Library Board

MORGANTOWN PUBLIC LIBRARY Approved November 14, 2024 Minutes of the Regular Meeting October 10, 2024 Present: Absent: Also Present: Others Present: Sue Carpenter Sarah Palfrey Linda Durfee Kelly Funkhouser Amy Loomis James Spears, V Dennis Smith Call to order The regular meeting of the Board of Trustees of the Morgantown Public Library convened on October 10, 2024. The meeting convened at 9:03 am. Linda Durfee, President presiding, Kelly Funkhouser, secretary. Approval of the Minutes ● Regular Meeting September 12, 2024 - The minutes were approved as revised. Sue Carpenter moved. The motion passed unanimously. PUBLIC FORUM – None CORRESPONDENCE AND COMMUNICATIONS - None REPORTS ● President – None ● Director – See Director’s Report – Additional information – Sarah Palfrey acknowledged that we have had a high number of staff shortages in the last month. At this time James Spears has filled all positions, but not all the new hires have started. Many thanks Abby Cyphert for covering storytime for Clay-Battelle Public Library longer than expected for an employee on extended medical leave. ● Treasurer – o Financial Statements – No financial statements were presented. ○ Approval of Checks – Amy Loomis moved to approve checks as presented. The motion passed. ○ Sarah Palfrey praised Bonnie Dwire for her work during Kelly Funkhouser’s medical leave. REPORTS OF COMMITTEES A. Facilities Committee – See unfinished business. UNFINISHED BUSINESS – ● Facility Study – Sarah Palfrey has heard from companies that plan to submit responses to the facilities RFP. The process is continuing. NEW BUSINESS – ● Check signers - Amy Loomis made the motion to remove Alexandria Svolos as a check signer on the library accounts. The motion passed. Board Minutes – October 10, 2024 – Page 2 BOARD COMMENTS – ● Linda Durfee – Commented on the scope of the Start Up Awards, and thanked Sarah Palfrey for including them in the Director's Report ● Sue Carpenter – Sue recently had a conversation with someone who didn’t know about public libraries and what they offer. Potential advertising was discussed. ● Amy Loomis - Comcast awards announced yesterday include $30,000 in grants to non-profit organizations in Monongalia County to Drive Workforce Development and Digital Equity. $15,000 is awarded to Morgantown Area Partnership which will focus on local developmental opportunities. The Morgantown Area Partnership will leverage its grant to reinvest in residents. Funding will be used to maintain and expand a resume bank that was originated by the Monongalia County Commissioners, as well as to host resume writing classes and digital equity training. ADJOURNMENT –Sue Carpenter moved to adjourn. The motion carried unanimously. The meeting adjourned at 9:40am. NEXT MEETING – November 14, 2024 9:00am OCTOBER 2024 BOARD MEETING DIRECTOR'S REPORT Sarah Palfrey OCTOBER 2024 BOARD MEETING SEPTEMBER 2024 HIGHLIGHTS R ut h G o d fr e y i s le a d i n g t h e t e a m t o br i n g J a n B r e t t t o Mo r ga n t o w n ! W o r ki n g w i t h h e r publi c i s t a n d B a r n e s & N o ble w e w i ll h o s t J a n B r e t t a t t h e So ut h Mi d d le Sc h o o l Aud i t o r i um o n T ue s d a y De c e mbe r 3 r d a t 6 : 0 0 . Ms . B r e t t w i ll be gi ve a s h o r t t a lk a n d t h e n be a va i la ble t o s i gn h e r n e w e s t bo o k. T h e r e w i ll be ph o t o o ppo r t un i t i e s w i t h h e r br a n d e d bus , a n d c h a r a c t e r s fr o m h e r bo o k. MPLS h a s w o r ke d w i t h W VU’s C a mpus R e a d a n umbe r o f t i me s o ve r t h e pa s t s e ve n ye a r s . T h i s w a s o ur fi r s t t i me h o s t i n g a pa n e l d i s c us s i o n . O ve r a h un d r e d pe o ple c a me t o t o h e a r Pr o fe s s o r s J o s e ph Lupo , C a t h e r i n e G o uge , a n d MPLS Di r e c t o r Sa r a h Pa lfr e y s pe a k a bo ut “T h e I mpo r t a n c e o f G r a ph i c N o ve ls a s a Fo r m o f St o r yt e lli n g: Ma us . ” Le s li e ( C DPL) a n d Abby ( MPL) w o r ke d t o ge t h e r t o o r ga n i z e t h e e ve n t . T h e d i d a w o n d e r ful j o b a n d pi vo t e d w e ll w h e n a t t e n d a n c e w a s mo r e t h a n e xpe c t e d . T h e a n n ua l G r a n d pa r e n t ’s Da y I c e C r e a m So c i a l c e le br a t i o n h a d 3 5 a t t e n d e e s ! R ut h a n d C a t h y h a ve o r ga n i z e d t h i s e ve n t fo r ma n y ye a r s a t MPL. T h e fi r s t MPL T i n y Ar t Sh o w h a s be e n a gr e a t s uc c e s s . All 7 0 t i n y a r t ki t s w e r e c la i me d i n t h e fi r s t w e e k! 25 c a n va s e s w e r e r e t ur n e d t o be d i s pla ye d i n t h e a r t s h o w . ( Ph o t o o n n e xt pa ge )  OCTOBER 2024 BOARD MEETING SEPTEMBER 2024 ADMINISTRATION All FY 24 fi n a l fi n a n c i a l r e po r t s fo r T h e r e w e r e s i x a ppli c a t i o n s MPLS a n d o ur fo ur a ffi li a t e li br a r i e s s ubmi t t e d t o t a li n g j us t o ve r $8 , 0 0 0 w e r e s ubmi t t e d o n t i me t o t h e fo r t h e FY25 St a r t up a w a r d s . Li br a r y Se c t i o n o f t h e De pa r t me n t o f Pr o j e c t s i n c lud e a s e n s o r y s pa c e , Ar t s , C ult ur e , a n d Hi s t o r y. mo bi le ma ke r s pa c e , i n fo r ma t i o n li t e r a c y i n i t i a t i ve , a n d s t o r yt i me I c o n t i n ue t o a t t e n d t h e mo n t h ly e n h a n c e me n t s . 