Library Board

MORGANTOWN PUBLIC LIBRARY Approved April 11, 2024 Minutes of the Regular Meeting March 14, 2024 Present: Absent: Also Present: Others Present: Sue Carpenter Linda Durfee Sarah Palfrey Meredith Hartery Kelly Funkhouser Amy Loomis James Spears, V Alexandria Svolos Call to order The regular meeting of the Board of Trustees of the Morgantown Public Library convened on March 14, 2024. The meeting convened at 9:04am, Meredith Hartery, Vice-President presiding until Sue Carpenter, President could arrive, Kelly Funkhouser, secretary. Approval of the Minutes • Regular Meeting February 1, 2024 - The minutes were approved as presented. Meredith Hartery moved. The motion passed unanimously. PUBLIC FORUM – None CORRESPONDENCE AND COMMUNICATIONS – Disturbing correspondence has been received by multiple employees and at the recommendation of the City Attorney, the letters have been referred to the City Police. REPORTS • President – None • Director – See Director’s Report – Additional information –  Take Your Child to the Library Day – Emily Sparrow did a fantastic job of pulling it all together. Arnettsville Public Library opened for a few hours on Saturday and they are not normally open.  Library Levy committee – is up and running. Hats off to Laura Fletcher for stepping up and is chairing the committee. Joe Morris has planned this evening’s fund raising event at 123 Pleasant Street together.  City of Morgantown funding for FY2025 is $900,000.  Audit has been completed. Thank you to Kelly Funkhouser for all of the hard work keeping things in order for the audit. The auditors were in and out in a few hours. • Treasurer – o Financial Statements – The financial statements were reviewed. Alexandria Svolos moved that the financial statements be filed for audit. The motion passed. ○ Approval of Checks – Meredith Hartery moved to approve checks as presented. The motion passed. REPORTS OF COMMITTEES A. Investment Committee – None B. Facilities Committee – The alarm system and electronics that go with the grinder pump are being replaced tomorrow and the backup pump will be in the building for immediate replacement should the need arise. UNFINISHED BUSINESS - None NEW BUSINESS - • Staff appreciation – April is the month for National Library Week. The cost is approximately $1,125. Board Minutes – March 14, 2024 – Page 2 Alexandria Svolos moved that the Library observe National Library Week by purchasing select gift cards for staff with the cost coming from the Friends money. BOARD & DIRECTOR COMMENTS – Sarah Palfrey – There is a show at 123 Pleasant Street tonight to support the library levy. Sarah will be providing an overview for the library levy via speaking engagements for various community organizations. Amy Loomis - Acknowledged and thanked Sarah Palfrey for her leadership with legislative issues this year. She is proud that Sarah is based here and representing all of the others as well as us. She appreciates Sarah’s focus in that area. EXECUTIVE SESSION – None ADJOURNMENT – Meredith Hartery moved to adjourn. The motion carried unanimously. The meeting adjourned at 10:13am. Board Minutes –April 15, 2021– Page 3 NEXT MEETING – April 11, 2024 9am MARCH 2024 BOARD MEETING DIRECTOR'S REPORT Sarah Palfrey MARCH 2024 BOARD MEETING FEBRUARY 2024 HIGHLIGHTS The f i r s t S a t u r d a y in February is home to the national event Take Y o u r C h i l d t o th e L i b r a r y Day! Emily Sparro w did an amazing job organizing a s y s t e m wide c e l e b r a t i o n. Kids and famil ies were encouraged to go on a f a i r y t a l e t heme d q u e s t t h roughout the lib raries to learn how our collecti o n s a r e organ i z e d , h o w to get a card, an d meet staff. All circulating locat i o n s parti c i p a t e d . M any thanks to Arn ettsville for opening on a Saturd a y t o b e a part o f t h e c e l e b ration and to Crumble Cookies Morgantown for d o n a t i n g prize s . F e b r u a r y had two other s urprise programming hits with t h e T e e n A n t i - Valen t i n e ’ s D a y program and the Leap Day celebration! We co m p l e t e d our work with the Public Library Association Digi t a l L e a r n grant . W e s t r u g gled to get staff engaged early in the grant proce s s , b u t i n t h e end h a d 4 p e o p l e train in 3 diffe rent classes. Attendance in the c l a s s e s w a s l ow, b u t f e e d b a ck from the staff was they thought the content w a s g o o d a n d glad t h a t t h e y had the opportun ity to learn. I t hin k t h i s i s m ore proof that on dema n d c o m p u t er help is the primary need and not formal or str u c t u r e d class e s . Both t h e n e w l y formed Staff Eng agement (SEC) and the Diversit y , E q u i t y , I nclu s i o n , a n d Accessibility ( DEIA ) c o m m i t t e es met in Febru a r y . I a m very excited t o se e b o t h o f t h ese groups get t o w o r k . T h e members of both c o m m i t t e es have strong goals a n d p u r p o se. SEC’s f i r s t sugge s t i o n i s t o move our annual staff d a y t o S e ptember which wi ll allow m o r e s t a f f to participate i n t he p r e s e n t a t i o ns.  