Screenshot of Ann Arbor District Library’s summer game website. The game kicked off on June 13. (Image links to play.aadl.org)

Months in the works, the project involves adding new doors and a redesigned facade facing South Fifth Avenue, along with changes to address accessibility issues. O’Neal will bring back a proposal for a guaranteed maximum cost for the work, which the board will be asked to approve at its July 21 meeting. Construction is expected to begin after the art fairs in late July.

The board was also briefed on the start of the annual summer game, which launched on June 13. The board meeting was held at the Traverwood branch, with a game code for 500 points for those who attended. Very few people attended the meeting, however, and no one spoke during the two opportunities for public commentary.

The board got its usual updates on finances, events and library statistics. Trustees also approved resolutions of thanks for three outgoing members of the Friends of the AADL board: Pat McDonald, Mary Kay Cotter and Fred Meyer.

During the meeting, Parker announced that Eli Neiburger has been promoted to deputy director. He received a round of applause from the board. He has previously served as AADL’s associate director of IT and product development.

Responding to a follow-up query from The Chronicle, Parker said Neiburger will be responsible for all departments other than finance, facilities and human resources. AADL has an active search underway for a chief financial officer, who will have responsibility for those three areas.

The change follows the departure of three key staff positions earlier this year. Ken Nieman, former associate director of finance, HR and operations, left in May for a job as CFO at the public library in Sonomo County, California. Former human resources manager DeAnn Doll, who’d been with AADL for about 15 years, also left in May – she’s now director of human resources for Florida Polytechnic University in Lakeland, Florida. And 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 new job in April.

At the end of the June 16 meeting, board president Prue Rosenthal praised Parker and Neiburger for the extra work they’ve taken on during these transitions, and for making the changes seem seamless to patrons and the board.

Construction Management Contract

A resolution was on the June 16 agenda to authorize the hiring of O’Neal Construction Inc. to provide construction management services for the downtown library’s front entrance renovation.

From left: AADL trustees Nancy Kaplan and Margaret Leary, who chairs the board’s facilities committee.

This action follows authorization at the board’s May 19, 2014 meeting for AADL director Josie Parker to negotiate with the Ann Arbor firm for this work. It’s the next step in a process that began several months ago, with construction to begin this summer. The project stems from the need to replace the entrance doors.

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 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. 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 expected to cost about $250,000. The work will likely begin in late July, after the Ann Arbor art fairs.

Construction Management Contract: Board Discussion

Margaret Leary, chair of the facilities committee, reported that board members had received copies of the contract, which had been reviewed by AADL’s legal counsel.

AADL director Josie Parker said that staff is finalizing design details with the architects, and the final design will be reviewed by the facilities committee.

From left: AADL trustees Rebecca Head and Barbara Murphy.

Parker also reminded trustees that the Ann Arbor Downtown Development Authority has agreed to pay for sidewalk replacement in front of the downtown library. [At its June 4, 2014 meeting, the DDA board approved up to $125,000 for the redesign and reconstruction of the public sidewalk in front of the downtown library at 343 South Fifth Avenue. The project will eliminate the step up immediately adjacent from the curb, which was installed as a result of the streetscape changes the DDA undertook during construction of the Library Lane underground parking garage in 2012.]

To ensure that the sidewalk and the front entrance work is coordinated, it will be handled as one project, Parker said. As construction manager, O’Neal will oversee the entire project, but will create separate invoices for the work that’s the responsibility of the DDA. The public sidewalk work will be bid out separately. “This way, it’s clear to everyone what the library paid for and what the DDA paid for, so there’d be no question about it,” she said.

Responding to a follow-up query from The Chronicle, Parker confirmed that the contract does not yet include a dollar amount for the work. It specifies that O’Neal will be preparing a guaranteed maximum price proposal, consisting of an estimate for the cost of work as well as contingencies and the construction manager’s fee, which will be 10% of the cost of work. Parker expects to bring a proposed budget for the project to the board’s July meeting, for board approval.

Outcome: The board unanimously approved hiring O’Neal Construction for construction management services.

Summer Reading Game

The library’s popular summer game – its twist on the traditional summer reading program that most libraries conduct nationwide – kicked off on Friday, June 13. Within an hour of that announcement, “kids were all over the libraries looking for codes,” AADL director Josie Parker told the board.

A summer game code posted at the June 16 AADL board meeting, held at the Traverwood branch. (This photo gives Chronicle readers an advantage, even if you didn’t attend the meeting.) The name refers to a ceiling in the Traverwood meeting room, which was manufactured by Tectum Inc.

In addition to earning points for traditional activities like reading a book, the game includes tasks that are done online, like tagging an item in AADL’s catalog or commenting on a blog post. Later this summer, points can be traded in for merchandise that will be 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.”

Parker noted that a recent newsletter mailed to district residents included an item about a “chickens” code in her office, which can result in 2,000 points. “All one must do is to come upstairs to my office, look under a piece of paper, and find the code for the chickens.” A lot of people have done that since Friday, she reported. It’s fun for her, Parker said, because she gets to talk to people who might never otherwise come to the downtown library’s fourth floor, where her office is located.

Director’s Report

Noting that the library’s first newsletter was recently mailed to district residents, AADL director Josie Parker said the fact that people are coming to her office to look for the “chickens” code – which was mentioned in the newsletter – means that “it has not just hit the recycle bin in all households, which is what we fear usually with paper.”

Josie Parker, AADL director, holds up a copy of a recent newsletter that was mailed to district residents.

Regarding her other activities over the past month, Parker told the board that she was invited to attend an event hosted by Home of New Vision. The May 29 event, held at St. Joseph Mercy Hospital, was called “Heroin in Our Backyard: The Deadly Cost of Misconception, Silence, and Shame.” It included the screening of “The Anonymous People,” a documentary film about the 23 million Americans living in long-term recovery from addiction.

Parker described it as a collaborative effort that was spearheaded by judges and physicians in this community, who’ve been concerned about the use of opiates and how the community responds – or doesn’t – to that problem. [Parker addressed the Ann Arbor city council on this issue, in the context of the council's March 17, 2014 deliberations on the use of the city-owned Library Lane site, which is adjacent to the downtown library. Read her comments here and here, as part of The Chronicle's live updates filed during that meeting.]

Parker said that because of statements she’s made publicly, and the reaction to those statements, she’s been invited to participate in these kinds of events. “The library is being called out by service providers in the community as doing a very good thing by naming a problem that they’ve spent years trying to draw attention to, to no avail. And now, people are interested.”

Board president Prue Rosenthal remarked on how amazing the response has been to Parker’s commentary. “It’s as if nobody knew about it until [Parker mentioned it].” Parker replied that a lot of people have been working very hard on this issue for a long time. “We are helping them help this situation,” she said.

In other news, Parker reported that the library staff and board have been invited to the July 7 open house for the new Blake Transit Center, located across from the downtown library on South Fifth Avenue. She noted that the orientation of bus traffic will change – the buses will be coming out of the center onto Fifth Avenue, rather than turning into the center from Fifth Avenue as they’ve done in the past.

She also mentioned that AADL will be at Top of the Park each Sunday evening during the Ann Arbor Summer Festival, sponsoring Kids Rock @ TOP.

Finance Report

Eli Neiburger, AADL’s deputy director, presented the May 2014 financial report at the June 16 meeting. [.pdf of finance report]

Eli Neiburger, AADL deputy director.

Through May 31, the library has received 98.4% of its budgeted tax revenue, or $11.254 million, for the fiscal year. There was a $523,529 operating surplus through May 31. The library had $9.528 million in unrestricted cash at the end of May, with a fund balance of $8.001 million, down from $8.433 million a month ago.

The same four line items – purchased services, software, copier expenses, and supplies – are over budget as they’ve been for several months, but are expected to be under budget 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 May to carry through until the end of the fiscal year on June 30.

Neiburger noted that the board will be asked to approve budget adjustments at its July meeting, transferring funds from one line item to another as needed to reconcile the current fiscal year’s budget. This is an adjustment that’s made annually. The most common cause is that the library budgets for capital expenditures, but items that cost under $1,000 each are not considered capital expenditures. So in many cases, the adjustments involve transferring money from the capital expenditures fund into other funds.

Overall, AADL is on track to finish the fiscal year with a surplus.

Outcome: The board does not vote on the finance report, but did vote unanimously to approve the monthly disbursements, which are part of the board packet.

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 May 2014 was presented by Eli Neiburger, AADL’s deputy director.

AADL collections data: May 2014.

AADL users data: May 2014.

AADL visits data: May 2014.

AADL usage data: May 2014.

AADL participation data: May 2014.

