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HomeMy WebLinkAbout09-23-1997 Library Commission Minutes Minutes Saratoga Library Commission Meeting Administrative Offices: City Hall 13777 Fruitvale Avenue, Saratoga Tuesday, September 23, 1997 7:30 pm I. Chairperson Marcia Ivlanzo called the meeting to order at 7:32 pm. II. Roll Call. Present were Commissioners Ceppos, Manzo, Foscato, Grantham and Sessler, County Librarian Susan Fuller, County staff Julie Farnsworth. D. Barnes, Saratoga Librarian, arrived at 7:38 pro. Absent were Commissioners Towse, McLaughlin. At this point, I. Jacobs, City Clerk, came in, to review the following item: III. Report on Posting of Agenda. Pursuant to Government code 54954.2, the agenda was properly posted on 9/18/97. irene Jacobs then left at 7:37 pm to rejoin the City Council meeting in process in the next building. IV. Approval of Minutes. No minutes were available. Commissioner Grantham moved that approval of the minutes of August 27, 1997 be postponed until the next Library Commission meeting. Commissioner Foscato seconded, all agreed. 9/25/97 America Onttne : Moosedance Page I V. Group agreed to swap discussion of New Business for that of Old Business at this point, to allow J. Farnsworth to leave early. New Business. Library Consultant. We want to get the RFP out as soon as possible. A brief review by Commissioners Ceppos, Farnsworth, and Manzo ensued, and some editorial comments were noted. (At this point, 7:38 pro, D. Barnes came in). Commissioner Ceppos noted that if the RFP is read from the perspective of the consultant, it lacks information about "how much time is required?" and "what is the start date?", "project stages", etc. Commissioner Ceppos asked if the Library Consultant should set the times? J. Farnsworth said they should propose this information to match the project plans, which we can make available. Chairperson Manzo said that even if the Bond measure fails in June, we still might want such a consultant to assist us with how to make the best of what's then available. The RFP did note June as the Bond measure date. We just need to add a preliminary time-line. J. Farnsworth noted that the city was concerned that the city needed control over the design consultants. Chairperson Manzo said the way to indicate this is to add more evidence of participation from the city and the expansion committee, or possibly a representative of the expansion committee could give approvals to the recommendations of the Library Consultant. Commissioner Ceppos said that since there are seven people on the Expansion committee, one or two could represent the group and report back. We could write the RFP so that the entire group need not be fully involved. D. Barnes should be the local Project Coordinator, that's part of her job as Librarian, but she certainly needs help from us. J. Farnsworth clarified that the Architect is still responsible for the design. Commissioner Ceppos continued that the Consultant matches the design to the programmatic needs of the community and confirms that it solves the needs adequately. We needLOTS of input there. Chairperson Manzo said that the city would be happy for the expansion committee to have two such representatives. S. Fuller suggested it would be best to let the committee determine who these two are. Chairperson Manzo said that the expansion committee will be the interviewing body for the Library Consultant. We need to set up an expansion committee meeting during the last week of October for these interviews. J. Farnsworth left at this point (7:48 pm). No other new business. Vl. (Swapped item). Old Business. The letter from Chairperson 9/25/97 America Online : t~osedonce Page 2 Manzo to Mr. Colson, addressing his concerns relative to the library expansion effort, was attached to the announcement of this meeting, and was acknowledged by the group as well done. S. Fuller complimented the group on its recent decision and noted that she understands that Stan Bogosian was supportive of it, to ask the Architect to keep the initial funding and goals as originally requested as the target prior to the Bond measure vote. Commissioner Grantham carried out a review of the Library Expansion time-line plan. The item "City hire architect" is presently being discussed with the city, but the actual documents have not yet been signed. Chairperson Manzo will contact the acting city manager to ensure that this will happen soon and that no obstacles exist to prevent it. Nevertheless, we agreed to slip this task into the month of October. The other items on the chart dated 9/23/97 as recently modified by D. Barnes are generally still anticipated to be accurate. At this point, Chairperson Manzo noted that the community polling is now set to be done between October 4 and 7, with the input back to us by mid-October. Chairperson Manzo lead a discussion of Focus Groups. The city manager and the Architect have proposed that we do a single central focus group, held with a facilitator and done over a half-day. The facilitator would need to be hired, and would conduct the meeting, and break the attendees into small groups (senior citizens, youth representatives, etc.). This