LA CROSSE COUNTY LIBRARY BOARD MEETING MINUTES

April 4, 2007

Onalaska Public Library Meeting Room

741 Oak Ave. S. Onalaska WI  54650   

4:48 PM

CALL TO ORDER:

President Loren Caulum called the meeting to order at 4:48 pm.

ROLL CALL:

Board members, Loren Caulum, Fred Marini, Andrea Richmond, George Varnum, and Barbara Manthei were present.  Glenn Seager was excused, Mary Bach Filla was absent.  

APPROVAL OF THE MEETING AGENDA:

Motion by Andrea Richmond/Barbara Manthei to approve the agenda.  MOTION carried unanimously, with one excused, Glenn Seager, and one absent, Mary Bach Filla.

APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES:

Motion by Barb Manthei/Andrea Richmond to approve the minutes as published.  MOTION carried unanimously, with one excused, Glenn Seager, and one absent, Mary Bach Filla.

MARCH 2007 EXPENDITURES:

The Village of West Salem reimbursed the library $430 for magazine subscriptions for 2007.

Motion by Andrea Richmond/Fred Marini to approve March expenditures.  MOTION carried unanimously, with one excused, Glenn Seager, and one absent, Mary Bach Filla.

WEST SALEM SERVICE HOURS:  

West Salem’s open hours on Fridays are from 12:00 – 6:00 p.m.  Chris says there is very little traffic from 5:00-6:00 p.m.  She would like to change the hours to 11:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. 

Motion by Fred Marini/Andrea Richmond to change the Friday hours to 11:00 am – 5:00 p.m. with a May 1, 2007 start date.  The change will be published on the Web site.  MOTION carried unanimously, with one excused, Glenn Seager, and one absent, Mary Bach Filla.

LPL’s FOUNDER’S DAY:

La Crosse Public Library will celebrate its annual Founder’s Day on Friday, April 20, 2007 from 5:30-7:30 p.m.  La Crosse County Library will be awarded the Public Library’s City/County Cooperation Award for the long record of cooperation between the County and the City libraries.

CERTIFICATION UPDATE:

Chris’s Library Director’s Certification is due for renewal in January 2008.  She feels she can get the remaining 16 hours of continuing education she needs through normal in-state activities this year.  The fee for recertification is $65.00.

MAY MEETING LOCATION:

Onalaska’s meeting room will be in use by Youth Services as they prepare for the Summer Reading Program so the Library Board will meet in the Mindoro Elementary School cafeteria at 4:45 p.m.

FACILITY AND COMMUNITY UPDATES:

Chris passed out gifts to the board members.  They were small notebooks with post-it notes and pens; the same gifts that were given to all the volunteers throughout the five libraries.

Voters in the Town of Holland and the Village of Holmen passed the referendum to support a new library in Holmen.  The vote failed in the Town of Onalaska.

Youth Services staff is working on a rearrangement of the children’s space in West Salem to make the children’s desk more available to the public.  The new arrangement will also free up more space for adult books.

There were 12 candidates for the position of West Salem’s branch manager.  Three candidates stood out, two of them from within the library and one from the general public.

Patrons have expressed their appreciation of the neon Open/Closed sign located on the street in front of the West Salem library.  It is no longer difficult to tell when the library is open to the public. 

The Friends of the Campbell Library are planning their Spring Book Sale/Bake Sale.

The Village of Bangor is putting up a new outdoor sign for the library.  As was decided in the municipal agreements, the sign will include the words “La Crosse County.”

In Onalaska Katewin is trying some new strategies and doing some re-organizing.

West Salem, Holmen and Onalaska now have locked cases for all Audio Visual materials.

The Friends of the Mindoro Library are looking into grants for libraries.  There is some question as to whether it qualifies as a “Rural Area.” 

FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS: 

2008 Budget.

Union Contract.  If the board ratifies the contract, which contains reclassifications for Library staff,  there will be an increase in salaries beyond the amount budgeted for 2007.  The County may cover the difference from the General Fund.

ADJOURNMENT: 

Meeting was adjourned at 5:40 pm.

RECORDED BY: 

Judy Jamesson.  Minutes may be amended or changed at the next meeting.