OK this is the August library Advisory
Commission meeting, 2026.
Sorry.
OK.
I call this Thursday, August 20 meeting of the library
Advisory Commission to order.
We'll start with the roll call.
Desiree van loon, tomasina Capo Deborah Gentry, Mary
Ann Reddick, Katie McCarthy.
Mark McCall.
All right.
Please stand for the Pledge of Allegiance.
You can stand.
I try not to make sure anyone trips.
So then it should be coming up.
And this is as close as TV'S ever gone, I swear.
Next time, I'll wear American flag shirts.
But you have to wait.
Yeah, I'll wave in the.
Lights there we go.
OK I pledge allegiance to the flag
of the United States of America, and to the Republic
for which it stands.
One nation under God, indivisible,
with liberty and justice for all.
OK staff reports.
All right, guys, we made it to the summer.
We're back.
Also for staff.
You made it through the summer.
So, some fun things that have been going on.
Hollyhock library is officially closed today.
We were there.
Hollyhock were there packing up everything we did not know.
The moving company gave us carts to put all the books on.
So we didn't have to pack up books into boxes
and then remember their order.
So it went very well.
Everyone's very sad to be leaving our little baby
hollyhock, but also very excited to be
in the building with our Resource Center
that we direct people to the senior center
so we still can get the bingo parking lot crazy.
But staff have been going crazy with new programs,
so we'll be doing that because we have our very own space.
But we do have larger rooms.
So as our storytimes grow larger than our baby hollyhock.
We'll be able to move into bigger and bigger rooms.
So I can't wait.
We are trying to as we approved last meeting in June.
We'll be rotating now with hollyhock
in our commission meeting.
So double check exactly which location.
First time at hollyhock will be in October,
and I'll try to make sure that we
do like a nice big tour for you guys to see everything as well.
Next library of things kits have been going crazy.
Thank you Megan for also being in here
while we're talking about it.
Megan is the one that has to do all of the records
for our library of things.
Kelsey and I go on shopping sprees and buy random things,
and then she has to figure out how
to put them in our collection.
So when it gets cooler outside and you
want to hang out outside.
We have bags for cornhole, which we actually have at this park.
If you just want to walk over and have a good time.
Also, if you've lost all yours, the corn is out of it.
You can take them home.
Nice little travel pack.
We also got metal detectors coming in.
So go find some lucky coins out in the park.
Don't dig it up, but share anything you find, please.
But because it's still the middle of summer and it's hot,
we've also continuing to do more American Girl dolls.
Those are huge hits.
So now we're duplicating some of the ones we've had.
But we also added Felicity as the final America 250.
She's from 1874.
Nope 17 1774.
There three years before.
Thank you Megan.
And then more Tony boxes and all of those as well.
So library of things.
We also heard from another library.
They've been scoping out what we are doing.
So now they are going to be copying
us with some American Girl dolls and a few other things.
So Bravo to staff and Megan for coming
up with really cool ideas, and actually put them into motion.
And then we are hosting.
This is going to be a really hard word for me,
reflecting America a semiquincentennial.
Oh, I killed it on the first try.
Living history event.
The goal is to bring in speakers from our community that
serve time with the service.
Have great family stories of being
in surprise from the beginning.
Have family stories dating all the way back
to our American Revolution, and other stories from our community
that are just quintessential American.
We're hoping to get a really good event together.
The call for speakers is through August 31.
So if you know anybody, tell them to apply.
We're hoping to get at least a few speakers to have some really
cool ideas, and just show the history
of not only surprise and the Valley, but our entire country.
Did you say the date.
The final date for Call of speakers is August 31.
Our date for the event is November 19.
So right after Veteran's Day, we wanted to have one
last push for our America 250.
I think that hit all of our major events.
Staff reports are done.
Well, that was fast.
OK, moving on to the.
Commission agenda.
Let's see.
Wow I have one more.
Oh, sorry.
I should've kept my mouth shut.
This is what happens when I'm alone in a different library.
I don't have people to bounce ideas off of but.
Our lovely library director here won a public Service Award.
Please tell me the official title of the award, please.
Thank you.
The Gabe Zimmerman community public Service Award.
Community builder, large community tab.
Nice I won in 2020 2024.
We got two winners in the room.
Guys, this is fantastic.
Hot dog.
Good for you.
It's a big deal.
It is a big deal.
It is.
We're very proud of Kelsey.
She got to go down and have a little speech.
And a bunch of library staff went down to support
and had Ashton come because it's her birthday.
I'm sorry.
What day was it.
I don't know.
Feels like this accolade is probably more
important than date of birth.
Should we take this to a vote.
Real obnoxious.
I was like, I've never worked on my birthday.
I'm so sorry, I love you.
Have a great time.
But either way, it just shows what she's
done with this library system.
She was the first employee.
She's the one that brought all of this to fruition
and somehow allows us to do really crazy ideas.
Half of them might be hers, but we're just
really excited that not only is Kelce on the list
and able to show what she does, but also she
brings surprise public library along with them.
So great job.
I'm sorry I missed that.
My bad.
I'm not.
Should we do our reenactment.
Yes do your speech.
Can you give it online.
Yeah, yeah, just go to the website.
You can watch it.
She's now more uncomfortable talking about me.
All right, now we can finish.
I'm done.
Thank you.
OK OK.
Moving on to the regular agenda.
Item one consideration and action pertaining
to the June 11, 2026 library Advisory Commission meetings
is a meeting minutes.
Is there a motion to approve the meeting minutes.
I motion to approve the June 11, 2026 library Advisory Commission
meeting minutes I second.
It's been moved and seconded.
All those in favor say Aye.
Aye all those opposed.
Nay the motion carries.
The minutes are approved.
Item number two.
Discussion and action pertaining to the selection of the library
Advisory Commission.
Chair discussion is open Yep And you have your voting slips.
You have to put your name and who you
nominate after your discussion.
Just so I've got a few rounds for when
we do chair and co-chair.
Discuss first.
Yeah I was just letting him know that the thoughts, opinions you
just nominate and then you vote.
First you nominate, then you use those to vote.
OK, but I wasn't supposed to call for a vote
to start the discussion.
I'm really bad.
No, no.
You're fine.
You're fine if you like.
I've been gone for six months.
It was only like one month off.
Well, I would like to nominate Mark, a previous award winner
to.
Thank you for a chair.
For chair.
Yeah, that's the one we're on.
Yes Yes sorry.
I'm sorry.
You're writing this down first or what.
OK oh, OK.
So is there a second.
Yeah oh, you have to second the nomination.
Yeah, I think so.
We're so good at this, you guys.
It's been a year, to be fair.
I think I thought we'd do nominations
and then you vote, and then we read off the votes.
So is there another person who would like
to be chair is the question.
Oh, or one.
You want to nominate someone else.
I'm going to deflect the nomination to Desiree
and nominate Desiree again to continue.
Oh, because I'm doing so well, at least.
I'd like to nominate Tommy.
I got a rumble.
She's in a very good chair.
I appreciate that.
Anybody else board chair.
OK, now you get to write your name
and the person you vote for.
For just chair.
Yes OK.
You can use this if you have extras.
No, I'm just going to cross it out.
It's also hard to do with the first month back.
I know I do feel sorry for us.
Dang it.
OK, I will take it.
You don't have to read them out loud.
Yes OK.
Tabulate and then tell them who won.
You don't say thank you.
Last one.
Over here.
I'm just going to take this.
Do you know who's there.
Yes OK, good.
All right.
So, do I have to read.
I don't have to read off each one.
I have to put it in the minutes, so I guess we do.
That's like mixing up.
So it's a surprise.
Commissioner Gentry votes for Commissioner McCaul.
Commissioner McCaul votes for Commissioner
van loon and Commissioner Thomasina
voted for Commissioner.
Thomasina commissioner Mariann voted for Commissioner.
Thomasina I'm writing.
Just reading the names that you're putting on there.
Yes OK.
Commissioner McCarthy voted for Commissioner
Tommy and Commissioner Desiree voted for Commissioner Tommy.
So we have a new chair.
All right, so my acceptance.
Yeah it's got to be longer than Kelly.
Yeah, yeah.
How long I think it was, like, three minutes, so.
OK, I can make it.
Do not forget who the inaugural was.
OK beautiful.
So then we need a motion to accept it.
OK right.
We do that and then we move on to coaching.
Yeah all right, so is there a motion
to approve the new commission.
Commission chair I motion to approve Tomasino
da Capo as commissioner.
Chair for the 2627 library year.
Seconded oh, yeah.
OK, second, it's been moved and seconded.
I'll call for a vote.
All those in favor of Thomas Capo being
the chair of the library Advisory Commission
for the 2627 fiscal year.
All those in favor say Aye.
Aye all those opposed.
Nay the motion carries.
Yay again.
OK, so discussion and action pertaining
to the selection of the library Advisory Commission.
Vice Chair or co-chair.
What's the official title.
Vice Chair.
What does it say.
Well, this says co-chair.
