Library Board of Trustees - Special Meeting

Universal today let me give it one second and make only miss I believe it's running Pages let me I don't see recording oh it says it is um says it is on my end um yeah yeah as long as we are good um I can check Isen Queen all right let me let Dr to I wondered where he went so Chris so we're um ready to go okay thanks okay it's 5:34 it's called the meeting to work and um we have a quum hopefully Sher will be able to join us in a bit um Chris do we have any citizens waiting to talk uh I don't believe so no okay thanks um and not let me forget Chris thank you so much for doing the tech which I know is challenging there and for taking the minutes

okay excuse me report from the friends of the Bloomfield Public Libraries oh and Sherry is here with us great we're all here okay I'm sorry Penny nothing new to report nothing new to report this week I'm excited to listen to all the things that you'll be talking about okay thanks um so chairperson's report and we have a fairly robust agenda so I'm going to be really brief but I'd like to acknowledge the Excellence of BPL leadership and staff in seeking constant detailed feedback to inform programming um beyond that I want to knowe that the feedback being received is overwhelmingly extremely positive so thank you to you all this is so well done on every level and much appreciated and with that um let's move to the director's support Elizabeth thank you chair I wanted to say start off with congratulating the Philadelphia Eagles for their Super Bowl win on Sunday um it was a really great way to see excellence in action and uh lot of lessons to be learned um by all um I want to say thank you to the Friends of the library for helping our take your child to the library Day event and kickoff to Black History Month be so successful we had um the Children's Museum one of our favorite Community Partners um have a steam program in the morning we had 70 people in attendance for that and in the afternoon we had anara Ramen and tab drums will travel

perform um African drumming and then also talk about the history of African drumming in Hartford from the 1970s to the present it was excellent uh we had 51 people in attendance including the town manager and I just want to thank him for his support and his presence there we continue to celebrate Black History Month with a whole lineup of diverse programming for all ages and I want to extend uh an invitation for our library board members as well as our public and the friends of the library to please attend at least one program this month in honor of Black History Month um when you attend programs I think it informs everything we're doing in our bigger picture and uh it it's it's it's really great to have your presence we are doing a special social media uh program to go along with black History Month where staff are picking um members that are important to them and then we share something of importance about that person along with the photograph on the Bloomfield Public Library Facebook and Instagram Pages we've also been sharing that on other community pages and I'm very impressed with the community feedback and participation in that um so thank you to everyone on staff who has participated so far and please follow us at BCT on Instagram and Facebook to keep up with that I'm going to ask Chris to do a museum pass demo um in a couple minutes I forgot to remind him about that no it's just that okay um and uh in a second we're going to do that um I attended the Chamber of Commerce event um where they were

talking about the business Community um the Outlook the uh Financial Outlook moving forward it was really interesting and informative and I just wanted to take a moment to remind everyone that Bloomfield Public Library readily supports the business Community both with resources online as well as all of the technology assistance the faxing the printing and the expert assistance from staff we also link out to a variety of resources to help people um and it's a great resource so just a reminder on that front we continue to work on the budget we are still fine-tuning some aspects of that um and we'll be meeting with the town manager and the Chief Financial Officer to further discuss that um we are trying to financially plan for All Phases of the building project including um when the fiscal year hits on July 1 we will have McMahon whittenbury Library open and then prer will hopefully be on boarding in September so we're thinking through all of that we are also um very excited that we are about to on board three Library assistants um Allison oversaw that process um three part-time people it's really going to help fill in a lot of gaps that we've been experiencing and making scheduling both in terms of our reference uh desk and and um public park programming and preparing collections all of those things are going to be greatly helped for that with those three new people I think the first of those three is going to start next week um so we're really excited about that and then we're about to go out for three part-time Librarians again we can't wait to get these people on boarded we need

help at service points with programming behind the scenes and the hundred million other activities that our staff partakes in so um stay tuned for that and of course if you know anybody please tell them what a great place this is to work um and Chris is ready to give the demo on the new museum pass yeah I'm just gonna do a quick brief overview of our new museum pass um service but can everyone hear me I have to sit off to the side here can you okay let me share my screen when I share my screen obviously you won't see all right everybody see being the website right um so if you're already familiar with the museum pass access it's it hasn't changed the best way to get to it is right on our website here in this menu you can see Museum passes there's a couple other ways there under how do I and services but this is the easiest way and our new it's a landing page where it tells you a little bit about the program you know just what the rules are and um how how the process works but we'll just Dive Right In it's pretty straight ahead um you can search by Museum or by date I highly recommend searching by Museum because by date can just it it's it doesn't work as smoothly as I'd like so let's just search by Museum and then it just lists all the museums one really nice thing that um to note is anyone with a with the printer icon here these you can print the pass at home home often you can even show your phone with the pass and then the ones that don't have the printer icon those are passes you have to pick up in the library okay so that's one nice thing that that is showing the Beardsley Zoo for example you have to pick up in the library um we'll go to Florence Griswald

