Birmingham Public Library Board Minutes

Call To Order

• The meeting was called to order by Library Board Vice-President, Gwendolyn Amamoo.
• The invocation was given by Georgia Blair.

Approvals

• Georgia Blair moved the approval of the agenda. Judge Vowell seconded them motion, which carried.

Terry Oglesby, City Architect

• North Birmingham will receive a new roof and HVAC system. The preconstruction meeting is complete and work will be started around the first of July.
• The City is waiting on a P.O. in order to begin work on Inglenook.

Pratt City

• The construction documents for Pratt City are almost complete. After completion, the project will go out for bids.
• Margaret Jones from Margaret Jones Interiors reviewed the color schemes for the new Pratt City Library. Judge Vowell moved the accept the color scheme choices. Gwendolyn B. Guster Welch seconded the motion, which carried.

Coordinator Presentations

• Sandi Lee, Sandra Crawley, Marguerite Scott, Phillip Willingham, and Janine Langston presented slide shows of the library's branches.

Personnel Committee

• Georgia Blair moved the approval of the revised Director's Evaluation. Gwendolyn B. Guster Welch seconded the motion, which carried.

Advocacy, Fund-raising, and Development Committee

• The Advocacy, Fund-raising, and Development Committee met on Wednesday, May 16, 2012. (minutes attached)

• Katrina Watson moved the approval of the "Special" Award. Georgia Blair seconded the motion, which carried.

Finance Committee

• The Finance Committee met on Friday, May 11, 2012. (minutes attached)

• Samuel Rumore motioned to accept the Finance Committee's reports with the three stipulations regarding the Eastwood Lease agreement. Nell Allen seconded the motion, which carried. (Georgia Blair abstained)

Executive Session

• The Library Board entered executive session.

Director's Report

Finance and Budget Update

• Let me know if you have any questions regarding the budget reports. The Mayor's Proposed FY2013 Budget has or will be sent to you when I receive it.
• Big news—I have been notified that the Bruno Foundation will fund our grant proposal for $32,000 to furnish the children's and teen areas of the Pratt City Branch. The money comes from funds they had set aside for tornado recovery and lasting needs in the community. We will now write a grant to fund the rest of the furnishings.

Trivia Contest Update

• As all now know, the BPL Trivia Team has won the statewide part of the Alabama Impact Brightest Company competition. Our team took the title at the April 17 statewide competition and will take home another $10,000 for a total in winnings for the Friends of $20,000. The Friends board recently voted to use $10,000 of these funds for a marketing consultant to help develop a more focused message and story for us to use in promoting the library in general and for fund-raising and for passage of the proposed bond funds.

Director's Activities

• Pratt City Branch rebuilding project is proceeding according to schedule.
• We hope the new HVAC and roof project at North Birmingham will begin by mid-May.
• Funding for the temporary Pratt City library facility was approved by Council. Now that the funding to secure the services needed for the installation, leasing and take down of the temporary facility is in place, the next step is to develop and advertise the bids/specifications for this work activity. This is being handled by PEP and should be completed in the near future.
• The Foundation, Friends, trustees, and library staff committee are working on engaging a PR firm to help us hone our message and plan for marketing the library in the run up to the bond election and other fund raising efforts.
• Peggy Polk, City Personnel Director, conducted a training session for all branch and department heads on May 2. The topic was "Honest Evaluations and the Importance of Documentation."

• We are working with public libraries in Shelby and Jefferson Counties for a grant that is funded by a cooperation between the American Library Association and the FINRA (Financial Industry Regulatory Authority) Investor Education Foundation (http://www.finrafoundation.org/). The grant program is called SmartInvesting@Your Library (http://www.finrafoundation.org/grants/library/). This special grant program funds public library efforts to provide library patrons and others with access to effective, unbiased, financial education resources. The proposal is due in early June and we will hear if we are funded in December.

Miscellaneous

• BPL has received $9,700 from the Alabama Humanities Foundation to mount an exhibit of photographs from our collection. The exhibit is called Both Sides of the Lens: Photographs by the Shackelford Family, Fayette County, Alabama (1910-1935) and will feature 40 photographs from this collection of early 20th century glass plate negatives. The photographs—rich for their visual record of everyday life in rural Alabama—are also remarkable because of the story behind them. Taken by a family of African-American photographers who lived in Covin, Alabama, the images reveal the lives of the photographers as well as those being photographed. The exhibition will open at BPL on July 24 with a reception and a lecture by Psyche Williams-Forson, Associate Professor of American Studies at the University of Maryland, College Park. Dr. Williams-Forson is an expert on African-American material culture.
• Staff at all locations is hard at work on preparations for the annual Summer Reading Club for all ages. The Cotchery Foundation is funding the special football incentive part of the reading program again this year. Only change is that he has moved to the Pittsburgh Steelers. The annual Tailgate Party will be held at Central on June 22.
• BPL is working with the Mayor's Office on plans for celebrating 2013, the Fiftieth Anniversary of the Civil Rights Movement in Birmingham. We will be assisting in producing an exhibit with them and the Museum of Art.
• The commemoration of the tornadoes that struck Pratt City went very well. We received a great deal of support including the donation of terrazzo flooring for the rebuilding of the Pratt City Branch and a 5K run sponsored by former Auburn and Alabama football players and the Trak Shak. A group called Alabama Forever donated a gazebo in memory of a Pratt City resident killed in the storm. They also made a verbal commitment to donate $10,000 to the library for computer equipment.

Exhibits in Central's Gallery

• April 16—May 25: Four Decades: Photography from Montevallo, current photography from faculty and former students from the University of Montevallo Department of Art, Photography Program.
• June 4— July 20: Photographs by Eudora Welty, traveling exhibit by the History Museum of Mobile

Reminders

• Dial a Story - Call 226-3650 to listen to a great story over the phone!

• Be sure to check the BPL Blog at http://bplolinenews.blogspot.com/ to keep up with all the activities going on at this library. You can subscribe and have any updates sent to your email if you have not already done so.

• Sign up for the BPLinks newsletter at http://www.bplonline.org/programs/

• All BPL programs and events are listed on Birmingham365.org (http://birmingham365.org/) to access BPL programs and events only, go to the BPL Web site at http://www.bplonline.org/programs/.

Friends Update

• The Friends will hold a book sale May 29, 2012 through June 10, 2012. All regularly-priced books and books-on-tape will be 25% off.
• The Friends will hold a live auction on Friday, October 19, 2012. There will be a ticket cost in order to cover refreshments. Please consider donating any items that you may have. All regularly-priced books and books-on-tape will be 25% off.

Comments

• Samuel Rumore stated that his son, Samuel C. Rumore,was inducted into the Beta Phi Mu Honor Society.
• Katrina Watson recommended that the Library purchase the book "Giving Back: A Legacy of Giving Among African Americans".
• Gwendolyn B. Guster Welch congratulated Moncia Slater's daughter, Jada Slater, for receiving a scholarship to attend the Red Mountain Theatre. Mrs. Welch also expressed her sympathy at the passing of Cynthia King's father.
• Gwendolyn Amamoo enjoyed the slideshow presentations by the coordinators.

Submitted By

Irene S. Blalock, Secretary