Board of Trustees
Pierce County Library System
Regular Meeting, October 21, 2009
Call To Order
Chair Eugene Matsusaka called to order the regular meeting of the Pierce County Rural Library District Board of Trustees on October 21, 2009, 3:37 pm. Board members present were Steve Albers, J.J. McCament, Allen Rose and Budd Wagner.
Public Comment
Harlan Zinck: Mr. Zinck read a prepared statement to the Board regarding library administration recommendations to the Board to balance the 2010 budget of estimated expenditures and revenues and the probability of staff layoffs included in those recommendations. Mr. Zinck noted that the fourteen job classifications targeted would impact 50 staff members. Mr. Zinck reviewed past budgets noting, in particular, the amount spent and allocated for “professional services.” He suggested there were other areas in the budget that could be cut in order to retain jobs. He also questioned why public services staff rather than managerial staff was targeted for layoff. [A copy of the statement is included in the official minutes.]
Jill Cartwright: Ms. Cartwright notes that she works at the Bonney Lake branch and came to the Board meeting on her lunch break. She feels that that there has been a lack of communication within the library system, particularly in the last two years. Although she has asked several specific questions, she does not feel she gets a timely or adequate response. She also noted that although the library is supposed to be a learning organization, she has been unable to take classes because of short staffing at the branches. Ms. Cartwright spoke to her particular concern with the change from ‘patrons’ to ‘customers’. She feels that library users are patrons of the library and not its customers. She stated that library staff are taxpayers as well. She stated that she is proud to be a library employee (4 years this November). She stated that many people losing their jobs have worked in the library for 15+ years and that the library and staff are an extension of the community. She noted again her concern about the use of the word customer, stating that with customers there is no ownership. She questioned if changing those words change how the future of the library system will look at patrons, who are our tax base.
Charlene Scott: Ms. Scott noted that the Board members are more interested in numbers and can’t be involved with sympathy. She stated that she has been in her position for18 years and felt that she was 100% committed to the library and the community. She noted that her family had suffered a double homicide and the library would have allowed her to use some of her 5 months of sick leave to attend the estimated month-long trial. If she is laid off, she won’t have the option and it will be impossible to look for or accept another job while the trial is on. When she needed the library, it is not there for her. She stated that she is 58 years old and at the end of her pay scale. She believes that what is really happening is that the library is laying off older people who are at the top of the pay scale.
Sandy Thornton: Ms. Thornton noted that she has been with the library for 22 years and will be able to retire at the end of the year. She attended the Board meeting and was speaking in support of her fellow employees. She knows how hard they work. She stated that the library is about relationships and community. As a taxpayer, she owns part of the library and she wants it to be about relationships and community and asked that the Board please take that into consideration during their deliberations.
Chair Matsusaka asked if there was anyone in the audience who wished to make comments to the Board and had not signed in. Hearing no response, he thanked those who spoke to the Board and closed the public comment portion of the agenda.
Consent Agenda
1. Minutes of the September 9, 2009 Regular Meeting of the Board of Trustees
2. September 2009 Payroll, Benefits and Vouchers in the total amount of $$1,976,706.25
a. Payroll Warrants 2849 - 2859 dated 09/01/09 – 09/30/09 in the amount of $8,201.62
b. Payroll Disbursement Voucher dated 09/04/09 in the amount of $556,403.68
c. Payroll Disbursement Voucher dated 09/21/09 in the amount of $551,740.07
d. Disbursement voucher – Acct Payable dated 09/21/09 in the amount of $3,088.49
e. Accounts Payable Warrants: 608437 - 608691 dated 09/01/09 – 09/30/09 in the amount of $857,272.39
Mr. Rose moved for approval of the consent agenda and Mr. Albers seconded the motion. Ms. McCament noted that the listings on pages 3 – 8 of vouchers listing did not include the name of the vendors. Dale Hough and Adrian Smith reported that the vendor was Mid-West Tape, who invoiced separately for each order. The payment program did not carry the name through for each individual invoice, but all were sequentially listed.
Chair Matsusaka then called for the vote and the consent agenda was approved unanimously.
Board Member Reports
There were no Board member reports.
Officer Reports
Inter-Library Loan: Chair Matsusaka asked the cost of inter-library loan transactions. Sharon Lavell reported that the cost is approximately $6.00 - $7.00 per transaction. Due to efficiencies, the cost is the same as it was ten years ago. Chair Matsusaka asked if items requested were mostly fiction or non-fiction. Ms. Lavell responded that it is a mix of both. Some are specialized or technical items and some are requested to complete a series by a particular author. In response to his question about the total cost of the program, she responded that it was under $100,000, with the majority of the cost for staffing.
Public Library Association Conference: Ms. Parikh encouraged Board members to attend the Public Library Association Conference to be held in Portland, Oregon this year.
Facilities Master Plan Collaborative Communities Plan: Ms. Parikh has been meetings with mayors and city staff to learn more about what is happening in their communities. Mr. Albers asked what structure is being developed to use in the decision-making process. Ms. Parikh responded that before a structure is developed, such as was done with the levy lid lift effort, staff will consult with the Board. The focus now is keeping the community informed, getting feedback on the draft plan and sharing the library’s learnings.
