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Okay, the link is now up on our website.

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Okay, thank you, Erica. Okay, thank you, everybody, for joining. Welcome to our February 18, 2026 meeting of the Hamilton Public Library Board and our first meeting of 2026. Unfortunately, we're not able to be in person for this because of the weather, but I appreciate everybody coming virtual for our last minute changes to the implement weather conditions up there.

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So, I'll get started by reading the line of knowledge then.

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The City of Hamilton is situated upon the traditional territories of the Erie, Neutral,

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Heron, Wendat, Haudenosaunee, and Mississaugas.

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This line is covered by the dish with one spoon wampum belt covenant, which was an agreement

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between the Haudenosaunee and Anishinaabek to share and care for the resources around the

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Great Lakes.

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We further acknowledge that this land is covered by the between the Lakes

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Purchase 1792, between the Crown and the Mississauga's of the Credit First Nation.

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Today, the City of Hamilton is holed to many indigenous people from across

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Turtle Island, North America, and we recognize that we must do more to learn

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about the rich history of this land so that we can better understand our woals,

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as residents, neighbors, partners, and caretakers.

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Okay. So moving right along. The first thing we've got on the agenda today is a verbal

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delegation from Evan. This is Evan on the call. Oh, there's Evan. So if you want to get

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going maybe five or so minutes. Yeah, that sounds good. I can start whenever. Yeah. Awesome.

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Awesome. Thanks for letting me speak today. So hello, everyone, on the board. My name's Evan

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Yubin. I'm a resident in Ward 1 in Hamilton. I've lived in Hamilton for 12 years now.

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It doesn't seem that long, but it has been. And I submitted a delegation request today in

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response to the closure of the library due to reportedly, you know, some of the drug

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use outside the premises of central library.

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And I submitted the request because a lot of the reporting I was seeing on the issue

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was unfortunately directing from what I could tell a lot of the blame to yeah folks who are

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unhoused find themselves using drugs and that's one of the last places to go and so I definitely

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recognize that you know it shouldn't be on the library system to address this problem but the

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reality of the situation is, you know, that's one of the last places people have to go nowadays.

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And I did see actually a couple hours ago, Joey Coleman put out an article and I appreciate that

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there's quite a bit of recognition there that part of the reason for this problem is the closure of

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the safe supply sites. So I appreciate that. I also appreciate, you know, that the library has been

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supporting de-escalation strategies. So there were in the media indicated that staff have been

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trained on de-escalation. There's a community desk, social workers have been hired. So yeah,

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This is all really good stuff and I'd like to see this continue.

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What myself and a lot of other folks in the community who have tried to do some outreach

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at that library site and then other sites across the city, what we don't want to see and

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what hasn't worked is introducing police into the situation.

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So advocating for police to, you know, if there are people outside of the library, then it's up for police to deal with that problem.

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It hasn't worked. People have to go somewhere. If that's where they are, the police are just going to move them somewhere else.

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And they're going to be a problem there. Or worse, the police could arrest them.

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They might find themselves in jail and then when they leave and get back into the community, they're in the same situation.

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So it doesn't work.

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I've been at the library a couple of times since the closure was some friends who, you know, we had a little bit of funds to put together to help distribute some food

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and winter materials to folks and, you know, it's usually pretty, pretty, most people are pretty

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approachable no matter what situation they're in. There's also a lack of warming centers, especially

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overnight in the city. I know people are probably aware of this. A lot of folks have been getting

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routinely their encampments cleared from outside of the YWCA is a common spot but yeah they have to

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go somewhere. So I guess I'm here today to just reiterate that I appreciate what the library's

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been doing. I hope we can continue keeping the focus on the route of the problem which is that

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But there are a lack of supports for people, I'm hoping we can keep the focus on strategies

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that don't involve bringing police into the situation.

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And also to reiterate that the community is ready to support the library if it calls

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for funding to sustain that kind of approach and keep the library open.

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What the community is not going to respond to is if the library just calls for more funding to go to the police.

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So there's a lot of support for that kind of strategy, a de-escalation type strategy.

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I know the city can afford it because currently we're committed to almost a million a year

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just for extra support to enforce the encampment by law, which is a complete waste and yeah, so I just want to, yeah, I can't say it enough, the community is ready to support any, any division of the city that decides to take that approach, and we need more, more people to, so that's all I have to say today.

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Okay.

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I'm happy to take any questions if people have questions with what my experience has been

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doing some outreach, but that's all I have to say today.

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Okay.

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Thank you.

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Thank you, Evan, so much for coming and speaking and sharing our experience.

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I know we really appreciate all the work that you've been doing to help the community out

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in that way.

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So thank you from all of us.

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We maybe have time for a couple of questions.

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I'm not sure if anybody on the board has any questions.

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I don't, oh, Kojo, yeah, go ahead.

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Yes, can everyone hear me?

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Yes, yes, so again, thank you.

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It's always great to see members of the community

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come to the HPO board to delegate.

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So thank you for your time.

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I just want to be clear of your delegation insights and requests.

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So, you're saying that if the library needs additional funding,

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the community is able and willing to support any financial needs that might be needed

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to keep all library locations open? Is that what I heard?

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Yeah, I would imagine not a lot of people in the community would be willing to show up

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and demonstrate and support of that kind of initiative.

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Okay, thank you.

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Okay, I don't see any others. I've been just pointing out that we do have an update on central on the agenda as well.

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So you'll be able to listen on that as well to get some more information.

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Oh, Councillor Cratch, did you have your hand up?

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Yeah, I did. I wanted to just ask Evan if you could expand a bit on...

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I think it's something that I've been talking about. A lot of people have been talking about in the community for a very long time.

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What the impact is if people have nowhere else to go.

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So when, you know, if you could expand on when the fact, you know, there's no public spaces available for people anymore.

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The sites where people were lied on for using drug safely, safe supply checking, all that kind of stuff were gone in the community entirely.

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And folks are kind of left without any guidance from the city as to where they can go, so people are just going.

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Can you talk a bit more about that? Like what you're seeing in terms of an impact of that?

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The sort of multi levels of government decision making on that subject that's left where we are today?

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Yeah, I wrote an op-ed about this that the spectator luckily published. I think it was in August

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of last year or September in response to a lot of the protests that occurred over the summer

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regarding the updated encampment protocol. And I visited those sites a few times myself.

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And yeah, you know, it is interesting how when people are able to kind of get a little

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bit of stability even by being able to stay in one spot for weeks in a row, that is

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a significant help to them.

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And what we saw in the summer were police and bylaw would continually come in and say,

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okay, you can't be here anymore from the bylaw because of the bylaw.

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And so what did people do?

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They moved to the next park because where else can they go?

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So basically we're paying the salary of workers and staff and it's not even necessarily

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their fault either. That's just what their job is to move people around. It's like a glorified

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moving service. A militarized moving service is how I would describe it, right? So that, to me,

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is one of the not only a waste of money, but a pretty immoral waste of money. And so when we're

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talking about okay now people are outside of the library like I can appreciate that some families

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have concerns with this but again like people do have to go somewhere so at some point we need

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people to one get creative and to take a stand and say like this approach has not been working and

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and we're not gonna just go along with it.

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Thank you.

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I don't see any other questions.

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So again, Evan, thank you so much

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for coming and preparing those comments.

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We'll move on to our update on Central.

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So that's Paul, Kat, and Sarah.

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And I just wanna remind you all that we do have an in-camera item

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as well related to safety and security at Central.

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So that will come later on in the agenda.

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But Paul, Kat, Sarah, did you want to provide that update?

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So I'm going to start if that's okay, Board Chair, and then I'll pass it on to Chad and Sarah.

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And we wanted to, because as the Board knows, it's on the agenda that we have a

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in-camera discussion going on around security challenges at Central. But you know, we are a

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public board, and so we wanted to make sure that we had public discussion as well, so that we

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constrain our conversation to what needs to be dealt with confidentially.

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So there's a number of, there's been a lot of attention made to the fact that the central

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library, that we made a emergency decision to close on Sundays.

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and I think to be clear.

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Drug crisis back in the 2012, 13, 14, and we made a number of changes back then to address a crisis, so this is not like a new problem. I think it's clear the scale of severity is new, coming out of the pandemic, where the city had declared emergencies around homelessness, mental health and addiction.

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that winter of 23, 24, we saw a scale of homeless people in the library that we've never seen before.

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There's kind of two issues going on here. One are people not having options where options to go,

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and then there's the addictions issue.

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And so we've been doing our best to manage that.

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We have been advocating with the broader public library community, libraries, and in fact

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the national library community is saying governments need to provide adequate mental health

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and social supports.

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Otherwise it impacts community places like libraries, and I think we know there's a lot of businesses

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is downtown as well and other institutions that are feeling the effects of these crises.

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So that led us to implement a whole number of other steps.

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And I think Sarah and Chad have been needing that effort here at the Central Library.

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And the last winter was somewhat what the things improved somewhat after implementing.

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And I hear I'm talking about the peer support program that we started at the beginning of

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last year, this step system.

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We've had a social worker since 2014 at the library.

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And I think certainly we still have that now

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through a public health program that the library board

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is funding, where we find ourselves now

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is really in a very serious crisis at the library.

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And I can understand people like Evan and people

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saying, you know, policing this is not the solution, it's it's it's it's we're dealt with a

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situation where we have people coming in and distributing drugs in their space and having multiple

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overdoses in the library. And I'm talking at a scale that is extremely disruptive and you just

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Let's look at our numbers.

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Our children's department is not getting the kind of engagement it has in the past.

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So families with kids aren't feeling comfortable coming to Central because of what they're

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seeing.

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And in recent, in this really accelerated starting in November, we're not interested in

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blame on anyone. But we do need to make sure that we can provide a safe learning environment for

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families. And to have people overdosing, to have people doing other things, and, you know, I could

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go on with experience, it's not sustainable. And so I don't apologize for having police come

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again, they're focused on identifying people that are distributing drugs.

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There were a library. We have a family environment. People are dropping drugs like it's not a

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good situation. Anyway, I'm going to pass it on to Sarah and Chad who maybe can go into

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some more detail and maybe just around the closure. There's been no decision made, but we

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wanted the board board to be alert of the fact that we are in a crisis, and there needs to be

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help. And that help needs to be like not next year. When you have multiple people

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overdozing every day, it's not sustainable. So yeah, we are in a crisis, and I don't think we should

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and pretend we're not, I guess.

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So I would pass it on to Sarah and Chad, thank you.

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Yeah, thanks, Paul.

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I'll jump in first and then pass the mic over to Sarah.

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I just wanted to provide a formal update

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of some of the areas that have gone,

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that have happened over the last six weeks.

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We have suspended our Sunday service for the time being.

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We reached a point where the help that was required in the emergency situations through folks overdosing.

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We didn't have enough resources on site to get to every situation as they were happening on site.

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And the great work that the social workers do, the peer support programmers do, the managers and the staff do through the week.

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The same services aren't available on a Sunday.

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It was a very difficult decision, but we continue to see that suspended Sunday service and we continue to watch and better understand how

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incidences are occurring and when they're occurring to make the decision to get Sundays back going again.

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We've suspended the service, the early opening service, Monday to Saturday from 8 o'clock until 9 o'clock, for the same reasons.

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You know, the intention was to try to provide a place for people to be that third space early in the morning knowing we had limited resources, but the dramatic spike in incidences during those times and the disruption.

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We didn't have the resources to keep both the membership safe and the staff safe during that period, whereas at 9 o'clock, we've got a full staff compliment and the entire building is ready for use.

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And then lastly, we continue to suspend the study hall services for many of the same reasons.

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We do recognize that we've taken away the ability for some folks in our community to utilize

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that service after eight o'clock, the eight o'clock until midnight, stay hall service Monday

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to Thursday, but it came with the same challenges on us not being able to provide the resources

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that were needed for the incidences that were occurring.

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We've also onboarded and Sarah's going to get into some of the anecdotal details.

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We've onboarded our two community connectors.

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These two folks are here specifically to help us

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merge our membership and the library services all in one.

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They're trained in social services and de-escalation

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and they've been onboard for a couple of weeks

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and I've had the privilege of overhearing their interactions with our membership across the spectrum

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from everything from assistance directions also with a lot of these situations that could be

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occurring. So that's been a positive experience that I'll let Sarah talk to a little bit more.

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We still implement strategic roving with our managers and our staff to ensure that the folks who

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may have nodded off our awake and doing well. This does use a lot of our resources in our time,

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but we're able to maintain this during the week and Saturdays, as well as we've implemented

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the washroom technology again to ensure that our members are safe. The technology allows us to monitor

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stillness from time to time if somebody uses in the washroom and they overdose or they pass out in

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the washroom, it gives us the ability to quickly identify and ensure that the people using

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our washroom are safe.

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That's just a quick update on some of the ongoing in this area over the last six weeks.

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I'm going to hand it over to Sarah, and maybe Sarah can give us a little context on how

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central is operating these days.

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Thanks, Trata, and thanks for the board for having me tonight.

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For those that don't know me, I'm the Manager of Information Services here at Central.

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My team is about 40 folks and then plus a few more from the different departments that

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spend some time on the information services desk and on top of that we have a peer support

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social work that comes through me as well. We do actually have the capability to help a lot

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of our members with their mental health homelessness and addiction needs through the things that Chad

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and Paul have both mentioned such as the social work program. We have peer support, so if you're not familiar with peer support work, it's through the CMHA and it's folks with lived experience.

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And what we've seen through that program is that they are able to connect with our members in a different way than myself or my staff are.

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And it offers a lot of great ways for folks to come in and have a conversation at their level.

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And it is a little bit different than, you know, coming in and speaking with a security guard.

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And we also have security guards as well that help.

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And everything that I'm talking about is a bit of a piece of a puzzle.

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That's what Chad and I always say when we're managing central.

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We also have the community partner desk that was mentioned earlier.

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There's 20 different social services that come and spend time on that desk

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and service our members in those ways as well.

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We are trying to deter the drug behavior that's happening in here, the drug use.

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That's where we really can't keep up is the drug use.

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And Chad already alluded to the things we have taken steps on, which include that washroom security enhancement.

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So the Halo sensors, we have locks on the doors when we need them.

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We're constantly patrolling them. My community connectors are checking on folks in the washrooms as well.

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so you know there's lots being done around our washrooms but even with all of

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that the issue is just greater than what we can handle so just to put a few

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stats in context and we did express this at a meeting with some of our city

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colleagues last week but in the last three lines we've administered an

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Aloxon 44 times and that was the that's what I gave last week and there's been

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seven more times since I had that meeting last week. So it is just we are administering the

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locks in quite frequently. I need to close my some of the bathrooms in this building every day for

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three reasons. There's chemical smell, biohazard, or drug paraphernalia. Every single day we need to

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close a bathroom for one of those reasons. We've had 771 security incidents and central in just the

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last five weeks. So, you know, that just kind of puts into context the the amount of use that

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is happening here. And that is with all the supports that we've kind of laid out to you

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that we're trying. We just simply can't can't keep up with it.

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Chad, is there anything else you want me to touch on?

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No, I do a quick roundtable if there were any questions or feedback that Sarah, myself, or Paul

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could answer we'd be happy to. Thank you, Sarah.

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I think Chad, Paul and Sarah, before we move on to questions, I just wanted to add, I'm

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glad Sarah brought up the statistics and the meeting we had with our partners.

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I think presenting those statistics to our partners around the table really was eye opening

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for everybody to put into context how dire the situation is right now and really that we

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wouldn't be taking these extraordinary measures unless we had to.

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And I think it's really important to note that our first primary goal is to ensure staff

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and patrons safety and security.

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So I just want to say thank you so much for all the work you're all doing at Central.

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It really is great.

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If you take a walk around with Sarah and Chad and they show you all the security measures,

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you can see that there's a lot being done.

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It's just unfortunate that although there's a lot of action being taken and a lot of quick

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action being taken by the team, there's still a lot of these incidents that are taking place on a

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daily basis. So I just want to make sure that that doesn't go unnoticed that the team is doing

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great work, ensuring the safety and security of everybody who walks through those doors. So thank you.

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So I will open it up for any questions that there might be. You want to just put up your raised

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and I'll come to you.

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Dana, I see your physical hand.

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Well, it's easier for me to thank you.

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Yeah.

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Okay.

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Thank you.

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Thank you very much.

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Paul, Sarah, and Chad, and, of course,

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echo what Gaga was saying in terms of the work that you're all doing

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and how committed you are to trying to do all of these countless things all at once.

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Paul, I know that you mentioned at the beginning of your conversation,

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that different library organizations are doing other things to sort of advocate around

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housing mental health and the like. I guess my one question was whether or not

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is the OLA or is there a Canadian, a federal level program? Do we ever advocate for things around

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the restoration of safe injection sites? I mean it's front me in terms of the timing

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this sort of increase, or at least things having been exacerbated. I can't imagine that it's not somehow connected to the elimination of safe injection sites.

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I appreciate that that doesn't get to sort of the on the ground stuff right away, but I want to get a sense of both the macro and the micro.

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So do we ever do that? Or is there a is there a library association level that advocates for that sort of thing?

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So, well, Sarah, if Board Chair, if it's okay, I'll just answer briefly, and then, so

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Sarah is actually the Vice President.

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Congratulations, Sarah, of the Ontario Library Association.

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It's the largest library association in Canada, and then the OLA along with the Federation

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of Ontario Public Libraries, and Hamilton Public Libraries, a member, are advocating for

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these issues. The Canadian Federation of Library Associations at the national level, which

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is also doing that. I think, you know, just to be honest, I think what we're seeing right now

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from the current Ontario government, you know, to expect there's going to be a change around

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and their policy, we don't see that.

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Emerging, at least, I don't know, is that realistic that that's going to happen? It's not that we agree with the government's choice in this matter, but we have to deal with the reality that we're dealing with. And I think, to be honest, we become a de facto, same consumption site. And I don't think it helps that, you know, some people are saying, well, the library should become a safe consumer.

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section site. We're a public library and we're trying to serve and I think what people

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also confuse. So anyway, you know, I guess that's the answer to your question. And, you

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know, we've seen the situation really become a lot more difficult post-pandemic as other

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communities have. And so, like I guess that's the other thing is the situation we're dealing

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in Hamilton is not unique. And one of the things that I found out a couple of years ago

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is that for the first time a lot of small, smaller Ontario towns across the province are starting

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to see these issues that they had no previous experience with.

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So, we've been trying to share as much as we can because, unfortunately, we have a little

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bit more experience in this area, you know, being in downtown Hamilton.