This says Vice Chair.
Vice Chair.
OK OK.
My bad.
Fine Vice Chair.
Meetings canceled.
So the discussion is open.
So I'd like to nominate Mark McCall.
Thank you.
I think he already won that award, so.
Well, then I'll throw it back to you and nominate.
Again and we'd be happy to help you.
Any more.
No OK.
All right.
So I guess let's write it on our ballots
and then hand them to Ashley where is it still the tile.
Yeah it is.
Yeah I tried to hang it up and bought a bunch of studs,
so I didn't.
Oh what do you call it.
The Velcro.
The magic for me.
Oh what do you call the script.
That's how I hang it in my office, because it's all
asbestos, so we can't.
So we use the command.
All right.
Justice commissioner van loon votes.
Commissioner McCaul.
Commissioner Thomasina nominates commissioner.
Desiree commissioner Gentry nominates.
Commissioner McCaul.
Commissioner Mary Ann nominates commissioner McGuirk.
Commissioner McCarthy nominates Commissioner
Mark and Commissioner McCaul nominates commissioner Desiree.
So we do have a majority.
Oh, over time, I had to look up.
So now someone needs to make a motion.
Is there a motion.
Is there a motion to approve.
Commissioner McCall, as the Vice Chair of the library Advisory
Commission, I move to select commissioner
McCall as Vice Chair of the library Advisory Commission,
I second.
Thank you.
It's been motion and seconded.
We'll now call for a vote.
So all those in favor say Aye.
Aye all those opposed.
Nay the motion carries.
Congratulations Thank you.
All right.
Thank you.
Yeah do we have fun here.
Oh, absolutely.
OK yeah.
Oh, no.
Please, no.
All right.
Item 3.
Discussion and action pertaining.
Oh, sorry.
Item 4.
We just did that presentation and discussion
of staff attendance at the American Library Association
2020 sixth annual conference.
I love this stuff.
You guys love this stuff.
We love to send people to our conferences.
And of course, every year, our largest one
that we tend to get a lot of staff for
is our American Library Association conference.
This year was in Chicago, and we were luckily
able to send four people.
So you have to listen to four different staff talk about how
wonderful we are and how wonderful the conference is
and all of that.
And they're not lying at all, but we will have them go through
and I pass it over to Bambi to get us started.
Yes so this was my first time attending the American Library
Association conference.
Not my first time in Chicago, but it was my first time
as a tourist in Chicago.
So I fell in love with it.
So the conference was amazing.
It was from June 25 to June 29.
Oh, hang on, back up.
OK, here.
Here are all the attendees.
So I'm with Megan one of the days, and then Rachael and Emily
and I got to fly together.
So we were at the airport bright and early.
So that's how the session started.
When we got there, Megan and I both
attended a new member orientation,
so that was kind of cool.
They gave us the whole layout of what
to expect, how to get in on round tables,
how to join other committees at the ALA.
It was just kind of an all in all
informative, all encompassing.
Some of the other conferences I went to or not conferences,
seminars leading from the middle,
building consensus from influence, not authority.
So that one was really cool.
It really spoke to me as a middle manager,
talked the whole room was nothing,
but middle managers spoke a lot about having
to be able to sell things to the people that you're leading,
but then also be able to communicate
and share that knowledge up or down,
depending on which way it's going.
And so it was kind of nice to be around a bunch of people that
could relate and share stories.
They talked about being a glue helping motivate the staff when
you have new things come down that maybe seem
a little daunting, but still trying to sell it to them,
that it's going to be great.
It also talked about being able to adjust and interpret
what needs to be said.
So maybe something's being told to you from senior management,
but you need to be able to interpret that to your staff.
So it gave a lot of tools.
It was a pretty lengthy slide show that we were a part of.
And it was a lot of discussion, so that was a lot of fun.
Another one I attended was called Becoming
a library triple threat.
How improv helped you become a better librarian,
teammate, and leader.
Rachel and I were in that one together,
and this one was so much fun that we just did it at our staff
meeting this last week.
So talked about how improv can really
help teams be better listeners, be better storytellers,
be able to team build.
One of the exercises we did was you went around the room
and each person just had was able to say one sentence
to create an entire story.
And so it allowed you to show your ideas how those can work
together to create something really
cool, strengthen the teamwork.
It sparked creativity.
It helped just in general.
It was a lot of fun.
We had a lot of fun doing it at ALA
and then we had even more fun, I think, doing it with our staff
because we were talking about library specific stuff.
And so it turned out to be a real fun activity.
Another one I went to this one I kind of stumbled upon.
It was called Breaking barriers a librarians story
of changing times.
So I was using the app.
It was my first time using the app.
I didn't really know what to expect when I
tell you this place was so big.
Or what was the name of the convention center.
McCormick Place.
It's over 1,000,000ft So imagine and they
don't really give you a map.
You just pick out what you want to go to.
So you're just walking for miles, what felt like miles
and miles to get to these.
So this one I was like, this sounds cool.
It's right next to me.
I don't want to walk any further.
And it ended up being one of my favorites.
It actually was for retirees from ALA that had
been on previous round tables.
And so while I wasn't a retiree, I
think there's something to be said
about hearing from the people that have come before you.
And so the guy that was talking there,
he was the executive director of ALA from 1972 to 1985,
and he worked with Nixon.
He worked with Barbara Bush.
He, like, was one of the leading people
to start like to make sure literacy services basically
adult literacy campaigns.
We're starting with Barbara Bush.
I mean, this guy was phenomenal.
So I couldn't have lucked out on stumbling into a better one.
Like when I say it was my favorite, it really was.
They invited me to their retiree roundtable that night.
I mean, it was just a lot of fun.
But one of the things that he spoke to that during that
was about food insecurity.
And he talked about how food insecurity and illness, how they
correlate with low literacy.
And so it's like he was saying that it's libraries, jobs
to focus on, not just the literacy part,
but we need to be collaborating with agencies to help with food
insecurities and things like that because they
all go hand in hand.
And so that was really interesting.
He was like saying, we need more programs
to work with adults as well.
On low literacy.
I think we focus a lot on the early literacy
and we're constantly pushing early literacy,
but we forget that not everybody was educated the same way
or came from the same socioeconomic background.
And so he was just really saying, since he's
been in like that's been his mission
is to try and correlate the get more and more together
about the early literacy, the adult
literacy, the correlation between food insecurity.
So it was really cool.
I went to a lot more, but those were the main ones
that I want to talk about.
But the more fun things that I got to do
is I heard someone even say they looked.
I got to go to the Obama Presidential Center Library,
and one of the ladies I was with knew the manager there.
So I got the whole tour.
I got to go into the staff area.
We got all the ins and outs of how
the Obamas selected the specific books in the library.
And it was just it was super, super cool.
Not only did they take how we have our seed library,
they took it to a whole other level.
They have a whole garden outside, a vegetable garden
that people can actually pick the vegetables
from and take them home.
So it wasn't just inside the museum.
It wasn't just that it was all outside.
There was just so much to walk around, so much to see.
I didn't get to go in the actual main.
Let me show you here on this photo, that big brick
thing in the middle that I'm standing
in front of the second photo from the left.
I didn't get to go inside there.
That one wasn't open yet to the public,
but we got to go into the actual museum part, which
is I don't think I took any pictures of that on here,
but the one to the right of that is inside the library,
and the one to the left is inside the library.
So really cool.
They had a lot of program rooms that the library hopefully
will be able to utilize.
Because the library itself was pretty small.
All, they meant it to be more of like a living room style
that you can see, a lot of the wood, the ladders.
It was just very quaint.
They do their storytime right at a couch and a rug,
right in what looks like a living room.
So it was just very intimate.
They had these really cool sound barrier things
all throughout the ceiling.
So while there was like 200 people inside this library,
it was almost like silent in there,
but everybody was talking.
It was like the weirdest, weirdest thing,
because whatever these sound, things were all on the ceiling.
It just eliminated that sound, but super cool.
That was probably one of my favorite things.
Another thing, it was the 150th celebration for ala.
We were there, I didn't even yeah, yes,
I can't say that word, but so I got
to go to a dinner and a celebration about the 150th.
So that was a lot of fun.
Somehow I just kept landing with all these vendors.
I kept getting to go to these vendor dinners and stuff.
And so I got to learn about these launch
pad quests that were hopefully going to be getting
here within our library system.
They just launched with playaway.
It's like one of the coolest things.
They're kind of like a big pad and they have stem games
on them and reading games and it's all math and science
and they're super, super cool.
So yeah, look out for those.
What else did I get to do.
I went to oh they'll talk more about the vendor thing.
But it was a little overwhelming.
I mean there were just like thousands.
I'm not.
That's not even an exaggeration.
Thousands of vendors.
I took a picture.
They had American Girl dolls, and they had a big giant box.
And you got to pick your American Girl doll
that you wanted to pose with.
So of course, had to take a photo.
And then when I told you guys, I went kind of as a tourist
this time I took the architecture river tour
and that if you haven't ever done that was really amazing.
