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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes - Library Promotion Committee - 01/21/2004CITY OF PALM DESERT LIBRARY PROMOTION COMMITTEE MINUTES January 21, 2004 3:00 P.M. — Administrative Conference Room Chairperson Beasley convened the meeting at 3:00 p.m. I. ROLL CALL PRESENT: Joan Beasley, Chair Beverly Bergh Betty Carapellese Ella Manor Francoise Rhodes, Vice Chair Bobbie Rosenberg Staff Present: Rachelle Klassen, Staff Liaison Gail Santee, Recording Secretary Others Present: Beth Ziegler, City Librarian Lynn DeSantis, Library Events Coordinator Barbara Bowie, County Librarian Jennifer Larson, Desert Sun Newspaper II. ORAL COMMUNICATIONS None IV. CONSENT CALENDAR APPROVAL of Minutes of the Regular Meeting held November 12, 2003. jr.:4\44 Action: Member Bergh moved, seconded by Member Rosenberg, to approve the November 12, 2003, minutes as presented. The minutes were approved 6-0. V. NEW BUSINESS APPOINTMENT of Budget Subcommittee Members. Action: Member Manor moved, seconded by Vice Chair Rhodes, to appoint Members Manor and Carapellese to serve on the Budget Subcommittee. Member Rosenberg is to serve as Alternate. Motion carried 6-0. LIBRARY PROMOTION COMMITTEE Minutes January 21, 2004 VI. CONTINUED BUSINESS None VII. OLD BUSINESS REPORT on Bookmobile Ms. Bowie distributed cards that are being put into each book in the Palm Desert's collection for the Bookmobile. The card reads "This book was purchased for your reading enjoyment with funds provided by the City of Palm Desert." Ms. Ziegler reported the circulation figures from the Bookmobile. They were October 14-31: 83, November: 106, and December: 77. In this time period, there were three stops each in October and December and four stops in November, for a total of 10 stops in Palm Desert. The stops are scheduled on Tuesdays, 10:00 a.m. — 2:00 p.m., at Joe Mann Park. These figures are for actual articles/books checked out. It does not count the number of people who boarded the Bookmobile. Ms. Bowie will ask that the headcount be provided. Ms. Bowie noted the onboard page had resigned. They are currently in the process of getting that position filled quickly. The page will eventually serve as a backup driver. Having accomplished that, more programs will be offered during the Bookmobile's visits. VIII. REPORTS AND REMARKS A. Council Member, Mayor Jean Benson None B. Librarian's Report, Beth Ziegler 1. Ms. Ziegler distributed the Library Statistics for the months of November and December, comparing 2003 with 2002. The figures are comparable to last year. Circulated Items have come in at over 25,000 units per month. The December K-8 After School Program for 5-10 year olds created individual gingerbread houses to take home. Attendance was a healthy 94. The Volunteer numbers continue to climb reaching 57 people working 666 volunteer hours in December. Grandparents are going out to area facilities for young children. It was noted the attendance at all of the special programs has increased, due in part to the Friends -sponsored Speaker Series. 2 LIBRARY PROMOTION COMMITTEE Minutes January 21, 2004 2. Ms. Ziegler reported a reception was held on Saturday, January 17, for the Terrell sculptures. Mrs. Betty Terrell had donated $10,000 in memory of her husband, Jim Terrell, a former member of the Library Promotion Committee. Two bronze sculptures were purchased and mounted on pedestals in the Adult Reading area. Mrs. Terrell had the opportunity to meet the sculptor, Robert McDermott, of Seattle. Refreshments were served on the patio. A local sculptor was also on -site working on one of her projects. 3. Ms. Ziegler distributed a brochure entitled "Palm Desert Public Library Public Art" created by Deborah Schwartz, the City's Public Art Coordinator. The brochure contains pictures of various pieces of art at the Library along with descriptive paragraphs of each. The Terrell sculptures will be added to this brochure. 4. Local artists have been solicited by the Public Art Commission for the Library's planned mural in the Community Room. April 9th is the submission due date. The artists have been asked to depict what goes on in the Community Room in the mural. C. Event Coordinator's Report, Lynn DeSantis Ms. DeSantis announced upcoming events and distributed February's Calendar of Events. Wanda Raschkow, Archeologist, BLM, will present a lecture with slides maps, and directions to petroglyphs and archeolegical digs located within the Coachella Valley, Wednesday, January 21st. This seminar is another in the Coachella Valley Scholars Speak sponsored by Friends of the Palm Desert Library. Pianist, recording artist, and teacher Wayne McEvilly performed the "Romance of Chopin" to a packed audience on Wednesday, January 14th. On February 4th at 10:00 a.m., storyteller Nailah Malik will take her audience on a adventure through Africa via tales and songs in celebration of Black History Month. The Coachella Valley Scholars Speak series is presenting Penny Usherwood, Associate Professor at COD and Middle East expert who will speak on Wednesday, February 18th. Her topic is "Saudi Arabia & The Wahhabi Extremists," the most dangerous Tong -term enemy the US has ever faced. 