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So, you know, I think the thing is, those efforts need to continue, but we need to deal with

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the reality we have before us.

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And, you know, I'm just a quick follow-up question, sorry, if I may, go ahead.

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Do we ever try to get MPPs or just get somebody in the building to say, look, I just don't

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know how much direct first-hand exposure some of our representatives really have to sort

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of understand exactly what the extent of the crisis is and what it looks like on the

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floor day after day after day and I don't know exactly what our role is relative to navigating

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some of those political considerations, but as long as it's merely sort of conceptual

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for some people, I mean, I don't know how you penetrate that. I mean, I'm not naive in terms

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of the likelihood of making progress as you described it. I completely understand that dynamic,

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But I'm just sort of trying to figure out, you know, where's the point of entry to try to actually penetrate some of that so that somebody was some decision-making capacity can sort of appreciate exactly how bad things are.

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Yeah, if I could just answer that chair and then I think there's another question.

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And so certainly, we've had MPPs have we reached out over the last two months to get awareness

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of this from local MPPs.

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We have not, and we can certainly follow up with that.

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I think, so we can follow up.

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I think we need to remind ourselves, and just in terms of realism here,

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I joined the Canadian

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Ontario Public Library, where were libraries in 1999. I worked in New York. When I came here,

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libraries were still grappling with the 1995 cuts to the public library operating grant that

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happened. There has been a concerted effort both at the political level, ministry level,

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Since mid-2000s, if not before, to try to get a correction or a redress to the problems

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with the plug, to date, what is this, 2026, our public library operating grant has changed

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exactly zero cents in that time.

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and so I think that's the reality that we have to deal with. Certainly, can we change that reality?

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Well, we can participate with others to make a case, but I guess the thing is, in terms of how much of a priority that the provincial government is giving libraries,

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I think one of the things we have been trying to remind them is all communities across

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the province benefit from public libraries, and we work together with rural, northern

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libraries.

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And so, you know, the story isn't that different in some of the more rural constituencies that

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maybe are more represented by the current government.

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Yeah,

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2026. We're still waiting for that new investment anyway. Thank you.

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Thanks, Paul. Thanks, Dana for your questions. Just wanted to echo to that at OLS, the conference,

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this past month. Safety and security, especially in those downtown libraries, was a big,

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big topic of discussion that came up at, you know, every time slot. So it is something

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I agree with Paul that everybody's dealing with and it's really on top of mind for everyone.

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But just as Paul was saying, I think we're in a bit of a unique situation because of where

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we are and anyhow, Kojo, go ahead.

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Yeah, thank you, Chad and Paul and Sarah for the update. I have to request this. I'll try

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get through them. So thank you for the statistics. So my question would be, if you have the statistics

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for Sunday, and what is the main reason for the closing on Sundays, is it related to staff

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complement versus their amount of incidents that are happening? So that's the first question.

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And then the second question would be, so if things continue on this trajectory, how

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does that impact other days, Saturday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday in

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terms of our ability to respond?

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And if our operational response is closure, what does that do as a public service?

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And then my third one, I think Dana mentioned it, but maybe I will push it forward a little

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bit and say that is it possible for through our chair to request a meeting with all MPPs

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in Hamilton to come to the library and literally see what we are going through, right?

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Some of us utilize Central a lot so we see these things.

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So for me, I think maybe we've got into a point where now, as a board senior leadership,

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we need to pen a letter to all MPPs in Hamilton, five of them, and say, hey, we would like

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for you to come and see what we are dealing with.

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We have two counsellors on here, and maybe we could also request that some of the counsellors

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and mayor also attend that talk because I think we are being asked to hold the

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bedding or something that is social and that has not been addressed politically so

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I think it's time for us now to invite them into our personal

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So I think those are my questions, and I'll listen.

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Board Chair is okay, and so in regards to Sundays,

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there's two primary issues.

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So in terms of numbers, and we have those,

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I don't know what they are on the top of my head,

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but we had a number of serious incidents

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and drug related on Sundays over the last few weeks.

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So, there's two things we noticed that from personal observation coming in on Sundays.

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One is the normal and whether I think that whether you agree with it or not on the people

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that are moving the campments along, and that's all it's really doing, but it is moving it,

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so that's not happening.

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So people coming into the library, there's people sleeping and basically have set up

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encampments and are consuming drugs along your boulevard and we're getting complaints

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from people that as they're smelling the people are smoking right near the entrance.

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So that was happening.

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So and we realize we've never had a problem with Sundays in the past in terms of it's always

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been specially staffed. So we need to look at that and we will look at that. I know we've been

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sort of dealing with the budget issues and trying to come to terms with that. So the thing is

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so we still have to put in more supports and I know last week we had the community connectors

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there on Saturday and it worked very well. So we are looking at what additional supports we can

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internally put. But I guess I would put it to, like, do you want people to come into the library

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to have to, in a sense, witness open drug use and as they're walking through the library,

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that's what if there's not other supports. So we're not, like we don't have responsibility or authority

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to take care of York Boulevard and not to mention garbage and other things that are there.

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It's not a very welcoming environment and people are upset that they are having to experience that.

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So those are the two things we need to address and we're trying to see what kind of extra supports can be put to bear to help with the situation on York Boulevard.

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And so the decision to close was not done lightly, but it was done because you know an

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acknowledgement that we're in the crisis.

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Now your second question about impact for other days, I'd just like to remind this

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board, back in 2022 and 2023, we went through a whole deal of work restructuring basically

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rebalancing our staff around the system so we could add 300 hours or more of

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library service every week. We don't have closed days anymore. We have more

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standard service. We have expanded study halls so like our solution has been one

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of access, okay? We open at 8 o'clock on, you know, and back in 23, I believe it was, so that

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people would have placed a count to in the morning and that worked okay. I guess what we're kind

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of saying to others is can someone else be helping before 9 o'clock so that we can welcome people to

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a good environment. So, you know, like, are we planning to close any more days? You know,

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like, that's not in the... You know, if... And just to be clear, if we thought that this

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was going to be necessary at the December board meeting, we would have had a full discussion

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about this. I don't think we mentioned it because we weren't expecting us to be in a deteriorating

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situation. And I think, you know, the problem in some ways or to be clear, the problem

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is not necessarily with people that have mental health or addiction problems. Okay? The problem

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is in the cold weather, there's people who have no understanding or experience navigating

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the library and understanding what it is to respect the place and respect the other people in

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there. So they're coming in and you know we we do I think to see this people if they can't get

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used in the washing they'll smoke fentanyl inside the library like and then we ask them to leave

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and they're back the next day doing the same thing and and and so like like there is I you know

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And I know it's non-intentional on their part, but there is no respect being given for the rights of anyone else.

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Okay. And, you know, the other day we had someone, we've had people defecating in front of the library people, you know, peeing inside the library in front of other people.

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I'm sorry that that's not acceptable behavior and that's what we've been experiencing.

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And look, if there's a urgency to this, we've been through this for so long that, and

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you know what, I think the one thing that has worked well for us is how many libraries

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an Ontario have a peer support worker program, have a social worker program, have all the

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things that we've done, have the community connectors, have the step system because we've

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been addressing this week.

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With what we can control, okay, and we've been doing everything we can. But doing all those

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things, it clearly are not sufficient to manage the current environment. And there are some

412
00:45:15,900 --> 00:45:21,580
people who think it's okay to come in and maybe they don't have other options, but they're

413
00:45:21,580 --> 00:45:27,140
coming into the library and they're getting drugs and using drugs. Some people are coming

414
00:45:27,140 --> 00:45:35,680
in distributing drugs. So you would residents want some disturbing fentanyl right by the children's

415
00:45:35,680 --> 00:45:44,920
area? I don't think people would expect us not to allow that kind of thing to go on. And

416
00:45:46,240 --> 00:45:54,260
I spent five years in New York City, five years in the Bronx. I'm kind of flexed. I saw a lot of

417
00:45:54,260 --> 00:46:00,560
of there, I perplexed that what we're having to experience right now at the Central Library.

418
00:46:01,900 --> 00:46:03,560
You know shocked, maybe it's the right word.

419
00:46:06,220 --> 00:46:07,180
Okay, thanks, Paul.

420
00:46:07,500 --> 00:46:10,700
The answer, I think, code is two questions, then there was one question about these.

421
00:46:10,900 --> 00:46:11,960
You'll follow up with the other one.

422
00:46:12,020 --> 00:46:18,040
I think that's a great idea about the MPPs, and I appreciate that suggestion, and I think

423
00:46:18,040 --> 00:46:20,460
I'm assuming no one's going to object to that.

424
00:46:20,460 --> 00:46:25,040
But, you know, it can't hurt any of that suggestion.

425
00:46:25,780 --> 00:46:31,060
So we'll follow up with engaging with the FPs, and we will also work with Councilor Cretch

426
00:46:31,060 --> 00:46:38,800
and Councilor McMacon on addressing the, seeing what kind of engagement we can do with

427
00:46:38,800 --> 00:46:43,340
the, with the ability of the Councilors.

428
00:46:44,560 --> 00:46:44,860
Okay.

429
00:46:45,100 --> 00:46:45,480
Thank you.

430
00:46:45,480 --> 00:46:47,580
Thanks, Kodjo, for your questions.

431
00:46:48,280 --> 00:46:49,780
Carly Eisler, hand next.

432
00:46:50,800 --> 00:46:51,300
Thank you.

433
00:46:52,460 --> 00:46:56,500
Thank you for this update, Paul Chad and Sara,

434
00:46:56,780 --> 00:47:00,740
really for your steadfast dedication to the city

435
00:47:00,740 --> 00:47:02,780
and to the people living here.

436
00:47:03,640 --> 00:47:06,160
I mean, our challenge is holding these two truths

437
00:47:06,160 --> 00:47:11,500
that addiction and houselessness are structural injustices.

438
00:47:11,500 --> 00:47:18,500
but that our libraries also must be important and safe places for everyone.

439
00:47:18,960 --> 00:47:23,420
And I think as we navigate these tensions, libraries, other spaces,

440
00:47:23,480 --> 00:47:26,040
I mean we're sort of caught in that.

441
00:47:26,680 --> 00:47:33,060
So I just so value working with all of you, knowing that you're holding the burden of these two truths so closely.

442
00:47:34,400 --> 00:47:39,340
I appreciate that my fellow board members have asked maybe more macro level questions,

443
00:47:39,340 --> 00:47:46,180
but if I may I want to just zoom in a little bit because I think there's an important piece here.

444
00:47:47,060 --> 00:47:52,840
And I don't recall if we've discussed this before and maybe we have, but we often talk about one

445
00:47:52,840 --> 00:48:02,280
of the impacts of the behaviors in the library as being a decrease in uptake of the children's area.

446
00:48:02,580 --> 00:48:06,900
So families and children being less likely to frequent these places.

447
00:48:06,900 --> 00:48:23,600
So my question is, is with this decrease at central, have we seen an increase in other locations as in are we remaining engaged with or are people remaining engaged with the library system?

448
00:48:24,120 --> 00:48:27,180
Or are we losing folks and potentially permanently?

449
00:48:28,320 --> 00:48:33,040
That's a great question. Paul, I don't know if you can answer that and maybe just speak

450
00:48:33,040 --> 00:48:37,300
to also the stats. I know Sarah mentioned the stats on Central, but there were also the

451
00:48:37,300 --> 00:48:39,180
other branches indicated as well.

452
00:48:40,940 --> 00:48:45,600
Sorry. If I could just put in later, we're going to be receiving the metrics report so we

453
00:48:45,600 --> 00:48:51,200
can look at that, whether that breaks that down adequately. I don't think it will ask

454
00:48:51,200 --> 00:49:00,080
be clear from that. What I would say is that we're not having the same problems at other

455
00:49:00,080 --> 00:49:08,460
branches that we're having at central or other locations. But I would say that none of this

456
00:49:08,460 --> 00:49:16,720
conversation about this is necessarily helpful for engaging more people in the library.

457
00:49:20,460 --> 00:49:21,180
And I'm

458
00:49:21,180 --> 00:49:28,060
hear things and people equate one and make it three sometimes, you know. And so like,

459
00:49:28,820 --> 00:49:35,260
you know, is we, you know, we do need to, we're looking at different ways that by branch by branch,

460
00:49:35,260 --> 00:49:41,560
we can track both. We have the numbers, but we really need to look at branch by branch,

461
00:49:41,680 --> 00:49:47,880
how are we doing with all the different demographic groups, especially, say, youth. And I think,

462
00:49:47,880 --> 00:49:53,220
And you know, there's widespread acknowledgement, but the pandemic had the broad implications

463
00:49:53,220 --> 00:49:59,780
in some ways had the biggest impact on young people in terms of their social and educational

464
00:49:59,780 --> 00:50:00,500
development.

465
00:50:01,380 --> 00:50:10,360
So we should be really focusing on that as a library system, you know, in terms of supporting

466
00:50:10,360 --> 00:50:11,380
teams in youth.

467
00:50:12,580 --> 00:50:19,480
So I think we're going to have to explore that question together over the next little while,

468
00:50:20,240 --> 00:50:27,340
but it's worth having because there are some sort of mega trends that, you know, we

469
00:50:27,340 --> 00:50:31,360
have to, that aren't necessarily supportive of more engagement.

470
00:50:31,720 --> 00:50:37,920
Although we see more members than we've had in probably 15 years right now, so there

471
00:50:37,920 --> 00:50:43,120
There is engagement there, but where are the gaps and who are the gaps?

472
00:50:46,880 --> 00:50:47,140
Thank you.

473
00:50:47,300 --> 00:50:47,660
Thank you, Paul.

474
00:50:49,100 --> 00:50:49,700
Okay.

475
00:50:50,000 --> 00:50:50,940
I think Brie was next.

476
00:50:52,360 --> 00:50:52,960
Hi.

477
00:50:53,200 --> 00:50:53,640
Thank you.

478
00:50:54,460 --> 00:51:00,640
My question is and very appreciative of this conversation and everything that's being said.

479
00:51:01,260 --> 00:51:07,740
I was wondering if we could hear a little bit more about the impacts of the current situation

480
00:51:07,740 --> 00:51:15,740
with staff because if there is this many instance reports, are they being like directed at staff or

481
00:51:15,740 --> 00:51:21,140
staff being impacted just around that piece? I think often we talk about the patrons, which is

482
00:51:21,140 --> 00:51:27,300
really important, but the staff are also important and I'd like to hear a bit about that. Thank you.

483
00:51:28,520 --> 00:51:34,280
Thanks, Priya. Paul, I don't know if you were. Well, maybe Sarah would be most qualified because she's

484
00:51:34,280 --> 00:51:41,100
directly working or supporting this frontline staff here and I think it's taken a lot of work

485
00:51:42,340 --> 00:51:48,200
you know and anyway so it'll be Sarah can answer that. Yeah thanks Paul and I appreciate

486
00:51:48,200 --> 00:51:53,740
everybody you know you know saying the goodwill of all the great work that we're doing here but I

487
00:51:53,740 --> 00:51:59,940
should have said earlier like a lot of this because of the staff that I have you know and it's I know

488
00:51:59,940 --> 00:52:04,740
So this discussion is mostly bad news, but there is a lot of good news here and a lot of

489
00:52:04,740 --> 00:52:08,220
it happens between the interactions between my staff and the members they're serving.

490
00:52:09,840 --> 00:52:14,400
And anecdotally to like a lot of our programs here, especially like our adult programs, those

491
00:52:14,400 --> 00:52:19,500
author talks or those, you know, the events that you're coming to hear like a lecture are

492
00:52:19,500 --> 00:52:20,100
well attended.

493
00:52:20,300 --> 00:52:25,500
So there is still like a very much an opportunity for folks in our community to come and you

494
00:52:25,500 --> 00:52:30,300
know, attend something in person because I see the numbers there, you know, and tomorrow

495
00:52:30,300 --> 00:52:34,380
we're trying to make use of the Olympics as a positive thing like we were showing the

496
00:52:34,380 --> 00:52:38,860
semifinals today on the big screen TV with like 20 member, 20 library members and staff

497
00:52:38,860 --> 00:52:39,740
all sort of cheering.

498
00:52:39,940 --> 00:52:44,540
It was a one day where I heard yells in the library and I was like, those are good yells

499
00:52:44,540 --> 00:52:45,940
because we won that game.

500
00:52:47,600 --> 00:52:51,000
Tomorrow too, we're hosting the gold medal game for the women's on the fourth floor.

501
00:52:51,100 --> 00:52:53,440
I invite you all to come to that if you're available.

502
00:52:54,660 --> 00:53:01,240
But on the flip side of that, yes, staff do certainly struggle with, you know, what they're seeing on the floors.

503
00:53:01,860 --> 00:53:09,500
In terms of Narcan administration, my staff are not required to have first aid training on the desk, but the security guards are the first aiders.

504
00:53:09,600 --> 00:53:16,440
So they're the ones that are generally responding to, you know, suspected overdose and who are administering Narcan.

505
00:53:16,880 --> 00:53:19,660
The community connectors will are eventually going to be doing that too.

506
00:53:19,660 --> 00:53:25,800
I'm just ensuring that they have some good Narcan training before I say like that that's something that you can be doing as well

507
00:53:26,780 --> 00:53:28,140
So that being said

508
00:53:29,040 --> 00:53:34,220
You know, it is hard helping someone on a printer and you know, there's something happening

509
00:53:34,220 --> 00:53:37,000
And you know the the member in front of you still needs their prints

510
00:53:37,480 --> 00:53:42,040
So my staff do a lot of like good work in managing and triaging those situations

511
00:53:42,860 --> 00:53:47,340
Other things we're doing too is I regularly check in with staff to see how they're doing

512
00:53:47,340 --> 00:53:53,460
We have, you know, bi-weekly meetings where sort of like a town hall where we invite staff

513
00:53:53,460 --> 00:53:57,660
from my department and the other departments to come and we will problem solve sometimes

514
00:53:57,660 --> 00:54:01,880
things that, you know, members that we're having a difficult time with that aren't necessarily

515
00:54:01,880 --> 00:54:05,760
like at a place of suspension, just, you know, we need to serve them a little bit differently.

516
00:54:06,800 --> 00:54:09,340
So yeah, those are the things that we're dealing with.

517
00:54:09,400 --> 00:54:16,480
My team is like very strong, but they certainly suffer from the sorrow that they see that

518
00:54:16,480 --> 00:54:21,780
that happens here, but a lot of them have a lot of great and they show up to their jobs

519
00:54:21,780 --> 00:54:26,240
every day and do great work. I hope that answers your question.

