Arts and Culture Commission - Regular Meeting

So this is 7 o'clock, June, August 5th, 2026. I call the Cupertino Library Commission meeting to order. And now we start from the roll call.

Commissioner Han? Thank you. Commissioner Chiu? Yes. Commissioner Zhao? Yeah. And Chair Hsu? Yes. And Vice Chair Saktipal is currently absent or late.

Okay, so the next is approval of the meeting minutes.

Sorry, and I've got one more thing I got to do.

Oh.

I just have to ask Commissioner Pan a couple questions before you get.

Oh, yes. Yeah.

Okay, Commissioner Pan. Are you in the location that is stated on the agenda? Yes. Has the agenda been posted at your location? Yes. Is there anyone with you over the age of 18?

Not at this moment.

Has anyone informed you that they would like to make a public comment from your location? Okay. And is your location open and available to the public?

Yes.

Great. Thank you. Okay.

You can go ahead and submit.

Okay, so next approval of the meeting minutes on June 3rd, 2026. So is there anyone want to make a motion or if you have any comments on the meeting minutes?

Can I make a motion?

I second. Okay.

I was absent in that meeting.

You're absent? You're not meeting?

If you're asked, then you'll need to stay. Okay.

So I can make a vote. Yeah, I can second it.

Great. And we're going to do a roll call, votes. Commissioner Pan? Aye. Commissioner Zao? Yes. Commissioner Xu? Yes. And Commissioner Chiu-Chief? Yes.

Thank you.

Okay. Next, the oral communication. Is there any community member want to make oral communication or if you got any written communication? Okay, so next is old business item two, the Santa Clara County Library District Story Work Project Subcommittee Update.

Okay, I can provide a brief update and so He and the commissioner charter, right, that there'll be, since last, or last, but he already provided the updates that choice come first. Oh, I want to say first, yeah. We have live fishing first, and then the following day, he and the commissioner went to the park and the migration of catfish. And we created the slides we made, and it was a joint, a presentation uh among uh four of us include the diet from cocktail bakery and uh karen right that's presented uh brian kersky's application and uh e and attorney as a d split the presentation and that we were among the three parks that we did as a research Actually, PAC and Regression of Commission, they have a very heated debate and discussion about which PAC to be selected. And they use a point system and make it as a, and there is a first time scope of pie and that other two PAC, the remaining PAC, I think. Oh, no, I think of all the commission of Robert, isn't a jacket. He's a box. So then, you know, as a result, Wilson Parker stand got the electric. So that is the during what happened during Anna. So this is, we are very pleased that the Wilson Park is going to be selected if the project is approved by the city council.

But there is a little bit of follow up, Anna, I believe that

Ina showed with Bear doing the best he right. Yes. Yeah, and Bear has some concerns. So maybe, you know, we can let Ina make some updates about that.

Okay. So last time when we attended the commission chair and mayor's meeting, I got a chance to ask mayor this project, the vote at city council is delayed. Is it possible to make it earlier? And the mayor said maybe better don't make it earlier because personally she got some concern. She hope we can clarify that before they have a vote. Otherwise the voting result may be very challenging for us. So the problem is not about funding. It's about that around the library, there's already a smaller, a shorter story walk. And they found that one looks like abandoned. And they just worry if even the shorter one is abandoned, would the long ones can be maintained and can be used effectively. and they want to know how long we can change the book just to make people, they won't lose their interest in it. And I also had a chance to talk with Vice Mayor Chao, And she also had a question. She said, who will decide which book will be posted there? I told her because the funding from the county library, I believe it should be county library for, yeah, they will provide the book. But she said if there's anything sensitive in the book and the Cupertino residents complain, what will happen? Is it possible our city can have a chance to review the book? So yes, it looks like mayor and the vice mayor, they all have some concern. so it's better we can give them some satisfactory answer before this topic this project got voted at city council otherwise the yeah then um well i will say that when you are

When council members are looking for information, your very best bet is to send them to Bryant. They can contact him directly to ask the questions. But having it kind of come through the commissioners gets a little gray. So if they have questions, I would recommend to them that they reach out directly to Bryant to get clarification on those things.

