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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMINUTES - 09101996 - SD7 7 TO: BOARD OF SUPERVISORS Contra FROM: Finance Committee ODsta County DATE: September 10, 1996 °°sTqcovt't SUBJECT: Transition Plan for Library Service in Oakley SPECIFIC REQUEST(S) OR RECOMMENDATION(S) & BACKGROUND AND JUSTIFICATION RECOMMENDATION(S): ACCEPT the attached report on a plan for a County-Liberty School District partnership for Library Services in Oakley. BACKGROUND/REASON(S,) FOR RECOMMENDATION(S): On July 23, the Board referred this item to the Finance Committee for review in August and requested that the Committee report back to the Board on September 10. Essentially, this item involves exploring the feasibility of a joint public and school library at the soon to be constructed Freedom High School Library in Oakley. On August 19, the Finance Committee discussed a status report on the following elements of the plan with representatives of the Library Department staff: 1. proposed library size; 2. services; 3. furniture plan, including computers; 4. staffing plan; and 5. hours of operation. The Committee accepted the status report from the library staff and directed staff to update the transition plan for the Board meeting on September 10 (see attached). CONTINUED ON ATTACHMENT: —YES SIGNATURE: ` RECOMMENDATION OF COUNTY ADMINISTRATOR lRECOMMENDATI N OF BOARD COMMITTEE —APPROVE —OTHER SIGNATURE(S): ACTION OF BOARD ON APPROVED AS RECOMMENDED OTHER VOTE OF SUPERVISORS 1 HEREBY CERTIFY THAT THIS IS A UNANIMOUS(ABSENT ] TRUE AND CORRECT COPY OF AN AYES: NOES: ACTION TAKEN AND ENTERED ABSENT: ABSTAIN: ON MINUTES OF THE BOARD OF SUPERVISORS ON THE DATE SHOWN. Contact:Tony Enea,335-1034 q / ATTESTED PHIL B TCHELOR,CLERK 6F THE BOARD OF SUPERVISORS AND COUNTY ADMINISTRATOR cc: CAO Library B 'J _ ..,QVA,,�JDEPUTY SD7a � TO: BOARD OF SUPERVISORS FROM: Anne Marie Gold, County Librarian DATE: September 3, 1996 SUBJECT: PROGRESS REPORT ON TRANSITION PLAN FOR LIBRARY SERVICE IN OAKLEY SPECIFIC REQUEST(S) OR RECOMMENDATION(S) & BACKGROUND AND JUSTIFICATION RECOMMENDED ACTION: 1 ACCEPT this Progress Report on the Transition Plan for Library Service in Oakley. 2. DIRECT the County Librarian to continue discussions with the Liberty Union School District and Freedom High School. 3. REPORT back to the Board of Supervisors on October 22, 1996 on the progress of the plan. FINANCIAL IMPACT: One-time Cost ( FY 1996/97): $257,975 On-going Yearly Cost: $143,080 (See attached spreadsheet for detailed cost estimate) BACKGROUND: The Oakley Library, serving an estimated population of 25,000, has over the years become totally inadequate to serve the increasing needs of the growing community. The 1200 square ft. facility is only open 18 hours per week and has a book collection of 6,800 volumes with limited room for further growth. Community interest in building a new library has resulted in the recent hiring of George Miers & Associates for the purpose of developing a Library/Community Center Master Plan. The proposed site is a 6.2 acre parcel of land, already owned by Contra Costa County, adjacent to the O'Hara Middle School on O'Hara Avenue, known as the Moura Parcel. The firm is expected to complete its work in the spring of 1997. Continued on Attachment: X SIGNATURE: _RECOMMENDATION OF COUNTY ADMINISTRATOR _RECOMMENDATION OF BOARD COMMITTEE APPROVE OTHER SIGNATURE(S): A TION OF BOARD ON APPROVED AS RECOMMENDED_OTHER_ VOTE OF SUPERVISO IHEREBY CER HATTHIS ISATRUE AND —UNANIMOUS(ABSENT CORRECTC Y OF AN ACTION TAKENAND AYES: NOES: ENTE ON THE MINUTES OF THE ABSENT. ABSTAIN: BO OF SUPERVISORS ON DATE SHOWN. Attested Contact: Phil Batchelor,Clerk of the cc: Library Administration oard of Supervisors and C ty Administrator By Deputy Clerk (I:bos\oakle c) The community recognizes that the process of building a new library, assuming that funding can be secured, would take from five to 10 years. Therefore, an interim solution to improved library service needs to be found. Several options have been explored and the best interim solution appears to be a joint use facility with the new Freedom High School in Oakley. Meetings have been held with the Liberty Union Superintendent, the Freedom High School Principal and School Librarian and the Liberty Union School Board which has voted to allow the school district and the county library to continue discussions about a joint use library on the Freedom High School Campus. The new 5,710 square ft. library is scheduled to be completed by August, 1997. It still needs to be determined how much of the space will be available for public library use. Services: Part of the planning process for the development of a library master plan includes several community forums where the community will have an opportunity to give input into library services for Oakley and this information will be used to develop final priorities for expanded library service. Based on Oakley demographic information, the following preliminary priorities have emerged: Because a large number of residents commute to jobs in San Francisco and the East Bay, evening open hours is a high priority. Children under the age of 5 represent over 10% of the population which is about 3% higher than the county average. Therefore, service to pre-school children is a high priority. The middle school population, representing 7.6% of the population, is also above the county average of 6.58%, while the high school population is slightly below the county average. Service to school age children will be a major focus of the service program. Service would include both children's and adult services, heavily supported by a comprehensive volunteer program. Specific programs would include children's story hour, monthly children's school-age programs, visits to schools and reference and readers' advisory services for all ages. The volunteer programs would include Homework Help, the Book Buddies program, Outreach to Day Care Centers, Book Shelver program and Computer and Internet Docents. The plan would provide 29 open hours, five days per week, preferably two evenings, one morning and every Saturday. Partnerships