Board of Trustees

Pierce County Library System

Regular Meeting, January 13, 2010

Call To Order

Chair J.J. McCament called to order the regular meeting of the Pierce County Rural Library District Board of Trustees on January 13, 2010, 3:31pm. Board members present were Eugene Matsusaka and Budd Wagner. Steve Albers was excused. Allen Rose arrived later.

Public Comment

There was no public comment.

Consent Agenda

1.  Minutes of the December 9, 2009 Regular Meeting of the Board of Trustees

2.  December 2009 Payroll, Benefits and Vouchers in the total amount of $2,646,665.05

a.  Payroll Warrants 2875 - 2889 dated 12/01/09 – 12/31/09 in the amount of $6,727.80

b.  Payroll Disbursement Voucher dated 12/06/09 in the amount of $555,666.91

c.  Payroll Disbursement Voucher dated 12/21/09 in the amount of $554,603.71

d.  Disbursement Voucher – Account Payable dated 12/21/09 in the amount of $2,059.31

e.  Disbursement Voucher – Account Payable dated 12/01/09 – 12/31/09 in the amount of $1,527,607.31

Mr. Wagner moved for approval of the consent agenda. Mr. Matsusaka seconded the motion and it was passed.

Board Member Reports

J.J. McCament: On behalf of the Board, Ms. McCament thanked Mr. Matsusaka for his service as Chair of the Board in 2009 and commended him for the dignity he lent to the office. She presented him with two dozen red roses.

Officer Reports

University Place Project: Lorie Erickson, Facilities Director, reported construction was moving quickly on the new Civic building in University Place. The building will house the new library. The construction schedule has been slightly revised. Ms. Parikh and Ms. Erickson will attend a study session of the University Place City Council on March 8th, to discuss the agreement between the city and the library. The Bid Call for library tenant improvements will be released on March 18th, with a bid opening scheduled for April 14th.

Ms. Parikh noted that there have been major changes in the city. City staff members Bob Jean, Gary Wheeler and Patrick O’Neill have retired and four new city council members have been seated. Steve Sugg is the acting city manager.

At the February board meeting, the Board will consider the bid alternates to include in the Bid Call. There may be a need for a special Board meeting on April 28, 2010, 4:30 pm, to discuss bid awards. Mr. Wagner is unavailable that date. Ms. Erickson noted that the drawings are in the final revision phase. All deadlines are being met in the timeline, and there are only a few outstanding issues left in the condo declaration.

University Place Capital Campaign: Lynne Hoffman, Foundation Director, reported that Steve Smith has agreed to be a co-chair for the University Place Capital Campaign. Ruthann Reims is the second co-chair. The committee is very active. A youth committee has been formed and is developing activities. Chair McCament congratulated Lynne for receiving a Boeing Grant for youth services and Paul Allen grant funds for the Business and Job Centers.

Star Libraries: Ms. Parikh noted that the Library Journal Stars ratings have been released. Pierce County Library System was not included in the ratings because it does not currently collect statistics for one of the measures, although will do so in 2010. She expects that the library will be included in the 2012 report. At the next Board meeting, Georgia Lomax will present an overall 2009 statistical review of library activities.

Unfinished Business

1. Facilities Master Plan: Final Report: Group 4 representatives, David Schnee and Dawn Merkes, appeared before the Board to present the Final Report of the Facilities Master Plan. The plan includes a vision for the future, the potential for partnerships, methods to attain quality efficient services and efforts to meet community needs today and in the future. Mr. Schnee first presented a brief overview of the process to develop the 2030 plan.

Public participation: Over 5,000 people participated in the process through surveys, general community meetings, Community Leadership Advisory Groups, a Strategic Vision Workshop and presentations to 60 community organizations, as well as the Board of Trustees, Pierce County Library Foundation members, Friends of the Library groups and library staff.

He noted that the library heard a lot and learned a lot, particularly in response to ensuring that the library be customer focused and engaged with its communities. The library is considered a treasured asset and the community wants that strengthened. The customers want the library to go to where the people are and to collaborate and leverage partnerships for the most effective use of public dollars. People are concerned about the use of public dollars and want funds used efficiently to update and provide services.

Why Planning was Necessary: Mr. Schnee noted that population growth has exceeded the 1986 bond planning projections. The library has a square foot deficit not meeting population growth since 2000. Services and technology has changed and evolved, and libraries must adapt now and in the future. Libraries are crowded now and space needs have changed to meet technological advancements.

Key Findings: The buildings are too small: noisy, uncomfortable and over-crowed.

One of the largest deficits is that there is not enough seating in the libraries. As space has gotten squeezed, seating has been lost. There is clearly a need for more seating and spaces to read, learn, and gather.

Space requirements for technology must be adaptable for those who bring their own technologies, such as the installation of computer working stations rather than table space. Library services and usage patterns/demands are changing. In addition, the plan recommends a 40% increase of materials.

Expansion: The plan calls for the addition of one library branch, but includes alternate service methods such as kiosks or lockers to bring libraries to remote or high-traffic areas. There would be significant value through added access.

