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Document #5Board of Library Trustees MeetingMay 28, 2008
THE PUBLIC LIBRARY OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, WASHINGTON DC,MEETING, BOARD OF LIBRARY TRUSTEESMINUTESJUANITA E. THORNTON/SHEPERD PARK, MARCH 19, 2008
The regular meeting of the Board of Library Trustees was held at 6:00 p.m., Wednesday, March19, 2008, at the Juanita E. Thornton/Shepherd Park Neighborhood Library, 7420 GeorgiaAvenue, NW, John W. Hill, Jr., President, presiding.
PRESENT:
John W. Hill, Jr., President, Vice President, Bonnie Cohen, James Lewis, GuiteleNicoleau, Myrna Y. Peralta, Ginnie Cooper, Chief Librarian and Secretary-Treasurer
ABSENT:
Richard H. Levy, Brenda Richardson, Don Richardson.
GUESTS AT THE BOARD TABLE:
Tom Susman, President, DCPL Foundation and RichardHuffine, President, Federation of Friends of the Library.The meeting was called to order at 6:11 pm. There was no quorum at that time. Guitele Nicoleauarrived at 6:25 pm and a quorum was reached.
MINUTES APPROVAL
A motion was made and adopted to approve the minutes.
BIG READ 2008 GRANT PRESENTATION
Pat Pasqual from DCPL and Joy Austin from the Humanities Council announced the book for theBIG READ-
The Great Gatsby.
There will be book discussions, movies and podcasts in additionto a talking book. Each library will have at least 10 copies of the book in different formats.Don Murray from the Humanities Council spoke about the partnership with DCPL on the BIGREAD. He also wanted to thank the Potomac Ladies who also participate in the BIG READprogram. Mr. Murray presented Ginnie Cooper, Chief Librarian and John Hill, President, Boardof Library Trustees, with a check for $6000.00.
PRESIDENT’S REPORT
John Hill reported that the Mayor’s Proposed Budget would be released on Thursday, March 17.The Library does well with the proposed budget. There has been discussion on moving theBenning Library from its current location to another location. The DC Council is aware that if thelibrary location is moved, it would take an additional two years for the library to be completed.Juanita E. Thornton/Shepherd Park Library ReportWinnell Montague, Branch Librarian gave a brief history of the Juanita E. Thornton Library. Thelibrary was opened on July 29
th
, 1990 after five years of planning. It serves the Shepherd Park,Brightwood and Polo Estates neighborhoods. Juanita E. Thorton was a community activist whounited the community to encourage the building of the library instead of a Wendy’s Restaurant.
Teen Aid Program
Rebecca Renard is coordinating the Teen Aid Program for DCPL. The program currentlyemploys 37 teens who work at MLKML and at Neighborhood Libraries. The program isdesigned to develop professional skills and also help teens access the library’s databases, inaddition to giving them work experience.
 
Document #5Board of Library Trustees MeetingMay 28, 2008
Teen Aid Miya Upshur-Williams, who works at the Chevy Chase Library, attends the DukeEllington School of the Arts. Working at the library has helped her improve her Customer Serviceskills and learn about library circulation. Courtney McFerson, a senior at Friendship CollegiateHigh School works in Adaptive Services at MLK Library. Courtney would like to work as a nurseand chose to work at the Library because it would provide a different experience.
District of Columbia Public Library – Public Comments Procedures
Bridget Bradley, Executive Officer for DCPL, introduced the new procedure for public commentsat DCPL Board Meetings. Each person who wishes to provide a comment will be given amaximum of 3 minutes to do so. Member libraries of the Urban Libraries Council and otherlibrary organizations in the DC metropolitan area were approached about their procedure. Theaverage time given to each person for public comments at most organizations is 2-3mins.A motion to adopt the policy was seconded and the motion was open for discussion. RichardHuffine thought it was a reasonable approach and the policy should be revisited to determine if itworks, or if it doesn’t work. The motion was adopted and approved.
CHIEF LIBRARIAN’S REPORT
Ginnie Cooper, Chief Librarian, was pleased to announce that both Kim Fuller and Mark Greek of DCPL were selected as Movers and Shakers by Library Journal. She commended NancyDavenport and Ellen Flaherty for getting the Teen Hire program in place. New Staff additionsinclude Daryl Morgan, the Chief of Public Safety who was a former State Trooper. AaronSchmidt, the director of a small library in Oregon, has been hired as a consultant to help redesignthe library website and the online catalog.There was a fire in the Mount Pleasant community on March 13, 2008. The library was notdamaged but was closed for a half day because of smoke. The Friends of the Mount Pleasantlibrary conducted a fundraiser for those affected by the fire.
CONTRACTS COMMITTEE REPORT
The Contracts Committee met primarily to discuss how the committee will function to assure thata consistent and transparent process is maintained. Eric Coard, Chief Business Officer and WayneMinor, Chief Procurement Officer of DCPL will be working with the committee and meetingwith committee members on a quarterly basis.
FINANCE COMMITTEE REPORT
The City Council Committee on the Library will hold its hearing on the Mayor’s FY09 ProposedBudget, Monday, April 14, 2008. To date, overtime expenditures account for 41.6% of the FY08budget. An analysis is being done to determine the cause and ways to control overtime spending.
FACILITIES COMMITTEE REPORT
Jeff Bonvechio, Director of Capital Projects, reported that the Library had its Capital BudgetOversight Hearing two weeks ago. John Hill commented that he was extremely proud at theCapital Project Hearing because the Library was well represented. Additional project managershave been hired and architectural contracts have been awarded. Also, the Mount Pleasant Libraryand the Georgetown Library have now had their first Hopes and Dreams meeting. TheGeorgetown meetings were well attended with over 100 people in attendance.
INTERNET POLICY
Nancy Davenport, Interim Director of Library Services, reported that there have been nocomplaints about the filtering of the library computers or the unfiltered laptops. The laptops haveadded additional available public computers.
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