[0:02] There we are. All right. Well, welcome
[0:04] to our board meeting.
[0:06] Um
[0:07] I am Kelsey and the new chair. We've got
[0:09] Lynn next to me on the vice chair.
[0:13] And we're going to see how we can get
[0:15] through this. I've got my script.
[0:17] We're going to give it a run.
[0:19] We have no visitors, correct?
[0:21] » That's correct.
[0:22] » Six of us ladies here today.
[0:25] And we then will move to approve minutes
[0:29] from our last meeting, which feels like
[0:31] forever ago.
[0:34] Can I get a motion to approve meeting
[0:36] minutes unless somebody has a comment
[0:38] about them?
[0:39] » Uh I'll do that.
[0:40] » Yeah.
[0:41] » There we go. So, we've got Ellen as our
[0:43] first and Lynn as our second.
[0:45] » Hang on. Sorry. So sorry. Let me catch
[0:47] up here.
[0:48] So, Ellen um Ellen moved and Lynn um
[0:51] seconded.
[0:52] » Yeah, right.
[0:53] » Okay.
[0:56] » All right.
[0:58] Moving on to our old business. Um we
[1:02] don't have
[1:03] » Take a vote on that, Kelsey?
[1:05] » Oh, right. Thank you. Yes, can we all
[1:07] vote on approval of Ellen and Lynn's
[1:10] motion? Raise a hand. Or a thumb or a
[1:13] yay.
[1:15] » Unanimous.
[1:16] » There we go. Thank you.
[1:21] I even have that in my notes.
[1:23] I should read them.
[1:24] » [laughter]
[1:25] » We're moving to old business now.
[1:29] Committees. I don't think we have
[1:31] anybody from strategic planning
[1:32] subcommittee, right? That's Aaron and
[1:34] Fatima.
[1:35] » That's correct.
[1:36] » Okay. And we don't have anybody from
[1:38] makerspace fundraising.
[1:39] » That is correct.
[1:40] » So, quickly through old business.
[1:44] We'll make a note that we would like to
[1:45] meet with those subcommittees
[1:48] sometime between now and the next board
[1:50] meeting if possible
[1:53] to
[1:54] get those
[1:55] subcommittees back up and full force
[1:58] running. Um Suzanne has some wonderful
[2:00] ideas for strategic plan talking about
[2:03] getting together with the Oregon state
[2:05] person to breathe some new life into
[2:08] that.
[2:10] And then
[2:12] checking in with Jay on fundraising.
[2:16] Moving into anybody have comments on old
[2:18] business?
[2:21] All right. Moving into new business.
[2:24] We are proposing a new subcommittee for
[2:27] the collection development policy.
[2:30] Suzanne would like
[2:33] Hey,
[2:35] Elwyn. I'm on a video call right now. I
[2:37] can't do that.
[2:40] Well, then come talk to him, please.
[2:42] I'm
[2:45] This is why I tried the headset.
[2:48] The collection development policy is in
[2:50] need of some updating specifically
[2:52] talking about the
[2:56] re-
[2:57] citizens request to reconsider
[3:00] a book. Not that we have any, but that
[3:03] we'd like to refresh that to make sure
[3:04] it's up-to-date, modern, and fitting
[3:06] with current
[3:09] world views.
[3:11] So
[3:11] » And and best practice. Would you mind if
[3:13] I
[3:13] talked to you a little bit, Kelsie? So
[3:18] we have a we have a very solid
[3:20] collection development policy, but as
[3:21] Kelsie said, there's a piece missing and
[3:24] that is
[3:25] what the board does or what the process
[3:27] is for
[3:29] We need a fuller explanation of what the
[3:32] process is for collection development
[3:33] for request for reconsideration. And
[3:35] there's a few things to consider. One is
[3:39] and let me back up. When I first got to
[3:41] the library, I met with somebody at the
[3:43] state library to ask them what their
[3:46] what they recommend for policies. And
[3:48] there are a few things that we don't do
[3:50] that we could do if we choose to. And a
[3:52] a couple of them are make a decision
[3:54] about who can make a request for
[3:56] reconsideration. For example, do you
[3:58] need to have a library card, or does it
[4:00] matter if you have a library card? Um do
[4:03] you need to live in Columbia County or
[4:06] in the city? Um are there So, are there
[4:09] there any geographic limitations? Um how
[4:12] many requests can you submit in a year?
[4:15] Or how many books how many times can a
[4:18] request for the same book be submitted?
[4:20] So, for example, if
[4:22] Sarah Sue submitted um Dr. you know, Cat
[4:26] on Cat in the Hat, um and um somebody
[4:31] else came along, you know, Sam came
[4:32] along later and wanted to submit a
[4:34] request for reconsideration, um do we
[4:37] entertain that? Does the board entertain
[4:39] that, or do we Do we place a limit on,
[4:41] you know, each book can be reconsidered
[4:43] in a calendar year, or whatever that
[4:46] time period might be? And then the third
[4:48] feature the third piece is
[4:50] when a
[4:52] request for reconsideration goes from
[4:54] the So, the process is This is maybe new
[4:58] for some folks. Process is somebody
[5:00] comes to the library, they fill out the
[5:01] form. I have a conversation with them. I
[5:04] take a look at the material, and I give
[5:06] them my um decision about whether or not
[5:09] the item's going to remain in the
[5:10] collection, moved,
[5:12] you know, le- you know, be weeded, etc.