4 o ut o f 6 lo c a t i o n s Do w n t o w n Sa fe t y me e t i n gs h e ld t o a ppli e d a n d w e r e fun d e d . T h e full c o n n e c t t h e W VU a n d Ma i n s t r e e t a n n o un c e me n t i s i n c lud e d i n t h e c o mmun i t i e s . Mult i ple o r ga n i z a t i o n s bo a r d pa c ke t . a r e w o r ki n g t o ge t h e r t o ke e p d o w n t o w n s a fe a n d a d e s i r a ble pla c e P ER S ONNEL - t o vi s i t . La ’Sh e li a - r e s i gn e d PT MPL C o c o - h i r e d PT MPL T h e Mo r ga n t o w n Fi r e De pa r t me n t ’s La ur a - h i r e d PT MPL De put y Fi r e Ma r s h a ll a n d Publi c E d uc a t i o n C o o r d i n a t o r , An d y Do t s o n F ac i li t y Up dat e s - pr e s e n t e d a fi r e s a fe t y t r a i n i n g a s T h e gr i n d e r pump a t MPL c o n t i n ue s t o pa r t o f t h e Se pt e mbe r a ll-s t a ff d a y. be pr o ble ma t i c . E le c t r i c i s s ue s h a ve n o t be e n r e s o lve d a t C B PL ye t . E le c t r i c i a n s h a ve be e n c o n t a c t e d . C h e a t e xpe r i e n c e d a n umbe r o f HVAC r e la t e d i s s ue s o ve r t h e pa s t mo n t h . T h e pr o ble m h a s be e n c o r r e c t e d . W e a r e e xplo r i n g r o o f r e pla c e me n t o pt i o n s fo r C h e a t . T h e gr a n t fun d e d MPL ba t h r o o m r e mo d e l pr o j e c t h a s be e n put o n h o ld w h i le Da r r i n fi n d s a n e w c o n t r a c t o r . T h e o n e w e w e r e us i n g w e n t o ut o f bus i n e s s . SEPTEMBER 2024 BOARD MEETING PROGRAM SPOTLIGHT! Th e a n n ua l MPLS st a ff da y w a s h e ld o n Fri da y Se pt e mbe r 1 3. At t e nda n c e i s h i gh ly e n c o ura ge d, but n o t ma n da t o ry. We h a d 66% a t t e nd ( 27 o ut o f 41 ). I a m ple a se d w i t h t h i s numbe r c o n si de ri n g we h a d 3 pe o ple o ut o n me di c a l le a ve s, a n d a n umbe r o f pa rt -t i me st a ff t h a t ha ve o t he r o bli ga t i o ns li ke j o bs o r sc h o o l. 1 1 o f t he 27 ( 40 % ) a t t e nde e s fi lle d o ut t he po st t ra i ni n g surve y. Q uo t e s fro m t h e surve y: “I e n j o ye d t h e da y” “ A we ll pla n n e d st a ff da y a nd I le a rn e d a lo t o f i n fo rma t i o n t h a t w i ll be he lpful t o me . ” As a lwa ys w e a lso go t so me fe e dba c k t ha t ha s si mple fi xe s a nd so me t ha t i s mo re c o mpli c a t e d. I n ge n e ra l mo st re spo n de n t s li ke d t he mo ve fro m t h e spri n g t o fa ll. Th e da y o f w e e k, a nd le ngt h o f pro gra m c o n t i nue s t o be a c ha lle n ge t o ge t t h e la rge st a t t e nda n c e po ssi ble . Ma n y t h a n ks a n d c o ngra t ula t i o n s t o t h e St a ff Da y C o mmi t t e e , J a me s, J a n e t , R ut h , J e n e a n, Abby, C a t h y, Ke lly S. , Bo n n i e , Mo lly, J e ssi ka , a nd R yne . A spe c i a l t ha n k yo u t o R yn e fo r st e ppi n g i n t o t h e c o n t e nt o rga n i z e r ro le . He di d a gre a t j o b o f re c rui t i n g a nd sc he duli ng o ur spe a ke rs. Nick Larsen - WVU Center for Excellence in Disabilities gave a presentation about de-escalation techniques. The session was well received and generated great conversations about how the skills could be used in multiple points of service.  August 2024 Statistics New Cards Computer Sessions Reference Questions 213 941 611 Items Borrowed Visits Digital Borrows 15,145 9,767 16,597 Additions 854 Programs Program Attendance Withdrawls 43 785 409 Morgantown Public Library System FY 25 Start Up Awards Announcement There were six applications this year totaling $8,200 in requests! Thank you to everyone who put in the planning, thought, and care that it takes to think through a project. Some requests are straightforward and get funded and then implemented quickly while others take time to refine. I love both types and look forward to all of them finding their way into the world. The project planning learning component must be completed before orders can be placed. Sensory Corner - CBPL - Molly S. For