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 June 12, 2024 This meeting was recorded. All members ofthe public may view this video of this meeting on the City's website at http://www.fallschurchva.gov/webcasts 1. CALL TO ORDER Ms. McCray, Board Vice Chair, called the meeting to order at 6:00p.m. 2. ROLL CALL A.~D INTRODUCTION OF GUESTS The following Board members attended the meeting, and exceptions were noted: Claire McCray Robert Leopold Jessie Labukas Janis Johnson Steve Morse Elise Stein - Absent excused Molly Novotny - Absent excused Others present for the meeting: City Manager Wyatt Shields, Deputy City Manager Jenny Carroll, Council Liaison Marybeth Connelly, Library Foundation Chair Aimee Morgan, Library Acting Director Marshall Webster, and Sr. Administrative Assistant Claudia Gutierrez. 3.- RECEIPT OF PETITIONS No Petitions 4. RECRUITMENT LIBRARY DIRECTOR Mr. Shields briefed the Board about the Library Director recruitment process and asked them to select two appointees to represent the Board on the recruitment and interview panel, which will also include Mr. Shields, Ms. Carroll, and Talent Acquisition Manager Meghan DeCelle. The recruitment will be for internal and external candidates. Mr. Shields noted that the Library Board has a unique, more active rol e in this process- as opposed to hiring of other Department Directors - in that the City Charter specifically tasks them with providing the City Manager with a recommendation. The City Manager, however, makes the final decision. The designated Board appointees will provide support in the in-depth review of applications and interviews of finalists . Ms. Carroll provided information about the relevant Charter sections, including the proposed process and timeline. Mr. Shields also mentioned the competitive process for Deputy City Managers which Ms. Carroll officially won. The Board selected Ms. Stein and Mr. Leopold to represent the Board, and designated Mr. Morse as alternate if needed. Upon a motion duly made by Ms. McCray, and seconded by Mr. Morse, the Library Board nominated Ms. Stein and Mr. Leopold to be on the Board panel selection committee, and Mr. Morse will assist as an alternate. 5. APPROVAL OF MAY 15, 2024 MEETING MINUTES Upon a motion duly made by Ms. Johnson, and seconded by Mr. Leopold, the Library Board approved the May 15, 2024 Meeting Minutes as presented. 6. LIBRARY REPORT AND ANNOUNCEMENTS May Statistics • Circulation continues to gradually increase. • Library visits continue to steadily increase and are expected to jump during the summer due to the Summer Reading Program and other activities. Upcoming Programs JUNE/JULY • Monday, June 3: Summer Reading Program kickoff, including an employee Summer Reading program. • Wednesday, June 26: Improv Workshop: Unexpectedly Funny (for teens and adults). • Monday, July 1: Crafty Cafe: Pet Rock Decorating (for middle schoolers and teens). • Saturday, July 13: Parent Workshop: Understanding Disordered Eating in Kids and Teens. • Sunday, July 14: Abstract Collage for Free Little Art Galleries (for teens and adults). • Tuesday July 16: Parent Workshop: Find ing Emotional Balance When Your Kids Are Struggling. Picture Books Reorganization • Library staff are working on relabeling and cataloging the picture book collection to make them more browsable. Currently, all picture books were shelved alphabetically by author. All books will now be assigned a browsing category (e.g. Transportation) and subcategory (e.g. Trucks). This is expected to help parents and children find like books more easily and ultimately increase circulation. It wi ll also help staff track popularity in different themed books so they can order appropriately. Mr. Webster remarked on the considerable planning and effort by staff - and volunteers! -to conceptualize and implement this project. Youth 2  Services Librarian Laura Miller will provide the Board with a more detailed overview of the project during July's meeting. Upcoming Holidays & Closures • Wednesday June 19 library closed due for Juneteenth. • Thursday July 4 library closed for Independence Day. New LA-1 Positions & Expanded FY2025 Hours • The two new 20-hr Library Assistant I positions have been posted. One will work out of Adult Services and the other out of Youth Services. Both will be covering desks, mostly on weekends and weeknights. They will initially be crossed trained by Circulation staff and then receive additional training