Library Board of Trustees - Regular Meeting

Welcome everyone to our March meeting for the board of trustees for the Liberty Lake Library. Um so I'll call the meeting to order and um I will call um roll to see that we have everyone here. Is Michael on yet? He should be joining momentarily. I'll note when he joins the meeting just so we have it for the minute. Just let us. Yeah. Yeah. All right. So, Anna Jen present

and Michael will be here and we'll welcome Barbard. Uh she still has to go before the uh the council to be um um approved as our our fifth board member, but welcome Barbard. Um and um Jandy is here, of course. Yep, I'm here. Um and then I am here. So, we're all good to go. Um so, um I'll ask u if there if any if we can have a motion to approve the meetings that were sent out with the agenda, unless there's any changes that someone would like to make. I

believe we approve the minutes of uh the last meeting. Okay. I second. I second. Okay. Thank you. All right. Those all in favor say raise your hand. We'll have a show of hands. Okay. Good. So, it is approved. All right. So, now we're on to Do we have anybody online, Jandy? Not so far. Did we get the agenda approved or just We did it for the Oh, the minutes. Okay. Sorry. The agenda. Thank you. So, now I got to ask for the approval of the agenda. It's a pretty simple agenda today. So, I'll ask for a motion to approve the agenda. I would we approve the agenda for today's meeting. I second.

Okay. All those in favor? Do ends. Okay. Thank you. All right. So, we're all good to go on those things. So, now I'll ask Dandy, do we have any citizens online? Um, I don't have anyone any citizens online at this time. Okay. But we'll still go through the formality of uh telling everybody. So, I'll have you, Janny, inform everybody what needs to be done.

Yes. So, we have a chance for citizen comment at the beginning and the end of the meeting. Um, what I'll have you do is if you're on Zoom, raise your hand and I'll call on you. If you're in chambers, I'll have you um fill out one of these yellow sheets and then come up to the um pulpit to speak. You have a three minute timeline. Um the the board doesn't answer questions, but we will get back with you if we have any um additional comments or questions for you. All right. Thank you. And no one's online yet. Okay. All right. So, we are now on to reports. And I'm going to assume that um I we haven't heard from Michael yet.

He just texted me. I'm going to send him the Zoom link again. Okay. We can go out of order reports. Yeah, everybody's okay with that. Okay. So, Mark, you willing to go ahead and go first?

Sure. Okay. Great. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I've got a brief report and it's essentially to give the board an update of the discussion that occurred on the March 4th council meeting. As you know, staff uh presented a work order um to under under the umbrella of the Turner and Towns and Erie master services agreement for the development of a library project in order to develop uh in the work order that three options. It's really two options. Two and three are materially the same option. But a project at the Town Square site, option one is a library only and option two is a combination of a library and community flex space. And so we just had the kickoff meeting for that on Monday. And so we expect to get a project plan and schedule from them sometime within the next couple of days. update the board and the community uh with respect to the schedule because a big piece of this effort is going to public engagement um to derive what the needs are that need to be incorporated into these conceptual designs. So that's the state that we're in now. Um and we'll continue to provide the board with information as we get deeper into the process. But obviously you're going to be um involved in that engagement and the um conceptual development so that we can make sure that all bases are covered when we come back with whatever those final options going to be. Does anyone have any questions for Mark? Mark I have a question. Um, since this is a design element for the town square, um,

do you know from any from any past history, has there ever been any, um, vision for how Towns Square would or should be built out when they purchased the land? Is there anything back in the in the archives that that kind of gives some sort of a an idea of what that vision would look like? I'm just curious. So, I I don't know if there was ever um a like a master concept when they purchased the land. There have been two uh proposals developed. Um one in 2007 uh that ended up on a 2008 ballot and then one in 2016 that ended up on a 2016 and the 2017 ballot. All of those measures failed. Um, and they were derivatives of themselves. You know, there was a a facility plan that included a library and some kind of space component for other things. Um, and the 2017 or excuse me, the 2016 um vision included a large um aquatic center. And so those are essentially the two master plans that have been developed for Towns Square that I'm aware of going back to 2007.

Okay. Just curious. Um yeah, thank you. Sure. Anyone else? Jenny, is Michael joined us? Yes, he's here. Hello, Michael. Hello. And I'm really sorry I had a conflict at work, so finally able to join. I'm glad you're here. Um Anna, can you note on the minutes that Michael arrived at 106 and that he served? Uh Michael, would you mind doing your report next? Uh is is that regarding the city council? Um yes.

Yeah. And have have Mark have you already talked about this or or uh because really what I wanted to to bring to the group is the fact that right the city council had that special uh meeting at the end of February where they discussed different options uh regarding the growth of the of the library. um really really focusing on on those new plans that will include a library at the city square together probably with the with a community center. Um and no final decision has been made. Uh you know they are now moving to the next phase where they want to review proposals and this was again discussed at the last council meeting but but um again um looking at options at this time. I think that's the main main thing that I got from those meetings.

