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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1985-01-08 Bd Comm. minutesMINUTES IOWA CITY PUBLIC LIBRARY BOARD OF TRUSTEES REGULAR MEETING DECEMBER 20, 1984 4:00 PM ADMINISTRATIVE CONFERENCE ROOM MEMBERS PRESENT: Cavitt, Bovbjerg, Drum, Grimes, Gritsch, Pegnetter, Willis, Zastrow MEMBERS ABSENT: Lyman STAFF PRESENT: Eggers, Jehle, Prosser, Spaziani OTHERS PRESENT: Larry Baker, Iowa City Council; Students from University of Iowa School of Library Science class President Cavitt called the meeting to order at 4:05 PM. Minutes of the Regular Meeting of November 15, 1984 were approved. Drum/Pegnetter. Disbursements for November 15, December 1 and December 15, 1984 were approved. Zastrow/Bovbjerg. The Director reported on the most recent offer from the library's computer vender, CL Systems, Inc, for upgrading the computer system. The best news is that the firm has bowed to pressure from many of its public library customers 8 will develop software,to allow Iowa City Public Library (ICPL) L others to convert their current bibliographic records instead of having to go through the costly reconversion to standard MARC computer format. This will save Iowa City from $75,000 to $100,000 and will still enable us to utilize all the new features of the second generation on-line catalog: keyword searching, authority control, global change and a computer controlled cross-reference system. It also means we will not lose the five years of work we have put into our database. In addition, because ICPL was instrumental in getting other libraries to urge CLSI to make the change and because they want ICPL as the first customer to get and use this new software, they have offered us a substantial reduction in the cost of the new hardware (from $186,000 to 5139,400) as well as the opportunity to switch from purchasing software to paying an annual software licensing fee. The licensing fee, based on the number of ports we are currently using, would not increase our annual operating costs because equipment maintenance costs are being reduced and would allow us to use any current or new software developed by CLSI for the central site equipment. This would mean we could use the acquisitions and serials control sub -systems as they are developed with no capital outlay. ICPL eventually will need an improved acquisition system,and serials control is now the major remaining system of the library which is not automated. Considerable staff time will be saved when serial records (for all newspapers and periodical subscriptions) are computer controlled. There would be two items of additional costs beyond the $39,400. First, some of the new type terminals will be needed. Considering trade-ins of present terminals, this will probably be less than $10,000. Second, there will be some extra staff time needed to do follow-up work on some of the new features, especially the cross-reference system. This is very difficult to estimate now, but will be much less than what would have been required under the original plan using MARC. In MINUTES IOWA CITY PUBLIC LIBRARY BOARD OF TRUSTEES REGULAR MEETING DECEMBER 20, 1984 Page two To avoid a large capital outlay in FY86 & 87, the City Finance Director suggested I inquire about a four or five year lease purchase plan. CLSI would be willing to provide this through a third party. Estimated cost, if undertaken today, wouid be about ;30W/month or $180,000 over five years. Exact cost would be determined by the interest rate at the time of purchase, now tentatively scheduled for March, 1986. Cavitt wondered if changes to income tax law by then might make lease purchase plans unavailable since they maybe based on the vendor getting an investment credit and some depreciation benefits on the equipment. Board President Cavitt reported on the meeting December 13 between Board and Commission heads and the City Council. She also had reviewed the list of contributors to the Foundation during this fund-raising year and once again suggested that annual fund drives as well as the proposed capital drive to build an endowment fund cannot be successful if not supported financially by Board members. Nancy Willis handed out the report from the Foundation Coordinator referred to by President Cavitt. It noted that the Foundation is behind in its progress towards the year's fund raising goal when compared fo gifts received at the same date a year ago. Two large mailings are underway. A letter to 1800 Iowa City residents was mailed December 5 and 300 letters to Iowa City businesses went out later. There has been a good response from reminders sent to Foundation donors of the past two years. FRIENDS will meet January 9 to discuss details of their plan for reorganized book sales. The sale of the Library of Congress 1985 desk calendars has gone slower than expected. They are available at the Library "Return" Desk for $7.50. It was moved by Drum and seconded by Grimes to approve the resolution to authorize the Library Board to assign the revised lease with Hawkeye Cablevision to Heritage Communications. Unanimous. David Brown from the City legal staff and Assistant Director, Connie Tiffany has handled the matter for the library. The Boar theoprop sed muralmforathenof theChildrenFsuRoom. Noofurtheroactionoseek will be taken at this