this year’s Start-Up Awards, Clay-Battelle Public Library is requesting funds for the creation of a “sensory corner” in our building. We have been inspired by the sensory area at the Cheat Area Public Library, and feel that several of our patrons would also benefit from a sensory-friendly area.Our goal for this project is to create a designated relaxation space for children and adult patrons alike. This sensory corner will include alternative seating, a rolling cart full of sensory toys, noise-canceling headphones, and customizable mood lighting.. This area will help patrons feel comfortable in the library and recognize it as a safe and calming place to visit. Our sensory area will make use of a quiet corner in the library, located next to the book sale carts. This area of the library does not have much foot traffic and, due to the shape of the building, receives less fluorescent lighting (a stimulant that may irritate those with sensory issues). We will supplement this area with color-changing mood lighting, so patrons can make personal lighting adjustments based on their sensory needs. To block out any external noises, patrons will also have access to noise-canceling headphones and a sound machine with several different noises and frequencies. In lieu of straight-back chairs (which will still be available in other parts of the library), this area will include comfortable alternative seating. When patrons visit the sensory corner, they can also select their favorite sensory toys from a three-tiered rolling cart. These toys can provide additional relaxation by alleviating fidgeting and “stimming” (self- stimulatory behavior). Mobile MakerSpace Cart - MPL -Jenean S. I would like to have a mobile MakerSpace Cart for children’s programming and outreach. We want to offer a "MakerSpace Hour" as a regular monthly kids program at the downtown location. We will also use the equipment as components of other programs (sewing machine for a crafting program, etc). We will be able to send the equipment around to the other branches for their own programs; we can also take the equipment out into the community for outreach events. We will need to buy the Makerspace cart and bins, along with 3D Printer Pens, a GlowForge, a Button Maker, a sewing machine, a soldering iron, a camera with green screen equipment, and a VR headset. We will also need to purchase supplies to go along with all the machines, including printing supplies, sewing thread, GlowForge supplies, and button supplies. Shipping is mostly free, except for the MakerSpace Cart. Citizen Science Kits - MPL - Shelby D. and Jenean S. Jenean Skousen and I are going to make Citizen Science Kits that can be checked out by patrons. Citizen Science gives people the opportunity to engage with the community and have a hand in helping combat negative environmental factors. There is a large community in Morgantown with an interest in science and community service. The kits will be very popular with this community. There will be three different Citizen Science Kits: water quality, biodiversity, and cloud observation. There will be two of each kit, so there will be a total of six kits that can be checked out for 1 week. The kits will be in clear backpacks that will be checked out as a whole. Each type of kit will have different things in it that relate to the topic. For the water quality kits, there will be a GPS tracker, pH strips, a science observation journal, distilled water, some water containers, a TDS meter, and information on how to upload the data to an app called mWater which shares the data with government agencies, NGOs, and academic agencies around the world. For the cloud observation kits, there will be binoculars, a GPS tracker, a science observation journal, a What’s Up in the Atmosphere book, and information on how to upload the data to an app. For the biodiversity kits, there will be a science observation journal, a GPS tracker, a clip-on lens with a tripod, and a WV tree and wildflowers pamphlet. Most of the brochures and information in each kit will be printed out and won’t cost anything. The kits will be stored in a cubby shelf that will be displayed on the first floor. Letter Awareness station - CAPL - Michelle V. I would like to create letter making and word building stations that will be incorporated into our weekly story time program. Each week, I lead the children in blending letter sounds to read a simple word. For example, I read King Bidgood’s in the Bathtub by Audrey Wood and displayed the word “tub” using large foam letters. Together we named the 3 letters, then we made the sounds of those letters. Lastly, we blended those sounds together