Rachel Coffman spoke during public commentary to earn points in the AADL summer game. (Photos by the writer.)

Most of the funding was for renovations of the downtown library’s front entrance. The board authorized a $425,523 construction budget for that project at 343 S. Fifth Ave., which has been in the works for several months. The budget covers new doors, a redesigned facade, and heated sidewalks, among other changes. The construction manager is O’Neal Construction of Ann Arbor.

Also related to the downtown library, trustees authorized a $93,598 contract with Schindler Elevator Corp. to repair the public elevator, which has been out of commission since this spring.

A week after the July 21 meeting, the board called a special meeting for July 29 to address additional issues related to the elevator. The four board members present at that meeting voted to authorize an additional $75,000 for elevator work.

Because of the elevator repair work, the Friends of the AADL bookshop is now located in the main first-floor lobby of the downtown building, rather than its normal location in the lower level, which is closed. It’s been in the lobby since June 30, and is open all of the hours that the building is open. Books are sold at the circulation desk.

The third infrastructure project approved on July 21 was $50,000 for carpet replacement in parts of the downtown library, as well as at the branch located at the Westgate Shopping Center.

The money for all three projects will be taken from the fund balance, which stood at $8.17 million as of June 30.

In other action on July 21, the board approved five adjustments to the 2013-14 budget, for the prior fiscal year ending June 30, 2014. The adjustments totaled $96,300.

Public commentary was dominated by fans of AADL’s summer game – in part because they could earn points by speaking to the board. Other issues raised during public commentary included concerns about communication, outreach to underserved populations, the cost of renovations to the downtown library entrance, and the “purging” of reference books.

The board’s August meeting is canceled. The next scheduled board session is on Sept. 15.

Downtown Entrance Renovations

The board was asked to approve a $425,523 construction budget for renovations to the downtown library’s front entrance, at 343 S. Fifth Ave.

AADL trustee Margaret Leary, left, talks with Nicole Wallace of O’Neal Construction, center, and AADL director Josie Parker after the July 21 board meeting. Leary is chair of the board’s facilities committee.

The resolution also increased the capital outlays line item in the 2014-2015 budget by that same amount to cover the work, transferring it from the library’s fund balance. As of June 30, the fund balance stood at $8.17 million.

The construction budget was presented by O’Neal Construction Inc. At its June 16, 2014 meeting, the board had voted to hire O’Neal for construction management of these renovations. The project involves adding new doors and a redesigned facade facing South Fifth Avenue, along with changes to address accessibility issues.

The construction budget includes funding for heated sidewalks and two new flagpoles. Those were among the items that were considered discretionary, but were recommended by the board’s facilities committee. [.pdf of construction budget resolution]

The existing teal porcelain panels that wrap around the downtown building’s front facade, part of architect Alden Dow’s original design from the mid-1950s, will be replaced with a “concrete skin” panel. The entrance will continue to be oriented to South Fifth Avenue, with new doors into the building. Leading from the front of the building into the vestibule will be two balanced double doors, which will be easier to open than the existing entry, and a single automatic door. A matching set of these doors will lead from the vestibule to the interior of the building.

The overall project was originally expected to cost about $250,000. Work will begin later this summer.

Nicole Wallace at O’Neal Construction, the project’s supervisor, attended the July 21 meeting but did not formally address the board.

Downtown Entrance Renovations: Board Discussion

AADL director Josie Parker reported that the project has been submitted to the city for building permits, and bids will be going out soon. She hoped that the cost would be lower, but that won’t be clear until after bids are submitted. There will be a lot of concrete work.

Trustee Nancy Kaplan.

The amount was in line with what she had anticipated, Parker said. There were some adds that the facilities committee requested – three flagpoles that are lit, for example – which increased the cost.

Parker noted that the heated sidewalks also increase the cost quite a bit – by $67,834. There are several reasons why it makes sense to add this feature, she said, noting that it hadn’t been part of the board’s original discussion.

Because the library is working with the city to eliminate the step at the front curb, that means the grade needs to be handled somewhere else. So to remove the step, the grade will have to be accommodated in other ways. In addressing that, the concrete on the north side of the building will be removed and repoured. That’s why the library has asked that the ArborBike program delay installation of its station at that site, Parker said. That way the conduit they’ll be using to power the bike-sharing station will be placed underneath the concrete.

All of this new concrete work will be adjacent to the surface of the city-owned Library Lane underground parking garage, which already includes heated sidewalks. So the entire approach from the parking structure into the library will be clear of ice and snow, Parker said. She noted that the area was designed so that cars could pull into Library Lane to drop off library patrons, rather than stopping on South Fifth Avenue. Drivers can let people out on the passenger side, rather than having people get out next to traffic on South Fifth – a one-way, southbound street.

There will also be a heated sidewalk on the incline leading to the south of the building, which is exposed to the elements, Parker explained. The walkway under the overhang won’t be heated, because it won’t be exposed. But the steps in the front and the concrete deck in front of the building will be heated.

Rebecca Head characterized it as a balance between energy use and safety. Parker said it’s a one-time cost to put the heating in now, while the concrete is being ripped up for the renovation.

Parker also explained the $9,042 in additional expense related to cladding material. Under the front windows outside, there’s white material that’s peeling off, she said. A greenish-colored cladding will be placed over that.

New signs are not included in this construction budget, because the library will be handling that separately, Parker said.

Margaret Leary reported that the facilities committee had discussed this construction budget for about an hour. This was their recommendation to the board.

Outcome: The construction budget received unanimous approval.

Downtown Entrance Renovations: Public Commentary

During public commentary at the end of the meeting, Donald Salberg said he hadn’t planned to speak until he heard about “the apparent inflated costs” for O’Neal to replace the front entrance. He noted that Josie Parker had previously indicated that she hoped to keep the costs under $250,000. He said he wasn’t sure if the total cost now was estimated at $425,000 or closer to $700,000.

Trustee Barbara Murphy.

AADL director Josie Parker replied, saying “Dr. Salberg, I have no idea where you came up with the number of $700,000.” Salberg said he didn’t know if $425,000 would be the total – he said he’d assumed that was the number. It still represents almost doubling of the original cost estimate. He wondered about the heated sidewalks. Trustee Barbara Murphy clarified that the cost for the heated sidewalks was about $67,000 and characterized it as not very much, compared to the total project.

Salberg said one of the problems with heating coils is that if it doesn’t completely melt the snow as it falls, then you get a thin layer of water that’s being melted, covered by a thin layer of ice and snow. “That could potentially make the walkway slipperier than it would be otherwise.” He also wondered what the expected lifetime of the heat coils would be, how frequently they break down, and if there’s any way to repair them other than breaking up the concrete. It would be nice to know how much more the AADL will have to spend on electricity to operate the coils, he said. Using salt and the manual removal of snow seems to have worked well in the past, he added. He wondered if the expense was entirely necessary.

Carpet Replacement

The board was also asked to authorize the director to seek bids and award a contract for carpeting at the West branch, located at the Westgate Shopping Center, and in portions of the downtown library. The amount was not to exceed $50,000, to be transferred from the fund balance to the capital outlays budget.

Because of the work on the elevator in the lower level of the downtown library and the high use of the spaces there, the carpet will need to be replaced, AADL director Josie Parker told the board. That includes the shop for the Friends of the AADL, the meeting space, the exhibit area and stairwell lobby, as well as the hallway to the emergency exit. In addition, carpeting on the third floor will be replaced. It’s original to that section of the library, which was built in 1990.

After all the renovation work is done downtown, the branch at Westgate will be closed and completely recarpeted. That will likely happen in the fall, Parker said.

There was no board discussion on this item.

Outcome: The board voted unanimously to authorize the carpeting projects and budget.

Downtown Library Elevator Repair

On July 29, the board was asked to authorize a $93,598 contract with Schindler Elevator Corp. to repair the public elevator at the downtown library, located at 343 S. Fifth Ave. A special meeting held about a week later – on Tuesday, July 29 – included only one agenda item: Allocating an additional $75,000 for the repair work.

The downtown library’s public elevator is broken and barricaded.

The elevator has been broken and out of commission since this spring. AADL director Josie Parker had reported the situation at the board’s May 19, 2014 meeting, estimating it would cost about $100,000 to repair. It’s the same problem that took the freight elevator out of commission a couple of years ago. Leaks had developed in the hydraulic piston, causing it to fail a weight test.

The July 21 resolution authorizing the contract designated $57,988 for elevator repair, plus $35,610 for “well drilling (after-drill) of elevator hole in the existing hoistway and clean out of existing hole and casing.”

The capital outlays line item in the 2014-2015 budget would be increased by a total of $93,598, to be transferred from the library’s fund balance. As of June 30, the fund balance stood at $8.17 million. [.pdf of July 21 elevator contract and resolution]

Downtown Library Elevator Repair: Board Discussion – July 21

Barbara Murphy asked for an explanation of “after-drill.” AADL director Josie Parker explained that the elevator is a hydraulic jack design. It operates using a cylinder with hydraulic fluid that hoists the elevator. The cylinder is as deep as the library is tall, she said. Over time, the wear on the cylinder causes hydraulic fluid to leak, compromising the safety of the elevator. It failed its inspection for weight, she reported.

The same problem occurred with the staff elevator a few years ago, Parker noted. Both elevators had been installed about the same time – around 1990, she said, and it’s fortunate that the library was able to get this many years out of it.

The workers will drain out the hydraulic fluid, then take the jack out piece by piece by lifting it up and cutting off sections to remove. As the jack is removed, the earth around it caves in. So the work entails excavating and drilling the hole again for a new jack and casing.

The new jack and casing will also be brought in section-by-section through the front door, then welded together in the lower level. The workers will bring it in before the library opens, and on those days the library will open later, at noon. “The last thing we need is for someone from the public to come into the building when it’s not open, and go near that hole in the ground,” she said.

Parker noted that anyone who needs to use an elevator in the interim can ask any employee to use the staff elevator. People are asking for help, and the staff is happy to provide it, she said.

Margaret Leary pointed out that the contract with Schindler includes the statement that “the condition of the existing casing and hole is unknown. Removing the existing jack may uncover a cylinder hole full with sand or other debris requiring additional work to install the new jack.” If additional work is necessary, the company will provide a separate proposal for that.

Leary said one important element of this job is that Schindler doesn’t know exactly what they’ll have to do until they take it apart.

Outcome: The board unanimously authorized the elevator repair work.

Downtown Library Elevator Repair: July 29

A week later – on July 28 – the board announced that a special meeting was called for Tuesday, July 29 with one action item: Allocating an additional $75,000 for elevator work.

Board president Prue Rosenthal.

AADL director Josie Parker reported that after last week’s board meeting, Schindler made an assessment of the elevator. The well-drillers found that there were three casings in the elevator shaft, nested inside each other. It’s not clear why there are three casings, she said. To meet current code, the jack must be encircled by PVC. But the center casing is too narrow to accommodate the PVC and jack, and isn’t allowing a plumb drop. So the center casing must be removed. If the jack and PVC can be inserted without removing the middle casing, then the cost will be lower, Parker said.

The $75,000 is an amount that would cover the worst-case scenario, Parker said – that all three casings would have to be pulled out, the shaft redrilled for a new outside casing, PVC and jack.

The total authorized by the board for the project would be about $170,000. “If we don’t need it, we won’t spend it,” Parker said. But she didn’t want to keep coming back to the board “every time there a bump that causes to change the scope of this project,” she added, especially becase the board won’t be meeting in August.

Jan Barney Newman asked what the casings were made of. The old casings are steel, Parker replied.

Parker explained that the workers will come in next week and spend the week taking out the casing. The following week, they’ll be drilling for the new casing and prep for the rest of the work. “That’s when things are going to be incredibly noisy in here, and smell bad,” Parker said. The casing is brought into the building in sections of pipe that’s 12-15 feet long, and workers will weld the casing in place, she noted. It’s likely that there will be some closures of the downtown library during that period. The elevator work will be done during the weekdays, so there will be no closing on weeknights or weekends.

Outcome: The board unanimously approved the additional $75,000 for elevator work. Four trustees were present at the July 29 special meeting: Rebecca Head, Jan Barney Newman, Prue Rosenthal, and Ed Surovell.

Finance Report

Eli Neiburger, AADL’s deputy director, presented the June 2014 financial report at the July 21 meeting. [.pdf of finance report] He noted that this report was for just the month of June, not for the close of the fiscal year, which ends June 30.

Eli Neiburger, AADL deputy director.

Through June 30, the library has received tax revenue totaling $11.256 million for the fiscal year. This is the library’s low cash time of year, Neiburger said, between the end of the fiscal year but before the arrival of revenue from summer taxes, which are collected in July.

Through the fiscal year, the library showed an operating surplus of $460,616. A lot of that related to positions that were open and that are now being filled, Neiburger said. The library had $8.77 million in unrestricted cash at the end of June, with a fund balance of $8.17 million, up from $8.001 million a month ago.

Revenue from state aid for the year was $153,000 more than budgeted, Neiburger noted. The library always budgets very conservatively, he added, because they’re not sure how much state aid will be awarded. Other revenue items that were higher than budgeted include interest and grants/memorials. Overall, revenue for the year was $12.3 million, “which was just about right on target,” he said.

Neiburger reported that five line items were slightly over budget for the year – purchased services, software, copier expenses, supplies and library programming. Purchased services are slightly over budget because the library paid for a survey in March. Regarding software, the library had planned to make a larger capital purchase, but it turned out that half of that purchase was actually a software license. Copier expenses were slightly higher than expected.

Regarding the supplies line item, Neiburger explained that every year, the library budgets for big capital projects but many individual purchases for those projects are typically under $1,000 each. That makes them assets that aren’t tracked, he said, so they can’t be paid for from the capital outlays line item. So every year at this time, the board is asked to transfer funds from the capital outlays line item to cover expenses in the supplies line item. These purchases are for things like computers and monitors that used to be capital outlays, but that are now much less expensive.

Library programming was $536 over budget for the year. “On a $273,000 [programming] budget, that’s pretty close,” Neiburger said. That line item went over budget primarily because of last-minute travel expenses related to visiting musicians performing in June concerts.

Neiburger noted that the board would be asked to make budget adjustments for FY 2013-14 later in the meeting.

The board had no questions about this presentation.

Outcome: The board voted unanimously to approve disbursements for June.

FY 2013-14 Budget Adjustments

The board was asked to approve five adjustments to the 2013-14 budget, for the prior fiscal year ending June 30, 2014. The adjustments totaled $96,300.

Eli Neiburger, AADL’s deputy director, had previously indicated that such adjustments would be necessary.

The resolution would authorize transfers in the following line items:

• $22,500 from capital outlays to supplies.
• $49,800 from capital outlays to software licenses/maintenance.
• $17,000 from utilities to purchased services.
• $6,500 from utilities to copier expense.
• $500 from utilities to library programming.

There was no discussion of this item.

Outcome: The board unanimously approved the budget adjustments.

Summer Game

The AADL’s summer game launched in mid-June, and it was a theme throughout the June 21 meeting – for the public, staff and board.

This sign was posted outside the boardroom door where the AADL board held its July 21 meeting. Chronicle readers can get these 500 points too – because it’s like being there.

Players can earn points for traditional activities like reading a book, but the game includes tasks that are done online, like tagging an item in AADL’s catalog or commenting on a blog post. Points can be traded in for merchandise that’s available at AADL’s online store.

People can log on, sign up and earn points for completing tasks like checking out a book or other item (50 points), tagging an item in the AADL catalog (10 points), writing reviews (50 points), or posting a comment (50 points). One point per page or minute is awarded for reading, watching, or listening to media, with a 100-point bonus for finishing an item. You can get between 200-500 points for attending an AADL event – including board meetings – where you’ll be given a code that allows you to redeem the points and earn “badges.”

On July 21, points were awarded for attending the meeting, with additional points for speaking during public commentary.

Summer Game: Public Commentary

Rachel Coffman told the board she was in second grade going into third grade. She really loves the summer game, and so do her sisters. They love it so much that they’ve been hiding codes all over their house, in places like the toothbrush cabinet, and they’ve made badges out of paper. “I just really love the summer game,” she said.

