Brownsville Public Library System Advisory Board

Brownsville Public Library System Advisory Board Monday February 14, 2022 Minutes Hybrid Present Board: Rubi Gonzalez, Alma Knopp, George E. Olivo, Christopher Pineda, Cynthia Lizardi-Burtlette, Rachel Ayala Guests: James McCoy, Carlos Romero, Brenda Trevino, Josephine Balboa, Maribel De Leon, Cassandra Mendez, Lisa Rodriguez, Katie Hernandez 1) Call Meeting to Order – Meeting was called to order at 5:30pm. 2) Discussion and Action of Approval of Minutes – There are four sets of minutes to be approved. First, August 9th minutes. Mr. Pineda asked if the date was incorrect for August, based on the email sent out. Ms. De Leon stated that the email was incorrect, and the physical copies in their hands have the correct date. Mr. Olivo asked if the newer members could vote on the minutes since they were not members at those meetings. Ms. De Leon stated that they could. Mrs. Knopp motioned for the approval of the August minutes; Mr. Olivo seconded. Next, November 8th, and Ms. Gonzalez asked the board if any changes needed to be made, if not then she asked for a motion. Mr. Olivo motioned for approval and Mrs. Knopp seconded. Next, December 13th minutes, Mrs. Knopp motioned to approve, Mr. Olivo seconded. Final, January 10th minutes. Mr. Pineda asked for his name to be corrected, and to separate the board members vs. guests so the public will know who the board members are. Minutes will be approved pending the changes. Mr. Olivo motioned for approval; Mr. Pineda seconded. All members vote aye on all approvals, all minutes were approved. 3) Citizen Comment – No Comments 4) Appointment of Officers Continued: Recording Secretary & Vice-Chairperson – Mrs. Knopp is the only person present who qualifies for a position. She agreed that she would be interested in the Vice-Chair position. Ms. Gonzalez nominated Mrs. Knopp for Vice-Chair. Mr. Pineda asked for her to give a brief background about herself. Mrs. Knopp went on to explain her experience and how she would fit as Vice-Chairperson. Mr. Pineda then seconded the motion. All members voted aye, and Ms. Knopp is now the Vice-Chair. Recording secretary position will remain vacant until the members speak with Ms. Ayala. Later in the meeting Ms. Ayala joined virtually. Mr. Pineda asked Ms. Gonzalez if the board could readdress the officer appointment to ask Ms. Ayala if she would be the Recording Secretary. Ms. Gonzalez explained to Ms. Ayala that she was the only other person who qualified for the position and if she would take up the position. Ms. Ayala answered that while she would love to hold the position, her health would not allow her to always be in attendance and feels she would not be able to perform the duties as required. Ms. Trevino then stated that the other option would be allow Ms. De Leon to be the Recording Secretary. Mr. Pineda asked what the difference is between what Ms. De Leon is doing and what the Recoding Secretary would do. Ms. De Leon explained that the boards Recording Secretary would be the one to write up the minutes and keep attendance. As the liaison, she would then be the one to retain, file and share all the boards information with the public and city. Mr. Pineda asked Ms. De Leon if she would be willing to accept the position, and she agreed. Ms. Knopp made a motion to have Ms. De Leon as the Recording Secretary. Mr. Pineda seconded the motion, the board voted, all were in favor, and Ms. De Leon is the Recording Secretary. 5) Library Report – Mr. Guerra is out today, and Ms. Brenda Trevino will be discussing the items on the report. a. Southmost Rd Cross Walk: Ms. Trevino states that the cross walk was a request from the last board, and she is happy to announce that the cross walk has been completed. She directed everyone to see the pictures on the presentation. Mr. Pineda asked why this was requested and what was the issue. Ms. Trevino answered that the library was trying to increase the visibility of the library from Southmost Rd. As everyone knows you cannot see the building from the road and the driveway entrance is a bit hidden due to all the trees and businesses around it. This suggestion will help slow down traffic and help make the driveway a bit more visible. Ms. Trevino then stated that the library is still pending the additional lights on Manzano street, where the other entrance is located. b. New Services: Presented by Lisa Rodrigues, Technical Services Supervisor. First new service, MakerSpace, which launched on February 1st, and it introduced 3D printing, the heat press, and Cricut services to the public. Mr. Olivo asked if these services are only available at the Main branch. Mrs. Rodriguez answered that these services are available at both branches. Mr. Pineda asked if these are classes or are they just services. Mrs. Rodriguez explained that it is both. The MakerSpace advisors will be hosting classes and also help patrons with the services. Mr. Olivo asked how the library plans to reach out to the community about the classes and services. Mrs. Rodriguez answered that the library will incorporate social media and hand out paper flyers. Second new service, the scientific calculator