with local schools and Los Medanos College will be explored and developed. The Freedom High School Library will be wired for computer technology. Oakley Library currently has one circulation terminal and two Public Access Catalogs. In an expanded library, an additional five computers, a CD-ROM computer and a tower would need to be acquired. The Freedom High School Library start-up budget is $70,000 which would cover a very basic reference collection, including some software and a small circulating collection. The school library emphasis will be on reference materials supporting the curriculum. Joint collection development planning will help maximize the resources of both facilities and avoid overlap in materials purchasing. The current Oakley Library materials collection of 6,800 volumes would at a minimum need to be doubled in size, with a priority given to the reference collection, the children's collection, the adult non-fiction collection and the audio-visual collection which is virtually non-existent. The cost of doubling the collection is approximately $200,000. The yearly materials budget would need to be increased to $25,000 - $30,000 including electronic resources which will be added to all libraries in the fall of 1996. Currently, the yearly material's budget for the Oakley Library is $7,139. Furniture Plan: A furniture plan is still to be completed for the Freedom High School Library. Some expenditures for furniture would be required by the county library, such as preschool area furniture, computer and office furniture. Some modifications to the shelving may be necessary to house public library resources, such as picturebooks, paperbacks and audio-visual materials. Hours of Operation: The projected hours that the library will be operated as the school library are 7:45 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., Monday through Friday. The school staff would find it difficult to allow public library service during this time more than once or twice a week, because of the many high school classes who need access to the library for library instruction. It would be the intent of the public library to provide 29 hours of library service, five days per week, to at least include two evenings, one morning and every Saturday. -Staffing Plan:` At this time the school district plan for staffing the Freedom High School Library will initially consist of one full- time librarian and student help. The district plans to add a clerk one to two years after opening. The current staffing at the Oakley Library is one 20 hour library assistant and one 20 hour senior aide. An expanded operation at Freedom High School, open 29 hours per week for public library service would require additional staffing to include a minimum of a 32 hour professional librarian and a 24 hour library clerk, in addition to the current 20 hour library assistant. Financial Impact: Following current County Library policy, established in Clayton and Danville, it is expected that the community will provide the $200,000 funding to upgrade the materials collection. The estimated on-going cost of $143,080 to operate the enhanced Oakley Library at Freedom High School will be off-set by the cost of operating the current library at a cost of $41,363. The net difference in on-going operating costs is therefore $101,717. Building occupancy costs will need to be negotiated and therefore are not included in the projected ongoing operating costs at this time. Issues to be Resolved: There are still many issues to be resolved during the next six months before an agreement can be reached between the County Library and the Liberty Union School Board. Some of those issues are: • Discuss and agree on policy issues, such as collection development, circulation policy, personnel, access to the facility and range of materials and services to be provided • Determine space allocation for public library collection • Determine access in terms of open hours • Determine open hours during holiday and vacation periods • Determine access to school library materials and public library materials • Discuss staffing issues • Determine funding issues and identify funding sources • Determine furniture plan and costs • Determine equipment to be furnished by the County Library • Develop a joint use agreement and cost sharing arrangement between County Library and Liberty Union School Board, identifying the responsibilities of each Oakley Library Transition Plan for Library Service: Cost Estimate One-time Cost On-going Cost Current Cost Personnel $9,900 $104,000 $22,410 Office Expenses $2,000 $2,000 $700 Communications $7,400 $7,080 $3,859 Building Occupancy *) $7,255 Library Materials-Adult $110,000 $22,500 $5,354 Library Materials- Juvenile $90,000 $7,500 $1,785 Moving Collection $2,000 Computers, Printers& Software $25,475 Pre-school Area Furniture $1,200 Computer Furniture $3,000 Office Furniture $4,000 Shelving Modifications $3,000 TOTAL $257,975 $143,080 $41,363 ") Still to be determined The community recognizes that the process of building a new library, assuming that funding can be secured, would take from five to 10 years. Therefore, an interim solution to improved library service needs to be found. Several options have been explored and the best interim solution appears to be a joint use facility with the new Freedom High School in Oakley. Meetings have been held with the Liberty Union Superintendent, the Freedom High School Principal and School Librarian and the Liberty Union School Board which has voted to allow the school district and the county library to continue discussions about a joint use library on the Freedom High School Campus. The new 5,710 square ft. library is scheduled to be completed by August, 1997. It still needs to be determined how much of the space will be available for public library use. Services: Part of the planning process for the development of a library master plan includes several community forums where the community will have an opportunity to give input into library services for Oakley and this information will be used to develop final priorities for expanded library service. Based on Oakley demographic information, the