Using a PowerPoint presentation, Mr. Schnee then presented a chart of key recommendations, showing both the low and high ends of best practices for population size, collection size, seating, number of computers, group study/conference rooms, meeting rooms and square footage requirements.

The plan is about expanding current libraries and building one new library in Frederickson. The Board reviewed a graphic of an example of a building that can be expanded at their current location and an example of a building that will need to be relocated for expansion. Each facility has similar recommendations. They also reviewed a graphic of alternative service ‘convenience’ locations that could be considered.

Costs: Both capital and operating costs must be carefully considered. In order to fund the plan as recommended, the current projection is $310 million, which equates to a $374 million bond issue that would cost an average household approximately $77. A bond must be a measure the voters are willing to support. The economic climate is not favorable for an immediate bond measure request. However, the plan was designed to be adaptable for future consideration and could even be used in a phased process.

PCL 2030 Starts Now: Elements and principles of the plan can be used immediately in service design, workflow, customer self-service, floor plans and community engagement. Library administration and managers applied principles from the plan in considering how to design workflow for more efficiency and to develop and encourage customer self-service options, specifically in re-designing the University Place library. The concepts will also be used in Milton/Edgewood and Fife. The library is currently working on a communications plan to actively engage communities and provide direct service to them through the use of embedded librarians. Ms. Parikh noted that she will be giving a presentation of the Facilities Master Plan to each city, county council members and key stakeholders. She also distributed a document listing the stages of a ballot measure effort.

Mr. Schnee ended the presentation, noting that the Facilities Master Plan is a framework to meet current and future needs and is designed with the ability to adapt and be flexible.

Board members noted that there are challenges in any effort to look forward, particularly relating to population projections. It was noted that acquiring the needed land in the appropriate locations would also be challenging and a strategy for land purchases should be developed before approaching the voters.

2. Lease for Milton/Edgewood Library:

Architectural Agreement: Clifford Jo, IT and Finance Director, reported on the architect selection process for the relocated Milton/Edgewood library. There were 17 responses to the Request for Qualifications and six firms were interviewed. It was the administration’s recommendation that the Board award the architectural contract to SHKS Architects. The firm has strong experience in library architectural needs and is familiar with the Facilities Master Plan. Work is continuing on developing the scope of services provided by SHKS and the final fee. A budget has been developed for the entire project. The library’s attorney will review the contract before signature.

Mr. Wagner move to authorize the Executive Director to sign a contract with SHKS Architects for design of the Milton/Edgewood Library. Mr. Rose seconded the motion and it passed.

Surprise Lake Square Lease Agreement: Board members reviewed a projected lease analysis by the library’s attorney. The negotiated lease rate is favorable. Mr. Jo was instructed to request once again that library signage be included on the exterior pylon. Owner is anxious for us to sign the lease.

Mr. Matsusaka moved to authorize the Executive Director to conclude negotiations for leased space at Surprise Lake Square and further authorized the Executive Director to sign the lease agreement. Mr. Rose seconded the motion and it was passed.

3. Policy Review: As reported at a previous meeting, library administration has been in the process of reviewing Board policies for current relevancy. The Board will be receiving recommended revisions to update policies to current practices or reflect new formats. There will be recommendations for deletion of policies or addition of new policies. Ms. Parikh asked for immediately consideration of three slightly revised policies:

Participation in Community Organizations: Mr. Rose moved for approval of the Participation in Community Organizations, Board Policy, 4.14. Mr. Wagner second the motion and it was passed.

Communication with the Public: In Board discussion, it was agreed that clarification was needed to delineate between the Board’s role and the Library’s role in communication and asked that the policy be revised to reflect their suggestions. It will be brought back for consideration at the next regular meeting.

Programming Policy: A grammatical correction was made to the first sentence in the “No Admission Fees” section, which now reads, “The Library will not charge administration fees for programs. An addition was made in the last line of the “Variety of Viewpoints” section, which now reads “Library sponsorship of a program does not constitute an endorsement of the content of the program or the views expressed by presenters or participants.”

Mr. Rose moved for adoption of the Programming Policy, Board Policy 1.8, as amended this date. Mr. Matsusaka seconded the motion and it passed.

New Business

1. 2010 Board Calendar of Work: Each year, the Board develops a calendar of work, planning for discussions for the coming year. Ms. Parikh has sent the Board recommendations for discussions in 2010 and asked for additional suggestions from the Board. The Board asked the following topics be placed on the 2010 Calendar of Work:

·  Market assessment regarding ethnicity, gender, age trends in the library’s service area to answer questions on how the population is changing and the impact it would have on library programming.

·  Bond issue or alternative approaches to funding capital improvements

·  Potential partnership opportunities

·  Personnel issues related to transition implementation and results of union contract negotiations

·  Audit of finance systems for efficiency

·  Comparability of fines, fees, charges

Adjournment

The meeting was adjourned at 5:59 pm on motion by Mr. Rose, seconded by Mr. Matsusaka.

______

Secretary Chair

Minutes of January 13, 2010 Regular Meeting Page 1