Library Board - Special Meeting

Roll call stands. Judy Borey. Here.

Robin Barker.

Here.

Barbara Fitzgerald. Here. Catherine Meek. Here. Mela Perkins is absent today. Vera Walters.

Here.

And Alexandra I'm sorry,

how do

you say your last name? Wyroba.

Wyroba. We have a quorum.

Welcome. We have a new board member. Okay. And the acceptance of the agenda. I need to request a motion to accept the agenda.

So moved. Second.

Amend a motion. Robin, did you make Yes. A And

roll call.

Judy Borey?

Yes. Robin Barker?

Yes.

Barbara Fitzgerald?

Yes.

Catherine Meek? Yes. Pamela Parkinson Absein? And Vera Walters? Yes. And Alexandra Wyroba?

Yes.

Okay. Motion passes.

And acceptance of the minutes for 09/11/2025, the special meeting. And I would request a motion to accept the minutes.

I move to accept the minutes of the 09/11/2025 meeting.

Second.

And roll call, please.

Judy Borey? Yes. Robin Barker?

Yes.

Barbara Fitzgerald? Yes. Catherine Meek? Yes. Penelope Perkins is absent. Vera Walters?

Yes.

And Alexandra Wyroba?

Yes. The motion passes.

And there is no call to the public or no public to call. So we're going to go on to correspondence and communications.

There's none tonight. And

librarians report, Pam.

Thank you. So I'm presenting the librarians report for tonight, 11/13/2025. I'm Pam Harrison, library director. And as normal, we start off with our stats for visits, circulation programs for the last well, for the last two months that we have full information, August and September. We do have October, don't we?

We don't have October yet. Okay. So for August and September, everything was very, very steady in terms of circulation in the 27,000 to 28,000 range. Patron visits also very steady, 17,000 for both months, just over that. Our volunteer hours are really, really strong right now, which we really greatly appreciate.

And our number of programs is also quite regular but high, as we know that our staff love to program. We do about 170 to 180 programs a month, with our attendance just reaching over 3,000 in one month and 3,200 in September. Vera made a comment before the meeting that sewing is really popular and it is. I think it was August we had 165 people during nine sessions, which is almost, let's see, 18 per session, is that right? Close to that.

And we do have enough sewing machines, so that is a really popular program for ages 10 and up. And our outreach is also steady and very active as normal, doing, our bookmobile. Books and Brews is still going on. Lots of school meetings, staff meetings, board meetings that, our outreach team attends, going to some of the preschools in the area and then also going down to, the South part of Apache Junction to do some outreach to those people down there as well. Last meeting, there was a question about literacy rates in the city of Apache Junction.

So I did a little digging. The question was, what are our literacy rates compared to other cities or possibly the state? And also, is this something that we need to provide some literacy education at the library. This is from the National Center for Education Statistics. It's a federal entity, that does educational stats for The United States.

They don't get granular enough to go down to the city level. It's just to the county level. And so for Pinal County, it is showing that there is no notable literacy or numeracy deficiencies compared with the rest of our state, which is good. And this is a website you can just get lost in because you can go down a rabbit hole. But, for the most part, it's not showing anything that is statistically alarming.

In terms of doing something at the library, of course we're always open and want to do as much literacy, education, digital literacy, any type of literacy that we can. Of course, it comes down to staffing to be able to do it, and also if there is a volunteer that's willing to do it, we would be more than welcome to have a volunteer. We've had tutors in the past for all ages. Tutors are just for kids. At the moment, we don't have anybody that is doing a volunteer literacy type project.

Staff haven't done anything that I'm aware of in recent years just strictly like an education literacy type learning to read or anything like that. Central Arizona College does have GED and ESL classes that I believe are free to the community, but that is still a little bit different than literacy as well. So it's I think something that we need to dig a little bit deeper into, hopefully find some different ways to offer some more literacy initiatives. And if you have any feedback on what you think that might look like or could look like, that would be helpful. And that's something we can discuss.

