Board of Somerset County Library Trustees
Regular Meeting Minutes
Wednesday, August 14, 2024 at 4:00pm Crisfield Library & Zoom
Present: Ann Smith, President; Beth Holmes-Mayson, Vice President; Tim Spillane, Treasurer; Board Members: Lynn Lang, Janet Smith, Jennifer Timmons; Ed Goyda, Library Director; Jaime Bradshaw, Assistant Director; Danielle Craige, Princess Anne Library Services Manager; Caprice Harris, Crisfield Library Services Manager; Ashley Gilson, Teen Services Coordinator; Adrianna Warfield, Children's Services Coordinator; Nora Hoffman, Bookkeeper/Admin. Assistant
Absent: Karen Riggin, 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 June 12, 2024 Approve financial reports for the period from July 1, 2023 – June 30, 2024 Approve financial reports for the period from July 1, 2023 – July 31, 2024
President Smith asked for a motion to approve the Consent Agenda. Motion was made by Tim Spillane, seconded by Beth Holmes-Mayson, and unanimously approved.
Branch Highlights
Crisfield: Presented by Caprice Harris, Library Services Manager
Branch Highlights: In June, we had our Summer Reading Kick-off in the library parking lot. There were hotdogs, snow cones, tie-dye, temporary tattoos, and more. The libraries were listed as a cooling center for Somerset County, which led to a feature on WBOC. This gave us the opportunity to inform the community about the library and all the resources available to them while they stay cool. In July, we welcomed a student provided to us through It Takes a Village who had gracefully been working on every task assigned to him. He had mainly helped maintain the overall organization of the library. Various decorations and in-house displays for Flag Day, Father's Day, Juneteenth, Summer Vibes, National Camping Month, Travel, Local History, and Christmas in July were placed in the Adult, Teen, and Children's sections.
Staff Development: Over the past two months, staff participated in a range of training courses covering topics such as Leadership, Youth Services, and AI.
Community Partnerships: Social Services was visiting weekly to assist the public with government aid. The Housing and Community Resource Coordinator from the City of Crisfield was joining us monthly to provide access to local resources for the community. We still had two Navigators provided by the Lower Shore Health Alliance Program coming weekly to provide the public with insurance assistance. The Somerset County Health Department continued to provide free COVID-19 test kits for the community and had regularly been restocking the pantry and providing produce.
Future Happenings: We were excited to wrap up Summer Reading with our Finale! Staff members were looking forward to participating in the Crab Derby parade in August, the Crisfield Chamber Halloween Parade in October, and the Fall Festival in November.
Princess Anne: Presented by Danielle Craige, Library Services Manager
Branch Highlights: In June and July, the library had a variety of book displays including National Camping Month and Christmas in July. Summer Reading had been in full swing and the community had been keeping us busy. The weekly performances have been a hit with new faces attending every week. A volunteer joined us in the middle of July and would be with us until she completes her community service requirement for school. We celebrated Harry Potter's birthday on July 31 with crafts, snacks, and a showing of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. Staff continued to manage their daily tasks wonderfully during Summer Reading and all the excitement it brings.
Community Partnerships: Somerset County Public Schools reached out to us this year to host a student worker until August. We had the opportunity to host a student from July 8 to August 8 and it was a pleasure to do so. The Somerset County Health Department continued to keep us stocked with at-home COVID test kits. We also received fresh vegetables from them once a week. Our patrons were still donating to our Community Food Pantry frequently. The Somerset County Arts Council continued to host an art gallery in our meeting room.
Future Happenings: Staff members would be attending the National Night Out on August 6th. The end of Summer Reading was near with our Finale scheduled for Saturday, August 17th. We would have tie- dye, face painting, snow cones, and more starting at 11:00 a.m.
Administrative Report
Presented by: Ed Goyda, Director; Jaime Bradshaw, Assistant Director; Ashley Gilson, Teen Services Coordinator; Adrianna Warfield, Children's Services Coordinator
Core Services
ALL Visits: In June, the Crisfield branch hosted a luau party for our Adult Library Learners, and it was our largest to date with nearly 70 attendees. We had a smaller group for our canvas painting in July but were looking forward to our tie-dye class in August.
Bed Bugs: We had a minor detection in Princess Anne's adult fiction section during the Bennett inspection, which was immediately remediated.