MARCH 2024 BOARD MEETING FEBRUARY 2024 ADMINISTRATION Quart e r l y A f f i l i a te library training. A com m u n i t y b ased committee has We re v i e w e d t h e different types of f orme d t o s u p p o rt the passage o f the grant s t h a t a r e a vailable to libraires Libra r y L e v y . I a m serving in an i nclu d i n g t h e s econd round of W VLC advis o r y c a p a c i ty. For transpare ncy Libra r y F a c i l i t y Improvement grants. sake, a l l c h e c k s are being mailed to Discu s s i o n w a s held about t he l i b r a r y b e f o r e being deposited in succe s s f u l a n d unsuccessful tip s. t heir a c c o u n t . Any leftover fund s will Visit t o K i n g w o od to review the be do n a t e d t o t he Friends of the requi r e m e n t s f o r a library strate gic Libra r y a f t e r e l e ction day. The r e g u l a r 2 0 2 4 Legislative ses sion Count y B r o a d b and RFP committee concl u d e d o n S a turday March 9 . comp l e t e d i t ’ s work of reviewing the There w e r e n o i mprovements to the propo s a l s . W o r k included weekly Grant s t o L i b r a ries budget line f or meet i n g s , p r o p o sal review, in-pe rson t he n e x t f i s c a l y ear. Multiple prese n t a t i o n s , and scoring. attem p t s w e r e m ade by Delegate Steel e t o c r i m i nalize book selec tion. A sma l l e r t h a n requested, but st ill an The W e s t V i r g i n ia Library Associ ation i ncre a s e i n f u n ding is currently being worke d d i l i g e n t ly to educate revie w e d b y C i t y Council. Addit i o n a l l egis l a t o r o n h o w book selection f undi n g w i l l b e c onsidered out of the works , a n d r a i s e questions abou t rollo v e r f u n d s available after Ju ly. how t h e r e m o v al of the exemption woul d b e i m p l e m ented. In the en d The r e q u i r e d a n nual audit has b een t he b i l l ( i n b o t h forms) did not comp l e t e d . A c o py is available f or comp l e t e t h e l e gislative process . revie w . W e l l d o ne Kelly F.! I a lso a t t e n d e d t he Monongalia PERSO N N E L - Count y d a y a t t he Legislature in Lisa M . - h i r e d P T MPL (rehire!) Febru a r y . I t w a s a well attended Facil i t y U p d a t e s - event a n d I w a s able to have Offic e s h a v e b e en moved and th e addit i o n a l c o n v ersations about books a l e s p a c e has been reconf igured l egis l a t i v e c o n c e rns for libraries. t o ma k e r o o m f o r programming suppl i e s .  MARCH 2024 BOARD MEETING Digital Highlight DIAL-A-STORY Not a traditional ‘digital library’ asset, but a fun and unique way to engage with library materials and staff outside of the building. Lynda Lukenbaugh is our Dial-a-Story coordinator. She communicates with staff, records stories, collects recorded stories from other staff and guest readers, and works with the Marketing Manager to promote the new titles each month. The services costs us about $2,200 a year and gets about 1,000 calls a year. It was more popular in 2020-2021, seeing more like 1,500 calls a year. As with all library programs and services we regularly re-evaluate the cost per use before renewing service contracts. Morgantown Public Library System January Visits 2024 9,765 14,627 ITEMS BORROWED 43 PROGRAM ATTENDANCE PROGRAMS 725 COMPUTER SESSIONS NEW CARDS 734 221 930 18,426 ADDITIONS TO THE COLLECTION DIGITAL 269 WITHDRAWN BORROWS Morgantown Public Library System February Visits 2024 10,608 14,124 ITEMS BORROWED 54 PROGRAM ATTENDANCE PROGRAMS 1,223 COMPUTER SESSIONS NEW CARDS 804 205 893 17,552 ADDITIONS TO THE COLLECTION DIGITAL 410 WITHDRAWN BORROWS Branch Report Arnettsville Public Library February 2024 Seems like the shortest month of the year packed in a lot of activities at the Arnettsville Public Library this February, We were open on the first Saturday of the month for Take Your Child To the Library Day. We had five children and seven adults participate in the activities that day and gave out four new library cards.that day. Senior Lunch and Learn took place on Wednesday, February 7 and had 19 folks in attendance. We had special guests Heather and Paige from WVU Extension to discuss future programs with them. This month’s meal theme was breakfast and we feasted on a wide variety of delicious treats. Adult Craft Class on Wednesday, February 14 had 13 in attendance which is a lot when you are teaching a variety of crafts, but we made it thru and everyone enjoyed themselves. Loretta taught the group how to make paper roses out of book pages then we decorated wooden hearts and made book page snowman ornaments. Our child crafter returned with his Grandma and Aunt and had a good time. He made all of the ladies that he knew in the class valentines for Valentine’s Day. Too cute!!! Movie NIght was held on Friday, February 23 and there were six folks in attendance. We watched “The Notebook” which was based on a book by Nicolas Sparks. A lot of the audience had never seen the movie before and really enjoyed it. Folks from PBS visited the library on Wednesday, February 21 at 5:00 