[0:03] Let's

[0:06] Okay. Call to order at 6:02. Welcome to the regular meeting of the Board of

[0:12] Library Trustees meeting on August 11th, 2026.

[0:16] The time is 6:02. I'll invite Jinder to call the roll.

[0:24] » All right, Trustee Ando. Trustee Lee.

[0:28] » Present. >> Trustee Polk.

[0:31] » Here. >> Trustee Vidatt.

[0:34] Chair Kyle. >> Here.

[0:36] » I'll invite Jinder to explain how the public can participate in this evening's

[0:40] agenda. >> Thank you, Chair Kyle. This meeting will

[0:43] be held in person and is being recorded and streamed live to Zoom at the link on

[0:47] the agenda. You may participate in person to provide public comment. Each

[0:51] speaker will have 2 minutes. You may also submit your comments by email by

[0:55] 4:00 p.m. on the day of the meeting. We are offering closed captioning for this

[0:59] evening's meeting on Zoom. Select the live transcript button on Zoom to enable

[1:03] this feature. >> Okay.

[1:06] Um So

[1:09] approve regular minutes. >> Mhm.

[1:12] » Okay. Uh May 12th, 2026.

[1:17] Is there any action? Did you review the minutes? Anybody want to

[1:21] Miss >> I

[1:22] » Motion. >> I move to to approve.

[1:25] » I second. >> Okay.

[1:29] Jinder, um All right. I invite questions and

[1:33] answers from trustees to staff. >> Uh so

[1:37] » Is that right? That's what you said.

[1:40] Chair open >> Jinder, can you take a call for the

[1:42] minutes? Yeah, you have a motion or do they

[1:45] calls for the minutes? Uh Mary. >> Okay.

[1:49] » All right. Let's see here. Um so the um annotated agenda it shows

[1:55] that um after the public comment period is

[1:59] called, then um the motion and the second is

[2:03] um, requested. So, since there's nobody there, I'll go

[2:07] ahead and do that. Uh, Trustee Ando?

[2:11] Trustee Lee? >> Here.

[2:14] » Trustee Polk? Trustee Vidatt?

[2:17] Chair Kyle? >> Here. I.

[2:20] » Thank

[2:23] » Okay, so we do not have any

[2:28] public um, public expressions, so we can

[2:33] move on from that. We have special presentation.

[2:37] When we get to the heart of it and

[2:41] Daniel, did you And I want to just say let's wait for any questions until

[2:45] they've completed, okay? So, we're not interrupting their presentation. We'll

[2:49] just have them present and then we'll wait for our sessions and do that

[2:54] accordingly. Thank you. >> Right. So,

[2:57] the presentation today is a recap of the Lunch at the Library program

[3:03] that ended for us um, July

[3:09] 20 >> 22nd.

[3:10] » Second. Uh, the theme of this year's uh, Lunch

[3:14] at the Library program was Farm to Summer.

[3:19] Um, so what is Lunch at the Library? Lunch at the Library

[3:23] is funded through the California State Library. So, this year we received a

[3:29] grant from the State Library through the Lunch at the Library program

[3:34] of $6,000 to provide um, kind of pop-up library style engagement

[3:41] at community meal sites throughout um, San Rafael through the San Rafael City

[3:47] Schools who were offering lunches. Um, and through Lunch at the Library,

[3:52] libraries can either be a community meal site and deliver and distribute lunches,

[3:59] or they can do what we did is and then provide the engagement at some of these

[4:03] events during the summer. Um, and it basically allows us to

[4:10] develop programming that aligns with the theme,

[4:14] um, give out free books. Um, our team gave out free books and uh

[4:20] provided some engagement through like fruits. So, we provided like berries and

[4:25] stuff from the farmers' market. And wrapped that up into like the engagement

[4:29] and the learning component. Um, so it allowed and creates

[4:32] opportunities for teens. We had two teen volunteers.

[4:36] » Interns. Paid interns. >> Interns. Paid interns.

[4:40] Um, and it helps um it really helps libraries connect to the community

[4:44] school like the schools within the community

[4:47] um and helps us highlight services at the same time. So, part of us working at

[4:52] um these school sites for Lunch at the

[4:54] Library, it also helped us promote our summer reading program and really share

[4:59] resources that were aren't um necessarily known throughout um

[5:04] families. So, that was an an added bonus for us.

[5:08] These are the sites that we visited: San Pedro, Laurel Dell, Vinisha Valley,

[5:13] Davidson Middle School, Pickney Community Center.

[5:18] And then in total combined for the meals the sites that we visited, 811 meals

[5:25] uh were served on the on-site visit days.

[5:28] Um Yeah, at five total community meal

[5:32] sites, the team did seven visits,

[5:37] gave out a thousand books. >> Oh, wow.

[5:39] » Um, the teens worked 70 hours. Um, and we provided a total of seven

[5:45] enrichment uh farm to summer activities. >> And one thing I'll clarify about the

[5:49] doubled sites is one is uh Davidson had both the annex and the school for the

[5:56] fifth graders and then the sixth graders, so they didn't want to do the

[5:59] visits at the same time. And so we saw the sixth graders on one day and then we

[6:03] came back to see like the elementary age kids. And then it was the same for Roald

[6:09] Dahl, I believe. Um we saw TK kinder one day and then we

[6:13] saw first and second a separate day. Uh cuz they didn't want us to be

[6:17] overwhelmed and also didn't want to deal with

[6:20] a lot of kids in like one congregated area. So yeah, we visited two of the

[6:25] same sites twice.

[6:30] » Uh and as I just mentioned, we gave out uh 1,000 books to help students build

[6:34] their own home libraries. Um and those books were all 100% grant

[6:38] funded, so we used part of the uh we used part of the grant to pay for those

[6:42] apps. >> And I'll just add

[6:45] um for book selection, I myself did the book selection. I was a former

[6:49] children's librarian before this. Um so I'm still connected enough to understand

[6:54] popular trends in collection development. So I used those current

[6:59] trends in children's literature to decide which books we buy for K to eight

[7:04] is what we had to buy. Uh one fun thing we learned was that I thought we only

[7:09] needed about 30% of our books in Spanish and I geared them more towards the

[7:13] younger age, but the feedback we got from the interns was that we needed

[7:16] percent Spanish and we actually needed more older reader books. So like more

[7:21] chapter books and more graphic novels cuz I bought a lot of like transitional

[7:25] chapter books and like early readers, which are those like super thin books

[7:30] that are like maybe like 15 pages long. Um and those worked, but like the

[7:35] feedback we got was that we actually needed more older reader stuff, which is

[7:38] good to know that like there's a strong foundation in in reading at a higher

[7:43] level in Spanish. It's typically it falls off around that

[7:46] age, but yeah.

[7:53] » Uh so farm to summer enrichment, um kind of

[7:57] what the themes or the topics that we touched on is cooking and nutrition

[8:02] education, food tasting and pollinator education.

[8:06] So this is what the are kind of our enrichment

[8:09] activities focused on during the sessions.

[8:12] » Yeah, each grant cycle they require farm to summer um themes because they want to

[8:18] promote like ed food education to children. And so

[8:23] through like the community practice meetings that we have to attend as part

[8:28] of this grant, people talked about like what's worked for libraries that have

[8:31] been doing this for a long time and like what hasn't worked. And so we kind of

[8:36] worked with what they brought up cuz we had our own ideas, but then people were

[8:40] like, "Oh, that's not practical. Don't do that."

[8:43] So then we realized that like, "Oh, okay. Like the food tasting is actually

[8:47] super approachable, but like our own spin, which Daniel will show soon, is

[8:51] like what we added to that." And then in our most recent meeting I brought it up

[8:56] and someone had a different recommendation that I'm going to see if

[8:58] they want to work with it next year, which it's like a March Madness for like

[9:02] fruits. So you kind of like rank your favorite fruits and then like, you know,

[9:06] you kind of like eliminate the fruits as you go down. Um and then we were going

[9:10] to have like tasting for as many of them as we could and then compare the

[9:14] different school sites to see like what school prefers which fruit.

[9:18] Um [clears throat] which is a little bit more involved, but

[9:21] it sounds really fun. So that's what I think we'll do next year if we get the

[9:25] grant again and are able to do that.

[9:32] » So this card what So these graphics were created by staff. Um and did the

[9:39] volunteer did the interns help with these?

[9:41] » They are the ones who created them. >> The interns created these and they were

[9:44] used during each of our our sessions

[9:49] to kind of describe and and inform the students on what they were eating.

[9:54] » Yeah, so typically we had two fruit options for tastings at each of visit

[9:59] and then there were these cards for them to like understand a bit about the fruit

[10:03] but then on the other side like little fun questions that they could answer.

[10:07] Um and it was for them to take so we didn't collect them back afterwards so.

[10:11] Yeah. >> And they were bilingual so English and

[10:13] Spanish. >> Yeah, translated by the interns. So one

[10:17] was Spanish speaking and one was Portuguese speaking so.