Was there a Dolly Parton reading?

Imagination Library. So that is a program that is only offered to certain regions or areas, and Apache Junction was, a grantee at one point, but now we are not in their demographic. So it's not available as a free program for Apache Junction residents. But that is a good one. It's one of the few that I actually the only one off the top of my head I can think of that is for, I believe, ages zero to five, I think that one is.

I think kids got books with it or something.

Can't remember. Yeah, get like a monthly book or Yeah. But, yeah, I think there's only a couple of cities, I think, in Pinal County that are eligible to get that. And years ago what's the name of the organization?

Was it AmeriCorps that did reading programs across The United States? I thought it was AmeriCorps.

It could have been. And I think also United Way, Pinal County did it. They got a grant to do it. And they were able to do, I think, the whole county. But I think the funding ran out. And so they were able to continue. Are you thinking more literacy just in terms of providing books that can be in the home? Or are you thinking more like education, like one on one?

Think it's kind of both.

Okay. I was thinking both.

I don't know if anybody else has thought about whether it would be both or just one of the at least maybe to start out with maybe just one type of program.

Yeah. How do we discover if the is interested in something like that? That's my question. I mean, because we have adults that might be interested in a program like that, as well as people's children.

Right.

So how do we find that out?

Find the interest

potential Yeah. I'd hate to see us kick something off without knowing that there's any need, interest, whatever.

Yeah. And it's finding the people that have the interest, which sometimes is hard Yeah. Especially in our community.

Yeah. Know there's

Not everybody uses technology, and there's no newspaper. Right.

I know that we used I you know, we used to have classes in the library that we lived in the town. And it was speed reading, learning how to speed read, you know, where you could quicken the way you read. And I always found that really helpful for me.

I tried that once and I just couldn't do it.

Maybe having some sort of an information session at the library to invite people who are interested in knowing more about, you know, struggling readers. I can't think of any other way to find out what the community wants because we don't have a newspaper, you know, to be able to do that kind of research. But that might be

a place to start,

get people who might be interested who would come in. Don't know.

Sometimes it's really tough for people to Could we reach out

to, like, schools and find out from teachers if there are families that struggle might benefit from some additional help?

I used to teach reading for adults in Prescott, and it's very difficult for an adult to To admit it. Admit that they can't And

I don't know if the school district would be comfortable sharing that information, or even if they could.

Or even if they could just get the information out to potential people. Say, hey, they're looking at doing this.

I don't know. Well, that is public knowledge to know if there are reading programs at the school and not who is doing it, but what the percentage is and that sort of thing. So we might get And if some there is a need. Going and That looking a little bit into

is really my main question.

I think I don't know if the churches or the other assistance places might be aware of adults that might be interested in. Just kind of putting out feelers in the community and saying, hey, we're looking at doing this. Are you aware of any interest that might be out there?

It's a commitment on that person.

Oh, absolutely. I think first you have to find somebody that's willing to

Right. Commit.

To teach or to do what people need before we put out something saying, we're looking to do this. And then we find out there's a need. And then we're like, oh, well.

Never mind.

Never mind.

There's a certain dance that comes to finding out if there's a need and then saying, hey, there's a need. Let's do this. Yeah.

Well, think it's something we definitely need to think more about and revisit and see where we go with it, talk to more people.

I'm certainly willing to volunteer. You know, I've been a reading teacher for a lot of years. So it's something that really interests me. And I've often wondered because I think that as wonderful as our statistics are

Right.

With people participating at the library, I don't know if anybody I live in 55 Park. I don't know if anybody but me goes to the library regularly.

Know, so And it's there's like that

one, too. Right. Yeah, we don't have the we don't have the readers. We use that. Yep.

Yep. So Yeah. There's some interesting things, too.

Yeah. It's difficult, too, because most adults that don't speak English and would like to learn definitely have a full time job and usually a family. And the time commitment is difficult.

Yeah.

Well, the childcare I think they're child, but goes along with it. Yeah.

It's hard to commit to it.

