Minutes of the Meeting of May 9, 2007

The regular meeting of the Board of Trustees, held for this month only in the Carnegie Building, was called to order at 5:05 p.m. Trustee Chairman Dr. Darter, Lynda Burton, Julie Dickson, and Bonnie Long were present, as were Library Director Larry Hlavsa, Bobbie Vierra, Friends of the Library president Dolores Torrigino, and Bob Brownscombe. Design consultants Bev Moris and Kathy Page participated in a portion of the meeting.

A motion to approve the consent items was seconded and passed. The minutes of the meeting of April 4 were approved as submitted.

Library Director’s Report

Interior re-design project. Comments during this last review by the trustees of the proposal included appreciation of the staff’s excellent contributions during the process. Consultant Kathy Page believes that the proposed reconfigurations will provide our library with features and efficiencies of new libraries currently being designed from the ground up. It was moved, seconded, and voted unanimously that the trustees accept the final Page + Moris report. The next step is submission to the City Council, to be followed by designation of architects and development of construction costs.

FY 2007-2008 Budget. Larry reported that the budget will be largely status quo, with increases reflecting only new microfilm readers and self-check equipment.

NVWL Collection Policy. Slight modifications, to come back to the trustees after review by the NVWLA board, will underscore the distinction between management of the NVWL collection, a part of the overall library holdings, and of the other various activities of the NVWL association.

St. Helena Public Library Foundation. On behalf of the subcommittee, Lynda introduced the mission statement it has drafted:

The mission of the St. Helena Public Library Foundation is to strengthen the ability of the George and Elsie Wood Public Library to serve our community by raising funds to support the library and enhance library services; to promote the use of library resources, enthusiasm for reading and increased literacy for all St. Helena residents.

The subcommittee is in the process of drafting bylaws and resolving issues such as clarification of permissible connectedness between the trustees and the foundation. The trustees applauded the subcommittee on its work to date.

Maintenance issues. The interior is in good shape since the hiring of contract maintenance help (i.e. Maria). HVAC issues are being addressed. Dr. Darter reported a productive meeting with city staff. Pursuant to a library staff suggestion, a new bench will be placed on the concrete pad recently installed in front of the building.

Friends of the Library. Dolores distributed the Friends Treasurer’s Report of March 31st. The Friends have agreed to finance the replacement of missing sign letters and cleaning of the existing ones. The group’s annual meeting will be July 22nd or 29th at the library.

Wine Library Association. Julie announced two new NVWLA directors: Gene Kirkham and Morgan Morgan. The 2007 Bob Lamborn Scholar is Efrain Barragan, a lifetime local resident currently working in marketing at Casa Nuestra Winery.

Historical Society. There was no report in Gwen Becker’s absence.

The meeting adjourned at 6:05 p.m.