Board of Somerset County Library Trustees
Regular Meeting Minutes
Wednesday, December 11, 2024 at 4:00pm Crisfield Library & Zoom
Present: Ann Smith, President; Beth Holmes-Mayson, Vice President; Board Members: Lynn Lang, Karen Riggin, 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: Tim Spillane, Treasurer
Call Meeting to Order
President Ann Smith called the meeting to order at 4:01pm.
Consent Agenda
Approve minutes from the regular meeting of October 9, 2024 Approve financial reports for the period from July 1, 2023 - October 31, 2024 Approve financial reports for the period from July 1, 2023 - November 30, 2024
President Smith asked for a motion to approve the Consent Agenda. Motion was made by Beth Holmes- Mayson, seconded by Janet Smith, and unanimously approved.
FY24 Audit
The audit had been completed and the results were presented by Audrey McKenrick, CPA/Partner from UHY LLP via Zoom. The Library again received the highest rating available, currently titled "Clean Unmodified Opinion." Overall, there were no weaknesses, concerns, suggestions or any regular significant financial changes. Ms. McKenrick did note a variance in "Budget vs. Actual" in reference to governmental fund balances which was primarily due to a large donation, and the subsequent creation of the David Fisher Somerset County Library Fund entrusted to the Community Foundation of the Eastern Shore. There were also no issues to report regarding compliance and internal controls. She closed her presentation by thanking Ed and the staff involved with the audit. All board members received the reports entitled "Audit Communications" & "Component Unit Financial Statements".
President Smith asked for a motion to approve the audit report. Motion was made by Lynn Lang, seconded by Beth Holmes-Mayson, and unanimously approved.
Branch Highlights
Crisfield: Presented by Caprice Harris, Library Services Manager
Branch Highlights: During the month of October, staff members were busy preparing for the upcoming
Halloween & Fall season. Multiple staff members participated in special events around the community such as the Trunk or Treats at the Somerset County Public Schools and Crisfield Chamber's Halloween Parade. Caprice hosted her first true crime book club, which had one attendee for October and none for November. In November, we hosted our 3rd annual Fall Festival here in the parking lot of the library. We had 20 vendors and a turnout of close to 400 people. Various decorations and in-house displays for Halloween, Hispanic Heritage Month, Fall Vibes and Thanksgiving 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 Information Technology, Youth Services, and Management Training. Staff also participated in the Fall 2024 Maryland State Circulation DEI Conference.
Community Partnerships: Social Services was visiting weekly to assist the public with any government aid they may have required. 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.
Future Happenings: Staff members were excited to participate in holiday festivities including the upcoming Crisfield Christmas Parade and Staff Spirit Week.
Princess Anne: Presented by Danielle Craige, Library Services Manager
Branch Highlights: In October, we held our annual Halloween Block Party; we had a wonderful turnout from the community, and staff had fun with the event. We featured book displays during October and November on spooky reads and inspirational role models. The updates to our Daily Task List and Closing Procedures had been going well. Jenna and Sonya had both now celebrated their first full year as members of staff and were doing very well. Right before Thanksgiving, staff enjoyed decorating the branch for Christmas. We were seeing a steady interest in our Meeting Room and continue to use our Maryland Room as a secondary meeting place.
Community Partnerships: The Health Department continued to stock the branch with COVID tests when needed. The Adult Education Program had been using our Maryland Room as a space to hold classes twice a week.
Future Happenings: We would have a float in the Princess Anne Christmas Parade on December 13. Staff Spirit Week started on December 16; staff were very excited for the upcoming festivities!
Administrative Report
Presented by: Ed Goyda, Director; Jaime Bradshaw, Assistant Director; Ashley Gilson, Teen Services Coordinator; Adrianna Warfield, Children's Services Coordinator
Collections
Digital Newspapers: We had been experiencing increasingly frequent issues with the crashes for the host of the digital newspapers collection. We were looking at alternative options for hosting. The collection was too large to go into Digital Maryland; St. Mary's County Library had moved their collection to another vendor; and we were exploring a self-hosted option.
