Library Board - Regular Meeting

Meeting of the library board to order, please. Roll call.

Here. Coleman. Here. Johnson. Here. Kim. Naker. Here. Yang. Here. Chair Jones. Here. Six present, one absent, one being excused. The first item on the agenda is the approval of minutes, minutes 25 dash 43, approving 10/01/2025 library board minutes.

Alright, do we have any discussion on the library board minutes? With that, I'll take a motion from Council President Nacre to approve the library minutes. All in favor say aye. Aye. All those opposed?

Six in favor, zero opposed. The minutes have been adopted. The first item up for discussion is resolution 25 dash one seven zero five, recognizing the service of Beth Burns as the City Of St. Paul's representative to the Metropolitan Library Service Agency, MELSA's Board of Trustees.

Alright. This is really exciting. I'm gonna the resolution's not long, so I'm just gonna kinda read through it a little bit, and then I'll open it up for discussion.

And then, Beth, if you wanna come up and say a

few words, can or or not. But we're we're gonna be talking to you about this celebration today. So as some of you might know, MELSA board, Metropolitan Library Service Agency, a governing board for MELSA that includes mostly elected officials that are part of the different library agencies. A lot of them are counties. And Beth Burns, who is the president of the Friends of the Saint Paul Public Library, has been serving on this board, on the board of trustees since January 2017, and she's served as the treasurer since 2022.

This is basically, this board is responsible for setting strategic direction, goals and policies, approving the budget, providing oversight to the organization, and advocating for public libraries through the recommendations of the MELSA Advisory Committee. And in Beth's role as treasurer, she has led and championed new equity focused budget allocation formula for member libraries that reflects the evolving role of the libraries. And Beth is passionate and strategic advocacy for the Saint Paul Public Library and all public libraries has made her a trusted, experienced voice on the MELSA board. And whereas her close partnership with the Saint Paul Public Library director assures the unique needs and interests of the City Of Saint Paul's libraries are reflected in decisions that affect the broader region. Therefore, it resolved, the City Of Saint Paul recognizes the important service that Beth Burns has provided to MELSA over the past nine years and thanks her on behalf of the city of Saint Paul City Council and Library Board and look forward to her continued leadership as the president of the Friends of the Saint Paul Public Library.

So This is funny, though.

Guess, Beth, I'll open it to you

if you

want to say anything, then we can also chime in after that. If that's all right

with you. You. Library Board Chair Jost, members of the Library Board and City Council, thank you for that. It's very nice. I did not know I was going to be on the MELSA Board when I started as President of the Friends. That was one of the, oh, by the way, components to the job. But, I have actually been really grateful for that, and I understand you will be taking on the representation role for St. Paul Public Libraries moving forward. And, I'm excited for the city, for the library, for you. MELSA, as a regional library system, really helped me, had not worked in libraries previously, to understand the larger context in which we exist and do our work.

And I think one of the things I will just name as I end my nine year tenure on that board, is how truly special it is to be a city library system. I have learned a lot from my colleagues who oversee county systems and the challenges they're in, and I really love the fact that we get to focus so locally at the neighborhood level on the needs of our branches, with the context and challenges of this city at this time. So, it's been a privilege to represent the library at the MELSA Board. So, thank you for this recognition.

Yes. Thank you, Beth. Any other comments from my colleagues? Council Member Johnson.

Well, I will just simply say the best boards are the ones that you walk into, not really realizing that that's gonna be your assignment for the next decade. But I just wanna share I saw this. It made me smile because I definitely just appreciate your leadership and the work that you do both with the friends and even in your capacity on these multiple boards. So I sincerely appreciate

Oh, thank you.

The fact that despite it being being voluntold that you're going to be there, you've stayed for nine years. Most likely will continue to stay on the board and, you know, there is no relief coming for you anytime soon. But besides that, just genuinely appreciative that you're representing us on a very important piece.

Thank you.

