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| Norwalk Public Library Board of Directors Meeting Minutes |
SEPTEMBER 6, 2007
ATTENDANCE: Stan Siegel, President; Mary Mann, Vice President; Mary Pugh, Treasurer;
Mohan Tracy; Charles McMullen; Regina Krummel; Lori Toranno; Jannie Williams
(7:10 p.m.)
STAFF: Les Kozerowitz, Library Director; Frank Ferro, Assistant Director; David Hepworth
ABSENT: Grace Vetter, Secretary (arrived at time of adjournment)
The meeting was called to order at 7:00 by the President.
1. MINUTES OF AUGUST 2ND, 2007
** Mr. McMullen MOVED to APPROVE the minutes as submitted.
** Ms. Tracy SECONDED.
** Motion PASSED unanimously.
2. ANNOUNCEMENTS
Mr. Siegel reported that the bricks had arrived at the South Norwalk Branch Library and were being put in place this week in time for the upcoming celebration.
3. PRESIDENT’S REMARKS – (STAN SIEGEL)
Mr. Siegel said that in the interest of time, he would incorporate his remarks into the rest of the meeting.
4. LIBRARY DIRECTOR’S REPORT - (LES KOZEROWITZ)
a. Main Library Entranceway Project
Mr. Kozerowitz said that despite a small glitch the project was expected to
be completed on time. He said that construction was expected to begin tentatively
on Monday, September 17th and to last for a period of approximately three months,
during which time the north entrance (Belden Avenue) would have to be used.
b. Self Service Checkout
Mr. Kozerowitz said that there was a new self-service book checkout station
installed the week prior to this meeting at the circulation desk on the first
floor of the Library. He said that it would currently only check out books and
that other media would still be checked out at the desk by a staff person. Mr.
Kozerowitz said that the use of the new self checkout machine would be monitored
to gauge its popularity.
Mr. Siegel asked Mr. Kozerowitz to briefly explain the use of the self checkout
station.
Mr. Kozerowitz explained that one could take a book to the self checkout station and insert their library card into the machine much like an ATM. One would then be directed to slide the book under the scanner so that the machine could read the barcode and desensitize the book so that the security system would not be triggered by the book passing through it. Following that, one would remove their library card and receipt and could then leave. He said that was an intuitive process and hoped that once people were accustomed to using it, it would cut down on lines and eventually free the staff up to perform tasks which were difficult to complete while confined to the front desk.
Ms. Tracy added that she had just returned from Fort Wayne, Indiana and that the library there had several self service checkouts which worked very well.
Ms. Williams arrived at 7:05 p.m.
c. Other
Mr. Kozerowitz reported that the Library’s downloadable video service had been upgraded to include Hollywood hits and classic films. He said that the service good be accessed through the Library’s website by clicking a button for “My Library DV” on the right-hand side of the page. He said that the site would tell a visitor how to download the software which would only take a moment. He added that the videos could be viewed on a user’s computer or television, provided they had the proper connection. A user needed only to type in their library card number to gain access to a regularly updated database which included classic, new, and foreign films as well as travel and cooking videos.
Mr. Kozerowitz said that on Wednesday, September 19th, 2007 the Library would present a Libratechts workshop in conjunction with the Connecticut State Library Division of Development. He explained that this was a lecture series where public libraries could describe their building project to create an improved library facility and that the workshop would take place at the South Norwalk Branch and center around the renovation of the South Norwalk Branch Library. He said that it was intended for library personnel and architects and that most of the attendees would be people who were in the middle of or about to enter a building project of some sort. He said that their team of architects would be there to talk about some of the design challenges that they faced, Alan Lo, Norwalk’s Building & Facilities Manager would talk about the City's involvement in the process and Mr. Siegel would talk about fundraising.
Ms. Tracy asked what time of day this would be held. Mr. Kozerowitz answered that it would be held from 10:00 a.m. until noon.