Here are some highlights from Neiburger’s commentary:

• Collections: Most collections are growing slightly, though the magazine collection is down due to “annual weeding.” Neiburger noted that last month, Overdrive – a business that provides electronic books to public libraries, which AADL accesses through its membership in the Midwest Collaborative for Library Services – wasn’t able to provide data, but that problem has been fixed. There are 32,787 e-books available through Overdrive, up 17.4% compared to a year ago.
• Users: The number of people who use the public’s computers has increased 6.6% compared to a year ago. The total number of borrowers is up 8.3% to 122,513. There was a 13.7% increase in new cardholders, although typically May is a slow month in that category. The only thing he could attribute it to is the newsletter that was mailed out that month. AADL Josie Parker confirmed that this was a contributing factor, saying someone had called about renewing his card after getting the newsletter. Related to thwarting spambots, Neiburger reported recent success in stopping spambots from creating new user accounts. The library is using “Honey Pot,” a hidden field on the application form. Spambots don’t know that it’s hidden, so they fill it out. But humans can’t see it, so they don’t fill in that field. “Score one for AADL, at least at this moment,” he said. “I’m sure the robots will be back.”
• Visits: The Traverwood branch continues to see a strong door count, up 19.2% compared to a year ago. Door counts for other locations are down, though Neiburger noted that there are some “holes in the data” – the downtown library’s device for counting visitors was broken for a couple of days in May, for example. They’re looking at some new door count technology. He explained that the busier you get, the less accurate the door counts are.
• Usage: Checkouts were lower this May because of good weather, especially on Saturdays. Neiburger noted that checkouts typically drop if the weather is very bad or very good.
• Participation: Event attendance overall was up 6.4%, much of that due to Visions 2014, a vendor fair held on May 14 at Washtenaw Community College for people who are blind and physically handicapped.

Neiburger also gave highlights of some “Top Tweets” that mentioned @aadl during May, including one that showed a picture of a woman with her five-day-old baby, getting a library card for him. “That’s a rite of passage for many Ann Arborites, to get their first card – long before they hit Zingerman’s for the first time,” he quipped.

Another Tweet was from Dave Roman (@yaytime), who has helped organize the awards ceremony for the annual Kids Read Comics. It’s called the Kids Comics Revolution Awards, which will be held this year on Sunday, June 22. “Violin Monster will be helping us out,” Neiburger said.

Additional highlights included Tweets from Ross Orr (@voxphoto), Julie Weatherbee (@juliewbee), Dug Song (@dugsong) and several others.

A Tweet by local tech entrepreneur Dug Song.

Barbara Murphy noted that Dug Song is a nationally known tech entrepreneur. [Most recently, he founded the Ann Arbor firm Duo Security.] Prue Rosenthal reported that he’s married to Linh Song, the new executive director of the Ann Arbor Public Schools Educational Foundation.

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.

Ed Surovell and Jan Barney Newman serve on the AADL board’s facilities committee, which is chaired by Margaret Leary.

On June 16, the only committee report came from Margaret Leary, chair of the facilities committee. She reported that the committee – including Leary, Ed Surovell and Jan Barney Newman – met on June 2 and received an update on several items. The most important item was a proposed contract with O’Neal Construction for construction management services, she said.

The committee was also updated on work to install a new elevator at the downtown library, Leary said, adding that AADL director Josie Parker had provided a lot of information about that. Parker has been working closely with patrons and Friends of the AADL to make sure that people can get where they need to get safely, Leary said. Some of that work might result in short-term closures of the library, but it’s unclear if and when that might happen.

Board president Prue Rosenthal remarked on how incredible it is to have a four-story hole under the library, where the elevator shaft is located. Parker quipped: “Not the one we wanted!” The reference was likely to a proposed new downtown library, which a majority of voters turned down in 2012 by defeating a ballot initiative that would have funded it.

Other facilities-related items included upcoming renovations at the Westgate branch, Leary said.

Resolutions of Thanks

The June 16 agenda included resolutions of thanks to Pat McDonald, Mary Kay Cotter and Fred Meyer for their service on the board of the Friends of the Ann Arbor District Library. The nonprofit operates a bookstore at the downtown library, with proceeds given to AADL.

Prue Rosenthal, AADL board president.

Margaret Leary said these three individuals have done a remarkable job of making FAADL much more efficient and workable, and turned it into a much better organization. It took an enormous amount of work and has benefited the library tremendously, she noted, “to the tune of about $100,000 every year.” The AADL board is really grateful for their work, she said.

Prue Rosenthal noted that she, Leary and Jan Barney Newman had been involved when concerns emerged about FAADL, and McDonald, Cotter and Meyer had worked hard to turn things around.

By way of background, in 2006, the FAADL shop was temporarily closed when it was discovered that the group had lost its nonprofit status in 2003 and hadn’t been audited in several years. According to an Ann Arbor News report at the time, there was no indication that the 53-year-old organization had misspent money or mismanaged its finances.

Meyer, Cotter and McDonald, who has served as FAADL president, are leaving the FAADL board, but are expected to stay involved with the group. AADL director Josie Parker noted that the FAADL board bylaws stipulate a term limit of six years. Parker said that McDonald in particular has worked hard to raise awareness of the Friends generally, beyond the bookshop.

Outcome: In three separate votes, all resolutions of thanks were unanimously approved.

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

Next regular meeting: Monday, July 21, 2014 at 7 p.m. at the Pittsfield branch, 2359 Oak Valley Dr., Ann Arbor. [Check Chronicle event listing to confirm date]

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One of the “yarn bombed” trees in front of the Pittsfield branch of the Ann Arbor District Library, where the board held its July 15, 2013 meeting. (Photos by the writer.)

Fifteen people spoke during public commentary, a much higher than usual number. About half of the speakers, including several children, were there to earn points in AADL’s summer game, and spoke about their appreciation for the library and for the game in particular. Codes, which can be used to collect points in the game, were given to anyone who showed up to the meeting or spoke at public commentary. Later in the meeting board members received a briefing on the game from Eli Neiburger, AADL’s associate director of IT and product development, who talked about its role in encouraging kids to read and write during the summer months.

The board also was briefed on the recent Kids Read Comics convention, as well as new collections of non-traditional items – like home tools and microscopes.

In his financial report to the board, Ken Nieman, AADL’s associate director of finance, noted that library ended the year about $43,000 under budget for tax revenue. That amount includes $37,000 from tax refunds that AADL had to make to the county and various municipalities throughout the year, following decisions made by local tax tribunals. AADL had expected to make $75,000 of such refunds, but refunds totaled about $112,000 for the fiscal year, which ended June 30.

AADL director Josie Parker highlighted several staff accomplishments during her report to trustees, including news that an anonymous donor has given his classic video game collection to the library. The collection – which will be used for AADL events, but won’t be in circulation – includes cartridges and discs from the 1980s and ’90s, and a few game consoles.

Parker’s own achievement was highlighted by trustee Margaret Leary during the meeting: inclusion in a new collection of essays titled “Library 2020: Today’s Leading Visionaries Describe Tomorrow’s Library.”

During public commentary, Bob Rorke – a consultant working for the Protect Our Libraries political action committee – raised questions about AADL’s decision earlier this year to hire Allerton-Hill Consulting. Referencing excerpts from emails that Protect Our Libraries obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request, Rorke argued that the consulting contract is not a generic communications audit or project – but rather it’s political. He indicated that Allerton-Hill provides political advocacy for the passing of public financing issues, and asked the board to review this contract and determine whether it’s legal under Michigan law.

Public commentary also included thanks from Robb Wolfe, executive director of the Ann Arbor Summer Festival, for AADL’s ongoing support. Other topics raised by speakers touched on the condition of the downtown library, appreciation for events hosted by the library, and a report from the recent American Library Association conference.

The meeting also included a tribute to Karl Pohrt, who died earlier this month. Trustee Ed Surovell, an avid book collector, noted that many people knew Pohrt as the founder and owner of Shaman Drum Bookshop in downtown Ann Arbor. “But he was so much more than that,” Surovell said.

Tribute to Karl Pohrt

At the beginning of the meeting, board members amended their agenda to include an item paying tribute to Karl Pohrt, owner of the former Shaman Drum Bookshop who died on July 10, 2013 after being diagnosed with anaplastic thyroid cancer in October 2012.

With his recent death, Ann Arbor lost a very valuable and valued member of the community, trustee Ed Surovell said. Many people know him as the founder and owner of Shaman Drum, he noted. “But he was so much more than that.”

A plaque on South University honoring Karl Pohrt, whose business – Shaman Drum Bookshop – was located around the corner on South State.

