Library Advisory Board September 11, :30 p.m.

Transcription

1 Library Advisory Board September 11, :30 p.m. A meeting of the Library Advisory Board of the City of Kearney, Nebraska, was convened in open and public session at 4:30 p.m. on September 11, 2012, in the Northeast Meeting Room located at the Kearney Public Library, st Avenue, Kearney, Nebraska. Present were: Cilla Jepson, Interim Chairperson; Board Members Shawna Bowman, Kathleen Emken, and Carol Lomicky. Absent: Bani Christine. City staff present were: Matthew Williams, Library Director; Christine Walsh, Assistant Library Director; and Stephanie Lewis, Recording Secretary. Some of the citizens present in the audience included: Jennifer Jones. Notice of the meeting was given in advance thereof by publication in the Kearney Hub, the designated method for giving notice, a copy of the proof of publication being attached to these minutes. Advance notice of the meeting was also given to the Chairperson and Board Members. Availability of the Agenda was communicated in the advance notice and in the notice to the Library Advisory Board. All proceedings hereafter shown were taken while the meeting was open to the attendance of the public. ANNOUNCEMENT Interim Chairperson Jepson announced that in accordance with Section of the Nebraska Revised Statutes, a current copy of the Open Meetings Act is available for review and is posted towards the back of the room. ELECTION OF OFFICERS Interim Chairperson Jepson opened for discussion the election of officers. Jepson nominated Bowman for Chairperson. Moved by Jepson seconded by Lomicky to approve Bowman as Chairperson. All those present Bowman nominated Jepson for Vice Chairperson. Moved by Bowman seconded by Lomicky to approve Jepson as Vice Chairperson. All those present Jepson nominated Chrisine for Secretary. Moved by Jepson seconded by Bowman to approve Christine as Secretary. All those present WELCOMING OF NEW BOARD MEMBERS Interim Chairperson Jepson opened for discussion the new board members. Lomicky and Emken introduced themselves and explained why they were interested in becoming members of the Library Advisory Board.

2 September 11, 2012 Page 2 DIRECTOR S REPORT 1. In July, the public logged on to the library internet access for 7,416 computer sessions during the month with an average of 44 minutes per session. 2. In August, the public logged on to the library internet access for 7,474 computer sessions during the month with an average of 43 minutes per session. 3. In July, 34 programs were attended by more than 3,225 people. 4. In August, 7 programs were attended by more than 78 people. 5. Circulation in July was 44,854, a 15.8% increase over last July. 6. Circulation in August was 40,709, just slightly more than last August. 7. In July, there were 21,659 visits to the library, an average of 81 people every open hour. 8. In August, there were 19,450 visits to the library. 9. Library Clerk, Amy Everhart s last day was July Library Clerk, Teegan Nordhues last day was July Library Clerk, Rebecca Wieging started as a Clerk on August Library Clerk, Hannah Jensen resigned on August Another clerk will start in mid-september. 14. Library Clerk, John Estrada was promoted from part-time to full-time, August people stopped at our Blue & Gold booth at UNK people attended our first Pub Quiz on August 21st Meetings Attended. 1. July 10. Foundation and Advisory. 2. July 12. City Council Budget Review. 3. July 12. Logo Meeting with City Manager. 4. July 16. Meeting with Jennifer Jones, Practicum Student. 5. July 16. Programming brainstorming session. 6. July 17. City Dept. Heads. 7. July 17. Eaton naming tour. 8. July 18. Division Heads. 9. July 18. City/County Joint meeting. 10. July 19. Baker & Taylor Rep. 11. August 1. Workforce Development meeting. 12. August 1. Division Heads. 13. August 6. Library marketing meeting. 14. August 7. City Dept. Heads. 15. August clerk interviews. 16. August 13. New Advisory Board members tour. 17. August clerk interviews. 18. August 25. Clerk meeting. 19. August clerk interviews. 20. August clerk interviews. 21. August Technology Summer Camp in Grand Island. 22. August 29. Division Heads. 23. August 31. PRLG Directors meeting. Reference Story A gentleman that I used to help a lot when he was first beginning to learn about the internet and Facebook, came to tell me that both he and his wife got their own computers now. He said they were doing pretty well on their computers but that his computer had both Internet Explorer and Firefox installed on it but his wife s computer had only Internet Explorer. She didn t always like

3 September 11, 2012 Page 3 how I.E. worked, so she, too, wanted Firefox on her computer. The gentleman wondered if I could help. I wrote out & gave him some step-by-step instructions to download Firefox to his wife s computer & reassured him that it would be free. He thanked me and said, I knew if I found you, you d be able to help me. (Rita Horst) Another gentleman that I ve helped multiple times in the past came to me wanting the history of U.S. wheat prices. He was sure that in the 1940s the wheat price per bushel was equal to or greater than what the price is now. I accessed the USDA s website and found several tables showing the historical wheat prices. He thanked me and said, You re always my go-to person. (Rita Horst) A gentleman from Iowa called requesting information on his deceased distant cousin. He had the name and date of death of the cousin. But the more we visited, he was also digging for information on any descendants of the cousin. We determined that by information on, he was requesting obituaries. Since we had the cousin s exact date of death, we used the microfilm of the Kearney Hub newspaper and found an obituary and funeral notice for the cousin. By reading through the obituary, we noticed the name of one daughter, who, in 1967, was living in Kearney. But her name was not listed as her given name, but rather as Mrs. Everett Randall. Neither the gentleman nor we knew if this daughter was still alive. But mathematically, we found there was a good chance she was deceased. So we accessed the Social Security \Death Index records via our Ancestry Library Edition database. All we could search by was her last name of Randall since we did not know her first name, and that she d lived in Buffalo County, Nebraska. But we had no way of knowing if she had ever moved to another location after her mother s death. If we weren t successful by entering Buffalo County, NE,, then we d have to broaden our search. But we did get lucky! Our search returned 9 results. By estimating her birth date we found the record of her death, which of course gave her full name & the date of death. With that information, we again went to the microfilm of the Kearney Hub newspapers and found the obituary for this daughter of the gentleman s distant cousin. So we were able to send to the gentleman, the obituaries for two of his relatives. He was very appreciative. (Rita Horst) Youth Dept. Story Many positive comments about the ventriloquist and magician. Family friendly. Lindner) (Shawna Patrons continued to say they were excited to have programming back during the summer. So much better than last year when we weren t able to offer programming. (Shawna Lindner) A woman raved about the furnishings in the youth department. She called back after she left to get information on where the items had been purchased. She said the feeling in the youth area is very warm and homey. (Shawna Lindner) Clerk Story An Inter-library loan patron responded to an she received from us saying Wow! Excellent Service! (Jill Smiley) A sweet little girl just walked by the front desk with her mom and looked at me and said, Thank you Library! Bye! See Ya! She had to have been around 2 or 3. (Sarah Haack)

