SANTA  MONICA  PUBLIC  LIBRARY  BOARD

 

Minutes of the REGULAR Meeting of February 3, 2005

To Be Approved

 

 

 

 

A REGULAR meeting of the Library Board was called to order by Chairperson, Kenneth Breisch, at 7:00 p.m., Thursday, February 3, 2005 at the Montana Ave. Branch Library, 1704 Montana Ave., Santa Monica.

 

Call to Order

PRESENT:

Chairperson Breisch, Boardmember Field, Boardmember Oppenheim and Boardmember Stern

 

Roll Call

ALSO PRESENT:

Greg Mullen, Acting City Librarian; Rachel Foyt, Administrative Analyst

 

 

The Board reviewed two communications from the public.

 

Communications from the Public

Boardmember Oppenheim made a motion to approve the minutes of the Library Board meeting of January 6, 2005.  Boardmember Field seconded the motion.  The minutes were approved in a unanimous voice vote.

 

Approval of the Library Board Minutes

Greg Mullen, Acting City Librarian, gave a report on recent Friends of the Library activities. The Friends have a new volunteer treasurer, Lisa Pound, and continue their drive for additional volunteers for the Friends bookstore in the new Main Library. Instead of a large fundraising campaign the Friends are focusing on growing their membership to coincide with grand opening.

 

Report from the Friends of the Library, a Library Support Group

At the January 10 Friends of the Library meeting Cynni Murphy, Image Archive Librarian, did a presentation on the Museum of Flying and Rand Collections. Digitization of these collections was made possible through funds granted by the Friends of the Library.

 

 

The Library Board asked for a follow up from Ellen Mark of the Friends of the Library on her discussions with the Friends of Sunset Park regarding parking at the Fairview Branch Library. The Friends of Sunset Park are currently surveying their neighborhood on issues that are important to them. One issue is the difficulty in parking at the Fairview Branch.

 

 

Mr. Mullen reported that the City Attorney’s office is working on the latest draft of the lease agreement between the City of Santa Monica and the Santa Monica Historical Society Museum. The shell space of the museum is complete. The museum staff has done a walk through of the space with an architect.

 

Santa Monica Historical Society Museum Lease Update

Chairperson Breisch reported to the Board that Ho Nguyen of the Santa Monica Historical Society Museum offered to coordinate a tour of the current museum for the Library Board. The Board is interested in attending tour.

 

 

The Board discussed a date for the next tour of the Library construction site.

 

Update on the New Main Library

Mr. Mullen reported that Library staff has seen mock ups of the circulation and service desks. He distributed photos to the Board of the desk mock ups.

 

 

The recent rain has caused some delay at the construction site. However, the contractor feels confident they are on schedule to deliver the building in October 2005 and the delay should not affect our January 2006 grand opening date.

 

 

Mr. Mullen went on to explain that once the contractors have completed their portion of the work furniture and equipment will be installed. Then Library materials from storage will be moved into the facility and staff will begin processing those items. Shortly thereafter staff will move into the building. Once conservation of the murals is complete they will be installed. The mural installation will be coordinated with the contractor.

 

 

Currently the contractor is finishing up plaster walls. The storefront glass and glass along Santa Monica Blvd. is almost completely installed. The caulking and sealing activities that have been delayed by the rain are underway.

 

 

There is also a small banner announcing the leasing the Library café on the building. Resource Management who is handling the request for proposal for the Library café has received a number of responses.

 

 

The recruitment process for hiring as-needed employees will be changing. Currently each department is able to interview and hire as-needed candidates without a civil service exam process.

 

As-Needed Employee Conversion Process

Beginning this year all candidates will participate in a competitive civil service exam process. Current as-needed city employees will also go through this process.  The civil service exam can be an interview, a written exam or test. The Library has approximately 84 as-needed employees that will need to complete the competitive civil service exam process before July 1, 2005.

 

 

The Board discussed several current library journal articles.

 

Nationwide Current Library Trends - Review of Library Journal Articles

Councilmember Robert Holbrook is the new City Council liaison to the Library Board.

 

Secretary’s Report

New City Council Liaison

The new Library server is online. The new server has an upgraded operating system and more storage space. The catalog is running faster. In the coming months the Library will do some additional upgrades to Unicorn, the catalog software.

 

New Server - Update

At the March meeting Planning Staff will make a presentation regarding Shape the Future 2025, the new Land Use and Circulation Elements and Zoning Ordinance Project.

 

Shape the Future Preparation

The Board received a copy of the 2005 Citywide Reads selection, The Kite Runner, and information regarding upcoming Citywide Reads programs. Staff is currently working on a study guide.

 

Citywide Reads

Staff has completed a draft of the request for qualification for marketing and public relations professionals for assistance in the development and production of a marketing campaign for the grand opening of the new Main Library and the Library’s ongoing outreach initiatives. Library staff will be meeting to make any final changes.

 

New Main Library & Current Programs Marketing

Mr. Mullen passed around a copy of the book Moore Ruble Yudell: Making Place by Buzz Yudell and John Ruble. The book contains a chapter on the new Santa Monica Public Library.

 

 

The Library Board asked that the following items be included in next Library Board agenda: a presentation by the Planning Division regarding Shape the Future 2025, the new Land Use and Circulation Elements and Zoning Ordinance Project; an update on March programs; and a discussion of participation in the Los Angeles Conservancy tour of Wilshire Blvd in October 2005.

 

Agenda Building

Boardmember Oppenheim moved to adjourn the meeting.  Boardmember Field seconded the motion.  The motion was approved in a unanimous voice vote.  The meeting was adjourned at 8:10 pm.

 

Adjournment

Attest:

Approved:

 

 

Greg Mullen

Kenneth Breisch

Acting City Librarian

Library Board Chair