Board of Somerset County Library Trustees
Regular Meeting Minutes
Wednesday, June 9, 2021 at 4:00pm Princess Anne Library & Zoom
Present: Ann Smith, President; Beth Holmes-Mayson, Vice President; Lois Outten, Treasurer; Board Members: Karen Riggin, Tim Spillane, Jennifer Timmons; Ed Goyda, Library Director; Kayla Leimbach, Princess Anne Branch Manager; Jaime Bradshaw, Crisfield Branch Manager; Nora Hoffman, Bookkeeper/Admin. Assistant
Absent: Jayna Grant, Board Member
Call Meeting to Order
President Ann Smith called the meeting to order at 4:00pm.
Consent Agenda
Approve minutes from the regular meeting of April 14, 2021 Approve financial reports for the period from July 1, 2020 to April 30, 2021 Approve financial reports for the period from July 1, 2020 to May 31, 2021
President Smith asked for a motion to approve the Consent Agenda. Motion was made by Lois Outten, seconded by Jennifer Timmons and unanimously approved.
Branch Highlights
Crisfield: Jaime Bradshaw, Branch Manager
In April, the library celebrated Autism Awareness Month, National Poetry Month, and National Library Week with book displays and on social media sites with several interactive posts and resources, including staff pictures and videos. In May, the meeting room became available for public use, and the first booking was the Somerset County Health Department. They offered free Covid-19 vaccinations, and would be returning in June. The first in-person book discussion was held at the Crisfield Library with seven patrons in attendance and six patrons who participated via Zoom.
The Spring Zine was complete and available for download on our website. Marketing Associate Lorna Crockett and Ms. Bradshaw came up with a "Snap & Share" card to include in Program to Go bags to encourage patrons to share their work on social media, and hopefully in the seasonal zines.
Princess Anne: Kayla Leimbach, Branch Manager
The Library had 13 patrons join the Book Discussion Group in May; 6 via Zoom and 7 in person. Circulation desk staff continue to hear excitement from patrons as the library transitions back to having more in-person programming. The meeting room has been opened for use by the community and it has already been reserved for many dates in the coming months.
Children's Services Coordinator Karen Earp hosted a table at Princess Anne Elementary for the All Are Welcome Festival in May. She signed children up for the 500 by 5 program, demonstrated some STEM bots, and promoted library services. Staff attended the MLA conference virtually this year. Mr. Goyda, Ms. Bradshaw, and Ms. Leimbach also presented their "Outreach When You Can't Go Out" program at the conference.
Library Director7apos;s Report
Mr. Goyda presented his Director's Report for April and May 2021.
Core Services
Fine-free Libraries (SB524/HB1000): The interpretation of the bill required all children's accounts to have fines and lost book fees clear on July 1. We had cleared existing fees and would do so again on June 30. This provision only affected the implementation - we were able to and would be charging for lost books going forward.
Reopening Phase 4: We had moved fully into Phase 4. Meeting rooms were now open (and being booked rapidly), and in-library programming would resume with the Summer Reading Kickoff on June 15. All furniture had been restored to public areas, although we were still short four computers in Princess Anne until that week's ESRL visit. The A/B team restrictions were ended at the beginning of May; we would be removing the remaining work from home day from full-time staff at the start of July. The Maryland Department of Health had cleared us to end quarantine of returned materials; the Somerset Health Department had asked that water fountains remain disabled due to the lack of a vaccine option for children.
Vertical File Digitization: We had reached 300 items in the online collection, and Technical Services Librarian Gabe Stuckey continued to process the transcripts. The online collection was available at collections.digitalmaryland.org/digital/collection/sovf.
Community Outreach
Library Zine: The Spring Zine had been published, and we were taking submissions for summer through August 21.
Program Booklets: We would continue program booklets on an in-house, monthly basis through summer and return to quarterly booklets in the fall.
Community Partnership
Eastern Shore Regional Library: The regional directors continued to meet weekly, and a reopening tasks force had been meeting biweekly.
Internal Development
ARPA Grant: The State Library had $3.3 million from the American Rescue Plan Act that was being issued via competitive grants. We had a $72,473 application to expand the WiFi range at all three libraries from 10'-20' to 300' and purchase laptops for patron use, a $9,781 request to purchase equipment for STEM programming, and a $4,713 request to purchase equipment for outdoor programming.