So while I learned a lot about libraries,
I think the networking and meeting the vendors
and finding out about what other library systems are doing,
hearing from past like that one was really cool.
I had a blast.
So I'm very appreciative that I got to go
and I thought it was a lot of fun.
Yeah OK.
Hi, everyone.
My name is Marissa Gonzalez.
This is my second time going to ALA.
I went two years ago as a very last minute substitute.
So this time I was able to bring an extra suitcase.
And it was much more fun because there
are so many vendors at all times just
throwing free things at you.
So it's very important if you get
to go bring an extra suitcase, you'll use it.
OK, so this is my experience.
This is my definitive ranking of all my tote bags at ALA.
I got 14 of them.
Wow, there are a lot.
Just kidding.
We're going to talk about how to best
serve tweens and teens in their mental health
through literature.
I was super invested in this.
Go back to that.
They want to know at least the top one.
Yeah tell us your favorite one.
The librarians start in.
Ignorance is pretty.
That one's a really good one.
I like that.
The ACLU one.
That one I got also for my best friend who's a public defender.
So there are two of those.
I think it says boom, the boom comic ones
is really good because it's got the flat bottom like an IKEA
bag.
Yeah So for vibes, it's the ACLU one.
And then the highlights one I think is the cutest.
And then for practicality it's the boom because it's
just it's the biggest one.
It's going to fit the best.
All those other tote bags were actually in the boom tote bag
at one point.
Oh, yeah.
What's in the bags.
It's the best.
OK I also got a lunch box from the Library of Congress.
There you go.
Thank you.
Library people.
Get it.
That's amazing.
OK, so now we're going to talk about serving
the mental health needs of teens through literature.
So just a little overview of some terminology.
Adverse childhood experience better known as ACEs
are things traumatic events.
So abuse neglect household challenges
other adversities that are just a myriad of things.
But aces for kids can lead to toxic stress.
So prolonged experience or prolonged exposure
to any of these things can lead to toxic stress, which can then
impact young brains and affect things like attention span,
learning, and decision making.
So the antidote to that is pieces,
which is positive childhood events, which include
being in a safe, stable home, a good community,
having trusted adults in their lives like librarians,
and reading.
Reading is actually a good, positive childhood event.
Medically speaking, we had a pediatrician on staff
at this presentation.
It was very cool.
Where do I go from there.
Oh, I had a mom a few weeks ago who came up to the front desk
with her little girl.
And she said, I have to read this from the script.
She said, this lady is a librarian.
That means she can help you, not just when you need help
with a scavenger hunt, but if you ever get lost
or need help can come to her.
Oh dang it, I thought I'd made me cry.
I know she is a grown up you can trust.
So having kids in the library is actually
important to their developing mental health,
not just their grips on all of the aspects of early literacy.
So moving on from that to the totes,
we talk about totes for a minute.
Circle back.
OK, so how can libraries help.
The biggest one is to stock the hard stuff.
All of the panelists on this particular talk
were young adult or teen to middle grade,
to picture book authors who are all adults
who experienced a lot of adversity in their childhood.
So their number one recommendation.
And this goes for the pediatrician as well,
is to stock the hard stuff.
Books are a free space for kids where they can see that what
they're going through is not completely unique, even
though it is unique to them.
It happens in the world, and it's not something
they need to be ashamed of.
It's not something they need to bottle
up and push down for the rest of their lives
and turn it into those aces.
And then readers' advisory specifically
for parents with struggling kids is a really
big thing I have resources on.
They had the most comprehensive list of everything seen things
from body dysmorphia in toddlers loss of a parent,
grandparent or caretaker.
Just anything you could think of.
They had books for kids, from toddler to tween.
It was awesome.
And then the pediatrician actually
prescribes books to some of her younger patients,
not patrons patients.
And she always asks the question for kids who don't
really like to read just yet.
She says, if you were going to read a book about you,
what kind of story would it be.
So I think that's a really good piece of advice for anyone who
has a young child come up to them and be like, I want a book,
but I don't know what kind of book.
That's a really good question to ask them,
because it then puts the onus back on them
and they get to reflect a little bit,
and then they end up getting a book that they
can see themselves in.
However that may be.
And then we have to keep being a safe space
for all of our kiddos.
That's really a huge part for the library.
Part of the ACS that I forgot to mention earlier
is that 19% of US teens have consulted
ChatGPT for mental health help.
Yikes 15% to 20% have clinical depression
and 40% report persistent sadness or hopelessness.
And these numbers only increase incrementally
for our queer youth as well.
Specifically for trans and nonbinary.
So safe spaces are an absolute must.
Having universal resources and especially paying attention to
and forming good connections and bonds with our toddler
all the way up to teen and tween when they need the most help
and maybe don't have the tools to reach out for it,
or they don't have someone at home who they can go to.
So those are my biggest takeaways from that really
informative panel.
Thank you so much.
I learned a lot.
Awesome oh.
She just went for the hot dogs and the toaster and the beans.
We risked our lives.
I'm not as funny as Rachel, and I'm not as eloquent as Bambi.
But Rachel did.
But Rachel did say something that I want to piggyback off of.
I went to school outside of Chicago, in River Forest.
That's where I got my m.l.s. degree 20 years ago this year.
I became a librarian.
I started working in libraries in 2007, and when my mom died,
I moved to California to start my first full time
library job there.
So I've been working in libraries for 20 years.
So I knew Chicago pretty well.
So I stepped close to the conference center.
And I had some and it was my first one.
It was my first time going and it was really overwhelming,
but I've found some great takeaways.
These are just a list of the things that came to my mind
when I was trying to put things together about the conference.
It was kind of like a mind clap.
It was like one of those cloud word cloud things.
Very kind of disorganized, but I was trying to put it together.
Rachel said something about stocking the hard stuff.
I work in collections.
I buy the team material here, the Spanish collection,
I work, I buy the digital overdrive.
And so I went.
I took away from the collection development.
I went to one on eradicating white supremacy in libraries,
and it talked about being intentional with your selection,
don't buy for just one demographic.
You have to buy for everybody because when you serve
everybody, and when somebody comes into the library
and they want something that they can see themselves into
and it I've seen it.
When I hand a book to somebody who really who was looking
for it, or I recommended a book and their face lights
up because they know you took the time
to learn who they are as a person
and find a book that reflected their life experience.
There's so many different lived experiences in this world.
It's hard to buy books for everyone,
but the least we can do is try.
So as collection development.
I've worked as a branch manager, I've
worked as head of collections, I've
worked as a circulation clerk.
I've done so many different positions,
and I have spoken to so many different kinds of people.
This was just a reminder to me that I serve everybody,
I serve all these people, and so they all deserve
something to see themselves in.
So ensure access to diverse stories,
because in a time where people are trying to take away some
of those stories, it's really important
that libraries continue to be the safe space
for holding all those stories.
And they shouldn't just have stories
that reflect their experience, but they should have stories
that make them feel welcomed and affirmed because they don't
always get that in schools.
Or like growing up with other kids, they get bullied.
I got bullied as a kid because I wore
glasses, got weird nicknames.
And so libraries are someplace they come to be safe.
The other thing I learned a lot about
was how to advocate for libraries.
The data alone doesn't tell the story.
Libraries have been suffering a lot of funding cuts.
So when you advocate they reminded me when you advocate
for library use, the data that is amazing to tell a story
because people hear numbers and they're like,
OK, yeah, that sounds good, but what
does that mean as an impact.
And that's when you bring in the story of a homeless person
coming in to find something at the library,
and the library gave him a water bottle or something
to make him feel comfortable, or you want to pair those numbers
with faces of people to make it, because that
is how you are going to advocate for your library.
And we all have a part to do play in that.
Every one of us.
And they were like every one of you
can be an advocate from your library,
and it doesn't matter where you are
or who you're talking to could be talking to the person
doing your teeth.
You can advocate for your library.
There have advocated to the library at my doctor's office,
I'm like, have you seen the latest stuff that we got today.
Oh, you like that.
Oh, you should come to the library.
People probably want me to shut up, but I keep doing it anyway.
Preach the Gospel of library and Doctor.
The keynote, KEYNOTE speakers.
The speakers I really related to was
where LeVar Burton and Doctor Biden because guys
have to see Doctor Biden.
Doctor what does that not come up.
When you were talking, Doctor and Rachel Maddow said
she had a crush on all of us.
Yeah Doctor Biden, can we go next time.
I'll pay for my way.
No, literally.
I know commissioners are encouraged to go to.
New Orleans to sit up in the front row.
The front row right by the stage.
And I took a bunch of pictures and I
should have put one in there.
But she had such a mom feel and she was just
like I say to my students all the time
that we have to commit ourselves to acts of kindness,
that we have to be the ones to keep the positivity going.
In a world where there's too much
anger, too much hostility, too much impatience with each other.
She's like.
She went on about how much she loved
libraries, how they were all welcoming and inclusive places.
And she's like, keep doing that.
