Board of Directors Meeting Minutes – January 19, 2016

Attention: This post is over 2 years old and the information may be out of date.Attention: This post is over 2 years old and the information may be out of date.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, January 19, 2016, 9:00 a.m.

Harold Washington Library Center

400 S. State Street

Lower Level Multi-Purpose Room

 

  1. Approval of the minutes of the regular meeting on December 15, 2015 (action required)
  2. Schedule of Requisitions, Contracts and Licenses (info only)
  3. Kelly Fund Budget Update (action required)
  4. CPL Capital Projects and Facilities Report (info only)
  5. Commissioner’s Report (info only)
    • Special Report: Grants to Support Talking Book Services
    • 1st Quarter Priority Projects
    • CPL 2015 Year End Review
    • Retirement: Greta Bever, Assistant Commissioner of Central Library Services
  6. Chicago Public Library Foundation Report (info only)
  7. Other Business
  8. Public Comment

 

Next Board meeting:

Tuesday, March 15, 2016, 9:00 a.m.

Harold Washington Library Center

400 S. State Street

Lower Level Multi-Purpose Room

 

 

Open Session Minutes

Physically Present:

Christopher Valenti, Josephine Gomez, Lynn Lockwood, Jodi Block, Barbara Bowman

Present by Means of Video or Audio Conference:

Absent:

Linda Johnson Rice, Denise Gardner, Chaka Patterson

 

Approval of the minutes (action required)

The Board voted (5-0) to approve the regular minutes of the December 15, 2015 Board of Directors meeting.

Schedule of Requisitions, Contracts and Licenses (info only)

Baronica Roberson, Deputy Commissioner of Administration and Finance presented the quarterly report on contacts and purchases made for magazines, books, databases, periodicals and articles of educational and instructional nature. For this quarter (Sept 1 - Dec 31, 2015) a total of 198 invoices were paid totaling $1,878,711.69 to various vendors.

Kelly Fund Budget Update (action required)

Baronica Roberson, Deputy Commissioner of Administration and Finance, presented the 2016 Kelly fund budget request. The budget request for 2016 totaled $62,922.13 and included $45,000 for Professional Development; $10,000 for Special Programs and Events; and a $7,922.13 carryover from the previous year.

The Board voted (5-0) to approve the 2016 Kelly Fund budget.

CPL Capital Projects and Facilities Report (info only)

Andrea Telli, Assistant Commissioner of Neighborhood Services, presented updates on the Independence branch and major maintenance/repair project as well as projects in planning:

Updates

  • Independence – J.C. Restoration Inc. has been hired by the City to manage the process of removing and cleaning the contents of the branch; work began on Jan 18th and will take approximately 4 weeks to inventory and clear the facility.
  • Maintenance/Repair Projects – Roofs at the Altgeld, Kelly and Daley branches are being repaired. Altgeld’s roof is 100% complete; Kelly’s roof is 50% complete; the roof at Daley has not yet been installed but material has been loaded, pending weather. Repairs due to flooding at the South Chicago branch are underway; cause of flooding in the basement is under investigation; relocation of community meeting room to first floor is in planning.

Projects in Planning

  • Legler – no changes
  • Austin – no changes
  • Douglass – Restroom drawings are complete and construction will begin in late January, permit pending.
  • Sulzer – Phase 1: Planning/timeline meeting for building envelope rehab was held 12/18/15; project kick-off meeting is scheduled for 2/8/16. Phase 2: (pending funding) mechanical upgrades to cooling tower, chiller, boiler, air handling unite and chemical and water treatment system; LED applicability and lighting upgrades; rehab of electrical systems including video and communication system; fire alarm system upgrades.
  • Woodson – Phase 1 and 2 are complete; Phase 3: complete envelope replacement including new roof, exterior walls and windows; upgrades to flooring, lighting, ceilings, and paint in lobby and other public areas; updated guardrails and handrails on monumental stairway; construction of two new glazed study rooms west of stairway on second floor. Joint community meeting with CPL, 2FM and DPS held 12/17/15. Anticipate the date to open the bid will be in Q1 2016. Phase 4: (pending funding) upgrades and renovation or auditorium; upgrade of parking lot.
    • January 2016: Design development
    • February-September: Construction
    • June-September: Phased openings
    • Advisory group members have been identified, kick-off meeting was held 12/18/15 with weekly meeting scheduled on Wednesdays
    • Design charrette scheduled for 2/10/16
    • Little Village and West Pullman branches will be designed by Jackson & Harlan; preliminary design meeting was held on 12/16/15; anticipated completion April 2016
    • Whitney Young – CPL has engaged PBC to begin the design and development process for the new library.Early Learning Spaces – Project schedule:

Commissioner’s Report (info only)

A special report was presented by Commissioner Bannon regarding Talking Book services. Effective July 1, 2016, state grants for Talking Book services will be eliminated at the regional hubs. As a result, CPL will no longer receive the annual funding to support the Talking Book center located on the 5th floor of the Harold Washington Library Center as this service was exclusively funded by state grants. The State will consolidate Talking Book services into one location at the State Library in Springfield.

