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1999-10-20 * *OFFICIAL MINUTES APPROVED BY THE LIBRARY BOARD MEMBERS 1 CITY OF SOUTHLAKE 2 LIBRARY BOARD MEETING 3 4 October 20, 1999 5 6 MINUTES 7 8 Board Members Present: Chair Maria Cameron, Vice Chair Scott MacLeod, Debbie Baynard, 9 Marjorie Zielke, C.D. Peebles, Karen Cienki 10 11 Board Members Absent: Wanda Poe 12 13 Staff Members Present: Steve Polasek, Deputy Director of Community Services; Judy 14 Russeau, Administrative Secretary 15 16 17 Regular Session: 18 19 Agenda Item No. 1, Call to Order. The meeting was called to order by Vice Chair Scott 20 MacLeod at 7:05 PM 21 22 Reports: 23 24 Agenda Item No. 2, Administrative Comments. 25 26 Mr. Polasek said that he would like to welcome Karen Cienki to the Library Board. Mr. 27 Polasek asked the Board if anyone had an objection to distributing to the Board a revised 28 unpublicized Library Board Roster. There were no objections. Mr. Polasek distributed the 29 roster; changes to the roster were noted. Updated rosters will be distributed to the Board 30 members. 31 32 Mr. Polasek said that the Library Board has been invited to visit the Grapevine Public Library 33 and view their new automation system and plans for their facility expansion. Mr. Polasek 34 said that he would like to recommend that the Library Board change the November 24th 35 meeting to November 171h to visit the Grapevine Library at that time. There were several 36 schedule conflicts with November 17th. The Board agreed to meet at 6:30 PM December 15th 37 to tour the Grapevine Library. Mr. Polasek will contact Janice Roberson from the Grapevine 38 Library to coordinate the tour and will confirm this information with the Library Board. The 39 Board agreed to cancel the November Library Board Meeting. 40 41 Mr. Polasek informed the Library Board of the City of Southlake Harvest Fest to be held 42 Saturday, October 23, 1999 from 6:00 PM - 9:00 PM at Bicentennial Park. Mr. Polasek 43 invited all to attend. 44 45 Mr. Polasek commented that the Library Administrator position would be discussed with the 46 Library Board as Agenda Item 6.A. 47 Library Board Regular Meeting Page 1 of 7 n:\parks & recreation\boards\library\minutes\102099.doc * *OFFICIAL MINUTES APPROVED BY THE LIBRARY BOARD MEMBERS 1 Mr. Polasek stated that Resolution No 99-02, Supporting the Formation of the Southlake 2 Library Foundation would be presented to the City Council at the next City Council Meeting, 3 November 2, 1999. City Council will also consider selecting a council member to serve on 4 the Board of Directors for the Foundation. Under the assumption that Council supported the 5 formation of the Library Foundation, Mr. Polasek suggested that the Library Board may wish 6 to consider at their next meeting selecting a member to serve on the Board of Directors. 7 8 Ms. Baynard left the meeting at 7:27 PM to attend a KSB meeting. 9 10 The meeting was turned over to Chair Ms. Cameron. 11 12 Discussion: 13 14 Agenda Item No. 6A., Library Administrator Qualities/Qualifications. 15 16 Mr. Polasek distributed material related to the Library Administrator 17 Qualities/Qualifications 18 19 Ms. Cameron suggested that the Board follow the exercise Mr. Polasek would be conducting 20 prior to viewing the material so as not to prejudice their views. 21 22 Mr. Polasek said that, as indicated in the packet, the process of searching for a Library 23 Administrator has begun. The City has received several resumes and applications in response 24 to advertisements, etc. Mr. Polasek said that he would review the resumes and applications 25 over the next month and develop a manageable list. An interview panel will then be selected 26 to conduct the interviews. Ms. Zielke asked if there was a deadline for submitting resumes. 27 Mr. Polasek said there was no deadline at this time and that the position would be open until 28 filled. Mr. Polasek said that the process will be reassessed, if needed, as the resumes are 29 reviewed. 