Santa Fe Public Library Board

LIBRARY BOARD MINUTES July 15, 2025 5:45 PM IN-PERSON MEETING 1. CALL TO ORDER Meeting called to Order at 5:45 PM 2. ROLL CALL Members Present: Member Mark Lupinetti Member Rose Cowan Member Tamina Painter Member Meghan McGarrity Library Director Margaret Neill 3. Members Excused: Member Aurora Hvidsten Member Adele Oliveira Member William Karnoscak 4. Others Attending: Therese Martinez, Project Administrator, Clerk 5. APPROVAL OF AGENDA a. Tuesday, July 15, 2025 Meghan McGarrity made a Motion to approve the Agenda. Rose Cowan seconded the Motion. Unanimous approval. 6. APPROVAL OF MINUTES a. Approval of September 19, 2023 minutes. Meghan McGarrity made the Motion to approve the Minutes. Rose Cowan seconded the Motion. Unanimous approval. 7. PUBLIC COMMENT None. 8. DIRECTOR'S REPORT a. Margaret Neill, Library Director mmneill@santafenm.gov 505-955-6788 LIBRARY BOARD MEETING Tuesday, July 15, 2025 Page 1 of 5  LIBRARY BOARD MINUTES July 15, 2025 5:45 PM IN-PERSON MEETING Margaret Neill stated that they have been struggling at Southside because of staff shortages. A full-time Library Technician was hired which has helped out. The Floating Librarian position that was created is pretty much based at Southside till probably the end of the year. There are also some staff shortages at La Farge, so he has been going back and forth between the two libraries. The Library was in the media twice. The first was the Clifford and Biscuit story (stuffed animals replacement), the second was a CBS story on people struggling with affordability/ cost of living. One of the people they profiled is a patron at Southside who uses the library to look for work. They filmed her, she talked about her experiences. She is elderly. More elderly people are vulnerable. The Libraries also had a big Pride Outreach and gave out lots of free books, had an outreach table with many visitors, and they were also in the parade. The new budget has been loaded into the accounting system. Money was moved around to accommodate the budget cuts. They have also received an $80,000.00 bequest from the estate of a former patron and notification on two others that are in probate. Discussion on possible restrictions on use of the money. Discussion on the Library Endowment account. Discussion on the Library Advisory Board having a say on bequests per the Charter Rights and Responsibilities. Discussion on the City's role with all the bequest, endowment funding. The funding ($80,000.00) might be earmarked for facilities maintenance if possible. Discussion on new printers' installation. Margaret Neill stated that the new printers have arrived and are installed. They mostly work but there are multiple vendors involved in the process, so coordination is an ongoing issue to make the systems functional. Further discussion on use of money from bequests. Margaret Neill stated that the Library did receive funding for deferred maintenance for repairs and re-striping for the parking lots at Southside and La Farge. They also received funding for security cameras for Southside and Main. She will be managing the camera installations. Margaret Neill said the new HVAC installation at Southside was a lengthy process and had some issues. The Library Branches have been doing a lot of programs and projects. There are no statistics for this month, she will be doing a larger scale analysis, year to year comparisons that she will be presenting to the Board in August. 7. PRESIDENT'S REPORT a. Mark Lupinetti, President of the Library Advisory Board, fmlupinetti@hotmail.com Mark Lupinetti stated that he sent out to everyone the spreadsheet with the legislator's emails and directions for doing a mass email with individualized greetings so it doesn't look like spam. Discussion on process for sending emails, tracking responses, summer being a good LIBRARY BOARD MEETING Tuesday July 15, 2025 Page 2 of 5  LIBRARY BOARD MINUTES July 15, 2025 5:45 PM IN-PERSON MEETING time to send correspondence, Mail-merge and Word. 8. NEW BUSINESS a. a. Discussion on what the Board wants to know (talking points, questions) about how Fogelson Library is going to be integrated into the larger Midtown Development project. Discussion on Daniel Hernandez’s role as Midtown Development Director and Fogelson now being part of his portfolio. Top areas of concern: accessibility, free parking, transportation (bus routes). Discussion on the full assessment of the condition of Fogelson. Discussion on asking Daniel Hernandez, Henri Hammond-Paul and Maria Sanchez-Tucker to give the board some parameters for the project, such as the types of programs envisioned, the condition of the building, the quantity of books and materials, square footage allocation. Additional discussion about the current architectural plan with RMKM, what the process looks like for designing and upgrading the facility. Discussion of SFCC’s interest in adding Fogelson titles to their existing collections and expanding public access to these books, the type of collections that are currently at Fogelson, potential partnerships with the Friends of the Library, how the library system might