Library Board

MORGANTOWN PUBLIC LIBRARY Approved January 19, 2022 Minutes of the Regular Meeting December 16, 2021 Present: Absent: Also Present: Others Present: Sue Carpenter Penny Pugh Sarah Palfrey Linda Durfee Meredith Hartery Judy Panagakos Call to order The regular meeting of the Board of Trustees of the Morgantown Public Library convened via Zoom Video Conferencing on December 16, 2021. The meeting convened at 9:04am, Judy Panagakos, President presiding, Kelly Funkhouser, secretary. Approval of the Minutes  November 18, 2021 - The minutes were approved as corrected. Meredith Hartery moved. The motion passed unanimously. PUBLIC FORUM – None CORRESPONDENCE AND COMMUNICATIONS –  Sarah Palfrey reported that we have received communication of a bequest from the C. Catherine Lyons estate. The attorney handling the estate estimated the amount to be $227,000 with no restriction or stipulations.  Donations in memory of Judith Poe, a long time teacher of 1st and 2nd grades at Arnettsville School, are being received. The family asked that donations be made to the Arnettsville Public Library in lieu of flowers. The monies will be used to purchase books – to update the children’s collection.  Your Community Foundation gave notice that a donation has been made to the Morgantown Public Library System Endowment Fund. REPORTS OF COMMITTEES/OFFICERS A. President – None. B. Treasurer – ○ Financial Statements - Financial statements were distributed via email, discussed, and filed for audit. ○ Approval of Checks – Linda Durfee moved to approve the check report as presented. The motion passed. REPORT OF THE LIBRARY DIRECTOR & BRANCH UPDATES  November library usage was slow at all locations as far as visits. The computer use tracking software has been down the last couple of months, since the network was changed over. No personal information is tracked - just statistic number tracking. New library cards counted 148 including 9 digital use. Digital library usage was strong. Freegal for digital music and Hoopla numbers were up. Dial-A-Story calls are down.  Jon Barker is trialing a new time management and print management software for the public computers. Cost is approximately $2000 the first year with a minimal amount the following years.  Sarah Palfrey is waiting on one more phone quote. An upfront cost for equipment could be considered for American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) grant money through the West Virginia Library Commission.  For FY 22, $840,000 was requested from the City of Morgantown and have received $800,000. Sarah Board Minutes – December 16, 2022 – Page 2 Palfrey sent the City Manager a request to reinstate the $40,000.  Sarah Palfrey submitted the FY23 request. The request is $875,000. Sarah Palfrey will present at the City of Morgantown’s Committee of the Whole meeting.  Judy Panagakos, Sue Carpenter, and Sarah Palfrey met to discuss next year’s budget including the current population based model and a service based model. Sarah Palfrey has been looking at state standards for library operation. The budget should be presented to the Board of Trustees in March or April.  There are 2 finished ARPA grant applications need signatures. Judy Panagakos will sign them. Grants need to be completed by August 1, 2022. Possible grants are outlined in the following bullet points. o Grant 1: Outreach and Programming Coordinator Position. This is a new, full time position that would be paid for 12 pays if hired in February and fund the position through the end of this fiscal year. It is a reimbursable based grant. The Morgantown Public Library System will pay the employee and then request reimbursement through the West Virginia Library Commission. To continue this position, the $40,000 increase from the Board of Education will cover a portion of this. This grant comes to just over $30,000. o Grant 2: Upgrade public computers at all locations. This will upgrade the units with new memory sticks, standardized the monitors, and Microsoft Windows. This grant is approximately $10,000. o Grant 3: Master Facility Plan. This has not been submitted. It has been difficult to pin down a cost. o Grant 4: LibAnswers. This is a chat function that can be added to the Morgantown Public Library System website. It will be necessary to build an FAQ (frequently asked question) database for staff to be able to copy and paste answers to regularly asked questions. The software is approximately $2,000 per year. The grant would pay for the first year. o Grant 5: Upgrade or update telephone system.  ARPA Corona-Virus Capital Fund: This state grant can be used for various versions of broadband connectivity and multi-purpose community use facilities. This money could be used for improvement and expansions for library buildings. This is not Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) money but is to be distributed through the US Department of Treasury.  Sandy Weston passed away last month. Staff have been moved around to cover hours. We all miss Sandy. She was a great part of the team. Corina Chang did a wonderful job with the article honoring Sandy. We are considering alternate staffing models.  Colleen Caldwell and Sarah Palfrey presented to the Cheat Lake Rotary. The Rotary are planning on replacing the storage shed behind the Cheat Area Public Library.  Four (4) employees have been approved to go to Public Library Association Conference in Portland, OR.  Corina Chang is always promoting fun for the staff. She took photos of staff wearing their Christmas sweaters and uploaded them to Facebook for public voting. The most votes get a $25 gift card.  Branch Updates – o The bathroom at Cheat Area Public Library is complete. Colleen Caldwell is pleased to report that it no longer looks like a janitor’s closet. It has been painted, and a new light, a new fan, and a new cabinet has been installed. o Clay Battelle Public Library has been having some issues with their fan. First with the heater; any time the heater in the bathroom was turned on, there was an intense burning smell. An electrician has been called to resolve the issue. This may require replacing some or all of the electric base board heaters. UNFINISHED BUSINESS  COVID-19 plan – Staff feels unsure with in person, in library programming, the use of meeting rooms by outside groups, and the Book Sale. There were a few in person, in library programs in December. Nothing is scheduled in the early part of January. The Board of Trustees consensus is to begin taking donations in January and reopen the Book Sale in February.  Investment Committee – We did get the Huntington Bank large transfer before the November 30 deadline. There is still about $100,000 sitting at Huntington. This is fairly normal. The remaining balance should Board Minutes –December 16, 2021 – Page 3 move by December 15. By year end, everything should be out of Huntington. The goal is to have the first meeting the third week of January. The Board of Trustees is requesting a snap shot of month end balances of where the monies are sitting. NEW BUSINESS - None BOARD COMMENTS – The general consensus is to move library Board of Trustee meetings to the third Wednesday of the month beginning in January. A Special Work Session for budget is scheduled for Wednesday, February 9, 2022, via Zoom Conferencing. ADJOURNMENT – Sue Carpenter moved to adjourn. The motion carried unanimously. The meeting adjourned at 10:19am. NEXT MEETING - Wednesday, January 19, 2022 at 9:00am