Yeah. Um yeah Mark kind of gave us an overview of that as well. Um, so I guess I have an additional uh question mark. Uh, what what would be brought back to the um council in regards to the um work order? and you know what what will the council see first before uh but before they see um a schematics and that kind of stuff or visual possibilities, let me put it that way. So if you recall back uh to the project where we developed the two concepts for the legacy facility um and the two different layouts for the for the potential library move over there it'll be a similar type of deliverable. So they'll go through um Turner and Townley I'm talking about will go through a public engagement phase where they'll gather all of this input use that along with input that the board provides that staff provides to come up with these um conceptual layouts that meet the scope of option one two and three. Um, and then those will be what is presented back to council sometime in early July. And so we're in a fairly I mean there's time to do this, but we're on a fairly tight timeline. And so there's going to be um once once we kick off the public engagement phase, there's going to be some fastm moving activity that occurs. Got it. Okay. Thank you. That's been my concern and going forward is the amount of time in order to get kind of information to the if it's if the decision is to put it on a bond to

get the information to the to the citizens so they can make an informed decision um in November. And and I'll say about the timeline, and I'm not predicting this or um trying to engineer the outcome by saying this, but it if council at some point along that timeline decides we we it's not urgent that we have it on a November ballot, that changes the time. Got it.

So the the timeline we reverse engineered uh because we have to have a ballot measure into the county 90 days in advance of the collection. And so that kind of set your schedule working backwards from that August 4th date. So yeah, thank you.

But but Mark, my understanding is that that might not be necessary. There there are options that don't require this to go on the ballot, right? Um in in which in which case the timeline is bit different. Well, um Mark, in response to that, um Michael, uh aren't you having a um a workshop with the council about um you know, um funding options for not just this project, but other projects that might come down the road. Yeah. So, um so let me let me address the workshop first and then I'll backtrack, Michael, and address your question. Um, yes, we are having a workshop on March 25th uh with the council that will be here at city hall. And we've uh planned for this workshop to be conducted at around this time since roughly last December. And we've been working to put the pieces of that together. And as Brad described, really the objective with that workshop is to get to to start to get a better understanding and a more methodical approach to developing and delivering our capital program. Um, up to this point, it's been um a bit halfhazard. Um, and so we want to bring some more structure to that. And part of that definitely includes uh financing options and and strategically looking at how we're going to fund projects over the course of not only this um capital facilities plan which are uh six-year time horizons but multiple capital facilities plans over the next say 20 years. We've got to come up with some better strategies that we can deploy to to make sure that projects are are funded. And so that's the purpose of that workshop at least to start that conversation. So, Michael, back to your

question, the answer is somewhat technical, but if if if council elects to, I'll use the word guarantee, the payment of the debt service on this project that would require a property tax increase, regardless of the amount, it would be required to be on a ballot. There are options that the council has does that does not reach that level of guaranteedness that would not require a ballot measure. But if they're if they're going to require that the debt service be guaranteed by essentially the full faith and credit of the city, it would be it would require a ballot measure.

I have a question. Are we worried um if it did go on the measure in November with I mean I'm on Facebook people are outraged over their um property taxes this year. Some people you know said they went up 30% 40%. Um I don't know how accurate that is but are we worried that they're just going to have a bad taste from what we are you know all currently kind of experiencing with the property taxes that they're just going to say no and we're back to ground zero. I don't know if worried is the right uh descriptor. I mean, that's a reality. That's a potential outcome for sure. Um, you know, obvious that that's always a potential outcome. And, you know, part of what we would be doing in our outreach efforts is just kind of explaining the value. Um, but that would that's contingent upon it being on the ballot.

I'm just Yeah, it's it's definitely a consideration. Yeah. Cuz because like I mentioned before, the three previous valve measures have all gone down. So

yeah. Yeah. I was only here for I first moved into the city for the 2016 ballot and um was a part of that discussion. And then the was it the and then the one right after that that was put up right away. And um and that one basically was sprung on the citizens without really a whole lot of discussion about that that the second one. So that one didn't even have a chance. But so I'll put a shameless plug at this point. Um, I if if you want to learn more about how the city allocates resources, makes service delivery decisions, all of that kind of stuff, we're kicking off uh the next version of the city academy on April 24th. This is an 8week class where you go and learn about the fire department, the sewer and water district, the police department, the public works department, the budget, all of these kinds of things. And so if you're interested or know people who may be interested, let them know to look for it on our website. You can start to enroll probably later this week. I don't think I don't think we have the enrollment up yet, but it's coming. So class starts on April 24th. So again,

what is the course called? City Academy. April 24th. Yeah, that's that's a good thing for people to learn how different parts of the city operate and funding sources, that kind of thing. Mark, is the workshop open to the public? The funding source? It'll be just like any other city council meeting that's open to the public. Y March March 25th at 6 p.m.

