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Community Library Committee Meeting Minutes March 20, 2008 Parmly Billings Library Present: Eakle Barfield, John Cech, Bill Cochran, Peggie Gaghen, Jane Howell, Rita Kratky, Bruce McCandless, Lloyd Mickelson, Suzanne Reymer, Brent Roberts Not present: Valerie Martinez 1. The minutes from the February 21, 2008 meeting were approved as amended. 2. City Update (Bill Cochran) Bill reported that there had been little formal activity, but the timing change in the CIP was approved by the City Council. There had been no action yet on an appointment to the vacant place on this committee. 3. University Update (Eakle Barfield) The March Board of Regents meeting included approval of the expenditure for the Community Library planning. Eakle will ask the Facilities subcommittee to draft a scope of work for the planning process, as laid out in the action plan. This is a 30 day cycle, and will start in one week. It was suggested that there may need to be an update for the three new City Council members, as well as for a number of other groups in the community. At the March 2008 Board of Regents meeting, Dr Sexton presented the Community Library proposal to the Administrative and Budget Subcommittee, it was well-received both there and by the Full Board of Regents. It will need to have construction of the Library inserted into the Long Range Building Plan for the 2011 biennium. 4. Subcommittee Reports Facilities: It was suggested that Saree Couture meet with the facilities group, as Facilities Director for the City of Billings. The Facilities and Planning Groups met together to look at site plans, and the mission statement. Funding: This group met March 19 with John Brewer from the Chamber of Commerce, who recommended that we consider hiring someone like Ed Clark from the Clark Company in Spokane. He is a political strategist, rather than a marketing person, and is adept at identifying critical issues. He worked on the ballpark project, and was very helpful. A PAC could be formed, with a visible Treasurer—a person who would not benefit directly from the project. Eakle will meet April 9 with the funding group. It was suggested that we might consider bringing June Garcia to do a workshop on funding public library projects. ---PAGE BREAK--- Governance: This group will be meeting in April. Their next two steps are to first create a MOU for planning and expenditures, then an overall MOU for the Community Library, which will be needed as we approach major fundraising. Planning: In addition to meeting with the facilities group, they discussed the proposed visit to Front Range Community College in Colorado. Asp and their staff welcome a visit and suggested several groups and facilities that would be helpful to visit. Policies: Bill and Jane are scheduled to speak at the Downtown Rotary meeting on April 14. A new videoconference will be available for people to view, from the College of DuPage, on “Library Spaces—Future Needs.” This includes architects discussing how library spaces can reflect the role of today’s libraries. 5. Next meeting: Thursday, April 17 at 11:30 am at the new COT Building. This will be a joint meeting with the Parmly Billings Library Board. For the “Current State…” mission statement for the Community Library, here is the suggested wording for the section “Desired State”: Utilizing a broad array of resources and activities from the City of Billings and Montana State University Billings, the Community Library will provide an environment for all members of the community to meet and explore information, ideas and creative expression. Submitted by Jane L. Howell, April 14, 2008