Parks and Recreation Commission - Regular Meeting

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I'll just start the meeting then.

I call the May 28th, 2026 regular meeting to order. The public can access live meetings at HTTPS forward slash forward slash fullerton.legisar.com or on Spectrum Cable Channel 3 and AT&T U-verse Channel 99. The public may address the Library Board of Trustees in person or virtually by joining the Zoom meeting online or by telephone. Those joining the Zoom meeting should go to zoom.us slash join or call 1-669-254-5252 and enter Zoom meeting ID 160-707-9419. Please use the raise hand feature in Zoom when the president calls the item you wish to speak on for discussion. Instructions can be found on the agenda. Members of the public may only speak one time during public comments. Please speak at the podium. Recording secretary, will you please call the roll?

President Su Ling Chen absent. Trustee Carrie Prelitz? Present. Trustee Lisa Wozniak? Present. Corresponding Secretary Jennifer Sarvis? Here. And Vice President Megan Watson?

Here. Will you all join me in the Pledge of Allegiance? We begin. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Thank you. Can we have the library director's report?

Good evening.

For the May 5th meeting, nothing mentioned for the library. May 19th, council meeting was canceled. I'm actually going to give the main library update after. Can we go to Hunt? OK. Yeah, just to Hunt.

hi everybody how's it going thank you board so i'm here to give you guys our hunt update report so just a couple of fun things uh last week we had uh our annual baby rave uh which was great we had over 439 attendees is what our tentative count was uh fun was had by all the main complaint that we received was we didn't have enough snacks Yeah, so we have to coordinate for that next time. The reason for that was because last year our rave only had 115. I say that only because of our new numbers. Thank you guys for everybody that came, participated, everybody had fun. People walked, they parked, and we had a good time dancing and laughing all around, um, look for videos and pictures that we have of the events as well. Uh, today, uh, we also hosted Pacific drive elementary for the promotion ceremonies. Um, so we had, uh, I believe those are sixth grade promotions, uh, their TK and their kindergartens, uh, all throughout the morning. So it was fun. Uh, they use our AVA equipment, uh, the principal and everybody, you know, had a good time. They had decorated pretty. The Parks and Rec did a great job setting up all the chairs, sound equipment, and they were nice enough to plug a lot of the library events through their different ceremonies as well. We also, at the end of April, had Dia del Niño, hosted by Arts OC, that had a total of over 800 people show up through the various arts and crafts that were done around the hunt, in the hunt, and in the park outside as well. So there was an activity for everybody at every point. So we were happy to be able to participate and host them for the third year in a row. The other part of this is that most of the weekends in May and April have been booked by private events. So on some of the days we had a library event in the morning and then an evening party weddings. So it's looking good for weekend rentals as well. And the last part of this is we had our last class visit last week for Montessori. So the kids are graduating, changing schools, summer break. So we're sad to see them. But then we're welcome and happy to have the new summer classes coming next week. Thank you. Questions?

I do have a question. Have we put together maybe a little portfolio or even so we can show all the different ways that the hunt can be utilized either or just a variety of.

So when I go speak at different engagements like Rotary, Riley, and any kind of community events, we usually do have a PowerPoint where We do put our events together. Has it been updated in the last few months? No, but it does need to. And the last part that I forget to mention as well is next Friday, we are doing our summer carnival for the summer reading kickoff. That's from 5 to 8 p.m. Free. We have booths. We have games. We have fun. So make sure to come by. And the following Saturday, the 13th, we're going to be having our first Midsummer Night's Dream event. in middle earth um so that's an evening program where uh it would be a magical time of fairies nights no ogres at least that i know of yet um a little fairies and entertainment to have all um if you want to have a nice harp experience with candlelight under a tree in an atrium where the place to be so all right and of course in july a little preview but k-pop night it's gonna be big

Well, and Rotary is very much looking forward to hosting Uncorked in August at the Hunt Library. Thank you.

Question. I wonder, what do we do right to bring so many babies? How did you make the announcement? Like, you know, something right that we can repeat again, again, again.

I think what really helped a lot is we kind of reorganized our social media, kind of have a one set mission, one set of goals. Less voices, but a more organized way of structuring how we're getting out. And then we've reached out to a lot of the mom groups that have attended like our story times, either through the main or hunt. And then they've made an effort to reach out to their groups. So that's kind of shared a lot as well as I think, you know, we have president in terms of the events that we've done. So people like what they've done and they like to do what they have. So that's kind of what we think a big portion of that has worked.

Great. Thank you. Those big themed ones, the St. Patrick's Day, the Lunar New Year, and this baby rave were like super, I mean, packed. And even the ones in between, which we've attended as well, were still very well attended. And I do think the word is absolutely getting out that it is like, it is the place to be.

Thank you.

All right. Thank you, Jaime. So for the main library update, I think the First thing to mention is that the Vote Center is operating. So they came and set up last week. Voting started on Saturday, and they're running through Tuesday. And then they'll pack up after that, and we'll have the Conference Center back and available to use. I also just wanted to shout out to interdepartmental collaboration, primarily with Human Resources. Prior to this year, library staff had been coming in to open the Vote Center. and coming in to close the Vote Center on days when the building is not open, and that would have included Memorial Day holiday. Human Resources came up with a system this year where they've provided entry and security access temporarily for the Vote Center volunteers, and I think everybody, including the Vote Center volunteers, were really excited about that. We've been improving some workflows, and so that's been really nice. I was also going to mention the social media team. That's one of the internal committees that Jaime had mentioned we have been sort of reimagining and I think we can see already. I mean, they think there's multiple reasons for the success of programs like that, but we're starting to look at analytics and metrics of the social media. So not just putting things out there and seeing what happens, but actually looking at the results and what maybe works and what doesn't work and We were able to see I think a little bit ahead of time that Baby Ray was going to be bigger than the previous year based on social media engagement. So we were able to prepare a little bit more on the front end, but it still exceeded what we were expecting based on those numbers. Um, something just sort of fun that came up, um, just today, which we're not a hundred percent yet, but, um, the reading rainbow production team reached out to us and, um, asked if they, if either of the library locations would be able to have a small film crew, um, next Thursday, June 4th. And we replied immediately. Well, we checked with, um, you know, Kim, Kim in the city manager's office to make sure she approved that we can send them the link to LA film. So we did that. and hoping that we hear back from them. If we do, we will certainly let everybody know. We don't know what the time will be or any other details, but we did respond to them within just a couple of hours. So hoping that that goes through is very exciting. And then for... Oh, you should have seen the internal messages on our teams and emails. It was like all caps, bunch of exclamation points. Yeah, all the things.

We will need updates so we can all fangirl.

Completely. And we, there was a conversation like, do they need like kids, you know, like Jaime's kids? And I think they provide the child actors, but maybe they need extras. Maybe they need kids at heart who are extras. Who knows? Okay, so I'm also going to present on the arts and culture update. So at Beatrice's last meeting, Suling did request to be like an update on, I think it was on the Muckenthaler specifically. So right now I'm working with Daisy and Parks and Rec and Hunt to start that conversation with Farrell about having the exhibits at the Muckenthaler, the corresponding like education piece. There will be a cost associated with that, but the Hunt Grant will be able to fund that. So we should have another update on that soon. We need to spend the remainder of the Hunt Grant money within this upcoming fiscal year. So we're on track to do that.

And then...

The Daughters of the American Revolution reached out to us. So from my understanding, they have an exhibit every year around the 4th of July. Staff, correct me if I'm wrong, where they put something up around Independence Day, America's birthday. Well, for the USA 250, there's a traveling exhibit that's a little bit larger centered around that theme. And it's traveling across the country. And there was an opening. I don't know if somebody dropped out. I didn't ask any questions. All I know is there was an opening and they reached out to Fullerton and So we are going to host them at the Hunt Library. And the idea is to put, it's bigger than their usual exhibit, but it's still a pretty modest footprint. So if you can imagine where the coffee cart is at the Hunt Library, it's going to be in that corner. And Jaime and Kyle and the coffee cart people, which hopefully we've mentioned to them, are going to be very accommodating. It's only for a week. And the only program, the only large program at Overlaps is our mini con, um, which is on that Saturday. Uh, but he's assured us that, you know, everybody can fit and the more the merrier. So I thought that was kind of exciting. That's all for me.

Sorry. I did forget one thing. Uh, this Saturday hunt is hosting the coffee fest from parks and recreation. Um, so if you want to try various different vendors of the caffeinated and non-caffeinated variety, um, I heard they have good, uh, choices as well as pastries and they will also be having, um, poetry and entertainment as well. So, if you're having a good time, 10 to 2, Saturday.

In regards to the social media, have you partnered or reached out with the Teen Advisory Board to get any input from them on social media or any assistance?