[10:20] Portuguese was not on our cards but Spanish was so that was very nice.

[10:28] » And then our teen interns, we had two teen interns this year 70 hours

[10:33] um total coursework

[10:36] and that was their average hourly wage that we were that we funded through the

[10:40] grant.

[10:43] Um and then just kind of the the blurb I realized now it's a little small um

[10:48] the interns knew some of the students informally through the community or

[10:54] through schools but one cool thing is that they kind of

[10:58] became library ambassadors through this like strengthen that that relationship

[11:02] and they're viewed kind of in a different way. Um

[11:06] and I feel that I I think that was pretty cool to really have them be

[11:09] viewed as someone that could be at a library or that they work at a library

[11:12] and really provide a different perspective.

[11:15] » Yeah, and both are high school students, local high school students. They both

[11:19] want to go into education so they really enjoyed [clears throat] like the they

[11:23] got to not only do the lunch at the library site visits but they got to help

[11:27] with some of the programs that children services was putting on

[11:31] this summer and it was really fun for them to engage in that way and kind of

[11:35] like relate back to some of the classes they're taking.

[11:38] It was nice to know that like it's not just like they're earning money, but

[11:42] like it's relevant to what they actually want to do later on with working with

[11:46] students. So. >> And like just the side, they brought in

[11:51] um such a strong energy that's different than the energy that was in our in our

[11:56] workplace. Um

[11:59] they were often in my office uh forcing me to take a break. So.

[12:04] » The interns were great about not respecting boundaries.

[12:07] » Um but I don't know that I've taken more breaks in my entire time here since like

[12:12] they were like you've been in here for 4 hours like

[12:15] you should go take a break and it's

[12:20] Uh connecting meals to summer reading. Um

[12:25] so as I mentioned a little bit every meal every community site visit uh

[12:30] really doubled as an opportunity for us to promote summer reading, but our bingo

[12:36] cards for summer reading also listed a lot of resources and activities that

[12:42] most people may not know we provide. Um so it was a great opportunity to

[12:48] through summer reading promote some of our other resources

[12:52] through the bingo game. Um

[12:55] the interns signed up participants for summer reading.

[12:59] Um [clears throat] and of course we provided the take-home

[13:01] books um and paired them with summer reading

[13:04] materials. Um and then just general promotion of

[13:08] services and summer reading.

[13:13] Um some stories from the field. Um do you want to share some of these?

[13:19] » Yeah. Um

[13:21] I'll read off her screen. I'm like both are small.

[13:24] Uh okay. So the first one on the top left is a first grader who loves

[13:28] amethyst. Asked if we had books about them, proudly showing off his amethyst

[13:32] necklace. We didn't have that exact title, but found a National Geographic

[13:36] reader on rocks and crystals, sparking a new love of geology one book at a time.

[13:42] And then familiar faces and new connections, children recognize favorite

[13:46] titles and characters at every site. A reminder that meeting kids where they're

[13:51] already at where they already are makes books and library resources far easier

[13:57] to reach.

[14:00] Sorry. Okay.

[14:03] Farmers market produce tasting teen interns chose, prepared, and shared

[14:06] fresh produce source. Do you want me to read this part out loud? That's not a

[14:10] comment. >> Oh, it's a cute

[14:13] » Okay. >> [laughter]

[14:14] » From the Center for Farmers Market, sparking curiosity as kids tried new

[14:18] fruits and learned about familiar ones. And it was really fun because they got

[14:23] to recognize which of the vendors at the farmers market had the better berries.

[14:29] And then they come back and tell us. So then we would know, you know, if we ever

[14:32] stopped by whose berries we should be getting cuz we got to taste them.

[14:36] And then bilingual take-home cards were the ones that we [clears throat] saw had

[14:41] in the previous slides.

[14:46] » It's stories from the field. You saw what I saw what I did there.

[14:49] » Oh, I see. Oh, look at that.

[14:51] » Yeah. >> That was a pun.

[14:53] » Yeah.

[14:56] And then we've got some pictures here in the rest of the slides

[14:59] from Davidson, Vinisha Valley, and I believe Davidson.

[15:08] And those are the we distributed the fruits, the berries, and the cards

[15:12] there. And on the right side are our two

[15:15] interns, Camila standing up and Zaira closest to us.

[15:25] I picked strawberries.

[15:35] So, we do plan to apply for the grant again in 2027 and we'll see how that

[15:40] goes in terms of how much funding is available and how

[15:43] much we're awarded.

[15:47] Um but our goal is to continue to build um

[15:52] onto our existing partnerships with the sites and the schools, but also just

[15:56] build onto it. Um Marine County Free Library also gets

[16:01] a grant for Lunch at the Library and this year we kind of looked at um

[16:05] how to spread our our our our staff so that we're not all at the same

[16:10] locations. Um so, like that collaboration, that

[16:14] partnership, it's something that we want to kind of grow.

[16:18] Um and of course uh grow our enrichment programming,

[16:22] uh look at different ways to expand what we're doing, and kind of our activities.

[16:28] Um and continue bilingual outreach um during during the program. It was noted

[16:34] in in just in terms of who we're helping and the materials that the books that

[16:37] they were requesting. So, putting in effort into into making

[16:41] sure that our both our materials and

[16:45] uh staff helping and interns can communicate and engage.

[16:52] That's it. >> Okay, thank you.

[16:56] » Thank you. >> So, we'll open it up for questions.

[17:01] » I got a number of them. Um

[17:04] So, well, you just mentioned you that Marine County did a similar thing. Did

[17:08] they do it this year or they planning next year to do it?

[17:10] » No, Marine County did it last year. I think last year was one of the first

[17:14] years. I think I believe it was their first year.

[17:16] Um but every library every library jurisdiction can apply for the grant and

[17:20] if they're awarded they can do um,

[17:23] they can do what whatever works for them, either be a site or be a pop-up.

[17:28] » You And okay, so you're just aware of that they did it last year.

[17:34] » Yeah. >> it last year and this year.

[17:36] » Oh, did they do this year? >> Mhm.

[17:37] » Oh, okay. >> So

[17:38] » But because they're given a set amount of money and because the county covers a

[17:43] lot more school districts than we do, since we were already engaging with San

[17:49] Rafael sites, they put their their effort into other districts that we we

[17:54] don't go to. >> No, I was just curious about it. Did you

[17:57] coordinate with them at all to see what they're what they're doing or how

[18:01] they're doing it? >> we're in constant communication with

[18:04] » beginning when we were planning. >> Yeah, they helped us plan for this

[18:07] » Okay. >> for this year.

[18:08] » Good. >> Based on their experience last year.

[18:10] » Good. I

[18:13] I have more but if you you want to >> I'll put Kate round robin.

[18:18] I was wondering how the interns what grades are interns are you

[18:22] guys having? >> They're rising seniors.

[18:25] Yeah, but the application was open for high schoolers specifically. So ninth I

[18:30] think we technically had an eighth grader but we were prioritizing high

[18:34] schoolers. So it was ninth to 12th is our target audience and that's our own

[18:39] parameters. I mean [clears throat] teen is

[18:41] officially like 13 to 18. So technically a freshman in college could apply.

[18:48] » Which >> They definitely said they want to

[18:50] reapply and we told them they can reapply but like we want to like

[18:55] encourage other people. So if there's competitive applicants then like you

[19:00] know, we're going to try and give people a chance but they're technically allowed

[19:03] to apply again. So I told them they could.

[19:07] » That's so sweet that they were interested in education or library

[19:10] services or something. So that tension That's that's

[19:13] » Yeah, and they both wanted to keep working. But, we were like, you can

[19:16] volunteer and they're like, why would we volunteer when no one paid us? So, I'm

[19:20] like, this is their grant. >> [laughter]

[19:22] » So, I was wondering, did you use other volunteers like master gardeners for the

[19:26] pollinators or did you bring in any other people from the

[19:30] » We had originally been in conversation with the Golden Gate Parks Conservancy.

[19:35] I always mess up their name. Um to come to some of the meal sites with

[19:40] us, but they had staffing changes right at the beginning of the summer when we

[19:45] were confirming our site visits. So, that fell through this year, but we plan

[19:49] to work with them next year. Um and they're a little bit easier to

[19:52] bring on to school campuses cuz they're like a set organization versus I mean,

[19:57] the master gardeners are also a set organization, but they prefer to work

[20:01] with older adults. Um I should just say adults who are older than children. Um

[20:06] cuz we've tried to partner with them for other children's programs in the past.

[20:10] So, we decided the Golden Gate Parks was our better option. And they do a lot of

[20:15] kid-centric They actually they're the one who gave us the idea for the

[20:18] pollinators. Um cuz they came to downtown and did a program and showed me

[20:23] like all their supplies and how to do it. So,

[20:26] we essentially like took their great idea and like condensed

[20:30] it cuz you've got like an hour and to serve like a hundred plus kids

[20:36] uh and get them books and get them tastings. And so, we learned very

[20:40] quickly that how to be quick activities, not like full on engagement. Like,

[20:43] that's off the table. Yeah.