Cherie Burkheiser said she was there because she’s addicted to the summer game. Last year she discovered the game late in the season, so she jotted this year’s start date into her calendar “and I was there the first day it started.” She also wanted to make some comments. She’s lived in Ann Arbor her whole life, so she assumed all library websites were like AADL’s. But she recently looked at some other library district’s sites, and said that many are difficult to search. She asked that AADL make improvements to the online commenting, however, to make it easier to follow comment threads.

Tom Brown and his daughter Lydia Brown spoke about the AADL summer game during public commentary.

Regarding summer game codes placed in parks, she requested that the staff make sure the codes are permanent. One code was graffiti on a bench that was subsequently sanded off and painted over, and another code was for signs that have been removed. She said she looked forward to when her son is older and can help with the summer game.

Sara Mayman said she enjoyed the summer game and the library. She also offered a general suggestion, noting that there’s a lot of outdated equipment, like Betamax videocassettes and Zip drives. She was hoping that AADL could have a media room or make this equipment available for checkout. People could donate the equipment, and perhaps volunteers from Maker Works could manage the upkeep. When she was cleaning out her parents’ house, she came across these kinds of things and wasn’t sure what to do with them. Most people don’t need to use this kind of equipment very often, or for very long, she noted. It would be useful to be able to transfer your old media to new media at the library, using equipment there. It would be expensive for someone to buy, especially just to use one time. She offered to volunteer if there’s a committee that would work on this.

Tom Brown and his daughter Lydia Brown told the board that they were enjoying the summer game. They described some of the things they’ve done, like attending the Emerging Writers workshop and Kids Read Comics, and visiting all the AADL branches. They went to Parker Mill to get their codes, and saw a deer. They also went to the Barton Nature Area. Tom Brown said he’s lived in Ann Arbor 22 years and had never been there before. “The code made me go there, so that was cool.” They saw a deer there too. And when they went to Mary Beth Doyle Park, they saw a badger. In total, they’ve earned 78 badges. They also participate in a summer game team with the youth group at their church. Lydia reported that she collects buttons – including some vintage AADL buttons – and put them on her AADL bag. AADL director Josie Parker noted that “vintage” means pre-district, when the library was part of the public school system and called Ann Arbor Public Library.

Jinny Potter introduced herself as a summer game “fangirl.” Her family moved here about four years ago from the ??south. In the south, people are friendly and like to get together. When her family moved here, they initially lived in the metro Detroit area and the library there only had events for her and her young son once a month. She never felt like a part of that community. When they moved to Ann Arbor, her husband has a longer commute but it’s been worth it. Having the library here has helped with her homesickness, Potter said. The summer game has been a great way to learn about local businesses, the parks system and it’s a lot of fun to play with her family. She hopes that the recent success with expanding public transit “means that maybe we can revisit the expansion of the downtown branch.” It’s already pretty awesome, she said, but it’s exciting that it could be even more of a resource for the community. She’d love to volunteer to work on that, because the library has given so much to her family.

A girl named Rosie said that this spring, she and her sister Margaret started talking about how they couldn’t wait for the summer game to begin. Their mom was confused about what that meant, “and then we got her hooked.” She thanked the board and staff for doing a wonderful job, and for encouraging reading and other modes of learning. She also thanked the library for hosting Nerd Nite, saying it was “awesome and very informative.” She’ll be sad when August comes and the game ends.

At the meeting’s final opportunity for public commentary, Donald Harrison quipped “the code’s making me do it!” He said he’s a fan of the summer game and of AADL’s non-traditional collections. The musical instruments have been a great addition, and he’s used most of them. Recently he saw a little green table on the shelves, so he checked it out and took it to a family reunion that weekend. He set up the table and net, and within minutes, “we’re playing ping pong at the family reunion, so family members who hadn’t seen each other in years were having a really great time.” Things like that create a lot of value, he said. Harrison joked that this might put some pressure on the parks and recreation department to add public ping pong tables in the parks.

Summer Game: Director’s Report

As part of her director’s report, Josie Parker highlighted the popularity of AADL’s summer game, as reflected in some of the public commentary. She noted that it requires a lot of work from staff. For example, the staff goes out into local parks to find where codes could be located. It’s gratifying to hear that the library is sending people out to visit parks they haven’t been to before, or to local businesses. “It’s the library bringing the community together in a game, but then sending the community out,” she said. “I don’t want us to lose that, because that’s what I think is so important about this way of playing the summer game. And it’s reading, reading, reading – there’s no way to play the game without reading or being read to.”

Parker also noted that teens are volunteering to package the prizes that players are redeeming with their points. It counts as community service for their high school, but many of them have finished that requirement and continue to volunteer, she said. Adults are also volunteering too.

Some badges are easy to earn, Parker noted – like the one called “Josie’s Chickens,” which entails going to her office and retrieving the code. But other badges take hours or days, because the clues are nuanced and complicated to figure out. “That’s why people love this – it makes you think,” she said. The game is teaching children how to use the resources of the library – its catalogue and databases – as well as getting them out into the community to find codes. If board members haven’t tried the game, Parker encouraged them to do it.

Committee Reports

The board has seven committees: communications, budget and finance, facilities, policy, director’s evaluation, executive, and strategic plan. Because membership on each committee consists of only three trustees, which is fewer than a quorum of the board, the meetings are not required to be open to the public under Michigan’s Open Meetings Act. The board has the option of making its committee meetings open to the public, but has chosen not to do so.

There were two committee reports on July 21: communications and facilities.

Committee Reports: Communications

Rebecca Head, chair of the communications committee, reported that they met on June 17. Other members are Margaret Leary and Prue Rosenthal. They reviewed the recommendations of the Allerton-Hill Consulting report regarding different ways to ratchet up the library’s communications. [.pdf of Allerton-Hill report]

Trustee Rebecca Head.

They agree that the communication is already pretty good, she said, but there’s always more that could be done. For example, AADL director Josie Parker has a blog, Head noted, as do other staff. That’s useful for getting information out, she said. The print newsletter that was mailed out earlier this year was a success, she added, and so those mailings will continue. The winter newsletter will focus on why people use the library, so that people understand what’s available.

There are plans to do more outreach to the townships that are part of the district.

The committee also talked about how to ratchet up services related to social equity, such as reading readiness and job search assistance. The library does an extreme amount of partnering in these areas, she noted, and are very connected to schools and other organizations. “But we’re always looking for new ways to get these messages across.”

Barbara Murphy mentioned that the board received a list of all AADL partners earlier this year. She didn’t think it had been part of the minutes or board packet. AADL director Josie Parker replied that it’s available for anyone who wants it. Murphy suggested posting it on the AADL website.

Committee Reports: Facilities

Margaret Leary, chair of the facilities committee, reported that the group met on June 25. Other members are Ed Surovell and Jan Barney Newman. Most of their discussion related to items on the board’s agenda that night, including the construction budget for the downtown entrance. They reviewed the most recent schematic drawings with Cory Lavigne of InForm Studio. They also went over the proposed budget for that work, she said.

The committee also discussed two other items that were on the board’s July 21 agenda: repair of the downtown library’s public elevator; and a proposal for carpeting in portions of the downtown library and the West branch.

Library Stats

The board is provided with monthly library statistics in five categories: Collections, users, visits, usage and participation. The data is compared to year-ago figures, when available. The information for June 2014 was presented by Eli Neiburger, AADL’s deputy director.

AADL collections data: June 2014.

AADL users data: June 2014.

AADL visits data: June 2014.

AADL usage data: June 2014.

AADL participation data: June 2014.

Neiburger noted that the presentation of these stats will be retooled in the future, because some of it isn’t very meaningful if there’s little year-to-year variation. It’s also an opportunity for some strategic planning, he said, to identify some key performance metrics.

Here are some highlights from Neiburger’s commentary:

• Collections: The AADL collection continues to grow in most categories compared to a year ago. In the digital collection, the category of photos saw the biggest growth (117%) with most of that coming from the Old News collection.
• Users: There are 199,613 known computer users, up 6.6%. Borrowers were up 8.3% to 123,437. The number of active borrowers during the month was 58,711. June is a big month for new library card sign-ups because of the summer game. New online registrations almost doubled compared to June 2013, mostly related to the summer game. This year there were 937 new library cards issued – 5% higher than last year. The number of cards issued to non-residents, businesses and organizations is also growing, he noted, thanks to the efforts of AADL’s outreach staff.
• Visits: The number of visits are down at all locations, but Neiburger said there’s missing data at several branches. For example, there was no data for five days in June at the downtown library. The door-counting hardware isn’t performing well, so the staff will be looking at how to get more accurate data. A ceiling-mounted system might provide better results. “However, our event attendance was crazy in June,” Neiburger said, with nearly 15,000 attendees – up 31.8% compared to a year ago. Online visits to AADL’s “devblog” – where staff posts information about the software they develop – was up over 100%.
• Usage: Checkouts were down in most categories, aside from art prints and tools/kits. The decrease of 2.2% for books is “really within the realm of noise, in terms of use of the collection month-over-month,” Neiburger said. Use of DVDs and CDs are falling off significantly more, he noted. Even though checkouts of Bluray decreased, that’s because most of the collection is checked out – there’s actually growing demand for it. The total collection value in all categories stands at $15.58 million. For online usage, image downloads increased 64.4% compared to a year ago, and video use is up 90%.
• Participation: For the first time, attendance at films and shows exceeded the turnout for storytime events, Neiburger reported. Attendance for the category of talks, which includes Kids Read Comics, was up about 200%. Overall, the library held 4% fewer events in June compared to last year, but attendance was up 32%.

Neiburger also gave highlights of some “Top Tweets” that mentioned @aadl during June. One was by Midwestern Gothic (@MWGothic), a literary magazine based in Ann Arbor. They tweeted about a reading that AADL hosted in early June for the magazine’s contributors. Neiburger pointed out that AADL has licensed the full run of Midwestern Gothic, and it’s available for immediate download to keep.

Some of the Tweets highlighted new items from the AADL collection, including the Bounty Hunter Junior metal detector, giant checkers, disc golf and Kubb – a Swedish lawn game. Neiburger described it as a cross between horseshoes and cornhole. The library just got 10 more sets of it.

Tweet from @AADL.

Tweet by Kathleen Folger.

Tweet by Ken Varnum.

Director’s Report

AADL director Josie Parker covered several topics during her director’s report, some of which are reported elsewhere in this article.

Parker showed the board a slide show about Visions 2014, a vendor fair held on May 14 at Washtenaw Community College for people who are blind and physically handicapped. The two-minute presentation is also posted on AADL’s website. The library continues to get good feedback on that event, she said.

Parker also noted that the Friends of the AADL bookshop is now located in the main first-floor lobby of the downtown building, because of the closure of the basement area where the bookshop normally operates. It’s been in the lobby since June 30, and is open all of the hours that the building is open. Books are sold at the circulation desk.

She reported that many people didn’t realize there was a bookshop, so it’s become very popular. Nancy Kaplan asked if there’s the possibility that it could remain in that location, even after the elevator repair is finished. Parker replied that it’s a possibility. “That conversation is one we’ll have to have,” she said.

Margaret Leary said it’s a fabulous example of a good outcome from a situation that was challenging. It’s creative and opens the door to new ways of thinking about the bookshop.

Resolution of Thanks

The board’s agenda included a resolution of thanks to Wendy St. Antoine, who is retiring on Aug. 15. She joined the library in December 1996.

AADL director Josie Parker reported that St. Antoine came into the system as a head clerk at the Northeast branch. “We no longer have head clerks, and we no longer have the Northeast branch,” she noted. St. Antoine is known throughout AADL for her quiet strength, Parker said. She deals well with all sorts of people, and does it respectfully and in a way that everyone finds approachable.

When Parker joined AADL in 1999 “and found myself managing the circulation department as well as the youth department during that financial crisis, suddenly I had over half the employees under my supervision, two-thirds of the budget, and all these desks everywhere. Wendy is the person who taught me how to think about that in the right way, so that it was manageable in my mind. I’ll always be grateful to her for that.” Everyone has a story like that about St. Antoine, Parker said.

Cancelation of August Board Meeting

The board was asked to cancel its Aug. 18 meeting.

Margaret Leary pointed out that board president Prue Rosenthal and AADL director Josie Parker had discussed this, and they don’t foresee any business that will need to be addressed at that time.

Parker said that actions by the board regarding facilities projects, in votes taken earlier in the July 21 meeting, give her the authorization she needs to move forward on that work – on the downtown library front entrance, the downtown library elevator repair, and the carpeting replacement.

The next board meeting will be on Monday, Sept. 15.

Outcome: A proposal to cancel the Aug. 18 meeting was moved and supported, but Rosenthal did not call for a vote on this item. The board appeared to have consensus, though no official action was taken. A meeting cancelation notice has been posted on the AADL website.

Public Commentary

Of the 12 people who spoke during public commentary, most of them talked about the summer game. They earned summer game points for both attending the meeting and for public commentary. Those comments are included earlier in this report.

Public Commentary: Communications

Lyn Davidge introduced herself as a Scio Township resident who also loved the summer game, and who’d spent the past 15 minutes looking for codes in the library. She said she hated to stand there and be the grinch, “but there’s one in every crowd.”

Lyn Davidge.

She’d been pleased to attend the informational meeting on July 14 for potential AADL board candidates. She’d been looking on the AADL website, MLive and The Ann Arbor Chronicle for information about the session’s date and location. She was surprised to see an item published by The Chronicle on Sunday morning, July 13 at 11 a.m., announcing the session for the following day. “In my opinion, that was incredibly short notice to the public.” [The Chronicle received the AADL press release via email on the morning of July 13, though it was dated July 9.]

To double check herself, Davidge said she went back to the AADL website and still couldn’t find any announcement there. She still couldn’t find anything in the online or print editions of MLive. It was possible that she simply missed the previous announcements, she said. “On the other hand, I was left with the uncomfortable feeling that maybe the short-notice notice in The Chronicle was the only notice of the potential candidates meeting – and you know what that looks like, don’t you? It looks like you were hoping no one would show up.” She hoped they really didn’t want to give that impression, even to one constituent at one time.

Similarly, she said, the July 21 AADL board meeting was being held at the downtown library. But months ago, it had been announced that the meeting would be held at the Pittsfield branch, she noted. She knew that the venue had been changed, because a couple of trustees had given her the heads-up about it. They knew that she thought it was a good idea for the trustees to be visible in all of the branches. They also knew that she disagreed with the decision not to hold the July meeting at a branch. [The June 16, 2014 meeting was held at the Traverwood branch, and had drawn only one member of the public.]

Davidge said she could respect the board’s decision, but she couldn’t understand why the change in the July meeting venue wasn’t just announced during the June meeting. That way, people would have had very timely notice of that schedule change, she said. “Again, it looked like you were hoping no one would show up tonight.” That’s the impression people get, she said. Thank goodness there were a lot of people attending that night’s meeting – the word got out, she said. She hoped there would be more publicity in the future.

Kathy Griswold told the board that the Ann Arbor community is fortunate to have such an excellent library and truly excellent staff. She wanted to talk about one lost opportunity and two minor areas of weakness. The lost opportunity is that the library isn’t addressing part of its mission statement for underserved populations and low-income students, she said. Griswold said she’d tried to engage some of these students in the summer game, but she didn’t have the resources to do that. The library needs to go out into some of these communities, she said. There are several nonprofits who work with underserved youth but have limited financial resources, especially compared to the library. They are providing books to students in some of the subsidized housing units, she said. Griswold also noted that Ann Arbor Kiwanis recently provided a grant to the Family Learning Institute to buy a modified bookmobile. She’d really like to see the library revisit using a bookmobile that includes computers.

Regarding weaknesses, Griswold cited communications as something that needed work. She noted that the Detroit Free Press had recently sued the University of Michigan board of regents over alleged violations of the state’s Open Meetings Act. “I believe that their regents operate similar to the way that trustees operate, and that is just within the limits of the Open Meetings Act.”

Griswold also said she cringed to see that material had been printed out for trustees in “slide mode” rather than “handout mode,” which wastes a tremendous amount of toner – because the printouts had white letters on black background.

Trustee Margaret Leary.

Finally, Griswold noted that a step at the Traverwood branch hadn’t yet been repaired. It’s a minor issue, but it’s a safety issue that needs to be addressed, she said.

