Minutes

LIBRARY CITIZENS ADVISORY COMMITTEE

Room 278 City Hall

One Dr. Carlton B. Goodlett Place

San Francisco, California 94102

___________________

415 391 0737

July 16, 2008

FINAL MINUTES

The meeting was called to order at 6:04 PM by Sue Cauthen, Chair.

Present: Enne Braun, Sue Cauthen, Lucille Cuttler, Carlyn Halde, Roger Kallen, Margaret Lee, Neil Mills, Clarice Moody, Michael Olinger, Douglas Ryan, Janis Seeman, Peter Warfield, Daniel Weaver

Absent: Ted Bamberger, Linda Guitron, Jenny Situ, Gladys Soto

Roger Kallen volunteered to take the minutes of this meeting.

Public Comment : None

SAN FRANCISCO PUBLIC LIBRARY (SFPL) 2008-2009 BUDGET & OTHER ISSUES:

City Librarian Luis Herrera gave an update on the 2008-09 library budget, discussed other issues and answered members’ questions. He distributed a handout highlighting aspects of the budget for members to review. Standout items for LCAC: (1) a $l million increase in the book budget boosts this figure to 13% of the operating budget; (2) Seven more libraries open an extra day each week. There will be hearings on July 22 and July 29 on the budget at the Board of Supervisors.

The Grand Jury’s just-released annual report contained an examination of the Branch Library Improvement Program (BLIP), including the financial shortfall. There was one recommendation for the library: that it record BLIP and other “successes and challenges” on the city website in “easily accessible” form.

LCAC members expressed concern about the SFPL website, particularly the difficulty of finding the Library Commission and the LCAC. There was also a discussion of the BLIP website and concern that its updates are not timely.There will be a presentation on redesign of the library website at LCAC’s next meeting.

The Chair reported on the ‘Big Read’ program of the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) and asked if SFPL was going to participate. But the City Librarian pointed out that the library has its own reading programs.

Herrera said the library decided against opening “storefront” branches to serve branches undergoing renovation. Funds saved by using a bookmobile mean a larger renovation budget.

Dan Weaver proposed, and Lucille Cuttler seconded, a motion supporting the budget that will be presented to the supervisors.

Yes: Braun, Cauthen, Cuttler, Halde, Kallen, Lee, Mills, Moody, Olinger, Ryan, Seeman, Weaver.

No: Warfield.

Motion carried 12-1

The meeting recessed from 6:45 to 6:51.

Missing Books/Replacements: Jill Bourne, deputy city librarian, and Pat Farenthold, chief of technical services, reported on the work of the Missing Books Task Force. A key issue is whether a “missing book” is lost or misplaced. The Millennium computer system is equipped to perform this search, which took place last October and will be repeated annually. The initial search significantly reduced the number of books listed as missing: by 64% in the branches (from 51,000 to 23,000) and 70% at the Main library (from 109,000 to 33,000). A new search is planned for October, 2008.

LCAC Annual Report . Sue Cauthen passed around to the members the Annual Report and a four-page “short form” that included the Executive Summary. The full report was filed with the Board of Supervisors and emailed to each supervisor, who was also sent a short form. The full report will be presented to the Library Commission at its July 17 meeting.

DouglasRyan. Douglas, the youth representative, has been with LCAC from its beginning. He just graduated from St. Ignatius and is moving on to become a freshman at the University of Chicago.

ActionItems: The following Action Items were continued until next month:

-Position of Library Commission and LCAC on the city and library websites

-BLIP website not kept up to date

-Condition of bathrooms

ElectionofOfficers:

Dan Weaver nominated and Neil Mills seconded Sue Cauthen for a second term as chair.

Yes: Braun, Cauthen, Cuttler, Halde, Kallen, Lee, Mills, Moody, Olinger, Ryan, Weaver.

No: Seeman, Warfield.

Cauthen elected 11-2

Roger Kallen nominated and Margaret Lee seconded Lucille Cuttler for a second term as vice-chair.

Yes: Braun, Cauthen, Cuttler, Halde, Kallen, Lee, Mills, Moody, Olinger, Ryan, Weaver.

No: Seeman, Warfield.

Cuttler elected 11-2

June Minutes:

Weaver moved and Cuttler seconded the approval of the draft minutes of Wednesday June 18, 2008, as amended.

Yes: Braun, Cauthen, Cuttler, Halde, Kallen, Lee, Mills, Moody, Olinger, Ryan, Seeman, Weaver.

No: Warfield.

The minutes were approved 12-1

The meeting was adjourned at 8:00 PM.