Thanks, Chair Jones. Yes, I also did not realize that this was one of your other duties as assigned until this resolution was in front of us. And I already didn't know how you did everything and fit it all in and did it so effortlessly and beautifully. And now I find out that you've also been representing us also this whole time. So just kudos to you, Beth. Thank you so much for everything that you do for our city. I'm sure that now that you're not on the board anymore, this will just free up tons more time to be doing even more to the friends, etcetera.

That just means I'll have more time to botherbe in communication with you guys.

Anybody else? Wonderful. Well, Beth, I'll just say that I Sorry. Beth, I'll just say that I don't think that we could have asked for a better advocate at MELSA for the St. Paul libraries for the past nine years.

And especially, I mean, as I've been learning more about MELSA and how it works, your work on the allocation formula, I mean, that is so important to our city and to our city's role in the bigger picture of our libraries. And I'm just so, so grateful for you and for your work and look forward to learning from you as I transition into the role Thank you next very Yeah, so thank you, thank you so much, and thank you again to all your work with the Friends of the St. Paul Public Library.

Thank you. I appreciate the recognition, so thank you. Thank you.

Oh, got it, we got it. It's a resolution. We gotta vote on it. Will take a motion from council member Yang to approve the resolution. All in favor say aye. Aye. All those opposed?

Six in favor, zero opposed. The resolution has been adopted. Wonderful. The final item on the agenda is staff report for the 2038 Rondo Community Library update.

Alright. So we have Alex and Marlena who are gonna be here to give us an update on the Rondo Community Library. So this is about the what's gonna happen here over the next several months and into next year with the Rhonda Library temporarily moving to the Hallie Q. Brown Center. And I just really appreciate both of you coming in to provide more detail on that and share with us what this process looks like. So welcome to Marlena. I will turn it over to you.

Thank you, Library Board Chair Joss. Good afternoon, Library Board and City Council members. My name is Marlena Okechukwu, and I'm a Public Services Manager at St. Paul Public Library. And like you alluded to, we're going to give you a community update on the library this afternoon. So, I'll just hand it over to Alex because they will start.

All right. Thank you. I'm Alex Riley. I'm the branch manager at the Rondeau Library. So, Rondeau Library at a glance, this location opened up in 2006. We're open about three thousand hours annually. Last year, we had about 250,000 library visits with upwards of three fifty programs. Our homework center alone got 2,791 visits, so it's heavily used. Some of our key partners, we have the Network for Development of Children of African Descents Reading Program. So, NIDCAD has SANCOFA here at the Rondo Library.

We are a stop on the Rondo Frogtown Loop that picks up youth and drops them off at ages 10 and up at Parks and Rec locations, the Black Youth Healing Arts Center, and other in our library. We've collaborated with Parks and Rec to co host events such as bringing kids from Jameelie Rec Center over to our Fun Lab, which is a creative arts program at the library. We've had staff table at the Urban Farm and Garden Alliance, events that connect patrons and future patrons with the Peace Sanctuary Garden and Children's Gardening programs. And we have a growing relationship with the Saint Paul Promise neighborhood. They table and host events in our space connecting kids and families with summer learning opportunities and helping families connect in a meaningful way to their schools.

We're also looking at connecting with the Project Bold program to connect library visitors with family success coaches in the coming year. So, kind of as Beth was saying, this hyper local stuff, get to work with community. And so, the Rondeau Community Library is named that way for a reason. We're intended to be embedded deeply in the community. We listen to current patrons and potential patrons in the form of daily feedback from visitors, as well as planned community engagement events.

Recent examples would be we have community and coffee events, where we've asked for feedback on our how to use our collections funding. So, with two programs, we saw over 60 individuals and learned that a lot of folks want more biographies. And so, we're able to kind of redirect funding to what people are asking for. We also recently hosted a group of Ramsey County Public Health. There was an engagement event that they did, and the leader of this group brought her kiddo with her to the library and sent a lovely email to our staff afterwards talking about the community and how safe and welcome she was feeling in that space with her kid.

