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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes 09 18 25 LABMinutes 09 19 2025 LAB Library Advisory Board Minutes September 18, 2025 Assembly: The Library Advisory Board met in the Regular Session on Thursday, September 18th at 1:30 pm at the Pine Valley Library. Board Members Assael, Shaun EXCUSED Carbone, Liz EXCUSED Clinton, Ann PRESENT Colin, Emily EXCUSED Dodd, Scott EXCUSED Haragan, Ellen PRESENT Kozik, Lynn PRESENT Lawler, Patricia EXCUSED Niggl, Paul PRESENT Salter, Tiffany EXCUSED Sheridan, Earl PRESENT Smith, Harriet PRESENT Staff Members & Board Reps. Conners, Dana PRESENT Mays, Yvette PRESENT Zimmer, Ronna (Foundation Rep) EXCUSED Petcovic, Monica (Friends Rep) PRESENT Lisa Wurtzbacher PRESENT Welcome Lynn Kozik convened the meeting at 1:30 pm. Database Spotlight Joe Sheppard presented Fold 3. You can access Fold3 through your library card to search for military and non-military records, including pension records, Native American collections, and more. Over 640 million records are available. Fun Fact: Search Project Blue Book for UFO investigations from 1947 – 1969. Public Comment None Agenda Review Approved Approval of Previous Minutes No quorum. Move to next month for approval. Minutes 09 19 2025 LAB NHC Friends of the Public Library • No report Library Foundation • No report Director’s Report Dana introduced Tiffany Savage as the new branch manager of the Pine Valley Library. Main Library in the Grace District • The Ribbon Cutting for the new main library will be October 6 at 2:00 p.m. • Staff moved into the library 2 weeks ago and have been busy preparing the new site. • Still working on small issues • Furnishing from the old site will be sold as surplus on govdeals.com • Cape Fear Development will take over the 201 Chestnut site in late November. Currently, we do not have information on their final plans for the site. • Free parking on the deck will still be available to patrons. • 230 Grace St will be called the main library. Project Grace was the name for the project and is not the name of our library. • The Museum space is still under construction. They will open in July 2026. • Public art on the site was cut due to budget restraints. Northchase Library • Building to be dried in by Nov/Dec. • Estimated completion is April 2026. • No new staff were approved for the Northchase Library. We will use 9 existing staff members to fill those roles. • Book budget for Northchase Library was reduced. Book Sale proceeds and Library Foundation funds will be needed. Budget • The library did cut 6 part-time employees. With less staff to cover evening and weekends there will be a reduction in programs. • Courier runs were cut from 5 days to 4 days a week. • Outreach & CORE services have been eliminated. • Outside the library and after-hours programs have been cut. • 50% of the Supply budget was cut. This will affect programming supplies. • NHC is in a hiring freeze. We have been able to replace 2 recent part-time staff members who are leaving. This allows us to keep our current staff numbers the same. Minutes 09 19 2025 LAB Cape Fear Bookfest • Will be held on Saturday, Nov. 15th & Sunday, Nov. 16th at the Main Library. • 50 authors have signed up. • Day 1: Workshops for local aspiring writers. • Day 2: A local author book sale. Authors from Pender, Brunswick, and New Hanover counties will host book sale and signing tables in the lobby and multipurpose room. • Updated on website: https://www.nhcgov.com/2873/Cape-Fear-Book-Festival New Business Nominations for Slate of Officers • We do not have a quorum at today’s meeting. The committee will present their nominations at the October meeting. • If you are interested in making a nomination or in accepting the office of Chair, Vice Chair or Secretary, please reach out to Tiffany Salter, Emily Colin & Earl Sheridan. Policy Revision – Library Meeting Room Policy • Dana Conners presented the updated Library Meeting Room Policy for review. This was submitted to the board prior to the meeting today. • Updates reflect consistency in all other library policies and the county’s policy on meeting spaces. • Each change was reviewed and discussed. • The Board’s requests for additional changes to the policy will be made to the document and presented at the next meeting. Northeast Library • The Northeast Library will celebrate 25 years this month. • The Friends of the Library have moved book donations out of the storage trailers and into the annex side of the library. • The site will be included in next year’s fiscal year capital improvements requests for renovation or replacement. Second Focus Area of Access that meets people where they are Dana presented the board with additional information on the following targets discussed at the last meeting. Target #7: Develop at least three innovative sustained partnerships to provide limited library services in underserved communities. • This is still very much in the planning phase Minutes 09 19 2025 LAB • When resources are available, we will utilize the results from the 2024 Hispanic Community Needs Assessment to guide partnerships. • We have also been exploring ways to support 3rd grade reading initiatives which support children reading on grade level by 4th grade when they transition from learning to read to reading to learn. Note: These are long-term partnerships such as Class Project. Target #8: Parents who attend early literacy programs feel more confident in helping their children learn (percentage meets or exceeds national average). Strategies staff are using to increase the percentage of parents who report feeling more confident helping their children learn after attending early literacy programs. 1. State Purpose of Storytime and/or write it on the dry erase board. Storytime helps children get ready to learn to read. During each storytime we share tips to build your knowledge and confidence to continue helping your child get ready to learn. 2. Promote 1,000 Books Before Kindergarten. 3. Coming Soon: Give a monthly early literacy tip handout with QR code to our website with more information. 4. Early Literacy Calendar from Public Library Association. Target #9: Provide at least one new program or service annually at each branch on how to use digital resources. • Working to identify the programs for FY 2026 by October 1, 2025. • Presented a list of FY 2025 programs for review. Target #10: 75% of respondents report that library programs and services are offered at times that meet their needs. • The library continues to survey patrons on times and days that best fit their needs. • Results show that 80% of library programs and services are offered at times that meet their needs. Old Business None. Adjournment Motion: Ann Clinton MOVED, SECONDED by Earl Sheridan to adjourn the meeting. The board adjourned the meeting at 2:47 p.m. Our next meeting will be October 16th at the Main Library Please note that the above minutes are not a verbatim record of the Library Advisory Board meeting.