[0:00] - I'd like to call to order the Monroe County Public Library Board of Trustees meeting for September 16th,

[0:08] - 2026. Do we have any public comment at this time? Nobody online? Okay, great. Can I get a motion to

[0:16] - approve the consent agenda from the minutes from August 19th, monthly financial report, monthly bills

[0:24] - for payment, personnel report, and the board meeting calendar?

[0:30] - All in favor say aye aye those opposed say nay eyes have it and next we're gonna hear from Greer for

[0:37] - the directors monthly report You're probably sick of me saying this by now, but overall circulation

[0:43] - continues to be incredibly strong in 2026 We have now seen 12 consecutive months of six-year record

[0:50] - circ stats for overall sir. It's really fantastic. I

[0:55] - We have launched the indie author project through our biblio board subscription This is a service that

[1:00] - allows local authors to submit their own ebooks for inclusion in our local author collection page online

[1:06] - Lisa Champelli our collection development manager will be here in November I believe we rescheduled

[1:12] - her annual department update and she'll have more details to share on this new service But it's great

[1:18] - to see so far and we've been kind of looking at the indie author project through biblio board for about

[1:24] - seven years

[1:25] - So we finally got it in place, and we've talked to a lot of other libraries that have done this, so

[1:31] - it's kind of exciting to see. Preliminary summer reading numbers. I'll just share the stats, because

[1:38] - I don't wanna steal the thunder from Angelica or Kathy, who are gonna give some cool department updates

[1:44] - today. But here are the preliminary participation numbers. Children's Services had 3,267 participants

[1:51] - for summer reading this year. Teen had 726.

[1:54] - which is an all-time high for teen summer reading. Adult services had 3,329, which is phenomenal. 473

[2:01] - of those, by the way, were digital participants, so that's worth noting. And this is the first time

[2:08] - we did outreach house calls with summer reading. So for our house call patrons through outreach services,

[2:16] - we had 111 participants. That's pretty great. So overall, very strong numbers for summer reading in 2026.

[2:24] - Here at Southwest, the start of the new school year saw BMS students returning to our teen space faster

[2:30] - than ever, which is another indication that this branch is indeed a successful and safe space for our

[2:36] - teens. CATS officially assumed oversight of our downtown level up digital creativity space. CATS staff

[2:42] - have been training for this role for a few months while shadowing adult services staff during their

[2:48] - regular shifts.

[2:49] - We are happy to bring CATS back into an active role in providing this type of frontline digital creativity

[2:55] - tools and support for the community. And we are grateful to our adult services team for managing that

[3:01] - space and its resources so well these past five plus years.

[3:05] - As you all know, our annual public hearing on next year's budget takes place at County Council this

[3:11] - evening. Right now, in fact. So Gary is attending that meeting and we look forward to the next step

[3:16] - in seeking approval for the twenty twenty seven budget following tonight's hearing.

[3:22] - Staff day was held yesterday at our downtown library. All MCPL staff attend this annual event. Some

[3:28] - of you are in attendance as well, so thank you for that. It was a very successful day. We'll have more

[3:33] - details to share at the October meeting after we've tallied session and attendance numbers and have

[3:39] - also completed our annual staff day follow-up survey. We do that every year almost right after staff

[3:45] - day to gauge how well it went and what people wanna see us do differently or better the following year,

[3:50] - and that staff survey gives

[3:52] - really critical feedback to help us figure out are we going to do more or less of certain things? Should

[3:58] - we try something totally different? Is the time of year still right? Because we shifted from February

[4:03] - to September a few years back. So that staff feedback survey is going to go out very soon. And once

[4:08] - we get all of that tallied, then we'll tell you more about staff day. And finally, I want to highlight

[4:14] - a unique anecdote in the director's report. I usually pick one every month. This one really stood out

[4:19] - to me. It's from outreach services in a way.

[4:22] - So a staff member was at a local gas station and happened to be wearing an MCPL t-shirt, the much coveted

[4:29] - MCPL shirts, right? And the cashier there shared that they were never much of a reader until they were

[4:35] - incarcerated in the Monroe County Correctional Center and discovered our jail library collection and

[4:42] - its services. And that turned them into a reader. And since they were released, they're still an active reader.

[4:49] - So the staff member shared that with our outreach services manager, Chris Jackson, who decided to submit

[4:55] - it to the director's report. And that wouldn't really suck out because I think it's kind of a unique

[5:02] - example of the feedback we hear from the community on the impact that our collections and services have.

[5:09] - It's an under, not underutilized, but it's

[5:11] - an under-celebrated collection in service, the jail library that we have. It was great to see an interaction

[5:19] - with a member of the community that came back to us with a notion that this is a really valuable collection

[5:27] - that we have. That personal impact was great to see. I'm happy to answer any questions about the director's

[5:34] - report. I just want to say that staff day was really ... I could only attend the early session, but

[5:42] - I was so impressed. Everybody was just milling around. They were talking to each other. I was talking

[5:49] - to several people. And it was just really so great how everybody just interacted with each other. And

[5:56] - they were so happy. It was wonderful. So kudos. Well, kudos are for the person sitting behind me. Lorraine

[6:03] - Martin is our mastermind, but she leads a staff day committee.