The Library Teen Advisory Board? So Emily Elliott is on the social media committee. So she is working, I mean, I don't know if Alec, Alec is like the new lead on the social media team, so may be able to answer this.

So I'm more or less running the meetings, but Emily does pretty much everything else. She does the posting and the making of everything that goes actually onto the Instagram. As for involvement from the tab, I'm not sure, but I think if anyone's kind of got their finger on the pulse of what they would say, it's her. So I think we're doing our best to kind of Include what they what she can learn from them, but also make sure like the Gen Z portion of our staff can also kind of contribute because I think what like I think social media looks like is a lot different than what it actually looks like now. So I think we're we're doing our best to attack it from all angles and really kind of include everybody that we think we can reach through improving our social media output.

The frequency of the posts has been amazing. And the content is easily shareable. It's been really great.

Yeah, that was our main focus was to make sure we're not kind of oversaturating by posting six times one day and then nothing for two weeks. You know, I think that can kind of get old if you're scrolling. We want it to be kind of more consistent how we kind of promote programs and what programs we are promoting. So like, I mean, Baby Rift is a perfect example. We saw the numbers and we knew there was going to be a great turnout. that's not something we're doing every month. That's not something we're doing every week. So it's worth promoting. But then like we made a post for our yarn programs because we thought, okay, maybe they could use a little more attention and that got really good numbers. And we saw kind of an improvement in the attendance the next time we did it. So we're kind of, we're still in the tinkering phase, but I think we've been happy with the results so far. And yeah, we've got room to grow. We've got a lot of creative people on staff who are excited to contribute. And I think we've got a lot of fun ideas in the hopper. So, you know, keep an eye out and follow us if you haven't.

Um, I would like to follow up by saying, I think it could be helpful to have Emily at a future board meeting. So we'll look at her schedule and ask if she's available. We're trying to rotate as many staff in as possible. And I think it would be wonderful to have her she has so much to contribute. She does. She does so much. I also wanted to mention that. I just forgot what I was going to say. I don't know. Disregard. You will come back. At the worst possible time, I'm sure. Thank you.

Anita, do we have the other division reports at this time?

So many staff here this time. We can do the division reports, and then we'll go into the regular. Yeah. All of the staff are here to kind of report on an agenda item as well, but they can do that. All right, I'm going to hand it off to Alicia.

Hello. Okay. So for me, I'm going to keep it somewhat brief for CERC, but this month, of course, is May. And so we have a display right now recognizing Asian and Pacific Islanders Heritage Month. So if you would like to check out some books on that topic or by authors that that's relevant to, by all means, come by and see what we have there. And then I'll talk about this more a little bit later, but we have resumed passport services.

Bethany, do you want to go next? Sure. One more shout out for Emily. Emily is also the central communication hub for us because she serves on not only social media, but the newsletter team and the website team as well. Because since she's our only teen staff member, we want to make sure that her input is in everything that we send out. We also had in May had all of the rest of the digital resources launch. So in your next month, not this month, because we don't have the stats for everything yet, you'll start to see stats for all of those. So that means that Help Now and Job Now, Novelist, which is the reader's advisory resource, the Ground News, which is the media literacy resource, and Mango Languages are all live and all you need is your library card. And that's it for us. Haisley, did you want to go next?

Hello. Hello. So for children's, we had our big Star Wars Day event. We had just under 400 people come to that. But we had our costume characters as always come. We watched a movie. Bethany spent all day drawing on kids, giving them Star Wars face painting or tattoos. So everybody had a lot of fun with that. We also had our last of the spring story times that were all very well attended. And now we are kind of mostly getting ready for summer reading, which starts on Tuesday. So we are all prepared for that. We've got the website ready to go we've got fun programs coming up in june we have california joe um who i think is a magician will be coming and then in july we have a puppet show And we're going to have a Pokemon day and then a big end of summer celebration day. And everything this summer will be in the conference center room instead of Osborne because hopefully Osborne construction will start on Monday. So we are very excited for that and to see what it all comes together. Thank you.

And that was the thing I forgot to mention, the Osborne. So the final thing that we were waiting for was their insurance certificate to come through, which came through just a couple of days ago. So there are just two items that need to be removed from the room. Staff worked so hard to just move all of the items out of there. But the two items we were unable to do on our own are the big art piece, like the wooden art piece on the wall, and the TV that's right outside of the doors. So once that's done, which will probably be hopefully tomorrow, like Keith Lee said, then the construction team can come in.

And the construction will not be affecting the children's library at all or any adjustment that is needed at all?

It should be isolated to the Osborne three rooms, the A, B, and C. Thank you.

And then before Kyle speaks, I just want to say for everyone who's watching on Zoom or on broadcast or here in the chambers, we are not able to control the video that keeps cutting in and out. We apologize for that and hope that the city's video system will be repaired at some point during this process.

Hello. um for adult services we continue to draw um pretty good numbers not that it's a competition with hunt but um just to pick a day that i did not pick at random on may 2nd we had 1500 people come to the library that was star wars day so i give keithley most of the credit for that but it was also board game day um on may 5th uh we was the start date of our expanded hours for the local history room which are now as follows tuesday eleven to one and three to five wednesday eleven to one and four to seven thursday eleven to one and three to set three to five and friday eleven to one um And for people that can't come at those times, our local history archivist also is available to meet them by appointment. So we're doing our best to promote that collection. On May 6, we had a graduation lay tutorial and demonstration, which I mentioned because there was a nice write up in the Cal State Fullerton Daily Titan about that program, if you want to check that out. Upcoming things that are coming up imminently are the Friends of the Book Sale Today book and art sale on June 12th, which in addition to our usual various media, we'll have some art prints and also original... Sorry, etchings by local artist Scott Fitzgerald. So... You want to class up your joint, you could come by and get some art prints at the library. That's all, unless there's questions.

Are there any yard signs left for the book sale? I'd be willing to put one in my front yard. I have a lot of traffic.

thank you for that offer though i also do have one thing to add i apologize um just added today in fact so um within the next few days we should be having a delivery of our external return bins that will be an answer for those times when We've had to close our sorter for whatever reason, whether that be maintenance or anything else at all. This will give an option for patrons so we don't have to turn them away. So those will be delivered in the next few days. And of course, those have been funded very generously by our foundation. So we're very grateful for that.

I have a question. Would you like us to send you a link to like the Daily Titan article or like different social media videos that were, that were, okay. So I'm going to add that to my notes that either Ruth or I will send those to you just to keep you informed. It's one thing to tell you, but to see them, it's pretty neat. If you get the newsletter, we included the link in the newsletter. And yeah, you may be seeing them elsewhere, but sometimes, I don't know, for me, it's like I need it like,

Especially for that summer reading video.

It was very cute. I repost quite a few things.

Thank you.

No. I would like to apologize for my being late, just, you know, with graduations and all the school events, meeting to meeting and things, my first time being late. But I appreciate, you know, Megan for starting on time. So, moving forward, any Trustee would like to have any comments, questions? I know it's a budget time, and I don't know if I missed on the budget part before I get here. And I know we happen to have our chair sitting on the budget committee chair is also our trustee Lisa as well too. I don't know between director and Lisa was any update I would like to, you know, help us understand possible directions and futures scenarios.

It's one of the agendized items. So we will definitely speak about that. Great.

OK. Thank you.

I think we're on approval of the minutes now.

Oh, public. OK. We see friends.

I'm not sure what to do with this, just push the button? Okay, try. Did it work? Talk to it? Okay. Did it work? All right. Well, I don't have too much to discuss. Kyle spoke about the book sale and art sale coming up. This year, or this book sale, we have a large volume of books that came in. The previous one, for whatever reason, we didn't have that volume. So what happens when you have a large volume is that we don't have enough room for all the books. So you call and you call and you keep the best of the best books. So we're real excited about this book sale. We will have a big volume and the best of the best there. We're going to have artwork to sell. We're not for sure where we're going to put it because we don't have a lot of real estate there. But somehow Janet, our master salesperson, We'll have things probably in the display cases and on easels. And we're excited to see what happens. It's been kind of fun seeing the signage go up, book and art sale, and our postcards that just went out, book and art sale. So something a little bit different. Let's see. The other thing during our board meeting, we did approve funds for the large banner that goes on the library. It has to be replaced every once in a while. They can't keep replacing the dates and have it continue to work. So approve that expenditure. And then also, this is one I love a lot. And Alicia has worked very hard on this, is the bookstore signage proposal. Currently, the bookstore doesn't have any signage, so we are going to have a protruding sign from the door. We're going to have a large display on the wall facing out into the hallway, front of the library, and then we're going to have a vinyl on one of the windows between the foyer and the bookstore. and the vinyl will be two-faced, and there will be arrows pointing to the bookstore. So we're very, very excited about this, and there's a possibility we may even have it installed before the book sale. So again, Alicia has worked very hard on this, and we really appreciate it. It's something we've all wondered and hoped for for quite a while and to see it come to be is great. So right now, I guess that's everything I have to say. Are there any questions about anything? Well, we hope to see everybody at the book sale. I know we will see some of you at least. Thank you.

