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WILLIAM T. COZBY PUBLIC LIBRARY
LIBRARY BOARD MINUTES
January 8, 2009
The William T. Cozby Public Library Advisory Board met in regular session on Thursday,
January 8, 2009 in the library program room at the William T. Cozby Public Library.
1. CALL TO ORDER:
The meeting was called to order by Chair, Jennifer Johnson at 7:09
p.m. Other board members present were Meme Collins-Tabuena, Wendy Dunn, Marcia Raines,
Nancy Tao, Eric Ratcliff, Thomas Dwyer, Stephen Smith, Nancy Maurer and Diane Feldman.
Staff in attendance were Assistant Library Director, Vicki Chiavetta-Reinert, Sr. Administrative
Technician, Ramona Woods, Librarian Supervisor Public Services, Ellen Ko and Librarian Amy
Pittman-Hassett.
2.APPROVAL OF MINUTES FROM THE NOVEMBER 13, 2008 REGULAR
BOARD MEETING:
Tom Dwyer moved to approve the minutes and Wendy Dunn seconded
the motion. All were in favor and the minutes were approved.
3. CITIZENS APPEARANCES:
None
4.LIBRARY DIRECTOR’S REPORT
:
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Comments/Suggestions:
Suggestions relating to the acquisition of new books,
movies and periodicals were given to Public Services staff for evaluation and follow-
up. Staff personally contacts those who leave contact information for all suggestions.
Staff tried to contact the suggestor re: fines and Internet use.
?
Workload Indicators & Year End Statistics:
In December, circulation increased
11%; reference questions increased 25%, Internet use increased 12% and WiFi use
increased 70%. Staff believe the New Tech students are impacting usage as well the
economy.
Ellen gave brief overview. Marcia noted that members should print copies of
attachments and bring to meeting.
5. eBranch DEMONSTRATION:
Library staff Ellen Ko and Amy Pittman-Hassett
demonstrated the electronic resources available to the public from their home and their
workplace. Discussion ensued regarding funding of the resources.
Nancy Tao asked are there any plans to market tutor.com, a key eBranch resource, to PTO type
settings? Stephen suggested contacting PTO for possible demo. Discussion ensued. Stephen will
contact PTO contact person to gage interest in demo. Will table discussion until Kathy’s return.
Add to next agenda.
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6501 C3 FOUNDATION:
.
Tom & Stephen passed out check list. Discussion ensued. Will need to put back on
agenda for February. Tom & Stephen will schedule meeting with Kathy to discuss.
Eric made motion to have as a standard agenda item, Marcia seconded. All in favor and
approved
7. ADJOURNMENT:
Chair, Jennifer Johnson adjourned meeting at 8:32 p.m.
_______________________________________________
Jennifer Johnson, Library Board Chair
_______________________________________________
Ramona Woods, Sr. Administrative Technician
Approved as written.
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MEMORANDUM
TO:
Library Board
FROM:
Kathleen P. Metz Edwards, Library Director
DATE:
January 5, 2009
SUBJECT:
January’s Report for Library Board
Hope you all had a wonderful and healthy holiday season. Library Board meets again on
January 8, 2009 at 7:00pm in the Library Program Room.
Workload Indicators:
Decembercontinues the trend that we have seen since the school year
started with circulation increasing another 11%! The increase is evident across all circulations
including the DVDs and children’s reading materials. The reference questions (25%), Internet
use (12%) and WiFi use (70%) are also continuing to increase. The gate count shows a 2%
decrease but we will watch another month and see if we need a service call. WiFi use has
increased significantly. We do believe the New Tech Students have impacted use. We also
believe that the economy may also be driving more adults into the building for job searches. Self
check usage increased 24%.
Staffing Update
: Vicki Chiavetta started as assistant director on January 5, 2009. Ramona
Woods, also started as the senior administrative technician the same day. Thursday will be their
first meeting.
Loan Star Libraries
: We received the $15,862 for the Loan Star Libraries grant. Thirteen
thousand dollars have been earmarked for the eBranch NetLibrary ebooks. The remainder of the
funds will go for the purchase of children’s fiction books.
501 C3 Foundation:
The Board has requested the Foundation be placed on the January agenda.
eBranch Demonstration:
Staff will present an e-Branch demonstration. I think you will be
greatly impressed with the resources available to the public from their home and/or office.
Suggestions relating to the acquisition of new books, movies
Comments and Suggestions:
and periodicals are given to Public Services staff for evaluation and follow-up.
Appropriate items are ordered or interlibrary loan is offered for those not appropriate for
the collection.
12-02-08 - Let library members w/fines on their cards still have access to the internet. As long
as they are not trying to check out anything, it is not fair to restrict the member access to just the
express station. Frank. Jane Darling has left messages for the suggestor but he has not returned
her call. His suggestion included a phone number.
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12-17-08 – Complaint from a library patron who requested to speak to me. My letter follows
documenting the conversation. Verbiage is similar to other responses, however, please see
paragraphs on Josey Ranch and North Lake College Libraries.
Thank you for taking the time to speak with me on December 17, 2008 regarding your noise concern. As
you have observed, the library enjoys a large number of users. The sheer number of library users at any
given time and the library's open space concept generate noise.
We also recognize that the library's barrel ceiling design amplifies and conducts sound. There is no easy
solution to that problem as we discovered during the Long Range Planning Process in 2003. As a part of
that process, the city hired an acoustical firm to make recommendations, many of which were implemented
but there is no cost-feasible way to stop noise conduction. Unfortunately, there is no acoustical separation
between the young children’s area and the rest of the library. The library also serves as a “Community
Gathering Place” which exacerbates the noise issue.
The 2003 Long Range Plan recommended that the library be expanded to 40,000 to 50,000 square feet on a
larger site with separate areas for research, computers, adult casual seating and children’s services. This
recommendation was not funded. The City has recently completed the Coppell 2030 Vision process to look
at future city facilities and services. We have clearly heard from our users that they want additional space
where the library can accommodate separate and enclosed service areas. Should the City in the future
decide to fund a new library on a larger lot or expand the existing facility, we will definitely plan for
separation of our service areas. If you require a quieter study area, I recommend the Quiet Study Room.
Library staff monitor the room and ask users who are not studying or reading quietly to leave the room.
However, as we discussed, electronic devices are not permitted in the room.
As a city, Coppell is very child/family focused. You mentioned that you have used the Josey Ranch library
in Carrollton and find that library to be more conducive to research. At 42,000 SF, Josey Ranch is a
beautiful facility. It has a dropped ceiling which absorbs sound. Children’s services are in a separate room.
Josey Ranch circulates 271,610 items per year. Our 28,000 SF library circulates 562,172. Based on the
space to workload ratio, if our library grew to 86,930 SF, we would be able to provide the same.
Until the City decides to expand the library, staff will work with all our customers to provide the best
service we can within the resources we have. I recognize that not all our users will be satisfied. We have a
reciprocal agreement with Carrollton and they are happy to serve those who need a quieter environment.
North Lake College Library might be an option for research. We also suggest to our users who have
flexible schedules to visit the library weekdays before 3:30pm and on Saturdays before 1:00pm during the
school year. The four hours we are opened on Sunday are some of the busiest. On a recent Sunday, the
library hosted 538 citizens in four hours. This number represents the size of two small elementary schools!
Thank you again for taking the time to express your concern.
Please enjoy the eBranch demonstration.
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