I love libraries and I love you.
And then LeVar Burton kind of bookend
with LeVar Burton and these thousands of librarians reading
and he was.
He talked about what are the odds like.
Yeah, it was just favorite shows.
Oh my God.
He talked about that.
He talked about Reading Rainbow how it was like playing roots.
How playing Geordi La Forge, how he gave
his input on his characters.
And they said, we have to keep pushing the positivity
and bringing light.
People love to read.
He just loves Reading Rainbow and he loves that he's reading.
That's what we all love.
And then he finished, finished up with all of us
singing Reading Rainbow.
And that's fine.
That's awesome.
That was basically that was basically.
That was the most fun.
That was my.
No, literally it was amazing.
And the vendors.
So many things.
So many ideas for Library of things.
So many ideas for more books.
Yeah so take it away, EO.
How am I supposed to.
Like oh my goodness, you guys were so good.
You got this.
Thank you.
OK, so my name is Emily.
We have two Emily's that work in our system
currently, so they call me EO is my last name.
Thank you for clarifying.
But this was my second time going to ALA annual.
My first time was with Rachel.
They can't send us without each other.
We're a bonded.
Yes we just learned so much together.
But it was my first time in Chicago.
I've been all over the Midwest, but I had never been to Chicago.
I absolutely fell in love with it there.
Want to go back already, but it was such a cool experience.
So up on the screen or in your little
packets are a list of the panels I was able to attend.
I think the ones that really resonated the most with me was
the pre preschool because we're always talking
about pre kindergarten and at first that's
what I thought the panel was.
And I'm like wait we said pre twice like but it was all they
gave so many good resources.
It was a Wisconsin library that got to partner with PBS.
And they have so many good resources
for social and emotional learning for toddlers
before they go off to preschool.
Because the issue that they were having is like,
that's the first time the kid has
been apart from their adults.
And that's the thing I didn't even think of with my toddlers
and my toddlers.
Storytime and just how to build those really
secure attachments with adults.
So they're not like they don't have that anxious attachment
style, but just finding out appropriate ways
to build those safe and secure attachments.
And that's just kind of eases them into preschool.
The other panels that really resonated with me on the book
stage, they'll have different publishers come up
and talk about different books that they're
having or different topics.
And I went to one that talked about youth literature
and embracing deaf culture.
So going off on what Megan said, just our responsibility,
we have as a library staff to make sure everybody
feels seen, but also the responsibility that we
are being true to those voices.
And we're not speaking for those voices.
We're amplifying those voices, which we can do
through literature, of course.
But this panel was very interesting
because there is such a large disconnect between people who
are hearing and how they understand
deaf language and deaf culture, because it's
so much more than a language.
It's a culture and just understanding
how to be respectful when you're learning from deaf people, how
you want to learn from deaf teachers, and just
the conscious and unconscious bias of audism,
because there's so many times where hearing people think that,
oh, we need to fix this problem, but so many people
in the deaf community don't see it as a problem.
That's their communication.
So yes, just always trying to put ourselves to understand
different cultures.
One of the panels I went to in my first ALA annual
was about Arab American voices in libraries,
and just how much there is a disconnect
between our education system and understanding geography.
And you get what I know.
Yeah, I literally just woke up the other day with my friends.
It's not really taught anymore.
Even when I was in school, like, geography is not a thing.
And just like I'm very bad at trivia night
and literally when it lands on geography.
Yeah good night.
No right.
But awesome.
But just like and even just getting
confused with ethnicity and religion
and just those stereotypes.
And so we bear a lot of that responsibility to make sure
we're spreading the accurate information
and always staying up to date.
We're lifelong learners.
Always trying our best to keep up with what's going on matching
the community needs.
The other really interesting panel I went to
was crush climate anxiety.
So this is definitely something.
The newer generations are learning more and more about.
And they just gave ways to.
Acknowledge how the children how a lot of these kids are feeling
and how although it's like this huge problem and it
may make the kid feel very, very small.
There are ways that we can take other
and try and come back to that.
But yeah, that one was what's the word.
Like sad.
Yeah happy.
Sad like just so overwhelming and existential because I mean,
that's what libraries are always going to be.
We're always going to have to be reflecting on what
the new generations need.
And so it's very important.
But it also is very harmful.
It's just sad.
But I think that this being the 150 years of ALA,
that they did a really nice job of reflecting and connecting
librarians on us, our core bill of rights as librarians,
but also us reflecting and re-examining
those to see how those Bill of Rights continue today.
And then there are the main stage speakers.
I saw one of my favorite authors, Min Jin Lee.
Yes, I was sobbing.
Yes And I was actually able to get her newest book
that's coming out on NetGalley.
Oh yes.
You guys should probably be able to sign up for NetGalley.
Yes a way to get electronic advance reader copies if you
haven't heard of it before.
Yes and so they were talking about her book.
And I was like, wow, I know what they're talking about.
You haven't read it yet, but yes.
Yes it was.
Yes it's such a good book.
And she was just such a great speaker
and I'm a very emotional person.
So I was just like everything, what Rachel was saying earlier,
I was like, oh my God, I can't read that without crying.
And that happened months ago.
But yes.
Oh, George and Johnson, that was a great speaker too.
I didn't even realize that they're
having another book come out.
Just a lot about book bans.
There was also talk about what one of the panels
talked about soft and quiet book bans.
So not like sometimes you'll see it in the news
like, oh, this school library is taking out this book.
But then a lot of the times, it's just kind of
pushed under the rug.
Sure that's all I need to say about that.
We all know what's going on with that.
Yeah, I just saw something about how.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, that's not going to get too crazy here.
But yes, Rachel Maddow is claiming they
were all such great speakers.
And then my last slide, I got to meet Daniel typekit.
Oh, I know that.
I'm sorry, guys.
That was my highlight.
That was pretty crazy.
And just being there.
Oh, I was also wearing my Arthur shirt that day
and PBS getting so excited.
Like the people at that booth.
Like, it's just so beautiful, such a inner child
like healing experience.
Yes so much cute stuff.
I was so excited to show my toddlers that I
got to meet Daniel Tiger.
Not to brag.
We also got a bunch of cool resources.
We got blue storytime stuff.
Yes, I was very happy with all of the youth
oriented stuff they had.
Rachel was kind of disappointed in me
for including the picture of the big hot dog
going to town like Lizzie, but.
Chicago in front of the bean.
What are you going to do.
It's like your job.
I know Kelce.
Wow OK.
Yes and there's me reading from one of my favorite books.
Genderqueer the author was actually there.
Yes, yes.
And they signed a copy of the book for me.
Yes that was super cool.
And I get to make.
It was a very long line.
And Megan.
Megan got me, got me empowered to get in the line
because I was really looking forward to that.
I was like definitely have to pick your battles with what
you're doing because you're just so much cool stuff
and so much exciting stuff.
And, well, don't worry, next time we'll be there so we can.
Yeah And take different.
I love all of it.
Yeah it looks like you went to the Field Museum.
Indeed yes.
Oh, my goodness.
That's such a good.
Pattern recognition.
Yes it was really cool.
We were disappointed that the Pokemon exhibit was sold out.
It was OK.
Yeah, that was very crazy.
Like, I just want you to take my money.
Yeah, yeah.
And then we did have to take a cab back to.
That was a really crazy McCormick
to see Rachel Maddow because we couldn't get her back.
That was.
I had never been to.
I didn't even know what she was talking about anyway.
But yeah, that was my experience.
I'm so grateful I got to go and it's just so nice.
It's so refreshing to be around so many people who
are so excited about the same things and new things,
and just it was wonderful.
I'm going to start crying now.
Are we able to ask a question.
Absolutely This has been very light here towards the end,
but I want to ask a serious question.
In light of being a safe place and hearing stories
about children's experiences, of not being somewhere safe,
not the library, but our librarians
mandated reporters of abuse.
Not in Arizona, unless you're a school librarian, I know.
Yeah, because that starts to get interesting because
of the ethics and.
I know because I'm in library school right now.
I remember that was a big thing that they talked
about in my ethics course.
And it's really difficult. Yeah, that's all I can say.
It's difficult. I can't speak on surprise that we are not
mandated reporters, but we do have
a close relationship with our community officers
who are going out.
And so if we talked about one of our patrons who
tends to be a resident here, and we see issues that
are coming up, we can talk to them
about what options do we have.
And then we also work with HSV.
So we're not mandated, but we have criers
and we have very large hearts in this library system.
So we do have resources to reach out.
So you could never see it and then not
say we don't have to but we do.
Yes right.
You don't sit there with this pent up
knowledge you haven't placed.
And I think that's a great way how Ashley worded that.
Because it's really important to make sure that the person
who it's affecting that they have the autonomy,
which is what makes me nervous about being
if we were mandated reporters.
It's like, I don't feel comfortable just
going to the police right away.
So making sure we're connected with our community resources
and that whoever we're helping, we want to be helpful.
Yeah love that.
Thank you.
Any other questions.
