Travis County Commissioners Court
April 7, 2009,
Item 11
Let call up item no.11.
after that one we will call up that personnel item dealing with the -- that you all are probably down here on, right?
11.
consider and take appropriate action on amending Travis County code chapter 38, law library policies.
good afternoon.
>> good afternoon, judge and Commissioners.
steven broberg director of communication resources, lisa rush is here, manager of the law library.
alicia perez is here, I think she wants to start us off today.
judge and Commissioners we're bringing back a policy that we -- that we discussed with you several weeks ago.
concerning the law library.
and as you know, we have a law library on the first floor at 314 west 11th street.
it is available to the public and to the legal community in Travis County.
and it is partially funded by fees for the library and if -- housed here at the granger building.
we had considered some policies that we brought to you as a result of the increase in patronage to the library and some issues that we have been having.
we worked with judge Biscoe and the legal department to assure that all of the items that were of concern were addressed and we provided you the backup and the backup provides the detail of the changes that -- that were made and I can -- I can go through those with you.
or we can answer any questions that you have.
specifically, the -- the first time that we came to you, we had put a restriction on the time allowed for the use of the legal research computers.
and I believe that we had put an hour limit on those.
that has been changed to a two hour limit.
but we have also included general use computers.
we hope to find a couple of computers from our inventory or older computers and have made room in the library to set up general use computers for people that just want to do general research.
and there will be no time limits on those computers.
we will monitor that and if any issues arise again we will come back to the -- to the court.
we also changed the time for personal belongs left unattended from 15 minutes to 30 minutes.
if they are left for more than 30 minutes, then they will be placed in the custody of the security and also the -- the size of the baggage cannot be larger than 18 by 18 by 10.
we changed it to be larger more in line with amtrak than with airlines.
so --
>> so what happens to the -- I see some people pulling these kind of little carts where they are just kind of loaded.
i think the -- what we discussed was the possibility of putting those little carts in that room over there if there's space, right?
>> right.
>> so if they are in the library instead of having those little carts in the library, we put them in that room, are we and the to secure that room?
>> yes, judge.
the idea was really -- the carts can fit underneath the tables.
we are more concerned about the big bags that are just left unattended.
>> okay.
>> but those carts, you know, an attorney comes in fresh outs of a case, they can usually pull them in.
they have a little handle that goes down and they can park them right underneath the desks.
it's -- really the larger items that we are concerned with and the ones that are left unattended.
>> okay.
then the last amendment was that we will be not only notifying patrons that we will post the policy in its entirety in the library and on its web page, there were a couple of other word changes, I think, you know, those better than us even that went from --
>> may to shall.
in search areas as discussed.
those -- in several areas as discussed, those had to do with circulating materials, checking out materials.
that sort of a thing.
>> so, john, we noticed that in the information and policy that was sent to us, I think you still have the two hour limit.
if you would change that, the two hour limit is only for legal research computers.
>> yes.
>> but if we think we need one in the future we can have one.
i just think that the general computers -- like when we buy new replacement computers, we can just take a couple of the old ones and make them available for general use.
if we see an unlimited time is not working, I feel a whole lot better then imposing whatever time we think is appropriate.
>> is it also necessary to post something that is not responsible for personal belongings or equipment or other things that are left beyond the 30 or 15 minutes or whatever we are saying?
>> I think it would be a good notice.
>> be glad to do that.
>> to put up because of a disclaimer of sorts.
>> okay.
>> judge, we won't be shy about coming back if we have any other issues.
>> some of these violations like if you keep making copies and you never pay, at some point we ought to cut you off.
the other thing is that if you violate some of these policies two or three times, I think -- I believe in progressive discipline, at some point it may be that you are restricted from using the library.
you kind of hate to restrict them forever.
but a 90 day bar will be appropriate to kind of make the point if that's necessary.
it's just that I think that you have to -- if there's a rule seems to me advantageous for us to apply it across the board, which is why in of these cases I think shall is a whole lot better than may.
the argument that I heard is sometimes we are subjective whether we want to be or not.
so ...
well, we talked about a person to assist with security.
before last week's discussion.
>> yes.
>> and we kind of took that option a step further.
you want to share that?
in our meeting we talked about opening that window out there, kind of make that the information security booth.
but last week we talked about furniture more in the open lobby and staffing that.
but as long as a person is available to assist in the library, that sort of covers us, right?
>> yes it would.
the idea is to have a presence of a -- of a security, a building attendant that would also be able to not only assist people coming out and in and out of the building, be your eyes for law enforcement if we would ever -- were ever to need the sheriff's assistance, but also help out the library staff with any issues that may come up there.
of course, those are being attendants.
if there is any escalation, argument or violence, then we automatically call the sheriff's department right across the street courthouse security and they respond relatively quickly.
>> we've also had assistance from the county attorney's office presence in this building, too, and we are thankful for that.
>> those investigators are certified peace officers, right if.
>> they are, uh-huh.
>> I notice they all carry weapons.
>> they are intimidating presence.
>> we do believe that the presence of a building attendant will help our librarians and hopefully ease their stress a little bit, too.
>> so are you all pleased with these changes?
>> yes, judge.
i think these changes will work for us and like I said, if they don't, we sure won't be shy about coming back and readdressing any of these issues.
we are thankful for your help.
we really do appreciate it.
it's been an excellent discussion.
>> you say that if the county judge were absent today?
>> indeed I would, judge.
perhaps especially even if he were.
>> questions?
comments?
i move approval.
>> second.
>> discussion of the motion?
john, you worked on this?
>>
>> [indiscernible] worked on it, she will make those final changes on the general use legal use the two hour limit on the legal use.
>> we'll have follow-up discussions if they are working fine.
if not then we need to modify them we're here to help.
>> thank you, judge.
>> all in favor?
that passes by unanimous vote.
thank all very much.
>> thank you.
The Closed Caption log for this Commissioners Court agenda item is provided by Travis County Internet Services. Since this file is derived from the Closed Captions created during live cablecasts, there are occasional spelling and grammatical errors. This Closed Caption log is not an official record the Commissioners Court Meeting and cannot be relied on for official purposes. For official records please contact the County Clerk at (512) 854-4722.
Last Modified:
Tuesday, April 7, 2009 2:03 PM