Minutes of Scheduled Board of Trustees Meeting

September 19, 2001

Call to Order

The regular monthly meeting of the Library Board of Trustees was called to order at 7:05 p.m. In attendance were Board President Hope Furth, Trustees Toni Cox-Burns, Betsy DeSoye, Janet Elmiger, Campbell Geeslin, P. Lynn Oliva, Don Simmons, Nancy Smith, Saul Yanofsky, Library Director Sandra Miranda, and Assistant Library Director Charlotte Szabó.

Minutes of Regular Meeting of the Library Board of Trustees

The minutes of the regular meeting of July 18, 2001 were approved on a motion by Trustee Oliva seconded by Trustee Geeslin.

City Revenue & Expenditure Budget Reports

Preliminary City Revenue & Expenditure Budget Reports as of 6/30/01, 7/31/01 & 8/31/01 were reviewed by the Board.

Bills: 2001/02 Budget: #1 & #2

The payment of bill vouchers #1 and #2 were approved on a motion by Trustee DeSoye, seconded by Trustee Simmons.

Report of Library Administration

Department reports for July and August were reviewed by the Board. Board President Hope Furth praised Kurt Hadeler for his outstanding accomplishments over the summer, and the Board concurred. Library Director Miranda reported receipt of WLS Member Library Statistics for 2000 and will put on Board agenda for next month. After Board review and discussion of library statistics, Trustee Elmiger suggested proposing that WLS standardize criteria for collecting reference statistics. Library Director Miranda agreed this was important and will renew request to WLS.

WLS

Board President Furth reported that WLS hired a Deputy Director, Mary Rinato Berman, an experienced administrator with 30 years service at The New York Public Library. Also, the WLS Strategic Plan has been adopted and distributed by the WLS Board, and the implementation process is underway.

Friends

Trustee Elmiger reported that she was unable to attend the September Friends meeting. Library Director Miranda reported that the Friends Book Sale will be October 19, 20 & 21, the annual Westchester Friends conference will be November 8 at the Harrison Public Library, and a classical concert honoring Mr. Mills for his many years of volunteer service at the Library will be held on November 18. Mrs. Miranda reported that Mr. Mills’ retirement was keenly felt, and that organizing and getting ready for the fall book sale was not an easy task given the large number of donations and few volunteers. Trustee Furth offered to lead a team of student volunteers as a community service project in preparation for the next book sale.

Foundation

Mrs. Miranda reported: 1) The Foundation Board cancelled its September 12^th meeting and its next meeting is October 10^th; 2) Tracy Conte, Director of Development, is working to bring about a series of fund-raising events to take place in the Spring 2002; 3) Billy Collins, Poet Laureate of the U.S., was invited to be a speaker at a Book & Author Luncheon to benefit the Library; 4) Mrs. Conte is

awaiting response on several exciting grant proposals; 5) The Westchester Foundation for the Deaf will hold a reception and dedication of the ASL Video Collection at the Library on October 13 at 10am; 6) The Business Leader’s Breakfast has been postponed to January. Assistant Director Szabó reported that Andrew Ross Sorkin, business reporter for the NY Times, accepted an invitation to speak at the Library on November 15 as a tribute to his grandmother, Barbara Ross, a devoted library volunteer for 30 years and generous donor to the Centennial Campaign.

Outreach

Library Director Miranda thanked Trustees Furth and Geeslin for representing the Board at the September 17 meeting with the Greater White Plains Council of Community Services, another worthwhile outreach effort. The Board’s next outreach meeting will be with the Youth Board on November 1 at 8:00 p.m. Mrs. Miranda said she would confirm the location and asked Board members to let her know if they planned to attend.

Board Terms Expiring

Library Director Miranda reported that board terms for Trustees DeSoye, Oliva, and Simmons would expire in December 2001 and asked them to think about whether they would wish to request reappointment. Trustee DeSoye said it was a tremendous honor to serve on the Library Board, that the Library would remain dear to her heart and she would remain involved; however, she would not seek reappointment due to personal commitments.

