Library Board of Trustees - Regular Meeting

All right, we're good.

All right, so we'll call the meeting to order. It is 6.08 on Tuesday, June 9th, 2026. We are at the Library Trustee Board's regular meeting for the month of June. So let's open with, we have five out of our six uh trustees so we will move forward on the agenda with any citizen statements and petitions from folks who are on the zoom or in the room all right all right so we will move on with the report from the Friends of the Bloomfield Public Library take it away Angela um the the word of the month is membership

Okay. COVID, as with many organizations, just kind of decimated the friends in terms of involvement number of members. And so we're slowly trying to work that up. Right now we have 323 people on our email list. Not all of them are members. They're just people we're trying to reach out to. But prior to COVID, we had more than 500 households. So our goal is to get back to that. We've invested in a donor database system called Little Green Light that will really help us to track membership and donations. But as of this fiscal year, I guess we'd call it, the Friends have funded both the grand opening celebrations and the summer reading for about $20,000. The teen advisory group and baby bags to family and children were close to another 5,000. So the problem is we're putting out a whole lot more than we're bringing in. So our goal this fall is to have a major membership campaign. What you have in front of you is a quick and dirty brochure that we put together very fast. It's not going to be our permanent brochure. but we wanted to be able to have something for our events. Um, we want, you know, for the events that are happening in the summer for the libraries or things we can hand out, um, we are, we're developing our relationship with the chamber. And every time I go to a meet and greet, they want cards or brochures. So this will take care of that, but it's not gonna be our, um, our permanent one, I will say, I'm really proud that I was able to get a QR code on it. I've never done that before. And by the way, you know, there's an application, there's not, it's not an application membership form on each of these as well. So, so in the midst of, of trying to really look at what the new libraries, new enthusiasm, looking at the, the friends doing more outreach and, and also getting other people in our organization, you know, families, mothers, you know, it's, and so we have some real brainstorming and thinking to do as to how we do that. But it's been a very successful year and we wanted to keep going. So we really need to, figure out how we get more members, more donations, you know, so that we can continue to sponsor the events that we've been doing.

Are there any fundraising goals that you all have identified early on or just as many members as possible and as many donations?

Right now, it's about membership and donations. Fundraising is something that we're going to have to Right. With, with, with Elizabeth in terms of, I mean, right now the only fundraising we do is the book sales. Okay. If we want to sell book bags, if we want, you know, can we do that? Should we do that? Where do we do that? You know? So those are the kinds of things we have to figure out, but right now it's about increasing that number of members and, and then taking it, creating, Ad hoc committees standing committees to do the work with the other thing is that. You know it's been the same board for a long time and how do we get people to go into the leadership roles and we're figuring projects committees is the way to get people maybe wouldn't want to commit to being on a board, but maybe would want to work on something in particular so. So anyway, we're in the early process of this. We're going to try to really do this all through the summer. So come September, we have a plan. And you'll be the first to know.

That's a good question. Is it appropriate for me to write to all my neighbors who congratulated me when I came on the Board of Trustees and send me their thoughts about books, libraries, and so forth all the time? And they should all be members. Oh, there's no doubt. Absolutely. What should I tell them?

Why not? You know, I mean, we want to get away from it's only $10 a year. You know, that's not the point. And we don't want people to only give $10. But we understand there are people who can only do that. Yeah. And we're going to look at, you know, having that. But yeah, any, you know. Is this online?

Can I get this so I can send it when I send them my request, demand?

I can send it to each of you on your email, if that helps. Can I have somebody give it? It's not. On our web page. And he was going to send it to me when you're ready. Oh, okay. So it can be on our web page. And all of this is also on our web page.

The old version is still on the web. Right. But if you're going to hand it out.

It's worth coming soon. Yeah. I think it's really important to get. Everyone's so excited. I was at the pride flag raising the other day. And I can't tell you the number of people who came up to Mark and said, we love this library. I mean, he's here all the time. And so we got to say, oh, that's great. How are you going to support the programs, especially when budgeting is such an issue and stuff? We want to keep these things going. So, but yeah, I can easily, if you're going to have it on our webpage, I can easily email it to all of you if you'd like and hand it out. Do whatever you can to get people to join.

I'm sure there are people who want to. They just don't. Yeah, yeah.

And I'm also convinced with the chamber, with the business community, there's a way in and all of that. That hasn't worked out yet, but I think there's a way to get the businesses to want to provide support The problem is wording. Is it a sponsorship? Is it a patron? We have to figure how all that works.

Excellent. Any other questions for Angela?

I guess I do, my chair. Maybe this is a question for Elizabeth or for the chair, but as a Board of Trustees member, would we be Would it be a conflict of interest to volunteer to, say, help with what you were saying, Angela, that you need people to join committees or be on, you know, something with the friends? Is that a conflict for us?

No. I know the past board chair, Ava, was a friend of the library. Joan Gieter was a friend of the library. So it looks like I'm slacking on my responsibility.

That's what I'm hearing.

It should be. The library.

Got it. We also select volunteer opportunities.

Yes. I don't see why there would be. I don't think there would be. I mean, certainly there's always an opportunity, I would think, if some major decision is coming up and you need to reach users. No, I don't. Don't think so. From my understanding of reading the bylaws, that's also an issue.

