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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes 10 15 2020 LABMinutes 10 15 2020 LAB Page 1 Library Advisory Board October 15, 2020 Assembly: The Library Advisory Board met in Regular Session on Thursday, at 2:00 p.m. via WebEx. Board Members Baish, Mary Alice PRESENT Brewington, Jan PRESENT Chadurjian, Denise PRESENT Conlon, Dennis PRESENT Damutz, Amy EXCUSED Dodd, Scott PRESENT Guenther, Joy EXCUSED Maurer, Kevin PRESENT Miles, Linda PRESENT Montwieler, Katherine EXCUSED Smith, Ida PRESENT Zimmer, Ronna PRESENT Staff Members & Board Reps. Tom Brimberry (FOL Rep), Paige Owens (Library Director), Yvette Mays (Admin) Welcome Chair Jan Brewington convened the meeting at 2:04 p.m. She introduced the new Slate of Officers to the board. Chair – Jan Brewington Vice Chair – Scott Dodd Secretary – Joy Guenther Board Members  The board welcomed and introduced themselves to new member, Kevin Maurer.  The board also welcomed guest Sheryl Kelly. She is the new Assistant County Manager. Public Comment No members of the public present Agenda Review Agenda accepted. Approval of previous minutes The minutes from the last board meeting on September 17, 2020 were sent to the board prior to the meeting for review. Motion: Denise Chadurjian MOVED, SECONDED by Ida Smith, to accept the minutes of the 9/17/2020 meeting as written. Upon vote, the MOTION WAS CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. Minutes 10 15 2020 LAB Page 2 Correspondence Paige Owens reported that the Friends of the Library forwarded a notecard they received from a citizen praising library staff and thanking the library for the addition of the new Hoopla Service. Friends of the Library Tom Brimberry was not present for the meeting. Paige Owens reported that the Friends had recently set up a Breakfast & Yogurt bar at each location for staff and were continuing to partner with Paws4People to send out the service dogs monthly to each branch. Library Foundation No report at this time. The Foundation’s next meeting is Nov. 15th Director’s Report Paige Owens presented and discussed the following report. Health and Safety  Library employees impacted by COVID last month are healthy and back at work  No positive tests or quarantines since the cases in September Operations  Curbside suspended at Pine Valley and Northeast during early voting  Main Library and Northeast Library will be polling places on Election Day. Main Library will be closed due to the 1st floor being used for voting.  Otherwise, we are continuing to maintain the service model we’ve had since mid-August  Curbside pick-ups have been slowing down. Example: Pine Valley down nearly 50% the first week in October from the first full week of September from 347 to 189. Now about 45 per day.  We surveyed staff about possible next steps. Not changes are planned in the immediate future due to the disruption of voting and the current direction of the state COVID statistics Facilities  NHC Parks has begun work on the Pine Valley landscaping. First step was to eliminate current plantings, which had become overgrown with weeds. Parking lot islands and the front of the library will be planted with shrubs. Grass will be planted around the building.  Outdoor furniture has been ordered for Pine Valley  New scanners have been added to the Local History Room for use in digitizing collections.  Large format laminator has arrived and set up for staff use at Main Library  Fires Services has moved into the Military Cutoff side offices of the Northeast Library  With students returning to in person learning, and the challenges of early voting, we decided library study space is not a priority at this time Staff  We are in various stages of posting and hiring for 5 positions. The process is moving smoothly.  Our Virtual Services Librarian, Hannah Bowser, has accepted a job with one of our library software vendors, creating an additional position we’ll soon be hiring for. Minutes 10 15 2020 LAB Page 3 Budget  Spending and planning are stable at the moment. County departments will begin the budget planning process next month for FY21-22. Library Director goals FY20-21  Community survey DELEGATED TO JIMI RIDER AND NEW MAIN LIBRARIAN— JANUARY  Main Library basement clean-up UNDERWAY  Social work internship partnership with RECEIVED FINAL APPROVAL ON SOCIAL WORKER PROGRAM MANAGER POSITION. WILL POST AFTER LIBRARIAN HIRED.  