Library Publicity

With respect to the new library newsletter, the Board reviewed the distribution list for the 9,000 newsletters and 2,000 calendars printed for Sept./Oct. Trustee Oliva complimented Mrs. Miranda on the improvements made to the second edition, and suggested adding CNA to the distribution list. Mrs. Miranda said that the changes were made in response to suggestions that came out of the newsletter focus group, and she was grateful to the people who participated. For the next issue, a less glossy, lighter weight paper will be considered, and the distribution plan will be adjusted to give out fewer newsletters and more calendars. In future, if sufficient funds can be raised, the option of inserting the newsletter in the Watch could be considered in lieu of the current distribution plan. Mrs. Miranda reported that the next issue will include the Library’s 2000/01 annual report. She asked if the Board had any objection to the Foundation asking corporations to sponsor the newsletter with credit given by printing the company name or logo in some discreet way. There were no objections from the Board.

Mrs. Miranda reported that she and the staff were very pleased with the new "Academic Support Services" section listing Library services on the inside back cover of the school calendar and again thanked Trustee Yanofsky for his swift action in bringing this to fruition.

Sculpture Garden

After much discussion and careful consideration, the Board regretfully did not approve request for Sculpture Garden on Library Plaza, on a motion by Trustee Furth, seconded by Trustee DeSoye. The Board felt that now was not the right time to pursue this idea, given new security concerns, courthouse construction underway and various cost considerations. The Board extended its appreciation and thanks to Eli Schoenberger, Norman Adler, White Plains Beautification and the Mayor for bringing forward this thought-provoking idea. The Board further agreed that a task force

or planning committee should be established consisting of representatives from the Library, City of White Plains, and White Plains Beautification to develop a "master plan" or, at the very least, a

wish list of what would be most desirable, reasonable to implement, manage and maintain on the Library Plaza. It was felt that this was an ideal time, given the time to completion of the courthouse project and strong community interest in developing the Plaza. Finally, the Board agreed to ask the Library Foundation to coordinate "naming opportunities" for outdoor space as well as indoor space at the Library. The Board felt strongly that size of gift for naming space, outdoors and indoors, should be consistently determined and should meet or exceed what taxpayers would contribute through operating and capital funds to create or maintain that space. As the idea for the Sculpture Garden was presented, all site improvement, maintenance, insurance, transportation and other costs would be borne by the taxpayers, initially and ongoing, except for a contribution by Beautification. This would not be sufficient to justify naming the Sculpture Garden in honor or memory of an individual.

Library Garage

The Board reviewed the Library Director’s 9/19/01 memorandum to Mayor Delfino requesting meeting regarding security in the Library, Garage and Plaza, and the Board strongly supported this request. Many questions were asked and concerns expressed about the closing of the Library Garage to the public, but it was felt that more time was needed to fully understand the scope of the problem and its implications. The Board asked the Library Director to carefully monitor issues of public safety and the impact of the Garage closing on the public and put this item back on the agenda for the next meeting.

Grants

On a motion by Trustee Elmiger, seconded by Trustee Geeslin, the Board authorized acceptance of a Parent and Child Services grant from New York State in the amount of $6,050 for the project "Read, Baby, Read," deposit the grant to the Gift Fund and expend it in accordance with grant guidelines.

Conference Attendance

The Board approved request for release time for Cassie Trace to attend the Guadalajara Book Fair under a combined scholarship from ALA and the Friends on a motion by Trustee Geeslin, seconded by Trustee Furth.

Policy revision: Collection Development

Mrs. Miranda distributed a proposed revision, and the Board agreed to review and consider at the next board meeting.

Main Library Number: 422-1400

The Board reviewed problems and solutions for the main Library number 422-1400 as presented. Library Director Miranda agreed to continue to explore a more satisfactory solution with Verizon. The Board approved solution #1 as presented on a motion by Trustee Yanofsky, seconded by Trustee Elmiger.

Library Opening Sunday 9/30

The Board approved the opening of the Library on Sunday, 9/30/01, due to postponement of the Mini-Grand Prix on a motion by Trustee Geeslin, seconded by Trustee Cox-Burns.

Adjournment

There being no more business before the Board, the meeting was adjourned at 9:40 p.m. on a motion by Trustee Geeslin, seconded by Trustee Elmiger.

Don Simmons, Secretary

Library Board of Trustees