Library Board

MORGANTOWN PUBLIC LIBRARY Approved 06.17.2021 Minutes of the Annual Meeting May 20, 2021 Present: Absent: Also Present: Others Present: Sue Carpenter Sarah Palfrey Ellen Hathaway Linda Durfee Kelly Funkhouser Meredith Hartery Judy Panagakos Penny Pugh Call to order The annual meeting of the Board of Trustees of the Morgantown Public Library convened via Zoom Video Conferencing on May 20, 2021. The meeting convened at 9:02 am, Judy Panagakos, President presiding, Sarah Scharf, secretary. Approval of the Minutes  April 15, 2021 – Linda Durfee moved to approve the minutes as presented. The motion passed unanimously. PUBLIC FORUM  None CORRESPONDENCE AND COMMUNICATIONS  Sarah Palfrey shared two thank you cards for the board (one from the Morgantown staff and one from Sandy Weston) thanking them for the Staff Appreciation Day gift cards. REPORTS OF COMMITTEES/OFFICERS A. President – o Judy Panagakos will deliver the yearly director’s evaluation to Sarah Palfrey by next Tuesday. B. Treasurer – ○ Approval of Checks - Financial statements were distributed via email. Meredith moved to approve the checks as presented. The motion passed. REPORT OF THE LIBRARY DIRECTOR & BRANCH UPDATES  The WV Library Commission email server will stop working end of September. Most staff have transitioned already to a new email, and all forwarding to their new address should be set up by next week.  No update on the property that Keystone Gas is interested in purchasing. Sarah Palfrey has not heard back from Ryan Simonton yet about if/how to proceed.  The elevator is having age-related issues. The first estimate on elevator modernization was $90,000. The Board suggested putting out a Request for Information to assess our building needs. In the interim the library will proceed with a $3000 short-term fix to stop the doors from slamming shut constantly. Board Minutes – May 20, 2021 – Page 2  The Aull Center needs a paint job in the next 12-18 months. One estimate to repaint in just one color was over $25,000. The Board agrees that library should distribute a full RFP.  The library has a new digital library app called iVOX. The app’s interactive storybooks count as checkouts because they can be downloaded to a patron’s device. After the one- year license we will evaluate circulation on downloads to help curate the iVOX collection. The app will be released to the public in June.  This summer’s Big Family Book Club just launched—134 families have registered so far. Participants can pick up their own copy of Escape from Mr. Lemoncello’s Library, read it as a family, and receive postcards with activity ideas. There will be a virtual visit with author Chris Grabenstein in June. Congratulations to Colleen Caldwell, Amanda Young, Charlotte Chung, and Ruth Godfrey for their efforts in designing the program this year.  Registration for the summer reading program starts next week. Charlotte Chung is doing an excellent job coordinating the program and activities.  Board game collections will be available for checkout at Morgantown and Cheat in June. Funding was made possible with YCF grants. Also, thanks go out to Four Horsemen for working with us to provide quality games at a discount.  The library has partnered with the Mountaineer Audubon Association to create Birding Backpack kits. Kits will be available at all branches and will include two birding books, trail maps, binoculars, and lists of library resources.  The library Book Trails are gaining popularity. Locations include Mason Dixon Park, Jack Roberts Park, Mason Dixon Elementary, Mylan Park Elementary, the Arboretum, and the Botanical Gardens. Trail projects are sponsored by the Shelley A. Marshall Foundation.  Beta testing will begin soon for the new library app, Capira.  Yearly staff training for affiliates is Friday, May 21, 2021.  Ellen Hathaway submitted her official letter of retirement after 40 years of excellent service. Job descriptions for Technical Services Manager and Assistant Cataloger have been updated.  Jon Barker will start June 1, 2021 as the new Head of Public Services.  Corina Chang, marketing manager, will continue work-from-home through end of May. On June 1 she begins a hybrid work plan, 3-4 days at home, 1-2 days in building, at least through the summer.  The ALA Annual Virtual Conference begins June 4, 2021. Four staff members are attending.  Painters are coming to complete touch-ups May 21, 2021.  No updates on the Literacy Volunteer room usage plan. UNFINISHED BUSINESS  COVID-19 plan – o Currently the library is quarantining returned items for 24 hours (except DVDs which can be cleaned immediately and reshelved). o Capacity limits have been removed by Governor Justice, but we are still currently operating under capacity limits. o CDC guidance has changed about masks. Shortly afterwards, Governor Justice updated the statewide mandate to not require masks for fully vaccinated people, unless a business requires it. Board Minutes – May 20, 2021– Page 3 o Sue Carpenter moved to leave the current mask policy in place, and reserve the furniture placement for social distancing, but suspend quarantining and capacity limits, effective June 1. Discussion followed. The motion passed. o The Board is comfortable continuing Zoom meetings through the end of summer and reevaluating in-person meetings in the fall.  Investment Policy – o Board members will each begin reaching out to possible Investment Policy Committee candidates and discuss their findings during the June meeting. o Judy Panagakos distributed the final version of the Investment Policy to the Board via email. Penny Pugh moved to approve this final circulated investment policy. The motion passed unanimously. Judy will redistribute a final approved .pdf copy to the Board. NEW BUSINESS  Election of Officers – o Linda Durfee moved to continue with the current slate, with Judy as president. The motion passed.  FY22 Budget and financial categories – o The current practice allows only moving money within separate accounting lines. Sarah Palfrey asked if the Board would allow accounting to move money within Personnel, Materials, Operating categories (such as from Programming to Supplies) without Board approval each time. Sue Carpenter moved to allow for reallocation of budgeted operating money across accounting lines for the rest of the current fiscal year without prior board approval. The motion passed unanimously.  Budget adjustments o Already covered by previous motion.  Invoice payments options o Options may include direct pay or auto pay for regularly occurring utility bills. Discussion tabled until the Board drafts a policy.  Heath insurance o The cost to library has increased 10% since 2018, but none of those costs have translated to increased cost to employees yet. The Board briefly discussed the explanatory document that Kelly Funkhouser distributed via email, and will table further discussion until the June 17, 2021 meeting. BOARD COMMENTS  Linda Durfee would like to revisit the idea of adding an art installation for the library. EXECUTIVE SESSION - None ADJOURNMENT – Linda Durfee moved to adjourn. The motion carried unanimously. The meeting adjourned at 11:02am. NEXT MEETING - June 17, 2021 at 9:00am