2013-01-31 PEARLAND LIBRARY BOARD MEETING MINUTESPearland Community Library Board Meeting Minutes
Pearland Library Conference Room
3522 Liberty Drive
January 31, 2013
7:00 p.m.
In Attendance: Cathy Threadgill (County Librarian), Andrew Fearn (City Librarian), Catherine O'Brien
(recorder), Sammy Lucario, Crystal Carbone, Geiby George, Terry Ruiz, and Geoff Tonini.
Absent: Elizabeth McLane (chair), president of Pearland Friends Group
Guest: Ginny Koenig (manager of the Pearland Westside Branch)
Call to Order
Sammy Lucario called the meeting to order.
Introductions of the new manager of the Pearland Westside Branch, Ginny Koenig, who begins on
Monday.
Election of officers
The following persons were approved as officers on a motion by Crystal Carbone, second by Geiby
George, and unanimous vote:
Sammy Lucario—chair
Terry Ruiz—vice chair
Geoff Tontini—treasurer
Catherine O'Brien—secretary
Minutes
Minutes of October 18, 2012 were approved with correction.
Treasurers' Report
The CD expired since the last meeting and was renewed. The board agreed to allow Geoff to roll it over
again when it expires on 3/21/13. The balance is $5,497.13. Geoff has signed a signature card. Since
Elizabeth is the other signatory and is still on the board, a decision was made to leave them there. Geoff
has no checks so he thinks that we only have the CD. He will follow up on that.
Pearland Westside Library Report
Terry reported that there is a crawfish festival on April 5-7, all day in the open land by Sam's on the west
side. The sponsors would like the Friends to help with parking. They are donating a portion of the
proceeds to the Westside Library. www.pearlandcrawfishfestival.com is the site where more
information can be found. The organization has lost 2 officers, but they anticipate when the library
opens, they'll get more members in Friends.
Pearland Community Friends of the Library Report
Andrew gave a brief informal report on their meeting on January 18.
Brazoria County Library Representative Report
Due to a death in the family, Terry was unable to attend this meeting. Cathy Threadgill gave an update
by combining it with the Branch Librarian's Report.
County Librarian's Report
CDM Engineering golf tournament raised $12,500 for Westside Library. It is in the Pearland grant
account with the county. May be used to buy children's furniture or maybe 2 more printers, or fill the
craft closet. We won't know until the library opens what needs there may be that the city won't cover.
Terry explained that the Talent Show and Tim Tingle ideas have been dropped for now. It takes time
and workers that she doesn't have. Catherine suggested that they are good ideas, but that perhaps the
time isn't right yet. Both Friends groups are planning a joint project of producing tee-shirts.
Cathy reported that the book sale was down from July, and they raised $2559.20. The have fewer books
because they've reduced the older books that were on the shelves. Better World Books picked up 85
boxes, and they expect to raise another $400-500 from those sales.
The store front will open in April according to the city or May according to the county. The first phase is
the opening day collection. The second phase will start after opening. There are job openings available
Cathy said that they decided not to follow through with the birdhouse project. Geoff said "thank you"
because the idea became an Eagle Scout project.
The Foundation banquet is April 29 in Angleton. The tickets will have 2 prices, one of which will include
the cost of the book. The author, Lisa Scottoline, will stay afterwards to autograph books. Her new
book is Don't Go, and will be released on April 9. Cathy said she is a riveting speaker. They also have a
contact with Mickey Gilley and the author, J. D. Davis, author of the book Unconquered: The Saga of
Three Cousins Jerry Lee Lewis, Jimmy Swaggart, and Mickey Gilley. They are looking at 2 events.
Cathy distributed the floor plan for the Westside Library. It is about 6000 ft', including a 1000 ft' -
meeting room. The front door faces Business Center Road. There are fewer tables for computers
because more people are bringing their own laptops. The plan is for wireless, including wireless
printers.
Cathy distributed two graphics that show the loss to the state library system. Catherine reported that
she met with her state representative, John Davis. Everyone was encouraged to stop by their offices
and make your opinions known.
Branch Librarian's Report
Andrew reported that they have a virtual staff orientation for new librarians. Two clerks are starting at
the Pearland Branch on Monday at 24 hours per week and no benefits, replacing a 40 -hour per week
employee. Ginny starts Monday as the new manager of Westside Branch. He took a picture of the
board. The Amelia Bedelia Birthday is February 23, and we received a copy of the February events
calendar. Construction of the summer reading calendar is underway.
On January 14, a crane and semi replaced the exterior air conditioning unit. Andrew suggested summer
follow-up to Crystal. A sensor and circuit board were replaced in the "possessed" front doors that were
not closing completely, reopening, then trying to close again and again. They had a visit from the
fire marshal. The city wants other businesses to come into compliance and will begin by placing exit
signs in the library.
Inspirational, fantasy and romance have been broken out into a separate genre like mystery, science
fiction and western. Catalogers were here earlier in the month. Now easy reader books are shelved
more easily by author. Reading across America is Tuesday evening, March 5 at 7 p.m. The mayor is the
special guess. It will be Happy Birthday for Dr. Seuss. It is sponsored by the National Education
Association and American Library Association (ALA). International game day was sponsored by ALA in
November and will be repeated again.
The state centennial picture was removed and found to have a damaged frame. Catherine made a
motion and Crystal seconded it to have Andrew approach the city about repairing it. It matches one in
city hall. The cost may be put into a supplemental budget. Motion carried.
There was discussion about the website, which shows that Elizabeth and Terry went off the board
November 2012. Terry said that she had filed for another term. Catherine will follow up with the city.
She also asked the when selecting future board members to be sensitive to where they live, and that she
is the only board member who does not live on the west side.
The next meeting was set for April 18, with the other meetings to be held on July 18, and October 17,
2013. Meeting adjourned 8:20 p.m., following a motion by Geoff and second by Geiby.
Respectfully submitted,
Catherine O'Brien