I had another question. You mentioned something, Mark, about um bombs. What does that mean? Is that I'll let Mark explain bonds. I'm not sorry mention it. Yeah. No, but anybody that's ever been participated in a school levy in a school bond, they understand bonds. I participated in it's different than a levy. Okay. They're not the same. They're not a levy. Yeah. So we we would essentially go out and issue bonds for the amount of uh some amount uh relative to the price of the project

and depending on the amount, the term, the interest rate, all of those variables, we would have a debt service, an amortization schedule of a payback, right? Um, and so that amount, that annual amount, if that amount causes us to um um if paying that amount causes us to have to guarantee that with a tax increase, that's what has to be on the ballot. Oh,

we we have a fairly and I don't know the number off the top of my head, but we have a fairly large capacity for issuing that without having to um increase taxes. Um now the the council can elect to um to to issue geo bonds with with even if we have that capacity. So it's it's fully within the council's discretion as to how they want to move forward. they haven't made that decision yet. That's one option of many options that are available. Um, but we would we would essentially issue debt. I just was wondering if it worked the same way it normally does or this was like a term that you guys interchange with levies.

No, levy is for operating expenses like paying your staff. All of the things that come under the budget of operating expenses. A bond is your infrastructure in terms of buildings. So a bond would fund the development of let's just say the community center that had part of the library would be a part of that would fund the building. The levy would be to pay for Jenny and all of the other things that would come under an operating expense. So that's the main two differences. So when you might be more familiar with school levies and school bonds because they come around much more often. The levy is to pay teachers salaries and coaches and books and well not books anymore computers. Um but your bond is to build new school buildings or tracks or the infrastructure. Yeah. Yeah. All right. Thanks Mark. Good stuff for us to know and understand. Okay. Uh so now we are on to friends and that's me as a very short uh update on the friends. Um uh except for tonight they u it's been a big influx of new people in the friends which is fantastic young people. Uh and as a result, the friends are holding a a nice uh meeting uh this evening uh at Trail Head uh to uh welcome the all these new members in to the uh to the friends and get to know them and strengths and things that they're willing to um use their talents to help the friends do the the things that they do to support the library. So it should be fun and it'll be good to have meet all those

people. It's hard to meet people in just a meeting. You want to come and you go that business is done and then they're out the door. So uh this gives an opportunity for a lot of interactions and things like that and a fun game.

So u and then uh they're busy working on two things. the the book sale and the um the suare. So um got a few committees u working very hard on their part of making the suare happen. Uh and then um the book sale is just I won't say it take shares itself because it's a lot of work leading up to it. Um and um we have a ton of books and we are actually really we got we have uh a lot of books and um storage space within the library is is basically gone in order to do that. Um so and actually where we hold the the uh book sale very small and is very If you've ever attended, which maybe some of you have, it's very very crowded in there in the very beginning uh hours almost I don't know maybe three/4ers of the time. It's it's like this looking for books and people are very polite and they all work together to make it happen really well. But it's a it would be nice um as we move forward and consider a new building that that space grows for those kinds of activities to occur. And then of course the is a great summer activity for our community uh and the rate loop quite a bit of money for the friends to be able to support the program and the other things that happen at the library. But that's been their main focus the last couple uh meetings and it'll

continue to be the focus until June and then these for July whatever that second Wednesday that I think it's July 14th not sure to be exactly sure and the book sale is the same weekend as the Kana um yard sale so coincides with that pretty busy All right, and that's it for me. All right, Jandy, you are on.

Okay, so I have a couple updates for you guys today. Um, first off, my children's associate, Aaron, who um does our story times and a lot of our after school programs, is on leave for the next eight weeks. Um, she took an unexpected leave. Um, so myself and Chelsea, who is our storytime sub, were taking over our children's programming for the next eight weeks. Um, which has been fun. I normally do story times on Thursdays anyway. Um, but now I'm doing Mondays as well. And then Miss Chelsea is doing Tuesdays and Wednesdays and she's also going to be doing our after school programs for us in April and May. Um, and then I'll be doing the Lego club. Um, we also have the children's academy um, preschool here in town. They are doing field trips this month. So, we have eight classes of preschoolers coming for story time and field trips during March.

