Russell Library Board of Trustees

Strategic Planning Committee - Special Meeting Friday, January 29, 2021 12:00pm DRAFT MINUTES Attendees: Ramona Burkey, Taneisha Duggan (co-chair), Jennifer Hadley (recorder), Eamonn Wisneski (co-chair) Not present: Shanay Fulton, Tisha Zawisky 1. Call to Order -- Eamonn called the meeting to order at 12:04. 2. Public Comment -- No members of the public were present. 3. Approval of Minutes a. MOTION: Approve Strategic Planning Committee special meeting minutes of October 27, 2020 Eamonn moved and Taneisha seconded the motion to approve the October 27 minutes. The motion passed unanimously. 4. Old Business - None. 5. New Business a. Communication and distribution of plan The “snapshot” document is a good middle ground between the full strategic plan document and smaller promotional pieces, such as bookmarks. Ramona will incorporate some of the suggestions in the snapshot: 1) switching the pages so that the mission, etc., is on the first page, 2) removing the word objective under the goals, switching to bullet points, and starting with and bolding action words 3) perhaps include a photo. Taneisha will send her comments. We discussed a video to promote the plan, which Taneisha will direct/compile. Taneisha asked Ramona for more guidance from the staff about what kind of images and themes they would like to include. Who is the target viewer? Perhaps the video can align with action steps coming out of the plan. There could be a calendar of communications in step with deadlines, helping to drive accomplishments and keep the public interested. Since there will be different audiences/market segmentation, we might consider a 10 minute video to show on local access tv, but organized episodically so that short segments focused on one topic could be shared in other ways to reach as many different pockets as possible. It should be aspirational, to get people excited about the future of the library, but also respectful of the history of the library. Show that RL has a long tradition of empowering people and strengthening community, and now is using modern tools and methods to position itself to be future-ready Eamonn ‘s summary of possible flow of video: intro/what library currently is, [history of library], [modern trends in library services], challenges, [future ready], need to plan, planning process, 4 pillars, developments since then, where we hope to end up. Should we discuss challenges the library faces? It is part of how we can enroll people in the story. For example, we should tell the story of how RL faced Covid challenges and how it is helping the community recover -- show that RL is community focused. Is RL a problem solver or a dream weaver? It is both. Might focus on one or the other for different market segments or when addressing different goals. Library staff is working on defining RL’s values. In general, the public supports organizations which have a larger dream. One of the videos should be a prestige piece to share with donors, legislators, and federal grant agencies. Next steps -- Ramona will put together an outline. b. Press releases. Good as is. Try to incorporate a quote from Mayor Florsheim if possible. Ramona hopes to send the release out next week. c. Discussion re Committee Co-Chairs  Taneisha asked the committee to consider why this committee alone has co-chairs and whether this is a consequence of systemic racism. She called for the Board as a whole to undertake anti-racist training and work to end racism in its structures and practices. Eamonn will bring up having training/a retreat at the next executive committee meeting, and Jennifer will ask the Governance Committee to address anti-racism policies, as well as examine committee structures. In addition, while Board membership is more diverse than in past years, we should examine whether everyone’s voices are being heard and whether everyone feels welcomed and included. This is an important part of the library’s vision and foundational strategy. 6. Adjournment -- Jennifer moved to adjourn and Taneisha seconded. The meeting was adjourned at 1:45. Respectfully submitted, Jennifer Hadley