I will be signing up.

Thank you.

Any other questions or thoughts or anything for Angela and the friends?

I just want to note, Allison has been doing a lot to help make sure that BPL Online presents includes updated information from the Friends. And we've been also trying to make sure in our newsletter that goes out every Friday that we have up-to-date information for the Friends. And Alice and I were just talking today about there's a week in October where it's American Library Association celebrates the Friends. And we have done a lot of social media work around that. But in prior times, Prior to COVID, there was actually a Friends celebratory event given by the staff and the board. And so I think that we should, now that we're in our new location, we should reinstitute that and help with the membership drive and other things and be the face of some of these things for the public. The other thing is, as we all see in all of our volunteer roles, people think that they're not good enough to be a member or to help or something. And everyone, there's a process. The friends are so And if you are interested in volunteering, they work with you to train you to do all of the things. So there is, of course, things to learn, but there's a path forward to do all of that. And of course, you get to know all the library staff better and just, you know, you get the behind the scenes of everything done. fun happening at the live show.

I mean, I have to admit, every time I look on the website, our logo is somewhere to be found in, you know, things that go out and programs that are done, and that's really great. You know, the more exposure we have, the better.

I'll be filling my form out today.

And I know we have a lot of out of Bloomfield members as well.

West Hartford. West Hartford Friends doesn't exist any longer.

Really?

Yes, that's my understanding. So we have people from West Hartford who have joined us, but there's someone who's going to be who moved to Bloomfield from West Hartford who's a librarian in West Hartford. And she said the the West Hartford friends just kind of dissipated. And so here's our opportunity to really look at that population.

Like twice the size or three times the size of Bloomfield.

Well, my understanding, I don't know all the details, but I think one of the details was leadership was secession. Who's going to take over after all these years? And nobody stepped forward. You know, so those are the things we have to really work on.

Wonderful. I still got my form. All right. So I am going to relinquish my time for the chairperson's report because I know that our director's report is going to be comprehensive.

As comprehensive as I can be. So to be very clear, the Friends of the Library are such an important role and do so much so that we can then turn around and provide all of these programs to our public. And as we know, libraries are free, but there is a cost to them. And the Friends are very generous in terms of the entire summer reading program, helping with our teens, helping with little things that come up throughout the year. As we try to be very mindful of tax dollars at all times, the Friends come and step in In a lot of ways, so thank you so much from the staff from everybody um you know these have been hard times and the friends are always there and always a very welcoming presence and just lovely um so. In terms of we're going to be talking in big buckets tonight, the biggest bucket being the budget. So we know that, you know, we had this new library and I actually ran into a former counselor over the weekend. And we were talking about how when we were in our building phase, when we were at in the atrium. we were the only department that had a consistent hiring freeze. And I think it's really important that everyone understand that when we moved, even before we moved out of Prosser Library, we had a hiring freeze. So when people left, we were not filling positions. And part of it was a cost savings measure to the town. But I want to be very clear that we never really pulled back. And because of that, there's been an incredible strain on the staff that has persisted through all of this time. So here we are now in our new locations, catching up from that hiring freeze. And we did do the initial hiring of a few new librarians, library assistants and pages. And I want to just make sure everybody understands those page positions are six hours a week. The part-time librarian and part-time library assistant positions, we hired, Allison, what would you say their average hours are per week? Ten. Ten.

That's nothing.

Correct. Right. Part-time positions require the same amount of training as full-time positions. Right. So just giving everybody a big picture. So when we went into this budget, the way the budget process works in Bloomfield, your status quo budget, we asked for. Anything that was in addition is considered a modification. So our two full-time positions were considered budget modifications. We did not get those. We did get the status quo moving forward budget. plus an improvement in our part-time budget. Because of that improvement in the part-time budget, we are again going out for librarians and library assistants in a part-time capacity. We advertised the position without a specific amount of hours, we put I think 10 to 15, but really when we assess the pool of candidates, we're gonna look through, see what we have, and see where we can plug in. We absolutely know that there's major gaps that we have specifically around teen and youth services and a lot of other initiatives as directed through our strategic plan, including BPL Everywhere, our work in the schools and in early education centers, as well as back of the house tasks. And when I talk about back of the house tasks, this is a really important thing for everyone to understand because when I'm out in the community, everyone understands the people they see at the desk. Everyone gets that. The magic of libraries is when you go into a library, you do not know the back of the house work. We make it seem like, oh, you came in for this book? Yes, it's right here. That's all we want the public to know because it's no big deal. But it is a big deal. It requires a lot of coordination. Every single resource we have, whether it be BPL online, whether it be a book, whether it be the history collection, everything requires staff time. And most importantly, brain time. And brain time is what we've had. I'll be Chris and Allison right now. Yeah. Uh, our to-do lists are ridiculous and they're all like listed by projects. It's not even one specific task. It's, it's all big things and that's what we need to get a grasp on. So yes, we did. We are going to be hiring, but the next phase will be onboarding, training, figuring out where everybody fits in. Allison is excellent at this, but this has been hard and we, but we are excited for that. Um, And Allison and Chris, if I forget something as I'm telling this, please feel free to add. So we are very thankful for everything everybody did to support the library through the budget process, and we are thankful for what we did get. As people know, there was cuts across the town, both on the Board of Ed side and the town side. And our operations... require working closely with a lot of these other operations. So we don't really know what is going to happen with some of the losses we're going to see across the town. So there's a lot of things going on as we're trying to forecast for what we know is only going to be increasing use. The budget referendum happened on Saturday. They did not get enough votes to overturn the budget. So one thing as we started the week this week, we know what we have, we know what we're working with. So we are moving forward with all of that. But it was a very stressful budget season. I want to say we had at least six budget sessions. It might have been more than that. We had two community sessions. It's mandated as per the charter that The budget book, the proposed budget and the adopted budget live in the library. So staff helped a lot of people access these materials and show them where they are online. And that, again, is an information literacy, financial literacy component to what we do all the time. And I want to say thank you to staff for helping to streamline that. We want to be helpful whenever we can. So we are, you know, it's one thing kind of crossed off the list now that we know what the budget is and we'll be moving forward with that. As we are going through all of these changes, the big migration is mostly done. So, as we know, we had to share with the public that our consortium, which is 30 partners that are all public libraries and one academic, we all went through this together. There was downtime. And now I would say we're in the transition time. So yes, we have the new system. During that time, we did have a staff training day that went pretty well, but there's a lot that goes into this that we're slowly learning. And that's also the back of the house items, such as cataloging materials. All of the systems that we use have been updated. And I was actually going to hand that over to Chris and Allison to give a little bit more review of the migration process and where we are and where we still need to go.

