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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1999-12-07 Library Commission Summary KENAI LIBRARY COMMISSION KENAI COMMUNITY LIBRARY ACTIVITY ROOM DECEMBER 7, 1999 ~ 7:30 P.M. AGENDA ITEM 1' CALL TO ORDER/k ROLL CALL ITEM 2: AGENDA APPROVAL ITEM 3' APPROVAL OF MINUTES -- November 2, 1999 ITEM 4: PERSONS SCHEDULED TO BE HEARD ITEM 5: ao REPORTS Director Friends of the Library ITEM 6. ao OLD BUSINESS Discussion -- Library Internet Policy ITEM 7: NEW BUSINESS ITEM 8: ITEM 9' ao COMMISSIONERS COMMENTS/QUESTIONS INFORMATION Kenai City Council Action Agendas of November 3 and 17, 1999. 11 / 23 / 99 memorandum regarding All-America City Award Committee. ITEM 10: ADJOURNMENT KENAI LIBRARY COMMISSION KENAI COMMUNITY LIBRARY ACTIVITY ROOM DECEMBER 7, 1999 ~ 7:30 P.M. CHAIRMAN BOB PETERS, PRESIDING ITEM 1' CALL TO ORDER/l~ ROLL CALL Chairman Peters called the meeting to order at approximately 7'34 p.m. and the roll was taken as follows' Members present: Members absent: Others present: Heus, Brown, Rodes, Peters and Brenckle O'Reilly and Forbes City Clerk Freas, Councilman Moore and Student Representative Haling ITEM 2: AGENDA APPROVAL MOTION: Commissioner Heus MOVED to approve the agenda as presented and Commissioner Brenckle SECONDED the motion. There were no objections. SO ORDERED. ITEM 3' APPROVAL OF MINUTES -- November 2, 1999 Heus referred to page 2, fifth paragraph of Item 5-a, Director's Report," it would be different if the Friends contracted with the auctioneer." ..Heus asked if Heus explained she meant why couldn't the Friends contract with the city or do it for the city and the money would go to the General Fund and the Friends could get a portion of the income for being the agent. Heus also referred to Page 3, third paragraph of Item 6-a, "Heus stated she thought someone should be watching." Heus stated she didn't think she made the statement. MOTION: Commissioner Brown MOVED to approve the minutes as amended and Commissioner Rodes SECONDED the motion. There were no objections. SO ORDERED. ITEM 4: PERSONS SCHEDULED TO BE HEARD -- None. ITEM 5: REPORTS 5-a. Director Internet Policy -- Jankowska reported she reached a decision in regard to the Library's Internet policy. She added, Haring brought a copy of the school's permission form which was discussed at the November meeting. She requested the wording for a permission form from the Alaska Library Association and learned most public libraries do not have special permission, but have a permission statement to use library resources, which included whatever resources are available at the specific library. The special permission for Internet use is utilized mostly in school libraries. Jankowska continued, she also received messages and phone calls from Fairbanks Librarian June Pinnell-Stevens who was very knowledgeable about the subject. Jankowska noted, she sent Stevens a copy of the Kenai Library's policy and added the "Statement of Responsibility" explaining the Library was not responsible for any of the information on the Internet other than its home pages. She also added to the policy a statement that readers under the age of 18 should have parental permission. Jankowska reported Stevens thought the age statement was not a good idea as there had been a case lost by a library with a similar policy which was found to discriminate information accessibility by age. She noted, the matter was very complicated and the Library should stay as broad as possible. Jankowska reported she removed the statement of parental permission required for readers under the age of 18 and decided to include a statement for parents to sign on the library card application saying, "I consent for my child to have access to all Library resources. I apply for the right for my child to use the Library and abid~ to its rules. I will pay fines or damage charges and give notice of any change of address or phone number." Jankowska added, another part of the card was a place for the parent to sign if a parent did not wish for a child to use the Internet without parental supervision. With that, a block could then be placed in the computer circulation system and would show on the screen when the card is scanned at the time the user asks if a terminal is available. Jankowska noted, this method would be much more doable. Heus questioned if the card would also include specific materials a parent didn't want their child to have access to, i.e. voodoo, occult, etc. Jankowska answered no and added, she acknowledged it was a problem. Heus agreed and added, that was why she questioned having the statement Jankowska mentioned there at all. Haring asked if the policy would be retroactive or would the minor files have to be updated. Jankowska answered yes. She added, She spoke with both the city manager and attorney about the matter. The city manager believed if the Library did something it would show the community the Library was concerned about the issue. Rodes noted there were a lot of individual thinkers in the community and it would be difficult to address every complaint brought forward. She asked if the city attorney and manager were worried about, the legal implications with the current policies. dankowska stated thee statements seemed acceptable to them. She added, they LIBRARY COMMISSION MEETING MINUTES DECEMBER 7, 1999 PAGE 2 wouldn't need to have the parental consent on the card and she was not comfortable with going forward with parental consent as that was being questioned in court as well, i.e. a child has the same right to information as a grownup. Brenckle suggested removing "the Internet" from the policy and treat the Internet as another library resource. Technology Plan 2000-2003 -- Jankowska reported she would be applying for Universal Service Fund Grants for reimbursement for the Library's Internet access and telephone service which had been done in the past. She noted, this year she would also apply for a grant to do a small upgrade to the Library's telephone system. In order to receive funding, a