So, staff gather feedback daily from comment cards on what people would like to see in our spaces, what we're doing well, and what we could improve on. Library staff, myself included, joined monthly Ward one leadership meetings. Those are hosted by St. Paul Parks and Rec. Monthly Western District St.

Paul Police Department meetings, and we've attended numerous events attended and hosted numerous events on safety and community in the Uniedale area. We're looking to expand and improve our connections with community members and business owners by connecting with businesses like Flava, Earth's Beauty, and collaborating with some of the ongoing efforts of the Frogtown Neighborhood Association, as well as the Aurora St. Anthony Neighborhood Development Corporation. One of the challenges I've experienced as a branch manager at the in this community is communicating effectively with such a broad spectrum of stakeholders. The stakeholder it's becoming more streamlined as we go, but the stakeholders and community members kind of change as often as our community needs to.

Something I've done lately is prioritizing connecting and being out in community with partners, making sure our staff are present at community events, and sometimes most importantly, connecting with Rondo elders to learn some of the context, history, and discuss paths forward. This way we can continue to be what the community needs us to be.

Thanks, Alex. I'm going to talk about the renovation itself in three parts primarily. So, some of the background history, where we're at today, and where we hope to be in the future. So, Rondo opened in 2006 with a distinct vision that we've learned after nearly twenty years of use has an original design that creates congestion, and it limits library staff members' ability to welcome patrons effectively and connect them to library services. The original entrance design anticipated a use case that was never realized, and it left us in a space that lacks clear purpose and doesn't effectively welcome or serve our patrons.

So, we're hoping to expand the entryways and the bathrooms next to the front door that have created some of these challenges. And some of the changes that we hope to make would improve on the limitations that staff have to welcome patrons effectively. So, the city is investing in Rondeau. $793,000 in 2025 budget funding for renovations and the proposed 2026 funding for leased space and exterior security during the construction. This investment ensures Rondeau can continue to serve our community effectively for years to come.

So, today, the opportunity is informed by ongoing patron and staff experience and feedback, as well as community guided, community first public safety approach of the city. The opportunity and the need to renovate the Rondeau Community Library has been informed by regular and ongoing communication with patrons, community members, and staff who have experienced the space and its challenges. The goal of the renovation is to improve the safety and sense of welcome for library users. Both community informed plans mentioned here serve as guides to what safe and welcoming spaces mean in St. Paul.

We are also incorporating a community informed or incorporating our community informed library enhanced safety plan and best practices from crime prevention through environmental design, CPTED, which we have learned through our city experts from St. Paul Police Department, ONS, and the library itself. The way a space of design can contribute to how it's used and experienced, Colleagues who are trained in crime prevention through environmental design helped us understand how redesigning this space will lend to improved safety for community members and staff. One of the central strategies for CPTED approaches is to build a sense of community among users of a space to reduce crime and minimize fear of crime, and these are goals that are shared by the library. So, our future plans for the renovation is that, first, Rondeau Community Library will close temporarily by the 2025 for renovations to improve the entryway and relocate the bathrooms.

Due to budget sources, this project is very narrowly scoped and is specific to the foyer and the safety improvements. Clear sight lines, easier navigation, immediate staff connection, and better transitions between outside and inside are some of the immediate benefits to the library user experience that we envision with this renovation. These renovations will improve the library user experience by moving the service desk closer to the entrance and bathrooms deeper into the building. Library services will continue at Hallie Q. Brown Community Center during the closure, keeping us in the heart of the Rondo community.

Relocating our library services to Hallie Q. Brown Community Center maintains access and deepens our roots in Rondo. Embedding our services within an institution with deep ties and longstanding service to community creates opportunities for synergy that strengthen both organizations to better serve our communities. Is that you? Oh, sorry. Oh, okay. So, our services at the Hallie Q. Brown Community Center. The Hallie Q. Brown Community Center is known as the lighthouse of the community and provides programming and services ranging from early learning, youth and senior programming, to their food shelf and clothing closet.

