Agenda

Meet in Goldberg Conference Room

1. Announcements
2. LibQUAL+ Update
3. Student Appreciation Week (Martin)
4. Budget
5. Performance Evaluation Process (Tracy)
6. Library Council Committee Review (Dean Dowell)

Minutes

(Regrets: Beth)

1. Announcements:

• Celia thanked those who attended the Lou Outlaw lecture at Peabody last week, mentioning the exhibit will remain on display through the remainder of the school year.
• Peabody will host a lunchtime reading and book signing on April 3 at Noon in the Fireside Reading Room. Conrad Lucas (a doctoral student at Peabody College) will read from his new book Europe Beyond Your Means: The Paris Edition, a satirical guidebook to Paris.
• Council was reminded of Katie Clark’s lecture on April 9 at the Nursing Annex at 10:00 am. Ms. Clark will discuss findings from a recent anthropological study conducted at the University of Rochester on how students work and live. Results from the study were utilized to make a number of changes at the Rochester library. Dean Dowell strongly encouraged Council to attend, and asked directors to encourage all library staff to attend as well, as information from this study and lecture could be very beneficial for us to learn new ways to pay attention to our own users’ needs and to think of the Heard Library system as a whole, and could also help lay the groundwork for our future planning efforts.
• Bill Hook mentioned a new exhibit in the Divinity Library on the Charlie Soong family, put together by Charlotte Lew.
• Martin mentioned that an internal search for a new dean of the Law School is currently underway.
• Dean Dowell asked Council to begin thinking of ideas for fundraising and grant-writing opportunities for the library as a whole and for individual libraries, stating that Beth is very interested in working with all of us toward these efforts and continues to be very active in looking for prospects and donors.

2. LibQUAL+ Update: As of this meeting we have received 1,130 responses (419 from graduate students and 251 from faculty). The LibQUAL+ teams are working on increasing these numbers, and continue to meet with student groups for their support. We hope to have the opportunity for email reminders very soon. For those who work with faculty, please urge them to take the survey and add comments, as faculty input will help us make a stronger case for library improvements. Council was reminded of the various Second Harvest donation boxes in some of the libraries and asked to encourage their staff to bring contributions. Gratitude was expressed to all the different creative ways libraries have come up with for marketing the survey.

3. National Student Employee Week: Council discussed ways in which each library expresses appreciation for their student employees and celebrates this event. The idea of celebrating Student Employee Week as a whole group rather than individually was discussed. Dean Dowell shared some interesting and creative ideas from previous student employee celebrations she has been involved with. Since the event will take place soon (April 12-18) Council decided that each library would continue to celebrate individually this year (some will have food, give gift cards, donate a book, etc.), trying to tone down costs from previous years in light of current budget constraints. We will aim to coordinate a library-wide celebration/appreciation next year, and Dean Dowell asked Council members to send her names of staff they would recommend to participate in the planning for next year’s event.

4. Budget: Dean Dowell distributed a budget summary on the Archives Annex (prepared by Lisa) and reviewed the current status of that project. Council discussed the investment in the project and reviewed annual operating costs associated with the Archives Annex. Building renovation is 60% complete and is expected to be completed in late May or early June. A site visit will be planned for Council in the future. Dean Dowell expressed her desire to share information on the Archives Annex with staff for the purpose of being open and forthcoming about the status and costs associated with the project, as well as to clarify any questions about it. A suggestion was made to put information in the Staff News with details and updates.

5. Performance Evaluation Process: Questions were raised about the annual performance evaluation process and whether evaluations should be viewed any differently this year than in the past. Dean Dowell stressed the importance of doing these evaluations and giving honest feedback to staff about their job performance. She will personally be reading every evaluation so she can become more familiar with our process and our staff. Sincere efforts should be made to support and encourage good performance and to give constructive recommendations for improvement where it is needed. Council will have further discussions about the evaluations in the context of an effective staff recognition and development program.

6. The Library Council Committee Review item was postponed to next week’s meeting.