[6:07] - With a small group of staff every year who really do the heavy lifting and they do everything from planning

[6:15] - the agenda to reaching out and Identifying and booking a keynote speaker to figure out what the foods

[6:22] - gonna look like the pacing of the day Everything comes from that committee. So they're the ones who

[6:29] - do the real work, but Lorraine Martin deserves a real acknowledgement Any other questions or comments

[6:40] - I liked your story. I just want to also comment that it just goes to show the library is for everyone

[6:47] - at any age. People who were not library users as children, there's still so much here to be found. That's

[6:53] - exactly right. I really like that. Next up, we're going to hear from Greer about the elevator bits.

[7:00] - Yes, so quick update on the elevator project and the bids the bids for updating our downtown elevators

[7:06] - were opened on Tuesday September 8th in a public meeting at the downtown library at 1 p.m We received

[7:12] - three bids which we opened and read aloud during the meeting all three bids came in around the same

[7:17] - price point We're looking at between four hundred and five hundred thousand dollars, which is more or

[7:23] - less what we expected and

[7:25] - Our elevator consultant is currently reviewing these bids and will advise us on the next steps. And

[7:31] - so we will share the decision on the preferred vendor and what those next steps look like in the coming

[7:37] - weeks. And then once we have done that, we can then schedule the work to occur at a time that is least

[7:43] - inconvenient to patrons and staff.

[7:46] - As a reminder, these are three elevators downtown the two main public elevators. Everyone thinks of

[7:52] - in the center of the atrium that go from the first floor up to the third and then another elevator around

[7:58] - a back corner, which is a staff elevator. It goes down to the first floor in the teen space and goes

[8:04] - up second and third floor and then up to a little known space.

[8:07] - At the downtown library called the penthouse which has all of our surplus shelving and other stored

[8:15] - items So very important elevator all three of those need more or less a gut update and that's what this

[8:22] - project is going to be I'm not sure we always prefer to be done all at once rather than to phase a renovation

[8:30] - or construction project because phasing takes more time and then we have to shift

[8:37] - around where people can go and not go. But a lot of that depends on the vendor.

[8:48] - can you remind me where the funding for this if this was an anticipated expense that I Recall you have

[8:54] - been expecting for a while where the funding will come from. Yes So so this was going to be a building

[9:00] - improvement project that we often use capital outlay funds for if you look at the beginning of the finance

[9:06] - report, you'll see that we're in a very very good position heading into the back half of the year with

[9:12] - respect to likely surplus and

[9:14] - And particularly our local income tax revenue checks are strong enough And I want to say it's twenty

[9:19] - two thousand a month For the rest of the year that that combined with our existing surplus will allow

[9:25] - us to use operating funds To fund that particular project. So it's a little early to say for sure. That's

[9:31] - how we're gonna do it But that's what we would prefer is to use our own operating funds. Yeah

[9:42] - Can I get a motion to hear about our surplus items? Okay, we have five items to surplus this month We

[9:49] - have two black metal cabinets that were previous previously used in vital if you remember vinyl had

[9:55] - a soft renovation over the summer And we have two black metal cabinets. We just don't need anymore we

[10:02] - also have two large ping-pong tables that were previously used in the downtown teen space and

[10:09] - They're hidden in a back hallway that leads to an emergency exit. It's actually not a safe place to

[10:14] - put them. We don't do the ping pong programming we did once upon a time, and we've got two large ping

[10:20] - pong tables. So I can't recall who the local entities we've reached out to to see if they're interested

[10:25] - in taking these, but as you all know, we typically do that with large surplus items rather than say,

[10:31] - well, we're just going to junk them.

[10:33] - But we don't have a guarantee yet as to who wants all of those items But we do need to surplus them

[10:39] - and then finally we have a set of particle board lockers that were originally Installed in the downtown

[10:45] - teen space. We're gonna probably replace those with more traditional metal metal lockers They didn't

[10:50] - really work for us in terms of their size and ability to hold students backpacks when they come in after

[10:56] - school and they're also in that same hallway and

[10:59] - Presenting a little bit of a safety hazard. So we're looking to surplus those five items And as we do

[11:05] - I will read the resolution aloud and then pass it around and we'll have to pass it that way and bring

[11:11] - it back so whereas the equipment listed below is no longer needed by the library and whereas the estimated

[11:17] - value of the items listed below is less than a thousand dollars and the library has the authority to

[11:23] - sell transfer demolish or junk the items under Indiana code 5 22 22 6 or

[11:28] - public or private sale or transfer without advertising or Indiana code 5-22-22-8 worthless property.

[11:35] - Now therefore be it resolved that the Board of Trustees of Monroe County Public Library declares the

[11:43] - following item surplus and authorizes disposition of the items. All in favor say aye. Aye. Those opposed

[11:51] - say nay. Ayes have it.

