Library Board - Regular Meeting

Reboard to order. Roll call please.

Bowie. Johnson. Kim. Here. Naker. Here. Prabatsky. Here. Yang. Here.

Chair Jost. Here. Five present, two absent, two being council member Johnson and council member Bowie. The first item that we have on the agenda is the approval of minutes. Minutes 25 dash 25, approving 05/07/2025 library board minutes.

I'll take a motion from Council President Nacre to approve the minutes. Is there any discussion? All in favor say aye. Aye. Anyone opposed?

Five in favor, none opposed. The minutes have been adopted. The second item on the agenda is the staff report, staff report 20 five-ninety six, library go. All

right, I will turn it over to Director Hartman and we have Dionysia Solis here to present on library go to us today, welcome.

Board Chair Jost, Library Board, thank you. I want to make sure that in all of our introductions over the last year of all the important library things we want you to know, we didn't get a chance to tell you about Library Go. And, that is one of our most important partnerships with the St. Paul Public Schools. So, Dionysia is here to give you kind of an overview of Library Go, and some of the work that we've done this year. So, I'll turn it over to her.

Thank you for having me. Again, my name is Dionisia Solis. I work at the Rondo Community Library. I'm the youth services team lead, and I'll be presenting on Library Go. Library Go started back in 2017.

At the start of our program, we had roughly a little bit over 42,000 Library Go accounts. As of this past March, for the year of 2025, we have 87, a little over 87,000 Library Go records. Library Go is a virtual e card that students can use using their Lynch ID number or their student ID number in conjunction with a prefix that the library gives their school to check out library materials, as well as library resources. So, databases, they can check out e books, e audio books. Library Go accounts asked for through the library web site.

There's no financial risk to library go student holders. When students lose or damage a item, staff use it as a point to connect with the students to explain the importance of responsibility, and how to borrow library items and keep them in a safe place. Some stats for our last year with Library Go, is we had a little bit over 101,000 Library Go counts at the start of the year. For physical items checked out, we had a little bit over 64,000 items. For e books, we had a little

bit over 119,000 items. And then,

for items that were non book items, so these would be like e books or audio books and accessing databases, we had a little bit over 12,000 items. For Library Go, students don't have to worry about losing a library card. So, with physical cards, they can get misplaced, they can get lost, if they're lost, people can potentially have access to those if they find them. With Library Go, you don't have to worry about that. The item is based on information that the student will know.

So, student ID number or lunch number. It helps reduce barriers and access to materials. We can connect students with all of our different library materials and resources, and there's no financial risk to parents at all. Recently, we got a grant.

We had a question here. Council President Anker.

Yeah. Thanks, Church Host. I was just curious on the previous slide, it looked like 101,000 students have a library go card, which is obviously more than students in St. Paul public schools. Does that mean we have partnerships with other school districts as well?

Correct. Yep, so that would be St. Paul public schools, and then we do some charter and private schools that also have library go accounts.

Any school districts outside?

I'm

sorry, oh no, go ahead. Of St. Paul or is it limited to schools within St.

Paul? It's limited to St. Paul areas, just because that is what is within focus for our program.

I'll add to that question, had a very similar question. So, do you know like what percentage of the St. Paul Public School students have enrolled in a library go card?

I don't know off the top of my head, but I could give that to you.

Okay, great. Director? Yeah, so

all St. Paul Public School students automatically get a library go card.

Okay.

So, I want to make sure that that part is clear. And, they may not all be using it, but they all automatically get it when they get their student ID number. And then individual charters and private schools enroll all of their students with us.

I see, I was looking at the last slide, it says schools apply through the SPPL website. So once the school applies, all are automatically enrolled. Is that basically

That's correct.

Yep. Okay. Great.

So, recently we received a LSTA grant that stands for Library Services and Technology Act. We received over $27,000 for the grant to help promote with Library Go. The reasoning for this grant is that we collected data and realized that a lot of the students that are on the East Side Of Saint Paul were not utilizing Library Go, as opposed to some of the other neighborhoods that we have that are in Library Go. So, Library Go helps close the racial and economic gaps by again, providing access to library materials and resources and databases. Out of our library locations, the two libraries located on the East Side, so Hayden Heights and the Sunray Library are the two that we have done promotion for Library Go Family Nights.