Thank you for the exciting news. And you have our foundation, Sean, online?

Sean, you can unmute and you should be ready.

Okay. Okay. Hi. Can you all hear me?

Can you be a little louder?

I am. I got my volume all the way up. Can you hear me now?

Okay.

Go ahead. Okay. So we have a ongoing project that the foundation has been funding. We haven't actually been doing the work, which has been helping to fund it. It is a transcription of all of the back issues of the Fullerton Tribune going all the way back to 1890s. And we're up to, and Sueling, I didn't write down the exact year we're up to, but I think it's like the 1920s is what we're up to right now. And that project is going to continue until we get caught up and we have all of those issues of the Tribune available through the library for review. I think it's a great project for getting everything digitized so that those records are accessible at this time. So that's pretty exciting. Got a ways to go on that one. We did have some discussions. Nothing's been really just general discussions of some comments about the budget cuts and what the foundation can do. Nothing has been decided yet, but we are aware of the issues and we will be discussing that further. I can't really say anything more than that because nothing really has firmly been decided at this point. And nothing really specific has been requested or asked. Does anyone have any other questions? Did you hear me? Did I cut out? Because your screen keeps blanking out. And now, Lisa, you look like you're trying to say something, but I can't hear it.

We can hear you, but you're very faint, Sean. But I think we got everything you were passing along to us.

Okay. Did you have any questions?

I just wanted to add, I'm sorry, a clarifying point. I wasn't sure if I heard it, the Greening family, was that mentioned? Okay. So it's not actually funded by the foundation. It's by the Greening family. Okay. And we are currently, where are we? We are at, he was correct, we're to 1920 right now with this digitization project. We can give you more details on this if you want. We actually have an infographic that we're sharing with Mr. Munson, who is our liaison with the Greening family. He's requested, they're looking to actually continue funding this, and all they asked was to see the progress, which is like, of course. So we put together something, and we can actually forward that to you. It's like a little infographic. I'd love to see that. Okay. We just shared it with them at their meeting the other night.

No, I think it's very exciting to be able to see digitalize of the history that, you know, make it so much easier for anyone want to search.

It is. And as Jesse, the person who is, you know, making the project happen, as he scans the items in, he also uploads them. So they're immediately searchable.

Wonderful. Thank you, Sean.

Thank you.

Should we see if there's any public comments at this time?

Should anyone in chambers wish to speak to anything not agendized, now is the time to approach the podium. Should anyone on Zoom, now is the time to raise your hand in Zoom. Seeing no one. Yes, please.

Are you on agenda? Yes. Oh, okay.

Then it's at the agenda.

Well, I don't know who you are. Okay. No public comments?

I believe not. Perhaps they're saving them for the agendized items.

All right. So should we move forward with the counseling calendar?

There's been an update to the library donations document. I sent it to you earlier, but I'm going to give you a copy. It's the April library donations. The one that was sent to you is February and March. So this is the correct one.

We appreciate all the donations. That's great. Every month.

I move to approve the consent calendar with the new donations.

I second.

Okay. Carrie Prelitz. Yes. Jennifer Sarvis. Yes. Megan Watson. Yes. Lisa Wozab. Yes. And Selene Chen.

Yes. All right. Our first regular business. It's our shelving.

That's me. We, the library, asked the foundation for some money to replace some of our shelving, which has become obsolete. Specifically, we don't have as many print magazines as we once did, and the shelving that we have is like... bespoke made for magazines. So we would like to replace that. Also, we are asking for some funds to replace. We have spinning racks, which hold our paperbacks. However, paperbacks have gotten a lot bigger. And they no longer fit comfortably on spinning racks. So we are going to replace those with regular shelving. And those two things should make the library look a little more put together a little nicer for everyone and bring us into modern times, I guess, unfortunately it's a reality of of you know just society in general that media changes and the library needs to change. and adapt to that. So that's our effort to make the library look like. Right now it's working, but it looks a little makeshift because we've moved some shelving around to accommodate. And we would just like to replace it with nice new shelves that everyone will hopefully appreciate. And I'm happy to answer any questions. About what we're going to do. The paperbacks will be just replaced with shelving, and they will go back in the same place. The magazines, most of our magazines now are accessed digitally through Overdrive. We still have some in print, but we will be expanding the media collection, the DVDs, to... fill the gap that will be left by the magazines.

Are these the shelves that we have access to that we go to check out books and those are the shelves you mean?

Yeah, the shelves where, I don't know if you can recall in your mind, but as you walk down the aisle, the main aisle, there's spinning racks that hold the paperbacks. However, perhaps in a bid to make more money, paperbacks have gone supersized. They're now about the size of what we would have used to have called a trade paperback, and they're more expensive. But the problem for us is that they no longer fit on our shelves, and we want to offer people something nice.

What will we be doing with the cast-off shelving? Is it groovy? Is it kind of mid-century?

No, it's not a plastic. Oh, okay. So I think it'll probably find its way to the yard. I'm not sure what happens to the stuff. But I assume they'll try to sell it, but I don't know who would buy it. Like a time traveler or something. I don't know. Any other questions?

Can you explain to people visually what is the real difference between current one to the new one? I know I see it, but I feel like... As for the paperbacks, it's...

It will look, I mean, it just won't be spinning racks. But right now, they're mostly, you know, they're stocked with whatever we have that fits on them, which are becoming increasingly dated. You know, they're mostly like romance paperbacks that are not new. So that part will just be nice new shelving with, like you would normally see. It's basically correcting something that is, you know, looking a little dated. And then as for the magazines, they will just be high-density shelves so that we can fit a lot of DVDs, and it'll be like a pull-out thing. We have a ton of DVDs in the basement that we can easily bring up. We just don't have space for them. DVDs, believe it or not, continue to be well-searching items at the library. especially among people who maybe for whatever reason don't have access to streaming. So if you think about it, it's one of the few places anywhere that you can get a DVD. And if you really want to watch Jaws, you may or may not be on your streaming services, but you can come to the library and get the Blu-ray or whatever and have a watch party. That's just a suggestion. And do we have something to add?

So basically we're looking for more uniformity between our shelving now. Um, so that when you are walking down one of the main hallways from the main area towards the local history, the conference center, the cafe, um, you don't see three or four different types of shelving that have misshapen, um, not formatted for, um, the correct size. So we have a brand new increasing manga section, and then we have these spinners that just are just giant eyesores. So the idea is to have the same type of shelving that we have the mangas in. So the paperbacks more uniform, they'll fit in nicer, create kind of a little bit of a nicer flow with everything. And then as Kyle was saying for the DVDs, it'd go along with that same idea of you have them all in one section, more easily accessible. It's not so tight because we've all been there when we're trying to pull one thing and three things come out. So that's the idea for them.

Jaime did remind me of another reason is the shelves that are now in use. Many of them have been cannibalized from other parts of the library where you don't notice that they're missing. But if you look hard enough, you will find areas of the library that are just, we've taken those shelves and repurposed them. We want to get rid of those empty parts so we can have more shelving for the library. We did our best to hide them, but if you walk around the library, you'll see some bare places where we repurposed.

And could I ask, the $30,000, would that be already in the foundation allocations, or that would be the additional item that we will be requesting?

I believe it's additional. Yeah. Yeah, they did... they allocated it at the last foundation.

It may seem a different process because there are times where we'll request from you to ask them for approval, then ask them for approval, then come back to you to let them know that they did approve it. So we're trying to streamline the process. unless the board would prefer to keep it that way, it's probably gonna get it done more quickly if we know the funding is secured before we ask you to approve it, unless you want it the other way around. It just delays the process because depending on how the meetings fall, we may not see them again until the following month.

Yeah, I think there's no need to delay the process, just however that we can move forward.

I was at the foundation meeting, and they asked a lot of similar questions, and they asked a lot of really good questions, and they seemed happy with the decision. And as someone who goes to the library a lot, I will say I've never tried to scroll through those racks, because they're very intimidating, and they just look like, oh, no. So I'm excited to see a better view of those paperbacks.

I did want to share this. I had been waiting for the library to open and had an older patron, and he had asked me, well, you still have magazines, right? And he said that another local library has disregarded all of their print magazines. And so I know that you strive to have a balance between the analog and the digital, but there really still is an appetite for being able to sit and leave, you know, look through a magazine and just, I appreciate the fact that we strive to have that balance here. So thank you.