time. On a motion by Zastrow, seconded by Drum, it was agreed to give the $5000 bequest from the late James E. Stronks to the Foundation with the provision that the money be earmarked for at least four years for a possible gift of permanence to the library bearing Mr. Stronk's name. Unanimous r MINUTES IOWA CITY PUBLIC LIBRARY BOARD OF TRUSTEES REGULAR MEETING DECEMBER 20, 1984 Page three The proposed Circulation policy was reviewed. Eggers explained that in the past there has not been a clear definition of which Circulation policies were Board approved and which were administrative decisions. Ron Prosser, Circulation Department Coordinator, developed useful criteria for sorting this out: 1) policies which define precisely who who will be served, and 2) policies which decide what costs will he borne by the borrower should be determined by the Board. Eggers also pointed out that everything in the policy is currently in effect as part of the circulation rules published regularly and given to each new card holder. The Board discussed the related issue of whether fines should be raised or if a surcharge should be added to those receiving overdue notices. Prosser pointed out that while the surcharge on the notice may be the fairest charge, it would be costly to install under current software configruations which only allow fines to be posted per item borrowed not per notice sent. Therefore, the staff recommends a fine increase. The Board indicated a strong interest in raising fines and asked that more background data be prepared for the January meeting. The circulation policy was then adopted as proposed. Will The sub -committee (Drum, Grimes, Willis, Board; Craig.& Eggers, Staff) working on a statement which concisely states the arguments for developing an endowment fund presented their first draft. At the first meeting there was extensive discussion on the issues and Drum volunteered to draft a statement. The Board reviewed this draft during the meeting and gave tentative approval to its general content and direction. It was suggested that the concept of ICPL as an exceptional library be strenghten and that.the section on the high education level of the community be soften to not infer just the university community. Eggers announced that the Library's budget hearing will be at 11:00 AM, Saturday January 12 in meeting Room A of the Library. The Board set a special meeting for Thursday, January 10, 4:00 PM to review their presentation in light of the budget recommendations of the City Manager. The agenda for the joint meeting of the Library Trustees with the FRIENDS and Foundation Boards of Directors was discussed. It was agreed that all agenda ideas submitted by directors of the two support organizations should be included. The ALA slide show on public libraries will be shown and a draft of the "case statement" for the Foundation's endowment fund drive will be reviewed. The Library office will mail an agenda and a reservation form to each person. The meeting was adjourned at 5:34 p.m. toanJehl Lolly Eggers, Reco dbrsL� u T MINUTES HISTORIC PRESERVATION COMMISSION MONDAY, DECEMBER 10, 1984 - 7:30 P.M. IOWA CITY PUBLIC LIBRARY MEETING ROOM B MEMBERS PRESENT: Blank, Hayes, Nowysz, Skaugstad MEMBERS ABSENT: Duffey, Jones, VanderWoude GUESTS PRESENT: Susan Nathan, Pierce King, Dwight Dobberstein, Bruce Johnson STAFF PRESENT: Moen, Oevoulder CALL TO ORDER: Nowysz called the meeting to order at 7:36 p.m. AMEND AGENDA: Nowysz moved that item F of the agenda be discussed immediately after item B of the agenda. Moreover, following discussion of item F, Nowysz moved that public discussion occur. Hayes seconded the motion. The motion carried unanimously, APPROVAL OF MINUTES OF OCTOBER 10 1984 AND NOVEMBER 14, 1984: Blank moved that the minutes of October 10 be approved. Hayes seconded the motion. The motion carried unanimously, Hayes moved that the minutes of November 14, 1984 be approved. Skaugstad seconded the motion. The motion carried unanimously. REVIEW OF THE GOALS AND OBJECTIVES OF THE HISTORIC PRESERVATION COMMISSION: Nowysz reviewed the goals of the Historic Preservation Commission. She noted that first among these goals was increasing the number of historic districts. Moreover, continuing the educational program and preparing a video presenta- tion and moving forward on the salvage programs were inmediate objectives of the Commission. PUBLIC DISCUSSION: Dwight Dobberstein, a local architect, noted that the Historic Preservation Commission's goals certainly encompassed those of the local chapter of the American Institute of Architects (AIA), that is, to promote good architectur- al design. He noted that the architects of Iowa City were open for ideas, and that he would take it to his board. He noted that, to promote architec- ture in the area, the architectural board had discussed sponsoring open houses, to demonstrate designs and related thoughts. He continued that he was at the Commission meeting to get ideas. Dobberste•in continued that he thought that the Commission's idea of going into the schools was a good idea. He thought the use of the media was a possibility as well. He noted that the group he represented was the AIA which has chapters in Des Moines as well as Cedar Rapids. s" Historic Preservation Commission December 10, 1984 Page 2 Nowysz outlined