For Hayden Heights, they connected with seven different schools. Two of the schools were Forest Lake Elementary and Hazel Park Prep Academy. For the Sunray Library, they connected with four different schools, including Battle Creek and Eastern Heights Elementary. On those family library go nights, we had food, we had activities, and then families were able to connect with community specialists, as well as library staff to learn more about the program, and how to use it both inside the classroom and outside of the classroom at home. We also have done educator training classes with the Saint Paul Public Schools educators, and then we are in the process of updating library go materials.

Some feedback that we received for the library go family nights is that both internally and externally, we had a lot more improvement about what families understood as what library Go is, and how to use it. We spoke to many different families Whose first language was not English. So, some of the languages included Hmong, Kenya, and Spanish. The Sunray Library also has a lot more families that they're seeing now, that they didn't previously see before the family nights. We also acknowledge that there were a lot of families coming from our mobile library stops and locations.

Another thing that we heard is that a lot of students need to be reminded that they have library go. And then, we also had families who wanted to learn more about just in general, like what library programs or activities they could attend with their children. For the educator trainings, we had six Saint Paul Public Schools meetings during this past year. We had topics that focused on popular items that the teachers wanted to learn about, but also about just some resources for if they're helping students with research projects. That included data research bases, Libby, which is our online app that you can download e books and audio books from, and then we also talked about homework help.

For the updated materials, we acknowledge that with our new rebrand, we did new materials to provide information about Library Go to our stakeholders and the audience. We updated the new brand, and more audience aligned messaging. We are in the process and very close to finishing up having new classroom posters, flyers for families, wallet size cards, as well as iPad clings, and then our postcards for the kindergartners will be going out this spring and fall. So, things that we've heard, some comments and feedback we got were from a library staff member. I've seen children's faces go from frowns to lighting up when they realize they can check something out just because they are a student at Saint Paul Public Libraries.

A Saint Paul student said that, you mean I can check out a library card with just my lunch number? That's cool. And then, a quote for me is that at the 2023, we had almost 7,000 more students enrolled in library go than we did at the beginning of the year. Some other things we heard was that students, again, don't always know they have library go, and they just need a reminder. So, currently, what we're doing is we're trying to communicate that to families, make sure that they understand what the difference is between the physical card and the e card, and how they can use it both in the classroom and outside of the classroom.

There's been some confusion about that library go is just for school. So, they can only use it at school, it's just for research projects. That's not true. You can use library go if you're just hanging out in the library, if you're attending a program and you wanna check out some books. Students also We also heard that for some of our younger students, so kindergarten to second, that it's not easy for them to access the cards, so we're currently trying to figure out a way how can we make that easily accessible to them, since they're youngsters and things can tend to get lost or forgotten.

We also heard that families are struggling with how to translate using library go, again, in the classroom and transferring it to public use in the library. Lastly, what I would like to end on is that library go is a virtual e card that students can use with their lunch ID number or their student number. They can use that to access library materials and library resources and databases, which helps fill that economic gap. If you want help on promoting Library Go, you can have educators reach out to the Saint Paul Public Library, they can go to our website on the Library Go landing page, and they can fill out our onboarding or our request form, and then staff can work with them to try to get their school signed up for Library Go. Thank you.

Any questions?

Thank you. Any questions? Council President Aker.

Thanks, Madam Chair. No questions. Just a huge thank you to you for the presentation and for your leadership of this work. I remember when I first took office, this was I think relatively new, a year old or so. And it just struck me as one of those things that is just such an elegant melding of two things that we want to do at the same time that we don't necessarily need to make more complicated. We have students who are in school, we have libraries, and we want students in school to know that they can use our libraries. And why not just make the library card be the same as the student ID that they use all the time at school? And so I just I love that we did that. I think it's brilliant. I hope we can find more opportunities to make that kind of mutually beneficial activity so seamless.

Yeah, definitely.

I have a couple questions. So the library goes students are automatically enrolled, but if they also have a library card, they could basically use either one? That's correct. Okay. Yep.

Okay. And then I just, again, wanna express my appreciation for all of your work and just the additional outreach that you're doing on the East Side. And I'm hoping that we can help build more access to I'm thinking maybe some of these families have barriers or maybe they don't even go to the library sometimes and just getting them there, or just they don't know about the program, some of the things that you had on the last few slides. And then I would think, too, your point about younger students maybe don't know their lunch or their student ID number. I could not tell you my son's student ID number off the top of my head.

