Minutes

Library Citizens Advisory Committee

Final Minutes Meeting of Wednesday March 21 2007 – 6:00 PM

San Francisco City Hall

1 Dr. Carlton B. Goodlett Place

Room 278

San Francisco , CA

I. Call to Order and Roll Call

The meeting was called to order at 6:11 PM by Chair Dan Weaver.

The Chair called the roll. Members present were Enne Braun, Sue Cauthen, Rachelle Resnick, Lucille Cuttler, Roger Kallen, Douglas Ryan, Gladys Soto, Mark Vogel, Peter Warfield, and Daniel Weaver were present. Mr. Warfield left early at 6:30PM.

The chair introduced Rachelle Resnick who is replacing Ann Dalton as the school library representative on the LCAC.

II. Select Minutes Volunteer

Douglas Ryan agreed to take minutes.

III. Public Comment

Betty Parshall, a member of the Visitation Valley History Group, spoke regarding the long delay of the Visitacion Valley library. She endorsed studying the possibility of using the existing building purchased by the library instead of building an entirely new one and submitted “Our New Neighborhood Library: An Open Letter form the Visitacion Valley Historic Project.”

IV. BLIP Audit Motion

Sue Cauthen moved that:

Whereas San Francisco Public Library (SFPL) is facing a significant cost overrun in its $106 million bond program to modernize branch libraries, and

Whereas, work on only three of the 24 branch projects is complete, and

Whereas, SFPL proposes to transfer funds from five projects, including two in underserved neighborhoods, and

Whereas, Mayor Newsom expressed interest in a library audit at his 2/16/07 meeting with the Coalition for San Francisco Neighborhoods, and

Whereas three Library Commission members have also called for an independent audit,

Therefore be it resolved that the Library Citizens Advisory Committee supports an independent audit of the significant shortfall in funds to find ways to make the Branch Library Improvement Program work better in the future.

Lucille Cuttler seconded the motion; Mark Vogel amended the text. Peter Warfield spoke against the motion, saying that the LCAC should find out the facts and comment on the facts as the LCAC saw fit. He felt the resolution was shirking our duty. Mark Vogel questioned the expense of the independent audit. Sue Cauthen spoke to emphasize the possible importance of this measure in connection with possible future bond measures from the library. The measure was passed 9-0 with the votes of all members present; Warfield did not vote, as he had left.

V. Library Resource Presentation on Every Child Ready to Read

Tony Bernardi, Chief of Children and Youth Services, and Christy Estrovitz, Early Literacy Specialist, spoke about the Every Child Ready to Read. They showed the wide variety of handouts and learning aids available at libraries, and talked about presentations and workshops for parents and for librarians.

VI. Report of the Chair and Vice Chair

Dan Weaver presented the LCAC resolutions to the Library Commission. Sue presented a library usage report from the library. She pointed out that most borrowing – around 67% – comes from books, even though they are checked out for longer periods than DVDs.

VII. Member Comments

Members discussed possible agenda items for the April meeting, including a discussion of the Visitacion Valley BLIP project and the Successful Teens program.

VIII. Review and Approve February Draft Minutes

The minutes were approved unanimously without revision.

IX. Next Meeting Announcement

The next full LCAC meeting will be on Wednesday, April 18, 2007 at 6 PM.

X. Adjournment

The meeting was adjourned at 8:05 PM.