following preliminary priorities have emerged: Because a large number of residents commute to jobs in San Francisco and the East Bay, evening open hours is a high priority. Children under the age of 5 represent over 10% of the population which is about 3% higher than the county average. Therefore, service to pre-school children is a high priority. The middle school population, representing 7.6% of the population, is also above the county average of 6.58%, while the high school population is slightly below the county average. Service to school age children will be a major focus of the service program. Service would include both children's and adult services, heavily supported by a comprehensive volunteer program. Specific programs would include children's story hour, monthly children's school-age programs, visits to schools and reference and readers' advisory services for all ages. The volunteer programs would include Homework Help, the Book Buddies program, Outreach to Day Care Centers, Book Shelver program and Computer and Internet Docents. The plan would provide 29 open hours, five days per week, preferably two evenings, one morning and every Saturday. Partnerships with local schools and Los Medanos College will be explored and developed. The Freedom High School Library will be wired for computer technology. Oakley Library currently has one circulation terminal and two Public Access Catalogs. In an expanded library, an additional five computers, a CD-ROM computer and a tower would need to be acquired. The Freedom High School Library start-up budget is $70,000 which would cover a very basic reference collection, including some software and a small circulating collection. The school library emphasis will be on reference materials supporting the curriculum. Joint collection development planning will help maximize the resources of both facilities and avoid overlap in materials purchasing. The current Oakley Library materials collection of 6,800 volumes would at a minimum need to be doubled in size, with a priority given to the reference collection, the children's collection, the adult non-fiction collection and the audio-visual collection which is virtually non-existent. The cost of doubling the collection is approximately $200,000. The yearly materials budget would need to be increased to $25,000 - $30,000 including electronic resources which will be added to all libraries in the fall of 1996. Currently, the yearly material's budget for the Oakley Library is $7,139. Furniture Plan: A furniture plan is still to be completed for the Freedom High School Library. Some expenditures for furniture would be required by the county library, such as preschool area furniture, computer and office furniture. Some modifications to the shelving may be necessary to house public library resources, such as picturebooks, paperbacks and audio-visual materials. Hours of Operation: The projected hours that the library will be operated as the school library are 7:45 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., Monday through Friday. The school staff would find it difficult to allow public library service during this time more than once or twice a week, because of the many high school classes who need access to the library for library instruction. It would be the intent of the public library to provide 29 hours of library service, five days per week, to at least include two evenings, one morning and every Saturday. Staffing-Plan:- SDI At this time the school district plan for staffing the Freedom High School Library will initially consist of one full- time librarian and student help. The district plans to add a clerk one to two years after opening. The current staffing at the Oakley Library is one 20 hour library assistant and one 20 hour senior aide. An expanded operation at Freedom High School, open 29 hours per week for public library service would require additional staffing to include a minimum of a 32 hour professional librarian and a 24 hour library clerk, in addition to the current 20 hour library assistant. Financial Impact: Following current County Library policy, established in Clayton and Danville, it is expected that the community will provide the $200,000 funding to upgrade the materials collection. The estimated on-going cost of $143,080 to operate the enhanced Oakley Library at Freedom High School will be off-set by the cost of operating the current library at a cost of $41,363. The net difference in on-going operating costs is therefore $101,717. Building occupancy costs will need to be negotiated and therefore are not included in the projected ongoing operating costs at this time. Issues to be Resolved: There are still many issues to be resolved during the next six months before an agreement can be reached between the County Library and the Liberty Union School Board. Some of those issues are: • Discuss and agree on policy issues, such as collection development, circulation policy, personnel, access to the facility and range of materials and services to be provided • Determine space allocation for public library collection • Determine access in terms of open hours • Determine open hours during holiday and vacation periods • Determine access to school library materials and public library materials Discuss staffing issues • Determine funding issues and identify funding sources • Determine furniture plan and costs • Determine equipment to be furnished by the County Library • Develop a joint use agreement and cost sharing arrangement between County Library and Liberty Union School Board, identifying the responsibilities of each Oakley Library Transition Plan for Library Service: Cost Estimate One-time Cost On-going Cost Current Cost Personnel $9,900 $104,000 $22,410 Office Expenses $2,000 $2,000 $700 Communications $7,400 $7,080 $3,859 Building Occupancy ) $7,255 Library Materials-Adult $110,000 $22,500 $5,354 Library Materials-Juvenile $90,000 $7,500 $1,785 Moving Collection $2,000 Computers, Printers&Software $25,475 Pre-school Area Furniture $1,200 Computer Furniture $3,000 Office Furniture $4,000 Shelving Modifications $3,000 TOTAL $257,975 $143,080 $41,363 ") Still to be determined