Cleveland Heights-University Heights Public Library Board of Trustees meeting highlights 8-17-2015

AUGUST 17, 2015

• University Hights Library parking lot expansion
• Library board accepts gifts
• Appointment of special projects manager
• Balanced scorecard highlights
• Library media coverage
• Staff development day
• Public Library Fund August distribution
• July public service report highlights
• Next regular meeting
  
  

All board members were present.

University Heights Library parking lot expansion

The library has been able to purchase [a] third house on Fenwick (2183). There was a death in the family, and the house was for sale. The price, $141,000, was the same for each of the houses. This will enable the University Heights Library to enlarge its parking lot by three lots, to meet community requests for more parking.

Library board accepts gifts

The board accepted a gift of $4,999 from the Friends of the Heights Libraries to cover the expense of a bench and paving at the Noble Neighborhood Library, as well as an Early Literacy Computer for the Coventry Village Library. The board accepted an additional gift from V. Elizabeth Brown in memory of Shony Long, former librarian at Coventry Village Library, for deposit in the general fund.

Appointment of special projects manager

The board appointed Beth Hatch as special project manager. She has most recently been the virtual services manager at Cleveland Public Library, serving the CLEVNET consortium. Among many activities, she is chairing the 2016 Ohio Library Council North Chapter Conference and co-hosting the ABC Book Review Podcast for The Wall Street Journal.

Balanced Scorecard highlights

Deputy Director Kim DeNero-Ackroyd presented highlights of the Balanced Scorecard Measures of Success for July 2015, focusing on: a deposit collection at Brookdale Home, formerly Homewood; GSK (GlaxoSmithKline) Science in the summer program with a STEM curriculum; a partnership with the Cleveland Museum of Natural History, with strong attendance; new desks and chairs added to the computer lab; and attendance by staff and managers at a drug-free training program about current laws and best practices for a drug-free workplace.

Library media coverage

Sheryl Banks, marketing and community relations manager, reported that three activities were featured on Cleveland.com: the design for University Heights Library’s renovation, the Heroic Homeowner program of the Home Repair Resource Center, and two films in the Friday Magazine listing.

Staff development day

This annual program will be held Sept. 18. The day of team-building and intensive study will feature a keynote speaker on professional ethics, classes from various community organizations, and the popular Zumba breakout. The library will be closed on that day.

Public Library Fund August distribution

The Ohio Department of Taxation has released the August 2015 distribution of the Public Library Fund, which is 8.1 percent greater than the distribution in August 2014. These distribution figures do not include the deductions from the Fund for OPLIN (Ohio Public Library Information Network) and the Library for the Blind and Physically Disabled, so the Ohio Library Council advises that these figures not be used for budgeting purposes.

July public service report highlights

• At University Heights Library, Associate Carol Wallencheck presented a program on French Fashion to the Senior Happenings group.
• Members of the Cleveland Association of Black Storytellers presented “A Celebration of the Unsung.”
• At Coventry Village Library, children’s material checkout figures from April through June 2015 were 30 percent higher than the same period in 2014, an indication of the success of the Shire, the newly remodeled children’s area.
• The library had a table at the Harvey Pekar memorial dedication at the Coventry Courtyard on July 25, to feature Pekar’s books in the library’s collection. Circulation Assistant Forrest Kilb talked with people in the large crowd about Pekar and his love of the library.
• At Coventry Village Library, Youth Services Associate Kathy Franzinger worked with children in the miniature terrarium project so they could plant and decorate their enclosed gardens.
• One of Noble Neighborhood Library’s Teen Writing Workshops was dedicated to creating a collaborative poem with words from books on a dice game devised by Associate Monica Wilson. The group wants to continue this project and hopes to put together a collection of poems.
• The training department presented a new class, Media Lab Orientation, on July 14 and 22.
• University Heights Library’s youth services staff and volunteers conducted a Superheroes Training Camp at Purvis Park, where young heroes-in-training made capes and other gear.
• Who’s Your Hero?—the inaugural interactive art gallery show about superheroes—attracted many post-it comments. The next exhibit will be based on the 150th anniversary of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland.
• The Overdrive digital media bus was in the Lee Road Library’s parking lot on Aug. 8. More than 100 people learned to download music, movies and books using the Overdrive app.
  
  

LWV Observer: Anne S. McFarland.

These meeting summaries are abstracted from LWV observers’ written reports. The summaries have been edited and prepared by Anne McFarland, Charlene Morse and Maryann Barnes. To receive e-mail postings of full reports, send an e-mail to mbarnes9515@gmail.com or join through Google groups using “lwv-chuh observer reports” as a search phrase.

These reports contain member observation and selected highlights of public meetings and are not official statements of the Heights Chapter of the League of Women Voters of Greater Cleveland. This disclaimer must accompany any redistribution of these reports.