Yes, it's very busy. I'm doing the field trips. So, it's eight field trips every Monday and Thursday, afternoon, and morning. So, we're we're busy this month. How many days a week do you guys do the story time? Four days a week. Okay, man. Somehow that got away from me. I thought it was only two days, but that's full. Okay, cool. The demand is there. It is. It is. The parking lot is always fans full. Um I know there are some people that are disappointed they don't get in and basically it's pretty pretty full. So they have to come back on another day. Yeah, they generally everyone gets in to the building,

right? But yeah, sometimes it's it's it's crammed and they just stay and do toys or they're parking at the police station and so they're late, right? Or they're parking down at um scan scan along or something next door, right? That was not the right choice of words in I mean that I mean it's Yeah, they get there but it's Yeah. Yeah. Wall to wall people.

Yes. Yes. And Miss Chelsea did bubbles today which was a huge hit. They love it when we pull out the bubble machine. Um, the next thing I had is, um, I've just purchased a training system for our staff. We had it in the budget for 2025 and it just came through today. It's by Ryan Dow and he does his website is called homelessness training. Um, but he does trainings on a variety of topics for staff. So, we are starting with the homelessness training, but it's a whole module and gives us access to like dozens and dozens of classes. So, our plan is to implement that once a quarter. So each quarter the staff we will do a training together and then you know watch the training and then discuss afterwards. So that's something I'm excited for this year. Um the other thing let me share your my share my screen. I wanted to show you and this is something that Michaela worked on and she did a phenomenal job. Okay we go. Here it is. Perfect. So, this is our Aspen Lita catalog that we just implemented this past October. And one of the new features that it allows us to do is um basically we can show showcase other programs or databases or events that we have coming up at the library. So if you noticed right here in the screen I typed in the word French and it populates at the top of the search bar with our new Mango languages app.

So, if someone is searching, you know, um, intermediate Spanish, learn English for kids, French, um, it has over 70 languages. It will populate at the very top of the search bar with our Mango Languages app. So, we're hoping that this feature will push more people to our databases. Um, the other thing is that it also works for our Canopy streaming app. Um, so if they type in a specific movie or a television show or um something like that, it will populate that it is available on the Canopy streaming app and then that gives them the ability to watch it instantly. Yes. Is there a limited amount of licenses for both of these sites or are they like unlimited?

Um, we pay for our population if that makes sense. So our population is 13,000 for everyone to get one. Yes. Okay. Yes. Very cool. So, the only um I guess the only limit is is if they live in the valley or they live in city of Spokane, they can't use ours, but both the county and the city have it as well. So, we have I I had a person that I just set them up with Spokane County Library District just at the desk. So, they're still able most of our residents are still able to access it regardless of where they live. We're just, I guess, the last to the game as far as the county and the city have had it for a couple years now, right? Yes.

So, we're just hoping to kind of be able to push more people um to those databases and get our usage up. Um the other interesting thing I wanted to show you is um Michaela has populated a few of these like readalike pages. So, let me show you. So, right now, The Women by Kristen Hannah is one of our most popular titles at the library. our checkouts, our holds list for it is like 70 people on the list. Um, we do have like 25 copies of the book within CIN. So, but still quite a weight. So, she started making these read alike lists. So, if you see along here, if you like the women, you can click on this and these are some other titles that you could read that are similar while you're waiting that don't have as long of a wait list. So, they can scroll through and see all of these books. who's reading them to see if they're alike.

So, did Michaela put that all together? Yes, Michaela put this all together. So, um that's the benefit of Michaela being along with the library and she's the cataloger. I don't have a background in cataloging so she can do things like this that is not in my wheelhouse. So, it's amazing. So, I just wanted to show you guys that because we've been very happy with this app and all of the new additional features that it's giving us. So, we're really excited about that.

So, that's everything that I have for my reports today. All right.

I like the things that Michaela did with that. That's really a cool thing that gives you other options to go to while you're waiting for your book if you put it on hold or anything like that. That's great. Okay. So, now we are on to um the community needs assessment that was done in 2019 um uh on the uh library. And so, um I'm going to again defer to Jandy. She has some things that she would like us to review within this document. So, um I don't know if any of you have had a chance to read through the document. There are some things that are outdated um but there are a lot of things that are still valid and and worthy of note as we move forward uh in in um discussing the design of a new a new library or an updated library. So Jandy, you're on.