30 31 Mr. Polasek indicated that the selection and hiring of a Library Administrator is a staff 32 responsibility, but since the Library Board does have an interest in the process, it would be 33 appropriate to provide the Board an opportunity to offer suggestions on the qualities and 34 qualifications that they feel would be most important in a Library Administrator. Mr. 35 Polasek explained the exercise to follow. Through a series of rounds, each Board member 36 would have an opportunity to express a quality or qualification they would like to see in a 37 Library Administrator. Ms. Cameron said that she would like the Board members to state 38 their priorities of qualifications in being with their top priority in the first round and ending 39 with the last priority in the final round. She would also like to have a discussion session 40 following the exercise, as she feels the selection of a Library Administrator, as well as the 41 automation system are the most important decisions the Board will make. 42 43 Mr. Peebles said that he understood that it is a staff decision to set the qualifications and hire 44 the Library Administrator, and he appreciates the recognition that the Board does have a 45 vested interest. Mr. Peebles said that initially there was a great deal of emphasis on setting 46 the qualifications for the Library Administrator and he had concerns when he saw that the 47 advertisement for the Library Administrator requested two (2) - three (3) years experience. Library Board Regular Meeting Page 3 of 7 n:\parks & recreation\boards\library\minutes\102099.doc * *OFFICIAL MINUTES APPROVED BY THE LIBRARY BOARD MEMBERS 1 2 3 Consent Agenda: 4 5 Agenda Item No. 3.A., Approval of the minutes of the September 22,1999 meeting. A motion 6 was made to approve the minutes of September 22,1999. 7 8 Motion: Maria Cameron 9 Second: Debbie Baynard 10 Ayes: Ms. Cameron, Ms. Baynard, Ms. Zielke, Mr. Peebles 11 Nayes: 0 12 Abstentions: Ms. Cienki, Mr. MacLeod 13 Approved: 4-0-2 14 15 Regular Agenda: 16 17 Agenda Item No. 4, Public Forum. No issues were presented for Public Forum. Public 18 Forum was closed at 7:17 PM by Vice Chair Scott MacLeod. 19 20 Consider: 21 22 Agenda Item No. SA., Election of Chairperson 23 24 Mr. Polasek said that, as a result of the resignation of the former Chair Cynda Mast, it would 25 be necessary to nominate and select another Board member to take over the role of Board 26 Chair. Mr. Polasek said that a brief overview and a copy of the Library Board Bylaws were 27 included in the packets. 28 29 Ms. Baynard nominated Ms. Cameron as Chair of the Library Board. 30 31 Motion: Ms. Baynard 32 Second: Ms. Zielke 33 Ayes: Ms. Baynard, Ms. Zielke, Mr. Peebles, Mr. MacLeod 34 Nayes: None 35 Abstentions: Ms. Cienki, Ms. Cameron 36 Approved: 4-0-1 37 38 Ms. Baynard informed the Board that she received a call from a representative of Carroll 39 Elementary School offering to donate monthly scholastic paperback books. As there is no 40 storage area available, Ms. Baynard suggested that they contact communities in North 41 Carolina that have been flooded by the recent hurricanes. Ms. Baynard will forward the 42 Carroll Elementary contact to Ms. Cameron to send a thank you note from the Library Board. 43 44 Ms. Baynard also noted that the Greater Southlake Women's Group and the Tandy 45 Corporation are saving money for the Southlake Library. 46 Library Board Regular Meeting Page 2 of 7 n:\parks & recreation\boards\library\minutes\102099.doc * *OFFICIAL MINUTES APPROVED BY THE LIBRARY BOARD MEMBERS 1 He believes that the salary offered may hinder the hiring of a more qualified and experienced 2 person. Mr. Peebles said that at one time there had been discussion of hiring someone just 3 for library start-up. This may offer the possibility of hiring someone with more experience 4 and qualifications in that the person would not be obligated to be the Administrator on a daily 5 and continuing basis. The negative that he could see would be continuity. 6 7 Mr. Polasek said that he is not opposed to looking at this possibility down the line. Mr. 8 Polasek said that if sufficient qualified resumes are not received, the process and criteria and 9 options may need to be reviewed and this is one option that could be explored. Mr. Polasek 10 said that the two (2) to three (3) years Administrative experience could be supervisory within 11 a branch or department of a library. The job description reads: "three to five years 12 experience in a library with two years of administrative experience required. The salary is 13 $3,9331month plus benefits. " Mr. Polasek said that the interview panel that he envisions 14 would consist of himself, possibly Kevin Hugman, two library administrators from 15 surrounding communities and the Library Chairperson. Ms. Zielke referred to Mr. Polasek's 16 previous experience with the Hurst Library. Mr. Polasek said that he has had past experience 17 in hiring library personnel, including the present Hurst City Librarian. 