would require a large meeting space to do properly. Commissioner Manzo noted that at first she did not find a single meeting like this appealing, but upon consideration, maybe it is not such a bad idea, and we can always add more meetings later if we determine them to be needed. Commissioner Ceppos asked whether the people who are to do the polling also do the Focus Groups? Commissioner Manzo was not sure. D. Barnes said that Commissioner Towse mentioned that the Parks and Recreation Commission had used the same single day process and it worked very well. Commissioner Manzo said that several people had mentioned to her that it went well, and the city seems to like it. Not sure if it is an open forum? D. Barnes said that it could be a mixture of invited parties and open forum. Commissioner Manzo said that we should be very careful to make sure all interested groups are represented, and we may need a subcommittee to work on who these groups are. 9/25/97 America Online : Noosedance Page 3 Commissioner Foscato asked when we will do this, considering the pending holiday period. Chairperson Manzo said that early November Jooked like the likely time. Commissioner Sessler said that we need a facilitator hired and to get the process going within the next week or so to be able to make even an early November date. Chairperson Manzo asked each Library Commissioner to send her a list of candidate groups to be invited to send representatives. She will also ask !. Jacobs to determine from the city who will pay for the Focus group facilitator? We do not want to go back and forth from the Commission to the JPA to obtain funds. Either the city should pay this person, or the Architect should pay them and add it to the Architect's bill for the work. No other old business was discussed. VII. REPORTS S. Fuller, County Librarian - The good news is that the San Jose city council just voted 8 to 3 to affirm the library policy on Internet access, which is the same as the county's. The motion was to "create an adults only zone" in the library. The motion failed. There were approximately 15 speakers, most in support of the library's position. There was a lot of press coverage, so we should expect to see more on this topic. The meetings at the Markula center have begun. They met last night, with 26 people present (a dozen or so were staff of various kinds). The topic was "Favoring Restriction". Nothing much new was said. Tomorrow night (9/24) the group "Favoring Access" will meet, and again, perhaps ten or more non-staff people will show up. The center staff had another meeting with 7 county library directors in the area. They had an interesting and thoughtful discussion, and the Markula center staff got a new understanding of the library's role and position in these discussions. Councilman Bogasian has asked for the above issue to be on the city council's agenda for tonight's meeting. Chairperson k4anzo asked all who could to plan to go over to that meeting after our own meeting finishes. There will be a decision made to support one view or the other. The CAC has two meetings coming up at the Cupertino library, as well, on this subject, at 7:30 pm on October 15th and 22nd. All the Markula findings will be reviewed, and people present will be asked to give advice to the JPA. This Library Commission has voted unanimously in favor of free and open access, so Chairperson Manzo knows where we stand on this issue. 9/25/97 America Online : Moosedance Page 4 Councilmen Bogosian and Jacobs are excited about restricting access, and have each written letters to the council stating their positions opposing free and open access, and recommending filters for some access. D. Barnes said there is material in the county web site defending the position of the county as to Internet Access. Chairperson manzo noted that Commissioner MacLaughlin went to the last CAC meeting, at which he made a motion in support of the position of the library. He could not even gain a 'second' to this motion. He was very disappointed at the power of a few people to silence the views of the many. S. Fuller then turned the topic to the paint on the library now. D. Barnes reported that she, Frank Garcia of the county, and the head of the painters all met with the city manager and the Architect to discuss the paint colors. They even met again, and looked at paint samples. The Architect selected a dark brown color for the library. This color is being reviewed at the council meeting tonight. The city manager has been very helpful and a good facilitator throughout this discussion. D. Barnes, Community Librarian - No report. m. manzo, Library Commission Chair - No report. I. Jacobs, City Staff Representative - No report. C. Foscato, Friends of the Saratoga Library- No report. S. Towse, Library Foundation - K. Ceppos stated for her "No report". VIII. Oral and Written Communications. None. IX. Adjournment. Commissioner Sessler moved we adjourn at 8:23 pm, Commissioner Ceppos seconded, all agreed. Note: The October Meeting will be held on NOVEMBER 5 at 7 pm at the Saratoga Book-Go-Round. Notes by Jack Grantham, 9/24/97 To: MOOSEDANCE@AOL.COM, BA.JXG 9/25/97 America Online : Moosedance Page 5