Library Board

MORGANTOWN PUBLIC LIBRARY Approved 08.08.2024 Minutes of the Regular Meeting July 11, 2024 Present: Absent: Also Present: Others Present: Sue Carpenter Sarah Palfrey Linda Durfee Kelly Funkhouser Amy Loomis James Spears, V Dennis Smith Alexandria Svolos Call to order The regular meeting of the Board of Trustees of the Morgantown Public Library convened on July 11, 2024. The meeting convened at 9:03am. Linda Durfee, President presiding, Kelly Funkhouser, secretary. Approval of the Minutes  Regular Meeting June 13, 2024 - The minutes were approved as presented. Sue Carpenter moved. The motion passed. PUBLIC FORUM – None CORRESPONDENCE AND COMMUNICATIONS – Dennis Smith was welcomed as our new library board member. REPORTS  President – None  Director – See Director’s Report – Additional information – Second floor women’s toilet is back in working order. New addition to the director’s report is a social media report.  Treasurer – o Financial Statements – The financial statements were reviewed. The financial statements were filed for audit. ○ Approval of Checks –Alexandria Svolos to approve checks as presented. The motion passed. REPORTS OF COMMITTEES A. Facilities Committee – None UNFINISHED BUSINESS –  Facilities Study – The RFP for the facilities study was discussed. NEW BUSINESS –  Director – The yearly review timeline was discussed. BOARD COMMENTS –  Sarah Palfrey began a discussion regarding annual Start-Up Awards funded from the Your Community Foundation account and a discussion of a board member attending our All Staff Day during breakfast. Board Minutes – July 11, 2024 – Page 2 ADJOURNMENT – Sue Carpenter moved to adjourn. The motion carried unanimously. The meeting adjourned at 9:55am. NEXT MEETING – August 8, 2024 9:00am JULY 2024 BOARD MEETING DIRECTOR'S REPORT Sarah Palfrey  JULY 2024 BOARD MEETING JUNE 2024 HIGHLIGHTS Summe r R e a di n g Pro gra ms fo r ki ds, t e e ns, a n d a dult s i s up a nd run ni n g. Th e n e w re gi st ra t i o n ba g ha s be e n ve ry po pula r. At t he e n d o f J un e t h e re we re o ve r 40 0 re gi st ra n t s fo r t he c o mbi ne d a ge gro ups. Abby a n d R yn e re pre se n t e d MPLS a t t h e Mo rga nt o wn Pri de Fe st i va l. Ka yla r a nd Emi ly st a ffe d a t a ble a t t h e Mo rga nt o wn Fa rme r’s Ma rke t i n J un e . Bo t h e ve n t s w e re w e ll a t t e n de d a nd pe o ple we re gla d t o se e t h e li bra ry o ut a n d a bo ut . Blo o d pre ssure mo n i t o rs ha ve be e n a dde d t o a ll Mo rga nt o wn Publi c Li bra ry Syst e m lo c a t i o n s. Th e y c a n be c he c ke d o ut fo r o n e we e k wi t h a va li d li bra ry c a rd. Th e ki t i n c lude s a blo o d pre ssure mo ni t o r, c ha rt s t o ke e p t ra c k o f ra t e s, a nd i n fo rma t i o n sh e e t s a bo ut h e a rt h e a lt h! The Ame ri c a n He a rt Asso c i a t i o n - WV do n a t e d a ll t h e e qui pme n t a n d t h e pro j e c t w a s o rga n i z e d by C a t hy Mc Ma st e r. C o mmi t t e e s a re w o rki n g ha rd o n t h e se c o n d se a so n o f R e a di n g Dra go n s, re de si gn i ng t he Th o usa nd Bo o ks Be fo re Ki n de rga rt e n pro gra m, a nd st a ff da y t ra i n i ng. I t i s w o n de rful t o se e st a ff fro m a c ro ss t h e syst e m wo rki n g t o ge t h e r t o ma ke t he se t h i n gs h a ppe n . We c o uldn ’t do i t wi t h o ut e ve ryo n e ’s pa rt i c i pa t i o n. N e w publi c c o mput e r de sks a n d c h a i rs h a ve be e n o rde re d a nd we a re a wa i t i n g de li ve ry. J a me s a n d Ke lly h a ve be e n w o rki ng t o ge t he r t o fi n d a wa y t o a c c e pt c re di t c a rd pa yme nt s i n t he li bra ry. Th e y h a ve i de nt i fi e d t h e syst e m ( Squa re ), c o mple t e d t h e i n i t i a l se t up a nd a re w o rki ng o n t ra i ni ng ma t e ri a ls a n d h o pe t o h a ve t he m i nst a lle d o n bo t h flo o rs by t he e nd o f J uly. We a lso ha ve a mo bi le c o mpo n e nt so pa yme n t c a n be a c c e pt e d a t o ut re a c h e ve n t s.  