LIB 01-07-09City of Cupertino
Library Commission
Regular Meel:ing
January 7, 2(109
1. CALL TO ORDER
At 6:59 p.m. Commissioner Miller called the meeting to order at Cupertino City Hall,
10300 Torre Avenue, Conference Room 100, Cupertino.
2. ROLL CALL
Commissioners: Ron Miller, Janet Riddell, ]lathy Stakey, Susanna Tsai
City~County Library Staff: Carol Atwood, Ja-Lih Lee, Melinda Cervantes, Dorothy
Steenfott
Absent: None
3. APPROVAL OF MINUTES
Commissioner Stakey moved to approve the minutes of the regular meetings of October
1, 2008. Commissioner Riddell seconded and- motion passed unanimously.
4. ORAL COMMUNICATIONS
Jim Lye from the Los Altos Library Commission stated that he and Dave Struthers were
in attendance to observe Cupertino's Library Commission operations to see if there may
be things they could use in Los Altos.
Ann Stevenson and Adrian Kolb, Cupertino residents, were in attendance to observe and
learn more about the Library Commission.
5. WRITTEN COMMUNICATIONS
Dorothy Steenfott, Recording Secretary, noted that there were two items included in the
packet related to the mayor's meetings with commissions and the annual Library Friends
and Commissioners Forum.
6. CUPERTINO COMMUNITY LIBRARIA~1'S REPORT
Ja-Lih Lee reviewed the attached monthly ref~ort.
7. COUNTY LIBRARIAN'S REPORT
Melinda Cervantes reviewed the attached monthly report.
January 7, 2009 Library Commission Minutes Page 2
8. STAFF REPORTS
Carol Atwood reported that repairs for the City Hall/Library Plaza fountain came in less
than expected and that the State has started to freeze payments to cities and State bonds.
She also noted that funding for Monday library hours may be a problem in the 2009-10
budget.
9. OTHER REPORTS
A. Commissioners
Commissioner Miller noted that the first mayor's meeting would be held on
February 10 at 8:00 a.m., and volunteered to attend the meeting.
The Commission also recognized Janet Riddell for her eight years of service to the
Library Commission.
10. OLD BUSINESS
A. Torre Avenue Traffic Update
Commissioners Stakey and Miller provided an update on the traffic concerns on
Torre Avenue which included failure to stop at the crosswalk and making u-turns
in the crosswalk. It was noted that Captain Calderone would be checking to see if
it was legal to make u-turns in a commercial/residential neighborhood. It was also
noted that there is poor lighting at the crosswalk. Carol Atwood will check with
Public Works and Captain Calderone.
B. Aquarium Maintenance for Future Years
Commissioner Miller updated the Commission on the maintenance agreement for
the aquarium which expires in October of 2009. Carol Atwood will follow up
regarding the possibility of a corporate donor.
C. Friends of the Library
Commissioner Stakey reported that tl~e lobby sale was going very well and that
the next book sale would be held on February 28 through March 1.
D. Library Foundation
Ja-Lih Lee reported that they are getting ready for Silicon Valley Reads and that
the art advisory committee would be working with the Fine Arts League to put
more art in the library.
11. NEW BUSINESS
A. Discussion of 2009 Work Plan
Commissioner Miller requested Commission input for projects they could work
on in 2009. Courtyard garden replacement and county strategic plan integration
were suggested as possible projects. Commissioner Miller will prepare a draft;
Commissioners to e-mail any addition,~l ideas.
January 7, 2009 Library Commission Minutes Page 3
12. CALENDAR
Calendar maintenance will be reassigned at thy; next meeting.
13. AGENDA BUILDING
Torre Avenue traffic, 2009 work plan, aquarium maintenance, election of officers
14. ADJOURNMENT
The meeting was adjourned at 8:48 p.m.
Dorothy Stee tt
Recording Secretary
~~/p `~
1-7-09 Cupertino Library Commission Meeting
Community Librarian's Report
November & December 2008 statistics 1`lovember December
Number of items checked out
Number of library cards issued
Opening hours days
Average # of items checked out
Average # of visits (Gate Count)
241,930
475
227hrs/27days
1,065/hrs
8.,960/day
2.,560/day
245,026
455
254hrs/30days
965/hr
8,167/day
2,323/day
Program Highlights
27 children participated in a bridge building contest on December 22. They were divided
into 6 teams and 3 groups. Each group built one type of bridge according to the
instructions given by the Children's Librarians. This was a combination of science and
craft workshop. Each bridge had to sustain "weight" requirement by supporting a full
can of fruit and a toy car has to pass through the bridge without any barriers or obstacles.