They can even check out the older issues of those magazines as well.

Anyone want to make a motion? Oh,

Seeing no hands raised in Zoom, I believe we're good to go.

Then I move we approve the request for the funding. I second.

All right. Let's take a vote.

Carrie Prelitz. Yes. Jennifer Sarvis. Yes. Megan Watson. Yes. Lisa Wozab. Yes. And Su Ling Chen.

Yes. So our regular business item number two is the New Han Library exhibit.

Hello and good evening again. Today I bring to you the hardest decision you will be making today. You have a decision between two new exhibits that are going to go up in September to replace the current one, and you have a choice. I'm going to read the summary real quick because I believe Amy Au, who's our main wonderful designer of these exhibits, has wrote it in a nicer way than I could. So the first proposal called Bound Together, The Craft of Bookmaking invites visitors to look beyond the page and explore the craft behind the books we often take for granted. The second proposal, Bulletin's Flightless Fancy, uncovers a surprising and lively chapter of Southern California history, when ostrich farms and racing events captured the public imagination in the late 19th and early 20th century. The cost is the exact same for both of the exhibits. We're going to be using the grant funds to cover that, and that will cover the repainting of the room, the materials for it, and all the supplies to make that happen. The biggest difference between the two is just the themes. We are going to tie in both library and hopefully local groups into the exhibits. One example that I have for you is for the bound for the book parts. If you guys notice, I had it on your desk. You guys have these ways to support the library. These are called little scenes that were actually created by one of our newest members of our library family, Alex. who doesn't want a job. And one of the activities with the exhibit that kind of talks about the history of bounding books and paper and the evolution of that is kind of the new thing of the last, you know, 10 years now. But it's zines, which are little magazines that give you a lot of information that almost look like a scrapbook mixed with a book, mixed with a mixtape. So they're wonderful ways to get that done. So that's something that we can do in promotion of that, that we would tie with it. And for the ostrich exhibit, we are near elementary schools at Hunt. So third grade is Fullerton history. So, you know, similar to how we did with the class action exhibit, we would invite classes, 30 classes to come in to do an exhibit, talk about it and have a good time. So if you want exact details of way, way more, they're in the files here, but those are kind of the basic overviews of them. And now I give you the difficult decision.

I've been recently to the exhibit room multiple times. The last exhibit with the children's artwork and then this last one with the history. And I have had my son with me both times and he's four. And he loved both of them. And it was really interesting. He was asking so many questions about like, oh, look at these old pictures. What was happening there? But I think that in going back and forth between something like newer and brighter and then something a little more Yeah, sepia-toned, I guess, is neat because you don't think it's the same thing when you're walking in. So just to really do that diversified visual as you're walking by to drag more people into that room, I think that... My preference is to go ahead with the bound together because it has that stark visual difference that I think will bring in new people to the room, whereas the art and the stuff that I was seeing from that secondary exhibit about the ostriches seem to kind of have more of the same historical vibe that's going on right now. So that's just my two cents on that. on what's happening. I also am a book nerd, so I'm excited to see how books are made.

I also am going to cast my vote for The Bound Together, not only because I'm a big zine nerd, but the OC Zine Fest is in August. So it feels like it would be a good way to kind of transition like, hey, you liked zines here, like now there are zines at the Fullerton Library, or maybe people just heard about zines from the event in a different library. And then they can come and make zines. So I feel like that's really relevant. And I think that zines are something that, I mean, if we're going to talk about like physical media, kind of making a comeback with younger generations, zines are a huge deal. And so I think spotlighting that would be really, really cool.

I agree about the physical media coming back. At Cal State Fullerton, we have a makerspace, and the zine-making and book-making classes are the most popular. Thinking about the public activities, it sounded like at the book one, they would have something to take back with them. So I think, unless there's going to be actual ostriches, that my vote is for Andrews.

please don't tempt me if you've been to my story times please don't tempt me i've had horses and i'm looking at goats next year lunar new year so you're the goat well having been someone that read ostrich eggs for breakfast in third grade and did my field trips and all that i'm particularly um

You know, I think it's such a great part of history. What I'm wondering is, because it is part of the curriculum, I believe it might be in the spring. Is there a reason why we can't have both of them? They don't need to be at the same time, but can we possibly integrate it with when FSD is doing that particular, you know, instruction in the time of instruction?

No, I mean, it's definitely something we can definitely keep in our pocket for that. I know we try to have an in-house exhibit like this, but we also we might have another co-op with Fullerton College again, where we have one of their interns design an exhibit similar to the children's drawing children's children's books that we had. So, yeah, I mean, if it's something that we don't have another partner that wants to do something in there, then, yeah, absolutely. I think it's a great option.

Well, I think one of the things that we're really striving to do is to push more traffic to the hunt. And so if there's a way to capitalize on the fact that the Zine Fest is in August and then we can promote this as a tie-in, maybe there's some way to have a flyer, have a banner or something like that at their fest and then come and do something. And I think it's just having something interactive is great.

Yeah, I mean, libraries love cross-promoting with each other, and we know quite a few people there. So that's definitely something we can look forward to.

Should we see any public comments for this item?

I just would like to say that the library has had live ostriches before and will never again. So it didn't work.

I do also want to add one thing as well, just a little side note, which is that the zine that's been created here, the staff member that made that, she's also now working on another zine about our digital resources, which of course are the big new thing that we have to offer. Admittedly, zines were a new thing to me, so she's opened my eyes as well, and I love them now.

Of course, I'm addicted to them.

Another thing to look forward to.

Is there a way that we might be able to utilize these resources to actually pass these along to other local nonprofits or people that give out grants? Would we be able to possibly?

It does exist in digital format as well, so there's no reason we couldn't even just forward the file. I mean, of course, we can create the physical one as well, but yes.

Thank you. Is there any plans, just because the Anaheim Library does have a zine in their library that you can check out zines, is that something that we would, you know, after promoting this and people making zines have that as something as a resource in our library?

We could link into it. We'd have to see costs and all the labor going into it. But I mean, hey, if it's popular and people want it, that's what we do.

That is the kind of thing that would be easier to accommodate for in-library use than checkout just because of the amount of time to physically process and create records for everything. But It's not outside the realm of possibility for sure. For the digital library resources one, we're hoping that the outreach event we have at Cal State Fullerton every year, I feel like that one would be really good to have several pre-printed to have at that table.

Do they do it twice a year now? I think it's just September. Yeah, so it's at the start of the fall usually, yeah.

So lots of brand new students who have not been in Fullerton and perhaps not made it to the public library yet seemed like a really good opportunity.

And I think the Los Angeles Public Library has a zine collection, but it's for internal, like you can look at it there. You can't check them out, but yeah.

Yeah.

public comments should anyone be wanting to speak on this arch the podium or raise your hand and zoom good evening everyone um i'm back to talk about flight so i see you have it on the agenda pardon we're not on that agenda item yet i thought you said flight

There's just so much agreement about this item, seemingly. Sorry, we're just all excited about all the new things happening here. I do want to make a comment that I really enjoy this. It's just nice. It helps you, you know, at the QR code there for library card to support friends, to support our foundations and to visit our websites. And it's really cute. It's, you know, just something different. So I think I appreciate the staff for innovations and be able to spread the word out. Any marketing is helpful. And sometimes you may not know, maybe the money comes in will actually pay off even more for our cost of printing this. So thank you for this. If we do not have any more public comments, anyone want to make a motion on item number two?

Go ahead. I move that we select the Bound Together Craft of Bookmaking exhibit for our next exhibit.

I second.

Carrie Prelitz. Yes. Jennifer Sarvis. Yes. Megan Watson. Yes. Lisa Wozak. Yes. And Celine Chen.

Yes. So I think our motion is to actually approve this. And Lisa has a suggestion that you can think about in the future if it fits in the schedule in comparison for whatever comes in your way for the exhibit. Thank you. All right. So now we are moving forward with item number three, the fly

So do we hear from staff first? It sounds like maybe my role will be as an introducer, but we are, I won't say too much about flight because I know that our speaker will, but our commenter will, but we are recommending having a ribbon cutting ceremony to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the flight sculpture. And it will be also related to the city's celebration and would include the Board of Trustees and staff participation, including our local history archivist and perhaps some other speakers. Would you like to talk now? Sorry.

