Thursday, October 23rd, meeting of the library board of trustees to order. I'm Sarah McManus, trustee. >> I am library director Electra Branwin, and this is a legal name change from Amanda St. John.
>> I'm Kevin Laor, a trustee. Slen, trustee. >> Nancy trustee. >> All right. Thank you all for being here tonight. Um, do I have any visitors? Consent agenda. You'd like to approve
the agenda and >> I move to approve the agenda and uh the payment of bills in the minutes. >> Thank you. >> Uh I would like to make a uh correction to the minutes of the September 25th
meeting. According to the roll call, I was present but in fact I was not >> in spirit. Yes. No, but really no. Good catch. Thank you. >> So, shall I counter move?
>> You don't have to. It's just >> motion with the amendment. >> Yeah. >> Okay, fine. >> I'll second. >> All right. >> All in favor? >> Motion in second. Any further discussion? All those in favor?
>> I opposed. Motion passes unanimously. All right, Electra, we have your report, please. Very good. Just a second. I'm doing Secretary 2. You're doing great. Thanks. Um, got it. Okay, let's see.
What do I remember it saying? I guess. Um, here we go. So, I have an update for staffing and hiring. Um AJ Jones, our children's librarian, was able to attend her first Arrowhead Library System Children's Librarians meeting in person.
And it's really great to get her connected with her peers throughout the region and also have that insider information of what uh a Arrowhead Library System looks like and all the folks that we coordinate with over there on a regular basis.
We're welcoming back to our staff Anne Ward who worked here for 10 years and is now back as a library clerk. Uh we extended a librarian one position but it is it remains open and we still have open one library clerk position. So
that's where we are today. programs. We had 30 people coming to make colorful coiled baskets with Erica Lame in this very room. And um some of the responses we received is that um it
feels on par to courses elsewhere in the community, but the barrier of cost is removed. They were so grateful. >> That's wonderful. >> And um several people left interested in pursuing more about basket making. Great. And that was exciting. Then for
our indigenous people's day celebration sponsored by the library friends of Cook County, we had 14 people registered and come to the class with Jeffrey Tibbitz. He talked all about Ojiway worldview and uh taught the participants how to carve
stone for the first time, many of us. And um um what am I missing? it the the very specialness of this program just like the coiled baskets is you get that one on-one attention and coaching and teaching from a master artist and
without the cost barrier. Um there were uh there was a group of people who came who um are challenged with handwork and they found this program very satisfying and
they were able to produce a finished product uh product that made them very proud and excited and they just had such a fantastic time. So those things are happening. Readers and Writers Festival is coming up and we have our display hosting their titles in the front lobby.
As you come in, you'll see them. Those are our updates this month. Great. Thank you. Any follow-up questions for Electra? Okay. Thanks. Thanks. Under communications, we have the fund
statement. And then we've got some forward looking time for new business. We need to adopt a calendar for board meetings for 2026. So Electra has put together some dates for
us. Um they all look good to me. continues the fourth Thursday. >> Continues the fourth Thursday, which I appreciate. That works well. >> That's great. >> Yes, the consistency is really nice.
>> I'd move adoption. >> I'll second. >> Motion a second. Any further discussion on the board dates? >> No. >> All those in favor? >> I opposed. Motion passes unanimously. And then right below that, we have the
holiday closures for the library. also good to have planned ahead. >> I don't have many um notes to share this year because of how the holidays landed. I would just um note that
um the 4th of July, Independence Day, 4th of July. So, we're a six-day operation. Fourth of July lands on Saturday. Typically, you'll see um other departments close on the Friday before
that aren't open Saturday. So, there's a little bit of um decision-m going on here to choose to close on Saturday the actual holiday and to provide the community as many hours of visiting the
library as possible by staying open on that Thursday. Even though operationally speaking, anyone working that day would get holiday pay and >> on the Friday >> on the Friday or the Saturday. So, if we were open both days or closed both days,
they're they function as a holiday. >> I think being open on Friday is nice. >> I think so, too. And certainly, I would I would suspect the staff would be happy to actually have the holiday off and many people gather with families and
such. >> Plus, you're not really going to be turning around away a lot of customers. No one expects something to be open on July 4th. >> That's right. >> But I think a few people might be taken by surprise. >> Like going to the recycling center with on the wrong day and it's closed for the
holiday. Oh, I didn't think of that. Yeah. >> So I had to move the adoption of the holiday calendar. Also >> second. >> A motion and a second. Any further discussion? >> All those in favor? I >> opposed. Motion passes unanimously.
