Tippecanoe County Public Library

MINUTES

Notice of the date, time, place and agenda for this meeting was posted in prominent public view at the Library and mailed to requesting media on Thursday, July 31^st, 2008 in conformity with the Indiana Open Meeting Act.

Prior to the regular Board meeting, a legally advertised Public Hearing was called to order at 7:30 p.m. to allow for public input regarding TCPL’s 2009 budgets. There was no public comment on the 2009 budgets and the public hearing was adjourned at 7:33 p.m.

President Dinah McClure chaired the regular Board meeting and called it to order at 7:35 p.m. A quorum was declared to conduct business for the library.

Board Treasurer, Sarah Hicks led the Pledge of Allegiance.

Mr. Holman highlighted a number of items from the County Librarian’s Report. He reported the final numbers for participation in the summer reading clubs (SRC). In 2008, 3960 children and 451 teens registered for the SRC compared to 2786 children and 359 teens in 2007. 405 people joined the adult SRC, almost a 25% increase over last year. Mr. Holman pointed out that the next Joint Board meeting for the campus library is scheduled for Monday, October 6 at 5:30 p.m. TCPL is the current chair of this group and will develop the agenda for the meeting. Mr. Holman announced the Indiana Library Federation committee selected TCPL to received the 2008 ILF Collaboration Award. The award honors a corporation, organization, individual library or a group of libraries, that have made significant contributions in the efforts of promoting library service in a community, region, or at the statewide level. TCPL, Purdue, and Ivy Tech collaborated on an information type scavenger hunt called “Search It, Find It, Use It” that utilized all three locations. Finally, Mr. Holman indicated that the second quarter system statistics have been compiled and were reviewed by TCPL’s managers. The manager’s discussion involved questions and perceptions of various percentage changes and the impact of Klondike on various categories. Mr. Holman went on to point out a few specific categories of the statistics report and shared observations about the categories. Mr. Phillips commented on a charitable gift of $50,000 to TCPL from the estate of Maxine P. Lear. He indicated it was exciting to receive the gift and that the letter from the lawyer was very interesting. Mrs. Lear had been a very active Friends member and book sale volunteer. Mr. Phillips stated he wondered if we were seeing a trend in large gifts being given to the library. A short discussion ensued with no specific conclusions being reached.

Under the heading of Communications, President McClure shared TCPL received notice that the Lafayette Common Council approved a resolution of Wabash National, L.P. for the deduction for a partial abatement of property taxes in an Economic Revitalization Area. The Board received the information without taking any action.

Board Secretary Pat Garrott moved to approve the September 2^nd, 2008 Personnel Actions. Board Vice-President Brandon Hawkins seconded the motion and it passed unanimously.

Under the heading of Committee Reports, Mrs. Garrott reported the Board’s Personnel Committee would meet on Wednesday, September 17^th, after the budget adoption meeting. The committee will discuss the wage and salary study and hear preliminary information about health savings accounts. There were no other committee reports, though the County Librarian asked for and received clarification about highlighting committee reports on the printed agenda.

Under Other Reports, Friends President Susan Robey announced the results of the book sale held September 12 – 15. The Friends set out about 1100 boxes of books and made over $20,000. The “vintage book sale” has been rescheduled for April 2009. In the meantime, some of the “vintage books” are being sold by the Friends on EBay bringing in more than the fifty cents price that will be used at the sale.

Also, under Other Reports, the County Librarian demonstrated TCPL’s new website citing a few of the major changes for the Board. Board members showed a very positive response to the website and shared a number of compliments. Mr. Phillips moved that the Board compliment Tom Funkhouser and the automation staff on their development and work on the new website. Board member Mida Grover seconded the motion and it passed. Mr. Holman indicated he would convey the wishes of the Board and shared that a committee of page masters also worked on the website.

There was no Old Business to consider.

Under New Business, the County Librarian shared information about the new City of Lafayette ordinance concerning smoking in public places. Mr. Holman provided some background information on the topic, the compliance requirements as he understood them, and what library customers and library staff currently practice regarding smoking at the downtown main library. A general discussion about the various factors associated with this topic took place among Board members. Also, possible solutions to complying with the ordinance were considered. Mr. Philips moved to have TCPL’s management team review the situation and develop specific recommendations that the County Librarian could bring to the Board. His motion is based on the library recognizing the need to comply with the new City of Lafayette ordinance and posting the signage as indicated by law. Mrs. Hicks provided a second to the motion and it passed. The Board went on to consider Board approval of four draft job descriptions. The Board previously reviewed the drafts but the County Librarian failed to bring the documents back for Board adoption. After the County Librarian presented other background information and responded to a couple of questions, Mrs. Hicks moved to approve the job descriptions of the Human Resources Coordinator, the Communications/Public Relations Coordinator, the Collection Coordinator and Branch Aide as presented. Mrs. Grover seconded the motion and the motion passed.

Under Other Business, Mrs. Hicks moved to approve the grand total of the claims listing presented by the County Librarian starting with claim number 13661 through 13800. The pre-written claims were $249,108.45 and the regular claims were $132,379.49 for a grand total of $381,487.94. Mr. Phillips seconded the motion and it passed.

There was no Other Business.

Under the heading of Comments from the Public, audience member Jean Andres shared information about an upcoming activity sponsored by the League of Women Voters. Mr. Louis Mahern, a member of the Governor’s committee that produced the Kernan-Shepherd report will make a presentation on the report and the idea of streamlining local government. The 7:30 p.m. presentation will be held at the library and Mrs. Andres encouraged Board members to attend. Other than responding to Mrs. Andres announcement, there were no further Comments from the Board.

Mrs. Hicks moved to adjourn the regular board meeting at 8:40 p.m. Mr. Phillips seconded the motion and it carried.

EXHIBITS AND OTHER MATERIALS REFERENCED IN THESE MINUTES CAN BE INSPECTED AND COPIED IN THE ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICE, TIPPECANOE COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY, 627 SOUTH STREET, LAFAYETTE, INDIANA 47901-1470.