Thank you for being patient with that. Oh, no, absolutely. And sorry, I just thought you guys had approved that already. So I was just ready to go. I'm not going to really talk about flight again because we talked about it last time and you have in your deck the Planning Commission presentation. I really just came out to see what was happening with it if it was on the agenda. So that's good to hear. I did meet with your doppelganger, if you've met Sue Thomas, if you've ever met Sue Thomas in planning. You guys look a lot alike. But anyway, there's concern about getting it approved by the council before the 4th because there's been some meeting cancellations and their regular public comment items are stacking up and they've got several big ones. So I'm not saying it's not going to happen, but I kind of reminded them that we're trying to do this by the 4th. So we're still aiming for that. it's not as cleaned up if you'll notice out there I thought that would be done by now the landscaping but it turns out there's some things in that department too so there's a lot going on in the city even if we didn't get this done by the fourth it still is a good project to do because it is commemorating something we did for the bicentennial and something for the semi-quincentennial so think it will be good even if it's you know maybe August or something but we don't know that yet so I just wanted to come out and just be upfront with you guys and no I'm not as confident now that it's gonna make it to local landmark status by the 4th because they only have I think two meetings in June July they canceled the one and before the 4th or right after the 4th so there's just not a lot of time but I'm still positive about it and hoping that we can get something done

Is it appropriate for me to ask you a question? Even if it's not approved as a landmark, it's still the anniversary, right? Would you be opposed to?

No, no. I mean, I think that's good. We're trying to order a monument sign for it so we can talk about it. We are talking with landscaping to try to get that done we've taken one of the plaques off of it, so if you've ever walked up to it there's some. blacks on it on the actual base of the sculpture that we've taken one of those cleaned it and then tried to make it so you can read it a little better so we kind of painted it and then remove the paint so the the letters are actually a little more reversed out of the it's all very monochromatic so it's hard to read it so. we think that's a good thing and then just re-landscaping it and making it a little more accessible and fixing the lighting will be a big deal and yeah we should celebrate it whether it's a local landmark or not that's a good point and maybe um encourage some forward movement yeah so i think it's more of a timing thing okay so i i know that they've got a lot on their calendar that they need to catch up on so But we're still moving forward with it. So we just appreciate you guys talking about it and looking into it. So we think it'd be a fun thing to do. And I'm excited to hear about the DAR coming to town because, you know, I was 14 on this bicentennial and it was a big deal. Like the Freedom Train came. I mean, there was just so much going on and the library is such a center for the city. So I'm glad to hear that's happening. So thank you for all you do. Thank you. Okay.

Okay.

I'll sit right over here.

And I wanted to second what Kyle just mentioned. Even if the landmark hasn't been approved, I feel quite confident that landscaping will happen. It's a small area, and we have until July. So I think here we can still move forward, if you would want to, with the ribbon cutting. And I wanted to mention that in our agenda report, we mentioned using funding from the Friends restricted account. I just wanted to thank the friends and say that everyone would be invited and acknowledged for their part in it. So I don't want to sway the vote, but I think it's doable in some capacity. If the July 4th around that time is what we're wanting to do, not without delay.

I don't know if I made that clear, but our recommendation is asking you for approval to release the event.

Well, I think this is exciting. I always love public art. You know, it's just incredible when you travel, you see, you know, the art and it just feels so connected and unique of the location. I mean, I would hope that by celebrating the Bicennial, you will actually have more, you know, somewhere, some art to be installed in our city. I think that's just incredible. But I think we do want to know if there's any public comments at all.

There are none on Zoom, and I do not see anyone else approaching the podium in here.

Any questions from our trustees?

Is there any way that we could help and assist at all in that?

As far as?

Saying from the trustees' point of view, we would really love to urge it to be agendized. Can we help in any way?

You know, I don't know. I'm not sure because I just know there's a lot of concern about like budget and several big projects. So I think it's just more of I was going to reach out to a couple of people to just to see if we can get it done. But it's also connected with four other local landmarks. They're trying to put five things through and this would be one of them. So there's four like the four projects. very notable homes in fullerton so i do feel like it's going to go quickly through the process yeah there's not a lot of controversy on any of it so not that we usually have any controversy but it is five things so it's staff presenting five things and then you know so i get it but it'd be nice if we could get it done so i'm sure you guys have a lot of influence so anything you can say would be a good thing so But I'm just trying to be pragmatic about it. Like if it doesn't happen, I really like the fact that we can go forward and it will happen. It's just we can still do a ribbon cutting of kind of sprucing it up and making it more community friendly.

Do you have a date in mind? Because that might be another thing. I think your presence at the event would be the request also. Oh, absolutely. Do you have a date in mind?

No, we don't. That's what I wasn't, you know, the fourth is going to be very big and busy. So I didn't know if it'd be some other date or if you guys... The proposed date is July 10th.

Okay. I do think that by showing up, you could show your support. You could reach out to Sherry and maybe brainstorm with her. I think she had envisioned maybe there's like some refreshments and a ribbon cutting, but if you have some input to make it a bigger affair, then I'm sure she would welcome anything you would like to do.

Also, too, in regards to the DAR, the Mojave chapter of the Daughters of American Revolution is quite large and quite active. And many of them, that's the local chapter, but quite a few of them actually reside in Fullerton. And it might be also advantageous to possibly invite that chapter as well, as this is from the Bicentennial. Right. Thank you.

Sounds good.

where where did the date did that date appear anywhere that i missed it kyle it is in the recommendation okay i don't know if that's a hard date but okay that's that's what uh we propose okay any other questions comments ostrich eggs for breakfast is usually um red in about uh after the holidays january february

I will say that one thing we would like to have is our beautiful digital archive, have one of those local landmarks be actually at the library would be pretty nice.

All right. Hearing none, shall we make a motion?

I move to approve the ribbon-cutting ceremony or releasing of funds for the ribbon-cutting ceremony.

I'll second. All right, we're excited. Let's take a vote.

Carrie Prelitz. Yes. Jennifer Sarvis. Yes. Megan Watson. Yes. Lisa Wozab. Yes. And Su Ling Chen.

Yes. All right, item number four. Well, thank you for being here. And we look forward to seeing this coming to fruition.

Usually get assigned to this post. And now they have signed me to foreign college. I'm both air.

Thank you for being here. So item number four, the library hours.

Yes, so we kind of touched on this at the last meeting. We discussed with staff different budget situations have progressed since that time. So the overview is we received $200,000 at the June 3rd, 2025 meeting of the Fullerton City Council for the purpose of opening on Sundays from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. Library staff are requesting that those four hours are instead placed to have us close later on Fridays and Saturdays. The reason being, To open on Sundays will require staff from other days to sort of stretch out to be able to open on Sundays. And we would also have to hire the security guard to open that day. I mean, to be present that day. And we would also have to increase our custodial services. So there's added costs that we don't see an easy way to sustain at this moment. but we do want to add the four hours. And so we're proposing to, again, close later. It would create a consistent schedule. So we would be open Tuesday through Saturday, 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. The other motivation for this is to increase our revenues through our recently reopened passport service. Passports are in demand on weekends and evenings because other passport organizations acceptance locations generally do not open during those days and times. So we feel like we would be fulfilling a need in a fiscally responsible way. I also think it's a highly efficient way to add four hours. If we opened on Sunday from 1 to 5, we would have full-time staff starting at 8.30 a.m. So they would be there for many hours before the library opened. Don't get me wrong, there is much work to be done behind the scenes. But we tried to maximize the number of hours that were open public-facing. So it would be using a lot of staff time up for non-public-facing time. So it would just, for me, create an inefficiency in a time where we're really looking at efficiencies. And I'm open for any questions and discussion.

last time we talked, I was not totally convinced, but now reading it and seeing it again, like this makes a lot of sense. And you guys did a lot of work to come up with this really brilliant plan on how to use it. And I'm really, really hopeful that the city council will approve this.

Yeah. I appreciate that. It's, it was tough and unexpected for everyone to hear that the Sundays might not happen. But again, when you really looked at it, um, for the reasons mentioned, it may not be the way to go at this moment.

And this is a fantastic solution to that. So I applaud you guys for all your work you did.

I think my question is if the specific money allocated from the council is for Sunday, will the change make any changes on the allocation or the money?

So that's the thing. We don't know. We're proposing our idea and our reasons behind it to you first. I mean, to staff. We discussed it very thoroughly with all levels of staff. We're now presenting it to you because you're one step closer to what the council members may think on it, may vote on it. So we really don't know. I mean, ultimately, we'll take whatever direction we're given. But I just wanted everyone to be prepared for that we're not sure how we would make that happen at this time if it is decided to continue with the Sundays.

I feel like, you know, weekend is a great time to do things later. It's wonderful to have Sunday open, but your explanation, you know, does make sense with the staffing situation. I wonder, is there any calculation on actual money difference by you either open the four hours on Sunday or extend the four hours to the current hours? What's the actual monetary difference?

