The regular meeting of the Des Plaines Public Library Board of Trustees was held in the second floor conference room on Tuesday, February 20, 2001. President Eldon Burk called the meeting to order at 7:31 PM.

PUBLIC COMMENTS AND QUESTIONS

Mr. Joseph Botte asked if attendance at the Des Plaines Public Library has continued to increase and Sandra Norlin responded that a comparison between January 2000 and January 2001 showed an increase of 28% in patron attendance. Mr. Botte suggested that the library send a flag to the City Finance Department with any expenditure that is over $5,000. Sandra Norlin responded that the library now includes documentation with invoices that may come under question by the City Council. Mr. Botte advised that he alerted library staff of a strong odor of gas on the 4^th floor in the men’s washroom. Martha Sloan responded that staff notified the maintenance department. Sandra Norlin stated she would talk to Head of Building & Maintenance, Gary Valente, concerning this incident. John Burke suggested that NICOR be notified if the problem occurs again.

PRESENTATION TO BETTY RITTER.

President Eldon Burk thanked former Trustee, Betty Ritter, for her eight years of service to the Des Plaines Public Library. Betty Ritter stated that it had been a pleasure to serve on the Board and sited personal and health reasons for resigning. John Burke presented a framed print of "Rosie, the Riveter" to Betty Ritter, which the Board had signed.

REPORT ON FEEDBACK SESSIONS – Sandra Norlin.

Sandra Norlin reported that a feedback session had been held for the staff on February 14. Sandra, Martha Sloan and Hector Marino listened to staff as they made suggestions for improvements and gave positive feedback concerning the new building. A report was distributed to the Board listing categories, issues and proposed solutions to employee concerns, as well as target dates for completion.

Sandra reported that elevator malfunctions have been a cause for staff and patron complaints. The elevators are not cooling to the proper temperature and Sandra reported that this is a design flaw. Susan Burrows asked that immediate action be taken to resolve this problem and Eldon Burk responded that the City of Des Plaines is aware of the problem and is investigating a solution. Inara Brubaker asked if both elevators are out of order at the same time and Sandra Norlin responded that usually only one elevator at a time is out of service.

Susan Burrows asked if the design of the boat in the Youth Services Department is safe for Children to play on and Sandra Norlin replied that she is contacting Xhibitz to investigate the design of the boat to insure that it has been properly installed.

Inara Brubaker asked that temperatures be monitored in the small meeting rooms. Inara stated that the rooms are uncomfortably warm. Sandra Norlin responded that this problem was being addressed.

FINANCE COMMITTEE – Susan Burrows

Sandra Norlin asked the Board for approval on the purchase of six iMac computers for the Project ASSIST-After School Support Integrating Skills in Technology" grant. The library will receive $28,919 from the Illinois State Library to fund this program. Sandra reported that the computers can be ordered directly from Apple at the lowest price and are available now.

MOTION by John Burke, seconded by William Grice, to waive the bid process on the purchase of six iMac computers and to authorize Library Administrator, Sandra Norlin, to order six iMacs directly from Apple Computer at a cost not to exceed $7,000.00, which is in the best interest of the Des Plaines Public Library. ROLL CALL VOTE: AYES: Brubaker, Burk, Burke, Burrows, Ciborowski, Grice, Read. NAYS: None. MOTION CARRIED.

Sandra Norlin distributed the year-end report from the North Suburban Library Foundation for the Des Plaines Public Library Fund.

BUILDING AND GROUNDS COMMITTEE

Eldon Burk reported on a new location for the United Way plaque and asked for Board approval.

MOTION by Rhys Read, seconded by John Burke, to hang the United Way plaque in the first floor corridor next to the meeting rooms. VOTE: AYES: Brubaker, Burke, Ciborowski, Read. NAYS: Grice, Burrows.

Sandra Norlin reported that the estimated cost for the replacement of the West single door is $13,102, plus the cost of replacing tiles in the floor. The Board asked Sandra Norlin to speak with Rosemary Mulligan about the possibility of State funding.

Sandra Norlin and Gary Valente have gathered information on plant services and will report findings to the Board at a future meeting.

