Library Board Agenda

January 17, 2008
President Bill Wotkyns called the meeting to order.
Teton County Library

President Bill Wotkyns called the meeting to order.  Board members Amy Robinson, Holly Hunter, Anne Ladd, and Patricia Moeller were present.  Also present were Director Deb Adams, Assistant Director Isabel Zumel, Communications Manager Margaret Thompson, County Commission liaison Andy Schwartz, and staff Dail Barbour.  Guests attending the meeting were Gayle Lien and Rachel Marcos.

Correspondence from the public:  None

Approval of minutes:  Holly moved to approve the December minutes with the correction of a typo, Patricia seconded, all voted in favor.

Section 215 Report:  There were no requests under Section 215 of the Patriot Act.

Librarian’s Report:  Highlights
There has been significant work by IT and the Facilities Manager to prepare for and execute the Computer – Information Center desk reconfiguration.  Program attendance has been very good especially the Natural Homes presentation.  The number of people coming into the library continues to rise, as well as the number of people using the web site.  Computer use is still increasing when compared to last year at this time.  Wendy Walton, a former TCL staff member, has been hired to be the first Director at the new Alpine Branch Library in Alpine.

Organizational Structure Update:  All staff are now reporting to their new supervisors and participating in lots of training to be sure they are prepared for their new positions.  Schedules at public desks are being finalized.  There are now 3 public service desks instead of 4.  Assistant Director Isabel Zumel has been able to accommodate most staff requests regarding their schedule preferences.  Dail is involved with the last minute details of the Computer Center/Information desk move on Sunday and Monday.   Bill asked how people were dealing with the structure changes. Deb replied that as the process is currently transitioning, most people are busy training and some have not met with their supervisor yet.  The Management Team has agreed that it’s important to concentrate on the settling-in process for the next few months.

Anne had a question about the issue of part time county employees.  Deb explained that the county had changed its policy regarding health insurance benefits for part-time employees who are regularly scheduled to work 20 hours per week.  The new policy is that only employees who work at least 30 hours per week are eligible for benefits.  However, all part time employees currently receiving the benefit would be grandfathered and the benefit would continue as long as they continue to work at least 20 hours per week.  New hires will not be eligible.  Some flexibility has been added to the work schedule and employees can now fulfill their minimum hours requirement over two pay periods, in the event they wish to take some time off which is unpaid.  Jalene Utzinger, County HR Manager also said she was comfortable with revisiting the issue of part time benefits as a part of next year’s review of health coverage.

Financials:  Monthly Report
The library is half way through the budget year and 53 % of revenues have been received.  Expenditures are not quite at the 50 % mark but some costs do not occur until fiscal year end.   Motor vehicles revenues will be up as they are already over what we anticipated.  Andy mentioned that the county has had a record number of vehicle registrations this year.

Approve Vouchers:
Amy moved to approve the vouchers, Holly seconded, all voted in favor.

Facilities Planning:  Main Library
The town and county joint board approved the Justice Center, Hwy 22 Pathways project and START & Library planning money for the SPET ballot.  Andy cautioned that if Justice Center costs starts to escalate, some changes to the ballot may occur.  He explained that timing of the projects was not discussed and will be in the future.  Bill thanked Andy for his help with the library’s place on the ballot. Deb asked what would be the best process for building voter awareness about library needs.   Andy felt the Foundation would be the appropriate entity and Bill felt a PAC separate from the foundation might be even better.  Andy explained that the county doesn’t lobby for ballot projects as government needs to be objective and leave it up to the voters.  He did suggest that conversations with START might be helpful to both organizations in terms of planning.

Facilities Planning:  Alta Branch Library:
Andy thinks the land purchase will move forward but there have been some hiccups.  Gayle Lien volunteered the information that the church was having a meeting tonight about the latest offer.  Deb asked about approaching the school district for an extension at the Alta school.  Who should do that and what would be the latest the district would consider an extension.  Andy suggested that an informal phone call to Pam Shea from Deb would help and that he would speak to the school board president.  Deb also asked if a funding source for the new Alta Library had been discussed by the County Commissioners.  Andy replied that funding would probably be discussed in a workshop after the land acquisition.  He feels all the parties involved in the land negotiations are in favor of the Alta library project and want to see it be a reality.

New Business:
Request for date/time change to monthly meeting:  Andy explained that the Housing Authority Board also meets on Thursdays at 4:30 and he was concerned about a conflict.  However, since the library board meeting time is now 3:00 PM, he doesn’t think it will be a problem.  Bill suggested that the agenda items be set up to accommodate Andy.

Bill asked for comments from members of the public attending the meeting-Gayle and Rachel.  Gayle said she just came to listen and her impression in Alta is that the community is excited and willing to work on the Alta library project.

Anne then moved to adjourn the meeting at 4:00PM, Holly seconded, all voted in favor.

Dail Barbour, Administrative Assistant to the TCL Board