5. NEW BUSINESS
a. Finance Committee Report (Mary Pugh)
Ms. Pugh had nothing to report.
b. Other
Ms. Krummel reported that Mayor Moccia would be attending the Saturday Poetry Workshop on September 29th from 2:00 p.m. until 4:00 p.m. at the South Norwalk Branch Library.
Mr. Siegel added that the Board would be working with Ms. Krummel in getting some very healthy publicity out to the press and to the library system about the event and that the Board would receive copies of the press release as soon as it was finalized so they would all be aware of the details of the workshop.
6. OLD BUSINESS
a. Norwalk Public Library Foundation Inc. (Stan Siegel)
Mr. Siegel said that the Norwalk Public Library Foundation, Inc. was currently comprised of the Norwalk Public Library Board and that he wanted to until further notice hold a short Norwalk Public Library Foundation meeting following the adjournment of each Norwalk Public Library Board meeting in case there was any business to transact.
He said that there would be no public stenographer at the Foundation meeting and because of that, Ms. Vetter would normally take minutes. Mr. Siegel noted that Ms. Vetter was not in attendance so asked Mr. Hepworth if he would be willing to take the minutes of that meeting of the Foundation. Mr. Hepworth agreed to do so.
b. South Norwalk Branch Library Reopening Anniversary Celebration
Mr. Siegel reported that the bricks had arrived that day and were inside the library and would be placed in the coming week. He said that the only minor challenge was the placement of a dozen or so bricks which had been requested by their purchasers to be placed next to each other and otherwise the bricks would be placed randomly.
Mr. Siegel showed the Board a copy of the invitation distributed for this event and reported that in addition to inviting all of the people who’d purchased a brick (of which there were 196) the Board Members would also get official invitations and so would about 75 additional people including Mayor Moccia, State Representatives, Chris Perrone and Bob Duff, Senator Chris Dodd, Congressman Chris Shays, Governor Jodi Rell, members of the press and people that were involved with and / or present at the actual Reopening Ceremony.
He said that the celebration would start with Mayor Richard A. Moccia re-cutting the ribbon, followed by an introduction of the officials and guests by the Mayor. A list of the 21st Century contributors which would also be printed in the event program would then be read. Following that, plaques would be affixed to the two lamp posts honoring the Klaff’s contribution and a plaque would be affixed to the flagpole honoring the Knights of Columbus contribution.
After that, they would unveil the brick walkway Pathway to the Future and the crowd would then meet the Norwalk Public Library Board of Trustees and attending staff and any attending Members of the Friends of the Norwalk Public Library.
Mr. Siegel said that thanks to the help of Mr. Ferro the Norwalk Symphony Youth Orchestra’s Not Just for Kids Concert would be held at 11:00 a.m. in the Library’s Community Room that Saturday so all the people who were there could be entertained by that concert.
Mr. Siegel reported that some refreshments would be served at the event and hopefully Stew Leonard's would provide them. He added that Wow the Cow or Stewie the Duck might be there to entertain any children attending .
Mr. Kozerowitz would announce the Saturday hours. He said that normally the hours on Saturdays would be 9:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., but on the day of the celebration the Library would open at the close of the ceremony. Mr. Kozerowitz would probably indicate to the public that the library would be open on Saturdays for as long as funding permitted, and more importantly as long as the public wanted them to be.
Mr. Siegel said that the Friends of the Norwalk Public Library would have a table at the celebration to recruit new members and to inform attendees of their upcoming book sale at the end of October.
He then said that he wanted a couple members to run a table for the Board with a big poster saying “BUY A BRICK” because there was still room for about 400 bricks. Mr. Siegel then asked the Members to indicate by a show of hands who would attend the event and they all raised a hand. Mr. Siegel said that the event would start at 10:00 a.m. and so if the members could arrive by 9:30 that would be ideal.
a. Marketing Report (Stan Siegel)
Mr. Siegel said that the Library continued to get a fair amount of press and as he’d communicated in StaffNews,
Robert Cook of The Norwalk Hour had written an article about the reopening celebration three weeks prior to this meeting. Mr. Siegel said that he hoped that The Hour would run another article closer to the date of the celebration but that enough people were invited that there would be a crowd there.