Okay, I'm sharing my screen again. So, I had a couple things I wanted to point out and then I thought we could go around the room and share other things that have stood out out to us as we were reading the assessment during your interviews and then over the last few months. So, the first thing I wanted to point out, so this is our library community needs or community I keep I call the community needs assessment but I guess not I'm seeing on the screen community and facility assessment and recommendation. So, this was completed by Kimberly Bolan and Associates in 2019. I was a children's librarian at the time. I was involved in some of the assessment, but not as intimately as the library director was at the was at the time. Um, we chose Kimberly Bolan and Associates because they had a background in library specifically. Um, their two main people who were on our team were both um had been former librarians for many years. So, that's why we selected them as our consultants. Um, basically they spent a couple months with us. Um, they did some staff, they did, you know, a bunch of different, um, surveys with staff and with the community. They met with a lot of different community groups and partnerships to get, um, you know, bring everyone to the table. Um, something that I really um wanted to point out is um they did a online survey in 2019 and we had 479 survey responses which was amazing. Um they said at the time no other city um survey had garnered that much

response. 479 um 300 I think 350 of them were guaranteed Liberty Lake residents and then we had an additional um like 110 that were um either didn't list where they were from or specify the valley or city of Spokane. I still value those responses because we do have lots of users to the library who are not Liberty Lake residents and I think their input is just as valid to me as a director. Um but with our community survey that we did this past um August, we had 516 responses. So my goal had been to beat the 479 and we did like 40. So I was very pleased by that. Um so some other um points that I wanted to point out to you is um they did do a lot of demographic work um that was you know with the 2010 census um so some of that is probably a little bit outdated um but we still you know find it valuable. Um, something that I always um like to point out from the survey is that um they did comparisons with other libraries and other cities of our size and it was found that Liberty Lake um excels at programming and that the programming we do for our community is above and beyond what other communities do that have, you know, a higher income and um have more money. So, that's something that I'm really proud of as a children's librarian is um how well we do with programming and how much our community appreciates it and you know uses the library for those. Um, one of, um, we had a partnership with the, um, kindergarten center, um, for about 5 years. And something that the kindergarten teacher would always tell me is, you know, I love doing Lego club and I love doing, you know, arts and crafts here at the library because it gets the families into the library and

then maybe when they leave they'll check out a book. Um, and she worked with a lot of her the title one students in the community. And so she says, "I just want them reading. I don't care what book they're reading. I don't care if they're reading the cereal box. I just want them to practice their reading. Um, so that's something that has always stuck out to me is like getting people into the library um for other things besides books can also lead them to, you know, checking out books as well or getting that library card. So, um, Liberty Lake, I'm sorry, I'm going to read the page. Liberty Lake clearly excels at programming. Liberty Lake is providing more programs and getting better attendance than comparison libraries. And um the program attendance represents about 16% of our library visits.

I like that comparison. Almost double other libraries like us. Yes.

Um so the other thing I wanted to point out is so after they did um they did a facility space needs assessment. So they looked at the floor plan of the library and they gave us recommendations on in a short in the short term how we could improve our library until someday when we get a new larger facility. So the thing that I wanted to point out from that let me scroll down. It's on page 23. So I kind of wanted to update you guys on um what the shortterm recommendations were and um how many of them we have completed since 2019. Um, so the Kimberly Bolan presented this to the city council in January 2020, of course, two months before the pandemic started. So I feel like there's a perception by the community or um the council that we haven't done anything with this assessment. It was COVID and we just, you know, threw it in the trash or something. Um, I know they don't think that, but I wanted to kind of point out what short-term recommendations that we have completed to u improve our library in the meantime. So, these were the short-term building recommendations. So, too much of the library space is currently allocated to shelving books that are not circulating. Sections to look at are the non-fiction section, the teen section, and to a lesser degree, the three and older fiction. So um during the pandemic we did do a large weed the library um was closed to the public for an entire year. Um we were you know doing holds pickup and our book butler program during that time. So we were getting books out to people but nobody could come in the library. So the staff did have more time on their hands than they normally would. So we did do a weed of our non-fiction section, our teen section, and our picture book section during that time. Um so um they said if we you know beat down

some of our materials we can do more face out merchandising and work on highlighting um other books in our collection. So we did reduce down some of our collection and so now on each shelf in the library we do have a um book stand where we can highlight a book and so each day staff will go through as we're shelving and if there's not one book facing out on the collection we will highlight those books. It's one of those things where you know you can judge the book by the cover and get some books um taken out um get some additional materials taken out that maybe people wouldn't notice. Um it talked about improving the shelving arrangement and narrowing some of the aisles that were a little bit wider in the adult colle um section. We have not done that because our shelves are not easily movable. So we have not narrowed any of our um shelving aisles at this point. Um the next recommendation was to um move down to um the number of service points that we had. So, um, in 2019, we had our checkout desk. We had our, um, information desk or our reference desk, um, over, um, sorry, I'm like gesturing where I visualize it on the wall, but where we have our computer stations now, we had an info desk. And then back in the kids' room was my children's desk that was right outside the glass doors. So, technically, we had three service points that we were trying to staff as much as possible. it was my desk, so I was just always there. Like that's that's where I staffed. Um, but we reduced it down to one service point. So, we just have the checkout desk. That is the point that's the desk where someone's always staffed and that people can come up and ask questions. Um, so that's one of the recommendations that they had is to not have having to have three staff staffing three different desks at all time. So, that would kind of improve some of our efficiencies. Um, for adults, add more