checkout, and so far, there has been 60 checkouts. Third new service (launched 3 weeks ago) are the Mi-Fi checkouts. The Mi-Fi devices provide internet to people who do not have access to it. Each branch has 25 of these devices for check out. Mrs. Knopp asked what the checkout period is. The checkout period is two weeks. Mrs. Rodriguez explained that the library was able to lease these Mi-Fi devices due to a grant. Ms. Gonzalez asked which grant that was. The answer was the Emergency Connectivity Grant. There have been 61 check outs since the service was established 3 weeks ago. Fourth service is the Little Red Riding Hood play, and this was part of the task force proposals. They wanted to see acting workshops within the library. All spots have been filled and the play will consist of children from ages 6-10. The first performance will be at  the Southmost branch on May 27th from 5pm to 6pm. Mr. Pineda asked who is coordinating/directing the play. Mrs. Rodriguez stated that Bertha Gomez (Librarian) coordinated and is directing the play, with the help of other staff members. Mr. Pineda stated that in the future he would be available to help if the library would like to perform a famous case or trial. Fifth new service are the Adult Computer Literacy Classes that will begin tomorrow. Every Tuesday the classes will be at Southmost from 10am-11am, every Thursday the classes will be at Main from 5pm-6pm. There are only 10 spots available due to computer availability, and patrons will sign up for the classes beforehand. There is a waiting list just in case people do not make it then we are able to contact the other individuals interested. The first week will be introduction to computers parts/hardware, second week will computer capabilities, third week will be how to navigate through the internet, and the final week will be how to navigate email. Ms. Knopp asked how many people are on the waiting list, Ms. Trevino answered that she was not sure but if she would guess it would be about 10-15 people. Mr. Pineda asked if it the class will be in English or Spanish? Ms. Trevino stated that the classes will be bilingual, and that there will be 3 staff members available to assist the class. Ms. Gonzalez asked if the patrons who started the class this week will be the same students for the rest of the classes. Ms. Trevino explained that the current students will be given first choice to attend but are not obligated to. Mr. Pineda asked if this was the first time the library hosted this type of class. Ms. Trevino stated that the library had classes of this nature before COVID, and this will be the first one in 2 years. Mrs. Knopp suggested that the library should investigate partnering with entities that already offer this service, and maybe this will help to increase the number of patrons who can take the class. Also, it would be nice if we could provide some type of certificate for these classes so the individuals can enhance their resume. Mrs. Rodriguez answered that we currently have a database called Knowledge City that provides certificates, and this could be opportunity to share this database with the patrons. The sixth new service is free notary services, which will launch on February 28th. These services will be available by appointment only Monday – Friday from 10am -12pm and 1pm-4pm at either branch. Mr. Pineda asked if this a brand-new service? Yes, the library has never done this before. He then asked if we could send him the flyer so he could share it with his colleagues and his and their clients. The final new service the library is providing is a new database called Kanopy, and this is a media streaming service. Ms. Trevino mentioned that on January 28th the library held its first employee retreat. Also, that the library met with the Artist for the Southmost Branch mural to discuss the mural concept. Mr. Pineda asked what the process was to select the muralist. Ms. Trevino explained that there was a search and she fit the criteria, such as being a Brownsville local, and she resided in the Southmost area. We wanted to make this project as personal to the specific area as possible. 6) Discussion on Library Marquees – Presented by Katie Hernandez. She stated that this discussion is about the updates, (as requested by the board in the previous meeting) on the marquee height for the Southmost Branch. This new one will be a bit higher than the previous suggestion, and we would like the board’s input on the marquee color. The board agreed on the white sign, and the board is fine with the height of this newer proposal. Ms. Gonzalez asked what the lead time for installation? Ms. Trevino answered that the vendor stated 6 weeks, but it can take longer due if there are delays in shipment(s). Ms. Ayala stated that she likes the color; it is more attractive and will draw attention to it. Mr. Olivo asked what was the proposed price on this? Ms. Trevino answered $40,650.00. Mrs. Knopp asked if there was a bid process for this? Ms. Trevino explained that the vendor has a contract with the city and that is how they were chosen. 7) Adjournment – Mr. Olivo motions to adjourn. Ms. Knopp seconded. Meeting is adjourned at 6:13pm.