Library Advisory Board Minutes

Cascade Township Library Advisory Board Meeting
Monday, November 1, 2004 at 7:00 p.m.

Meeting was called to order at 7:06 p.m. and Chuck welcomed everyone to the meeting and thanked them for attending.

Attendees:
Charles Fry, Library Advisory Board Chairman
Ed Dupke, Library Advisory Board Vice-Chairman
Debbie Straub, Friends President
Barbara Kalinka, Board Member
Robert Vos, Board Member
Diane Cutler, Cascade Library Branch Manager
Pamela Vander Ploeg, KDL Facilities Planning
Holly Sturges, Board Member
Maureen Sullivan, Board Member
Phil Davis, Architect
Tom Smith, Senior Architect

Excused Attendees:
Lynne Marie Quinlan, Finance Committee
Ron Goodyke, Township Trustee

FTC&H Library Expansion Project: Chuck began by inviting Phil to summarize the Learning Center Addition Project. Phil noted he was involved in the October 13th presentation to the Cascade Township Board regarding the project. Phil stated the Township Board approved the plans as they are currently set and authorized the Advisory Board to proceed with seeking donations.

Phil also stated that the Township agreed the Library Advisory Board should develop a Building Committee consisting of Ron Goodyke, who has agreed to chair the committee, Chuck, Ed, Sandi Frost Parrish and Butch Visser. Chuck suggested Diane serve on the Building Committee as an ex-officio member.

Phil reviewed the previously distributed handout dated November 1, 2004 and titled "Learning Center Addition". Phil noted, at this time, FTC&H is authorized to further develop the addition design and create construction documents to be delivered to the Building Committee for the purpose of bidding and construction. Phil said FTC&H will create only construction documents at this time; the Township will handle the project from the bidding through completion of construction. Phil noted that FTC&H would work with the Building Committee as appointed by the Township Board. Phil said this is crucial because of so many involved; there needs to be one go-to person to relay the communications from all of those involved, too many contacts makes it very confusing.

Phil also said the Township Board agreed that the Library Advisory Board may consider appointing a single person to be the main contact between the Building Committee and FTC&H; the goal is for everyone to work through the Building Committee and noted that Diane would be included in the Building Committee and the Township will be approaching Mary Carpenter (as representative for the Historical Committee) to work with the committee as well. Phil asked if Friends has a representative who would also like to work with the committee as well. Debbie said she would approach Friends to find a representative to serve on the Building Committee.

Phil introduced Tom Smith from FTC&H who will be overseeing the building project from this point forward. Phil is currently acclimating Tom with the information and scope of the project and said he will still be available to help overseeing the project, but Tom is now the main contact at FTC&H. Chuck welcomed Tom and asked what the Library Advisory Board can do for him at this point and Tom noted nothing at this time; he is still being acclimated on the project and has a meeting with Jay and Butch later in the week.

Chuck expressed previous concerns over the book drop area and asked Tom to make sure he understands their challenges in this area.

Diane briefly mentioned her concerns over flooring of the areas and requested non-slip flooring; current lobby flooring poses some challenges since it is very slippery and the seasonal rugs used during the winter have some of the customers tripping over them and falling. Diane also requested that outlets remain flush with the floor and showed an example in the program room to Tom. Diane also said she loves the vinyl wall coverings, it allows them to hang posters and information without damaging the surface, but she is worried about the acoustics in the larger program rooms. Tom noted he will follow-up with Diane within the next couple of weeks.

Pamela noted the circulation desk will need to be worked on and expressed concerns over the new teen space and how to set-up the Library when the construction begins. Chuck also noted that Friends would have their space requirements as well.

Phil asked the Board to define their requirements for the food service area; he believes there are some unsettled issues, and they need to be resolved soon.

Diane requested if a small washer and dryer could be added to the budget expenditures. The Library is starting some new programs for infants and blankets, scarves, etc. need to be washed after each use. Diane believes there may be room in the basement for the washer and dryer and adding these items would save her from bringing these items home to wash them.

No further discussion regarding the project and Chuck thanked Phil and Tom for attending the meeting and excused them from the rest of the meeting. Bob thanked Phil for his work and patience through the process!

October 4, 2004 Approval of Meeting Minutes: Chuck asked the Board if everyone had a chance to review the minutes from the October meeting. Chuck noted Maureen volunteered to coordinate the donations and thanked her for doing this. Ed said he is willing to assist Maureen if she needs and mentioned a typo to Diane. Ed motioned for approval of the October 4th Board Meeting Minutes with the correction of the typo, Bob seconded. All were in favor, none opposed. The Board approved the October 4, 2004 minutes.

Open discussion was also held amongst the Board regarding the availability of utilizing credit cards for donations through the Township.

Report - Presentation to Township Board (October 13th): Chuck asked Diane how she felt the presentation went. Diane thought the presentation went very well and noted an interesting article in The Grand Rapids Press. Diane noted that The Press published the article and then contacted her for any corrections to the article. Diane noted she found a couple of corrections to the published article but found it encouraging that they were checking with her regarding content.

