Library Board of Trustees

MEETING MINUTES OF THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES MARY RILEY STYLES PUBLIC LIBRARY Held in the Mary Riley Styles Public Library 120 N. Virginia Avenue Falls Church, VA 22046 May 15,2024 This meeting was recorded. All members of the public may view this video of this meeting on the City's website at http://www.fallschurchva.gov/webcasts 1. CALL TO ORDER Ms. Stein, Board Chair, called the meeting to order at 6:00p.m. 2. ROLL CALL AND INTRODUCTION OF GUESTS The following Board members attended the meeting, and exceptions were noted: Elise Stein Claire McCray Robert Leopold Jessie Labukas Janis Johnson Molly Novotny- Late Steve Morse- Late Others present for the meeting: Council Liaison Marybeth Connelly, Library Acting Director Marshall Webster, and Sr. Administrative Assistant Claudia Gutierrez. City residents: Jenny Tufts, Chris Raymond and Catherine McCormick were present as well. A person named Michael attended the meeting thru Teams and left early. 3.- RECEIPT OF PETITIONS No Petitions 4. APPROVAL OF APRIL 17, 2024 MEETING MINUTES Upon a motion duly made by Ms. Labukas, and seconded by Ms. McCray, the Library Board approved the April17, 2024 Meeting Minutes as presented. 1 5. LIBRARY REPORT AND ANNOUNCEMENTS Budget • City Council adopted the FY2025 budget at their last Monday meeting. • A new FTE has been approved by Council for two 20 hour/week additional LA 1 positions to expand weekend hours to 1Oam- 5pm. • A 6% merit increase was approved for permanent employees and 3% for temporary employees for a Cost-of-Living Adjustment (COLA). Deputy City Manager Update & Other City Vacancies • Council approved the funding for the two Deputy_City Manager positions. The interviews will be all day on Monday May 20. Human resources will approach the Board about the hiring process for a permanent Library Director position if Ms. Carroll is selected to be DCM. • Human Resources Director Steve Mason is retiring as of June 1. He will join the Boulder Crest Foundation. In the meantime, Manager of Benefits Shari Davidson will serve as Interim HR Director. • Mary Catherine Chase who is a City resident, has been hired as the new Director of Communications. LBOT Vacancies Currently there are two candidates for Molly Novotny's position. This was her last meeting as a Board member. Ms. Novotny initially completed the term from long time former Board Chair Brad Gernand then was appointed to her own full term. She was instrumental in guiding the library through the building renovation, COVID-19, and the Library Strategic Plan and was a strong advocate for expanding library hours. Mr. Webster and the Board thanked her for her service to the Board. April Statistics • Circulation had a slight increase by 3% mostly in physical items, which constituted 73% of circulations. • Attendance had a significant increase from 12,000 to 14,795. Upcoming Programs MAY • On Saturday May 18, Author talk with Alex Travis: The Only Black Girl in the Room. • Saturday May 19, American Sign Language Class (4 week) with the Meridian School ASL Honor Society (ASLHS). 2  • Saturday May 25, Oriental Brush Art Program with Darlene Kaplan. • Wednesday May 29, Brain Boosting Health for Seniors with an Outreach Specialist from Cherry Blossom PACE in Alexandria. JUNE • Tuesday June 11 , Bicycle Master Plan Update Community Meeting. • Tuesday June 11 , Tarot Card program with Cindy Wargo. • Book sale was canceled due to the lack of materials to sell. It is now rescheduled for July 26-29. Other Items • Library Olympics concluded. It ran from April29- May 13 and was a boost for staff morale. Staff had 15 minutes of fun activities each day before opening to the public. Technical Services Supervisor Billette Ripy coordinated the events. • The library will be closed on Sunday May 26 and Monday May 27 for Memorial Holiday, and Wednesday June 19 for Juneteenth Holiday. • The library will hold a quarterly staff meeting on Friday June 6. The library will open that day to the public at 1pm. • On June 5 at 2pm, the Library of Virginia is offering, along with ILMS and United for Libraries, a webinar about Law and the Right to Read. Mr. Webster encouraged the Board to sign up. This webinar will provide information and tools to understand how critical the First Amendment right to access information is and how to tackle challenges that arise in their community. • The library received visits from 90 FCCPS kindergarten students last week. • Mr. Webster will be out of town May 25 thru May 28. Building Issues • Light timers for the lower level are now activated at 25%, same as the upper level. Monday thru Wednesday the lights dim at 9 pm, and Thursday thru Sunday at 6 pm. They are back to normal level every morning at 6 am. • Mr. Webster is working with DPW to get a quote for a new dumpster enclosure. • The RTU3 permits for the HVAC have been approved, and installation is tentatively planned for July. 3 Next Couple of Months Heads-Up • June's Board meeting will be on the 12th, a week earlier than scheduled, since the library will be closed for the Juneteenth Holiday. o Will be reviewing the FY24 Workplan including accomplishments. o Review of the DRAFT FY2024 Annual Report which will be approved in July's Board meeting when all the FY24 data is available. • July 17 Board Meeting will be the annual business meeting: o Bylaws review o Election of Officers o Approving the FY2025 Calendar for LBOT meetings 6. REVIEW OF LIBRARY STRATEGIC PLAN 2024-2028 Mr. Webster went through the Strategic Plan and reviewed all the Strategic Focus Areas and outcomes regarding the increase in programming, the upgrade of the new Local History Room database, expanding outreach to different groups including the Vietnamese community and offering them our services and programs. It is important to be more inclusive and