Statewide Databases: The State Library Resource Center was currently accepting feedback on trials of databases for their FY26 - FY29 contract.
Programs
ALL Visits: October and November were big months for our Adult Library Learner visits! We had 92 in attendance for our Costume Party and 64 in attendance for our Thanksgiving Celebration. We expected December's visit to be very well attended. Staff continued to work well with the groups and had handled the large crowds very well during these events.
Fall Festival: The Crisfield Library Fall Festival was a great success again this year. We had $1,695 in donations, 16 trips were made for the hayride, copious amounts of hot cocoa were served, we had 20 vendors, and, though it was a bit windy & chilly, a good time was had by all. We had 105 kids & 210 adults in attendance.
Maryland State Department of Health: We were waiting to hear back from the Somerset County Health Department regarding a grant opportunity they submitted on our behalf. This funding would pay for physical activity classes. We were hoping to be able to offer new programs with their help this spring.
Workforce, Business, and Career Community of Practice: Gabe and Jaime had been working on Career Success initiatives with a statewide group. The theme this year would be "Uplift & Upskill" focusing on workforce & career growth and development. Gabe would be offering several sessions focusing on resume & job resources, interview skills, and creating/using LinkedIn. He would also be launching Workforce Wednesdays, alternating branches for customized one-on-one appointments.
Community Outreach
Lands' End Business: Attached in the Board packet, there was a PDF regarding ordering logo apparel from Lands' End. Jaime had uploaded the library's newest logo with our new vision statement. This was still in-process, but ordering should have been reconvened that month. If anyone had any questions, please let her know.
LinkedIn: We had decided to drop LinkedIn from the library's social media. As this platform was more geared towards resume building & job networking, we would be focusing on our other various accounts.
Outreach Events: Continued monthly visits to the Developmental Center, Manokin Manor & Tawes Nursing Home.
Crisfield Christmas Parade: The Library won "Best Float" in this year's parade.
Children Services
Current Programs: Mother Goose, STEAM, and Lego Club were doing well with attendance. In those programs, there had been a slight decrease in attendance, most likely due to the holidays. Family Paint Night and Crafternoons had been consistent with attendance. Holiday themed crafts were put out in the children's room during the holiday break in November and would occur again during Christmas break.
Halloween Events: We had a great increase in numbers from last year's events. During the 4 trunk or treats we attended, we encountered about 984 kids and 700 adults. At the Crisfield Chamber Halloween Parade, 360 kids and 300 adults visited our table. The Halloween Block Party had 20 trunks come out and 474 kids with 313 adults.
Outreach: Adrianna, Andrea, Ashley, Caprice, Ed, Gabe, Holly, Jaime, and Laurie attended community events in October including the PAES Parent Pop-In, SECAC Resource Fair, Crisfield Chamber Halloween Parade and the Trunk or Treats for Deal Island, Princess Anne, Greenwood, and Woodson elementary schools. During these events, they promoted programs for all ages and distributed library swag and candy to attendees. Adrianna also continues to do monthly Storytimes at the Crisfield Head Start and Princess Anne Kidz in His Hands Daycare.
Upcoming Events: In December, staff would be attending the Christmas parades in Princess Anne and Crisfield. Staff, especially Andrea, had done a lot of awesome work to make our float. In late December, the Noon Years Eve party would run concurrently at both branches to offer a fun time for children to celebrate the new year. In January, Adrianna was partnering with the Judy Center to offer a Toddler Art Class once a month at both branches for children under 5.
Teen Services
Current Programs: Crafting and Gaming were continuing to do well at both branches. Princess Anne attendance had started to grow. The Crafternoon passive craft had been decently attended, and we were continuing them into the winter months. One of our new programs, Nerf Battle, started in Crisfield last month and would be in Princess Anne in February.
Upcoming Programs and Outreach: Ashley attended Somerset Intermediate School's parent teacher conference night. It was well attended by the community. We would also have a table at Somerset Intermediate School's winter concert this month.