[5:15] If that person is not happy with or
[5:18] satisfied with my decision, then it goes
[5:21] to the board, and you guys make the
[5:23] ultimate decision. So, when it gets to
[5:26] the board, there are other communities
[5:29] in the um
[5:31] country, as you probably know, where
[5:33] they have had many, many people come to
[5:35] their board meetings and speak um during
[5:38] public comment. Um not that we don't
[5:40] welcome people to do that, but do we
[5:42] have some parameters that we want to
[5:43] set? Like maybe the number of people
[5:46] that can speak, you know,
[5:48] a certain number of people that can
[5:50] speak during a meeting. You know, maybe
[5:51] it's 100, maybe it's 20, or a time
[5:54] period. You know, we'll we we can have
[5:57] public comments for 20 minutes or until
[5:59] 10:00 p.m. or whatever that might be.
[6:01] And then some decisions about who can
[6:03] speak. Do they have to be a member of
[6:05] the community? Do they have to have a
[6:06] library card?
[6:08] You know, are there are there
[6:10] what parameters might that be if
[6:12] anything? You know, it's
[6:15] Thank you. Oh, bye.
[6:17] Um
[6:18] That's Michelle. Have a nice evening.
[6:20] Um so, there are communities
[6:24] There are a lot of factors to consider
[6:26] and some of the things that we can
[6:29] consider are we're bound by municipal
[6:31] code. For example, I talked to um
[6:35] Kathy Payne
[6:36] several years ago now about whether or
[6:39] not we could limit um
[6:42] the number of people who speak at a city
[6:46] council or excuse me, at a meeting. And
[6:48] her her thought was that it's baked into
[6:50] municipal code what city council can do.
[6:53] And then the question is do we are we
[6:56] able to make a decision independent of
[6:58] that or do we need to follow the same
[6:59] municipal code? So, there's there's some
[7:02] I've done some research and I you know,
[7:05] I'd be I'd love to meet with or work
[7:06] with some board members who are
[7:08] interested in the subject to do I can
[7:10] share what I've learned. Um you know,
[7:13] and and then you you could make some
[7:15] decisions about what you might want to
[7:16] propose to the um to the rest of the
[7:19] board. But the but the collection
[7:21] development policy and I put it in your
[7:23] packet is this is solid. This is based
[7:25] on American Library Association
[7:28] um you know, information. It's it's you
[7:30] know, it's best practice. The piece
[7:32] that's missing here I think is the piece
[7:34] about what the process is if it goes to
[7:37] the board. Thank you, Kelsey.
[7:39] » Of course. Um do we have anybody that
[7:42] would like to join that subcommittee?
[7:46] » I would like to be on this subcommittee.
[7:48] » Okay.
[7:49] » Yeah, I would like to do that, too, but
[7:51] I really want to jump off of the
[7:53] strategic plan subcommittee. [laughter]
[7:55] That's my reason.
[7:57] » Okay.
[7:58] » I would love to be on the committee.
[8:00] » Okay.
[8:02] So, Lynn, Aaron, and Janna?
[8:06] » Sounds great.
[8:07] » Sure. Yeah.
[8:10] » Thanks, guys.
[8:13] » Perfect. Okay. Um
[8:18] Next new business, we are considering
[8:22] doing a in-person
[8:25] um
[8:25] board meeting for our next one, which is
[8:28] September.
[8:30] Our actual scheduled board meeting is
[8:32] September 14th,
[8:34] um
[8:35] but we would love to do an in-person one
[8:37] on Saturday, September 12th instead, so
[8:39] 2 days beforehand. Um, do it as a
[8:43] morning, midday, or evening session, um
[8:47] if members are interested or willing to
[8:49] do so.
[8:52] » Yeah.
[8:53] I'd be willing to do that.
[8:55] » Okay. All in favor? Nays? Schedule
[8:58] conflicts?
[9:00] » I think it's a great idea.
[9:03] » Um, we're considering I can't remember
[9:05] Suzanne, how many hours did you say?
[9:07] 3 hours?
[9:08] » Um, yeah, we talked about 3 hours, maybe
[9:10] doing some work on the strategic plan.
[9:13] Um, maybe doing some breakout groups,
[9:15] maybe that would be a good time to talk
[9:16] about the collection development policy
[9:18] and
[9:19] » We can break out into a couple
[9:21] subcommittees and
[9:23] reform subcommittees as people have
[9:25] shifted around.
[9:26] » Yeah.
[9:28] Have pastries, drink coffee.
[9:32] See each other in person.
[9:35] » Sounds good.
[9:37] » Anybody here having nay on that or are
[9:39] we feel pretty good about that?
[9:40] » I would have to check. I think I might
[9:42] have an event then, but because so many
[9:44] members are missing, is it worth a
[9:46] follow-up email cuz lots of folks have
[9:48] kids and other activities on the
[9:49] weekends.
[9:51] Did you guys consider potentially doing
[9:52] an in-person meeting on a regular day
[9:55] when people would be available
[9:57] for sure?
[9:58] » Do in the evening, you mean?
[9:59] » Yeah.
[10:01] Cuz I would think for a lot of people
[10:02] with families, weekends might be more
[10:03] difficult. I don't know.
[10:06] » We can put it up to a vote of who's
[10:07] available on what. I think for a 3-hour
[10:10] session, I think I would prefer a
[10:13] weekend, but Monday evenings after work,
[10:16] school for
[10:18] everybody
[10:19] um might be a bit long, but we could
[10:20] always cut it down to a shorter time
[10:22] period if we felt like that was a need
[10:25] um
[10:26] to do that and then maybe do breakout
[10:28] committee meetings
[10:31] at a later time, non-board meeting
[10:35] Okay. Requirements.
[10:38] Um
[10:40] speaking of other meetings, we do have
[10:42] our um
[10:43] joint meeting with the city council on
[10:47] August 27th.
[10:51] So, attendance would be appreciated on
[10:54] that. I think we would we will need a
[10:56] quorum
[10:57] for that as well.
