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2021-10-13 LB MinutesBoard of Trustees Michelle Brown, Library Director Christine Gay, President John Camp, Vice President Cheryl Gowing, Secretary Laura Farley Nancy Frehling MEETING OF THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES Wednesday, October 13, 2021 at 8:30am Brockway Memorial Library Reference Room Minutes The meeting was called to order at 8:32 a.m. Present were Michelle Brown, Library Director; Christine Gay, President; John Camp, Vice-President; Laura Farley (via phone), Nancy Frehling, and Cheryl Gowing, Secretary. PUBLIC COMMENT: None PRESENTATION: None GUESTS: None 1. Approval of the minutes of the September 8, 2021 meeting: Motion to approve the minutes as revised by John Camp; seconded by Cheryl Gowing. Motion passed. 2. Amendment to the minutes of the June 9th meeting: Motion to approve the minutes as amended by Christine Gay; seconded by John Camp. Motion passed. 3. Community Alliance Report: Nancy Frehling attended the Community Alliance meeting via Zoom. The purpose of the Alliance, fundraising to help Miami Shores non-profit organizations do good work, was reviewed. Member organizations announced their upcoming events. John Camp will attend the Nov. meeting as substitute for Nancy Frehling. 4. Financial Report: Ms. Brown reviewed the financial report covering the close of the Fiscal Year through 9-30-21. She noted that the total revenue was only at 43% for the year because of the closures under COVID and the suspension of library fines. Most earned funds were the result of program fees and new non-resident memberships. Library fines will not be restored until local conditions improve. Operating expenses were 146% of the budgeted total, in part due to the added expenses for COVID operations, PPE/sanitation supplies, etc. Since the Library was under budget in many areas the overall budget finished in the black. The Library will not find out if the unexpended funds can be applied to the construction overage until discussions with the Village accountant in November. Motion to accept the financial report by Christine Gay; seconded by Nancy Frehling. Motion passed. 5. Circulation Report – September 2021: The Library circulated 2,694 items, with 111 holds placed on materials.  Copies weeded: 132 Adult Fiction A-H and miscellaneous from Juvenile collection.  New patrons – 16 adult residents; 11 child residents; 4 adult non-residents; 2 child non-residents. There are a total of 6650 registered library patrons.  Kimberley Hynes has returned to working on processing the Brockway archival materials on-site.  Digital collection usage: Overdrive e-magazines, 42; Overdrive ebooks, 225; Mango Languages, 44 sessions, ESOL English/French/German top languages; Ancestry.com searches: 0, will promote more on social media for this on-site only database.  In-person service: 1816 patrons. This is not as high pre-COVID [norm 140/day = ca. 4200], but is slowly picking up. Counts are calculated by hash marks as patrons enter the library.  Sept. Sat. extended hour attendance is improving. 239 total for the month / 80 after 1 pm.  It was recommended the Library takes head counts for all Sat. hours to have a comparison of morning and afternoon use.  Curbside pickup services: less than 5; 2 homebound patrons 6. Old Business Construction Update – New Windows/Request for Plan Revision on Area of Refuge  The location of the area of refuge has been under review by Stobs Construction, Public Works, and the architects with the hope of retaining the north side windows of the current Children’s Room which all agree is preferable. Creating an ADA ramp as a fire exit from the Reference Room is one option, adjusting the back ramp is another. A new cost estimate is under preparation; if approved, the revised plan will need Fire Marshall approval. Other work on the site continues while this issue is resolved.  The windows on the East wall in the children’s room were replaced/installed, however a fixed window was installed, not the matching single hung/colonial style used elsewhere. The correct windows will need to be installed.  Ms. Brown noted a concern that Stobs is not communicating in a timely manner or notifying the library of changes in the program. Completion of the project is likely several months away.  Ms. Gowing will apply to Congresswoman Frederica S. Wilson to purchase a U.S. Flag flown over the U.S. Capitol as a donation to the new Children’s Wing from the Biscayne Chapter NSDAR.  Library vacancies: have evening PT doing Overdues- interviewed candidate ; will make offer  Interviews have been conducted for the part-time evening staff position that focuses on preparing overdue notices. Ms. Brown expects to make an offer shortly.  The part-time shelver position was not renewed, presenting a challenge to current staff to keep up with the re-shelving, now that activity is increasing. Ms. Brown will ask for a mid-year reinstatement of the position, budgeted at $4000/year. 7. Other Items  FL Humanities 2022 Grant – English for Families: The Library is applying for this grant to expand our community outreach. The program to provide ESOL teachers for on-site help/tutoring to parents and children is intended to help meet the needs of neighboring students at Miami Shores Elementary and Doctors Charter School. Grant notifications are expected in November. Find out in Nov if getting. Youth Services Librarian Brenda Holsing will serve as the grant lead.  On-the-Job-Training: Brandon DelCarmen, a local high school senior requested to do on-site training at Brockway as part of a work-study program. Adult Services Librarian, Frances Walsh, is serving as his supervisor in the program, which began in September.  December Meeting/Staff Appreciation Breakfast: The Staff Appreciation Breakfast will precede the December Board meeting on Dec. 8th to begin at 8am, followed by the monthly meeting at 9am. 7. Announcements  Please refer to the October 2021 calendar to see this month’s fabulous lineup of programs. These include: o Virtual puppet theater continues to be popular o Kids Book Club- now 16 members with a waiting list o In-person kids programs – STEMobile. The Sept. program was very successful, with children and parents gathering on the lawn to interact with the materials/program. o Re-starting up therapy dog program. The Reading w/ Gracie program will not return, however the library has reached out to other local groups. We expect to start a therapy dog reading program in January. The new program will likely involve more dogs, so will increase capacity for numbers of children who can participate. o Virtual Living History with Martina Mathisen, “The Six Wives of Henry VIII” on Oct. 21st 7 pm. o Oct. 23rd - “History of Protest Music” w/ Michael Stock – A 4 week series of in-person presentations on Saturdays from 10-11:30 a.m. o Oct. 26- Virtual Mystery Book Club via Baker & Taylor / Dec. Get 5 copies of book to distribute. Live w/ author. They host book club.  Next scheduled Board Meeting: November 10, 2021 PUBLIC COMMENT ADJOURNMENT: Motion to adjourn by Christine Gay; seconded by Cheryl Gowing. Meeting adjourned at 9:17 a.m. Minutes respectfully submitted by Cheryl Gowing, Secretary.