Okay. So I will need an answer. Yeah, so should I send an email to Mayor, Vice Mayor and Brian on the same email loop? Should I do that?

But I would just recommend you reaching out to them and saying if you have questions about this, please reach out directly to Brian and you would provide them with his email address.

Okay, yeah. So actually, I didn't answer. I just collected their questions because I don't think I'm the one to answer those questions.

The library would be the expert in those questions.

Okay.

Let us know. You put it in the screen. They have those questions.

Yeah, those seem like very easy questions. Okay. And we covered a lot of that in our conversations, even in our meeting about this project.

Okay. So hopefully we can answer any questions that they might have.

okay yes thank you thank you uh so thank you for all the communications and thank you for everyone have passion about these projects and the body so you know ask her you know by email and i think i called you as well that uh about you know uh where this would be to the city capsule and uh actually good this September is actually ending well are we facing any delays or it's going to be September's agenda or in the LEC by Brian and he'll I will I want to have you know have the chance to help out in it

Yes, of course. I do not know when it is going to get scheduled. The city manager and the mayor are the two that sets the agendas for the city council meetings, and they both are very aware of this item. And so it will just depend on when they choose to put it on the agenda. And I don't know if that will be September or not. We have not been made aware of that.

do yeah okay and i just said you know for just cultural purpose you know i send on email to city council that the email is silly council with actually you know so all five council but brazil should receive by email because give us that but you know is the last two city yet have this story what It's the storybook we are talking about here. It's not even the same scale as the one behind the library. It's just the other works are part of the storybook. You know, they are completely a different scale and as a funny kind of different source as a, I believe, or even the book selection is kind of a different source, but well, and so I, you know, I did the top trial as well, and I teach dual working. Available soon, you know, but it's a copy of the dish. I'm talking about the dish set card. And also, yeah, just because, you know, I always do the work, and it's just not requested because the staff. Working on that is also correct. So the email I sent to city council, only JR responded to be that he said, I will forward the UI to city manager to get a copy. That's the last. five other cities already had this project. And the whole reason I had a passion about it is we, you know, my walking kid actually really exorcized it, and we really enjoyed it. And the whole reason we did it is because of my team member. They actually joined first, so then they bring the whole kid. And we are actually adults, you know. And so I don't want to be the one left out, just because of that.

But I'm so happy to hear that Molly, the city manager and the mayor is aware of all this.

Hopefully, they're also aware about us. We're almost past one. Given our library, you know, we're always number one. The programming will be back in the software. Okay, so that's the update from the... Thank you. Thank you.

Thank you. So is there any question?

So the city council approved is the last step, right? After the city council approved, then they can go forward with this project, right?

Yes, and then we would sign an MOU with the district to have it installed and all the details will be in that and then we'll move forward. I don't know at what speed to get it installed.

So the city council meeting will be once a month?

Maybe twice a month.

Twice a month. Oh, okay. I hope they can get into the agenda as soon as possible.

Yeah. Yeah, I think the question right now is, is it an item where they go and they talk about it or is it an item that's on consent where they would just say? Like those are typically things where they wouldn't need to discuss it. They would just say yes. Like when staff puts it there, it's because there really doesn't need to be much conversation about it unless they decide to pull that and have a conversation.

Since the mayor and the vice mayor have some concern, so I think probably Brian can, you know, communicate with them briefly. That will probably help us. Yeah, that will be helpful.

And Molly will be probably familiar each hour since this was brought to my attention from the commission, or should it still be initiated?

They really should initiate their congress mission, yeah.

Oh, okay.

Yeah, so that, it seems that's a problem. They got concerned, but they didn't, they either, oh, they may not, you know, initially communicate.

Yeah, so they said.

But that's on them to communicate that. That's not on staff or the commissioners. If you want to do an introduction, you're welcome to do that. But, you know, it's not on staff to say, oh, hey, Mayor, you've got questions, and let me introduce you to Bryant. They have his contact information and can easily reach out if they have questions. Okay.

So probably you can, at least you can talk with the mayor right now, the current situation, like them.

Yeah, that's why I ask you a question. Can I send an email, keep Mayor and Brian in the area? And then if they still don't ask, that's the best I can do.

