HomeMy WebLinkAboutDraft Minutes - Library Board of Trustees - 11/10/2022 - Library Advocacy
Draft Minutes South Burlington Library Board of Trustees Thursday, November 10 2022 5:30 pm Location: Board room – South Burlington Public Library and Virtual online
Members Present: Lauren Ballard Hatch, Lee Freeman, Kevin Morgenstein Fuerst, Anne Gilson LaLonde, Patrick Leduc, Holly Painter, Stacey Pape, Rebecca Stazi, Donna Swartwout, Penelope Tompkins, Margery Vagt
Members Absent: Ted Lenski
Staff Members Present: Jennifer Murray
Friends of the Library Present: Sue Raatikainen
Call to Order Chair Called the Meeting to Order at 5:36 pm Review of Library Exits The Chair reviewed how trustees should exit the meeting when the library is closed. Additions and deletions to the posted agenda There will not be a vote on the proposed committee changes at this time. Comments and questions from the public not related to items on the agenda None Approval of regular board minutes of September 8, 2022 Upon a motion made by Trustee Margery Vagt and seconded by Trustee Anne Gilson LaLonde, the Trustees voted unanimously to accept the minutes of the October 13, 2022 Board of Trustees Meeting. Chair’s Report The Chair recognized and celebrated the fact that the library for the moment is fully staffed. Several members of the Board participated in a social media campaign called BookFace. On November 18th, Jennifer Murray and Stacey Pape will meet with the City Manager to review the South Burlington Public Library’s Strategic Plan that was approved the Board of Trustees. There is a meeting on November 30 to present the library’s proposal for a shared van. Board members are encouraged to attend the meeting or join via Zoom. The Chair shared a list of the holidays that we should work around our meeting times. The chair will send out an email to solicit support for ways to show gratitude to the library staff.
Postponed for a future meeting: approval of updated committee charges. The chair will provide additional information and when approved the committee charges will be posted on the library website so that future
Board of Trustees might understand committee expectations. Friends of the Library Report Booksale ● It was a good sale, not a great sale.
● 175 people attended over 3 days/ about 50 fewer people than the last sale, the beautiful 75 degree weather did not encourage people to go indoors. ● Revenue was lower than the last 2 sales (will share amount in December) ● Community support and appreciation was evident.
Bookshop ● October sales were great- $530.39 (included some $ from Better World Books).
● Donations- Open again for all categories. Illuminate VT ● The Friends will have a mini-sale Dec.16 and 17 from 4-8pm in front of the library stairs.
Winter Concert Series ● Starts in January, dates forthcoming.
Committee Reports
Finance Committee Report No report.
Governance and Nomination Committee Report
The committee shared the revised policies regarding photographing patrons in the library (including those
patrons under the age of 18). All three policies will now have the same language regarding photographing patrons in the library.
Upon a motion made by Trustee Margery Vagt and seconded by Trustee Patrick Leduc, the Trustees
voted unanimously to accept with the proposed edits to the Privacy Policy, the Patron Code of Conduct Policy and the Child Safety Policy.
Advocacy Committee Report
• Encourage BOT members to take BookFace photos at beginning of meeting
• Met with Charlotte Carr of the library to hear more about Instagram channel maintenance and tactics she is interested in pursuing. We will support Charlotte and Kathryn where we can in terms of providing ready to go content.
• We recommended boosting the post around the November 5th "But Why" event with Jane Lindholm. Jane Lindholm shared the Library's IG post on her story.
• The Advocacy Committee last met on October 20, 2022 and discussed: o Opportunity to optimize the library’s presence on Find and Go Seek website to ensure programming is captured fully
o Committee members talked about their findings around marketing/comms when researching other libraries beyond SBPL o Discussion around how to maximize video content on digital/social channels; opportunity to tailor the short video created by Lee as a “thank you” for other uses tied to upcoming
library specific commemoration moments (e.g. in April for National Library Week and National Library Workers Day). May need some light editing of current video.
o Discussion around investigating engaging the firm who created the original ASPIRE launch video to create a similar in feel/tone thank you video for donors which is in
keeping with the overall brand and reflective of a $1M campaign. o Brief mention around upcoming Illuminate VT, A Winter Artisan Festival event in December and how to support. More discussion needed.