[11:57] - Next up, we're going to hear from Angelica in Children's Services.

[13:05] - Hello, everybody. My name's Angelica Candraria, and I am the children's services manager at the downtown

[13:12] - branch. So what everybody's here is to hear about summer reading. That's our biggest event all year.

[13:19] - And just as a reminder, we did split up four years ago. We used to just have one children's board, and

[13:26] - then we started to cultivate a tween area inside of our children's downtown area. So we thought splitting

[13:33] - them up would give

[13:34] - autonomy to those tweens who don't feel like a teen but are not children. And so for the children, zero

[13:41] - to six, we do it based more on just creating that habit of reading. So it's a number of books. And then

[13:47] - tweens, it's based on minutes. Just because when you're getting into school, that's when you start seeing

[13:54] - more of a progression of how kids read.

[13:56] - Someone can read it in three hours, a 300-page book, but someone else might take a couple of days. So

[14:05] - we didn't want to make any of those tweens feel bad for not being able to accomplish things just as

[14:13] - fast as their peers. And this year, it was unearth a story. So you can only imagine all the facts we

[14:21] - learned about dinosaurs. Oh, and beef, actually. Forgot some things.

[14:27] - Some popular activities, which are jokes, art, and storytelling. And so jokes are one of the things

[14:35] - we look for every year. And so I have some here. Why didn't the toilet paper cross the road? It got

[14:43] - stuck in a crack. Why don't fish play basketball? They're afraid of the net. And last one, why did the

[14:51] - banana go to the doctor? Because he wasn't peeling well.

[14:58] - So we love hearing those kind of anecdotes. The children love doing it. Some we have to pretend because

[15:04] - they don't quite make sense. You know, they did make them up. But we do like having that kind of concept

[15:10] - of them going over that barrier of talking to us and seeing us as people and not as authorities.

[15:25] - This year we asked them to write a letter to a dinosaur. And so I have one here and it says, Dear Rex,

[15:33] - I hope you're having a good day in Jurassic Park. Have you found new humans or friends? See you later.

[15:41] - From Luke. And I have several other long ones here that the tweens and children decided to give us so

[15:49] - I could bring them here for you to see.

[15:55] - And so we just like them to be creative, and we love seeing it so everyone can see. And we like to see

[16:01] - what they like to do. They love giving us things and hearing that praise from us, especially from all

[16:07] - of our staff. So we like to do the jokes, art, and storytelling, and we do keep them up in the back

[16:12] - because staff do really like looking at them. Can you make sure they know how to say the words? Because

[16:18] - when they always like to tell me, no, you're not saying that.

[16:22] - Oh, believe me, we had a weekly challenge where they had to determine if a dinosaur bones was extinct

[16:29] - or extant, which I didn't know extant meaning it was still alive, so I learned something too. And then

[16:35] - another one had to tell us which dinosaur it was from different pictures and how many times I got corrected

[16:42] - by a child was I could not keep count.

[16:48] - All right, and this year we did have an all-time high of 3,200 sign-ups for all of the branches system-wide.

[16:56] - And then here is the breakdown. We are pretty close to what we were last year for completion. We're

[17:04] - just slightly under, but that is due to that we had more sign-ups and more completions overall. We did see

[17:12] - an increase for tween. As you can see here when we did start doing it, it was a slow climb, but this

[17:18] - year I think they really did like the dinosaur theme and they got used to having their own board so

[17:24] - more kids came, especially in that tween area. So we are seeing a progression of an increase, which

[17:29] - is really good. After the pandemic, a lot of libraries are really struggling to get back to their numbers

[17:35] - and we will reach that probably in the next year or two.

[17:42] - And this is our overall stats. I know you're all gonna ask again why we have 99 programs. Last year

[17:49] - was 85. I tell my staff every year, don't try and beat last year's number. We want you to survive summer

[17:56] - reading, but they just love our community and wanna give them the best experience. And so we had 99

[18:03] - this year, and that is with one member missing.

[18:07] - So we do have a new staff member, Kristen, so it might increase next year. And then we had about 3,100

[18:14] - participants throughout the summer. I'm really proud of that we did increase the partnerships. Last

[18:21] - year it was eight, and this year it was 11. So we were partnering with more organizations like the Natural

[18:29] - History Museum and trying to find those partners that can enhance our summer reading theme for our kids.

[18:40] - And the next is our second annual Battle of the Books. And the kids really love this program. And so

[18:48] - last year, a fourth grader, I believe, came to the desk and asked if we could do Battle of the Books,

[18:56] - because I believe it was at Rogers. They only do it for fourth grade. And she had so much fun, she wanted

[19:04] - to keep on doing it. And so we told her to,

[19:08] - give us a comment card and she didn't believe us that we read these comment cards. So this is her comment

[19:16] - card that I'll pass around. So Paul and Drew did it this year and we had about 17 teams and 85 participants.