So we are glad to be on this side of June 3rd. But I think we are very happy overall with the migration process, the way that our consortium, LCI, handled it. This was at least a year long that they started prepping us to work on this and really guiding us through. That being said, I know that they are still working extremely hard because now that the migration is done, now we're discovering all the little hiccups and little issues that are lingering. So some of it is affecting us and we're trying to work through it and figure out why certain things happened. trying to direct staff on, you know, getting used to the little oddities of the new system or things that don't, you know, don't necessarily seem exactly like how we would, um, and have envisioned. Then we're like, well, why does it say that? Why does it say that? So we're trying to get used to the language of the new system and trying to, you know, bridge that gap with what, what it used to be and now where we're going with it and maybe redefine some of our processes. Um, LCIR consortium is still working with the vendor to add functionality to the system to make it work with how Connecticut libraries work. So we're still in that in-between time too where we're not quite sure what that functionality is going to look like in the end. So we're trying to work on it as we go through it and document what it looks like today, what might be some issues we need to work on and then documenting how to move forward with it. So we are still working through it. And we've been trying to let patrons know too, it isn't just one and done. We are still training. We're still learning. So please have patience with us as we work through it, because it's still going to take us time to get to know the system and to teach the patrons the system too, as well, because the online patron accounts are brand new to them as well. So we're all in it together.

There is rosy skies, though, with the app. I haven't heard anything about that. The app is much better than the old one was. So there wasn't a lot of buy-in with the old app. We think this new one is going to have a lot of buy-in. One of the coolest things about it is it has a barcode reader. So if you're in a bookstore, you can scan it and see if the library has it. Yes. So I think, so that is, I don't know if we have a timeline on it.

We don't. It was supposed to go live June 3rd and we haven't heard of people.

That's why I said it. Those things at LCI are in it, as they say. So there'll be more coming for that. So thank you to our public. I know we actually had one of the slowest weeks we had because I think the public really got the message.

So that was a little bit interesting.