• The Advocacy Committee meets on November 17, 2022. Director’s Report (submitted written report) Upcoming Calendar: Vietnam Era veterans pinning ceremony on Nov. 10, 3pm Excel training - bring device or borrow device – on Nov. 17, 6pm Kids Chess Club starts on Sat. Nov. 19, 10:30am
Aspiring novelists can join same at several NaNoWriMo write-in sessions (South Burlington Public Library)
Nov. 30 is the presentation to Council about the book van. The third elementary program for ELL families is coming up. The school contact got a grant for the year so we may work with them on other events as well.
Thanks to Rebecca for the ongoing invitation to Senior Lunch. It’s been a great way to get different staff doing outreach. If any other department would like a library card sign up, book talk, Little Free Library...let me know. Also thank you to Brett for his warm welcome to Mira at Rec’s Night Sky event where she introduced the telescope. Working with Ilona to include a permanent storywalk off of Garden Street.
We will be recognizing Veterans at the 11/10 Vietnam Era pinning and also in March at a panel discussion, “What it’s like to go to war” and a Veterans’ Town Hall. We are currently interviewing for the FT Circulation Specialist. This is a big season for circulation of the tabletop telescope. Send folks our way. Same with some gardening tools. The Friends of the Library will start taking donations on Nov. 10. Volunteers are here M- Sa 10:30-12:30 to accept donations. If those hours don’t work, Circ desk staff can accept books within those criteria. We are finding that every corner of the library is in use by at least one person. When the larger rooms are not reserved they are open for group study or for several individuals to use. It’s helpful if everyone understands that those spaces are to be shared – nobody can claim it for themselves and close the door. Large rooms are not reserved for individuals. If the opportunity arises, please talk up the self-checkout machines. Bird of Vermont Museum has set up a small display in the KidSpace. Mira and Larry have been working together to designate a public PC with accessibility features for sight impaired patrons. We are actively onboarding some new staff. Julia Wagner is the 19-hour Adult Assistant. She grew up in South Burlington and has returned to the area. We hope to offer our remaining two positions in the coming week. It’s been pointed out that we have had a lot of turnovers since moving to the new building – only four of us ever worked at the high school.
Drag Queen Storytime went well. We hoped for the best and prepared for the worst...and got
the best. Only two complaining calls and few FB posts. 46 people enjoyed the show and a couple of kids asked the important questions – “are you a boy or a girl?”
Two middle school programs are happening this month. Kelly is focusing on this part of our goals, as we consider teens to be underserved by the library. Kelly decided that her role as supervisor would be enhanced if she asked Alyssa to handle the regular story times. This has definitely allowed her to work on bigger picture projects, including a
National Life grant with the foundation team. With the strategic plan approved, Jennifer is starting the goal setting process with supervisors, using the outline of themes to focus our work. Donna and three staff members, Logan, Natacha and Almy, discussed a Patron Behavior
Standard Operating Procedure which is being reviewed by staff before going to Greg, Shawn and then Colin to make sure we are clear and legal.
Thanks to Governance committee for ongoing work on policies, to Ted for attending the presentation to Andrew and Martha, and to Advocacy for meeting with staff to figure out possible new directions for social media. The new books celebrating diverse cultures are here and on display! We have so much adult
nonfiction that we are using the counter around the stairs. Please come take a look. In addition to the documentation to help staff feel more engaged in problem solving with difficult
patrons and situations, Shawn and Damir met with building staff. I got some concrete ideas to add to the safety documents that will be part of our orientation and ongoing training. Once
completed I will share with other department heads who may experience difficulties with building users.
Supervisors continue to train new staff and we hope to be fully staffed this month. Charlotte has started to revise prime web pages – look at the Children’s page to see the new
look. Children’s staff have planned a few author visits, most recently from the kid’s podcast “But Why?”
Library participation in Illuminate VT is all set with 4 performers and a mini book sale in the library living room. This is Dec. 16 and 17, 4-7pm.
Streamlining volunteer orientation and record keeping.
FYI: staff feedback following the arrest in the library is that building staff want to be part of the solution to security problems; want recognition that staff have a stake in incidents that occur in the
building; want to build trust with SBPD. Lesson learned for Jennifer was that it’s not just library staff who need to process difficult situations in the building (thank you Paul!) and that in the future we will
process dangerous situations more quickly.
Jennifer clarified a few questions from the Trustees regarding her written report. Jennifer then led the Trustees in a discussion around the City’s Comprehensive Plan and how the board will engage in the
process. Brainstorming questions for the public were discussed. Other Business None Meeting Adjournment
Seeing no other business, the Chair adjourned the meeting at 6:56 pm.