Museum and it's just GNA that was interesting let's go back you can learn a little more information about what the pass offers by hitting more information or learn more you can see that it gives two adults and two children uh free admission the Florence grizwald all the passes are different if you've used our passes before some are discount some are free admission but let's check on the let's see if the Florence Griswald is available and this is really a nice interface it just this gives you a list of the next 30 days um and you can just pick it for whatever day you're going to go um it'll even show you the days that the the museum is closed so on on Monday the museum is closed but if you wanted to pick uh the date let's say Tuesday of next week is when you want to go you reserve it I don't have a li recard number with me so um I I can do it real quick actually I have my card with me why not I'm gonna leave and go to the Florence bwell Museum [Music] tomorrow yeah I can no I'll go ahead and show that's okay oh yeah that's true you know I don't want to use my library card this is a public meeting so we should probably not do that A's like are you sure so anyway um I can go get a test one you want to do a test one I have a r in my office okay you want to do one yeah all right if everybody could see it right and I'll take this moment just to explain that we have all different types of Museum passes to the zoo to Art Museums um the Marain house it's a variety of cultural institutions and the idea is that your library card opens More Than Just Books it opens doors into a lot of areas where you can learn more and enrich your lives and again it's for all ages all right so that was pretty quick luckily my office is close by so let's

go ahead and use this as a test card very straight ahead we worked hard to make it as easy as possible so our patients don't have to enter um too much extra information so you hit next step after you put your card in and it's just checking to make sure everything's correct this is a test card but on a normal card it'll bring in your phone number um so you don't even have to enter that if if you already have a card iner system it'll bring it right in you can always put your email address in there I will do that that's fine and Next Step it's going to send a confirmation to your email just reviewing everything telling you the day and you just place the reservation and then what's really nice with these printable passes is right away you can print the pass now and you can there's the pass you just can print it on your printer you can send it to yourself it already sends it to you in the email but you can send it as a PDF in your email and if you don't have a printer and you want to be sure you can always come to the library say I reserved the p and I'd like to print it and we'll print it for for you so that's a pretty quick down and dirty um explanation of our new service but we really like it it's it's people before we even advertised it we turned it on and people started using it right away so that was good all right I'm G to stop sharing all right I was like thank you Chris and just so everyone knows we had to quickly um switch to that program because the other vendor just closed up shop so all libraries across the state were kind of like wow and so um thank

you to Chris for helping us transition so quickly and again we invite everyone to participate in that um the library building committee a lot of stuff is happening the bridge has been been installed raise your hand if you've noticed the Bridge installed yeah it is an amazing visual interest and again when you're coming down Mountain Avenue I really think it's going to make the public just want to come in the library so we were really excited about that a lot of great photos we're going to continue to share about that um we had really good news about the proster furniture fixtures and equipment um back in fiscal year 2022 or when we originally budgeted it we had it um come coming in at 667,000 then we had to go back out and it came in at 727 th000 but our friends at tskp talked us into going out to bid which we did and everything ended up coming in at 615,000 so we saved a lot and we got the the Highlight for me is everything the Youth Department wanted to make the Youth Department be a grand slam worked so I'm very excited and I think that on opening day it's going to be the Youth Department that stands out and I I just can't wait so thank you to our colleagues at uh tsp for continuing to give us such good guidance um we are very excited about McMahon Whitten Berry Library opening we are still hoping for a soft opening um on March 17th St Patrick's Day um we want to reiterate and it's really important that we explain this to the community that the interior of the library will be about 75% done meaning we are still waiting on some furniture to come in um and other odds and ends so we will you have a full Library experience you'll

have pretty much a full Library experience but it's not all going to be set and done and the biggest thing is the exterior is not going to be done the exterior will not be done and started really until prer finished so we're looking at um late early fall for that so we want to manage expectations and have the public know that we're going to have a lot of services there but it's not going to be 100% ready yet um but we're going to get there and we really thank the public for their patience right now um as we continue to to to make it perfect um we're also looking at that croster timeline and we are aware that things come up that may push that opening date a little bit later as well but but um it will definitely be this year I can tell you everybody that it's going to be this year and we're going to continue to um to talk through that with everybody so um a lot of exciting stuff on that front next February 19th next Wednesday at 6 o'clock is it Wednesday is the state of the library um Chris Allison and I will be giving an overview we're gonna have some special guests I'm hoping some Library board members and the town manager at the very least um and we're also going to have a special guest um Glenn g who's been um overseeing the McMahon whittenbury Library project um he's also going to be there for an update so please everybody join us February 19th at 6 o'clock and we'll send out another reminder about that um Elizabeth will that be available in person not this year but next year I know next year we will do that in person but this year will be the last virtual year and then I agree I'm decided for I'm going to try to be there yeah hoping it will be in person yes but next year it will be in person okay thank you um our staff our first all staff meeting um