520
00:54:28,280 --> 00:54:32,700
Thanks, thanks Sarah for that answer and I think it goes without saying that we really appreciate

521
00:54:32,700 --> 00:54:38,160
the hard work that you and the frontline staff do every single day and they're doing great work, so

522
00:54:38,160 --> 00:54:42,100
so thank you for your leadership there. Allison?

523
00:54:44,120 --> 00:54:45,840
Yeah so I just wanted to echo what

524
00:54:45,840 --> 00:54:51,940
brief said and I think just a comment as we continue to have these discussions about this is

525
00:54:51,940 --> 00:54:57,140
that I do think we need to highlight specifically as part of the conversation the impact on the staff

526
00:54:58,120 --> 00:55:04,880
and I appreciate that you know we're very much concerned about again about the impact on our users

527
00:55:04,880 --> 00:55:11,400
but our staff, our primary resource I think making sure that bring that information up front

528
00:55:12,460 --> 00:55:15,180
as part of a conversation would be really, really great.

529
00:55:15,400 --> 00:55:18,320
So we're keeping that as one of our primary thoughts.

530
00:55:18,980 --> 00:55:21,040
But thank you very much for all the work that you've been doing.

531
00:55:21,380 --> 00:55:23,760
So I know this is incredibly, incredibly difficult.

532
00:55:26,850 --> 00:55:29,490
So hopefully we'll be able to continue to pull through,

533
00:55:29,650 --> 00:55:32,230
but just having a little library in myself,

534
00:55:32,230 --> 00:55:35,130
I just know how absolutely devastating it is

535
00:55:35,130 --> 00:55:37,530
when you're not able to kind of perform the services

536
00:55:37,530 --> 00:55:38,570
that you want to perform.

537
00:55:39,290 --> 00:55:40,730
And you're dealing with these crises

538
00:55:40,730 --> 00:55:43,850
is that, you know, you didn't train for in library school, so thank you.

539
00:55:45,530 --> 00:55:47,490
Thanks, Allison, Dana.

540
00:55:53,750 --> 00:55:55,190
Thank you, Gorgon.

541
00:55:55,790 --> 00:56:02,590
Yeah, I have some concerns as well, sort of connected with the impact on staff.

542
00:56:03,150 --> 00:56:14,190
And I don't know that those who sort of look at this issue sort of appreciate how it can affect sort of other connections and other relationships.

543
00:56:14,190 --> 00:56:19,850
I don't want to over extrapolate, but as I was listening to this, I was struck by there

544
00:56:19,850 --> 00:56:27,950
was a piece at the OLA super conference where it was largely some front-level staff, if

545
00:56:27,950 --> 00:56:33,150
you will, who were talking about some results of surveys that had been done in different systems.

546
00:56:33,730 --> 00:56:41,670
One of the observations that was made is that levels of trust by staff of their organizations

547
00:56:41,670 --> 00:56:46,450
are lower significantly lower in really large systems.

548
00:56:47,310 --> 00:56:51,230
And I appreciate very much that Hamilton historically has

549
00:56:52,090 --> 00:56:55,290
a positive labor management relationship.

550
00:56:56,290 --> 00:56:59,010
But, you know, I guess what I'm sensitive to is that

551
00:56:59,670 --> 00:57:02,750
as Allison said, I mean, folks are doing stuff

552
00:57:02,750 --> 00:57:06,610
that they weren't trained to do nor that they were expected

553
00:57:06,610 --> 00:57:07,910
to be doing.

554
00:57:08,150 --> 00:57:10,270
And it's inevitable that at some point,

555
00:57:10,270 --> 00:57:16,970
This is going to have impacts, I think, on sort of employee relations issues.

556
00:57:17,250 --> 00:57:26,750
I mean, to what extent are my grievances begin to increase or have a sort of a work refusal

557
00:57:26,750 --> 00:57:29,110
because circumstances are unsafe.

558
00:57:29,390 --> 00:57:35,590
So it has all kinds of tentacles, if you will, that have other impacts on the library's

559
00:57:35,590 --> 00:57:39,210
ability to function and, frankly, on financial considerations.

560
00:57:40,790 --> 00:57:48,850
And then I'm also struck by how some of what's happening largely at Central and Barton,

561
00:57:49,490 --> 00:57:54,130
you know, I'm thinking those are in parts of the city that arguably are sort of less economically

562
00:57:54,130 --> 00:57:56,030
advantage than other areas.

563
00:57:56,290 --> 00:58:02,250
And so it's sort of compounding the disadvantage that folks who live in those neighborhoods

564
00:58:02,250 --> 00:58:08,810
for whom the library is so important in the first instance and it lands sort of more significantly

565
00:58:09,710 --> 00:58:11,750
on all of them.

566
00:58:14,390 --> 00:58:17,630
I'm going stream of consciousness again as is my won't.

567
00:58:18,710 --> 00:58:23,450
And I'm thinking that, you know, it's great that we have implemented so many things and are doing

568
00:58:23,450 --> 00:58:29,830
really well, but we shouldn't be the solution to these things either. You know, the more effective

569
00:58:29,830 --> 00:58:33,150
of we are, the more perhaps somebody

570
00:58:33,150 --> 00:58:34,750
sort of perceives that, well, you know,

571
00:58:34,810 --> 00:58:36,090
the library's doing a really great job

572
00:58:36,090 --> 00:58:37,590
in managing all of this.

573
00:58:37,970 --> 00:58:39,110
So, you know, keep up the good work.

574
00:58:39,230 --> 00:58:40,410
Well, that's not a solution.

575
00:58:41,410 --> 00:58:42,710
So those were sort of the three things

576
00:58:42,710 --> 00:58:43,410
that I was thinking about.

577
00:58:43,490 --> 00:58:47,330
The consideration on staff and labor management relationships,

578
00:58:47,690 --> 00:58:50,030
the issue as it relates to sort of other groups

579
00:58:50,030 --> 00:58:53,990
who typically frequent the branches

580
00:58:53,990 --> 00:58:55,970
that are most adversely affected by this

581
00:58:55,970 --> 00:59:03,310
and how we're ultimately perhaps victims of the success that some of these initiatives have had

582
00:59:03,310 --> 00:59:09,090
and that sort of hides or masks the nature of the issue. So I just wanted to make those comments.

583
00:59:09,470 --> 00:59:14,330
Thank you, Goggin. If I could just very briefly, Goggin, and like I'm mindful of the time,

584
00:59:14,470 --> 00:59:21,590
but I just to remind everyone, if you remember, when we just had our new four-year collective agreement

585
00:59:21,590 --> 00:59:32,530
that ratified and our lawyer reported to the board because she's involved in other negotiations

586
00:59:32,530 --> 00:59:42,030
off of with QP that there was, we were able to come to a lot of mutual agreement on

587
00:59:42,030 --> 00:59:45,510
a whole bunch of things because the trust is high.

588
00:59:46,090 --> 00:59:54,770
And what I would say is how I view it, if we're doing our job as a library, we are going

589
00:59:54,770 --> 00:59:59,970
to naturally feel all the good things or blessings that I have.

590
01:00:00,000 --> 01:00:06,020
What happened in the neighbourhoods are branches exist, and we're also going to feel the challenges

591
01:00:06,020 --> 01:00:13,040
if we're doing our job. And I think what's, you know, so in a sense we don't choose the

592
01:00:13,040 --> 01:00:19,980
community that we live in. The community is the community we are here to try to help

593
01:00:19,980 --> 01:00:26,960
advance together. And I think where we find ourselves. So I guess what I would say is our strategy

594
01:00:26,960 --> 01:00:36,620
has been to do everything in our ability and capacity to take action and not to, say,

595
01:00:36,760 --> 01:00:45,060
labeling or wait for the province or someone else to solve our problems.

596
01:00:46,020 --> 01:00:51,640
You know, and I really appreciate the board support back in 2014 when I asked for support

597
01:00:51,640 --> 01:00:54,940
to implement a social worker program.

598
01:00:55,280 --> 01:00:58,220
The board supported us using funds for doing that.

599
01:00:58,340 --> 01:01:01,360
The same happened back when we're reestablishing the,

600
01:01:01,720 --> 01:01:04,140
so the board has always been supportive

601
01:01:04,140 --> 01:01:05,920
of these interventions.

602
01:01:06,940 --> 01:01:11,000
And there's a reason why we have them

603
01:01:11,000 --> 01:01:15,240
and not many, some do, but many other libraries don't.

604
01:01:15,380 --> 01:01:17,420
It's because they're waiting for someone else to do it.

605
01:01:17,420 --> 01:01:25,420
And I think the Hamilton Public Library is a long history of innovation, of doing what we can.

606
01:01:26,720 --> 01:01:29,440
That's what I love about the Hamilton Public Library.

607
01:01:30,160 --> 01:01:37,760
And I think, so do I agree with you that this has a cumulative impact?

608
01:01:38,640 --> 01:01:39,200
Absolutely.

609
01:01:40,220 --> 01:01:45,400
And I think we also need to understand, doesn't just impact the frontline staff.

610
01:01:45,400 --> 01:01:55,400
It impacts all of us and, you know, what I've said before too is that, you know, it's we

611
01:01:55,400 --> 01:01:59,280
can deal with anything if we're together, if we stick together.

612
01:01:59,620 --> 01:02:07,340
But sometimes the stress of these situations causes people to, you know, where people are

613
01:02:07,340 --> 01:02:10,640
expressing their frustration at other members of the team.

614
01:02:11,400 --> 01:02:17,680
And while that may not be helpful, it's probably inevitable to certain extent.

615
01:02:18,240 --> 01:02:24,340
So we're trying to do everything we can, but it's a fair, you know, it's a fair comment.

616
01:02:24,860 --> 01:02:27,820
I think our goal here, we've seen the downtown renew.

617
01:02:28,640 --> 01:02:32,780
I don't see five years from now, we're going to be dealing with the same level of crisis

618
01:02:32,780 --> 01:02:35,920
that we're dealing with now, God, help us if we are.

619
01:02:35,920 --> 01:02:42,200
I don't see that, but we're responding to the situation that we currently have

620
01:02:42,200 --> 01:02:48,720
before us. Would we rather spend, and I think this is something that we try to

621
01:02:48,720 --> 01:02:53,800
talk about at the budget, there's a lot of things that we need to be working on to

622
01:02:53,800 --> 01:02:59,120
advance our role as a library, but it's hard for me to say work on the board

623
01:02:59,120 --> 01:03:05,320
by-laws when there's multiple people overdosing in our space, and I think one of

624
01:03:05,320 --> 01:03:11,700
the things that I appreciated that I think Sarah has led the way on for us is that all hands-on

625
01:03:11,700 --> 01:03:17,360
deck. And it takes a lot of effort, but at least we're feeling like we're showing, I guess,

626
01:03:17,420 --> 01:03:24,600
mutual solidarity or support for each other so that because it's not so much what happens is how

627
01:03:24,600 --> 01:03:32,980
we react to it. But yeah, it's not good for, you know, like it is putting staff challenges. Maybe

628
01:03:32,980 --> 01:03:38,900
one other thing and I think in some ways we're going to be seeing new kinds of maybe live people

629
01:03:38,900 --> 01:03:44,060
coming into libraries in the future. I was talking to one of my staff member today. He had been

630
01:03:44,060 --> 01:03:51,300
going into disrupt drug consumption in a couple of different libraries. We're talking a lot's

631
01:03:51,300 --> 01:03:55,080
going on today. You know and I'm saying well I'm sorry that you know we have to deal with this.

632
01:03:55,560 --> 01:04:01,240
And he said to me well actually that's why I became a librarian because I see libraries as one

633
01:04:01,240 --> 01:04:08,600
places making difference in people's lives and so that's why I'm here so I'm not you know

634
01:04:09,160 --> 01:04:16,600
I and I think Sarah spoke to the strength of a lot of our staff but you know it's like

635
01:04:16,600 --> 01:04:23,400
I think as we move forward we need to be very in terms of recruitment and in terms of getting people

636
01:04:23,400 --> 01:04:29,060
people know it need to know what's happening in you know where you're going and we've been trying

637
01:04:29,060 --> 01:04:34,220
to do that and also support people if they need to take a couple of months break off of

638
01:04:34,220 --> 01:04:41,340
central. Sometimes that's needed. So, you know, that work is going to continue. Thank you.

639
01:04:42,460 --> 01:04:44,680
Thanks, Paul. Okay, Councillor Cretch.

640
01:04:49,240 --> 01:04:51,920
Thanks very much. Can I see your hat? I'll come through a rupture.

641
01:04:52,560 --> 01:04:52,860
All right.

642
01:04:55,090 --> 01:04:58,890
Thanks very much, again. I don't want to repeat the things that were said and I think

643
01:04:58,890 --> 01:05:02,070
people have acknowledged that our staff are doing good work and people are coming to the library

644
01:05:02,070 --> 01:05:06,330
because they feel they can get help, they feel safe at the library, and that's a good thing.

645
01:05:06,770 --> 01:05:12,570
We want that safe, if you do be something that everyone in our community can access and be

646
01:05:12,570 --> 01:05:15,690
part of. So I think that's something everyone's agreed with and we all understand what we're coming

647
01:05:15,690 --> 01:05:20,550
from. I think I also want to acknowledge that when we're talking about these different crises

648
01:05:20,550 --> 01:05:23,410
that have occurred in the library and different things that are happening, I don't think anyone

649
01:05:23,410 --> 01:05:27,770
also thinks the library is responsible for what's happening. So I think if there's any sense of

650
01:05:27,770 --> 01:05:31,490
defensiveness from anybody or anyone's worried that the library's being come after, the answer is no,

651
01:05:31,490 --> 01:05:37,010
they're not being. People understand the library is in a position where they're not necessarily

652
01:05:37,010 --> 01:05:42,410
providing all the different services that are needed in a required library. Also to say that

653
01:05:43,190 --> 01:05:49,010
I can't overemphasize enough the situation with respect to what has happened in the downtown

654
01:05:49,010 --> 01:05:55,710
core. And so we've seen the Wesley Day Center close. We've seen mission services leave the immediate

655
01:05:55,710 --> 01:06:01,110
downtown core. We've seen St. Paul's Presbyterian Church which was offering some services through

656
01:06:01,110 --> 01:06:06,290
there for safe consumption. We've seen other services leave the core. So we've seen between

657
01:06:06,290 --> 01:06:10,150
three and six different services in the last four to five years, especially in relation

658
01:06:10,150 --> 01:06:13,990
to the pandemic, leave the core. People depended on those services. They don't have them

659
01:06:13,990 --> 01:06:21,490
anymore. So people are going to continue to congregate in around the downtown core and still

660
01:06:21,490 --> 01:06:25,950
need those services and the branch of government will not allow them legally to be provided.

661
01:06:30,650 --> 01:06:31,090
They've

662
01:06:31,090 --> 01:06:45,870
So that's something to be thought about by the city for sure in terms of the kinds of services that are needed, but also I really want to emphasize when you're telling a group of individuals, you are not allowed to use drugs indoors, anywhere, you're not allowed to use drugs outdoors.

663
01:06:45,950 --> 01:06:58,870
Anywhere, people are going to continue to use drugs and that is the issue here. And as people continue to use drugs and we have no safe spaces for them to be those provincial legislation pushes people into parks, pushes people into public spaces.

664
01:06:58,870 --> 01:07:04,130
pushes people up to the open to use drugs and you know the city has once was a

665
01:07:04,130 --> 01:07:07,750
very affordable place there were a lot of I would say buildings around that

666
01:07:07,750 --> 01:07:11,350
were not commodified that people kind of hang out in certain parts of the city in

667
01:07:11,350 --> 01:07:14,750
terms of not being observed not being approached not being you know those kinds of

668
01:07:14,750 --> 01:07:18,790
things if they were using drugs that's not the case since 2016 or so where most

669
01:07:18,790 --> 01:07:22,730
the property here has been heavily commodified by the private financial housing

670
01:07:22,730 --> 01:07:27,530
market and everything has an extreme value now as opposed to what I have before and

671
01:07:27,530 --> 01:07:29,030
And everyone's concerned about their property value.

672
01:07:29,710 --> 01:07:32,970
And so as a result, people are watching, looking, paying more attention.

673
01:07:33,350 --> 01:07:35,770
And this kind of, again, pushing people out to places.

674
01:07:35,970 --> 01:07:40,330
So you've got people, basically, with no place to go, who are being told nothing, with respect

675
01:07:40,330 --> 01:07:41,070
to where they can go.

676
01:07:41,970 --> 01:07:47,210
And it's falling to places like the library, Arts of James Street North, the intersection

677
01:07:47,210 --> 01:07:52,930
of Jackson and McNabb, parts of Jackson Square, those are the four or so concentrations

678
01:07:52,930 --> 01:07:54,290
of places where people have found.

679
01:07:54,290 --> 01:08:00,090
And the city, I'm going to say this, by abdicating its responsibility by kind of just getting

680
01:08:00,090 --> 01:08:03,810
a rid of the encampment protocol and not necessarily finding a replacement for it, what happened

681
01:08:03,810 --> 01:08:05,550
when that moment was, right?

682
01:08:06,010 --> 01:08:09,310
We told people, we're not going to tell you where you can go.

683
01:08:11,270 --> 01:08:15,890
When people in our society have to ask a question, where am I permitted to exist, right?

684
01:08:15,990 --> 01:08:16,670
We have failed them.

685
01:08:17,310 --> 01:08:21,150
So that's the core what's going on here is people are being told, they're not permitted

686
01:08:21,150 --> 01:08:22,450
to exist in any kind of space.

687
01:08:23,150 --> 01:08:27,190
And, you know, we all don't, that shelter don't work for everyone, and there's good reasons for that.

688
01:08:27,290 --> 01:08:30,590
We all acknowledge that it's not possible for people to find shelter space for housing.

689
01:08:30,990 --> 01:08:35,250
And it's because one random shelter bed is open for half an hour on a Tuesday.

690
01:08:35,330 --> 01:08:37,890
It doesn't mean that we suddenly have a supply of shelter spaces for people.

691
01:08:38,150 --> 01:08:39,610
That's not how it works, right?

692
01:08:40,130 --> 01:08:42,570
We don't have the adequate supplies and services for folks.

693
01:08:42,710 --> 01:08:43,770
We don't have the,

694
01:08:46,940 --> 01:08:49,740
and so I think it's important that we're thoughtful about that.