And I know that I don't think they I don't know if they punch a code into a for their lunch anymore. I'm not sure since they have free lunches. So I'm not actually sure what they do anymore at schools. But I think that having the student ID is great. And then I'd also be curious, are there any other ways to make that even easier for kids and families to be able to show up to the library and use their account? And I don't know the answer to that, but that's just something that I was thinking of.

Thank you.

Awesome. Well, if there are no other questions or comments, thank you so much Dionisia, and we'll go to the next item.

Thank you.

Thank you.

The final item on the agenda is staff report 20 five-ninety seven, library programs.

I'll turn it back over to Director Hartman, and we've got Marlena Okechukwu here to talk to us about programming. Welcome.

Thank you. Good afternoon, Board Chair Jost and members of the Library Board. My name is Marlena Okechukwu. I'm a Public Services Manager for St. Paul Public Library. In my role, I oversee three locations, our Rondo Community Library, our Mobile Library, and our soon to be constructed Hamlin Midway Library. In addition, I also supervise staff that are responsible for planning larger programs, or they supervise program and engagement across the system. And part of that work programming. And so, today, I'd like to talk to you about library programs. So, first, what is a library program?

Library programs are events. They're typically one time events and activities designed to enrich the library experience. Our events such as author talks, story times, or cultural celebrations create memorable moments and spaces where community can gather, learn, connect with each other, and with the library. There are essential ways that libraries add value to the patron experience. They extend our reach beyond books, computers, and other services that we provide consistently.

They provide educational, cultural, and social activities that center the diverse needs of our communities. They also align with our library mission. Fundamentally, our programs support our mission to welcome all people to connect, learn, participate, and grow. One of the larger pieces of work that I've been engaged in over the last year is to add a continuous improvement lens to how we deliver our programs, which led to the development of a programming statement, what we internally have been calling our programming why. Why do we do these things?

It's a comprehensive approach to the consistent application of programming principles, standards, and best practices in program design and delivery, because our programs aren't happenstance. They uphold core library values that ensure open access to knowledge and diversity of information and perspectives for all patrons. By incorporating standards and best practices outlined in our programming statements, we create safe spaces where intellectual freedom is encouraged and it allows the ability to explore dialogue and learn without censorship. Our program is also guided by professional standards that are anchored in intellectual freedom and the rights to read and access information. These are upheld by the American Library Association, which is the oldest and largest professional association for libraries and librarians in The United States.

It provides foundational guidelines that we incorporate into program design. Finally, they are designed to enrich services, to introduce resources and further support information access for patrons. So, while our programs are generally presentation based, they usually include some opportunity to connect with the other materials in the library. So, our resources such as databases, e books, physical materials, and community services, they serve to connect patrons to additional tools and resources to do life in our space. Our programming statement serves as a reminder of these values and elements that we incorporate into programs.

A significant piece of the programming statement is the programming pillars. So, there are three pillars that are foundational to our programming and that should guide us when we start thinking about what we want to incorporate or plan for a program. So, our library programs enrich, support, and align with our strategic direction. They are created to incorporate our strategic goals, such as celebrating and affirming literacy as a core service of St. Paul Public Library.

Our Library Go Family Nights that Dionysia just talked about is one example, as well as our Literacy Action Cohort. Our programs live up to our library experience promise. Our programs are open and welcoming to all. We lead with curiosity and create programs that connect patrons to literacy and each other. By focusing on our library experience promise, we create experiences that are joyful, meaningful, and unique, and inclusive.

Finally, library programs center our communities and provide unique experiences. Our cultural celebrations, our author talks, and story times that are delivered in multiple languages are examples of how we create space for likeness and difference, which reflects the diversity in our cities. Ultimately, our library programs support our mission by increasing access to collections, promoting services, and creating spaces where likeness and difference For likeness and difference, I'm sorry. So, some essential programming elements. What are some of the things we think about when we program?