18 19 Ms. Cameron said that she saw two conflicting needs, (1) library start-up requiring a more 20 qualified person and then (2) administration of a small library. Mr. MacLeod commented 21 that the Southlake Community is a demanding group of citizens. Ms. Cameron agreed and 22 that they could not afford to have someone in this position that is not capable of fulfilling the 23 community's needs. Mr. Polasek said that he feels confident that this will not happen. 24 25 Ms. Zielke commented that Ms. Cynda Mast has several degrees and is the librarian for a 26 local elementary school. This is a good example of the type of person that could be recruited. 27 Mr. Polasek agreed that in the library profession, it would be quite possible to recruit highly 28 qualified and educated personnel at the salary being offered. The Hurst Library staff salary is 29 quite comparable. 30 31 Mr. Peebles said that he has a concern that the process of recruiting a Library Administrator 32 was started before the Board could look at the qualifications. He felt more time was spent 33 selecting a Tennis Manager and that more time should be spent reviewing this process. Ms. 34 Cienki said that it is very important to select a qualified person to start-up the library to 35 ensure that the transition into a full library service is complete and fits the needs of the 36 community. Mr. MacLeod feels that a very important qualification is someone with a clear 37 vision of what the library should be. Mr. Peebles said that it could be difficult to have a 38 vision into five (5) years. He suggested that perhaps the Board could research both aspects in 39 recruitment, library start-up and library administrator. Mr. MacLeod said that he has a 40 concern that we will attract a mechanic. Mr. MacLeod said that he was interested in what 41 Florence Mason's views were on this. 42 43 Mr. Polasek said that Ms. Mason continues to be part of the process and he is in contact with 44 her as needed. Mr. Polasek said that he would like to continue to move forward with the 45 process and he will explore different options so that if during the process it is determined that 46 there is not a qualified applicant, a consultant could be brought in. There are budget 47 constraints and City Manager Bill Campbell would have to be consulted. Ms. Cameron said Library Board Regular Meeting Page 4 of 7 n:\parks & recreation\boards\library\minutes\102099.doc * *OFFICIAL MINUTES * * APPROVED BY THE LIBRARY BOARD MEMBERS 1 that it had been suggested to request information from the State Library Development 2 personnel on a recent re-automation library project. Mr. Peebles said he thinks it is important 3 to know the market. Mr. MacLeod asked if the January start date is committed. Mr. Polasek 4 said that funding is allocated for a January start date. 5 6 Mr. Polasek began the exercise of receiving Board feedback on qualifications and qualities 7 they would like to see in a Library Administrator. 8 9 The result of the exercise is as follows: 10 11 Round I 12 13 Ms. Cameron - 5 years Library experience 14 Ms. Zielke - Start-up experience 15 Ms. Cienki - Start-up experience 16 Mr. Peebles - Organizational Skills 17 Mr. MacLeod - Small Town background (suburban) 18 Mr. Polasek - Involvement with automation system 19 20 Round II 21 22 Ms. Zielke - People skills - Community involvement (children) 23 Ms. Cienki - People skills - (working with volunteers) 24 Mr. Peebles - Interaction with business leaders (for Library Foundation) 25 Mr. MacLeod - Vision of Southlake Community 26 Mr. Polasek - Local experience (Dallas/Fort Worth area) 27 Ms. Cameron - Automation experience 28 29 Round III 30 31 Ms. Cienki - (Pass) 32 Mr. Peebles - (Pass) 33 Mr. MacLeod - Mechanical (Mr. MacLeod said that he had a concern that the 34 qualifications being set were creating a superstar) 35 Ms. Cameron - Expansion experience 36 Ms. Zielke - Cultural programming (Ms. Zielke said that she envisioned the 37 Library to be a cultural center for the Southlake Community) 38 Mr. Polasek - Programming 39 40 Mr. Polasek said that qualities mentioned in the above exercise will be taken into 41 consideration during the interview process. 42 43 Agenda Item No 6.B., Future Library Site. 44 45 Mr. Polasek distributed information to the Board members. - Memo to C.D. Peebles from 46 Shana K. Yelverton, Assistant City Manager; Town Square parking regulations, development 47 plan, site plan index, site plan and final plat. Library Board Regular Meeting Page S of 7 n:\parks & recreation\boards\library\minutes\102099.doc * *OFFICIAL MINUTES * * APPROVED BY THE LIBRARY BOARD MEMBERS 1 2 Mr. Polasek said that the future library site was included as a discussion item on the agenda 3 as requested. 