flexible with all library resources. The mission, vision and values for the library were rewritten as part of the strategic planning process. The mission statement Supporting Community, Inspiring Discovery and Promoting Literacy is promoted on newsletters and the website, and soon will displayed on the pole banners outside the building. Mr. Webster emphasized the importance of being flexible, and open minded to hearing and providing different perspectives from patrons, the community and staff throughout the library collection during these times of change. He noted the importance of revisiting on a regular basis the Strategic Plan as a good practice. Library staff is also engaging more with the Strategic Plan on what to improve and what changes need to be made. Management Team had a meeting with ReThinking Libraries on April 24 to get an insight about the library's accomplishments in which they mentioned the objective.s and results were outstanding. Mr. Webster encouraged the Board to revisit the Strategic Plan to have a discussion in the next two Board meetings. 7. BOARD SELF EVALUATION Mr. Webster explained to the Board the content of the self-evaluation and mentioned its importance as it reaffirms the good job done and considers the opportunity to improve the growth of the library. Benchmarking is important to see what other boards are doing and obtaining information that will help to make improvements. Mr. Webster will work on building a webpage with different links with information for the public and the Board to have a good Board reference resources page. The Board appreciates that Mr. Webster sends them recommendations on webinars that will enrich their knowledge as Board Members. 4 8. FOUNDATION & LIAISON REPORTS a) FOUNDATION REPORT The Foundation had their volunteer open house at the library. It was successful and about 5- 6 people attended. b) COUNCIL LIAISON REPORT • Council approved the FY2025 budget 6-1. Ms. Connelly felt that there was not very good communication with the schools regarding some adjustments made on the tax increase when they were working on their budget. However, in the end, all worked out and it was a good budget and she was glad about the outcome for the library with additional hours. • Ms. Connelly thanked Mr. Webster for attending last Council meeting and responding very thoroughly all the questions made by Council regarding the additional hours requested. • There were discussions about strategic priorities. The Vietnamese community are mostly business owners and not City residents. There are many tourists that come to the Eden Center. The City will have a contractor who will work on outreach to this community by offering City services and getting involved with the City's Community, Boards and Commissions, the library, etc. • The Women's Historic Walk was successful with the presence ofthe library, the DAR, the Women's Society, League of Women Voters, Young Women in Action, and the recognition of the Grand Marshall. • On May 21, there will be an announcement of the name of the grocery store that will be in the space of the former Target store. • There are new businesses opening, including Yayas Tea House, and Pupatella creperie. c) SCHOOL BOARD LIAISON REPORT • Last night this Board unanimously approved the final budget for 2024-2025 school year. It included critical enhancements and new personnel. They are maintaining a competitive compensation for staff including a 3.5% COLA and step increases, including an average salary increase of 6%. • David Ortiz will be resigning his position to this Board effective June 15. A special election will be on the next November ballot to fill the vacancy. d) ARTS AND HUMANITIES COUNCIL REPORT Ms. Labukas mentioned that there is a member of this Council from the Vietnamese Literary and Artistic Society who represents Eden Center. Ms. Labukas will be proactive on asking about what 5 events are going on and provide the information to the Board. • They had a presentation regarding the Comprehensive Plan, and reachable trends for the next year and looking at their Strategic Plans and goals to increase their funding for grants. • Tinner Hill Music Jazz Festival will be held on June 8. 9. ON-GOING EQUITY DISCUSSION • There are displays at the library about Jewish American Heritage, the Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage, and some books on Vietnam. • The shelf re-alignment of the 20 shelves of adult non-fiction was completed and now are more accessible. • There is a second microphone accessible for each meeting room to facilitate communication. • The volunteer run ESOL group at the library has disbanded. Acting Adult Supervisor Pete Sullivan is trying to find alternative options. • Sally Ekfelt of the CBC (Citizens for a Better City) informed Mr. Webster that they did their interviews for student reps. They will reach out when they assign a student for the Library Board in September. • The City is doing cultural assessment work with facilitated discussions and teams to create recommendations on being more inclusive. There are five City staff facilitators trained and they will provide feedback to the City ' s Executive Leadership. 10. BUSINESS NOT ON THE AGENDA No report. 11. ADJOURNMENT There being no further business, upon a motion duly made by Ms. Novotny and seconded by Ms. Johnson, the Board of Trustees voted unanimously to adjourn the meeting at 7:32 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Marshall Webster 6 Acting Library Director Approved: Elis ~LAd ~ tcin Chaii}>7rOTI Copies: Board of Trustees, City Manager, Library Reference Desk, Staff Bulletin Board, City Clerk, Library Web Page. The City of Falls Church is committed to the letter and spirit of the Americans with Disabilities Act. To equest a reasonable accommodation for any type of disability, call 703-248-5032, TTY 711. 7