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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2025-11-10 Library Board of Trustees Minutes Approved Board of Trustees’ Meeting Minutes November 10, 2025 9:00 am Board of Trustees Attendees: Alethea Fleming, Briana Alzola Lindquist, Mike VanQuickenborne, Jhana Shimizu, Courtney Orrock Library Attendees: Jeff Vogel, Michelle Hanna, Sydney Brady, Trish Wilson Absent: Stacy Paull Call to Order The meeting was called to order at 9:00 a.m. by Alethea. Approval of Minutes Minutes from October 2025 meeting were approved. Motion for approval by Courtney, second by Jhana. Manager Updates Jeff • The COA Budget process revealed a significant shortfall for 2026. The initial gap between what the departments asked for and the projected revenue was $9 million. After all departments were asked to trim their budgets, there was still a shortfall of approximately $2.5 million. Many options were discussed for making up this deficit including furloughs, closures, and layoffs. In the end, 13 employees throughout the City were laid off on November 7, including 5 from the Library. T his, along with other measures, will allow the 2026 budget to balance. • The immediate effects of the Library losing one quarter of our staff include: o No drop in tech help available o No passport processing for November and December o Significant shift in marketing workload (three quarters of the marketing team was lost) o The 15 who are left will be absorbing the vital duties of the 5 who were lost. We’re still working out how that will work and it will be evolving for the rest of the year. o Scheduling changes may be necessary, but we will work with the union to make these changes with the appropriate notice. • During the budget process it was discovered that 2 of our FTEs were classified incorrectly. This will be adjusted in the 2026 budget for Personnel expenses. • Passport revenue will not meet the budgeted expectations due to the significant decrease in appointment availability. • The annual disbursement from Skagit County for non-resident library users will end after this year. • It was reported in the news that the Library reserve funds were allocated to the general fund to balance the budget. This fund includes the money not used from our annual budgeted amounts and goes into a “reserve” account. Similar funds from the Museum and Parks departments were used. Trish • Skagit Libraries Staff day is November 21. APL is hosting this year and we are excited to see our colleagues again. We will participate in presentations, trainings, and breakout sessions. The Library will be closed all day. Sydney • Scheduling changes are happening due to our personnel losses. We will need to establish a minimum staffing level to have the Library open for safety. Saturdays are going to be the most difficult since 3 of our lost employees were Saturday workers. Losing a manager also puts challenges on the rest of the management team for coverage. Stacy (emailed report) Update • Our fall programs are going well with all our weekly programs and October was very busy with the Escape Room and Halloween Party (almost 300 attendees, thank you Jhana for volunteering at the Halloween Party!). • Currently our Family Place Play and Learn series is running on Tuesday mornings and for the first time we have 10+ specialists joining us over 4 weeks. • In December, we will doing the December Diane Webb Free Book Distribution at all three Anacortes Elementary Schools. I will be going in person to talk to kids about using the library, give them their Winter Reading materials, and a free book. Asks • Our Winter Party is coming up on December 9th. We get somewhere between 200 and 300 people at these events. Staffing the event is now going to be more difficult. Would any board members be willing to help us during the event and/or for 30 minutes after with clean up? The event is Tuesday, December 9th from 4-5:30pm. We will need volunteers between 3:30 and 6pm. • If a Board Member would like to join me at Fidalgo or Island View Elementary schools for the free book distributions on December 5 or 12 they would be very welcome. I am at the schools between 8 and 4 pm. If you would like to join for any part of either day that would be very helpful. Partnership Updates • Foundation: o Jhana reported that the foundation board is doing background checks on a new part-time bookkeeper. o Diane Munce is stepping down from the board after many years of service. o The foundation will be presenting their budget this month. Along the budget lines, Hoopla continues to rise in cost. It may be time to move away from Hoopla toward an APL-only catalog on Libby. • Friends of the Library: o Courtney reported that coffee table books are on sale this month. o The next book sale is December 6 from 10-3. • Maritime: no update • Manieri: The committee will begin discussing the 2026 budget soon. Jazz events continue regularly and are very well-received. General Updates • New policy discussion: Local Author Submissions o There was general discussion centered around the collection development policy as well as what defines “local”. The Board will continue this discussion by email throughout the month and the policy will be revised and/or voted on at the meeting in December. • The Board will postpone the Director’s evaluation until the December meeting. The meeting was adjourned by Briana at 10:15 a.m. The next meeting is December 8 at 9 a.m. at the Library.