JULY 2024 BOARD MEETING JUNE 2024 ADMINISTRATION I a t t e n de d a numbe r o f All St a ff Da y i s se t fo r Fri da y Mo rga n t o wn Are a Pa rt n e rsh i p Se pt e mbe r 1 3, a ll lo c a t i o n s w i ll be e ve n t s i n J un e . Ma n y c o mmuni t y c lo se d. me mbe rs c o n gra t ula t e d MPLS o n t h e pa ssa ge o f t h e li bra ry le vy a n d Wo rk c o nt i n ue s wi t h Ali gn HR o n t h e h a d wo n de rful t h i n gs t o sa y a bo ut sa la ry sc h e dule a n d upda t i n g o ur summe r pla n s. pe rso nn e l po li c i e s. C urre n t fo c us i s o n c re a t i ng st a n da rds fo r e mplo ye e I pa rt i c i pa t e d i n a G e ne ra t i o n WV re vi e ws a n d a pa t h fo r pro mo t i o ns a nd N a t i o n a l Di gi t a l I n c lusi o n a nd ra i se s. Alli a n c e wo rksh o p t o pre pa re o rga n i z a t i o ns fo r t h e WV P ER S ONNEL - Bro a dba nd Di gi t a l Equi t y gra n t s J e ssi ka - t ra nsfe rre d t o FT C h e a t t h a t w i ll be a va i la ble i n t h e fa ll. I t C a le b - t ra n sfe rre d fro m C li n t o n t o w a s a we ll run e ve n t a n d w e ll w o rt h Cheat a t t e n di n g. Le sli e - ne w h i re a t C li n t o n ( PT) C o le - n e w hi re a t t h e Aull C e nt e r I wi ll st a rt my ye a r a s t h e C ha i r o f ( PT) t h e We st Vi rgi n i a Li bra ry N e t w o rk e xe c ut i ve c o mmi t t e e i n J uly. O ur F ac i li t y Updat e s - ma i n o bj e c t i ve fo r t h i s ye a r i s C li n t o n ke pt Da rri n busy t h i s mo n t h c re a t i n g a n R FP a n d re vi e w pro c e ss wi t h a re o c c urri ng sna ke pro ble m, fo r a n I n t e gra t e d Li bra ry Syst e m AC a n d pre pa ri n g fo r a n e w do o r. ( I LS). WVLN ( a nd N o R LN a n d Mo un t a i n Li bra ry N e t w o rk be fo re Th e 2n d flo o r wo me n ’s ba t h ro o m i t ) h a ve n ’t re vi e w e d o pt i o n s fo r a wa s c lo se d fo r mult i ple w e e ks due n e w syst e m si n c e t he i r i n c e pt i o n . t o va n da li sm. I t ’s a bi g pro j e c t w i t h t h e po t e n t i a l t o so lve a lo t o f e xi st i n g c i rc ula t i o n i ssue s. JULY 2024 BOARD MEETING DIGITAL SPOTLIGHT MPL Social Media Summary submitted by Kaylar Moser From 6/01/2023 - 6/30/2024, our top performing posts on Facebook are the 1,000 Books Before Kindergarten completion posts. “Congratulations to Sofia from the Morgantown Public Library for completing 1,000 Books Before Kindergarten!” from 5/24/24 had 643 reactions and a reach of 14,832. “Congratulations to Mary from the Clinton District Public Library for completing 1,000 Books Before Kindergarten!” from 6/21/24 had 492 interactions and a reach of 17,125. “Congratulations to Isaac from the Morgantown Public Library for completing 1,000 Books Before Kindergarten!” from 6/26/24 had 231 interactions and a reach of 3,178. After these posts, the reactions and reach are scattered amongst different content, with the weekly event reminders for the Summer Reading Program, registration opening for different banner programs, and event follow up photos, all performing well. This suggests that the public is most interested in seeing cute and inspiring content (like children completing 1KBBK), being kept up-to-date on banner programs, and seeing people having fun at the library. From 6/01/2023 - 6/30/2024, MPL’s Facebook reach increased 147% (from 5/01/2022-5/31/2023) with a total reach of 393.7K. Total Facebook page visits also increased by 175% with the total being 48.3K. We had 1.1K new facebook page followers in the year, which is a 1.7% decrease from the previous year. Instagram Statistics: From 6/01/2023 - 6/30/2024, our top Instagram posts are varied. Silent Book Club – the shared post with @silentbookclubmorgantownwv had 87 interactions. Reach data is unavailable due to the post being originally shared on their account. Director Sarah P. meeting Mychal Threets was popular on Instagram with 80 interactions and a reach of 392. StoryFest recap post had 78 interactions and a reach of 423. The top performing post being shared with Silent Book Club is unsurprising, they have an active built- in audience that we benefited from. Otherwise, similar to Facebook, the public seems interested in seeing librarians out in the community having fun and doing cool things! From 6/01/2023 - 6/30/2024, MPL’s Instagram reach was 4.6K, a 7.6% decrease. Profile visits however were up 29.9% with 2k visits and 297 new followers. Morgantown Public Library System Visits June 2024 11,451 17,679 ITEMS BORROWED 48 PROGRAM ATTENDANCE PROGRAMS 1,154 COMPUTER SESSIONS NEW CARDS 934 300 680 16,755 ADDITIONS TO THE COLLECTION DIGITAL 680 WITHDRAWN BORROWS Arnettsville Public Library Branch Report June 2024 Can’t believe six months of 2024 have come and gone. It’s true that time does fly when you are having fun. June has been a fun and busy month as we kickoff our hot summer. Senior Lunch & Learn for June had 17 folks in attendance and was a Picnic theme with fried chicken and fixins. We went around the room and shared memories of our Fathers or Father figures for Father’s Day and then talked about our favorite spots in West Virginia in honor of West Virginia’s birthday. Arnettsville Craft NIght had 14 folks in attendance and it keeps on growing! We made