Library Board Meeting

Town of Lake Park, Florida Library Board Meeting Minutes Thursday, March 06, 2025 at 6:30 PM Commission Chamber, Town Hall, 535 Park Avenue, Lake Park, FL 33403 Robert Shelton — Chair Shelby Lowe — Vice Chair Lera Bradford — Regular Member Henry Rios — Regular Member Robert Shelton — Regular Member PLEASE TAKE NOTICE AND BE ADVISED, that if any interested person desires to appeal any decision of the Library Board, with respect to any matter considered at this meeting, such interested person will need a record of the proceedings, and for such purpose, may need to ensure that a verbatim record of the proceedings is made, which record includes the testimony and evidence upon which the appeal is to be based. Persons with disabilities requiring accommodations in order to participate in the meeting should contact the Town Clerk’s office by calling 881-3311 at least 48 hours in advance to request accommodations. Roll Call 6:33 pm PRESENT; Vice Chair Lowe Board Member Rios Chair Shelton Board Member Bradford Board Member Rinaldi was not present for the meeting. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE The Pledge was led by Library Director Judith Cooper. MINUTES February 4, 2025 Library Board Meeting Minutes. Motion to accept the minutes made by Board Member Rios. Seconded by Vice Chair Lowe. Board Member Rios stated that he previously thought there was information missing from the minutes, but that he simply over-looked it and he no longer has any issue. Voting Aye: All Library Board Meeting March 06, 2025 Page 1 LIBRARY DIRECTOR'S REPORT Library Director Cooper provided a presentation (Exhibit A). Vice Chair Lowe expressed concerns with the balance between Library expenses and Library revenues with attendance down and expenses continuing to go up. Library Director Cooper stated that they are trying to get more people into the Library through various means. Board Member Rios stated that making a determination about whether the Library should exist is not within the Library Board’s authority. The Board members discussed this point. Vice Chair Lowe asked about a Library survey and feels that it would be helpful to get that out to the community so that they can use the data to make recommendations. Library Director Cooper stated that they are putting the surveys out there, but they don’t get many responses. Board Member Rios asked if the increasing expenses comes up at budget review meetings. Library Director Cooper stated that it does come up and the expectation for next fiscal year is to stay within the same budget, so if prices go up, that will reduce the amount of books they can buy. Library Director Cooper requested direction from the Board for ideas moving forward to gain more attendance at the library. Vice Chair Lowe suggested to send the survey out again and to start from there. Chair Shelton suggested starting an adult chess club. Library Director Cooper provided several reasons as to why teens are not coming after school and stated that a survey will not help with that age group. Board Member Bradford suggested a silent book club for adults. Library Director Cooper spoke about grants that have been sought for various programs. She stated that the grant process takes time and personnel and they are doing their best to apply for as many grants as possible. Library Director Cooper asked the Board what other services they think people might be interested in. Vice Chair Lowe suggested doing some out-reach to unemployed residents so they can take advantage of the free resources at the library. Library Director Cooper stated they would work on getting that information out. The next Library Board meeting was discussed as possibly taking place in September 2025. BOARD MEMBER'S COMMENTS: NONE ADJOURNMENT Motion to adjourn made by Vice Chair Lowe. Seconded by Board Member Rios. Meeting adjourned 7:38pm. Update on the Exhibit A Lake Park Public Library March 2025 Budget The budget consists of two sections: Personnel Expenses Operating Expenses Personnel Expenses This is a considerable amount of the budget. It includes salaries and benefits. The Library has little control over this money. All personnel changes must go through the Town Manager, Human Resources, and Finance. Staff • Judie Cooper – Library Director • Dania Batista – Assistant Library Director • Cynthia Ornelas – Account Technician • Knikoa Mansion – Library Assistant • Tanesa Rattanabounyang – Library Assistant – Children’s Services • Charlie Nicholas – Library Assistant  Operating Expenses This section consist of the operation of the Library. Operating Expenses • Professional Services • Promotional Activity • Contractual Services • Uniforms and Clothing • Travel and Training • Office Supplies • Telephone • Operating Supplies • Library Technology Software • Postage and Shipping • Memberships, Dues, and • Equipment Leases Subscriptions • Equipment Maintenance • Library Materials Contract • Printing Professional Services • Can We Talk is contracted by the Town to translate documents, publications, and messaging into Spanish and Haitian Creole. • This service must translate all of the Town’s documents, publications, and messaging to ensure consistency. Contractual Services • These are services for which we have a contractual obligation. • BT CAT is used to find the information to catalog the library materials. • The Library pays for its share of the Custodial Services. • Mango Languages is a database for learning languages. • CloudLibrary, Overdrive, and the Palace Project are e- materials platforms. • The Palm Beach County Movie Leasing allows the Library to show movies in the Library. Contractual Services • SEFLIN – South East Florida Information Network  SEFLIN is our regional cooperative.  