07/11/2012 Library Commission Regular Meeting Adopted 08/08/2012CITY OF GILROY
MINUTES OF THE REGULAR
LIBRARY COMMISSION MEETING
7:00 P.M.
Wednesday, July 11, 2012
CALL TO ORDER
The regular meeting of the Library Commission was called to order by Chair Smith (Carol) at
7: 00 p.m. in the Gilroy Library Meeting Room, 350 W. 6th Street Gilroy, California.
SECRETARY'S REPORT
All four commissioners were present.
APPROVAL OF MINUTES
Motion by Commissioner Smith (Hugh) and seconded by Commissioner Armenta to
approve the minutes of June 13, 2012.
Hearing no objections, it was so ordered.
APPROVAL OF AGENDA
Motion by Commissioner Taylor and seconded by Commissioner Smith (Hugh) to
approve the Agenda of July 11, 2012.
Hearing no objections, it was so ordered.
INTRODUCTIONS
None.
PRESENTATIONS
None.
PUBLIC PARTICIPATION
None.
NEW BUSINESS
A. Discussion of Donor Recognition for the New Library
Discussion will occur at a later date.
LIBRARY REPORTS
Acting County Librarian, Nancy Howe
Website and New Logo — The Library will soon be launching a new website and a new logo.
The website has been re- designed to have a fresh, clean look and will be much easier to
maintain. A preview can be seen at http:Hscel. prototype .drupal.bibliocommons.coin.
State Budget — On June 27, 2012 Governor Brown signed a budget bill including $4.7 million
for California public libraries. While the former Public Library Foundation and Transaction
Based Reimbursement progrvns that were eliminated last year are still unfunded, some money
for Literacy programs (including SCCLD's The Reading Program) and regional library systems
was restored. This restoration will also make California libraries eligible for $15 million in
Federal funds that were at risk if the state provided zero funding for libraries in two consecutive
years.
New Online Services- Music, Language Learning for Kids and Business Directory Infonnation —
Freegal — Music formats are changing, and while the library CD collection and streaming music
collections continue to be very popular, a downloadable music option has been added that is
free with a library card. Visit Freegal Music for thousands of recordings from Sony Music
Entertaimnent's catalog of legendary artists. There is music from every genre, from classical to
modern pop to today's hottest artists. Hundreds of additional songs are added daily. All
downloads are MP3 format and are Digital Rights Management free, which means you can keep
them forever. Freegal works with any MP3 player, including Tods. Library cardholders can
download 3 songs per week using their barcode and PIN.
Muzzy - Summer is a great time for kids to explore the world through books and movies. It also
just became more fun for kids to learn a language online. Muzzy Online, another new service
that is free with your library, card, offers children an opportunity to learn new languages through
an interactive, self- directed program. Languages included are English, French, German, Italian,
Mandarin Chinese, Portuguese, Russian and Spanish.
ROM — This database provides detailed and current directory information on U.S. and
Canadian Businesses, as well as U.S. residents. It can be used to conduct business and
consumer research, create marketing plans, research competitive analysis, raise funds and locate
people.
Read! -- From May through June, the Library had 3,247 children, 910 teens and 421 adults who
participated in Summer Reading, for a total of 4,578 participants in the district. Sign -ups
continue through the summer. Author events this summer feature panels of historical fiction
writers. Details can be found online at http:// helpdesk. sccl. org /evanced/lib /eventcalendar.M.
There were 10 California Reads events at 6 of the SCCL libraries in June. The next featured
California Reads title is Lost City Radio by Daniel Alarcon. Several exciting activities are
planned for the fall, including a photography contest for teens, art contest for children, film
programs and book discussions, an author visit by Daniel Alarcon to the Milpitas Library on
Sept. 5, an online book club and a panel discussion at the Saratoga Library on the role of social
media in democracy. Information on all California Reads events can be found online at
http:// www. santaclaracountylib .org/seivices.california reads /.
County Librarian Selection Process — There was a national recruitment of applicants for the
County Librarian position. It is expected that interviews will be conducted in July. Three
Library JPA members will participate in the interview process and advise the County Executive
who is responsible for making the final selection. A permanent County Librarian will be hired
by August.
City Librarian, Land Voshimura
Personnel — Library page Denise Leverton remains on medical leave. Gilroy Library will be
hiring new pages and a new Children's Supervising Librarian this summer.
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Patrons — In the past, an average of 1,000 patrons per day visited the Gilroy Library, but during
the first month of operation in the new facility, circulation rose 30.4% and the gate count was
more than 110% higher than in May 2011. During May 2012, more than 1,000 new library
cards were issued to Gilroy residents. Gilroy set another record with the highest use of self -
check machines of any of the Santa Clara County libraries, which was 69 %.
New Programs — In addition to standard library programs such as story times, book club
meetings and poetry readings, Gilroy Library held the first in a series of weekly bilingual story
times on June 2, 2012 thanks to Children's Supervising Librarian Diana Lara. More than 50
adults and children attended the first session.
Teen Librarian Kelly McKean initiated a strong teen program that includes nearly 50 teen
volunteers, who are helping library staff with projects and programs and are also acting as role
models for a small group of disruptive youth.
Adult Services Librarian Elizabeth Munoz Rosas and a volunteer, who is a retired language
educator, are providing ESL students a place to practice English in an ESL conversation club.
Elizabeth and a teen volunteer are also offering computer trainings in both English and Spanish.
Among the subjects to be covered will be training in basic computer use, databases, e -books and
downloading.
The library showed the movie "Farewell to Manzanar" through the California Reads program
on June 14, 2012. Two days later, author Jeanne Wakatsuki Houston talked about her
internment camp experiences and held a lively discussion with the audience.
The Summer Reading Club, which offers activities for adults, teens and children, continues to
sign up new members. Several hundred have joined the programs that are inspiring patrons to
read.
Gilroy Library and GUSD's Power School have been working together via a grant from the
Packard Foundation for the last 4 years. Power School families came to a parent orientation on
a Friday evening in mid -June. More than 800 people attended.
Friends of the Gilroy Library — The "Friends" are reorganizing and former Library
Commissioner Jenny Howard has written new by -laws. The group, made up of both new
members and several that have been with the "Friends" for more than 30 years, have been
working diligently to set up their new space. A large book sale is planned on July 21, 2012
from 10:00 a.m. — 1:00 p.m. The group hopes to open the "Friend's" space on a more regular
basis.
Security Issues — Thanks to the cooperation of the police, City and patrons, the problems have
diminished. Lani has talked to some of the parents involved with success.
Circulation — The June 2012 circulation at Gilroy Library increased by 14,130 items over that of
June 2011. The Gate count in June 2012 was 32,926 compared to 21,415 in June 2011.
Progains — The Library held 41 Adult, Teen, and Children's programs with a total attendance
of 1,764 people in June.
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COMMISSION COMMENTS
None,
STAFF COMMENTS
None,
FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS
None,
ADJOURNMENT
Chair Smith (Carol) adjourned the meeting at 7:47 p.m.
FUTURE MEETINGS
The next regular meeting of the Gilroy Library Commission will be held on Wednesday,
August 8, 2012 at 7:00 p.m. in the Gilroy Library Meeting Room, 350 W. 6th Street,
Gilroy, CA.
Lyn Conrotto, Recording Secretary
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