[19:24] - They outdid themselves with partnering with an abundance of organizations as you can see. One of the

[19:31] - ones I do want to point out is that we did get a free haircut for everyone.

[19:37] - who participated. So that's a really good thing for when they go into school. They can get a fresh cut,

[19:44] - look really clean, and it's provided by the library. We also had Morgan Stearns, Batonese did our t-shirts

[19:52] - for us, and Wonder Lab also gave free admission to all the kids. And this is some of the stuff that

[19:59] - we had during the summer. We did an interactive story walk, and so that was done by Joe Barber.

[20:07] - who used to be here at Southwest. She thought that she would like to do one indoors, because it's so

[20:15] - hot, and some people cannot go to the parks that they're located at. So she did interactive story walk,

[20:23] - and I have. And it was the Octopus Escapes by Mahi Malloy.

[20:28] - And so she created just a really good immersive experience for the kids. She paper mache'd huge hands

[20:34] - and also a huge octopus that I was going to bring, but we cannot locate it. I think it is hiding somewhere

[20:41] - in her back stalk room. So it was really nice to give an alternative if they were just too hot or couldn't

[20:47] - make it to any of the vocations, they could come to a branch that was accessible to them.

[20:53] - And then the dinarific partnership, as you can see, a child is very happy about seeing a inflatable

[21:00] - dinosaur. We partnered with our circulation staff, who willingly got into those costumes and paraded

[21:07] - around during story times and just randomly, and the kids loved it. I will say we did kind of scare

[21:13] - about two kids, but the odds are still in our favor. The Fancy Princess Dress Up Tea Party, we did partner

[21:20] - with Royal Encounters at IU.

[21:23] - And it was just a tea party for everyone. So we had princesses of all sorts come and talk to the kids,

[21:31] - read to them, and also drink tea with them. And then Marmot Madness, we partnered, which is down here,

[21:38] - with Peep Squeakery. And it was groundhogs Delilah and Edna. And so the kids loved being able to interact

[21:46] - with the groundhog, touch them, and also just talk to their handlers on what a groundhog is.

[21:53] - We have Tween Reads, and this is one of the participants of Tween Reads, and for the third year in a

[22:02] - row, a Tween Reads book club patron did her 4-H reading project on one of the book clubs and earning

[22:10] - a championship ribbon. And then the last one is Read to a Dog, which I personally love because they

[22:19] - come on Sundays. We usually get about

[22:22] - 30 to 50 people coming in for this. And they just love it. And so I have some of their baseball cards

[22:30] - here. So you're more than welcome to take one. Usually two to three. And so they do about 15 minute

[22:37] - sessions. I love Dickens. He looks like he just came back from the war in the winter. And we're just

[22:45] - redoing everybody's pictures. And they'll be all reading with books in their laps.

[22:55] - We did some sprucing up since we are kind of far down the line of any revamping or anything, but we

[23:02] - do still want to keep the spaces fresh and full and reaching the needs of our patrons. So Kathleen Reed

[23:09] - and Wyatt Reed did laps because we had a baby space inside and that was predated before we had an independent

[23:16] - baby space. And so we had constantly toddlers going in there and staff had to go in and do a negative kind of

[23:23] - interaction by telling them to leave. They didn't understand why they couldn't be in there. So we decided

[23:29] - to take it out. And so what we did is we flipped that baby space, made it into a reading corner, which

[23:35] - is this middle picture, and then gave them a bigger interactive space to pretend in this kitchen slash

[23:41] - shop area. And so we've had some really good feedback that they really do like this sitting area.

[23:47] - and just the overall space. And she is still trying to kind of develop more interactions where they

[23:52] - can be physical in the space because kids love running, throwing. So she wants them to give a better

[23:58] - kind of feeling for the library where they can do that in a safe way. She's also incorporated light

[24:04] - fixtures. So those are just little banners that go over the light. And the parents and kids have also

[24:10] - told us they love those because they kind of

[24:12] - makes the light a little bit softer, especially if you have those sensory issues. And then we did get

[24:20] - Joe Barber earlier this year. She came here to downtown from Southwest, and she's really just hit the

[24:28] - ground running. She's really revamped what our pre-K areas, which needed

[24:34] - a much loving hand to them, since they hadn't been touched in quite a while. So what she did is she

[24:40] - added a dress-up area, which is right outside our programming room. So they can be doctors, construction.

[24:46] - Right now, they're postmen, and they're just delivering an oodle amount of letters to us, filled with

[24:53] - stamps. And also, she did develop Explore Your Senses, which the kids are loving, because they can just

[24:59] - touch things, and they're allowed to push things on and off.

