Library Board

MORGANTOWN PUBLIC LIBRARY Approved 12.18.2019 Minutes of the Regular Meeting November 21, 2019 Present: Absent: Also Present: Others Present: Sue Carpenter Sarah Palfrey Judy Panagakos Sarah Scharf Meredith Hartery Darrin Baker Penny Pugh Linda Durfee Call to order The regular meeting of the Board of Trustees of the Morgantown Public Library convened at the Morgantown Public Library on November 21, 2019. The meeting convened at 9:06 am, Sue Carpenter, President presiding, Sarah Scharf, secretary. Approval of the Minutes of the October 28, 2019 Regular Meeting  Linda Durfee moved that the minutes be accepted as corrected. Motion was seconded and passed unanimously. PUBLIC FORUM  Board members commented on the large number of supporters that attended the Saturday November 16th story time. Moved to Board Comments section. CORRESPONDENCE AND COMMUNICATIONS  Drag Queen Story Time event was cancelled by the volunteer presenters, not by library staff, the library board, or City Council.  A wide variety of comments were received regarding Drag Queen Story Time.  A patron thanked the library for our ability to renew library cards over the phone. REPORTS OF COMMITTEES/OFFICERS A. President - None B. Treasurer  Financial statements as of November 21, 2019 were presented and discussed.  Monongalia County has changed the dispersal rate of levy funds to the library from quarterly to monthly.  The library has received a generous donation from the estate of Paul Atkins, who was a WVU journalism department faculty member. Another unrestricted donation is expected next year, and will be bequeathed to the Wells Fargo account. Library will consider a press release on the Day of Giving (December 2, 2019) to acknowledge this gift publicly. C. Investment Committee  Judy Panagakos mentioned that additional community members are interested in participating in the investment committee. Board Minutes – November 21, 2019 – Page 2 EXECUTIVE SESSION – Personnel  Penny Pugh moved to adjourn to executive session. Motion was seconded and passed unanimously.  Executive session began at 9:30 and ended at 10:07. REPORT OF THE LIBRARY DIRECTOR – See Director’s report for more details and statistics  MLN/NorLN merger meetings continue, but no new updates.  Louis Bennett Public Library affiliate – Ellen Hathaway and Tammy Richards are working with Katrina at LBPL and Innovative with a merge completion goal of December 2019.  The Start Up Awards application deadline is December 1, 2019. Two applications received so far, with many other ideas being discussed.  Sarah Palfrey has established weekly coaching sessions with identified staff, and this is going very well.  Corina Chang is the new Communications and Outreach hire. She starts December 2, 2019.  Sophie Neubauer was hired as part-time staff at Cheat Area Library.  The job vacancy for the part-time reference staff at the downtown library has been posted.  Bao Xu is retiring December 31, 2019, so her position will be posted soon. Job title and responsibilities are to be decided, but may include reader’s advisory and outreach.  Sarah Palfrey was invited to attend the Monongalia County Schools Comprehensive Educational Facilities Plan group meetings.  The School of Social Work student will have a shared placement here and with Health Right for the Spring Semester. The student has been selected and will start January 14, 2020.  Combined physical and digital circulation increased by 10% compared to last October, and new card signup numbers are still high. BRANCH UPDATES  Arnettsville Public Library is working on weeding adult fiction.  Clinton District Public Library – a minor rearrangement of furniture has opened the space up. Their monthly story time hours are still having good attendance.  The Aull Center had a very busy month with well-attended programs. They also received a lot of positive press coverage. UNFINISHED BUSINESS  Sick leave reimbursement – Since employees that work greater than 20 hours per week but are not eligible for health insurance were not specifically included in the October 28, 2019 motion, Judy Panagakos and Sue Carpenter will work on a proposal to update the motion wording to include them. Board will vote by email on this proposal.  Interior Door replacement – Discussion tabled until the next meeting. NEW BUSINESS - None Board Minutes – November 21, 2019 – Page 3 BOARD COMMENTS  Marti Shamburger is part of a local book group that would like to do a fundraiser for the library. Sarah Palfrey will contact Marti to discuss.  Penny Pugh received a variety of comments via email regarding Drag Queen Story Time.  The board is interested in setting up a Gmail account just for trustees.  The board agrees that the library should develop programming policy guidelines for community read-a- louds and other programs.  The board would like to thank all library staff for their efforts and support during the last couple of weeks.  Board members commented on the large number of supporters that attended the Saturday November 16th story time. ADJOURNMENT –  Penny Pugh moved to adjourn to the work session. The motion seconded and carried unanimously. The meeting adjourned at 11:09 am. WORK SESSION – Planning  Discussion was held on the Strategic Plan draft provided by Ethos Leadership Group. NEXT MEETING – December 18, 2019 at 9:00 am at the Morgantown Public Library.