[20:46] » So, uh what was the attendance like at individual schools? Was it

[20:50] » Um >> May

[20:52] » Do you have those? Yeah, you have those numbers.

[20:55] It varied by school sites because each school site was already designated for

[20:58] camps. So, they typically had one to two different camps on the sites.

[21:02] » Or you mean other things they they were doing.

[21:05] » Yeah, so each site had like [clears throat] a set summer camp there.

[21:09] » Okay. That's So, this those were the kids that came to this?

[21:12] » Yeah, and it's the meals are always legally they are open to the public

[21:17] um by like California state law. So, I don't know that they had any outside

[21:23] people and when we had talked to the school district they said that like

[21:26] in the beginning post-pandemic there was like participation people would show up,

[21:31] but like as we moved further away from the pandemic like fewer and fewer people

[21:36] would show up to the meal sites for meals over the summer.

[21:38] » If I mean what about kids that didn't participate in the camps were

[21:42] » Yeah, no, those are the numbers I'm talking about. Like that continued to

[21:46] shrink. So, I don't actually know what those numbers are this year. Yeah, when

[21:49] we meet with the school district in September we'll be able to get those

[21:52] numbers. Yeah, the grant doesn't ask for specific

[21:57] of who was what for the pop-up sites because each pop-up site works

[22:01] differently. >> So, what were the ages?

[22:04] » Uh it was specifically TK, so that's four to five-year-old to eighth grade.

[22:09] So, what is that? 12? Yeah, 12

[22:13] » Okay. >> maybe 13.

[22:16] Yeah. >> Was it camps or summer school? Was it

[22:19] camps >> Camps.

[22:21] » that the school put on? >> Mhm, through a non-profit, through two

[22:24] different non-profits. Yeah, but the stipulations for the grant

[22:30] is that it has to be USDA certified meal sites. So, we can only work with those

[22:35] meal sites to do these pop-ups, which the schools are automatically

[22:39] [clears throat] certified. So, it's easier to work with them.

[22:42] There are community meal sites. I don't know that there are any in San Rafael,

[22:46] but when I worked in Oakland there were community meal sites that also were like

[22:49] non-school affiliated that could do it. >> Yeah, I was thinking like the Boys and

[22:53] Girls Club that's like a Davidson or that used to be.

[22:58] » They didn't have an active program this summer.

[23:00] » Oh, okay. >> Yeah, but the YMCA did take over. That's

[23:04] why we were at Boro for Pickle Weed. They took over the summer, whereas it's

[23:07] usually Buena Vista. >> Okay.

[23:09] » So, that was like the only technically non-school site, but it was like they

[23:13] partnered with the school for the camps. >> Mhm. So,

[23:17] school district providing the food for the summer?

[23:20] » Yeah. Yeah, through their own grant, through their own state grant that funds

[23:24] the meals. >> really funding

[23:26] the food program. Um

[23:29] is there any calling meal meal sites? It's like a but you are

[23:34] offering the fruits and uh mostly fruits, like berries and so

[23:40] it's not part it's not actually main meal for them.

[23:43] » No, that's what the school serving. So, the school serving the free lunch and

[23:47] where our enrichment was to choose to do food. Yeah, we didn't have to do that.

[23:52] That's just how we chose to address it based on the feedback of other sites.

[23:56] » But you only did berries, is that right? >> Yeah.

[23:58] » Fruit, yeah. >> Well, no, no, no. There were apricots

[24:00] and apples. >> Oh, I said fruit. Okay.

[24:02] » Yeah, fruit. >> Yeah.

[24:03] » Yeah, but the pictures we only had were yeah. I think she had eight different

[24:07] options total. >> So, you said you had feedback from about

[24:12] things and how did [clears throat] that >> surveys.

[24:15] » Oh, surveys. You did surveys with who? >> Uh through the grant they had paper

[24:19] surveys that we had to collect. >> Oh, okay.

[24:22] » Yeah, so we got feedback from the kids. >> Okay.

[24:24] » Now, was it substantial? I mean >> [laughter]

[24:30] » There were some great quotes in there. >> You had to actively interpret with

[24:33] » Yeah, I mean what was nice was uh we had 55 completed surveys from kids.

[24:40] Uh four of which were in Spanish. So, like, you know, we actually have data to

[24:45] give back to the >> That's great.

[24:48] » grant, which is great cuz there are sometimes where like you get like

[24:51] » Does that help for future grants when you when you're

[24:53] » It does. >> Yeah, I would

[24:54] » To show that participation. Yeah, that really helps. And in the grand scheme

[24:58] like we're smaller cuz the meal sites are smaller. Smallest was Pickelweed

[25:03] because of size. So I think they only had like 50 students at Pickelweed. Our

[25:07] largest had 225 students. >> In a day? On a single day?

[25:12] » On a single day. Um and there was only one site that was like a little chaotic.

[25:16] Every other visit was great. I will not name them. But there was There's only

[25:20] one site which we kind of thought like, oh well, you know, we're working

[25:23] essentially with a third party. We're working with camps on the school site.

[25:27] We're not working with the school anymore cuz school's out. So like

[25:30] communication can get a little funky, but it only happened once. So and I was

[25:36] like, >> You got it.

[25:37] » Yeah, I was like one and it wasn't even our biggest day. So I was like,

[25:41] you guys are okay. Shake it off. We're fine. We're fine.

[25:44] » So what do you think the kids liked the most? I mean, there you had food,

[25:48] the berries, you had the books, and you had the interactive stuff.

[25:51] » According to them, they liked the stickers most.

[25:55] And we had all of our like love your library campaign like the leftover

[26:00] bookmarks and the stickers, like the fox one and the heart one, and the tattoos.

[26:05] And our interns came in and gave us tattoos, too. They used the tattoos.

[26:10] They put it on before every site visit. And then they give kids Yeah, they'd had

[26:14] it on their face and on their arms and then they go and then the kids would see

[26:18] them and they'd want tattoos. So now I'm like, great. Now all these kids are

[26:22] walking around with face tattoos of the library because you understand.

[26:26] But like those like stickers were number one, which we thought was hilarious. Um

[26:31] so next year we kind of think we want to do like a special lunch at the library

[26:34] sticker. Um and then the books were like number

[26:38] two. And then the food. But to be honest like they're eating lunch. So like you

[26:45] getting like a few berries in addition to your lunch, like I can understand

[26:49] it's not chocolate. So like it's not It's not next year. But, yeah,

[26:54] right? Like next year we'll do chocolate dipped. But,

[26:56] » [laughter] >> But, yeah, so I'd say the stickers,

[26:59] which I thought was hilarious, which gave us the idea next year, you know,

[27:02] we'll do special stickers. A special sticker, one.

[27:05] It's easier to do, Paul. >> And they got to pick out their book?

[27:08] » Yes. Yeah. And it was from picture books to graphic novels and everything in

[27:12] between. Nonfiction, fiction, everything.

[27:15] » So, what do you do with the leftovers cuz I mean there must have been some

[27:18] that weren't picked? >> Um so, some of the books I ordered

[27:22] through Scholastic and they gave us a bunch of bonus books cuz that's just how

[27:26] they work. And their bonus books, respectfully, tend to be the stuff that

[27:29] doesn't sell well. So, those were a lot of the ones that

[27:33] came back. Not the Spanish. Any bonus books I got

[27:37] in Spanish, we were completely out of. >> Wow.

[27:39] » But, the books we got in English, uh those were the ones I noticed were

[27:44] the ones I came back cuz those weren't the ones I bought. Cuz I was like, oh, I

[27:47] didn't I didn't select this. Um So, we're just incorporating those into

[27:52] our giveaways. Uh most were given to the schools, but like

[27:56] because we got so many bonus books that came in addition to what the grant funds

[28:00] were spent on, we're just going to give them to the schools when um

[28:04] » Oh, you start doing the My Card visits. >> Yeah.

[28:06] » What kind of books were popular? >> Graphic novels were number one in ours.

[28:11] » Wow. >> Um but, I picked fun ones.

[28:13] Uh and then um the early readers, I made sure and

[28:18] they didn't believe me. I know kids like these. There's a series called Who Would

[28:22] Win and it's nonfiction uh National Geographic books that pit

[28:27] different animals against each other. Um and it's like all factual, so it's

[28:32] like could who would win it's like the mosquito versus

[28:36] I don't remember what it was, but of course the mosquito wins cuz it gives

[28:39] you a disease. And then that's actually how the book ended. Um so, it's stuff

[28:43] like that. So, those were super popular and I was like, yeah, I told you those

[28:46] would work. >> [laughter]

[28:48] » And they're like, no one wants these National Geographic. I'm like, yes, they

[28:51] do. What? Yeah, so the Who Would Wins and of

[28:55] course the graphic novels. I had Dog Man, Babysitters Club. I bought the

[28:59] staples. They were all gone. Yeah, but they did split them up so

[29:03] there was enough for each site, which was good.