Ladybug pin cushions and applique Bumblebee art on a canvas with an easel. They were really supercute. Movie Night had five faithful folks in attendance and we showed the movie Ordinary Angels. Summer Reading Programs have started and we have two under our belts so far. The first one on June 12 had 6 children in attendance and 3 adults. It was Camping Bingo. We were closed for Juneteenth on the second week , but we still handed out Nature Scavenger Hunt kits and about 10 were picked up by local children. The third week of SRP was June 26. We had 11 children in attendance and 8 adults. This week was a craft class and we had children from other home libraries attend so that they could get their Arnettsville Pin for their bags. Been busy helping Ruth Godfrey with her first day and evening SRP at Morgantown where there were over 30 kids at each event. Had two Krepps Kritters in the park with Ruth where we have had over 20 children each time. Place two new book trails for this summer….one at Krepp’s Park and one at Mason Dixon so far. Busy getting books ready for the book trails. Went to the Shack on Thursday, June 20 to help them celebrate WV’s Birthday with a special Read and Roll Event. Families in attendance got a WV alphabet book and their were stations around the gym and outside featuring letters of the alphabet. I had the F is for Fishing station and fun was had by all even though it was HOT!!!! Future Goals: -Purchase new shelf for non-fiction when have room -Move items around to make new space for non-fiction shelf. -Take books from Used Book Sale to Goodwill -Finish up Summer Reading Program -More ideas for Craft Programs CAPL Manager’s Report June 2024 June was the start of our usual big uptick in patrons for the summer, and the Summer Reading Program! It has been fantastic to see so many people coming in and out, and to be able to put on well-attended programs! In addition to the usual summer business, we have also added a staff member at Cheat, and been involved in various other outreach and planning activities! As for the Summer Reading Program, Jessika and I have had a fantastic time with everything thus far! Since we both have never done SRP planning before, I think we were a little nervous about how attendance would be, but we have been extremely happy to see the amount of kids that have come in to have fun with us! Our first event was Travel Buddy Creation, which was a craft aimed towards kids taking a little pom-pom buddy with them on vacations! We also encouraged everyone to take pictures of their buddies to bring into the library! We had well over 60 people attend, and it was a great confidence boost for us in terms of the events we planned. In addition to that first event, we also had a Nature Picnic with snacks and building a nature table, and an Umbrella Arts showcase! Umbrella Arts are always great to work with, and Angela, Rob, and Sam are amazing with the kids. I can’t wait to see how the rest of the SRP goes! With Abby being the new Outreach Coordinator and Jessika getting promoted to full-time, we had a part-time position to fill. I am very pleased to say that Caleb from the Clinton branch will be joining us the second week of July! Every time I have spoken to Caleb since he was hired at Clinton, I was very impressed with his kindness, ability to take on creative projects, and willingness to help with things like StoryFest! I think Caleb is a huge asset to our library system, and that with our ability at Cheat to give him more hours, he will able to use his talents a little bit more! I cannot wait for Caleb to start, and I look forward to highlighting all the things he does in the future! In June, I was able to do another outreach event when I attended the Pride Party! Abby and I talked to so many people that day, made new library cards, and took in all the fun. I really enjoy doing outreach events, which I didn’t know before! I love chatting with people who are interested in the library, and helping them learn what we do at MPLS and what we can provide them! In addition to outreach, Jessika and I also attended a planning meeting for our staff training day happening in September! We will be working on the schedule for staff day, and helping organize who will be giving presentations and celebrations during the day! We are very excited to work on it, and will be adding to the schedule throughout the next month before the next meeting! General Administration - Jessika has taken over most of our social media duties, and I am chipping in where I can! I am very happy with how well she has done with posting about our events and making everything look so fun! - Michelle’s summer storytimes are doing amazing! I am continually impressed with her enthusiasm for storytime and how hard she works on it, week in and week out. Michelle  is truly a gift to our library system, and her weekly events are a huge part of getting people in the door here! Goals 1. Clean up the stacks when possible! Summer has definitely taken a toll on the books! 