Library Board

MORGANTOWN PUBLIC LIBRARY Approved 07.11.2024 Minutes of the Regular Meeting June 13, 2024 Present: Absent: Also Present: Others Present: Sue Carpenter Sarah Palfrey Linda Durfee Kelly Funkhouser Meredith Hartery James Spears, V Amy Loomis Alexandria Svolos Call to order The regular meeting of the Board of Trustees of the Morgantown Public Library convened on June 13, 2024. The meeting convened at 9:03am. Sue Carpenter, President presiding, Kelly Funkhouser, secretary. Approval of the Minutes  Annual Meeting May 9, 2024 - The minutes were approved as presented. Linda Durfee moved. The motion passed unanimously. PUBLIC FORUM – None CORRESPONDENCE AND COMMUNICATIONS - None REPORTS  President – None  Director – See Director’s Report – Additional information –  Treasurer – o Financial Statements – The financial statements were reviewed. Linda Durfee moved that the financial statements be filed for audit. The motion passed. ○ Approval of Checks – Alexandria Svolos moved to approve checks as presented. The motion passed. REPORTS OF COMMITTEES A. Investment Committee – The committee has concluded its assigned business. The President has dissolved the committee. B. Facilities Committee –Facility needs assessment goals for an RFP were discussed. UNFINISHED BUSINESS – Linda Durfee moved the following slate of officers be adopted. Motion passed. President Linda Durfee Vice-President Alexandria Svolos Treasurer Sue Carpenter Secretary Amy Loomis Member Meredith Hartery Board Minutes – June 13, 2024 – Page 2 NEW BUSINESS – • Interest on Savings – The discussion of moving savings out of Morgantown Public Library’s Operating Fund to a new fund was agreed to by the board. • Budget Adjustment – None needed. • New Federal Overtime Rule – There was discussion of exempt vs non-exempt staff and upcoming changes from Department of Labor. • Facility Study – see REPORTS OF COMMITTEES>B. Facilities Committee. • Computer Furniture Purchase – There was discussion of purchase and its timing. BOARD & DIRECTOR COMMENTS – None ADJOURNMENT – Amy Loomis moved to adjourn. The motion carried unanimously. The meeting adjourned at 10:41am. NEXT MEETING – July 11, 2024 9:00am JUNE 2024 BOARD MEETING DIRECTOR'S REPORT Sarah Palfrey  JUNE 2024 BOARD MEETING MAY 2024 HIGHLIGHTS T h e T a ylo r Sw i ft e ffe c t c o n t i n ue d w i t h t h e Ki d Sw i ft i e pa r t y w h i c h br o ugh t i n 42 ki d s fo r a n e ve n i n g pr o gr a m! T h e Ad ult ve r s i o n w i ll be h e ld i n J un e . T h e s e pr o gr a ms h a ve be e n a w o n d e r ful w a y t o s h a r e i n fo r ma t i o n a bo ut fut ur e pr o gr a ms a n d c e le br a t e s t o r yt e lli n g t h r o ugh s o n g. T h e r e w e r e a n umbe r o f w e ll a t t e n d e d pa r t n e r s h i p e ve n t s i n Ma y i n c lud i n g t h e C le a n W a t e r e xh i bi t a n d pr o gr a m w h i c h w a s a pa r t n e r s h i p w i t h Fr i e n d s o f De c ke r s C r e e k a n d W V R i ve r s C o a li t i o n a n d t h e t h i r d yo ga s e s s i o n s po n s o r e d by T h e He a lt h Pla n . W e a ls o h a d a pr o gr a m w i t h t h e Avi a n C o n s e r va t i o n C e n t e r o f Appa la c h i a a n d a me e t t h e a ut h o r e ve n t w i t h La ur a Fo w le r G i bs o n , C a r o l Fo w le r Sli ke r , a n d Ki mbe r ly Fo w le r — w h o w r o t e a n d i llus t r a t e d " T h e O n ly E gg N e s t , " pi c t ur e d be lo w . All t h e e ve n t s e xc e e d s e xpe c t e d a t t e n d a n c e . MPLS h e ld i t ’s fi r s t As i a n Ame r i c a n a n d Pa c i fi c I s la n d e r He r i t a ge Mo n t h r e a d i n g c h a lle n ge . T h i s w a s t h e fi r s t o ffi c i a l e ve n t pla n n e d a n d i mple me n t e d by t h e Di ve r s i t y, E q ui t y, I n c lus i o n a n d Ac c e s s i bi li t y c o mmi t t e e . J e s s i ka L. ( C h e a t ) w a s i n t e gr a l t o t h i s fi r s t e ve n t s h a r i n g h e r pr o ud h e r i t a ge a n d fa vo r i t e fa mi ly r e c i pe s w i t h us . T h e r e w e r e 45 r e gi s t r a n t s a n d 25 pe o ple c o mple t e d t h e c h a lle n ge .  