is going to be at at mcmah whittenbury library will be this Thursday there's still staff I just found out Denise Martens who's one of our new youth Librarians has never been in McMahon so um we will be there Thursday and we're going to be walking through all the little things that still need to be done so I just want to let the library board know we are going through the process of figuring out hours our Master hours and those types of things our when we' soft open in March we're going to have one set of hours that we're going to be calling them temporary hours and that will be for same Patrick's Day through the end of the fiscal year after the budget process we'll know more about what our hours will be in the next fiscal year but we still need to go through that whole process in the interim though we are going to have Saturday hours at McMahon and hopefully Sunday hours as well but stay tuned as we continue to figure that out with our new part-time staff of course helping us plug in those holes we're also looking um and most likely we're going to have a lease extension at BPL Atrium um more news to come um from that um the chair of the library building Committee just gave a really good report out about the budget so we're looking like that's going to be smooth sailing and again we are very certain that we're going to have a continuation of Library Services throughout this whole process so thank you to everybody who's been making that possible as we know at the federal level a lot has been going on with um Federal budgets and and you know the federal budget process uh comes down to the state and then the local so we continue to monitor that the Connecticut library associations um Jedi Justice Equity diversity and inclusion um section is having a discussion tomorrow titled we need to talk about it a discussion about

protecting our patrons our profession and our sanity um I will be attending that and I'm sure other members of our staff will be um these issues at the federal level will impact us we're just figuring out the how and um how to mitigate that and prepare as much as possible for that um also at the state level a lot of bills relating to the libraries public libraries and school libraries I think currently there's seven out there I'm curious to see which ones are going to move forward and we'll continue to keep the library board AB breast of those developments just like we did last year I will be asking the library board again um to participate um at the legislative uh level at the State Legislative level to give your voice to some of these causes um and again we'll keep you in tune about that the biggest one in terms of the budget is the ebook Bill really important I'm really hoping this is the year and at the very least we'll be asking for um some support from the library board and the friends for that as well to support that getting out of the box um uh I want to say thank you to the chair for bringing up about the program feedback form again Bravo to the staff it was something we rolled out in 2021 and each year it gets better and we just came Alison and I just came from a programming meeting today as we enter into our new buildings these program feedback forms are going to be super important we want to hear from the public do they like when we're having the story times at McMahon do they like the team programming are are are they seeing what they want to see out of the library we really want to have a community approach to library services and making sure people give us that feedback either through you the library board through St or through that form is

going to continue to help us to um be as excellent as we can be and I think that is it Kristen Allison do you have anything else that we should discuss or bring up okay thank you okay chair you're muted oh I see the problem my U notepad was on the space bar move that up okay um yeah that's great to hear about the positions the part-time positions being filled because that's that's the key to being able to have all the hours we need so that people will have the library open when they really need it um and really looking forward to at least a driveby when MCM and winbury has that soft opening um and that kind of leads right into um part of the old business um did you have more that you wanted to discuss under the first item of the um building committee project timeline and the impact to the library Elizabeth not at this time we will continue to keep the timeline for dates on the front page of the library library website and we just want to remind the public to call us or email us if there's any questions we know that when we transition out of when we when mcmah whittenbury Library opens we will

probably be closing the 3:30 Park Tech Express this same day so if that soft opening happens March 17th there's going to be an immediate transition and we are finalizing the library hours um we're going to feel really good about that I hope very soon um and then we will be broadcasting that loud and clear and we will be sure to Market that appropriately in our our library newsletter on the front page of our website in the Bloomfield messenger through the um the the Billboards in town both at uh right across from proster library and near the high school um Word of Mouth through Community Partners we're going to do our best but there's absolutely going to be questions from the community um so we're just going to ask the community to be patient with us we're going to be doing our best and we're going to ask that everybody who is is um a part of this continues to share it with their friends and neighbors as well it's going to take a community effort to really make sure everybody's on the same page okay great thanks and yeah we we saw just how difficult that was getting it getting people to be able to find the atrium to realize that 3:30 was open and that's going to be the same cycle although hopefully people are a little more used to the idea that the library is kind of everywhere so we find it okay thanks um second item of old business is the discussion of the dedication of the first floor of prer library to Joseph M sugs um Elizabeth I know that you and um Mark

Weissman the chair of the building committee um did a walk through and have identified places that are available for um some of the components that you had in mind which which you want to talk about that so I was a unable to do the walkthrough I was I was sick on that day um but there are some paid places in the first floor of prer Library where we could put something up um as has been stated previous L there's a lot of glass in the building and not a lot of wall space um so one of the ideas that we had was to uh commission a portrait that was of similar size to Mr prer um of Mr sugs a sitting portrait from a portrait artist and to have that hung somewhere um that was one idea um I know tsk P shared an idea where we could do a plaque um I know that there's a plaque in 330 Park commemorating uh the uh the people who that building is named for um another part of our idea was to have mayor Wong do a sitdown interview similar to story Corp ideally being part of the story core archive where she interviews Mr Suggs about his political career and contributions and public service um and then the final part being on BPL online where we would have um a a a more full biography of Mr sugs to live on our uh the History part of our website um we currently have one for Mr