It's located a few blocks south of the current library location and still in the Rondo community. Founded in 1929 through the leadership of the St. Paul Urban League, the Hallie Q. Brown Community Center is an African American founded nonprofit social service agency, and it's open to all. Now located at 270 North Kent Street, Hallie Q.

Brown Community Center shares space with the Martin Luther King Rec Center and Penumbra Theater, serving close to 50,000 people annually through food support, cultural activities, the Rondo Historical Archive, and programs for an active senior community. This partnership creates a powerful opportunity for collaboration. Elders in the Rondo community are the stewards and ambassadors of its history and culture. By placing library services in close proximity to active senior groups, we can expand library programming and literacy services to older adults, while strengthening our connection to the community that has sustained this neighborhood for generations.

All right. So, as Marlena mentioned, it's extremely important for us to continue providing library access programs and services to the Rondo and Froggtown communities. The Hallie Q. Brown Community Center is well established. It's well known. It has the space, availability, and convenience, as well as mission that works well with library and community needs. So, what are we bringing with us? Everything that fits. We're bringing collections. That means books, DVDs, newspapers, more.

We're bringing all of our programming. So, that includes for youth, our homework center, reading together, story time, creative programming for school age youth, such as Fun Lab and Create Tech for teens. We're also bringing adult services, such as our community resource outreach program that supports individuals with basic needs assessments, public health access, and more. And then we're bringing computer open labs, computer classes, and entrepreneurial engagement opportunities. Some of the opportunities and partnerships

Vice Chair Bui's got a question.

Thank you, Chip Jones. Thank you so much. Just have a quick question in regards to just the volume of programming. I know the earlier slide said there's about an average of 250,000 visitors a year Uh-huh. Knowing that, you know, it's gonna have Hallie Q. Brown is gonna be hosting that many people. I'm just wondering, has there been consideration around what type of programming to kinda like right size for that location?

Yeah, I have two answers for that. One is that I've been able to collaboratively rearrange our programming schedules so stuff physically fits, which means actually offering some more stuff on weekends that we haven't been able to offer. And then, additionally, one of the partnerships that I was going to touch on is that we'll be co hosting some of our teen and youth programming with MLK. They have a teen room that we're going to be able to cohost programs with, and I'm in contact with that the manager there. And we're excited to do some of that cross pollination work.

It took a lot of drafts, I would say, to kind of fit that all in because I'm aware of the space constraints, but we're really committed to bringing, if not the full volume of individuals at the same time, definitely the full volume of programming.

Thank you.

Female You're welcome. So, being co located in the Hallie Q. Brown Community Center, Penumbra and MLK Rec Center offers us opportunities to collaborate, co host events. We're already really well connected with the Frogtown Rondo Loop, and so some of that programming goes hand in hand. There are opportunities for partnership with Penumbra so that we can kind of expand some of those spaces that you're talking about as well.

And we're also bringing our Friends Fireside Reading program with us, which is a super well attended, yet intimate and lovely author talk series. Oh, and sorry, we're also working to increase the number of residents with library cards in the area through some ongoing outreach there. So, continuing to amplify the Library Go program, as well as just folks in that neighborhood. Thanks,

Pat. There we'll still have a presence at the University And Dale location while we are temporarily relocated at the Hallie Hugh Brown Community Center. But I wanted to note that the history of displacement in the Rondo community and the resulting distrust in some areas provides critical context for why we're maintaining our visibility at University Dale during the construction and renovation of that location. By staying in Rondo throughout the renovation and continuing our collaboration with community, we send a clear message that we're not abandoning that corner and or this vital intersection. So, some administrative staff will still office out of that location.

The mobile so, we have maintenance staff that office out of that location. They'll remain there during the renovation, and our mobile library will still operate from this location as well. Contracted security will support the exterior of the building during closure. We're committed to the University Dale area and to returning when renovations are complete. The building and the premises will remain active and monitored throughout construction, and library staff will continue partnering with nearby organizations and businesses.

