Cleveland Heights-University Heights Public Library Board meeting highlights 9-23-2013

SEPTEMBER 23, 2013

• Materials selection
• Fund for the Future of Heights Library fundraiser
• JCU reading collection
• Friends of the Library
• Public service
  
  

All board members were present.

Materials selection

The board approved revisions in the materials selection policy.

Criteria for selection include:

Community use or demand; value—literary, educational, informational or recreational; authority, effectiveness and readability; relative importance of subject matter to the collection; timeliness and social significance; importance of the author in the field; qualities conducive to critical thought and understanding; relationship to other materials in the same subject field; comparative scarcity of published material on the subject; cost; availability elsewhere; and suitability of format for library purposes.

The entire policy is available on the website under “Board & Policies.” Patrons are urged to recommend items for purchase.

Fund for the Future of Heights Library fundraiser

The event will take place Nov. 16 from 6–8 p.m. at the Heights Knowledge and Information Center. Architect Julie Torres Moskovitz will speak on the passive architecture movement and its place in our neighborhoods. (Foundation board member Jim Burger was present at the meeting.)

JCU reading collection

The board discussed the state of the popular reading collection that the library maintains at John Carroll University (JCU). Aurora Martinez, University Heights Branch library manager, and Chuck Collins, adult services manager, met with JCU library staff to plan a new service approach. When Martinez reviewed the collection, [she noticed] there had been a number of lost materials over the years. JCU students can obtain Heights Library cards at the university library to use in checking out books from the Heights system. The new approach will be to utilize the Book Bike on a monthly basis to take circulating books to John Carroll. Martinez reported that the first appearance of the Book Bike was “quite successful.”

Friends of the Library

The most recent First Friday book sale earned $600, the highest amount to date. A new member who is tech savvy will be updating the website. Another project is preparation of a policies and procedures manual for the Friends.

Public service

Among the highlights included in the August Public Service Report are:

• Summer reading programs served 1,075 children (an increase of 24 percent), 195 teens (an increase of 44 percent) and 774 adults.
• The Hudson Chamber Players, all graduates of the Cleveland Institute of Music, performed at Coventry Village Library.
• Brad Ricca, author of Super Boys, appeared at Coventry Village Library as part of the Cedar-Coventry Author Series. Librarian Ben Gulyas’s interview with Ricca appears on the “Thrillers, Horrors, and Comics” blog on the library’s Web page.
• To date, the Book Bike has made 25 visits reaching 2,407 people.
• The Mind of Minecraft school-age program at University Heights Library on Aug. 8 attracted 57 parents and their children.

LWV Observer: Anne S. McFarland.

These meeting summaries are abstracted from LWV observers’ written reports. The summaries have been edited and prepared by Anne McFarland, Charlene Morse, and Maryann Barnes. To receive e-mail postings of full reports, send an e-mail to mbarnes9515@gmail.com or join through Google groups using “lwv-chuh observer reports” as a search phrase.

These reports contain member observation and selected highlights of public meetings and are not official statements of the Heights Chapter of the League of Women Voters Cuyahoga Area. This disclaimer must accompany any redistribution of these reports.