prer and we have a history of the buildings so we could fold that in into that um as well [Music] um I did see the diagram that um chair Weissman had sent of um sort of available spots for some of the components and um they they looked like really appropriate places where did you see that AA um I'm not sure did I get that um I think maybe chair Weissman had sent that to us I have that if you want me to um yeah yes please I have it as well I could forward it on chair if you want me to yeah um I'm not sure I I could share that here and it's very hard it it was not intended for that kind of blowup so it it gets much harder to read as you try and make it bigger but um first let me S it to you and if you could bring it [Music] up I I think um part of the issue here is that um the council has expectations which um appear to be that the LBC chair and the trustees along with Elizabeth and staff would provide a proposal for the um dedications components to the town

manager um as opposed to us working with the council going along on this so um there have been discussions of um might be appropriate what would be for lack of a better term something that would pop when when people see it it's very difficult to back fit on a building that has been in the planning stages for 5 years and where the um floor space for example is pretty limited yeah that's the one that I had seen okay so it it looks like the first space is immediately when you walk in uh the prer library um right across from the reference desk is this on the glass wall on the pill okay I don't think that's a glass wall I'm not you know what I mean the spaces that's an actual you first oh I can see your oh yeah right here it would be where that yellow I know it's hard to see but you see that yellow maybe Chris could highlight that a is that a wall or that's a wall that's a portion of a wall okay yeah right by the entrance it's not where you look out into the bra no no that's along the edge uh further down that line okay you'll see Chris scroll down to the next page please oh that's the same spot oh the reading room okay yeah the reading room okay is

that the same spot I think it is it's just a closer a different view of it it's looking East so it's the same room but looking East so picture being in the room looking in the opposite and then this last community room yeah and that is that's facing the washbrook right there's sort of an L-shaped wall in the community room that uh the one side of course is longer so there's more space on it and then the other side is where the windows would face uh Mountain Avenue but those two yellow spots face as Elizabeth pointed out to washbrook and then Chris if you scroll down one more and that's the closeup yeah so if you're looking in and I get that that image would be if we put a portrait of Mr sugs right next to a portrait of Mr proster which would be really I think that would be really a nice solution there if Chris if you scroll down one more if we did not do oh it's not showing up you're in preview and caught up yeah yeah um if we do not do the uh portrait solution the easier solution would be a plaque and shair wisman is also included an image of the plaque I think you're gonna have to download the PDF yeah it looks like this and if we did the plaque option that would absolutely be ready for opening day um if we did the portrait option just to

manage everybody's expectations um that would that timeline would not be ready for Community Day for opening day um this is a nice solution though um if and this might be more of what the mayor and the council is thinking I'm not sure I I'm not either um the the nice thing about both of these is that [Music] um I think people who haven't been through the development of the building when when we were first planning the building um one of the trustees Leah farell at the time had a subcommittee and we used all of the state um planning documents the there there is a procedure for planning libraries and we followed it but from when we completed that to when the funding and other things were factored in by the library building committee um the reduction in the square footage was approximately 40% that makes floor space really at a premium everything in planning has been with an eye toward adaptability and flexibility and things are going to be on Wheels things have to be able to adjust because um Ada regulations also apply to these spaces and are strict and immutable and we must comply with those and we should this that's not honorous to me but it's it's just something that

people need to realize you know the community room on paper looks larger but when you realize that you have to have enough space when you have any kind of arrangement in there so that people who are using say a wheelchair would not just have room for their wheelchair but would also have the availability of space next to their wheelchair for an aid so all of these things there are huge tables of these in federal laws and and when you plan a library I've done this where I crawled around a library with um with tape and marked on it exactly where everything would be because you have to be sure that you have that room that that makes a wall mounted solution the best possible um choice I think for this because because it avoids the problem of trying to find where you might put something um same with the reading room when people are going through you need unimpeded flow you still have Ada regulations and um it also I think has a certain amount of appeal because I mean we've all seen what happens if someone goes and looks at something in a displayer on a wall other people go to see what it is I mean you you know you've seen that even in stores if somebody suddenly rushes over to do a display everybody else goes what did they see and they go too so if people are going to be walking over and seeing these displays other people I think are more likely to go over and see what's going on and you get the kind of exposure that I think everyone is hoping for whether or not this is um what exactly others have in mind is is hard hard to gauge because

