Norman Public Library Board

Norman Public Library Board Meeting, March 10, 2025, Minutes ●​ Called into session by Chair Jayme Shelton at 4:33pm o​ In attendance: Jayme Shelton, Jason Bingham, Laura Doughty, Jody Foote ●​ Staff and guests: o​ Caroline Dulworth, Central o​ Beverly Taigue (sp?), Children’s Services o​ Mike Pearson, West o​ Taryn Kingery, East ●​ Old Business: o​ Megan wrote a draft letter to the city council which Jayme has read but held off on sending until after municipal elections were over. o​ Jason Olsen was invited to today’s meeting but informed this morning that he is not able to attend due to an unavoidable scheduling conflict. ▪​ Jayme and Sue brought up the idea of having a special meeting to invite Jason Olsen to speak at. Sue expressed concern that if we wait until June a whole year will have passed since the last update. o​ Jayme read the letter to us and the board made some grammatical corrections. Board discussed the points of the letter. ▪​ Jason B asked if we could get quarterly updates from the city ahead of meetings so that we could discuss. ▪​ Sue noted that the letter references one responsible company rather than multiple. ▪​ It was noted that the current mayor had expressed interest in working with the library on finding an interim solution for the collection and spaces. ▪​ Jodie said our main emphasis is on the lack of communication to the board and the community regarding the central branch. ▪​ Jayme mentioned that OU Daily had published an article about contacting the city about the library and not getting any response. ▪​ Sue made a motion, seconded by Jodie, and approved by all present, to send the revised letter to the Council. o​ New Business:  ▪​ Jayme will contact Jason Olsen to find a suitable date for a special library board meeting, sooner rather than later. We will also invite both Mayor Heikkila and Mayor-Elect Holman to attend if available. ▪​ Sue made a motion, Jodie seconded, and approved by all present, to direct Chair Jayme Shelton to arrange a meeting date with Jason Olsen and invite Heikkila and Holman. o​ Branch Updates: ▪​ West Branch – Mike Pearson: ●​ Training academy for new hires is in the administrative side of West branch. All new hires spend two weeks onboarding in training library where they learn PLS policies, board of trustees, technology, etc. Onboarding occurs twice a month once in day hours and once in evening hours. PLS is still hiring in further branches. ●​ Doing outreach to schools, storytimes, bilingual storytime, and resume help. ▪​ Children’s Services – Beverly Taigue (sp?): ●​ Doing sensory/autism outreach which is more than just storytime; includes opening song, interactive hands-on activities, etc. ●​ Continuing to go to schools around Norman. ●​ Upcoming events: musical instrument outreach 3/20, mini mysteries with scooby doo van 3/21, pajama story time at center for children and families on first Tuesdays of each month. ▪​ East Branch – Taryn Kingery:​ ●​ Very high numbers of patrons ●​ Onboarded a few new full time and part time staff so were able to increase children’s programing. ●​ Three story times per seek now, tween writing program, going into schools, resume help. ●​ Working a lot with Little Axe as well. ▪​ Library Lab and Pickup Locations – Caroline Dulworth: ●​ Still functioning on Santa Fe St and still getting a lot of foot traffic. ●​ Activities include coding for kids, 3d printing and painting, teen Lego engineering, and lots of classes. ●​ New 24L open at City Hall parking lot. ●​ Upcoming 24L to be placed at Reeves Park in the near future.  ●​ OLA is hosted this weekend at the Embassy Suites in Norman where Beverly is presenting on putting story times together and Taryn is presenting on tying Mister Rogers into library services. o​ Board Comments: ▪​ Sue said she had sent an email to the city about the board openings. ▪​ Next scheduled meeting is set for June 16 at the Library Lab. ▪​ Possible special meeting with Mike Olsen is to-be-determined after Jayme contacts him. o​ Jodie motioned, Laura seconded, and all approved, to adjourn the meeting at 5:39pm.