Director’s Report and Highlights November 18, 2008 Pamela Nyberg Kiesner, Director Bellingham, Washington The year is drawing to a close, and just like the seasonal blowing leaves and sideways rain, we have some seasonal Library Board business to take care of at our meeting this month. We also have some hot new topics, like strategic planning and a materials collection update! Calendars We’ll review the 2009 Library Board meeting dates, times, and locations. How are third Tuesdays at 4:00 p.m. working for all of you – and for the public who wishes to attend the meetings? You have a handout listing the tentative dates. Also on your agenda are the 2009 City-declared Holidays – and a few proposed additional Library closures. Strategic Planning Included in your packet is a draft of some important elements of the plan that I’d like your feedback on. We are still working on the Vision, and have some suggested refinements of the Mission. Also included are our Core Values, and Goal Statements. What are your thoughts about the direction we are headed with the plan? I intend to have a more complete draft of the plan for your December Board meeting, with objectives and action steps that staff has been working on very diligently. Library Materials Collection Update We’ll share with you some recent statistics about our materials collection, and answer your questions. What’s the difference between open and closed stacks? What is being checked out from closed stacks? How old is our collection? And, what is an OCLC Reclamation Project? Interlocal Agreement Our Annual Agreement with WCLS (Whatcom County Library System) is due for renewal. The agreement is regarding reciprocity of borrowing privileges and services, and includes an MOU (Memorandum of Understanding) about the telephone messaging system that WCLS operates on behalf of both systems. The agreement, with suggested changes indicated, is in your packet. I’d also like to explore again with you some of the ways we do – or could – collaborate with WCLS. Thank You! In this season of Thanksgiving, I send my sincere gratitude to each one of you. You are devoted to the library, to its mission and its important place in the Bellingham community. You come prepared to each one of our meetings – and you attend, and prepare for, many other events and meetings in the City that affect the library. You are advocates for the library wherever you go. I appreciate you, and thank you for being Library trustees! Happy Thanksgiving!