I'll talk to you after the meeting about it.

Okay. Thank you. Yeah. So is there any other question for this topic? Since I was not there, I'm completely... Okay, so yeah, then that's the end of this. So the next is a new business. It's about the Cupertino Family Library independent survey results. Yeah.

Welcome.

hi um good evening uh commissioners and the staff uh first the introduction and my name is adan giao and i'm a coptino resident also a board member of cortino union school district so but but tonight the presentation is just returning myself and not the the school district Okay. So first of all, some backgrounds. For people know about me and maybe know, say, I'm doing city and school district-related surveys frequently. And to say, for, yeah, I started, say, several years ago with, say, doing service with, in the name of Cupertino Voice and doing some Cupertino-related service. And then I shifted my interest to Scooty Treats. And I was invited at 2024. And I did my surveys before the election and also continue to do it after the election. And this survey was inspired by Commissioner Xu. And so this is my 19th survey in the name of a board member. And so I would like to present the results for you. So the survey was come out in June 2026. And normally one of my survey I will let it run for about one month. And it was attracted to 67 responses and 59 responses from registered voters in CUSEE. And I believe they also come from the Kokkino area. And I asked 10 questions, and nine of the questions are library related. The last question is always quick. What was the other suggestion for migration surveys? So this will always be the last question. Okay, so I would present some hindsight from the survey. So for the most wanted programs, we have 60% of the people who answered those questions. And so 60% wanted the art and the draft programs. And 55% says, okay, we want a more comfortable chaos ceiling. So this is how they want to improve the library space. And 51% wants our new fish tank. I see it's still in the innovation. Yeah, 51 percent, they want the fish tank display to emphasize California marine life and the ocean conservation related stuff. And also, 34 percent, they want more audiobook and culturally diverse stories. That's some. findings uh take away from the survey and let's go back to the program program bar So I have one survey question about programs and a list of programs. And say 60% of the people, they wanted more art and craft programs. And 51%, they wanted more STEM and hand-on science. And 42%, they want more reading challenges and coding. And there's actually two options and they tie. So those are the programs. They are written upon the most. So for... This response, one of the features of my survey is that I report, say, who registered, even though the result is anonymous. But I report who participated, and those participants, whether they are registered voters or general public. And 88% of them are race voters, and they should be also people who are really interested in our libraries. And so, yeah, what does that mean? So I think it's for our reasons, yeah, for our library users. They want a more comfortable space and including the KOC key. And the second one is that they have a strong demand for enrichment program like art and the craft and as well as the stem so um. And the third thing that to say, we need to support school-age families. And also, some people, yeah, a lot of people value the services as the most valuable services are chain specs, about 46%, and the homework help. as a 42 percent and the early literacy support about 37 percent so well uh really the uh the focus area is that we can um see whether we can make more space make it more comfortable with a tail seating and also have more art and STEM programming programs. And so they can, yeah, those are within the range of the most wanted programs. And also, we need to maybe consider to broaden our collection, like audio books, as well as culturally diverse stories and the STEM books. So . And the last thing, but not least, is that to support our school-age family. And a lot of people, they said, well, they visit the library when their kids were young. And when the kids went to college, they stopped coming. that's a one of the the pattern so yeah we can invest in team space and the homework if i open to early literacy program it will be a big fail to our school education is Okay. So yeah, for the full results, you can scan this QR code and see the full results with the individual responses. So do you have any questions?

Thank you. Thank you for your time and effort.

And thank you for the... You know, regarding the population, you know, the survey, because it's like... Yeah, regarding your master's statement, although I don't think it's a simple sign of one, right, actually.

Yeah, my husband went to life before he died. He died at four, so it's not like he's graduating.

My dad passed.

They actually went there for my husband.

Okay, yeah, okay, yeah, sure. People have different kinds.

So I just want to know that, too. No, I don't know.

I send emails. So yeah, my population that say have two sources and one is at the race border and for those who have emails. And so I may send it to them. And if they end up deprived, I'll stop sending that. And also say for people, if they are interested and may subscribe to my surveys. And so I will add them in my list as well and send a survey email to them as well.