Pohrt was an enormous supporter of childhood literacy and community activities, hosting authors to speak at his bookstore, Surovell said. He was also a major supporter of downtown Ann Arbor, especially the State Street area where his shop was located. There was an enormous outpouring at a July 14 memorial service, Surovell reported, with people representing many generations and aspects of the community.

Margaret Leary, visibly emotional, said that she, Prue Rosenthal and Josie Parker had encountered Pohrt at AADL’s Traverwood branch following last month’s board meeting there. It was likely one of his last outings, she said, and although he was clearly ill, “he was very happy to be in the library, and we were very happy to see him.”

Rosenthal recalled working with Pohrt on the Ann Arbor Book Festival, saying he had been a huge proponent of that. She thanked Surovell for suggesting that the board honor Pohrt through a resolution.

Parker described Pohrt’s work on different projects with parallel missions, like the book festival and the Ann Arbor/Ypsilanti Reads program. He had a gift for working with people, providing the “air” between these projects to prevent them from colliding. He was very quiet and self-effacing, she said, but at the same time “if he needed to, he pushed it – he wasn’t shy about that.”

Surovell noted that this is the only time in the board’s history that they have passed a resolution honoring an individual. The resolution, which Surovell composed extemporaneously at the board table, stated that the board “acknowledged the passing of one of the community’s great citizens. He was such an enormous part of what we, as a library, put forward and of what we all aspire to. We regret deeply his passing. We wish his family well, and hope that his work continues far into the future, and we celebrate all that he added to the community.”

Outcome: The board unanimously passed a resolution honoring Karl Pohrt.

Summer Game

AADL’s summer reading program, which is cast in the form of a game, was the focus of much public commentary, as well as a briefing by Eli Neiburger, AADL’s associate director of IT and product development. The game can be played in print or online, with points awarded for completing certain tasks, like reading a book, writing a review, or attending AADL events. Those points can be redeemed for prizes at the AADL “game shop.”

Summer Game: Public Commentary

Cheryl Orosz introduced herself and her daughter Samantha, describing the two of them as “avid summer game players.” They were attending to get the game points, she said, and to tell the board that they appreciate the opportunity it affords for community building and learning. Everyone in her family plays, she noted. Her husband attended the Townie Street Party that night to collect points, and her other daughter is at another program at AADL’s Malletts Creek branch. Her family has also created badges for other players to earn. It’s a great way to enhance search skills, she noted. “There are real life skills being developed,” Orosz concluded.

A sign with the code for collecting AADL summer game points for anyone who attended the July 15 board meeting at the Pittsfield branch. People who spoke during public commentary could get additional points.

Yingchen Jin said she likes the library a lot “since I don’t have many chapter books of my own, and I love reading.” She likes going to libraries close to her home, and participating in the summer game. She is trying her best to get as many points as she can.

Lydia Valtadoros told the board that she’s 11 years old and attends Slauson Middle School. She liked searching through the library’s catalog to find the codes so that she can earn points. Her 13-year-old brother, Philip Valtadoros, also goes to Slauson. He told the board that he loves the library and the summer game is his favorite program. “It’s like a big incentive for me to read over the summer.” He also likes the online game. He thanked the library for everything it offers.

Manish Venumuddula also liked the online summer game, saying “it’s fun to play the badges.” But it’s weird that some people have already gotten 100,000-point prizes, he said, and he didn’t think that was really possible. “I don’t know how people do it – it’s really hard to get points.”

His brother, Ashish Venumuddula, loved the Pittsfield library because it’s convenient for people who live nearby. He can walk or bike, and it’s very pleasant. He said he didn’t have a complaint about the Pittsfield branch, but he did have a complaint about the downtown library. The kids section there needs more non-fiction books, he said. “Other than that, I love the libraries.”

Elaine Cash expressed her thanks to the staff and board, saying that she and her children enjoy playing the summer games. As the mother of two kids, she’s always looking for activities in a kid-friendly environment, and there are always events going on at the library. “They’re free and always interesting,” she said, and she wanted to thank the board for that.

Summer Reading Game: Update

Eli Neiburger, AADL’s associate director of IT and product development, gave an update on the summer reading game – called Play@AADL – as well as on the Kids Reads Comics convention hosted at AADL in June.

The summer game still includes the classic paper game for elementary and middle school kids, he said. Kids read 10 books, getting stickers after finishing the third book and the eighth book. After they finish all 10 books, they get a real book to keep – courtesy of the Friends of the AADL, and the Scott & Marcy Westerman Fund. They also then get a “badge” and 1,000 points for the online game. The library has teen and adult paper games, too. As of that afternoon, 2,490 people had printed the teen game, and 3,684 had printed the adult game, Neiburger reported.

AADL director Josie Parker’s catfish. Players of the summer game can get points by going to her office and finding the code in the catfish’s mouth. Parker brought the catfish to the July 15 board meeting.

For the online version, players are four weeks into the 11-week game. About 2,800 online players have scored a total of over 20 million points so far. Out of that 20 million, 7 million points have been spent, he said. Points can then be redeemed at the “game shop” for T-shirts, caps, messenger bags and other items.

Points are earned in many ways, including reading, watching media, attending AADL events, volunteering at the library, commenting on an AADL blog post, and more. One way to earn points is by writing reviews, Neiburger said. So it’s not just a summer reading game, it’s a summer writing game too – and none of it is assigned. Kids are choosing to do these things, which is much more powerful, he said. “They’re seeing that writing is a way that you can see value on the Internet – that’s one of the primary things we wanted to help people learn as they play the game.”

There are over 450 game codes available, like those posted on the door to the room for the board meeting that night and at the public speaker’s podium. You can earn 76 different badges, each requiring different actions to complete. As an example, one series of badges is called “Airlines of Inquiry,” featuring now defunct airlines. One badge in the series is called The Line – named after the French airline “la Ligne.” That airline eventually became Aéropostale, “which teenagers are familiar with for a very different reason,” Neiburger joked. [It's the name of a popular clothing store.] It was also the airline that Antoine de Saint-Exupéry worked for as a pilot before he wrote “The Little Prince.” He was inspired to write the book during one of his flights for this airline. There are these kinds of tie-ins to children’s literature all across the game, Neiburger said.

There’s also the “Josie’s Catfish” badge that you get by going to the office of AADL director Josie Parker and finding the code in a stuffed catfish toy that she keeps there. She brought the catfish to the board’s July 15 meeting.

Neiburger also described the Kids Read Comics convention, which AADL hosted for the second year in June. As an all-ages comics convention, it’s unique because most comics conventions are expressly not for kids, he said. In contrast, Kids Reads Comics “is not just for kids, but there’s nothing that isn’t appropriate for kids, and that’s a very, very powerful opportunity.” It was produced by local cartoonist and teaching artist Jerzy Drozd; Dan Merritt, owner of Green Brain Comics in Dearborn; and comic book writer Dan Mishkin, whose work includes the DC Comics characters Amethyst and Princess of Gemworld.

This was the convention’s fifth year, and second year hosted by AADL. Over 900 people attended in the course of the two-day event, with 50 artists set up at tables. Typically artists must pay for their exhibit tables, but AADL doesn’t charge artists or attendees. Because there was no charge, Neiburger said, the event included artists at different points in their careers – including new artists, as well as New York Times bestselling comics authors like Raina Telgemeier and Dave Roman. Ben Hatke, creator of Zita the Spacegirl, came with his 11-year-old daughter Angelica Hatke, who gave a talk together. Events included sessions on how to make comics, how comics are valuable for literacy, and “quick draws,” which Neiburger described as “improv for cartoonists.”

There was also an awards show, with awards like “Best Hair in Comics” and “Special Awards in Featuring Delicious-Looking Food.” Over 540 people cast ballots, with a ceremony in the fourth-floor boardroom of the downtown library. “I hope you won’t take this the wrong way,” he said, “but it was probably the coolest thing that’s every happened in the boardroom.” [The room is where AADL's monthly board meetings are typically held.]

AADL will host the conference again next year, Neiburger reported, although a date hasn’t yet been set. It’s wonderful to see kids reading comics that really push them beyond their literacy levels, he said, because it gives them context they can use to understand the words that might be beyond their reading level.

Josie Parker noted that the Kids Read Comics convention was the AADL’s contribution to the Ann Arbor Book Festival, which didn’t have a separate children’s program this year.

New Collections

Celeste Choate – AADL associate director of services, collections and access – gave an update on the library’s collections of unusual, non-print items. She had given a similar briefing at the board’s Jan. 16, 2012 meeting.