[10:58] » That's correct.
[10:59] » So,
[11:00] » Yeah.
[11:00] » Put it on your calendars for that. I
[11:03] assume 7:30? 7:15?
[11:05] » Uh that's a good question. It's the
[11:07] different time than
[11:09] » Yeah, it's
[11:09] » I can follow up with with that and um
[11:14] I we have they they would really prefer
[11:16] we not zoom, but we can people can zoom
[11:18] if they are not able to be there in
[11:20] person.
[11:21] » What date did you say?
[11:24] » August 27th.
[11:26] » 26th.
[11:27] » 26th. 26th?
[11:28] » Yeah.
[11:28] » Is that definitely the date?
[11:30] » 26th.
[11:32] » 26th?
[11:33] » Um that's a good question. I checked
[11:35] with Cathy Payne and she said yes, that
[11:37] we are definitely
[11:38] » Cuz I thought they were trying to meet
[11:40] much less frequently. Okay, that's
[11:41] interesting.
[11:42] » Did too. Yeah, that's exactly. That's
[11:44] why I called her and asked her if I
[11:47] if there was
[11:48] » Yeah.
[11:49] » There'd been some change and she said
[11:50] no, that that one was those are still
[11:52] scheduled.
[11:54] » Hm.
[11:54] » 20th, 26th. I don't know why I had to
[11:56] twice them.
[11:57] » What time? 6:00?
[11:59] » Uh let me check. Sorry about that. I
[12:00] didn't think to put that on my
[12:02] Um
[12:04] Okay.
[12:05] She says it's at 7:00.
[12:08] Starts at 7:00.
[12:12] Could we go back to um
[12:15] the discussion about I just need to make
[12:17] some notes. The discussion about the
[12:19] in-person meeting proposal.
[12:22] » I believe we're going to take a vote
[12:24] with the entire board since there's only
[12:27] five of us represented
[12:29] if we want if we're able to do Saturday
[12:32] of morning, afternoon, or evening or if
[12:36] it would be preferred to have a shorter
[12:37] session during our normal time on Monday
[12:40] evening.
[12:41] » Okay, Suzanne, why don't you do one of
[12:42] your Doodle Polls? Those are really
[12:44] helpful.
[12:45] » I can do a Doodle
[12:46] » Okay.
[12:48] All right. I can see where everybody can
[12:49] land.
[12:50] » Okay, that's a great idea. I will
[12:52] do it.
[12:56] Okay. So
[12:58] my Doodle Poll
[13:00] Sorry, I'm just going to repeat this one
[13:01] more time. So the Doodle question is
[13:04] Saturday
[13:06] like 9:00 to What did we say, Kelsey?
[13:08] 9:00 to 12:00?
[13:10] » 9:00 to noon,
[13:11] 11:00 to 1:00, or 3:00 to
[13:16] 6:00. Trying to do math there.
[13:18] » [laughter]
[13:19] » Okay, and then Ellen, your suggestion
[13:20] was the regular
[13:23] » But you might throw it out there as an
[13:24] option because everybody should have
[13:26] that day marked on their calendars
[13:28] already.
[13:29] » Yeah, got it. Okay. And that would be
[13:31] Would your proposal, Alan, be that it be
[13:33] a regular length meeting or
[13:36] » Yeah, I think Kelsey made a good point
[13:38] that being on a, you know, late at night
[13:42] 3 hours might be a bit much for anybody
[13:43] on a weeknight.
[13:44] » Okay.
[13:46] » Just putting out options there.
[13:47] » Okay, cool. All right. So,
[13:50] 9:00 to So, Saturday the 12th, 9:00 to
[13:52] 12:00, 11:00 to 1:00, 3:00 to 6:00, and
[13:55] then our regular meeting
[13:58] regular length of time for that that
[13:59] Saturday meet or the Excuse me, the
[14:01] September meeting.
[14:03] » Yes.
[14:03] » Okay, got it. Thank you.
[14:07] » Okay.
[14:08] Um
[14:10] That's all I have for new business. Does
[14:11] anybody else have something to propose?
[14:16] All right. Library director's report.
[14:19] On to Suzanne.
[14:21] » All righty. Thank you. Um
[14:24] Well, things are in
[14:26] um
[14:27] I was trying to figure out what word I
[14:29] was going to use.
[14:30] Things are kind of
[14:32] Things are kind of um
[14:34] up in the air, I guess, is the is
[14:37] probably the worst way to put it.
[14:38] Anyway, as you all know, you know, we've
[14:40] cut back to our Wednesday's and Thursday
[14:42] hours or days closed. Um
[14:45] there's a fair amount of confusion with
[14:47] patrons, as you can imagine. People
[14:49] needing to come in on Wednesdays or
[14:50] Thursdays.
[14:52] Um people have been very gracious about
[14:54] it. We have, of course, had some people
[14:56] complain as, you know,
[14:58] reasonably so, that they aren't they
[15:00] can't come in on a um
[15:03] they can't come in on a different day of
[15:04] the week or they or wondering why we um
[15:09] are even closed at all, that we have a
[15:10] lot we get we do get a lot of questions
[15:12] from folks about the budget and how
[15:14] that's impacting
[15:16] um
[15:16] what how that has impacted the library.
[15:19] A lot of people asking when we're going
[15:21] to be back open or is this you know,
[15:23] forever? Um, so we've been fielding a
[15:25] lot of those questions at the front
[15:27] desk.
[15:28] Um, you know, the answer is
[15:31] we are short-staffed. You know, we're
[15:32] down to two um, part-time staff.
[15:35] We're hiring as quickly as we can.