and read the word. Even though not every child at story time may be ready to read words quite yet, they are being exposed to letters, letter sounds and the words we read in books. This is an integral part of early literacy. These stations would provide hands-on opportunities to explore letters, letter sounds and spelling words. Children do not need to be able to write letters in order to spell words, that’s a completely different skill. They can spell words using foam letters, magnetic letters and play dough stampers. In addition, they can practice prewriting skills using shaving cream, lap size chalkboards and magnadooodle boards. Both types of boards can be easily erased and used over and over again. Local News station - CDPL - Leslie W. I propose adding two daily newspapers, the Dominion Post and the Charleston News Gazette, to CDPL's collection. In addition, I would like to create a poster with information about local and regional news websites to display near the library's computers. This would give regular CDPL patrons free access to information about current events in Monongalia County and West Virginia. Understanding local issues promotes civic engagement. In addition to the cost of newspaper subscriptions, I have included the cost of dowel rods and twine to create hanging newspaper storage. WhaZoodle Collection - CBPL - Molly S. For this year’s Start-Up Awards, Clay-Battelle Public Library is requesting funds to purchase a set of WhaZoodle Audio Adventure devices from Playaway. Playaway is the company that makes our Launchpads, the orange tablets that are available for checkout exclusively at our library. The WhaZoodle is a new product that uses engaging audio to take its users on an adventure. While the Launchpad tablets appeal to visual learners, the WhaZoodle tablets will support auditory learners and encourage imagination. These devices have 4 different age ranges (3+ years, 5+ years, 8+ years, and 10+ years), and hundreds of themes available for purchase. With this Start-Up Awards, we plan to purchase 2 WhaZoodles from each age group, for a total of 8 devices. This collection can be expanded at a later date. These tablets will be displayed next to the Launchpads (located in the children’s section of the library) with appropriate signage explaining their use. As with the Launchpads, the WhaZoodles can be checked out like a book. Each WhaZoodle comes with a charging cord, and the devices will be fully charged when made available for checkout. The price of a WhaZoodle tablet is comparable to that of a downloadable audiobook. APL.09.2024 APL September Report When September rolls around now, you can definitely tell that school is back in session because the number of kids who visit drop back. Though we still have an ever growing number of homeschooled students who visit weekly or bi-weekly. I guess that September brings a season of change here at Arnettsville with the departure of staff member Tracey Willis who worked here almost four years. She has left to spend more time with her two homeschooled children who are now in high school. I wish her nothing but the best and hope she drops by to visit when she can. Senior Lunch and Learn in September had a total of 21 attendees. Assessor Mark Musick and his coworker Patrick Tinney attended this month along with Sheriff candidate Todd Forbes. Judge elect Michael Simms and his wife and baby came back to visit us this month. I think the delicious lunch of Buckwheat cakes and sausage made by seniors Richard and Connie McGee and Dorcas Hosey was the secret ingredient that stirred up all the attendees this month. We all discussed the importance of our Grandparents in our lives and shared stories from the past and talked about how wonderful it is to be a grandparent now. Craft class had 11 attendees this month. We made a variety of simple bird feeders from toilet paper rolls, oranges and pipe cleaners with Fruit Loops. Movie night had five folks in attendance. Three were new folks and they had a good time at the showing of IF with Ryan Reynolds and John Krushanski. Visited the Mylan Park Elementary Pre-K classes for the first time this school year. There are three different classes and I usually go to each class and read a story or two. Sometimes the classes will all come together in one room or on the playground and I will only have to read one time but usually I read three times when I visit. For the first visit, the classes were very well behaved and good listeners. I try to take each child a book if I can when I visit and they get very excited to take a book home. The school invited me to participate in their Trunk or Treat event in October. Working