Celeste Choate, standing, talks with Sheila Rice (left) and Lyn Davidge (right) before the start of the July 15, 2013 meeting of the Ann Arbor District Library board at the Pittsfield branch. Choate is AADL’s associate director of services, collections and access.

Choate began by reviewing some of the history of this type of collection, noting that the Ladies Library Association has for many years donated funds to the AADL to buy art books. Currently, there are about 1,500 such books in the collection. The books were so popular that AADL was inspired to start an art print collection, which includes work by local artists. It’s on the third floor of the downtown library, as well as displayed on the library walls. The catalog of prints is online, so that it’s easily searchable.

Given the popularity of the art print collection, over the years the library staff has looked for other non-traditional items to circulate. The collections are listed in “Unusual Stuff to Borrow” on AADL’s website. Choate’s presentation highlighted the newest categories: kids “book clubs to go,” home tools, science tools, and Up for Grabs.

The library has offered adult “book clubs to go” for several years, Choate said, and they’ve now done it for kids too. Each “to go” bag includes 10-12 books, a DVD if the book has been made into a movie, as well as possible discussion questions. It allows parents, teachers and kids to create a book club easily, she said, and enjoy the community experience of talking about books.

The collection of home tools launched in June, Choate reported, and includes a thermal leak detector, an 8-outlet wireless energy meter, and indoor air quality meter. These are items that might be too expensive for most people to buy for a one-time use.

In the science tools collection, the library has added microscopes to its collection of telescopes. The items have been selected for their ease of use, Choate said, and include a stereo microscope and portable digital microscope.

The Up for Grabs category is an attempt to make AADL’s collections more accessible, Choate told the board. A few of the more popular items can be set aside to be available for walk-in patrons only, to give them immediate access. Items in the Up for Grabs category can only be checked out for a week, however. The same items that are in the regular collection and that can be reserved are available for a two-week checkout period. The Up for Grabs items that are offered can vary, giving the staff flexibility in this category. “We’re trying this out to see how this model works,” she said.

Different libraries across the county offer different collections, Choate said, based on their communities. Some libraries have Halloween costumes that can be checked out, for example, or puppets or specialized baking pans. In response to a query from Barbara Murphy, Choate said AADL staff don’t think baking pans would circulate well in this community. AADL director Josie Parker added that there’s another issue – public health standards.

Before adding a collection, the AADL staff thinks about how it would fit within this community, Choate explained, and whether the collection can be sustained.

Choate said the next non-print collection, launching soon, will relate to dinosaurs.

Financial Report

Ken Nieman, AADL’s associate director of finance, HR and operations, gave the monthly financial report. Because the library’s fiscal year ends on June 30, he noted that invoices for the year are still trickling in and the numbers might change slightly from the information in the current report. He told the board that auditors will be doing the audit in September. [.pdf of financial report]

The library has an unrestricted cash balance of $8.019 million, and has received almost 100% of its tax revenue, totaling $11.2 million. The AADL fund balance is $8.2 million.

Three items are over budget for the year ending June 30, he noted: utilities, communications and software. The board made some budget adjustments at its June 17, 2013 meeting based on estimates that turned out to be too low. Nieman said the board will be asked to make additional adjustments to the previous year’s budget at its August meeting for these three line items.

The library ended the year about $43,000 under budget for tax revenue, Nieman reported. About $6,000 of that is from tax revenue that the library hasn’t yet received. The remaining $37,000 is from tax refunds that AADL has made to the county and various municipalities throughout the year, following decisions made by local tax tribunals. AADL had budgeted for $75,000 for those refunds, but that line item is coming in at $112,000 for the year.

There was no discussion among board members about this financial report.

Director’s Report

Josie Parker began her report by noting that the Tribeca Film Institute director has again asked AADL to partner on a project, this time focusing on immigration. The library had previously worked with Tribeca on the national “America’s Music” project. Tim Grimes, AADL’s community relations and marketing manager, and Eli Neiburger, AADL’s associate director of IT and product development, will serve on an advisory group representing public libraries. Parker said she was proud that they had been asked to participate a second time.

From left: AADL trustee Barbara Murphy and library director Josie Parker.

Parker also reported that for years during the week of art fairs, the library has set things up so that no checked-out items are due during that time period – so if you can’t make it to the downtown library because of traffic or a lack of parking, you don’t have to worry about whether the items you checked out are overdue. In addition, any requested item can be picked up at any of the branches, so it’s not necessary to come to the downtown library on South Fifth Avenue, in the heart of the art fairs. The hold period is extended so that items will stay on reserve until after the art fairs are over.

In other news, the library has received two “family favorite” awards from the Ann Arbor Family magazine, Parker reported. The library was voted as having the best “free” activities and the best story hour.

The library also received a certificate of appreciation from the Michigan Prisoner Re-Entry Initiative (MPRI), for AADL workshops given to people re-entering the workforce after prison. Parker cited Ira Lax and Beth Manuel of the AADL staff as being instrumental in that partnership.

Parker told the board about a couple of gifts the library recently received. Elaine Wilson donated a painting she’d made of construction at West Delhi bridge over the Huron River near her home in Dexter. Wilson thought kids would like it, Parker reported, so the painting will eventually be displayed at the Pittsfield branch.

Another gift was made by a donor who wants to remain anonymous. He donated his “classic” video game collection, with the understanding that it won’t be available for library check-out. Parker called it a significant collection.

Responding to a follow-up query from The Chronicle, Eli Neiburger, AADL’s associate director of IT and product development, wrote:

These are mostly cartridges and discs from the ’80s and ’90s, and a few game consoles. They will not be available for checkout. We’ve added this collection to our kit of event equipment and it will be used for our ongoing retro gaming events, open play, and classic game tournaments. Some examples include an extensive collection of Atari VCS (2600) cartridges and controllers, Nintendo and Super Nintendo cartridges, near-complete runs of the Sega Dreamcast and Panasonic / Matsushita 3DO game libraries, and a Nintendo Virtual Boy with all 14 known Virtual Boy games.

This stuff is fun to try and will make for many fun library events yet to come; young gamers get a kick out of our old school ways and it’s also a powerful dose of nostalgia for older players. If it turns out that there’s anything rare in the collection (we’re still going through it), we have the ability to transfer items to the University of Michigan Computer and Video Game Archive or other similar archival/museum collections if those would be better homes for some of the items.

Finally, some work has been done at the downtown library over the past couple of months, Parker said. On the second floor on the former reference side, a few years ago the library installed a “laptop bar” where computer users can plug directly into the library’s Ethernet connection. It’s been very well used, Parker said, so some empty vertical file cabinets were removed and that laptop bar has been expanded with eight new seats. About 10-12 people can now be accommodated there, she said, depending on how close people want to sit next to each other.

After Parker’s report, trustee Margaret Leary highlighted one of Parker’s own recent accomplishments. Joe Janes, a leading educator who formerly taught at the University of Michigan, recently edited a book titled “Library 2020: Today’s Leading Visionaries Describe Tomorrow’s Library.” It’s a collection of 24 commentaries on different subjects about the future of libraries. Parker wrote an essay that’s included in the section on leadership and vision. Leary recommended the book to anyone who’s interested in the future of libraries, and read aloud the first sentence from Parker’s essay: “The library in 2020 will offer a culture of generosity supported by fiscal oversight that reflects rigorous controls and realistic projections.” Leary indicated that this is a philosophy that Parker uses to guide the library now as well.

In response to a query from Barbara Murphy, Parker said the book will be available at AADL but it hasn’t arrived yet. It’s published in print and as an e-book. Parker also noted that the book includes an essay by Peter Morville, who lives in Ann Arbor. His essay is about inspirational architecture, which references public libraries. She noted that in talks he gives on this same subject, his slides include images of AADL’s Traverwood branch.

Committee Reports

The board has six committees: communications, budget and finance, facilities, policy, director’s evaluation and executive. Two of those – communications and facilities – were created as special committees at the board’s Jan. 21, 2013 meeting. On July 15, board members reported that none of the committees had met since the last board meeting, and there were no updates.

Communications & Commentary

The board meetings have two opportunities for public commentary – at the beginning and end of each meeting – as well as time for various communications from the board. In addition to commentary reported above, here are some highlights.

Communications & Commentary: Allerton-Hill Consulting

Bob Rorke continued a topic that he’s spoken about at previous meetings: AADL’s $28,000 contract with Allerton-Hill Consulting.