Brain Booster Kits: Jaime & Michele worked together to form new kits available for check out, specifically for senior adults. Each branch had three kits, all containing five themed items geared toward dexterity, cognition, keeping busy, etc. The kits include a variety of items such as books, puzzles, games, manipulatives, etc.
Ewell Books: As we continue to weed dated material out of Ewell's collection, we made an immediate move to transfer some newer materials into their children's collection from Crisfield and Princess Anne. We would continue to do so when we weed the mainland collections in the spring.
Program Updates:
Bingo: Starting in September, both branches would offer first Friday bingo with small prizes. Crisfield had been offering it and had had good attendance. Caprice and Dani would be running these programs.
Book Discussions: Starting in October, Caprice would be leading a True Crime discussion once per month in Crisfield on Saturday mornings, and Dani would be leading a Fantasy discussion on Tuesday evenings once a month.
Yoga: Our instructor was currently on maternity leave. We had moved to a yoga DVD series at both branches to try and keep an audience until her return. We likely would keep this running until spring.
Smith Island Family Frames: Dr. Jana Rehak had published a book about her work on the island, We Live in the Water: Climate, Aging, and Socioecology on Smith Island. She would be joining us for a book signing on September 28. We were also looking for funding, likely from the Community Foundation, to continue document digitization for the Family Frames project.
Community Outreach
Community Wellness Festival: Caprice & Jaime attended the Community Wellness Festival at the Somerset County Health Department in June. Though the event was small, they were able to make connections with community members and possible new partners.
LSHIAP's Resource Fair: Adri, Ashley, and Jaime would represent the library at the Lower Shore Health Insurance Assistance Program's resource fair during the Delmarva Shorebirds Stadium's Summer Reading Finale on August 18.
Monthly Visits: We had continued our monthly visits to the Developmental Center, Manokin Manor & Tawes Nursing Home, which had seen an increase in attendance over the past few months. We were averaging 50-60 clients at Somerset, 15-20 at Manokin & 8-10 at Tawes.
Stars of Somerset: The Awards Ceremony at Somers Cover Marina would be Thursday, August 15, from 4:30 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. The Library won Somerset County's Favorite Place to take your Kids, and Crisfield Library won Somerset County's Favorite Venue.
Outreach Events: A list of events was provided.
Community Partnership
Tiny Art Show: We would be having another tiny art show, fall/spooky edition! Kits would be advertised in September & would be displayed through October. In partnership with the Arts Council, we had supplies for roughly 600 kits. We planned to promote heavily to the schools and have it for our September ALL visit.
Internal Development
Audit: Rob Davis, CPA, had completed his site visit to add accrual information into the Quickbooks file in preparation for the auditors. Jessica Shahady from UHY would begin the audit on August 19, with a site visit late in the month.
Audit - Financial Reports: On a related note, the accruals and some journal entries to shift items across fiscal years resulted in some unusual figures in the June Financial Reports. Of note, the $277,625.82 in 460 Investments & Interest was the result of the entry of the full year's worth of Community Foundation activity, including the full Fisher Estate gift, and 511 Salaries & Wages was nearly double its normal figure due to the recording of $49,753.46 as the liability for employees' accrued vacation time.
ESRL CEO: Lori Milach had begun her tenure as CEO of ESRL. She was planning on making site visits to each library on the Shore in the near future.
Ewell Technology: After some issues with ESRL's network install, they were almost fully operational. (The network printer was not re-networked; Ed was heading to the island on August 15 to address that.)
Foundation Funds: Following a second inactivity notice from PNC regarding the remaining funds in the Foundation checking account, those funds have been moved into the (Crisfield-focused) Tawes endowment with the Community Foundation.
MLA'S The Crab: Jaime submitted a recap article of the presentation she, Caprice, and Dani gave at the Maryland Library Association's Virtual Conference that was published in the summer issue of their The Crab newsletter.
Network Hardware: ESRL upgraded network hardware in Princess Anne and Crisfield on July 29 & 31, respectively. Wireless connectivity and staff access to the printers and camera NVRs (network video recorders) had been greatly improved.
State Librarian: Morgan Miller had begun her tenure as State Librarian, beginning June 26.
Website Updates: We had made a couple of major updates to the website. On the public-facing side, the Volunteer page had been significantly revised to recruit volunteers rather than being merely informational; the adult, children's, and teen pages now have age-specific versions of the homepage carousel on them; and the program booklet was under the Events & Classes tab. On the back-end, there had been a significant edit of the carousel code to create those age-specific carousels, and the date-based coding had been rewritten so that the style, logo, and the three branches' hours were all coming from one script instead of five.
