Board of Library Trustees

City of Mountain View Minutes - Final Board of Library Trustees Monday, September 19, 2022 7:00 PM Video Conference with No Physical Meeting Location During this declared state of emergency, the meeting will be conducted in accordance with California Government Code §54953(e) as authorized by resolution. Please contact city.clerk@mountainview.gov to obtain a copy of the applicable resolution. All members of the Library Board of Trustees will participate in the meeting by video conference, with no physical meeting location. 1. CALL TO ORDER Chairperson Donahue called the meeting to order at 7:02 p.m. 2. ROLL CALL PRESENT: Max Beckman-Harned, Member Paul Donahue, Chairperson Sharon Su, Vice Chairperson Nicole Vogt, Member Phyllis Bismanovsky, Member Present 5 - Member Max Beckman-Harned, Member Phyllis Bismanovsky, Member Nicole Vogt, Vice Chair Sharon Su, and Chair Paul Donahue 3. MINUTES APPROVAL 3.1 Approval of Minutes from the August 15, 2022 meeting MOTION - Beckman-Harned/Su (M/S) To approve the Minutes from the August 15, 2022 Library Board of Trustees Meeting as presented. Motion carried. Votes taken by roll call. Yes: 4- Member Beckman-Harned, Member Vogt, Vice Chair Su, and Chair Donahue Abstain: 1- Member Bismanovsky 4. ORAL COMMUNICATIONS FROM THE PUBLIC 5. DONATIONS 5.1 Library Donation Accept Library Donation from Heidi Gerster Kikawada for $500. MOTION - Bismanovsky/Beckman-Harned (M/S) to accept donation. Motion carried. Votes taken by roll call. City of Mountain View Page 1 Board of Library Trustees Minutes - Final September 19, 2022 Library Director Gray informed the Library Board the donation did not specify what type of donation it was for. The donation will be put into the donation account. Member Vogt appreciated and thanked Heidi Gerster Kikawada for the generous donation. Yes: 5- Member Beckman-Harned, Member Bismanovsky, Member Vogt, Vice Chair Su, and Chair Donahue 6. PRESENTATIONS 6.1 Presentation of Caldecott Award Committee Experience Youth Services Librarian, Renee Ting gave a presentation on her experience and having the honor to serve on the Caldecott Award Committee. Renee shared her experience about the book selection process, how the committee met over Zoom to share input and vote on each book. Renee presented on the purpose of the committee and how receiving the most distinguish Caldecott medal for artwork is life changing for the artist and their publishers. The Association of Library Service to Children (ALSC) awards the Caldecott medal, which is a division of the American Library Association. Vice Chairperson Su thanked and congratulated Renee on being a part of the Caldecott Award Committee, for her service and sharing her experience with the Library Board. Vice Chairperson Su asked about how the books that were mentioned in the presentation are included into story time and the availability of the books at the Library. Librarian Renee Ting is the selector for picture books in the Children’s division, picture books received from the publisher is available in the library. Book selection process for story time is more mindful of the children’s short attention span, which narrows the selection of the type of book presented with larger image and the right amount of words for storytelling. Member Beckman-Harned thanked Renee and commented about the fascinating presentation. Asked about the tenured, selection process and if there is a rotation process on how the Committee is selected. Librarian Renee Ting mentioned there are rules; main rule is that you cannot serve on one of the main committees again within five years. Noting a change from previous years on how the committee no longer elect members but are appointed. Member Vogt expressed her appreciation on the delightful presentation and asked about the techniques used as a committee for making a decision and deliberating over Zoom meetings. Librarian Renee Ting emphasized how important it was for the Chair to keep everything organized and together. Ensuring members of the committee were following the rules set by the Chair, appointed a time keeper, appointed someone to track the list of participants speaking and how having a strong Chair keeps the meeting on track and fair. Chairperson Donahue commented how fascinating the presentation was and hearing about the experience. Noting the topic presented by Librarian Renee Ting was interesting and fun, different from the usual topic of discussion during their meetings. 