HomeMy WebLinkAboutMINUTES - 08212012 - C.65RECOMMENDATION(S):
ACCEPT the July 2011 - June 2012 Contra Costa County Public Law Library annual report to trustees and Board of
Supervisors.
FISCAL IMPACT:
None.
BACKGROUND:
California Business and Professions Code Section 6349 states: "Each board of law library trustees, on or before the
15th day of October of each year, shall make an annual report to the board of supervisors of the county in which the
law library is maintained, for the preceding fiscal year ending on the 30th day of June. A copy of the report shall be
filed with the auditor of the county. The report shall give the condition of their trust, with full statements of all their
property and money received, whence derived, how used and expended, the number of books, periodicals and other
publications on hand, the number
APPROVE OTHER
RECOMMENDATION OF CNTY ADMINISTRATOR RECOMMENDATION OF BOARD COMMITTEE
Action of Board On: 08/21/2012 APPROVED AS RECOMMENDED OTHER
Clerks Notes:
VOTE OF SUPERVISORS
AYE:John Gioia, District I Supervisor
Candace Andersen, District II
Supervisor
Mary N. Piepho, District III
Supervisor
Karen Mitchoff, District IV
Supervisor
Federal D. Glover, District V
Supervisor
Contact: T. Lennear, (925)
335-1900
I hereby certify that this is a true and correct copy of an action taken and entered on the minutes of the Board
of Supervisors on the date shown.
ATTESTED: August 21, 2012
David Twa, County Administrator and Clerk of the Board of Supervisors
By: Carrie Del Bonta, Deputy
cc:
C. 65
To:Board of Supervisors
From:David Twa, County Administrator
Date:August 21, 2012
Contra
Costa
County
Subject:ACCEPT the July 2011 - June 2012 Contra Costa County Public Law Library Annual Report to Trustees and Board
of Supervisors
BACKGROUND: (CONT'D)
added by purchase, gift, or otherwise during the year, the number lost or missing, and other information as might
be of interest."
CONSEQUENCE OF NEGATIVE ACTION:
Contra Costa County will fail to meet the requirements of the California Business and Professions Code Section
6349.
CHILDREN'S IMPACT STATEMENT:
Not applicable.
ATTACHMENTS
CCC Public Law Library 2011 - 12 Annual Report
1
CONTRA COSTA COUNTY PUBLIC LAW LIBRARY
ANNUAL REPORT TO TRUSTEES AND BOARD OF SUPERVISORS
July 2011 – June 2012
INTRODUCTION:
Business and Professions Code §6340 mandates a county law library located in the county seat for
each county in California. Contra Costa County is highly compliant, having a main branch of the law
library in Martinez as well as two smaller, satellite branches, one in Richmond serving west county,
and one in Pittsburg serving east county. The Contra Costa County Public Law Library serves
everyone, including the general public, judicial officers, members of the bar, and students.
MISSION OF THE LIBRARY:
The law library strives to render the highest quality of service to the community by providing a
current, balanced collection of materials and resources along with trained staff dedicated to assisting
users in meeting their legal information needs. The library’s mission statement guides the activities
of the library: To provide all members of the community access to research materials to aid in
understanding and preserving legal rights. Alternately stated, we want the people of Contra Costa
County to think of the law library as their primary source for legal information.
SERVICE AND SERVICES:
The county law library operates the Martinez Branch 45 hours per week, and the Pittsburg and
Richmond branches 40 hours per week. Most of our users fall into one of two distinct user groups:
Legal professionals (the bar and the bench) whose background affords them a greater understanding
of legal research materials, although they may require assistance and access to a variety of materials
and services, and the general public, most of whom are severely lacking in an understanding of law
itself and are usually unfamiliar with legal research materials. This latter group often requires
extensive help from library staff.
During Fiscal Year 2011-2012, more than 28,000 people contacted the law library, either by
telephone, email, mail or in person to access our services.
27,566 people visited the law library during the past fiscal year.
MEETINGS AND TRAINING ACTIVITIES:
A monthly board meeting with an established quorum, was held during each month of the
year, for a total of 12 meetings. The library is in strict compliance with the Ralph Brown Act.
Training for staff was emphasized during the year with staff members completing workshops
on customer service, communication, organizational skills and use of technology.
PUBLIC RELATIONS, MARKETING AND OUTREACH ACTIVITIES:
Staff members attend Senior Services Provider quarterly meetings held at the Contra Costa
County Bar Association’s office, and offered in conjunction with the Elder Law Center.