There would not be a fiscal impact in either situation. What would happen is to open on Sundays, we would have to move, we would have to shift staff schedules to work on that Sunday. And unless we ask staff to work six days a week, like full-time staff, in other words, only come in for four or five hours on that Sunday, but then they'd have to somehow add the hours on a different day to make their their weekly hours. So there's no money difference, but we're all right. Well, that's not true. There is a money difference because of the custodial and the security. So that would be an increased cost that we, when we get to the budget item, you're already seeing that there may be some cuts in those areas. So that would be the fiscal impact there. We're already open on Fridays and Saturdays. So to just close a little bit later, it's not really saving us any money. It's just an efficiency and like staff can just come in later that day.

So when presenting this to City Council, can you make sure to include that fiscal impact, what that would be? If we did open on Sundays, it would cost this much more in this and that? Is that something that they would want to know, because I know here it says, you know, the fiscal impact, there's no fiscal impact, but that's not, that's not entirely true.

There's no fiscal impact if it's approved. If this is approved. Yeah. If, if you, but if we must use it the other way, there would be correct. So right now we're, we're asking to approve this, but you're correct. If it, if it came to presenting the other option, we would add that fiscal impact. in which case the council would be aware because of the budget, the city budget and departmental budgets are not finalized at this point. We were kind of told that this might roll up into the overall budget. I just don't, I don't know exactly how that will look because that's not all prepared yet, but yes, they would be aware.

Yeah, no, I think my worry is, you know, if the allocation was meant to be for Sunday and I would like to support staff suggestions, but I would not want to lose the money because it doesn't match the original proposal.

We share those concerns. So that's why we're doing and this sort of like presenting it to you and having those tough questions and considerations is really helpful to prepare us for what we may be asked by the council. We we will likely be losing some staff in the coming year through just various, somebody is going to grad school, somebody is going to retire. And I don't know that the city is going to be able to fill vacancies. So I also don't want to get us into a position where we can see that something is unsustainable and then we have to take it away. So again, that's just something that I kind of see on the horizon. We're aware of some, yeah, like personnel, upcoming personnel decisions that people are making on their own, not that we're planning to cut anything, but just, you know, natural.

I would just like to say that I think the original intent was always additional service hours. Of course, it would be lovely to have it on Sunday, but I do want to share at least my personal appreciation because You came before us for a different commission, and all of you have put so much time and effort to really, really drill down into looking at everything. I mean, from even vehicles that you're using, you guys have really put a lot of time and effort and thoughtfulness into this, and I really, really appreciate it. I've seen that in presentations that you brought to the Fiscal Sustainability Committee, and I think that you really have not left any stone unturned, and I really appreciate that. And so I think that the original intent was additional service hours from everything that you've said and things that I've seen prior. I just fiscally, I think I am too concerned about the fact that if we launch into that and then it can't be sustainable. I think that it just makes more sense to continue and expand those hours. You cannot get a passport at the post office past five. And being able to market that, I think that We could drive more revenue by being able to market it using our social media team as well. And I think that they would appreciate that as well. And the Postmaster, as I mentioned, the Postmaster will allow us to put up a flyer in post. the post office in Fullerton too, because they're, they're, they're strapped there. They don't have enough staff either. So that's a great relationship. So I really appreciate all that you guys, the efforts that you have done, not just for this meeting, but for others. And I know that it's been hard, hard decisions to make. So.

It is. Thank you so much. And I'm so glad that so many staff are here to hear that because there's been a lot of, you know, really thoughtful decisions and, tough conversations. And so truly, thank you for recognizing that. When the council made this decision in June of 2025, a lot of things have changed since then. And so we're just trying to respond to the current situation. and do our best to fulfill the request within what's happening now. I understand more why it was requested as it was at that time. I don't know if that makes sense now. So yeah, because at the same time, we're also being tasked with increasing revenue and things like that. Another thing that I mentioned last meeting, but Alicia, maybe it'll speak more to that. When you operate a passport office, you have to close it at least an hour before because you have to process all of the paperwork. So I don't even know that we'd get four hours out of it.

Right. So as far as passports go, we would need at least that one hour to resolve everything that we do at the end of the day. It gives people also an opportunity to return because people forget things and that's just an expansion on our customer service for them as well. But yeah, passports would need to, if we were closing the library at seven, passports would need to close no later than six. But that's, oh, on Sundays. Yeah. So even on Sundays that, so as our model was previously, sorry, thank you. We were only offering passports from one to three on Sundays. So that was a very short window. And it was interesting when we were walking as well, because that was a tense situation, I think, for patrons who were excited and nervous and all of that. So yeah, even then we would still be offering such a limited window on a Sunday for passport services if we were doing that.

Should we hear any public comments on this for our library hours?

Seeing no hands raised in Zoom and no one approaching the podium, I think we're okay.

Any more comments from our trustees? Questions?

I move that we approve the staff recommendation and wish them all the best luck convincing City Council.

I second.

Sorry, is it possible to make it clear that the motion is to approve due to current situation? Does that make any difference? Because I feel like normally we try so hard to open weekend hours. We want more weekend hours. But we also want to be realistic in understanding that if something is not sustainable, It does not make sense to make changes. Stability is important. So I don't know how everyone feels. I just want to make it a bit stronger for the council to understand it's not that we don't appreciate the money for more hours. We just want to avoid future cutting by being more realistic and being understanding to support our current situation.

I think it could be phrased in whatever way gives us the best chance at it. I think more information is going to be coming out very soon about when the actual budget meetings will happen. I think council members were made aware of those potential dates earlier today. We will likely see you all one more time before that. I think so. And so we can like maybe rephrase the request or like present to you what we plan to present to them. Another thing that I'm thinking is we can frame it as in until something like we can reevaluate it. In other words, this is what we can, this is, this is what we think is the most responsible, efficient way to add four hours immediately, pretty immediately to be reevaluated a year from now or, or something like that. So that they, it's not like we're taking Sunday option off the table forever. It's just maybe a right now thing.

And I think it's because we're in the budget, middle budget situation. I don't want a council to walk away with the wrong impression that, oh, you are not opening more hours. You don't need that, right? And so sometimes negotiation is a bargaining chip, you know, which is difficult to understand what's the real situation. Our interest is It's always to make sure the library has sufficient funds to be able to, you know, sustain ongoing and provide, you know, the top-notch service as we have top-notch people here. I don't know. Anybody want to think about the motion?

I move that we approve the staff recommendation and that you will keep us informed at the next meeting as to your development on what you're going to tell to council.

Or I think it's a... another motion that I would like to think is to actually just delay this until the budget comes out so that we are not volunteers say that we don't want the hours that you give to us. Um,

I'm worried if we delay anymore because this was last budget that I don't, I don't want this part to get mixed up into the next budget. Does that make sense? I mean, I know they're right. They're, they're kind of hand in hand, but this was last year's approved. So we had a year to get this going and this is our getting it going. So I almost want to be like, these are two separate issues.

The budget spend the money yet, right?

We haven't spent the money yet. So my thing is like, Let's spend that money so they know we're going to use it.

Well, no, the money has been spent because the people were hired.

Fantastic. Yes.

So that... We don't want that taken away for sure. So we want to add the hours. So this was approved in June for various reasons. The staff were hired this year. So the most recent staff you met at the March-April meeting. So it's been just one month since we've even had the option to do any of these options. So this really is our first formal presentation and having... the money spent people are hired. Um, yeah, I don't know if I'm, but I'm just concerned about delaying a request that was made last year. I want to make good on.

Yeah. And I also think too, um, it's staff retention is very important. And if this is something that works also too with, um, it's an easier transition than just like you said, bringing in some of our key staff six days a week. So I also think that that's probably a factor as well.

I'm probably the person who would be scheduling those staff for Sundays. And sometimes, you know, there's unintended consequences like It's nice to be open for four hours on Sunday, but realistically, I would be drawing those staff members from Saturday. And Saturday is our busiest day, and it's when we do most of our programming. So there would be something lost, maybe, i mean it's maybe it's not always about like how often like how long the library is open it's like what happens during those hours and there would be a loss of staff on saturday we wouldn't be able to do as many of these big programs so it just makes more sense but i can see you know it's nice to be able to say this is an extra day but um maybe is you know things could happen that are not obvious when you just propose that because you really can't, I mean, you can, but you're talking about staff retention. It's hard to ask people, okay, you're going to work Saturday and Sunday, and when are you going to see your friends and your family, you know? So, it's just like some things like that maybe we could make more clear to the council and speak to them.

Great. I just want to make sure that our proposal is to the best interest of our library, obviously.

So I move that we approve the staff recommendation and present to city council.

I second.

Oh.

Mary Prelitz? Yes. Jennifer Sarvis? Yes. Megan Watson?

Yes.

Lisa Wozab? Yes. And Celine Chen?

Yes. Now we've got the exciting part of the budget.