[29:06] » Okay, man. >> So

[29:07] » Oh, yeah. Yeah. [clears throat] >> So uh

[29:10] I don't know whether this was part of your survey or do you know did the kids

[29:15] give any indication how often they might have gone to the library if if they even

[29:18] go to the library? >> That wasn't on the survey and we weren't

[29:22] able to alter their surveys, but I mean, you know, for the future that could be

[29:26] something we like have our own little >> I'm I'm just curious how often kids

[29:31] you run into come here. >> Yeah, from the camp specifically, I'm

[29:35] not sure. >> They all have library cards though

[29:38] through the My Card program. So we do have a

[29:40] » have a way to track that whether they've at least checked out a book?

[29:43] » Yeah. Yeah. >> They're all just they uh they all get

[29:46] library cards every year through the library automatically.

[29:50] » What do you know what kind of what I mean, how many actually use them

[29:56] or >> No, I haven't I haven't

[29:58] pulled stats on how frequently or how often they use it. Um primarily cuz the

[30:04] goal the goal is the goal of one of the the goals for the

[30:08] My Card program is that they have access to the library even when they're not at

[30:12] the library. >> Sure.

[30:14] » So them visiting the library isn't always our primary reason for doing it.

[30:20] They have access to all of our digital resources, all of our homework help, all

[30:24] of our anything that they could they need to do

[30:28] at the library, they could do from the classrooms now

[30:31] through their library card. >> But it's But that would be great

[30:34] information though to Right, statistically to see

[30:36] » can have we we could get usage data for that. Yeah.

[30:42] » Anything else you got request. >> No, I I yeah.

[30:46] » But, you know that survey is coming out that we got to fill out, so.

[30:49] Y O A surveys, so you'll get that data. It sounds like a wonderful day. I mean,

[30:53] each day. It just >> They came back with smiles on their

[30:55] face. They loved it. The interns made me jealous. Like, I love outreach, so I

[31:01] would have loved to go, but like it would have been overkill for me to be

[31:05] there. Well, Briana, our teen librarian, was their supervisor and was their

[31:09] direct >> report.

[31:10] » So, or their direct Yeah, supervisor. So, she's the one who actually went to

[31:15] the sites, drove them, had them like set up, and They were They

[31:19] got it down to a science. Like, they could pack those boxes and like break

[31:23] down and set up quickly. >> Wow.

[31:25] » How long did they last during the during a day? How how often How long were they

[31:29] there? >> Oh, what were they doing? 6-hour shifts,

[31:33] typically 5-to-6-hour shifts. >> So, it was prep, breakdown, site visits.

[31:38] » So, >> Yeah.

[31:39] » 4 hours at the site, maybe, or something?

[31:41] » Uh no, it was typically like 2 hours at the site, and then the other hours were

[31:46] morning prep. And then they probably [clears throat]

[31:49] helped type up the fruits for the day. Yeah,

[31:52] not usually the day of, probably an off day.

[31:55] Help with some of the kids' programs. They also got our seed library. We got

[31:59] caught up with all the seeds. Yeah.

[32:03] Um [clears throat] cuz they take some seeds just as a side thing, but

[32:07] » They and they they were able to help us with

[32:10] one of needs

[32:12] while they were there. >> Yeah, they did some of the signage in

[32:15] teen. They redid so. >> They launched a spirit week. They

[32:20] launched a spirit week for staff. >> Oh, that's nice.

[32:23] Yeah, about the spirit days. >> [laughter]

[32:27] » Sounds like teenagers. And I told staff, "I know all we have to

[32:31] participate in one of the above."

[32:36] » So, it was just a a really welcomed energy.

[32:39] » Positive. That's good. >> Yeah.

[32:42] » Thank you. Thank you for coming. >> Yeah, we're happy to have an opportunity

[32:47] to pay teens to do work, but like also to engage with the community in a way

[32:52] that we couldn't do with our current staffing cuz it's just this definitely

[32:57] needed three people to do for each site visit. It's very involved cuz like I

[33:02] said, you're getting a high volume of kids at once.

[33:05] Uh they weren't all bum rush. Like they come in groups, but some sites

[33:10] like the groups were larger. So, you're still

[33:13] dealing with like 40 kids and you only got two tables.

[33:17] Uh so, yeah.

[33:19] » Yeah. Direction. >> Yeah, so I couldn't have done this with

[33:22] just our teen librarian or even myself and the teen librarian. So,

[33:26] I'm grateful for the teens. Yeah.

[33:30] Yeah, I wouldn't want to grow it though. Like I wouldn't want to grow our teen

[33:33] team because [clears throat] I don't I think

[33:36] four is too many. >> [laughter]

[33:38] » Like three is the perfect number. >> Maybe the kids could relate to the teens

[33:43] more too than the >> Oh yeah, Briana had to step back. She

[33:47] told me at the sites she was not the one really talking to kids. She was actually

[33:52] usually the one dealing with the berries just for like food safety. And then like

[33:57] the the stickers and the book selection was happening with the teen.

[34:01] » Well, that's good. >> Yeah, so it was a great opportunity for

[34:03] them. And she took a step back and let them do their thing.

[34:06] » Yeah. >> Yeah.

[34:08] Yeah. >> Yeah.

[34:08] » Used to have uh children's room with a you know,

[34:13] twins like a attendant desk check mark, but the reading program.

[34:18] » Yeah, we had talked about that. This was the first year we did like a unified

[34:22] summer reading program again. So, next year we'll kind of we're going to we're

[34:27] having a meeting next week to kind of debrief and talk about what can change.

[34:31] I think sign-ups were light in the library. There wasn't really a sign-up

[34:35] component as much, but maybe for redemption. I don't know.

[34:39] I'd have to talk to Margaret to see how she felt about that. But that did come

[34:42] up this year when we were talking about what

[34:44] » So I remember like the kids were but they're like a 12-year-old or

[34:48] 13-year-old recommending their favorite book. Maybe reading a 7-year-old

[34:53] or 9-year-old and they kind of carries more to the kids than

[34:58] Margaret might be recommending. >> Yeah, yeah. And then it was like, "Yeah,

[35:01] sure." >> [clears throat]

[35:02] » Or something. >> Yeah. Yeah, that is on our list. Yeah,

[35:06] depending on how we structure it.

[35:10] Did you have any more questions? >> No, that's that's

[35:13] very good. That sounds great. The program.

[35:16] » It was fun. I'm glad we did it. It was like a nightmare and very scary the

[35:20] beginning to organize, but then everything started rolling in. Then it

[35:24] turned out so well and it was such a breeze at that point. So.

[35:29] » Yeah. >> It went fast, too.

[35:31] » It did. Yeah.

[35:33] » So are you are you getting feedback from the

[35:36] camp or or from this? You won't get it from the schools because they're not

[35:39] involved, but from the camp directors or anything?

[35:43] » Yeah, so there is a site coordinator through the school. Like he's not there

[35:47] during the summer, but that's who we're meeting with in the probably next month.

[35:53] Um and we'll get the feedback from him about their perspective on how

[35:57] » That that would be great. >> Yeah, yeah. But we got like the teens it

[36:01] had to fill out a form feedback form and then you know, the ones we collected

[36:05] from kids at the site. >> Yeah.

[36:07] » Yeah, there were no [clears throat] adults eating the meals or no parents,

[36:10] so we couldn't collect that data cuz it's in camp, so they're just there with

[36:14] the teachers. Yeah.

[36:16] » Thank you. >> Yeah, of course.

[36:18] » So, other agenda items, community program

[36:21] proposal process. >> Sure. So this is more of just an update

[36:26] to um um just community programs or when our

[36:32] community members are interested in providing some type of program or event

[36:38] um to the community in partnership with the library or through us in

[36:42] collaboration. Um and this is kind of formalizing a

[36:46] process for us to collect that info to to collect the interest to collect the

[36:51] information, get data, um and really have a consistent way for

[36:55] staff to evaluate those requests, and measure them up against uh staff

[37:00] capacity, costs, uh whether they're um aligned with city

[37:06] goal city and library goals. Um and whether they're meeting a need

[37:11] that we're that we have identified that it's needed

[37:16] in our profile of programs or events. Um so this this community programs

[37:22] proposal process it's kind of a a mouthful.

[37:26] Um but it's uh it's a form that people fill out when

[37:30] they have they they um reach out to us that they want to

[37:35] provide a program that they're having a they have expertise in. Um and then we

[37:41] they just submit the form. So it's a it's

[37:44] all the information is collected. They go to our website to do it.

[37:47] Um and it's a easy it's a good way for us to really keep track of what our

[37:54] community is presenting to us because at some point it is reflective

[37:59] of what the community is doing and what they're engaging in. Um and it's an easy

[38:03] way for us to kind of bring in experts to help us lead some of those programs.