First, we identify a target audience and needs. What have we heard from community? What have they told us? We listen to and we ask from our community. Surveys, focus groups, direct community engagement help us create programs that are responsive and relevant. Our Sankofa Reading Program and our partnership with the Network for the Development of Children of African Descent is a direct result of what we've heard from community. We partner with local organizations and community. What can partners provide that we can't offer? Collaborations and partnerships are essential to program development and delivery. We rely on our community to fill gaps in knowledge and specialization to create impactful programs.

Partnerships enhance our programs with expertise like guest speakers or consultants. Also, marketing communications is important. Without our marketing and communications department, we can't effectively tell library stories. They tell the library story in a way that increases our standing in community. Our partners in Marcom, which is what we call our marketing communications department, they help bring our program visions to life.

They craft compelling campaigns leveraging the power of social media, traditional flyers, web presence, banners, bulletin boards, and even bus stops to highlight our programs. And finally, we evaluate our program. That's the last piece of like our program planning. Did we reach our stated goals and outcomes and how do we best measure success? Attendance and surveys tell part of the story, but we want to know more.

And part of the work that I'm doing includes incorporating evaluation methods that measure outcomes. What behaviors did we see change as a result of our programs? For example, if we only measure attendance, say for example we have a computer class and only three people attended, that might seem like it's not successful program, but if someone comes back the next week and they tell us, Hey, I passed the college exam as a result of your computer class, that's an outcome that we can measure and it's something that we benefit from. And so, that's a successful program even if only three people attended. We benefit by developing evaluation methods that measure success using multiple criteria.

So, now that you've heard a lot about like the theory behind library programs, the why behind library programs, I'd like to transition to talk a little bit about the applications of those principles, the programs themselves, the outcomes. So, as you can see, our library programs are as diverse as our city and our communities, and this is just a small selection of the programs that we offer. It's also important to note that library programs take many forms from interactive workshops and presentations to community celebrations. Delivery can be in person, virtual, and sometimes a hybrid format. One of the things that we learned during COVID was to be nimble in delivery of programming.

And I'm going to talk about a few of these. I won't go through all of them. I'll just talk about a couple of them to illustrate my point. So, story times are core library programs. They can be found at almost any library.

They're interactive sessions that include songs, stories, and even crafts to boost early literacy skills for young children. Story times were actually some of the first programs that we transitioned to a virtual method during COVID. Read Brave is our annual one city, one book reading program co hosted by the mayor that encourages youth to explore themes of courage and justice through curated book selection, tool kits, and discussions. Author talks and visits. Those are another core library program that usually includes an engaging talk and book reading excerpts from local and national authors to inspire and connect library patrons with new and established sorry, I don't know why that's advancing like that.

Let me go back. Okay. Sorry about that. Including author talks led themselves to a variety of delivery methods, including in person live streams and recorded for accessibility. I wanted to briefly touch on how we pay for our programs.

Oh, it doesn't

I think I did something wrong. Must I'm sorry. I don't know why it keeps advancing. But we use a combination of funds to support vibrant, inclusive programs that celebrate literacy, community, and add tangible work to our stated mission, vision, and goals. The Library General Fund supports programming by ensuring that we have adequate and dedicated staff to plan and deliver programs.

The General Fund gives us the incredible foundation of our libraries, our staff. They create welcoming community focused experiences for our residents. Other costs such as materials for Create Tech or our Library Go family nights are funded separately and are paid for with a combination of funds from the Friends of St. Paul Public Library, who are our staunch advocates and philanthropic partners, along with funds from the State Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund to support programming that center arts, culture, or have historical themes. So, in sum, when we plan thoughtfully, identify goals, outcomes, target audiences, and center our communities, we create spaces for community to connect, learn, participate, and grow.

We create spaces that are mine, yours, and ours. Planning plus preparation equals successful program. Last year, we saw 47,051 people, community members of all ages attend our programs. That's a 30% increase from 2023, which means our programs are in demand. And we also offered 3,106 separate programs for all ages at our libraries.

And the next slide, I know I've talked a lot and told you a lot about the theory behind library programs and why we do these things, but the next slide is going to actually show you some of our programs. I love this last picture. This is from this year's Read Brave. It was standing room only. I think there were a 130 something, maybe even more people in a room that actually had a capacity of about 80.