Participating children took this very seriously rind all did a wonderful job.
Good job to the Circulation staff!
On December 24th about 4 pm (one hour before our holiday closing time), all of our self
check machines went down. Along line of patrons waited patiently to have their items
checked out by our staff manually. This self ~~heck machine problem continued off and
on throughout the holiday time. The fact that we still showed 245,026 items checked out
should really be credited to our hard working Circulation staff.
Looking back at 2008
This year, our Children's Librarians had worked hard to present a variety of programs to
our patrons. Children's Librarians offered many creative programs such as the "Select
your favorite book" during the election time. They also offered a bike safety workshop at
the beginning of the school year. Each Adult Services Librarian was also encouraged to
develop programs for our adult patrons. This gives each Librarian the opportunity to
plan, develop and evaluate programs.
In support of the County Library's strategic plan, we have encouraged staff to participate
in training opportunity. We had 4 Librarians ~ittended the California Library
Association's annual conference in November. With the support of the Library
Administration, 7 Librarians attended a Urban Library Council Audio Conference in the
comfort of our own conference room. We had a short but interesting discussion on the
future of library services. Librarians also tool; advantage of the Infopeople workshops.
We held 2 sessions of clerical training at Cupertino Library. Dawn Valentine, Supervisor
of Circulation Services at HQ gave our Librar}~ Clerks a refresher course on Circulation
policies with an emphasis on providing flexibly; and friendly service to our patrons.
The Library hopes to collaborate with the City''s Parks and Recreation Department. We
have started planning programs at the Senior Center. We also hope to invite seniors to
visit the Library as part of their program. The ~~hildren's Librarians offered to share
reading list with the City's preschool at Quinlan Center. We will be meeting with the
Teen Center staff to explore other areas of coll~iboration.
The Teen Librarian had developed a survey to seek input from our teen patrons to help us
improve our services and programs to teens. V~'e also hope to use the data we gather to
help us propose a remodel plan for the Teen Room. In introducing this survey, we have
connected with the Fremont Union High School District office as well as all 5 high
schools. We hope this contact and collaboratio~l will continue in the following years.
2009 promises to be an exciting year for the Cupertino Library in terms of program ideas
(early literacy programs for children and their families), special projects (Teen Room
remodel, supporting the CWA collection, etc.) We hope to continue providing excellent
services to our community as our commitme~it to the County Library's strategic plan.
Respectfully submitted by Ja-Lih Lee, Cupertino Community Librarian
`~'' ~vP,,,~ ,
Library Commissioners Report !~~/D
Melinda Cervantes, County Librarian
Santa Clara County Library
January 2009
The new Milpitas Library opened to over 3,754 visitors on Monday, Jan. Stn
Grand Opening ceremonies will be held on Sat., Jan. 10tH
2. The Stn Annual Library Friends and Commissioners Forum will be held on
Saturday, February 7, 2008 from 9:OOa.m to Noon at the Library Administration
Offices. A consistent theme each year is Library Advocacy and with the newly
adopted Santa Clara County Library Strategic Plan what better time to advocate
for libraries. And, as requested, time 1-~as been reserved for roundtable discussions
on topics of interest to Friends, Found<<tions/Endowments and Commissioners.
3. The 2009 Silicon Valley Reads Kick-off Event with Not a Genuine Black Man
Author, Brian Copeland will be held o:n Tuesday, Jan. 13tH at 7:30pm at the
Campbell Heritage Theatre.
4. Recruitment is underway to fill the Deputy County Librarian for Public Services
position left vacant when Sarah Flowers retired in December 2008. Pat Lorenzo
began work in mid-December as the Adult/Teen Services Manager, filling the
position left vacant through the promotion of Nancy Howe to Deputy County
Librarian for Support Services.
5. The next regular meeting of the Library JPA Board is scheduled for Thursday,
January 22, 2009 at 1:30pm at the Library Administration Offices in Los Gatos.
New JPA Board members include Coumty Supervisor Dave Cortese replacing
Supervisor Don Gage, Los Altos City ~Councilmember, Ron Packard replacing
Megan Satterlee and Monte Sereno City Councilmember Lana Malloy replacing
Erin Garner.