[15:38] Um, as soon as we've hired those folks
[15:40] and they're on board, we need to do some
[15:41] training. It's fairly extensive
[15:43] training. Um, so it's going to be my my
[15:47] guess is best-case scenario in early
[15:50] September we'll we'll be able to
[15:53] close uh, to be open again on Wednesday
[15:55] and then by
[15:57] late September, early October, maybe
[16:00] sooner, um,
[16:02] we'll be able to be open back open our
[16:04] six days of the week. Um, you know, cuz
[16:06] we need to the the questions in the air
[16:08] hanging in the air are um,
[16:11] are we going to get somebody who already
[16:13] has library experience? Are we going to
[16:15] get somebody who has experience in our
[16:17] library? And if we have either of those
[16:19] two things, then obviously training's
[16:21] going to go really quickly. But if we
[16:23] don't have people with those skills
[16:25] already, then it's just going to take
[16:27] some more time. I mean, it's a it's an
[16:29] incredibly complex job. And it takes,
[16:32] you know, there are tasks that are
[16:35] nuanced. I um, I talked to Michelle
[16:37] today um, and I've talked to Terry and
[16:40] actually Nicole and Brenda at this point
[16:41] too. Jan and I haven't had a chance to
[16:43] talk um, about how to do the training
[16:46] for this job. And and in the past um,
[16:49] we've done all the training on the you
[16:51] know, at the desk in the moment. But I
[16:54] think this this time because we have
[16:55] those closed days, I'm going to have
[16:58] them do some training at the desk when
[17:00] we're closed. So they can just learn how
[17:03] to use our content management system,
[17:06] how to help somebody use the um, online
[17:09] um,
[17:10] um, catalog. How to you know, what is
[17:13] what's in our shelves? What is it what
[17:14] is the the look like? All of those
[17:16] things that they don't have to have
[17:18] patrons there for, that they can really
[17:20] focus on, then we can get them up and
[17:22] running. I'm hopeful, um, faster.
[17:25] Um, but all that to say, so those are
[17:27] the That's That's the context. That's
[17:29] what we tell people when they, um, when
[17:31] they ask what's, you know, what the plan
[17:32] is and what's going on. That That's the
[17:35] plan. So, to that end, we have 105
[17:40] uh, as of June uh, July July 9th, last
[17:43] Thursday, which was my day for my first
[17:45] review of applications for the, um,
[17:48] positions, the two positions, we had 105
[17:51] applicants.
[17:53] Of those, 23 have some library
[17:56] experience. That ranges from they're
[18:00] just starting their master's in library
[18:01] science, but don't have any experience
[18:03] working in a library yet, to they have
[18:07] their master's in library science, um,
[18:10] and they have some library experience.
[18:13] We have a number of people,
[18:16] seven or eight people that have,
[18:18] you know, parallel library experience.
[18:20] They've been a clerk or they've been a
[18:22] library assistant or they've been a
[18:24] tech, um, who, you know, literally could
[18:27] probably drop into the job and, you
[18:29] know, very quickly pick it up. Um, we
[18:31] have some folks that have volunteered
[18:33] and have other relationships with the
[18:34] library where they've been in the
[18:36] library and they kind of know the the
[18:38] way we work, but don't have that, you
[18:40] know, that specific training.
[18:42] So, our first interviews are going to be
[18:45] on Wednesday. Kelsey's, um, going to be
[18:47] on the, um, hiring committee as is
[18:49] Nicole and I, and me. Um, and we'll be
[18:53] interviewing, I think, six to eight
[18:55] people depending on who, um,
[18:58] accepts our invitation.
[19:00] And then, uh, we'll do a second
[19:02] interview follow next week and then, uh,
[19:05] make an offer. We We have the option of
[19:08] choosing two people in this first group
[19:11] of people. If we don't find two people
[19:14] that we find that are exceptional enough
[19:16] to meet the you know, our requirements,
[19:18] we have the option because of because
[19:20] we're hiring for two positions of going
[19:22] back and looking at another block of
[19:26] people. And but that would be people
[19:28] that would be coming along after July
[19:29] 9th because we've already been through
[19:31] the you know, we've been through the
[19:33] group of people. Um the list of of
[19:35] applicants.
[19:37] So it could be it could be a little bit
[19:39] lengthier than I hope, but
[19:42] um we have a really really great group
[19:44] of um people to look at this time. So
[19:47] I'm really hopeful that um it's going to
[19:49] be you know, really efficient and we're
[19:51] going to be able to find two people we
[19:52] really like in the first go around.
[19:56] So I'm going all over the place here. Um
[20:00] So I'm going to go back and then try to
[20:02] follow my
[20:03] follow my rows my my um notes here.
[20:06] Um I was invited and I'm serving on
[20:10] an advisory committee for the state
[20:11] library called library cuts and closures
[20:14] rules committee. Um they are the the
[20:18] state library is updating their policy
[20:20] or the they're actually updating Oregon
[20:22] statute around what is required to close
[20:26] a library. There's a long list of
[20:28] requirements and rules state rules such
[20:32] as there has to be two public hearings
[20:36] 90 days apart. They have to be
[20:39] advertised in certain ways. There's
[20:41] there's um
[20:43] there's guidelines about you know,
[20:45] number of people in your
[20:46] the service population and what that
[20:49] means about how many you know,
[20:51] librarians or professional staff and
[20:53] paraprofessional staff must be
[20:56] um serving the public library for it
[20:58] actually to be considered a public
[21:00] library. So we just had our first
[21:02] meeting. We're going to meet once a
[21:04] month just a few times
[21:06] um, advise the, um, state library staff
[21:09] on, um, new language and, um,
[21:12] uh, new language for the that, um, part
[21:14] of the state, um, Oregon state statutes.
