THE PUBLIC LIBRARY OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, WASHINGTON, DC

MEETING, BOARD OF LIBRARY TRUSTEES

MINUTES
WEDNESDAY, JULY 23, 2008

The regular meeting of the Board of Library Trustees was held at 6:00 p.m., Wednesday, July 23, 2008, at
the Southeast Neighborhood Library, 403 7th Street, SE, John W. Hill, Jr., President, presiding.

PRESENT: John W. Hill, Jr., President, James Lewis, Guitele Nicoleau, Brenda Richardson, Ginnie
Cooper, Chief Librarian and Secretary-Treasurer.

ABSENT: Bonnie Cohen, Richard Levy, Myrna Peralta, Donald Richardson

GUEST AT THE TABLE: Mr. Richard Huffine, President, Federation of Friends.

The meeting was called to order at 6:12 pm.

MINUTES APPROVAL
There being no quorum, the minutes will be held for approval at the September meeting.

PRESIDENT’S REPORT
Mr. Hill thanked all in attendance for coming to the meeting and asked all present to introduce
themselves. He then talked briefly about the Tenley Library and proposed Public Private Partnership.
Mr. Hill said that Board members have met with the Deputy Mayor on this issue. The goal is to have the
library building progress as quickly as possible and to have other development wrap around the building.
The Board knows that many in the community are very happy with the current design. Mr. Hill also said
that the Benning Library is moving forward at the present location.

CHIEF LIBRARIAN’S REPORT

Ms. Cooper said that there is a new format for this report and that it now appears as a document for Board
members. She reviewed and discussed several of the items. Notably she offered congratulations to
Federation of Friends President Richard Huffine who recently was honored as the winner of the SLA
(Special Library Association) Dow Jones Leadership Award. Ms. Cooper spoke of the special ceremony
at the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library for long-time Library Board member Nora Drew
Gregory. She gave an update on the Summer Youth Employment Program and the Library’s Teens of
Distinction and she introduced new Associate Director of Neighborhood Libraries, Chang Liu.

Southeast Neighborhood Library Report

April King, Branch Librarian, welcomed the Board and the public to the library and introduced staff and
Neal Gregory, President of the Friends of the Southeast Library. Jeff Bonvechio, Director, Capital
Construction Program, gave brief remarks about the 2007 renovation of the Southeast Library.

FINANCE COMMITTEE REPORT

Mr. Keith Fletcher, Chief Financial Officer, reported on the FY 2008 year-to-date spending. Eric Coard,
Chief Business Officer, provided an overview of the FY 2009 budget and Chief Librarian Ginnie Cooper
reviewed the impact of the potential 14% reduction in FTE’s from FY 2008 to FY 2009.

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Board of Library Trustees Meeting
September 24, 2008
FACILITIES COMMITTEE REPORT
Mr. Bonvechio reported on the status of building and construction projects and answered several
questions about specific projects.

PUBLIC SERVICES REPORT

In the absence of Nancy Davenport, Interim Director for Library Services, Gary Romero, Executive
Assistant, reviewed and highlighted Library Performance Measures and Statistics for the third quarter of
FY 2008 noting that circulation is up 22% since the same time in FY 2007.

FOUNDATION PRESIDENT’S REPORT

Mr. Thomas Susman was unable to attend this meeting. There was no report.

FRIENDS FEDERATION PRESIDENT’S REPORT

There was no report.

PUBLIC COMMENTS
At 7:30 pm, the Public Comments portion of the meeting began. President Hill reminded those present of
the time limits per person during public comments and opened the floor.

There was much discussion and concern expressed by members of the Tenley community about the
planned mixed-use project there. There were also people who expressed concern about the design plan
for the Benning Library and several people had questions about services to seniors, accessibility for
people with physical disabilities, and energy efficiency in the plans for the Shaw Library.

ADJOURNMENT
The meeting adjourned at 8:47 p.m.

Document #6
Board of Library Trustees Meeting
September 24, 2008
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