In November the law library partnered with the court’s Family Law Division to present
training for Contra Costa County Public Library staff so as to equip people working in general
public libraries to field legal reference questions, locate information, and make appropriate
referrals.
The library was represented at the Richmond Senior Health and Information Fair in May,
which had an excellent turnout this year. The library, including its role in this important
event, received media coverage.
2
BUILDINGS AND EQUIPMENT:
The main server to the library’s computer system had to be replaced during the year.
Otherwise, there were no major changes to report.
THE COLLECTION:
The library holds more than 40,000 books.
Collections are up to date and kept in good order and condition.
Holdings include more than 100,000 non-book items (microforms and CD-Roms).
Subscriptions to online services include the following: LexisNexis, Westlaw, HeinOnline, and
FastCase. Online subscriptions make it possible for staff and library users to access statutory
and case law for all 50 states and Washington D.C., a large body of law review and
journal articles, as well as other extensive content. These services are very popular with both
user groups and are frequently requested. (FastCase will be discontinued in the new fiscal
year, due to declining revenues.)
Collection development is an ongoing process for the library. This means that the library’s
collection is constantly scrutinized for changes that need to be made, with an eye toward
serving the needs of our patrons in the most cost effective manner possible.
PERSONNEL:
The Pittsburg branch is staffed by a combination of extra help workers and permanent staff
from other branches who rotate through the schedule.
The Martinez and Richmond branches have staff permanently assigned to each location.
PROJECTS AND PLANS:
Plans for the following fiscal year will focus on maximizing the library’s ability to meet the
research and information needs of its users within a difficult economic climate.
Outreach will continue and will be critical to ensuring that the people of Contra Costa County
are aware of the county law library as an important resource.
Senior citizens will again be an important focus in our outreach program.
COMMENTS:
A special thanks goes to the Board of Trustees of the Contra Costa County Public Law Library for
ongoing encouragement and for always being open to new ideas. The positive changes and variety
of services and programs were made possible by the library’s dedicated staff, collaborations with the
court, the local bar association, the Congress of Neutrals, academic institutions within the county, and
especially the seven trustees who sit on the board and never fail to offer feedback, support, wisdom,
and counsel.
Carey Rowan
Respectfully submitted _____________________________________________________ Carey Rowan, Library Director
3
CONTRA COSTA COUNTY PUBLIC LAW LIBRARY
ANNUAL REPORT TO TRUSTEES AND BOARD OF SUPERVISORS
July 2011 – June 2012
Appendix A: ANALYSIS OF YEAR END FINANCIAL INFORMATION, JULY 2011 – JUNE 2012
(Based on General Ledger 7/12/12—Contra Costa County does not close books until 2013)
FUND ASSETS AND LIABILITIES DR CR
0010 Cash $1,860,258
0020 Petty cash $150
0040 Cash in transit
0100 Accts Receivable $1,272
0180 Due from other funds
0500 Accts. Payable - Vendors $27,955
0510 Accts. Payable $30
0540 Due to other funds $609
0740 Fund balance at beginning of year $1,987,341
Current year earnings ($154,195)
$1,861,710 $1,861,710
REVENUE AND EXPENSES DR CR
9681 Court filing fees & nontaxable revenue $924,972
