Event Staff Proposal, Staff Volunteer Event proposed schedule for 2002, teen Volunteerism forum -- Heidi Port presented three volunteer opportunity events.
Event employees -- With supervisory approval, MLS Employees have opportunity to "volunteer" for job duties outside of their daily function. This is paid time for specific MLS sponsored functions and events for limited shifts. Event Employees differs from Staff Volunteers in that the Staff Volunteer Events are benefiting organizations other than MLS, and are completely volunteer efforts.
New Downtown Library Naming Areas – Ernestine Clark. Ernestine announced she is developing a list of proposed names for rooms at the new Downtown Library & Learning Center. She is being assisted by Tod Olberding, Donna Morris and Scott Carter. Ernestine is drafting a policy on the naming of rooms. She has reviewed other policies by other libraries and said she felt it “essential to get the commissioners involved in the process.” Ernestine said she had one concern, that once we (that is, MLS) decided, “we need to move forward because once we go public we cannot back off from them.” She said prices vary across the country on room donations. “Seattle’s prices are sky high,” she said. However she reminded the ad team that the final decision rests with the trustees of the library system.
New Construction Manager, Todd Olberding was introduced by Donna Morris.
Emergency Operating Plan – Ric Rea. Ric has talked to each administrator about assignments in the Emergency Operating Plan. Copies were distributed for each of us review and be prepared to discuss at the next Ad Team meeting. One suggestion is to add some sort of online data and systems protection and recovery.
Scott introduced the new Assistant Director of Public Relations, Jeanne Devlin.
Request came to Judy Walden from Friends' Coordinator Vickey Dooley for consideration of free library cards for Friends Sorting Site Volunteers who live out of Oklahoma County (and therefore would normally pay $40 for an Annual Fee Card). Decision of Ad Team, after discussion, is that Friends of the Library will be asked (through a grant or other means) to fund an Annual Fee card for any volunteer--whether library or Friends--who live outside the MLS service area. Discussion included having appropriate requirements for qualifying, such as volunteers must be officially registered as a library volunteer, submit time sheets, and have 100 hours per each year a card is obtained or renewed. Ernestine Clark will handle this via Vickey Dooley.
Since Dowell parking has indicated they will increase our parking fees from $50.00 to $70.00 per month per person, Anne Hsieh has investigated other options. She reported that parking at the city garage at Broadway and Kerr is available for $54.00 per month, per person. Should space there be a problem, the Santa Fe garage just south of Broadway and Kerr is a possibility. Recently, staff at Dowell parking has told Anne that they would like to keep our business and might be willing to continue to charge the current rate of $50.00. Anne is attempting to confirm this. Ad Team authorized Anne to continue with Dowell at the current $50 rate if possible. If not, she can proceed with switch to the Broadway-Kerr lot.
Dana related a story about the daughter of a current MLS employee expressing a desire to work for the MLS but can not due to our current policy of not hiring relatives. Dana is concerned that there are excellent possible employee candidates, were it not for our policy. The charge to revisit this policy is assigned to the MLS Recruitment Committee. Norm asked Judy Walden to take responsibility for establishing this committee and asked for volunteers from the Ad Team. Dana Morrow and Ernestine Clark volunteered to be on it.
Norm, Donna, and Anne reported on a meeting with Oklahoma City officials regarding parking at the Downtown Library/Learning Center. Galleria parking located immediately behind the new facility will be problematic:
Only 10-12 monthly parking spots will be available at opening
Two-year waiting list for monthly parking
Costs $68/mo plus an additional $25/mo for a guaranteed parking place
Construction to add five more floors will begin within two years
Limited in/out parking for our customers
Handicap parking is distant from the library
Anne Hsieh has researched other parking in the area. Anne said that Dowel Parking at $50/mo was actually closer than the Sheridan and Hudson Garage at $51/mo.
B.J. Williams played a video of the upcoming Summer Reading Program PSA that was filmed at Southern Oaks using children from a nearby school.
Auctioning surplus furniture: Anne Hsieh reported the we will be auctioning surplus furniture from refurbished libraries May 24th. We have hired Dakil to conduct the auction. This provides a warehouse with enough space to lay out all the furniture, which is currently in portable storage units. Staff will be given the opportunity to view the furniture for two days in order to choose furniture they need for their work areas. Dates will be announced as soon as finalized.
Food For Fines: Judy Walden reported that the Food For Fines Committee had its first meeting. The committee developed a general philosophy/approach and various components that need to be in place for the project. Targeted time period for the project is the week of August 13th. The committee identified several questions for the Food Bank.
Open Records Act - The “posting” copy of the new fee schedule was distributed. This will be sent to the County Clerk’s office and posted in the administrative office of the library system as required by the Act. It was determined that since this was in the procedure section and does not change policy, it was not necessary to take the matter before the Commission.
Library Cards for Emancipated Minors: Currently, the library policy requires a parent or a guardian to co-sign library cards issued to minors. Therefore, no library cards can be issued to emancipated minors who do not have a parent or a guardian. After discussions, it was decided that we would issue a minor card to those emancipated minors. That means they will have the same privileges and restrictions as other minors.