So, Alex noted, like, that we would still be in communication or hosting meetings maybe at Flavor Coffee or at NDC or like some of the other business in the area. This visible presence reinforces our long term investment in serving the Rondo community where it has always been and where it will continue to be. The library staff will continue its collaboration and outreach through Ward 1 leadership meetings and with our city colleagues to ensure that we're sharing, learning, and growing together to serve the Ward 1 and Rondo community while we're relocated at the Hallie Q. Brown Community Center.

So, as we've mentioned already, the programming and community space, having that available while we're in our temporary location is really important. So, we're actually able to maintain all of our current hours. So, we'll be open the same number of hours for the community. And that's listed here. And that ensures equitable access to services and programs. Because the space we're is slightly smaller, we don't require all of our current staff, but we were able to bring a majority of them with us to maintain that programming. Staff have also been included in the programming and staffing considerations and conversations.

So, timeline. In October, we finalized the lease and facilities agreements were executed, and then we shared our staffing and service plan, and we completed that and shared it with staff. We are beginning work at the Hallie Q. Brown Community Center this month. So, some minor renovations, painting, changes to some of the access points to make it more accessible for users when we move into the space.

In December, we anticipate a last day of service at the current location, and in January, we anticipate our first day of service at the Hallie Q. Brown Community Center. So, our communication and timing to community members has been our highest priority, but our priority is also accurate communication. And we recognize that the timeline is shorter than we typically provide, and there are two primary reasons for this. Developing a timeline for the construction and lease signing was complex process, and we wanted to ensure that we had concrete information to share before communicating with the community and sharing details that might change or consistently change. And then we wanted to minimize interruptions

to

some of our ongoing highly attended programs like our homework center, CROP, Sankofa, and Reading Together, and to time the closure and reopening during the seasonal breaks for some of those programs. So, the interruptions to those programs will be minimized. We do plan to notify staff of like some specific dates next week, I believe. Yep, in the next week, we'll be communicating those specific dates. So, for our communication, we will notify the public in the ways that we typically do when there's a temporary closure of a library.

So, our website will have the most up to date information and where we will likely refer folks to the most. We'll use email patrons who have marked Rondeau Community Library as their home library in their accounts, and then our newsletter. Folks can sign up for that on the landing page of the library. So, at sppl.org, at the bottom of the page, you can sign up for the newsletter. We'll use social media and signage and information posted at the library itself.

And we'll seek opportunities to share and update milestones through these channels as well. And then partner and media outreach, and we are hoping to have a welcoming and or a couple of welcoming and engagement events in January. And I believe that's all we have. So if you all have any questions for us, we are happy to take those. Thank you.

All right. Thank you, Marlena and Alex, for that presentation. Any questions? Okay. I'm going go to Councilmember Coleman first, and then we'll go to council member vice president Naker.

Thank you, chair. Thank you both so much. This has been very helpful to get all this information, and I appreciate all the thought that's gone into it. The timeline for the next few months is really clear. Is there a targeted reopening date that we're looking at? When you To

do you mean coming back?

Yes. Return.

I'm gonna punt that to director Hartman.

We don't have a timeline yet. It will

be in 2026, but we need

to gather a few more pieces of information about how long some

of the renovation projects will take. We anticipate it in 2026 yet.

Councilor Mabouy.

Well, yeah I was going to ask that question. Also, can you share in terms of since there isn't a targeted return date, just I guess what is the reason why for that closure if there's not like a definite timeframe? And I'm just asking that just because you know, we live in such a world of uncertainty right now and not knowing what, you know, next year will bring in terms of challenges not only to that area but also in terms of management staffing, new administration, know, is there a, I guess, of just kind of the reason around like this urgency of closing without having a plan in place in terms of what the, how long the renovations will take.

Thank you, Chair Jones, Council Member Bui. A couple things I wanna I wanna reiterate what Marlena and Alex said. It's really important for us that we make this move during the time that our programs are on break and during a time in December where the libraries are less visited. That doesn't mean that we don't take all of our days of library service seriously. It just means that whenever we make this transition, we wanna make it as least disruptively as possible.