By way of background, the contract had been announced by Nancy Kaplan, chair of the board’s communications committee, at the board’s March 18, 2013 meeting. It fell under the threshold amount for contracts requiring board approval. The Protect Our Libraries political action committee subsequently filed a Freedom of Information Act request for documents related to the contract, and posted those documents online at the Ann Arbor Area Government Document Repository. Rorke is working as a consultant for Protect Our Libraries. [.pdf of Rorke's written statement, which was read at the AADL board's July 15, 2013 meeting]

From left: Bob Rorke, Doug Jewett and Kathy Griswold, who videotaped the July 15 meeting.

From emails sent and received by board members and AADL director Josie Parker, Rorke traced the origins of the contract to a suggestion from University of Michigan assistant professor Luke Shaefer, who emailed Parker in mid-December of 2012 about Joel Gagne, owner of Allerton-Hill. Shaefer wrote: “My colleague and friend, Joel Gagne, runs a consulting firm that helps public entities communicate more effectively with the public, particularly around tax levies. His firm has a track record of working on campaigns that have resulted in hundreds of millions of additional dollars in public investments.”

Rorke read aloud excerpts from additional email exchanges between Parker and trustee Margaret Leary, who was board president at the time, which indicated that at least some of the conversations with Allerton-Hill were linked to the failed bond proposal. From an email sent to Leary by Parker: “The consultant from Allerton Hill was very blunt about our chances of success anytime in the next couple of years: not possible. I’m hearing that from everyone who wants to talk to me, and I’m listening. It is humbling, but not hopeless.” [Leary also serves on the board's communications committee, along with Kaplan and Ed Surovell. It had been created as a special committee at the board’s Jan. 21, 2013 meeting.]

During the July 15 public commentary, Lou Glorie followed Rorke and read a portion of his written statement, describing references provided by Allerton-Hill to the AADL, which had been included in a January 2013 email. The four references provided by Allerton-Hill were previous clients – including three school systems – that had used the consulting firm on bonding or other voter-related campaigns.

During public commentary time at the end of the meeting, Rorke continued his remarks. He said the hiring of Allerton-Hill was born out of the November 2012 defeat of AADL’s bond proposal to fund a new downtown library, and the initial interest in the consulting firm was for political purposes. The references from clients are all political, he noted.

Rorke argued that the Allerton-Hill consulting contract is not a generic communications audit or project – but is instead a political project. Allerton-Hill provides political advocacy for the passing of public financing issues. He asked the board to review this contract and determine whether it is legal under Michigan law.

In response to Rorke’s final public commentary, Barbara Murphy noted that the guidelines for public commentary indicate that no speaker can address the board more than once on the same topic during the same meeting. She felt that this rule should be followed in the future.

The board’s guidelines for public commentary are:

1. Persons who wish to address the Library Board may reserve time on any regular or special meeting agenda by calling 327-8311 by 5:00 p.m. of the weekday preceding the meeting. Persons who have not reserved time in advance may speak after those who have reserved time.

2. Maximum time for individual speakers will not exceed three minutes.

3. One speaker may yield his/her time to another if both have signed up and both are in attendance at the meeting.

4. No person may speak more than once on the same subject during a single meeting.

5. Citizens’ Comments at special meetings or study sessions will occur at the end of the meeting. Maximum time for individual speakers will not exceed three minutes.

6. Trustees, Director, and Administrators will not answer questions during Citizens’ Comments. The speaker may request a response in writing. Trustees may, with the permission of the Board President, ask a question of a speaker. No dialog will occur.

7. Individuals addressing the Board should take into consideration rules of common courtesy.

Communications & Commentary: Downtown Library

Don Salberg said he was a long-time resident of northeast Ann Arbor. In November 2012, when the library’s bond referendum was put before voters, he noted, one of the issues that the library board raised was the need to do maintenance and upgrades to the downtown building, particularly to the electrical system so that there would be adequate power outlets for people to power their devices. The board had also indicated that there may be some ADA [Americans with Disabilities Act] compliance problems with the elevators, and that the boiler and cooling units might need to be replaced, he said.

It was understood that these issues would be deferred, if there was a possibility that a new library might be built. However, the bond proposal was defeated. So eight months later, he said, he was urging the library to do the necessary maintenance and upgrades to meet the building’s needs that were identified before the vote. He said he is unaware whether any of these projects have been started. He hoped that requests for proposals (RFPs) had been put out to electricians. His understanding now is that the ADA issue might not be a serious problem, and that perhaps the HVAC system doesn’t need to be replaced. If money isn’t available through the operating funds, Salberg suggested using the library’s reserves.

Communications & Commentary: Ann Arbor Summer Festival

Robb Wolfe, executive director of the Ann Arbor Summer Festival, reported that the previous week concluded the festival’s 30th season – a comment that drew applause from the board and others attending the meeting. He thanked the library for its support of the 2013 season, and for the library’s participation. Hundreds of families enjoyed AADL’s Kids Rock concert series at Top of the Park, he said. Hundreds more visited the Kids Zone tent, where library staff and volunteers hosted interactive, hands-on activities with children and their parents. And the Superhero digital art exhibition involved hundreds of kids, projecting images onto Burton Tower.

These projects, along with other workshops held at the downtown library, were admission-free, he noted. “They would not be possible without the library’s generous support.” Wolfe said he thinks of the Summer Festival as a big adventure that allows this community to come together and experience the arts and the world around them. “In many ways, I see that same sense of adventure in the work that the library does,” he said.

Communications & Commentary: Library Events

Anna Onna Solomon, who lives in the Eberwhite neighborhood, recalled that she’d spoken to the board in the past as a new mom, thanking them for all that the library does for new families. She’s the program director for a local autism services agency, and part of its mission is to educate communities throughout Michigan. She and others often give free talks at the library, and one of their goals is to give similar free talks around the state at public libraries in other communities. However, she said, to their shock and surprise they learned that not a lot of communities offer the kind of talks that AADL offers. “I just took it for granted, until I started looking around the state.” She thanked the library for offering that unique service. Solomon also noted that she started playing the summer game, and has enrolled her son as well.

AADL trustees Ed Surovell and Prue Rosenthal.

Donald Harrison commented on a recent event at the library – a screening of the film “Room 237″ about Stanley Kubrick’s “The Shining.” It was a fascinating, fantastic movie, he said. The event, which also featured one of the people interviewed in the film, had a great turnout, he noted. The room filled to capacity, so some people might say that the space was adequate. “But it was one of the most uncomfortable screenings I’ve been to in recent memory.” Harrison said he had to sit sideways, with his neck turned at an angle.

So when talking about capacity, the discussion should include not just the number of seats, Harrison said, but also the quality of the venue. He said he’d think twice about going to a film if there were more than 30-40 people there, because the sight-lines are terrible. The AADL programming is great, but the focus also needs to be on the quality of the experience, he said. “And the summer game is awesome,” Harrison concluded.

Communications & Commentary: American Library Association

Lyn Davidge began by showing the board her badge from the recent annual conference of the American Library Association, held in Chicago. When she worked as a librarian at the University of Michigan, it was a fun custom in her department for people who went to conferences or on vacation to bring back trinkets for other staff members. Since she retired, she’s a very frequent user of AADL, “so you have become, more than ever, my staff here,” she said. Davidge described herself as an AADL board constituent, a taxpayer, and a member of the electorate that put the board in office. So it seemed appropriate to bring back some “goodies” from ALA, she said.

Davidge encouraged board members to attend an ALA conference, if they haven’t done so recently. It’s a great way to experience the big picture and learn about the complex issues facing libraries, she said, and gain insights for possible collaborations among different types of libraries. She stressed that she’s not advocating for an expensive junket for all the board at taxpayer expense. But she hoped that her “goodie packet” would get them thinking about going independently. The packet included a red tag that said “Trustee,” which was distributed at the conference. She also provided information about two ALA divisions: (1) the Public Library Association, and (2) United for Libraries, the division for trustees.

Code Coda

AADL summer game players can earn 500 points for reading this report. The code is the last word in the “New Collections” section of this article.

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

Next meeting: Monday, Aug. 19, 2013 at 7 p.m. at the fourth-floor boardroom of the downtown library, 343 S. Fifth Ave. [Check Chronicle event listing to confirm date]

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The Ann Arbor District Library four-story downtown building, located on the northeast corner of Fifth and William. The crane on the left is part of the construction of the underground parking structure to the north of the library. (Photos by the writer.)

A transfer of $45,000 from the library’s fund balance to the administration’s consulting budget will be used to start the process for determining the future of the AADL’s downtown location, director Josie Parker told the board. In late 2008, economic conditions had prompted the board to call off plans to construct a new downtown building – a process that had been well underway. It’s time to start that discussion again, Parker said.

The downtown library is adjacent to several other projects that will impact its future, including the large underground parking structure – and whatever is eventually chosen to be built on top of it – being constructed immediately to the north of the library.