Professional Development: A list of professional development was provided.
Youth Services
Current Programs: Mother Goose, STEAM, and Lego Club were doing well with attendance. Adrianna had created a survey for parents to provide the days and times that would be best for them regarding children's programs for the school year and summer.
Outreach: Adrianna attended community events in June and July including the Greenwood Awards
Ceremony and Migrant Family Literacy Night. During these events, she promoted programs such as Summer Reading and distributed free books and library swag to attendees. Adrianna also had monthly Storytimes at the Crisfield Head Start and Princess Anne Kidz in His Hands Daycare.
Summer Reading Performers: This year we had Nathalia, Bay Station, Turtle Dance, Amazing Josini, Reptile Wonders, Extreme Balloons, and Janes Island State Park. Extreme Balloons, a new performer, was wonderful and we planned on having him again the following summer. Summer Reading Statistics were provided.
Upcoming Programs: Starting in September, a Family Paint Night and Crafternoons would take place at both branches once a month.
President Smith asked for a motion to accept the Administrative Report. Motion was made by Janet Smith, seconded by Lynn Lang, and unanimously approved.
Governance
Advisory - Lynn Lang Term Renewal: The County Commissioners voted to appoint Ms. Lang to a full term on July 2.
Advisory - State Standards for Libraries - Freedom to Read Act: The regulation for the Freedom to Read Act had been implemented as drafted, leaving no need to further revise the Collection Development Policy at this time.
Confirmation - FY 25 Budget: We needed a confirmation of the June 26 vote approving the FY25 budget.
President Smith asked for a motion to confirm the FY25 Budget vote. Motion was made by Tim Spillane, seconded by Janet Smith, and unanimously approved.
Confirmation - July 5 & 6 Holidays: We needed a confirmation of the June 25 vote to follow the County in extending the Independence Day holiday.
President Smith asked for a motion to confirm the July 5 & 6 Holidays. Motion was made by Beth
Holmes-Mayson, seconded by Lynn Lang, and unanimously approved.
Budget Amendment: Rob Davis revealed some carryover (roughly $5,000) in the Delmarva Education Foundation funds. To get these funds dispersed this year, we're asking for a series of small amendments. The purpose was to increase the spending from DEF funds by moving children's nonfiction collections out of the main Library budget and some children's programming out of the ESRL budget. We then balanced those decreases with increases to Library-funded Staff Development and ESRL-funded Service Enhancements to keep the top-line totals even.
President Smith asked for a motion to accept the budget amendment. Motion was made by Beth Holmes- Mayson, seconded by Tim Spillane, and unanimously approved.
Meeting Room Policy: Due to growingly routine failures, particularly from users for whom the regular fee was waived, to clean the meeting room after use, we were asking for an amendment of a single sentence ("Groups who fail to clean the room in accordance with library guidelines will be charged a $25 cleaning fee."), with the intent of improving compliance with clean-up procedures.
President Smith asked for a motion to confirm the meeting room policy amendment. Motion was made by Janet Smith, seconded by Beth Holmes-Mayson, and unanimously approved.
Policy on the Usage of Large Language Models, Pre-Trained Transformers, and other Generative
Tools: Following the State of Maryland's interim guidance on use of Large Language Models for generative processing, Ed had written an internal policy to cover ethical usage that references specifics that were particular to the Library. The State Code covering patron privacy was very broad and did not simply cover circulation transactions, there were several pieces of (mostly) employee-related data that were explicitly not allowed to be shared, and the Public Information Act also restricted several pieces of (mostly) physical and information security-related data.
President Smith asked for a motion to accept the new policy on the usage of large language models, pre- trained transformers, and other generative tools. Motion was made by Beth Holmes-Mayson, seconded by Jennifer Timmons, and unanimously approved.
Strategic Planning: The strategic plan was provided.
President Smith asked for a motion to accept the strategic plan pending edits. Motion was made by Beth
Holmes-Mayson, seconded by Jennifer Timmons, and unanimously approved.
Adjournment
President Smith asked for a motion to adjourn the meeting. Motion was made by Lynn Lang, seconded by Beth Holmes-Mayson, and unanimously approved. The meeting adjourned at 4:55pm.
Respectfully submitted, Nora Hoffman Somerset County Library Bookkeeper/Admin. Assistant