CARES Grant: We had until September 30 to spend the remaining CARES funds, and two incoming staff laptops would take care of most of it.
Computer Upgrade: All desktops were replaced using current year Service Enhancement funds from the Eastern Shore Regional Library. Patron laptops would be replaced using either ARPA or FY22 ESRL funds.
Maryland Library Association Conference: Staff attended the virtual conference in the first week of May.
Niche Academy: ESRL had a Niche Academy for staff and patron training purposes, but we had little ability to customize content. We were reviewing an individual subscription, almost solely to establish a single-source for hosting our virtual program videos.
Sustainable Shelves: Technical Services Associate Michele Henry was reviewing an option from Baker & Taylor to return weeded material to them for resale or donation.
Youth Services
500 by Five: We continued to work with the Judy Center on this reading challenge, replacing 1000 Books Before Kindergarten.
Infant & Toddler Kits: We had received Infant & Toddler Kits from the Lower Shore Child Care Resource Center.
Summer Programming: Summer Reading would kick off on June 15. We would have virtual "Read a Book with Ms. Dani" on Mondays, in-person performers or combination STEM and craft programs on Tuesdays (10 am in Princess Anne; 2 pm in Crisfield), and story times, either virtual or hybrid, on Thursdays. The performers would be Turtle Dance on June 15, Zoo2U on July 13, and Reptile Wonders on August 10. We would also have a full slate of Programs to Go through August. After that, we would be reducing, but not eliminating, them as an on-going function.
Summer Reading: Karen had finalized the online (Beanstack) implementation, paper logs, and paper game boards for summer reading.
Summer Reading Prizes : We would have weekly raffle drawings for three age groups (6 & under, 7 - 12, and teen) for STEM kits from Kiwi Company.
President Smith asked for a motion to approve the director's report. Motion was made by Karen Riggin, seconded by Beth Holmes-Mason and unanimously approved.
Governance
Confirmation of Online Vote - Meeting Room Alcohol Approval: We needed a confirmation of the online vote of April 29 approving the Greater Crisfield Action Coalition to have alcohol at a fundraising event in the Crisfield meeting room. Lois Outten made a motion to confirm the online vote, seconded by Beth Holmes- Mason and unanimously approved.
Meeting Room Policy: As we brought the meeting rooms back online, Ms. Bradshaw had noticed that the hours in the policy were out of sync with library hours. The current text was "Available times in both libraries are: Monday through Thursday, 9am to 7pm and Fridays and Saturdays, 9am to 5pm." Mr. Goyda recommended a simple change to "Meeting rooms are available during regular library hours." After-hours availability, and the related conditions, were addressed in the following paragraph. Beth Holmes-Mason made a motion to accept the policy, seconded by Tim Spillane and unanimously approved.
Approval of FY21-22 Board of Trustees Officers: Effective July 1st, it was proposed that Ann Smith remain as President, Beth Holmes-Mason be appointed to Vice President and Tim Spillane be appointed to Treasurer. A motion was made by Beth Holmes-Mason, seconded by Jennifer Timmons and unanimously approved.
Executive Session
President Smith made a motion to enter executive session at 4:25pm, seconded by Lois Outten, and roll call was taken.
President Smith made a motion to exit executive session at 4:29pm, seconded by Lois Outten, and roll call was taken.
Resignation of Kayla Leimbach, Branch Manager: Kayla Leimbach had resigned from the Princess Anne Branch Manager position. Beth Holmes-Mason made a motion to accept the resignation, seconded by Lois Outten and unanimously approved.
Promotion of Troy Gale to Branch Manager: President Smith made a motion to promote Troy Gale to Princess Anne Branch Manager, seconded by Jennifer Timmons and unanimously approved.
Promotion of Jaime Bradshaw to Assistant Library Director: President Smith made a motion to promote Jaime Bradshaw to Assistant Library Director, seconded by Karen Riggin and unanimously approved.
Adjournment
President Smith requested a motion to adjourn the meeting. A motion was made by Jennifer Timmons and seconded by Karen Riggin. The motion was unanimously approved and the meeting adjourned at 4:31pm.
Respectfully submitted, Nora Hoffman Somerset County Library Bookkeeper/Admin. Assistant