in their specific department. • Tentatively, the two expanded hours on weekends (made possible by the new positrons) will begin in August. More information - including a specific start date - will be announced in late June or early July. Next Couple of M onths Heads-Up The July 17 meeting is currently scheduled to review: • Final Draft of the FY24 Annual Report • FY25 work plan • Presentation from Youth Services Librarian Laura Miller on picture book reorganization The annual business meeting -which is normally in July and includes election of officers and review of the bylaws- will be postponed until August (as permitted in the bylaws)· since Council will likely not officially fill the final Library Board vacancy until later in July. Building Issues • A quote for a new dumpster enclosure was provided by DPW. Questions still remain regarding when DPW can realistically undertake the project and whether additional bids should be sought. Mr. Webster is talking with Finance on a possible carryover of funds to cover the cost or a budget amendment in FY25 to request funding from Council in the fall. • The RTU3 for the HVAC is scheduled to be delivered in late July and tentatively scheduled to be installed in August. • One of the internal front doors has a recurring problem with its motor. DPW is working with the contractor on getting a motor replacement. • Mr. Webster requested a quote from DPW for a carpet and exterior window cleaning for next fiscal year. Other Items • New banners with the mission statement- "Supporting Community. Inspiriting Discovery. Promoting Literacy." - are now displayed on the light poles outside, one on Virginia Avenue 3  and another one on Park Avenue. They alternate with the 1251h Anniversary logo light pole banners. • Mr. Webster received an email from a library patron questioning the library's and City's flag display policy, in particular regarding the Pride flag. After talking to the City Clerk and Deputy City Manager- and doing some general research- Mr. Webster responded that the library follows the guidelines set by the City for proclamations and associated flags, and that the Pride flag is displayed prominently in June as part of National Pride Month and generally as an indication of the library's (and City's) commitment to diversity and inclusion. 7. END OF YEAR REVIEW OF FY24 WORK PLAN This work plan includes the strategic plan initiatives undertaken n FY24 and a list of "wins and accomplishments" made by library staff throughout the year. Mr. Webster remarked on the initiatives that library staff developed and all their hard work to make them happen. Next month Mr. Webster will present a draft outline of the FY25 work plan items, which will then be submitted to the State Library. 8. DRAFT FY24 ANNUAL REPORT Mr. Webster presented a draft FY24 Annual Report (July 2023 through June 2024), highlight- ing information about the 125 1h Anniversary celebration, expansion of hours, new initiatives, program- ming, and all the different initiatives, awards, and place-holders for benchmark statistics. There were some suggestions for small edits to the document. Mr. Webster will update the report with final FY24 statistics and bring it to the July Board meeting for final approval. 9. FOUNDATION & LIAISON REPORTS a) FOUNDATION REPORT • The Foundation held there monthly meeting last Monday, during which Mr. Webster delivered a year end report on FY24 expenditures used with Foundation donations. Next month, Mr. Webster will provide propose expenditures for FY2025. • Foundation volunteers will have a table at Farmer's Market on June 15. They also plan to have a table n the library on July 27 during the next book sale. • Two more people have been recruited to help the Foundation Board with a variety of tasks. • An initial draft MOU between the Foundation and the library has been submitted to the City Attorney for review. b) COUNCIL LIAISON REPORT • Council approved Erin Cline as a Board member and she has been officially sworn in. • The HV AC project at the Community Center is coming in the fall. Preliminary work in front of the building- mainly geothermal drilling - likely take place in September; then the 4  building will be completely closed to the public for several month in early 2025. This new system will make the HVAC significantly more energy efficient. While closed, the Community Center will hold programs in alternate locations throughout the City. • There are new cross walks around the City, subsidized by the ARPA funds. There are also other projects in the queue to be financed by these funds . • Vietnamese Heritage Day will held be on Sunday, June 16 at the Cherry Hill Farmhouse. • Council Strategic Priorities will continue to be discussed by Council in late June. c) SCHOOL BOARD LIAISON REPORT No report. d) ARTS AND HUMANITIES COUNCIL REPORT • Vietnamese Heritage Day will be from I lam to 2pm at the Cherry Hill Park. It will include authentic art and crafts, food, music, dance, fashion and more. • The Tinner Hill mural is up on South Washington. • The mural at Haycock it still in the works. 