[38:07] Um and just for reference um last fiscal year we launched or we delivered 503

[38:15] in-person and virtual programs and engaged with 17,406

[38:22] participants. >> Wow.

[38:24] » So, programming is a huge deal for us. We're interested in really

[38:29] bringing in and seeking guidance from the community on you know, what our

[38:33] programs can be in collaboration with organizations that aren't internal to

[38:39] our our library. Um, and I think this is a it's a good

[38:43] way to really streamline the process. Um, but also it it makes sure that our

[38:48] staff know how to respond that aren't immediately pressured to make a decision

[38:54] for to say yes to a program or no to a program depending on how demanding a

[38:58] requester is. Um, but it also ensures us that the

[39:03] right staff person is evaluating based on what area they support. Um, and um,

[39:13] some of the and some of the topics that we

[39:18] um, know or know or that we're noticing are

[39:21] coming through are um, let's see. Where do I have that on

[39:26] there? There's a lot of uh

[39:29] mindfulness program, gardening, youth literacy, and artistic self-expression.

[39:35] So, the forum launch When did we launch this forum?

[39:39] Maybe a month. Two months ago?

[39:43] » It was right before Bonnie left. >> Yeah, so July some mid-July, like a

[39:47] month ago. >> No. Yes. Yes.

[39:50] » Yeah, um, so and we've already gotten a good amount of responses and around

[39:55] surrounding these themes. Um, [clears throat]

[39:58] so it puts all the information in one place. Staff that are navigating and

[40:04] figuring out programming for the next year, it helps us plan ahead of time.

[40:08] Um, but it also ensures that our messaging is consistent, that our

[40:11] evaluation process is consistent. Um, and that we're able to look at kind of

[40:15] what our library led programs are, what we're what we're sponsoring, what we're

[40:20] developing, and then filling in the gaps um with community led

[40:25] programs and events. Um and then in the staff report I kind

[40:29] of listed out we'll I don't have to read all of them, but just kind of what the

[40:32] questions are that the form asks. Um

[40:36] and it really seeks information on what their experience is

[40:40] on the topic, um whether they were doing like a

[40:43] one-off program or they envision this being a series of events that we can

[40:47] launch. Um how their proposal aligns with city

[40:50] goals, um what their intended audience is, um and of course like what the cost

[40:56] is. Cost is, um which is another benefit cuz it allows us to

[41:01] um look at the budget and really allocate

[41:03] funds as we're going based on what is proposed.

[41:09] » Yeah. I'd say prior there was the form like why this form is really helpful and

[41:15] to emphasize the standardization is because previously it was just someone

[41:20] would come to the desk and say, "Hey, I want to do this program." And they may

[41:23] not be talking to the relevant librarian and relevant being you could be talking

[41:27] to the teen librarian and you're talking about an adult program. So that's not

[41:31] the person who's going to decide if they do it. Um and then also in that moment

[41:36] they don't know what the budget is. Um so they also can't say yes in that

[41:40] moment. And there's a lot of questions that weren't getting asked or just

[41:44] weren't um in the thought process of things we need to consider. And so this

[41:49] form put every question that we do ask when deciding a program whether

[41:54] ourselves or we're asking a partner uh into one form. Uh and staff themselves

[42:00] have a similar form internally that mirrors this that I'm asking those very

[42:04] same questions of like, "Did you think this or

[42:07] That's essentially what it summarizes. Um so the form's a little bit longer,

[42:13] but it's to really make people be thoughtful and not just say, "Hey, I

[42:17] want to come read a book to kids." Um, cuz now we've got to ask you a lot of

[42:21] questions. All right, what kind of book do you want to read? Why do you want to

[42:24] read this book? Uh, how often were you thinking of doing

[42:27] this? How much was this going to cost? What's your expertise? Do you have

[42:29] references? >> [laughter]

[42:30] » These are just normal questions that we ask, but it's easier than having the

[42:34] back and forth in person or over the phone, um, or many emails. Like, one

[42:39] form and you know what we're going to ask and we're asking everyone same

[42:43] questions. Uh, yeah, so it's a

[42:47] it's very [clears throat] convenient. >> So, you had that many people

[42:50] coming and saying, "I want to present." >> Yeah, and it really depended on the

[42:55] staff member they talked to and did that person pass it on to the right person?

[43:00] And then sometimes it just get lost. So, the information stopped. Now, we

[43:04] don't have this person's information anymore. So, then they'll be like, "Hey,

[43:07] I spoke to so-and-so." And we'll be like, "Oh."

[43:11] » I'm struggling [clears throat] here on

[43:13] understanding exactly how this This is people that come in

[43:18] that want to do what do something with the library or in the library?

[43:23] » That's exactly it. >> And

[43:26] I mean, what do these what do these people need basically? I mean, are they

[43:30] looking for a forum to be able to do what they want to do? Is that I mean

[43:36] » Well, for example, it could be that someone wants to teach a yoga class.

[43:40] » Okay. >> And they want to do it at the library,

[43:43] but we've got questions about what that means.

[43:46] Or what's the audience? What kind of space do you need?

[43:48] » it open for the public? >> Yeah.

[43:50] » What is the cost? >> Which library?

[43:52] » To us? Which library? Is it bilingual? So, it's it's almost like a it's almost

[43:59] like a formal way of us of them presenting a proposal for us.

[44:04] With [clears throat] all the relevant information that we would need to make a

[44:06] decision. Because some like someone can come say,

[44:11] "Hey, I'm offering a story time on Tuesday mornings." But we could already

[44:17] be doing a story time on Tuesday mornings.

[44:19] » Right. >> So it helps us evaluate what if we're

[44:22] already doing something internally um

[44:26] whether there is a need to bring in something else.

[44:29] » So why would somebody I mean I can see reading or something.

[44:32] Why would somebody come to the library? I mean

[44:35] I would think they might want to go to the community center or something or

[44:39] » Or like a we have a captive audience. We have the space, we have a captive

[44:44] audience, we have reach with our newsletter. So like we're doing a lot of

[44:48] the work and marketing for you. And we're giving you the space and then

[44:53] libraries tend to be like, "Hey, this was a good program. You should work with

[44:56] this person." So now you're getting referrals.

[44:59] » Yeah. >> So you're kind of creating that network

[45:01] for them, which makes it a really favorable space to do offer your

[45:05] services. >> I think tomorrow I have it circled that

[45:09] you have some speaker talking about monarchs.

[45:12] Right? Isn't it with you guys? >> Is it? Is it?

[45:15] » It's tomorrow the master gardeners. Tomorrow's Wednesday.

[45:18] » That is correct. >> I think it is. It's

[45:20] » But it was like this is kind of interesting. Here it is at the library.

[45:23] Yes, I'm interested and you know, that would be kind of

[45:28] » Libraries have Libraries have always um

[45:32] been vehicles to close the gap, tools to close the gap on everything.

[45:37] Technology, education, literacy, entertainment, and joy.

[45:45] So a lot of the times, for example, our

[45:48] tech help programs is

[45:52] um maybe that maybe someone can't go to the genius or at an Apple Store because

[45:58] they have they don't have Apple device or

[46:01] they can come to our uh tech help one-on-one and come do it.

[46:06] That's technically not traditionally a library service.

[46:10] » Right. >> But the responsibility for us is to help

[46:14] a patron close the gap on technology so they can truly use our resources.

[46:21] So we're setting the framework for that. So if if I teach you how to use an iPad,

[46:26] for example, and I say, "Now with this knowledge,

[46:30] you can download books from OverDrive, Libby, you can stream from Hoopla,

[46:35] Kanopy, you could download from Palace Project. Uh you can then upload your own

[46:40] books onto BiblioBoard." So it's it's we we've got to close that

[46:45] gap if we want them to truly use all of our resources.

[46:49] » Right. >> And part of that is we aren't experts in

[46:52] everything. So we've got to reach out to our

[46:54] community, we've got to be welcoming of making those connections with our

[46:57] community who can help us educate our patron base.

[47:03] And a lot of the times it isn't just education. I'm a firm believer that

[47:06] sometimes we have to leverage the gap of joy and entertainment and leisure for

[47:11] people who can't access those things. And I think one good way one good one

[47:17] kind of side benefit to this is that once we merge into this new community

[47:21] uh library community center, we're going to be working with a lot of joint space.

[47:26] » Right. >> So we're going to have to re- really

[47:28] envision what our offerings and our programs look like.

[47:31] Whether it's that the library offers kind of a gateway program into some sort

[47:36] of recreation program, and if they like it and they're committed to it, then

[47:40] they go further with the rec team and the rec side.

[47:43] » Mhm. >> So this is a a lot of these are great

[47:46] practices to start putting in place because we're going to be utilizing them

[47:49] in different forms. >> Right.

