Board Meeting Minutes Jan Document 5

THE PUBLIC LIBRARY OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA MEETING, BOARD OF LIBRARY TRUSTEES MINUTES MOUNT PLEASANT LIBRARY, JANUARY 23, 2008

The regular meeting of the Board of Library Trustees was held at 6:00 p.m., Wednesday, January 23, 2008, at the Mount Pleasant Library, 3160 16th Street, NW, John W. Hill, Jr., President, presiding. PRESENT: John W. Hill, Jr., President, James Lewis, Guitele Nicoleau, Myrna Y. Peralta, Donald F. Richardson, Ginnie Cooper, Chief Librarian and Secretary-Treasurer ABSENT: Vice President, Bonnie Cohen, Richard H. Levy, Brenda Richardson. GUESTS AT THE BOARD TABLE: Tom Susman, President, DCPL Foundation and Richard Huffine, President, Federation of Friends of the Library. The meeting was called to order at 6:05 pm. There was no quorum at that time. Guitele Nicoleau arrived at 6:25 pm and a quorum was reached. MINUTES APPROVAL A motion was made and adopted to approve the minutes. Minutes were approved when a quorum was reached. MOUNT PLEASANT LIBRARY Chris Wright, Project Manager, Capital Projects, reported that $1.1 million was spent on the renovation of the exterior of the Mount Pleasant Library. The building is now much cleaner, broken stones were patched and the windows were restored. The second-phase of the renovation includes restoration of library furniture and replacing the carpet on the first floor. The selection process has begun for the design firm to renovate the interior of the Mount Pleasant library. The library will be closed for a year and a half while renovations are taking place. Richard Huffine noted that the carpet on the second floor was donated by the Friends of the Library. Helen Hiltz, Manager at the Mount Pleasant Library, said it is a very busy location and there has been an increase in children’s services. Adult services are also popular and meeting rooms are high in demand. The library will co-host an Arts Fair on May 6th. The fair consists of a children’s art contest in association with the Friends of the Mount Pleasant Library.

Document #5 Board of Library Trustees March 19, 2008

NOMINATING COMMITTEE REPORT Donald Richardson, Nominating Committee Chair, presented the slate: John Hill, for President and Bonnie Cohen for Vice President. John Hill asked if there were any other nominations, there were none. Jim Lewis moved to accept the nominations and Guitele Nicoleau seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously. The elected officers will serve for one year, until the first meeting in 2009. In the event of the absence of both the President and the Vice President, the most senior member of the Library Board of Trustees, Jim Lewis, will preside at meetings. CHIEF LIBRARIAN’S REPORT Ginnie Cooper devoted most of her report to MLK programming and technology based Library materials, inviting Pam Stovall and Michael Ciccone to make presentations. Pam Stovall, Associate Director for Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Library, reported on the Martin Luther King, Jr. Week of Activities. The week of events focused on the influence of the philosophies of Ghandi and Jesus Christ on the life of Martin Luther King, Jr. A staff breakfast was held at the beginning of the week entitled “Remembering King”. A partnership was formed with Teaching Malcolm, who facilitated the documentary series during the week. There were also Gospel Music performances during the week and a visit from the President and the First Lady on Martin Luther King Day in addition to volunteers who helped clean books during the day. Michael Ciccone, Associate Director for Collection Development, provided a report on the downloadable materials that are available to library users. The library provides downloadable audio books, e-books, music and video for library users. All products have been available since September and usage has increased by approximately 60% and continues to grow. There was also a demonstration of the Amazon Kindle e-book and “Play Away” media players. PRESIDENT’S REPORT John Hill noted that the library is still moving forward with the construction on the Benning Library at the original location. Currently, the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Library is being assessed to determine what administrative functions may be moved to another location. Special reference was made to the documents under the Board Committee Reports, Public Services and Business Services Reports. Those reports not in bold type font on the agenda will be discussed only if Board members have questions or comments. FOUNDATION PRESIDENT’S REPORT Tom Susman, President of the DCPL Foundation reported that the Foundation has a new library website that is more user friendly. Jim Lewis and Betsy Harvey-Kraft have left the Foundation Board and Don Richardson along with Anna Furman are now members of the Foundation Board. Document #5 Board of Library Trustees March 19, 2008

The Foundation has raised money through the DC One Fund, The Propper Topper and website donations. Georgetown Library also has an Adopt a Painting fundraising effort. The Foundation is considering additional staff to assist Anna Velazco, Director of the Foundation. The Tuskegee Airmen program in February and the restoration of the exhibit are supported by the Foundation and the Foundation also co-sponsored the MLK Staff Breakfast in January. The Foundation will be working to pool resources to sponsor a prospective African-American project at the Library. The Foundation will have its annual audit to continue to ensure the financial health of the organization. FEDERATION OF FRIENDS REPORT The Federation will host a retreat on Saturday, January 26th. The focus will be Friends groups for the Interim Libraries and the plans to build Friends groups in neighborhood libraries. It was noted that there will be an extended report period for the Federation at the March Library Board of Trustees Meeting. NEW BUSINESS There will be Council hearings on February 13th and March 6th. Attendees were informed that Board Documents are now available on the library’s website (www.dclibrary.org ). It was suggested that a web link be sent to Board Members which will enable them to access Board Documents online. PUBLIC COMMENTS A question was raised regarding whether the Northwest One Project would include a library. Response: The Project does include a 5000-6000 sq ft. library to replace the Sursum Corda kiosk. Questions were also raised regarding a possible relocation of the Benning Library. John Hill noted that there is no action before the Board of Library Trustees at this time concerning a possible relocation of the Benning Library. A question was also raised concerning acquiring additional funding for the Benning Library. The library plans to use the funds that are available for construction with the knowledge that other library sites are also in need of funding. The meeting adjourned at 8:31 p.m.

Document #5 Board of Library Trustees March 19, 2008