on book trails for the fall. Will be ready to go out in October Set up a book trail for Mylan Park in their permanent stands in September with a Mo Willems classic of “Don’t Let the Pigeon the Bus.” Busy this month with programs at the Morgantown Public Library too. Celebrated Grandparents day with 33 attendees and then a Fall Book Bingo with over 20 folks in attendance. Plus Fall Tuesday Evening Pre-School storytimes kicked off on the last Tuesday of the month. Upcoming Goals: *Start weeding for the new year *Get security system for Arnettsville *2 Trunk or Treat events with the community(Round up books and buy treats) *Library Entrance Doors Painted *Used Book Sale books to Goodwill (Narrow some down to make room for others) *Brainstorming/;Planning of 2025 events * CAPL Manager’s Report September 2024 September was another fantastic month at Cheat! Winding down from summer reading was nice, but we immediately launched into other projects! Jessika and I were involved in planning for our system-wide Staff Day, and that took up a lot of our time in the first part of the month. Staff Day included some great information sessions and presentations, as well as some well-earned celebrations! In addition to all of that, we still had our weekly programs going, as well as some clean-up from the summer still in progress! The major event of the month was Staff Day! I was very happy to be able to help out by being in charge of the schedule and helping put everything together! I really enjoyed making the schedule and communicating with everyone about what they wanted to talk about and how they could help with the day! Jessika helped me out so much by answering any questions I could come up with about the schedule I made and how the day would flow, and I really appreciated it! I also made a wonderful new contact through Staff Day, Nick Larson, who was also our guest speaker. Nick spoke about de-escalation and gave me some excellent feedback on my presentation about customer service, as well! I really love the connected feeling that working on system-wide projects provides, and Staff Day was a fantastic example. I was very proud of what our branch contributed to the day, and proud of everyone who contributed in our system! At Staff Day, Michelle received a celebration shout out for all of her hard work on our weekly programs, and I would be remiss to not repeat it here and celebrate her some more! The amount of people that Michelle brings into our building is absolutely astounding. I am continually amazed at how she connects with kids and caregivers alike, and gets them excited to come back to the library each week. In addition to all that work she does, Michelle is always thinking about how to improve our building and has always been someone I could tell ideas too, even when I wasn’t a branch manager. I am always inspired by the kindness and attention that Michelle shows to not only me and every member of our staff, but also to everyone who walks into our building! Michelle, your hard work does not go unnoticed! Following Staff Day, the focus for the month was really all on recovering from the summer. Rethinking, shifting, and intentionally moving things has been the major theme. We’re also still working out a very rough plan for when we can get some new furniture ordered and have some newly redesigned areas of the library! We have tried to plan for a relaxed month of October as far as events go, with the exception of our third annual Halloween party, which we are all looking forward to! I’m very excited for fall to truly kick in! General Administration - Hayley is still working on her cataloguing certification. - Jessika, Caleb, and I will be attending WVLA Conference the first week of October. - Michelle completed and submitted her start-up grant application! Goals 1. Fix displays for the Halloween/fall season. 2. Move tables and shift to see how we can create space. 3. Plan for Halloween party! August Branch Clay Battelle Public Library Report September 2024 Branch Report September our Pre-K Storytime returned. We have had a great group of kids signup. Samantha has been out on medical leave so we owe a huge thank you to Abby for filling in for her. Kelly and Molly have been working with CBHS to implement a new way for students to have access to the library. Most children unfortunately don’t have a way to get to the library. So Kelly wanted to bridge the gap and get books into the hands of students! Molly created a picture catalog of young adults books which will be available to each English Teacher. We will updated the catalog when we we add to the collection. Students can put in requests via a google