10-11-1999 (Library) Minutes RITA & TRUETT SMITH LIBRARY BOARD
BOARD MEETING
The Library Board of the city of Wylie met in special session on October 11, 1999
at the Library at 7:00 p.m. The attendees were:
Gerry Whitt
Joe Conely
Grace Morrison
Dan Hendrix
1. Approval of the Minutes.
Minutes were approved as read from the September 13 Meeting.
2. Discuss and Act upon the Approval of the Holiday Policy.
Mignon explained that the days before holidays are very quiet because people are
out shopping or spending time with families. The Board unanimously approved the
Holiday policy. It will allow the library to close the Saturday before Easter,
Memorial Day and Labor Day. In addition, the Library will close at 5:00 p.m. on the
Wednesday before Thanksgiving, the evening of the Board/staff Christmas Party
and December 22 and 23. The policy will go to Council for approval next month.
3. Discuss Monthly Report
There was an increase in circulation in September 1999 compared to September 1998.
The major projects for the month were the Community Grant and the Library card month programs
4. Discuss Annual Reports
Mignon commented that the circulation was down over last year; however, there was a 55%
increase in reference questions and a 229% increase in web site hits over last year. Approximate
38% of the books checked out were children's materials and 17% of the Audio visual material
checkout were children's.
5. Discuss Collin County Funding and the Internet Policy
Shirley and Mignon attended the Collin County Commissioners' hearing on September 1,
1999. The commissioners had originally decided to cut all funding for the remainder of FY 99
and for FY 2000 for libraries that are not filtering. They reconsidered the decision at the
hearing and decided to fund libraries for the remainder of FY 99. In addition, they agreed to
form a committee that would study each Internet Use Policy and take a tour of all the libraries
to see where Internet terminals are located.
The commissioners visited the Collin County libraries in mid-September and reviewed the
policies. The Commissioner's court met on October 4 and libraries were not notified that the
funding issue would be on the agenda. Judge Ron Harris pointed out that he liked the
policies from Plano, Allen, and Frisco. He did not like the policies from McKinney, Wylie, and
Melissa. The decision on funding has been tabled until October 11.
The Board discussed whether or not the funding was worth changing the policy. They
concluded that they wanted to seek advice from the City Manager, City Council, and City
Attorney. In addition, they instructed Mignon to draft a letter that will represent the Council
and Board. The Mayor will sign the letter. It will request the commissioners to clearly define
in writing what they would like for the policy to state to allow the Library to receive funding.
They want a response from the County before the next board meeting. They stated very
clearly that they wanted to have a letter written only if the Council agreed to this.
PRESENTATION OF THE CITY WEB SITE
NEW BUSINESS
The board discussed Christmas Party plans and agreed on December 20 for the party.
OLD BUSINESS
CITIZEN PARTICIPATION
ADJOURNMENT
The meeting adjourned at 8:45 p.m.