[47:52] » But it's um the library values community partnerships, and the li- the library is

[47:59] really more than just giving out books and DVDs and

[48:04] part >> is what the vast majority of people

[48:07] think of it is. >> Yeah, they think of it, but I think part

[48:09] of part I think that's that's why this is so important is because a lot of

[48:15] community organizations that people don't expect to be part of the library

[48:19] » Right. >> do want to be part of the library.

[48:22] And I can't think of a better ambassador than someone who does a program with the

[48:26] library and then they go to their larger audience and they tell them, I'm also at

[48:30] the library. So, we've got to look for those those

[48:34] kind of avenues, opportunities to where um our resources are highlighted through

[48:40] collaborations. >> Sure.

[48:41] » Yeah. >> Yeah.

[48:42] » kind of what the the the importance of this is.

[48:45] » And I'd say ASCOM is a really good example of that. Uh they

[48:49] » What is? >> ASCOM. I do don't ask

[48:51] » ASCOM. I know >> Don't ask me what that acronym

[48:54] » What that is. Yeah. >> But they approached us about it.

[48:58] Um this was before we had the forum. So, this is a situation where then I had to

[49:01] run around and be like, "Do you Do you know? Can you um

[49:06] » Yeah. >> Can you ask all these following

[49:08] questions? Okay, great. These are their answers. Lovely.

[49:11] Um but that's an example of like we didn't we weren't already aware of them.

[49:16] They approached us with a great idea of a mini series and

[49:21] then, you know, it worked so well, they're reliable that we're able to

[49:24] continue that partnership. Um and again, it's like they like you said, they're at

[49:28] ASCOM, they already have their set audience, but it's grown and now people

[49:33] like are continuing to ask for more, which they're like, "Oh yeah, we have

[49:37] content on this, so we could do a program on that." Which is what's

[49:39] happening this >> They They subsidize I I've taken a

[49:42] number of classes there and they some of them they subsidize. So, they do a lot

[49:46] of things. >> Yeah, and I mean, they're partnering

[49:48] with us for free, which you know, the library loves free. Yeah. So, we're

[49:52] never mad at a free program. That's That's really great quality like this.

[49:56] So, So,

[49:58] like your art program, like you have speaker series for the art like what's

[50:02] going on at the Young or something? Is that your set your own set schedule and

[50:07] you bring in speakers or is that Okay. They're kind of regular

[50:12] Yeah. So, there's like inherited legacy programs like that. So, the art program

[50:16] is one. Is that the ones that are in City Hall? Yeah,

[50:20] City Hall. Yeah, one of those ones. Yeah. Yeah. And so, for those, we like

[50:24] the date and time's preset, but it's on us to find docents

[50:29] or volunteers who are not official docents to come give talks. You get some

[50:35] pretty good quality people there, too. Yeah. Yeah. I'd say what makes the art

[50:39] talk specifically so competitive is that historically, San Rafael was the first

[50:43] to do it, then San Anselmo did it, and now many others do it. So, we're all

[50:48] competing. docent talks.

[50:51] And you know, we're in Marin, so it's very congregated. Our patrons are

[50:55] willing to travel to libraries for these talks. So, you're not going to do the

[51:00] same docent talk at every library. So, it just makes it a little bit more

[51:04] competitive. It's like Did you hear about this future thing? Or

[51:09] like, oh, this docent told me that, you know, in January, this is going to be

[51:12] the thing. So, then go ahead. Yeah, we're booked for January. We're booked

[51:17] through January right now. Cuz you got to hop on it early if you want to. Like

[51:21] I said, it's competitive. So, Yeah. I'm just curious. Can you see a future

[51:27] schedule? Do you have like since you had these proposals, do you have like

[51:32] a schedule three, four months in advance that the public can look at or no? Um

[51:37] not always. We release I think sometimes we'll release like six months if we have

[51:43] six months planned out, but it It depends on like

[51:46] how many we have planned out. Usually we just do 3 months because we can easily

[51:51] confirm that at least 3 months in advance, but I know that Lee has worked

[51:57] through January and she's working on the next, but sometimes it's too early. So

[52:02] Yeah. >> I was just mentioned that the I I just

[52:05] remember 10 years ago that uh children's room team is for the team

[52:10] parents like there's a like a title Lost Boys or something.

[52:15] It's It's about the uh

[52:18] the struggling boy you know teenage boys or something that is psychotherapist who

[52:24] does programs for the struggling teen boys that doesn't quite

[52:29] fit into the the school system or

[52:33] and there's so much pressure for the boys like

[52:36] you know never cry and never you know stoic all the time

[52:41] » Yeah. >> be in charge of everybody has to be

[52:43] leader or something. So So he was a gentleman who was doing a program to the

[52:48] one hour like a workshop kind of thing for the parents.

[52:53] » Yeah. >> I remember like seeing the poster like

[52:55] we gather all the parents with the boys show up in the room and our over circle

[53:00] lecture is like this is happening with really there.

[53:04] You know they [clears throat] look like a man but they are not quite men yet.

[53:08] » Yeah. >> You know but eventually at the end I

[53:11] realized he's also promoting his program outside the wall.

[53:16] » Yeah. Which for those services yeah yeah and for those that's where we

[53:20] have to tread carefully where you're marketing something that is to then be a

[53:25] continuing service that may or may not be paid regardless if it's for your paid

[53:29] like that's where the library has to tread

[53:32] carefully cuz we're not here to market your services necessarily.

[53:36] Um it's a free informative service yeah.

[53:40] » No no no at the same time it was at end. I was like, oh, okay. I could see it

[53:44] now. There's a slight here. And when >> We did that with the college readiness.

[53:50] I think it was like the three-part series we did last fall. She has like

[53:55] paid like one-on-one service prep. >> [clears throat]

[53:58] » But what she was offering was like essentially what she does in her

[54:02] one-on-one prep broken into three parts in a series for like students help them

[54:07] prep for the college apps. Um she, you know, yeah, you could pay to see her,

[54:12] but that's not what this was about. This is like she was able to condense it. And

[54:16] again, it was like free. So, yeah, will she get clients out of it? Maybe.

[54:21] Um but at no point are you allowed to say sign up for my mailing list to hear

[54:27] about my discounts. Like that's that's prohibited. So.

[54:31] » I guess for the past few [clears throat] years we've been having SAT test exam

[54:35] here at the library. >> Yeah, so. But you know, talking to the

[54:38] teens our interns, they were talking about whether they were going to take

[54:42] the test or not depending on what schools cuz some of the schools don't

[54:45] require them right now. So, it's become yeah, it's always it's a whole It comes

[54:49] and flows with like what team focus is in the topic.

[54:54] » Right. >> So, you look for

[54:56] one-off things more often like that. >> It's easier to commit to stand-alones or

[55:00] mini series than like long-term reoccurring

[55:04] cuz that like locks us in to a specific schedule that like you don't want to

[55:09] deviate from it too much. Once you commit to it, it's really unfair to the

[55:12] community to be like, all right, never mind, we're not doing this anymore.

[55:16] And like sends the wrong message. So, it's easier for us to say like if you

[55:21] want to do series, yeah, we'll do like once a month for the next 3 months and

[55:25] let's see how this goes. We don't typically do anything more than

[55:29] once a month just because that's our time is limited. So, unless you're doing

[55:34] it at different branches, that's where we can like yeah, you're technically

[55:37] here like three times a month with it. But like you're at a different branch

[55:40] each week. So it's it that like is how

[55:44] » You do things at at like North Gate and and Pickleweed. I mean

[55:49] » Pickleweed did have like reoccurring programs. North Gate, well, parking at

[55:53] Pickleweed is one of our biggest problems.

[55:56] » Just yeah, challenges. >> And then North Gate, the challenge there

[56:01] is staffing. Um so we can really only rely on passive

[56:07] programs or after hour programs, which is really just the book clubs tend to be

[56:10] after hours. Um but yeah, any like active programming

[56:16] at North Gate is super challenging cuz we are very like tightly staffed there.

[56:21] » I thought I saw a a a reading program, kids coming in for a

[56:25] for to be read to. They're with >> Reading Buddies did have um services

[56:30] there at all three branches. So Reading Buddies did happen at North Gate and

[56:34] Pickleweed as well. Yeah. Yeah, and that'll be starting up again

[56:38] next month. So eight

[56:40] » Oh, do you have any more >> Adrian Brig did the workshop but the

[56:45] » Book origami. >> Yes.

[56:47] » And then I think he was so well attended. I remember like you guys

[56:50] thinking about doing second one. >> Yeah.

[56:53] » So I might have you guys have done second one already.

[56:55] » You know, we just talked about budgets. So that's for the adult librarians to

[57:00] decide. We have to try carefully about rebooking people we've recently used cuz

[57:07] we don't have a large budget. So if we'd rather try someone new

[57:12] » Yes. >> for the sake of seeing is this person

[57:15] worth keeping in our rotation. That's a conversation that the adult librarians

[57:20] are having. Yeah, she was good. Like there's another art program we did like,

[57:25] I don't know if you saw it but it was like a cactus painting and it looked

[57:29] like it was [clears throat] under black lights. It was beautiful. It was well

[57:31] attended. everyone's art looked professional. And I was like, "Oh my

[57:35] god, everyone like raved about his instructions." And it was the same for

[57:38] our ceramics, which we're like, "Okay, we know people like these hands-on

[57:42] activities. So, yes to hands-on, but maybe like we need to

[57:47] try other people just to keep it in rotation."

