Board of Directors Meeting Minutes, December 17, 2013

Attention: This post is over 2 years old and the information may be out of date.Attention: This post is over 2 years old and the information may be out of date.

Agenda

Tuesday, December 17, 2013, 9 a.m.

Harold Washington Library Center
400 S. State Street
Multi-Purpose Room, Lower Level
  1. Approval of the minutes of the regular meeting on November 19, 2013 (action required)
  2. Amendment to the Chicago Public Library Bylaws (action required)
  3. Dissolution of the Facilities Committee (action required)
  4. Schedule of Requisitions, Contracts and Licenses (action required)
  5. Commissioner’s Report (info only)
  6. Other Business
  7. Questions and comments from the audience

Next Board meeting:
Tuesday, January 14, 2014, 9 a.m.

Harold Washington Library Center
400 S. State Street
Multi-Purpose Room, Lower Level

Open Session Minutes

Board Members in Attendance

Physically Present

  • Linda Johnson Rice
  • Cristina Benitez
  • Christopher P. Valenti
  • Barbara Bowman
  • Josephine Gomez
  • Lynn Lockwood
  • Chaka Patterson
  • Jodi Block

Present by Means of Video or Audio Conference

  • None

Absent

  • None

Approval of Minutes

The Board voted (8-0) to approve the open session minutes of the November 19, 2013 meeting.

Amendment to the Bylaws of the Chicago Public Library Board of Directors and Dissolution of the Facilities Committee

The Board proposed an amendment to the Bylaws of the Chicago Public Library Board of Directors that would dissolve the Facilities Committee and allocate the responsibilities of that Committee to the full Board. This would allow the entire Board to be more engaged and informed of the activities surrounding the design, planning & construction and maintenance & repair of all branch facilities including the Central Library in place of assigning select members of the Board to supervise these actions.

The Board voted (8-0) to approve the Bylaw amendment and dissolve the Facilities Committee.

Schedule of Requisitions, Contracts and Licenses

Andrew Medlar, Assistant Commissioner of Collections, gave an overview and requested approval of five E-Content licensing agreements and letters of agreement that included: Cengage Learning, a database which hosts two collections of content including digitized articles from reference books; JSTOR, a database of digitized back issues of academic journals; Proquest, a database of information about magazines and journals; Bowker which includes information about books; and Creative Empire, a language learning site for adults.

The Board voted (8-0) to approve the renewal of the above mentioned licensing agreements and letters of agreement.

Commissioner’s Report

Design Teams

Taylor Bayless (Team Teen), John Glynn (Team Play) and Emily Faulkner (Team Co-working) gave individual presentations on their area of the human centered design pilot project. The purpose of this pilot is to discover alternative ways for patrons to utilize the spaces within in the Library through different programming, rearranging spaces within the Library, creating different activities and adding more features.

Commissioner Bannon reported on several past and present activities occurring at the Library that included the Winter Learning Challenge taking place Dec 16-January 5 and designed to encourage kids to continue learning during the winter break; CPL hosted the Nelson Mandela Condolence book Dec 7th-13th; the HWLC Holiday Concert Series which occurred Dec 3rd -13th and entertained over 600 patrons; a report from the Pew Research Center that described how Americans value public libraries; and announced the 2014 Chicago Public Library Board of Directors meeting schedule.

Other Business

None

Questions and Comments from the Audience

None

Attachment A: Commissioner's Report

December 17, 2013
Board of Directors Meeting
Guests: Taylor Bayless, Mark Kaplan, John Glynn (Design Teams)

Winter Learning Challenge

The Library and CPLF Foundation are sponsoring the second Winter Learning Challenge from December 16-January 5.  Kids from 3-18 are invited to explore the environment around them and keep track of their activities on the Winter Learning Challenge log in order to be entered to win an eReader.  Following Neighborhood Nature theme related to winter in the city, kids can Read (20 minute a day for 5 days of winter break), Discover new information by doing one of the suggested activities, and Create a story, piece of art or other design challenge inspired by “Neighborhood Nature.”

This program keeps kids learning over the out of school time break.

Nelson Mandela

The Harold Washington Library Center hosted the Nelson Mandela Condolence book with representatives from the South African Consulate from December 7-13.

HWLC Holiday Concerts

Attendance totaled 621 attendees for this year's 2 week Holiday Concert Series:

  • Dec. 3, Lincoln ParkHigh School Chamber Singers, 113
  • Dec. 4, Schurz High School Advanced Mixed Chorus, 45
  • Dec. 5, CurieHigh School Mixed Chorus, 74
  • Dec. 6, RooseveltUniversity Singers, 100
  • Dec. 10, members of The Chicago Gay Men’s Chorus, 101
  • Dec. 11, Orr Academy High School Beginning Choir, 80 (a young man enrolled at the School of the Art Institute sketched the choir as they performed and presented it to the Choir Director)
  • Dec. 12, The Pippins madrigal choral group, 55
  • Dec. 13, The Chicago Chapter of the American Recorder Society, 53

Pew Research Center Report: How Americans Value Public Libraries in Their Community

Pew Research Center’s Library Services Survey of 6,224 Americans ages 16 and older conducted July 18-Sept 30, 2013. The report is part of a larger research effort by the Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project that is exploring the role libraries play in people’s lives and in their communities and is underwritten by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

Statistics described include:

  • 94% say that having a public library improves the quality of life in a community.
  • Some 90% of Americans ages 16 and older said that the closing of their local public library would have an impact on their community.
  •  56% of internet users without home access say public libraries basic technological resources (such as computers, internet and printers) are “very important” to them and their family, compared with 33% of all respondents.

2014 Board of Directors Meeting Schedule:

  • Jan 14th
  • March 18th
  • April 15th
  • May 20th – Sulzer Regional Library
  • June 17th
  • September 16th – Woodson Regional Library
  • October 14th – West Chicago Branch Library
  • November 18th
  • December 16th