comfortable seating, flexible tables and chairs. Um, during the pandemic, we did go in and add a lot more um flexible tables and chairs. Um, prior to 20 um in 2019, we had one of those kind of large looking restaurant booths. So, we had two of those in the what we called the teen section, but they were not movable and they were not easily accessed power. No, they were just big huge booths. And so during the pandemic, we got rid of those and got the um movable caster tables and chairs that you'll see back there now. So we have four of those um four of those tables and then two chairs at each of those stations. Um obviously we also did that during the pandemic because they are easily wipable. Um we did have some of those like material upholstered um comfy chairs and obviously those are not easily cleaned or wipable um for you know germs but also little kids that might have an accident or tummy hurts or something. Um so we got rid of a lot of our like upholstered um seating during co um this past year as you know with our community um survey that we did one of the number one feedbacks we got was there's not enough soft seating in the library. So, this past fall, um, we purchased three new armchairs. All of them have the power on the side of, um, the armrest so that people can plug in a laptop, they can plug in their phone. That's another piece of feedback that we always get is that there isn't enough places to plug in for power because, you know, our building is from the 80s or the '9s when not everyone was glued to their laptop and glued to their phone 24/7. Um, so we have those three new chairs that are comfortable and also have power. And then back in the kids room, we got a new um larger kids couch um that came in in January that is wipable but is kind of

like a um love seat size. And then we have the shorter soft love seat love um shorter little benches that go around it. So it makes a big circle. And then we got two new um rocking chairs, but they look very modern. Um they're very modern rocking chairs. They don't have arms or anything, but they're all wipable, and they are adult-sized. So, we have the adult-sized couch and the two adult-sized rocking chairs. Prior to that, with the little blue bench that we had, it was like kids height. So, some of our older patrons and adults didn't love having to like squat down to sit on those. So now we have comfortable seating for all ages. So um let's see um the other recommendations, let's see, was the study room. Is that what's next? Okay, so this talks about um converting all of our shelving um to lower height shelving that is easier for people to see over for security reasons, but also is on the caster rollings so that you can move the collection around. This is not something that we have taken on yet, but that was another recommendation that they gave us. Um was that a suggestion for all of the So, it was for the adult collection because, as you know, when you walk in, they're like the very high eight

eight height shelves. Eight foot high shelves. I can't talk today. Um, so that was the recommendation for the adult collection. There's a lot of books. Yes, it is a lot of books. Um, each of these.

Yeah. Each of the shelves cost about $3,000 and that was in 2019, so they're probably more. Um, but they were talking about it would make it movable so that you can move it back if you're doing like a big Halloween party. Um, and it would also be lower for like security reasons because it's you can't really see the back of the library from the front of the library because of those shelves. Um, but because of cost and you know us constantly kind of working on a new library project, it's not something that we have invested in at this point. Um, let's see. So the next thing was the converting the learning center into a study room. So in 2019 we the study room was called the learning center and it had like eight or 10 computers in it and it was basically a computer lab. Um so we did use it for some of our programming but then also patrons could come in and use it to um you know work in the library, use the Wi-Fi um job searching, all that type of stuff. So, just a clarification, this is the room um as you come in by the um by the service desk.

Yes. Over in the corner.

Yes. So, it's in the back corner, our study room. Um so, they recommended that we change it from a computer lab into a study room that people could reserve. So, the end of 2021, we completed that project. Um we repainted it because it was a very, very dark blue and looked like a cave. very dark and so we painted it a very stark white so it's um um a lot brighter in there. Um we set it up with a very large table that can accommodate eight and it has the power um power strips in the top of it. So it can accommodate, you know, eight laptops, four phones, that type of thing. So it gives it gives the ability to plug in and use power. And then we have it set up, you know, with a TV screen, a whiteboard, and, you know, HDMI cables so that people can hook up their laptops and give presentations and that sort of thing. So, we made it into a traditional study room. Um, so that was one of their recommendations so that people can um reserve the room, but also for us, it was another thing where this is another place we can give people power that we didn't have power. So, oh, I I you know, I need to be able to plug in my phone. I need to go plug in my laptop. Hey, why don't you come into our study room? you can plug in there um really easily and use um use your devices. Um so that's something that we have been doing since the end. Was it 202? I believe it was 2021. Double check. Either way, it has been completed. It was a recommendation. It's been completed. Um and it is highly highly used. We will have five or six reservations in that room all day long. So it is it is not sitting as an empty room and that's why our recommendation with the new library is to have four or five study rooms because we will fill it. Um the last thing was to make our um back um meeting room accessible after hours.