[57:51] » And then trust me, yeah. >> Yeah. Yeah, Adrienne's on our list. Like

[57:53] we know her program's good. >> [laughter]

[57:56] » She's on her list. >> She's She's too busy to be on this.

[58:00] » She Yeah, she doesn't need any more promotion.

[58:01] » Yeah. But But we're like, "Yes." So, she's on our yes list. But, you know,

[58:07] we want to try other things. Like the art was great, the ceramics was great.

[58:11] I'd love to see them try a different medium of art.

[58:14] » Teach for free. >> Yeah.

[58:19] » [laughter] >> Yeah. Yeah. And we got the books.

[58:22] » We got them a lot of books. >> Yeah, I think she still has tools, too.

[58:25] So, we have everything necessary to do it.

[58:30] » [clears throat] >> Are there any reports?

[58:31] » Are there any? >> No, that's it.

[58:34] Do you Does anybody else have >> [clears throat]

[58:37] » Let me see. Any trustee reports or attendance of

[58:42] seminars of board? Nope. Anything to say?

[58:46] » No. >> Well, I have a liaison report. I think

[58:49] that was next after >> Oh, I'm sorry.

[58:51] » before trustee reports. >> Oh, okay.

[58:53] » It's just It'll be pretty brief. >> Yeah.

[58:55] » Um And And I'll just follow the same

[58:59] format. I'll just go through kind of downtown, Pickawee, Metro K.

[59:04] Um so, for downtown, I we just presented and we wrapped up Lunch to Library.

[59:08] Um but we also just partnered with the county's uh probation department with

[59:14] and they have a program called uh Youth Working for Change, which provides um

[59:22] youth who are in kind of their probation uh program or have been identified as

[59:28] being at risk with opportunities to intern at

[59:31] different places. They pay them, we host them, and hopefully starting in a couple

[59:37] of weeks we'll have one intern who's in high school who'll be working

[59:42] with us 20 hours a week through November, I believe.

[59:47] Um and we've spoken with her and she's awesome.

[59:52] She has her own She's in high school has her own small business um and she's

[59:59] interested in working at the library because she identified the skills that

[1:00:03] she's missing is customer service engaging with people

[1:00:08] in kind of in a public way and she wants to strengthen her her

[1:00:14] skills with technology. And she identified the library as a good

[1:00:17] way to do that. They reached out to us and we were interested in hosting an

[1:00:21] intern and we can always use the help. Um so we're excited to bring her on and

[1:00:26] help us um

[1:00:28] at the library. Um we've also did some training with

[1:00:34] staff um

[1:00:36] because of the Chico of the library in Chico with the

[1:00:40] um active shooter in the library killed a

[1:00:44] couple people a couple months ago. Um that kind of raised the alarms for us

[1:00:49] in terms of our training. Um so we worked with um our police

[1:00:54] department and they put together a site-specific training for staff

[1:00:58] um in case we're we're ever faced with an active threat.

[1:01:03] Um how to manage it uh really based on kind of where we're working. The library

[1:01:08] has a combination of public and staff-only spaces. So I think it was

[1:01:12] good for us to for the team to really draw awareness of

[1:01:16] um where we are any given moment and what we would do in that situation. So

[1:01:21] that was it was a good training it was a good reminder for us to stay on top of

[1:01:26] that training and just um to get some good tips from our police

[1:01:30] department. >> Safety training or

[1:01:33] safety training steps steps >> It's It's active shooter training.

[1:01:37] » Active shooter training. >> Yeah.

[1:01:39] Uh I think it's called active threat. >> Active threat. Okay.

[1:01:42] » Um cuz it could be >> Yeah.

[1:01:44] » Both of us worked at Oakland public >> Yes.

[1:01:47] » and other public library systems and threats of this nature happen in various

[1:01:52] forms and you you've the response is often the same.

[1:01:57] » [clears throat] >> Um let's see staffing um

[1:02:02] Bonnie retired >> Ooh.

[1:02:04] » um in July July 15th or 16th 15th was our last day.

[1:02:10] Um Briana who was our teen librarian was promoted into that position so she's now

[1:02:15] the senior librarian in charge of adult and teen services.

[1:02:20] Um Alejandra is taking back her has stepped back into her library librarian

[1:02:26] two role so vacating her senior librarian

[1:02:30] branches position which we're recruiting hopefully at the end of this week so

[1:02:34] that'll go out. Um

[1:02:37] and um more for downtown is the in order for us

[1:02:42] to get artists um to display their art at the library they've got to go to the

[1:02:48] public art review board. So, they've got to be selected through that committee to

[1:02:52] be an artist that can display their art in in city buildings and in public

[1:02:56] spaces. Um and then for this next process the

[1:03:00] library's going to be a site the artist can part of the the call out for artist

[1:03:05] specifically because our space calls for 3D art.

[1:03:09] Um so it'll will be more specific just so that we have more options of artists

[1:03:13] that to host installations in art at the downtown.

[1:03:17] So, it's exciting. >> Yeah.

[1:03:20] » Um for Pickleweed, as you can see, we tried a site visit 2 months in a row.

[1:03:25] » Isn't that beautiful, everybody? >> And it's there's uh the construction is

[1:03:30] really slipping. Uh construction probably won't end or be completed until

[1:03:34] late September. Um there are some uh

[1:03:38] components with um like the security features of the doors

[1:03:43] and working with the police substation that's causing a little bit of delays

[1:03:49] um because of just the particular nature of the equipment um and only certain

[1:03:56] companies are allowed to work with that because of the the sensitive nature of

[1:04:00] of the space um for our police department.

[1:04:04] So, it's it's it's taking a little bit. Uh but it's looking really nice.

[1:04:08] » Okay. >> It's going to be a great space.

[1:04:11] And hopefully next month we'll be Is there more

[1:04:15] parking? >> When do you think you'll be in there or

[1:04:16] not in? >> Oh, no.

[1:04:18] There's not more parking um and the fields are reopened. So,

[1:04:22] that's >> competing

[1:04:23] » Yeah, we're you're competing with a lot of stuff.

[1:04:26] It's such a hub. A lot is going on there. So, it's it's parking is I think

[1:04:32] it's always going to be a challenge for us to navigate.

[1:04:38] Um let's see. Measure K uh in the city council certified the

[1:04:42] results of the election for Measure K in July. Um we were at 78%

[1:04:48] yes on that, which um

[1:04:51] from what the city manager and uh Catherine mentioned, it's the highest

[1:04:57] one of our measures has has um reached.

[1:05:01] Um and something of note is that it cleared 2/3 in all precincts, which I

[1:05:05] don't believe had been the case before. So,

[1:05:09] uh and that just speaks to all the hard work and that our staff is

[1:05:15] doing and and how connected they are to the community.

[1:05:19] Um, I think it's I think our public remembers that and um

[1:05:23] that speak that's that speaks louder than than our campaigns.

[1:05:29] Um, Measure P the RF the RFQ for the proposals closed on July 29th.

[1:05:36] Um, so the city is evaluating proposals um, and proposing teams and select a

[1:05:43] team will be announced at the Measure P subcommittee meeting on August 31st. So

[1:05:49] the teams moving forward and teams that submitted proposals, all of that

[1:05:52] information will be um, announced end of the month.

[1:05:57] Um, we're looking to have a joint trustees park and rec commission meeting

[1:06:02] in October. Um, we'll have to figure out what date

[1:06:06] that is. Um, so you'll hear from both either Jenner and I on what that looks

[1:06:10] like for October.

[1:06:12] Um, for September we also may have to re uh, or look at a date

[1:06:18] uh, because our September meeting lands on a city council meeting date.

[1:06:25] So I'll look at what the options are and then we'll figure out the process for

[1:06:30] getting that on scheduled. >> Is it already our meeting is a

[1:06:36] only on same day as council? >> Yeah, and I feel I think it's because

[1:06:39] there's a >> It's right after a holiday.

[1:06:42] » Everything weekend. >> Yeah, so then they moved the meeting

[1:06:45] over to the next day. Um,

[1:06:48] so we'll see and then we'll reach out with dates.

[1:06:53] Um, and then we haven't met since May, so just a little bit on the Pride event

[1:06:59] that we collaborate with Marine County Free Library to throw.

[1:07:03] Um, we held it at the Civic Center parking lot next to the farmers market

[1:07:08] on Sunday June 13th, 14th. 14th. 14th.

[1:07:14] Um >> What was that?

[1:07:16] » The pride event. >> Oh, pride event.

