WARRENVILLE PUBLIC LIBRARY DISTRICT

BOARD OF TRUSTEES

LONG-RANGE PLANNING SESSION MINUTES

WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 5, 2007

The Long-Range Planning Session began at 7:32 p.m.

In attendance were Trustees Arlowe, Brown, Clark, DuRocher, Goodman, and Johnston. Also in attendance were Library Director Whitmer and facilitators Kurt & Peg Anderson of Pairadox, Inc. Trustee Stull arrived at 7:38 p.m.

The meeting began with Director Whitmer’s brief summary of the accomplishments made at the November 3, 2007 session. She and Mr. Anderson shared a proposed timeline for the remaining tasks, the final result of which will be a revised strategic plan.

Facilitator Kurt Anderson indicated that the purpose of this session was to continue discussions begun on November 3, specifically those discussions related to planning for the future. He then shared with the board some models for evaluating how the board is operating. Mr. Anderson distributed handouts with diagrams that showed what areas the board should be focusing on (Mission, Governance), what areas the administration and staff should be focusing on (Tactics & Action Plans, Execution), and areas where all should be working together (Strategic Challenges, Strategy Development). The trustees discussed their role in governing the library as it related to the information presented. Mr. Anderson emphasized that the strategic priorities should be broadly written so that the Director and staff can use their knowledge, experience, and creativity to develop action plans for the priorities that have been developed by the board.

Keep in mind that the Director reports to and takes direction only from the entire board, not individual trustees.

The trustees discussed how to best communicate among themselves and with individuals/groups in the community. It was noted that individual board members should avoid giving the impression that they speak for the entire board. Mr. Anderson made the recommendation that the board consider communicating their community conversations via email to the rest of the board. Such communication would be one-way and keep the entire board informed of conversations that have taken place outside of the board meeting. It was also recommended that the Director give the same courtesy to the board when she attends meetings where matters affecting the library are discussed. Though there were some concerns about whether or not such communications were allowable under the Open Meetings Act, most trustees agreed that disseminating this type of information as soon as possible after a discussion takes place would be preferable to waiting until a board meeting for a report on the matter. Mr. Anderson emphasized that it would be important for the trustees to police themselves to avoid violating the Open Meetings Act. He suggested that the sharing of information with the entire board would create transparency within the organization. This would allow all trustees to be aware of issues/conversations and result in a richer dialogue at the monthly board meetings. Director Whitmer recommended that the board consider adopting a policy that governs electronic communications by the board of trustees. She will consult with the library’s attorney on the matter.

Mr. Anderson shared suggestions for possible new strategic priorities. These suggestions were based on the discussion that took place on November 3.

The board agreed that some of the priorities could be accommodated as goals within the existing priorities. These items include expanding offerings to specific groups (young adults, seniors, baby boomers) and bringing the library to the community. The board also discussed the impacts of the current goal of using 20% of the library’s budget for materials.

The third suggested priority, “Use the current space to its fullest capacity,” was discussed by the board. Earlier in the meeting, the board briefly discussed the staff’s concern that the library is running out of space for some of the library’s collections. Possibilities for addressing this concern include: expansion, bookmobile, reallocation of current space, and remodeling the lower level. It was generally agreed that a priority should be added that involves determining future needs for space and staffing. This priority may include surveying the community and engaging the services of an architect as actions.

Library staff will be meeting with Kurt Anderson on December 13 for a staff planning workshop. Director Whitmer will take into consideration the items discussed at the board workshops and the staff session and create a draft of the revised Strategic Plan. She proposed that the draft be presented to the board in February or March with adoption of the plan in May or June.

ADJOURNMENT: The meeting concluded at 9:34 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,

_________________________________

Heather Stull