9975 Miscellaneous nontaxable revenue $13,782
0800 Pooled earnings $6,448
1011 Permanent salaries $281,087
1013 Temporary salaries $50,488
1014 Permanent overtime $1,511
1042 F.I.C.A. $6,415
1044 Retirement expenses $59,945
1060 Employee group insurance $43,782
1061 Retiree health insurance $13,591
1063 Unemployment insurance $1,001
1070 Workers’ compensation insurance $2,744
2100 Office expenses $11,029
2103 Postage $441
2110 Communications $5,294
2111 Telephone exchange service $4,093
2132 Minor computer repair $5,107
2150 Food $251
2200 Memberships $809
2250 Rents and Leases - Equipment $7,753
2251 Computer software costs $387
2270 Maintenance - Equipment $2,856
2301 Automobile mileage for employees $714
2303 Other travel for employees $839
2310 Non-county professional services $17,991
2315 Data processing services $1,734
2323 Electronic database services $137,333
2326 Information security charges $132
2331 GSD Courier service $427
2360 Insurance $7,719
2461 Adult materials: Library books $437,170
2467 Training and registrations $1,794
($154,195)
CURRENT YEAR INCOME $1,099,397 $945,202
($154,195)
$945,202 $945,202
4
CONTRA COSTA COUNTY PUBLIC LAW LIBRARY
ANNUAL REPORT TO TRUSTEES AND BOARD OF SUPERVISORS
July 2011 – June 2012
Appendix B: STATISTICAL AND COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS, JULY 2010 – JUNE 2011
MARTINEZ PITTSBURG RICHMOND TOTAL
Number % Number % Number % Number %
NUMBER OF WEBSITE VISITS 7,401 100% - - - - 7,401 100%
NUMBER OF WEBPAGES VISITED 18,506 100% - - - - 18,506 100%
NUMBER OF VISITS (GATE COUNT) 20,003 73% 2,880 10% 4,683 17% 27,566 100%
NUMBER OF WIFI USERS 734 100% 0 - 0 - 734 100%
MATERIALS / RESOURCES USED
BOOKS— LEG. PROFESSIONALS 3,482 72% 117 1% 1,289 27% 4,828 100%
BOOKS—GENERAL PUBLIC 6,860 69% 847 9% 2,201 22% 9,908 100%
BOOKS—TOTAL 10,342 70 964 7% 3,430 23% 14,736 100%
CD-ROMS— LEG. PROFESSIONALS 57 100% 0 - 0 - 57 100%
CD-ROMS— GENERAL PUBLIC 51 100% 0 - 0 - 51 100%
CD-ROMS--TOTAL 108 100% 0 - 0 - 108 100%
COPIER USE— LEGAL PROFESSIONALS 557 73% 133 17% 75 10% 765 100%
COPIER USE—GENERAL PUBLIC 782 31% 1,473 58% 273 11% 2,528 100%
COPIER USE--TOTAL 1,349 41% 1,606 49% 348 10% 3,303 100%
COMPUTER USE— LEGAL PROFESSIONALS 914 79% 148 12.5% 99 8.5% 1,161 100%
COMPUTER USE—GENERAL PUBLIC 1,505 51% 1,228 42% 210 7% 2,943 100%
COMPUTER USE—TOTAL 2,419 59% 1,376 33.5% 309 7.5% 4,104 100%
SERVICES RENDERED
REFERENCE/RESEARCH— LEGAL PROFESSIONALS 140 82% 10 6% 20 12% 170 100%
REFERENCE/RESEARCH—GENERAL PUBLIC 502 35% 824 58% 95 7% 1,421 100%
REFERENCE/RESEARCH—TOTAL 642 40.4% 834 52.4% 115 7.2% 1,591 100%
QUICK ASSISTANCE— LEGAL PROFESSIONALS 330 64% 135 26% 50 10% 515 100%
QUICK ASSISTANCE— GENERAL PUBLIC 1,222 37% 1,911 57% 196 6% 3,329 100%
QUICK ASSISTANCE—TOTAL 1,552 41% 2,046 54% 201 5% 3,799 100%
HELP BY PHONE/EMAIL—LEGAL PROFESSIONALS 272 63% 42 10% 116 27% 430 100%
HELP BY PHONE/EMAIL—GENERAL PUBLIC 1,044 81% 105 8% 147 11% 1,296 100%
HELP BY PHONE/EMAIL—TOTAL 1,123 81% 106 8% 155 11% 1,384 100%
HELP WITH FAX— LEGAL. PROFESSIONALS 35 88% 4 10% 1 2% 40 100%
HELP WITH FAX— GENERAL PUBLIC 177 84% 33 16% 0 0% 210 100%
HELP WITH FAX— TOTAL 212 85% 37 15% 1 - 250 100%
CASH TRANSACTIONS— LEGAL PROFESSIONALS 302 76% 86 22% 7 2% 395 100%
CASH TRANSACTIONS—GENERAL PUBLIC 993 57% 695 40% 45 3% 1,733 100%
CASH TRANSACTIONS—TOTAL 1,295 61% 781 37% 52 2% 2,128 100%
PROGRAMS & SPECIAL SERVICES
LAWYER IN THE LIBRARY (ATTENDANCE) 197 100% 0 - 0 - 197 100%
GUARDIANSHIP WORKSHOPS (ATTENDANCE) 222 96% 10 4% 0 - 2232 100%
EXAMS PROCTORED 176 100% 0 - 0 - 176 100%
MEETING ROOM DEPOSITIONS, CONFERENCES 15 100% 0 - 0 - 15 100%