3 LIBRARY PROMOTION COMMITTEE Minutes January 21, 2004 Tracy Liegler, interpretive specialist at the Santa Rosa and San Jacinto Mt. National Park, will conduct a Wildflower Workshop on Wednesday, February 25th at 1:30 p.m. She will give out maps and explain where to find the most spectacular wildflowers. Also on the 25th, at 6:30 p.m., Astronomer Robert Victor will talk about and view via telescope four planets that are lined up during the end of February/beginning of March. Other constellations will be viewed and discussed. The Breakfast, Books & Banter; The World, Books & You; Storyteller; Toddler Story Time; Preschool Story Time; and the After School programs; as well as the Homebound service, continue under the able guidance of Library staff. D. Volunteer Coordinator's Report, Mary Arnold It was reported that teen-agers from Palm Desert High were volunteering at the Library for their community service credit. They are helping with the children's programs as well as other areas. E. Budget Review Group, Bobbie Rosenberg None F. Friends of the Palm Desert Library, Joan Beasley Chairperson Beasley reported the Friends held their annual meeting on January 11 m. She distributed information on 2003's financial review and 2004's projections. $45,000 came in through: Internet sales ($3,300), the bookstore ($25,000+/-), memberships ($1,085), and donations ($1,832). Expenditures totaled $35,000, with $10,000 currently in the checking account and $11,500 in a CD. They have encumbered $5,000 with a commitment to help Mecca Friends put on programs at the Mecca Library. They have also committed to replace some outdated computers in Palm Desert Library's computer lab. The Friends will continue with the Coachella Valley Speaker Series. New projects include the computer lab and helping the Mecca Library programs. G. Committee Chair, Joan Beasley None 4 LIBRARY PROMOTION COMMITTEE Minutes January 21, 2004 H. Committee Members Member Manor reported the County Free Library Advisory Committee held a meeting at the Library. The main topic of discussion was the State's budget. With LSSI running the Library, the County will have enough money for at least a year. They are now in the process of upgrading the computer system, which will give availability of going into other counties' systems to find books. The process should be complete by the end of September. When one goes on-line to see Riverside County's collections, the collections of San Bernardino County will also be available. Requests can be made for books in both collections. Mono and Inyo Counties may also be made available within the system. The Inland Library System consists of Riverside, San Bemardino, and Inyo Counties. These collections will be available from home computers. Member Manor went on to report that LSSI is doing a lot of work with English as a Second Language (ESL), especially in the Latino communities and there is also interest from the Asian community in this program. This is a County program; there are three literacy offices: Glenavon, Perris, and Indio. The Indio Library is the headquarters for this literacy program for Valley -based libraries. The funding is coming from the State Office of Education. It was noted that COD has a big ESL program. It would seem beneficial if both entities could work together and share grants. There is another State Library grant to provide library service throughout the County to Latino communities, which are recognized as an underserved population. The Project Coordinator is overseeing the program called "Reading is Success" and new Spanish -language books are being placed in all the County system libraries. The City of La Quinta is planning on starting its library building early next year. The building will be 20,000 sq.ft., with the first phase being 10,000 sq.ft. The site is on the City Hall campus. Ms. Bowie and staff have started work on the Summer Reading Program that has been so successful, it may go Statewide. This year's program is entitled "Ride a Wild Tale." Ms. Bowie oversees the Youth Team, which is made up of Youth Service Librarians and sub -branch managers throughout the County Library System. About four years ago, they began putting together a manual for the Summer Reading Program, which is used in San Bernardino, Riverside, and Inyo Counties, as well as the Metropolitan Library District, which takes in much of Los Angeles County. The manual is 250 pages, the Inland Library Systems prints and distributes it to all the libraries in nearly all of Southern Califomia. The County Library Youth Team puts on 2-day workshops, inviting everyone — 5 LIBRARY PROMOTION COMMITTEE Minutes January 21, 2004 friends, volunteers, interested parties who want to participate in the Summer Reading Program — to come and leam how use the manual and get ready for the summer program. There will also be a young adult reading program with a different topic and title. Member Manor suggested the Committee write a letter to the Desert Sun letting them know how much it appreciates all the articles that have been printed about the Library and its events. They are doing an outstanding job. Ms. Klassen noted the compliment was well timed The Desert Sun's Palm Desert reporter, Jennifer Larsen, was present. Member Bergh asked how things were going with COD's Library hours. Ms. Klassen reported the College's hours had remained the same. A meeting had been held with County and COD officials and COD would like to do more, but they are required to have a classified and certificated person whenever open. Palm Desert Library staff cannot open the COD side. COD seems certain they will have their library open more hours next summer for the summer session students. City officials will continue to pursue coordinated hours of operation with COD. I. Staff None IX. ADJOURNMENT The meeting was adjoumed at 4:00 p.m. The next meeting will be scheduled for February 18, 2004, at 3:00 p.m., in the Administrative Conference Room. Respectfully submitted, 94, Gail D. Santee Recording Secretary 6