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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes - Library Promotion Committee 01/19/2005APPROVED MINUTES LIBRARY PROMOTION COMMITTEE JANUARY 19, 2005 — 3:00 P.M. ADMINISTRATIVE CONFERENCE ROOM I. CALL TO ORDER Chairwoman Beasley called the meeting to order at 3:00 p.m. II. ROLL CALL Members Present: Joan Beasley, Chair Betty Carapellese, Vice Chair Louise Kermode Ella Manor Staff Present: Rachelle Klassen, Staff Liaison Lori Wimbish, Recording Secretary Others Present: Jean Benson, Council Liaison Jeannie Kays, City Librarian Mary Arnold, Event and Volunteer Coordinator Nancy Johnson, County Librarian Barbara Bowie, Desert Library Zone Members Absent Bobbie Rosenberg III. ORAL COMMUNICATIONS None IV. CONSENT CALENDAR A. MINUTES of the Meeting of September 15, 2004. Motion was made by Ella Manor to approve the September 15, 2004, meeting minutes, seconded by Betty Carapellese. Motion carried 4-0. APPROVED MINUTES PALM DESERT LIBRARY PROMOTION COMMITTEE JANUARY 19, 2005 V. NEW BUSINESS A. SELECTION OF COMMITTEE CHAIR AND CO-CHAIR Motion was made by Ms. Manor to appoint Joan Beasley as Chair and Betty Carapellese as Co -Chair for 2005, seconded by Louise Kermode. Motion carried 4-0. B. INTRODUCTION OF JEANNIE KAYS, NEW PALM DESERT CITY LIBRARIAN Barbara Bowie introduced Jeannie Kays, Palm Desert's new City Librarian, who will officially begin employment on Monday, January 24, 2005. She is currently the City Librarian for the City of Cathedral City. Ms. Kays was very excited about her new position. There are many opportunities to make some good changes and to enhance programs that are currently happening at the Library. She gave an overview of her employment history and a brief description of four items that she will be working on. They are as follows: • Telephones - Move the telephones into the backroom so that staff can answer them. Volunteers who are processing books and materials could answer the telephones there as well. • Workroom - Five employees would be cataloging and processing the books and materials. Extensive cross training for all employees would enable them to help out with catch-up. Three people have been hired, and after they are fully trained, their duties can be shifted to some of the more experienced staff to get the job done. The Workroom is a multiple person job, and it will be important to get it in order. • Desk Areas — Get the clutter off the desks and out of sight. Add storage space under the counter at the Reference Desk and additional shelving or bookcases in the workroom. The number of standing signs could be addressed as well. • Motivate Staff — She wants the staff to love their jobs and to take pride in what they do. Councilmember Benson asked Ms. Arnold if the Library had ever used the services of RSVP for volunteers. Ms. Arnold said she has contacted RSVP and specifically asked for individuals who can answer the telephones. 2 APPROVED MINUTES PALM DESERT LIBRARY PROMOTION COMMITTEE JANUARY 19, 2005 A conversation ensued about the telephone and the Workroom. The Committee felt that once Ms. Kays is on board, she would be able to ascertain what the needs are for each issue. The Committee will look forward to her report regarding these two issues at the February 16th meeting. Ms. Kays encouraged the Committee to come to her with any concerns they may have about the Library. Her door will always be open. Ms. Bowie passed around pictures of the new chairs at the Library. Comments were favorable. VI. CONTINUED BUSINESS Ms. Beasley asked about the status of the mural. Ms. Bowie said Susan Smith -Evans was working on the mural today. The Committee could stop by the Library after the meeting to view it if they wished. VII. OLD BUSINESS None VIII. REPORTS AND REMARKS A. Council Member Jean Benson Councilmember Benson asked Nancy Johnson to speak about Gordon Conable, Vice President, LSSI. Ms. Johnson said Mr. Conable passed away last week. He was instrumental in getting the Palm Desert Library up and running, and he will be greatly missed. Councilmember Benson said the City of Palm Desert would forward their condolences. Councilmember Benson was delighted that Ms. Kays was chosen for the position of City Librarian and felt that she would do a good job. She looks forward to any suggestions she may have and added that her door is always open as well. B. Librarian's Report None 3 APPROVED MINUTES PALM DESERT LIBRARY PROMOTION COMMITTEE JANUARY 19, 2005 C. Event and Volunteer Coordinator's Report (Mary Arnold) Ms. Arnold was excited about Ms. Kays coming to the Library. She passed out the January and February events brochures. She