Ms. Pugh asked if something could be posted on the Library’s bulletin board advertising the event.
Mr. Siegel said that this was a good idea and that something could be posted that weekend, perhaps an enlarged version of the invitation that had been distributed.
b. Recent Events / Media Coverage
Mr. Siegel said that he’d sent out an article to the Board Members about the Career Coach event and that the director of the event said that it was the most popular Career Coach event that they’d had, virtually in the history of the event.
Mrs. Pugh asked if a press release should go out about the self checkout station.
Mr. Siegel said that a release had gone out about that and the updated downloadable video service.
c. ACLB Conference
Mr. Siegel stated that he attended a Connecticut Library Association (CLA) meeting that morning in Farmington, CT. He said that he was the Co Chair of the Development Committee and had the opportunity at that meeting to talk to the people there a little bit about some of the things that were happening at the Norwalk Public Library, including Libratects which Mr. Kozerowitz had mentioned.
He further discussed the Association of Connecticut Library Boards (ACLB) -- an organization that represented and helped to tie together public and association libraries in the state of Connecticut. He said that the ACLB hadn’t sought out members for the past two years and so hadn’t been very active in that time. He went on to say that he’d attended their Leadership Conference the previous year in Westbrook, Connecticut and was one of approximately twelve attendees.
He said that Mr. Kozerowitz had nominated him for Trustee of the Year and he was awarded that commendation but was not informed before the conference that he’d won and so he stood to an virtually empty room and said “Thank you.”
Since then he spoke to a couple of people at ACLB about that and with the help of Mr. Kozerowitz had become involved in the ACLB and they asked him to join the board in the previous year.
Mr. Siegel continued, saying that Dorothy Willett who had been part of the ACLB for about 30 years, and President for about 18 years had decided that she would retire on the condition that Mr. Siegel would replace her as President and so on Tuesday following this meeting, there would be an ACLB meeting at which Mr. Siegel would be elected President of the ACLB.
Mr. Siegel said that he’d taken the responsibility as he would be in a position to know a lot more about what was going on with libraries in the State for the good of the organization, the Library and for the good of this Board.
Mr. Siegel then reported that based on history, the Board and its Members were now also Members of the ACLB and they would all be receiving membership cards. He said that a membership application was included in the agenda packet for this meeting and that any Board Member who wanted to participate actively in the ACLB could join the ACLB as an individual trustee in addition to the Library and that any member of any library board in the state of Connecticut or virtually anyone involved in the library business in the state of Connecticut could attend the Leadership Conference on October 12.
He said that as a member of ACLB, anyone Board Member could attend the conference by paying a $45 registration fee and that he would entertain a motion that if any member wanted to attend the conference as a member for $45, that the Library Board pay his or her fee.
** Ms. Torrano MOVED to have the registration fee of any board member who elected
to attend the ACLB Leadership Conference paid for by the Norwalk Public Library
Board.
** Ms. Tracy SECONDED.
** Motion PASSED unanimously.
Mr. Siegel said that the ACLB also had an awards program which was what Mr. Kozerowitz had completed for him, resulting in his being commended as Trustee of the Year in 2006.
He said that members may know someone in the Library field that they wished to nominate for a commendation and they could do so. He then mentioned that he’d be discussing with Mr. Kozerowitz the possibility of honoring a benefactor of the Norwalk Public Library.
Ms. Toranno asked if the nominee had to be associated with a public library as opposed to a school library. Mr. Siegel answered that associates of school libraries were eligible for nomination.
5. ADJOURNMENT
** Ms. Torrano MOVED to adjourn.
** Mr. McMullen SECONDED.
** Motion PASSED unanimously.
The meeting was adjourned at 7:41 p.m.
Respectfully submitted subject to Board approval,
Grace Vetter, Secretary, Norwalk Public Library Board of Trustees
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