I love that.
Thank you so much.
You guys are so engaging and passionate
and I love every minute of this.
And I do want to go next year now.
And I have this registration for and around the same time as WNBA
all stars.
So like, we could just make it one big trip.
I mean, Chicago, it was just this past year.
Yeah where is the next one located.
New Orleans.
Oh, no.
This was my first ala.
And it was a great time.
But speaking of that, I love the ranking of the tote bags.
But also I would love to know what did you experience there
in Chicago that you really enjoyed that just added
to the experience and made it like,
I'm so excited and energized to go back to the conference
because I got to see or do this.
Yeah what I really love about Chicago
is it has a Midwest feel like everyone is so nice,
but you're still in a big city.
So that was just because I mentioned,
I've been all over the Midwest, but it was
just so different in that way.
Just everyone.
So just do your thing, like.
And people like I remember cab driver.
Oh, yeah.
Our cab driver, there was somebody honking,
and he was just unfazed.
I feel like here.
Like it's scary to honk, even if you think
you're going to get hit.
And they're just everybody just and it's like, yeah.
And it's just like I love that honesty
just don't have to worry.
Yeah do you have a ranking of the best things that you
ate while you were there.
I was going to say my thing is the food,
because I feel like you can tell a lot about a place
from the food.
And my.
My mom's from Michigan.
I've been all over Michigan.
I know the Midwest.
I wasn't expecting Chicago to have, like,
such awesome diversity and quality of food.
We ate on a different country every single night
and it was always wonderful.
This was my first Chicago dog also.
Yeah Emily almost got me punched by the guy making the Chicago
dog because I made a joke about ketchup, and she goes out loud.
Rachel, no, don't put ketchup on it.
And the guy just turns real slow.
No, he hands it to me and he goes, don't put ketchup on it.
I was going to anyway.
But yes, the food was really good.
Chicago dog would have again for sure.
No scrunch dogs at Home Depot has really good.
OK, that's good to know.
Yeah, I had an I went I found a restaurant
that my dad took my younger brother to back in the back
a few years ago.
And because my family's from the Midwest, I grew up in Wisconsin.
And so Chicago, Chicago is like going home.
So I was like, as soon as I got off the plane, I'm like,
my people, I am here.
So we went to a German restaurant, which was delicious.
But the best thing I had in Chicago was this
dessert called it was a s'more.
It was a giant s'more.
And they grilled it so that you could actually taste the.
You could smell the fire, that it was like tasting us more.
And it was giant.
It was like this big and it was most delicious
dessert I had ever had.
So I ate it like three more times while I was there.
And it was.
And they were like, unfortunately,
one of the nights the grill broke and they
saw me coming because they.
It's a small lady.
Yeah they didn't, they saw me coming
and they're the grill broke.
So it's not going to have that fresh.
And I'm like, oh, it's fine, it's fine.
And they knew it wasn't really fine.
But they one night they comped me for it.
So I was like, yeah, it was really funny.
So yeah.
So I literally went to a vendor dinner like every single night.
So we got to go into the science museum after hours.
So we had it to ourselves and they were giving hors d'oeuvres
and it was bacon wrapped mushrooms.
And so I didn't really get anything fancy like you guys,
but I had really good food the whole time.
Yeah, I don't It was all catered.
Mine was all free.
Well, except for the 150th that you had to pay.
It was a plated was a plated night.
And I would say the food was not my favorite.
The other ones that I got to go to.
So yeah.
And you said for the Obama, the library branch
at the Obama center that they have rooms that they
will do programming in.
Do they have programming now.
It's separate from the library.
So the library is very small.
Like I can't remember the square.
I want to say it was like 5000ft Don't quote me on that.
But I remember it being half the size of a sort.
So it has the tiny little room where there's only two.
A two person desk for checkout and check in.
Like that's it.
And then there's another room that's called
the Presidential reading room.
And so that one's it's everything in there.
President Obama picked and there's one little desk
in there, and then there's some tiny little STEM areas
to do, like maker space.
And when I tell you the staff area guys,
I was like, I'm never going to complain about my staff area
again.
I could literally touch both sides.
It had a sink right here.
It had four lockers and two desks,
and there's nine staff members there.
So I was like, where are they all sitting.
I was kind of confused, but yeah, it's very, very small.
So they are going to have to do programming
next door at the other museum.
But that had tons of program rooms
tons downstairs in the basement.
And it had a really cool theater where
I got to watch the whole thing about presidents.
President Obama's presidency.
And it brought me to tears like it was a lot of fun.
And then somehow I ended up at a block party.
Ex-mayor of Chicago.
I don't know how I ended up at that one.
I was just ending up at these places
where people are going to be like.
They're like, oh yeah, next to me was.
Like, hey, I don't know what I'm doing here, but nice to be here.
Thanks for having me.
And I just got some food and some drinks and.
Hi I'm Emmanuel.
No yeah, it was a lot.
It was a lot of fun.
I really met a lot of cool people.
I met like all of Chicago's library.
I mean, they think they have 20 some libraries or something.
I mean, it's a lot of libraries.
I think the Obama ones, like the 22nd or.
Yeah so I met, like most of the branch managers
for all the different Chicago libraries.
It was just a lot of fun.
I had a lot of Uber rides.
I've never taken so many Uber rides in my entire life.
I really know how to use Uber now.
Is it hard to travel there, when you're going in between stuff.
It's like the Uber is like traffic crazy.
Like I'm going to teach them how to use public transit
in Chicago next time.
Yeah, it is so easy.
I never did that.
I never did the public ride the bus when I took e-bikes and mine
didn't work, so that was cool.
And I think I got honked at three times.
Yeah so I was Obama library funded differently.
I thought I heard somewhere that it's
funded differently than the other Presidential Library.
I think it's the only Presidential Library,
like true Presidential Library.
Like the only one, I think.
Oh, yeah.
Yeah it's the only one that has an actual lending
library branch in it.
Oh and that it's not just a research library.
Yeah, well, there's a center, and then there's the library.
Connected But they're also different.
Yeah, it's really cool.
Everyone should go.
Did you get on that ladder and ride across the room.
No, but I took the picture specifically for Kelsey, so.
OK I really wanted to do that.
Like in beauty.
Well, that is a dream.
Never mind.
Next time.
Yeah next time.
Well, I just echo what she said.
Your guys' passion.
Every time you talk, I swear I'm just like,
I got into I'm so passionate about my job
and I love what I do.
And every time I hear you, I'm like,
I think I should become a librarian.
Hey it's working.
That's another one.
I'm like, I love what I do, too.
I mean, you just make me like.
That's how she got me, that's for sure.
Oh, it's so good.
I'm going to cry.
Yeah And Emily, I want to tell you,
you're talking about being a person who makes impact on kids.
My son.
Well, my four-year-old will literally.
If you're at the desk, he waits for you to be
available to check stuff out.
I hired her three times.
He'll go ask her for things.
Like when we're doing a scavenger hunt.
If he doesn't have a pencil, he'll like.
There's people at the desk open, and he
will go to her putting books away and ask her for a pencil.
So you've made that impact.
She's so happy.
That's my favorite part of working in my life.
Just so stressful.
But yeah.
Shout out Bambi.
She introduced me to the library.
Oh, geez.
She hired me when we were with the County as a page,
and I was like, she's going to be.
Yeah, this is just going to be like.
Yeah, yeah.
You're going to go to school for psychology.
Yeah she switched.
Yeah but I think eventually maybe one day.
But I'm very happy where I am right now.
Well, we're happy where you are.
Thanks, guys.
Amazing thank you.
And you get a glimpse into what the back of our workroom
sounds like at all times.
It is a very fun place to be because we have such characters,
but they love it.
A truly like this is why we want to send them
is because they have passion.
We can't teach them everything.
And we should get out of surprise and see what else.
Teachers are working hard.
But it's just wonderful to see them connect
because they come back and they're like,
I'm going to do everything.
And I was like, maybe once a week,
like, chill, take a deep breath, OK, now go.
And you do that when you go, I gotta go.
I gotta tell the best part.
So they've talked about getting a lot of free stuff.
I had so much free stuff that I walked blocks with my suitcase.
I already checked out of the hotel and a box of books
to mail because I am cheap, so I wanted
to find the local post office.
So I walked like four blocks with my suitcase,
my carry on, my backpack and the box of books to mail back here.
It's also fun to watch you guys react to them because we're
all library nerds.
Whether you like it or not, we're all in it together, so.
Well, yeah, they said LeVar Burton.
I was like, I right.
What I know when everybody saw Rachel's tote bags
and just like, understood.
Like, oh yeah, that was the best because it's IKEA.
Thank you.
Well thank you guys.
Thank you so much.
May I have that clip, please.
Yes throw it.
That's a hard act to follow.
I didn't know that.
You could just go.
If that's the case, I will be there next year,
like on New Orleans.
Awesome and I've just now learned like
to not be scared of flights.
So like, I'm ready to travel, so I need to go.