4 5 Mr. Peebles said that on the original site plan, the memo indicates to him that the library will 6 be a one story building on three (3) acres. Ms. Shana Yelverton, Assistant City Manager 7 suggested two alternate locations. 8 9 Ms. Cienki asked why the permanent library site is being discussed at this time. Mr. Peebles 10 said that selecting and developing the site is a long process. Ms. Cienki said that the 11 Timarron site had been proposed to the City Council Members for a library site. Mr. Peebles 12 said that he would prefer the site to be located near downtown. Ms. Cienki asked when the 13 permanent library was shifted to Town Square. Originally it was to be 10 to 14 acres with a 14 library on the east side, auditorium, and senior center. Ms. Cienki said that the first Arts 15 Festival will be held next spring and this will have an impact, drawing in a new group of 16 people and parking issues. Ms. Zielke asked if a parking garage was being considered. 17 18 There was discussion regarding the future proposed DPS site. Mr. Polasek said that if the 19 half-cent sales tax for the crime control district is not approved, this will impact the future 20 DPS site. However, at this time staff is fairly optimistic that the half-cent sales tax will be 21 approved. Mr. Polasek said that the ultimate decision on whether the land on which City Hall 22 now sits would be swapped for land in or near Town Hall would need to be made by the City 23 Council. From a staff stand point, working with the Board and the information received 24 from Mr. Peebles, it is being explored. Mr. Peebles said that there had been some concerns 25 that if a Library site was not committed, an opportunity closer to Town Hall could be lost. 26 Ms. Cameron said that she was pleased with the information provided by Ms. Yelverton and 27 suggested that the Board instruct the City Manager, or City Council, to pick out a site for the 28 Library close to Town Hall within a specified area with adequate parking near the park. Ms. 29 Cameron stressed that the Library should have designated parking. Ms. Cienki said that this 30 was not part of the original agreement in the meetings held regarding the ordinances; the only 31 designated parking agreed on was handicapped parking. Ms. Cameron said that parking is an 32 issue with parents with children. Mr. MacLeod suggested a timeline/study with traffic 33 management. Mr. Polasek said that when the library is designed, parking will be taken into 34 consideration. Mr. Polasek said that he appreciated the efforts of Mr. Peebles and Ms. 35 Yelverton and he feels that the City Manager and Assistant City Manager are very supportive 36 of the efforts of the Board to explore a future library site. Ms. Zielke asked how the process 37 worked if a site was determined. Mr. Polasek said that the Library Board could make a 38 recommendation to support a particular location, which would then be forwarded to City 39 Council for formal approval. Ms. Yelverton will be contacted with the suggestions from the 40 Library Board. Ms. Zielke asked that if the site were somewhere other than the City Hall, 41 could it be less complicated. Mr. Polasek said that there is a possibility that Mr. Stebbins 42 could accept the land swap and take the land at a later date as the move could take some time. 43 Mr. Polasek said that if a Library were to be built on the City Hall site, or the site used in a 44 land swap, it would be contingent on the crime control half-cent sales tax being approved and 45 allowing for DPS to move. Mr. Peebles asked for opinions on park sites. Mr. Polasek said 46 that the parkland to be dedicated on FM 1709 would not be a particularly good site due to the 47 existing terrain. Library Board Regular Meeting Page 6 of 7 n:\parks & recreation\boards\library\minutes\102099.doc * *OFFICIAL MINUTES APPROVED BY THE LIBRARY BOARD MEMBERS 1 2 Mr. Polasek said that the discussion on the library site would be shared with Ms. Yelverton. 3 4 Agenda Item No. 7., Adjournment. The meeting was called for adjournment by Chair Maria 5 Cameron at 8:30 PM. 6 7 8 Motion: Scott MacLeod 9 Second: Marjorie Zielke 10 Ayes: Ms. Cameron, Ms. Zielke, Mr. Peebles, Ms. Cienki, Mr. MacLeod 11 Nayes: 0 12 Approved: 5-0 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 Char, uri-a ameron 20 21 Attest: 22 23 24 25 26 teve Polas k 27 Deputy Director of Community Services Library Board Regular Meeting Page 7 of 7 n:\parks & recreation\boards\library\minutes\102099.doc