And there are many, many kids and families that attend homework centers and our other programs. And December is a time that we have a break for that. So I want to name that. The second thing I want to name is the alignment of the funding. We have the funding for 2025 to make these renovations and we want to be responsible stewards of that.

And we also know that in the proposed budget there is funding for that lease. That is one time funding that is for 2020 So, we want to maximize that as as most as best we can. And I would I would say we do have plans to return to the building, but I don't have the timeline for you yet. So, I wouldn't agree that we don't have a plan. We do. But we don't have that timing date for you. We will have that in early twenty six, and we will make sure to communicate it.

Yeah. I think I'll just thank you, Councilmember Bui and Councilmember Coleman for the question. I'll just add, you know, someone that works in also in the design construction industry. When we're in this phase of design that we're in right now for this project, it is totally normal to not know the exact target date. We do have a sense for as we're in these early phases like duration of the project potentially and that we've I think we've shared somewhat of a range. But you don't want to promise a date without that information. But once we get that information, which will be very soon about what the design process and the steps and the construction looks like, we'll know those dates and we will hear that from you, it sounds like, likely in January.

Thank you Councilmember Jones, thank you council members. And I wanna appreciate and thank you for asking those questions and recognize that I know that community members have those questions too. And we will make we're not gonna forget to announce, like, when we'll return. And as soon as we have that information, we'll share it. I want you to have my promise and my guarantee for that. And also, you know, it's just sort of an acknowledgment that construction takes some time. And that time for that time, it's important that we remain closed and provide services at Helly Q. Brown. And when we're ready to reopen, we you will be the first to know.

Yes. Council Member Bowie.

And also I just want to acknowledge, I just kind of jumped into the conversation. I do want to just like say I do appreciate the responsive government model that we I have do appreciate taking the time to actually create this presentation. All the time and all the work and all the energy that went into making sure this information is on the website, the very detailed, nuanced, comprehensive Q and A that went on there and really being able, Director Marine, to just really tackle every single question that comes my And you have been very responsive and proactive. I also want to just acknowledge Chair Joe's leadership in this. You know, of course, like as a council member getting, you know, concerns and a lot of questions that it's not my expertise.

I do not run libraries, but I, you know, I we're all on the same team to make sure that our libraries are accessible and are here to stay. So, I just want to just acknowledge that that is not lost on me in terms of the work that has been done so far. Thank you.

Thank you, Councilmember Bowie. Council President Aker, did you have a question?

Yes, thanks Chair Josten. Thanks again. I'd like to echo Councilmember Bowie's thanks to you for bringing this topic in front of us. I think it's really important for us to get all clear on it and also for this, our millions of viewers, be listening to this presentation. I am I have two questions.

One, the location Rondo's location is perfect when it comes to transit accessibility. And I know Halley Q is accessible by transit, but I don't think quite as on it. And I know that there are lots of folks and families, in particular, because I've seen them, who get off of the train or come right around the building where they live and come right into the library. I'm curious if there's been any conversation about, given that the circulator already stops at the library, if it could maybe not just pick up kids, but also others just for that one jaunt between the library and Helly Q for this period. And then, have a second question, but it looks like you're super ready to answer. Go ahead. Okay.

Go up. I've been in conversation with of the manager of the LOOP program, and we've talked a lot about the families that live upstairs, and how to connect folks with the new and temporary location. And there are conversations we have nothing decided at the moment about potentially tweaking some of the age requirements, because we developed those, as well as engaging specific family rides of that sort to make sure that people have they can kind of trot that path and figure it out and be comfortable with it as well. And so, that we are going to be really connected. This the loop already stops at MLK, and so we have that.

And so, there's definitely between the two rec centers, Jimmy Lee and MLK, there's a lot of crossover of those families and neighborhoods. So, we're we have an eye on that, and we're talking about solutions to include our neighborhood folks.