695
01:08:50,060 --> 01:08:51,580
And, you know, I'm looking for a response from staff.

696
01:08:51,580 --> 01:08:54,760
Just wanted to say that I appreciate what the library is doing, and the library continues to do.

697
01:08:54,760 --> 01:08:57,440
So I think this issue is much bigger than the library.

698
01:08:59,260 --> 01:09:03,220
Thank you, Councillor Faire, comments there, Councillor McMeikin.

699
01:09:03,680 --> 01:09:06,360
Do you want me to read the comments that you put in the chat?

700
01:09:06,420 --> 01:09:07,560
No, I'll make the comments.

701
01:09:07,960 --> 01:09:08,200
Okay.

702
01:09:08,560 --> 01:09:08,660
Okay.

703
01:09:09,160 --> 01:09:13,380
I appreciate this, this is a tough, obviously a tough discussion.

704
01:09:14,240 --> 01:09:23,140
I appreciate the comments, Evan made the point about police and some of the difficulties

705
01:09:24,540 --> 01:09:28,720
and I'm generally sympathetic with that, but there are some behaviors that simply cannot

706
01:09:28,720 --> 01:09:37,020
be tolerated if particularly if they're scaring all the families and kids away from the library.

707
01:09:37,860 --> 01:09:41,460
So there are going to be times when we have to make some tough decisions there.

708
01:09:42,260 --> 01:09:48,360
The other question I was going to ask, and I think Cameron's Council crutches probably

709
01:09:48,980 --> 01:09:54,500
provided enough background that it's difficult. The answer is, you know, is there an alternative

710
01:09:54,500 --> 01:10:02,020
meeting spot? I'm welcoming spot somewhere in the core. It used to be, I remember, I don't know

711
01:10:05,700 --> 01:10:11,080
Councillor Cretz knows I don't know the inner city anywhere near as well as he does. He doesn't

712
01:10:11,080 --> 01:10:19,060
award 15 as well as I do so the reality is of the few occasions when I'm

713
01:10:19,060 --> 01:10:24,700
downtown I've seen in the past people around Phil Pot Church I don't think

714
01:10:24,700 --> 01:10:32,660
that gathering spot is as active anymore so it's a combination of behavior

715
01:10:32,660 --> 01:10:38,720
and vocation and you know we got to deal with the cards we've dealt not the

716
01:10:38,720 --> 01:10:44,700
cards we wish the province would give us or I spoke to that, but in very practical

717
01:10:44,700 --> 01:10:51,080
terms, we have to, if we're going to be a welcoming spot, and I think that's what

718
01:10:51,080 --> 01:11:00,060
I'm hearing with competent, hardworking, dedicated, thoughtful staff, that's got to have some,

719
01:11:00,200 --> 01:11:03,360
that's got to have some parameters that are not tolerable.

720
01:11:03,360 --> 01:11:09,260
And the other thing is there's some way we could find some alternative space there.

721
01:11:09,980 --> 01:11:16,480
I don't know. I mean, I agree with Cameron and I were on the same boat around not ending the encampment protocol.

722
01:11:16,800 --> 01:11:25,960
And even now with the Tiffany Barton, we get the comment from the housing team that it's probably notwithstanding the expense of it all.

723
01:11:25,960 --> 01:11:34,860
and some of the problems, 23 people transitioned to permanent housing, and then five minutes later they say,

724
01:11:35,120 --> 01:11:36,820
and we're going to close it by the end of the year.

725
01:11:37,020 --> 01:11:41,740
Well, you know, we close that site up, it's just going to exacerbate the problem.

726
01:11:41,960 --> 01:11:45,140
You know, good shepherds doing the best they can down there.

727
01:11:45,920 --> 01:11:52,440
But we need to find an alternate spot where people can access.

728
01:11:52,440 --> 01:12:01,280
is somehow even if it's library staff venturing out somewhere or the city making some kind

729
01:12:01,280 --> 01:12:10,400
of fiscal commitment to support and Councilor Cretch would know if there were any possibilities

730
01:12:10,400 --> 01:12:18,320
or maybe it's a big tent somewhere, a warming tent and a local parking lot near the library.

731
01:12:18,320 --> 01:12:23,500
But we want to be welcoming, we want to be helpful, and I think we're doing all we can.

732
01:12:24,600 --> 01:12:33,880
But we don't want to exacerbate what's emerging as an inter-arble situation in terms

733
01:12:33,880 --> 01:12:37,100
of our basic clientele using the library.

734
01:12:38,940 --> 01:12:45,120
I get a four-year-old grandson, you know, who goes to another library and he's not into – doesn't

735
01:12:45,120 --> 01:12:46,840
go into the central library with his mom.

736
01:12:47,480 --> 01:12:54,420
I don't know what it is by choice or what, but my hunch is that, you know, if enough people

737
01:12:54,420 --> 01:12:58,800
stop avoiding the library, we'll have even bigger problems than ones we've got now.

738
01:12:59,740 --> 01:13:04,300
Anyway, those are comments for what they're worth, and if we can find some way forward

739
01:13:04,300 --> 01:13:10,500
with it, Councillor Critch and I are all in, whatever we can do to help.

740
01:13:11,560 --> 01:13:15,580
The idea of the MPP meeting, I think, is also a good start.

741
01:13:15,580 --> 01:13:17,380
And you know, those are my comments.

742
01:13:18,780 --> 01:13:19,960
Thanks, Councillor Meakne.

743
01:13:20,320 --> 01:13:25,620
I did see in the chat that Carly and Dana had mentioned the Cathedral Cafe is one of

744
01:13:25,620 --> 01:13:27,460
the options for an alternative place to go.

745
01:13:27,740 --> 01:13:33,680
So I'm not familiar with that area, but it is there, and I'm not sure if you or other staff

746
01:13:33,680 --> 01:13:38,120
can speak to alternate locations and near proximity to the library.

747
01:13:39,560 --> 01:13:48,440
So, when we're certainly, if we have places to refer people to, we will be doing that.

748
01:13:48,880 --> 01:13:56,180
I'm not sure the current individuals are having problems with whether they would be, you

749
01:13:58,000 --> 01:14:01,620
know, I think that I'm not sure that that would be appropriate for them either.

750
01:14:01,860 --> 01:14:02,200
I don't know.

751
01:14:02,840 --> 01:14:07,100
But can I just say just like this been a long conversation, we need to obviously we have

752
01:14:07,100 --> 01:14:13,800
work to do to continue to explore options. And we'll do that. We have some direction to pursue

753
01:14:15,760 --> 01:14:25,480
the advocacy front with counselors and with MPPs. And I think we'll continue to explore

754
01:14:25,860 --> 01:14:33,400
with the city and other partners, things that we could do to make a tangible difference.

755
01:14:34,660 --> 01:14:38,280
That was going to be my next comment being mindful of the time.

756
01:14:38,420 --> 01:14:42,500
Thank you everybody for your comments and passion on all of this matter.

757
01:14:44,320 --> 01:14:48,780
Okay, so the next item we have is acceptance of the agenda.

758
01:14:49,000 --> 01:14:49,540
Can I get a mover?

759
01:14:50,900 --> 01:14:52,140
Nick, seconder, Carly.

760
01:14:53,200 --> 01:14:53,640
All in favor?

761
01:14:56,730 --> 01:14:57,010
Okay.

762
01:14:57,930 --> 01:14:59,410
And we've got the minute.

763
01:14:59,410 --> 01:14:59,970
Let's go.

764
01:15:00,000 --> 01:15:23,400
From the December 10th, 2025, Hamilton Public Library Board meeting. Can I get a mover for that? Can't breathe in a seconder. Jen? Okay. Thank you. And all in favor. Any corrections or missing? Nothing. No. Okay. All in favor. Okay. Thank you. Okay. Does anybody have a declaration of conflicts?

765
01:15:25,730 --> 01:15:30,530
No. Okay. Presentations. We've got two.

766
01:15:31,690 --> 01:15:39,270
So, the first one is HPL Ward 4 Incusability Study, and we have Philip Toms here and Tyler

767
01:15:39,270 --> 01:15:40,510
Malone and Holly Ford.

768
01:15:41,230 --> 01:15:43,270
Can I get a mover to put that on the floor?

769
01:15:45,860 --> 01:15:48,020
Koto and Carly's seconder.

770
01:15:48,180 --> 01:15:48,500
Thank you.

771
01:15:50,280 --> 01:15:50,540
Okay.

772
01:15:50,960 --> 01:15:51,880
You can go ahead.

773
01:15:52,500 --> 01:15:52,980
Thank you, Chair.

774
01:15:53,180 --> 01:15:59,740
I'm going to take a minute to introduce Tyler Malone and Philip Toms from Toms McNally,

775
01:15:59,740 --> 01:16:04,540
as well as Holly Ford, who is a key partner of ours.

776
01:16:04,700 --> 01:16:06,240
She's a project manager with the city,

777
01:16:06,820 --> 01:16:09,600
and she helps us with many of the special projects

778
01:16:09,600 --> 01:16:12,540
and that the library commits to.

779
01:16:13,280 --> 01:16:18,260
Just to recap, Tom's McNally was retained to help us look

780
01:16:18,260 --> 01:16:20,800
at what a library would look like in Ward 14

781
01:16:20,800 --> 01:16:23,720
as we work with our partners in the city,

782
01:16:24,040 --> 01:16:28,520
both corporate real estate and all the other services

783
01:16:28,520 --> 01:16:34,280
and divisions like recreation as we as we try to find a location that would be suitable

784
01:16:34,280 --> 01:16:41,300
for a library branch. Thomas McNally took on the difficult task of helping us design

785
01:16:41,300 --> 01:16:51,780
a program that could resonate in the community and I think they did a great job delivering that

786
01:16:51,780 --> 01:16:57,420
task. And I wanted them here. I wanted them in front of the board as it does have a great,

787
01:16:58,780 --> 01:17:03,740
it's got a great flow into our facilities master plan as we talk about that a little bit later

788
01:17:03,740 --> 01:17:08,440
tonight. But I really do appreciate the work they put into this and how useful this

789
01:17:09,560 --> 01:17:15,500
programming study, feasibility study, will be with the library in years to come, not just with

790
01:17:15,500 --> 01:17:23,620
Ward 14, I feel. And before I hand it over to Tyler and Philip, I know Paul wanted a quick

791
01:17:23,620 --> 01:17:25,140
moment to say something here as well.

792
01:17:26,580 --> 01:17:32,700
No, and I just wanted to thank. We're going to hear this presentation, but I have been

793
01:17:32,700 --> 01:17:40,460
busy with other things. So I was reviewing the, your report. I just want to say thank you

794
01:17:40,460 --> 01:17:48,340
much for this work. I actually think it has a big interest for us here in Hamilton, but maybe

795
01:17:48,340 --> 01:17:55,160
other libraries as well. So it's a real big thank you for that. And I think we need to follow up

796
01:17:55,160 --> 01:18:01,100
after this about ways we can maybe have some shared presentations or have you present this.

797
01:18:01,780 --> 01:18:09,700
And certainly we'd like to help you increase awareness of this because it really is. I thought

798
01:18:09,700 --> 01:18:13,920
very thoughtful. So, I mean, maybe you could write a book about it.

799
01:18:14,660 --> 01:18:22,080
It's worth it anyway. I could see both Tyler, Philip, and Holly, all of them. I could see

800
01:18:22,080 --> 01:18:26,480
the wheel spinning as we're having these conversations, because all of them are engaged and they do

801
01:18:26,480 --> 01:18:30,940
understand our business and they support us in different ways. And I know that I'm going to get a call

802
01:18:30,940 --> 01:18:37,260
from Philip and Tyler later on to talk about probably architectural ways that we could look at

803
01:18:37,260 --> 01:18:39,060
at helping the current situation

804
01:18:39,060 --> 01:18:40,200
and where we can go from here.

805
01:18:40,780 --> 01:18:41,740
But without further ado,

806
01:18:42,280 --> 01:18:44,220
do you want us to present this, Philip,

807
01:18:44,300 --> 01:18:46,440
or do you have the presentation queued, ready to go?

808
01:18:49,900 --> 01:18:51,720
I have a queue, sorry, Philip.

809
01:18:52,140 --> 01:18:52,700
I'm okay.

810
01:18:52,780 --> 01:18:53,100
All right.

811
01:18:53,480 --> 01:18:55,880
I have a queue that's probably best for me to do it,

812
01:18:55,920 --> 01:18:59,080
just because, and I'll let Philip do the introduction

813
01:18:59,080 --> 01:19:01,420
to all of this, but I think it's probably best

814
01:19:01,420 --> 01:19:02,380
for me to flip through it.

815
01:19:02,440 --> 01:19:05,520
There's a lot of, it's a bit, you know, text heavy,

816
01:19:05,660 --> 01:19:06,820
there's graphics, there's images,

817
01:19:06,920 --> 01:19:08,440
it's meant to be read in both ways,

818
01:19:08,440 --> 01:19:14,620
but it is meant to be flipped through and read as a book, not so much a presentation, so

819
01:19:14,620 --> 01:19:20,240
you'll have to bear with us as we skip past some of the text and maybe flip through some pages

820
01:19:20,240 --> 01:19:24,160
to kind of keep us on task here and not go too far over our time.

821
01:19:26,860 --> 01:19:27,820
Philip, I don't know if you want

822
01:19:27,820 --> 01:19:34,560
to do an introductory before I jump into the sharing. A very quick introduction and it's still the

823
01:19:34,560 --> 01:19:40,120
jarring jumpings to this from the presentation of the discussion that just happened,

824
01:19:40,860 --> 01:19:45,060
where the issues are incredibly immediate and incredibly important.

825
01:19:45,560 --> 01:19:49,720
And this is definitely a relevant of the crystal ball looking to the future.

826
01:19:50,720 --> 01:19:57,260
And the call later Chad will be, you know, I don't know if there's any architectural solution to

827
01:19:57,260 --> 01:20:04,320
the immediate problems, but there usually is a design solution to so many problems. And

828
01:20:04,560 --> 01:20:13,380
the issue is space, and it was back to the immediate issue, and the Ward 14, these

829
01:20:13,380 --> 01:20:17,820
buildings study, which evolved into something a little bit different, and I want to thank

830
01:20:17,820 --> 01:20:23,820
yourself Chad and Oliver, you know, helping guide this process, which started off as a

831
01:20:23,820 --> 01:20:28,940
roster of assignment, you know, as part of the architects working with the city, but it

832
01:20:28,940 --> 01:20:33,260
definitely evolved into a programming study and a looking to the future, and a lot of

833
01:20:33,260 --> 01:20:38,920
as captioned in the vision statement that is part of the feasibility study, which I believe

834
01:20:38,920 --> 01:20:49,800
you all have copies of. Everything today is based in the documentation that we reviewed,

835
01:20:49,840 --> 01:20:54,680
which is part of what the board has and the library has. The facilities must plan, the asset,

836
01:20:54,860 --> 01:21:03,940
master plan and the library use usage study, which we went over in some detail. We also had

837
01:21:03,940 --> 01:21:15,960
tours of Ann Caster and Turner Park and Valley Park Library. Sorry, I'm bringing it a little

838
01:21:15,960 --> 01:21:22,880
bit right at the moment. And we also did our own research into local regional national and

839
01:21:22,880 --> 01:21:29,240
international examples so that we're not looking just at what we all know and what is familiar.

840
01:21:30,060 --> 01:21:36,320
I think we arrived at something where it's resonated with those library board

841
01:21:36,320 --> 01:21:45,220
numbers and chat and boardcaller and I think it's probably just if at any

842
01:21:45,220 --> 01:21:48,860
point in the presentation there's a burning question please feel free to jump

843
01:21:48,860 --> 01:21:59,060
in but the evolution is something where I think it's it's it holds together

844
01:21:59,060 --> 01:22:04,060
and it captures what we've read and researched and what you've told us.

845
01:22:04,060 --> 01:22:10,060
And hopefully in the end of it, it's useful in putting together some project for Ward 14.

846
01:22:10,660 --> 01:22:11,620
I'll let Tyler jump in.

847
01:22:14,740 --> 01:22:17,740
I'll jump in and I'll share my screen in a second.

848
01:22:18,480 --> 01:22:24,320
But just to preface all this and to build on what Chad and Paul you were saying in Philip.

849
01:22:24,840 --> 01:22:28,100
This is a live document we're sort of seeing in that way.

850
01:22:28,100 --> 01:22:33,220
there was a deliverable, there was a time we had to package it all up, but I think even

851
01:22:33,220 --> 01:22:38,520
the conversation in the last hour and a half is sparking new thoughts about how you can

852
01:22:38,520 --> 01:22:41,480
even add another 30 pages to this report.

853
01:22:41,760 --> 01:22:49,340
So we see it as that live growing document as the HPL team moves forward.

854
01:22:49,600 --> 01:22:55,900
So it was balancing both those things of exploring all possibilities and innovations and thoughts,

855
01:22:55,900 --> 01:23:00,520
but also ending with something that's useful and pragmatic to go forward.

856
01:23:00,860 --> 01:23:04,120
So as I share, you'll see the balance between those two things.

857
01:23:12,530 --> 01:23:17,970
If we do jump over something as quickly as we'd rather have some time at the end for question

858
01:23:17,970 --> 01:23:23,890
and feedback. Yeah. So I'll assume everyone can see my screen here, right?

859
01:23:24,890 --> 01:23:30,050
Okay. So again, I'm going to flip through some of this pretty quickly

860
01:23:30,670 --> 01:23:36,430
because some of these pages are text heavy, but feel free to dig through it on your own.

861
01:23:36,870 --> 01:23:41,130
And the way this is set up is so that you can read the text, but also, you know,

862
01:23:41,210 --> 01:23:46,310
it's half, almost 50-50 text, 50-50 diagrams and drawings.

863
01:23:46,950 --> 01:23:51,670
So it's trying to balance both of those things, moving from report heavy documents

864
01:23:51,670 --> 01:23:56,730
into this pre-stage before an actual project is committed to.

865
01:23:56,730 --> 01:24:01,490
So that's generally the whole idea of this report.

866
01:24:02,510 --> 01:24:12,690
I'm not going to read any of the text directly, but I think I'll read this first portion of the vision statement, just because it really captures the collective intent behind it.

867
01:24:13,730 --> 01:24:18,310
This study reflects a broader vision to shape the next generation of libraries,

868
01:24:19,070 --> 01:24:25,410
flexible, inclusive, and future-ready spaces that serve as vibrant, cultural, and educational hubs.