Later in the meeting, AADL director Josie Parker responded to comments about the underserved. Parker pointed out that the library does provide services to underserved populations through its partnerships with nonprofits, as well directly through the library’s outreach to schools. “We are considered sort of the foundational location for many of them, because they don’t have budgets that give them space,” she said. The Ann Arbor Public Schools English-as-a-second-language (ESL) classes are held at the library, as are sessions for Washtenaw Literacy and the Family Learning Institute. So the library’s outreach to the underserved – children and adults – is a long tradition, Parker said, “and not one that we would abandon.”

Margaret Leary clarified with Parker that it would not be accurate to say that the library doesn’t address the needs of the underserved, whether they’re children or adults. Parker said it’s fair to note that the library can’t solve all the issues that face the community. Root causes like illiteracy are of real interest to the library, and have always been, she said. Poverty, lack of health care and other issues are outside the mission of the public library, she added.

“However, we definitely serve those nonprofits trying to meet that mission, by giving them space to meet, space to bring those populations together,” Parker said. One example is the Proyecto Avance: Latino Mentoring Association (PALMA), a University of Michigan student group that provides tutoring in English. She said it’s important to be very careful in using the term “underserved” and labeling people.

Barbara Murphy highlighted the fact that AADL gives a book to every newborn – it’s one of her favorite programs.

Public Commentary: Reference Books

Gladwin McGee, an Ann Arbor resident, said he’s concerned about the purging of large numbers of reference books from the downtown library in recent months. There are several references that he’s used in the past, but they’ve been removed from the shelves. These include a three-volume encyclopedia of television, a three-volume encyclopedia of musical theater, and an eight-volume encyclopedia of the American Constitution. Just last week there was a Merriam-Webster encyclopedia of literature that had been removed, as was the American Decades series of history and culture.

“I would have hoped that it would be part of the philosophical groundings of librarians to respect various pathways of learning discovery, including respecting the choices of those of us who cherish various print reference works, who’ve found enrichment in them and would like to have the opportunity to continue using them.” He said it seemed like it was happening in almost “bibliocidal proportions.” It’s true that the Internet provides an almost unprecedented collection of facts, and would lead some to claim that print reference books are outmoded and could be dispensed with. However, the best reference works are more than just a collection of facts. They provide outstanding contextual frameworks for highlighting and exploring connections among related but independent sets of facts. “It saddens me greatly to see their removal.” He noted that he’d made an appointment to talk with the AADL director about this.

Responding to a follow-up query from The Chronicle, AADL director Josie Parker indicated that the library regularly removes outdated materials, and has not changed that process. Some print reference work also is now available in electronic databases.

Present: Rebecca Head, Nancy Kaplan, Margaret Leary, Barbara Murphy, Prue Rosenthal.

Absent: Jan Barney Newman, Ed Surovell.

Next regular meeting: The August meeting has been canceled. The next regular board meeting is on Monday, Sept. 15, 2014 at 7 p.m. at the downtown library, 343 S. Fifth, Ann Arbor. [Check Chronicle event listing to confirm date]

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Eli Neiburger, AADL’s deputy director, had previously indicated that such adjustments would be necessary.

The resolution approved unanimously on July 21 authorized transfers in the following line items:

• $22,500 from capital outlays to supplies.
• $49,800 from capital outlays to software licenses/maintenance.
• $17,000 from utilities to purchased services.
• $6,500 from utilities to copier expense.
• $500 from utilities to library programming.

This brief was filed from the fourth-floor boardroom of the downtown library at 343 S. Fifth Ave. A more detailed report will follow.

Ann Arbor District Library trustees Ed Surovell and Margaret Leary at the board’s May 19, 2014 meeting. (Photos by the writer.)

The rate of 1.55 mills is also lower than the 1.92 mills that the library is authorized to levy. The $12.568 million budget assumes a 2.4% increase in tax revenues, based on an increase in property values. No one spoke during a public hearing on the budget that was held during the May 19 meeting.

The budget includes a 3% raise for AADL director Josie Parker, increasing her current salary of $143,114. As part of an annual director’s evaluation, board president Prue Rosenthal read aloud a letter from the board that praised Parker for her work and accomplishments.

Related to infrastructure, trustees authorized Parker to negotiate with Ann Arbor-based O’Neal Construction Inc. for work related to the downtown library entrance. O’Neal would be contracted to provide construction management services for the entrance’s renovation. This is the next step in a process that began several months ago, with construction to begin this summer.

The board also got an update from Parker about the public elevator for the downtown library, which is out of service. It’s expected to cost about $100,000 to repair and will take several months to fix. That work will also take place this summer, and requires closing the lower level of the building, where many public events are held.

The May 19 meeting included approval of contracts for janitorial services and HVAC maintenance, for three-year periods. Also approved was the renewal of a space-use agreement with the nonprofit Friends of the Ann Arbor District Library. FAADL operates a bookstore at the downtown library, with proceeds given to AADL.

The board also got a monthly update on library statistics, “top Tweets” and a viewing of a new video to promote AADL’s summer game, which starts on Friday, June 13, and runs through Sunday, Aug. 31. The video was produced by AADL staff and 7 Cylinders Studio.

2014-15 Budget

The May 19 agenda included authorization of the library’s fiscal 2014-15 budget with a millage rate of 1.55 mills – unchanged from the current rate. [.pdf of budget summary from AADL board meeting packet]

Prue Rosenthal, AADL board president.

The $12.568 million budget assumes a 2.4% increase in tax revenues, based on an increase in property values. The library is authorized to levy up to 1.92 mills, but in recent years the board has set the millage rate at lower levels. The library’s fiscal year runs from July 1 through June 30.

The budget reflects a 3% increase in the merit raise pool for full-time employees. Salaries, wages and benefits account for the largest portion of the budget expenditures – a projected $8.048 million in fiscal 2014-15. The budget also includes a 3% increase in the library’s contribution to employee health care costs. Other major line items include materials ($1.75 million); utilities ($448,000); programming ($320,000); and repair/maintenance ($312,000).

The legal expense line item is increasing from a budgeted $50,000 this year to $96,000 in FY 2014-15. That reflects the start of union contract negotiations.

The board held a public hearing on the budget on May 19, but no one spoke. Trustees had been briefed on a draft budget at their April 21, 2014 meeting,

2014-15 Budget: Board Discussion

Discussion was brief. Margaret Leary asked about the 3% increase in the merit raise pool, suggesting that the language in the budget packet could be clarified. AADL director Josie Parker explained that the entire available pool of funding for merit pay will be increased by 3%, but it doesn’t mean that all workers will get a 3% raise. Staff could receive varying increases, depending on their performance – some might be higher than 3%, some might be lower.

Rebecca Head highlighted the fact that the board is not levying the full amount of the millage that it is authorized to levy. Leary noted that this is the same millage rate that was levied last year.

Outcome: On three separate unanimous votes, the board approved the budget, set the millage rate, and designated the budget as a line-item budget with a policy for disbursements.

Downtown Library Entrance

The board was asked to authorize the library director, Josie Parker, to negotiate with Ann Arbor-based O’Neal Construction Inc. for work related to the downtown library entrance. O’Neal would be contracted to provide construction management services. This is the next step in a process that began several months ago, stemming from the need to replace the entrance doors.

Rendering of the new design for the Ann Arbor District Library’s downtown building entrance. (Image by InForm Studio.)

At the board’s April 21, 2014 meeting, the board had authorized Parker to hire a construction manager for the project. At that meeting, trustees also allocated $18,580 from the fund balance to pay InForm Studio for construction documents. InForm Studio, the architecture firm that previously designed AADL’s Traverwood branch, gave an update on the process at that same meeting.

The existing teal porcelain panels that wrap around the front facade, part of architect Alden Dow’s original design from the mid-1950s, will be replaced with a “concrete skin” panel. The entrance will continue to be oriented to South Fifth Avenue, with new doors into the building. Leading from the front of the building into the vestibule will be two balanced double doors, which will be easier to open than the existing entry, and a single automatic door. A matching set of these doors will lead from the vestibule to the interior of the building. A heated sidewalk is proposed along the exterior edge of the steps.

The new design also will address accessibility concerns that have been raised by the public.

The overall project is now expected to cost about $250,000.

Downtown Library Entrance: Public Commentary

During public commentary at the start of the May 19 meeting, Don Salberg read from the library’s purchasing policy, as adopted by the library board in December 1995, with revisions in September 1996, August 2001, and June 2006. It states that the library will encourage, by any legitimate means, active and vigorous competition for library district business, he said. Salberg also read an excerpt stating that if the cost of goods, supplies or services can reasonably be expected to exceed $27,000 then specifications shall be prepared describing the type of goods, supplies or services that might be needed.

He said he was reviewing the policy because he doesn’t think it’s being used in the selection of a construction firm for the front entrance work. The AADL director has told him that no RFP (request for proposals) will be issued, Salberg said, although the work is expected to cost more than $27,000. “I ask the library board to insist that the executive director follow its own purchasing policies and ensure that the selection of the construction firm for replacing the front of the library will be decided by competitive bidding, if bids are submitted by more than one firm.”

This process would allow for local firms to compete, Salberg said, which he noted may not have been the case previously when the library hired Allerton-Hill consultants of Columbus, Ohio, Lansing-based EPIC-MRA, and InForm Studio of Northville. “The Ann Arbor community will benefit if its tax dollars are retained by contracting with local companies,” Salberg concluded.

Downtown Library Entrance: Board Discussion

During her report from the board’s facilities committee, Margaret Leary noted that the work with O’Neal is not for construction of the whole project, but rather for the project’s management. The facilities committee was recommending approval of the resolution.

Nancy Kaplan.

Ed Surovell, another facilities committee member, asked AADL director Josie Parker to respond to Don Salberg’s public commentary. Parker replied that the construction manager has oversight for the project. They look at construction documents, determine whether the design is feasible, and work with architects on the project’s budget. The construction manager then bids the work, she said, and subsequently manages the project as construction takes place. “They make sure it’s done on time, in sequence,” Parker said. The construction manager handles the permitting process, inspections, stormwater mitigation, safety, and any other aspect of the project.

Parker also noted that the construction manager will be responsible for helping AADL stay open during the project.

Surovell confirmed with Parker that the three new library branches – Malletts Creek, Pittsfield, Traverwood – were handled in the same way. Skanska was construction manager for Malletts Creek and Pittsfield, and O’Neal was construction manager for Traverwood.

Leary stressed that the library has extensive experience with O’Neal that’s been very satisfactory. She noted that Parker had requested qualifications from O’Neal, which had in turn been provided to the facilities committee.

Parker pointed out that the library policies allow for a request for qualifications (RFQ) to be used rather than a request for proposals (RFP) for this type of work.

Nancy Kaplan noted that O’Neal is a local firm, based in Ann Arbor.

Outcome: The board unanimously approved the resolution authorizing Parker to negotiate with O’Neal Construction for construction management services.

Director’s Evaluation

Earlier in the meeting, the board met in closed session to discuss the director’s evaluation. Barbara Murphy, chair of the director’s evaluation committee, attended that session but left before the rest of the board meeting due to illness. Other committee members are Jan Barney Newman and Rebecca Head.

AADL director Josie Parker.

Prue Rosenthal, board president, read aloud a letter that outlined Parker’s accomplishments, including her appointment to the state Commission for Blind Persons and the fact that no union grievances were filed this year. [.pdf of letter]

For the past four years, given the economic climate, Parker has requested that her salary remain unchanged, and the board has agreed. This year, the board is giving her a 3% raise. Her salary prior to the raise is $143,114.

The board gave Parker a round of applause.

Outcome: This was not a voting item.

Later in the meeting, the board voted to go into closed session at the start of their next meeting, on June 16, for the purpose of continued discussion of the director’s evaluation. This session was at Parker’s request.

Director’s Report

AADL director Josie Parker congratulated staff for putting on Visions 2014, a vendor fair held on May 14 at Washtenaw Community College for people who are blind and physically handicapped. About 500 people attended, from as far away as Grand Rapids, Gaylord, Toledo and Detroit. Parker said that consumers and their caregivers told her how difficult it is to get information about these services, especially for people who live in rural Michigan or Ohio, so they appreciated the vendor fair. “Right now, there’s nothing else like it in Michigan,” she said.

The event also drew librarians and staff from the Michigan Bureau of Services for Blind Persons. Parker pointed out that the event included a contractor from the Business Enterprise Program (BEP), which the bureau oversees, to manage the food vendors.

In particular, Parker praised AADL managers Terry Soave and Tim Grimes, who held the most responsibility for the event. Soave is the library’s outreach & neighborhood services manager. Grimes serves as manager of community relations and marketing. They received a round of applause from the board.

Director’s Report: Elevator Repair

Parker also reported that the public elevator for the downtown library isn’t working. It’s the same problem that took the freight elevator out of commission a couple of years ago, she said. Leaks had developed in the hydraulic piston, causing it to fail a weight test.

Ed Surovell.

It will cost about $100,000 to repair, and AADL is working with Schindler Elevators on the project. The work will be more difficult to manage because it’s in the public space, she noted. The repair work will be staged in the building’s lower level, but there will be noise and some emissions when the workers are welding.

Parker said that when workers remove the piston that operates the elevator – buried deep underground – dirt falls into the hole. Depending on how compacted it is, workers will need to drill down to remove the dirt. That drilling is what causes most of the noise and vibration, she said. The new piston will be brought in as 15-foot segments through the front entry, she said, but that will likely occur before the library opens in the morning.

The elevator won’t likely be functional until the end of August, Parker said. There won’t be public access to the lower level during the work, so programming that’s scheduled there will have to be moved. It’s helpful that the bookstore operated in the lower level by the Friends of the AADL isn’t open during the summer, she said.

For people who can’t use the stairs, they can ask the library staff to escort them to the freight elevator. That’s coordinated with security staff, Parker said. Everyone else will be using the stairs.

Parker pointed out that this work will be occurring while the front entry renovations are underway. That’s why the oversight of O’Neal Construction is more important than ever, she said.

Agreement with FAADL

A resolution was on the May 19 agenda to extend the Ann Arbor District Library’s space-use agreement with the nonprofit Friends of the Ann Arbor District Library for one year. The current agreement expired on May 21. [.pdf of agreement]

FAADL operates a used bookstore in the lower level of the downtown branch at 343 S. Fifth Ave. Proceeds of the store – about $90,000 annually – are given to the library.

Agreement with FAADL: Board Discussion

Margaret Leary, chair of the facilities committee, noted that this item had been reviewed by committee members on May 8. At that same meeting, the committee discussed the desire by FAADL to have the carpet replaced in the bookshop. Under terms of the agreement, that’s the responsibility of the library, she noted. So the library will be replacing the carpet sometime this summer, along with carpet in other areas of the downtown library.

AADL director Josie Parker noted that work to repair the public elevator will be staged in the lower level, so the timing of the carpet replacement will be pushed back a bit. She reported that all of the carpet in the lower level – including the multi-purpose room, where events are held – will be replaced.

Outcome: The board unanimously approved the agreement with FAADL.

Finance Report

Eli Neiburger, AADL’s associate director of IT and product development, presented the April 2014 financial report at the May 19 meeting. That job was previously done by Ken Nieman, associate director of finance, HR and operations, whose last day was May 2. Nieman took a job as CFO for the public library in Sonomo County, California.

Eli Neiburger.

AADL director Josie Parker thanked Neiburger for stepping in, saying he’s working hard to make this transition seamless for the board. [.pdf of finance report]

Through April 30, the library has received 98.4% of its budgeted tax revenue for the fiscal year. The library had $10.076 million in unrestricted cash at the end of April, with a fund balance of $8.433 million, up from $8.415 million a month ago. Neiburger noted that it’s not common for the fund balance to increase in any given month, but there’ve been several retirements resulting in some open positions, “so salary expenditure is uncommonly low for this month.”

Four line items – purchased services, software, copier expenses, and supplies – are over budget, but are expected to come back in line by the end of AADL’s fiscal year on June 30. Purchased services are slightly over budget because the library paid for a survey in March. Software reflects a $66,000 purchase made every July for a library automation system, and copier expenses include a semi-annual payment made each September. Several supply purchases were made in April to carry through until the end of the fiscal year on June 30. Neiburger noted that these are the same items that are mentioned every month.

There were no questions from the board. Ed Surovell commented that he appreciated the details about the line items that are over budget, saying that it’s helpful for the public to know.

Outcome: This was not a voting item.

Service Contracts

Two service contracts – for janitorial work and HVAC maintenance – were on the agenda for board approval. Both contracts are for three-year periods.