we we're not hearing that conversation so chair may I ask one good question oh Aon sorry Aon hey um uh thank you madam chair have we um have we given like Council and the people who seem sort of most invested in this like have we sent them a copy or copies of like the templates on how to plan Memorial bases or not Memorial but you know how to plan these kinds of spaces so that they're able to Think Through what their expectations are and what their ideas are um and also align them with um you know what what you mentioned as as best practice um we the the town manager has told us that he is tasked with executing this um part of Library planning and um he he's aware of the projects we're planning um I think part of the problem is that um up until recently even he had not seen some of the architect's renderings the the council motion said that this would be in something called The Atrium of prer but that there is no space that that is called the Atrium so we we're thinking that means the grand hall the entryway um it's a space that goes up two stories so there re you know it's it's not a space that's as easily available when you're standing on the ground you could put something way up there but who would see it you know when you walk into the first time you walk in people are going to be looking around and oooing

and eyeing but it's hard to see see when you're standing on the ground and something is that far above you trust me the short person can tell you this you know you you you're not as always aware we we want to make sure that these are things that people are going to see so um I was asked to get the opinion of the board on the you know the um proposals that Elizabeth and Mark have put together so far and Elizabeth has been working on this for some time um you know she took a trip on her own and on her own funds to New York City to look at the schwarzman because that's the gold standard you know New York Public Library to see how they have managed this and has checked into a number of other libraries to see how how these things are done um I'm not any of council or the town manager where they able to go with Elizabeth to um check out those best practices I don't think so Elizabeth um kind of packed up her children and went to New York City to go look um I I think it's very hard to meet an expectation when you're not entirely sure what that might be um so we we have already met with the town manager once he had some reservations about making sure it would be very visible um very appealing and I think identifying those those spaces that would be in the very main entry of the library that with that desk that's going to and there's an Art Exhibit that's listed in the planning there as well you know like a place for rotating art exhibits those would be

places that people would be passing would be congregating near it it would be a very busy place so I think it would be extremely visible and certainly the community room is is really a a a central pulse of the library PE people will go there and I you know even when we were in the old procer with the poor community room that was suffering badly from flooding and everything else people still wandered around and they noticed the read posters and they noticed other decorations so people do go look and um hopefully this will be something especially if there's you know two locations so that if you don't happen to you know because the community room the way the building is planned can be used after hours so it can be separated from the rest of the library so having something in the community room extends the amount of time that um makes this available to the public and then having something in a very busy entry you know the main reading room um I I plus there is the online presence and we you know the mayor made clear she really wants children in town to learn about Mr Suggs and his accomplishments by having an online digital component you accomplish a couple of things there one being that teachers can use this and they don't have to try and get a bus and try and log a 100 kids to the library on a given day um but it also is lasting it's something that that can be there the same way that the um information on Mr procer which people have noticed you know I've seen people talking about that it makes it available to everyone all the time so I I think the combination of

these components is probably the most powerful and um some of it will be immediately visual some of it will be available over time so you know for what it's worth I I think that's the thinking we have to meet with the town manager again um he asked if we would um ra I think in a fairly formal way I assume by a vote if we would let him know that this is what we're supporting and then we can go from there how how that will play out I don't know because then it goes back back to the library building committee then it goes back to um the council you know another series of meetings but I think it's important for us to say Yep this is what we think would be a good idea or if people do not like that idea then we we need to Hash that out before we go back to the town manager I love the I love the idea I love the official portraiture that just has the very familiar ring of how folks tend to be honored in buildings um I think having the BPL online presence is going to be really important you know arguably I mean yes it is important to have all sorts of information in the library at all times because that's a library but to make sure the kids in our town are learning about Joe sugs that's a board ofed um BPS conversation and if you know the mayor wants to put something in the curriculum then she can go ahead and do that but like this is not this dedication cannot be like the sole way that students are going to learn about Joe sugs um I also think that the you know having the mayor since she does seem to just be very involved

in this without having any background or expertise um I think having her do that um you know the interview with Mr Suggs and having that be you know also another method of delivery to patrons you know folks who may want to touch something folks who may want to read something folks who may want to hear something folks who may want something a little more little bit more kinesthetic we have the opportunity to do to do that so I'm I'm all for it great thank you um I was kind of hoping others would chime in Patrick is is your hand up I think Bev is W go ahead you go first your hand and of course I find here too I'm sorry hard to picture all right are we okay okay now we are okay thank you um I do like the I like the picture and the reading room um scenario there I find portraits can be very stiff and and I'm not sure trying to place them together is really that great an idea that's two things that are stationary exhibits so to speak um but I I I like all the rest I love all of the uh the interviews and because that's sort of um a different way of of looking at it you know and and people can actually listen to this interview so I I like all of that I just don't know about the portrait compared to the uh the picture of him at the and dedicating the reading room and I like the plaque idea too but these portraits for some reason I don't know maybe I'm seeing big things like you you SE in a museum um so I don't know how big I don't know how big the portrait is of oh yeah so if we're gonna make them