Thank you for that and know that I will continue communicating with you and that I hear everything that you're saying. We all want to do what's best for the library, the community, the patrons in the best possible responsible way. So we won't proceed with anything major without you knowing about it. I think the dates will line up where we're going to see you before that.

Do we get a report from the staff about the budget?

So I'm sorry, I'm flipping to the correct page. OK. OK, so the library, along with all city departments, was requested to submit a 5% budget reduction scenario and a 10% budget reduction scenario for fiscal year 2026-2027. This is a receive and file because budgets are not yet proposed um they're not yet you know we're they're still a work in progress so i'm just keeping you updated on where we have gotten to since the last time we met um there's details in here uh for how we got to each budget reduction scenario so form j's are what are finance department uses to organize how we will make reductions to our spending. So I've included the five and the 10% here. The 5% budget reduction scenario would decrease our annual budget by 260,000. the 10% would decrease our annual budget by $519,000. So the goals, as mentioned here, are to maintain staff and services. Wherever possible, reductions will be offset by increased revenue, grant funds, and support from the Fullerton Public Library Foundation and Friends of the Fullerton Public Library. Much of this information has already been presented, as Trustee Wozniak mentioned at other meetings, including the um fiscal sustainability ad hoc on april 28th and the actual reductions are still pending not just approval by the council but um staff internally are deciding which budget reduction scenarios will move forward i'm just open for any questions or comments well i think i'm just very disappointed that

you were asked to actually do a budget reduction of 5 percent or 10 percent. I mean, any one of us, just think about if you have to cut your budget for 5 percent, 10 percent, it's not something easily done. You know, there's lots of sacrifice would have to happen. So, do you want to see any public comments at this time?

There are no hands raised in Zoom, nor are there anyone approaching the podium.

All right. Can we hear the trustees' sentiment on this?

I am super impressed with how you have not cut services or staff like was your goal, and though it scares me and upsets me to see the word eliminate library book budget. And I know that there is a plan in place to receive funding from our amazing friends and foundation, but that then takes away that funding that we get for programs, that we get for book bins, that we get for shelving, that we get for everything else that we need to make the library run. is now reduced significantly to purchase books, which is something that the library fundamentally has. So I fear In eliminating, reducing is one thing, which is still a significant impact, but eliminating takes away what the library does and the fundamental bricks that this institution is built upon. So it is, I am very trepidatious to say eliminate, books because then the city may never fund those again so i worry for the future of the library that we can't not that we can't depend on the generous nature of the foundation and uh the friends but just it's such a different such a different situation that uh we're experiencing so

Is there precedent for the elimination of book purchasing? Is that something that either this library has done before or do you know of other libraries that have fully... The fact that we're going to entirely depend on outside organizations to fund the book buying, is that something that has happened elsewhere or here?

I can't say that it's not happened elsewhere. It's not a scenario that I'm personally... experienced with. Um, I haven't yet worked, you know, for an organization where we've gotten to that point. Um, it is a very scary thing to hear because also you don't want to set the precedent, like you said, where does that mean we'll never be at a point where we can fund our own books. Um, we are so fortunate to have the support groups that we do. Um, we are able to sustain major, major cuts without, you know, so I, although I appreciate you realizing all the work that we're doing to find any possible measure to not cut staff, that would not be possible if it wasn't for our support groups. We are only able to make these numbers work Because we know that when we say really big, scary things like eliminate an entire book budget for an organization that, I mean, that's your sole purpose, we wouldn't be able to do it. We made the decision to do so because we feel confident in the support group's support. We have had many discussions with them as recently as just a couple of days ago. Not only have they agreed to do this, they are excited to do this. And they took the extra step to look into their bylaws and find the verbiage that explains why they should do this. It's above and beyond. And so that's also something I've never seen. is support at that level. So it's something that's really scary and also something that's like really beautiful and encouraging at the same time. Looking at their funding, this is doable because they are in such a good place financially at this moment. When your money is in investments, that can be unpredictable. So that can be scary as well. But we are also and I was going to mention this during the social media conversation, but I figured I would leave it for here. We're also working in tandem with the support groups right now to help them increase donations and increase membership. So we want to help them help us. And it's become this sort of like, I don't know, symbiotic thing. And the timing is actually good when you think of it that way. So everybody is motivated to help each other because we want to make sure that their support is sustainable. So for example, one of the ideas is to purchase book plates for all of the books they'll be purchasing that says funded by the Fullerton Public Library Foundation. They're so excited about that, that all of the books purchased during this time are going to have their logo and name in it, that they're really sort of reframing what otherwise feels like a sad and scary moment. So that's just one of the ideas we have to turn this into a positive and something that's sustainable. So that, like you said, if they're giving us money to fund our entire book budget, they might also say, but we can still fund those other things, the children's programs and the events and things like that.

I will add that my counterpart at Orange Public Library for City of Orange did have a stretch not too long ago where their book budget was zeroed out for a period of time. While their financial shortcomings were different than ours and they have recovered, we don't necessarily have that same certainty, but there is some local precedent.

I see this, I mean, this is being asked of every department across the city. This isn't something that's just being targeted at the library. But I do think that it is, it's an inflection point. I think that it's just really the fact that we have the Friends and we have the foundation. We've talked before about being able to really, especially with Friends of the Library, really market that to those moms that are bringing the kids for story time. Being able to reach out to, you know, Rotaries and other organizations in the community, other family foundations, the fact that you would love to be able to have maybe memorial collections donated. Obviously, working with staff on those chosen titles and things like that. But also to having, first and foremost... Fullerton Public Library being Fullerton Public Library is very, very important personally to me and critical. And so we are so blessed to be able to have our support groups and the Friends of the Foundation and just being able to work with them to expand that. But then also, too, this is an opportunity to really get the community to rally around this cause. I mean, I think we've, I mean, for me, I, this is the library of my childhood. I mean, I spent so many afternoons riding my bike from golden hill elementary down there. And, um, it's a special place to me and for so many people it is. Um, and just, I think it's an opportunity for us to really, um, bring the community in as well, turn it into a positive. I really like, and, and also to, as we just welcomed you as our new librarian, I truly appreciate the fact that not only have you just come in rolling your sleeves up, get to work, but you've done it in such a positive way. And instead of having buyer's remorse, you've really rallied. You've, you know, you, you've just really bonded with your, with your staff and I've seen it, um, in in other meetings and how you've and you're so passionate about it and so passionate about your staff and protecting um uh staff staff time and and staff retention and I I truly appreciate it thank you I mean I tell all of them like I feel like we're family already whether it's been two months or two years or however long like this is where we're at right now and I'm

When I'm in something, I'm all in. I don't know how to do it any other way. So thank you. I appreciate that. You know, you mentioned keeping the Fullerton Public Library, the Fullerton Public Library, and I would be remiss to not mention the privatization of the library is actually the biggest threat we're facing right now. So when we're looking at the 5% and 10% cuts, for the reasons already mentioned, We're fortunate to be able to weather that for, who knows, a few years. But we do have a meeting tomorrow with the Library Systems and Services privatization company. It's a meeting that has to be taken because, as you mentioned, all departments are being scrutinized and looking at efficiencies. I didn't present tonight the information that we're going to be discussing with them tomorrow. But I feel like Alec and I have been working really hard on creating a comparison between what they're proposing and what we can do with our own budget and really illustrating that there would not be actually any savings to go with them or it would be so nominal that it would I don't think it would be worth anybody's while. Um, it's, it is when you're so passionate about something, you, it also, there's a lot of emotion, but when we make the presentation and have that meeting with them, I'm really intent on it being very factual because I want to stay in that head space of just the logic of it. Um, so we can talk about that if you want to. And, and, We may be looking for support for the reasons that you mentioned. This was your library growing up and all of those things. But we're only presenting numbers tomorrow. And we feel like even just based on numbers, the proposal doesn't make sense. So I will also be reporting back on that. But for us, that's the biggest hurdle right now. When we can say that we've successfully gotten past talks about privatizing the library, we'll be able to breathe a little more.

I had no idea that that meeting is taking place tomorrow.

It was like, it was recent, recent news.

Yeah. Where is the, is it the city is pushing for private session? Is it outside company coming in and just being like, Hey, this is what we offer. Like how is that coming across?

That is how it started. So this company is a well-known company, and when they see a city that is struggling financially, you know, I mean, that's their business. They're a for-profit company, and so they start approaching a city leadership. This is not uncommon. It's nothing against, you know, our council or... you know, city manager, anything. This is what they do. And they do it when they know that you're in a position to have to consider all of the worst options. So this is like par for the course when there's a city that's going through something like this.