In other business, the board approved a one-year lease extension of the office space that houses the Ann Arbor News archives. The library took possession of the archives in January 2010. AADL is digitizing and posting the archives online, as part of the library’s Old News project.

The board also was briefed about an audit for its 2010-2011 fiscal year, which ended June 30. The auditor – Dave Fisher of the accounting firm Rehmann – described it as a clean audit. He suggested that the board consider implementing a fund balance policy in response to a new reporting standard issued by the Governmental Accounting Standards Board (GASB). The board’s finance committee plans to take on that issue.

In her director’s report, Parker noted that AADL had again received the Library Journal’s five-star rating. It’s the highest rating awarded to libraries, and AADL was the only library in Michigan to achieve five stars.

Later in the meeting, Eli Neiburger – AADL’s associate director of IT and product development – gave a presentation about the library’s popular summer game, which this year had added an online component and achieved an unprecedented level of participation. He noted that although the game is AADL’s version of the traditional summer reading program, the word “reading” isn’t used to promote it. Feedback from previous years indicated that reading seems too much like homework, and discourages participation. ”Take the word reading out of the game, and people will read a lot more,” he said.

Restarting Review of Downtown Building

On the agenda was a resolution to transfer $45,000 out of AADL’s fund balance and into the administration’s consulting budget.

AADL director Josie Parker told the board that she’d asked the finance committee to introduce the resolution. She noted that in late 2006, the library had started exploring options for the future of the downtown building on South Fifth Avenue. They had convened focus groups, and hired architects to develop possible plans for the site.

In late 2008, the board voted to suspend that process, because of the economic crisis, Parker said. [See Chronicle coverage: "Citing Economy, Board Halts Library Project." The issue has been addressed at subsequent AADL board meetings as well: "New Downtown Library? If, When and Where," and "Board Renews Library Building Discussion"]

It’s now been three years, Parker said, and her administration is recommending that they pick up the discussion again. That effort would include looking at the process for determining how to provide public library services at the downtown location into the future. They’ll need to have some studies done in order to start up that conversation again, both internally and externally, she said. While much of the previous work is still relevant, enough time has passed so that fresh information is needed.

By way of background, the downtown library site, at the northeast corner of William and South Fifth, is in an area that’s undergoing transformation in several ways. Directly to the north, a large city-owned underground parking structure is being built, and is expected to be open next year. No decision has been made about what, if anything, will be built on top of that site, but that decision would have a direct impact on the library.

Across Fifth Avenue, the Ann Arbor Transportation Authority will be rebuilding its Blake Transit Center, the hub for AATA’s bus routes. Adjacent to BTC, the city-owned surface parking lot at the northwest corner of Fifth and William is one of the sites being analyzed by the Ann Arbor Downtown Development Authority for possible redevelopment.

At AADL’s Nov. 22 board meeting, Jan Barney Newman asked Parker if the library will be entertaining bids for this consulting work. That’s not required, Parker said. Depending on the work that she and her staff determine is necessary, they’ll likely ask specific firms to make proposals.

Outcome: The board unanimously approved the transfer of $45,000 to the administration’s consulting budget.

Extension of Lease for Archives

Added to the agenda at the start of Tuesday’s meeting was a resolution to renew the lease with Green Road Associates for one year, beginning Jan. 1, 2012. The annual rate of $38,000 is unchanged from the library’s current lease at that location, according to AADL director Josie Parker.

The location at Plymouth Park – an office park owned by First Martin Corp. off of Green Road, north of Plymouth Road – houses the Ann Arbor News archives. The library took possession of the archives in January 2010, a few months after the newspaper’s owners shut down the business. The library’s two-year lease at that site is coming to a close, Parker said.

She noted that a provision in the lease allows either party to end it with six months’ notice. Those terms are acceptable to the library, Parker said, giving them plenty of time to find other space and move, if necessary. Other tenants in the building include companies that are growing and that might need the space to expand, she said. “No one can not want a business in Ann Arbor to expand and grow,” Parker added, in explaining why AADL was willing to accommodate that possibility.

Parker did not cite any specific companies during her remarks. Firms that are located at Plymouth Park include NanoBio Corp. and Unival Inc., among others For more information about AADL’s newspaper digitization project, see Chronicle coverage: “Ann Arbor Library Set to Publish ‘Old News.’”

Outcome: The board voted unanimously to extend the lease for the Green Road facility.

Financial Report, Audit

Ken Nieman, AADL associate director of finance, HR and operations, gave a brief financial update to the board. The library ended October with an unrestricted cash balance of $14.7 million, he reported. The four line items that are currently over budget – purchased services, communications, software licenses and postage – are all expected to come back in line later during the fiscal year.

Nieman highlighted one item in the report’s listing of assets – $6.8 million in short-term certificates of deposit (CDs). He noted that these are invested through a program managed by the Bank of Ann Arbor, which invests the money in a variety of other financial institutions at $250,000 per institution. That amount – $250,o00 – is the limit that’s insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. (FDIC), Nieman explained. It’s a strategy to protect the library’s assets, he said. He told the board that he also intends to lower the amount kept in savings, currently at $2.8 million.

Dave Fisher of the accounting firm Rehmann gave the AADL board an overview of their audit for the fiscal year that ended June 30, 2011.

Later in the meeting, Dave Fisher of the accounting firm Rehmann gave a report on the audit that the firm conducted on financial statements for AADL’s 2010-11 fiscal year, which ended June 30, 2011. He noted that he and Sherry Brubaker of Rehmann’s Ann Arbor office had met with the AADL board’s finance committee on Oct. 31 and gone over the audit in more detail.

The audit gives a clean opinion of AADL’s financial statements, Fisher said. The audit also looked at AADL’s internal controls for systems like payroll and cash receipts.

Out of the library’s $7.5 million fund balance, $7.2 million of that is unassigned. If you divide that amount by AADL’s $12 million in annual expenditures, you’ll see that the $7.2 million equates to about 60% of expenditures – representing about 7 months of operating expenses, he said. “That is very good,” he said.

Total expenditures for the year were $12.034 million, with revenues of $12.249 million. That left a surplus of $214,746 for the year. Property tax revenues of $11.163 million accounted for about 91% of total revenues for the year, Fisher noted.

Fisher pointed out that three line items relating to personnel – salaries and wages ($5.669 million), employee benefits ($1.545 million) and employment taxes ($426,729) – account for 63.9% of total expenditures. That’s in the same range as other libraries audited by Rehmann, he said.

The library wasn’t required to make any adjusting entries, Fisher said, and its books are in good shape.

Fisher highlighted two additional issues for the board. As he had during his November 2010 audit report, Fisher noted that it’s important for the library to continue to monitor its compliance with IRS rules related to independent contractors, and to obtain W-9 forms when required. In the past, the IRS left nonprofits and government entities alone, he said, but the agency has started to audit and levy significant penalties in this area.

He also suggested that the board consider implementing a fund balance policy. This is in response to a new reporting standard issued by the Governmental Accounting Standards Board (GASB) – Statement No. 54. The new standard makes significant changes to the reporting of fund balances and to the financial statement classification of funds. Fisher said he’d discussed this issue with the board’s finance committee, and had sent Nieman some samples of possible policies the board could adopt.

There were no questions from board members regarding the audit. Earlier in the meeting, during her report from the finance committee, Nancy Kaplan had said the committee will be taking up the issue of developing a fund balance policy. She praised Nieman, thanking him for excellent management of the library’s investments and for controlling AADL’s exposure to risk.

Jan Barney Newman said that after working with Rehmann for several years, the library staff could anticipate what the auditors would require and she hoped that made the library easier to audit. Board president Margaret Leary expressed pleasure and pride to Nieman and Parker for the outcome of the library’s audit.

Outcome: The board voted unanimously to accept the audit report for fiscal 2010-11.

Director’s Report

Josie Parker, AADL’s director, reported that the library has received the Library Journal’s five-star rating again this year. Based on 2009 data, the Library Journal 2011 America’s Star Libraries recognized 262 public libraries this year out of 7,513 that were reviewed. It’s the fourth time that AADL has received five stars, the highest possible rating. In its category – libraries with budgets between $10 million to $29.99 million – AADL ranked fourth out of 10 libraries, and was the only Michigan library to achieve five stars.

AADL director Josie Parker

Parker said she wanted to recognize two other Michigan libraries that were ranked: Kent District Library in Comstock, and Benzie Shores District Library in Frankfort. Both received a three-star rating. Last year, Kent had also been rated at five stars, but they had decided to leave a co-op program and their circulation dropped. It was a wise financial decision for them, she said, but because of the data used to evaluate libraries in this rating system, it hurt them in the ratings.

