Board of Somerset County Library Trustees
Regular Meeting Minutes
Wednesday, February 8, 2023 at 4:00pm Princess Anne Library & Zoom
Present: Ann Smith, President; Tim Spillane, Treasurer; Board Members: Lynn Lang, Karen Riggin, Janet Smith, Jennifer Timmons; Ed Goyda, Library Director; Jaime Bradshaw, Assistant Director/Crisfield Branch Manager; Troy Gale, Princess Anne Branch Manager; Karen Earp, Children's Services Coordinator; Nora Hoffman, Bookkeeper/Admin. Assistant
Absent: Beth Holmes-Mayson, Vice President
Call Meeting to Order
President Ann Smith called the meeting to order at 4:00pm and shared a "thank you" that was received from Jan Gorely's Family.
Consent Agenda
Approve minutes from the regular meeting of December 14, 2022 Approve financial reports for the period from July 1, 2022 to December 31, 2022 Approve financial reports for the period from July 1, 2022 to January 31, 2023
President Smith asked for a motion to approve the Consent Agenda. Motion was made by Tim Spillane, seconded by Karen Riggin and unanimously approved.
Branch Highlights
Crisfield: Jaime Bradshaw, Branch Manager
In December, staff participated in the Crisfield Christmas parade on December 2, celebrated spirit week the 12th- 17th, and had our annual Christmas party on the 16th. Along with many well attended craft programs, the Noon Year's Eve party was a huge success with 37 patrons in attendance. January was a fairly slow month, however, program attendance was still quite high. Staff began the annual weeding process and created in-house displays for February. A volunteer completed 55 hours of service over the past few months; helping with the weeding process, cleaning and maintaining the shelves, and other projects.
Community Outreach: Both branches continued to partner with the Somerset County Health Department as distribution locations for at home COVID-19 tests and hosting the smoking cessation classes. The Library had become a part of a new initiative, the community food pantry, housing a small book shelf with healthy food items that patrons are free to take. The Health Department was restocking the shelves with items, but we were seeking donations as well.
Future Happenings: We had moved to a bi-monthly model for the calendar of events. March and April programs had been planned, materials had been sourced, and To Go programs for March were being prepared.
Princess Anne: Troy Gale, Branch Manager
The library participated in the annual Princess Anne Christmas Parade on December 15. Leading up to Christmas, the library system collected and donated Christmas gifts to 5 families that spent the holidays at the Lower Shore Shelter. To bring the 2022 year to an end, the library hosted our now annual Noon Year's Eve Party. About 55 patrons attended the event this year. Block of the Month was back in session, and Chair Yoga had returned as well.
Branch Statistics: We were averaging over 3,500 visits monthly so far this fiscal year and had averaged 2,699 visits at this point last year. We are currently circulating on average 4,330 items per month and were circulating on average about 3,701 items monthly at this time last year. Our adult program numbers had been lower but we were assisting more adults than ever with copying, computer help, meeting room spaces, etc. We were also finding ways to serve groups like Somerset Community Services better. Children's programming has added to the sizable increase to library visits and items circulated stats.
Partnerships: We had continued our partnerships with the Judy Center, Truancy Court and the Health Department. In January, we received a shelf from the Health Department to supply non-perishable food items to the community.
Future Happenings: Spring was coming and we would be ready with fresh programs and events.
Youth Services
Homeschool Programming: New families had been added to both branches, and participation had been high, with approximately 20 regular participants in Princess Anne and 15 in Crisfield. A survey had been conducted that showed that everyone was happy with the program as-is, although the Tuesday program in Princess Anne would have to be moved.
In-Branch Storytime: There had been very low to no attendance, although there had been a few new families participating in Crisfield.
Afterschool Programs: The libraries had still been offering afterschool programming in both Crisfield and Princess Anne but had had no attendees since December. The program was planned to be continued for now but may have been dropped after the summer.
Special Programs: A paint night with Dani had been planned and, if successful, would become a once- per-quarter program. The drama program would be changed to a craft after the summer.
Community Outreach: The Library-School Newsletter was scheduled to resume in March, when the libraries would start advertising for their Summer Reading Program. Dani had been visiting the Garland Hayward Youth Center every Tuesday after school, and this program had been extremely well-received. Karen had been doing Storytime monthly and had started a bi-weekly after-school STEM Club at Deal Island Elementary, which was going well. The Girl Scouts were still meeting monthly in Princess Anne.
The last session had been working with robots, and the next session was to include a series to help them receive their coding badges.
Partnerships: MD Public Television would do a series of programs at the libraries this spring and summer, which would focus on one or two concepts of social-emotional learning geared towards families. The Salisbury Zoo would have their Wild About Reading event again that year, and Karen had joined their event planning committee. Feedback had been received from area elementary school teachers with suggestions for future field trips.
Library Director7apos;s Report
Mr. Goyda presented his Director's Report for December 2022 and January 2023.