You can come back and check out materials. And I know we've been seeing a lot of people this week. So we are back in action. So thank you so much for that. And I know we had a question from a friend about our stats. So I just wanted to point, I wanted to go over to our stats page for a second. And the question was specifically about auto renewals. And I just wanted to note for everyone that between Chris, Allison, and I, you have three numbers, people. We are certain about these numbers. Yeah. Numbers are dictated almost all of the time from the Connecticut State Library. And auto renewals are a part of the physical circulation. So when you see that number, so you don't, if you have a book, you don't need to come back in and return it and recheck it out. And all books have different amount of time. So the only books that that doesn't apply to is our new books that you can only have for 14 days. Those you do have to return. But if nobody else has checked out your book or it's not, on hold for somebody, the public knows that that will auto renew. And so that counts as a circulation. Just I wanted to explain that to everybody. And then as I'm looking at this, I just wanted to point out, so at library cards, we're at over 7,300 now. The reasons some of these numbers are in red is- Amazing, you guys. It is amazing. That's so dope. The reason some of these numbers are in red is because the system hasn't calculated that last week yet. So we're going to figure that out for the June numbers. So we'll have a more accurate read then. In terms of program attendance, you'll see that we had 89 programs with just over 1100 attendees. Our BPL online resources are still being used and we have things planned for the summer to better teach the public about that. Our digital circulation numbers are slowly etching up. I think that's as people learn about what we have. And the new stat that we're keeping is that total computer sessions. And you'll see Chris went back in time to. to give that broad overview. And you see that that number just keeps on creeping up as well. Our visits for last month, we were at 9,100. So again, we're kind of assessing to see how that looks. And we'll continue to look at that over time. When you look at the project timeline, you'll see a couple dates have slipped, but one is absolutely firm, and that's the Prosser Library grand opening, June 22nd to June 29th. Everyone needs to spread the word. I keep, when I'm out in public, people continue to ask me if the library is open. I don't know how to more scream it from the, you know, and people see, but it's just the way things are. And so that's the main thing about the grand opening is we just want people to come walk through, come see the library, see it for yourself, see it firsthand. We have a little bit of everything going on that week, starting with the State of the Library on that Monday, June 22nd. And we're going to have a reception, and it's just going to be community building and hanging out. Then we have Nikita Waller in concert celebrating Juneteenth, and that is on Tuesday, June 23rd. Our big program is going to be the Prosser Prom on June 24th. That's for all ages. Come however you want to be dressed. Do you want to be dressed in period costume? Do you want to be dressed to your prom from the 80s? Whatever it is, come as you are. We're going to have a DJ. We're going to have story times. We even have a very special guest guest. For one of our story times, our recently retired librarian, Linda Gabianelli, who is an all-star in the library world and amongst many young people in town, will be doing one of our story times that night. We're going to have pictures. We're going to be doing the whole thing. Saturday, June 27th, we're going to have book dances with a performance and a talkback. I know that they were just at Hartford Public Library last week, and it was really enjoyed. I think they're going to be amazing. And then on Monday, June 29th, our last event is a banned books photo shoot. And that's an after hours event where we have this event amazing photographer whose whole thing is to support literacy and to get the word out that you really can't ban books what are you going to do ban people ban ideas bad thoughts and it's a very striking um photo where everybody will be wearing white and then they put their the it's no hate um on your face somewhere um and the idea is that we want to have these photos as kind of a keepsake memento for our history collection and um see what we can do with that so that's going to be really fun you must register for that last event I hope everybody registered. The maximum amount, 50 people. And that's period, end of story. So if you want to participate, you need to register. And when people find out that they're coming, it's going to be too late. So please... We want people to come through and see our library and help us spread the word about that. And all of the events from that week are generously funded by the Friends of the Library. So again, thank you guys for this and for our ability to shine. We are working on a postcard that is going to go out. The last time we did a postcard to all residences was pre-referendum for the library. I want to say it was 2021. It was a long time ago when we had the survey and all of that. It was years and years. So it's time. And the thing about mailers is it helps us hit the digital divide. So a lot of people don't have access to the internet, to all of these things. Mailers go to everybody's house. So, and it's really cute. We don't have the final version yet, but we're getting there. So more to come on that. But that's been updated on our timeline, also on the website. So the McMahon-Whittenberry Library exterior renovation, that was the really big thing that happened. Council approved our ability to use bond interest to finish McMahon-Whittenberry Library. That's great. We had hoped to have this done almost two years ago. We're looking like this is going to be completed hopefully this fall. It's going to be, again, transformative. It's going to look like a library. You're going to be able to tell when you drive down Blue Hills Avenue or Rockwell that this is a place for the public. So we put a softball 2026 for that. And then finally, the McMahon-Whittenberry Library Grand Opening. It's to be determined because... Part of that is going to b And if we finish the outside and it is December 15th, we're not going to be doing that unless we have, you know, a tropical winter. If we don't, we'll probably push that back into spring because a big part of that is landscaping and the children's reading garden. And so hence the TBD. So I just wanted to also say that I know we were working on the, on Jonah Weidman's relative, the Mamie Feimster. Okay. that is going to be part of that grand opening experience so um more to come uh so but but it's all on our radar and we're thinking about okay um summer reading summer reading we already are getting started we have last time i checked we had 70 people already registered summer reading is for all ages Summer reading is for all ages. Parents bring their children in to get their kids signed up for summer reading. And we immediately say, what about you? Reading is an activity for everyone. And if we're going to be serious about literacy in our community, we all need to participate and model what being a reader looks like. So we are going hard as we do every year with all ages. And yes, youth are very important, but our adults are just as important. And literacy is for everyone. We did include the flyer. You'll see there's so many programs. Summer reading officially starts June 15th. Is that next week?

Yeah.

Wow. And it runs from June 15th to August 8th. And when I tell you there is a program for every single person in our community, period, end of story, there is something of interest for everyone. And we have things for our homebound residents if they want to watch via BPL online. We have things in person at both locations for all ages, teens, tweens, little ones, old ones. It does not matter. We have it. And anything counts as reading. You want to read a magazine article. You want to read a recipe, recipe, a saucy romance, manga. It doesn't matter. Reading is reading and we encourage it no matter what your taste is. We included the June calendar in here as well. LBC update. So we had our last official LBC meeting. We're now going to be having special meetings moving forward. There are still things that need to be done and need to be addressed. I know people from the public like to tell us we know and we are working on it. The next visible things people are going to see is exterior at Prosser landscaping. So there's going to be native grasses put on the Riley side. The grass that's there is not the right grass, so you're going to be seeing reseeding. You're going to be seeing some plants being replaced. They're also assessing the concrete on the whole, on the plaza and on the back. Last weekend or the weekend before, there was work on the bridge being done. There's a little tweaking going on. So, you know, thank you for... sticking with us as we go through these things, but we are meeting tomorrow about the HVAC. We are meeting tomorrow with all parties to discuss some of the ongoing action items. I know Allison was looking at some of the tile downstairs today. We were working on board, all of these things. And I noticed the lighting was added to these. So the light, that's done. So things keep getting done and that's a wonderful thing. So we're excited about that too. um and i also was talking to chris today um the prostor porch the prostor porch is a thing people we put the furniture out chris and i did it we did it based off of what we thought would look best based off of the original plan and as people do they modify so it's interesting again thinking back to ties whose vision and the way the building is not perfectly square it's kind of you know But the half of the porch is mostly in the shade. So people, when the hot part of the day, they move the tables to the other side. And there's electrical outlets. So last night when we closed up and left, there was multiple people out on the porch reading, doing work.