Well, if it's something that we, you know, we did do at the library for adults and they had kids, I think we could find a way to have the kids do a program with the youth department or do something during that time to help out.

And sometimes the way to the parent is through the kid. You know, to be the kid some service. Then the parent develops a relationship and then is able to say, know, I need help or my mother needs help or something along those lines. Yeah.

Well, I'll put it on the agenda again for our next meeting to see if we've had any traction with it. See if you talk with the community and find out anything, and I'll try to do the same and see where we go. Sound good? Awesome. Oh, okay.

We got a garden update. This is the newest drawing. We're at 95% now. We went up 5%. We now have some electrical plans that we are reviewing at the moment, both with our IT department and with our CIP program manager.

The only things I think last time I reported on this, we I did say that we've made the garden area itself a little bit smaller because of costs. But it's still quite large, in fact. In the beginning, I said that I thought it was around 5,000 square feet and that's what we put in the scope of work for the RFP that went out. They reported back this week that it's actually over 19,000

square feet. Oh, my goodness.

So we were really off. We were really off. We've moved things around a little bit to help with some drainage concerns.

Where is the garden portion? Is that the rectangular boxes on the left there?

These are the garden beds, which will be made out of red cedar per our master gardeners recommendation. And then this is the storage shed and or the seed shed. They can dry and store seeds in there and also chairs that we might need for doing programs in this area, know, shovels and all that tools and whatnot. This is a greenhouse. It's got a small porch area on it as well.

And they're really excited to get the greenhouse. They said that's going to really make a difference so that they can start seeds and keep them. The rest of it anything that's these symbols and everything, that's all plants. And that could vary a little bit. We need to go back to our old plans and see what the costs were and compare it still to the new plans.

We've got some preliminary costs from a potential construction company. We've swapped out a little bit of the furniture, just for things that were still really nice, but maybe not custom made. So they're a little bit more economical. These are picnic tables here. This is the amphitheater.

And this is the stage area for the amphitheater, which will have canopy cover. These are picnic tables over here that are in more of a garden like feel with the plants around it, so that it's a little bit more secluded. And those have cantilever umbrellas. Not like the kind you buy at Home Depot, but like the heavy duty commercial ones. So they're 10 by 10.

And then this is down here is like the riparian part of the garden. So there's a couple spots for seeding through here, which it's hard to tell because of so much of the planting, but they're kind of on the curves of the walkway. And the rest of it so this is the part of the garden. Hopefully that will attract a lot of the birds and the pollinators and whatnot and just be like a tranquil area to go through. We had to take out the solar bench.

It was a little bit too costly, at least at this stage of the game. The water feature is now more of a they're calling it a water bowl, which sounds really boring, but it will have it does have a water feature to it, a water bubbler. So this is right down here where that circle is. So we are getting there. Yeah, it's been a lot of back and forth with structural, electrical, engineering and then just, you know, trying to get it into a cost range that we think is going to be manageable.

And some of the amenities in terms of furniture and stuff might be things that we'll have to buy in the next budget year, because we want to use as much of our budget this year to go towards the construction itself, so.

Could there be donations that they're you know, like somebody wants in memoriam of someone?

We've investigated that a little bit. We haven't done anything on it. I think I'll probably wait until construction starts so that we get a better idea of different items that we might we might, say, if you want a memorial on this bench, it would be this cost. And I have talked to Liz at Parks and Rec about that, how they've done that with some of their stuff. So that is something that we're looking at.

The State Library also has a potential $50,000 construction grant with a match from the city, which of course we already have that in the budget. So we'll be putting out a letter of intent the end of by the end of this month. And then we find out, I believe, by the January if they plan to or they'll invite us to write a grant for that. But first, you have to submit your letter of intent. So we've got a couple of things going on. Yes. Seems like we've been doing this for two years, but it hasn't been quite that takes long. Time.

It time.

It does. We want to do it right, and we want to make it something that the community and the library is proud of. So, you know, we're doing it the right way. It just sometimes takes a little bit longer.