[21:18] And then Janna was just taken on to the
[21:20] Oregon Library Association Children's
[21:22] Services Division board. She's going to
[21:25] be the Communications Coordinator for
[21:27] the coming year. It's a 2-year position,
[21:29] so she'll be Communications Coordinator
[21:31] this year and then, um, you know,
[21:34] depending on what she likes and who else
[21:36] comes on board, she may stay in that
[21:38] role for another year or, um, move on to
[21:40] a different role.
[21:42] Um, we welcomed our new interim city
[21:44] administrator, Christy Wurster. Um, she
[21:47] Her first day was last Tuesday, um, and
[21:51] her first task was an a management team
[21:53] meeting. Um, so so we all got to,
[21:55] welcome her. Um,
[21:57] she's very forthright. She has a lot of
[22:00] experience as an interim, um, city
[22:03] administrator. She most recently, um,
[22:06] worked with Monmouth.
[22:07] She's also worked with Madras and
[22:10] Brookings and Sweet Home. And then she
[22:12] also worked for the League of Oregon
[22:14] Cities for a year. And it turns out she
[22:17] became good friends with John Walsh, so
[22:19] she has a she said a
[22:21] uh, particular place in her heart for
[22:23] for
[22:24] you know, what we're all going through
[22:26] and what she or herself is going through
[22:27] as well.
[22:28] Um,
[22:30] when she did her interview with City
[22:32] Council the previous week,
[22:35] um, [clears throat] I invited her to
[22:36] stop by the library on her way out of
[22:37] town going back to Salem and she did.
[22:40] So, she came in and we had a just brief
[22:42] chat. She was literally on the getting
[22:44] on the road, but, um, I showed her the
[22:46] Maker Space and she got to look around
[22:48] the library and meet a couple of people
[22:49] and, um,
[22:51] so she's asked all of us, um, department
[22:53] heads to meet with her. So, I'm looking
[22:55] forward to doing that next week.
[22:58] Um, at the library.
[23:00] Um,
[23:02] just just to re- reiterate our funding
[23:05] situation
[23:07] um now that the dust has settled, we do
[23:09] have funding for the four four full four
[23:12] part-time staff, 20 hours a week. We
[23:14] have the four full-time staff, and of
[23:16] course, we're all furloughed 10%. Um
[23:18] that means we're working fewer hours
[23:20] obviously during the week. Um we are
[23:22] flexing that. So,
[23:24] um you know, it just depends because
[23:26] we're not just we're not just you know,
[23:28] an 8:00 to 5:00 kind of place. City Hall
[23:30] has been able to do a be a little bit
[23:32] more regimented, but fortunately, we
[23:34] have the
[23:35] um we have the opportunity to be able to
[23:38] flex that. So, each of us full-time
[23:41] staff are making that taking those 4
[23:43] hours where we want to or need to and
[23:46] can, you know, to the extent that it's
[23:48] it's going to work out for the library.
[23:50] Um so, I'm taking an hour here and
[23:52] there.
[23:53] Um I all of us are really doing that.
[23:55] It's just sort of picking at it from
[23:57] here and there.
[23:58] Um and then the other piece of the of
[24:00] the budget is that 25 20 to 25%
[24:04] reduction in materials and services um
[24:07] for the
[24:08] um rest of the budget. Speaking of
[24:10] which, um
[24:12] we had some ADA buttons replaced. Um you
[24:15] may have noticed that we had quite a
[24:17] long time when the buttons were not
[24:19] working at the front door there and the
[24:21] women's restroom. Um it turns out that
[24:23] it is very difficult to find a company
[24:26] that um has the capability and is
[24:29] willing to come to St. Helens to do the
[24:31] work. So, we finally did find somebody.
[24:34] They're great. Um he came in and um
[24:37] made my day because he came in and said,
[24:39] "You know, that motor could be shot in
[24:41] that thing, and that'll be 4400 4400
[24:43] dollars."
[24:45] And fortunately, the part was 120
[24:48] dollars. So,
[24:50] we're um we're still in good shape with
[24:51] the budget.
[24:53] Um and speaking of building structural
[24:55] things,
[24:56] um
[24:57] Columbia County Public Health, we get
[24:59] there are Narcan boxes from them and we
[25:02] had in the past gotten the COVID test
[25:04] from them as well and the masks.
[25:06] Um, they asked us if we'd be interested
[25:08] in putting out a Knox Box, it's called.
[25:12] Which is a
[25:14] Can you see it okay?
[25:16] It's a um
[25:17] It's it goes out
[25:19] » Can you see it? No, oh no, you can't,
[25:21] can you?
[25:22] » There you go.
[25:22] » Uh, this is so hard. There we go. Um,
[25:25] it's a it's a box that goes out and can
[25:27] be anywhere affixed to the wall. It
[25:29] holds a couple of um
[25:32] a couple of boxes of Narcan, whatever we
[25:34] can fit in there. It'd probably fit
[25:35] three or four in there.
[25:37] And we would just put it somewhere for
[25:38] people to just help themselves as they
[25:40] need it. So, we've been talking about We
[25:43] have, you know, we have them at the
[25:44] front desk. We obviously want to make it
[25:46] easy for people to just grab one and go
[25:47] and not have to ask for them because
[25:50] some people do feel uncomfortable asking
[25:53] for them. And, you know, we had a woman
[25:54] come in the other day who had taken one
[25:56] a couple weeks before and came in and
[25:58] said she'd used it and saved someone's
[26:00] life and was coming back to get some
[26:03] more. So, we see a lot more people that
[26:05] are just putting them in their keeping
[26:06] them in their car,
[26:08] keeping them in their purse or whatever
[26:09] it is just in case they might run into
[26:11] somebody. So, anyway, to that end, um,
[26:14] I'm working with public works to figure
[26:16] out where to put that box um on the
[26:18] outside of the building somewhere. And
[26:20] then, um,
[26:22] they just reached out to us. They have
[26:24] these things called period pantries,
[26:26] which is like a little kind of like
[26:28] this, some kind of box that has hygiene
[26:31] supplies and other reproductive health
[26:33] stuff in it. And they would they would
[26:35] provide the box for us. We um partner
[26:38] with them. They're interested in us
[26:40] doing some like curated um book lists
[26:42] that we could accompany the period
[26:45] pantry with, you know, go to Dewey 636s
[26:48] for information about
[26:51] I don't know.
