark Josephson, the attorney for the FOL to insure the legality of the spending path.

Kathy Jones was also present to describe the FOLs part in the Memorial Day ceremony at 11:30 on the lawn of the library.  Legionaires will dedicate the new stone monument and plaque to the Veterans of World War I from Big Timber.  Weather permitting, Friends of the Library will serve cookies and a beverage on the outside patio to those who attend.  In the event of rain, the refreshments will be served in the Community Meeting Room.  An ad will be placed in the Big Timber Pioneer to invite the public.

Minutes from April 9 meeting were read and approved by all.

Old Business:

Budget Expenditures:  Blue Sky Restoration presented a bill for $988.50 for the cleaning of the upstairs half of the library furniture and the carpet.  Only $755 was budgeted for this job which is half of the original bid from Blue Sky Restoration.  Because there is more furniture upstairs and because both stairwells were cleaned, the bill was $ 233.50 over budget. Using the unspent travel funds from the budget was discussed as a solution for the overage.  Chair Agnew agreed to discuss the bill with the City and Big Sky Restoration.

Big Sky Glass:  Mr. Kevin Dawes submitted the bill for the window frosting for the basement windows.  The bill for $988.50 was presented to Chair Agnew to be paid with funds from the CRF.

 

Parking Barriers:  The City of Big Timber will provide  new parking barriers to be installed at the library parking spaces on the south side of the building.  The barriers are being poured and will be installed by July according to Kris Novotny of City Works.

Blake Nursery Contract:  It was reported by Trustee Larson that a contract with Blakes for summer work on the landscape of the library was not yet in hand.  Larson agreed to pursue the matter.  Lewis reported that Sandi Blake called requesting that the water be turned on for the summer.

Garbage can/recycling update:  The City of Big Timber delivered 5 large cans for recycling and five smaller one were purchased by the library to be placed in the kitchen. 

By-Laws:  A motion was made by Trustee Garrett to approve and adopt the corrected by-laws.  The motion was seconded by Trustee Mosness and approved by all.  Chair Agnew will send the final copy to the Librarian to be included in the Library Policy Manual.

MyMontanaLibrary2Go:  Librarian Lewis requested that the Board consider the idea of joining a pilot program currently being sponsored by the Montana State Library.  This is an online service for downloadable audio content which can be accessed at home by library patrons.  The Board requested more information.

Tech needs:  Jacque Scott reported on the need for 2 new circulation computers for the Circulation Desk.  She estimated the cost at $800 each and said that the old circ computers could be put to use as public access computers.  She requested that the Board support this expense when the new operating system comes out later this year.  The Board indicated that they would be in favor of this project and could pay for it with funds from the CRF.  Jacque also reported what she found out about Smart-Boards.  This purchased was tabled until later.

New Business:

Evaluation Tools:  There was a discussion about the evaluation tool currently being used for the Board to evaluate the performance of the Library Director.  It was decided that the actual job description for the Library Director needs to be examined.  New evaluation tools will be considered for future evaluations.

Library Director’s Report:  Librarian Lewis recapped the Montana Shared Catalog meeting she and Scott attended in May 8, 2009.  The fee for belonging to the MSC will increase from 2009-2010 @$2,069.85 to $2,165.31 for fiscal year 2010-2011.

Next Meeting:  The regular meeting was scheduled for June 9 but Librarian Lewis asked for a schedule change since she will be unable to attend.  The new date has not yet been decided but will probably be June 4 @ 5:00.  TBA