look in the future-such as turning Main Library into a history/research library. Discussion on operational budgets and staffing for Fogelson. What is the high-level plan for Midtown and how does Fogelson fit into it? Discussion of the importance of public input and feedback. b. Brainstorm on creating ideas to engage with the County to collaborate over the budgeted contribution of $25,000.00. Margaret Neill stated the Library just received the $25,000.00 reimbursement. The Agreement expires in September. It has to go to the City Council. Maria Sanchez-Tucker and Henri Hammond-Paul want to advocate for more funding. Discussion on the role of the Library, people not being able to afford to live in the City and being penalized for living in the County, gradually increasing the County contribution, services that County residents use more of, County paying for additional staff, rural-library endowment funds, operational hours of rural libraries versus Public libraries, the Agreement going to the City Council and having an opportunity for public comment in September, contacting County Commissioners on the subject and not getting responses. The "big push" will be in September to address the topic. LIBRARY BOARD MEETING July 15, 2025 Page 3 of 5  LIBRARY BOARD MINUTES July 15, 2025 5:45 PM IN-PERSON MEETING c. Discussion on compilation of anecdotes (threats, challenges, vandalism, positive stories), email blasts, strategy, for future input to Rep. Cates for the Librarian Protection Act, for the next state legislature (30-day session). Mark Lupinetti requested that the Board members circulate their anecdotes to the group for viewing for future "ammunition". d. Review of Mark Lupinetti's spreadsheet list of political representatives. Discussed during the President's Report. e. Friend's of the Library Report - Tamina Painter. Tamina Painter stated the Friend's Board's next meeting is Thursday. They've already had the annual member's meeting in June. It went well. They were able to introduce their new Executive Director. In terms of funding, they have some auctions coming up, one item that was sent in sold for $300.00. It's better than selling to Saver's for $5.00. There was a mishap and the post office lost one box of books. They're still badgering the post office and have acquired a Fed-ex number from the auction house to use in the future to avoid losses. 9. OLD BUSINESS a. Update on Board Members' reappointment to serve another term (Mark Lupinetti,Adele Oliveira). Margaret Neill stated that she received Mark's letter and resume. She also has Adele's resume. She has reached out to Ambra Baca at the County for County approval, then it goes to the City mayor for approval. She will wait for the County approval, then submit Mark's and Adele's together to the City Clerk's, who will submit them to the mayor and the City Council. The timeline for completion is uncertain; it is looking like August for the approvals. b. Update on the status of the Friends MOU/General Operating Agreement. Margaret Neill and Therese Martinez explained that the City Attorney's office has broken the Agreement into sections: The MOU, the Agreement, and the process. The Executive Director has the Agreement now. She has given it to Joan Marshall and Newby Harrod to review. The other two pieces will be coming after the Agreement is done. The Agreement has to be in place before the MOU can be agreed upon. Discussion on the process. LIBRARY BOARD MEETING July 15, 2025 Page 4 of 5  LIBRARY BOARD MINUTES July 15, 2025 5:45 PM IN-PERSON MEETING b. c. c. visit the Vision Statement: Characteristics: "future Looking", "entice individuals who don't currently use the Library to engage with us". Meghan McGarrity stated that she felt the Board had not fully engaged with the stakeholders like library staff and the Friends' Board. She would like to use the survey she put together for the Board and extend it to the stakeholders. Discussion on the term stakeholders, survey usage, and response time. Meghan McGarrity will send the survey link to Margaret Neill and she will send it out to staff. d. Discussion and decisions made on Value Statements. Values: Access (will include equity and a safe environment), Intellectual Freedom, and Community (will include trust, respect, empathy, and nourishment). Discussed in c. e. Update on the Library Collection Development Policy Revisions. Margaret Neill stated that Raquel Martinez (Collections Development manager) had sent her a couple of drafts that need to be reviewed. Therese Martinez read Raquel's update that she had completed the first half and was waiting to collaborate with Margaret Neill. Discussion on financial and summer program deadlines. f. Update on the Library Printers replacement. Discussed in the Director's Report. 10. NEXT MEETING: Tuesday, August 19, 2025, at the La Farge Branch Library at 5:45 PM. 11. ADJOURN: Tamina Painter made the Motion to adjourn. Meghan McGarrity seconded the Motion. Unanimous approval. Meeting adjourned at 6:54 PM. ____________________________ _____________________________ Liaison/Clerk Chair LIBRARY BOARD MEETING Tuesday, July 15, 2025 Page 5 of 5