[26:51] » That's cool.
[26:52] » Whatever, reproductive rights or health.
[26:54] So, um we're working on that. Um we just
[26:57] um Janet just got that request a couple
[26:59] of days ago, so we're trying to figure
[27:01] out where we could where we could put
[27:02] it. Cuz we do have the supplies in the
[27:05] women's restroom and in the
[27:07] family restroom. We had them in the
[27:09] men's men's room for a while and they
[27:11] just
[27:12] we found too many hanging from the
[27:14] ceiling.
[27:16] The middle school middle school boys
[27:18] were just enjoying them too much. So, we
[27:21] had to pull them from the men's
[27:22] restroom, but um
[27:24] anyway, but they would supply all the
[27:25] materials and they would supply the box
[27:27] and that would be a big help to us cuz
[27:28] right now we pay for that that those
[27:30] materials, um you know, those items and
[27:32] they're expensive.
[27:34] So, we're talking about doing that. What
[27:36] else did we talk about? Oh, I wanted to
[27:37] share with you um this really
[27:38] interesting graph that
[27:41] Brenda and I have been working on um
[27:42] that she produced.
[27:45] Um hang on a second. I've got it cued
[27:48] up. I just need to grab it.
[27:52] All right.
[27:54] You should be able to see a document
[27:55] that
[27:56] says
[27:58] June 25th, 2026 year-over-year compared.
[28:01] » Yes.
[28:02] » Can you see it?
[28:03] Okay.
[28:04] Great. All right, so there's a lot of
[28:06] red numbers here, as you can imagine.
[28:08] June, um we were fully closed on
[28:12] Thursdays for the whole month of June.
[28:15] We also had some really weird days um
[28:19] closed. So, we had a couple of our first
[28:22] Thursdays closed. We also had the day
[28:25] that we were closed after John um
[28:27] disappeared while the fam while the city
[28:29] was still kind of reeling and trying to
[28:31] figure out how we were going to move
[28:32] forward. At the end of that week, we had
[28:34] Juneteenth, so we were closed 3 days in
[28:36] a row that week. That was the first day
[28:38] of summer library challenge, so it was a
[28:41] perfect storm. Um and you'll see that
[28:43] reflected in the number of visitors that
[28:45] we had
[28:46] in the building
[28:49] um that month.
[28:51] The other thing that I think is really
[28:52] interesting is if we look at visits per
[28:55] hour, you can see that there's very
[28:57] little difference in earlier in the day
[29:00] and in the evening it's just it really
[29:03] changes. It's significant. I mean we're
[29:05] we're down 81%
[29:08] um between 5:00 and 6:00 p.m.
[29:10] And here's my theory as she she and I
[29:12] still kind of digging into this. She
[29:14] just gave me this a couple of days ago.
[29:16] Um this is my theory or our theory. This
[29:19] is when we have our families here.
[29:22] This is when we have retirees and our
[29:25] regular folks that come in
[29:27] once a week or once every few days. The
[29:30] families are coming in to spin the
[29:32] wheel. The families are coming in for
[29:34] family story time. This is when most of
[29:36] our programming is. So I think what this
[29:40] shows is that programs are drawing
[29:42] people in and we've seen an increase in
[29:44] our program numbers, but also these
[29:46] folks are the ones that get in kind of
[29:48] get in the rhythm. They have some
[29:49] flexibility so they don't need to come
[29:51] in on a Wednesday or a Thursday. They
[29:54] they're able to um
[29:55] accommodate our you know unfortunate
[29:57] schedule.
[29:59] Here
[30:01] I think this is
[30:04] uh reflects the fact that a lot of the
[30:06] people that come in in the evenings are
[30:08] not our regulars our regulars are not
[30:11] regular library users. They come in they
[30:14] come flying in after work. They have
[30:15] some things that they need to take care
[30:17] of right away. Often people at this time
[30:20] of the day we have heavy public computer
[30:22] usage. We do have families coming coming
[30:25] in you know early you know around the
[30:28] dinner hour just before or after to pick
[30:30] out books and do some more library
[30:32] things. But I think what's happening
[30:34] here is um we aren't capturing the
[30:38] people who
[30:40] need to be don't have a choice on what
[30:42] day of the week they need to be here.
[30:44] And also, I think this reflects the fact
[30:47] that we are closed more days and people
[30:49] are still adjusting to that and are
[30:51] really curious about when the heck we
[30:53] are open. Because now we're not open 2
[30:56] days of the week and it was 1 day of the
[30:58] week before.
[30:59] So, I'm really hopeful.
[31:01] » Hm?
[31:01] » Go on.
[31:02] Uh last June, did we have any heat days
[31:04] where the library was open as a cooling
[31:06] center in June?
[31:08] » Interesting question.
[31:11] I don't think so. I think it was July.
[31:13] July and August. I could look that up.
[31:15] That's an interesting question. That
[31:16] might reflect it. Oh, the other thing,
[31:18] um
[31:19] I was asking Brenda what she thought
[31:21] this was cuz obviously this is a huge
[31:22] increase.
[31:23] » Yeah.
