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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2022-03-14 Library Board of Trustees Minutes Approved ANACORTErr PU BL IC LIBRARY Board of Trustees' Meeting Minutes March 14,2022 9:00 am Board of Trustees Attendees:Nancy Fisher-Allison,Alethea Fleming, Christina Hansen,Courtney Orrock,John Shafer Library Attendees:Michelle Hanna,Jeff Vogel, Leslie Wilson Absent: Sydney Brady, Diana Farnsworth Call to Order The meeting was called to order at 9:04 a.m.by John. Approval of Minutes Minutes from February 2022 meeting were approved. Motion for approval by Courtney, second by Christina. Manager Updates Jeff • Saturday, March 12 was the first day of "no masks". Most Library staff kept their masks on by choice. About half of the patrons wore masks while in the building. It all seemed to go well. • Policy on Collection Development: Jeff read excerpts from the Library's web page (Library>Board>Policies)to refresh our memories. He also read parts of the Library Bill of Rights. He summarized the APL position that the Library offers free access to materials to all, including minors. It is not the Library's job to step into the parental role,but rather parents must choose to oversee their child's reading if they feel strongly about it. • We have a process for objecting to a specific book in the collection. It is called the Request for Reconsideration, and it goes to a librarian. If the matter cannot be resolved with an in-depth conversation between the objector and the librarian,the request will go to the Board for final decision. This has happened only once in Jeff's tenure at the Library, so he stressed the importance of the good conversation first. A more recent situation includes Leslie's proactive actions with the Dr. Seuss books last year. • Jeff, Leslie, and Diana will all be gone next week Tuesday-Saturday for the annual PLA conference which is being held in Portland this year. Bret Lunsford will be available to the Library if we need managerial assistance, and the police officers will make an extra effort to swing by and check in around closing time. Leslie • This Friday is the first in-person story time since COVID began. We're so excited to start this but we are going to open it slowly. This Friday will be a dry-run by invitation only to test out our plans of 20 maximum guests, by ticket only, and 2 back to back storytimes, one at 10:00 and one at 10:45. • Leslie reiterated that the Library serves all people with varying beliefs and religions and that it is not up to the Library staff to censor books. • The Children's library has been very busy since the student cards were handed out at conferences. This past week our daily people count averaged between 74 and 97. • All STEAM kits from the Shell grant are in circulation and continue to be very popular. • March Madness is in full swing. The vote tally ends at Midnight on Monday evening and the new voting week begins Tuesday. • The renovation plans are moving forward. The plans have exceeded our financial gift from the Maxson's so Leslie will approach the Foundation tomorrow to request a small amount of additional funds to complete the project. • WorkPointe has estimated that it will take 3 months to complete the renovations. We hope that the Children's area will remain partially open but we may need to move temporarily into another space, such as the Fireside area. Committee Reports • Foundation o The most recent mailing focused mainly on revamping the Foundation brochure and updating it with QR codes. • Friends of the Library o Most of the discussion at the last meeting centered around the FriendShop. The FriendShop will be open Mondays and Fridays from 10 a.m.to noon. The Board is discussing a new, streamlined pricing system for the books which should eliminate confusion. Some book prices will be more negotiable than others. • Manieri o Second Sunday concerts at Buxton's are going well. They plan to continue at Buxton's for the April concert,then return to the Library for May. The Summer concerts will be held at the Heart of Anacortes as they were in the past since the property is staying with the City for the foreseeable future. Unfinished Business: • Courtney: Data collection report o Data collection continues,and we hope to present a new graph with updated information next month. • Christina:Archive project o Since there is no real urgency for completion of this project,the synthesizing of historical Board minutes and notable events continues slowly but steadily. New Business • Social Worker: o Nancy has been reading Ryan Dowd's book"The Librarian's Guide to Homelessness". She finds it very helpful and engaging and will send relevant excerpts to the Board. Leslie will also send some Ryan Dowd info to the Board and a link to some previous trainings the City has hosted. Courtney will send the HACS meeting link and slide show to the Board. o Jeff is in communication with Dustin from the Family Center. Dustin will be invited to a Board meeting and an all-staff meeting in the near future. Since Dustin has a busy schedule,it is possible that he will present at the staff meeting and we will invite Board members to attend instead of asking him to lead 2 similar meetings. Jeff will report back with confirmation of the meeting date and details. • Board Officer Elections: o Traditionally,the Board nominates new officers at the March meeting and votes to approve them in April. Nominations are as follows: ■ Christina Hansen,President ■ Courtney Orrock,Vice President ■ Alethea Fleming,Secretary ■ Nancy Fisher-Allison, Friends of the Library liaison. ■ John will continue as the Foundation liaison. The meeting was closed by John at 9:52 a.m. The next meeting is at 9 a.m.on April 11 in person at the Library, in the Community Meeting Room.