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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2024-08-12 Library Board of Trustees Minutes ApprovedANACORTES PUBLIC LIBRARY Board of Trustees’ Meeting August 12, 2024 9:00 am in APL Community Meeting Room Attendees: From the Board: Briana Alzola Lindquist, Alethea Fleming, John Shafer, Courtney Orrock (partial meeting) From the staff: Jeff Vogel, Diana Farnsworth, Stacy Paull • The meeting was called to order at 9 a.m. by Alethea. • The meeting minutes from July 2024 were approved (motion by John, second by Briana) • Internal updates: o From Jeff: § The city is starting its budget process and he will be presenting expenditure budgets for the year next month. § The construction on the new teen area is moving forward, with an MOA nearly done. He is hopeful the contract will be on the City Council agenda soon. It is still not out for bid, but he is hopeful it will go out soon. In the contract, it states that construction will only take three months once things are approved. § The City Council has many questions about a potential consortium between the Anacortes library and the other libraries in the county. They are concerned mainly with how much the consortium would cost, especially with one shared fiduciary staff member who would help handle the money side of things as well as managing the ILS system. There are questions about the moving of materials between libraries, too. Conversations are continuing. § Maritime collection shelving is also moving forward. Manufacturing delays mean it’s not installed yet but it should be in place soon. § The library has a staff inservice day scheduled for Sept. 20, but Jeff hopes to move it to Nov. 22. § There is an open board position now, with another that will open when John’s term is up at the end of the year. Jeff plans to interview for both positions on Aug. 27. Applications are still open for those interested in one of the positions. o From Diana: § The teen programs have been going well this summer, with around 10-12 teens at each event, including at least one new teen at each of the event (who hasn’t been at events before).ss § There is a lot of interest in Dungeons and Dragons, so some grant funding is going to help the library host sessions in August and September. Diana is hopeful it will bring in teens who haven’t previously been attending library programs. § Disney trivia was very popular and very competitive § Hosting events at Sugar Mama has been a great fit this summer. Diana hopes to also host events at Pelican next year, when the bookstore is ready for more events there. § Diana plans to attend more high school events next year to connect to new kids. o From Stacy: § There were 328 people at a recent birds of prey event and more than 450 people just at children’s events in one week. § Looking toward next year, Stacy is increasing the accessibility resources for children with dyslexia. This includes training for staff on how to help people access online resources. There are ways to make library resources like Libby and Hoopla more dyslexia-friendly. Training will make it so whoever is at the desk will be able to help families. In the future, she also wants to make kits available. § Scheduling is changing a little this fall. Instead of hosting a library event during the downtown trick-or-treat event, the library is going to host a party a few days before the holiday (though library staff will be at the downtown event to hand out candy to kids). • This party structure will also be used for the winter party (which will include a station with an elf and will replace the elf storytime). • If the parties are successful, the library will use that system for future holidays. • Partnership updates: o Foundation § The Foundation agreed to approach AVS bookkeeping, which it hopes to use for its bookkeeping services. § It is also working with the city to monitor funds that were donated to the city years ago specifically for use by the Foundation. o Friends § There is an upcoming treasurer turnover and planning is in place to schedule training for that. § There is talk of changing the membership, so there will be donors and volunteers and they will be tracked separately. § The Friends talked about how donations will be more important than ever if the city budget is tight this year. • The meeting was adjourned at 9:30 a.m.