869
01:24:25,870 --> 01:24:31,010
As libraries continue to evolve, they have the opportunity to act as dynamic centers

870
01:24:31,010 --> 01:24:36,130
that connect people, ideas, and communities within an ever-changing social landscape.

871
01:24:37,190 --> 01:24:40,850
And the second part is expanding on that even further.

872
01:24:40,850 --> 01:24:59,490
But the idea here is that the HPL team, the broader community, ourselves, we're seeing these as such pivotal and critical spaces within the broader communities that they are regional, international and local levels.

873
01:25:02,010 --> 01:25:08,410
Those, that's the core statement, that's the core vision behind this exercise, but the

874
01:25:08,410 --> 01:25:13,950
idea is that it's building on what the HPL group already knows.

875
01:25:20,210 --> 01:25:28,070
So this whole initial section on background information, this is, again, pretty tech-sevy

876
01:25:28,070 --> 01:25:33,450
because it's all, it's summing up everything that we did to build the ideas within this.

877
01:25:33,450 --> 01:25:39,570
in this report. But some of those assumptions we had to make are based on conversations that

878
01:25:39,570 --> 01:25:44,430
we had along the way, but also just giving ourselves parameters because we were working

879
01:25:44,430 --> 01:25:51,770
with a design that we had to build that had no specific site, no specific location. So

880
01:25:52,470 --> 01:25:57,390
some of those assumptions we had to make with the team and with ourselves. So standalone library

881
01:25:57,390 --> 01:26:10,490
located within Ward 14 or the surrounding area, a single story building that was a requirement and an approximate size to the library and all sorts of programmatic constraints.

882
01:26:10,830 --> 01:26:14,870
So you'll see that emerge as we go through this presentation here.

883
01:26:16,530 --> 01:26:20,210
Heagles and objectives. I'll just highlight these last two here.

884
01:26:20,750 --> 01:26:33,990
8 and 9. This is all critical but this sums up what we wanted to do with this report, provide a final document that has a forward thinking vision, but also provide a final document that has pragmatic utility.

885
01:26:34,290 --> 01:26:43,690
So, like I said, both of those things we wanted to end with a workable plan, but it's not so cemented that it's immediately becoming a project.

886
01:26:43,690 --> 01:26:47,390
So, playing in that in between space.

887
01:26:52,340 --> 01:26:57,020
So, jumping into the research analysis, all of that background information that Philips spoke to,

888
01:26:57,600 --> 01:27:02,460
facilities master plan, asset master plan, library use across Hamilton.

889
01:27:02,760 --> 01:27:13,000
We analyzed all of these documents along with more broad research and precedence that are looking at the local,

890
01:27:13,000 --> 01:27:18,400
looking at Hamilton but also expanding beyond that and comparing across and

891
01:27:21,030 --> 01:27:21,590
so a lot of that

892
01:27:21,590 --> 01:27:27,390
research has been summed up here as just the critical pieces that we took forward

893
01:27:28,770 --> 01:27:36,750
and of course highlighting that missing gap from the library use document that specifically points

894
01:27:36,750 --> 01:27:38,770
of the Ward 14 area.

895
01:27:41,810 --> 01:27:46,150
And then to end that, this all happened pretty collaboratively with

896
01:27:46,150 --> 01:27:51,810
the HPL team, with Chad and Holly and some of the other staff as well through the tours,

897
01:27:52,030 --> 01:27:58,130
which we did together, but also meeting multiple meetings where we took a lot of conversation

898
01:27:58,130 --> 01:28:05,090
and tried to distill it down into some clear needs that would be used to build the program.

899
01:28:05,090 --> 01:28:14,770
So the program spaces are informed by real need and that was the, this is the sort of initial building block to the next section.

900
01:28:17,380 --> 01:28:19,420
And so this section here building a program.

901
01:28:20,240 --> 01:28:31,800
This was critical. It's a series of just a few simple diagrams, but it's that intermediate stage going from a lot of the text and research and then getting to a plan.

902
01:28:31,800 --> 01:28:37,640
So I'll walk through this and the diagrams are meant to be a little bit, you know, bubbles,

903
01:28:38,360 --> 01:28:45,660
amorphous kind of, but it leads into the actual location of some of this program on the site.

904
01:28:46,460 --> 01:28:52,800
And the concept behind the color and behind the groupings here is to one graphically just carry us through the document,

905
01:28:52,940 --> 01:28:57,120
but also to organize the program that's related to one another.

906
01:28:57,120 --> 01:29:13,340
So through some iteration, we came up with facilitate, explore, learn, create, and those programs, or those groups of programs would all get circulate and connect through that gather space or, you know, social circulation space.

907
01:29:18,090 --> 01:29:28,190
And then from there, we broke down those groupings into even smaller actual rooms, actual spaces, and the sort of quality of those spaces.

908
01:29:28,190 --> 01:29:33,990
So not to dig through all of this, but it gives an idea of what each one of the bubbles

909
01:30:01,660 --> 01:30:02,220
And

910
01:30:06,570 --> 01:30:32,570
then taking it one step further, we analyzed how those would connect and what ones need to be grouped directly adjacent to one another. And then which ones need to kind of connect through that central promenade or that central gathering space that ties everything together. So again, this is very, it's vague enough so that we can think about the program without looking at a specific site or a specific floor plan.

911
01:30:35,550 --> 01:30:41,590
But we end that section with starting to get a little bit more refined, a little bit

912
01:30:41,590 --> 01:30:47,690
more programmatic blocks, and starting to now think about how this may become a floor

913
01:30:47,690 --> 01:30:50,690
plan and a building and something that sits on a site.

914
01:30:52,410 --> 01:30:56,090
And so that took us to the programmatic concept that we built.

915
01:30:58,450 --> 01:31:11,890
And like Philip had mentioned, this was done without a site and this was done in a way that we had to give ourselves some constraints, but not too many constraints so that it's still open-ended.

916
01:31:12,290 --> 01:31:21,650
But we had to make some key assumptions to get the ball rolling and get the right idea of what type of site would suit a really ideal library.

917
01:31:21,650 --> 01:31:36,510
And so those major things are one, a corner site along a primary corridor to a secondary corridor or a driveway that creates a corner destination parking located at the rear.

918
01:31:37,070 --> 01:31:46,270
Vehicle lay by and near entry and access to transit stop and bike lanes so access accessibility directly from that corner site.

919
01:31:48,070 --> 01:31:53,270
Allowance for a rectangular floor plan or a square shape floor plan, but something that

920
01:31:53,270 --> 01:32:01,030
has the ability to expand in the sort of X and Y axis on an idealia site that is shaped

921
01:32:01,030 --> 01:32:02,590
for a rectangular building.

922
01:32:03,050 --> 01:32:08,050
And then a primary corridor that's located to this self is ideal.

923
01:32:08,330 --> 01:32:10,170
But again, some of these are not.

924
01:32:10,170 --> 01:32:17,350
They're just constraints that we set up so that we could get that starting point for testing this idea.

925
01:32:18,330 --> 01:32:21,050
And so here's a graphic display of all those constraints.

926
01:32:21,870 --> 01:32:34,350
And what that would look like with these arrows representing, you know, that flexibility as this is not a completely refined program, this is an idea that could grow and expand in certain directions.

927
01:32:34,650 --> 01:32:36,470
So always keeping that in mind.

928
01:32:36,470 --> 01:32:38,530
And then

929
01:32:41,440 --> 01:32:47,920
on top of that, we start to layer the programs, those groups, those blocks of

930
01:32:47,920 --> 01:32:56,740
program, and the blocks of program are relative to one another, and within those blocks, they

931
01:32:56,740 --> 01:33:03,120
include all of that, those earlier bubble size programs that we grouped together.

932
01:33:03,120 --> 01:33:09,500
So now we're starting to layer on an actual relative size, relative to the road, the parking,

933
01:33:09,920 --> 01:33:17,040
and understanding what we have to work with with the sort of 12 to 13,000 square foot space.

934
01:33:21,040 --> 01:33:28,240
This here, this text, and the key design criteria, I will all go through in a couple more slides.

935
01:33:28,440 --> 01:33:32,880
We go through each one of these and explain how we're addressing this in the design.

936
01:33:32,880 --> 01:33:40,060
So that key criteria was set up to address and walk through.

937
01:33:41,420 --> 01:33:47,180
But before we get to that, I'll just explain this set of diagrams here, which I think is really...

938
01:33:47,180 --> 01:33:53,740
This is where we arrived at the concept, the key concept to what we're doing and why it's this rectangular shape,

939
01:33:53,980 --> 01:33:58,680
why we've grouped the facility to explore, learn, and create where they are,

940
01:33:58,680 --> 01:34:06,500
and why that sort of entrance from the front entrance from the back, where the vehicles are,

941
01:34:06,800 --> 01:34:09,340
why that's so critical to unify.

942
01:34:10,420 --> 01:34:12,500
So access, link, align.

943
01:34:13,080 --> 01:34:15,340
We broke this down into really simple steps.

944
01:34:17,320 --> 01:34:20,920
Access, having that front door entrance, having that back door entrance,

945
01:34:21,340 --> 01:34:26,160
so pedestrian vehicle entrance, and then grouping the different programs

946
01:34:26,160 --> 01:34:30,680
is the fundamental starting point, getting all those blocks in place.

947
01:34:31,240 --> 01:34:34,100
But it creates a circuitous space.

948
01:34:34,120 --> 01:34:36,000
It's not really unified.

949
01:34:36,480 --> 01:34:37,320
You've got long corridors.

950
01:34:38,300 --> 01:34:43,160
So what we did was we just took a really simple strategy and connected those zones.

951
01:34:44,200 --> 01:34:45,480
So you've got this main promenade.

952
01:34:45,560 --> 01:34:47,220
You've got this main link between the two.

953
01:34:48,040 --> 01:34:52,600
And now everything starts to get more related to one another.

954
01:34:52,600 --> 01:34:57,620
and more centralized along that promenade.

955
01:34:58,200 --> 01:35:02,260
But it started to make some really odd spaces,

956
01:35:02,500 --> 01:35:04,820
some difficulties in construction.

957
01:35:05,580 --> 01:35:09,180
You know, it's not the most ideal approach to start with.

958
01:35:09,400 --> 01:35:12,720
So taking that, we rationalized it with a grid

959
01:35:12,720 --> 01:35:18,120
and kept a little bit of that fluid movement throughout the space

960
01:35:18,120 --> 01:35:25,060
but it aligned it in a way that it's more rational against the grid and it's buildable, it's

961
01:35:25,060 --> 01:35:30,260
constructable and it's not veering too far off of what's realistic.

962
01:35:31,080 --> 01:35:36,880
So trying to balance both of those things but still achieve that communal space that we're going for

963
01:35:36,880 --> 01:35:40,220
and connecting those access points to the outside.

964
01:35:44,590 --> 01:35:52,330
And then from there the concept is, and this is just an example here of what we're thinking

965
01:35:52,330 --> 01:35:58,310
about, what our conversations have been about, but thinking about how the space is not

966
01:35:58,310 --> 01:36:04,110
just the furniture can be moved and changed in multi-use, but the actual space itself can

967
01:36:04,110 --> 01:36:08,770
be flexible, can rearrange to do different things and achieve different things.

968
01:36:08,770 --> 01:36:23,590
So that promenade space can open up into the adjacent areas and open up even into the collections, the children's, the multi-use room, the computer labs and the digital space.

969
01:36:24,630 --> 01:36:33,130
So thinking about that flexibility and the opportunities that this type of central promenade concept can achieve.

970
01:36:33,130 --> 01:36:34,110
And

971
01:36:36,350 --> 01:36:41,590
then we arrive at the floor plan, so layering on pieces of furniture and elements of

972
01:36:41,590 --> 01:36:48,210
those spaces to show, you know, an understanding of the size and the circulation, and how these

973
01:36:48,210 --> 01:36:49,930
components can all fit together.

974
01:36:50,390 --> 01:36:57,730
These are still meant to be bubbles in a way, no walls, doors, specifically, it's more

975
01:36:57,730 --> 01:37:04,450
just an idea of how the space is relate to one another, and how the furniture and circulation

976
01:37:04,450 --> 01:37:05,290
fit within it.

977
01:37:07,820 --> 01:37:14,000
And then ultimately that single story opens up the possibility for a larger

978
01:37:14,000 --> 01:37:18,700
expansive roof, which would be ideal to capitalize with solar.

979
01:37:20,920 --> 01:37:22,140
So really quickly here, I'm going

980
01:37:22,140 --> 01:37:28,980
to try to cycle through these cognizant of time. These are all those key aspects of the design

981
01:37:28,980 --> 01:37:36,020
that we wanted to make sure this address and that going forward every project kind of circles

982
01:37:36,020 --> 01:37:43,940
back to this and think, are we satisfying some of these critical components to a library?

983
01:37:44,980 --> 01:37:51,320
So the single story, the area that we discussed, flexibility and adaptability, so being able

984
01:37:51,320 --> 01:37:59,980
to grow and expand while keeping the core concept, community gathering, destination like I spoke

985
01:37:59,980 --> 01:38:06,820
about with the central promenade, being safe and secure, so making sure that it's not a

986
01:38:06,820 --> 01:38:10,980
panopticon, there's not security right in the middle, and it's staring at everyone, but

987
01:38:10,980 --> 01:38:16,460
there's a defined area at the entrance, and that's got clear visibility to all the areas within

988
01:38:16,460 --> 01:38:22,540
the library, especially the children's area, which would be right next to the offices and the reception.

989
01:38:24,660 --> 01:38:30,040
being a sustainable place, a sustainable building, and tech forward.

990
01:38:30,320 --> 01:38:36,040
So opportunities for geothermal, where there's lots of land, and definitely solar on the

991
01:38:36,040 --> 01:38:44,100
roof, where a one-store building has that larger roof area to capitalize on.

992
01:38:45,740 --> 01:38:51,460
And something maybe a little touch related to the conversation today is the idea of resilience

993
01:38:51,460 --> 01:38:58,740
and community resilience and being a safe of a place of refuge even during crisis

994
01:38:58,740 --> 01:39:04,160
and the idea that libraries are starting to serve that purpose more

995
01:39:04,160 --> 01:39:08,600
and they're starting to become a place of resilience and community reliability

996
01:39:09,400 --> 01:39:11,040
in a positive way.

997
01:39:12,080 --> 01:39:18,900
And so the ability for this space to open up provides space for different functions

998
01:39:18,900 --> 01:39:24,820
beyond just the library functions, as well as a place, if it is sustainable and tech-forward

999
01:39:24,820 --> 01:39:32,300
and has site-driven power, it becomes a place that can be relied on in time of prices

1000
01:39:32,300 --> 01:39:34,620
and power outages and things like that.

1001
01:39:37,930 --> 01:39:40,270
And like I spoke to the aligning with the grid

1002
01:39:40,270 --> 01:39:47,050
and thinking about systematic approach and his efficient structural systems that can still

1003
01:39:47,050 --> 01:39:48,310
work with this type of concept.

1004
01:39:50,410 --> 01:39:53,010
Functional operations, of course, are critical, being

1005
01:39:53,010 --> 01:39:59,550
read adjacent to the entrance, and within that consolidated block right at the reception

1006
01:39:59,550 --> 01:40:00,050
area.

1007
01:40:02,360 --> 01:40:06,520
And then quality of space, we expand on this a little bit further, but I'll flip

1008
01:40:06,520 --> 01:40:11,580
through some of this a bit quicker, but just the idea of contemporary furniture, sound absorption,

1009
01:40:11,580 --> 01:40:18,640
clear story, day lighting, and an expressive roof form with the large continuous roof and the

1010
01:40:18,640 --> 01:40:26,380
ceiling visible. It's an opportunity to have an expressive element that anchors you and people

1011
01:40:26,380 --> 01:40:31,300
get familiar with. The community understands it and you see it from outside, you see it from within

1012
01:40:31,300 --> 01:40:40,360
and it can orient you within the library and it becomes much more than just a clear gypsum

1013
01:40:41,180 --> 01:40:47,800
finished ceiling, it could become an element that actually really enhances the experience

1014
01:40:47,800 --> 01:40:48,780
within the library.

1015
01:40:50,200 --> 01:40:55,500
And then of course, outdoor connections, some form of entrance plaza, glazing along

1016
01:40:55,500 --> 01:41:00,920
the perimeter, rear patio space, and then a separate children's exterior space.

1017
01:41:02,140 --> 01:41:03,420
Breaking down the program.

1018
01:41:06,260 --> 01:41:11,660
And then even further into elements of the program, this part I'm really going to skip through

1019
01:41:11,660 --> 01:41:18,380
because we're getting, I think, to the end of the 20 minutes here, but we just, we took

1020
01:41:18,380 --> 01:41:23,640
some of those precedents that Philip talked about that we had analyzed and we just, and

1021
01:41:24,640 --> 01:41:29,600
added to our conversations with the HPL team and just really put it into each one of those areas

1022
01:41:29,600 --> 01:41:37,480
what the qualities of space that are critical to head from furniture to all the study space

1023
01:41:37,480 --> 01:41:43,080
is collections, things like that, so I'll scan through that, but it's an example that

1024
01:41:43,080 --> 01:41:50,140
I think this is really the live part of the document that can be built upon in the future,

1025
01:41:50,340 --> 01:41:59,500
so multi-use spaces, computer desks, makerspace, digital lab, that sort of thing.

1026
01:42:01,060 --> 01:42:06,920
Then the children's area with all of the children's furniture, play structures, flexible

1027
01:42:06,920 --> 01:42:15,140
acoustic barriers, and shelving, and then the back of house requirements, the work areas

1028
01:42:15,140 --> 01:42:16,840
and the reception desks and things like that.

1029
01:42:17,080 --> 01:42:21,200
So breaking down the four components of the program here.

1030
01:42:22,600 --> 01:42:29,300
And then that brings us to the viability which we did a high level analysis, which I don't

1031
01:42:29,300 --> 01:42:33,260
I don't have to go through the whole spreadsheet, but this is really, this is even pre-classity.

1032
01:42:33,380 --> 01:42:38,240
This is a sort of high level taking that area and getting an idea of the cost.

1033
01:42:41,370 --> 01:42:44,250
And then just summing up with some next steps, recommendations.

1034
01:42:47,700 --> 01:42:48,720
Yeah, so that's the report.

1035
01:42:48,900 --> 01:42:50,520
There's a section on the precedence.