Right.

Yeah, and I also have question. Yeah, I heard so many of my daughter's friends, they visited library because there's a gap between the school end and when parents get home. So they often just come to the library together. So my question is about, is there possible for some teen space, because if they come together, they may discuss some homework stuff without disturbing other people. So yeah.

yeah i think part of our challenge is so many kids come in our current key space that isn't quite enough and sometimes we actually open up this room when there's no programs for them to come in as an overflow space but you'll be happy to hear that i believe it's next year our target goal is to renovate our teen space just like we're doing with uh yeah children's space downstairs and this year it'll be upstairs the adult space will be renovated so the tea space will be our next story so okay thank you thank you thank you

What's next, huh?

okay so next is a report and updates and the first update that's me and marie let me start the evening commissioners and oh there

Here we are for our August 2026 report. Hopefully you had a chance to look through it, but I'm happy to answer any questions that you come up. So take a look at the month of July. We did pretty good with over 180,000 checkouts there. We had over 67,000 people come in physically based on our GeekTrack counter. We were able to offer over 108 programs with over 5,770 attendees. And for those days where we did not have programs going on, we had 13 outside organizations use our space to have programs in the month of July. A couple of snapshots of different photos. As you can see, some craft events, which coincides with the high craft and art demand that our guest was talking about in the showbiz. You never can't have enough. There's always demand for more. But also, we did other things, you know, classes, drawing classes, a lot of art classes. And the top right there is actually a succulents adoption agency program for the young kids who want to learn how to take care of their plants. So that was quite a popular program for the Likamniani gravels on the tick column. I'll just see if they have a reboot and learn a little bit of garbage. Quick snapshot of the calendar of the Monk of Angus on the Chiltern side. You may notice that week of the 17th there is a little bit quiet on the storytime front.

We do take a week-long break during that time for our libraries to recharge after the rush of the summer ones with summer reading.

But we do fill it with a number of performers and kind of interesting programs so that filmies can continue to come again regularly during that time to enjoy different things that go by. So a few of the things I wanted to point out. More Calabats will be here on August 20th and they will have live specimens with them I believe. So it's always an interesting one for the kids to see. If you are into comedy and fun, Nick Drake will be back. He's a library sequel. You'll see him quite often at other different locations. But he'll be here Saturday, August 22nd doing a show to entertain the kids. And of course, music's your thing. You've got toddler music with Megan on August 20th. So yeah, lots of good programs happening. Same with the adult side. Quick snapshot of what's happening there in the monthly calendar. i will point out a few things well actually some i'll be talking about later so let's get right on order uh master gardeners will be in that month uh on wednesday august 19th for those who like to guard it and of course tuesday travel nights is still going strong and you're gonna have a gentleman coming here to talk about mexico uh and show off the footage of the places that they were visiting Quick report and a big thank you to Cupertino Library Foundation for sponsoring the Summer Chord Guard Music Series. As you can see, this year we had a total of 1,851 attendees for the eight groups that came in and performed for us. I do notice a trend that the first and the last dates tend to see the most people, and I'm happy to report that at 316, I believe that is the most attendance we've had for one of these programs. It would be other programs for this one's quite close up there. So again, big thank you to Cryptino Library Foundation for sponsoring it for third year. And we're hoping to see it again next year for fourth. Some summer reading reports. For just our location, Crippuccino Library, we had for children ages 0 up to 8, while Louise Schwell, we had 1,788 sign-ups. For teens, we had 2,024, and adults, we had 1,301. For those who signed up for summer reading, they can pick up their prize to August 31st. So they come on up to one of our reference best and check, and if they finish it, we have prizes for all ages. The Aquarium is having its reopening to public on Saturday, August 8th, this Saturday actually, at 10.15 a.m. There'll be a little bit of speeches, but a quick ribbon-cutting so that we reopen the Aquarium to the families, and we'll have a number of events taking place throughout the library that day to entertain them. We've got a photo booth coming in. We've got a special craft, a special story time. Of course, I've done two aquariums of fishes, scouting their hunts and curious of the passive activities for prizes for the kids to come through. My coworker, who will be refreshing our story walk outside, has also promised that she is going to lock in a story of the fishes in the aquarium before Friday. So we'll be happy to see that, Pepko. Big thank you to the CUP-TNLRB Foundation for spearheading this project. There will be a more official ceremony to thank all the different domers who contributed to this event. That will be on September 8th at 5.30. I do believe it's Tuesday, if I didn't misremember, and I believe CLF will be sending out official computations to all the different groups, including the Commission, and the heirs, and the... So, at least, if you have time, if you have friends, family, please tell them about it. It's going to be very exciting, isn't it, Rick? Another event I want to highlight that will be taking place here on Monday, August 17th, is we have the Autotop, a special one with Jen Fisher. Her book, Hope is the Strategy, is something that we are highlighting, and we hope that folks will join us as this topic is in regards to things that were place pronounced and how to establish the work-life balance, which I'm sure many folks who are in the workforce understand my paperwork comment. I want to hear what she has to say. The exciting thing is, for the first 50 people who can do sign up, we have a signed copy of our book available free for them. So I do encourage everybody who's interested to sign up and attend, because I think this is going to be a very interesting talk. And one final one, I did one for months. We are partnering with Sam Clara County's public health departments to host another opiate overdose overdose prevention training. This does require registration, but on Wednesday, August 12th from 2 p.m. folks can come in and learn more about kind of how we always work and kind of what happens with some of that overdose and what you could do. Attendees will not only get training, they will also get a Narcan spray that they can take home, so that if they do account for one session of emergency, that they'll be able to help stabilize. So again, a very, I think, helpful program, but you have nothing else so that you can get your hands on a free Narcan spray. And I think the only other thing to talk about is we will be closed on September 7th for Labor Day. Other than that, we'll be open all our regular hours. Any questions? Great.