So we do have a key that people can check out at the front desk and we do have groups who use it weekly um who will um check out the key. they can have their meeting at 7:00 p.m. after the library is used, after the library is closed and have access to our our meeting room. Um, if you remember in the kids' room, we have those glass doors and so we are able to um lock it so that patrons do not have access to the rest of the library, but they'll have access to the meeting room and then they also have access to the family restroom that's right next door to the meeting room. So it gives our community the ability to use the library meeting room during non-traditional hours and we can still provide that access to people. So they have access to the kids area as well then because can't the bathroom is right there.

Yeah. So they have access to the picture books but they we want them to have access to the bathroom obviously and we have not had the issue. So those are things for us to really I mean that already were considered in the remodel but yeah but we'll have to really consider and building.

Yeah with the new building in both of the plans at the legacy church we had it so um for the they would have there was access to both the meeting rooms and then a family restroom and it was kind of like a foyer area so they didn't have access to anything else in the library. It just had those glass doors that could be closed. So that's an improvement that we want to obviously continue in this newest design of the library. So those were kind of the short-term recommendations that I wanted to um point out to you guys. Um let's see, this was just um reduce the number of fixed PC stations. So at the time we had eight um computers that were available for people to use. We've reduced that down to four. um they re recommended having laptops that people could check out. We did have that for a couple years, but weren't getting a lot of usage for inside of the library. So, the idea was that they could check out a a laptop and use it inside of the library. That didn't get a lot of usage, but our laptops that can check out and go home with you do get a lot of usage. So, we've kind of twisted that to what seems to work for our community.

And so, those laptops are always gone. if they come with a laptop and a hot spot. So, if they don't have Wi-Fi, they're able to use their laptop and the Wi-Fi. Um, and then make power and charging points readily available in all areas where people sit and use technology. This has been our biggest challenge, but we have conquered it better this year with um buying those um uh armchairs that have power in them. So, it's just tricky because within the library there's like we have all this shelving and so there is some power behind the shelving but obviously that's not easily accessed. Um so those armchairs have helped with that. So now back in the um the YA area where all of our um people generally sit, we now have access along one of the walls. So it's better than it was with the new library. I'll be like, "When in doubt, add an outlet." Power every inch power. That'll just be our carpet. It's just power outlets. So, that's everything that I wanted to share with you guys from the community needs assessment. Um, did you guys have anything that you wanted to point out um that stuck out to you as you were reading the assessment? Well, I would just like to say the the document has been very useful in making the current library um a little bit more um usable in terms of technology as as technology become a more prominent part of people's lives which we have done but still as we grow it's going to which is why we still need to really consider a bigger newer library and hopefully we can get our community to understand that. Um, and I mean like Jan's gone

through the recommendations have been very successful. The meeting space has been used like she said continually. I think I've seen a lot of people sitting in those. I've sat in them myself. So I those chairs were a nice in seating. So things like that. the document has been very very useful and I'm just going to point out if you if you look at at the recommendations for new or expanded library I think those recommendations are really um things that um as we look at designing a new library that we really kind of really consider going forward like four to six study rooms um increase space for youth Uh Michaela's done a super job of of getting high school and middle school kids into a a youth kind of um I won't

Tuesdays, huh? Teen Tuesdays.

Thank you. Yes, the teen group um for it. They're they're great. They've been very uh helpful with a lot of activities. So um you know, I think those are always great. I think another one on here is a drive up drop off for books and the uh the current book drop off. There are times that that thing is overflowing. I mean the books are falling out on the floor. The workspace is not big enough to accommodate all the things that have to occur in that area. So I just think going forward this document has some really valuable suggestions. Um, and maybe the demographic part of it might not be up to date because I think this basically uh is a little bit short on the projected u buildout. I think uh I think our projected buildout's a little bit bigger than what this document had in. So it's having said that if if we might be looking at need meeting needing a library on the bigger end of their suggestion rather than on the shorter end 16 to 19,000 I think we might be on the 19,000 side rather than 16,000 side looking at full build up. That's my opinion. I do think that um when I when I've reviewed that, I spent more time looking at those recommendations myself and I think coupling the recommendations that were made in 2019 with all the data you've shared with us about usage and programming and access to things. I think that gives us a really nice starting point when we think about the kinds of spaces and the size of those spaces and the kinds of access and seating and all of those things that will be needed. question. Oh, go ahead.

