Minutes 4/19/2006 S
•
SUMMARY MINUTES OF THE fiFCE/VFD
SAINT PAUL PUBLIC LIBRARY BOARD MqY
OF THE CITY OF SAINT PAUL, MINNESOTA 1 6 2046
CITy CLERK
Wednesday, April 19, 2006
2:00 - 3:00 p.m.
City Council Chambers, Third Floor
Saint Paul City Hall
Chair Harris called the meeting to order at 2:10 p.m.
ROLL CALL
Present-4 - Benanav, Chair Harris, Lantry and Thune
Absent- 3- Bostrom (excused), Helgen and Montgomery(arrived late)
CONSENT AGENDA
S NOTE: ALL ITEMS LISTED UNDER CONSENT AGENDA WILL BE ENACTED BY ONE MOTION THERE WILL
BE NO SEPARATE DISCUSSION OF THESE ITEMS. IF DISCUSSION IS DESIRED BY A
COUNCILMEMBER, THAT ITEM WILL BE REMOVED FROM THE CONSENT AGENDA AND
CONSIDERED SEPARATELY.
FOR ACTION
1. Approval of Summary Minutes for March 15, 2006
Commissioner Lantry moved approval. Adopted Yeas—4 Nays - 0
2. Resolution L.B. #05-007—Adoption of a Policy for Replacing Local Government Aid with
Property Tax.
Commissioner Lantry motioned to lay over Resolution L.B. #05-007 indefinitely until action
is taken on the 2007 budget approval.
Adopted Yeas—6 Nays—0
3. Resolution L.B. 05-008 —Adoption of Resolution to increase the Library's materials budget
for the new Rondo Library.
• Kathleen Flynn (Interim Library Director) stated The Friends of the Saint Paul Public
Library have funds available for the Rondo collection. This was originally budgeted for in
2005 but due to construction delays was not completed. This resolution will establish
budget authority in 2006.
Commissioner Montgomery moved approval. Adopted Yeas—6 Nays— 0
• Saint Paul Public Library Agency Summary Minutes—April 19,2006 Page 2
4. Resolution L.B. 05-009—Adoption of 2007 Library Board Needs and Resource Assessment.
Ms. Flynn stated this resolution involving the Library's Needs and Resource Assessment is
being presented to the Board for approval.
Chair Harris stated this resolution was part of the ordinance which created the Library
Agency and is useful for the budget process. Also, for the Board so when they submit a
needs resolution to the Mayor, it'll give the Mayor an indication of what the priorities are
for the Library. Chair Harris stated it was recommended by staff at a previous meeting to
add an extra line item to the resolution for clarification (referred to line items 13 through
15). He explained this would preserve the 2006 budget for last minute additions at the
budget sessions, and nothing more was added beyond this recommendation to the resolution.
Chair Harris feels it shows staffs commitment to moving the Library forward.
Commissioner Thune moved approval. Adopted Yeas—6 Nays—0
FOR DISCUSSION
5. Information Report on Tutor.com
• Ms. Flynn introduced Debbie Wilims (Administrative Services Manager) and
stated Ms.Willms wished to introduce a special audience to the Board.
Ms. Wilims introduced the 2006 Urban Library Program Class to the Board. She stated in
2005, only 9 students enrolled in the program however, this year 24 students originally
registered for the program but only 18 remained in the program. Ms. Willms stated this
class plans to complete the program so they can work in libraries throughout the State of
Minnesota.
Chair Harris congratulated and welcomed the class to the Library Board meeting and
thanked them for their hard work and hopes some of the class members plan to stay and
work for the libraries in Saint Paul.
The meeting was turned over to Virginia Brodeen (Community Outreach Librarian) to
present a report on the Tutor.com program. Ms. Brodeen is currently assigned at the
Lexington Outreach Branch Library and is the Manager for the Homework Center Project.
She began by sharing a few stories with the Board concerning patrons who call the library
frequently with numerous types of questions. Ms. Brodeen stated librarians deal with all
types of questions daily at the public library and have been searching for years, for ways of
providing better service to patrons other then the few minutes they have as librarians to hand
them materials or help them search.
• Ms. Brodeen stated in 2002, the first homework center opened and now the library has a
total of five homework centers who served over 40,000 student visits since the first
homework center opened. But now with the Tutor.com program, it provides librarians with
a much better tool which can be used everywhere and does not have to center in one library,
because it is a center that is online and provides one-on-one tutorials with individuals
hooked up to professionals for help.
• Saint Paul Public Library Agency Summary Minutes—April 19,2006 Page 3
Ms. Brodeen stated the Tutor.com Company compiled data for the live homework help lines
which is included in the board packets and asked the Board if they had any questions
concerning the data. She stated the first month the program came online was short because
the program opened in late February, however within a few short weeks 334 sessions had
logged on to the program. In March, 874 sessions logged on and 653 of those were logged
from a Saint Paul Library agency. She stated the students could have possibly logged on at
a library agency that did not have a homework center. Ms. Brodeen stated this program is
also being used in the homework centers because sometime there are not enough volunteers
to answer the patron's questions.
Ms. Brodeen read some of the patrons' positive remarks concerning the Tutor.com program
to the Board and thanked the Friends of the Library for the program. She stated it will help
reach more students in an effective way and will also keep the library link alive. She stated
this program was proposed in many ways over the years and is thrilled to have such a
personal tutor service in Saint Paul. Ms. Brodeen stated this service is provided in Spanish
and data was also compiled and included in the handouts, and asked the Board if they had
any questions.
