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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCity Council-Agenda Packets-5/9/2000 City of ~ Texas Agenda Colleyville City Council and Library Advisory Committee Meeting May 9,2000 Colleyville Community Center 5300 Bluebonnet Drive 7:00 p.m. I. Opening Remarks 7:00 p.m. -7:15 p.m. Mayor Donna Arp II. Overview of Library Planning Efforts 7:15 p.m. - 7:45 p.m. Bob Stripling, City Manager III. Overview of Library Programming 7:45 p.m. - 8:15 p.m. and Space Needs Assessment Florence Mason, F. Mason Associates IV. Questions and Answers 8:15 p.m. - 8:45 p.m. V. Next Step 8:45 p.m. - 8:55 p.m. VI. Adjourn 9:00 p.m. P.O. BOX 185 COLLEYVILLE, TEXAS 76034 (817) 577-7575 COUNCIL WORKSESSION TUESDAY, May 9, 2000 COMMUNITY CENTER 1) OPENING REMARKS Mayor Arp opened the meeting at 7:05. She welcomed committee members, consultants, staff and visitors. She invited those around the table to introduce themselves. 2) CITY MANAGER'S REMARKS Bob Stripling gave a brief history of the library issue in Colleyville and a summary of where things stand. He mentioned that site selection was a major focus of the Library Task Force in 1999 and that Richard Myers has offered a pad site in the Village for a library. This developer plans to begin construction in June around our donated pad site. Bob distributed a handout showing the capital budget available for a library: $2,207,953 from '99 GO bonds, CEDC, and the Voluntary Library Fund. Bob distributed a timeline that began in April 2000 with the hiring of architects and consultants through a construction bid award date proposed for May 2001 to a proposed library opening day in Feb 2002. The City Manager described the different roles that the architects and consultants will play in the planning process. Since we do not have a librarian, Florence Mason and her staff will provide perspective and expertise as librarians, catalogers, library educators and library technologists. Ms. Mason will also provide rapport with neighboring cities, schools and community colleges who could be partners with Colleyville or at least offer some insight into library trends in Northeast Tarrant County. The current timeline includes stages and steps where the committee and staff can reconvene and hear reports from the architects and consultants. Bob pointed out that the next step is a series of public meetings and a needs assessment. The consultant will collect public comments at meetings on Thursday, May 11th that are open to all and through focus groups with specific types of people. Mayor Arp asked for the City Manager for a more detailed history of the process, specifically about previous bond sales. Bob answered that when arrived in 1990, library advocates met with him and pushed for a library. Due to constituents' comments to elected officials, the City partially funded a library ($500k) with funds in a 1991 general obligation bond election package that also proposed other projects such as the Community Center. Council then created the Voluntary Library Fund, which raises money through utility bills. The Voluntary Park Fund was already in existence and familiar to residents by this time. The City has been concentrating its resources on opening the Northwest Fire Station and other projects until the last year or so. Recently, Colleyville Economic Development Fund revenue (and CEDC bond money backed by sales taxes) has been made available to permit library design and construction. 3) CONSULTANTS' REMARKS Florence Mason and (Ms.) Lou Wetherbee are working together under Ms. Mason's contract with the City asF. Mason & Associates. Ms. Mason began in public libraries in Aspen, Colorado, a fast-growing area that gives her experience applicable to where Colleyville is now. Ms. Mason and Ms. Wetherbee ran focus groups for South lake and have learned about this area and this type of building project. The two are also working together on library starts or expansion projects in Farmers Branch, Texarkana and other cities. Lou's area of expertise is library technology and she used to be on the TIF (Technology Infrastructure Fund) Board. She was the Texas Librarian of the Year in 1999. Lou's perspective is on how to work out technology issues within the library environment and make systems work for patrons and staff. Ms. Mason will have a role in the architecture but will focus first on a needs assessment. Colleyville already conducted a survey through Dick Waters and Providence Associates, Inc. The City's staff has collected information. In Fall 1999, the City contracted for and received the Twining report, a research and opinion study about library technology, computing trends, and how to balance technology and traditional book-based collections. Ms. Mason has this information and will build on it. Ms. Mason is aware from nearby cities how demographics are changing. 2000 Census data may not arrive in time to help planning at this stage, but the consultants are familiar with NE Tarrant and what key stakeholders-- including public library directors-- think about the area and library trends. Ms. Mason has interviewed librarians in other cities and investigated back office cooperation. This includes options such as: . outsourcing technical services and cataloging, . sharing the cost of a tech services contract among cities, or . paying another city to do this work for Colleyville. Florence has also interviewed librarians at Tarrant County College's Northeast Campus in North Richland Hills to see how a non-competitor (not another city) feels about contracting out and partnering with a city. The first focus groups will be with older citizens and those involved with young children (parents, teachers, and other care givers and stakeholders). Consultants will blend this input with personal experience, area trends, grant opportunities, knowledge of legislation, etc. and present a report to the City and Committee. This needs assessment will be both a programming recommendation and a start-up plan that gets Colleyville's building and services up and running in a way that would meet initial needs and expectations. The mix of audio-visual materials, computers and books that the public expects will affect how much floor space these parts of the collection will require. Floor plan programming will be a focus of the consultants' work in July, after they have researched and can support conclusions about Colleyville's needs. The consultants asked for input about how many people would show up for a public meeting about library planning. John Stanford, a committee member, warned the consultants that the "COLD People," those who are against a "virtual library," will show up in force and ask difficult questions. He depicted this faction as "civilized, intelligent people" who will have more knowledge about Colleyville's history on this issue. Mayor Arp and Ed Havran reminded the consultants that there is a ten-year history here and that many people have been actively involved, that "many have Masters degrees," and "many of them are librarians." Jim Moore reminded the consultants that a previous committee has toured libraries and came to a consensus that the East Fort Worth Regional Library is "what we want" because "it had a little of everything." Mr. Moore used this facility as an example of a balanced library that has both technology and books. Ms. Mason will