Library Board

MORGANTOWN PUBLIC LIBRARY Approved 09.16.2021 Minutes of the Regular Meeting August 26, 2021 Present: Absent: Also Present: Others Present: Sue Carpenter Linda Durfee Sarah Palfrey Meredith Hartery Kelly Funkhouser Judy Panagakos Penny Pugh Call to order The regular meeting of the Board of Trustees of the Morgantown Public Library convened via Zoom Video Conferencing on August 26, 2021. The meeting convened at 9:01 am, Judy Panagakos, President presiding, Kelly Funkhouser, secretary. Approval of the Minutes  July 15, 2021 - The minutes were approved as presented. Sue Carpenter moved. The motion passed unanimously. PUBLIC FORUM – None CORRESPONDENCE AND COMMUNICATIONS –  Thank you note from OLLI for Sarah Palfrey’s Digital Library presentation for a Zoom audience of approximately 30 people.  Sarah Palfrey received a letter from WVU’s President Gee congratulating her on being named one of the Movers and Shakers in the Morgantown Magazine. He also thanked us for all the good work we are doing in the community and the library REPORTS OF COMMITTEES/OFFICERS A. President – None B. Treasurer – ○ Approval of Checks - Financial statements were distributed via email and file for audit. Meredith Hartery moved to approve checks as presented. During the discussion it was asked why the Parkersburg Wood County Public Library is now showing as a vendor in the check report. Parkersburg is the fiscal agent for the West Virginia Library Network. The motion passed. REPORT OF THE LIBRARY DIRECTOR & BRANCH UPDATES  Last month was the biggest circulation month we have had since the initial COVID shutdown. Officially, Sarah Palfrey will be moving to reporting a new set of numbers as far as circulations go. The change in reporting is due to moving from NorLN to WVLN. Total circulation will now be check outs plus renewals as opposed to check outs only. The difference this month is a little less than 2,000. We have 15,000+ checkouts in July at all places. The new circulation number including renewals is 17,300. We have 211 new cards. Digital circulation is strong at 13,000 borrows.  Cheat Area has been really busy. They are continuing their Saturday outside “In Tents” (intense) story time.  Literacy Volunteers have removed all of the items they wanted.  Final cleanup of meeting rooms will be next week.  Friends have not yet started the book sale. Sarah Palfrey will contact them to discuss.  There have been 350 downloads for the new app. Corina’s goal was 200. Videos with patrons have been fantastic. Board Minutes – July 15, 2021 – Page 2  Eight Samsung phones have been donated to the library to help train staff without smart phones. There may be barcode scanners donated as well. These scanners will allow the in app card to be scanned.  Ready to Read at New York Libraries: an Early Childhood Public Library Staff Development Program is a 4 hour training for storytime providers focusing on developing relationships with the program attendees. It is a four module class that is very focused on creating a welcoming environment, building relationships, and the enjoyment of books. Ten people have completed the modules with 9 of the ten attending the workshop. The purpose of the workshop was to talk about the training, what could be kept from it, and to move forward with creating our own guidelines.  Monongalia County Commission is working on a plan for a broadband system. Sarah Palfrey has spoken with Mike Fortney, Emergency Management Assistant & Director at Monongalia Emergency Centralized Communications Agency, regarding outreach and education for this broadband system. Sarah is now included in their bi-weekly meeting. She has suggested the county commission help replace two library buildings with a lab and to house a hub for those areas in the county. Judy Panagakos has mentioned a Chase Bank bus with wifi that is travelling to rural areas around Buckhannon. The County broadband concept could help us move away from the state controlled internet and have a little more say in how it works. We have moved to the faster internet through OT (West Virginia Office of Technology), but OT is a charge back entity, which is a reason to be cautious/  John Fox is doing great as the Assistant Cataloger. Sarah Scharf is doing great job with her first step into the supervisor world. New books are getting out at a more consistent rate.  Effective this pay period, all of the circulation staff and the reference staff will be combined now as Library Assistant staff reporting to the Public Services Manager, Jon Barker. Jon is working on a schedule so that everybody stays up-to-date for all service desks and trained and have off-desk time.  Charlotte Chung at Cheat will be on maternity leave in November and Amanda Young will be on maternity leave in January.  Glade Springs Resort is the location of the WVLA Fall Conference Oct 13 to 15. Let Sarah know ASAP. Morgantown will be heading up registration.  Branch updates: Arnettsville issued 4 new cards in July. Cheat’s “In Tents” storytime are great and other staff are now doing some of these storytimes. Clay-Battelle has repairs scheduled for October to replace wood at the bottom of the structure. The contractor is Reintegrate Appalachia which is part of the West Virginia Sober Living program. Clinton had a very successful storybook trail at the Sterns Blueberry Farm. also one at Farmers Market. There are a lot of great ideas and enthusiasm coming out of Clinton. Clinton and Clay-Battelle have not seen a real return of patrons yet.  The Game Collection started at the end of June. It has been really popular and so have the birding backpacks. Sarah Palfrey intends to add more 3-4 year old games with what is left of grant. The statistics will be a little fuzzy for the beginning. There were no location code or item type that could be used for them. Cheat went more with the family classic board game route. Puzzles at Cheat have been very popular. There have been a ton of donations for the Cheat Collection. UNFINISHED BUSINESS  COVID-19 plan – Sue Carpenter moved that all of our Covid exposure guidelines stay in place, and return to wearing masks in shared spaces for staff and to increase mitigation signage in the building such as masks, handwashing, and social distancing. Motion carried.  Health Insurance – After discussion, Sarah Palfrey and Kelly Funkhouser will prepare an informational presentation for staff to be presented to the library board at the September Meeting.  Investment Committee – Judy is working to recruit members for the investment committee. The plan is to transfer funds in September and to have an investment committee meeting before October board meeting, tentatively Monday night, October 18, 2021. Sue Carpenter moved that we set up the Investment Board Minutes –April 15, 2021– Page 3 accounts with the two signatures of the President, Judith Panagakos, and the Treasurer, Penny Pugh, and that the authorized persons will be Sarah Palfrey, Kelly Funkhouser, and Bonnie Dwire to move funds at direction of the board. Motion passed. NEW BUSINESS - None BOARD COMMENTS - None ADJOURNMENT – Penny Pugh moved to adjourn. The motion carried unanimously. The meeting adjourned at 10:47 am. NEXT MEETING - September 16, 2021 at 9:00am