JUNE 2024 BOARD MEETING MAY 2024 ADMINISTRATION C o n gra t ula t i o n s t o t h e e n t i re Th e We st Vi rgi n i a Li bra ry Mo rga n t o wn Publi c Li bra ry Syst e m C o mmi ssi o n, G ra n t s i n Ai d fo r c re a t i ng a pla c e t h a t vo t e rs o f a ppli c a t i o n wa s submi t t e d o n t i me . Mo n o n ga li a C o unt y w a nt t o Ke lly o r Sa ra h re vi e we d a ll fo ur o f suppo rt wi t h t h e i r t a x do lla rs. The t h e Affi li a t e li bra ry a ppli c a t i o ns se c o n d re n e w a l o f t h e Li bra ry Le vy be fo re t h e y we re submi t t e d. The pa sse d w i t h a ppro xi ma t e ly 65% o f Se rvi c e C e n t e r fun di n g a ppli c a t i o n t h e vo t e . h a s n o t be e n re le a se d ye t . Emi ly Spa rro w , O ut re a c h , All St a ff Da y i s se t fo r Fri da y Pro gra ms, a nd Expe ri e n c e s Se pt e mbe r 1 3, a ll lo c a t i o n s w i ll be C o o rdi na t o r’s la st da y w i ll be J une c lo se d. 1 4. Emi ly h a s h a d a ma j o r i mpa c t o n t h e ro le t hi s po si t i o n pla ys i n Wo rk c o nt i n ue s wi t h Ali gn HR o n t h e t h e syst e m. We a re sa d t o lo se he r, sa la ry sc h e dule a n d upda t i n g but gra t e ful fo r t h e pro fe ssi o n a l pe rso nn e l po li c i e s. C urre n t fo c us i s st a nda rd t h a t sh e se t w hi le w i t h us. o n c re a t i ng st a n da rds fo r e mplo ye e re vi e ws a n d a pa t h fo r pro mo t i o ns A c o mmi t t e e w a s fo rme d t o a nd ra i se s. Th e Di re c t o r’s se lf i n t e rvi e w i n t e rn a l c a n di da t e s fo r a sse ssme n t i s due t o t h e Bo a rd a t t h e po si t i o n . Fo ur i n t e rvi e w s w e re t h e J uly me e t i n g. h e ld a nd a n o ffe r w a s ma de a nd a c c e pt e d by Abby C yph e rt . Abby P ER S ONNEL - h a s be e n w i t h t he li bra ry syst e m a t C a mi lle - hi re d PT MPL t h e C he a t lo c a t i o n si n c e J a n ua ry R i le y - re si gne d PT Aull C e nt e r, la st 20 21 . Sh e h a s e xpe ri e n c e de si gn i ng da y 7 / 3 pro gra ms, w o rki n g w i t h st a ff a t mult i ple lo c a t i o ns a n d w a s t h e F ac i li t y Updat e s - pri ma ry c o o rdi na t o r fo r t hi s ye a r’s Pla n ni n g wo rk h a s be gun o n t h e St o ryFe st . ba t hro o m re mo de ls a nd a ddi n g ve n t i la t i o n t o t h e gri nde r pump ro o m. Morgantown Public Library System Visits May 2024 11,690 15,729 ITEMS BORROWED 50 PROGRAM ATTENDANCE PROGRAMS 1,293 COMPUTER SESSIONS NEW CARDS 973 263 1,148 16,886 ADDITIONS TO THE COLLECTION DIGITAL 599 WITHDRAWN BORROWS May 2024 Arnettsville Public Library Branch Report April Showers bring May flowers. Someone should have told May because it seemed like it brought only more showers. I did get to plant some sunflowers by the book drop at the end of the month and they are starting to sprout so here’s hoping that June is sunny, bright and flowery. Senior Lunch and Learn in May had 14 folks in attendance. There were lots of politicians/visitors in attendance before the May primary. Michael Simms, judge candidate and Mark Myers, magistrate candidate along with assessor Mark Myers and sheriff department employees Todd Forbes and Mark Ralston joined us for lunch and discussed some concerns of the seniors and answered questions. Craft class in May also had 14 folks in attendance and that is a lot when trying to teach a craft. I learned that the hard way. We made tulle wreaths with a patriotic theme or whatever theme they could make with the tulle that we had. Everyone had a good time but we ran out of some of the types of tulle so folks didn’t get to complete some of the wreaths. I was able to find some of the tulle and folks could stop back by the library to get some to finish their wreaths. I may have exhausted my crafting abilities so I plan to search pinterest for some nice and EASY crafts for future classes. Movie Night had four folks in attendance but we had a great time watching the classic 13 Going on 30. We all jumped back to our teens and the 80’s and enjoyed Razzles and other tasty treats. While I didn’t get to visit the pre-k class at Mylan Park this month, I did get to change the book in their permanent book trail to Take Me Home County Roads and plan to leave it there during the summer and change it before school starts in August. Weeding continues and is almost complete for this year. Only have adult non-fiction to complete in June and then take a break from weeding for a while. June Goals: *Summer Reading Registration and Programs *Finish Weeding *Work on live weeding outside in parking lot *Research craft ideas for future use *Activate more book/program posts on Facebook plus do some Facebook Live posts CAPL Manager’s Report May 2024 May was a pretty busy month at Cheat! May is usually filled with some down time to work on organizing and planning, but not this one! While there were a couple slower days, we ended up having