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Mayor Howard said that it was a pleasure to watch the new administrative clerk/receptionist, Cecilia, do her job. She said, "anyone coming in and meeting this young lady as the first contact for Redwood City would definitely want to work here. She is just delightfuL" In response to Mayor Howard's questions regarding the cost of orientation, Director Rivera-Pena said no analysis has been done yet, but she believed it was an important time for new hires to learn about the City's values. She said HR had an intern who will review the process, and she described a possible video and the current City handbook. Mayor Howard agreed that a video of the City would be very helpful, and Director Rivera-Pena said it would also be used for recruitment purposes. Mayor Howard asked for a copy of the City handbook. MEMO 6/30/98 7) Library - Executive Director Yvonne Chen; Executive Director Chen acknowledged the three Library Board members in the audience, Nicet Santos, Wayne Kingsford Smith and Francis Ludwig. Director Chen said she had just arrived back from Washington D.C. where she had attended the annual conference of the American Library Association. She said that despite the vigorous economy, many libraries across the country are suffering financially. Director Chen thanked the Council for its continuing, strong support for Redwood City's wonderful Library system. Director Chen said the Library's proposed Budget was "more of the same." She said there was one area that did reflect a small increase, and that was the salary for Library Pages. Director Chen said the proposed Library Budget included a 15 to 18% increase for the Pages based on a study that revealed Redwood City's Library Pages were the lowest paid in all the County's Libraries. She said there had been a very high turnover, and if the requests were granted, the salaries would be in the median range. Director Chen said the Library was also asking for a tiny increase, only $6,788, for expanded story times at Day Care Centers. She explained that the request was for restoration of the hours lost when the Voluntary Time Off (VTO) program was instituted and the Youth Services Librarian participated in that program. That policy included restoration of the hours when the participant dropped out of the program or when the Department needed those hours. Director Chen said she had redeployed one Youth Services Librarian to Schaberg to round out the services at that Branch, and it was done without impacting the Budget. Director Chen said the Library had made some internal adjustments that would allow the Library to increase its books and audio visual materials budgets by 7.4% without impacting the total Budget. BUDGET STUDY SESSION MINUTE BOOK NO. 57 JUNE 29,1998 MINUTES Page No. 022 PAGE 18