1036
01:42:52,400 --> 01:42:54,040
I can just flip through these.

1037
01:42:54,060 --> 01:42:58,440
I won't talk about each one, but these are some of the key ones that we pulled out.

1038
01:42:58,440 --> 01:43:07,220
That's a local Turner Park, Valley Park, water down, regional zooming out.

1039
01:43:12,040 --> 01:43:16,240
So we went through each one of these and dug into the details, but then just pulled out

1040
01:43:16,240 --> 01:43:17,700
some key information.

1041
01:43:18,740 --> 01:43:20,520
So still regional Toronto,

1042
01:43:22,840 --> 01:43:31,370
Scarborough, and then zooming further out to more national precedents

1043
01:43:31,370 --> 01:43:32,730
from out west,

1044
01:43:35,640 --> 01:43:41,360
watch it all, and then more international examples,

1045
01:43:49,080 --> 01:43:49,660
and that's it.

1046
01:43:53,220 --> 01:43:57,880
So I can, from here, I can flip back to any pages, or I can drop the screen share and

1047
01:43:57,880 --> 01:44:00,160
we can answer questions, I'm not sure.

1048
01:44:02,200 --> 01:44:08,840
Okay, thank you to your whole team for that presentation, and I think everybody on the board has

1049
01:44:08,840 --> 01:44:11,460
a copy of the presentation materials as well.

1050
01:44:11,460 --> 01:44:16,600
they want to go into anything more in-depth. I believe Cali sent it out. Just being cognizant

1051
01:44:16,600 --> 01:44:23,240
of time, I'll go to questions now, but let's try to make it quick so we can get through this agenda.

1052
01:44:24,380 --> 01:44:24,940
Nick, go ahead.

1053
01:44:28,140 --> 01:44:34,840
Yes, this is a comprehensive report. There's a lot to dig through and we were given

1054
01:44:34,840 --> 01:44:42,500
this presentation a copy of it yesterday that had not allowed board members to have the time to dig

1055
01:44:42,500 --> 01:44:47,000
again and digest it properly to ask and form questions.

1056
01:44:47,400 --> 01:44:51,800
So once we have gone through this presentation in detail,

1057
01:44:52,540 --> 01:44:56,280
will there be an opportunity to ask the design team

1058
01:44:58,340 --> 01:44:59,480
more fitting questions?

1059
01:45:00,340 --> 01:45:24,440
If I could, through you, Chair, I would like to say yes. Both Philip and Tyler have worked a lot on this, and they were really hoping to meet and see all of you with a much more thorough conversation. So if we could maybe after we hear the facility master plan draft, and we can certainly invite Thompson McNally back for some follow-up, if that's okay with the Chair and Paul.

1060
01:45:26,480 --> 01:45:30,260
You know, I'm even wondering, sorry, if that's okay. Board Chair.

1061
01:45:31,200 --> 01:45:36,980
You know, maybe we could like this is you know in retrospect like there is a lot of information

1062
01:45:37,800 --> 01:45:42,220
coming through here and and I think it's really worth looking at

1063
01:45:43,260 --> 01:45:47,920
carefully. So you know like we have to be mindful of

1064
01:45:49,680 --> 01:45:57,080
of you know when we hold a meeting or we but I know I was thinking that we should see if maybe

1065
01:45:57,080 --> 01:46:03,500
we could organize a meeting where we could invite board members to and we could just focus

1066
01:46:03,500 --> 01:46:12,200
in with the team with Tyre and Philip on this. I think we don't really have enough time.

1067
01:46:12,200 --> 01:46:18,040
I guess what I'm saying is it's almost this we really appreciate this, but it's like a you

1068
01:46:18,040 --> 01:46:25,320
came on as the board when we have a lot on our table today. So it's probably not fair for the you

1069
01:46:25,320 --> 01:46:28,060
you know, the justice of the report is too.

1070
01:46:28,580 --> 01:46:28,720
Yeah.

1071
01:46:30,180 --> 01:46:32,000
My question, Paul, just real quick,

1072
01:46:32,000 --> 01:46:36,620
was going to be if we could go back and do a separate meeting

1073
01:46:36,620 --> 01:46:41,640
similar to how we've been doing for the waterfront library.

1074
01:46:42,200 --> 01:46:44,760
And then we can bring our questions and comments there.

1075
01:46:44,920 --> 01:46:48,520
And if you can report back and send some dates to the board

1076
01:46:48,520 --> 01:46:49,900
that might work, that would be really helpful.

1077
01:46:51,360 --> 01:46:54,440
So I'm just looking to Holly and to Philip and Tyler.

1078
01:46:54,440 --> 01:46:59,960
can we arrange that? From our perspective, we definitely can. We're happy to get together with you,

1079
01:47:00,140 --> 01:47:04,340
and I just talked about this more fully once, everyone's had a chance to digest it because there

1080
01:47:04,340 --> 01:47:13,260
are layers to this document that we didn't even really scratch the surface on today. So I guess the

1081
01:47:13,260 --> 01:47:18,440
short answer is yes. Okay, that would be great. Yeah, if we can coordinate on the back and pull and

1082
01:47:18,440 --> 01:47:20,560
and get that going. Kojo, go ahead.

1083
01:47:21,940 --> 01:47:24,840
Yes, I look forward to that in-depth meeting.

1084
01:47:25,760 --> 01:47:28,920
I have two questions. I'm going to make it quick. I promise.

1085
01:47:29,480 --> 01:47:37,660
First one, is there any further analysis of how

1086
01:47:38,220 --> 01:47:44,780
this new setup could also allow the HBO to have some revenue generation

1087
01:47:44,780 --> 01:47:48,440
in terms of utilizing the permanent space for weddings

1088
01:47:48,440 --> 01:47:52,840
or even the outside of the building.

1089
01:47:53,260 --> 01:47:57,980
And I'm only thinking about that because of budgetary situations

1090
01:47:57,980 --> 01:47:59,020
all the time.

1091
01:47:59,760 --> 01:48:04,420
And then two, you did mention the solar panel.

1092
01:48:05,140 --> 01:48:09,440
Is there, and I love it, I love seeing that,

1093
01:48:09,440 --> 01:48:20,300
Is there a way that those panels could also offer energy to the nearby neighbourhood

1094
01:48:20,300 --> 01:48:26,080
or to the city for also some revenue generation as well?

1095
01:48:26,780 --> 01:48:28,080
Those are my two questions.

1096
01:48:28,500 --> 01:48:29,760
Thank you for your presentation.

1097
01:48:34,100 --> 01:48:41,120
So to answer the first question, the shape of the project and the program could be stretched

1098
01:48:41,120 --> 01:48:46,220
And that was sort of alluded to in one of the diagrams where it can lengthen and widen.

1099
01:48:46,720 --> 01:48:53,440
But at this point, this was a hypothetical design for a project with no site.

1100
01:48:53,840 --> 01:49:00,580
And the parameters that we gave ourselves had related to access for pedestrians, bikes,

1101
01:49:00,920 --> 01:49:01,860
cars, servicing.

1102
01:49:03,520 --> 01:49:10,720
So with a particular site, then we would get into the details of the final details of what's

1103
01:49:10,720 --> 01:49:15,420
possible in a particular site, but yes, it could be stretched and accommodated a range of

1104
01:49:15,420 --> 01:49:20,620
different programs. And I think we need to talk to a lecturer about how you might generate

1105
01:49:20,620 --> 01:49:25,680
electricity and then share that with the community because of the mobility, it's likely a net

1106
01:49:25,680 --> 01:49:31,360
metering system where you generate power, give it back to the grid and then you purchase power from

1107
01:49:31,360 --> 01:49:39,180
the grid. That's a bit more the technical discussion. But the general idea of having a simple building

1108
01:49:39,180 --> 01:49:46,480
form that allows you to have a roof that lends itself very clearly to sheltering and generating power.

1109
01:49:47,040 --> 01:49:53,440
That's part of using a simple building form which is economic to build but also provides an

1110
01:49:53,440 --> 01:49:56,700
opportunity for our generation.

1111
01:49:59,160 --> 01:50:04,380
Okay, great. So I don't see any other hands but I want to thank you all

1112
01:50:04,380 --> 01:50:08,740
three of you for coming and presenting and looking forward to that more in-depth

1113
01:50:08,740 --> 01:50:14,180
meeting so we can really do justice to all the work that went into this. So,

1114
01:50:14,340 --> 01:50:20,820
thank you all. Thank you very much. We appreciate it. Okay. Thank you. Thank you.

1115
01:50:22,880 --> 01:50:28,120
Moving on we have we actually decided to move 5.2 facility master plan to next

1116
01:50:28,120 --> 01:50:32,060
month just an interest of time. Sorry all I know that's the one we're most

1117
01:50:32,060 --> 01:50:40,240
excited about. Sorry, Chad. I know you really want to talk about it. Well, we'll have a more in-depth

1118
01:50:40,240 --> 01:50:45,920
discussion when Chad actually has time to hear everybody's comments in depth. So Facilities

1119
01:50:45,920 --> 01:50:51,360
Master Plan will be moved to next month. Do I need a vote to move that poll? Are we good?

1120
01:50:59,130 --> 01:51:01,790
Yeah, just to defer until next month. Is that okay?

1121
01:51:02,570 --> 01:51:07,030
Yeah, can I, um, okay, I'll call a vote to defer Facility Master Plan to next month.

1122
01:51:07,030 --> 01:51:09,430
In the interest of time, guys, we've got to it.

1123
01:51:09,550 --> 01:51:09,850
I promise.

1124
01:51:11,390 --> 01:51:11,790
Okay.

1125
01:51:12,490 --> 01:51:12,890
Care.

1126
01:51:13,210 --> 01:51:13,510
Read.

1127
01:51:14,350 --> 01:51:14,410
Okay.

1128
01:51:15,410 --> 01:51:19,890
So moving on, we have 6.1 letter from the board of 2026 direction.

1129
01:51:21,110 --> 01:51:23,030
And can I get a mover to put that on the floor?

1130
01:51:24,070 --> 01:51:25,290
Carly, seconder, Jen.

1131
01:51:25,590 --> 01:51:25,950
Thank you.

1132
01:51:26,070 --> 01:51:26,470
Go ahead, Paul.

1133
01:51:27,470 --> 01:51:28,110
Thank you.

1134
01:51:28,270 --> 01:51:32,030
And, you know, I think that I have a couple of questions for the board.

1135
01:51:32,030 --> 01:51:36,270
But there was an idea of presentation to December.

1136
01:51:36,270 --> 01:51:42,710
they really talked about those four things that we need to focus on this year and how they're

1137
01:51:42,710 --> 01:51:50,650
interconnected. I would say that, you know, there's a fair bit of talk about in the discussion

1138
01:51:50,650 --> 01:51:57,550
more than I had thought we would need, I think just because of the situation around safety and security

1139
01:51:57,550 --> 01:52:05,330
and kind of the situation we're facing. So I think the question is really, sometimes we've done

1140
01:52:05,330 --> 01:52:13,390
this where the board has approved it. We do need the board to prove this. If people have a lot of

1141
01:52:13,390 --> 01:52:21,430
questions, like I'm wondering if you know you should receive it and give me comments so that we

1142
01:52:21,430 --> 01:52:29,330
can approve it next month with any edits or if people are comfortable with, you know, endorsing it

1143
01:52:29,330 --> 01:52:33,650
As it now stands, so I think it's up to you.

1144
01:52:34,270 --> 01:52:39,510
Yeah, I'm totally fine if there are questions or comments to send those into Paul via email

1145
01:52:39,510 --> 01:52:43,970
and then those be brought up at the next meeting after the team has had a chance to thoroughly

1146
01:52:43,970 --> 01:52:44,690
go through it.

1147
01:52:45,510 --> 01:52:51,910
So firstly, let me ask are there any questions or comments or edits from the board?

1148
01:52:53,310 --> 01:52:55,490
Or do we want to know?

1149
01:52:55,770 --> 01:52:55,910
Okay.

1150
01:52:55,910 --> 01:53:00,450
Okay. So I guess we can vote to endorse it then Paul. I don't see any questions or comments.

1151
01:53:03,740 --> 01:53:09,320
Okay. So I'll call the vote to receive and endorse the letter from the board as is.

1152
01:53:09,760 --> 01:53:10,400
All in favor?

1153
01:53:13,200 --> 01:53:15,000
Okay. Carried. Thank you.

1154
01:53:15,800 --> 01:53:19,600
Now we have one item in consent. Does anybody want that pulled?

1155
01:53:20,660 --> 01:53:24,160
Oh, actually, um, mover to put consent items on the floor.

1156
01:53:24,160 --> 01:53:32,240
three and seconded by Jen. Does anybody want that item polls? No? Okay.

1157
01:53:32,920 --> 01:53:35,160
Vote on all consent items, all in favor?

1158
01:53:37,400 --> 01:53:40,160
Okay. Thank you. For business

1159
01:53:40,160 --> 01:53:44,380
arising, we have a couple of items here, 8.1, the report from the

1160
01:53:44,380 --> 01:53:48,480
nominations committee and election officers. Can I get a mover?

1161
01:53:55,820 --> 01:53:57,020
Koto and

1162
01:53:58,460 --> 01:54:14,380
So how we do this just to recap is we're going to go through the elections, the nominations committee has reviewed the applications and so for each one of the positions will take them in order.

1163
01:54:18,700 --> 01:54:21,540
There's the opportunity for additional nominations.

1164
01:54:22,740 --> 01:54:28,300
So the nominations committee isn't trying to, you know, usurp the right and board members

1165
01:54:28,300 --> 01:54:30,340
to elect if they so choose.

1166
01:54:30,600 --> 01:54:35,680
But for Vice President, we do have two individuals nominated.

1167
01:54:36,680 --> 01:54:38,620
So we'll start with the chair.

1168
01:54:38,620 --> 01:54:45,160
Are there any other nominations for the position of chair of the board or

1169
01:54:48,320 --> 01:54:49,400
any other nominations?

1170
01:54:49,400 --> 01:54:53,840
Remind people you can self-nominate last one last time.

1171
01:54:56,100 --> 01:55:02,480
So, having none, we have one person nominated.

1172
01:55:03,520 --> 01:55:04,200
Kagan Patra.

1173
01:55:05,220 --> 01:55:07,240
Congratulations, your chair against.

1174
01:55:08,460 --> 01:55:09,720
One more year.

1175
01:55:10,360 --> 01:55:21,560
Okay, thank you. I just want to say thank you to the members of the board for putting their trust in me as I as I took on this role and I'm looking forward to doing it again.

1176
01:55:22,620 --> 01:55:28,880
I'm getting us through some some quick and great meetings and leading that discussion. So thank you all again.

1177
01:55:30,500 --> 01:55:34,100
If I had a gavel, I would slam it even though I don't think I'm supposed to at this point.

1178
01:55:34,100 --> 01:55:38,900
But do we need to do these the second one now Paul vice chair?

1179
01:55:38,920 --> 01:55:44,280
Yes, and if you want to take back the chair now that you're chair or I can continue with your life.

1180
01:55:44,340 --> 01:55:46,040
I can take it. I can take it that's fine.

1181
01:55:46,900 --> 01:55:57,240
Okay, so for nominations for vice chair, we did have two nominations already but are there any other additional nomination from the committee members or the board members?

1182
01:56:05,810 --> 01:56:14,990
We're going to have to go and vote in a private setting Cali has set that up so we're able to vote privately.

1183
01:56:15,970 --> 01:56:19,430
Our two nominees are Nick and Carly.

1184
01:56:19,430 --> 01:56:28,210
So, I believe Pali just put the link, the poll into the chat.

1185
01:56:28,590 --> 01:56:34,550
So, please go ahead and access that link and then we'll do the voting.

1186
01:56:35,250 --> 01:56:37,550
Everybody have access? Everyone's able to get in?

1187
01:56:48,340 --> 01:56:50,560
Once you're done, just give me the thumbs up.

1188
01:56:56,310 --> 01:57:02,130
Okay. Pali, let me know when you've gone through and gotten all of the...

1189
01:57:02,130 --> 01:57:03,730
Um, thank you, Coach, for that.

1190
01:57:04,430 --> 01:57:04,630
Thank you.

1191
01:57:05,590 --> 01:57:06,730
I'll actually help.

1192
01:57:08,030 --> 01:57:11,310
Um, probably let me know when you've gotten all the responses.

1193
01:57:40,220 --> 01:57:41,440
Give me one minute there.

1194
01:57:42,180 --> 01:57:42,600
No problem.

1195
01:57:48,240 --> 01:57:50,820
Callie, feel free to send me a chat with the.

1196
01:57:52,480 --> 01:57:54,540
Result, if you want to just send that to me instead.

1197
01:57:55,960 --> 01:58:02,220
Well, while we are doing the calculations, uh, is it, is it in order to say.

1198
01:58:02,620 --> 01:58:10,600
Jen, thank you very much for being the vice chair this past year.

1199
01:58:10,800 --> 01:58:14,500
We appreciate you, and thank you for all your work.

1200
01:58:15,440 --> 01:58:16,060
Thank you, Jen.

1201
01:58:16,080 --> 01:58:16,540
Thank you, Jen.

1202
01:58:17,460 --> 01:58:21,340
It was great to be able to work in the position alongside Guggen.

1203
01:58:22,180 --> 01:58:25,660
Yeah, and thank you for the help with the presentation as well as the council.

1204
01:58:25,780 --> 01:58:28,580
You did a great job as vice chair for that, so thank you so much for your work.

1205
01:58:29,360 --> 01:58:29,980
Oh, thank you.

1206
01:58:29,980 --> 01:58:35,440
Thank you for to Paul and Pam for the excellent slides and content.

1207
01:59:05,070 --> 01:59:07,430
I just messaged you the result.

1208
01:59:11,780 --> 01:59:13,420
Hey, sorry, just going up to.

1209
01:59:15,380 --> 01:59:22,220
Okay, so the result for in looks like the new vice chair is Carly.

1210
01:59:24,100 --> 01:59:25,520
Congratulations, Carly.

1211
01:59:25,880 --> 01:59:26,020
Congratulations, Carly.

1212
01:59:26,020 --> 01:59:26,360
Congratulations, Carly.

1213
01:59:26,560 --> 01:59:26,960
Congratulations, Carly.

1214
01:59:29,240 --> 01:59:30,600
Congratulations, Carly.

1215
01:59:30,600 --> 01:59:32,340
Congratulations, Carly.