Core Services
3D Printers: The 3D printers were online, and the webpage had been updated with information and pricing on the filament printers, resin printers, Vaquform mold-maker, and the Cricuts.
Ewell Internet: The Starlink technology had been received in early January and had been tested and was working on the Crisfield deck. We were still waiting for the wall mount and routing kit to arrive, and it would be installed shortly thereafter. A trip to the island by Ed and Karen had been planned for Thursday, February 9, to evaluate additional materials needed and to begin and hopefully complete the internal set-up.
Patron Computers: ESRL had implemented the proposed solution in Princess Anne on January 23. They hadn't had any issues with freezing since and the speed was much faster. Crisfield was scheduled for February 27. Princess Anne catalog computers had also been remediated. ESRL had contracted Tezla to install the patch panel and that was completed on February 8. They also had an upcoming installation of the Library for the Blind and Print Disabled's Jaws Fusion accessibility software on the Princess Anne Teen and Crisfield rear Adult computers.
Polaris Upgrade: There was a major Polaris upgrade scheduled for February 13 that would take the circulation system, public catalog, interlibrary loan, and almost all databases offline for the day. Staff had set up spreadsheets in Google Docs to assist with recording information during the downtime. Public notices would be sent out on February 10.
Programming & Booklets: The March-April booklet was expected to arrive soon. Summer Programming was being planned.
Community Outreach
Global Z Oral History: The Global Z Oral History Project had been completed.
Laptop Grants: The City of Crisfield and Town of Princess Anne's Connected Device Grant requests had been made but not yet received from the federal government. The libraries were listed as distribution points.
Outreach Events: The library staff participated in Christmas Parades in Crisfield on December 2 and Princess Anne on December 10.
Internal Development
County Landscaping: The County had been contacted about ongoing issues with landscaping and was working on clean-up the week of February 6.
Xerox Lease: The leases on all copiers were set to expire on March 31 and a Request for Proposal (RFP) for replacement had been sent out. There appeared to be at least two vendors interested.
President Smith asked for a motion to approve the Director's Report. The motion was made by Janet Smith, seconded by Tim Spillane, and unanimously approved.
Governance
Advisory – Legislation: The following bills were or would be before the legislature this session.
HB 65 (Public Libraries - Collective Bargaining): The enabling legislation for collective bargaining that was proposed for Harford County last year, and then amended to all counties, had been resubmitted. MAPLA had been drafting a separate bill based on Howard County legislation but was now proposing amendments to the proposed legislation.
HB 243 (Young Readers Program Expansion Act of 2023): Originally a Charles County bill, this would expand the State share of funding for the Dolly Parton Imagination Library (or similar programs) from only covering Baltimore City to covering the entire State.
LR0138 (Fine Free for Minors): The proposed revisions to the Fine Free for Minors act had been advanced as a legislative request through the governor's office by the Maryland State Library's STAR (Statutes and Regulations) committee.
LR---- (Confidentiality of Library Records): The STAR revision of the statute regarding the confidentiality of patron records was being finalized by the Attorney General for submission as a legislative request.
SB 118 (Prohibitions on Wearing, Carrying, or Transporting Firearms): This would prohibit firearms on federal, state, and local government property.
Regional Resource Center Bill: Sponsors were being sought for the revision to the Regional Resource Center statutes.
Advisory – Legislation Day: The directors would be in Annapolis on February 15 for Legislation Day.
Bill Payments: Nora Hoffman requested the addition of four regular expense payees to the pre-approved bill payments list: Somerset County Commissioners for Medical Insurance Billing, American Express and Independent Newsmedia, all for timeliness of payment receipt, and AFLAC due to the payment being staff-paid premiums and not a library liability.
President Smith asked for a motion to approve the bill payment changes. The motion was made by Lynn Lang, seconded by Jennifer Timmons, and unanimously approved.
Strategic Plan: The current 5-year strategic plan (2018-2023) was in its last year. A proposal for the process and the start of community surveys would be presented at the April Board meeting.
Executive Session
President Smith asked for a motion to enter executive session at 4:42pm. The motion was made by Jennifer Timmons, seconded by Lynn Lang, and roll call was taken.
President Smith made a motion to exit executive session at 5:04pm, seconded by Lynn Lang, and roll call was taken.
Appointment of Shannon Cropper, Library Assistant: President Smith asked for a motion to approve the appointment. The motion was made by Karen Riggin, seconded by Ann Smith, and unanimously approved.
Library Director Evaluation: The completed evaluation had been discussed.
Adjournment
President Smith asked for a motion to adjourn the meeting. Motion was made by Lynn Lang, seconded by Jennifer Timmons, and unanimously approved. The meeting adjourned at 5:06pm.
Respectfully submitted,
Nora Hoffman Somerset County Library Bookkeeper/Admin. Assistant