three-year technology plan must be submitted which was very difficult to formulate because it was unknown what the technology would be in three years, dankowska stated the Plan would be first forwarded to the State Library for their review and after their review, she would be able to apply for the funding. Jankowska distributed a copy of the Plan and the Internet Policy to the commission members. After a brief review the commissioners agreed the Plan was technical. Jankowska added, 99.9% of the items included in the Plan were.not eligible for reimbursement, but was a requirement of the grant request. A brief discussion took place in regard to future upgrades to fiber-optics. Jankowska noted the local area may have fiber-optics, but because Anchorage (the backbone of the system) did not, the speed of connection would be slow until the backbone is upgraded to fiber-optics. It was suggested fiber-optics be included in the Plan in order to be ready for it when the state's system is up and running. Discussion continued regarding the use of fiber- optics and Jankowska noted, it wouldn't pay to upgrade the Library's Internet connection until the state's system was upgraded. Moore was asked if the city had plans to connect to fiber-optics as the schools had done and he answered, he was aware the fiber-optics was being placed along Willow Street. He added, he believed the city was moving in that direction but it needed to be an organized city-wide plan. Jankowska noted, the Plan was only a portion of the forms required to be submitted. The first form for 2000 and 2001 had been submitted and in it she requested the fastest Internet connection available. With this broader request, it would give a window of opportunity. Jankowska noted the Library was reimbursed $7,000 last year. Children's Holiday Party -- Jankowska reported the party went very well. Haring reported she had reviewed several of the student surveys and noted there was some interest expressed for the Library to hold a youth holiday party. Comments were that it was a good idea, but maybe time was too short to organize one for this year. Hating suggested it could be planned for next year. LIBRARY COMMISSION MEETING MINUTES DECEMBER 7, 1999 PAGE 3 Grant Award -- Jankowska stated her pleasure in reporting a grant was received from the National Endowment for the Humanities for the purpose of teaching adults how to read to children. She noted, the grant was received through the efforts of Employee Corey Hall and would include a story teller and scholar to accompany her to New Orleans for training, dankowska added, the grant award was very prestigious for the Kenai Community Library as the grant program was a pilot project and the Kenai Library would be the only library in Alaska to be participating. a-bo Friends of the Library Heus reported the following items: · The Friends were informed the children's holiday party, held at the Library, was very successful and approximately 100 children attended. · It was decided to earmark some of the Friends' memorial funds for purchasing books and other materials for a special shelf at the library in memory of Francis Mae Meeks. Some of the books would be about photography which was one of Meeks' stronger focuses. · The annual Library open house was scheduled for December 9 beginning at 4'00 p.m. It was noted the event would be catered and the city had contributed monetarily. No formal invitations had been mailed this year, but radio public service announcements and advertisements in the Peninsula Clarion were placed instead. · There is a vacancy on the Friends' board. · A Library "Employee of the Year" award was created by the Friends and this year's award would be presented at the open house. The employee receiving the award would also be given a gift certificate and the name would be placed on the plaque purchased for the event. The plaque would be kept at the library and the award would be a yearly event. · The next meeting of the Friends of the Library is to be held on January 17 which is also the annual membership renewal time. ITEM 6: OLD BUSINESS Discussion -- Library Internet Policy This item was discussed at the Director's report. It was noted Jankowska's question to the Fairbanks Librarian started some dialog on the Internet and a discussion on the issue would be held at the next library conference. ITEM 7: NEW BUSINF_~S -- None. ITEM 8: COMMISSIONERS COMMENTS/QUESTIONS LIBRARY COMMISSION MEETING MINUTES DECEMBER 7, 1999 PAGE 4 Commissioner Heus -- Asked the result of the Council's discussion about obsolete equipment. Moore reported he spoke with City Manager Ross who said he didn't have a problem with discarding some of the equipment. Jankowska added, Ross told her she could throw away the equipment which had no financial value and that was done. Student Representative Haring -- Asked if the Library's activity room was used during the day as she thought it would be good to use it for a place for study groups to meet. dankowska explained the room was used for reading programs, genealogy groups, writer's group, parent/child reading area, tax preparation programs, and other special programs. She added, if the room was available, it could be used for a study area, but directed Hating to check on the availability of the room at the desk. Rodes -- Wished all happy holidays. Brenckle -- Complimented Jankowska on the Technology Plan as she thought it was a good application. Moore -- No comments. Brown -- Reminded members of the open house on December 9. Heus -- Also reminded the members of the December 9 open house. thanked Jankowska for all her work on the technology plan. She also Peters -- Stated he thought Jankowska was a doing a very good job. ITEM 9' INFORMATION Kenai City Council Action Agendas of November 3 and 17, 1999. 11/23/99 memorandum regarding All-America City Award Committee. ITEM 10' ADJOURNMENT The meeting adjourned at approximately 8'32 p.m. Minutes transcribed and prepared by' Carol L. Freas, ~ity Clerk LIBRARY COMMISSION MEETING MINUTES DECEMBER 7, 1999 PAGE 5