7. UNFINISHED BUSINESS City of Mountain View Page 2 Board of Library Trustees Minutes - Final September 19, 2022 7.1 Fiscal Year 2021-22 Performance/Workload Measures Library Director Gray noting this as an unfinished item from the previous month. Packet included Performance Measures and Statistics, along with the Actuals for Fiscal Year 2021-22. Noting the number of visits for Fiscal Year 2021-22 appears lower compared to pre-pandemic numbers. From July 2021 through December, service levels changed a few times which affected the number of visits when Covid was still dominate through January and not having indoor programs available. Satisfaction rate of programs, virtual, outdoor or indoor, and cancellation still received a 97% satisfaction rate. Noting a decline on the numbers for the public computer sections, which has been on a decline as patrons have devices of their own. These were the significant differences between now, pre-pandemic and during the pandemic. Member Beckman-Harned asked about targets for this fiscal year are significantly lower than what they were pre-pandemic. Noting on Fiscal Year 2018-19 total visits during pre-pandemic it was 600,000 and now the new target is 250,000. Asked if these numbers were due to the changes during the impact of the pandemic or is there a change on how people use the library, are people more likely to use digital resources and make less visits to the library, fewer visits – more items. Library Director Gray shared factors that may have affected the targeted goals during the pandemic and pre-pandemic. Noting the uncertainty of the pandemic, targets for the budget submitted in late April/March was affected by the late Spring issues of the pandemic. Continuing to have virtual, outdoor programs and digital resources could also be a factor for the significant difference with the pre-pandemic and pandemic numbers in visits. Member Beckman-Harned expressed appreciation on having this item back to review and compare pre-pandemic targets with the current fiscal year target goals. 7.2 Library Card and Borrowing Policy MOTION - Beckman-Harned/Bismanovky (M/S) to accept Library Card and Borrowing Policy as presented by Library Manager Melvyn Yabut. Library Manager Yabut presented to the Library Board the request from Staff to update the Library Card and Borrowing Policy. Specifically noting the action to revert to pre-pandemic types of library cards: full access card, limited card and the student connect card. Staff is recommending to the Library Board the removal of the e-library card that was created as a temporary solution in response to the impact of the pandemic and changes with service levels. Noting the e-library cards are unverified accounts, which does not go through staff verification, which created a host of issues with individuals signing up for several e-library cards that are used to monopolize limited resources with booking the study room or the use of the computer stations. Recommending one hour courtesy guest pass for patrons without a library card or not having an ID to sign up for a card. Member Beckman-Harned commented the main concern for the Board was computer usage by people who may not have IDs. From surveying other surrounding libraries, there’s an express computer, a limited time frame computer for use by individuals without an ID for easy accessibility. Asked, if staff prefer to have an unpublicized guest access pass over having a subset of older computers for use. Is this something that can be consider for the future. City of Mountain View Page 3 Board of Library Trustees Minutes - Final September 19, 2022 Library Manager Yabut, explained that the library had an express computer years ago which had issues with individuals learning how to turn off the limited time of usage. Noting that staff encourages the courtesy pass as a better option and having one hour of computer time with the courtesy pass. Chairperson Donahue commenting about how staff de-escalate various situations. Asked if staff receives training on those types of situations. Library Manager Yabut confirmed staff does receive training as part of their objectives when working at the public reference desk. Staff are trained on de-escalation or dealing with certain populations and working with Human Resources to provide counseling session as needed for staff that are affected. Member Vogt thanked and appreciated the information. Found it useful to hear about it from the perspective of the people who are task to deal with it. Having concerns about the one-hour courtesy pass, if this is not in the policy, knowledge of this courtesy pass may not be available to the people who may need to use it most. Asked staff to consider rephrasing and adding it to the policy in case offices within the City or the County level direct patrons to utilize the computer station for social work. Library Manager Yabut commented that the Library Card and Borrowing policy might not be the appropriate policy instead, it could be added to the Computer and Networking policy. Not to create barrier to access but offer a courtesy pass for use of the computer station. Library Director