Margaret Leary, Ann Arbor District Library, The Ann Arbor Chronicle

Staff and the facilities committee recommended awarding R.N.A. Janitorial a contract through fiscal 2016-17 for a total of $476,748. The current contract expires on June 30, 2014 – the end of the current fiscal year.

Three bids were received for this work, including one from Pioneer Janitorial. The library currently contracts with both Pioneer and R.N.A. for janitorial services. The bid from Pioneer was significantly higher, at $584,618 for the three-year period. Library staff believed that the lowest bidder – CITI Building Services, at $437,115 – did not understand the full scope of the work. [.pdf of staff memo for janitorial services]

For HVAC equipment maintenance and repair, the board was asked to approve a contract with Shambaugh & Son for $259,240 over a three-year period. Shambaugh was the lowest of three bidders. They also hold the current contract with AADL for this work. The new contract would begin on July 1, 2014. [.pdf of staff memo for HVAC contract]

Service Contracts: Board Discussion

Margaret Leary, chair of the facilities committee, explained that the contract for janitorial services was put out for bids. The library staff had a pre-bid discussion with bidders, and felt that CITI representatives didn’t understand the scope of work for maintaining public buildings like those operated by AADL. She noted that R.N.A.’s bid was significantly lower than Pioneer’s.

The rationale for using two firms in the past – R.N.A. and Pioneer – was that it would provide some flexibility and backup, in case one company wasn’t able to do the work, Leary explained. “As a practical matter, that’s never happened,” she added. It was cheaper to just use R.N.A., and its past work has been satisfactory, she said.

Regarding the HVAC contract, Leary noted that it had also been reviewed by the facilities committee. Shambaugh & Son has provided satisfactory service in the past and was the lowest bidder.

Leary pointed out that the board always has the option of rejecting the bids and re-bidding the work. She stressed that it shows the board is serious about putting items out for bid and considering the financial and performance aspects of the bidders.

Outcome: In separate votes, the board unanimously approved both contracts.

Library Stats

The board is provided with monthly library statistics in five categories: Collections, users, visits, usage and participation. The data is compared to year-ago figures, when available. The information was presented by Eli Neiburger, AADL’s associate director of IT and product development.

AADL collections data: April 2014.

AADL users data: April 2014.

AADL visits data: April 2014.

AADL usage data: April 2014.

AADL participation data: April 2014.

Here are some highlights from Neiburger’s commentary:

• Collections: AADL staff is doing “some serious weeding of parts of the collection that haven’t circulated in a long time,” Neiburger said. So for the first time in many months, the number of books slightly decreased in April compared to March – 415,251 compared to 415,391. It still shows a slight increase compared to a year ago, however. Neiburger noted that Overdrive – a business that provides electronic books to public libraries, which AADL accesses through its membership in the Midwest Collaborative for Library Services – has upgraded recently. The upgrade has made it difficult to tell how many items are in the collection, he said, so this month there’s a question mark for that data point.
• Users: Thanks to efforts of the outreach department, Neiburger said, the number of business/organization cardholders is up 51% compared to a year ago. On the digital side, the number of unique users of AADL’s website is up 16%. He noted that they weren’t able to identify the number of robots that accessed the site in April, “so score one for the robots.”
• Visits: Door visits were down in April for all but the Traverwood branch, which Neiburger attributed to the cold weather and snow. The total number of page visits on AADL’s website increased 22%.
• Usage: Decreases in usage were also attributed to the bad weather in April. Neiburger noted that the 71% drop in webpage usage compared to last year is due to the optimization of pages, resulting in fewer pages per visit. You can view more results on a single page, which causes a drop in the number of webpages viewed. Video usage is up 467%.
• Participation: Meetups increased 51% in April, due in part to a couple of big events, including FoolMoon, which drew a lot of people despite the foul weather. “We had hail in the middle of the event,” Neiburger said. “I told my staff that the last time I was standing in weather like that and not running away I was wearing a tuba and a marching band uniform.”

Neiburger also gave highlights of some “Top Tweets” that mentioned @aadl during April, and showed a video to promote and explain AADL’s popular summer game. Neiburger noted that the game is “very much about immersing in pop culture,” so there are lots of references to that within the video to explain how the game works. The video is posted on AADL’s website. It was produced by AADL staff and 7 Cylinders Studio.

Screenshot from the AADL’s summer game video. The fourth-floor boardroom of the downtown library has been slightly transformed.

Committee Reports

The board has seven committees: communications, budget and finance, facilities, policy, director’s evaluation, executive, and strategic plan. Because membership on each committee consists of only three trustees, which is fewer than a quorum of the board, the meetings are not required to be open to the public under Michigan’s Open Meetings Act. The board has the option of making its committee meetings open to the public, but has chosen not to do so.

On May 19, four committee reports were given – finance, communications, director’s evaluation, and facilities. The director’s evaluation report is summarized earlier in this article.

Committee Reports: Finance

Chair Jan Barney Newman said the finance committee met to discuss the budget and the positions that the library will be filling. She did not elaborate. Other committee members are Barbara Murphy and Nancy Kaplan.

Committee Reports: Communications

Rebecca Head, chair of the communications committee, reported that the committee met on May 9. Other members are Margaret Leary and Prue Rosenthal. They talked with Krysia Hepatica, the library’s new social media and marketing technician.

Rebecca Head.

They also reviewed the AADL newsletter, which is in production and will be mailed soon to residents in AADL’s district. It will focus on recent survey results, she said. [The survey had been conducted in February by EPIC-MRA. The board was briefed on the results by Bernie Porn – president of the Lansing-based firm – at their March 17, 2014 meeting.] The second newsletter will go out in September.

The committee also discussed an upcoming AADL board candidate event that will be held prior to the November 2014 election. That will be discussed in more detail at a later date, Head reported. [This year, terms for three board members expire: Barbara Murphy, Jan Barney Newman, and Ed Surovell. In addition, Nancy Kaplan is running for Ward 2 city council in the August Democratic primary. She has indicated that she'll resign from the AADL board if she wins. The library trustees are non-partisan positions.]

Committee Reports: Facilities

Margaret Leary, who chairs the facilities committee, reported that they reviewed several items that were subsequently brought forward as resolutions that night, including recommendations for the downtown building’s front entrance renovation, janitorial services, and an HVAC contract. Other committee members are Ed Surovell and Jan Barney Newman.

Public Commentary

Two people spoke during public commentary on May 19. Don Salberg’s commentary is reported earlier in this article.

Lyn Davidge thanked the board for continuing, as they did last year, to hold their summer meetings at AADL branches. Last summer she noticed that there were new faces at some of those meetings, and good turnouts. As the library thinks of ways to better communicate with the public, it’s important to get out and be visible and make it easier for people to know what the board is doing, she said.

However, Davidge told trustees she’s disappointed that the board is meeting at the branches only three times. So she urged them to look ahead as they set their meeting schedule for 2015, and hold more meetings outside of the downtown location.

Present: Rebecca Head, Nancy Kaplan, Margaret Leary, Jan Barney Newman, Prue Rosenthal, Ed Surovell.

Absent: Barbara Murphy.

Next regular meeting: Monday, June 16, 2014 at 7 p.m. at the Traverwood Branch, 3333 Traverwood Drive (at Huron Parkway), Ann Arbor. [Check Chronicle event listing to confirm date]

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The $12.568 million budget assumes a 2.4% increase in tax revenues, based on an increase in property values. The library is authorized to levy up to 1.92 mills, but in recent years the board has set the millage rate at lower levels. The library’s fiscal year runs from July 1 through June 30.

The budget reflects a 3% increase in the merit raise pool for full-time employees. Salaries, wages and benefits account for the largest portion of the budget expenditures – a projected $8.048 million in fiscal 2014-15. The budget also includes a 3% increase in the library’s contribution to employee health care costs. Other major line items include materials ($1.75 million); utilities ($448,000); programming ($320,000); and repair/maintenance ($312,000).

The legal expense line item is increasing from a budgeted $50,000 this year to $96,000 in FY 2014-15. That reflects the start of union contract negotiations.

The budget and millage rate were approved in separate votes. A third vote designated the budget as a line-item budget with a policy for disbursements. All votes were unanimous.

The board also held a public hearing on the budget, but no one spoke.

This brief was filed from the fourth floor boardroom of the downtown library at 343 S. Fifth Ave. A more detailed report will follow: [link]

Ken Nieman, AADL’s outgoing associate director of finance, HR and operations, has taken a job as CFO of the public library in Sonoma County, California. His last day at AADL is May 2. (Photos by the writer.)

The proposed fiscal year 2014-15 budget – for the 12 months starting July 1, 2014 – is based on a levy of 1.55 mills, unchanged from the current rate. The library is authorized to levy up to 1.92 mills, but in recent years the board has set the millage rate at lower levels. The $12.568 million budget assumes a 2.4% increase in the district’s property tax base.

The board is expected to vote on the budget at its May 19 meeting.

Related to the redesigned downtown library’s front entrance, the board authorized the library director, Josie Parker, to hire a construction manager for the project. Board members also allocated $18,580 from the fund balance to pay InForm Studio for construction documents. InForm Studio, the architecture firm that previously designed AADL’s Traverwood branch, has been working on this project for several months. An update was given most recently at the board’s March 17, 2014 meeting.

Before taking action, the board heard from InForm Studio’s Cory Lavigne, who presented a revised design for the project, based on feedback from board members and the public. A large translucent sign that had previously been part of the design is now eliminated, after some board members voiced concerns about security issues that it might cause. A bench in front of the building – originally part of the proposed design – has been removed. Instead, a sign that’s low to the ground is proposed in that location.

The existing teal porcelain panels that wrap around the front facade, part of architect Alden Dow’s original design from the mid-1950s, will be replaced with a “concrete skin” panel. The entrance will continue to be oriented to South Fifth Avenue, with new doors into the building. Leading from the front of the building into the vestibule will be two balanced double doors, which will be easier to open than the existing entry, and a single automatic door. A matching set of these doors will lead from the vestibule to the interior of the building.

Lavigne reviewed several other changes, some of which addressed accessibility concerns that were raised in the preliminary design. A heated sidewalk is proposed along the exterior edge of the steps.

The board spent several minutes discussing a suggestion from Ed Surovell, who wanted more than just one flagpole in front of the building. Trustees reached consensus for the details to be worked out by the architect and the facilities committee, on which Surovell serves. Other members of the facilities committee are Margaret Leary and Jan Barney Newman.

The April 21 meeting also marked some transitions in top administrative positions. Associate director Ken Nieman, who has worked at AADL for 14 years, has taken a job as CFO for the public library in Sonomo County, California. His last day at AADL will be May 2. That will also be the last day for human resources manager DeAnn Doll, who’s been with AADL for about 15 years. She has accepted a job as director of human resources for Florida Polytechnic University in Lakeland, Florida.

Earlier this year, Celeste Choate – AADL’s former associate director of services, collections and access – was hired as executive director of the Urbana Free Library in Urbana, Illinois. She started that position on April 1.

At the April 21 meeting, AADL director Josie Parker noted that change is a constant, “and while we miss people, we look forward to the opportunities that change brings us.”

Downtown Library Front Entrance

The agenda included a resolution that took several steps on renovations of the downtown library entrance.

Rendering of the new design for the Ann Arbor District Library’s downtown building entrance. (Image by InForm Studio.)

It would authorize the library director, Josie Parker, to hire a construction manager for the project, and allocate $18,580 from the fund balance to pay InForm Studio for construction documents. InForm Studio, the architecture firm that previously designed AADL’s Traverwood branch, has been working on this project for several months. An update was given most recently at the board’s March 17, 2014 meeting.

Parker has previously expressed her intent that the cost of the project be kept under $250,000. Approval of the construction budget would come at a later date.

Margaret Leary, chair of the board’s facilities committee, told trustees that Cory Lavigne of InForm Studio met with the committee for a couple of hours on April 8. The committee – including board members Ed Surovell and Jan Barney Newman – had discussed feedback from a March 13 public forum as well as board discussions. Lavigne presented a revised design to committee members, who discussed it and made some tweaks. That design was now being brought before the board.

At the April 21 board meeting, Lavigne reviewed the new design, noting that many of the changes relate to handicap accessibility, safety, and aspects of maintaining the integrity of architect Alden Dow’s original design.

Cory Lavigne of InForm Studio.

The existing teal porcelain metal panels will be removed and replaced with a “concrete skin” rainscreen panel that wraps around the front. Exposed concrete and wood will be incorporated into the soffit of the existing canopy, to add some warmth and color to that element, he said, and to tie in with the brick on the building. Stainless steel will be used in some of the handrails and signs.

A large translucent sign that had previously been part of the design is now eliminated, after some board members voiced concerns about security issues that it might cause. A bench in front of the building – originally part of the proposed design – has been removed. Instead, a sign that’s low to the ground is proposed in that location. Some internally lit translucent material will be used in that sign, Lavigne said. There will also be ground lighting to illuminate the sign.

He described the sign as a design that’s “very civic and formal, and yet retains a new, modern edge which ties into the new materials that we’re using.” The sign will pick up on material in an existing greenish slate wall, using a bluestone material with a somewhat rough finish – with an unpolished surface.

The entrance will continue to be oriented to South Fifth Avenue, with new doors into the building. Leading from the front of the building into the vestibule will be two balanced double doors, which will be easier to open than the existing entry, and a single automatic door that can be opened with a handicap-accessible panel. A matching set of these doors will lead from the vestibule to the interior of the building. The balanced doors would have a six-foot opening. The single door would have a three-foot opening.

Lavigne also described the sloped access to the entrance from Library Lane to the north. There will be stainless steel handrails on both sides of the walkway. The slope has about a 3% incline, he noted. Building code requires handrails for a 5% incline, but the library is choosing to put in handrails as a precaution, even though it’s not required.

On the south side of the building, coming from William Street, there will be a concrete retaining wall that curves around a flagpole and an address sign. New handrails will be installed on the sloping walkway, which has a 2.9% incline.

Margaret Leary, chair of the AADL board’s facilities committee.

A landscaping area on the northern side has been reconfigured, based on feedback from University of Michigan architecture professor Doug Kelbaugh. It will be edged with bluestone material to frame in the area, which will have native grasses and wildflowers that don’t require a lot of maintenance. Existing stormwater drainage will spill into the planter bed, so there will be no need for irrigation, Lavigne said.

The design calls for a heated sidewalk along the exterior edge of the front steps. The walkway under the existing canopy would not be heated – because there’s no need for it, Lavigne said.

Lavigne said that InForm Studio is talking with the Ann Arbor Downtown Development Authority about incorporating the public sidewalk in front of the entrance – on city property – into the project, to eliminate an “awkward” step up from South Fifth Avenue. “It’s quite a drop from the existing curb,” he noted.

AADL director Josie Parker stressed that InForm Studio, not the library itself, is discussing this possibility with the DDA. She noted that eliminating the step at the street would likely require adding another step on the library property – from three steps to four. “The grade has to come from somewhere,” she said.

Steps leading up to the entrance would have handrails at intermediate spots. The flagpole will be lit with an in-ground LED fixture, as would a sign providing the street address.

Lavigne said they’re also considering a new sign that would be high on the library’s west facade, and lit.

Downtown Library Front Entrance: Board Discussion

Barbara Murphy asked about the street address sign. It appeared to be bigger and more prominent than the sign with the AADL name, she said. “I would venture to say that 99% of the people in Ann Arbor, including library staff, have no idea what 343 means.” [The street address is 343 South Fifth Avenue.] She proposed that it be made less prominent than the sign with AADL’s name.

Nancy Kaplan asked for clarification about the front railings. Lavigne explained that there would be a handrail on the northern edge of the steps, next to the landscape plantings. Two additional handrails would line up with the entry doors, and a fourth handrail would be on the far south edge of the steps. The handrails will extend a foot beyond the edge of the steps at the top and bottom.

AADL trustees Rebecca Head and Ed Surovell.

Kaplan also asked about the cost of the balanced doors. Lavigne replied that they are about three times more expensive than regular doors. AADL director Josie Parker said the balanced doors are much easier to use. Because the downtown library entrance is heavily used, “we need the best doors that we can afford,” she said.

