President Jon Littlefield called the meeting to order at 5:15 p.m. in the Cedar Room. Board members present were Steve Metz and Rondi Potter. Curt Benward, Joyce Day, Jeanette Owens, and Larry Plews, and Council Liaison Roger Gould were not able to attend. Marie Benton was present representing the Friends of the Coos Bay Public Library. Staff members present were Ellen Thompson, and Carol Ventgen.

2.    MINUTES AND CIRCULATION REPORT

Minutes for the February 21, 2007 meeting could not be approved due to lack of a quorum. The circulation report for March was accepted as mailed.

3.     TREASURER’S REPORT

The report was accepted as mailed.

4.     CORRESPONDENCE

An unidentified person emailed that they love the Coastline libraries with their convenience, personal service and reciprocal borrowing. Yet another comment was received by a staff person from someone living in Jackson County lamenting the closure of libraries there, expressing how much they like the Coos Bay Public Library and saying they plan to retire here.

5.    PUBLIC COMMENTS

There were no public comments.

6.     LIBRARIAN’S REPORT

The mailed March report was discussed and accepted as presented. Additional reports were given about building issues (electrical problem on March 16, commencement of exterior painting budgeted this year by the city), two bequests coming to the library, failure of an operating levy for Tillamook County Library, issues involved with a public meeting scheduled for April 14 that brought a great deal of community discussion, and distribution of a column by Ralph Mohr about a controversial award-winning children's book, and of a new book list.

7.    FRIENDS OF THE LIBRARY REPORT

Marie reported that the March book sale brought $1,909, including $754 from the Cedar Room. The next sale will be May 7 and 8. At that sale, the Friends will begin selling some 50,000 books donated by Pirate Cove Books, which went out of business recently. The Friends also received some display cases from the store. Since the Friends’ room in the library is totally inadequate to house these donations, most of them are in a member’s garage and in two storage units. The Friends have donated 3,000 or so of the paperback books to two other community organizations.

8.     OLD BUSINESS

a.     Facilities Plans – It was reported that the Friends and the staff had finalized their recommendations for details of Phase 1 remodeling. The information will be reviewed by the Board and given to the architect to prepared bid documents. Laminate tile samples he provided were examined by the Board members as an option just inside the entry. A site visit by the Oregon Community Foundation occurred on March 14 before a final decision is made by the Foundation on the Coos Bay Public Library Foundation’s Phase 1 $20,000 grant request is made. The Swigert Foundation has also invited a full application after submittal of a letter of inquiry, for $9,000. If both grants are received, all but $1,000 of the required $60,000 match to the city urban renewal agency challenge grant will have been met.

b.     Board Training – A report was given on consultant Roi Crouch’s February 27 training session. Approximately 25 people participated. The first task is a needs assessment for the 2010 Project, a long term expansion of the library facility. A needs assessment sub-committee chaired by Jon Littlefield is meeting and will have a recommendation for the full group at the next training session, April 9, 2007. The sub-committee is reviewing a draft building plan for the 2010 Project, past plans, current spaces, demographics and library trends.

c.     Library Budget – Copies of a new budget draft were distributed. It contains updated lower figures for employee benefits that increases the contingency amount that can be carried over to the 2008-2009 budget year. Since lack of a quorum did not allow for a vote, it was Board consensus to approve the budget in concept. The first budget hearing will be April 19, 7:00 p.m., in the library’s Myrtlewood Room.

9.     NEW BUSINESS

There was no new business.

10.    ANNOUNCEMENTS

There were no announcements.

11.     ADJOURNMENT

The meeting was adjourned at 6:55 p.m. Due to Carol’s absence at the Oregon Library Association conference on the third Wednesday, the April Board meeting will be held on Wednesday, April 11, 5:15 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,

Carol Ventgen, Secretary