Fine relief program ON HOLD NO OVERDUE FINES BEING CHARGED DURING COVID  LSTA grant application for community deposit collections APPLICATION DUE MARCH 1, 2021  Pine Valley landscape UNDERWAY  Policy review DELEGATED TO NE MANAGER LEIGH THOMAS. SHE IS BUILDING A TEAM AT THIS TIME  Contract with new public printing vendor by end of FY SPRING 2021. DELEGATED TO JIMI RIDER. CONSULTING WITH COUNTY IT ON NEXT STEPS. In addition to the report, Paige Owens also went over the 2019-2020 Service Summary that was sent out to the board prior to the meeting. She compared percentages of this year vs. last year. After the report, the board was interested in the library’s eBook resources. Paige Owens stated that she will have Librarian Margaret Miles attend the next meeting and talk about our material acquisitions. Committee Reports none New Business Committee Assignments  Mary Alice requested to be assigned to the Strategic Issues and the Policy committees.  Chair Jan Brewington asked the board to review the Committees and to email her if they wanted to be added/removed from a committee.  The board also discussed the Ad Hoc committees and elected to include Project Grace as a sub-committee under Strategic Issues. The committee types and board member assignments are as follows: 2020 Library Advisory Board Committees Each Board member is assigned by the Chairman of the Board to one or more committees. Each committee meets only when there is business to be conducted and the meetings are generally held at breakout sessions during regularly scheduled board meeting. If necessary additional meeting may be called at a time convenient for the majority of committee members. Minutes 10 15 2020 LAB Page 4 STANDING COMMITTEES Strategic Issues: This committee assists the Library’s Management team in its annual review of the Strategic Plan. The committee helps ensure that the objectives and measures used to validate the plan make sense to the general public and relate to Library’s mission. This committee also reviews any long range or strategic incentives considered by the Library. Committee Members: Mary Alice Baish, Amy Damutz, Ronna Zimmer, Katherine Montwieler, Dennis Conlon Policy Committee: This committee reviews the Library Rules and Regulations and recommends to the Board any revisions that are proposed by the staff to keep the document current. Committee Members: Mary Alice Baish, Denise Chadurjian, Jan Brewington, Ida Smith, Linda Miles Intellectual Freedom: This committee meets only when an item in the Library’s collection has been formally requested by a patron for reconsideration. Library staff provides members of the committee with appropriate reviews and other documentation to help evaluate the request. The committee then recommends to the entire board what if any actions should be taken. Committee Members: Joy Guenther, Dennis Conlon, Jan Brewington AD HOC COMMITTEES These are generally sub-committees of an existing Standing committee assigned to do the preliminary work associated with a major initiative. Members of these committees are assigned by the Board Chair and meet only when necessary. From time-to-time the Chair may create additional stand-alone Ad Hoc Committees to address issues not covered by an existing Standing Committee. Strategic Issues sub-committee: Project Grace This committee works with the Library Director and staff to ensure that the plans for design of a new downtown facility meet the community’s needs and adequately address the space and furnishing needs of the service. Committee Members: Amy Damutz, Katherine Montwieler, Dennis Conlon, Jan Brewington, Ida Smith Old Business Review of LAB By-Laws The By-Laws were sent to the board, prior to the meeting today, for review.  Paige Owens requested to omit the word “his” from the last sentence in Article III, Section 5.  Scott Dodd submitted his written proposal to consider rewording Article I to the following: Proposed Article I- Purpose revision: "The purpose of the New Hanover County Public Library Advisory Board shall be: 1. To develop necessary policies for the efficient and responsive operation of the County's public library system. 2. to make recommendations to the County Manager and County Commissioners concerning the operating and capital needs of the library. 3. to actively promote the library's service program 4. to work for the continued improvement of library services offered by the County. Minutes 10 15 2020 LAB Page 5 5. to advise and counsel the Library Director regarding the responsibility of the physical plants and equipment, for the employment and direction of the staff, for the library service to the public, and for the operation of the libraries under the financial conditions set forth in the library budget." Chair Jan Brewington asked the board to think about the proposed changes and a vote will be held at the next meeting. Adjournment Chair Jan Brewington adjourned the meeting at 2:59 p.m. Please note that the above minutes are not a verbatim record of the Library Advisory Board meeting.