the most patrons at Cheat in the month of May since at least 2017 (the last recorded year on our statistics sheet). It was so fun to see so many patrons, including some school visitors from Eastwood who got to learn about the library and take home library card applications! Lastly, May was a month of new opportunities for some staff members, highlighted by Abby being hired as the new Outreach Coordinator for MPLS! As mentioned above, one of our May highlights was our visit from Eastwood! Abby has done a fantastic job cultivating our relationship with Eastwood. She made a contact at Eastwood, Ashley Sayre, who is a Cheat patron and second grade teacher at Eastwood! Ashley originally asked if Abby could bring the Reading Dragons program to Eastwood, which was really successful! Then, Abby and Ashley arranged a field trip to Cheat for all of the second graders at Eastwood! We had around 110 visitors, including teachers! It was really fun to see how delighted that kids are by the library, especially those that have never been before! The students did a craft with Jessika, went on a mini tour of the library with Abby, and got to ask me questions about being a librarian and how the library works! Both visits were a great time, and we have had a bunch of kids come back in to get a library card and sign up for summer reading! Again, as mentioned, Abby was made the new Outreach Coordinator in May! We are all so excited for her to take up a new opportunity, and we are sure that she is going to amazing things for our library system, as she has done the whole time she was at Cheat. I don’t think that any of us could say enough good things about everything that Abby has done at Cheat. Abby has helped us grow as a library with her incredible creativity and customer service skills, encouraged hundreds of children to come into our building and find themselves in our materials, and planned many programs that helped get people into our building and get familiar with what we do at Cheat. Without Abby, I’m not sure that we would be where we or have the kind of community support that we have at Cheat. The support that Abby has shown everyone that works here has been nothing short of amazing. Everyone here would like to thank Abby for everything she has done and given to our branch! Abby will still be with us for two days a week until July, as we transition! Moving forward, Jessika will be the other full-time employee at Cheat! It has been an incredible experience for me to watch Jessika grow in the last year and a half that she has been with us at Cheat. When Jessika interviewed for the job here, I was instantly impressed her with preparedness, her ability to articulate her experiences and abilities, and her clear want to work at Cheat. I still see that every day that Jessika comes in, and she has only improved every single day. From presenting at WVLA, to doing a live art project for StoryFest, to helping plan summer reading events, Jessika has never failed to impress me with her range of creativity and want to do more. I am so excited to see what Jessika will do with all of her creativity, passion, and ability to handle any task or problem that is thrown her way. I am so proud to be working more with her, and to be able to encourage and support her to reach any goals she has and to make any of her ideas become a reality! I can’t wait to see what Jessika does next! While it is a lot of change at once, I am so excited that summer has started, and to see where we go from here! Everyone is motivated to make this the best summer we have ever had at Cheat! I can’t wait for summer reading events to start and to see how many kids sign-up! Onto June! General Administration - At the beginning of the month, I got to help out with an outreach event at Free Comic Book Day at Four Horsemen! I got to work at the table with John Fox, and we had a really good time telling people about the library and making buttons. I’m really excited to do another outreach event at the Pride Party in June! Goals 1. Organize summer reading materials! 2. Determine new staff schedules. 