I want to say that I'm sorry that you came in March and walk into our budget situation. But, you know, challenging time bring people together and build character. So I actually feel really pleased to see how well you work with all the staff members, that everyone pitching to come up with all the difficult decisions. You know, this is a difficult decision. And I do understand that, you know, the councils are struggling to figure out what to do, but even though number is important, there are many things cannot be defined by the numbers. You know, we are a local community. We are a local library. And all the support that we receive, all the patrons that we serve, they are local people. And it's not the same for people that are far away trying to maybe provide the book service but not understand the needs of local people. So, however, that we are able to, you know, help and support, and obviously we all know our council members. So I think it's probably time that we all can use some influence to gear to the direction that we would like to see. And I just want to take this opportunity to thank you and all our staff members for, you know, being patient, being understanding, that, you know, working together tightly to get through challenging times. So things will get through and things will get better. Thank you.

No matter how sad it makes me, it's also beautiful to see this incredible relationship, like not only like flourish, but like even bloom in new ways. So it's, yeah, I mean. It sucks, but it's great. So, yeah. And no decisions have been made in regards to any of this yet. But I think that your plan is what it is, and it's the best that it's going to be. So, yeah.

Well, we'd just like to support our library. So any motion that is wanted to put on the table?

No.

This is presented as a receiving file. So I don't know, Ruth is expert on that.

Did we do public comments?

Public comments?

I think we did, right? There's nobody we've been talking about for so long.

If you choose receiving file, you don't need a motion.

All right. Does that conclude the meeting tonight? Am I missing anything?

I did not turn the page. My brain.

Thank you.

She's going to gavel us out. I know.

Oh, please, please.

Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. As a retired 50-year-long librarian, and my, by the way, trustee Sarvost, did I say it right? When you were talking about emotionally about eliminating, not reducing, or severely reducing, but eliminating the library book budget and implied or said that was a foundational aspect of the library, I was never more connected to anything anyone has said the whole time I've been here. This is not a disrespect to everything that has been said. Budgeting is extremely difficult. You're doing quite well, by the way. But I just had to say that. As a member of the public now, books, most people think library is books. It's lots of other things nowadays, but that's what people think. And somebody else was talking about the city council last year approving the Sunday spending And if we were open on Sunday, that would be the busiest day on a per capita loan basis and people coming in basis. So all those things, and I think it was President Chen who alluded to what's going to happen now. They approve Sunday. What are they going to think about this other thing? And all those kinds of things. So I'm glad you're here. It's not easy. But once we get through that, you will be battle tested. And it looks like you're doing a great job. But I had to say, resonating in my heart, my library heart earlier.

We appreciate your comment. Thank you.

You're so gracious. Thank you.

All right, now it looks like better news, right? So the local history room hours.

I won't take up a lot of time. I did allude to it earlier. We have already started that. Maybe we got ahead of ourselves, but we... Thank you. So we are... expanding to afternoons. So the new hours, just to reiterate, will be Tuesday 11 to 1, and 3 PM to 5 PM, Wednesdays 11 AM to 1 PM, and 4 PM to 7 PM, Thursdays 11 AM to 1 PM, and 3 to 5, and Fridays 11 to 1. I do feel like we were meeting people's needs, but not supporting like walk-ins or serendipitous visits to the library. And our goal is to improve that by just having it be open more. And there's no fiscal impact. The extra staff that we have have already been you know, put to good use. So we have a little bit more wiggle room and we were able to get our local history archivist off the she also works on our reference desk. So we've been able to get her off that desk and back into the room, which is something people have been asking for. And we're happy to say that we did it. Thank you. And this recommendation is just to receive and file.

No, I think any opportunity to expand our service, it's always very welcome. Any public comments at this time?

There are no hands raised in Zoom or anyone approaching the podium.

Okay, so no motion is needed, right? Any more comments? All right, so next item is loss and paid refunds.

Yes, so for lost and paid, what we're talking about, and as we have been talking about, is continued efficiencies without sacrificing patron service. So this is one of the things that we've looked at, which is to... discontinue the issuance of lost and paid. So what that means is that generally if a patron loses a book, finds it later within a year, and after having paid for it, they will be issued a refund for that item. That does create an inefficiency because oftentimes we have already purchased a replacement for that material. And then additionally there is a significant staff time, both from the library, including myself, administration, and then also in City Hall we need their assistance with cutting those vouchers. So it does involve numerous people and does, you know, for the amount of money that is brought in for a lost book, there's a significant amount that goes out to issue that refund. So the recommendation is to approve that discontinuation.

I want to add that although this is in Alicia's circulation department, it was something that I brought up. So when the first refunds came across my desk to sign, I had never seen this before in a library, giving refunds. Usually when an item is lost or damaged, it's paid for or they can replace it. I felt like a year's time was overly generous. And again, by that time, we had purchased a replacement with the money they gave us. So then if they found that old copy, then we had two, maybe we don't need that or want that. So again, we're looking at all the dollars and cents. So the fiscal impact is only $700. And that was just like an average of how much we were refunding per year. But as she mentioned, there's also staff time involved. And the process just doesn't really make sense. I really don't think it's going to... be anything bad for patrons, because like Alicia mentioned, they keep the book. So if they end up finding it, like, oh, yay, you know, now I have this book. So I don't know that any questions or clarification needed, but that that's the gist of it.

What is typically a fee for the book? Do they replace it at shelf cost? Do they replace like, what's the what are we asking of our patrons, I guess?

Yeah, so most of the time it is just that exact replacement cost. And obviously if it's an older book that perhaps is outdated or whatever it may be, we'll negotiate down a little bit to something that is comparable that we might find on Amazon or back when we had Baker and Taylor and all of that. But most of the time I want to add a little bit to this, which is that we usually start with a long process of trying to – find the book and all the other options we offer people before we get to that payment point.

I think you've been incredibly gracious. I think the library's been incredibly gracious. I also think it's a teachable moment, so. Does anyone have any questions? I'll move.

Is there any public comment?

There aren't, but I want to add one thing that perhaps has not been stated, which is The cost of a lost book does not rise from the time that it's reported as lost until whenever. So should a patron just want to have that item on their record and have their record be blocked for a period of time so they have extra time to look? This is not preventing that at all.

So unlike blockbuster video, it's not accumulating additional fines? No additional fines. On the daily? Okay. Okay. Okay, so I move to approve discontinuing the issuance of lost and paid refunds. I second.

All right, let's check both.

Carrie Prelitz. Yes. Jennifer Sarvis. Yes. Megan Watson. Yes. Lisa Wozab. Yes. And Su Ling Chen.

Yes. Our last item is passports.

Well, I'm excited to talk about this. So after nearly a year of being closed, we have reopened our doors. And we are so excited to have not only our new staff engaging in passport processes with patrons that are excited to come in, and many of them do leave as patrons, I would like to note. Some come in as customers and leave as patrons. But in the six days, I want to say in the six days that we have been offering passport services, we have already assisted 38 families or individuals and also done 36 photos. for these customers slash patrons. And so right now we're doing a bit of a strategic launch, which is that we've opened our doors Wednesday through Saturday, 11 to 3. And we started out with one desk available, and now we have two desks available. And we do have, again, our friends to to think for one of our desks did need a little bit of a TLC and that was offered to us with, with their own handiwork. And now it's a wonderful, beautiful functional desk. And so we've, we've extended in that sense and next step will be those hours and everything, but it's just been, it's been a lot of fun and it's nice to feel that, that people coming in from local and then also from far they're coming by. So. That's our big, big announcement about passports. Will you guys be creating a video? I already have an idea in mind that I'm bothering people about already. Yes. I will repost it. Thank you.

Great. We love to see more money coming in.

I love the fact that you guys do baby photos. I see that that's here. That is not a service that is offered very much. And I got both my kids. I mean, one of them, she like bug-eyed little troll, like for five years on her passport, people were questioning it, but you know, to have that set up is, is incredible. And then you said 11 to three. So that doesn't help with our Saturday. So hopefully that those hours as we progress will continue to do that. I know that a lot of That is a big, big hurrah that people need.

That's definitely our intention. Our goal is to our next step will be to extend those hours later into the day. As six days in, I'm surprised at where we've been already. So I'm very excited. And even some of our staff members that haven't done passports for quite a long time have jumped in and just been excited to do this. So, yeah.

Can I request that when you do approach council and you discuss the change in hours, if you could also give them an update of where you're at with passport services in regards to revenue generation. I think that would be helpful.

Thank you. Expansion hours on the library history room. All the positive things. Mm-hmm.

So sorry if I'm missing this here.

I have to actually ask for it. Oh, I thought there was no one on the Zoom.

There is someone on the Zoom.

Sorry, I cannot see. So is there any public comment?

There are no hands raised in Zoom. There is no one approaching the podium. I just want to make sure that we're covered.

Great. Thank you for all being here. Drive home safely and get some sleep, right? good night thank you