The cooperative allows the Library to purchase services that are too expensive for a single Library our size to afford.  This pays for  Koha – the Library’s ILS – Integrated Library System  Aspen Discovery and LiDA  Florida Library Delivery Service for Interlibrary Loans  The Summer Reading Program  READsquared  Page Turner Adventures  Free Staff training and webinars Travel and Training • Allows for payment of travel and fees for  Offsite training for Staff  Paid training for Staff  Professional Development Training  Florida Library Director’s Meeting  American Library Association Annual Conference  Florida Library Association Annual Conference  SEFLIN Annual Conference Telephone • Pays for the Library’s portion for the Town’s telephone contract. • Pays Tracfone so the library has the ability to have Two Party Authentication. • Pays for service for five of the hotspots available to the public. Postage and Shipping • Postage and Shipping is usually under $100. • Unless the Library is mailing residents information about workshops for the Long-Range Strategic Plan. Equipment Leases • Canon Printer for Staff Equipment Maintenance Contracts • The Security Gates • Self-checkout Station • The Krayon Kiosk • The Laptop Kiosk Printing • Business cards for the Library Director, Assistant Library Director, and Library Assistant – Children’s Services to hand to residents, patrons, and potential people with programs. • Canon charges by the page for printing. Promotional Activity • Books for Events  The Library buys books to give out at some of the Town’s events, like the Easter Eggstravaganza.  $1000, half paid out of the budget and half from Friends of the Library • Love Your Library  It is held in February around Valentine’s Day.  Costs under $200, amount shared with Bridges • Read for the Record  It is a county-wide contest to see which libraries can read a chosen book to as many children (of all ages) by as many readers in as many places as possible. Creativity counts as well.  Lake Park won our division two years in a row.  Costs $900, shared with Friends of the Library. • Summer Reading Program  Cox Science Center $450 (paid by Friends)  Morikami Museum $150 (paid by Friends)  Bush Wildlife $300 (paid by Friends)  Loggerhead Marine Life Center $250 (paid by Friends) • Outreach Programs / Materials  When we visit schools, preschools, or any events not listed. • Promotional Materials  Things we hand out so people remember the library.  Adult Coloring and Puzzle Books  Pens  Pencils  Magnets Uniforms and Clothing • Summer Reading Program T- Shirts • Shirts, sweaters, and jackets with the town logo embroidered on them. Office Supplies • Pens • Paper • Tape • Glue • Paper clips • Sticky notes • Pencils • Scissors • Staples Operating Supplies • Library Patron Cards • Material Processing Costs  Mylar covers  Book Labels  RFID Tags • Programming  Paid speakers or performers  Digital Literacy classes $100 paid for by a grant  Book signings under $150 each (participants received a book) • Supplies for programs  craft supplies  snacks  water Programs Offered at the Library • Most programs offered at the Library are run by the Library staff or by a non-profit or government office.  Craft classes  Storytimes  Lapsit  Homework Help  English Language Learners classes  AARP Tax Aide  Help with Food Assistance with the PBC Food Bank  Legal speakers series  PBSO speakers (Anti-gang, anti-bullying, anti-opioid) Library Technology Software • Faronics – Deepfreeze  Used on the laptops to reset the laptop to a starting point. This erases all information, programs, viruses, malware, and updates entered when the program is turned on. Staff must turn off the program to update the laptops. • Foxit Editor Pro  Program similar to Adobe Pro • Affinity  Programs similar to Adobe Creative Suite • MS Office • Laptops Anytime Software Memberships, Dues, and Subscriptions • Professional Association Dues • Databases  Organizational  Craft and Hobby  American Library Association  America’s News – Newsbank  ProLiteracy Membership  Momentix Test Prep  Florida Literacy Coalition  Tech-Talk  Association for Rural and Small Libraries  Staff • Newspapers  Florida Library Association  South Florida Business Journal  Palm Beach County Library Association  New York Times  Palm Beach Post • Professional Library Journals  Sun Sentinel  Booklist  Wall Street Journal  Horn Book  Library Journal  School Library Journal Library Materials • Books • DVDs and Other Media  CDs • E-Books  Purchase of e-books from CloudLibrary, The Palace Project, and Overdrive. • Hoopla • Kanopy Some places the Library could use direction in the budget…. Programming Focus • Where should we direct our greatest efforts? • Who should we target for programming? • Should we have more paid programming? Should we stay with more no/low cost programming? • Ideas for programs? Services Focus • Currently, most of our online services are focused on e- materials, such as e-books, e-audiobooks, e-magazines, and video streaming. • Patrons can also access services to help with testing and learning languages, crafts, and hobbies. • We would like to offer HelpNow, JobNow, and VetNow again. This allows tutors for subjects higher than grade school and live help for resumes. • What other services should the Library look at adding? Other Focus • We would also like to look more into services that will automate some library functions and free up staff to help in other ways. • We would like to hire someone to take charge of IT. We need someone to write code for Koha, keep Aspen Discovery updated, keep the information shown on the Self-Checkout updated, and update the public laptops, iPads, and other devices. This person could also lead the digital literacy classes. Questions