So but it show I know it shows the success of our programs, that people actually really do want to see our programs. And when we put all of those things, all of those values and elements that I talked about together, that's the outcome. So, what's next? Again, I oversee programs and engagement for the system, and so I want to continue to encourage innovation and program planning. Just as we asked staff and residents to read BRAVE during our annual citywide book club, we encourage our staff to bring ideas and innovation and program BRAVE, and to refine and define how we add value to our community. Thank you.

Thank you.

And any questions?

Yes, questions? Councilmember Prabratsky.

Thanks, Chair Jones. So helpful to see the rundown. And just want to name and appreciate how much you all continue to go after outside grants and working with the Friends, the type of work that helps relieve the pressure on the Library Board levy, the city levy. I just want to name all the work that goes into sort of procuring that and planning for that and just really appreciate it. Also want to acknowledge your mention of the Hamlet Midway Library.

I can't not mention it. I live nearby and saw even in the slide, I saw some pictures of, I think, the library Yes. In the I walk through that park too many times, so it jumps out. But just want to name how impressed I've been with how proactive the library's been while that construction is going on, just to make sure there's programming in the neighborhood and make sure there's adequate hours at other branches, just because it is a big loss for families in our neighborhood to not have it during construction, but it's gonna be such a huge, huge, huge asset once it's done. Just wanna name those Really two appreciate it.

Thank you. I appreciate that. And, just as a FYI, we're doing two additional Library in the Park programs this year. I did quite a few last year. It was a lot. Probably too many, probably too ambitious. So, you know, you live and you learn. But we're doing them again this year, just less in number.

Great. Council President Nacre.

Thanks, Madam Chair. Thanks so much for the presentation. I especially love the video. It really helped bring things to life. And I just wanted to appreciate your focus on the why and the theory behind the programming. I actually really liked the first part of the presentation that talks about that theory because I think all too often it's really easy to just do programs. Why do we do we don't stop to ask why. We just programs and attendance. And your emphasis on the why, the connecting to the library's mission, and then the outcomes, not just the outputs, so not just how many people came, but what happened as a result of them coming, I think is really critical. I have two questions.

One is, what do you hear in terms of listening to community that people want to see more of in terms of programming that we maybe struggle to provide? And second, you mentioned partners and figuring out what can we provide that our partners can and vice versa. I think often about how between us and Parks and Rec, we're all one city, even SPPS community education. And I'm wondering if there's intention behind deciding to put a particular program in a particular location, thinking about does every family, does every child within a certain amount of distance, for example, or a certain neighborhood between us, Parks and Rec, and SPPS have access to toddler talk time, right? Or any such program so that we're really making sure that between all three of us every neighborhood is well served?

Or is that kind of a level of detail beyond what's going on right now?

I would say that as a level of detail beyond it's something to consider. It's not something that I have actively participated in, in terms of like, if we think about a partner or a program like, oh, well, is PARCCS doing? It is a consideration, but I don't know if we talk to each other about it. If that's like the core of your question. And can you repeat the first question?

Yeah, just are there things that we hear from community that people would like to see that we don't have or would struggle with?

So, that's one of the things that is nice about traditional evaluation methods where we ask like, know, did you enjoy this program? Did you learn anything new? What more would you like to see? So, we often do hear that folks like our cultural programs. So, when we did our Juneteenth program last year, almost every survey results said we want more of this, meaning we want more historical or programs that center history or center content that helps them learn more about the history of Minnesota.

So, the way that program went, it talked about Juneteenth, but in the context of like Minnesota's ties to slavery or enslavement during that period. And folks were like, I had no idea because Minnesota is so far north. I didn't know that there were any connections. So, we'd like to know more about that. So, I've seen that quite a bit.

I can think of like experience when I was in Hennepin County. I've only been here a year, so I have some context of what people ask for in St. Paul. But when I was at Hennepin County, folks were really interested in programs around food justice and community building.

Council Member Yeung.

Thanks, Chair Jones. I don't have questions. I wanted to say thank you to all of you in St. Paul Public Libraries for your work. I'm really in awe at the commitment and dedication that we have, especially in bringing in creative and innovative programming especially programming that's culturally relevant to our communities and really meeting our communities where they're at.

And so I just also really appreciate the intentional work you all do in collecting data and making sure that we use that to figure out where we need to boost funding in our cities here. Especially really appreciate just the piece from the Library Gold lead on the East Side disparities and the extra funding there to make sure that we expand that program to our families in the East Side. So those are my overall thoughts. And again, thank you so much for the presentations today from the both of you.