We count them. I've always liked how we count them. It's a bridge.

They are not included in our number.

Good point, Chris.

Interestingly, so I assumed our exterior Wi-Fi was fully functioning. It's not. So we do have exterior Wi-Fi, and actually I'm writing it on this list right now for us to make sure we talk about it at our meeting. There's just some things that need to be still tweaked on that to have all of it fully working. But when you're sitting on the porch... It fully works because of the indoor Wi-Fi when it's out. So the plaza, it's not as strong. So that's just one thing we wanted to note. Was there anything else about the LVC updates, Chris and Allison, that we needed to share with the board?

I can't think of.

There's so many things, but I think there's no one.

A lot has been landscaping and HVAC.

Those are the three big ones. Um, Doncaster had me to speak on May 18th. I love all of our library supporters at Doncaster and Seabury. I cannot speak to them enough. They sing the library song so well, and they understand so much of our work. And I just want to say thank you. It's always I always enjoy going there. They always ask me the best questions.

So they have libraries in that. Yes.

Yes, they do.

Like a librarian or a volunteer? There is somebody.

Yes, and we work closely with them. And I know Seabury and Duncaster both have regular visits where their transportation brings them here. So they don't have the robust libraries that we do, but they have really nice libraries. Yes, yes, yes. And programming and things like that. But Seabury and Duncaster, they are readers. So we appreciate them. I also wanted to note that town council unanimously approved moving forward with that mcmahon wittenberry uh exterior it was it was very seamless and again thank you to our town council for continuing to support the library project when was our last meeting uh march 10th oh okay so i do have to do the april stuff okay On March 18th, Bev and I went to see John Kraska from Every Library Speak at, oh, yes, okay, thank you. And it was in a presentation called It's All About the Money, Funding, Power, and Public Value in Connecticut Public Libraries. It was excellent. Bev and I both walked away with, you know, just better ways to talk about this because it's hard to talk about libraries. Everybody says they support libraries, but what does that mean? How do you connect the dots for all the various stakeholders? So thank you. Bev's not here today, but thank you to Bev for... Thanks, Bev. Yes. We are working through the federal government's Department of Justice ruling about the American Disabilities Act in terms of online requirements that everybody can use it. They've actually moved that date back. But the library is looking very good in terms of our website and electronic resources. And the Connecticut State Library is helping us through that. But the town has some software. And when we ran the library website, I think there was like very minor things. Allison, did you want to speak to it?

It's mostly color contrast issues that it's not really passing every grade on making sure that you can see like black on white is the best contrast. If you have anything else, now it starts to be subject to a purple on a light blue. It depends how light is the blue and how dark is the purple. So there are contrast factors. And then updating the code. So we're still working through that. But I'm pretty sure that was most of the grade, so to speak, that we got on what was not meeting the standard on our website. So we're going to go back through that and look at our color contrast and try to be aware of it in the future as well. Yeah, absolutely. You know, flyers, even print flyers, you can do a color contrast and see before you print.

Thank you, Allison. And Allison always has her eyes on that too. We had the McMahon-Whittenberry Library Celebration on our paper. And I wanted to say thank you to Howard Friedman for taking wonderful photos that are on the front page. And a librarian's dream are McMahon-Wittenberry Library stats. We're on the front page of the messenger. I owe Howard. I need to get him. That was just amazing.

He knows a Board of Trustees member.

He knows somebody.

That was an edible arrangement.

That was really amazing. That was a beautiful ceremony. It was wonderful. And it was like, it was when we talk about library magic, that's what we're talking about. It was simple. It was nice. Everyone that was there. And we even had the post person.

Yeah. She was amazing.

Street moment where we. Exactly. So thank you to everybody that participated in that. And the second year at McMahon is going to be better than the first. Interestingly, last week we welcomed some of our colleagues from Greenwich Public Library who came to see McMahon. Specifically, they wanted to see the pods. Those pods are going to be in Greenwich soon. We were impressed with our space. And again, we just love sharing it with our colleagues.

What do you mean when you say pod? I'm 72 years old.

I'm not sure.

Oh, those are lovely. That's called a pod.

That's the three pods.

They're lovely. I owe this to my son. Spaceships, just right.

I live in it. After opening.

At Prosser, we rolled out a little free puzzle library. You can take what you want, bring back what you want. It's in the corner downstairs across from the reference desk. Erin's like, I haven't noticed this yet. Now you're going to be like, yes.

Today I came in through the garage and just came up to the second floor.

So it's right next to the cafe.

The lady who does it at the cafe. I saw her. When I was looking at the exhibit, I saw her.

