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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes 11 21 2019 LABMinutes 11 21 2019 LAB Page 1 Library Advisory Board November 21, 2019 Assembly: The Library Advisory Board met in Regular Session on Thursday, 11/21/19 at 2:00 p.m. at Main Library in Wilmington, NC. Board Members Brewington, Jan PRESENT Chadurjian, Denise PRESENT Conlon, Dennis PRESENT Damutz, Amy EXCUSED Dodd, Scott EXCUSED Guenther, Joy PRESENT Miles, Linda PRESENT Montwieler, Katherine PRESENT Shore, Sam EXCUSED Smith, Ida EXCUSED Smith, Paul PRESENT Zimmer, Ronna PRESENT Staff Members & Board Reps. Tom Brimberry (FOL Rep), Paige Owens (Library Director), Yvette Mays (Admin), Jimi Rider (Main Branch Manager) Denise Chadurjian convened the meeting at 2:00 p.m. Welcome Denise Chadurjian welcomed the board introduced herself as the new Chair to the Board. Public Comment None Agenda Review Agenda was approved by consent. Approval of previous minutes The minutes from the past board meeting on 10/17/19 were sent to the board prior to the meeting for review. Motion: Dennis Conlon MOVED, SECONDED by Joy Guenther, to accept the minutes of the 10/17/19 meeting as written. Upon vote, the MOTION WAS CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. Correspondence Paige Owens had to attend a budget meeting this afternoon. In her absence, Branch Mgr., Jimi Rider presented the library’s correspondence for the month. Jimi Rider distributed several positive letters and notes to the board for review: A card from a child and parent to Scooter Hayes, a note from a kid to the children’s library, a post card from Beverly Tetterton, a Thank you card from CF Literacy and a Thank you letter from Rebecca Taylor to Travis Souther for speaking at the Federal Point Historic Preservation Society. In addition to these, we received a letter from a patron at Northeast who was not pleased with the sign welcoming LGBT+ patrons. She felt this was not welcoming to everyone and that the library should remain neutral. Paige Owens spoke with the staff and Northeast and they did locate a new sign that Minutes 11 21 2019 LAB Page 2 reads, “Libraries are for Everyone” and portrays images of all groups in the Library sign format. These new signs have been purchased for each branch and will be arriving soon. Since the letter was addressed to the LAB, Jimi Rider asked the Chair if she would like to respond back directly to the individual. She and the board agreed that they will reply with the NHCPL. The Library will draft the letter for the board to review. Friends of the Library Report presented by Tom Brimberry.  Membership increased with new and renewal members to about 500.  Holiday gift wrapping at Barnes & Noble on Dec. 16th from 9am – 9pm to generate publicity and about $150.  LEAD Awards (Leadership, Experimentation, Advocacy, Development): Staff submitted proposals through Oct. 31st, with evaluation and awards to 7 applications totaling over $5,000. Biodegradable beach toys to checkout in collaboration with Wrightsville Beach Sea Turtle Project, continuing education at school and conferences, puppets for children’s programs, bike locks at all branches, arcade night programs, and plaques to recognize elementary schools winning Battle of the Books.  Friends of NC Libraries meeting in Burlington. Mayor has book club meetings 2 times a year. Libraries now community centers that schools used to be. Value of partnerships.  Monday, Dec. 9th at noon, Keenan House Holiday Luncheon: Members from Friends Board, Foundation Board and Library Advisory Board. Foundation Board Report Ronna Zimmer thanked all the board members who attended the Foundation’s Fall Luncheon. The board is working on the Fall Mailing that will be coming out after Thanksgiving. Director’s Report Paige Owens submitted the Director’s report to the board prior to the meeting. In addition to the report she reported the following: New Hanover County news Budget kickoff for FY20-21 takes place today. By mid-January we will have a draft budget for the library. Information from the State Library Our library has been selected as a site for North Carolina African American Heritage Commission (NCAAHC)’s Freedmen’s Bureau Transcribe-a-thon in the Spring or Summer of 2020. Dozens of volunteers will receive training and spend 4 hours transcribing Freemen’s Bureau records. We’ll have more