2. Create new displays! 3. Slowly weed children’s fiction and YA. MONTHLY Clay Battelle Public Library REPORT JUNE 2024 Even with the great group of families attending our summer reading programs June has been a slower month for us. When we weren’t busy with summer reading programs we have utilized the down time to do some much needed weeding and rearranging of things at the library. We have our video game collection available for check out. We added Xbox & PlayStation games to our Nintendo Switch collection. They have been becoming more popular as people realize they are here. We have some partnerships with our local fairs coming up over the next couple of months and this is a great way to show our continued support in the community.  Facilities Update Additional lighting in a few areas of the library Handicap bars in the restroom Planning and Organizing Battelle District Fair Clay District Fair Fall Storytime Battelle District Fall Festival Goals All of the following goals we are continuing to complete. Continue to grow my partnership with community involvement CDPL Monthly Report June 2024 Manager’s Report ● Library Lattes and Laughs ○ This month's book was Into the Water by Paula Hawkins, discussion led by Caleb. Caleb also made the most amazing chocolate chip cookies. We had a great conversation about the book and the general consensus was the more we talked about the book, the more we liked it. ○ We had 10 adults and 3 staff ● SRP ○ Travel Tile Coaster ■ 8 children, 4 adult and 2 staff ■ The children could print out whatever they wanted to modge podge on to their tile, it was a lot of fun. ■ With our leftover tiles we’re going to modge podge Caleb’s Library Lattes and Laughs artwork onto them and share them with the book club. ○ Sand Art ■ 12 children, 5 adults and 2 staff ■ The sand art was a little tricky and we all agreed it would be helpful if the outline of the picture was on the part we peeled off, but the kids had a lot of fun with them! We framed our sample piece to go on our art wall. ○ Decorate Your own Travel Journal ■ 11 children, 5 adults and 4 staff ■ Kaylar and Abby joined us for this event and we had a lot of fun. We pulled a variety of materials from the storage closet and let the kids decorate the cover of their journal how-ever they wanted. The finished products were incredibly imaginative! ○ Take Home Kits ■ Pool Noodle Boats, all kits picked up ■ Kite and Pinwheel, all kits picked up General Administration ● New to our Collections ○ Adult Fiction ○ Adult Non-Fiction ○ YA ○ Graphic Novels ○ Childrens ○ Children Non-Fiction ○ ER  ○ E ○ Boardbooks ○ VOX Books ○ DVDs ○ Audiobooks 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: Caleb’s last day at CDPL was Tuesday, July 2nd and he will start his new position at Cheat the week of July 9th. He will definitely be missed by both Angela and myself, as well as our patrons. Cheat is incredibly lucky to have him and I know he will continue to grow and reach his professional goals. Clinton has hired Leslie Wilber, a recent MFA graduate from WVU in Creative Writing. We are so excited to welcome her to CDPL and all she will bring to our branch. Community and Professional Development (3 CEs required yearly for all staff working more than 20 hours a week) Top Three Goals for July 1. Train Leslie 2. Keep our SRP numbers up! 3. Change out the Green Shelves to our Reese books Morgantown Public Library Monthly Report June 2024 June was a busy month for Public Services. The start of this year’s Summer Reading Program resulted in an expected increase in the number of parents and children in the building during the week. Staff were kept busy distributing SRP kits and prizes, answering questions about the program, and helping children pick out their favorite button designs. Staff Changes I am happy to report that there have been no staffing changes this month. We are at full capacity and the staff is working together cohesively. Expected staff vacations and other time off has presented some challenges but I am appreciative of all Public Services staff for helping cover time off and ensuring that everyone gets a well deserved vacation this summer. Staff Contributions and Projects Youth Services Specialist