Any other oh, Council Member Horatzky.

Thanks, Chair Jost. Only off of Council President Nacre's point, I think the overlap of sort of the different city departments or school facilities is so different by neighborhood too. Like in Midway, as an example, there's multiple park spaces, but neither of them are programmed, or at least Griggs Field vaguely a few times a year has some spot programming, but it's not a program space. Board of Park where you do libraries in the park is not a program space. You know, we have Hamlin Elementary and Hancock Rec that's programmed.

But other than that, there's really nothing in Midway for public access that's programmed anymore, because even Galtier now is more of that early childhood. Mhmm. So it is actually somewhat unique to have, like in certain neighborhoods, the library would be the place for that dedicated programming. It is just a huge, huge boost because it matters for families with young kids or folks looking for access. So knowing that it's something where there is that study programming, even in Midway, is a little bit rare or a little bit unique.

And, to your point, when we did Library in the Park, there was a lot of coordination that we had to navigate to make that happen because they aren't set up for programming. And, Horton Park is a passive park, which means it doesn't have a clubhouse. It's not attended. So, was a lot of additional work that we had to do with parks to sort of activate that space to even make it program ready. Thank you for acknowledging that.

Thank you. Any other questions? Oh, Councilmember Johnson. Thanks.

I appreciate just kind of hearing a little bit more about the programming as well. And I think sometimes we hear casually through the different events and the different options that are available. And I know that it can vary depending on the library. And I'm just kind of wondering, do you have an overview of just kind of what's offered at which libraries? In particular, just like which of the programs are at Dayton's Bluff library or like if you're kind of curious to see like which one, but also just to help when it comes to just continuing to get folks to know about the different types of programming that are available.

Yeah. So, you can actually access that quite easily on our website. So, we have an online calendar. It's biblio events and you can filter by location, you can filter by age, you can filter by the type of program that you're interested in. So, if it's a cultural celebration, if it's a story time, you can filter that way and it'll bring you back those results quite easily on our website. Also, we do traditionally promote the program. So, you can go into any branch and there typically would be flyers available And like I mentioned, social media and things like that. But for the easiest, quickest access to get the information that you're looking for, then our public website is the best place to get it.

Thank you. Yeah. I know I just often I'm like, so many people may have questions about like where to go for things. So, over a thousand viewers at home, I think it's always good to hear where they'd access those. Yeah.

And if you wanted to know something specific, you could always reach out to us. We could make a little list or something like that and shoot it over to you.

Thank you. Thank you. Any other questions? Well, thank you, Marlena. I, again, just I'll kind of echo what my colleagues were saying, but I really appreciate hearing about just the diverse range of programming we provide and like how we've evolved our programming over time.

And then I also really appreciated hearing about the outcomes because to councilor Yang's point, that's important when we're looking at, like, you know, looking through our budget and what what what what are the needs and how can we help support that. And so thank you. And I I also loved the video. I was at both of the read brave events, and they were extremely popular. And then even, you know, outside of the read brave event, there's usually art, and there's just a lot happening in the program that I really enjoyed and I know I think the community really, really appreciates as well. So I want to thank you for that.

Thank you, Board Chair Jones and members of Library Board. I appreciate your time this afternoon.

Thank you. Before we adjourn for the day, speaking of Library in the Park, I wanna highlight an event coming up here on June 14 from ten to 12:30. We have Library in the Park at Horton Park laying the first stone, is basically we are celebrating the construction of the Hamlin Midway Library. There will be a let's see here. There will be it's a kickoff celebration.

There will be a DJ. There will be ice cream. There will be community art making for the new building, Double Dutch, a cat tour scavenger hunt, and more. And so I'm not sure what I don't know that I've been to a cat tour scavenger hunt, but I'm really excited. And to the point about programming, like, really appreciate the creative programming that goes into these events. And I I'll I'll be there, I can't wait to go. So thank you so much.

Joe, stuff like that happens in Ward 4 all the time.

Okay.

It's like

you got Okay. I'm sure you guys have, like, boring regular stuff at Ward 4. It's like cat tours all day long.

Just It's fantastic. Great. Okay. Well, thank you so much to everyone for being here, and appreciate all the conversation today. And with nothing else to come before us, we are adjourned.