Great. I encourage you to keep doing that. And I like the way you put it. We made those rules about age. Presumably, the bus can carry people who are older than that. Great. And then the other question I had is, I know the reasoning for moving the restrooms to the back and having the greeting desk in the front makes all the sense in the world to me. I'm curious about the in addition to the construction that's going be going on during this time, will there also be operational planning going on at this time to respond to what will happen when we reopen? Folks come in expecting to be able to use facilities that they may not be able to use the same way that they were before. If there's another location that folks are going to be sent to.

I noticed on your slide you said it was designed with these services in the front originally probably for some sort of community need. I'm wondering if we're going to use this time to find another location for maybe some of those needs to be met.

I've one of the things that is not going to change is that the library is still open to the public. And so, if we're talking about bathroom access for public and community members, that still exists. Access to internet, all of those things still exist. I think, in general, one of the things that will make it easier for staff is that people will know it's a library when they're coming in, which can set a different tone. It doesn't exclude anyone. It just sets a different tone as they're coming in. And so, I'm excited for that, but we're not the idea is not to shut anyone out. It's a more safe and welcoming space. Do you have anything to add?

I Member

just want to add to that. I really do appreciate you asking that question because I know when I'm Chair Joe's and I had a meeting with Director Mareen or was it yesterday, I believe, or around what is the repurpose of that space because that still is a space and it sounds like there's gonna be the services and everything's gonna be brought forth closer to that door. Mhmm. You know, another thing that came about this as we were just like thinking about what what happened in terms of like when it was created. Initially, it was a a coffee shop, a cafe.

Mhmm. It functioned as a cafe and it you know brought a lot of nostalgia of like I remember you know that space being purpose for you know some community based retail and you know I think right now that, you know, obviously it's not probably one of the things that we want to put on the table until we have to like really like rectify some of the behavior in that area. But, you know, I do appreciate you asking that question because I think we can think innovatively and that design team can also think innovatively. One of the things I also did mention is, you know, understanding the scope is very narrow, but we do have opportunity. Maybe that looks like funding in other areas or maybe philanthropic dollars or partnerships to have a community organization really helping with the co design and the branding and the the creative expression, the artwork.

And I know Rondo Libraries is just a stellar example

Female Uh-huh.

Of just like all of the, like, vibrancy that, you know, exists in that space.

Female Thanks. I think it's hard to sometimes define or explain why it doesn't feel like a library when you're coming in, but the number of times I've had to explain to people that they're in a library when they come in to use the restroom is pretty high. And so, I'm looking forward to that being the forefront of our space.

Thank you so much. Any other questions or comments from Library Board members? Great. Well, Alex and Marlena and Director Hurtman, I just want to thank you so much for bringing forth all of this information about what is gonna be a big transition for our library, the most used library in the city and in the Rondo community. And I really appreciate your thoughtfulness and your attention to detail on this whole process.

And I also want to recognize Vice Chair Bui, like we've been working all of this together very closely on what is going to be I think I'm looking forward to what we're going to see and what moving to the Hallie Q. Brown Center and what this will mean for our library. And I just appreciate all of our partners in this to be able to make sure that we're moving this forward in a way that everyone understands what's going on, why we're doing it, and with still all of the important values we care about with the library, about being safe and being welcoming and continuing to provide the services that our residents depend on and care so much about. So I just really, really appreciate everyone's work on this team and that we were able to have this discussion today. And I look forward to some of the upcoming community events around this and further discussions and updates on this.

So if no one else has anything else to add, that

is

the last item on our agenda.

Was gonna say, there a date set yet? I know in terms of the opening Oh, events?

Yeah,

yeah, no, for the opening of the Halleke Oh,

Halleke Brown. Chair Gilst, Councilmember Bowie, thank you. We'll be communicating a specific date as early as next week, but we'll do that with our staff first and then community and we'll loop you into that, so very soon.

Perfect, yes. So we'll be on the lookout for that and keeping all that on our on our calendars. Really looking forward to it. Alright. Well, with nothing else to come before us, we are adjourned.