At its July meeting Pierce County Library System’s Board of Trustees will discuss the Library’s mid-year budget, volunteer program, intellectual freedom, and other issues. The Board of Trustees will meet at the Library’s Processing and Administrative Center, 3005 112th St. E., in Tacoma, on Wednesday, July 10, from 3:30 to 6 p.m.
Mid-year budget: The board will consider approving proposed changes to the Library’s 2013 budget, based upon managers’ review of their budgets to determine if they are meeting customers’ needs and on target to deliver planned services within projected costs and time frames. The Library is showing a net increase in revenues of $167,689 in its mid-year budget, bringing its 2013 operating budget to $25,546,570. The primary reason for this one-time-only net revenue is from an unexpected amount of funding from property taxes.
Volunteer program: In the past year and a half a newly formed staff committee to help improve the Library’s volunteer program has been making progress. To date it has accomplished several steps to make the program more efficient and accessible for staff and volunteers. Most notable is volunteers now submit the hours they serve using an online timesheet versus a paper system, which was then entered by hand by a staff person. Also, people may now apply to volunteer at the Library using an online application, which also caused re-entry of data by staff. People can now apply to volunteer from anywhere at any time with online access.
Intellectual freedom: This summer staff has been talking with trustees at board meetings about intellectual freedom. It is based primarily on the First Amendment in the U.S. Constitution Bill of Rights and related court rulings. It is a core principle of libraries and directs the selection of books and other materials and access to the Internet via library computers. Intellectual freedom is also based on the Fourth Amendment and related court decisions regarding an individual’s right to confidentiality in their use of library materials and services.
At the July meeting staff will share how the Library complies with the federal Children’s Internet Protection Act. The act protects children under age 17 from access on a library’s public computer to visual depictions of obscenity, child pornography, and other content that is harmful to minors on the Internet.
The Library System has been serving people in Pierce County for 67 years.