[31:24] » And um
[31:25] couple things, programming,
[31:27] but she also pointed out that we've had
[31:30] a lot more big training groups um coming
[31:33] in, you know, like CCMH um for a couple
[31:38] of months in a row did these big
[31:39] training sessions where they had folks
[31:41] here all day. They were filling up the
[31:43] auditorium. And we're seeing more and
[31:45] more of that. And her her um
[31:48] surmising without us really digging into
[31:50] these numbers is that this reflects
[31:52] that.
[31:53] So, people still coming into the
[31:54] library, obviously, but you see there's
[31:56] a reduction here in library visitors in
[31:59] general of 20% and then this increase.
[32:02] So, we think that's people using the
[32:03] maker the excuse me, the meeting rooms.
[32:05] » Hm.
[32:07] » So, you know, this shows that things are
[32:08] rocky right now, but um
[32:12] you know, I think we just need to power
[32:14] through these next couple of months
[32:15] until we can right the ship. And I think
[32:18] being able to open again after the
[32:19] school year starts is going to really
[32:21] help cuz folks will be able to settle
[32:23] back into their regular schedules and
[32:25] we'll be here for them again.
[32:26] » It'll be interesting to see these
[32:28] numbers in September, October when the
[32:31] library is back to its normal and see if
[32:33] those numbers right themselves.
[32:35] » Yeah. Yeah. I agree.
[32:39] Okay, and speaking of great numbers
[32:40] though, um
[32:42] we were Jenna came flying in the door
[32:44] the other day from the Maker Space and
[32:46] said, "Oh my gosh, that was that was
[32:48] really busy." So, she looked at the
[32:50] numbers and she said in the 3 hours that
[32:52] we were open, we had 26 users.
[32:55] Um seven of which were introductions to
[32:58] the space, which is a pretty
[32:59] time-consuming process.
[33:01] Six volunteers were there helping out
[33:03] and 11 people in the first half hour
[33:06] that came in. So,
[33:07] I mean, we had we had as you as you see,
[33:10] we had six volunteers helping and gosh,
[33:13] we just could not accommodate that that
[33:15] kind of a crowd um without their help.
[33:18] You know, we have somebody helping with
[33:20] IT. We have somebody helping with the 3D
[33:23] printer. We have somebody that helps
[33:25] with sewing and other sort of soft um
[33:28] soft skills.
[33:29] Um we have a couple of people that just
[33:31] know a lot about the Maker Space that
[33:33] kind of can float and then that gives
[33:35] Jenna the space to do the certifications
[33:38] for the 3D printer and to help people on
[33:40] specific projects.
[33:42] Um she said the big ones are sewing, 3D
[33:44] printing, laser cutting, Dot and Dash
[33:47] robots are super popular right now.
[33:50] IT help, we have a wonderful volunteer
[33:52] who
[33:53] just makes appointments for folks for a
[33:55] half an hour and sits down and helps
[33:57] them. He's been helping a fellow who got
[33:59] a new laptop that just needs help
[34:00] getting getting it set up, you know,
[34:02] getting the apps that he needs and he's
[34:04] an older guy and it's just he he needs
[34:06] he wants he really wants to help
[34:08] figuring it out, understanding it. And
[34:10] then LEGOs
[34:11] um are super popular as always.
[34:15] Um summer library program or summer
[34:17] library challenge, just a few numbers.
[34:19] Um
[34:20] we had 187 people at our petting zoo,
[34:23] which I mean, it was a super hot day. I
[34:26] think it would have been even busier if
[34:27] it hadn't been so hot.
[34:29] Um we had CRPUD's bucket truck at one of
[34:32] our family story times. That was super
[34:34] popular.
[34:35] Um we had youth um yoga
[34:38] and we had Let's see how many do I don't
[34:40] remember how many. I think we had 30 35
[34:42] people at youth yoga with all these cute
[34:45] little toddlers and 5-year-olds doing
[34:47] downward down dog in the courtyard. It
[34:51] was super cute.
[34:52] Um that's been fun. The teens have a
[34:54] writing workshop that they're doing. And
[34:56] Janna, I think didn't you help them get
[34:59] set up with that or you've been giving
[35:00] us some advice and Is that correct?
[35:04] Or somebody Ellen?
[35:06] » Yeah, okay.
[35:06] » Yep.
[35:07] » Okay.
[35:08] And then they're doing a lock-in next
[35:10] week where they're going to take over
[35:12] the library and build for They want to
[35:14] build forts in the library and they want
[35:15] to make
[35:17] I don't They're making slime in the
[35:18] maker space.
[35:20] They're just doing all kinds of fun kids
[35:22] stuff for the summer. So they're going
[35:23] to have 2 and 1/2 hours with the library
[35:25] all to themselves.
[35:27] And then um so far Janna just did a
[35:30] tally for me, 148,600
[35:33] and some minutes read um by all of our
[35:36] participants and we have almost 400
[35:39] registrants this year, which is
[35:42] I think it's
[35:43] I don't want to say a number. I Last
[35:45] time I looked I think it was down 20
[35:47] 25%, which honestly I think is
[35:50] is a testament is it
[35:52] is it
[35:53] um a positive result given all of the
[35:55] all of the um
[35:57] all of the turmoil that um that we've
[35:59] had in the city.
[36:01] Um
[36:02] Labor Day is our next holiday, li-
[36:05] library closed and that's the 7th of
[36:07] September, that Monday.