A response to the State’s decision to eliminate this service will be submitted by CPL at a later date.

Commissioner’s Bannon also highlighted:

    • Priority projects for Q1 2016, which include:
      • Homework Help Program Evaluation
      • Launch Digital Literacy Curriculum
      • Chicago Park District Archive Digitization
      • Harold Washington Summit
      • Teen Lit Fest
      • Douglas Branch Upgrades
      • Independence Branch Library Reopening
      • Whitney Young Branch Design
      • Above and Beyond launch and installation
      • CPL Brand Book
      • Security and Expulsion Policy Implementation
  • A yearend review of CPL’s 2015 operations, accomplishments, continuing and new initiatives.
  • Greta Bever, Assistant Commissioner for Central Library Services, will be retiring at the end of January after 30 years at CPL.

Chicago Public Library Foundation Report (info only)

Rhona Frazin, President and CEO of the Chicago Public Library Foundation, presented the Foundation report and announced:

  • The budget request of $9,154,129 for Library programs, services and collections was approved, this constitutes the largest budget commitment to the Library in the Foundation’s 30 year history.
  • Corporate and personal support from the Foundation Board of Directors resulted in more than $1.7mil in 2015.
  • Many notable of grants and contributions were received in late 2015 totaling $665,000.

Other Business

None

Public Comment

None

Next Board Meeting

The next board meeting will be held on Tuesday, March 15, 2016 at 9:00 a.m. at the Harold Washington Library Center.

 

 

Commissioner’s Report

Special Report: Grants to Support Talking Book Services

As a result of the current budget impasse in Illinois, the YF2016 grants that support the Talking Book programs at the three library systems will conclude the support for this program from the Office of the Secretary of State/Illinois State Library. Grants will not be issued for FY17 for the service centers at the three systems.

The Illinois State Library is working to ensure that patrons of the Illinois Talking Book and Braille Service experience little or no disruption in service.

1st Quarter: New Projects

Access for All

  • Homework Help Program Evaluation
  • Launch Digital Literacy Curriculum
  • Chicago Park District Archive Digitization
  • Harold Washington Summit
  • Teen Lit Fest
  • Douglas Branch Upgrades
  • Independence Branch Library Reopening
  • Whitney Young Branch Design

Support Economic Advancement

  • Launch Digital Literacy Curriculum

Strengthening Communities

  • Above and Beyond Launch and Installation

Serving Patrons Effectively

  • CPL Brand Book
  • Security and Expulsion Policy Implementation

CPL 2015 Year End Review - Highlights

Overview of the Library’s 2015 Operations

With approximately one million active library cardholders in the city, CPL circulated close to 10 million items in 2015. Over 9 million patrons visited a Chicago Public Library location to use computers, seek reference assistance, check out materials, attend an author program, take part in a children’s program, attend a workshop, view an exhibit, or simply find a quiet place to read or study.

The Library’s website received over 53 million page views and nearly 9.2 million unique visits offering patrons 24/7 access not only to the catalog and rich online account services, but also to extensive sources of online information through subscription databases and resource and reading recommendations for all ages prepared by CPL librarians. CPL also delivered more than 95,900 homework help sessions during the 2014‐2015 academic year, representing a 15% increase over the previous year.

2015 Accomplishments

  • CPL extended the City’s reach into early head start centers with high quality STEAM education programming via a new mobile STEAM outreach initiative called “I STEAM Trucks.”
  • Over 6,500 community members participated in the opening day of the new state‐of‐the art Chinatown Branch in late August.
  • CPL piloted the new Internet to Go: Wi‐Fi Hotspot Lending Program at three neighborhood libraries in Spring 2015 to increase internet engagement in communities with extremely low in home Internet connectivity.
  • CPL is making Harold Washington Library Center more customer‐focused and accessible for greater patron convenience by providing new service points on the first floor of the building, a consolidated circulation desk, multiple self‐checkout stations and will enable elevators to stop on all floors in the building.