document. The new principal Mr. Channell and Kelly will do delivery and pick-up weekly from the school and library. Facilities Update waiting on electrical work in kitchen area concrete pad in discussion as well as storage building Planning and Organizing CBHS book program Trunk-or-treat Tree Lighting Staff Sam is still o0ut on medical leave Molly has been working more M,W,& F to help cover while Sam is off. Abby has been helping with storytime Goals All of the following goals we are continuing to complete. Continue to grow my partnership with community involvement weeding CDPL Monthly Report September 2024 Manager’s Report ● Pre-School Storytime ○ We had our first fall storytime, and it was a lot of fun. ○ We had singing and playing instruments ○ Janet read a story. ○ The kids decorated milk jug bird feeders and each child was given bird seed to take home with them to put in their feeder ○ And had a snack! ○ 4 children, 6 adults, 2 staff ● Library Lattes and Laughs ○ Thursday, September 26th we discussed “There, There” by Tommy Orange. An excellent discussion and many differing opinions on the overall thoughts on the book. We enjoyed coffee and donuts. Angela was able to join us via Facebook which was a lot of fun! General Administration ● New to our Collections ○ Adult Fiction 25 ○ Adult Non-Fiction ○ YA ○ Graphic Novels 8 ○ Childrens 4 ○ Children Non-Fiction 4 ○ ER 3 ○ Easy/Picture Books 11 ○ Boardbooks ○ VOX Books 7 ○ DVDs 5 ○ Audiobooks Planning, Organizing, Processes, and Evaluation ● CDPL has begun the process of deleting books, we are working on Adult and Children’s reference ● Leslie has done a fantastic job of creating new displays at CDPL ○ Spooky Season - (Goodreads had two recent posts with spooky and creature book recommendations, which Janet used to add books to this display. While searching for the books, I was super impressed with how many of the recommended books downtown had and a few of them Morgantown was the ONLY library in the WVLN network to have the book.)  ○ ○ Halloween Display ○ ○ Hispanic Heritage Month ○ ○ Our new door is installed and ready to be painted! Personnel: ● We are figuring out what tasks each of us likes to do. ○ Leslie has done amazing displays. As well, was instrumental in helping with the Graphic Novel symposium held downtown in which I heard the number of people attending far exceeded expectations! ○ Linda is very good with tasks that require accuracy, she has just been trained to delete and I feel will really excel at this type of project. As well, Linda is also primarily responsible for processing books since new books arrive on Tuesday. ○ Janet has moved back to social media postings, which I won’t lie, I really do like! ● All three CDPL staff were able to attend at least some of the staff meeting on Friday, September 13th. The meeting was incredibly well organized! Community and Professional Development (3 CEs required yearly for all staff working more than 20 hours a week) Top Three Goals for September 1. Create a “did you” check list for every day tasks at CDPL 2. Create an expectations document with both Linda and Leslie 3. Finalize 1KBBK with hot air balloons for the kids still working on their 1000 books and make hot air balloons to hang from the ceiling for those who have, within the last year, completed 1KBBK Morgantown Public Library James Spears, Assistant Director Monthly Report September 2024 Despite the lower number of visitors to the library, September felt like a hectic and challenging month for Public Services. However, staff in Public Services still managed to not only keep up this month but to find success in a number of areas including programming, displays, and projects! One exciting thing of note this month is that Library Assistant Rob M. became the subject of an artistically inclined patron who made a sketch of Rob one evening. Staff Changes There were several staffing changes this month. New Library Assistant Arrow K. started in mid- September. Additionally, Library Assistants Lourdes V. and La’Shelia W. both resigned their positions in September. Evening Supervisor Shelby D., ILL Coordinator Crystal L. and Assistant Director James S. served as the combined hiring team. We received several promising candidates and after completing several interviews, we decided to make two offers to new Library Assistants Coco R. and Laura Z. Both Coco R. and Laura Z. will begin in early October. Because of these vacancies, staffing the library proved to be a challenge this month. Many staff inside and outside of Public Services helped us out this month by picking up extra shifts including Library Assistants Patricia D., Kelly W., Tessa S., and