Ed Surovell proposed including additional flagpoles, rather than just one. The flagpoles could fly the U.S. flag, the state of Michigan flag, and then a possible third flag that might vary, he said. Responding to a query from Murphy, Parker reported that the existing flag flies continuously – it’s not taken down at night. Lavigne indicated that putting in three flagpoles would be possible.

Margaret Leary said she didn’t want to confuse people by flying the flag for the city of Ann Arbor. “We are in Ann Arbor, but we are not a city library,” she said. “I love the city flag – whatever it is – but the state, the U.S., and the AADL flags are fine with me.”

Surovell said the third flag could be the block M on University of Michigan game days, or flags representing the countries of visiting speakers. “There are lots of things you can do with it,” he said.

Kaplan noted that the proposed entrance design is very clean and uncluttered, and she didn’t want the flagpoles to interfere with that.

Trustees reached consensus for the details to be worked out by the architect and the facilities committee, on which Surovell serves. Other members of the facilities committee are Leary and Jan Barney Newman.

Downtown Library Front Entrance: Resolution

Margaret Leary read the proposed resolution. It authorized the library director, Josie Parker, to continue working with InForm Studio on the next phase of the project, and to hire a construction manager. The resolution also approved the allocation of $18,580 from the fund balance to pay InForm Studio for construction documents.

Barbara Murphy clarified that the construction manager would produce the estimated cost for completing the project. Leary noted that the board will be required to vote on the funding for that work.

Outcome: The resolution was passed unanimously.

2014-15 Budget

Ken Nieman – the library’s associate director of finance, HR and operations – presented the proposed fiscal year 2014-15 budget, which is based on a levy of 1.55 mills, unchanged from the current rate. The library’s fiscal year runs from July 1 through June 30.

Ken Nieman.

He began by noting that the original draft budget had been based on a projected 1.5% increase in the tax base. But subsequently, Washtenaw County’s equalization report was released, showing that the increase in AADL’s district is 2.4% for 2014. So the board was provided with an updated budget summary based on that new information. [.pdf of updated draft budget summary] [.pdf of original draft budget, with additional line-item details] The budget reflects $12.568 million in revenues, up from $12.471 million in the current fiscal year.

The budget assumes a 2.4% increase in tax revenues, based on an increase in property values. The library is authorized to levy up to 1.92 mills, but in recent years the board has set the millage rate at lower levels.

The budget reflects a 3% increase in the merit raise pool for full-time employees. Salaries, wages and benefits account for the largest portion of the budget expenditures – a projected $8.048 million in fiscal 2014-15. The budget also includes a 3% increase in the library’s contribution to employee health care costs. Other major line items include materials ($1.75 million); utilities ($448,000); programming ($320,000); and repair/maintenance ($312,000).

The legal expense line item is increasing from a budgeted $50,000 this year to $96,000 in FY 2014-15. That reflects the start of union contract negotiations, Nieman said.

He described it as “a fairly normal budget, as things go, since we stopped building buildings.” Nieman, who was attending his last board meeting, received a round of applause from trustees.

2014-15 Budget: Board Discussion

Barbara Murphy clarified with AADL director Josie Parker that a budget adjustment would be required when the board decides to move ahead with the front entrance renovation. The funding for that project would be drawn from the library’s fund balance.

Margaret Leary clarified with Parker that expenses for outreach, such as newsletters and other mailings to residents, would be included in the library programming line item, not the communications line item. The programming line item is increasing by $85,000 compared to the current fiscal year.

Ed Surovell asked about the impact of changes to the personal property tax. Nieman replied that at the AADL’s current levy of 1.55 mills, an elimination of the PPT – if it were not replaced in some way – would mean a loss of $635,000 in revenues. In August of 2014, voters statewide will be asked to approve a shift in “use tax” dollars that would replace the personal property tax revenue. Nieman said the 2014-15 budget assumes there will be no change in the amount of revenues related to the PPT.

Parker said that if any changes in projected tax revenues occur during the fiscal year, the library would tap its fund balance. For the next budget approval process, a year from now, one option would be to increase the library’s levy to make up the loss.

Parker noted that there’s an upcoming public forum on the PPT sponsored by the Ann Arbor Ypsilanti Regional Chamber of Commerce. The April 28 luncheon event starts at 11:30 a.m. at the Sheraton Ann Arbor Hotel, 3200 Boardwalk St. Speakers include state Sen. Rebekah Warren (D-District 18) and Mike Johnston, vice president of government affairs for the Michigan Manufacturers Association.

Outcome: This was not a voting item. The board is expected to vote on the budget at its meeting on May 19.

Audit Services

The board was asked to approve an extension of the audit services contract with the accounting firm Rehmann, for the period of a year beyond the hiring of a new comptroller. The extension would be until June 30, 2015 for a fee of $10,150. AADL director Josie Parker told the board that the contract extension comes in the context of Ken Nieman’s departure, to provide some continuity in the accounting process.

Outcome: Trustees unanimously approved the resolution regarding Rehmann’s contract extension.

Finance Report

Ken Nieman – the library’s associate director of finance, HR and operations – gave a brief report on the March 2014 financial statements. [.pdf of finance report]

Through March 31, the library has received 98% of its budgeted tax receipts for the fiscal year. The library had $11.038 million in unrestricted cash at the end of March, with a fund balance of $8.415 million.

Three line items – purchased services, software, and copier expenses – are over budget, but are expected to come back in line by the end of AADL’s fiscal year on June 30, according to Nieman. There was nothing out of the ordinary during the month, he said.

There were no questions for Nieman, but board members thanked him for his service to AADL.

Director’s Report

In addition to items in her written report, AADL director Josie Parker highlighted an award for environmental excellence in water quality protection that the library recently received from the Washtenaw County water resources commissioner’s office. Board president Prue Rosenthal read aloud some remarks from water resources commissioner Evan Pratt, describing why AADL had received the award. It included the fact that AADL has been a Community Partner for Clean Streams since 2004, and has helped educate the community about climate change, energy use, and threats to water quality.

From left: AADL director Josie Parker and board president Prue Rosenthal.

The library hosted a sustainability forum, in collaboration with the city of Ann Arbor, and has made a commitment to sustainable infrastructure design. The Malletts Creek, Pittsfield and Traverwood branches were designed to reduce environmental impacts. The Malletts Creek branch, for example, incorporates solar heat, natural daylighting, convection cooling and recycled materials. The branch’s landscaping, including a green roof, is designed for stormwater management.

Margaret Leary pointed out that the three branches highlighted in this award are the three new buildings constructed since 2004. “When we build new, we build environmentally wonderful buildings,” she said.

Parker also called out some parts of her written report. [.pdf of director's report] She highlighted visits from the vice director of China’s Heilongjiang Provincial Library, and the American Library Association president Barbara Stripling. Parker said she was proud that AADL was the host library for both those events in one week.

Library Stats

Each month, the board is provided with library statistics in five categories: Collections, users, visits, usage and participation. The data is compared to year-ago figures, when available. The information was presented by Eli Neiburger, AADL’s associate director of IT and product development.

AADL collections data: March 2014.

AADL users data: March 2014.

AADL visits data: March 2014.

AADL usage data: March 2014.

AADL participation data: March 2014.

Neiburger reviewed highlights of this information, and also showed the board about two dozen examples of Tweets that mentioned @aadl during the months of February and March. In response to a query from Ed Surovell, Neiburger said there are up to 10 Tweets a day that mention or favorite @aadl. In that case, Surovell said, “reading them is not an insurmountable task.”

Here are some examples mentioned in Neiburger’s presentation:

Tweet about AADL’s deal with Ghostly International.

Tweet about Go Ice Cream unveiling a vegan flavor at AADL.

Tweet highlighting David Erik Nelson’s Chronicle column about the library.

Committee Reports

The board has seven committees: communications, budget and finance, facilities, policy, director’s evaluation, executive, and strategic plan. Because membership on each committee consists of only three trustees, which is fewer than a quorum of the board, the meetings are not required to be open to the public under Michigan’s Open Meetings Act. The board has the option of making its committee meetings open to the public, but has chosen not to do so.

On April 21, four committee reports were given – finance, communications, director’s evaluation, and facilities. The facilities committee report is included as part of this article’s section on the downtown front entrance design.

Committee Reports: Finance

Chair Jan Barney Newman said the committee hasn’t met since the previous board meeting, but will be getting together soon to review the budget before the May board meeting. Other committee members are Barbara Murphy and Nancy Kaplan.

Committee Reports: Communications

Chair Rebecca Head said the committee has now met with all city councilmembers to discuss issues related to the future of the city-owned Library Lane lot north of the downtown library. The committee also talked about results of the recent EPIC-MRA survey, which had been presented to the whole board on March 17, 2014. The committee discussed what the next steps will be. [.pdf of 2014 survey results] [.pdf of 2014 results compared to 2012] Head said the committee might hold off on that process until a replacement is hired for Ken Nieman, AADL’s associate director of finance, HR and operations. Nieman’s last day is May 2.

Other communications committee members are Margaret Leary and Prue Rosenthal.

Committee Reports: Director’s Evaluation

Barbara Murphy, the committee’s chair, reported that the group met to review a draft evaluation of AADL director Josie Parker. The May board meeting will include a closed session for the evaluation. The committee members are Murphy, Jan Barney Newman and Rebecca Head.

Administrative Transitions

Two top AADL administrators will be leaving the organization in early May. The departures were discussed at the board’s April 21 meeting.

From left: AADL trustees Nancy Kaplan and Barbara Murphy.

Ken Nieman, the library’s associate director of finance, HR and operations, has taken a job as CFO for the public library in Sonomo County, California. AADL Josie Parker noted that they both started working at the Ann Arbor library 14 years ago. Parker was appointed director two years later, she said, and “Ken has pretty much taught me what I know about municipal finance and budgets.”

When she was offered the job of director, Parker asked Nieman if he’d stay at least a year longer to help with the transition. “He came here to solve a big giant problem, and he did it,” Parker told the board. “It never occurred to me that he’d stay, and he has – for a dozen years.” [Parker was referring to financial issues under the library’s previous leadership that included a deficit of nearly $1 million in 2000. Later that year, the library’s former financial director, Don Dely, was found guilty of embezzling $119,387 from the library from 1997 to 2000, according to a report in the Ann Arbor News.]

Prue Rosenthal said she’d miss watching Nieman’s face “when somebody is saying something that is not sensible, or is not smart, or is going on too long, or is upsetting him – which doesn’t happen often but does happen occasionally.” She thanked him for working with the board to help them understand the budget.

Nancy Kaplan, a member of the board’s finance committee, also thanked Nieman for his help, saying it was a pleasure to work with him.

Parker announced that human resources manager DeAnn Doll, who’s been with AADL for about 15 years, has accepted a job as director of human resources for Florida Polytechnic University in Lakeland, Florida. Her last day will also be May 2.

Change is constant, Parker noted, “and while we miss people, we look forward to the opportunities that change brings us.”

Rosenthal characterized it as a “feather in the cap” for AADL to have its employees to move on to jobs at larger institutions. “And warmer climates,” quipped Jan Barney Newman.

Later in the meeting, the board also passed a resolution of appreciation for Patti Miller, who retired on April 11 after 18 years of service at AADL in the former acquisitions department, which is now called collections management.

Present: Rebecca Head, Nancy Kaplan, Margaret Leary, Barbara Murphy, Jan Barney Newman, Prue Rosenthal, Ed Surovell.

Next regular meeting: Monday, May 19, 2014 at 7 p.m. in the fourth-floor conference room of the downtown library, 343 S. Fifth Ave., Ann Arbor. [Check Chronicle event listing to confirm date]

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The $12.568 million budget assumes a 2.4% increase in tax revenues, based on an increase in property values. The library is authorized to levy up to 1.92 mills, but in recent years the board has set the millage rate at lower levels.

The budget reflects a 3% increase in the merit raise pool for full-time employees. Salaries, wages and benefits account for the largest portion of the budget expenditures – a projected $8.048 million in fiscal 2014-15. Other major line items include materials ($1.75 million); utilities ($448,000); programming ($320,000); and repair/maintenance ($312,000).

The library’s fiscal year runs from July 1 through June 30. The board is expected to vote on the budget at its meeting on May 19.

Ken Nieman – the library’s associate director of finance, HR and operations – made the budget presentation. April 21 was his last board meeting at AADL, as he’ll be taking a job as CFO for the public library in Sonomo County, California. Nieman has worked at AADL for 14 years. His last day there will be May 2.

This brief was filed from the fourth-floor boardroom of the downtown library at 343 S. Fifth Ave. A more detailed report will follow: [link]

Rendering of the new design for the Ann Arbor District Library’s downtown building entrance. (Image by InForm Studio.)

The board authorized the library director, Josie Parker, to hire a construction manager for the project. Board members also allocated $18,580 from the fund balance to pay InForm Studio for construction documents. InForm Studio, the architecture firm that previously designed AADL’s Traverwood branch, has been working on this project for several months. An update was given most recently at the board’s March 17, 2014 meeting.

Parker has expressed her intent that the project be kept under $250,000.

Before taking action, the board heard from architect Cory Lavigne of InForm Studio, who presented a revised design for the project. A large translucent sign that had previously been part of the design is now eliminated, after some board members voiced concerns about security issues that it might cause. A bench in front of the building – originally part of the proposed design –  has been removed. Instead, a sign that’s low to the ground is proposed in that location.

The existing teal porcelain metal panels that wrap around the front facade will be replaced with a “concrete skin” panel. The entrance would continue to be oriented to South Fifth Avenue, with new doors into the building. Leading from the front of the building into the vestibule will be two balanced double doors, which will be easier to open than the existing entry, and a single automatic door. A matching set of these doors will lead from the vestibule to the interior of the building.

Lavigne reviewed several other changes, some of which addressed accessibility concerns that were raised in the preliminary design. A heated sidewalk also is proposed along the exterior edge of the steps.

The board spent several minutes discussing a suggestion from Ed Surovell, who wanted more than just one flagpole in front of the building. Trustees reached consensus for the details to be worked out by the architect and the facilities committee, on which Surovell serves. Other members of the facilities committee are Margaret Leary, chair, and Jan Barney Newman.

This brief was filed from the fourth-floor boardroom of the downtown library at 343 S. Fifth Ave. A more detailed report will follow: [link]

Prue Rosenthal was re-elected to another one-year term as president of the Ann Arbor District Library board of trustees on Jan. 20. (Photos by the writer.)

Two of those items relate to communications and outreach: $63,000 to design, print and mail event postcards, newsletters and other items to all district residents; and $25,000 for a satisfaction survey of 500-600 library district residents, to be conducted by Lansing-based EPIC-MRA. The library previously did a survey in early 2012, in part to gauge public support for financing a new downtown library. The board later put a bond proposal on the November 2012 ballot to fund a new downtown building, but it failed to receive a majority of votes.

The new survey will be used to measure the public’s recognition of the products and services provided by AADL, their regard for AADL as a public institution in the region, and the avenues by which people obtain information about the library.

Results will be ready by this spring, and are expected to help inform the library’s next long-term strategic plan. Trustees have scheduled a retreat on Feb. 3 from 4-7 p.m. in the fourth-floor boardroom of the downtown library, to begin discussions for updating the current strategic plan that runs through 2015.

Also on Jan. 20, trustees elected officers for the coming year. All votes were unanimous with no competing nominations. Prue Rosenthal was re-elected for a second one-year term as board president. Also re-elected for a second one-year term was Rebecca Head, as board secretary. Barbara Murphy was elected as vice president, and Jan Barney Newman was elected as treasurer. Newman had served as vice president in 2013.

The board also established special committees for communications and facilities, and made appointments to those as well as to standing committees for finance and policy.

Work of the policy committee was another item on the Jan. 20 agenda. The committee previously had discussed staff proposals to revise more than a dozen sections of the AADL policy manual. Discussion at the board meeting focused on policy changes to offer free library cards to non-resident students and staff at state-sanctioned schools within AADL’s district. Also highlighted were the library’s behavior rules, which board member Nancy Kaplan called generous and kind. AADL director Josie Parker noted that even though the current policy prohibits sleeping in the library, during the recent extreme cold no one is asked to leave when they are found sleeping. The board will vote on the proposed policy revisions at its February meeting.

The board heard from five speakers during public commentary, including thanks from local cartoonist and teaching artist Jerzy Drozd for services that the AADL provides for the youth of Ann Arbor. Since 2011, Drozd has hosted a podcast called Comics Are Great! that’s recorded in the AADL podcast studio. Drozd called it “The Dick Cavett Show for cartoonists.” Also during public commentary, Kathy Griswold again urged the board to videotape its meetings for broadcast, and to open its committee meetings to the public.