[25:03] - What I really like is the white in kind of the middle is, those are light fixtures, so they can turn

[25:10] - them on and off, and it does turn on and off. So kids love, you've had kids turning things on and off

[25:18] - as well, so they've really gravitated to that area. And then our last space is the tween space. And

[25:25] - Drew joined us, I believe in November, December of last year,

[25:29] - And she's really taken this under her wing and trying to make it a space that tweens can really call

[25:35] - their own. And so what she's done is she's added a lot more cushion spaces. This month she added some

[25:41] - weighted yoga balls, because kids like to bounce. They like to move. And so they weren't liking those

[25:48] - chairs very much because they were too stiff for them. She's very intentional in what she puts into

[25:54] - that cabinet next to the TV. And she's always updating that monthly.

[25:58] - She's also doing a junior librarian program and she's asking kids, what do you want in that space? What

[26:05] - do you want from us for summer reading? And they've been very vocal about what they want. So we're really

[26:12] - looking forward to next year, 2027 in a whole, just so we can incorporate those things in and the kids

[26:19] - can see that their voice matters. And so this is our yearly stats from January to August. So far we've

[26:26] - done about 266 programs.

[26:28] - We've served about 6,500 people coming to all those programs. And then, again, our partnerships were

[26:35] - at 28, which is much higher than last year. We are trying to not do all the work, maybe shoulder that

[26:41] - half and half with a partnership, just trying to realize we might not want to do it all and partner

[26:48] - with someone who can bring an expertise that we may not have or strengthen our expertise.

[26:54] - So overall, our stats are going up. And we're having a little bit more, if you can see this pie chart

[27:00] - over here at the bottom left, that we are trying to even out what we do for infants and tweens. Before,

[27:05] - it was a lot skewed to the infants, like story times, that kind of thing, where tweens would have a

[27:11] - lot less programming. So we're trying to shift it a little bit more to 50-50, so that way they don't

[27:16] - feel left out.

[27:21] - And then before I ask if anybody has questions, one of our library assistants has now commandeered a

[27:28] - fish tank, which she does a monthly frog and toad display. And it gets very detailed and intricate.

[27:35] - For this one, if you see the one in the middle, the red painting, that was done by a teen who visits

[27:42] - the Children's Department a lot. And they got into a discussion with our library assistant, Paul. And

[27:49] - she said that, you know,

[27:51] - Contemporary art isn't real art. You can just scribble something, and you can't call it art. And so

[27:58] - she made that red painting. And then Paul, to just vex her, made a description on the side, making it

[28:06] - sound very artsy, giving it some angst, some depth. And so that's the kind of things that our staff

[28:14] - does. They want to give kind of a fresh take on what the desk is.

[28:19] - creates more talking points with the kids. But then also, if a child does have a conversation, it sticks

[28:26] - with staff, and they can see, oh, they care. We matter to them. So it was a very funny interaction.

[28:33] - And also, those paintings in the back were done by library staff as well. And as you can see, we took

[28:40] - the frog in tow theme very, very seriously. Does anyone? Oh, so I have the winners for the youth

[28:47] - art month contest, and I have one for each of you all. And then I brought a example of one of the tween

[28:56] - programs. This is done by Drew, and she does a miniatures club. And so she made miniature cat posts

[29:04] - for all the kids to do. And there was also dog houses, and you could pick a dog or a cat.

[29:18] - And then I do have a couple of thank you notes, one from a partner. And then also, we do wonder totes.

[29:26] - And that's where we pick out books based on children's appeals and interests. And one is to Lily. A

[29:35] - child actually gave her a thank you note for an excellent job that she did. Did anyone have any questions?

[29:52] - I got to tell you this in person, but I wanted to share it. I really appreciated the bilingual aspect

[29:59] - of the summer reading program this summer as someone who's trying to raise bilingual, biliterate kids

[30:06] - in this community.

[30:08] - It was amazing to have the program available in English and Spanish. I did lie to my kids a little bit

[30:15] - and told them that they could only do the Spanish one if they read Spanish books. So my kids, we read a lot.

[30:23] - But they took it very seriously because it was a challenge, but it was truly a big highlight of our

[30:30] - summer. So much so that when my son started kindergarten, he told his teacher that he had read, I don't

[30:37] - know how many books, and he said, and in Spanish and English. So thank you for integrating just that

[30:43] - bilingual aspect. I know there are other languages in our community, but I really did appreciate that.

[30:50] - Thank you for reminding me. I just realized I didn't put that on there. This is the first year we did

[30:57] - bilingual in English and Spanish. We also had English and Spanish books for them to choose as their

[31:04] - final book prize as well. And those went very, very fast. So Emmy is now very encouraged, and she wants

[31:11] - to get more Spanish books to have in that prize selection. Thank you for all you've done. It's really

[31:18] - amazing. Thank you.

[31:19] - Thank you. Thank you. Next up, we're going to hear about the Southwest branch from Kathy. Expecting now.

[31:49] - I know, I know. Okay, I'm moving around. Oh my gosh. Okay.

[32:13] - Thank you for this opportunity to talk to you a little bit about what we experienced at Southwest this

[32:19] - year. I thought I would make it a little more interactive, a sort of choose your own adventure story.

[32:25] - So on this handy-dandy library cart, which I consider the backbone of the library because we have moved

[32:32] - so many materials on there, and using some scars from story time. I had to wait to assemble it today

[32:38] - because I was taking key pieces from the branch.