1216
01:59:32,340 --> 01:59:38,160
forward. We've benefited from your leadership so so much. Yeah. Thank you, Nick, for guiding

1217
01:59:38,160 --> 01:59:42,960
me and showing me how to be here. Thank you so much for your leadership. And thank you,

1218
01:59:43,020 --> 01:59:45,820
Carly, for putting your name for it and it's going to be fun.

1219
01:59:48,580 --> 01:59:51,940
That it will be. Okay, it's

1220
01:59:51,940 --> 01:59:53,540
Okay,

1221
01:59:55,770 --> 01:59:59,890
moving on to the next position, OLS, Ontario.

1222
02:00:00,000 --> 02:00:07,720
Our nomination is for Lynn service. So, Lynn, you are the OLS representative. Thanks.

1223
02:00:10,640 --> 02:00:26,840
Okay. And for Audit Committee, we've got two Audit Committee and Chair. We've got two nominations so far. However, we need three. If anybody wants to put their name forward now, it would be a great time. Nick, thank you.

1224
02:00:28,880 --> 02:00:30,540
Any additional nominations?

1225
02:00:33,180 --> 02:00:40,300
Okay, our Audit Committee representatives will be Jen, Kojo and Nick.

1226
02:00:41,780 --> 02:00:43,600
And you will all do an amazing job.

1227
02:00:44,640 --> 02:00:45,160
It's a great slate.

1228
02:00:45,800 --> 02:00:47,240
Thank you for your name for it.

1229
02:00:48,700 --> 02:00:50,460
Libertary, we have Paul.

1230
02:00:51,500 --> 02:00:56,660
I don't know if I'm allowed to take nominations for that, so Libertary and Treasurer is Paul

1231
02:00:57,820 --> 02:01:03,960
as RSEO, which is stated in our by-law, so congratulations, Paul. One more year of it.

1232
02:01:05,640 --> 02:01:13,740
Thank you for having us. Okay. Well, that's our slate of officers. Congrats, everybody.

1233
02:01:13,960 --> 02:01:21,120
Looking forward to a great, great year ahead. And yeah, I think it'll be a great

1234
02:01:26,840 --> 02:01:34,640
So moving right along, the next item is 8.2. I'm also recommending that we move 8.2

1235
02:01:34,640 --> 02:01:40,600
to the next board meeting. That is digital technology related vendor record update from

1236
02:01:40,600 --> 02:01:44,980
Deja. So my recommendation is that we move that to next month. So Deja can give a proper

1237
02:01:44,980 --> 02:01:51,040
full sum update without the time constraints. So can I have a vote to defer that item?

1238
02:01:51,040 --> 02:01:52,040
all in favor.

1239
02:01:54,150 --> 02:01:59,590
Okay, Terry, so we'll talk about that in March. That's going to be along with you.

1240
02:02:00,090 --> 02:02:07,150
Okay, now the next item we've got here is 8.3, 20, 26 budget updates. Can I get a mover to put that on the floor?

1241
02:02:08,490 --> 02:02:16,290
Kodo and seconder Dana, thank you. That should be Pam I believe, but Paul please go ahead and

1242
02:02:16,290 --> 02:02:19,010
Pam's absence while Pam is probably going to be somewhere.

1243
02:02:20,090 --> 02:02:27,510
Thank you very much. And so, yes, Pam is taking a well-deserved vacation. And, you know, she's been doing a

1244
02:02:27,510 --> 02:02:38,750
stand-up job as our director of finance and her team have been doing a great job. So, in the report on

1245
02:02:38,750 --> 02:02:48,130
in 2026, we do reference the year-end numbers for 2020, 3, 4, and 5.

1246
02:02:49,130 --> 02:02:56,110
And Pam drafted a report to present those, but we thought it better that we defer that

1247
02:02:56,110 --> 02:02:56,830
to next month.

1248
02:02:56,990 --> 02:02:58,470
There was already a lot on the agenda.

1249
02:02:59,030 --> 02:03:05,990
So Pam is going to be here next month to go through the year-end numbers, the BBRs,

1250
02:03:05,990 --> 02:03:12,530
for the last few years and to update the board on where we are with that and you know what's

1251
02:03:12,530 --> 02:03:19,310
the likelihood of proceeding with the audits soon. However, there's there's really so she prepared

1252
02:03:19,310 --> 02:03:26,150
two reports. The first one is really just an update and certainly we're going to be dealing with

1253
02:03:26,150 --> 02:03:33,370
the reserves again as we move forward but just wanted to be clear to the board where the reserves

1254
02:03:33,370 --> 02:03:37,210
understand because of the issue of the operating budget.

1255
02:03:38,130 --> 02:03:48,970
And so basically as the first report says, we have $1.78 million available in our current

1256
02:03:48,970 --> 02:03:55,210
reserves, plus the funds from the Hamilton Community Foundation Trust Funds.

1257
02:03:56,790 --> 02:03:59,010
There's 1.37 in that.

1258
02:03:59,010 --> 02:04:18,670
So that's the background, but so then it goes to the second report she prepared, and we did have quite a bit of a conversation internally about what we need to, or if say, like at this point in time, we don't know.

1259
02:04:18,670 --> 02:04:26,670
and if Councilor Cratch or make me get any updates, we're not serving yet with what will happen

1260
02:04:26,670 --> 02:04:34,050
with the final budget, whether the cut to the library is going to be of the 375 is going to be

1261
02:04:34,050 --> 02:04:42,770
in or not. When I spoke to my cigarette at the budget presentation, they had talked about and said

1262
02:04:42,770 --> 02:04:49,310
that the council really wanted to respect the library board's prerogative and that if

1263
02:04:49,310 --> 02:04:53,430
we have to come up with that, how we come up with that is your decision.

1264
02:04:54,410 --> 02:05:00,990
So I kind of sitting here, so we're bringing a report, and the motion is should HPL be

1265
02:05:00,990 --> 02:05:01,330
required.

1266
02:05:01,470 --> 02:05:03,730
I've never been in this kind of situation before.

1267
02:05:04,110 --> 02:05:11,110
I think a lot of people are just dealing with a new process that, you know, with the

1268
02:05:11,110 --> 02:05:16,790
strong mayor powers that you know it's just very recent and so it's it's it's just created some

1269
02:05:16,790 --> 02:05:23,090
process issues that I think different municipalities like us are trying to work out. So the question is

1270
02:05:23,930 --> 02:05:33,110
for the board and so obviously if the direction is from final direction from the mayor is not to cut

1271
02:05:33,110 --> 02:05:42,110
that it won't be cut. The question then becomes, what are we going to do if we are mandated

1272
02:05:42,110 --> 02:05:43,490
to cut the $375?

1273
02:05:45,650 --> 02:05:50,010
So, we can talk about the options, but maybe we can hear from, I see

1274
02:05:50,010 --> 02:05:51,790
the Councillors' hand up, maybe, as an update.

1275
02:05:52,450 --> 02:05:54,990
Yeah, thanks. Thanks for all Councillor Cresti, please go ahead.

1276
02:05:56,710 --> 02:06:01,330
My update is I have no update, except just to tell you briefly what the process is. Tomorrow

1277
02:06:01,330 --> 02:06:10,610
at the special council meeting, which is being convened in 930, there is an option for anyone who wishes to bring forward any of the items that were voted on for a vote of gain.

1278
02:06:11,410 --> 02:06:18,270
This vote passed 9-7, but don't sense that people are changing their vote on the subject to the vote or remain passed.

1279
02:06:18,690 --> 02:06:25,390
Mayor then has 10 days from that day to choose whether she wishes to veto the mayor voted against this, so she may choose to veto it. I have no idea.

1280
02:06:25,810 --> 02:06:29,410
If the Mayor vetoes it, another special meeting of Council will be held to vote on the

1281
02:06:29,410 --> 02:06:29,910
item again.

1282
02:06:30,470 --> 02:06:33,530
If a two-thirds majority votes in favor, then the item remains as it is.

1283
02:06:33,990 --> 02:06:39,630
So it's unfortunately going to be unwind in a way that we have no control over, so having

1284
02:06:39,630 --> 02:06:44,790
an interim plan and a budget approval today so that we know what to do if things should

1285
02:06:44,790 --> 02:06:48,850
go sideways, but Ted and I are fully supportive of this and I think the votes will remain

1286
02:06:48,850 --> 02:06:49,290
as they are.

1287
02:06:49,370 --> 02:06:51,970
I don't think the Mayor will veto it, if you want my thoughts on it.

1288
02:06:54,650 --> 02:06:58,690
Thank you, Councillor Crouch, and I think I speak on behalf of the board when I say,

1289
02:06:58,830 --> 02:07:02,550
thank you to you and Councillor McMicken for bringing that amendment forward to keep

1290
02:07:02,550 --> 02:07:07,490
the library's budget as is, and the importance of keeping that funding to what we had presented

1291
02:07:07,490 --> 02:07:08,630
and the board had approved.

1292
02:07:10,710 --> 02:07:15,870
My thought, Paul, is, you know, the same thing that we presented, that our preference would

1293
02:07:15,870 --> 02:07:23,730
be to not utilize reserve balances because it's just very volatile situations right now

1294
02:07:23,730 --> 02:07:28,550
we're facing and my preference would be not to deplete the reserves anymore than they

1295
02:07:28,550 --> 02:07:34,830
already have been because we should be keeping that in case we need an influx of money for

1296
02:07:34,830 --> 02:07:39,650
any of our capital improvement security is a concern right now we're hearing a lot of things

1297
02:07:39,650 --> 02:07:45,090
about central and my preference and I'll go to the other board members as well if they

1298
02:07:45,090 --> 02:07:50,270
have to bring opinions would be to not simply those reserves. If there's another way that we can

1299
02:07:50,270 --> 02:07:57,750
come up with that funding the $375,000 I know we're talking isn't really in the grand scheme

1300
02:07:57,750 --> 02:08:04,510
of the entire budget a huge amount that we have to to find the cuts for so I would be in favor of

1301
02:08:04,510 --> 02:08:10,670
the recommended approach that Pam had suggested within the report. That's that's my two cents.

1302
02:08:10,670 --> 02:08:15,870
Are there any other comments or questions, Dana, go ahead.

1303
02:08:19,690 --> 02:08:23,210
This is as bad as my trying to get a green light when we're all meeting together on the

1304
02:08:23,210 --> 02:08:23,990
handset.

1305
02:08:24,930 --> 02:08:30,050
So a couple of questions in connection with the recommendation but first another question

1306
02:08:30,590 --> 02:08:32,750
just about the description of the reserves.

1307
02:08:33,210 --> 02:08:38,670
There was one sentence, I don't know if it's a typo or if it's just that I'm particularly

1308
02:08:38,670 --> 02:08:41,450
of juice and I just wanted to get some clarification.

1309
02:08:41,450 --> 02:08:49,990
It reads, reserve balances have not had very little injection of additional funds.

1310
02:08:50,990 --> 02:08:55,450
I don't know what that means. Reserve funds have not had very little. Does that mean?

1311
02:08:55,950 --> 02:08:59,610
Like is that not? Should the not not?

1312
02:08:59,610 --> 02:09:04,050
I think it's correct. Maybe the wording is a little bit difficult.

1313
02:09:04,710 --> 02:09:11,150
But so the issue here is there's years where we go by where we are replenishing our reserves.

1314
02:09:11,150 --> 02:09:20,870
So, and that's true combination of donations and also operating surpluses.

1315
02:09:22,190 --> 02:09:32,610
So, the fact is, and as you'll see the details, the last three years, we have not replenished our surpluses, our reserves.

1316
02:09:33,630 --> 02:09:38,630
So, basically we were instructed as we explained.

1317
02:09:38,630 --> 02:09:45,370
So I think it is correct, so basically I think what Pam is trying to say there is that we know we

1318
02:09:45,930 --> 02:09:50,390
for a few years we've been dipping and not adding anything back.

1319
02:09:51,610 --> 02:09:58,110
Okay, so thank you very much for that explanation, Paula. I'm inclined to, as I hear you describe

1320
02:09:58,110 --> 02:10:02,110
that, think that it intends to say they've had very little injection of additional funds then,

1321
02:10:02,710 --> 02:10:07,330
so maybe that not was just a type of thank you for that.

1322
02:10:07,330 --> 02:10:09,390
Sorry, I think you're right, Tess, sorry.

1323
02:10:10,510 --> 02:10:12,370
I don't know, that's okay, that's okay.

1324
02:10:12,470 --> 02:10:14,130
I just wanted to be sure that I understood.

1325
02:10:14,910 --> 02:10:17,470
And then just in terms of, and God get it, it's okay

1326
02:10:17,470 --> 02:10:23,130
because you were sort of talking about the other recommended options.

1327
02:10:23,530 --> 02:10:26,670
I had a couple of questions in connection with that option

1328
02:10:26,670 --> 02:10:30,150
three staffing focused recommendation.

1329
02:10:30,890 --> 02:10:34,510
And the first one is because it says delayed filling of positions.

1330
02:10:34,510 --> 02:10:38,750
And so I was just sort of wondering what the collective agreement says about the filling

1331
02:10:38,750 --> 02:10:39,510
of vacancies.

1332
02:10:40,890 --> 02:10:44,910
I just wasn't sure if there's, I mean, does management have full discretion in terms

1333
02:10:44,910 --> 02:10:46,650
of posting vacancies?

1334
02:10:48,390 --> 02:10:48,870
Okay.

1335
02:10:49,590 --> 02:10:49,930
Yes.

1336
02:10:50,210 --> 02:10:51,450
So that's not always the case.

1337
02:10:51,630 --> 02:10:58,090
So I wanted just to, I wanted to ask you, but you know, like we obviously would work closely

1338
02:10:58,090 --> 02:11:03,510
with the union and they know like if we're going to be delaying something like this we'll

1339
02:11:03,510 --> 02:11:09,450
be meeting with them to let them know okay we can't fill these positions at this time and

1340
02:11:09,450 --> 02:11:14,350
here's what our plan is so okay great thank you I just I just sort of wanted to get some clarity

1341
02:11:14,350 --> 02:11:20,130
around that and then I'm just wondering what the what the phrase increased branch personnel efficiency

1342
02:11:22,490 --> 02:11:28,490
actually is actually getting at because it's been quantified as $175,000 but I'm just wondering exactly

1343
02:11:28,490 --> 02:11:34,950
what that means. So I can answer that and it goes to the service review that we're talking about

1344
02:11:34,950 --> 02:11:45,650
and I'm so the intention here the purpose of this is not to cut staff okay but what it is to do

1345
02:11:45,650 --> 02:11:54,050
is we had a look we have some pressure points community connector positions were one and they've

1346
02:11:54,050 --> 02:11:55,850
actually been very helpful at Central.

1347
02:11:56,770 --> 02:11:59,290
We could be expanding that program.

1348
02:11:59,810 --> 02:12:02,410
We have the Discovery Center.

1349
02:12:03,330 --> 02:12:05,990
We're looking at our noters across the system

1350
02:12:05,990 --> 02:12:09,090
and seeing, we haven't done this for a couple of years

1351
02:12:09,990 --> 02:12:12,230
and just making sure that we're balancing

1352
02:12:12,230 --> 02:12:18,050
our existing staff complement as effectively as possible

1353
02:12:18,710 --> 02:12:23,450
so that they're engaged with customers.

1354
02:12:24,050 --> 02:12:29,670
And we are seeing some patterns where some branches haven't been as busy.

1355
02:12:30,790 --> 02:12:39,210
And so it's not, but the intention here is not to lay off staff or to cut service,

1356
02:12:39,630 --> 02:12:48,630
but it would be to look for where there's new opportunities or pressure points for us.

1357
02:12:48,710 --> 02:12:51,050
This is what we normally do as an organization.

1358
02:12:51,690 --> 02:12:58,510
and so it's like, and I think we're mindful of if we think this budget year was challenging,

1359
02:12:59,950 --> 02:13:05,350
you know, when we look ahead to the next couple of years, we could be potentially facing even more

1360
02:13:05,350 --> 02:13:13,810
challenging circumstances. So just hypothetically, two, three years from now, two years, next year,

1361
02:13:13,810 --> 02:13:21,710
someone can come to us and say you need to deal with a reduction. Let's hope

1362
02:13:21,710 --> 02:13:26,710
that doesn't happen. What we're trying to do and we've done this past is let's

1363
02:13:26,710 --> 02:13:31,450
make sure we're effectively utilizing our staff around the system

1364
02:13:33,430 --> 02:13:39,050
proactively and so that we are delivering you know for the city. So that's what

1365
02:13:39,050 --> 02:13:46,510
really speaks to. And I think, you know, oftentimes, we often think of, well, you know, you have

1366
02:13:46,510 --> 02:13:53,610
inputs, our staff and outputs, you know, you decrease staff, you decrease. We've done a lot of

1367
02:13:53,610 --> 02:14:00,810
changes over the years that has transformed how our business works. And the reality is that we have

1368
02:14:00,810 --> 02:14:10,870
some opportunities to provide better, I would say, in-depth support for individuals if we can

1369
02:14:10,870 --> 02:14:18,890
line up the stock resources to do that. So that's really what that's about. And I think

1370
02:14:19,770 --> 02:14:27,910
the history of the Hamilton Public Library going back to when we first became a unified system in 2001

1371
02:14:27,910 --> 02:14:36,070
with us done does and went worth has been to let's look at how can we use innovation to adapt

1372
02:14:36,070 --> 02:14:40,110
their staff and we talked about it in the budget presentation. So that's really what that's

1373
02:14:40,110 --> 02:14:47,710
talking about and so in many cases we have areas where there's less activity than there would be

1374
02:14:48,190 --> 02:14:53,110
so we need to make sure staff are properly balanced like we're still supporting staff in those

1375
02:14:53,110 --> 02:14:59,970
to support those branches, but that we're putting people to work where we really need them or where the community needs them.

1376
02:15:00,000 --> 02:15:00,440
It needs them.

1377
02:15:03,430 --> 02:15:31,950
See, and I think too often, you know, we, people wait for someone to do that. Tell them, oh, you need to go through this exercise. Our experience has always been as better for us to proactively do that, working with the library board than it is waiting for someone from the city or to say, hey, are you being effective, you know, and that's been, that's been the experience. So, does that answer your question?

1378
02:15:31,950 --> 02:15:32,150
Okay.

1379
02:15:34,920 --> 02:15:37,260
Thank you, Paul, for clarifying COSIO. Go ahead.