Budget Adjustments

Trustees were asked to approve three budget adjustments for the current fiscal year, which runs from July 1, 2013 through June 30, 2014. The adjustments totaled $118,000.

The changes involve transfers from the library’s fund balance into the capital outlays budget, the library programming line item, and the purchased services line item:

• Increase the capital outlays budget by $30,000 to buy a delivery truck from Varsity Ford.
• Increase the library programming line item by $63,000 for costs related to the design, printing and mailing of event postcards and newsletters to all district residents. AADL director Josie Parker told the board that this is in direct response to recommendations in a 2013 communications audit by Allerton-Hill Consulting. [.pdf of Allerton-Hill report]
• Increase the purchased services line item by $25,000 to cover a satisfaction survey of library district residents, to be conducted by Lansing-based EPIC-MRA. The library previously used EPIC-MRA to conduct a phone survey in March of 2012, and results were reviewed at the board’s April 16, 2012 meeting. That survey had in part asked questions to gauge public support for financing a new downtown library. The board later put a bond proposal on the November 2012 ballot to fund a new downtown building, but it was rejected, failing to receive a majority of votes.

The 2013-2014 budget was approved by the board at its May 6, 2013 meeting. [.pdf of 2013-14 budget summary] According to the most recent financial report, the library had a fund balance of $8.188 million as of Dec. 31, 2013.

The board has made previous budget adjustments during this fiscal year. On Oct. 21, 2013, trustees authorized a $40,000 adjustment to AADL’s 2013-14 budget to cover costs of repairs and testing of the downtown library roof.

Budget Adjustments: Board Discussion – Truck

Regarding the budget amendment for the delivery truck, Barbara Murphy confirmed that this was a purchase that Ken Nieman – the library’s associate director of finance, HR and operations – had previously mentioned to the board. Nancy Kaplan said she’d talked to Nieman and he’d priced other options.

Neiman came to the podium and explained that the library’s current truck was purchased in 2006. Prior to that, the library relied on an outside delivery service. The current truck requires a special certification to drive it. It’s on the road 30-35 hours per week, Nieman said, and has become a critical part of the library’s operations, moving material between branches. He reported that he got a quote from Briarwood Ford as well as Varsity Ford. Prices were similar, but the offer from Varsity included a ramp on the truck, rather than the lift gate that’s currently used. It will also be a smaller truck, so more people will be able to drive it, if needed.

Neiman said deliveries are made twice a day, and patrons have come to rely on quick service of materials that need to be transferred between locations. “That’s really what it’s all about,” he said.

AADL director Josie Parker explained that materials are loaded onto carts, which is why a ramp is preferable. When the lift gate on the current truck doesn’t work, the carts can’t be loaded.

Outcome on budget adjustment for the delivery truck: The board voted unanimously to approve the adjustment.

Budget Adjustments: Board Discussion – Communications

Regarding the $63,000 transfer for library programming, Josie Parker explained that it will be used for the AADL’s marketing, communications and publicity efforts. It will be spent on several pieces of literature – including postcards announcing special events as well as a newsletter – to be mailed to all households within AADL’s district.

AADL trustee Barbara Murphy.

Parker noted that the library stopped publishing printed newsletters in 2006, prior to the 2009 decision by the owners of the Ann Arbor News to cease publication. Now that there’s not a reliable way to reach all of the district’s residents, she said, it’s time to renew that effort. The newsletter will include information from the board and director, as well as news about programming and services.

Parker said that this is a direct consequence of recommendations in the communications audit. She added that the mailings will also highlight AADL accomplishments, like its five-star rating by the Library Journal.

Barbara Murphy said she’s pleased by this decision. She used to love getting AADL newsletters at home, and will look forward to it. Nancy Kaplan also was pleased, calling it a wonderful outreach effort.

Margaret Leary noted that it illustrates that communication can’t be all print or all digital. The library has an award-winning website, she said, yet the previous survey that the library conducted showed that a lot of people aren’t aware of what the library does. The newsletter is another way to get information into households in the library district. “Together with our website … it moves us a lot closer to having a full panoply of ways to communicate with everyone in our district,” Leary said.

Rebecca Head reiterated the importance of a newsletter, given that there’s no daily print newspaper in Ann Arbor. Having a mechanism to communicate with people in print is useful, she said.

Outcome on budget adjustment for library programming: The board voted unanimously to approve the adjustment.

Budget Adjustments: Board Discussion – Survey

Rebecca Head thought this would be a useful survey to gauge both satisfaction and awareness among library patrons or potential patrons. Josie Parker told the board that the survey will, among other things, measure the public’s perception of the role that libraries play in modern society – both generally, and pertaining to AADL in particular. That includes quantifying the public’s recognition of the products and services provided by AADL, their regard for AADL as a public institution in the region, and the avenues by which people obtain information about the library.

Parker noted that this is another recommendation made by the communications audit, which suggested conducting a survey at least every other year. The last EPIC-MRA survey was done in early 2012. Results from the new survey will likely be ready in late March or early April.

The original resolution was for $20,000. Margaret Leary noted that EPIC-MRA had provided several options at different price points. She wondered whether $20,000 was sufficient. Parker replied that she’d discussed this with EPIC-MRA representatives. The proposal is for a phone survey of 500-600 people. She talked about the difficulty of including cell phones in this survey, because some people with a 734 area code don’t actually live here. So they’re still talking about how to do that, and how it might change the cost, Parker said.

AADL trustee Margaret Leary.

Leary clarified with Parker that at this time, no focus groups would be convened as part of this process. Parker said that’s not what the recommendation calls for. Based on results from the phone survey, however, the board might want to do focus groups in the future.

Parker also reminded trustees that in the past, they used focus groups as part of developing their strategic plan.

Leary asked whether Parker would feel comfortable if the board approved a slightly higher amount than $20,000, so that Parker would have more flexibility in finalizing the survey work. Parker replied that the people she’s talked with at EPIC-MRA believe they can deliver the kind of information that the library wants within that amount.

Jan Barney Newman pointed out that the board could approve an additional amount at a later date, if needed.

Leary offered an amendment to increase the amount from $20,000 to $25,000.

Prue Rosenthal thought that this survey would provide information to build on what the board has already learned as a result of the Allerton-Hill communications audit. Parker noted that increasing the amount would allow for the opportunity to target more cell phone numbers. She said she wouldn’t spend more than was needed to get the data they wanted.

Outcome on amendment to increase the survey budget to $25,000: It passed unanimously.

There was no further discussion on that item.

Outcome on budget adjustment for the survey: The board voted unanimously to approve the adjustment, as amended.

Financial Report

Ken Nieman – the library’s associate director of finance, HR and operations – gave a brief report on the December 2013 financial statements. [.pdf of financial report]

Ken Nieman, the library’s associate director of finance, HR and operations.

Through Dec. 31, the library has received 96.9% of its budgeted tax receipts. The library had $13.5 million in unrestricted cash at the end of December, with a fund balance of $8.188 million.

Six expense items are currently over budget, Nieman reported, but all of those items are expected to come back in line with budgeted amounts by the end of the fiscal year, which ends on June 30, 2014. The over-budget line items are: (1) purchased services; (2) communications, for an annual Internet-related payment; (3) software; (4) copier/maintenance expense; (5) supplies, due to a large purchase of computer supplies in November; and (6) circulation supplies, due to a large purchase of library cards in December.

Nieman described it as a “pretty regular month,” with nothing out of the ordinary.

There were no questions from the board on this report.

Officer Elections

The AADL board’s first meeting of the calendar year is its annual meeting, during which officers are elected for the coming calendar year.

Prue Rosenthal was nominated for a second one-year term as board president. Also nominated for a second one-year term was Rebecca Head, as board secretary. Barbara Murphy was nominated as vice president, and Jan Barney Newman was nominated as treasurer. Newman had served as vice president in 2013.

At the beginning of the meeting, Rosenthal read aloud a statement reflecting on her term as president, and highlighting accomplishments of the AADL staff, including many that had been featured at board meetings in 2013. She praised staff and AADL director Josie Parker for their work. She noted that in the AADL district, which has a population of more than 163,000 people, there are more than 129,000 registered cardholders – or 79% of the district.

Outcome: All officers were elected in separate unanimous roll call votes.

Committee Appointments

In items added to the agenda during the Jan. 20 meeting, the board was asked to establish two special committees – for communications and facilities – and to confirm appointments to those committees as well as to the board’s standing committees.

Special committees for communications and facilities also had been established a year ago, at the board’s Jan. 21, 2013 meeting. The duration of those committees was through 2013. They’d been formed in response to a defeated bond proposal on the November 2012 ballot, which the AADL board had hoped would fund a new downtown library.

Committee Appointments: Special Committees – Communications

The resolution established the special communications committee to serve through 2014. The committee’s charge is “to consider the implementation of recommendations in the communications audit, and related issues.” The reference is to a 2013 communications audit by Allerton-Hill Consulting. [.pdf of Allerton-Hill report] Members nominated to the communications committee were Rebecca Head (chair), Margaret Leary and Prue Rosenthal.

There was no discussion.

Outcome: In separate votes, the board established the special communications committee and appointed its members.

Committee Appointments: Special Committees – Facilities

The charge for the facilities committee, to serve through 2014, is “to recommend to the Board steps needed to develop and maintain clean, safe, physical facilities that creatively meet the needs of the community and staff with an emphasis on sustainability, accessibility and flexibility.” Nominated to serve were Margaret Leary (chair), Jan Barney Newman, and Ed Surovell.

Leary pointed out that the charge to this committee is drawn directly from the library’s strategic plan.

Outcome: In separate votes, the board established the special facilities committee and appointed its members.

Committee Appointments: Finance, Policy

Nominations were also made to two board standing committees. Members of the finance committee are Jan Barney Newman (chair), Barbara Murphy, and Nancy Kaplan. The policy committee members are Murphy (chair), Kaplan and Rosenthal.

Outcome: Committee appointments were confirmed in a unanimous vote.

Committee Reports

The board has six committees: communications, budget and finance, facilities, policy, director’s evaluation, and executive. Two brief committee reports were made during the Jan. 20 board meeting.

Committee Reports: Communications

Prue Rosenthal reported that the communications committee met off-site in December for an “information-gathering process at a local company,” she said. No other details were provided.

Committee Reports: Policy

Barbara Murphy, chair of the policy committee, reported that the committee members met in December and reviewed in great detail the proposed policy revisions that were on the Jan. 20 agenda. Committee members talked by phone in January to reach final consensus on one item, she said. The board will be asked to vote on the policy changes in February.

Meeting Dates, Retreat

Also on Jan. 20, the board was asked to approve its meeting dates and locations for 2014. Typically, the board meets on the third Monday of each month at the main downtown library. Three meetings this year will be held at AADL branch locations: June 16 at Traverwood, July 21 at Pittsfield, and Aug. 18 at Malletts Creek. [.pdf of full meeting schedule]

In addition, the library administration recommended scheduling a retreat for Feb. 3 from 4-7 p.m. in the fourth-floor boardroom of the downtown library, where board meetings are typically held. The retreat in part will begin discussions for updating the library’s strategic plan. The current strategic plan runs from 2010 to 2015.

Outcome: The board voted unanimously to approve its meeting dates.

Library Policies

Trustees were asked to review extensive revisions to parts of the AADL policy manual, which covers a wide range of issues spanning overall library philosophy to circulation policies and rules of behavior for patrons. In introducing the item, AADL director Josie Parker noted that the staff routinely reviews various policies, but they don’t ever review the entire manual at the same time – it’s just too large.

Parker also noted that after these revisions, all references to the AADL’s former attachment to the Ann Arbor Public Schools will be eliminated.

The board’s policy committee had already reviewed the changes that were proposed by AADL staff and vetted by legal counsel. For each section, board members were provided with a copy of the current policy, a marked-up version showing suggested deletions and additions, and a “clean” draft version of the updated text.

Revisions are proposed for the following sections of the policy handbook:

• AADL philosophy
• “Freedom to Read” policy
• “Freedom to View” policy
• Privacy statement
• Internet use policy
• MichNet acceptable use policy
• Providing access to computer-based resources
• Interlibrary loan services
• Photocopying/fax services & fees
• Circulation policy
• Confidentiality policy
• Requests for access to records from general public
• Release of minor child’s library records
• Fines for damaged/lost materials
• Display/distribution of materials by outside groups
• Business use of facilities
• Rules of behavior in public sectors
• Unattended child policy
• Equal employment opportunity & affirmative action policy

Barbara Murphy, who chairs the board’s policy committee, pointed out that four sections of the current manual are proposed to be deleted. The issues addressed in the deleted sections are covered in other parts of the manual. As she’s noted in the past, Murphy also said that the changes have eliminated the archaic term “bookmen.”

Among the policy changes that Parker highlighted was a revision that reflects the changing way in which children are educated. The policy would allow AADL to offer library cards – without charging the non-resident fee – to students and teaching staff in any educational environment that’s approved by the state within the AADL district, regardless of residency.

Nancy Kaplan remarked on the policy about rules of behavior, saying that it’s very generous and very kind. “I am proud of that,” she said. Parker pointed out that the policy prohibits people from sleeping in the library. However, she said, there’s a practice in how that policy is enforced. The staff will ask people to wake up three times before asking them to leave for the day. “There are very valid reasons for nodding off at the public library,” she said – a comment that elicited laughs from the board. Some people are ill and take medicine that makes them sleepy, Parker continued. Some people are inebriated – if the staff determines that, then the person is asked to leave. “And some people need to choose a better book,” she quipped.

The policy that the AADL has “lets us be kind,” Parker said. She also noted that during the recent extreme cold, no one is asked to leave when they are found sleeping.

A vote to approve the policy updates will likely occur at the board’s February meeting.

Outcome: This was not a voting item.

Director’s Report

Josie Parker began her director’s report by showing a five-minute video annual report that featured highlights and accomplishments of the fiscal year from July 1, 2012 through June 30, 2013. She thanked Tim Grimes, AADL’s community relations and marketing manager, and his staff for producing the video.

Parker also reviewed the events that took place at the library in honor of the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday, including a talk by author and children’s book illustrator Bryan Collier and a concert by Gemini. Earlier in the day, about 275 people attended a performance by the percussion group Biakuye at the downtown location of the library.

Another event, held on Jan. 21, featured Ruta Sepetys, the author of “Between Shades Of Gray,” which is the 2014 selection for Ann Arbor/Ypsilanti Reads program. Parker thanked the selection panel for their work. She noted that the book is a young adult novel, but it’s being read by all ages.

Parker also called attention to items in her written report, including attendance at the AADL’s annual visit by local second-grade classrooms, and an email from a patron thanking the library for being open during the recent cold spell. [.pdf of director's report]

Resolutions of Thanks

Three separate resolutions gave official thanks to librarians who are retiring this month: Ieva Bates, who joined AADL in August of 1976; Beth Andersen, who started work at AADL in December of 1978; and Jacqueline Sasaki, who was hired by AADL in September of 1988.

AADL trustee Ed Surovell.

Ed Surovell told the board that Sasaki and “her crew” came to his house the previous week. Although she’s retiring, he said, one of her last official acts was to select some books from his library for AADL. “It was a delight to give them to her,” he said. Parker noted that Surovell, a collector of rare books, has made parts of his collection available to AADL for digitization.

Parker praised the librarians who are retiring. She called Andersen a “reference librarian extraordinaire” who also selected materials for the library. Her selection and acquisition skills resulted in her service on several committees over the years with the American Library Association. Much of AADL’s film collection has been selected by Andersen, Parker said.

Bates is an amazing children’s librarian, Parker told the board. She’s known to children who attend Storytime, and she designs and makes her own felt boards. “We will miss that very much,” Parker said.

Sasaki has served as a liaison between the AADL and the Ladies Library Association on the purchase of art for the library. She also oversaw the selection of the library’s print art collection, as well as its framing and maintenance. Sasaki is also a docent at the University of Michigan Museum of Art, Parker noted, and she has a fine arts background. Because of her relationship with art and artists, some of the artwork in the library was donated because of those relationships, Parker said.