the Historic Preservation Commission's plan of promoting its projects in the schools. She thought that presenting this plan to the appropriate school official would be a positive step forward. Dobberstein agreed and promised to bring it up at the next AIA meeting. Hayes and Nathan stated that they would get together with Mr. Dobberstein before his next board meeting with the AIA, to further discuss the school issue. REVIEW OF SALVAGE PROGRAM PROPOSAL: Nowysz reviewed the proposal to date. She noted that many items of historic interest were destroyed by homeowners due to ignorance. Bruce Johnson, owner of the "Knock on Wood" store, stated his views on the proposed salvage program. Johnson noted that, as a private business, he sees a problem of finding adequate inventory in the Iowa City area. This is a problem because Iowa City lacks stately homes in large numbers followed by demolition, as such railroad towns as St. Louis had. However, he felt that there would be a large clientele, or a demand for this particular service in the Iowa City area. Mr. Johnson continued, stating that perhaps instead of having a. salvage business, it would be better just to make it a service. That is, perhaps preparing a list advertising what was available rather than undertaking the expense of storing these items in one place, would be a more economical and feasible way to undertake a salvage program. Skaugstad agreed pointing out that the use of photos to supplement the list would be helpful. Johnson agreed, stating that advertising was the easiest way to start. In this way, potential demand could be more readily gauged. If demand were sufficient, as well as supply, then a more full-fledged salvage business requiring warehouse space would be feasible. Johnson added that perhaps another idea was to have a rummage sale on a flea market type arrangement to bring all the people with these items together. Nathan added that the type of idea Mr. Johnson just stated had, in fact, been mentioned previously by the Johnson County Historical Society. She promised to undertake further discussions with the society on this idea. Nowysz, in concluding the discussion, said that the Historic Preservation Commission would then look into the sale idea, the written inventory idea, as well as a want list type of alternative. DISCUSSION OF 1984 AWARDS PROGRAM: Moen stated that three judges have been selected. These judges were Elizabeth Leach of Davenport, Marlys Svendsen of Davenport, and Judy McClure of the State Historical Preservation office. Moreover, two applications were received so far, but more are expected. Nowysz concurred that many more would apply, given the number of calls she has received. L'11 Historic Preservation Commission December 10, 1984 Page 3 Moen reminded the Commission that December 28 was the application deadline, and that review of the applications would take place on January 9. Moen also stated that a display ad would be placed in the Press -Citizen to promote media coverage and interest. Nowysz expressed her frustration with the coverage of the program given by the Press -Citizen, but she did express her happiness with the better article which appeared in the Cedar Rapids Gazette. Susan Nathan asked if the restoration must be within Iowa City? Nowysz said yes, and that if anything would occur on a county -wide basis, then it would be under the purview of the Johnson County Historical Society. DISCUSSION OF THE PROPOSED NORTH SIDE RESIDENTIAL HISTORIC DISTRICT: Moen reviewed the proposal to date. She stated that the last meeting with residents of the neighborhood ended at a point of waiting for the residents of the north side to come up with a proposal and a petition for final boundaries. Otherwise, the Commission had no thoughts of changing the proposed boundaries. Moen noted that four to five meetings had occurred in October and November, but interest has slacked off during the holidays. Moen concluded that she thought the proposal would move along more quickly as soon as the holidays were over. COMMISSIONERS' REPORTS: Moen noted that the Commission was going to send a letter to the attorneys on the tax advantages of preservation. Hayes promised that he would work on it. Nowysz, referring to the article received in the meeting packets, proposed that the Commission consider, on a monthly basis, sending a similarly sized article to the City Council, explaining exactly what the Historic Preserva- tion Commission is doing as part of its educational program. She proposed that the Commission could do this on an ongoing basis covering a whole range of relevant historic preservation topics. She concluded that the Design Review Committee was considering undertaking a similar program. Blank noted that, in general, she thought this was a good idea. However, she cautioned the Commission that any type of information sent to the City Council be strictly informative in nature and be highly relevant. Nowysz concluded the Commissioners' reports with an update on the possibility of organizing a Kirkwood Community College course on preservation techniques. She stated that the Kirkwood staff is very receptive to the idea. She promised that she would mention this in the Commission's annual report to the City Council. The meeting adjourned at 8:34 p.m. Minutes submitted by Devoulder. US