Minutes 07-22-15The Library Advisory Board meeting was called to order at 4:00 p.m. by Chair Jeannie Taylor. All board members
were present except for Valerie Pleasanton, Laurie Sulzer and Lesha Roundtree.
Tracy Tebo, a new Board Member was introduced to the Board.
The meeting minutes from June 2015 were tabled.
Correspondence: None.
Public Audience: None.
CITY OF BOYNTON BEACH
Boynton Beach City Library
Library Advisory Board Minutes
July 22, 2015
Chair's Report: Ms. Taylor shared copies of her script she used at a recent city commission meeting that
discussed the value of the library, the needs of our community, and the need for a Digital Services Librarian. She
also let them know that our book budget has not been increased and the library needs to reopen on Fridays.
Unfinished Business:
The budget was discussed. The Library Director stated he is creating a full -time librarian position out of three part -
time positions. This still needs final approval in the budget.
There will be a cut of about $18,000 in State Aid to Public Libraries next fiscal year for our library due to the State
Legislative decisions. To reopen on Fridays, it would cost the city about $150,000 to rehire positions that were cut
during the recession. This would need approval of the City Commission.
There is one vacant PT Library Aide position. One recently hired staff member left for a full -time position
elsewhere.
There were 52 people that downloaded 621 songs from Freegal, up 201% from last year. Overdrive there were
Over 500 checkouts and we signed up 15 new users. The Unique Management Collection Services report was also
distributed to the board. The library has submitted $113,000 in accounts since its inception. In addition, the
program has recovered over $32,000 in materials and cash. We pay $8.92 to submit an account and charge a $10
administrative fee to the patron. This is a budget neutral program. The ROI is 3:1.
Transparent Languages stats since its inception had 416 sessions. English for French speakers is the number one
language being sought out. Also, Spanish, Italian and German are very popular. The library has marketed the
product very well and we are getting good usage.
The library will be getting three AmeriCorps members. Two will be returning and one new person will teach ESL
classes.
Zinio (electronic magazines) there were 69 checkouts throughout the consortium for the month of June 2015.
Rolling Stone is the most popular title. Most use of the database was by BBCL patrons.
All Data is our car repair database. There was one use during the month of June.
Learning Express is a database that has test preparation tools for ACT, SAT, Firefigher, GED, Nursing, etc. There
are also 19 free computer courses. There were 76 sessions in June.
Adopt a Magazine program is in effect.
Craig discussed some new statistics. All Data stats are emailed to the library each month. In April the database
was used 40 times. The library has had this database for a number of years. You simply type in the year and make
of your car. The database gives auto repair detail.
Learning Express offers college prep tests, nursing exams, GED, eBooks and more. The total number of resources
used since Octoberl through April was 320. In April 2015 there were 79 resources used.
In June there were 5,842 hits to the library's website Boyntonlibrary.org.
eSequels is a database that patrons can look up author series titles. There were eight logons in June. The cost to the
library is $30 per year.
New Business: The library will be purchasing a 3 -D Printer to use in controlled programming, specifically with
kids and adult programming. Kids will learn STEM and dimensions. We will also be lending iPads in house to
adults. A policy will be brought to the board in September for review. Patrons can use the Wi -Fi and print
wirelessly from the iPads. There may be future grant dollars from Comcast to hold more computer classes in the
future.
Ms. Matthews discussed an interesting book titled Bibliotech: Why Libraries Matter More than ever in the age of
Google by John Palfrey. It discusses libraries of the future and technology.
Library Director's Report: The monthly report for April 2015 was discussed. We are getting quotes from
vendors to digitize the library's oral history collection. We have over 60 oral histories that we hope to share on our
website down the road. Susan Swiatosz is hosting a poster session at the SEFLIN technology conference. It
reviews how we partnered with other organizations to digitize a complete set of brown wrappers from the 80s.
The cafe is closed. Subway submitted an RFQ and is interested in a space. The finance director is currently
negotiating with Subway.
Sunshine Library cards are available to our patrons through SEFLIN. It allows one to get a free library card at
FAU, Palm Beach State College and the School District of Palm Beach County. More than 110 patrons have taken
advantage of this program to date.
Ms. Tebo mentioned that she has non - profit contacts. They would be thrilled to host programs here at the library.
Mr. Clark will arrange a meeting between Karen Abramson and Ms. Tebo to discuss possibilities.
Notes to Forgotten Solider get a good response from our patrons. The organization gives us great feedback.
The next Library Board meeting is September 23, 2015 at 4:00 p.m. in Conference Room A.
The meeting adjourned at 5:00 p.m.
Craig Clark, Library Director for Valerie Pleasanton, Secretary