These librarians have a broad and deep impact on the community, which reaches all ages, Parker concluded – in both traditional and non-traditional ways. The board and staff gave them a round of applause.

 Outcome: All resolutions of thanks were passed unanimously.

Public Commentary

Five people spoke during public commentary at the start of the meeting.

Jerzy Drozd introduced himself as a cartoonist and teaching artist. He wanted to thank the board and staff for three items that the AADL provides for the youth of Ann Arbor.

Jerzy Drozd.

He teaches courses on how to make graphic novels, which is not a widely available field of study, he noted. Even if you find such a course, often it costs hundreds or thousands of dollars to take, he said. For the past seven years, he’s been working with AADL to teach young people these courses for free. He recently ran into one of his former students who is now working in the publishing industry with award-winning cartoonist Tom Hart. “Here’s a kid who seven years ago was a hyperactive 14-year-old who loved manga,” he said, “and because of what you provided to her, she got access to allow her to work in the publishing field.”

Drozd also thanked the board for providing the AADL podcast studio. Since 2011, he’s hosted a podcast called Comics Are Great! Drozd called it “The Dick Cavett Show for cartoonists.” In other words, he said, “the youth of Ann Arbor have their own TV show on making comics, because AADL was forward-thinking” – the interviews are streamed live on YouTube. One of the highlights for him was an interview with Mark Kistler, who hosted a popular drawing show on PBS in the 1970s and ’80s. “I got to teach him how to use Twitter, so that was pretty awesome.”

Finally, Drozd told the board that he’s program coordinator for an annual event called Kids Read Comics. Starting in 2012, the event has been held at AADL, which he said has been a very gracious and incredible partner. It’s a weekend with 25 or more free comics workshops led by industry professionals around the world, including New York Times bestselling author Raina Telgemeier, Rafael Rosado, and Ben Hatke. If those names don’t mean anything to the trustees, he said, imagine that you’re 10 years old and you go to the library, and there’s Charles Schulz and Jim Davis saying “Come draw with me.” An educator from outside of Ann Arbor told him it was the “single coolest pro-literacy event of the year,” Drozd said.

He reported that one of the guests at Kids Read Comics saw an AADL staff member walk by – someone who’d been on Drozd’s podcasts many times – and gasped, “That’s her! I don’t know what to say.” So AADL has celebrity librarians that cause cartoonists to be “in the vapors” when they’re around, he joked.

Drozd concluded by thanking the board for their advocacy in support of arts for the youth of Ann Arbor.

Another person from the arts community who addressed the board was Shary Brown. She said she also wanted to thank the board and AADL. She’s been an Ann Arbor library cardholder for probably more than 60 years.

Shary Brown.

Brown recalled being a kid in Ann Arbor, and looking forward to seeing the bookmobile come around the corner. “That was groundbreaking stuff 60 years ago,” she noted.

As a professional, Brown noted that she formerly ran the Ann Arbor Street Art Fair. The library had stepped up and became a home for the fair throughout the year, she said. The library also helped the fair during a change in technology that affected how the fair jurors reviewed the artists’ submissions.

As a retired person, Brown said she continues to use the library. She’d like to continue learning all of her life, “and the library does that for me.” She volunteers with the FoolMoon and FestiFools events, and again the library has helped, Brown said. AADL has become a center for FestiFools’ organizers to meet other groups in town “that would like to play with us as we put on our events.”

All of her life, Brown concluded, the library has been a place of leadership. It’s been forward-looking, and has provided new skills and technology to people who have nowhere else to go, she said. She’d like to see AADL continue to do that. “It has been a tremendous resource.”

Kathy Griswold said she wanted to follow the theme of appreciation. A year ago, she said, the Protect Our Libraries political action committee mentioned the library’s contribution to serving the homeless population. While the community is trying to find a better solution, including a 24-hour warming/cooling center, Griswold said she wanted to acknowledge the service that AADL provides, especially at the downtown location. “I know that’s a real burden,” she said.

She agreed that great things are being done at the library, but said she was somewhat troubled that the AADL board meetings aren’t being recorded  – especially given that the library is spending money on improving its communications, and the boardroom is equipped for Community Television Network broadcast. CTN now has an on-demand feature, so if someone wanted to see the work of the library or the financials or any of the reports given at a board meeting, they could easily do that. She hoped the board would consider that this year.

Also related to CTN, Griswold hoped that in the long term, the library would make plans for how AADL’s podcasting operations can dovetail with what CTN is doing. “Some of your functions seem to be very similar, and long term there’s probably some efficiencies there.”

Griswold also noted that a lot of collaboration is being done, especially at the staff level. She’d like to see more collaboration at the board level with the Ann Arbor Public Schools. Also, she hoped the library would rent the Michigan Theater’s screening room for events. “I think we all know that they’re desperate for more financial resources,” she said.

Kathy Griswold.

Griswold also urged the board to become more professional. She said she was really troubled that AADL email addresses aren’t being used by all of the board members. “That’s sort of standard for most boards within this community,” she said, including the school board and city council. It would be a very easy thing to do, and would provide a more professional appearance when AADL trustees are communicating with community members, she said. [Personal email addresses for all board members are posted on the board's website, but none of the trustees use AADL email addresses.]

Griswold noted that the issues of being more transparent in general and of having committee meetings that are open to the public has been raised in the past, and she hoped that in this new year, the board would focus on that. She concluded by saying that she had used the library’s website but hadn’t seen a general search function on it. Maybe she’d missed it, Griswold added, but if it’s not there, she suggested adding it. [A "Search The Site" link is included at the upper right corner of the AADL's home page.]

Don Salberg began by wishing the board a happy new year. He said he’d always wondered why a new library would cost as much as the one AADL had proposed. Then he realized that the $330 per square foot – which is much more than the average $200 per square foot, he said – is required to provide an adequate super-structure to hold the many shelves of books. It would be of benefit, however, to reduce the number of books and that extra weight, he said, so that they could build a library much less expensively. Salberg called the board’s attention to a new digital library that opened in San Antonio, Texas, called BiblioTech – Bexar County Digital Library. It cost $2.4 million to build and holds 10,000 electronic books, 5,000 e-readers, 48 computers and 20 iPods and laptops, he said.

Similarly, Salberg said, the Archbishop Stepinac High School in White Plains, NY, has replaced all its textbooks with a digital library. Students no longer carry heavy backpacks, and the digital books are cheaper than buying print textbooks, he said. Students can highlight and annotate without damaging the textbooks, and teachers can add material, check homework and communicate more easily, he said. The world is changing to become more digital, and younger generations will have no difficulty accommodating that, he said. When the board considers putting forward another bond referendum for a new library, Salberg said, “be aware that the world of information, education and entertainment is rapidly changing, and that the old library with its thousands of books may become obsolete and undesirable for a new tech-savvy world.”

Salberg also urged AADL to consider a decentralized library system, which a digital library would be able to provide. Smaller branches can be set up in rental spaces in more areas of the city, he said, making it more convenient for people to use.

Libby Hunter suggested that the board should meet on a different night in January. [The meeting was held on Jan. 20, Martin Luther King Jr. Day.] The day is almost sacred for some people, she noted. King is a hero to possibly thousands of people in Ann Arbor, and certainly millions of people worldwide. There are Martin Luther King events in the area that night, she said, and it’s a day of service in his honor for many people. Depending on your age, King lived during or near your lifetime, so it’s not like people are celebrating someone who lived 500 years ago, she said. The Ann Arbor Public Schools celebrated by not being in session, Hunter said, and the Ann Arbor city council celebrated by postponing its regular Monday meeting until the next day. She asked the board to take into consideration these reasons when setting next year’s meeting calendar.

Present: Rebecca Head, Nancy Kaplan, Margaret Leary, Barbara Murphy, Jan Barney Newman, Prue Rosenthal, Ed Surovell. Also AADL director Josie Parker.

Next regular meeting: Monday, Feb. 17, 2014 at 7 p.m. in the fourth-floor conference room of the downtown library, 343 S. Fifth Ave., Ann Arbor. [Check Chronicle event listing to confirm date]

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The changes involve transfers from the library’s fund balance into the capital outlays budget, the library programming line item, and the purchased services line item:

• Increase the capital outlays budget by $30,000 to buy a delivery truck from Varsity Ford.
• Increase the library programming line item by $63,000 for costs related to the design, printing and mailing of event postcards and newsletters to all district residents. AADL director Josie Parker told the board that this is in direct response to recommendations in a 2013 communications audit by Allerton-Hill Consulting. [.pdf of Allerton-Hill report]
• Increase the purchased services line item by $25,000 to cover a satisfaction survey of library district residents, to be conducted by Lansing-based EPIC-MRA. Parker said this is also a recommendation of the communications audit, and would be done this spring. The library previously used EPIC-MRA to conduct a phone survey in March of 2012, and results were reviewed at the board’s April 16, 2012 meeting. That survey had in part asked questions to gauge public support for financing a new downtown library. The board later put a bond proposal on the November 2012 ballot to fund a new downtown building, but it was rejected, failing to receive a majority of votes.

The 2013-2014 budget was approved by the board at its May 6, 2013 meeting. [.pdf of 2013-14 budget summary] According to the most recent financial report, the library had a fund balance of $8.188 million as of Dec. 31, 2013.

The board has made previous budget adjustments during this fiscal year. On Oct. 21, 2013, trustees authorized a $40,000 adjustment to AADL’s 2013-14 budget to cover costs of repairs and testing of the downtown library roof.

This brief was filed from the fourth-floor boardroom of the downtown Ann Arbor District Library, 343 S. Fifth Ave. A more detailed report will follow: [link]

Dave Fisher of the accounting firm Rehmann presented the AADL 2012-13 audit. (Photos by the writer.)

There was no discussion among board members on that item, though Fisher noted the audit had been discussed at the board’s budget and finance committee in November.

Also approved was a one-year lease extension with Green Road Associates for storage of newspaper archives. The library has leased the Plymouth Park facility – an office park owned by First Martin Corp. on Green Road, north of Plymouth – since January 2010. That’s when AADL took possession of the Ann Arbor News archives, a few months after the owners of that publication decided to cease operations. The library is digitizing the Ann Arbor News archives, along with material from other local newspapers, as part of a project called Old News.

Much of the meeting focused on two staff presentations: A report on library statistics for November in five categories (collections, users, visits, usage and participation); and an update on the Washtenaw Library for the Blind and Physically Disabled (WLBPD).

One person, Donald Salberg, addressed the board during public commentary. Part of his remarks focused on the board’s decision – at its Nov. 11, 2013 meeting – to approve a tax-sharing agreement with Pittsfield Township and the State Street corridor improvement authority. He told trustees that they hadn’t identified any real benefit that the CIA would bring to the library.

At the end of the meeting, board president Prue Rosenthal read a statement that defended the board’s decision to participate in the CIA, outlining its benefits to the library and the broader community. She said that although the board vote had not been unanimous, she thought that all trustees were comfortable that the decision was made with a great deal of care.

2012-13 Audit

On the agenda was a resolution to accept an audit of the library’s financial statements for the fiscal year 2012-13, which ended on June 30, 2013. The audit, prepared by the accounting firm Rehmann, gives a clean opinion of AADL’s financial statements – the same as in recent prior years. [.pdf of AADL 2012-13 audit]

Dave Fisher of Rehmann gave a report to the board. He noted that he had reviewed the audit in detail at the board’s budget and finance committee meeting on Nov. 12. [Members of that committee are Nancy Kaplan, Barbara Murphy, and Jan Barney Newman.] He told the board that he planned to hit just the highlights.

From left: Prue Rosenthal, Jan Barney Newman, Eli Neiburger and Nancy Kaplan. Rosenthal is AADL board president. Newman and Kaplan serve on the board’s budget and finance committee. Neiburger is AADL’s associate director of IT and product development.

The audit reflects a clean report on AADL’s financial statements, Fisher said. That’s very good, he added, and it’s the same opinion that the library has received in recent years.

The audit covered AADL’s fiscal year from July 1, 2012 through June 30, 2013. Total general fund revenues for the year were $12.055 million – compared to $11.943 million the previous year. About 92% of those revenues ($11.105 million) came from real and personal property taxes that were levied in the AADL district. Total expenditures for the year were $11.967 million. That left a surplus of $87,446. Compared to the budgeted amounts of revenues and expenditures, AADL recorded a favorable variance of $97,446, he said.

Out of the library’s $8.191 million in combined fund balances, $7.7 million is unassigned and available for spending at the library’s discretion. That amount equates to about 64% of general fund expenditures – representing several months of operating expenses.

The library is on very solid financial ground, Fisher said. Unlike many libraries, AADL has no long-term debt, he noted, so the library doesn’t have to budget for principal and interest payments on loans.

The library has $4.637 million in investments. Bank deposits (checking, savings and certificates of deposit) totaled $3.696 million. AADL’s total net position is $30.445 million.

Fisher mentioned a couple of internal control enhancements that are recommended, including documentation for the review of AADL’s check register. The review is already being done, he noted, so it’s just a matter of documenting that process and indicating that it’s been done. The other recommendation is to periodically change the passwords for access to financial software, for security purposes.

There were no substantive questions for Fisher from the board. Margaret Leary asked director Josie Parker whether the audit would be posted on the AADL website. Parker replied that it would be.

Outcome: The board unanimously voted to accept the 2012-13 audit.

Financial Report

Ken Nieman – the library’s associate director of finance, HR and operations – gave a brief report on the November 2013 financial statements. [.pdf of financial statements]

Through November, the library has received 96.2% of its budgeted tax receipts. The library had $14.338 million in unrestricted cash at the end of November, with a fund balance of $8.121 million.

Five expense items are currently over budget, Nieman reported, but all of those items are expected to come back in line with budgeted amounts by the end of the fiscal year, which ends on June 30, 2014. The over-budget line items are: (1) purchased services; (2) communications, for an annual Internet-related payment; (3) software; (4) copier/maintenance expense; and (5) supplies, due to a large purchase of computer supplies in November.

Other November highlights included receipt of a $40,000 donation from the Friends of the AADL. Other than that, there was nothing out of the ordinary during the month, he concluded.

Financial Report: Board Discussion

Prue Rosenthal thanked the Friends for their donation.

Barbara Murphy wondered about the impact of foreclosed properties that had been sold through a recent tax auction held by the Washtenaw County treasurer’s office. The total sale proceeds had been about $400,000 less than the treasurer had expected, Murphy said, and that shortfall would affect the local taxing authorities. She asked Nieman whether it would affect AADL.

Nieman replied that the impact depends on where the foreclosed properties are located. Only the properties that are located in the AADL district would impact the library. He did not have any additional information.

Ed Surovell noted that the likelihood that there would be a significant impact on AADL is “extremely small.” It’s more than likely that the bulk of those properties are outside of AADL’s district, he said. “Ypsilanti will be hit hard, and some of the rural areas.” Even if the entire $400,000 were divided proportionately among all the taxing entities, it would still be a small amount for AADL, he noted – “in the high two figures.”

Outcome: This was not a voting item.

Lease for Newspaper Archives

The board was asked to approve a one-year lease extension with Green Road Associates for storage of newspaper archives. The annual rate of $38,500 is for a period beginning Jan. 1, 2014.

The library has leased the Plymouth Park facility – an office park owned by First Martin Corp. on Green Road, north of Plymouth – since January 2010. That’s when AADL took possession of the Ann Arbor News archives, a few months after the owners of that publication decided to cease operations. [The newspaper's owners, Advance Publications, subsequently opened a new business in mid-2009 called AnnArbor.com. Earlier this year, that publication changed its name to the Ann Arbor News.]

The library’s original lease was for a two-year period at $38,000 annually. In November 2011, the board approved a one-year extension, also at the $38,000 annual rate. No extension was brought to the board for approval in 2012.

The library is digitizing the Ann Arbor News archives, along with material from other local newspapers, as part of a project called Old News. For additional background, see Chronicle coverage: “Ann Arbor Library Set to Publish ‘Old News.’”

There was no discussion on this item.

Outcome: The board unanimously voted to approve a one-year lease extension with Green Road Associates.

Library Stats

Eli Neiburger – AADL’s associate director of IT and product development – gave a presentation on library statistics, providing details in five categories for the month of November: collections, users, visits, usage and participation. The data is compared to year-ago figures, when available.

AADL November 2013 collections data.

AADL November 2013 data on library users.

AADL November 2013 data on visits.

AADL November 2013 usage data.

