Minutes
Coralville Public Library Board of Trustees
February 12th, 2008

Present: X. Cretzmeyer, Deborah Hatz, Keith Jones, Lisa Martin, Julie Pulkrabek, Jim Smith, Alison Ames Galstad (Library Director), Ellen Hampe (Assistant Library Director), John Lundell (Coralville City Council Representative)..
Absent: , Donna Epley.


President Hatz called the meeting to order at 6:02.

The Board considered approval of the agenda. Martin moved the agenda be approved. Jones seconded. The motion passed unanimously.

The Board considered the minutes of the January 2nd meeting. Pulkrabek moved that they be approved as presented, Smith seconded. The motion passed unanimously.

The Board considered the bills for January. Hatz moved the bills be approved, Jones seconded. The motion passed unanimously.

The Board reviewed the building project budget and expenditures to date. Galstad distributed a spreadsheet. The project is now over budget, so we will start having to cut into the furnishings and equipment budgets. Galstad should know more at the next meeting about how much the budget is exceeded overall at this point.

Hatz gave a report from the Friends, on behalf of Epley. The Friends are busy sorting books, and love the new shelving downstairs. Plans are going well for the first book sale in the new building. The Friends will be getting ready for it Thursday Feb. 14th at 6:30, and the sale will be held Friday the 15th from 1:30-5:30 and Saturday the 16th from 9:00-3:00. Epley invited everyone to come to the sale.

The Foundation met, they are short a member and are looking for candidates. They talked about the grand opening, and also holding some sort of pre-grand opening to be held for the donors. Jones asked if the pledge collection is going well, and Galstad said it is. She said that a big part of the note has been paid off. Galstad has been talking with Kelly Hayworth and Terry Kaeding about the landscaping budget. Kelly wanted to take it out of the project budget, thinking it may come in as an in-kind gift. No such gift was pledged, though Quality Care has offered to donate three years of maintenance. Iowa City Landscaping was the lowest landscaping bid that was received, at $34,000.

Galstad gave the monthly Director’s Report:
 

• Statistics:
  Circulation was up. It will be a while before we are able to again collect a count of people coming in the door.
• Budget:
  There was a $1000 donation from the UI Credit Union for WARM There was a $400 contribution from the Friends for WARM. There was a $100 donation from Gwendolyn Lowe, in honor of the staff (she said whoever does the hiring here does a great job). The Open Access, Access Plus, and Enrich Iowa monies were deposited as well. Galstad reported that there is a 18% decrease in library funding in Governor Culver’s budget at this point.
• Construction:
  The contractors agreed that construction could be finished by mid-May. Galstad proposed a Grand Opening to be scheduled for May 31st, which would allow for a full Summer Reading Program.
  Cretzmeyer asked when the sculpture will be installed; Galstad told him this will happen during the closure before the grand opening. The library will be closed March 31st through April 2nd for installation of the footings for the sculpture. The basement will be closed that whole week.
  The Phase 2 furniture bid is out, and should be back on Monday. Two different versions were sent out, one a bit scaled down. The public computers will have the same type of furniture that we have for offices, so will be bought under the US Communities pricing.
• Other:
  Galstad emailed the board the FY09 budget. The operating budget will be supplemented for the next few years in response to city council’s request.
  167 people have registered for the WARM program as of today. Next Thursday, Some Like it Hot will be shown as part of the program.
  The next board meeting will be Tuesday March 4th.

Lundell asked how the parking lot has been. Galstad said it’s been a challenge. Hatz said the handicapped area is awful.

Hatz adjourned the meeting at approximately 6:45 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,
Ellen Hampe
Assistant Library Director
(Subject to approval at the Tuesday, March 4th, 2008 meeting.)