Board of Directors Meeting Minutes, November 19, 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Attention: This post is over 2 years old and the information may be out of date.Attention: This post is over 2 years old and the information may be out of date.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, November 19, 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 October 15, 2013 (action required)
  2. Schedule of Requisitions, Contracts and Licenses (action required)             
  3. Commissioner’s Report (info only)                 
  4. Chicago Public Library Foundation Report (info only)
  5. Questions and comments from the audience

Next Board meeting:

December 17, 2013, 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
  • Christina Benitez
  • Christopher P. Valenti
  • Josephine Gomez
  • Lynn Lockwood
  • Chaka Patterson
  • Jodi Block

Present by Means of Video or Audio Conference

  • None

Absent

  • Barbara Bowman

Approval of Minutes

The Board voted (7-0) to approve the open session minutes of the October 15, 2013 meeting.

Schedule of Requisitions, Contracts and Licenses

Paul Keith, Electronic Resources Librarian, gave a brief overview and requested approval of six E-Content licensing agreements and letters of agreement that included: RDA Toolkit, an online resource outlining rules our catalogers use in creating records for our catalog; Morningstar, a source for analysis of stocks, mutual funds, and ETFs; EBSCO, multiple databases that are primarily sources for articles from magazines and journals; NewsBank, a source for backfiles of the Chicago Sun-Times; Creative Empire, which provides language learning sites for adults and children; and ProQuest, which provides online access as well as microfiche for long term preservation of Congressional documents and sources of statistics from multiple sources.

The Board voted (7-0) to approve the above mentioned licensing agreements and letters of agreement.

Commissioner’s Report

2014 Budget Update

Kathryn Ludwig, Deputy Commissioner of Administration and Finance supplied a breakdown and key points of the Chicago Public Library’s 2014 annual budget such as: the budget’s sources which include property taxes, bond funds, and the Chicago Public Library Foundation; the anticipation of more full time equivalents (mostly for the Albany Park and Chinatown branches) to enhance the moving of materials throughout the system; 80% of the budget is related to personnel; the budget was introduced to City Council in October 2013, testified on Nov 5th and will be voted on the end of November 2013.

Commissioner Bannon reported on the New Website beta that will launch November 21st and will go completely live later this year. The new website will be fully mobile enabled, allow patrons to track reading, suggest books and submit reviews that will be shared with other libraries across the country. Also mentioned was the Chicago Innovation Awards ceremony in which the Library was awarded the Social Innovator Award and the Library Journal Directors Summit that occurred last week and housed 150 library leaders that focused on impact and measurement in libraries.

Chicago Public Library Foundation Report

Rhona Frazin, Chicago Public Library Foundation President & CEO, gave an update on key events including the Carl Sandburg Literary Awards Dinner that was a complete success and equaled more than $1.5 million and generated other widespread recognition from others; planning for the 2014 dinner has already begun with a list of nearly 100 new Chicago authors. Also mentioned was the $2 million proposal for YOUmedia digital programming, planning for funds for the 2014 Summer Learning Challenge which partners include the Lincoln Park and Brookfield Zoo’s; renewed support form several organizations for the Teacher in the Library Program; and the matching gift program being offered by the Sun-Times Foundation of the Chicago Community Trust in which we are within $5000 of reaching our goal of $50,000.

Questions and Comments from the Audience

The Board entertained comments from Reverend Dolye Landry that described the importance of children being taught how to utilize the library properly.

Attachment A: Commissioner's Report

November 19, 2013
Board of Directors Meeting
Guest: Kathryn Ludwig, Deputy Commissioner of Administration and Finance

Budget

CPL's annual budget is made up of several sources, including City support generated by property taxes, bond funds, support from the Chicago Public Library Foundation, and the Kelly Fund.  The largest portion of the budget comes from the City.  CPL's annual operating budget must be approved every year by the City Council.  The Mayor presented the City's 2014 recommended budget to the City council in October; CPL's 2014 annual operating budget is essentially flat with 2013.

New Website

The Library will begin previewing its new website this week. We expect the preview to last about 2 months. During this time, staff will gather patron feedback and study where patrons have difficulty with the site, making adjustments prior to launch in early 2014.

Chicago Innovation Awards

The Chicago Public Library Maker Lab Project won the inaugural "Social Innovator" award as part of the Chicago Innovation Awards on October 30. This is a huge honor as more than 550 institutions were nominated, and CPL was one of 12 winners and the only government entity to win.

The space has served nearly 15,000 patrons in the four months since we launched and, according to the survey feedback we've consistently received, have been provided the highest quality customer service in the Lab every day.

This is an enormous win for the City of Chicago and a testament to the great service we provide every day through Libraries.

Attachment B: Chicago Public Library Foundation Report

November 19, 2013
Board of Directors Meeting