Michael, you have a comment. Yeah. So I'm wondering Jundi if we can be maybe a little bit more specific around this plan and maybe kind of take some bullet points out of it and then put them in kind of buckets like one will be what has been achieved so far uh and create a separate document and say okay we did this this this and then the recommendations from there to take them into like those are the needs and those are the wants like this we really need because of this

and then you know we want 19,000 we want 16,000 and I I think for that section to really be able to connect with some of the activities like if we say we really need 19,000 to to point out exactly we will have you know bigger room for the events or or or so but again be more specific in terms of why that that request I don't know if this makes sense but that that that's my my thought about this yeah this is a long document you know if you give it to somebody to to to to read you can get lost into it because there's so many good recommendations there but let's get it more granular and and yeah I think those are good suggestions especially the uh separate documents u for what has been achieved what was what was recommended for the current building what has been achieved with the current building and then having a comparison to what is recommended for a future buildout and then um I showing how we can use the extra space and why

right supporting how those those recommendations um are needed based on what was current on the current data we have yes

and I will look at like we we could do this with this extra space which is kind of an expansion of the current program so I can have a bigger I don't know right story time where we have a waiting list now we can accommodate maybe more people or we could do those new pro programs if we're there because I I I think you know both city council and and you know the citizens would want to see this type of very specific proposals because I see that a lot like right now it's like well why do we need 13,000 why do we need 15,000 why do we need 19,000 what can we do with the extra um I you you have there's a lot of good reasons there we just need to put them on on a on a on a different document and formulate it that No, I would agree. And part of the part of the I want to say part of the problem of trying to get people to realize the need for a bigger building is that they come into the current library and it's great uh for what what they see uh until until you have a bunch of kids and moms that are trying to schedule themselves for a program that they can't get into. um or some other uh activity like um Halloween where people are standing out the for the Halloween thing that we offer that out the door and trying to get in and those kinds of things. But I think um uh so so they see all those things most of the time working well and it's basically because we have we have a great staff who has worked very hard at making these accommodations uh that were given by the uh by the recommen recommendations here to make it better for our citizens. But we have they hopefully we can by your recommendations Michael show them that okay it might look great now but in the future if we

don't act it's not going to be so wonderful and the other part of it showing them what they can get for their investment right what we can give you if we have more space right

it won't just be an empty Yeah. And then parking. I don't know if this has been addressed, but like I I took a photo at one point. It was Wednesday morning and then the parking lot was like full as we had some activity or so. Like as we grow, you know, and our programs grow, like what type of parking do are we going to need? I don't know if this has been part of the discussion or not, but we're not as walkable as I would like the city to be at this time. So, we still rely on vehicles to to get to the library. No, I the parking thing is is huge. Yeah.

Yes, we were talking about that right when the meeting started, Michael. Um how during story time Monday through Thursday, the parking lot is just full from 10 to 11:30. Well, it's a good thing there's an empty parking lot across the street. Yes, I have parked in that several times coming to the activities that are there and walked across the street on the trail. Yeah. So, yeah. Anybody have any other comments in regards to the the community assessment? Okay. J, do you have anything else?

So, the last thing I wanted to bring up is um we've been talking about doing the trustee training um in April. Um if Barb is um confirmed by the council um she'll be our newest trustee member and she's going to be out of the country in April. Um and obviously I would like her to be able to attend so that we can all do the trustee training together. April 8th. So if you did it before April 8th which is kind of pushing it. I get it. Yeah. I would be here.

Okay. So, I was I had reached out to um Jean, who's the trustee um representative from the state library and um I was wanting to look at the week of May 12th. So, I can send that to you guys um in email and give you a chance to check your schedules, but that was the new week that I was going to propose. It's one of those things where it's it's hard to plan far ahead. But if you guys can look at that week and let me know what your availability would be, that would be wonderful.

Dandy, would you still be looking at at an evening or would it be an afternoon? Um, whatever you guys's availability is. Well, I'm looking at the if if we did it that week, the 14th, we already have a meeting here. We all I mean, we all could talk by over and that that could be an option if you guys were available to do our trustee meeting and then go straight into the board meeting. It just depends on what everyone's availability is. I would be available for that on the 14th. We did this board meeting and then went into the training. I could make myself available. I can make it work on the 14. Can I How are you on the 14?

Should be good. I'll be brain dead, but Could you check on that, Michael, and get back to me? I know your schedule's a little bit trickier to plan ahead. Most likely, yes, I will cross check on that, but yeah, I think it's going to work.

I'll put that as tentative for May 14th. Okay. And so let's see, our next board meeting will be April 9th at 1 p.m. So, do we have anyone on Zoom or in council chambers that would like to make a citizen comment? Now is your chance. Okay. Oh, I think we're good. Yeah, I don't have anyone else on Zoom.

All right. Super. All right. I'll entertain a motion to adjurnn. Motion to adjurnn. Okay. Thank you. Second. All right. Good. We're seconded. Everybody okay with that? Raise your hand. We are good. All right. Thank you everyone for being here and uh see you next time. See you next month. Yeah. Thank you. Bye. Bye.