She does them all the time. It's not a staff-mediated space. It's a community space for communities to take And it's been wonderful and so that you puzzle for them, you can take it home there's we're talking about one person she likes to do it in the library so she sits in and that's wonderful um the bloomfield greenway Tyler street to blue hills avenue multi use trail project. It is going to be pretty much going to McMahon-Whittenberry Library.

Oh, wow.

It's excellent. So when you think about the connectivity with the community, it couldn't be better for the library. And I also picture all of our young people being able to have a safe way to get in between. So it's really awesome. So that phase is coming again. You know how things are. But it is moving forward. Okay. Oh, I forgot to bring the bookmarks too. We had our middle schoolers during National Library Week created designed bookmarks. I want to say there was eight of them. Does that sound about right? Eight to 10. And they designed them. We have them. There's barely any left. We gave them out in the schools and we have some down in the youth department and they're adorable. And I meant to do a social media post about it. I'm going to do one. I didn't know it to myself. And that's one of our many programs with the Board of Ed that we do. It's a lot of fun. Thank you to our students for their creativity. Hilarious, we talked about that. And just our stats are just gonna be impacted until we get to the end of all of this migration. So we're gonna continue to keep the board abreast of everything that's happening though. And then finally, I wanted to ask for board approval for some funds to cover staff development. We had a staff development day last month where we had lunch and that was paid for by that guy. We need to reimburse him. But we also want to have, it was the most serious staff development day we've had, meaning we didn't really have funds.

Well, we did have fun. Lunch was fun.

Yes, we had a taco station from our friends down the street. It was wonderful. Everyone liked it. But we need to do something a little bit more ice creamy or I don't know, something. I mean, I'm not there if it's ice cream. So I wanted to ask for words. for $1,000 to go into that. So it will cover that lunch, but then also hopefully have a couple more staff appreciation events over the summertime.

So can I make a motion for $1,000 on behalf of the Board of Trustees?

So Elizabeth, if we can bring that up in new business, and then we can do that then.

Did I talk about Literacy Night with the Board of Ed? It just happened last week. This is the second year that we did this. I just want to say how nice it is to work with our colleagues on the Board of Ed side. We had the superintendent in the house. We had the chair of the Board of Ed and other Board of Ed members. We had principals.

And we had so many students.

So we had more than last year and we had the bookmobile out front. So students got to take a book for keeps that they picked. And then we had activities going on throughout the library. Aaron was here.

Because the Lions did the snacks.

Yes, the Lions did all the snacks and thank you to them for that. And it was really lovely. And again, we just continue to work better with the Board of Ed and connecting to our students and their um, caregivers. And we're going to continue doing that.

You say you had a bookmobile? Yes. Right out front. Where did that come from?

I need it, Patrick. That is a nonprofit that we've had them before for take your child to the library day. We were doing that at three 30 park. It was in the in-between times and they are, um, a nonprofit that does that. And they have books in English and Spanish for all age groups. And you actually walk on board and pick out a book. So that was wonderful. And I'm not getting their name right. What's that name? Read to Grow. Read to Grow. Thank you. Yes. Their early learning initiative. Also the Art of Prosser. Again, thank you to the Bloomfield Messenger for showcasing that. We are on our third exhibition already. The idea is that we have these exhibitions quarterly. And the current one was in partnership with the Mandel JCC. It's photography. It's gonna be different every time. I think our next one is gonna be paintings from a local Bloomfield artist. And then we are going to be working with the Prison Arts Collective. I forgot to tell you, we haven't heard from him. And he's coming, John Green. So it's amazing. We had it in the old processor as well. I want to say like 2021. And it's this group that goes in and works with incarcerated people to create art of all different kinds, paintings, drawings, sculptures. materials made from garbage. I mean, it was incredible. I want to say it was my favorite thing that we had.

Students have work in that show.

Okay. Well, they are forthcoming. That's going to be at the end of the year. So, essentially, we're working with different community partners, different community groups, and it's just adding to every single time you come into the library, you never know what you're going to see. So, I love that, and it's really fun. And I think that was the last item that I talk about with everybody. All right. Chris and Allison.

Yeah. It's been a lot the last couple of years. But I think that covers a lot of it.

Yeah. All the key points have been highlighted. Yeah. Wonderful. Are there any questions for Elizabeth? I have one.

Surprise. So Elizabeth, just two things really. So the hiring, I only saw a library assistant posted. But you alluded to hiring.

The librarian part-time position was also posted. I can't remember the order.

Maybe that's what it was. That's what it was. Okay. But there will be others. So they're not all posted. There's just that one that's posted or...

Librarian part-time was posted and came down. Oh, okay.

I only saw. Okay. So there will be post for everything.

To say, so for each posting, we're hoping to hire multiple people. So, okay. Part-time librarians multiple. but one posting covers it.

Okay. I'll gotcha. That's the part I missed.

Patrick, that's a great question because it's, this is the difficulty of hiring part-time people. A lot of times they have other positions. So we're trying to figure out how to do this tango of what works for them, what works for us. We know what our needs are and we know what gaps need to be filled. And so that's why we put in the posting actually 10 to 15 hours, but we're going to work with people and hopefully get some really qualified candidates. We have, A very key part-time person, part-time librarian, long-term librarian, retiring in July. And she does a lot of our story times. And she works on average around 19 hours per week.