information on this as plans are confirmed. NHCPL News Facilities  Pine Valley o The contractors punch-list has been completed. Other than warranty issues, maintenance and repairs are now the responsibility of New Hanover County o Coffee service is proving expensive. Will be looking at alternative options in 2020. o Staff continue to select equipment and materials to fill out the makerspace and children’s area. Minutes 11 21 2019 LAB Page 3 o Striping was added to the parking lot driveways, making navigation safer  Northeast Library o Hurricane Recovery operations have been scaled back and no longer include the Azalea Room in the EDC. There continue to be a few bookings for federal bankruptcy court in the Oleander Room.  Main Library o No news on Project Grace o Progress is being made on an Adult Education Center on the 1st floor o Worn second floor seating was replaced with wood chairs from the Myrtle Grove Library  Pleasure Island o No news on the lease situation in the adjacent space Technology  The fallout of the Windows 10 upgrade in our public access computers has been addressed, with improved access  A team of IT and library staff are brainstorming long-term sustainable solutions for public access computing  A migration of our library software to a 3rd party vendor was performed over the Veteran’s Day weekend. At the same time, a major upgrade to the software was implemented. Staff  Our Staff Development Day team is hard at work planning for February 17. The challenge this year is balancing required and recommended county trainings with library-specific trainings. The schedule continues to be reworked. Teresa Bishop, Pleasure Island manager, is the lead on Staff Development Day.  Due to difficulties filling the children’s associate position at the NE Library, we have arranged for the lateral transfer of the Main children’s associate, Regina Kent, to NE. Our current adult outreach (ALOHA) associate is transferring to the Main children’s associate position. Mary Kleinfeldt was a children’s associate for several years before moving to adult outreach. We will post for the ALOHA position, which we anticipate will be easier to fill.  We are currently interviewing for a 20-hour assistant at the Pleasure Island Library after the transition of the former 20-hour assistant to a full time floating position  New Hanover County is piloting a telework option for selected employees. The library’s Virtual Services Librarian, Hannah Bowser, is now working from home on Wednesdays as part of the pilot program  We have been informed by Human Resources that progress has been made on a management team staffing concept for the library, but we are waiting for the plan to be finalized. Committee Reports Community Engagement Denise Chadurjian stated that she would like for the Board to host informational sessions for local non-profits. The event could be held at the Main Library for local groups to set up informational tables to share information to the public about their groups. After discussions, the board elected to think about this concept more and be prepared to discuss further at the next meeting. Minutes 11 21 2019 LAB Page 4 New Business Proposed Library Holiday Hours Jimi Rider presented the following draft: Motion: Ronna Zimmer MOVED, SECONDED by Paul Smith, to accept the 2020 Proposed NHCPL Holiday closing as written. Upon vote, the MOTION WAS CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. Minutes 11 21 2019 LAB Page 5 LAB Volunteer Opportunities Denise Chadurjian asked the board to look at volunteer opportunities within the library. She had volunteered at the book sale and felt that it would be a great way for all board members to support the library. Old Business Bird Boxes in Story Park Amy Damutz was unable to make the meeting today. This will be moved to the next meeting’s agenda. 12/9 Luncheon Headcount The Friends of the Library have graciously invited all library boards to their holiday luncheon at the Kenan House on 12/9. All interested members signed up. Final Business Denise Chadurjian asked the board to review the current committees. The Pine Valley Ad Hoc was dropped. Linda Miles signed up for the Policy Committee and Joy Guenther signed up for the Intellectual Freedom Committee Adjournment Meeting adjourned 2:40 p.m. Please note that the above minutes are not a verbatim record of the Library Advisory Board meeting.