1380
02:15:38,780 --> 02:15:49,920
Yeah. I have a question, maybe a suggestion. Is it possible, so for option three, when we

1381
02:15:49,920 --> 02:15:57,220
say delayed failing positions and increased branch personnel efficiency, do we know which

1382
02:15:57,220 --> 02:16:08,520
branches because, okay, what I'm getting at here is, even if we have an idea of which branches,

1383
02:16:09,140 --> 02:16:16,100
I think we should mention that because what Councillor Krutsch and Councillor Ted

1384
02:16:16,100 --> 02:16:22,020
McMeakin have kind of laid out for us is that we are still in, we don't know what will happen.

1385
02:16:22,020 --> 02:16:30,580
So, for me, I think there was also some reluctancy from other Councillors, I've been following

1386
02:16:30,580 --> 02:16:38,580
some of the discusses anytime HBL comes up, there was resident to why we were asking

1387
02:16:38,580 --> 02:16:46,840
for five point, whatever it was, and there were other people that came at the 4.25.

1388
02:16:46,840 --> 02:16:56,680
So for me, I think if we're going to hopefully everything goes well, nobody changes any votes

1389
02:16:56,680 --> 02:16:59,880
or whatever, we should also provide that information.

1390
02:17:00,420 --> 02:17:08,480
So to me, I think if we even have an idea of where those efficiencies or delayed feelings

1391
02:17:08,480 --> 02:17:13,720
would be happening, I would say we should include it in here.

1392
02:17:13,720 --> 02:17:20,920
And then my second suggestion is, I think that, you know, we are grateful to have Councillor

1393
02:17:20,920 --> 02:17:29,940
Krutsch and Councillor McKean and Councillor Narendra Ngan who come to our meetings and understand

1394
02:17:29,940 --> 02:17:39,160
what we do. I would say that maybe moving forward, every four months or so, we should be sending

1395
02:17:39,160 --> 02:17:46,300
should be sending counsel things that we are doing, particularly in all the branches

1396
02:17:46,840 --> 02:17:56,460
that are in the city, because it's so much, it's difficult for our chair, Gagan did a

1397
02:17:56,460 --> 02:18:03,880
great job, Jen did a great job of trying to say all of that at a budget presentation when

1398
02:18:03,880 --> 02:18:06,820
When everybody is asking you, have you thought about innovation?

1399
02:18:07,400 --> 02:18:08,740
Why aren't you using your disk?

1400
02:18:09,180 --> 02:18:10,420
What else have you done?

1401
02:18:10,620 --> 02:18:18,080
So I think for us, for our budget process to go at least smoothly next year, in terms of

1402
02:18:18,080 --> 02:18:23,740
questions, not on our side, maybe every four months we should be sending some communication

1403
02:18:23,740 --> 02:18:29,400
to all Councillors and the mayor about these are the things that we are doing, so that they

1404
02:18:29,400 --> 02:18:34,580
have an idea of all the work that the library does throughout the year.

1405
02:18:35,020 --> 02:18:39,660
So that would just be my suggestion so that next year when we're talking about our budget,

1406
02:18:40,600 --> 02:18:46,120
we are not being asked questions that are either in a presentation or that we've been doing

1407
02:18:46,120 --> 02:18:47,400
throughout the whole year.

1408
02:18:52,150 --> 02:18:54,450
Thanks, Code Bill Phil, comments, not for Paul if you have

1409
02:18:54,990 --> 02:18:58,850
response for that at this point. So maybe the second part,

1410
02:18:58,850 --> 02:19:04,670
Councillor Crouch might want to say something first. In cards of first point, we honestly

1411
02:19:04,670 --> 02:19:10,810
don't have an answer for this yet. And what the recommendation does mention to the board

1412
02:19:11,490 --> 02:19:19,030
or what we're saying is that it says further that, okay, so that it directs us to use option 3

1413
02:19:20,870 --> 02:19:27,970
and further that staff are directed to minimize service impacts if workable. However,

1414
02:19:27,970 --> 02:19:31,770
should they become necessary report back to the board?

1415
02:19:32,630 --> 02:19:39,170
So like I guess what I'm saying is we're not anticipating this is going to have a visible

1416
02:19:39,170 --> 02:19:42,610
impact on existing service.

1417
02:19:43,650 --> 02:19:48,990
What we're looking at doing is there's some areas of service that are really high priority

1418
02:19:49,570 --> 02:19:53,230
that we need to look at making sure that we're fully supporting those.

1419
02:19:53,230 --> 02:20:01,290
So I'm just saying, Coach, like we're going through this process and we don't we don't know yet, okay?

1420
02:20:01,750 --> 02:20:09,170
But when I look at the numbers, it's not like it's not like an insurmountable task for us to be able to do this.

1421
02:20:09,850 --> 02:20:21,330
Okay. Maybe the second thing and and what I would say is we've been this last couple of years with the cyber attack and with all the challenges going on.

1422
02:20:23,110 --> 02:20:27,910
I've been trying to be respectful of all the challenges council is dealing with.

1423
02:20:28,770 --> 02:20:40,750
And so, you know, some of the normal periodic outreach that we do, that has not been as high a priority just because of all the challenges or the work been managing.

1424
02:20:41,610 --> 02:20:51,210
So, anyway, I just leave that, but I take the point that, you know, ensuring we have full support of council has always been.

1425
02:20:51,210 --> 02:20:57,870
our goal. And last number of years, like this was the first time that there was a vote that

1426
02:20:57,870 --> 02:21:04,310
was not, I mean, in several years, that was not, if not, new unanimous, close to unanimous.

1427
02:21:04,810 --> 02:21:13,030
So I think there's work to do on our part to make sure we're communicating effectively with

1428
02:21:13,030 --> 02:21:18,550
Councillors all of Council. Yeah, thanks Paul. Councillor Couch. Did you want to add to that?

1429
02:21:22,360 --> 02:21:22,800
Yeah.

1430
02:21:23,060 --> 02:21:27,300
In the risk of shattering the fourth wall here, I think it's important for me to say that

1431
02:21:27,300 --> 02:21:31,340
I don't think it's a lack of information, and I agree with Kojo in terms of, you know,

1432
02:21:31,380 --> 02:21:32,140
outreach we can do.

1433
02:21:32,220 --> 02:21:33,520
I just don't actually think that's on the library.

1434
02:21:34,220 --> 02:21:37,840
I really don't think there's a single counselor sitting around that table who doesn't know exactly

1435
02:21:37,840 --> 02:21:41,440
what they're voting for, exactly what they're doing, and exactly what's going on.

1436
02:21:41,600 --> 02:21:42,200
I'll be very blunt.

1437
02:21:43,100 --> 02:21:49,520
You know, when you're in an election year, and you want to say that people should just,

1438
02:21:49,520 --> 02:21:54,780
to use their reserves and do whatever, and you put this budget number on a 4.25%, it's

1439
02:21:54,780 --> 02:21:57,500
kind of easy to sort of just say, well we should all be going in that way and that's

1440
02:21:57,500 --> 02:21:58,080
what the issue is.

1441
02:21:58,760 --> 02:22:01,780
I don't think it's the value of the library specifically, you'd have to ask individual

1442
02:22:01,780 --> 02:22:05,640
people about that around the table, but I'm just saying that I don't think reducing more

1443
02:22:05,640 --> 02:22:11,280
reading for counselors will get them to A, read it, B, change their vote based on having

1444
02:22:11,280 --> 02:22:12,300
read it, that's all I'm saying.

1445
02:22:12,420 --> 02:22:17,860
I don't think this is politics, I don't think this is about information, and that's what's

1446
02:22:17,860 --> 02:22:19,840
going on here, finally, unfortunately.

1447
02:22:20,700 --> 02:22:21,680
So I don't think it's going to,

1448
02:22:21,700 --> 02:22:23,320
I think it's not going to be a valuable exercise

1449
02:22:23,320 --> 02:22:24,400
for the board to undertake,

1450
02:22:25,100 --> 02:22:27,960
or staffs undertake to try to educate counselors

1451
02:22:28,520 --> 02:22:31,020
who don't necessarily wish to receive that education.

1452
02:22:31,440 --> 02:22:32,060
I'll leave it there.

1453
02:22:34,040 --> 02:22:34,780
Thanks, counselor.

1454
02:22:35,340 --> 02:22:36,100
Carly, go ahead.

1455
02:22:37,080 --> 02:22:37,760
Thank you.

1456
02:22:38,780 --> 02:22:40,920
I'm going to have a process question.

1457
02:22:41,720 --> 02:22:43,420
And I appreciate maybe this is a bit odd now

1458
02:22:43,420 --> 02:22:44,700
that I'm vice-carried,

1459
02:22:44,740 --> 02:22:47,220
but I wasn't part of the discussion leading up to this.

1460
02:22:47,220 --> 02:22:52,700
I appreciate that there's been so much work that's gone into developing these options.

1461
02:22:53,320 --> 02:22:55,460
Should we be required to reduce the budget?

1462
02:22:57,200 --> 02:23:01,200
Really just trying to understand, though, the premise of the conversation and in doing

1463
02:23:01,200 --> 02:23:06,300
this activity, like, why are we planning for reductions at this stage?

1464
02:23:06,640 --> 02:23:10,940
And what might be actually signaling in doing so?

1465
02:23:10,940 --> 02:23:18,780
So is there a scenario that we hold our position rather than preemptively modeling these sorts

1466
02:23:18,780 --> 02:23:20,740
of cuts and showing that it can be done?

1467
02:23:22,620 --> 02:23:27,340
And so I suppose I just want to be clear on the governance rationale for moving into

1468
02:23:27,340 --> 02:23:30,840
a reduction planning, and maybe I'm just being obstinate.

1469
02:23:33,180 --> 02:23:40,800
My understanding, and I be sent to be corrected, you know, and like I would say,

1470
02:23:40,800 --> 02:23:48,400
The mayor has always been a supporter of the library and this isn't specific address like looking at the library.

1471
02:23:49,560 --> 02:23:53,560
It's looking at a whole number of areas and we are one of them.

1472
02:23:56,620 --> 02:24:01,620
If like we're going to get our approved budget.

1473
02:24:02,120 --> 02:24:09,680
If I don't see it making a material difference on council or the mayor, whether the board accepts.

1474
02:24:09,680 --> 02:24:16,940
If we come up with their proposal, I guess if we defer it, you know, we could check.

1475
02:24:17,860 --> 02:24:26,260
I have no idea whether that would have any impact on council's deliberations.

1476
02:24:27,580 --> 02:24:32,980
And we need to remember we're 2.7% of the city's operating budget.

1477
02:24:33,520 --> 02:24:37,940
Okay, there's a lot bigger fish or not fish, but you know what I mean?

1478
02:24:38,080 --> 02:24:43,960
Like in terms of money, we're I'm sure people are not putting us

1479
02:24:43,960 --> 02:24:45,340
top of priority necessarily.

1480
02:24:46,280 --> 02:24:51,920
Anyway, but I don't see this as giving the marijuana, it's okay to cut our budget.

1481
02:24:52,100 --> 02:24:53,260
I think we've made our case.

1482
02:24:53,680 --> 02:24:58,940
I think you're what they have to say and we just want to make sure we're not getting

1483
02:24:58,940 --> 02:25:06,640
in lack of compliance with the direction we're given to from our funder.

1484
02:25:07,580 --> 02:25:10,520
Very fun, 97% of our budget.

1485
02:25:11,500 --> 02:25:15,500
So it's like we're trying to respect their process.

1486
02:25:16,680 --> 02:25:25,900
And I'm sure as next year, all the last couple of years with mayor strong powers, this has

1487
02:25:26,460 --> 02:25:29,580
created some changes to process that are still

1488
02:25:29,580 --> 02:25:33,420
getting figured out across the profits and in our own city as well.

1489
02:25:34,800 --> 02:25:42,220
I think thanks Paul and I just wanted to add that at council a lot of this

1490
02:25:42,220 --> 02:25:45,540
concern those questions we received from council when we were delivering our

1491
02:25:45,540 --> 02:25:50,700
budget presentation about if you're asked to reduce it where are you going to

1492
02:25:50,700 --> 02:25:55,880
get that that money from? Where is that 375,000 coming from? So that's kind of the

1493
02:25:55,880 --> 02:26:03,540
exercise we had asked Paul and Pam and the team to do so. I thank you Paul and Pam although

1494
02:26:03,540 --> 02:26:08,180
you're not here for going through that exercise and providing the options and the recommended

1495
02:26:08,180 --> 02:26:15,460
approach. So I don't see any other hands. I'll call the vote for that report and I believe

1496
02:26:15,460 --> 02:26:22,300
that is to approve the recommended approach. Paul correct? Okay. Okay great. So all in favor?

1497
02:26:29,820 --> 02:26:30,340
Okay.

1498
02:26:33,080 --> 02:26:39,160
Okay. Does anyone want to record their opposition? We can do that. We don't normally

1499
02:26:39,160 --> 02:26:46,880
do it, but I just can't give them if a worker wants to get there. Yeah. I didn't see all

1500
02:26:46,880 --> 02:26:53,820
hands. I didn't see all hands. I'm in certain affection or okay. I'd be okay being recorded

1501
02:26:53,820 --> 02:27:05,880
it as a no. Okay. Okay. Very bad majority though. Okay. Thank you everybody. And our next item 9.1,

1502
02:27:05,880 --> 02:27:10,980
we just have a written delegation that we're going to be receiving. So I won't read it, but we'll

1503
02:27:10,980 --> 02:27:18,860
put that on the floor to add that to our minutes. Can I get a mover add that? Carly and the seconder,

1504
02:27:18,860 --> 02:27:28,880
Nick, thank you. And report, we've got a couple of reports here, year-end report on goal.

1505
02:27:29,240 --> 02:27:32,920
I'm assuming that one needs to come this month, right? That's not one we can defer.

1506
02:27:33,340 --> 02:27:41,100
Well, we can defer it. It's, it's just closing the books for last year in a sense. So, but we can pass on it and bring it back next month.

1507
02:27:41,100 --> 02:27:48,580
I would recommend to defer that all in favor of deferring the year-end report

1508
02:27:48,580 --> 02:27:55,980
on goals. Okay, looks like it's carried. Thank you. 2025 year-end metrics report.

1509
02:27:57,080 --> 02:28:01,400
This is a big one as well that we do get. I'm wondering if we wanted to

1510
02:28:01,400 --> 02:28:07,360
defer this so we can get a full-term update from Pad next month. There's a lot of information in there.

1511
02:28:07,360 --> 02:28:12,520
Is everybody okay with deferring the year end metrics?

1512
02:28:14,970 --> 02:28:17,550
Add are you okay with that for next month instead of this month?

1513
02:28:18,270 --> 02:28:19,070
Absolutely, Chair.

1514
02:28:19,350 --> 02:28:21,890
I thank Andrew for joining us tonight in preparation.

1515
02:28:22,910 --> 02:28:24,170
Oh my god, I'm so sorry, Andrew.

1516
02:28:24,490 --> 02:28:25,790
It's so meeting.

1517
02:28:26,090 --> 02:28:29,750
But it'll be better in March, I promise.

1518
02:28:30,650 --> 02:28:31,070
Okay.

1519
02:28:31,190 --> 02:28:34,530
All in favor of deferring the year end metrics to March.

1520
02:28:35,590 --> 02:28:36,090
Okay.

1521
02:28:36,090 --> 02:28:42,490
carried. And then Chief Librarian's report, Paul, I think we have that every month. So I'm not sure

1522
02:28:42,490 --> 02:28:45,990
if you do. There's not interested information report to be received.

1523
02:28:48,330 --> 02:28:49,490
Okay, can I get a mover to

1524
02:28:49,490 --> 02:28:56,910
add that then? We don't need Paul to speak to it, but Dana, okay, seconder. Lynn, okay. And then

1525
02:28:56,910 --> 02:28:57,990
all in favor to receive.

1526
02:29:00,160 --> 02:29:06,460
Okay. Amazing. We have no new business. No policies. We've got two items

1527
02:29:06,460 --> 02:29:09,980
under private and confidential, so I'm going to

1528
02:29:09,980 --> 02:29:14,000
I've been the meeting now and vote to go in camera,

1529
02:29:14,340 --> 02:29:16,420
so we don't have to come back into open session

1530
02:29:17,020 --> 02:29:19,220
after we're finished with those topics.

1531
02:29:20,060 --> 02:29:22,340
So is that okay, Paul, procedurally?

1532
02:29:23,000 --> 02:29:26,040
Yeah, so we should get a motion to go into

1533
02:29:26,040 --> 02:29:27,960
Grant in camera.

1534
02:29:30,520 --> 02:29:36,360
And for the safety and security legal privacy issue,

1535
02:29:36,880 --> 02:29:39,360
and a potential property development.

1536
02:29:41,780 --> 02:29:43,600
Coge, did you have a question about that or?

1537
02:29:44,300 --> 02:29:48,120
Yes, I just, you said we should stay on,

1538
02:29:48,440 --> 02:29:52,660
but I think there was another thing that was said.

1539
02:29:52,860 --> 02:29:54,880
No, no, which one are we using?

1540
02:29:55,140 --> 02:29:56,140
I just want to thank you.

1541
02:29:56,200 --> 02:29:58,340
We're going to join the private meeting,

1542
02:29:58,940 --> 02:29:59,980
but I'll be doing it.

1543
02:30:00,000 --> 02:30:13,280
Is we just want to, we need to record a motion to go in camera in the public session. So I will. You got now all in a motion first to go in camera.

1544
02:30:15,740 --> 02:30:30,980
So it's been a long meeting. I'm losing my mind, Dana and I was in seconder. Okay. All in favor of going into a closed session. And can I just adjourn the meeting now to Paul? Yes, we should and there's going to be no motions coming out of the.

1545
02:30:30,980 --> 02:30:35,920
the private and confidential session, so.

1546
02:30:36,040 --> 02:30:41,760
Okay, so a overtulture in the meeting, once we're done, Nick, yay.

1547
02:30:43,020 --> 02:30:45,360
And Lynn, seconder, okay.

1548
02:30:46,040 --> 02:30:48,420
So everybody, there is a code you'll thank you for mentioning.

1549
02:30:48,560 --> 02:30:50,180
There is a second link that Callie had sent.

1550
02:30:50,400 --> 02:30:54,240
Please exit this link and join that link for the public.

1551
02:30:54,240 --> 02:30:56,880
The next meeting is March 11th, 2026.

1552
02:30:56,880 --> 02:31:01,700
So I'll see you all on the other link very shortly, bye.