Continuing Initiatives

  • CPL is working to strengthen career services knowledge, resources and referral networks among librarians across the system through strategic partnerships with the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity, Chicago Jobs Council, Chicago/Cook Workforce Partnership and other key workforce development providers.
  • CPL’s Maker Lab, the award‐winning advanced manufacturing lab, will continue to bring together people of all ages and strengthen Chicago’s economic competitiveness and continue to bring Maker activities to neighborhood branches.

New Initiatives in 2016

  • CPL will launch the first Harold Washington Commemorative Lecture/Summit, honoring the late Mayor Harold Washington.
  • CPL will break ground on the gut rehab and addition for a new Whitney Young Branch Library.
  • CPL has many unique and high‐interest archival collections and will make them accessible for patrons both in the library and online. This project will create the first comprehensive plan for digitizing, preserving, processing and facilitating engagement with CPL digital collections.

Congratulations Greta!

Greta Bever, Assistant Commissioner for Central Library Services, will be retiring at the end of January after 30 years at CPL. While I am very happy for her as she begins this new chapter, she will leave both a great legacy of leadership and huge shoes to fill.

In her time at CPL, Greta served in many roles including the Children's Librarian at the Back of the Yards Branch, Toman and Brighton Park, then Branch Manager at Austin-Irving and Portage-Cragin and Director of Sulzer Regional Library before becoming Assistant Commissioner of Central Library Services in 2003.

Greta has lead the creation and expansion of many new services including opening the Popular Library, overseeing the creation of the Computer Commons which more than tripled access to computers at the Central Library, leading an effort to expand HWLC's service hours by 13% and opening Water Works in the fall of 2010. Under her direction The Chicago Examiner, the Civil War Collection and the Theater Playbills were also digitized.

Greta has also served the broader library community. She has served on the Board of Directors of the Chicago Loop Alliance, the Chicago Collections Consortium, the Black Metropolis Research Consortium, the Cook County Local Records Board, the Illinois State Historical Records Advisory Board, and the Depository Library Council. Greta has presented at ILA and ALA, published in both American Libraries and Public Libraries and contributed a chapter to the 2012 book, Greening Libraries.

Greta’s career at CPL has spanned many locations and she has made a deep and lasting contribution to the city, CPL, and the library field. I am extremely grateful for Greta’s deep commitment and passion for our work and her voice and insight will be greatly missed on our leadership team.

 

 

Chicago Public Library Foundation Report

The Chicago Pubic Library Foundation is pleased to announce that at its December Executive Committee meeting a budget request of $9,154,129 for Library programs, services and collections was endorsed and approved. Of this amount, roughly $1.4 million is contingent on the award of several restricted grants for new and expanded services. If these grants are not received, the Library will withdraw its request for these funds.

Even so, this constitutes the largest budget commitment to the Library in the Foundation’s 30-year history.

I am very proud to credit our 40 person Board of Directors for their great personal and corporate generosity, resulting in more than $1.7 in support of the Foundation in 2015.

In the past months, the Foundation has successfully negotiated major agreements on behalf of improved service to Library users. Included are contracts with the Public Library Association for customized Digital Learn(ing) software, and with a consulting firm which will lead a study of the future of digital collections at the Library.

A number of notable grants and contributions were received in late 2015. Highlights include:

  • $135,000 from the James and Madeleine McMullan Foundation for Summer Learning, Teachers in the Library and CyberNavigators
  • $45,000 from the Helen Harrison Foundation for the Summer Learning Challenge
  • $32,000 from the Sulzer and Hoellen Family Foundation for a variety of services delivered at the Sulzer Regional Library and other north side branches
  • $113,00 from the Gaylord and Dorothy Donnelley Foundation for the preservation and archiving of the Chicago Park District collections
  • $50,000 from Microsoft for the Maker Lab and Cybernavigator programs
  • $50,000 in raffle book support for the Summer Learning Challenge and $70,000 for take home early learning books from KPMG
  • $25,000 each from Hyatt International and United Airlines for the 2016 Summer Learning Challenge
  • $40,000 from Walmart for CyberNavigators
  • $15,000 for Teachers in the Library from Dia and Ed Weil
  • $20,000 for Teachers in the Library from the Barker Welfare Foundation
  • $20,000 for Teachers in the Library from the Chicago Bears
  • More than $50,000 from members of the Donnelley Family to the Donnelley Family Adopt A Branch FundWe are off to a great start and looking forward to a very productive 2016.