Audit: Dale Hough, Finance Manager, reported that the library is undergoing its semi-annual audit from the Washington State Auditor’s Office. The audit period is January 1 – 2007 – December 31, 2009. An entrance interview with the auditors was held today. The audit will evaluate accountability and compliance with state laws and regulations in cash receipting, payroll, disbursements, safeguarding of public resources, open public meetings act, conflict of interest and budget compliance. He noted that the auditors were very complimentary about how the library complies with the public open meetings act by announcing the purpose of executive sessions both on the written agenda prior to the meeting and verbally during the meeting. As a new requirement, the auditors will report to the board if there are any significant difficulties encountered during the audit. The exit interview will be held in February 2010 and a board member should be present. Mr. Albers volunteered to attend the exit interview. The field assignment will take approximately 4 – 6 weeks. Mr. Hough noted that the library strives to be accountable and so he does not expect any surprises or negative findings.
University Place: Ms. Parikh distributed compliance documents from University Place that were inadvertently left out of the Board packet. After review of the documents, PCLS attorney Bill Holt suggests that additional information be requested from the city. Lorie Erickson distributed photos of construction progress.
Daily Delivery: Georgia Lomax noted that the change to daily delivery of materials at all branches is an example of how the library is implementing process improvements which provide efficiencies and improve customer service. Branch staff and delivery staff worked together to make the plan viable.
City of Roy: Ms. Parikh reported that due to budget constraints, the City of Roy intended to close its library in September. A group of teens raised the funds to keep it open for minimal hours. The library system used to operate a branch in Roy, but closed many years ago due to revenue shortfall. Bookmobile service was available through a contract with the city, but the city choose to terminate the contract.
Summer Reading Program: Judy Nelson reported that the library carefully track hours read, but is unable to track the exact number of children participating in the program. The target audience is K through 3rd grade. Staff is continuing to work on a method to get a better head count of participants. Ms. Parikh and Ms. Nelson have been attending Rotary meetings to share results and thank them for their partnership in funding the program. Mr. Albers asked if childcare facilities were served in the summer reading program. Judy noted that the number of children in summer daycare facilities (after school age children) has increased and staff is monitoring the trends. Mr. Albers asked how much of the program is funded through the Pierce County Library Foundation. Approximately 50% of the program cost is funded by the Foundation. The program costs approximately t $30,000 - $35,000 and does not include staffing costs.
Pierce County READS: Chair Matsusaka asked if PCLS has approached Tacoma Public Library to conduct a joint Pierce County READS program. Mary Getchell responded that Tacoma Public Library has been approached several times and declined. It was her understanding that the library felt city residents would prefer to read a different kind of book than county residents. In addition, the mayor of the city chooses the book for the Tacoma program.
Unfinished Business
1. Facilities Master Plan: Aligning Service and Facility Recommendations with Funding: David Schnee and Dawn Merkes appeared before the Board to present an overview of the structure of the plan in developing recommendations. Ms. Parikh stated that the process has been very valuable. Originally, the goal was to see where the library should grow. Now, the library has a clear vision of what and where the library should be in the future. The process has strengthened relationships with cities. She noted that that Group 4 had done excellent work.
Using a PowerPoint presentation, Mr. Schnee presented recommendations and the corresponding funding alignment. The recommendations are geared to be flexible, recognizing that the plan will not be put in action for several years. Ms. Merkes spoke to the implementation process, noting that it is also intended to be adaptable. The steps outlined could occur in a 3-year phase or concurrently. The basic plan includes a 10-year plan for build out, to incorporate land purchase, design and construction phases.
The base line for the plan is to ensure that library service is equitable throughout the service area. Every branch would provide of full range of services, scaled to the population figure. General obligation bonds would be the primary revenue, so appropriate assessed valuations must be gauged and as it is a 10-year plan, considerations must include projected assessed valuation growth rates. Consideration must also be given to the level of funding voters are willing to approve. In addition, the library could solicit donations and funding from foundation.
Mr. Schnee presented the building blocks for recommendations. All recommendations are population based. Service level considerations including collection size, seats and technology recommended on a per capita basis. Regarding facilities, there will be a small range of options at varying cost for individual projects. The recommendations for quality of facilities are based on guidelines for durability, maintenance, flexibility efficiency and sustainability. The cost model of the plan in 2010 dollars is $310 million.
Clifford Jo reported that he had worked with a consultant to develop an overview of the future revenue and to look at bond capacities. The assessed value of the land is important in determining the bond level. In 2010-2011, assessed value is projected to go down -5%, with a 3% maximum growth per year. It was recommended that the bond funds be a consistent amount for a 20-year period. The Facilities Master Plan notes that the assessed range is $68 - $83 per household and the recommendation is to assess $77 per household. The plan also projects $1 million received in grants and donations. Future partnerships could affect this figure.
Georgia Lomax noted that in working to develop the plan, it was vital to determine what the library could support on an ongoing basis. In a different economy, the library might wish to move forward with the plan, but will instead use the extra time to develop service improvements identified by the plan that it can do now. Staff is looking at single service desk in branches, staffing patterns and service zones. The library knows that it must stay alert to technologies and services that will free staff to work more directly with the public and remove tasks that inhibit that interaction, such as a recent change to booking meeting room space online through a customer’s home computer or on a library computer. The new University Place Library design has been changed to use some of these service point findings. This will be an on going process. Every time the library makes a change in how it operates today, that change will impact the future and future planning.