Gray gave input on the Library’s partnership with several agencies by providing laptops that are set up in the program room for patrons without a library card to sign up for those outreach programs. Library Manager Ryan shared that there is value for staff in having something be a procedure versus a policy. A policy is very fixed but a procedure allows changes on circumstances and provides more flexibility when working with an individual. Noting policy change infrequently, and are used to guide decision making. Procedure are in place help guide decision making for staff, which can be refined based on needs. Emphasizing to add the courtesy guest pass to the Computer and Networking Policy would be more applicable. Member Vogt agreed, asked if members of the public read the policy or coming to ask staff and being informed verbally. Library Manager Ryan explained that customers are coming to the library to understand what services are available to them. Library Director Gray noting the information for services that are available can be found on the library's webpage when signing up for a library card. Public Comment: Samuel McCoy asked about the motivation behind the decision making for the guest pass policy and other ways to manage the behavior issues. Library Manager Yabut explained there are other ways dealing with behavior issues, having a security staff in the library. Noting staff recommendation on reverting to the pre-pandemic library card, full access, limited and student connect cards. Eliminating the e-library card, as staff does not verify accounts, which creates inequitable access when an individual signs up for multiple e-cards to use the computer for more than three hours at a time. The e-library card was created as a temporary solution during the pandemic to help get materials accessible to patrons. Member Beckman-Harned thanked staff for providing the updated recommendation for the policy. City of Mountain View Page 4 Board of Library Trustees Minutes - Final September 19, 2022 Member Vogt, appreciated Library Manger Yabut's clarification about the policy and the option of providing a one hour guest pass. Member Bismanovsky noting the appreciation for staff's work and recommendation presented, and encouraged the Board to make a decision on this item. Chairperson Donahue shared appreciation and thanked staff for the details and updated recommendation that was presented. Acknowledging staff's ability to adjust to the challenging impact of the pandemic. Vice Chairperson Su shared appreciation and thanked Library Managers Yabut and Tarri for attending and providing more clarity on this item. Yes: 5- Member Beckman-Harned, Member Bismanovsky, Member Vogt, Vice Chair Su, and Chair Donahue 8. NEW BUSINESS None. 9. BOARD/STAFF ANNOUNCEMENTS, UPDATES, REQUESTS, AND COMMITTEE REPORTS 9.1 Library Director's Report Library Director Gray provided verbal updates not included on the packet. List of upcoming programs, Sci-fi September, token music Saturday, Jim Butcher on Thursday night through a virtual event, Fall outdoor story time on Tuesdays, all events are listed on the library’s calendar events for Fall into the month of October. Library providing support and resources to the City Manager’s office for the Elevate MV program. Informed the Board about a ransom ware attack with one of the library's vendor which caused their services to be down for nearly a month. This caused delays with ordering and receiving new materials. The issue has been resolved and the library received a few new shipment of materials. Chairperson Donahue asked if this affected the average numbers of calendar days between receipt of new items and availability to check out. Library Director Gray informed that it most likely would not. Member Beckman-Harned asked about the library card, will the cards change due to the new City logo. Library Manger Yabut informed the Board there’s a team of library staff currently working on the new branding from the City. A sub-committee formed to create a new design for library cards with the new logo. Noting redesign of the City's webpage can be challenging when ordering the new cards as some of the webpage details will need to be updated on the card. 9.2 Agenda Setting - Meeting with the Friends of the Library - Celebration of Services, in person at Shoreline - Confidentiality Policy - Staff presentation on new catalog - Fiscal Year 2023-24 budget submission City of Mountain View Page 5 Board of Library Trustees Minutes - Final September 19, 2022 10. ADJOURNMENT Having no further business, Chairperson Donahue adjourned the meeting at 9:02 p.m. The next Library Board of Trustees Meeting will be held on Monday, October 17, 2022 at 7:00 p.m. Submitted for approval by Joy Phaphakdy. Approved on October 17, 2022. City of Mountain View Page 6