It'll be low lighting, low lighting, or?

There is there will be festoon lighting over the canopy of the amphitheater and over this area where those picnic tables and that is, the plants are. And then, also, there'll be lights, obviously, for the shed and for the greenhouse. So there and then bollards will be throughout the garden as well, yeah. So there's definitely lights. And they're dark sky compliant.

Any other questions about garden?

Looks beautiful. What

kind of seating capacity are you thinking will the amphitheater have?

It's at least 25. Not huge, but not small.

So lecture series could be held out there or a class?

Lecture series, probably not, because we usually get over 100.

Oh, well. It was a

It was a thought. Even though it would

be the good time of the year to have it out there. But we could do smaller programs out there. Yeah, definitely.

Right. Can I say For those of you who have never been to Green Valley, the community down there bought a section of land not large? And all volunteers made a garden out of it through donations, through people who are artists and would do things. And they have developed an incredible garden. It is just a nice place to sit. It is not large, but it unique. Does

it have specific type if of

you're down in that area.

Does it have specific types of plants that are are they native plants?

Are native plants.

There

are sculptures there that you wouldn't find anywhere. And it was all donated. No money was spent. Was amazing. I just thought I'd bring that up.

Well, thanks. I don't know if I've ever been to Green Bay.

Part of exploring Arizona.

Yeah. I know. You're the bastard. Okay, new branch library at City Campus South. So we've been working, as I said last time, with our architect, Arrington Watkins. For the library, we've been doing lots of tours. Actually did two tours today, Harrow's Library in Glendale, which is adjacent to the Harrow's Park, which is I think it's like a 40 acre park, I said. It's very big. And we went to Gilbert Regional Park, which I had never been to, which is gorgeous. And they're actually adding out to their park now.

No library there. But there's a library down the street, the Perry branch. And then we went to Amazigh Gateway. They're having their grand opening, December 6, and we got to go inside the building. They're just beginning to put books on the shelves and got lots of great pictures, kind of gorgeous, gorgeous facility.

But we're getting ideas of how a park how parks and libraries can look in partnership, things that we can do together. Know, Liz and I have always worked really well together and we're both really excited for the opportunity to have, to do program together. Our staff are very good friends, most of them that do programs. You've probably seen them on social media all the time. So we're looking at ways that we can build that campus so that it is accommodating, that we can do those things together, have some bigger events, grassy areas, shade, all sorts of amenities out there.

We are also working on public outreach portion for the City Campus South for all departments that are going to be active down there, police, library and the parks. We've been working on what that's going to look like and that should be coming out probably within the next couple of months. So you can look out for that. Yeah, we're just moving full speed ahead and going to be getting together here in a few weeks to look at the 22 acre parcel and start moving things around on it to see how things can work together and how design might move forward.

What exactly will that campus be?

JULIE: Where will it be?

JULIE: Where will it be?

JULIE: It is going to be between Elliott and Warner on Ironwood on the West Side. So it will be Northwest of Warner or Southwest of Elliott, if that makes sense. So it's on the Radiant side of the Okay. If you've been down there. There's a big crane down there. Actually, the water treatment plant's right next door to it, too, if you know where that is.

I thought that's where it was, but I wasn't sure.

I just drove by today, too, and I made sure. I'm like, I got to get my coordinates right.

Is this

West or Breeze? I always get it backwards in my head. Yep. So it's really exciting. Yeah, we left the library today, like, 10:00 and got back at six So it's lots of exploring about the different ways that the cities are designing these things. And they're just you know, with the playgrounds and ball fields and all the lakes and the ponds and the fishing and then the libraries, how they feed into that. And they have amphitheaters. They have

The shade covers.

Shade, yes. Lots of shades. That's very important. So yeah, a to figure out. It's a lot of fun, but it's also a lot of work, when it's hot outside. I did forget to put a slide in here for the ribbon cutting that we had last Monday, November 3, with Arizona at work, Rinal County. Thank you for those that were able to come to that. I would say we had probably about 50 people there. Supervisor Serti gave some remarks, the mayor, myself, Joel Millman, who's the director of Arizona at Work Pinal County. It was a really nice event.

