The Public Library of the District of Columbia

Board of Library Trustees Meeting

Minutes
Anacostia Neighborhood Library
Wednesday, May 26, 2010

The regular meeting of the Board of Library Trustees was held at 6:00 pm, Wednesday, May 26, 2010 at the
Anacostia Neighborhood Library, 1800 Good Hope Road, SE, John W. Hill, Jr., President, presiding.

PRESENT: John W. Hill, Jr., President, Donald Richardson, Vice President, James Lewis, Myrna Peralta,
Brenda Richardson, Kelley Smith, Ginnie Cooper, Chief Librarian and Secretary-Treasurer.
ABSENT: Bonnie Cohen, Richard Levy

GUESTS AT THE BOARD TABLE: Anna Velazco, Executive Director, DCPL Foundation, and Susan Haight,
President, Federation of Friends.

The meeting was called to order at 6:05 pm.

ADOPTION OF THE AGENDA

The motion to adopt the agenda was approved.

APPROVAL OF MINUTES
The motion to approve the minutes of the March 17, 2010 Board meeting was adopted.

PRESIDENT’S REPORT
Mr. Hill said that concerns about the budget continue and that all government agencies in the city are affected.
He congratulated Chief Librarian Ginnie Cooper and all staff for the beautiful new Anacostia Library and
welcomed people to tour the new library immediately after the meeting. Mr. Hill said that the Board will work to
insure that buildings will be kept in good condition and the hope is, even though funding for capital spending is
tight, there will be funding available to continue the library renovation and building projects.

PUBLIC COMMENTS
Mr. Hill stated the practice of the DCPL Board of Library Trustees to entertain public comments at the beginning
of the meeting. He explained that people who signed their names to the sign-in sheet near the entrance to the
library would have three minutes to address the Board. One person came forward to make comments. This
person had concerns about the old Washington Highlands Library and said that there were no good faith
negotiations between the library and ANC 8D. She also expressed concerns about the retaining wall at the old
library.

CHIEF LIBRARIAN’S REPORT

Ms. Cooper congratulated Patrick Timony of the Adaptive Services Division of the Martin Luther King, Jr.,
Memorial Library for receiving a Cafritz Foundation Award for the innovative technology program he developed
for DCPL’s blind and print-disabled patrons. She also congratulated Elsworth Rockefeller, Children’s and YA
Division Head, MLKML, for being one of four candidates accepted into the Simmons College PhD program in
Managerial Leadership for the Information Professions. She congratulated Mark Greek, Special Collections
archivist, for his newly published book Washington, D.C. Protests: Scenes from Home Rule to the Civil Rights
Movement and Chang Liu, Associate Director for Neighborhood Libraries, as the only recipient of the Public
Library Association’s scholarship to attend Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government Senior
Executives in State and Local Government program in June. Ms. Cooper then highlighted the many programs,
activities, and events that took place throughout the library system over the past few months.

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Board of Library Trustees Meeting
July 21, 2010
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ANACOSTIA NEIGHBORHOOD LIBRARY REPORT
Nancy Davenport, Director of Library Services, introduced Yvette Davis, Anacostia Neighborhood Library
Manager, who welcomed the group to the new library, introduced staff and provided information about the
services, staffing and facilities. She said that a record breaking 2,000 items circulated in the first week of service.

At this time, the order of the agenda was changed to consider the ANACOSTIA LIBRARY ROOM NAMING
REQUEST. A motion to approve naming the Anacostia Neighborhood Library Meeting Room in honor of Ora
Lee Glover, founding organizer of the Anacostia Friends and a tireless advocate, fundraiser, and program
supporter for the Anacostia Neighborhood Library for many years, was made and carried unanimously. A
plaque designating the room as the Ora L. Glover Community Meeting Room will be installed in the meeting
room at the library.

FACILITIES COMMITTEE REPORT

Jeff Bonvechio, Director of Capital Construction, reviewed the CAPITAL CONSTRUCTION REPORT
highlighting various construction projects. He said that the new Watha T. Daniel/Shaw Neighborhood Library is
planned to open in early August.

FINANCE COMMITTEE REPORT

Eric Coard, Chief Business Officer and Tammie Robinson, Agency Fiscal Officer, reported that additional non-
personnel services costs associated with the opening of the new libraries (moving, IT, and maintenance) are
higher than originally estimated but are expected to be within budget by year-end. A 20% non-personnel services
reprogramming to resolve critical in-house spending pressures has been approved; DCPL remains under a hiring
freeze; and any additional budget pressures will be resolved through a combination of personnel services and non-
personnel services cutbacks.

PUBLIC SERVICES REPORT

Pamela Stovall, Associate Director for the MLKML, shared Big Read success stories and thanked all staff
responsible for planning. She said there were 58 events system–wide and close to 2,500 people attending
activities centered around the book A Lesson Before Dying by Earnest Gaines.

Library Services Director, Nancy Davenport reported on the FY 2010 Second Quarter Library Performance
Measures. She said that circulation continues to climb and provided snapshots and highlights of activities and
events from the second quarter of the year.

FOUNDATION PRESIDENT’S REPORT

Anna Velazco, DCPL Foundation Executive Director, gave updates on Foundation activities including securing a
corporate sponsorship with Safeway to provide food and beverages for new library opening events, a planned
fundraiser with the Washington Mystics, and quarterly “benefit days” with Borders Books.

FEDERATION OF FRIENDS PRESIDENT’S REPORT

Susan Haight reported that the Friends groups continue to grow, that the Friends will be funding
portions of the DCPL Summer Reading program, and she encouraged people to attend the next Friends meeting in
June.

NEW BUSINESS
There being no new business, the meeting was adjourned at 7:41 pm.

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Board of Library Trustees Meeting
July 21, 2010
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