Library Advisory Board

Library Advisory Board - Apr 02 2026 Agenda Thursday, April 2, 2026 at 6:00 PM Main Library, Community Room Page A. Meeting Open 1. Meeting Open & Attendance 2. Note: Meeting scheduled for March 5 was cancelled due to City Council Meeting 2 being moved to this date. Acceptance of minutes for 2/5/26 meeting LAB Minutes 020526 - DRAFT.pdf B. Public Comment C. New Business D. Old Business 1. Library Facilities: Discussion of library spaces, challenges and opportunities. E. Next Meeting May 7, 2026, 6pm South Portland Public Library Mission Statement: The South Portland Public Library provides resources, ideas and cultural experiences for the enrichment of our community. Page 1 of 3 Minutes - Library Advisory Board, 5 February 2026 Attendance Present: Nancy Breul, Ralph Cabana, Marie Véronique Emonds, Emilio Rodriguez, Kevin Davis, Patty Fortula-Kohn (virtual) Excused: Betsy Cummings, Colleen Jones-Turner Meeting called to order at 6:00 pm Minutes The minutes from the 8 January 2026 were read and a typographical misspelling was fixed, after which the minutes were approved (motion by Ralph Cabana; seconded by Nancy Breul, all present voted to approve). Library Director’s Report Kevin Davis presented the annual report of the library director. He noted that due to a suggestion from the Mahoney City Center Committee, a door counter was installed at the entrance from the parking lot, which showed that the number of visitors per month was closer to 300, rather than the 200 visitors per month that he had earlier estimated. He also brought our attention to the imbalance between the number of interlibrary loans our patrons requested from other libraries (25,079) last year, versus the number of items requested from our library (22,137). In previous years, more books left our library to other participating libraries. While the difference is small, we would expect that being one of the larger communities in Maine we would have a collection that would support more books going out. Kevin Davis attributed the mismatch partly to a lack of space for our collection, as it limits how many copies of new, popular books can be acquired by the library. These new books are the most frequently circulated. The library director noted that the library budget for the coming year has been submitted, and he has a meeting with the City Manager and Finance Director to go over the requested budget in March. The budget is similar to last year’s request, but includes an additional $6,000 for purchase of books (due to rising prices), and $6,000 to start replacing worn furniture, much of which dates from the library’s opening and is becoming unserviceable. Public comment I - none New Business There was no new business Old Business Facilities update Kevin Davis provided an update on the status of the Mahoney City Center Project. The Mahoney City Center Committee presented its recommendation to proceed with option 1 to a City Council Workshop on 13 January. A majority of the councillors present felt that the cost of the project was much too high, and asked the Mahoney City Center Committee to consider options to scale back the project or to phase it as a means to reduce its cost to the city residents. They were also tasked with considering additional revenue sources. A suggestion was made to consider only moving city offices into Mahoney at this time. The Mahoney City Center Committee subsequently determined that phasing the project would not save significant money, at least not under any circumstances that would finish the overall Page 2 of 3 project in under 20+ years. They also determined that the option 1 plan that they presented was consistent with the wishes of the city residents and the feedback that they had received from them. At the next meeting/workshop, the Mahoney City Center Committee intends to ask the City Council whether they can consider options to move forward that would not involve saving the Mahoney Building, as upgrades to the building to meet current codes is a major addition to the cost of the project, and the overall project could be accomplished with less cost by demolishing the Mahoney Building and starting new, rather than upgrading and retrofitting the project into the existing structure. Next Meeting The next meeting of the Library Advisory Board is scheduled for 5 March 2026 at 6:00 pm. The meeting was adjourned at 7:15 pm. Respectfully submitted, Marie Véronique Emonds Library Advisory Board Secretary Page 3 of 3