4 September 11, 2012 Page 4 A lady came up to the desk and said You have such a wonderful facility here! Don t you feel like you ve just died and gone to heaven in here? (Sarah Haack) TLC Story I helped a patron recently with downloading ebooks onto his Samsung Galaxy tablet. The patron had received the tablet as a gift from his children, and had no idea how to use it. He reads books often, so he wanted to know how to download books from our OverDrive website. I walked through the steps to downloading and installing the application with him, and we went into the app and looked for an ebook to check out. We were unable to complete the checkout process. I tried again by following the instructions for Android devices, but was unsuccessful. I contacted support, but they were very little help. I then asked if I could hold on to his tablet for a few hours to try to figure out a solution. He agreed, and I spent the next four hours trying to figure out how to download an ebook onto his device. I finally figured out a way to work around the problem and wrote down all of the instructions so he could download books in the future. When he returned we went through all of the steps together twice. He seemed to understand, and hasn t stopped in with any problems since. (Matt Kovar) I had a patron call the other day and ask about scanning documents to an address. She was under the assumption that she would need to pay for each scanned page, similar to making copies. I told her that we had scanners available to the public for free, and that she could scan as many pages as needed. I also told her about the feature that allows you to enter an address and send the scan directly from the scanner. She was very happy, and said that she would be in to scan her documents. I have heard the same positive comments from numerous people recently. Our old scanners were unable to send a document directly to an , and they were more difficult to use. (Matt Kovar) A patron attended a computer class on Microsoft Word last week on her night off from work. She stopped to talk with me after the class was over and mentioned how much she appreciated that the class was offered in the evening. She rotates between day and night shifts, but usually has the 6-9 timeframe free. She also mentioned that she uses Word at work, but is unsure of how to complete some of the tasks that she is asked to do. She is embarrassed to ask for help at work, as she feels she should already know how to perform these tasks. She said that she learned some things in the class that she has been wondering how to do for a long time. (Matt Kovar) I have had a patron that has stopped in once a week for the past few weeks to use the card reader that we were given as part of the LBBNC grant. She uses the reader to transfer work files from her to an SD card. Our computers don t have an SD card port, so the reader is one of the only ways that patrons can save to a device other than a flash drive. The patron is always extremely thankful when we check the card reader out to her. I have also had a number of other patrons ask about using the reader to transfer files that are saved on the micro SD card on their smart phones. (Matt Kovar) Williams reported that outdoor signs have been ordered for the entrances to help patrons locate the front doors easier and additional signage has been ordered for end caps throughout the building. Garbage cans have been ordered and the lighting around the elliptical will be changed so it is all the same colored lighting. Williams stated there are only a few minor projects left to finish the building project.

5 September 11, 2012 Page 5 The Friends of the Library book sale will be held at the end of the month. It will start September 26th and wrap up on Saturday, September 29th at noon. Williams reported that there has been a great deal of focus on planning upcoming programming and marketing. A monthly newsletter has been created to help patrons easily see what programs are occurring at the Library all in one location. Staff has been working hard to promote the Library and all the new programs. The Library had a booth at UNK s Blue and Gold Day and Library programs will now appear in the quarterly Park & Recreation flyer with their own section. September is National Library Card Month. Staff is encouraging the community to come sign up for library cards and has drawings and giveaways all month long. Even though August is normally a slower month, Williams reported that circulation is up. John Estrada was promoted from part-time to full-time status. Williams stated that the app is in the hands of the app company. Walsh reported that staff would like to put together photos of the board members and display them in the Library so staff and the community can recognize them. Williams reported that Peter Kiewit has requested to name the Children s Area, Eaton s would like to name the TLC lab and Dr. Stevenson would like the Adult Fiction room. There are still a few others that need to decide on areas they would like to name. Walsh suggested that maybe staff should come up with names or themes for the meeting rooms and have the board make the final decision. REPORTS/COMMENTS FROM BOARD MEMBERS Williams reported that he had a column in the paper recently discussing complaints about Overdrive not having particular books available for patron checkout. In addition to his article, Williams requested that the Consortium dismiss the boycott on Harper Collins e-books. ADJOURN Moved by Jepson seconded by Lomicky that the Board adjourn at 5:19 p.m. All those present SHAWNA BOWMAN, CHAIRPERSON BANI CHRISTINE, SECRETARY