For the, yeah, for the, it looks like a big event, very interesting, but I'm so sorry I will be out of town this weekend. Yeah, so sorry to miss it.

I made it a little bit last minute because there was some debate over whether they want to wait until September 8th to open it, but then closing it next month just didn't seem right. But if you're able to attend September 8th, that one's definitely worth going to as well. We'll get to meet all the different donors. will contribute to this project.

Yeah.

Appreciate that.

So you have two today?

Yeah. So again, this one is more just like an over to the public fun. Everyone was having a good time. And then the September 8th one will be a more official ceremony, again, to thank the different groups that contributed. And there will be the unveiling of the plaque that will be, I believe, installed next to the aquarium once we've had that ceremony.

Okay. Okay.

Any other questions? If not, I'm handing it over to Marlene poorly. It's just a war.

Hey.

Good evening commissioners. I'm . It is my pleasure to share highlights from the Cadwell Library Report. This month we had a number of global events amongst the libraries, including some that are especially meaningful for Cupertillo residents. And thank you, Ryan, for spotlighting Jen Fisher's upcoming visit.

on August 17th.

And of course, the reopening of the Aquarium, super excited. And I made it a point to be there as well. So I'm very excited for that event. Maybe Jennifer Reese will be there too. We've lost Los Santos as a neighboring city. Some Cupertino residents also use the Woodland Branch Library. So I thought it might be of interest to you that Woodland is opening a new terrace patio and native habitat on August 15th. This outdoor space will feature tables, umbrellas, as well as surfaces for games and chalk activities. And then on August, gee, excuse me. We'll be welcoming a delegation from the New Taipei City Library. There will be a short ceremony at the Saratoga Library at 10 a.m., followed by a tour of the Cupertino Library around the game. Cupertino is a friendship city, and you are all welcome to attend. one or both of the visits. We are also in the final two weeks of application period for the Santa Clara County Poet Laureate. The deadline is Friday, August 14. This is an honorary two-year post supported by S.E. Craig and the county. The term is for calendar years 2027 and 2028. There is a small stipend of $6,000 per year. The applicant must be a published poet, actively engaged in community work, and a resident of Santa Clara County for at least three years. There are more details available at ssbcreates.org. With your strong connections in the poetry community and having your own Poet Laureate, We would be very grateful if you can spread the word about this opportunity. Tong, I've come to the end of my report. I am happy to answer any questions. And I do thank you for your time.