3. Have a great summer! MONTHLY Clay Battelle Public Library REPORT MAY 2024 We have been busy finalizing things for Summer Reading! We are very excited for the kick-off of fun events this summer. I have been on the Blacksville Memorial Day Parade Committee. It has been amazing working within our community to grow these events. We had 45 entries to our parade. Molly and I had a great time representing the library in the parade. It was so fun when the kids would get excited to see the library ladies in the parade. Sam & Darrin did an amazing job remodeling the bathroom. Sam did the painting and Darrin replaced the floor. Patrons have been raving about how nice it looks. Facilities Update Bathroom Painted and Floor Replaced Planning and Organizing Summer Reading Memorial Day Parade Education SLJ Day of Dialog Goals Fall Storytime Weeding All of the following goals we are continuing to complete. Continue to grow my partnership with community involvement  Bathroom Makeover Kelly and Molly Memorial Day Parade 2024 CDPL Monthly Report May 2024 Manager’s Report ● Pre-School Storytime - Ogg, the Super Frog was read by our guest reader, Miss Cynthia. Then the kids painted a super cute wooden frog that Angela had put a magnet on the back of. This was one of our bigger pre-school storytimes. As well, I overhead parents talking about attending other branches (which I FULLY support) during the summer which prompts CDPL to think about continuing Storytime year round. ○ We had 9 kids, 6 adults and 1 staff ● Library Lattes and Laughs ○ This month's book was The Dictionary of Lost Words by Pip Williams. Unfortunately, Janet had to miss book club to be at my mom’s house but Angela led the group in a very exciting conversation. Our patron, Angela Durham, is from Oxford and pointed out all of the areas she is very familiar with on the map in the front of the book. The club enjoyed homemade scones. ○ We had 9 adults and 1 staff. ● With the leftover seeds from our book trail we handed them out in 3 days to anyone who checked out a book. It was very popular! Including a sign stating the seeds had been donated by the Ridgedale CEO’s. ● Caleb finished designing the 1KBBK banner, we shared it at the May staff meeting, and received very positive feedback. Caleb is working with Kaylar to get the final product made. Sarah P. is working with Bonnie Dwire to discuss potential changes to 1KBBK to better align with the hot air balloon theme. ○ ● Read Aloud Coordinators: at the May branch meeting, we discussed the possibility of having read aloud coordinators at local elementary schools (as many as we could provide) to support Read Aloud. Sarah P. will contact the Mon County School Board of Education to see if this is something they are interested in starting again. ● Our art wall has been finished!!!! ○ ● The SRP bulletin board has begun, design can always be added on: ○ ● Through a donation from the Ridgedale CEO’s, we were able to add the following three books to our children’s collection: ○ General Administration ● New to our Collections ○ Adult Fiction 28 ○ Adult Non-Fiction 7 ○ YA 5 ○ Graphic Novels 1 ○ Childrens 5 ○ Children Non-Fiction 2 ○ ER 3 ○ E 16 ○ Boardbooks 1 ○ VOX Books 12 ○ DVDs 5 ○ Audiobooks 2 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 ● An ILL spreadsheet (matching the one downtown uses) has been created to have a better way of keeping track of ILLs Personnel: Community and Professional Development (3 CEs required yearly for all staff working more than 20 hours a week) Top Three Goals for June 1. Stay on top of SRP! 2. Begin discussions for Fall Storytime 3. Create a new display for the green shelves Morgantown Public Library Monthly Report May 2024 May was another busy month in Public Services. The majority of our attention was focused on preparations for the summer reading program. We took advantage of the slower pace of business at the start of the month to continue preparations for the program by planning decorations and assembling craft kits. We noticed an uptick in the number of patrons in the building the last two weeks of May as the school year ended and, of course, we only expect that to continue into June. The library this month also hosted a set of informational panels by Stewart Williams and Jennie Smith. The exhibit, Morgantown's Black Entrepreneurs of the 19th & 20th Century, was sponsored by Main Street Morgantown and on display as a part of Historic Preservation Month among other celebrations across the city. Staff Changes This month Evening Supervisor Shelby D. and Assistant Director James S. help interview to fill a vacant library assistant position. There were a number of qualified applicants so the decision was challenging. However, we were happy to welcome new Library Assistant Camille G. to Public Services. Camille started in her new position in mid-May and so far is settling well into her new