match oh those are big okay so that's my only comment yeah and having various spaces available also makes that something that could be you know the various items could be in different places so that they wouldn't for lack of a better term Clash but I I remember the plaque um from Mr prer I think most people don't remember even seeing where it was and we don't want it to fade into the background like that one did so having the two be available you know in the community room or wherever um it seems like that would bring interest to both the person who gave the first free library and Free Library was a big deal in those times that that was not how it worked and then the person who was the first to govern and and to you know um be the first mayor who is a a black gentleman and highly respected then I you know I think that it combines all those elements but they don't all have to be in the exact same place that's the beauty of having different things particularly because the council said the first floor so that the whole first floor would be dedicated so if there are items throughout the first first floor great so yeah you know and I agree with you be if it's all in one place it's going to be overload Patrick did you you also had your hand up I did Madam chair thank you I I just wanted to say that I think the ideas Elizabeth presented are excellent I mean all of them and whether or not we you know proceed with the portrait I I mean I do like that idea I understand what you're sand of it is you know it's so official looking and uh but I mean since it would be there for an extended you know posterity I guess uh yeah I mean if you think of all the portraits

you know when you go to Portrait museums they're there y um so I like the idea of the portrait the plaque and of course the sit down interview for story core and on BPL online so I think all things are great and given that we do have the lack of wall space uh you know in the first floor I love the both locations that have been looked at I mean the community room as as everyone has said will be visited by so many people and if something's put on that wall uh it could be you can stop by and see it and it's not going to take away from any other space uh because it would be positioned on the wall so it's not going to be an object that you have to get around or or will be in the way of of anything so I think uh that space is great and um if I recall from being in in the library you can that community room can be seen from the entrance so if the doors to the community room are open and there's going to be glass there that wall is directly visible so that may draw people's attention you know they see something on that wall if the community room's not in use you know perhaps they will go in and look at that uh same with the wall plaque uh that I think is nice as well uh in the front of the library so as far as the timing goes I know you mentioned Elizabeth maybe the portrait might not be ready but I I'm not sure if that's a a Major Impact to not proceeding or you know would that be I don't think that would be you know a terrible thing if it's not ready but U the plaque I'm sure

could ready you know before uh but I think um that may meet what the vision is of the Town Council for having the first floor you know have more than one location where Mr zugs can be um you know honored and uh I think you also mentioned about moving exhibits uh maybe one of the exhibits that you do that moves around could be on Mr Zs and it's available for a period of time then it goes away maybe you'll have one with Mr prer it's available for a period of time goes away and then at some point you'll recycle and bring them back so I like that idea as well the moving exhibits and uh you know it's just be a temporary but then these other things would be permanent so I am certainly in favor of of the plan you've uh presented and uh with all three bullets in there all three items where was the pro Port going to go before this all came up we didn't know you didn't know okay so this is all new to yes okay thank you um Claudia you had your hand up and Sher I'm not ignoring you be ready um I I'm not going to repeat uh everybody said everything I think I think Aaron said exactly what I think so uh I'm totally in favor of all these ideas and um I'll I'll knock it back to you thanks Sherry can you hear me yes oh now we can't you you muted

again okay there you go how about now yep yes yeah so I don't have a lot to add to what everybody else said I missed I'm sorry I missed some of um what Erin said I'm sure it was great I think um you know a combination of stuff to to honor Mr SGS um I think great ideas were presented you know we definitely want something physical in the library we understand it's glass um we understand that you know there's not a lot of space and I'm sure you know the people who figure this stuff out I I understand the constraints of it being after the fact but I'm sure you know it will get figured out and we'll find a way to put either a portrait or a plaque or both um in the library of Mr sugs honoring him I think it is important that we do this at this time um you know you know we don't have to speak about the times we're in and if we get the opportunity to honor someone like Mr SGS and you know put something in I think we should do it I like the online Solutions the interview all of that stuff I believe you know whatever we can do um we should just go ahead and do it um I don't think there needs to be a lot of ongoing further conversations about it you know it's all been said that's my strill thank you actually you know um as you said that it occurs to me when the library opens and if if the plaque and um you know the dis the wall display with history and whatever are available that's terrific but if a portrait then were to be finished a little bit later than that that's a

chance for another whole event to present that portrait and it would be totally focused on Mr sugs it wouldn't be competing um with an opening where people are going to be walking around and seeing just in you know beautiful surroundings and things that are all new to them and trying to take it all in they they might not absorb as much but then if the portrait is a essentially a second dedication for him that's another chance for people to come in and focus on on the various components and the new portraits so that like that even better Aon and I are think are both coming from the same place we're we're used to like teaching you know what what is what are you doing to make sure that everybody that you're dealing with is going to have something that resonates with them so that they get something out of this because if it's all visual somebody who tends to love you know going in the museum with a headset isn't going to be as happy I'm not great with the headsets I want to see it so you know the variety makes this accessible to so many more people and I think it guarantees that you know Mr Sugg's Le Legacy kind of lives on I I think if I'm hearing this correctly we're all pretty much in the same place so that we can um when we speak to the town manager again about this um we we can bring all of this to that meeting as well and and hopefully make make it clear that what we're looking to do is more you know we want the most available and we want it to be the best Elizabeth is that you yes