focus on the "service interface," how patrons interact with the library. This could be traditional, innovative, or a mix of both. For example, someone could use the Web to order a book, a technological interface, but pick up "real materials" for reading. Mr. Stanford depicted the COLD People as having predefined Colleyville's plans for a library as computer-heavy, "but we haven't defined it that way yet." Mr. Stanford described that he envisions "an emphasis on technology" but that this should not overwhelm other types of services. Lou reiterated that, at this point in time, technology is at a turning point and that libraries are usually early adopters of computers and technology, that libraries tend to bring in various forms of media and integrate them into existing types of services: "I think what you'll see is that libraries that are on the leading edge of library practice will retain (some traditional elements)... open, airy, and spacious with a little bit of everything." She continued that libraries must mix services and technology with "a sense of place" that is comfortable and reflects the community. [Editorial note: This is similar to Ms. Twining's comment that any library should include books at least as a design element that patrons expect "so that it looks like a library."] Steve McGee repeated for the consultants that citizens who will be vocal "will be sensitive to the technology question" and will seek an emphasis on traditional elements. Ms. Birkes asked how contacts for focus groups were developed. Ms. Mason described that Dianne and other members of the Management Team and staff assisted in building lists of key constituencies and groups. Ms. Mason also used snowball sampling, using initial contacts from one type of group to build the list and find more of that type of person. Mr. Stanford pointed out that planned square footage might not meet minimum requirements. "People warn us that we lose grants if we don't have enough square feet," and he asked how important this aspect of the plan will be. Ms. Mason described the Texas State Library and Archives Commission standard as "not that high," and that meeting the standard triggers State-funded collection development money. "There is a second set of standards that is often discussed and the Texas Library Association (TLA) is currently revising them." She described TLA's standards as guidelines that are not punitive if we cannot meet them. Ms. Mason could not say what the final square footage for a city of Colleyville's population would be, since TLA committees and boards are still working on the revision. Ms. Mason explained that it will be important to define Colleyville's true "service population," not just the actual Colleyville population, since people tend to cross boundaries in this area if another library is convenient. Lou agreed with Mr. Stanford's expectation of a "computer lab" environment that could be used for individual exploration and classes targeted to specific interests or age groups. The TIF is available to Colleyville and is "essentially a tax, if you look at your phone bill." She urged Colleyville to seek TIF grants and bring money that residents have paid back into the community. The purpose of TIF money is to get all communities in Texas wired to the Internet and to promote access to business education. "It is a very large fund and I don't know any other state that has put that amount of money into libraries... as non-competitive grants. If you meet the guidelines, you get the money." Lou also pointed out that the Gates Foundation is active in Texas and is specifically designed to build computer education laboratories. "This is a unique time. This is a window of opportunity... for libraries to take advantage of funding that has not been available before." Richard Roxburgh, a committee member, asked how far along our library would have to be to qualify for funding. Lou described application deadlines for various grants and when the next round of TIF grants begins. She suggested partnering with an existing TIF recipient and applying as a partnership or consortium. Councilman Short asked about census data. Ms. Mason described another city as being due for a surprise. It has an image as an Anglo community but the school districts are aware of 54 home languages and census data will show this area as predominantly Hispanic. Ms. Mason voiced an assumption that Colleyville has had access to more recent and more detailed data from consultants and the builder/realtor community due to the level of activity here. If so, she concluded that census data would not be as much of a shock here. Councilman Short described a study by the City of Dallas about the future of libraries. Florence is aware of when some parts of this study will be published. A section about branch library architecture is due in June. Many branches in Dallas are aging and demographics have shifted around the city, so new buildings may look different or be placed in different parts of the city. Steve McGee asked again about how far along we must be to qualify for TIF funds: "At the point we get into design development, or at construction?" Lou described that the TIF fund does not build buildings. It provides computers and connections. It may help to fund computers that will serve other functions as well as Internet access. F. Mason answered that a milestone is the presence of appropriate staffing, someone who has a professional library degree. As far as guidelines go, not having an ALA librarian "is a far more devastating thing than not having a building." Jim Moore reiterated that the City plans to have a degreed librarian "a long time before" opening the library so that this person, "he or she, could see the process through from beginning to end." Regional library networks do not allow libraries and jurisdictions to join if staff is not accredited. John Stanford asked about a sharing agreement among area libraries, about an interlibrary loan reciprocal arrangement. Ms. Mason described from experience that "there are in Tarrant County... reciprocal agreements among libraries one to another: If you are in X community, you can go to Y community." Some agreements are only book sharing, but others may involve transfer of funds and service charges from one city to another if these cities are not equal and usage is more one-way than reciprocal. Urbanization in Dallas, Fort Worth, San Antonio and Houston is pushing legislation toward mandating a universal borrowing card that would allow library cardholders to use libraries throughout a county, not just among specific cities. Edge cities near urban areas will be heavy library users, and the State may push to even out the cost load, making areas that generate the most transactions bear more of the burden of providing library services. Chris Faulkner asked if committee members would be allowed to observe a focus group session. The consultants agreed that all are welcome, but that "we'll make you talk." The consultants reiterated that it is best if all participate, that nobody "sit outside the circle," since the consultants would then have to explain who the observers are. 4) MEETING CLOSE Bob Stripling asked those with questions to contact Dianne McWethy. Mayor Arp thanked all speakers for attending and thanked the committee members for their involvement. The meeting closed at approximately 8: 15 p.m.