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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2022-01-10 Library Board of Trustees Minutes Approved ANACORTErr PU BL IC LIBRARY Board of Trustees' Meeting Minutes January 10,2022 9:00 am Board of Trustees Attendees:Nancy Fisher-Allison,Alethea Fleming, Christina Hansen,Courtney Orrock,John Shafer Library Attendees:Sydney Brady,Diana Farnsworth,Michelle Hanna,Jeff Vogel Absent: Leslie Wilson Call to Order The meeting was called to order at 9:05 a.m.by John. Approval of Minutes Minutes from November 2021 meeting were approved. Motion for approval by Courtney, second by Alethea. Introduction of New Trustee Nancy Fisher-Allison was introduced as our newest Trustee,taking the place of Katherine Hamer,who retired at the end of December,2021. Manager Updates Jeff • The new mayor is up and running at City Hall. Jeff has met with him several times and it is going well. Mayor Miller's focus for the next few months is to get to know everyone. • The 2022 library budget was approved as presented,with the exception of funding for a full-time librarian position. • 2022 Goals for the Library: • Children's Area remodel- WorkPointe has ordered a lot of the furniture and supplies but are running into inventory issues along with the rest of the country. We still hope to have this project completed in the first or second quarter of the year. • More staff training opportunities -specifically focusing on mental health awareness and interpersonal skills with those suffering from mental health crises. • We have averaged 8-9,000 people per month coming in the library. Our pre-covid numbers were closer to 11- 12,000 per month,but the growth has been increasing steadily since we re-opened fully in July,2021. • Physical circulation is down 38%but digital circulation is up 38% • We welcomed new staff recently:Zoe,Jhana,and Rebecca are our new Library Assistants. We are now fully staffed with the exception of a full-time Librarian. • The managers will be attending the PLA conference in Portland in March. Sydney • We now have a full complement of Library Assistants. The new folks are a good addition to our team and bring new personalities and dynamics to the staff group,in a good way. • We will be expanding our hours in February. Rather than staying open later,our research indicated that an earlier opening is preferred by most patrons. Therefore,we will begin opening at 10 a.m. Monday through Saturday beginning February 1. We will still close at 6. In the past,the 6-7 p.m.time was the slowest of the day. We are not considering opening on Sundays at this time due to management staffing and low usage on Sundays. When we are able to return to 4 manager/librarians and one Director we may be able to reconsider Sundays, but as of now it is the least popular day at the Library and the staffing needs are prohibitive. • With our full staffing,we may also expand passport appointments on Saturdays as that is by far our most popular day. Stay tuned. Leslie(presented by Jeff) • We once again have fun Take and Make kits for toddlers,kids,and teens. Snowmen made out of doilies and paper for for the toddlers,an artic fox for the elementary kids,and a wood circle for teens to make a snowflake pattern using nails and embroidery floss. We make 125 of these every month and they always go quickly. • We have three new STEAM kits we are rolling out in the next few weeks: o Fisher Price KinderBots for kids 5 and over to learn coding basics o Stickbots stop-motion video with green screen o Volca Synthesizers for making your own music and soundtracks • We have a plan in place to start doing socially distanced in-person programs as soon as it is safe to do so. YS staff have been working with the Washington State Library on some guidelines libraries throughout the state are using. They will take place in the meeting room,with Leslie and Lisa presenting. Maximum of 20 in each session with back-to-back sessions. We have also been discussing this at LMT on a regular basis. • Please stop by the Children's Library any time to get further details on any of these items. Committee Reports • City Departments o Jeff has a meeting with Parks to discuss in-person programs • Foundation o Debbie Aldridge is the new president. They also welcomed 2 new board members:Elizabeth Drozda and Heidi Rooks. • Friends of the Library o The Friends only spent 40%of their 2021 budget. o They received$1,500 in donations in December alone. o The December lobby sale brought in$500. o They are discussing the possibility of opening the FriendShop with a maximum occupancy of 10 inside the shop at any one time. o There is a new donation program,"5 for 5". They will accept up to 5 books at a time that are 5 years or newer. o They rolled out new price tags as of last week to streamline and update the sales process. o Special thanks to Brian Tibbetts for keeping the lobby books for sale restocked. o There is a Friends Board meeting later this week. Unfinished Business: • Archive of Historical board documents:There has not been much change since the last report but we will keep this on the agenda so that it continues to be discussed from time to time. • Budget Narrative: Courtney will be meeting with Jeff and Michelle before the next meeting regarding the statistics we're looking for from 2018 through 2021. The results will be discussed at the next Board meeting. New Business • Nancy will be attending WA Library Legislative Week January 24-28. If there are any questions or issues you would like her to focus on or ask of our legislators,please email her directly. • There was an article on NPR regarding social workers being stationed in Libraries to consult with patrons in crisis. This is a larger discussion than would be better served in person and with a lot more research and thought as there are various opinions on the board as to the whether this is the most effective and efficient way to assist the community,but it is something we will continue exploring as a possibility for reaching and connecting with our vulnerable population. The meeting was closed by John at 10:06 a.m. The next meeting is February 14 via Zoom.