[1:07:17] » Reading with pride. >> Okay.

[1:07:19] » Uh we had 153 visitors to our table. Uh 42 uh for story time. We coordinated

[1:07:26] with 11 community partners. We gave away swag and a bunch of giveaways.

[1:07:31] Um we had music, Zumba, face painting, and we one of our spin the wheel gifts

[1:07:39] were tokens for food or or purchasing anything at

[1:07:45] the farmers market. >> Cute.

[1:07:47] » Nice. >> Um so that was a lot of fun. Um and then

[1:07:52] in September Common Reads with College of Marin kicks off. The library San

[1:07:57] Rafael Public Library is uh a part of that program. So we'll we'll be

[1:08:02] participating in programming throughout between September and May of next year.

[1:08:07] Um in different forms. Um really um highlighting the book uh

[1:08:12] Solito by Javier Zamora. >> Yeah.

[1:08:16] » Um anything else programming events? I'm sure there's a ton.

[1:08:20] » Endless. >> Uh

[1:08:22] there's a ton of stuff. Um but I think those are just kind of highlights of

[1:08:25] things that big and things. >> Mhm.

[1:08:29] » It's great. >> Yeah.

[1:08:30] » That's it. >> Are there zip books? No more?

[1:08:33] » Oh, that's right. Uh so we still have until the end of this month to submit

[1:08:38] your request for zip books. But the California State Library kind of

[1:08:42] redistributed those funds to other resources.

[1:08:46] Um and kind of ended support for zip books. Um one of the things that came

[1:08:53] out of that is that for the next year we have access to tutor.com

[1:08:57] for homework help. Through it's it's labeled uh homework

[1:09:01] California, but it's through tutor.com. >> Mhm. Um so K through 12 help.

[1:09:07] Um that's one of the programs that sponsored.

[1:09:11] » Remind me what Zip Books are. >> Zip Books are it's a grant funded

[1:09:16] program for from the California State Library where if there's a book you want

[1:09:21] that we don't have in our system, it's not at any of our member libraries,

[1:09:27] and you can't find it on Link Plus, um then you find it on Amazon, you

[1:09:33] request it, and it's delivered straight to your house.

[1:09:36] » Yeah, but that's not happening anymore. >> Not after August 31st.

[1:09:40] » Was it a grant? Was it some of the library gets a lot

[1:09:45] certain fund given to the month of August? So once that's over

[1:09:49] » So no, it's through fiscal year. So for the year So we apply for the grant last

[1:09:54] year. Well, we apply every year. >> Okay.

[1:09:56] » Um and then they give you a set amount of money, and you have that much money

[1:10:00] to spend books for the year. >> For the year. Okay. And you can return

[1:10:05] it or keep it, it sounds like. >> Well, if you return it, then you're able

[1:10:08] to request another one. >> Oh, I see.

[1:10:10] » Yeah. And then we're responsible for adding a certain percentage of those

[1:10:15] books into our collection. >> Uh-huh.

[1:10:17] And then the the fund that you received is not if there's a leftover, do we have

[1:10:22] to return to the state?

[1:10:26] Better use it. >> So so

[1:10:27] So is Where do you see that? Where do you go for that?

[1:10:31] Is it on the website? >> It's on our website. We pretty much

[1:10:34] advertise it every month in our newsletter.

[1:10:37] Um >> It's okay. It there's so many

[1:10:40] limitations to >> Oh, is there?

[1:10:42] » Yeah, it's a little hard to work with, and that's one of the things I expressed

[1:10:46] to Daniel. And I mean, it's no secret. But because we are fortunate enough to

[1:10:52] be a part of Link Plus, we have access to a lot of books, which negates your

[1:10:56] ability to get that book. >> well, I I I asked that because I I do a

[1:11:01] lot of research and and there are many times when Link Plus does does not have

[1:11:05] what I want. >> Yeah, this would have been a great

[1:11:06] resource for you. >> So, I can still do it though till the

[1:11:09] end of the month. >> You can only get one and then you got to

[1:11:11] return it if you want to get another. >> Okay. Okay.

[1:11:14] » So, pick the one you really want. You know, like

[1:11:18] » Yeah, that's true. >> That's true.

[1:11:20] » Yeah, but that is equal. That is equal. >> Yeah, but it was a great experience.

[1:11:25] » It was great. It was great.

[1:11:28] » Yeah. Yeah, which that's the intent of at least for well-resourced libraries

[1:11:32] like us who are able to tap into our neighbors.

[1:11:36] » Yeah. >> It's how you can get the more niche

[1:11:37] books that like are not going to circulate well. So, that's typically why

[1:11:42] they did it. Follow our trade. >> I I want every

[1:11:44] » Yeah. >> Nobody's

[1:11:46] » Mhm. >> Yeah, if it only is going to circulate

[1:11:48] once, then we're we're not going to spend the money to get it.

[1:11:51] » Foreign language books. >> Yeah, exactly. It's great for foreign

[1:11:55] language. >> And then this last this last year they

[1:11:59] also rolled out ebooks.

[1:12:02] So, the same kind of parameters if you found a book that we didn't carry

[1:12:07] or OverDrive didn't carry, you found it, sent the link and they would load us

[1:12:12] into the they would load it into the Palace Project app

[1:12:16] for you to download. >> Oh.

[1:12:20] » [clears throat] >> That's great. Wonderful.

[1:12:23] Good thing. One last

[1:12:26] » Yeah. >> And

[1:12:27] » Yeah. Yeah, but you know, it I mean, homework help, that's an expensive

[1:12:32] service. Tutor.com, it's expensive. So, it's nice that we have access to it for

[1:12:37] a year cuz it's 24 hours, multilingual. >> 24 hour?

[1:12:40] » Yeah. Yeah. >> 24/7?

[1:12:42] » And they have like the SAT prep. They have they partner with Princeton, I

[1:12:46] believe. So, they have like the Princeton books and stuff and resources.

[1:12:50] So, that's also one of the reasons why it's expensive, so and like we lose zip

[1:12:54] books, but we gain tutor.com, which is like, you know,

[1:12:58] » The tutor.com one-on-one live

[1:13:01] » They do there's a time frame for it, but yeah, yeah.

[1:13:05] » It's interesting. On the way over there was a news

[1:13:08] news update about LA school district and

[1:13:13] they're limiting all screen time with the teachers and they were talking about

[1:13:17] a science teacher that said, "We're so used to doing screen and all my lessons

[1:13:22] on a screen and experiments and everything else."

[1:13:25] And they're shutting that down. And then other school districts are saying no

[1:13:29] phones at the school. Which is interesting because we're so

[1:13:33] used to getting tutor.com and yet we had this conflict. We want to get the kids

[1:13:38] off of that and get them more engaged, let's say reading a real book, you know,

[1:13:43] versus and some kids they they evaluated they

[1:13:46] had like 10 to 12 hours of screen time. >> Yeah.

[1:13:50] » It's more even. No, I mean this is evaluated by all the

[1:13:54] by the teachers that they asked the kids what it was and that was their average

[1:13:59] of 10 to 12 hours >> Yeah, I mean if you're doing all your

[1:14:01] work on a [clears throat] screen, yeah. But yeah, I'd say for tutoring, you

[1:14:06] know, it's that is an access and affordability, especially online tutors

[1:14:10] tend to be more expensive here cuz there's higher demand.

[1:14:14] Um, and there's only so many free tutors and even our own free tutoring service,

[1:14:17] you know, we can only offer it to a student once in a cycle and you can't

[1:14:21] come back after that, so you know, there's

[1:14:26] it's great that we now have tutor.com, but yeah, there's screen fatigue, so

[1:14:30] like now you got to get on it's not Zoom, but you know, you got to get on a

[1:14:34] virtual setting to meet with this person or it's all through chat, so

[1:14:40] Yeah. But it's an option.

[1:14:43] It's now an option they have on their school Chromebooks, they can access it,

[1:14:47] so. >> Yeah.

[1:14:50] » Changing lives. >> Um

[1:14:54] Okay, and we didn't have any trustee reports.

[1:14:57] Thank you. I'm totally blanking on your name.

[1:15:00] » Shawnee. >> Shawnee.

[1:15:01] » Yeah, it's okay. There's like 22 of us, so.

[1:15:03] » I don't want to get your slide. >> Daniel and Shawnee.

[1:15:06] » I know. I know.

[1:15:09] » This was supposed to be Breanna tonight. >> I was supposed to see the teen

[1:15:13] librarian, but I >> Thank you, Jinder. I'm going to call

[1:15:17] meeting adjourned. I'll state the time when the meeting is ended, and we'll

[1:15:20] have adjournment, and it is 7:17. Okay.

[1:15:26] » Thank you. >> All right, thank you.

[1:15:28] » Thanks, Jinder. >> Thank you, Jinder.

[1:15:30] » Bye, Jinder. >> Bye.

Board of Library Trustees – August 11, 2026

Agenda

Transcript