Pollard Memorial Library Board of Trustees

Pollard Memorial Board of Trustees – Minutes Date: o The meeting took place on September 18, 2024. Location: o It was held at Pollard Memorial Library (PML), 401 Merrimack St. Lowell, MA, as a hybrid meeting, both in person and via Zoom. Opening Business Meeting call to order o The meeting was called to order by Donna Richards at 5:32 pm. o CHRISTINE (KITTY) SHARBROUGH, PML’s new ASST. DIRECTOR was welcomed and gave an overview of her background. Attendance Present: Excused: Bridget Cooley, Library Director Jack Moynihan Donna Richards, Chair Christine O’Connor Katy Aronoff, Vice Chair Judith Davidson, Secretary Ellen Anstey Suzanne Frechette Helen Littlefield Muriel Parseghian Courtney McSparron Guest(s): Lisa Golden Belinda Juran Acceptance Agenda o The agenda was unanimously approved on a motion by Judith Davidson, seconded by Donna Richards. Approval of Prior Meeting Minutes o The meeting minutes from June 12, 2024 were accepted with three revisions on a motion by Donna Richards and seconded by Ellen Anstey. Public Comment Period o Public comment time was made available. However, there were no members of the public present to make a comment at this meeting. Current Business Strategic Plan Update o Bridget Cooley discussed the 5-year strategic plan FY25 to FY29 documents that were the result of the work done with Fast Forward Libraries. There are the: STRATEGIC PLAN - ACTIVITY PLAN – ONE PAGE GRAPHIC. These documents will be posted online after this meeting.  o Cooley described the new Work Groups. Work Groups will have deliverables required, if you are on a team you must be contributing. The three team areas are: 1) Communicate and Connect; 2) Strengthen Core Services; 3) Organizational Excellence. These will have task groups under them. o There is a discussion about how board members should participate with trustees providing descriptions of their past participation and making suggestions. A critical issue raised is how to keep a strong link between the library staff activities and the Board of Trustees. o Cooley sees the task groups as more ad hoc so that they will be able to address issues that have been ignored or are emerging. The task groups will meet to get things done, which means they may not meet every month. Cooley suggests that the visionary or advocacy piece could really use trustee attention. She would also like to pair trustees with special tool sets to specific groups. She will review with staff and discuss structure for trustee involvement. o There is a discussion (led by Trustee Chair Richards) about the current trustee committees and the potential overlap with the new library work groups. A decision is made to review the bylaw needs and to review how changes could be made. Update on Current Strategic Plan Committees o Culture Committee (Judy Davidson )  The Culture Committee Meeting was held on 9/16/24.  Discussed Teen Training that took place at last staff meeting (very successful)  Discussion of Culture Committee Contributions for October Staff Meeting  Kaetlyn's Technology guides will be presented  Discussion of question from employee survey on "strategies to improve cooperation"  Goal Setting Culture Committee for Fiscal Year 2025  This committee will be merged under "Organizational Excellence" Committee in the Strategic Plan Part II work 1. Developing formal on-boarding training for all staff members 2. Identifying Topics that should be presented annually for all staff members 3. Continuing to work on activities for sharing fun across staff  The next meeting of this committee will be held on 10/7/24 from 2:00 -3:00pm on Zoom. Discussion on goal setting for 2025 to be continued. Cooley adds information about the committee meeting and how they will emphasize cross-training in order to ensure a strong foundation of skills across the library. o Advocacy Committee (Katy Aronoff/Donna Richards)  No meeting o Outreach Committee (Suzanne Frechette/Muriel Parseghian)  No meeting o Welcome (Ellen Anstey/Christine O’Connor)  No meeting o Engagement (Helen Littlefield/Judy Davidson)  Is no longer meeting 2 Reports Chairperson’s Report o Courtney McSparron and Donna Richards are participating in the Board Diversity Initiative (BDI), as well as, Robin Orford, Friends of the PML board member. BDI is an initiative presented in partnership with the Lowell Plan, Lowell Alliance, and the Coalition for a Better Acre with support from the Greater Lowell Community Foundation and the Parker Foundation. The aim of the initiative is to support organizations seeking to create more diverse and inclusive boards and inform diverse leaders in the community about what the roles and responsibilities of board membership, and create opportunities for the two constituencies to meet and find potential matches. The program was piloted last year and has been brought back to the community again this year to support making matches between community members and boards. o The dedication of the The Children’s Picture Book Room, held on Thursday, September 12th, in honor of Carol Duncan was lovely--an opportunity to highlight Duncan’s contributions and the work the PML Trustees and the PML Foundation. o Saturday, October 19, 2024, 9:00am - 1:00pm - the Massachusetts Library Trustees Association (MLTA) will hold their Annual Conference with this year's theme of: Communication - Your Essential Library Advocacy Tool. The event will be held at the Shrewsbury Public Library. The focus will be on how library trustees communicate with various constituents –from the library director, to municipal agencies, to the external public— to promote the needs of their libraries and also of their constituents. REGISTER MLTA Annual Conference - MBLC Calendar - Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners (libcal.com). Lunch is provided. Trustees who are going: Donna Richards and Judy Davidson. Committee Reports - Governance/Policy Committee (J. Davidson*/S. Frechette/M. Parseghian/C. O’Connor)  Nothing to Report Art Committee (__________ */Ellen Anstey/Donna Richards)  Nothing to report. Security/Building/Grounds (Suzanne Frechette*/Helen Littlefield)  Nothing to Report Outreach (Donna Richards*/Katy Aronoff/Judy Davidson/Helen Littlefield/Mimi Parseghian)  The Trustees, Foundation, and Friends volunteered to participate in Lowell Voter Registration Week. Lowell Alliance has set a goal to get 250 new registered voters. Members worked at the “Register to Vote” table at PML and provided information about voting places, ballot questions, and voter status. There was some discussion about the experience. It was mentioned that QR codes are up around Lowell that can be scanned and provide comprehensive information on voting. Nominating/Personnel (Katy Aronoff*/Donna Richards/Ellen Anstey)  Nothing to report. 