Lisa M. in addition to ILL Coordinator Crystal L., and Outreach Coordinator Abby C. Staff Contributions and Projects This month several staff members contributed wonderful displays and decorations to help highlight seasonal celebrations and observations. ILL Coordinator Crystal L. created a wonderful Hispanic Heritage that was decorated with several tissue paper flowers as a part of the display. The display has garnered many positive comments from patrons and staff. Crystal reported that she enjoyed working on the project and is looking forward to dedicating some of her future time towards creating more engaging displays. For Banned Books Week both Evening Supervisor Shelby D. and Youth Services Specialist Jenean S. created displays to highlight the challenges facing libraries all over the county regarding book ban attempts and challenges. Both displays highlighted the wide range of materials that are often included in book challenges and did a wonderful job of sharing information about this issue with patrons! Shelby reported that she “chose a mix of books that included some sillier books and reasons for challenges (Goosebumps for being scary, Captain Underpants for encouraging disruptive behavior) and some books that highlight that in general it is an attack on diverse materials.” Evening Supervisor Shelby D. also created a wonderful set of fall themed decorations for the circulation desk! These decorations have received many positive comments from patrons and staff and have done a lot to help pull the circulation desk into the fall season. There were several successful programs this month to report. This month Youth Services Specialist Jenean S. presented Minecraft Mania for tween patrons. This program involved participants joining and participating in a building contest on the library’s in-house Minecraft server. The program was well attended and the participants had a good time expressing their creativity by building secret bases, tree houses, gardens, and other buildings. Most excitingly the technical aspects of this program worked out exactly as expected and there were only a few technical hang-ups during the program itself. Jenean is planning on presenting another Minecraft Mania program in the future and some images of the recent program were shared on the library’s social media. Evening Supervisor Shelby D. reported this month that there was normal attendance at her Adult Craft Night program but that the participants at the program appeared to have an above average positive experience at the program. She reported that “there were a few people new in town and it seems like people made friends at the program and it was so fun to watch.” The library’s Tiny Art Show program seems to have been a huge success. All 70 tiny art kits were distributed within a week and 25 canvases were returned for the art show. The kits were so popular that some patrons even purchased their own canvas after we distributed all the pre-made kits to participate in the show. Facilities Updates We should still be on track for the installation of the new computers tables from J.P. Jay. I will be reaching out to J.P. Jay for a final word about the installation and begin planning in early October. Other Updates I mostly completed staff check ins during September. I consider this a success given how volatile the schedule was and how often it was changed short notice. There are still two check in meetings that remain as of the end of September and they both will be completed in early October. Progress was made with the new building signage project. All signs were approved and ordered from Amazon. Currently, they are with Facilities Manager Darrin B. and awaiting installation. ILL Coordinator Crystal L. and I have been working to update the holds management procedure to increase involvement of the Library Assistants in Public Services. The goal of this change is to make this process more efficient and less reliant on Crystal being in the building to pick, process, and notify patrons of their holds. So far, Crystal has outlined the changes to this process in a training document and all that remains is to train staff. This should be completed in October. 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 ○ Installation scheduled for November 2, 2024 ● Expand Teen Area on 2nd floor ○ Installation of new computer tables will contribute to the completion of this goal Images Above: Sketch of Library Assistant Rob M. completed by a library patron. Above: Hispanic Heritage Month display created by ILL Coordinator Crystal L. Above: Tiny Art Show display with patron art Above: Fall decorations created by Evening Supervisor Shelby D.