p.m. and stayed for an hour and handed out a free book and stuffed animal to children who visited the library. There were about 15 children and 15 adults who came to this special event. The library was full of folks waiting for the PBS folks to show up so they were stationed in the hall and stayed busy most of the time. Worked on weeding some of the children’s section and intend to work on rest of children’s area in March. Busy planning weekly events for the Summer Reading Program at Arnettsville. Nine weeks of weekly activities have been planned in February. Goals: *Continue to Weed *Work on details of Summer Reading Programs and finalizing everything *Work on Craft Projects for classes. *Spring Cleaning and washing of windows (outside) CAPL Manager’s Report February 2024 February was an amazing month at Cheat! We had Take Your Child to the Library Day, worked on an incredible project involving a sensory space, had a special storytime visit, had committee meetings, and worked on a couple new displays! February had a little bit of everything! Right at the end of January, we started working with two occupational therapy students, Lauren and Ayric, who came to help us determine if we could make a sensory space in our children’s area. After going to a talk at the WVLA Conference, Jessika felt very passionately about getting a sensory space made here at Cheat. After hearing us talk about it, Emily Sparrow mentioned that some OT students may want to work with us at Cheat, and I am thankful that Lauren and Ayric wanted to come out and help us! They came ready with fantastic ideas, and immediately helped us decide to move the book sale over to a different wall so we could rope off the corner for the space! I cannot say enough good things about how fun and efficient it has been working with Lauren and Ayric. They got the ball moving super quickly, and only a couple weeks later, we had a list of measurements for the space and a list of items to purchase, as well! We decided to use money from the children’s foundation grant that we get every year to pay for the space, which we feel like is an excellent use for the money. The sensory space will make it easier to encourage caregivers with overwhelmed or upset children to not leave the building, and will be a place that children with any sort of sensory disability will feel at home in. We never want anyone to feel like they have to leave if their child is having a bad day or needs some time to relax and calm down. We also see this space as a step further in making our building as inclusive as possible, which is very important to our staff. I want to thank Lauren and Ayric for listening to what we needed and creating an amazing plan for us and thank them in advance for helping us implement it! I also want to thank Jessika for bringing up the idea, and both her and Abby for helping Lauren and Ayric plan the space! I am very excited to share pictures of the space when it is finished, which will hopefully be at the beginning of April! At the beginning of February, we had a lively Take Your Child to the Library Day at Cheat! We had a really great craft and Crumbl coupons to giveaway! Abby and I worked that Saturday and had a fun (and busy!) day talking to all the kids and caregivers about what our library offers. It was a massive Saturday for us with over 130 patrons, and over 50 participants in the program! Thanks to Emily Sparrow for planning a fun day, system-wide! Also in February, we had a fantastic visit from West Virgnia Public Broadcasting, who put on a Books with Buddies storytime! I was so excited to have them offer to come and do a storytime and add some stuffed animals to the mix! There were many happy storytime attendees (like usual!) and the leftover books and “plush buddies” were given out that same evening! We really appreciated WVPB coming out and doing this! I appreciate all of my staff’s hard work in February and am already looking forward to a busy spring and summer, especially with summer reading planning ongoing! General Administration - Planning for StoryFest is ongoing! Abby is working very hard and we are all proud of her effort! We cannot wait to assist in making StoryFest happen! - Jessika and I have planned events for summer reading! We’re going to be working on creating a list of items to order for the events soon! - Jessika and I also attended separate committee meetings in February. I was lucky enough to be in on the first Staff Engagement Committee meeting! I’m really excited about what James has started, and how much the committee can get everyone involved. Jessika attended the first meeting of the DEIA (Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility) Committee, and is also very excited about being involved in the support of MPLS’ DEIA goals. Goals 1. Create list of items to order for the SRP and see what we already have that we can use. 2. Continue to rework children’s book displays. 