This system looks at how a library is used, not what it spends money on, Parker noted. It’s also important to understand how policies impact the way that people use the library, and how data is recorded. AADL has a high circulation per capita – 58.9, the highest by far of any other five-star library (the next highest is 32.3). But AADL’s public Internet terminal use per capita, at 1.7, is tied with another library as the lowest in that category.

Parker explained that many other libraries require users to log off every hour. If no one else is waiting to use the terminal, that person can log back on again. But each time, it counts in the library’s statistics as another user. In contrast, at AADL someone can stay on the computer as long as they want, if no one else is in line to use it. So even though in each instance one person is using the computer for the same amount of time, it would result in different statistics, depending on the policy.

Parker also noted that she had attended the Friends of the Ann Arbor District Library meeting earlier this month. FAADL has received its fourth consecutive audit without any concerns or the need to make modifications, “which was a great moment for them,” she said.

Parker said she wanted to publicly acknowledge FAADL’s hard work, and noted that Sally Allen has served as treasurer for that entire four-year period and has done a magnificent job. Allen is now stepping down from that role, Parker said.

By way of background, FAADL operates a bookstore in the lower level of the downtown library, and gives proceeds to the library. In 2006, the shop was temporarily closed when it was discovered that the group had lost its nonprofit status in 2003 and hadn’t been audited in several years. According to an Ann Arbor News report at the time, there was no indication that the 53-year-old organization had misspent money or mismanaged its finances.

Play @AADL

At the board’s June 2011 meeting, Eli Neiburger – AADL’s associate director of IT and product development – had given a brief presentation on the library’s new online component of its standard summer reading program, which the library has set up as a game. On Nov. 22, Neiburger gave an update on the outcome of the summer game, noting one key to its success: Reading is never mentioned in the program’s description.

AADL director Josie Parker introduced Neiburger’s talk by saying that the summer game is an indication of how library service will change in the future, and why space for a 21st century library is imperative in this community. She said it would start a conversation with people in the community who might ask “Why have a library?”

Neiburger told the board that the summer game had an unprecedented level of participation, and a huge growth in adult participation. You could play by texting, in paper format, or online, he noted, and there was a great deal of overlap in modes of participation. Just over 1,000 people played online only, while nearly 7,000 people registered for the print version of the game. But there was an overlap of nearly 4,200 people who played both in print and online. Neiburger said he suspects that reflects how patrons use the library, too – although the amount of overlap would be even greater.

Screenshot of Play.AADL.org (Image links to AADL’s Play website)

The game provided a variety of ways to earn points by completing tasks like checking out a book or other item (10 points), tagging an item in the AADL catalog (10 points), downloading music (10 points per track), writing reviews (200 points), or posting a comment (50 points). Between 200-500 points were awarded each time you attended an AADL event, where a code was announced that allowed you to redeem the points. Codes were also tied to locations within library branches, or to finding answers by searching the AADL website.

One point was awarded per page or per minute spent with media – either an item from the library, or from another source. You also got 100 points for completing a book or other item. Neiburger noted that nearly 8 million points were recorded in this category for books.

A total of 11,217,459 media points were awarded during the summer game, including almost 9 million points related to print. That shows this community still loves to read print in a big way, he said.

Points were also awarded when people earned badges for finding codes based on certain clues. Some clues pointed to information on AADL’s website. Others, like the AA Streets Sweeper series, combined online information with real-world sites – in this case, partnering with the Downtown Ann Arbor Historical Street Exhibit Program. For example, to earn the AA Streets Sweeper #3 badge, players followed this clue: ”Courthouse Square holds a lot of history! See if you can find the panel with the codes on it and learn something along the way. Visit the glass panel on the street and the online version to find both codes!”

Some students reported that searching for information to get the AA Streets Sweeper badges brought them to downtown Ann Arbor for the first time ever, Neiburger said.

In total, 155 different badges were available to earn, and 32,201 badges were awarded – about half of them to adults.

The points could be exchanged for items at the AADL summer game shop, like T-shirts, caps or totebags.

Neiburger also noted that the library took the word “reading” out of the game. The feedback they’d received in previous years was that reading seemed too much like homework. By making it open-ended, with an unlimited amount of points for a variety of tasks – all involving literacy skills – it became more popular. “Take the word reading out of the game, and people will read a lot more,” he said.

Throughout the game, the AADL posted a leaderboard showing point rankings for the top players. Neiburger said that one of the leaders in the top 20 for the entire game was a six-year-old boy. It’s a way for kids to see success in a way that’s not always possible in school, where recognition is more often given for athletic ability in sports.

In terms of logistics for operating the game, the only thing that was harder about this summer compared to previous years, Neiburger said, was order fulfillment of prizes that were redeemed with points. To handle that, once a week teen volunteers came to the library and filled orders, getting 200 points for each order they filled. Prizes could be picked up at any branch – the process mirrored the service of reserving a book online and picking it up at the branch most convenient for the patron. Many people hadn’t used this service before, Neiburger said, so picking up their prizes introduced them to it.

Eli Neiburger, AADL’s associate director of IT and product development.

The library filled about 2,700 orders during the summer game, and awarded 4,685 prizes – just for the online portion of the game.

The game also significantly increased site traffic to AADL’s website, as measured by page views – up 124% in July compared to last year, and up 139% in August. And even though the traffic has slowed since the game ended, it was still 49% higher in September compared to 2010.

As the game came to a close in August, Neiburger said the staff started hearing something they hadn’t heard before – people didn’t want it to end. So there are now two games that are ongoing: (1) Points-O-Matic Click-a-Tron, where people can earn points for selecting the best reviews of items in AADL’s catalog, indicating whether a review is helpful, or tagging a photo; and  (2) Treasure Quest, a complex game that involves following clues to find keys that unlock “gates” hidden online.

Over 200,000 points have been awarded in these two games so far, Neiburger noted, even though the library hasn’t said anything about awarding prizes for these points.

In response to a board member’s question about whether other library systems are doing this kind of thing, Neiburger said he’s not aware of anything quite like AADL’s game. The software was written by AADL staff using open source code that’s available to any library “that has the chops for it,” he said. Parker added that AADL can’t provide the staff support to other libraries, but if other libraries have the expertise on staff, they can replicate the program using AADL’s code.

Several board members congratulated Neiburger and AADL staff for the work. Jan Barney Newman, who founded an educational game company called Aristoplay, said the point of games she designed was to learn, which is the point of the AADL’s games too. She said she hadn’t been a player this year, but planned to do it next summer.

Closed Session Scheduled

At the end of the meeting, the board intended to vote on setting a closed session for its Dec. 15 meeting for the purpose of discussing labor negotiations and the written opinion of its legal counsel.

Before the vote, however, AADL director Josie Parker noted that because a vote to discuss the opinion of legal counsel required a two-thirds majority of board members – and because only four of the board’s seven members were present – they could not authorize that purpose for going into a closed session, under the state’s Open Meetings Act. The vote for labor negotiations required only a simple majority.

Outcome: The board unanimously voted to set a closed session on Dec. 15 for the purpose of discussing labor negotiations.

Present: Rebecca Head, Nancy Kaplan, Margaret Leary, Jan Barney Newman. Also AADL director Josie Parker.

Absent: Barbara Murphy, Prue Rosenthal, Ed Surovell.

Next meeting: Thursday, Dec. 15, 2011 at 7 p.m. in the library’s fourth floor meeting room, 343 S. Fifth Ave. [confirm date] Update: At a special meeting held on Dec. 8, the AADL board cancelled its Dec. 15 meeting. The board’s next meeting is on Monday, Jan. 16, 2012.

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Screen shot of the Ann Arbor District Library summer game website. (Image links to play.aadl.org)

Eli Neiburger, AADL’s associate director of IT and product development, gave a brief presentation on the library’s new online component of its standard summer reading program. In addition to earning points for traditional activities like reading a book, the game includes tasks that are done online, like tagging an item in AADL’s catalog or commenting on a blog post. After July 5, points can be traded in for merchandise that will be available at AADL’s soon-to-be-launched online store.

The online aspect is another way to engage more people with the library, Neiburger said, while not demanding an intensive amount of staff time.

Also during the 30-minute meeting, AADL director Josie Parker updated the board on several issues. She’s been invited by the Ann Arbor city council to address that group at its July 5 meeting, to talk about the library’s needs in the context of plans to develop city-owned parcels. That development might include the top of the underground parking structure – known as the Library Lot – that’s under construction adjacent to AADL’s downtown building.

