Brownsville Public Library System Advisory Board

Brownsville Public Library System Advisory Board Monday April 12, 2021 Minutes Via Zoom Present Juan J. Guerra; James Mccoy; Josie Balboa; Raquel Ayala; Bertha Pena; Shannon Pensa; Maribel; Brenda Trevino; Rubi Gonzalez; Alma Ortiz Knopp; Brenda Trevino; Chase Sundt; Kayla Trevino; Leo Rodriguez; Cynthia Lizette Burnette; Yadira Torres; Eraldo Estrada; Lilia Garcia; Liz ; Mitchell Griffin; Nurinth Galonsky; Veronica Guevara; Voilet Raynaldo, Celia Flores-Feist I.) Call Meeting to Order – Called meeting to order at 5:30 p.m. 2.) Discussion and Action of Approval of Minutes – Ms. Sosa made motion to approve the previous meeting minutes; Amla Ortiz knop seconded motion; Motion passed, minutes approved. 3.) Citizen Comment: No one submitted request for public comment. 4.) Library Report a. Library Services Director Report– Staff and library has a good mentality going forward; excited to move forward with the task force and the board. b. Library Utilization & Services – Mr. Guerra reported that almost after a year we started opening up block schedules of hours the library was open to its patrons. Starting on Monday, the library is going to be open up to 67 hours. We are operating at 25 percent capacity. Silver lining to COVID is that curbside is going to continue c. Easter Under the Canopy – Chase Sundt gave report about Easter Under the Canopy had 977 attendants to the event; FOL helped make this event successful and library staff. Ms. Ayala asked a question about the event; Mr. Sundt answered it was similar to Christmas event from last year, we uploaded the photos they took so the patrons could download them among other things. d. TSLAC annual report – our annual report our expenditures were down because of COVID so we submitted a waiver so we can maintain accredited for the next year; and probably it will be the same thing next year for the other six months we were closed ; we open Monday to 50 percent; 5.) Library’s mission and Vision statement – Ms. Brenda Trevino presented the mission statement and vision statement included diversity and inclusivity. 6.) Library Newsletter; Kayla Trevino presented: We sent our first newsletter April 1 to BISD librarians; For May issue, want to include Idea and Jubilee Academy; We will also start including an activity calendar; Ms. Ayala asked how they were communicating with BISD; Ms. Kayla Trevino stated that she created a email list to distribute the newsletter that she got online from the schools websites; Ms. Sosa asked if letter was being distributed electronically or in any other way; Ms. Kayla Trevino stated that they have begun talking about how else it will be distributed other than electronically but don’t have a hard plan right now. 7.) Library Task Force Introductions – Veronica Guevarra asked how are we going to measure the task force’s work or success? Mr. Guerra answered ; Shannon Pensa glad that Leo is going to be guiding the task force; We talked about statistics that is already being captured by the library; surveys are another great tool; the goals that you set will determine how they are measured; we really want you to be creative and sometimes it seems like there are so many directions you can go; narrowing in on something early on; we want to make ourselves available to you for questions; there are some statistics that could help you with measuring your outcomes. One member asked why the task force came about , Christina - It came about from total alignment behind the city’s mission and the culture they are trying to build to empower the community members; Ms. Pena stated that everyone on the team is excited about the task force ; total alignment is when we got our new city management; The task force met over the weekend. Total alignment is for our staff but its also for the community; Mr. Rodriguez was very helpful, Christina asked if there are any surveys that have been done that are available to us now in terms of demographics 8.) Adjournment – Motion was made to Adjourn; Motion passed unanimously Meeting adjourned.