gave a brief description of each event. Eight new volunteers have been added to the volunteer staff this month. D. Budget Review Group (Ella Manor/Betty Carapellese) Rachelle Klassen said the preliminary budget would be due to the Finance Department around March 4th. She will contact Ms. Manor and Ms. Carapellese with a convenient date and time, after Ms. Kays is on -board, to meet and go over the budget. E. Friends of the Palm Desert Library (Joan Beasley) Ms. Beasley said the annual meeting for Friends was held on January 9, 2005. She distributed and went over the Financial Report for 2005. Ms. Beasley announced that the monthly Friends newsletter and the monthly Library volunteers' newsletter would be combined. Since each newsletter contains mostly the same information, by combining them, they would go out to a larger number of people and may generate more volunteers. The Friends budget would also provide support for those mailings. F. Committee Chair (Joan Beasley) None G. Committee Members Ms. Manor introduced Nancy Johnson, County Librarian, to the committee Members who had not yet met her. Ms. Johnson was also very pleased about the hiring of Ms. Kays as the City Librarian to the Palm Desert Library. She thanked the Committee for the new chairs and was appreciative of the active participation shown by Palm Desert in their library. Ms. Johnson made the following announcements: The janitorial service at the library has changed ownership. The new owners are doing a good job; however, there are a lot of things 4 APPROVED MINUTES PALM DESERT LIBRARY PROMOTION COMMITTEE JANUARY 19, 2005 not currently included in the contract, i.e. carpet cleaning, and window washing, which need to be. The existing contract is seven or eight years old, and she felt it was time to revisit their janitorial needs. Bidding will go out to secure a new contract, and she was hopeful that the new owners of the current contract would participate. There is a good amount of book collection monies available to the libraries and there is a Collection Development Specialist in place, Diane Drake, Manager of the Glen Avon Library. She will be spending money for the System as a whole. However, the program has been structured so that the individual branches would still be able to take care of their local demands. At the ALA mid -winter meeting in Boston, the John Cotton Dana Awards were announced. In the library community the John Cotton Dana award is very prestigious. This year Riverside County Library System won the award for their innovative project, "Leer Es Triunfar — Reading is Succeeding," designed to increase the awareness and use of library services among Latino residents in Riverside County through a series of public programs, community events, celebrity television spots, and targeted Spanish -language publications. On November 29, 2004, the California Public Library Construction and Renovation Board met to consider 72 applications for State matching grants for public library construction projects in California. Riverside County submitted applications for the Rubidoux Library and the Thousand Palms Library. Neither application was selected for funding; however, the Board of Supervisors agreed to go ahead with construction on both facilities. The Thousand Palms Library should begin construction in the spring. Ms. Johnson added her concerns about the telephone system. She said it is difficult to train someone for the telephone and sympathized with Ms. Arnold about finding volunteers to help with this responsibility. Councilmember Benson asked that a letter be sent to the Board of Supervisors to request that the Thousand Palms Library be named after Art Sampson, as he was the driving force of any library in Thousand Palms and worked tirelessly to that end. He was awarded the 2004 Citizen of the Year Award at the Senior Inspiration Awards ceremony, but passed away recently. Ms. Bowie commented that Pat Jenkins, who was on the Community Council about 10 years ago, was the person who started work towards the 5 APPROVED MINUTES PALM DESERT LIBRARY PROMOTION COMMITTEE JANUARY 19, 2005 Thousand Palms Library. Ms. Jenkins was instrumental in securing space in the Chamber of Commerce offices as well as many other programs. Ms. Bowie offered that the most recent idea is possibly naming the library the Jenkins -Sampson Library. Councilmember Benson said she would support that idea and directed Ms. Klassen to send a letter from the Committee to the Board of Supervisors in support of that recommendation. H. Staff None IX. ADJOURNMENT With Committee concurrence, Chairwoman Beasley adjourned the meeting at 3:45 p.m. Lori Wimbish, Recording Secretary 6