role and the Public Services team. Staff Contributions and Projects Unsurprisingly, the majority of our attention this month was preparing for the Summer Reading Program. Mostly every library assistant on staff helped assemble SRP craft kits thanks to helpful instructions provided by Outreach Coordinator Emily S. Additionally, a planning group was assembled to brainstorm decoration ideas for the building. This group included Interlibrary Loan Coordinator Crystal L., Children’s Librarian Ruth G., Youth Services Specialist Jenean S., Evening Supervisor Shelby D., and Assistant Director James S. This group came up with some wonderful ideas and spent most of the month planning and installing decorations. Branch Assistant Sam P. from Clay-Battelle Public Library has also agreed to decorating the library ground floor windows with window painted hot air balloons. She has begun work on this as of the end of May. Most decorations are currently up and images are included below. After a longer than expected period and some unforeseen challenges, Library Assistant Dan L. has received his public notary stamp and has begun to accept incoming notary requests. ILL Coordinator Crystal L. reported that this has been a huge help to her specifically as often she is Public Services primary notary during the morning hours. So far Dan has taken well to this new duty and I am happy to see the availability of notary services increased at MPL. Other Updates Early this month, Assistant Director James S. completed the most recent set of staff check-ins with staff in Public Services. This time the checks-ins were generally positive with most staff members expressing satisfaction with their positions and bringing up only minor challenges, issues, or concerns. This process requires a good amount of effort to complete but it is well worth the effort for the opportunity that it gives to speak one-on-one with staff and gather information about their engagement, satisfaction, and general experience at MPLS. We continue to make progress on the on-going graphic novels relabeling/cataloging project. As of the end of May I would estimate that the relabeling/cataloging is between 75% and 80% complete. We should be ready soon to begin moving and interfiling these items. Technical Services Manager Sarah S. and Assistant Cataloger John F. have been a tremendous help during this process and we owe them a huge thanks for their efforts. Weeding progress continues in several areas including Adult Fiction, Easy Books. Youth Services Specialist Jenean S. also continues to make progress on a targeted weeding project in Young Adult Fiction. Evening Supervisor Shelby D. specifically is working diligently on Adult Fiction. She is putting us well on our way completing our long term goal of integrating the adult paperback collection into the larger adult fiction stacks and opening the door to improving the neighboring children’s area. Goals ● Continue weeding in adult fiction to produce more free space and move the paperback collection. - in progress ○ Shelby is continuing to weed in adult fiction at a notable pace. We are hopeful that the weeding portion of this project will be completed in a reasonable time. ● Coordinate with Ruth Godfrey to reorganize the children’s area into a more distinct and open area within the library. - in progress ○ Ruth is continuing 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 ○ I reviewed a quote from J.P. Jay & Associates with Sarah P. this month. A revised quote including chairs was requested and received. This was shared with Sarah P. for review and discussion. ● Expand Teen Area on 2nd floor ○ This project is closely related to the ongoing graphic novel relabeling project and the goal to replace our existing public computer furniture. ○ This goal is intended to help make our current teen area a more appealing space for teen patrons by expanding the physical area of the space and potentially making other changes to the space in the future. Images Hanging decorations in the Children’s Area installed by Children’s Librarian Ruth G.  Craft hot air balloons hung from the ceiling in the Children’s Area. Circulation Desk decorations Themed display case created by Hot air balloon painted by created by Evening Supervisor Children’s Librarian Ruth G. Branch Assistant Sam P. Shelby D. Camping tent decor created by ILL Coordinator Crystal L. Black Entrepreneurs of the 19th & 20th Century on display at MPL for National Historic Preservation Month