3. Continue to check book orders by popular lists and sources. (Bookpage, GoodReads, etc). MONTHLY Clay Battelle Public Library REPORT FEBRUARY 2024 February has been full steam ahead planning for Summer Reading! We are very excited for events this summer. Kelly has made a new community connection with Indian Meadows Campground and are hosting a few summer reading events at their pavilion. Book buddy partnership was amazing. The children really enjoyed choosing an animal and book to read to at home. Sam had been doing a wonderful job with story time. We continue to get new families attending her sessions. Molly has been doing an amazing job with summer reading prep. She is also making great community connections to collect donations and partnerships for our summer programs. Facilities Update Book Return-needs repaired Planning and Organizing Summer Reading Re-Make Learning Education None Goals Summer Reading Weeding All of the following goals we are continuing to complete. Continue to grow my partnership with community involvement Morgantown Public Library Monthly Report February 2024 February was a busy month in Public Services overall. We continued to distribute and print tax forms to many patrons, saw a record number of requests for public notaries, and continued building stronger relationships with many of our patrons. Staff Changes We were excited to return to full staff this month after Library Assistant Lisa M. started. Lisa had worked at MPL previously and was an effective member of Public Services. Lisa has hit the ground running and quickly fit back into the team. Having Lisa back on staff brings Public Services back to a full staffing level and, along with other minor changes to the scheduling, will hopefully reduce strain on the schedule as we continue to handle winter-time sickness and staff days off. Additionally, this month we hired a second work-study student from WVU. The WVU work-study team contacted us this month with the opportunity to place a student at the library. We were happy to take on the additional student and appreciate their help in keeping up with many essential library tasks. The experience of hiring, managing, and working with both students this semester has been wonderful, and we will likely rehire our current students or hire new students in future semesters. Programming Several programs this month were very successful. Children’s Librarian Ruth G. and Youth Services Specialist Jenean S. presented a Leap Year Party to celebrate the Leap Year with a standing-room-only crowd. This was by far the most successful program this month with close to 90 participants who enjoyed learning about Leap Year, making crafts, and testing their leaping skills. While program attendance is not always a clear indicator of success, it was exciting to see a program so well-attended as a reminder that there are many patrons interested in unique and engaging programs. Library Assistant Libby P. returned to adult programming this month and presented another session of the Adult Nonfiction Book Club. This program was on a brief hiatus over the holidays but returned this month with good attendance from repeat participants and several new participants. Libby reported that the engagement with her participants improved this month and it is her goal that the program become more patron-driven in the future. Library Assistant La’Shelia W. and Interlibrary Loan Coordinator Crystal L. both presented digital literacy classes as a part of the PLA Digital Literacy grant the library system received. Neither staff member saw the patron participation that they were hoping for but going through the training for these classes improves our ability to offer similar programming in the future. Additionally, by completing the required training both Crystal and La’Shelia have become more digitally literate individuals and can use their knowledge to better help patrons and their coworkers. Staff Contributions, Projects, and Other Updates Early in February, the library system celebrated Take Your Child to the Library Day (TYCTTLD). That day Library Assistant Bryan D. gave a wonderful interview to WDTV about TYCTTLD, why the library celebrates that day, and the importance of taking children to the library. Library Assistants like Bryan are the face of Public Services and the library and understand very acutely the value of the library to the patrons that we serve. I appreciate having people like Bryan on staff who can articulate the value and role of the library. This month two new staff members, Library Assistants Dan L. and Kelly W., took on new responsibilities as live chat responders for Public Services live chat services on Tawk.to. Dan and Kelly were both trained in early February and have consistently made it a point to log into the chat dashboard to field patron questions. Training these two staff members as chat responders should help increase the chat availability going forward. Dan also has expressed interest in becoming a notary public for the library. He has nearly completed the state’s application process and will be ready to take notary appointments as soon as his stamp arrives. With the recent increase in demand for notary services, it made sense to add another