Yeah I think some of us will be going next year.
So we.
Need to make myself care so I can be invited to this again.
You don't have to.
I'm just.
I'm just telling you I'm going to go.
Just go to New Orleans and chill.
Yeah you can just tell that you are.
And they would never question you.
Yeah, well, you were chair.
You keep saying that.
You were saying it's like being a former president, right.
Yeah we got an Obama title.
Obama same.
Same OK.
Presentation and discussion on the 2026 summer reading program
on Earth.
I'm sorry.
I'm not as funny as all of them together.
We're going to have some fun.
I just wanted to do a brief overview.
I knew we had a lot on the agenda tonight,
but summer reading is huge.
Our staff put so much time, so much effort into it.
Again, at the same point of view you just watched,
we have to tell them to not do 12 more programs
that are already doing 37.
Please stop.
Choose it for another month.
So I just like to bring in the numbers and a few
of the pictures, just to see exactly
the impact that our staff are doing
and really how we're growing.
So this year, our registered users were 6673.
For context, our very first year in 2023, we had 2000.
Wow that's insane.
Word has gotten out.
People love our coupons.
They love the program.
They love all of our secret codes and our scavenger hunts.
We get yelled at by kids that we don't switch
the scavenger hunts enough.
They're very serious.
So then we do extra ones during the summer
and it's still not enough.
Our first time participants ever in a summer reading
program at all was over $3,000.
Wow that's amazing.
We are.
I want to shout from the rooftops
that the library has things.
And this is showing that we're.
Something's working.
It's our staff going out to those outreaches.
It's again, I'm going to come back to the programs
that they're planning.
There's also dinosaurs this year.
So like people lose their mind over dinosaurs.
We were fantastic.
We had 3,600 achievers.
So these are all people that reached 1,000 minutes or more.
And there are some kids who will keep
putting in their minutes and it's getting 2, 3, 4 or 5,000.
Over the six month span, some of them do it in a day.
As impressive.
The badges are through the program
where you get badges for different it community events.
You go to Secret codes minutes.
They're kind of sprinkled in there.
That is a lot of badges.
And total minutes were over 9 million.
And these are just surprised residents
or surprise participants because you have to choose your branch.
I'm million minutes is a lot.
It is amazing that we are a budget person.
I'm actually going to call that just shy of a billion, right.
It's awesome.
I can learn from you.
And every day we're a tag team next month.
Yeah, but now I lost.
My train of thought completely derailed me.
I don't a lot of minutes.
It is a lot of minutes.
But it's just amazing to see.
Just how much our community is coming
together and enjoying reading and also enjoying the program.
The first summer reading meeting for next year is in October,
so this is a year long event.
Bambi, you're still in here, so I'm going to call on you.
What is this picture from.
Jamie's Dino.
It was a Dino dinosaur program, wasn't it.
The dinosaur parade.
Dinosaur parade.
Yeah what was the parade all through.
She played Jurassic Park and walked the entire perimeter
inside the library.
They made these little dinosaurs.
I love that.
It goes like.
And the feet.
And I believe that's hot dog.
Chicago dog.
Rachel inside the dinosaur.
Oh, yeah.
Chicago dog.
She does tend to be some of our costumed events.
Rachel's fantastic and a great character for those.
But this was.
People kept talking about it.
We had people come up to Bambi and when I was working the desk
the next week, talking about how much fun they had
at the dinosaur parade, because we
had a lot of velociraptors roaming through the library
with the Jurassic Park music.
I mean, you hear it going off and
everyone's like, what is that.
I think we had a program where we were working in the back,
and someone started the music and we were like, Jurassic Park.
We were actually in a very formal meeting
and we were both like.
I did that one just for you, but it's not a snake.
So for context, within just this June 1 and July 31, the reading
program ends the 20th.
But our staff can't stop themselves.
We did 110 just summer reading programs.
That's not including our book clubs,
our storytimes, our crafts that are every month programs.
They did 110 extra.
We have 20 programmers, I think within all of our staff,
2025 programmers at 110.
That's a lot we had over.
Excuse me.
We had near $7,000 program attendees.
So these numbers are very fun.
And as Megan was saying, they want to tell a story.
The numbers are the story at times.
Like it is amazing that we had near as many people
come to programs as we had registered,
which is still quadruple of what we've had in the past.
We also bring in a ton of teens for our summer reading.
They work the front desk or front desk.
The summer reading desk.
They hand out prizes, which saves our lives.
When you have million minutes and prizes for all of them.
Excuse me.
10,000,000 minutes, 10 million, I don't a billion,
billion, billion.
I've lost my brain.
And so, just a really awesome thing to see our community
come in and help us as well, because we need it.
So it's shelving that's doing the summer reading programs.
They're coming in and helping set
up for all the different crafts and then
breaking down the paint.
So pictures on this one.
Wild man Phil, people adore him, not Kelsey.
He brings in snakes and lizards and Gila monsters.
And he came in on a Monday at Asante
and we had 400 people at that one on a Monday morning,
which is usually a very quiet day for programming
because we don't have as many staff at Asante on Monday
and sold out the house.
It was amazing.
The middle one is from Baby cave painting,
so I put there a lot of the parents
disrobed their kids so they could really play in the paint.
Didn't want to post that publicly
and respects to the parents.
But they were covered in paint.
But they were cave paintings everywhere.
It was the most adorable thing in the world.
That was a cool program that Lisa put on.
And then we had our I can't remember the name of this group.
Dino Dino crew.
Maddie and Kelsey's child.
These guys come in full dinosaur getup and it is 110 degrees out.
So we're very grateful that they did our first day, our kickoff.
So just such a cool thing.
And the kids love this.
When you can take a story and learning from dinosaurs
or just reading books about dinosaurs and fictional stories,
and then to have them come alive.
It's very, very cool.
It gets everyone going.
Dinosaurs and I always want to take a moment.
I tried to get everyone on here.
This was the easiest way to do it.
We have so many people within our community that I want
to thank, and we work with them every year,
and they're always willing to come in and we're like,
hey, by the way, I know you gave us 4,000 coupons last year.
Now it's up to 6,000.
Is that OK.
And every time they want to join in.
So like our mainstays that are just
within surprise, our Portillo's, Culver's, Panda Express, Oreo,
Queen jet's pizza.
What are the things that are habit.
Habit? no.
Was countywide, wasn't it.
Yeah Phoenix Raceway was us.
Yeah Phoenix Raceway.
Texas Roadhouse.
Our friends of the library, like the Phoenix Raceway was.
I didn't see those.
It was like a coloring book.
And then on the back, you could enter
a drawing for free tickets.
OK, I didn't see that.
And they want to do more with that.
So I'm like, can we get a car out front.
You can drive it around the block.
Let's see.
Yeah, yeah.
So we're just it's amazing to see every year we get more
sponsors that want to come on board because they believe
in what our staff is doing, but also
they're part of this community.
And it's just it's those little things that build
community that I just adore.
I turn in my Culver's and people are like, oh, did
you get this from the library.
I'm like, yes, I did, thank you so much.
I got 25 minutes until my next meeting.
Can I have my food.
No, I'm just kidding.
But it is very fun to see how many come through.
And like I said, we're getting more and more every year.
And these people keep signing up every single time.
I'll give you 1,000 more.
Oh, you ran out.
Let me give you 1,000 more.
So we're very, very grateful.
We have awesome prizes.
But these add to it.
And it also brings people to surprise,
to spend money and surprise and continue to grow.
So I can never say enough about it.
Can I do comments positive in a critical.
Sorry positive.
The staff here as is always amazing when we
come in to collect the prizes.
They were out of one of the ones that I don't know.
I think it was the Barrio queen or something.
We don't have any more of the whatever.
Will you take a Culver's instead.
And we're like, are you kidding.
Yes thank you.
So we're picking the colors and then it's
the County wide sponsor, but just as we provide feedback
back the mercury again, we ran into difficulty
with the ticketing process and I had
to escalate all the way up to the vice president of the Suns
just to get my tickets.
I was not happy.
Wild yeah.
You're committed.
But we went.
It was a good game.
They won.
It was the Brittney Griner came back game
and we won and all that.
But still, it was like I shouldn't have to fight
to get tickets like that.
So just feedback I appreciate it because we can.
The Phoenix Mercury is a sponsor through the County
who the County then gives prizes to everyone.
Just for context, I love I'm going on Saturday, so
and I have another two games lined up, so I'll let you know.
And that was my thing.
I was like, we want to support the local community
and we want to support our sports teams,
but not if I have to beg you, yes, to get
me to switch apps this year.
And their logistics team is probably going through it,
because even in other libraries, we
have to refer them to a helpline because there's
just so much going on that we don't have control over.
Exactly, yeah, yeah.
But we pass all of that on.
We do surveys and we let everyone know.
Yeah, it was difficult. There was a week where Kelsey and I
were going back and forth.
Every time one of us would try, it's
like it's still not working.
But what I made it work.
Took her a couple more days.
If the Gabe Zimmerman award winners came.
