LA CROSSE COUNTY LIBRARY BOARD MEETING MINUTES

July 2, 2008

Campbell Branch Library

Campbell Town Hall Meeting Room

2219 Bainbridge

La Crosse  WI  54603

4:47 PM

CALL TO ORDER:

Vice President Andrea Richmond called the meeting to order at 4:47 pm.

ROLL CALL:

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

APPROVAL OF THE MEETING AGENDA:

Motion by Barbara Manthei/Mary Bach Filla to approve the agenda as written.  MOTION carried unanimously with two absent, Loren Caulum and George Varnum.

PUBLIC INPUT:

No public input at this time. 

SERVICE RECOGNITION:

Andrea Richmond presented Deen Layland with a pin and a card for her 30^th anniversary with the County Library.  

APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES:

Motion by Mary Bach Filla/Barbara Manthei to approve the June 4, 2008 minutes.  MOTION carried unanimously with two absent, Loren Caulum and George Varnum.

APPROVAL OF JULY 2008 EXPENDITURES:

The most recent billing from the Information Technology Department for printing expense was somewhat lower than the previous billing, but still higher than Chris’s expectations. Motion by Barbara Manthei/Fred Marini to approve July 2008 expenditures. MOTION carried unanimously with two absent, Loren Caulum and George Varnum.

George Varnum arrived at 4:55.

Fred Marini asked his school district’s IT person about the cost for printing in Mindoro; it is about 7¢ a page for color printing and includes toner and maintenance but not the cost of the printer.

La Crosse County charges 35¢ a page for color toner, maintenance and the cost of the printer, but, though the Library is open evenings and Saturdays, IT is currently not available for troubleshooting at these times.

ACCOUNT ADJUSTMENT:

The amount of money budgeted for printing will be exceeded during the fiscal year but Finance suggests waiting to make any adjustments.

ANNUAL AWARD NOMINATIONS AND RECEPTION:

Chris would like to use the same caterer as last year since the service and food were good and the price was reasonable.  Social time will be at 5:30 with the award ceremony beginning at 6:00 PM on September 12, 2008, in the West Salem meeting room.

The nominations for awards were as follows:

     Partner/Corporation/Organization of the Year:  

         La Crosse Sign Company was the only nomination.  Paul Fuchsel is the owner.

Motion by Andrea Richmond/Glenn Seager to accept La Crosse Sign Company for the Corporation of the Year award.  MOTION carried with 5 in favor, Fred Marini, Andrea Richmond, Mary Bach Filla, Glenn Seager and Barbara Manthei; one no, George Varnum; and one absent, Loren Caulum.  George feels signs are visual pollution.

     Teacher of the Year:

         Ronald Brown, principal of St. Paul’s Lutheran School in Bangor. 

            St. Paul’s has won many library awards over the past years.  Mr. Brown is a great library enthusiast.

         Therese Pudenz, teacher at West Salem Elementary School.

            She brought her 3^rd grade class to clean up the grounds of the West Salem Library.

Motion by Glenn Seager/Fred Marini to accept Principal Ronald Brown for the Teacher of the Year award.  MOTION carried unanimously with one absent, Loren Caulum.

     Volunteer of the Year:

         Bangor:          No nomination at this time.

         Campbell:       Lois Caulum is a founding member of the Friends of the Campbell Library group and still very active.

         Holmen:         Ilamae Beach is a former page who moved away but is back in the area temporarily and volunteering her time.

         Onalaska:       1) Nancy Mitzey is presently employed at Onalaska as a page.  She has taken full responsibility for caring for the Youth Services turtle, coming in on her own time to clean the aquarium.  She also delivers books to the homebound.

                              2) Caroline Heiser is a retired school librarian.  She works on displays; searches for lost items; and monitors puppets, displays, and Reader’s Advisory binders.

         West Salem:   Inger Michael makes herself available on a regular basis for whatever duties are asked of her including dusting and cleaning.  She is also a regular library user.

Motion by Barbara Manthei/Fred Marini to accept Caroline Heisler as Volunteer of the Year for Onalaska.  MOTION carried unanimously with one absent, Loren Caulum.

Motion by Mary Bach Filla/Barbara Manthei to accept the nominees for Campbell, Holmen and West Salem as nominated.  MOTION carried unanimously with one absent, Loren Caulum.

     Patron/Family of the Year:

         Bangor:          Virginia Horstman is cheerful, upbeat, a member of the Friends of the Bangor Library, and a regular library user.

         Campbell:       Cindy Miller uses the library as a resource for her Girl Scout troop, promotes the library to school parents, and enjoys having access to the library catalog to place frequent holds.          

         Holmen:         Anna, Caleb, Collin, Corrie and Carolyn Obgartel, the children are involved in library programs year-round, especially Summer Reading Program.

         Onalaska:       J., Sally, Jansen, Jaxon and Jaylin Dobbins are all avid users of all aspects of the library, children’s and adult materials, computers, and youth programs.

         West Salem:   1) Lance, Robyn, Josiah and Naomi Loeffelholz are regular users of the library with teenagers who are well versed in library use.

                              2) Lucinda Gray is a regular library user, rain or shine, with children who also use the library often.

Motion by Barbara Manthei/Fred Marini to accept the Loeffelholz family at Family of the Year for West Salem.  MOTION carried unanimously with one absent, Loren Caulum.

Motion by Fred Marini/Barbara Manthei to accept the nominees for Bangor, Campbell, Holmen and Onalaska as nominated.  MOTION carried unanimously with one absent, Loren Caulum.

LIBRARY BOARD MEETING DAY AND TIME REVIEW:

No change was made to the time or day of the meetings. All members expressed a desire to keep the meetings moving quickly.

WRLS REPORT:

OCLC costs are increasing so the cost per item record to the libraries will also increase.  Station fees are not changing.

David Polodna, WRLS Director, is planning to visit each county with the goal of renewing the WRLS contracts with them. 

Fred wanted to emphasize the fact that even as fees for WRLS services have gone up, many of the services WRLS provides have been eliminated:  printing, rotating collection, and some inter-library delivery.

MINDORO & FARMINGTON UPDATE:

A newsletter was sent out to the general public with information about the progress on the library. 

The Mindoro Cut 100^th Anniversary Celebration drew an estimated 1,000 people and was considered a great success. 

The Friends of the Mindoro Library received an Honorable Mention in the 2008 Wisconsin Community Leadership Award. 

The Friends intend to find a person versed in construction costs to help them get an estimate of what it will cost to renovate each of the two buildings they are looking at.

FACILITY AND COMMUNITY UPDATES:

Market & Johnson, contractors for the addition and renovation at the Onalaska Library, will pay for the water damage resulting from last month’s rain.  A gutter was erected to prevent additional damage.

The Village of Holmen does not want to lease property so the suggestion of moving to the Holmen Square Mall will not be considered.  The Village is looking into purchasing land. 

FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS:

2009 Budget

Information Technology will be asked to send someone to the next meeting to answer questions about printing costs.

ADJOURNMENT: Meeting was adjourned at 5:40 pm.

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