Call to Order: President Dan D'Allaird called the meeting of the Duluth Public Library Board to order at 4:35 p.m. on Thursday February 22, 2011. The agenda was approved as drafted.

Members Present: Dan D'Allaird, Jane Brissett, Sister Edith Bogue, Liz Benson Johnson, Virginia Katz, Printha Markert, Peter Spooner, Martha Watson
Also Present: Arrowhead Library System Director Jim Weikum, Carla Powers
Excused: Andrew Slade

Approval of Minutes
The Library Board minutes of the regular meeting of the January 13, 2011 meeting were approved.

Reports
A. Friends of the Duluth Public Library - Markert
Much fundraising has taken place lately. The Barnes & Noble Book Fair raised over $900; the annual Holiday Sale raised over $400; and Give to the Max Day raised about $1700. The Friends recently gave $500 to support the Duluth Poet Laureate and plans to support a nominee to the Port Cities Luncheon. The annual Mystery Dinner will take place April 1 and will feature author Brian Freeman.

B. Arrowhead Library System - Brissett
ALS is working on a policy for system membership. Legacy Amendment funding for libraries is up for renewal in June and may not be approved by the legislature. Library systems and the MLA lobbyist are emphasizing the many success stories that have resulted from libraries being included in this funding.

C. Duluth Library Foundation - Katz
Katz gave some history of the organization and reported recent events. She and Slade were involved in updating the Foundation's contract for staff support after Wendy Wennberg retired. The title is now Program Specialist, and Patra Sevastiades has been selected to do the work. With Patra's assistance, the Foundation intends to become more aggressive in its fundraising efforts. The organization needs to fill two seats on its board, as Wennberg and Sevastiades are no longer voting members.

D. Library Funding Task Force - D'Allaird
D'Allaird, Slade and Powers attended a meeting with a group that has formed in Cloquet to discuss inequities in library funding. Points of discussion included the Wisconsin model of reimbursing public libraries for nonresident use and formation of a library district or authority. On Thursday, the library director, mayor and city administrator of Cloquet have been invited to meet with Mayor Ness, Lisa Potswald and Powers to discuss issues further.

Old Business:

New Business:
Arrowhead Library System structure and services - Weikum gave a brief history of ALS and explained how county funding is used by the system. 45 to 50 percent of the ALS budget comes from counties and the remainder comes from the state. ALS is acting as the fiscal agent for a statewide return-on-investment study on public libraries being done by UMD's Labovitz School of Business. There was discussion of the bookmobile services provided by ALS. Among the legislative issues being considered in this session is repeal of Maintenance of Effort and the minimum level of support for libraries. If passed, the repeal could result in drastic reductions in funding for libraries and systems.

Library Supervisor job description and process - Powers explained that efforts are underway to create three Library Supervisor positions within the supervisory union. She is working on developing a new organizational chart to align staffing resources to support the library's service priorities under three supervisors. The Library Supervisor positions will be posted as open and promotional, which means that they will be advertised concurrently within and outside of the library.

The meeting adjourned at 6:15 p.m.
The next meeting will take place Tuesday, March 22 at 4:30 p.m. in the library's conference room.

5/20/11
Duluth Public Library, 520 W. Superior St., Duluth, MN 55802