That's right.
Oh, you just know who to call.
And you get it taken care of.
But still, lots of publicity about these events that
are on our social media and so forth.
But how else is it these statistics are so fantastic.
Where else are you going to publicize that.
The front desk.
Front desk.
I think that that's a lot of the places that I work.
The front desk, a measly four hours.
And it's like every time someone comes in
and they're like, oh, it's summer reading.
Like it's make sure you sign up for us
because you still get all the County stuff
and a little bit more.
And I think as you look at the expansion.
And as we plan for outreach and sponsorships,
we are becoming like the West Valley library.
Sorry, Avondale, but so building that reputation
of like, no, we're going to have fun,
we're going to do really cool stuff.
And I think that what separates us from a lot of the other ones,
it's very easy just to take the County prizes and be like, yeah.
And then we're going to have some extra programs
and we're like, no, no, no.
And then you get all of these big people love these prizes.
I guess what I didn't ask that.
I know the statistics.
Yeah our library dashboard is our number one.
It's on our website.
We want to send that out.
We also work with our marketing communications team
and through the city, and we're going
to be in the progress magazine.
And so we'll show some of our numbers there.
It depends on the lineup of when they come out,
where sometimes it's not all of our numbers,
but we're just happy to show, no, no, no, look at this.
We've done this.
And commission loves to tell people.
All right.
So you guys but also back to Kelsey's point.
Like we tell our staff these numbers.
And then when someone goes oh my God I love your summer reading.
They're like, did we had $7,000 people.
Like they want to brag about what we're doing as well.
So how about this surprise independent or something
like that.
Love if they pick it up.
Oh, do you submit it.
And sometimes they don't.
Our marketing department does.
Our marketing leads all of that.
But feel free if you found something
that maybe they should know.
Yeah or.
Yeah oh.
That's cool.
You guys can do more things than we can.
Do you have a breakdown in demographics as far as age.
How many teens adults use.
Yes, so data just curious of the 3,000 new people we get whatever
because we can go in and pull if it's 0
to 5 because the different age groups you sign up for.
Yeah do I have that on here.
I think last year I was looking up because I like
am competitive a little bit.
So I was comparing it to Scottsdale, not to Phoenix,
but bigger cities like, well, our numbers like
and our numbers are actually close to or better
than Scottsdale.
And a lot of the metrics for last year's summer reading,
I don't know how we finished.
But for the first few weeks, we were the number
one branch outside of Phoenix.
Wow so every week I checked, I looked at your guys' name
to see where you guys were at.
And I was like, yeah, you guys are easily up there.
Yeah at one point, I believe off the top of my head,
I'm logging in to see if I can see it quickly.
But just like any librarian, there's data all over the place,
so it's pulling the actual right numbers is what I got to find
at one point in the middle of the summer,
we were beating everybody but County and Phoenix.
You have 15, 16, 17 libraries.
So like, obviously they're going to beat us every time.
Mesa and Chandler.
So we were the largest in the West Valley.
But Glendale is bigger than us, Scottsdale is bigger than us.
And we were having numbers bigger.
Chandler's always had a killer summer reading.
They are the people that we want to be because somehow they
are destroying all the time.
And mesa is just huge as well.
It's a very large population.
So let's see.
And we also receive feedback in like a survey.
So less quantitative or qualitative of like here's
what we really like.
We didn't like this.
And they provide that directly to us.
So we can see great Bay County.
Yeah the County runs the survey.
And then they give us our results.
And I believe they do it both from a staff and a patron side.
OK, interesting.
OK I mean, do you guys are you going to submit it to that.
The video, they do the surprise lately.
There's the two ladies that do the.
Yeah, yeah.
Virginia yeah, yeah.
They're part of our marketing team
and we meet with Nicole every other week, so.
She tries to slip us in as many times.
We graciously have to understand there are other city departments
who also deserve the spotlight.
Not really.
But someday we will convince Nicole that we should
be the first and only time.
Yeah does it happen every time.
But I mean, the summer reading numbers are impressive,
so maybe you guys can make your own little library
talk show for your library.
Yeah library lately.
Yeah OK.
It's OK if you don't have it right at your fingers.
I'm just curious.
Yeah it's OK.
Our next meeting, I found it.
I just have to figure out exactly.
I'm going to guess adults is my.
That would be your highest improving age category.
That's kind of what I was wondering.
I feel like adults really got into literacy this past summer,
as they should, but I think a lot of them
don't realize that they're eligible because they're
working the desk.
And I'm like, oh, like my kids.
And they're in your name.
They're like, oh no, I'm not signed up.
And I'm like should be like, well, I read it
and I'm like, that counts.
Yeah, yeah, that's a two for one.
You should just read to a classroom.
Yeah OK.
I got the first numbers.
Removing Phoenix and County.
Chandler and mesa were the only two libraries
with more registered users.
Chandler and Chandler and mesa.
Mesa and then let me see if I can find I love data.
Let me give you data.
I think it's bigger than we are overall.
Yes which I mean, like Scottsdale, Glendale,
like most places, are substantially bigger
than we are.
How many does Avondale have.
I mean, you were just.
Tommy, you gotta ask this.
When I were here, what was the question.
Not a lot.
Branches we have two.
Yes And people.
As in workers.
No patrons.
Patrons, whatever.
It's a good question.
I was like, on a daily basis or during summer reading.
Summer reading.
Because you were saying we're trying
to be take what surprises and cut it in half like, all right.
We did have a lot of good numbers.
We've got I was going to say, their library director,
and I work together at one point,
so I do talk to her pretty frequently.
Their main branch has similar statistics to Asante.
OK yeah.
And that's the one I work at, is their main branch.
OK I think we had about 4,400 finishers
for our summer reading program.
Which was pretty good.
And it was mostly adults was our number one category.
A lot of pre readers.
That's cool.
Yeah OK.
Good OK.
So one format thing so I can actually see what I'm doing.
Let's see.
So adults were at 2,300.
Teens were at just shy of 1,000.
Our kids were at 2,500 again.
So adults and kids are kids is 5 to 11.
And then pre-readers is 4 and below.
And they were at 900.
So adults and kids right at that same age.
So same numbers.
That's awesome.
Any other questions on summer reading crushing it.
Yeah as usual our staff are great.
Like it's exciting because we get to be
the ones to tell you guys.
But like saw it there babbling, excited and thinking
about the next program.
Like we can't slow them down enough.
And it is just so fun to come in and brag and just
be like a proud mama bear every single time
of like, look what they did.
So just mad.
Kudos to all of our staff two 50th yet or is that coming up.
You don't have to do it.
Yes I will have to do a recap.
OK Maybe next month.
Next time.
The stats.
It's because I don't think it's over because our November
program is still in my head.
Oh, I see, I haven't done one because that was fun too.
And being able to do both at the same time was pretty cool.
Don't tell staff that it's in your outlook.
Nicole sent it to us.
The stars, oh, obviously the stars and stories.
Never mind.
For next time OK.
Yeah next meeting.
We'll do that.
All right, so call to the public.
There is no public.
Would you like to say something.
No OK.
No no no no.
Other business and future agenda items.
Discussion is open.
Do we have anything planned for the new Gen. Multi-gen center.
Like anything, we have to.
Yes I'm going to be emailing you guys
all the fun stuff coming up.
So we are having a soft open next week.
We're inviting the families and patrons
who come to hollyhock the most.
So that'll be a quiet thing.
Our marketing team will be there to catch the kids,
and we'll have word searches that are library related
and fun little coloring for them,
because we really want them to just
come in and be in the space.
We're also doing a community art project, which
will start that day, and we'll go all the way
through the first month.
And then the grand opening is September 3
and it is in the morning.
But I'll send all that information for you guys.
And then if you guys want to stop by at any time
ahead of time, but October, we will be there for commission.
You said September three.
September three.
It is a Thursday, but I have it on my list
to email you guys all the outreach stuff for September.
So September.
So that's coming up.
I have a request.
I was dropping my son off at his in-home preschool
that he goes to.
There was a child wearing a shirt
that said surprise library on it with the logo,
and it was so cute.
And I was like, I want to have a shirt.
Why I have a shirt.
Turns out he's read 1,000 books.
So I just read you 1,000 books.
I know it's a little too late for me.
But just like, next time you guys are doing stuffed shirts,
like, I'll buy one.
I really want one.
Yeah, I have a beanie now, but I want a shirt.
A beanie I can wear, like two times.
Merch no.
These ones that say volunteer right now, putting it on a list
or can I just like illegally get your logo
and make my own shirt or something.
It's crooked.
Yeah, exactly.
I know people who make shirts.
I just really want one.
I can get you 1,000.
I have a hookup.
It's better if you're an adult with your.
Shirt one into the library and work your way around.
Yeah oh.
That's funny.
I can see, like, a cute little baby tee moment.
I know it's going to fit like a baby, too.
I was like, why does he have a library shirt.
I am a commissioner for the library.
I don't have a former chair.
