MINUTES OF THE REGULAR MEETING OF THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES
WEBSTER GROVES PUBLIC LIBRARY
October 17, 2007

The regular meeting of the Board of Trustees of the Webster Groves Public Library was held at 7 p.m. on October 17th. Vice President Tom Reedy presided, and Library Director Tom Cooper kept the minutes. Present: Library Board Trustees Peter Ruger, Liz Walsh, Stacy Deleste, Christine Krueger, Bob Herdler, Angela Birke, and Jon Furst, and Council Liaison Jeanne Kirkton.

Call to Order

The meeting was called to order at 7:05.

Public Agenda

There was no public agenda.

Minutes of the September 19, 2007 Meeting

Mr. Ruger moved to approve the minutes as written, Ms. Krueger seconded, and the minutes were approved

Correspondence

Mr. Reedy read a card from former Board trustee Linda Duckworth and her husband Charlie, in which they made a $50 donation to the library in honor of Stacy and Felino Deleste’s twentieth anniversary.

President’s Report

There was no president’s report.

Librarian’s Report

Mr. Cooper presented a proposal from Sue Pruchnicki of Bond Wolfe architects for conducting a Library Evaluation and Space Planning Study. Copies of the proposal were distributed to all trustees, and they should contact Mr. Cooper by Friday the 19th with questions or concerns, the intent being to come to an agreement as soon as possible on accepting or rejecting the proposal.

Mr. Cooper reported that he had received the new election calendar for 2008.

He also relayed the news that the library’s house at 5 Mason Avenue had been broken into sometime within the past few weeks, and that several lengths of copper pipe had been torn out and stolen. He is in touch with the insurance company and the necessary repair companies.

Advanced Planning

No additional report from this committee.

Automation/Systems

The new public access computers have been ordered, and are starting to arrive. They should be installed within a few weeks.

Building and Grounds

We are waiting for bids on fixing the recessed lights out front. We are also still looking for a solution to the shabby front doors, though our efforts have turned from trying to refinish them to perhaps replacing them. We also are taking bids on snow removal service for this winter.

Finance

Mr. Herdler reviewed the financial report and disbursements for September, 2007. He also reviewed our line of credit borrowing so far this fiscal year, comparing it to the past years, and finds that the amount borrowed is staying about the same from year to year. He is still concerned that library staff make an effort to borrow as close as possible to the actual time of need. Ms. Deleste made a motion that the financial report be approved as presented. Mr. Furst seconded, and the report was approved.

Human Resource

There was no report from this committee.

Policy

Mr. Cooper reported on the staff’s efforts to track check-outs of R-rated movies by minors. In about a month’s worth of record-keeping, they only recorded one instance. There were other times when minors were observed to check out R-rated movies, but those minors were with parents, so it was assumed not to count.

Another way of tracking such usage was undertaken by Tim Nix, the systems administrator, who compiled a statistic of how many patrons with juvenile cards had R-rated movies on their cards: he found about 20 within the whole MLC.

Old Business

There was no old business.

New Business

Since the next board meeting would normally fall on the evening before Thanksgiving, it was decided to move the date of that meeting up one week to November 14th.

Adjournment

Mr. Furst moved to adjourn, Ms. Deleste seconded, and the meeting was adjourned at 7:55.

The next meeting of the Library’s Board of Trustees will be held on Wednesday, November 14th at 7 p.m.