3 Director’s Report o Bridget Cooley prepared the July, August, and Septembrer Director’s Reports and distributed to trustees via email prior to the meeting. Special discussion arose around numerous issues including:  Following the approval of the PML Art display policy, two local artists have been on display—Sally Chapman and Debbie Roy’s “Portals”.  As part of the ‘Chasing Annie Powell‘ project, the Library accepted a photo from the early 20’s that is on display in the Colburn Street entrance.  The Summer reading programs are just winding down—it was very popular. For the first time, adult participation doubled.  The bookmobile was very active—Regular stops have been established, and the team continues to do many pop-ups. The bookmobile has been involved in a good amount of back-to-school outreach, and it will be at Mill City Grows Harvest Festival.  Assistant Director Sharbrough is working on local/special collections. Over the years many of the books in these two collections have been misplaced, mis-catalogued or are missing, and massive cleaning up is going on. Areas that are getting special attention include the map collection and uncatalogued art pieces. Sharbrough has consulted former director Lally and Trustee files for information on when items were acquired and any special conditions for their use. So far, her work suggests that the current art policy should be reviewed and revised. This work will also be useful in preparation for the upcoming Lowell Bi-centennial. Cooley reports that the PML vault cannot be opened right now. When opened, it will also be inventoried and described. The goal is for everyone to know what we have, where it is, and eventually be digitalized.  Two new staff start next week; new page and assistant.  Cooley hopes to have the elevator operating by the end of September. Repairs are ongoing.  She also reported that the new carpet for the library has been chosen, but no actions have been taken yet.  West Tech (company providing the library security guard) abruptly closed; PML has lost their security guard. Cooley is in negotiation with the City Manager because security staffing is usually put out to bid by vendors (as opposed to making an individual hire). She will also reach out to LPD for more frequent walk-byes. Cooley is strongly advocating for security for the library. Trustees expressed their support for her and their willingness to advocate in support themselves.  Cooley is getting good feedback on the library social media activities, community activities, and other programs—She will be doing a talk at Lala books with other librarians on Banned Books (9/27) and leading a community walk talking about literacy (10/19).  The mayor has requested that Cooley make a presentation about the bookmobile to the City Council on 10/1/2024. There is discussion about ensuring documentation of impact. Grants o There was nothing to report.  PML Foundation (Donna Richards) o Donna Richards provided the following PML Foundation Report.  The PMLF met on Wednesday, September 18, 2024, the first meeting after summer break. 4   As usual the meeting consisted of committee updates on ongoing initiatives – we will begin working on the FALL APPEAL fundraiser.  The next PMLF meeting is Wednesday, October 16, 2024. Friends of the PML (Helen Littlefield) o Helen Littlefield provided the following Friends Liaison Report.  The Friends were awarded the $1,500 Jeanne D'Arc Credit Union "We Share A Common Thread Foundation" prize, awarded to a worthy area non-profit organization through the “Give A Click” program. As one of three featured organizations they were the non-profit with the most votes.  The Friends’ next meeting is Oct 12th.  Friends Gmail account is down. Until this can be fixed, please send email to Helen Littlefield or Lynn Algren. Old Business o There is nothing to report on the installation of the outdoor signage. New Business (Announcements and Questions) o Judy Davidson reported on her experience at an informal AI presentation by Westford Cable Director, Sarah Fletcher, of a tool called Claude.ai that might be useful for Trustees, staff, Friends, and Foundation. There was some discussion about setting up a presentation for this group and possibly others (Lowell’s Non-profit Alliance) to learn more about the ways AI could assist the work of the library. o Davidson raised the possibility of PML participation in the LINK project (described below): The Lowell Innovation Network Corridor is the heart of a pending economic transformation in Lowell. For nearly two decades, UMass Lowell has steadily increased its research collaborations with industry, government agencies and non-profit organizations. With a research enterprise now approaching $120 million annually, the university is working with the City of Lowell to dramatically scale up these partnerships. LINC is the new development currently planned to meet the needs of companies seeking to relocate to Lowell to work alongside university faculty, researchers and students. INC is laboratories and office space BUT it’s also housing, restaurants, retail and entertainment venues. There was some discussion about how the library might participate and who at UML or Lowell City Departments might be a good contact for further action. Adjournment o The meeting was adjourned at 7:11 PM on a motion by Donna Richards and seconded by Helen Littlefield. All in attendance were in favor. o Our next meeting is Wednesday, OCTOBER 9, 2024. The meeting minutes were officially approved by the Board of Trustees October 9, 2024. 5  Goal-Based Director Goal-Based Director Goal-Based Director Report - September 2024.docx Report - July 2024.docx Report - August 2024.docx 6