[32:42] - We've got this opportunity to, what story do you want to hear? And I numbered them because I ended up

[32:48] - using multiple scarves because I couldn't hide all the items. So, who would like to get started here

[32:55] - the first? And I'm going to try not to whip it off so dramatically that I fling the artifact.

[33:28] - the library, which makes us more accessible for all. And because, oh yeah, I wanted to also have a few

[33:35] - things. I partnered it with how this month is also Library Card Sign Up Month, which means we're more

[33:42] - accessible, we're making more library cards. Let's celebrate. Marketing department, CNM, they make wonderful

[33:49] - stickers, and I brought the two that we have for this month so that everyone can have a sticker. How

[33:56] - do I enjoy

[34:02] - We're now a bus. So, yay, round of applause, because it was a minor miracle, because we didn't expect

[34:09] - it to happen, and when it did, we're just like, I was like, that's a bus! You know, like at the info

[34:15] - desk. And I was like, oh my gosh, check the website, see what's happening, and we got all excited. So,

[34:22] - yep, that's the first one. And I'm trying to keep it short, so maybe we can do all of them. All right,

[34:28] - seven. Dun, dun, da! All right.

[34:44] - awarded a grant from the wall at the wall grant and we were able to buy multiple robots along with iPads

[34:53] - and now we're able to do programming leaning into stem and we were able to buy enough that they can

[35:01] - partner together and really get their hands on robots. So they all got literacy based names and

[35:11] - And when we were like, oh my gosh, can we come up with names? And then we were like, but it's gotta

[35:16] - be a really good name. And we're like, Corduroy, yes, that works. But it was really interesting because

[35:22] - also when you're put on the spot, you're like, can I name multiple characters from the children's department?

[35:28] - Yes, I can, but are they the ones we want to put on our robots? So we were quizzing a lot of people

[35:34] - on who's your favorite.

[35:41] - This is when I debated. All right, here we go. All right. I came back from vacation and Puppet Cathy

[35:48] - was on my shelf. And the reason I included Puppet Cathy is not only how well they've got me nailed because

[35:56] - usually there's a pencil behind the ear, there are Post-it notes. If you know me, I stay organized with

[36:04] - Post-it notes. But the real reason that I brought this out is because

[36:10] - The creativity that the staff brings to the programming is incredible. Often we're talking about what's

[36:16] - your passion? What do you really like doing? Can we partner it up with the need we're seeing from the

[36:23] - community? How can we use recyclables? How can we get really effective with how we're using our budget?

[36:30] - How can we bring people together to create and create a sense of community? And a lot of our crafting

[36:37] - programs now are very much like

[36:40] - seeing intergenerational. We've had people say, you know, like, I've only been in town a little while.

[36:45] - And then everybody in the room was like, oh, have you been too? And they started talking about highlights

[36:51] - around the community. And it's this sense of welcome. We're glad you're here. We hope you like some

[36:57] - of the things that we think are really important in our community. And we're also going to be making

[37:03] - things. And we're also going to be leaning over and being like, how did you figure out how to do this?

[37:09] - And this is the skill that they're bringing to these programs that just get everyone excited. And we're

[37:16] - trying to make some of our descriptions a lot more open-ended. It's not our crochet and knit group,

[37:23] - it's craft club. And then we see an increasing range of crafts that people bring in and they feel like,

[37:31] - oh, this definition includes me, I'm gonna come and join in. And it just made me laugh so hard because

[37:38] - I was just like, oh my gosh, yeah, that's me, because it's a Star Wars shirt. And it's got Post-It notes

[37:46] - all over the place, although I'm really in trouble if my Post-It notes start fluttering away from me.

[37:53] - And this is the kind of detail that they bring to their programming that I so appreciate. Because they're

[38:01] - excited, that shared when they go into the program, and that sense of, hey,

[38:06] - come spend some time at the library this is for you, is very apparent. And they also said, if I go on

[38:17] - vacation again, I should put Puppet Kathy right there. They could come get some advice and continue

[38:27] - on. And I was like, ooh. So, others? Bye. That one I can lip off.

[38:34] - and it's actually magnetic. All right. So we had an empty, can you see? Okay. We had a wall space in

[38:43] - the children's room designed for our magnetic wall. And the goal of the magnetic wall was to reinforce

[38:51] - early literacy through shapes, colors, movement. And we have this in plan and the space was set aside for it.

[39:01] - And then the Kiwanis said, we'd like to make a donation to the branch. And I was like, do I have a project

[39:09] - for you? And they really just went all in with generosity. And we got our magnetic wall right now. We've

[39:16] - got our gears, which are so popular.

