Item 4DLibrary Board Report
Tuesday, October 7, 2003
The Southlake Library Board respectfully submits this written report in an effort to maintain
communication flow between the Board and City Council.
The Southlake Library Board held their meeting on Wednesday, September 24. Below is a
summary of the issues addressed at the meeting.
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Librarians Report – Library Administrator Kerry McGeath reviewed with the Board the
activity of the past two weeks and announced the hiring of the new Youth Services Librarian,
Maria Cameron. Upon accepting the position with the City, Maria submitted her resignation
from the Library Board. Kerry reviewed some ideas regarding potential revamping of the
Library Statistics in order to increase the benefits associated with the statistics.
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Discussion regarding potential revisions to the Southlake Public Library’s Internet Policy and
/ or computer use policy – Staff discussed recent technology acquisitions, such as a print
management software package (Pharos) that will significantly change how computer usage is
tracked. The Pharos software will provide greater efficiency by using data entry versus
managing hard copy sign-in sheets, significantly reducing the labor associated with managing
hard-copy files. Furthermore, there has been a lot of attention to public computer access
lately due to the recent Supreme Court ruling on the use of filters and media coverage of the
potential impact of the Patriot Act on public libraries record systems. The Board instructed
staff to sketch some ideas in a strikethrough version of the policies and bring it back as an
item for consideration at a future meeting.
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Friends of the Southlake Library (FOSL) Report – FOSL will have a booth at the upcoming
Oktoberfest and has recruited volunteers to staff the booth for the three day period. Library
staff will contribute some hours in training volunteers to complete Library Card applications
and answer questions regarding Library programming.
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Recommendation to the Public Art Advisory Committee (PAAC) to accept a memorial
donation of art in honor of Grace O’Brien to the Southlake Public Library from Barbara
Tipton – The Board approved this recommendation by a 6-0 vote, and recommended
placement of this piece in the Youth Services area over the public use computer
workstations. Grace O’Brien was a neighbor to Ms. Tipton and served as a CISD Librarian
for many years. Staff is working to set up a PAAC meeting to consider this request in early
to mid-October. Upon approval of a recommendation from PAAC, this item will be placed
as an item for consideration on a future City Council meeting agenda.
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Recommendation to the Public Art Advisory Committee (PAAC) to accept the donation of
services to the Southlake Public Library to create a mural in the storytime area from Bruce
and Elizabeth Bonham – The Board reviewed a potential donation of services to create a
mural in the storytime area, and provided input regarding potential conceptual designs. The
Board provided direction to staff to work with Ms. Bonham to further develop a conceptual
design, and requested a special meeting to review the proposal again prior to moving this
item to the PAAC. Upon approval of a recommendation from the Library Board and PAAC,
this item will be placed as an item for consideration on a future City Council meeting agenda.