Community Partnerships: Ashley reached out to the CHS art teacher, David Simpson, about having students submit their artwork to the fall zine. We had a lot of students submit and hopefully would continue to participate. The CHS yearbook staff also reached out to see if we wanted to have an ad in the yearbook. Lorna designed a quarter-page ad for them this year.
Facilities
Crisfield LEDs: The County would be using grant funds to replace the lighting in Crisfield with LEDs.
Crisfield Shade: We had ordered a shade for the nook in Crisfield.
Ewell Facility: Ewell was randomly selected for a federal Government Accountability Office (GAO) survey of physical facility conditions.
Princess Anne HVAC: The replacement of the air conditioning unit in the main area was completed in October. We had had an issue with the heat in the Office, a frequent occurrence since the County installed it, although County Maintenance claimed that it had been repaired this time.
Financial
AFLAC: AFLAC was on site December 3 (Princess Anne) and December 4 (Crisfield) to discuss their offerings with employees.
E-Rate: Our FY 26 request for federal funding for 70% of Ewell's Starlink connection had been filed.
Fisher Trust: The Fisher Trust was featured in the Community Foundation of the Eastern Shore's 2024 Impact Report.
Local Government Insurance Trust: LGIT had discovered a "flaw in the methodology used to calculate property premiums over the past ten years;" the correction of which had led to a sudden increase in that part of our insurance billing. That was a relatively minor part of our policy, since the County owns the facilities and we were only insuring contents, but there was potentially room to adjust that number based on an actual property inventory rather than the estimates.
Non-Profit Status: Nora and I had been exploring pathways to setting up 501(c)3 status for the organization itself.
Staff Development
Staff Day: Staff Day was held October 14, with teambuilding exercises at Escape Room Salisbury and lunch at Mogan's.
Holiday Festivities: The holiday season was upon us & we had some fun things planned. This would be our 6th year of having a staff spirit week! From Monday, December 16, to Saturday, December 21, there would be a fun "dress up" theme each day. Pictures would be added to our socials. We would be having a staff Christmas party on Saturday, December 14.
Professional Development: A list of professional development was provided.
Technology
Crisfield Patron Computers: DeepFreeze (software to prevent PCs from retaining data between sessions) had been refreshed in Crisfield due to a minor bug.
Laptops: Upgrades to laptops at all three branches had been completed.
Patron Charging Stations: We had added phone/tablet charging stations in Crisfield and Princess Anne following a patron request.
President Smith asked for a motion to accept the Administrative Report. Motion was made by Janet Smith, seconded by Karen Riggin, and unanimously approved.
Governance
Advisory - Annual Reports: The Maryland Public Library Survey, Free Public Library Services Survey, and Internet Policy Review had been completed for the State Library Agency.
Advisory - Beth Holmes-Mayson, Term Renewal: The Commissioners appointed Beth to her second full term at their October 22 meeting.
Advisory - Heat-Illness Prevention Law: While COMAR 09.12.32 was clearly targeted at organizations larger than ours with much more outdoor activity, we were going to need to add a policy into the Employee Handbook.
Audit: See FY24 Audit above.
Director's Evaluation: Board Member Lynn Lang advised that staff would be receiving the annual evaluation forms.
Executive Session
President Smith made a motion to enter executive session at 4:37pm. Motion was seconded by Lynn Lang, and roll call was taken.
Resignation of Caprice Harris, Library Services Manager: Caprice had resigned effective
January 4, 2025.
President Smith asked for a motion to accept the resignation. Motion was made by Beth Holmes-Mayson, seconded by Karen Riggin, and unanimously approved.
Resignation of Tyiona Blue, Library Page: Tyiona had resigned effective November 16.
President Smith made a motion to accept the resignation, seconded by Beth Holmes-Mayson, and unanimously approved.
Adjournment
President Smith asked for a motion to exit executive session and adjourn the meeting. Motion was made by Janet Smith, seconded by Beth Holmes-Mayson, and unanimously approved. The meeting adjourned at 4:41pm.
Respectfully submitted, Nora Hoffman Somerset County Library Bookkeeper/Admin. Assistant