SANTA MONICA PUBLIC LIBRARY BOARD
Minutes of the SPECIAL Meeting of June 1, 2006
To Be Approved
A SPECIAL meeting of the Library Board was called to order by Chairperson, Edward Edwards, at 7:00 p.m., Thursday, June 1, 2006 at the Conference Room, Ocean Park Branch Library, 2601 Main Street, Santa Monica.			Call to Order
PRESENT:	Chairperson Edwards, Boardmember Field, Boardmember Oppenheim and Boardmember Stern		Roll Call
ALSO PRESENT:	Larry Carroll, Whitney Scott Bain, Sybil Trubin, Ed McCann, Jane Urmston, Michael Promuter, Mel Block, Gloria Hoekzema, Ray Huff, Victoria Best, Ellen Mark, Carol Agate, Jo Hearn, Tony Hearn, Joan Amesbury, Jim Urmston, Flo Kaufman, Curtis Hoekzema -members of the public; Greg Mullen, City Librarian; Celia Carroll, Ocean Park Branch Manager; Ellen Braby, Head of Youth Services; Rachel Foyt, Administrative Analyst
No report.			Communications from the Public
Boardmember Oppenheim made a motion to approve the minutes of the Library Board meeting of May 4, 2006. Boardmember Field seconded the motion. The minutes were approved in a unanimous voice vote.			Approval of the Library Board Minutes
Rachel Foyt, Administrative Analyst, gave a report on the Friends of the Library Board meeting of May 8. The Friends have begun sending out a letter acknowledging contributions of $50 or more. The Friends are within their budget for fiscal year 2005/2006. The Bookstore receives approximately 800 donated items a day and sales are strong. The Friends are holding a special book sale on June 10 featuring 150 more valuable books, some signed and some first edition. They are currently working on a Volunteer Recognition event to recognize book store and Library volunteers.			Report from the Friends of the Library, a Library Support Group
Ellen Braby, Head of Youth Services, gave a report on plans for the upcoming 2006 summer reading program. This year’s theme is Paws, Claws, Scales and Tales.			Report on the Summer Reading Program
Ms. Braby explained that this is the second year we are using the program and artwork from the Collaborative Summer Reading Program which is a multi-state summer reading program. The California State Library is paying for California libraries to participate.
Pre-readers up through elementary grades are asked to read fifteen hours over the summer. Participants who sign up for summer reading receive animal stencils, a bag and a bookmark. For reading five hours the award is a plush animal, for reading ten hours the award is a paperback book and for reading fifteen hours the award is a crab hat.
The theme for the teen summer reading program is Creature Feature. Teens can participate in summer reading programs such as a writing workshop with local author Sonya Sones. Teens who read thirty hours over the summer receive an invitation to the end of summer party and a $10 gift certificate from Borders.
Larry Carroll, Whitney Scott Bain, Sybil Trubin, Celia Carroll, Ed McCann, Jane Urmston, Michael Promuter, Mel Block, Gloria Hoekzema, Ray Huff, Victoria Best, Ellen Mark, Carol Agate, Jo Hearn, Tony Hearn, Joan Amesbury, Jim Urmston, Flo Kaufman, Curtis Hoekzema, members of the public expressed their views on security at the Ocean Park Branch Library.			Follow up on Library Security Plan
Greg Mullen, City Librarian, explained that both short term and long term plans are currently in effect. Staff is addressing facility and staffing issues that apply specifically to the Ocean Park Branch. Issues relating to staff training are being addressed throughout the Library system.
Library Service Officers are doing regular patrols at the branch libraries. The police department and the Homeless Liaison Project (HeLP) team have an increased presence at the Ocean Park Branch and in the Ocean Park community.
On May 30 Library staff attended a workshop on how to deal with disruptive behavior given by the police department and Marsha Moutrie, City Attorney. Other training, covering how to tell strangers no and dealing with aggressive behavior is planned.
The city manager’s office is planning an evaluation of security and safety in all city facilities.
Board discussion followed.
Mr. Mullen will address the issue of security in the Libraries and include the Library Board’s comments in the budget information item to City Council.
The Budget for fiscal year 2006/2007 will be approved at the June 20 City Council meeting. The budget enhancements requested by the Library are related to security. The Library is requesting enhancements for an extra vehicle, an additional part-time Library Service Officer, new communication equipment for the Library Service Officers and a contract for a security patrol after closing hours at the Main Library.			Budget for Fiscal Year 2006/2007
Discussion postponed until the July meeting.			Nationwide Current Library Trends - Review of Library Journal Articles
The Library had a booth at the Santa Monica Festival in May. There were over 2500 visitors to the Library booth and 400 children participated in craft activities.			Secretary’s Report Report on the Santa Monica Festival
The Library Board plaque is currently in development. The design of the plaque will fit with the design of the building and be consistent with the signage in the building.			Update on the Library Board Plaque
The final draft of the lease between the city and the Santa Monica Historical Society has been completed by the city attorney’s office and will be sent to the historical society for signatures. However the historical society may have additional changes.			Update on the Lease with the Santa Monica Historical Society Museum
No report. Susan Annett, Principal Librarian for Public Services, gave a thorough report at the May 2006 Library Board meeting.			Citywide Reads 2006 Report
The Palisades Historical Society will donate their photograph collection to the Library. The donation will double the size of the Library’s image archive collection.			Palisades Historical Society Donation of Photographs
Library Staff completed the initial test of the email notification system for notifying patrons of holds. The initial email sent out to 15,000 addresses returned 4,000 bad addresses which were removed from the database by staff. Email notification will also be used to send out reminders before items become overdue.			Experimentation with Email Notification of Holds
The Library Board asked that the following items be included in next Library Board agenda: journal articles; an update on the 2006/2007 budget; update on security in the Library; update on the Santa Monica Historical Museum Lease and an update on staff recruitment.			Agenda Building
The Library Board toured the Ocean Park Branch Library.			Tour of the Ocean Park Branch Library
Boardmember Field moved to adjourn the meeting. Boardmember Oppenheim seconded the motion. The motion was approved in a unanimous voice vote. The meeting was adjourned at 9:05pm.			Adjournment
Attest:		Approved:
Greg Mullen		Edward Edwards
City Librarian		Library Board Chair