I just wanted to add that to do this the right way will require a budget and I'm not sure the current $20,000 that has been allotted by the Town Council will be enough I know the Library building committee chair said that he thinks there might be money in the project as well um so while we're still in the exploratory phase I I would like to say that the next phase would be putting together a budget and seeing what that that really looks like so we're still having these conversations not fully grounded in reality because we don't know the cost um getting having an elegant portrait there's a cost to that for um putting together that interview there will be a cost to that putting together what's going to go online we will probably need um a researcher to do that um so I just want to also just level set with bringing that up as well I I do remember um John from the Historical Society saying that their story core component is fully funded so that might help into that and I'm not fully sure that there's money attached to that okay yeah but that would be part of the next phase to see exactly what everything will be will will cost right and and I think that's a practical matter that I know when people say and we you know we'll have $20,000 for it that sounds like wow but they haven't looked at how FF budgets work and what things cost in a new building so I agree with you I think we need a budget and then um that also May set conditions on how fast we can proceed and and how we would do that okay so I um unless there's further discussion I think we'll bring all of this feedback um to the town

manager and discussions will continue and Elizabeth I um I recommend that you bring that up when when we're meeting with him and um make it clear we don't a budget is is important and he knows that he's he's the uh he's the one who handles the whole town budget he'll get it okay so um unless there's further discussion then um I think we can move on in the agenda hopefully without without a paper cut here okay is there any other new business that um anyone would like to bring forward and discuss hearing none um let's move on to Old business okay um first item is consider and take action regarding BPL program policy um Elizabeth I'm going to ask you to leave that I think everyone has received the draft that we in the past um worked with Rachel tanucci um one of our Librarians to think this through as we all know we have a very uh robust programming presence and this is to protect us um and we looked to our friends in Hartford um as the foundation for this policy um I also want to thank Claudia for her feedback um a lot of her feedback was directly incorporated into this um and we also added one line about um timelines a lot of times we'll have a community partner show up and say hey next week we want to do that in reality when we do things um in order for it to be done correctly it takes months so that we can um publicize it correctly

make sure we have Staffing and all of that uh this policy brings all of that into account Sher you're muted I don't even know how I did it that time um okay thank you for that Elizabeth um is there any um discussion of the policy from any of the trustees no B was are you raising your hand no okay Claudia your hand is definitely up one set one sentence I I think it's really well thought out and well organized and well expressed thanks yeah and I agree I like the organization um a lot okay so for this um has this yet gone on in draft form to the town attorney's office not yet okay I just wanted to be sure because I want to make sure that we've incorporate that in what we're doing okay so would someone like to move that um we adopt this policy with the provision that it will need to pass legal review be before okay Claudia okay do we have a second Aaron yeah second great thank you okay all in favor of um adopting the policy as drafted at this time or say I great any

opposed nope okay great so um Elizabeth then I will ask you if you would um send this on to attorney kumby I'm sure he would send it to a member of his staff so that we can get some more input um and make sure that we're not opening the town to any kind of liability or inadvertently stating something in appropriately and they'll give us that advice great thank you okay H the um second item consider and take action regarding BPL glossery of terms where is my topic so essentially this is just very dated and it needs to be resented remove from our website as soon as possible um my my that was my question is do we actually I mean I have seen glossies at the academic libraries um and research libraries i' I've never seen something like this I don't think I even realized it was there until you pointed it out yeah I don't think we something like this do we do we actually need a glossery only four things I'm in the less is more Camp right here um if we do do this it would need serious revision for example that first provision talking about the library board of directors that's actually illegal at this point the the state law precludes that use we we went through rounds of this years ago trying to get that corrected on the website for the town um and and it almost feels to me like it's almost insulting to people you know I

could picture somebody saying what did they think we thought it was going to be you know I I can't picture anybody using it I I don't know discussion what what do you what do you all think about this I'm sorry I I I was interrupted here at home what is what are you saying you think it's it's I'm wondering if we even need this um I've never seen it a glossery of terms yeah I've seen it at the academic Library level and you libraries but not in a public library I looked around at some websites to see if I could find it anywhere you know Harford public and some of the other larger ones I didn't see anything like this I think it's a great idea I'm sorry I'm hearing two I think I think it's a good idea I but I don't know anything about what's normal um but I just you know a lot of times uh organizations have sort of an inner language that they're so used to that it makes sense to them and everyone knows what they mean and yet if you're an outsider you might not and so I just think it's a good way of explaining yourself however I don't really know anything about this topic so you know that's a kind of like a personal comment I looked at these four things and um I wasn't seeing how you know and yeah if we were talking about cataloging issues and Technical you know functionality I would say yeah you would want to explain that so somebody knew what you meant but like the board the