[39:19] - But the goal is to keep changing out what we have there to reinforce early literacy. The boards go down

[39:25] - to within six inches of the floor, so it's very accessible. And then at the very top, we have some space

[39:32] - that people can't reach and I have to use a step ladder. And then we put an early literacy tip up for

[39:38] - the month. So using all the space for early literacy. But the generosity of the community continues

[39:44] - to be just

[39:51] - I'll try to be very careful of this. So we run a small seed library at this branch, and we have it in

[39:58] - a very small card catalog. And because we know we have to go small, what we do is it's themed around

[40:05] - the food for the year. And then we use those supplies in our teaching kitchen to make that food. So

[40:12] - the first year it was a salsa garden, and then this year it was chili.

[40:18] - Because we like to have visuals, we planted some of the seeds from our seed library behind the desk

[40:24] - and under our grow lights so that they could grow. And then the staff harvested them, dried them, and

[40:31] - then used them in one of our programs. So we're trying to say, okay, we do need to go smaller. We are

[40:38] - a branch, but can we use it in multiple places? And can we reinforce, you want to grow? This is how

[40:45] - you can use some of it.

[40:47] - So, seed library, but then also we have a living plant library where we do cuttings, and then once they

[40:57] - root, we have those out, and that's a secondary part for our plants. Oh, I should really pull the stats

[41:07] - out on that. We handed out over 35 hundred seed packets this year. So, it's growing, flowering, growing,

[41:18] - We focused on vegetables. And then we referred everyone on flowers to downtown. So anytime we can say,

[41:27] - hey, this is what we have here, but system-wide, these are all the resources, we really try and reinforce

[41:36] - that. Yeah. Still have a couple more. Nine. Nine. Oh, this is the tricky one. All right.

[41:49] - on escape rooms at the break. And what I love about this is adults like to play too. And what we're

[42:01] - trying to do is give them a lot of opportunities too. So we run RPG club, we've got a movies versus

[42:12] - books club, but we also have escape rooms.

[42:17] - And our staff member who creates these is incredibly thoughtful and detailed about it. And also thinks

[42:24] - about accessibility. So for this one, I was talking to them and they were saying, shape it in a way

[42:31] - so it's easy to grasp, but also low vision, two different colors. So there's a layer of being thoughtful

[42:37] - about, well, what is the community going to enjoy, but can I include everyone? And they just ran a session

[42:44] - on staff day about how to do an escape room.

[42:48] - And they're very generous in that way. This is what I learned. This is how you can shortcut and use

[42:55] - some of my resources. This worked out really well in the library. And come talk to me if you want to

[43:01] - dive in more, and I'll share these resources with you. I will say I understand escape rooms. I've never

[43:08] - really successfully escaped an escape room. I love the thought that goes into it.

[43:15] - how they then look at the adult escape room and they make a version for tweens and teens. And how that

[43:23] - looks different based on what is a good fit for that age. Yeah. Yes, and because we are the mascot of

[43:32] - the possums, the last escape room was rescue the possums, so. I do believe they voted on that and our

[43:40] - possum theme continues to grow.

[43:44] - All right, we're down to, oh. Four is left. I've got two of these. All right, Gordon Pike, Fullerton

[43:58] - Pike, it's done. Oh my goodness. It's done, we're so excited. We had our construction connoisseurs

[44:12] - from a preschool age who loved all that road work. We learned a lot, too. We also learned how to coordinate

[44:19] - talking points on what's happening, how it's updating. But when that road opened from last August, our

[44:26] - foot traffic increased. And we had always since the beginning heard a lot of people say, oh, I haven't

[44:32] - been to the library in a while. And we're welcoming them in, talking about how libraries have changed

[44:39] - in the past 20 years. But now what we're hearing is,

[44:42] - Oh, I come in on Fullerton Pike, and I didn't know there was a branch here. And I just thought I'd swing

[44:48] - in and get a library card. And so the visibility of that road has been great for us. Our foot traffic

[44:54] - continues to go up. We love that it's convenient for people. We will talk about all the little benefits

[45:00] - of stopping by the branch if this is convenient on the way home, how we move items around through the

[45:05] - courier. We're like, let us give you the pitch on how this library can work for you.

[45:11] - We have a lot of conversations where they're just like, I haven't been in a library in quite a while.

[45:17] - And so when we do our welcome in, and then we do our sales pitch. So we are delighted. The construction

[45:24] - and the detour did not slow us down on last summer meeting. And this year, we've definitely had a strong

[45:31] - summer meeting. The energy of our adult services department and everyone who works here at that front

[45:38] - desk, the goal is

[45:39] - Do you say welcome in when you're coming in? So we've had our first contact and that you know,

[45:46] - we see you, we're here to help. The right joke is if you catch me off guard and you're a staff member

[45:54] - coming in, sometimes I will say welcome in and they're like, I work here. I know, but it's in the buffer

[46:02] - and it just pops out. So with that, what we're always trying to convey is we are glad you're here

[46:09] - please come ask us questions, ask us about resources, how are we a good fit for you? And if you haven't

[46:16] - been to a library in 20 years, a lot has changed, and we are happy to tell you what's happening, how

[46:23] - we're moving and grooving, how we're right close to bachelor, what that means at 315, with our foot

[46:29] - traffic from 7th and 8th graders, how programming has changed in 20 years, how we're really interested

[46:36] - in the feedback on how we can

[46:38] - make it more accessible to you. So, Gordon Pike, Fullerton Pike, done. And while we don't have instruction

[46:46] - equipment for our youngest, there's still a lot going on here. All right, I've got two more. Anybody

[46:53] - want number two? Sure, I'll grab that. Okay, so we knew every year, I know, I'm gonna have to stop,

[47:00] - because like Storytime scarves, I'll be like, let's start shaking scarves, I'll put them right here.