Commissioner Benanav asked who was working on the other end of the program and asked
if they were Saint Paul staff.
• Ms. Brodeen replied it was staff from around the world, such as teachers, graduate student
s,
and people who are specifically trained for the Tutor.com Program. She stated this program
normally costs $40,000 a year,but the library got it for a set discount of$34,000 for this
year. Ms. Brodeen stated the library's regional manager, from Tutor.com has been
exceptionally helpful to staff and has provided valuable training so staff can promote and
direct patrons to the service.
Commissioner Thune referred to a patron's positive remark in the handout and asked if the
Saint Paul schools districts provided this kind of service.
Ms. Brodeen stated this program is not provided in the schools but is offered as an after
school online service from 3:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m.
Commissioner Thune asked if there was a limit of the amount of people who could go
online to use this program.
Ms. Brodeen stated there was no limit and as long as a person had a library card they could
use the program.
Chair Harris asked if a person had to be in the library in order to use this program. Ms.
Brodeen stated a person did not have to be in a library to use the program.
• Commissioner Thune asked if the school district was aware students could use this program
as long as they had a library card.
Ms. Brodeen stated the schools were aware of this service because library staff visited all of
the schools to inform them of the program.
• Saint Paul Public Library Agency Summary Minutes—April 19, 2006 Page 4
Ms. Brodeen stated this program is available to schools however; the service is available
online after 3:00 p.m., which is when schools are normally closed.
Commissioner Montgomery stated a person would first have to have access to a computer.
Ms. Brodeen stated if a person is at school, at an after school program, or at home and has a
library card they could logon to the program.
Ms. Brodeen stated this program was fairly new and was in service for one and a half
months.
Commissioner Helgen suggested that perhaps the schools need to open their computer labs
for evening programs so people can use this service.
Commissioner Thune asked if anyone knew how many households in the city did not own a
computer.
Commissioner Helgen replied about 70%households do not have computers in their homes.
Chair Harris asked if other languages besides English and Spanish would be included in the
• program.
Ms. Brodeen stated they discussed their needs with the regional manager, specifically about
including Somali and Hmong. She explained this was an area the program was not helpful in
because if no one in the household can speak or read English, then who would help the
students translate the homework instructions which are written in English. Meanwhile, the
library staff will keep promoting to include other languages. Ms. Brodeen stated the
Spanish version of this program was highly utilized during the first few months.
Ms. Brodeen distributed homework center volunteer forms and some Tutor.com program
business cards to the Board to help promote this program.
Shortly before the board meeting adjourned, Commissioner Thune stated some ongoing
discussion have been taking place between him and library staff regarding whether or not,
there was a fixed amount of how many books are stolen, per year from the library system.
He stated so far, he's been unsatisfied with the staff's answers and requested they bring
forward perhaps three options to either recover the stolen books or the money.
Commissioner Thune stated it could involve either hiring a private service collection agency
or working with the State of Minnesota to recover the money.
Chair Harris advised Ms. Flynn to present a report on behalf of Commissioner Thune's
request for the next Library Board meeting.
III
• Saint Paul Public Library Agency Summary Minutes—April 19, 2006 Page 5
ADJOURNMENT
Commissioner Lantry moved adjournment. Yeas—6 Nays - 0
MEETING ADJOURNED AT 2:30 P.M.
Pat Harris, Library Board President
ATTEST:
Minutes Approved by Library Board
Commissioner Lee Helgen
Library Board Secretary/Treasurer
• Submitted by: Mary Rubio
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Saint Paul Public Library Board
• REPORT
DATE: 5/17/06
SUBJECT: Update on LSTA Grant: "Marketing Library Services to Under-
served Communities"
PURPOSE: Interim report on the Library's grant funded project to bring
information about the Library to the Somali, Hispanic and Hmong communities of
Saint Paul.
BACKGROUND:
In 2004-2005, the Library conducted a needs assessment of recent immigrants to
determine how the Library could better serve them. One of the significant findings
was that many people were asking for services that the Library already offered but of
which they were unaware. To address this issue, the Library applied for and received
another LSTA grant to market library services to the Somali, Hispanic and Hmong
• communities in Saint Paul. The active phase of this grant began in January, 2006 and
will be completed in June of this year.
The strategy of the Marketing Grant Planning Team was to use both high tech and
high touch to reach communities that have not responded to traditional forms of
library promotion. Under the leadership of Tom Cytron-Hysom (who also conducted
the Needs Assessment) three cultural liaisons were selected to carry the message of
the Library to their communities. They were equipped with knowledge of the mission
of the Library, business cards with information in the appropriate language and cell
phones with which they could communicate with their communities if questions
should arise. They also brought extraordinary enthusiasm for their assignment and
creative, sensitive and innovative approaches to telling the Library's story. Alejandra
Reyes, Leona Xiong and Kaltun Deriye have proven to be effective beyond all
expectations.
This project will be completed on June 30 and a final report will be available by the
end of July. The Library and the liaisons are gathering data which has already been
used to enhance the Library's website and design system-wide training for staff. Staff
will report final data to this Board when the evaluation is complete.
RECOMMENDATION: None
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SPONSOR: Chair Patrick Harris
CONTACTS: Deborah Willms, Administrative Services Manager, (651) 266-7085