Ed also felt it was a very positive meeting and Trustee Timmons raised financial questions regarding the major repair fund and if the Advisory Board were to take the $2.4 million and apply it to the project, the funds would run out. Ed noted that neither he nor Jay brought the financials with them that evening but were able to clarify for the trustee their projections to be $2.25 million over a 12-year pay-off.

Ed also noted that the project is limited to $3.1 million and the cost of steel prices increasing is a concern. Ed also shared that the Township will have a grounds supervisor/project manager, Butch Visser, oversee the construction and will have the authorization to approve substitutions to the project if there should be a need to do so.

Ed summarized his thoughts by noting that running the donations for the project through the Township will save the Advisory Board roughly $5,000 per year in annual fees.

Chuck summarized the presentation by saying it went very well and the Township Board is looking forward to it.

Campaign Finance Committee Report: Chuck noted that Lynne Marie and Ron were unable to attend tonight's meeting but the committee is planning on meeting every Tuesday morning until the job is done.

Pamela shared a brochure that will be utilized in the campaign and noted a few corrections that need to be made. Pamela asked the Advisory Board for any other corrections to the information. Bob asked if it would be appropriate to note the goal of $700,000 instead of the $500,000 to reflect gifts from Friends and other Foundations; this would also show the community that gifts are already being received. The Advisory Board supported changing the $500,000 to $700,000 and Pamela will revise the financial breakdown in the brochure. The Board also noted that the commitment card needs to have the credit card option added to it and Diane will forward the information/changes to Pamela. Pamela also shared that Sandi Frost Parrish felt that printing 300 of the brochures would be sufficient. Chuck also shared that the Advisory Board will be hiring Sandi to train members of the campaign committee after the holidays and it will probably take that long to recruit campaign committee members and have the brochures printed.

Meeting with New Township Trustees Report: Diane began by stating she wrote congratulation letters to the three new trustees and met with them for a little over an hour; the three new trustees are: Rob Beahan, Jim Koessel and Brian Currier. Diane felt the meeting was very positive and believes they have a better understanding of KDL and the Township's relationship. Diane said the attendees seemed to have a good feeling and she utilized the video, storyboards and provided handouts to the trustees; it was very worthwhile.

Friends Report: Debbie reported that Friends had a small and successful luncheon last Thursday and the upcoming sale is this Saturday.

Debbie also reported that one Early Literacy program has been completed and one more is scheduled before the end of the year. Friends also have two (2) other Early Literacy programs scheduled in the spring.

Debbie reported that Friends have been discussing the idea of a yearly pledge for the expansion project; this is Lynne Marie's idea, and Debbie noted how creative and pro-active Lynne Marie is; she has some great ideas!

Debbie also said Friends has approximately 250 members and they've recently purged their membership files; removing names of those they haven't heard from in a while.

Branch Report: Diane reported that the branch has acquired four (4) new circulation assistants and one (1) more will be coming up. The Branch will start their search for a new assistant branch manager this coming Wednesday; approximately eight (8) or nine (9) candidates have been submitted.
Diane also shared that KDL's Facility Committee is working on branch standards for all branches throughout KDL and she appreciates the Township ongoing maintenance of Cascade's branch (drywall patching and touching up painting). Pamela noted that statewide committees have been developed to deveop more uniformed library funding. The Quality Services Advisory Committee has devised a Facilities and Equipment Benchmark with three levels of achievement: Essential, Enhanced and Excellent. The Library of Michigan has agreed to tie its funding into these three (3) levels. Pamela is confident that KDL will achieve the Enhanced level soon and but doesn't expect to see achievement in the Excellent level for the next couple of years.

Diane noted she submitted a healthy budget request to Friends for discussion at their January or February meeting. Diane noted she requested financial support in obtaining Public Performance Rights that is roughly $375.00 per year and would allow the branch to publicly show videos and movies and would cover copyrights for the movies.

Diane reported the library will be starting two (2) new programs: one will be a story time for zero to eighteen-month old children. Diane thanked Friends for contributing pillows for this new program; the pillows will be used to prop-up the infants during the program and it is limited to fifteen (15) attendees. The library will also be hosting Oral History Workshops in January and February and will focus on how to teach oral history; focus will be on the World War II veterans and their families and how they can share experiences from WWII.

Diane summarized that the Schuler Book Days are happening now; 20% of the sales generated will be contributed to the library. On Tuesday, the library will be holding a gift card and tag-making program at 7:00 p.m. for anyone interested in making their own holiday cards and gift tags.

The Polar Express world premier will be coming on November 11th and the world premier will be next week.

Diane concluded her report by noting that Joseph Finder, author of Paranoia, Extraordinary Powers and High Crimes will be at the Meijer Gardens on Tuesday, November 16th at 7:00 p.m.

Emerging Items: Chuck asked if there were any other items for discussion, none at this time.

Next Meeting:
The next Cascade Township Library Advisory Board Meeting will be held on Monday, December 6, 2004 at 7:00 p.m. in the Library's Program Room.

Meeting adjourned at 8:35 p.m.

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