Eldon Burk, Sandra Norlin and Gary Valente met with Mark Pilipuf, lighting engineer for Gibson Electric and Jim Baney, lighting designer for Schuler & Shook to design a lighting system for the atrium sculpture. Susan Burrows requested that the lighting designer be used for the project. Sandra Norlin will procure proposals from these companies.

MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE – Ellen Yearwood, Chairman.

Inara Brubaker distributed copies of the proposed revisions to Policy C of the library policy manual. The Board discussed the changes and made suggestions. Inara Brubaker asked the Board to read Policy C and call Carol Kidd no later than March 7 with suggestions for changes.

The Committee will meet again on March 13, 2001 at 5:00 PM

Sandra has received written and verbal criticisms about patrons checking out large numbers of DVDs at one time. The library currently owns 683 DVDs and Sandra reported that it is difficult to procure a large collection due to the limited number of DVDs available for purchase. Sandra suggested signage at checkout counters and self check machines that read "Due to the popularity of the library’s DVD collection, we are asking patrons to limit their choices to three titles per library card. This is a temporary measure as we develop and expand our DVD collection." Susan Burrows objected to limiting the number of DVDs that can be checked out at one time.

MOTION by Rhys Read, seconded by Inara Brubaker, to recommend posting signs at the checkout counters and at the self check machines that ask patrons to limit their DVD choices to three titles per library card. VOTE: AYES: All. NAYES: None. MOTION CARRIED.

Sandra Norlin will monitor the success of the program and report back to the Board.

PLANNING COMMITTEE - John Burke.

John Burke reported that the Committee would review Goals 6 – 8 at the next scheduled meeting on Tuesday, March 6, 2001 at 6:00 PM.

FRIENDS OF THE LIBRARY – Inara Brubaker.

Inara Brubaker reported that the Friends Used Book Sale will be held at the Des Plaines Public Library from Friday April 27 through Sunday, April 29 and donations will be accepted at the library beginning March 1, 2000

The Friends of the Library were nominated for the Socrates Rand Award.

ADMINISTRATOR’S REPORT

Denise Eastwood, PT Assistant Clerk, Mary Gerbode and Mersiha Zekotic, Pages, resigned in January.

Mary Ellen Lunde began work as Page on February 13, 2001.

The library is advertising for the full-time positions of Head of Youth Services, Librarian I in Adult Services, and Library Assistant I.

Planning for Phase III of the Learning Organization grant project has begun and will involve the study and practice of work analysis. Each of four participating libraries will select a team of staff members who will learn the skills of work analysis and prepare a work redesign plan for each library.

On February 14 Sandra held four listening sessions to allow employees to make comments about how their work has changed since moving into the new library building.

The library has been an extremely busy place during the past month, with attendance up 28.4%, circulation of materials up 8.42%, and library card registration of 36,448 (68.2%). Self-check use has boomed, from 1,826 last January to 13,063 this January. (600% increase). The meeting rooms were used 109 times, serving a total of 2,117 people in one month.

Sandra represented the library in the following meetings and conferences since the January board meeting: Sandra’s 20-minute presentation on the effect of the Learning Organization on the Des Plaines Public Library was shown as part of the Illinois State Library’s national teleconference on January 17. Sandra attended a meeting of the City Holiday Decorations Committee, the Executive Committee of the Library Cable Network, the CCS Governing Board, a workshop on Gathering and Using Data for Customer Service Improvement at NSLS, and met with members of the Art Guild to discuss placement of a rotating art display in the library, representatives of three plant services, and Ray Bartel, Assistant City Attorney on a number of pending legal issues. Sandra attended a three-day conference sponsored by the Illinois State Library on improving the granting process in Illinois, the Chamber’s City Advisory breakfast, the Covest Banc Economic breakfast, a reception at the Alden Rehabilitation facilities, and two planning meetings for the new LSTA grant on Work Analysis and Design. Sandra also met with two lighting designers to confer about lighting "Skyword" as well as with Patti Gilford to discuss the next phase of the art program.

NEW BUSINESS

Sandra Norlin suggested that Board members participate in the City Council meeting during Public Comments and present information about the library to the Council. Inara Brubaker asked that a paragraph or two be prepared by library staff for presentation to the Council. Sandra Norlin and staff will prepare comments for the Board to present to the Council in the Public Comments and Questions section.