I know all I have is, like, tote bags and an ornament
and a beanie and a magnet.
I agree, I would love to have.
I know that I have the one, I have the gray one
that I wear when I volunteer, which I feel like yeah,
because I'm a volunteer.
It doesn't say volunteer on it.
We did get new volunteers because when
I wear that with my badge, people think I work here.
But I am very helpful.
I do know where everything is for the most part.
But then there's sometimes I'm like,
well, I always say I'm just a volunteer,
but I can help you with that.
And if I say, I'm just a volunteer.
Let me take you to a library.
But I realized I was like, yeah, I probably
should use my cricoid to put volunteer on it,
but that would be great.
But just like any shirt that I could wear out to be like,
hey, yeah.
Hey, have you heard of just because Follow me
to the library.
Yeah everyone this way.
Yes we are very grateful for all the merch we have been given.
I actually used that little tape measure in my purse.
It's very useful, but it doesn't.
Like I don't get to show it to people.
It's not a conversation starter.
Like, maybe it could be you're not trying hard enough.
No like a t-shirt would be a surprise library
t-shirt with Rachel Maddow.
No right.
Joe Biden, Joe Biden.
I wonder if we could.
I don't want to copyright infringe, but take a look.
It's in a book.
Surprise Rachel.
Library just I don't know.
I agree, the shirt's not 1,000.
Maybe we're talking the whole tote bag department.
I mean, maybe we need to get on top of that.
And it could be our new favorite.
Obviously, we need the solid bottom,
they were saying for IKEA.
IKEA bag.
Yeah that's funny.
Well, it sounds like you don't need it.
You do need more participation in a summer reading program.
Would you want so much.
Because we all had t-shirts that had summer reading
program and the dates and summer reading
like a walking billboard.
Yeah, I'm just going to wear a sandwich board,
walk around town.
Yeah if there were multiple types.
I mean, I might be able to actually sell it.
I don't know what the rules are for that,
but if you had a little merch area,
people might actually buy it.
I know I would because I'm a library nerd, but safe space.
Yeah, but I agree.
I think that would be very nice.
And I can't wait to wear that beanie if it ever cools down
I know someday I'll go somewhere to wear
it when we go to New Orleans.
It's not cold there, is it.
No never mind.
It's at the end of journey.
Oh, OK.
Yeah so cold in the convention center.
Yeah, but everyone would definitely recognize us if we
all pulled up with our beanies.
They'd be like, what's wrong with those people in two.
Yeah, they're from Arizona.
This is cold for them.
No, literally, I think it's a plan.
So as far as I don't know if this is actually other business,
but have we decided anything about banned books
week coming up.
Like any sort of programming or anything
like that or just the display.
I don't know yet, to be honest.
I still have summer reading on the brain.
I mean, we always just focus on freedom to read.
Yeah either way, I don't.
Yeah, not picky, but something.
I know we had talked about it before,
but I didn't know if there was any movement come in and already
come in and chat about it and see how in depth we want to go.
And then I so in June, I went up to Burlington, Vermont
to stay with a friend of mine.
Her husband is deployed.
He's been gone a long time, and I was just going
to help her with the kids.
And, we just wanted to help.
And plus, it's really nice up there, and it's really hot here.
So I went up there and I basically was like hanging
out with the kids for the week.
They're 8 and 10.
They're my godchildren.
We had such a good time.
And of course, it's me.
So I'm like, let's go to the library
and see, sign you up for summer reading and do all the things
and see what programs they have going on this week.
And it's a really lovely library.
It's inside their City Hall.
It's actually she lives in South Burlington, which I didn't think
was big enough to warrant its own City Hall,
but apparently it does.
Burlington's not that big, but it's a really lovely space.
Their whole downstairs is the children
and juvenile area and then upstairs
is teens and adults, which is really nice.
And inside, it has they call it the wiggle room,
and it's an enclosed space where it's like all windows,
like from the pony wall up and then a glass door
and it's like all soft stuff.
So there's a bunch of toddlers in there,
just like having a great time.
And then the parents are mostly sitting outside, like chatting
and but you can view what's going on.
It's very sweet.
Nice space.
But I did notice they don't have much programming area.
They have a very small room.
And I was asking like, where do you do all your programs.
Like, well, in here, but we don't
really have that much space.
And so I was talking to their branch manager
and because I was like, I'm a Advisory
Commission chair, like in my city,
I'm like, oh, where are you from.
So we started talking because I didn't want them to think I
was just like a random weirdo.
I'm just like, I have a reason for being weird and asking
you all these questions.
Did you get a library card.
I did.
It's not activated.
But she let me have one.
But they were very sweet and they were asking like
oh like so we service 42,000.
Like they count their whole city like we service
this many people, even if that's not the number of library cards
they have.
This is who we service our whole community, 42,000 people.
They're like, what size are you.
And I'm like, oh, population.
It's more than that.
And she's like, because they didn't know where surprise was.
I was like, it's a suburb of Phoenix
in the West Valley of Phoenix.
Like, oh, OK, random town.
They've never heard of us.
And they thought like, surely we'd be really small.
Like maybe they would be bigger, but we do 42,000.
I'm like, it's 140,000.
They're surprised.
Yeah, 55,000 active library cards than they do population.
Exactly and so I was like, I'm not trying to brag.
I was really nice about it, but she was very sweet.
But I like to ask people and talk to them
and just compare and see what they're
doing versus what we're doing.
And I do have to say they're very impressive
and they're very sweet, and they're also
very dedicated staff that were so excited to talk
to me about things.
But guys, our programming is absolutely amazing.
And I know they're a lot smaller than us,
but they had the whole week I was there,
but basically the whole month of June,
they only had two like school aged programs for kids
that because like I said, my godchildren at 8 o'clock and 10,
there were two things the whole month for them.
Like most things were like the story
time for Littles, which was only once a week.
And then they had a couple of teen things, basically
one thing a week for teens.
And I know they're probably limited with funding and things
like that, but I was like, wow, we are so fortunate,
but also so awesome.
So I wanted to just bring that back.
And every time I go and talk to a different library.
Our library is really amazing, so I just
wanted to share that with you.
And they were all they were all very impressed too.
So they thought we were amazing.
They were like, where is this city again.
Because they thought it was, oh, it's a little suburb.
It's really tiny.
Is that anywhere near scottsdale?
Yeah, I visited Scottsdale once.
No, these people had never, like, one of them
was like the branch manager.
She was from Wisconsin, and she had
never been West of Wisconsin.
And the other, the two, there was a page there,
and there was just like there she was, and she was an intern.
And now she works there.
But they were they're from Burlington,
like, never left the state of Vermont.
So they had no idea where any of our geography.
So that was almost better.
But like 1,000 people because to them that's huge.
Well, our County is bigger than your state.
Yeah exactly.
But I do have I just wanted to report back of how very proud
I was how impressed they were.
And like, every time I go to a new library, I'm like,
oh, we are so impressive.
So very cool.
Very cool.
Bring that back.
And like.
Because yeah, when we do get out of surprise,
it's good because we can steal some of our ideas.
And maybe they can steal some of our ideas.
And they were also impressed that we have
an Advisory Commission because they
do not and Burlington doesn't.
And they're like, oh, I don't know.
I don't know of anybody that has one.
Well we do.
So it's difficult to get all of them
together because there's not many of you.
So it's impressive.
And I wanted to let you all know that every time I
go to a different library, I'm more and more
impressed with what you all do.
So the link outside libraries with summer reading, who reached
out to us and was like, we were looking some library system in
like Kansas, like we searched all the summer reading programs,
like in this country and we're looking for ideas
and they called us and we're like,
can you tell me more about what you're doing.
So we have no affiliation with found either.
Our socials or whatever.
So slowly people are figuring it out.
Wow even faster than you can travel.
So very convenient.
Keep telling all the people.
Comparison is the thief of joy.
Unless you're comparing us to other people.
Yeah, and then it's awesome.
And then it brings lots of joy.
No, I mean, we're not as big as other.
Like, I have a friend who's on the Advisory Commission
for the Anaheim public library system,
and they're a lot bigger than we are.
They have a lot more money than we do.
They do some very cool things with it.
I'm not going to say it's better than what we do,
but they just have more options because their budget is bigger.
And their branches are bigger.
Circulation like, I mean, they're just a bigger city
that's much older than we are.
But I still even when I do that, I'm like, oh, well,
you guys do that.
That's awesome.
But like we do this and you guys don't
actually offer that at all.
So even when we're not the biggest or have the most money,
there are still things that we really shine up.
So I will still ask people all these questions
just so I can find those spots.
Yeah, we're doing this really great.
So I say it's not me, you guys.
But I'm very proud.
So is there any other business.
Current events and reports.
No any more discussion.
All right.
Is there a motion to adjourn the meeting.
I motion to adjourn the August library advisory meeting.
I'll second.
It's been moved and seconded.
All those in favor say Aye.
Aye all those opposed.
Nay the motion carries.
The meeting adjourned.