[47:08] - Our teams, when they come in, often they will head straight to the team room and they've got video games

[47:15] - they wanna play, they wanna talk with their friends. They are focused on a couple of different things,

[47:22] - but this year we noticed with our new group, they were very into crafting. And we would go in and we'd

[47:29] - be in there and we would have a dedicated crafting group right there at our design table and spreading

[47:35] - out to where we needed to make more room.

[47:38] - And this was very exciting because they were taking advantage of all the resources we have. They were

[47:46] - coming to programs and then continuing on with crafting techniques because certain ones like the needle

[47:53] - felting, they do need to attend the session and learn how to use a needle safely. And I brought some

[48:00] - of the things they like to make. One of our goals, very much like in story time is

[48:07] - Come to a story time, learn some of the urban literacy, go home, and hopefully it becomes private daily

[48:14] - routine with you.

[48:16] - With the teens, if they latch onto a craft they like, and then they are making things at home, we get

[48:23] - really excited. We did have someone who really liked needle felting, and then when we went out to do

[48:30] - the summer reading talks at the schools, they're like, hey, this is what I was making at home.

[48:37] - We love that. We're like, come up and tell us about what you enjoy making. So I've got a mix of needle

[48:44] - felting, the 3D pen,

[48:46] - I don't know if you've ever used one. I am not very coordinated on getting the plastic to then stick

[48:54] - together and make things, so I'm always in awe of what they made with the 3D pen. Our button maker,

[49:02] - they love making buttons. I love that they wanna draw, express themselves, and then wear it. We've got

[49:10] - a jewelry kit. This is just a little bit of how they're coming in,

[49:16] - I think about they've been at school all day. How long has it been since they had lunch? They do want

[49:22] - to talk to their friends, but here they are creating. And we want to make sure we have the resources

[49:28] - so that they can keep on making whatever they're interested in. And the one thing they were hoping we

[49:34] - could get, somebody made a cheese bracelet. They used the Shrinky Dinks and then also Pony Beads.

[49:41] - And I'm like, oh my gosh, I was like, I saw that and I was like, I want a cheese bracelet. So the creativity

[49:50] - coming out of our seventh and eighth graders and now also high schoolers coming back, especially from

[49:58] - South, I love that because they are such a generous group of teens.

[50:04] - I love it when I'm sitting at the desk and somebody comes in and they're like, oh, both the PlayStation

[50:10] - 5 and the Nintendo Switch are busy. And our ask is, if you want to join, ask them if you can join. And

[50:17] - a lot of times they're scooting over on the bench and they're like, sure, hop in. We'll show you where

[50:24] - we're at. The kindness of inclusion that we're seeing from our teams is so hopeful. And I just love

[50:30] - having a big space for each other.

[50:35] - So we continue to add equipment to our teaching kitchen, and this year we added a fridge. And that has

[50:45] - been a good fit because what we're seeing is an increase in reservations from the public, organizations

[50:54] - to use the teaching kitchen.

[50:57] - we're very much listening to feedback because it is no small feat to get 12 people or a larger group

[51:05] - all cooking together. And we're always listening, what would make this space more accessible? What do

[51:12] - we need so that your organization can use this space and cook? So our comment card is going to work

[51:19] - out, but we're also listening when they're talking to us about it. So some things happening in the branch.

[51:27] - Yeah. Any questions? Thank you. Was this one handcrafted? I got the impression someone designed that.

[51:36] - 3D printed. That's a lot to 3D print. That's pretty cool. So we use that for programming. We have board

[51:45] - games and activities in the all ages space. And if a piece goes missing, we try and 3D print it.

[51:54] - What we're looking into is some feedback from patrons about accessibility for pen holders. We're looking

[52:02] - to print some of those and have those in our all-age space. But really taking the resources we have

[52:10] - and using them in a variety of ways. Yeah. Amazing. I am always learning. I've got a really fabulous

[52:18] - staff. They've got a lot of energy. They've got a lot of creativity.

[52:24] - And I would probably love for you to work with them. You have a lot of energy too. I gotta do my job

[52:34] - just to keep up with them. Yeah, some days I'm like, I am hustling to keep up with you as a collective.

[52:43] - But they're very impressive. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Any other questions or comments?

[52:55] - Do I have a motion to dismiss? So moved. Second. All in favor say aye. Aye. Aye. Being adjourned.

MCPL Board of Trustees 9/16

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