[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.

07/13/2026 Regular Library Board Meeting

Transcript