What is the max hours of PT?

Of part-time? Yeah. 25-ish. There's no exact answer because it's really an average over time. And a lot of our part-time staff, they have their, you know, there's an ebb and flow.

Ebb and flow, yeah.

Like if you're just doing desk time, if you're doing cataloging, if you're doing programming, like so.

Various.

Yes.

Okay, so my other question is, do you have any updates on the solar? Because I thought I should know this answer because I attended the kickoff, but I don't. I can't remember their schedule.

Yes. So they've come, they've looked. Okay. They've assessed. There were some things that need to be fixed. The people who fix those things are in the know about that. That's where we are.

Okay. But the crane that's supposed to bring all the solar panels that was going to go from the parking lot has not happened.

Not yet. No.

Okay.

You will know when that happens. Everyone's going to know. That's going to be another very visual thing where people are going to know what's happening.

Is Glenn managing that from Public Works? Yes.

Yes. But one of the big departures from town is the director of public works. And there's going to be changes.

Right.

And we're trying to figure out where Glenn is going to fit in and all of this. I am hoping he prioritizes the library. Glenn has been wonderful to work in all regards. And he understands. Yeah. You know, so to be determined.

Yeah. Okay. Okay, good. I think that's it. Thank you.

I'm glad you put the solar thing up because I'm also the budget impacts of that. So I know we, we, we know that we're not going to have the budget impacts of the solar for still like guys, everything, you know, but yeah. Yeah.

Yeah. Okay. Yeah. But it'll probably take until next year, really.

Right.

The full right feel of what that's going to do to impact the budget.

Yeah, absolutely.

So it's all up and running. Okay, thank you all.

Any other questions for Elizabeth?

I have something to say, but I'm going to put it in board comments. Okay. You sure? Well, I'll say it now.

Okay. Go for it.

Well, I'm on the CEEC, the Environmental Committee, and we had Shred Day, and where people bring all their papers, all that stuff. And I met this guy, Brad Huskinson, and he told me he's doing this program at the library September 15th. And I said, I was very, very interested. And I just want you to know at the library that I'm very interested in this. I've already told CEC, which had a meeting right before this one, that I'm very interested. So if there's anything I can do to promote or get involved or whatever, plastics i think story all right it's very important environmental issue can you just read what it is the story of plastic film screening and all discussions okay big event yes tuesday september 15th in partnership with the cec so whatever i can do to help with that that's um so

Yes, I love that he's already promoting that. And that's a great example of how far ahead we program. Because now it's impressive. Yes. Well, because and just so the community knows, because we get people come and they're like, I want to do a program at the library next week. And I'm like, oh.

Do you?

Like, you don't know library people. So we program, like, our calendar almost for this entire year is built in. But our movies are getting bigger and bigger. And actually tonight, I know the friends have been helping. Did you mention about Library Ambassador Program? No. The friends have been helping at our film series where they come and they give information and they participate and have snacks and refreshments. And we're just developing this program, the library ambassador program. And tonight or tomorrow night, Rachel told me. Tomorrow night. Tomorrow night. Thank you. We have the most people ever registered. And we're excited just because some of our programs, you know, and just to be clear, I do not put any pressure on my staff about numbers. It's not about numbers. It's about quality. And if you build quality programs, people will come once and then they will come again. And that's what's happening. So sometimes my staff puts their own pressure on themselves about it's not coming from administration. But tomorrow night, Rachel's very excited. There's 20 people registered. Wow. And it's amazing. Right. And it's so interesting to me how slow and steady, like, you know, the movie night when you came, there was maybe 10 people.

Maybe.

Right.

You and your son were two. Yes.

As we slowly, you know, if you build it and you do it right, you know, and then we have a lot of programs that are very well attended, but sometimes the more esoteric intellectual ones. you know, but we need to have those. It's like, you need to have a buffet of all different types of things.

I think the popcorn maker, definitely. It was so funny when that was going, people are walking by. And what better combination, but popcorn and movies, you know, people were excited about the popcorn. Um, I think it, it can be developed better. And, and so there isn't popcorn all over the place, but, um, But in any case, yeah, I think I'm glad to hear that because there's only been a handful of people at most of the Wednesday 530 movies. Now, the Friday flicks, I believe, are going, are a little more attended. But yeah, you know, and maybe in the summer, that's not going to be huge, but they all have themes. And I think this one is...

I think it's a documentary about a concert that took place in Harlem.

Harlem, I've seen it. It's incredible.

It's phenomenal. It's phenomenal. It's so great. You see Sly and the Family Stone. You see all of these icons just on stage in this park in Harlem. thousand degree heat it's just it's so great they've got gospel they've got blues they've got r&b it's so wonderful yeah it's great movie our sound system oh yeah oh yeah absolutely that's great great to hear any other questions for elizabeth questions just yeah just a comment shout out to the library for Provided more pleasant front page covers and headless doors.

Yeah.

One thousand percent. Good stuff going on here.

And you don't have a thousand, Sherry.

Community love. That's right.