10. ON-GOING EQUITY DISCUSSION • Ms. Stein attended the Law and the Right to Read webinar on June 2, and will share resources from the program with the Board. • There was a soft launch of the library's new "Memory Lab" station (for digitizing photographs and documents. The station is located with the regular public computers on the main floor. • On Saturday July 20 the library will hold an author talk - Black Communities of Fairfax by Etta Willson, Rita Colbert, Linneall Naylor, Rondia Prescott with Jenne Lindner. 11. BUSINESS NOT ON THE AGENDA • The most recent Monday night board game club (for adults) has 28 participants and continues to grow in popularity. 12. ADJOURNMENT There being no further business, upon a motion duly made by Mr. Leopold and seconded by Mr. Morse, the Board of Trustees voted unanimously to adjourn the meeting at 7:32 p.m. Respectfully submitted, 5 Marshall Webster Acting Library Director Approved: Claire McCray Vice Chairperson Copies: Board of Trustees, City Manager, Library Reference Desk, StaffBulletin 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. 6  MARY RILEY STYLES PUBLIC liBRARY liBRARY BOARD MEETING June 12, 2024 GUEST SIGN-IN SHEET NAME ADDRESS EMAIL A-·, 'f'w~..e M0rr. L~ (.) Page 1  ~\LE }' S )> CIJ'FALLS ; LllJ ~ PU 8 LIC 4;>4, ....... 0 .;.. L I 8 RARY CHURCH -125YEARS- Proposed Recruitment Process for library Director Charter Reference: Sec. 24-6. - Same-Duties. The functions of management and control ofthe public library, referred to in the Code ofVirginia, § 42.1 -35, as vested in local library boards shall be: e) The board, after consultation with the city manager, shall recruit persons to fill vacancies in the position of director of the library and, in so doing, may utilize the services provided by the personnel office. The board shall recommend to the city manager a person qualified to be director and acceptable to the board for appointment as director by the city manager. The board shall recommend to the city manager all other personnel actions relative to the position of director, including compensation; Sec. 24-7. - Director and other library employees. (a) The director ofthe library shall be appointed by the city manager, pursuant to section 5.02 of the city Charter, as the head of a department. The director, acting under the policies established by the library board of trustees and under the direction of the city manager regarding the effective operation of the library in accord with the board's policies, shall perform the day-to-day professional management of the public library, shall supervise and direct the work of the other employees of the library and shall coordinate the work of the library with the work of the o ther departments and offices of the city government as may be necessary. The director shall keep the board and the city manager fully and appropriately informed regarding the management of the library. (b) All other employees of the library shall perform their duties under the direction of the director of the library. T hey shall be classified and compensated pursuant to the provisions of the position classification and pay plan of the city and shall be subject to the rules with respect to persons in the classified service. Proposed Process & Timeline: June 12/13: Circulate recruitment notice . June 14- July 12: Post the recruitment notice- open for 4 weeks. June 14- July 17: Screen candidates (continuous process). July 18- July 22 : Assemble interview panel & schedule interviews with top 3-5 candidates. Panel includes 2 library Board Designees. July 30 - August 2: Ho ld panel interviews. Week of August 5: Invite finalist(s) to meet with Library staff and full Library Board. After meet/greet make formal offer and conduct salary negotiations. August/September: New Library Director takes office