Jenean S. reported that young adult programming has been in a slump this month with low attendance. However, despite lower than ideal attendance Jenean presented several programs this month that resulted in very positive patron experiences. She reported that her “Nailed It!” program which she presented with The Cupcakerie had a single teen attendee. Jenean has gotten to know this patron through her programming and noted that they are more of an introvert and not involved in many extracurricular activities. Jenean was excited to see her in attendance and reported that by the end of the program this patron had discovered their knack for cupcake decorating and asked employees from The Cupcakerie about internship and job opportunities available for young people. It is very exciting to see patron experiences like this happening in the library especially for our teen patrons. While we have struggled to see the broad attendance and interest in the teen programming we offer it is heartening to learn that we are providing a genuinely positive and enriching experience to those teens who do attend. Evening Supervisor Shelby D. reported this month on her recent continuing education experiences. We spoke at length about the presentations she attended and I was happy to see her comparing her newfound knowledge to our current practices and considering ways she could apply different practices to her work in Public Services. She proposed two ideas specifically that I think are especially interesting. She proposed adding citizen science kits to our growing library of things and expressed an interest in developing a hands-on science/STEM program for adults. She has put a good amount of thought into the ideas already and I have asked her to continue working on both of the ideas. I have also encouraged her to strongly consider submitting a Start Up Award proposal for one or both of the ideas. Facilities Updates Two facilities matters are outstanding at the end of this month. First, the 2nd floor women’s restroom is still closed due to rocks that were dropped in the toilet. Second, the 2nd floor men’s restroom hand dryer is still out-of-order due to an electrical issue. Facilities Manager Darrin B. is aware of both of these issues and I will be following up with Darrin as soon as possible. Other Updates This month I completed a version of the collection assessment process that I have been working on for quite some time. The work has resulted in a set of instructions and a report template that should make the process as simple, reproducible, and standardized as possible. The goal of this process has been to come up with a system to provide greater context into areas of the library collection (in terms of utilization, size, age, and other characteristics) and help when considering questions of collection growth, weeding, promotion, etc. The next steps for this project are to “stress test” the assessment process with a larger collection to highlight any areas of improvement or change. Youth Services Specialist Jenean S. and I continue to prepare for her Minecraft Building Club program that is planned for later this year. We are making good progress and are very excited to see how this program turns out. Most of the technical set up is completed so mainly what remains is to consider other program details including participation guidelines, program themes, etc. Progress has been made towards installing the library’s new public computer tables. The proposal from J. P. Jay was signed and shop drawings of the new tables approved this month. Currently we are beginning to plan for the table's installation and waiting to schedule an installation date with J. P. Jay. Accounting Kelly F. and I are working on setting up and installing new cash registers for use at the circulation and reference desks. These registers would allow us to take card payments in addition to cash and check. Initial set up is mostly complete and Kelly is considering any needed changes to existing accounting and reporting procedures to accommodate the new registers. I am currently developing training materials for staff and will begin training in early July. Hopefully the new registers will be in use by the end of July. 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 ○ Quote and shop drawings were approved this month. Currently waiting to schedule and installation date. ● Expand Teen Area on 2nd floor ○ Progress continues on the graphic novel relabeling project. Estimated completion of 80% and should be completed in August. ○ Installation of new computer tables will contribute to the completion of this goal.