Yeah. Yeah. And thank you for bringing that up, Sherry. I just, you know, I want to reiterate the community here at Bloomfield is obsessed with the library. And so the work that you all are doing as leadership and staff is just phenomenal. I know I'm here all the time, so you're probably tired of looking at me. And that's great. You know, but I've been able to bring like some of my friends, like my professional colleagues here to the library. And they have nothing but great things to say. And they're trying to figure out how to get a library card while living in other states. Yeah.

I forgot one big thing. So I was at the Connecticut Library Consortium annual meeting. Did I say this part out loud today? In Southington, Southington has a new library too. I serve as the treasurer for the Connecticut Library Consortium. Last year alone, our partnership and the contracts we have through them that are only for public libraries saved us over $50,000. And across the state, every library, I mean, it's millions of dollars saved through these collective buying agreements. And thousands of librarians, I wish I had the number written down. There's so many librarians who are part of the Connecticut Library Consortium. There was one award given out today. and went to Sarah Ray from Bloomfield Public Library. And I cannot tell you how many librarians. And so, and it was because of her service to the profession, how she just is such a great organizer. We're so lucky to have her on staff. That's why we have so many programs. She's the one making sure that we meet all of our deadlines for the messenger and the calendar and the Yankee flyer, like it's because of her. And Allison, too. But it was a very proud moment for Bloomfield today. And we I know we just featured her on our social medias, but I think we might have to again because it's a kind of a big deal. So that's right.

Wonderful. Wonderful. Thank you for sharing your thoughts, feedback, questions for Elizabeth. All right. We will move on. We've covered the budget and the LBC sort of updates, the general ones. Are there any additional ones that maybe come to mind now that may not have come to mind earlier?

Just that we are already working on the fiscal year 28 budget. Okay. Based off of what we, you know, we're already mindfully thinking through that.

Good practice already.

Wonderful. So new business, we don't have anything here now, but there is the piece that you mentioned about professional development a little earlier. So if you just give a quick overview of that again, and then we can get the motions.

So this is essentially to help with professional development. We just had one. So it is paying for the lunch from that day, which we used a local business here in town, TJ Burrito's. and hoping to have a couple more this summer going into the fall. So I'm requesting both as a reimbursement and a moving forward $1,000 to go towards that.

Excellent. Excellent. The floor is open for discussion. Any questions?

Any questions? A very positive experience for our staff and a way for us to say thank you. Absolutely. Absolutely. A lot of work.

Thank you.

The last few months. Very much Madam chair. May I make a motion?

Sure. So if there are no questions or comments, we'll close the floor for discussion and we'll look for a motion. Brother Friedman.

I'd like to make a motion for June 22nd. Did you say it was a professional development? Yes. Oh, no, that's for grand opening and one of my other notes. To be determined. That we approve $1,000 for a professional staff development day and luncheon sponsored by, are we sponsoring it? Yes. Sponsored by the Board of Trustees.

Wonderful. There's a motion on the floor. Is there a second?

Second.

Second by Claudia. Is there any discussion?

No, no, no.

And wonderful.

Wonderful.

I feel like we have discussed it, but I wanted to just make sure, though it has been properly moved and seconded. All those in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed has the same right. Ayes have it. So moved. Thank you.

Thank you both.

Absolutely. Absolutely. Is there any other new business that, again, we may not have thought about a little bit earlier, but has come to mind at this moment?

Nope.

All righty. Moving on to our second portion of citizen statements and petitions. For those of you online, Jim and Ava, also those watching after this has been archived, the Library Trustee Board has two opportunities for citizen statements and petitions. And so we are at our second portion. And so do we have any folks with their hands raised on Zoom or anyone in the room with a citizen statement or petition?

see anyone online uh with their hand raised so i would say all right and oh oh all right hey queen uh all right ava biffer hey ava hi thank you guys for reminding me so i just signed up for summer reading yay website link on website to summer reading that's right

Wonderful.

Was it you just wanted to tell us that you had registered, Ava?

I have books everywhere just waiting.

Wonderful, wonderful. Thank you so much. For those that are watching later, Ava is my immediate predecessor. Wonderful, wonderful, wonderful. Board comments. Everyone's quiet. Quiet. Right. So next we have approval of the March minutes. Floor is open for discussion, edits, feedback.

I'd like to make a motion to approve those minutes.

The floor is closed. Do we have a motion to approve the minutes from March 10th?

I'd like to make a motion to approve those minutes.

It has been moved. Do we have a second? I'll second. All right. Seconded by Patrick. It has been properly moved and seconded that we approve the minutes of March 10th, 2026. All those in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed has the same right.

All right. Ayes have it. The March 10th minutes are approved.

Our next meeting is July 14th, 2026 at 6 p.m. Will it also be here? So we're here from now on?

We are here from now on, but we are going to have at least one meeting a year at McMahon-Whittenberry Library.

Perfect. Yeah. Perfect. Wonderful. Wonderful. So the July meeting will be here at Prosser in the conference room, correct?

Yes. Perfect. 218 is the number of the room.

And with that... We have come to our end. Is there a motion to adjourn? I'd like to make a motion. It has been moved to. We have a second.

It was a wonderful meeting.

Thank you. It has been moved and seconded that we adjourn. Let's adjourn. Wonderful, folks. Thank you so much. Bye, Ava and Jim.

Good night, everybody.

Good night. Good night, Harvey. Isn't it nice?