Parker also noted that AADL’s attorney is reviewing a recent decision by the Ann Arbor Downtown Development Authority board to repay the AADL $74,666 in excess tax increment finance (TIF) funds. There’s a question about whether additional funds are owed to the library and other taxing entities.

At the end of her report, Parker briefed the board about her trip to the UNESCO World Forum on Culture and Cultural Industries, held in Monza, Italy earlier this month – the three-day event focused on the future of the written word. She’d been invited to participate in a panel discussion on the topic of the library as a public service. There was acknowledgement among the attendees – librarians, publishing executives, academics, authors and others – that the digital production of material will prevail during the next decade or so, Parker said, but there was no real consensus about what that will actually mean.

In addition to hearing staff reports, the board also approved minor adjustments to wrap up AADL’s FY 2010-2011 budget, which ends June 30. Board members had approved next year’s budget at their May 16 meeting.

Summer Reading Game

Summer reading programs are a staple of public libraries nationwide, including Ann Arbor. Neiburger told the board that the AADL’s traditional summer reading program is designed as a game, with points awarded for reading/listening to books, watching movies, posting reviews and other activities. That game will continue, but this year, they’ve added an online component as well.

The traditional game is staff intensive, he said, which means there’s an upper limit on what the library can do. So they designed a self-serve kind of experience – people can log on, sign up and earn points for completing tasks like checking out a book or other item (10 points), tagging an item in the AADL catalog (10 points), downloading music (10 points per track), writing reviews (200 points), or posting a comment (50 points). 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. [The code for Monday's board meeting was inspired by an item at Afternoon Delight, a nearby restaurant.]

Part of the goal is to get more people interacting with AADL in a variety of ways, such as via the website or by texting. Library staff are especially interested in reviews – rather than rely on reviews from Amazon.com or other sources, they want the social data in their catalog to reflect the local community, Neiburger said. ”People want to know what Ann Arbor is reading when they check something out.”

Starting July 5, participants will be able to use their points to get merchandise from an AADL online store – items like mugs, T-shirts, tote bag and hats – that are paid for by donations from the nonprofit Friends of the Ann Arbor District Library (FAADL). Teen volunteers will process the orders – they’ll accrue game points for that work – and patrons can then pick up their items at the circulation desk. The game was designed using the library’s existing system, Neiburger noted, so that it can be sustainable without a lot of additional resources.

In the future, the library plans to add other ways for people to earn points, such as correcting scanned texts or providing an item’s ISBN number when they request an addition to the AADL collection. This engages people with the library and encourages them to contribute their knowledge and opinions, Neiburger said, and also saves staff time.

In response to a question from board member Ed Surovell, Neiburger estimated that the cost of the prizes totals about $10,000 to $12,000. No tax dollars are used for that, he added – it’s all donated by FAADL.

Director’s Report

In her monthly director’s report, Josie Parker noted that she’s been invited by the Ann Arbor city council to address that group at its July 5 meeting. They’ve asked her talk about how the library fits into the downtown. It’s in the context of plans to develop city-owned parcels, including the top of the underground parking structure – known as the Library Lot – that’s adjacent to AADL’s downtown building. Parker said it’s an opportunity for her to let councilmembers know what the library’s needs are.

On a somewhat related note, Parker also reported that the Ann Arbor Downtown Development Authority board recently voted to repay the AADL $74,666 in excess tax increment finance (TIF) funds that had been collected. However, there’s been some question about what amount is actually owed to the AADL and other taxing entities. “We do have an attorney looking at that decision,” Parker said, “and we’ll have a decision about that at a later board meeting.” [For background on this issue, see Chronicle coverage: "Column: Taxing Math Needs a Closer Look"]

Parker also drew attention to two recent events. The Friends of the Ann Arbor District Library (FAADL) held their annual meeting on June 5 at the Green Road office building where the library is housing the Ann Arbor News archives. The library took possession of the extensive special collection soon after the owners of the Ann Arbor News closed that business in 2009. The collection is being organized and digitized, but is not open to the public. Parker said she’d been out of the country and unable to go to the meeting, but had heard it was well-attended. Several board members confirmed that the turnout had been good.

FAADL was also involved in the library’s annual kick-off for its summer reading program, held this year at the Ann Arbor Summer Festival’s Top of the Park event on June 19. Over 1,000 reading logs were distributed, Parker reported, and FAADL’s mascot – Faddle the Owl – made its debut. The nonprofit has launched a membership drive – Parker said FAADL’s efforts are making a strong, positive statement about its future.

Related to the summer reading program, Parker’s report highlighted the visits that library staff make each May to local schools, to promote the program. This year, they visited 19 of the 21 elementary schools in the Ann Arbor Public Schools system, three out of five AAPS middle schools, and three private schools. They weren’t able to secure assembly time at any of the high schools, she said, but they’ll keep trying in future years. Visiting 25 schools might not sound like a lot, Parker said, ”but this is hard work.”

Parker also said the library staff was very happy about AADL’s No. 1 ranking in the “Smartest Readers” list, recently published in the American Libraries magazine. [With a per capita circulation of 58.94, AADL has a per capita circulation nearly twice as high as the second-ranking library on the list: Cuyahoga County Public Library in Parma, Ohio, which has a per capita circulation of 33.44. The listing was compiled from a 2008 national study by selecting the 549 libraries from that study that serve a population of over 100,000.]

AADL also ranked No. 4 on Amazon.com’s top 20 “best read cities,” showing where residents are the heaviest purchasers of materials from the online bookseller. Only Ann Arbor and Portland, Ore. made both lists. Parker said it’s not true that if people buy books, they’ll no longer check out books from the library – AADL’s ranking on these lists proves that’s not the case, she said.

Ed Surovell spoke up, saying he wanted to put in a good word for his hometown of Alexandria, Virginia, which ranked No. 2 on Amazon.com’s list. When he was growing up in the 1950s, the town had only one “pathetic little bookstore,” he said, but now it was high on the list of best read cities.

Finally, Parker gave a report on her recent trip to the UNESCO World Forum on Culture and Cultural Industries, held in Monza, Italy – the event focused on the future of the written word. She’d been invited to participate in a panel discussion on the topic of the library as a public service. About 250 people from 35 countries attended, including leaders from academic and government libraries, publishing executives, authors, editors and many others.

There was an acknowledgement that the digital production of material will prevail during the next decade or so, Parker said, but there was no real consensus about what that will actually mean. It’s especially troubling for institutions that have vast collections dating back hundreds of years, she said – America in a baby in that context, compared to countries like Iran or Afghanistan, where histories are millennial.

The three-day forum was intellectually stimulating and eye-opening, Parker said. In Africa, for example, there aren’t many public library systems, and countries there are looking at the U.S. as a model, because of libraries here allow people to take items home. European libraries typically don’t lend, she said – it’s a different model.

It was amazing to get a better understanding of America’s role in this global environment, Parker said, and to be able to contribute her perspective. She credited the AADL library boards over the past 15 years with building up the library’s reputation so that its director would be invited to participate in a forum like this.

Board member Jan Barney Newman noted that it also takes the leadership and reputation of a director like Parker to secure such an invitation. Parker replied that governance is what truly makes it possible to do what AADL has done over the years – she said she made that point on the UNESCO panel. If the board had directed staff to only focus their collection on printed books, AADL would not be what it is today, Parker said.

Budget & Finance

The board had passed its FY 2011-12 budget at its May 16 meeting – the fiscal year begins July 1. On Monday, board members considered a resolution to amend the budget for the current fiscal year, making final line-item adjustments to close out the year later this month.

The resolution authorized the transfer of funds related to these line items:

• $60,000 from salaries & wages to employee benefits
• $40,000 from utilities to legal
• $13,000 from software to supplies
• $12,000 from capital outlays to supplies
• $19,000 from capital outlays to materials

Ken Nieman, associate director of finance, human resources and operations, did not attend Monday’s meeting – he typically is on hand to deliver the library’s financial reports. AADL director Josie Parker explained that this is a standard practice at the end of the year. Board president Margaret Leary added that the board has been updated monthly by Nieman about line items that are over or under budget, and he has provided projections for whether those items will meet the budget.

Outcome: The board voted unanimously to approve the fund transfers for the FY2010-2011 budget.

The monthly finance report was included in the board packet. Because Nieman was absent, there was no financial presentation at Monday’s meeting. Other staff were on hand to answer questions, but the board had none. [.pdf of May 2011 finance report]

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

Next meeting: Monday, July 18, 2011 at 7 p.m. in the library’s fourth floor meeting room, 343 S. Fifth Ave. [confirm date]

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