SANTA MONICA PUBLIC LIBRARY BOARD
Minutes of the SPECIAL Meeting of August 2, 2007
To Be Approved
A SPECIAL meeting of the Library Board was called to order by Chairperson, Edward Edwards, at 7:00 p.m., Thursday, August 2, 2007 at the Community Room, Ocean Park Branch Library, 2601Main Street, Santa Monica.			Call to Order
PRESENT:	Boardmember Breisch, Chairperson Edwards, Boardmember Oppenheim and Vice Chair Stern		Roll Call
ALSO PRESENT:	Celia Carroll, Ocean Park Branch Manager; Greg Mullen, City Librarian; Norma Angel, Administrative Analyst
No report.			Communications from the Public
Boardmember Breisch made a motion to approve the minutes of the Library Board meeting of July 5, 2007. Vice Chair Stern seconded the motion. The minutes were approved in a unanimous voice vote.			Approval of the Library Board Minutes
Greg Mullen, City Librarian, gave a report on the Friends activities to the Board. Ruth Hoffman a long time Friends Boardmember resigned from the Board in July. At the July 9 Friends Board meeting the Friends: approved funds for a staff recognition event; reported their net income for fiscal year 2006/07 at $27,400; discussed their new website www.friendsofsmpl.org; and discussed additional signage for the Bookstore.			Report from the Friends of the Library, a Library Support Group
The Library Board toured the Ocean Park Branch and reviewed various improvements to the Branch.			Tour of the Ocean Park Branch Library
The Board discussed the July 2007 Santa Monica Police Department bulletin regarding Jack McClellan. The Board also discussed safety in the Santa Monica Libraries.			Library Security
The Board discussed the July 14, 2007 article from The New York Times Dewey? At This Library With a Very Different Outlook, They Don’t. The New York Times reported that the Maricopa County Library District Perry Branch has discontinued use of the Dewey Decimal System. The Branch has found that most people come to the library to browse without a specific title in mind. Books shelved in neighborhoods based on subject matter better support browsing.			Discussion of the Maricopa County Library District Perry Branch
Mr. Mullen gave features of both the Dewey Decimal System and the Library of Congress System.
The goal of the Dewey Decimal System is to organize all human knowledge. The Dewey System includes 10 classes, each class has 10 divisions and each division has 10 sections for a total of 1000 sections. The numerical system developed in 1876 has been revised 22 times. Dewey is a fixed system making it harder to add a category to the collection. Dewey is the system of choice for Public and School Libraries.
The Library of Congress System evolved over time with the Library of Congress collection. There are 21 different classes with sub classes. The Library of Congress System makes it easy to insert classes and expand as the need arises. The alphanumeric system is a book finding system rather than a book classification system. This system is used primarily by research and academic libraries.
Book stores use a system called the Book Industry Standards and Communications (BISAC) containing 50 headings with some sub headings that are arranged by topic then alphabetically by the author’s last name. The Maricopa County Library District Perry Branch uses a variation of BISAC.
Library staff is using a new tool to produce statistics called Director’s Station. Mr. Mullen discussed the 2006/07 annual statistical report with the Board.			2006/07 Library Annual Statistical Report
Currently in the annual report there is one category for Audio which includes audio books and music CDs. The Audio category maybe split into two categories.
Vice Chair Stern brought several articles from Library Hotline on filtering and internet access to the Board’s attention.			Nationwide Current Library Trends - Review of Library Journal Articles
Mr. Mullen reported on the 2007 American Library Association (ALA) Conference in Washington D.C. While at the conference he attended a series of workshops on service, technology and staffing. These workshops were organized by Leslie Burger, past President of ALA.			Secretary’s Report Report on the 2007 ALA Conference
Library staff has assembled a team to plan the Unicorn Software upgrade to version 3.1. October 10 is the target date for the upgrade.			Upgrade of Unicorn Software
The City reorganization created a new department called Community Maintenance. Library staff has had several meetings with Community Maintenance to discuss custodial issues at the Main Library and the Branches.			City Custodial Service Review
Event Management System software (EMS) has been implemented Library wide. The new EMS software will help staff manage the community meeting rooms and keep a database of clients who reserve the rooms.			Event Management System Software
In an attempt to address the bandwidth issues a second T1 line has been installed at the Main Library.			New T1 Line Installed
The Library Board asked that the following items be included in next Library Board agenda: a discussion of issues related to the holds system; a report on 2007 Summer Reading; a Library Board plaque update; and a presentation from the Santa Monica Historical Society Museum.			Agenda Building
Boardmember Oppenheim moved to adjourn the meeting. Boardmember Breisch seconded the motion. The motion was approved in a unanimous voice vote. The meeting was adjourned at 8:47pm.			Adjournment
Attest:		Approved:
Greg Mullen		Edward Edwards
City Librarian		Library Board Chair