Thank you for putting all those together for us. >> Thank you. >> Um the last new business we had was the review of the library performance. Thank you to everyone who submitted comments. >> I forgot. I'm sorry. >> Completely forgot.
>> Um so if you've all had a chance to look through this, I don't feel like we need to go through it page by page. No. Um, what I wanted to come away from it from was one, was there anything that jumped out at people that they felt like we needed to discuss?
>> No. >> It seemed like a lot of the comments were fairly consistent with things we've already discussed or with the comments made in the document. Um, what I would like to come away with is some goals for 26 for what you would
like the board to focus on with its time and energy. So, people had some suggestions, but if we could just flesh out a couple kind of top priorities for 26, that would be great. I think we
need to look at more at the focus area one in general >> which was I have that >> what is that >> focus area one library inspires robust community involvement
>> and the action items are to survey the community have we done that I don't believe we have >> not in this strategic Okay. Um, request meetings with Grand Portage community leaders right >> here. There you go.
>> Um, visit classrooms. >> Yeah. So, we have there create a user guide, promote library services and so on. I think the first one, the survey the community request meetings with Grand Portage community leaders. Those
first two I think are very very important. Um I think that establish strategic partnerships with three businesses to provide extended service. Maybe we need to think a little bit more about what
that what that is and what we want to do, what shape it will take. Um, those are the those are the ones that that jump out at me. >> Mhm. >> For the action items in focus area one. Um,
and focus area two. The action item and and this is my own, shall we say, bias because I feel very deficient in this area. provide training for new board members. Well, I'm not new, but um on their role in capital
planning. >> When you say capital planning, are you thinking planning for capital expenses or >> well >> significant gifts or >> I'm not entirely sure to be honest. and in finances and
and so on. But >> so financ we might want to take a look at that and see what shape that would be. >> Okay. >> Or perhaps somebody else would focus on some other action items.
And I think focus area three we've we've done >> that's been worked on a lot >> most of that. Now have we looked at a faculty trustees and staff develop a 10-year plan for the facility? I don't believe we've done that.
>> No. So we might want to >> and we might that is important and we might want to take a look at that. It's really quite foundational. Okay. >> In a sense, well, it's not exactly the plan, but by revising the bylaws
and by developing um a code of conduct. And that's not exactly a 10 part. It's not precisely a tenure part of a 10-year plan, but I think it's akin to it, especially the
revision of the bylaws and long long-term planning for the institution. >> Exactly. Let's go back say focus area one which you brought up right away um a survey of what services
people want. Is that something you you I mean you mentioned is that how doable is that? That seems like something we could start in on. >> Of course, some of that we we have to think about who what community do we
survey? Do we survey users? Do we survey non-users? And and if we survey non-users, how do we find and survey them? That's certainly something we could start putting on the agenda to start discussing how do what does that look
like? And the second bullet point sort of folds into that >> meetings with Grand Portage community leaders. How soon should we have these things ready to go and be in action?
Well, that's a good question. >> I'm just thinking there's half of us here, so there's half the ideas tonight. >> Do you want to continue this discussion of goals and priorities next month? >> How do other people feel about that? >> I would certainly appreciate
>> Michael and Dave's feedback. >> Yeah. Yeah. I mean, we we've got lots of We're missing three people with great ideas. >> Mhm. >> Yeah. Let's put this I'll put my notes
and put this on November agenda to continue discussing further and then we can come up with a timeline for 26. That looks >> Okay, that sounds manageable. I'd like to send out a just another
invitation to uh anyone who didn't respond. Oh, good. So, we can um we have we have three responses in this and it'd be great to get some more. Mhm. >> Do you want to pass on our notes to the
city or do you want to wait until we got more feedback? >> Just do a package, I think. So, once the board has decided what the review is and what the goals are, I'll take it to him at that point. And I think their timeline right now is to um do something
middle of November. And so I don't think we're so far away. >> Okay. >> We're going to meet early November. >> Yeah. >> The 20th. It'll come up quick. >> Yeah. >> That's right. >> To be thought about, more.
>> Yeah. Yes, definitely. Appreciate that. Okay, super. Anything else for the good of the order? >> So, we are adjourned. Thank you all so much. >> This might be the record. >> I know. >> That's close.