I think a lot of people will get some knowledge now about the services they provide, that we've expanded those services into three days a week not all day, but three mornings a week. We've had we had I got to meet a lot of people from their organization that are behind the scenes doing a lot of the stuff that makes all of that work. So it was a good event and we had our economic development department come over and meet some of those people. They're trying to work on getting some of the businesses in the area hooked up with Arizona, at work so that they can, focus on specific jobs that they might have for people that are looking for them. So it's a really great service.

The workforce specialists that we have at the library, the two new ones, they're excellent. They're a joy to have. They love being there. They love helping people. And we've had some really good statistics, like usually between five and eight each day that they're there. And they're only there for three hours, so that's pretty good. So the word's getting out. We had a nice article in the newspaper. If you didn't see it, look at The Independent. If you don't get The Independent, let me know, because I have a copy saved on my computer.

And yeah,

it was a fun event. So we're glad to be able to increase our services in the community. And I think the community is happy for that, too. And that looks like that's the end for tonight. We'll move on to new business.

Good stuff.

Always interesting.

So, Pam. Any new business? We have got the welcoming of our new board member.

Welcome. And

who are you?

Would you

tell us about yourself?

Yeah, I can hopefully no. It now. I'll practice and

Do you

want me to introduce you?

ALEXANDRA Either works.

ALEXANDRA Okay.

ALEXANDRA Yeah, I'm happy to. Hello, everyone. Alexandra ALEXANDRA WIROBA. A little bit about myself. I currently work at the ASU Foundation. So and I've been in the nonprofit world for, quite a while now. And so I'm really excited to to join you all. I've heard so many great fabulous things, so excited to be a resource and help bring a new perspective too. But I've grown up in Apache Junction. I've grown up around the valley, but I've also, I think since 2008, have been close to Apache Junction. So excited to give back to the community when I can.

All right. Welcome. You're welcome.

Welcome. Thank you.

And now we're going to go into election of officers.

At

this time, I would like to call for a motion to open nominations for president.

So moved. Second.

I would like to nominate Robin.

Oh, let me do the roll call for the nomination.

Oh, I'm sorry.

Judy Borey?

Yes. There was too long of a

question. Robin Barker? Yes. Barbara Fitzgerald?

Yes.

Catherine Meek, yes. Vanilla Perkins is absent. Vera Walters?

Yes.

And Alexander Wyroba?

Yes. Motion passes.

Now I can speak. Vera.

Robin is so knowledgeable here in the community. I'd like to see her as President.

I'll second that.

I was late.

Are there any other nominations for President? Are there any other nominations for president? Are there any other nominations for president? I would like to ask for a motion to close the nominations.

So moved. Second.

And can I get a roll call, Sampson?

Judy Borey.

Yes. Robin Barker.

Yes. Barbara Fitzgerald.

Yes.

Catherine Mead? Yes. Ella Perkins is absent. Vera Walters? Yes. Alexander Royroba?

Yes. The motion passes.

And it looks like we have a president.

You get to

take over. Judy

couldn't wait to say that. You did such a good job, though, Judy.

WOOD: Oh,

Okay. It's been a lovely year.

It has. Yes. Thank you very much for everything.

Thank you, Judy.

Okay. Where are we? We've done the president. Where's the vice president? President?

On the backside.

On the flip side. Okay. There we go. At this time, I'd like to call for a motion to open nominations for vice president. So moved. Second. Roll call. Judy Borey.

Yes.

Robin Barker.

Yes.

Barbara Fitzgerald.

Yes. Catherine Meek. Yes. Ella Perkins is absent. Vera Walters.

Yes.

And Alexander Wyrova.

Yes. The motion passes. Okay. And now I would like to call for nominations for vice president.

I would like to nominate Barbara Fitzgerald.

