08-A Library Adv (04-21-04) - Laserfiche WebLink

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Library Advisory Board April 21, 2004 MINUTES OF THE REGULAR MEETING OF THE LIBRARY ADVISORY BOARD April 21, 2004 The Paris Public Library Advisory Board met in regular session Wednesday, April 21, 2004, at 4:00 PM in the Library with Chairman Nancee Salzman presiding. The following Board members were present: Jackie Alsobrook, Sarah Gambill, Peggy Guthrie, Deborah Hatley, Bill Kennedy, Carl Lucas, Nancee Salzman, and Walter Williams. Also attending was Betty Landon, Library Director. Anna Davis and Callie Thompson, Friends’ President did not attend. The minutes from the March meeting were approved. The board then had a discussion about upgrading the library’s automation system. The current system is DOS based and needs to be upgraded to pc- based with a Windows environment to interface with the library’s vendors to retrieve records for cataloging as well as other purposes. Each new computer purchased for staff has to have a $200 software package installed in order to access the library’s catalog. The two computers used for cataloging cannot be upgraded but use old technology in order to use the current cataloging program. Earlier this year, the vendor announced that they would discontinue the cataloging program. Current pricing on a new system would be about $60,000, down from $100,000 two years ago. Betty’s concern is that our vendor will discontinue maintenance soon because they have only 132 customers nationwide using the system. The board concurred that the city should pay for an upgrade because they should maintain the library but voted to use a limited amount of money from Library trust funds to help acquire a new system. They asked Betty to add this to the 2004/05 budget request and agreed that, at the appropriate time, board members would appear before council to request this purchase. The board then had a short discussion about increasing trust funds and ways of making the public aware that they could include such bequests to