2021-01-13 Minutes
Meeting of the Board of Trustees
Wednesday, January 13, 2021
Brockway Memorial Library Reference Room
The meeting called to order at 8:31 a.m. Present were Michelle Brown, Library Director, Kathleen Redmond,
President, Christine Gay, Vice President, Cheryl Gowing, Laura Farley, and John Camp, Secretary.
Public Comment: None
Guests: None
1. Approval of the Minutes of the December meeting: Ms. Gowing moved to approve the minutes; Ms.
Gay seconded. The motion passed unanimously.
2. Community Alliance Report: Ms. Gowing attended the January Community Alliance Meeting via
Zoom and presented the report.
3. Financial Report: Ms. Brown had nothing to report other than that the library continues to be financially
sound. Ms. Gowing moved to accept the report, Ms. Farley seconded the motion, and it passed
unanimously.
4. Circulation Report: For the month of December, the Library circulated 2,586 items, and 208 holds were
placed. The total circulations were 704 greater than the prior month, but there were 101 fewer holds than
the prior month. Total circulations for December were 1,589 fewer than December 2019. This
discrepancy is accounted for by the fact of the Covid pandemic generally and the Library’s Covid-related
reduced schedule.
There were 55 digital magazine check-outs. There were no searches on Ancestry. The Library added 71
adult items, 16 children/youth items, and 57 media items. The library ordered more titles than those added
in December, but there is a backlog at the distributor that delayed the receipt of the additional titles. 11
outdated books were weeded from the collection, mostly adult mysteries. Staff repaired a whopping 318
items.
The Library added 21 patrons in December 2020 – 13 adult residents, 4 child residents, and 4 child non-
residents. The total patron count is currently 6,487.
Because of ongoing COVID restrictions, the Library did not digitally archive any material in December.
5. Old Business:
a. Mission Statement: A draft of the revised library mission statement was circulated. Ms.
Gowing moved to accept the statement as revised, and Ms. Redmond seconded the motion,
which passed unanimously.
6. Other Items
a. Re-opening: 410 patrons entered the library during the month of December. The process in
place at present appears to be working: There has not been a time since the re-opening that there
were too many people in the library; visits by patrons are short; there has been minimal use of
the computer terminals; and the research room is busy but has never been too busy to meet
demand. Ms. Brown estimated that under the current procedures, the library can accommodate
up to 50 people per hour and stated that the library is easily meeting that demand.
2
Because curbside pick-up has dropped, staffing needs on Thursdays is not as great. Thus, Ms.
Brown proposed that the Thursday staff (four staff members) be moved to Saturday and that the
library begin offering Saturday in-library hours. The proposal is that the library will be open to
patrons on Saturdays from 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. under the same conditions as are currently in
place for the other days the library is already open, with the exception of a senior hour. The plan
is for the library to begin Saturday hours on the first Saturday in February, i.e. February 6th. Ms.
Brown noted that there is some concern among staff over capacity during Saturday hours, but
Ms. Brown is confident that with the procedures currently in place, undue capacity will not be a
problem.
With Saturday hours added, the plan for the foreseeable future will be for the library to be open
to patrons on Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday and to offer only curbside pick-up on
Tuesday and Thursday.
b. The library hosted yoga on the library lawn on Saturdays and it has been wildly successful and
will continue.
c. Proposed butterfly habitat: Miami Shores organization Bound by Beauty has received a grant
to create butterfly sanctuaries and approached the library about creating a native garden on the
library property to create a butterfly habitat. The consensus among board members was that such
a project would be beneficial, and the board supported Ms. Brown’s exploring it further.
d. Library addition construction update: All permitting has passed at the county level and is now
at the village. The village is undertaking its review of the permitting, which is pending approval.
The start date for the construction is still to be determined.
7. Announcements:
a. Yoga on the Library Lawn is scheduled for Saturdays during the month of January, beginning
January 9th.
b. Virtual Village Kids’ Book Club: Little House in the Big Woods by Laura Ingalls Wilder – January
21, 3:30pm (registration required)
c. Virtual Brockway Reading Circle: The Nickel Boys by Colson Whitehead – January 11, 7:00pm
d. Live Book Club Event: The Arctic Fury by Greer Macallister – January 27, 7:00pm. The
discussion will feature Ms. Macallister herself.
e. The next scheduled Board meeting is Wednesday, February 10, 2021 at 8:30am.
8. Public Comment: None
9. Adjournment: Motion to adjourn made by Ms. Gay; seconded by Ms. Gowing. Meeting was adjourned
at 9:09am.
Respectfully submitted by John Camp, Secretary