[36:09] Otherwise, you know, it's smooth sailing
[36:11] really. Everybody's
[36:13] Everybody's really, you know, put their
[36:15] nose to the grindstone and working
[36:16] really hard and
[36:17] you know, patrons love us and but
[36:19] there's a reason for that. We're good at
[36:21] our jobs and um we really care about our
[36:23] patrons. So and that really shows. I
[36:25] mean, right now as hard as things are
[36:27] for everybody, the fact that people are
[36:28] coming in and, you know,
[36:31] trusting us with their
[36:33] needs and, you know, help us helping
[36:35] them find court documents or
[36:37] find just the right book, whatever it
[36:38] might be. We I think it's a real
[36:40] testament to the people we have working
[36:41] here.
[36:44] That's all I got.
[36:46] » Thank you very much, Susan. Does anybody
[36:47] have any comments for Susan or off of
[36:50] what she had said?
[36:53] All right. Uh skipping over the council
[36:56] liaison report this evening.
[36:59] Um we are going to try
[37:02] uh out a new report, uh the Friends of
[37:04] the Library report, um with Lynn, just
[37:07] as quick updates so that we can kind of
[37:08] be up to date on what their funding is,
[37:11] their events, and other things so that
[37:13] we can kind of go hand in hand. So, I'll
[37:14] hand it over to Lynn.
[37:17] Oops, Lynn, you're muted.
[37:24] » So, uh they did not meet in June, and
[37:27] they're talking about not meeting in
[37:28] July.
[37:30] And I didn't so I wasn't at the last
[37:33] meeting to report, and uh hopefully I'll
[37:35] have something next month.
[37:38] » All right.
[37:39] » That's the short of it.
[37:41] » Thank you very much.
[37:43] Um any other business that anybody would
[37:45] like to add in?
[37:51] All right. Um so, action items. Susan's
[37:55] going to send out a doodle um for our
[37:57] board meeting scheduling,
[38:00] um and
[38:02] with that board meeting, we will plan on
[38:05] getting those committees to meet up
[38:07] together, um to kind of get things
[38:10] rolling. Um Susan, did you want to set
[38:13] up a meeting for the new subcommittee um
[38:17] sooner than that board meeting?
[38:20] » Um I I leave that up to the
[38:22] group. Lynn, Aaron, Janna, would you
[38:25] Do you want to comment now? I could
[38:27] start an email string and you guys could
[38:29] start to make some decisions. I'm I'm
[38:31] happy to support either way.
[38:33] » Okay.
[38:34] » That sounds good to me.
[38:36] » To meet or for me to send an email?
[38:39] » Um
[38:40] go ahead and send out an email when
[38:42] you're going to be available.
[38:44] » Okay.
[38:45] » And the rest of us can respond
[38:47] so that we can meet.
[38:49] » Okay.
[38:50] » And see how we want to meet.
[38:53] » Okay.
[38:53] » Got it.
[38:54] » All right.
[38:56] » Susanna is doodling for board meeting
[38:57] for board meeting. Susanna is doodling
[38:59] or emailing for subcommittee. Um, I
[39:03] don't have anything else on that. Maybe
[39:05] I'll have an action item that we need to
[39:06] accomplish before our next meeting.
[39:09] Oh, and Susanna's also sending out an
[39:11] email for reminding about the joint
[39:13] council meeting.
[39:14] » All right. Okay.
[39:15] Thank you.
[39:18] » So, everything Susanna gets to do today.
[39:20] » [laughter]
[39:21] » Yeah, you keep keep on keeping me busy.
[39:23] Um, actually I I do have a question. Um
[39:26] I I'm wondering if I'm sending if the
[39:30] emails that I'm sending out I I pulled
[39:32] way back. I was doing them once a week
[39:34] for a while and I just decided that it
[39:36] seemed like I was jamming up people's
[39:37] email boxes with you know, with bits and
[39:40] pieces. So, I've my strategy has been to
[39:43] send longer emails out, you know, when
[39:44] there's something pressing. But, I'm
[39:46] wondering I'm just wondering what the
[39:48] group thinks about that if there's a
[39:50] preference for more frequent missives
[39:53] about you know, bite-sized bite-sized
[39:56] things or media or if if you care one
[39:58] way or the other.
[40:02] » I would suggest whatever is easiest for
[40:04] you, Susanna.
[40:05] » Okay.
[40:06] There you go.
[40:09] » I think whenever something important is
[40:11] happening that you feel like you need to
[40:12] loop us in on, that's great. I don't
[40:14] expect a weekly update or anything but
[40:18] especially you don't have time. So,
[40:20] » [laughter]
[40:20] » When you have something that you need to
[40:21] tell us, I think.
[40:23] » Okay. Did you feel just one more
[40:25] follow-up question. Did you feel like
[40:26] you got enough information during the
[40:28] budget season?
[40:31] You I kept you apprised. There were no
[40:33] surprise unpleasant surprises when you
[40:34] were Okay.
[40:35] » Yeah, I think you're good.
[40:37] » Okay, good. Thank you.
[40:39] » Okay. All right.
[40:41] Um well, I guess we will motion to
[40:44] adjourn.
[40:45] Nobody's got anything else. If anybody
[40:47] to start that motion.
[40:50] » I make a motion to adjourn.
[40:52] » There we go. Lynn, anybody second?
[40:54] » Second.
[40:55] » Aaron seconding.
[40:57] » Aaron.
[40:58] » And then do we have to vote on that or
[41:00] is it just take a second?
[41:03] » Just takes a second.
[41:04] » Just takes a second. There we go. All
[41:06] right. Well, thank you so much everybody
[41:08] for
[41:09] um being here and I am excited to have a
[41:13] year with you.
[41:15] » Thank you. You've done a great job,
[41:16] Kelsey.
[41:17] » Oh, thank you.
[41:18] » [laughter]
[41:19] » All right. Everybody have a wonderful
[41:21] evening.
[41:22] » Goodnight.
[41:23] » Bye.
[41:24] » Bye-bye.