Yeah. So any questions? Thank you so much. Okay. So the next, the next day the staff and the commission reports.

Yes, I just have a couple updates for you. Our Movies in the Park, the city movie park program, Fridays in August at 8 p.m. at Creekside Park.

The movie lineup includes Goats, A Bug's Life, Freakier Friday, and Superman. The Senior Center open house is Friday, August the 21st from 1030 to 1230 at the Cupertino Senior Center. And then finally, the Cupertino Senior Center is starting to accept their hidden treasure donations through Friday, October 2nd for their annual event.

And you can visit Cupertino.com backslash hidden treasures for the full list of acceptable items. It's a great way to enoch.

That's all I have.

So my update is about the story work. I already shared the information. So do you have any update, any information you want to share?

I just had a nice program which was project awareness and it was about guiding the students and the parents with opportunities that can go into parallel go into art and STEM programs so they can identify those colleges there was a counselor and the professional artist or professional like photographer last session was photography so professional photographers were brought in And they gave insight about how to apply, how to make a portfolio for students. And it was a very informative session. The next session is going to be in September. And it is going to be about a professional dancer and a counselor. So they are going to give insight to students how a parallel career in dance can be achieved while they are focusing on STEM programs. So those kind of insightful sessions are going to be there.

So is that funded by the Cupertino Library Foundation? I saw the program. My daughter, she would love to join, but she's out of town for the summer program. But she is interested in the photographer.

Sure, we can bring that program back next year as well.

Oh, next year. Yeah, that will be great. So is there anything? Okay, then next is talking about the future agenda setting. So next, the upcoming draft agenda items.

are working from our work plan. Our hope is to have the teens come back potentially in October. And then we still need to, and potentially the seniors at the same being. So those are the two things that are left on our work calendar that we created last year that we still need to accomplish. Oh, and I think... We talked about having CLF and friends come also, but I can't remember the cadence. That may have been every two years we wanted to do that.

I think a few months ago they come, right?

Within the last calendar year.

That's calendar, okay. Okay.

So, but if they want to come to share their program, are you welcome?

We will definitely invite them.

okay yeah any other idea so how about a team do you have any idea about upcoming so maybe yeah i also no voice you're mute if the story get approved then we can talk about it next Commission meeting but if it's not approved yeah yeah we hope it can be put on the City Council agenda in September we can do something this year

Also, since there is a Fall Fest coming up, could we talk about having a booth to kind of give information to public in that fall fest about what we do as commissioners, what is library commission, and any kind of information they need about the library.

Probably not. I don't think that, I would have to get back to you on that for sure, but I'm pretty sure the commissions don't typically have booths for that type of information. If somebody was interested, they're welcome to come to our public meetings, but we typically wouldn't have commissions out at different events. Unless there was something you were doing that was like a survey for the library, like the library is rolling out a survey and you are out there as commissioners to support that survey. So there would need to be something that you were trying to accomplish that wasn't just a, hi, we're the library commissioners, come say hi.

No, it's just information about the library programs, which we could promote kind of.

So I think Library Foundation, they usually have a booth in City Events.

The U.S. Foundation, they do have booths.

Yeah, and they share the calendar. So Brian's calendar on their table.

So you're talking about this?

Yeah.

The library will be there as well with our staff to promote the library. She says, you want to come help and like hand out some of the food for all the fish bodies. Oh, yeah.

That's great.

Yeah, because again, we have we usually have a team there. And it's quite busy. So we could always use more bodies.

Okay, what's the date?

It's the 12th.

September 12.

September 12. Okay.

September 12.

Okay. In Memorial Park? Yes.

Okay.

Okay. around the senior center so the time is from from morning to afternoon the whole day is that yeah okay don't knock down the head and do you it's early till at least 11 to 5 at least that's what i scheduled okay yeah probably we can go to the library booth to help if you need and uh yeah you're interested shoot me an email yeah yeah yeah and let you know when our team will be here okay sure yeah

Seems, looks like, yeah, I'm pretty open that we can, I like to join. Okay. So if no other suggestion, we can, yeah, call this meeting to close at 7.47.