director and the library I I wasn't sure that this would be something that would be hard for people people to just kind of know like Town means the town yeah I get it but I I didn't know libraries I didn't know how boards worked uh at libraries and they aren't the same um as nonprofit organization so I had to relearn I but again this is just personal yeah I mean we we um we have a page for the library board on the site um it would it would have to be revised to say the library Board of Trustees I don't know would we then have a descriptor like um I don't know I just think it's useless and we just need to remove it right rather than going forward with with us I mean if if we had any technical language that we were talking about could see that but I don't think it's it says it doesn't say enough to be meaningful no yeah yeah I completely agree I mean this looks like it was approved 10 years ago in 2015 but this is not a glossery of terms it's a gloss it's titles and it's it's it makes no sense and as you already mentioned we have the Board of Trustees a page on BPL we have a flowchart of who the staff is uh that's available on the town's website as well as on I actually explain I I can explain why it was there okay all the policies were redone at one time as one giant at that point if you remember that did them all yes to write it consistently and I think this is where Claudia was going to write it

consistently you were doing shorthand throughout all the documents and it was just a way to say when we're saying this this is me and part of it also goes back to the process McMahon at the time was the proster public library that's very confusing to people who don't understand that there's also a McMahon went Barry library and you know like so that it embodies the entire thing so that's why it was there it was just there that when those policies were written it was shorthand that you can use it all the policies okay to know that it's the same thing directors the library that's all it was for so I do agree like with the policies being Rewritten yeah and also I think that internet days now that we have BPL online that spells everything out yeah this is very redundant and it's it's unnecessary yeah um and and it is something that if we did start to have a bunch of things that we want to list for whatever reason that we're not clear to just anybody walking in we could we certainly would address those we might not call it a glossery per se but you know EV everything that we discuss is then managed somewhere on the website so that people get a clear explanation of what it is I I think you're already doing this in a different form I you know this this is from when there used to be notebooks that mostly collected dust up on the third floor in those weird shelves under the eaves with the rags stuffed in the ceiling that that area that that's where these kinds of things seem to reside before so um it I think when we tried to print the entire the entire policies at that time as one document so that's why add I

think it just put on the website part that package it definitely is yeah well M I'll make a motion that uh we resend the policy does it have a number I didn't see any number uh we're s the glocky of terms that was last modified January 13 2015 and not replace it at this time okay um great do second second was that you be yes it was I heard somebody talk just just aced You by a couple of seconds Erin okay um any more discussion on that Claudia are you comfortable with that okay um hearing none all in favor hi great um so so we're agreed good I think um from a number of standpoints this is another less is more okay excellent is there is there any um other new business that someone would like to raise and discuss nope hearing none we will move on um Chris is I don't see any but is there anybody who might be wanting to [Music] um comment no no okay board comments trustees anybody want to make any comment this is the time Patrick are you raising your hand chair I'll keep it brief I did I should have asked this earlier but in the uh program policy draft I was just wondering do we have to review the request for reconsideration

form does it need to be modified at all to include uh the policy program policy as the item that they're they're writing about we will look at that yeah I would just because what I what I recall from doing that it just had to do with materials you know books and print and things like that so uh just a quick question on that and then my my other comment is I'm really excited with the progress that we've made uh you know on the dedication for Mr zugs and uh you know speaking as both Vice chair of the LBC and board of trustee member I I'm really excited about these ideas and moving them forward and uh starting to really focus in now on what it's going to take to get these actually implemented so I think we seems like we've passed the first hurdle and we're ready to you know present this and get it back uh before Council and the mayor to make sure that they're they're good with it so I'm really pleased to hear all of that and as usual Elizabeth your director's report you know was great and there's just so much happening and uh you know now with McMahon winberry coming along um you know I think it'll just be so so much nicer for the town once we're able to get back into that building and people will be able to use it for what it was intended yeah I just checked the reconsideration form does have program l oh thank you thank you okay good so that takes care of that yeah Allison confirmed that the reconsideration policy for what is that document called request for reconsideration of material form okay includes um programs so again research you are just that meant to that that's it so thank you thank you

everybody great thanks yeah as you said that I was I looked at my computer and thought if I open one more tab I think my computer is going to burst into flames I don't know where it would go so thank thank you Alison okay um h actually oddly I just had one more thought I'll bring that up separately I have a question about when you said reconsideration and programing I thought yeah yeah it's in there H we maybe we'll discuss that a little more I'll make a note about that if there's anything we'll bring it up in another meeting okay thanks um anyone else trustees this is your chance no everybody would like to get out of Dodge okay um hearing no other comments then we would move on to approval of minutes excuse me of the January 14th 20125 special meeting of the board um does anyone have any corrections or additions to the minutes of the January 14th meeting as submitted no wow that's great okay would someone like to move that the minutes be accepted as submitted so move okay was that you Erin yes okay great so Aaron moves uh Claudia seconds um all in favor of accepting the minutes of the January 14 2025 special meeting of the board

as submitted please raise your hand or say I I okay great so motion passes thank you and other than saying I hope everybody has a really fun sweet Valentine's Day then um I unless there's an objection then we would be adjourned okay everyone thanks everybody have a good night thanks