AADL November 2013 data on participation.

During his 30-minute presentation, Neiburger reviewed highlights from the November data, interspersed with queries from board members. In addition to statistics in the five categories that he’s been presenting over the past few months, Neiburger included information on AADL’s social media.

Neiburger noted that AADL sees most of its engagement on Twitter, compared to Facebook or other social media sites. He highlighted some of the Tweets that mentioned AADL in November, to show board members how people communicate about the library on Twitter. [.pdf of social media presentation]

Outcome: This was not a voting item.

Director’s Report

AADL director Josie Parker covered several items in her Dec. 16 report. She noted that the building’s lower-level exhibit cases were displaying an exhibit of children’s books with culinary themes. The exhibit was curated by JJ Jacobson, who was the curator for the culinary collection at the University of Michigan’s Clements Library. That culinary collection is now part of the UM Special Collections Library, she said. Before the board meeting, Parker said she’d been down at the exhibit with several UM librarians and curators, as well as Jan Longone, who donated her culinary collection to UM.

AADL director Josie Parker, right, talks with Donald Harrison and Onna Solomon before the start of the Dec. 16, 2013 library board meeting.

Parker said that the collaboration with UM started when she first became AADL director. She’d talked with Bill Gosling, who at the time was the UM librarian, about how to bring the university’s collection into the public library so that it could reach more people. She said that because of her own graduate work at UM as well as Gosling’s interest in children’s literature and pop-up books, she had suggested starting with the children’s literature collection. Every year there has been a curated exhibit of UM holdings at AADL, to mark children’s book week, which is in November.

Parker then told a story related to the weekly reading she does for kindergarten classes at Angell Elementary School, as part of an Ann Arbor Rotary program. Earlier in the day, a little girl from one of the classes had visited Parker at her office, brought by the girl’s father. At the most recent reading, the children had talked about elves. So when the girl visited her, Parker showed her the next book she planned to read to the class: “The Blueberry Pie Elf.” The girl’s father then revealed that it had been his favorite book when he was his daughter’s age. Parker said she’d told that story to the current exhibit’s curator, because it related to the exhibit’s focus on culinary-themed children’s literature. Parker said she thought the board would enjoy the anecdote, too.

Parker also highlighted an article that had been provided to the board, written by Ira Lax for the Music Education Association’s publication about the AADL’s Library Songsters program. Parker said she was proud of Lax for continuing to find teachers who are interested in having him and a musician come to a class, at the library’s expense, to write songs with students that teach about history. The students then come to the library to perform the song.

Parker’s report also included an update on collaboration with Washtenaw Literacy. The library currently hosts Washtenaw Literacy’s English as a Second Language (ESL) classes at its Pittsfield and Traverwood branches two days each week. Washtenaw Literacy asked for an additional day to hold classes at Traverwood, and AADL agreed, Parker reported.

In her final item, Parker updated the board on her work as a commissioner with the state Commission for Blind Persons. Parker and six others had been appointed in October 2012 by Gov. Rick Snyder, who had abolished the previous commission and reorganized the department that provides services to the blind. The current organization is the Bureau of Services for Blind Persons, which is part of the state’s Dept. of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs.

The commission’s charge had been to visit all the offices of the bureau and talk with consumers and staff, and to make recommendations to the governor. Parker serves on the commission’s subcommittee on consumer services. She noted that a report will be submitted to the governor with a list of recommendations next year. It will be leading up to AADL’s fifth anniversary for administering the Washtenaw Library for the Blind and Physically Disabled, she noted, which will be marked by an exhibit on Helen Keller at the downtown library in May 2014.

In response to a query from a board member, Parker noted that four of the seven commissioners are legally blind, but all of the other commissioners wear glasses.

Washtenaw Library for the Blind & Physically Disabled

Terry Soave, AADL’s manager of outreach and neighborhood services, gave the board an update on the Washtenaw Library for the Blind and Physically Disabled (WLBPD).

Terry Soave, AADL’s manager of outreach and neighborhood services, gave the board an update on the Washtenaw Library for the Blind and Physically Disabled.

In introducing Soave’s presentation, AADL director Josie Parker told the board that earlier in the month, the AADL had hosted the directors of libraries from Manchester, Saline, Chelsea, Pinckney, Brighton, South Lyon and Ypsilanti. The focus was on the services that AADL provides through the WLBPD, and how other libraries can promote those services to their patrons. Parker asked Soave to give the same presentation to the board.

Soave began by giving the history of AADL’s involvement, noting that the library took over the administration of these services from Washtenaw County. [The library board had authorized that move at its Oct. 20, 2008 meeting, to take effect on Jan. 1, 2009.]

The WLBPD loans books, magazines and videos in various formats – including digital cartridge, digital download, large print, Braille, and descriptive video – to residents of Washtenaw County who are certified as unable to read or use standard printed materials as a result of temporary or permanent visual or physical limitations. A “talking book” machine and materials are mailed at no cost to individual patrons who qualify. The WLBPD also provides access to download over 50,000 books and dozens of magazines via the National Library Service’s Braille and Audio Reading Download (BARD) site.

Although WLBPD is located in the lower level of the downtown library, services are available at all branches, Soave said. Anyone who eligible for WLBPD services – along with anyone living in the same household – is also eligible for general AADL borrowing privileges, even if they live outside of AADL’s district.

Soave noted that WLBPD is a sub-regional library for the National Library Service (NLS), which is a department of the Library of Congress. The NLS controls the collection in terms of selecting acquisitions. It also provides equipment and oversees standards that all libraries in the network must meet.

In order to provide services at all branches, AADL staff were trained at every location, Soave said. The biggest challenge was training in the automation system. To help with that and other training, some of the AADL staff created a Wiki page with step-by-step instructions, Soave said.

The model of training all staff, rather than having a dedicated department to handle services for the blind and physically disabled, has been successful and unusual, she said. AADL is probably the only library in the country that’s doing it this way, Soave added. So in May of 2013, AADL staff also launched a national Wiki for the network of libraries for the blind and physically handicapped. Parker noted that because of this work, AADL has been officially recognized by other library organizations.

Soave reported that people who are interested in applying to WLBPD can download an application from the website, and submit it online or via fax, email or regular mail. Applications can also be picked up at any branch, or can be requested by phone at (734) 327-4224. Criteria include:

Blind: Visual acuity of 20/200 or less in the better eye with correcting glasses or the widest diameter of visual field subtending an angular distance no greater than 20 degrees.

Deaf-Blind: Severe auditory impairment in combination with legal blindness.

Visually Disabled: Lacks visual acuity to read standard printed materials without aids or devices other than regular glasses.

Physically Disabled: Unable to read or use standard printed materials as a result of physical limitations. Examples include: without arms of the use of arms; impaired or weakened muscle and nerve control; limitations resulting from strokes, cerebral palsy, multiple sclerosis, muscular dystrophy, polio, arthritis.

Reading Disabled: Organic dysfunction of sufficient severity to prevent reading printed materials in a normal manner (this disability requires the signature of a medical or osteopathic doctor as certifying authority).

Soave brought examples of digital machines and other equipment that WLBPD patrons receive. She noted that the national goal to get people signed up for the Braille and Audio Reading Download service, known as BARD, is 10% of eligible patrons. The WLBPD is currently at 29%.

AADL trustees Ed Surovell and Margaret Leary.

The AADL doesn’t house a collection of Braille material, but has access to the collection from the regional library in Lansing, or items can be ordered from the National Library Service. Other materials include “described” videos – movies in which visual elements, like scenes and costumes, are described with voiceovers.

For its large print books-by-mail service, Parker noted that AADL worked out a deal with the post office so that the books can be mailed as “free matter” – at no cost to the library or the patron.

In terms of outreach, Soave reported that WLBPD puts out a quarterly newsletter that’s produced by AADL’s community relations and marketing staff. The newsletters are posted online, and are available in audio and text-only versions.

The WLBPD is required by the NLS to do a patron satisfaction survey every three years. Its first one was in 2012, with a 37% response rate. Of respondents, over 95% indicated that they would recommend the WLBPD services to others, Soave said. The NLS also conducts a site review every two years. Results from the survey and site reviews are posted online.

Soave described a range of other outreach efforts to promote the WLBPD services. All libraries in Washtenaw County are eligible for “demonstration accounts” that include equipment and a sampling of materials, to help sign up patrons. All library systems have agreed to do that, she noted, and “it’s been a tremendous help.”

Originally the WLBPD had targeted eligible patrons, but last year the staff decided to take the additional step of reaching out to readers who wouldn’t be eligible but who would benefit from some of WLBPD services and materials, like the large print book collection. They developed stickers that are placed in every large print book in AADL’s collection. The stickers were also provided to other library systems within the county to put in their large print collection. Ypsilanti District Library, for example, has over 10,000 items in its large print collection.

The average age of a WLBPD patron is 80, Soave said, so natural attrition on the list of patrons is a big challenge. The director of the NLS has challenged all libraries for the blind and physically disabled to increase the number of patrons by 20%. In 2010, there were only seven libraries nationwide that showed any increase at all, Soave said. Since putting the stickers in books, WLBPD has shown a 12% increase.

Soave noted that WLBPD has been recognized twice by NLS for best practices in outreach.

WLBPD: Board Discussion

Margaret Leary, noting that she is a former librarian [she retired as director of the University of Michigan Law Library], pointed out that typically organizations will have specialists who are trained to provide services in one area. But when all staff members are trained, then patrons never have to wait for services if someone is on vacation or away from the desk. Leary praised Soave and the whole AADL staff for pushing this model of integrated training, saying that it hugely enhanced services to the blind and physically disabled. When the WLBPD was managed by the county, it was located in a small building that wasn’t open very often, Leary noted.

Leary said she appreciated Soave’s presentation, because it was about a service that she personally doesn’t need – so she had been unfamiliar with the details of WLBPD. “It’s an example of the iceberg that’s beneath the tip that we see so often in these meetings,” she said.

From left: Barbara Murphy and Rebecca Head.

Barbara Murphy asked how AADL can make people aware of WLBPD, even if they don’t need it, so that they can tell people they know. Soave noted that staff of the outreach department goes out into neighborhoods talking about AADL services, including WLBPD. Parker added that local ophthalmology offices are also aware of WLBPD, as is the University of Michigan’s Kellogg Eye Center. She said it’s like any of AADL’s programs and services – if you don’t need it or use it, it’s not on your radar.

In response to a query from Ed Surovell, Parker said there’s no other service that’s comparable to WLBPD locally, or to the network of the National Library Service. She noted that when Washtenaw County was having budget problems several years ago, county administrator Bob Guenzel asked if AADL would help. At the time, Washtenaw County’s program served several counties, but AADL agreed to serve just Washtenaw County, Parker said. However, no one goes unserved, she added. The other counties are served now by the state library, and the level of service is different.

Parker noted that the decision to incorporate WLBPD into the overall AADL services – and not to have a “library within a library” – had been controversial when they first took on the project. But five years later, they can show a positive outcome.

Rebecca Head praised Soave, saying that the AADL has shown what outreach and communication can do to promote what the library has to offer. That’s critical, she added, because people are so busy and don’t always have the time to find out about the AADL programs and services that are available.

Outcome: This was not a voting item.

Committee Reports

The board has six committees: communications, budget and finance, facilities, policy, director’s evaluation, and executive. Two brief committee reports were made during the Dec. 16 board meeting.

Committee Reports: Budget & Finance

Nancy Kaplan reported that the board’s budget and finance committee met with Dave Fischer of the accounting firm Rehmann to review the audit. Committee members were very pleased that it was an excellent report, she said.

Committee Reports: Policy

Barbara Murphy reported that the policy committee met and reviewed proposed staff updates to the AADL policies. She indicated that a resolution to update the policies likely will be brought to the full board at its January 2014 meeting. Murphy joked that the updated policies will “no longer refer to bookmen.”

Resolutions of Thanks

The board was asked to pass resolutions of thanks for two employees who are retiring at the end of 2013. Sharon Iverson has worked for AADL since mid-2004. Betsy Baier started working for AADL in February of 1975.

AADL director Josie Parker noted that Baier is a children’s librarian who was instrumental in developing the preschool storytime program. Within the last few years, she’s been responsible for the acquisition of children’s material in all formats. Parker invited board members to a reception held later that week for Baier.

Parker reported that Iverson is a teen librarian, who came to AADL after serving as a public school librarian. She primarily worked at the Malletts Creek branch.

Outcome: Both resolutions were passed unanimously.

Public Commentary

Donald Salberg began by wishing the board members a merry Christmas and happy new year. He hoped that when they next met in 2014, they’d have some new resolutions for dealing with library issues. He hoped they would revisit the accessibility and safety issues for disabled people at the downtown library. His understanding was that library officials met with people who were familiar with ADA standards prior to the November 2012 referendum on bonding for a new downtown library. He said he understood why any changes to be made would have been postponed until after that vote, since a new building would have made renovation unnecessary.

However, the referendum did not pass, he noted, and there are recommendations for improvements – especially for the front entrance, where there are certain risks along the ramp leading up to the front door, he said. Also, bathrooms could be improved and there are other minor changes that would help the disabled move around with more ease.

Salberg also noted that the Saline District Library and the Washtenaw Community College have opted out of Pittsfield Township’s State Street corridor improvement authority. He said that officials from both entities had indicated that taxpayers had not voted for a millage to be spent on street construction, and they preferred to have the tax revenues spent for the originally-intended purposes. There’s hope, he said, that if enough taxing authorities don’t join the CIA, then the project won’t be initiated, he said, and that the AADL then wouldn’t lose the tax revenues that it will lose if the CIA moves ahead.

He said the AADL board hadn’t identified any real benefit that the CIA would bring for the library. “It appears that the biggest benefit will be to the real estate industry,” Salberg added, because purportedly 40% of properties along the State Street development area are undeveloped. Property will appreciate because of the road improvements, Salberg said, so the real benefit will be to the people who sell, develop or manage those properties. In the future, he concluded, it would be helpful for the AADL board to get input from the community before making a decision on how to spend the community’s money.

Public Commentary: Board President Response

At the end of the meeting, board president Prue Rosenthal read a statement regarding the CIA. She noted that the board voted at its last meeting, on Nov. 11, 2013, to approve a tax-sharing agreement with Pittsfield Township and the CIA. The board had discussed it since they first heard about it in August, she said, and there were differing opinions. The vote on Nov. 11 wasn’t unanimous, she pointed out. [Nancy Kaplan cast the lone dissenting vote on the seven-member board.]

The board’s fiduciary responsibility requires that they make decisions that serve the public the best, Rosenthal said. Sometimes, those decisions affect tax revenues – as is the case with the CIA, she noted. State law gives the board the power to opt-out of a corridor improvement authority, but the board’s duty is to consider all relevant elements and make the best decision for the library. The amount of money was relatively small, she pointed out, and the project would improve access to AADL’s Pittsfield branch. If the CIA goes forward, it would increase the library’s tax base, she added. And if the project doesn’t move forward, AADL will be held harmless.

A publicly funded road is more equitable than requiring property owners to do it themselves, Rosenthal said. “We believe in being a good neighbor to Pittsfield,” she said, which has helped AADL considerably when the library branch was built in the township. She noted that only 50% of the tax increment increase will be captured by the CIA, and that the township worked with AADL to negotiate terms of the agreement.

Rosenthal said the AADL cares about the environment and sustainability, and this project will improve pedestrian and non-motorized transportation between Pittsfield Township and Ann Arbor, and will enable better public transportation to reduce the use of cars and improve air quality. It will provide better stormwater management to protect the watershed, she said.

Although the board vote was not unanimous, Rosenthal concluded, she thought that all trustees were comfortable that the decision was made with a great deal of care.

Ed Surovell responded directly to Salberg’s commentary. He noted that if the value of the land adjacent to the road improvement is increased, then any of that land that’s within the AADL district will provide increased tax revenues to the library. That’s a direct benefit to AADL, Surovell said.

Present: Rebecca Head, Nancy Kaplan, Margaret Leary, Barbara Murphy, Jan Barney Newman, Prue Rosenthal, Ed Surovell. Also AADL director Josie Parker.

Next meeting: Monday, Jan. 20, 2014 at 7 p.m. in the fourth-floor conference room of the downtown library, 343 S. Fifth Ave., Ann Arbor. [Check Chronicle event listing to confirm date]

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