The meeting was called to order by President Teresa Clark at 8:30 a.m. Present were Teresa Clark, Eric Vath, Kristin, Wiebe, Sue Waite, Carol Holyoke, Library Director Bev Russell and Librarian Jana Kehn, who took notes.

A notice of the meeting had been published on September 5, 2008, in the Star Herald, a newspaper published and of general circulation in the city. The notice stated the date, hour and place of the meeting, that the meeting would be open to the public. Anyone with a disability desiring reasonable accommodation to attend the council meeting should contact the Library Director’s office. An agenda of the meeting, kept continuously current, was available for public inspection at the office of the Library Director. The Library Board could modify the agenda at the meeting if it is determined that an emergency so required. A similar notice, together with a copy of the agenda, also had been delivered to each Library Board member.

Teresa noted that a copy of the Nebraska Open Meetings Act was posted by the meeting room doors.

There were none.

There were none.

Carol Holyoke moved the approval of the Library Board minutes from August 13, 2008. Kristin Wiebe seconded.

Yes – Holyoke, Waite, Clark, Vath, Wiebe

No – None

The minutes were approved.

1. Library activities for August 2008 (See Board Packet)

Bev reported that she had not received the activity’s report from staff in time for the board meeting but would have it for next month. She did distribute the statistical report for the month of August. Statistics, however, are not available for the year-to-date at this time. All of this is caused by the move to a new automation system in February and the difficulty in running reports, caused by that change.

2. New Employees at the library.

The library has two new employees. Katie Hansen has been hired as a Library Technician. This is a part time position. The position was created as part of the budget reduction plan for the library when a fulltime Library Assistant position was divided into two part time Library Technician positions at a lower salary rate. Only one position will be filled until such time the city’s budget allows the library to return to a full staff. The library is also maintaining summer hours until the 4% budget reduction is no longer in effect.

Kindra Rossman has also been hired as a Library Page.

3. Broken window on west side of building.

Bev reported that a window on the west side of the library was broken when an eleven-year-old boy was accidentally locked in the library the Saturday before Labor Day. The boy panicked when he discovered he was locked in the library and broke the window out to escape. He did not realize that there were two doors in the rear of the library. He could have gone out through either one of them. He also did not think to try to use a phone.

Bev explained that at the end of the day the lights are flicked several times to warn people that the library is closing. Library Pages also walk throughout the building to see if anyone is still in the building. We don’t know where the boy was, but he said he was reading and just thought the lights went out because of a power outage. We have stressed with our pages the importance of checking carefully for anyone still in the building at closing

We will not replace the window at this time because of the expense and the hope that we will soon begin our expansion and remodel. The window has been boarded up.

4. Return on Investment workshop summary.

1. Report on the Request for Proposal (RFP) process for hiring an architect.

As part of the process of hiring an architect for the library building project, the City of Scottsbluff must open the project for bids from architects. Bev has prepared a RFP and submitted it for Council’s approval at their September 15, 2008 meeting. If Council approves it, the bid process will be announced in the StarHerald for three weeks and all proposals must be submitted to the City Clerk’s office by October 8, 2008. Council will also be discussing several options for the city to implement on future building projects. They are Design/Build and Construction Manager at Risk. Both have the possibility of saving the city money on construction projects but involve a lengthy process to implement. Bev was not sure if any of this would impact the library project.

2. Discussion regarding continued fundraising efforts

Kristin reported that she had tried to contact the billboard people but had not received the packet of information they had promised to send. She will try to make contact with them again. Teresa mentioned that Fiona Libsack works with the Lamar Billboard Company for the hospital. She will ask Fiona about contact information for them.

Sue said that she had visited with Maunette Loeks about the idea of having a library promotion in the paper each week, featuring a person reading and some slogan about the library. Maunette referred her to editor Steve Frederick. Steve said the paper couldn’t afford to give the library that much space for free. He didn’t think it would garner the library much in donations.

Eric said that if a business would sponsor an ad then the StarHerald would print it.

Kristin mentioned that is was an "artsy" way to promote the library.

Bev said that an approach to local businesses was an area the next phase of fundraising should explore in more depth. She and Deb were visiting with a prominent individual in the community, and this individual believed that there was still money available in the community from local businesses that had not yet been approached.

Kristin said we needed people who could approach businesses other than Board Members, and we needed to identify which businesses to approach.

Eric suggested that we should get the Foundation up and running.

Bev reported that she and Marj Mandujano had completed another grant application to the Ethel Abbott Charitable Trust. This grant focused on the Heritage Room.

3. Discussion regarding the Library Foundation and making it the fundraising arm of the library.