notary on staff available to work with patrons. Evening Supervisor Shelby D. continues to manage the long-running “Books We Love” staff picks display. I I have been pleasantly surprised by the number of items from this display that are checked out and I think it is a good way for patrons to connect with staff. Shelby reported that she has plans to revitalize the display and increase the number of staff involved in selecting items for the display. With help from the Mountaineer Audubon, we are excited to offer birding backpacks once again for circulation. In working with Mountaineer Audubon we devised a solution to hopefully prevent the new kits from also going missing. There are three display kits on display in the children’s area while the real backpacks are kept in reserve behind the circulation desk. Hopefully, this will prevent the real kits from going missing while also promoting the kits to patrons who are in the building. This month a couple of groups toured the library to learn more about all that we offer. Children’s Librarian Ruth G. and ILL Coordinator Crystal L. provided a tour and storytime to the Presbyterian Child Development Center. Additionally West Virginia Academy visited with nearly 50 kindergarteners for a library tour and storytime. Accommodating this visit was truly a team effort with many staff pitching in to help Ruth, read stories, show the children around. A big thank you is owed to Directory Sarah P., Youth Services Specialist Jenean S., and Evening Supervisor Shelby D. Goals ● Continue weeding in adult fiction to produce more free space and move the paperback collection. - in progress ○ Shelby has continued to shift the paperback collections. All that remains is to shift the paperback science fiction collection. ○ Some more weeding is needed to make space for these items. ● Coordinate with Ruth Godfrey to reorganize the children’s area into a more distinct and open area within the library. - in progress  ○ Ruth will continue weeding in the easy books to make it easier to move shelving when that point arrives. ● Replace existing public computer furniture on the 2nd floor and better organize PACs - in progress ○ Preliminary discussions with Director Sarah P. and Facilities Manager Darrin B. have taken place about purchasing new computer furniture and other needed changes. ○ Potential furniture and arrangements have also been identified. ○ I have scheduled a meeting with Jay Malise of J.P. Jay Associates to discuss more options for computer furniture. CDPL Monthly Report February 2024 Manager’s Report ● A huge thank you to Caleb and Angela for stepping up and helping out after my mom passed and while I was on vacation. I appreciate both of them so much. ● Pre-School Storytime - Groggle’s Monster Valentine by Diana Murray and decorating a monster cookie. ○ We had 5 kids, 4 adults and 3 staff ○ ○ Decorating the cookies was a lot of fun and we had cookies left over to hand out to other patrons. ● Library Lattes and Laughs ○ This month's book was The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry by Gabrielle Zevin. Angela led the discussion. Caleb and Emma made treats for the group. ○ Angela brought in a beautiful bouquet of flowers, which are still on the desk! ○  ○ We had 11 adults and 2 staff. ● Janet read the following books for Dial A Story: ○ A Story Is To Share ○ Bear Finds Eggs ○ How to Catch a Leprechaun ○ Spring Stinks ● TYCTTL we had a great turn out with 12 children and 10 adults! Thank you Caleb! ● Books with Buddies ○ CDPL had 8 children and 8 adults attend. ○ Angela reached out to some of our patrons and encouraged them to come in for the program, which they did! ○ Emily came out to support CDPL, thank you Emily! General Administration ● New to our Collections ○ Adult Fiction 31 ○ Adult Non-Fiction 1 ○ YA 3 ○ Graphic Novels ○ Childrens 6 ○ Children Non-Fiction ○ ER 4 ○ E3 ○ Boardbooks ○ VOX Books 12 ○ DVDs 14 Planning, Organizing, Processes, and Evaluation ● CDPL has a working, still being developed, social media spreadsheet ● Reorganize the front corner of our building to better highlight our new shelves ● Angela is in the final stages of having the artwork printed and then she will frame and complete the wall. Personnel: Community and Professional Development (3 CEs required yearly for all staff working more than 20 hours a week) Top Three Goals for March 1. Finalize 2024 SRP Plan a. CDPL’s weekly events have been submitted b. Specific plans are still being developed i. Where to hold the in person hike  ii. Contacting Elisha Rush for a potential CDPL event with her 2. Contact and finalize prizes for 2024 SRP 3. Finalize art wall 4. Proposed BookTrail for April 2024 at the Grafton Road Community United Methodist Church, using a book purchased for us by the Ridgedale CEO’s a. Book has been purchased and taped, given to Cathy for lamination b. Waiting to hear back from Ridgedale CEO’s to see if they will provide seed packets to be picked up at CDPL for those who read the book 5. Design and finalize social media for the April book trail and WVU OT partnership “Belonging”