I second that. Are there any other nominations for vice president? Are there any other nominations for vice president? Are there any other nominations for vice president? Thank you for the fingers. Okay. Then I need a motion to close the nominations

for vice So moved.

I second.

Roll call, please.

Judy Borey. Yes. Robin Barker. Yes. Barbara Fitzgerald.

Yes.

Catherine Meek. Yes. Ella Perkins is absent. Vera Walters.

Yes.

And Alexander Wyroba?

Yes.

Need a motion to approve Barbara for Vice President.

I so move. Second.

Roll call.

Kathryn made a second?

Yes.

Judy Borey?

Yes. Rob Barker?

Yes.

Barbara Fitzgerald?

Yes.

Kathryn Meek? Yes. Paula Perkins is absent. Vera Walters?

Yes.

And Alexander Ry Robo?

Yes. Motion passes.

Congratulations. Yes.

Thank you. I'll keep watching you in case you're ever absent.

Okay. Then we need to call for a motion to open nominations for secretary.

So moved. Second.

Can I get a roll call, please?

Judy Bourie? Yes.

Robin Barker?

Yes. Barbara Fitzgerald? Yes. Kathryn Meek? Yes. Ella Perkins is absent. Vera Walters? Yes. And Alexander Wyrobo?

Yes.

Okay, motion passes. Do I have a nomination for secretary?

I would like to nominate our new board member because she is so experienced in these kinds of things.

Oh, see what happens? Second, you have to say her name, Vera. You have to say her name. I don't know. Know.

JULIE: Alexandra. Alexandra, why robot?

Alexandra.

JULIE: Alexandra.

I'll stick in with that.

JULIE: Are there any other nominations for secretary? You are not going to get out of it. I just have to tell you that. Are there any other nominations for secretary? And are there any other nominations for secretary? That is three. Okay. In that case, I'd like a motion to close the nominations for secretary.

So moved.

Second. Roll call. Judy Borey.

Yes.

Robin Barker. Barbara Fitzgerald?

Yes. Kathryn Eak? Yes. Ella Perkins? Absent. Vera Walters?

Yes. Walters?

And Alexander Wyropa?

Yes. Okay. Motion passes. All right. Then I would need a motion to approve Alexander for secretary.

So moved. Second. Roll call.

Judy Borey.

Yes.

Brum Barker. Yes. Barbara Fitzgerald.

Yes. Catherine Meek. Yes. Nola Parkins is absent. Vera Walters.

Yes.

And Alexander Y. Robot.

Yes. Congratulations.

Yay. I think I have something figured out. Vera, weren't you the one that nominated everybody?

No. No, Judy

did a nomination. She nominated me.

Oh, Okay. All right. Never mind.

You want me to have

a I thought you had like a half figured out.

Okay. I think we are on a stage

at night where we all vote no

on everything. That'd fine, wouldn't it? Yes. Yes, yes. Do we have any requests for future items?

We talked about the literacy. So would we like her to bring that back on the next agenda or the January agenda?

It might be January.

It might January.

It might be January for the next meeting. I have a feeling that's probably the case.

I think you're probably right. You

can

say the next or the next, next.

Yes. Anything else?

Yes. Could I make a comment? I want to congratulate all the staff at the library. I think Pam has accumulated an incredible

Amen to that.

I spend a lot of time there and I am always impressed. Agreed.

Thank you. I'm impressed as well. We're very, very Very passionate customer service

oriented Children like happy people really make a happy place.

Yes. It's kind of like Thank

you for saying that.

Very good. Anything else for the good of the organization?

I would like to just

say happy Thanksgiving to everyone. Since we'll

be Thank you.

Thank you.

I've forgotten all about it.

Well, since we meet before Thanksgiving, we forget to

We might even need to say Merry Christmas. It

might not be a bad idea. These next weeks go by really quickly.

And a safe one for everyone.

Thank you. Is that all for the good of the organization? All right. In that case, I'll adjourn the meeting at 07:10.

Thank you.