Board of Somerset County Library Trustees
Regular Meeting Minutes
Wednesday, October 8, 2025 at 4:00pm Princess Anne Library
Present: Beth Holmes-Mayson, Vice President; Tim Spillane, Treasurer; 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; Ashley Gilson, Crisfield Library Services Manager; Nora Hoffman, Bookkeeper/Admin. Assistant
Absent: Ann Smith, President
Call Meeting to Order
Vice President Beth Holmes-Mayson called the meeting to order at 3:59pm.
Consent Agenda
Approve minutes from the regular meeting of August 13, 2025 Approve financial report for the period from July 1, 2025 - August 31, 2025 Approve financial report for the period from July 1, 2025 - September 30, 2025
Vice President Holmes-Mayson asked for a motion to approve the Consent Agenda. Motion was made by Karen Riggin, seconded by Lynn Lang, and unanimously approved.
Branch Highlights
Crisfield: Presented by Ashley Gilson, Library Services Manager
Branch Highlights: In August, we hired two new circ staff, Dani and Yakelin. They had been doing a great job. Ed, Jaime, Gabe, Ashley and Adri attended the Stars Awards and accepted awards for Best Company 21 – 50, Community Outreach, and Favorite Place to Take the Kids (Crisfield Library). Staff participated in National Coloring Day by coloring pictures, and they were posted on our social media. We also dressed up in football gear to celebrate the start of football season and posted that photo as well. Various decorations and in-house displays for Book Lovers Day, Read a Romance Month, Back to School, National Hispanic Heritage Month, and Fall Vibes were placed in the Adult, Teen, and Children's sections.
Staff Development: Over the past two months, staff had participated in a range of training courses covering topics such as Inclusive Wellness for Staff, Teen Services, and Emotional Labor and Burnout.
Community Partnerships: We had staff attend outreach events such as National Night Out, Back to
School Open Houses, the Crab Derby parade and the Teen Connect conference. Gabe, Jaime, Ashley and Andrea had very successful visits to the Developmental Center and Tawes Nursing Home. Social Services was still visiting weekly to assist the public with any government aid they may require. The Somerset County Health Department had regularly been restocking the pantry and providing produce.
Future Happenings: We were excited for all our Halloween activities. Staff were looking forward to participating in the local school Trunk or Treat events, 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 August and September, the library featured several different book displays featuring Hispanic Heritage Month and the One Maryland One Book. Our Summer Reading Finale went well! Our finale featured snow cones, face painting, and two community paintings that were now displayed in the Children's Room. Staff attended outreach events such as Open House and National Night Out in August. There had been some updates to our daily and weekly task lists such as adding kitchen maintenance. Our opening and closing procedures had also received an update with some tasks moving over to the daily/weekly lists. Meeting room bookings had increased in frequency; we were continuing to utilize the Maryland Room as a secondary meeting space.
Community Partnerships: The Somerset County Arts Council continued to hold an art gallery in our meeting room. In September, the gallery featured Roald Dahl themed art works. On Thursdays and Fridays, we had tables in our lobby to showcase offerings from the Health Department. Throughout the summer, we received a variety of fresh produce each week from the Somerset County Health Department.
Future Happenings: With Halloween fast approaching, staff members were looking forward to attending Trunk or Treat events at our local schools. Our Halloween Block Party would be on October 31st from 4:00pm to 7:00pm featuring a western theme. We would have carnival games, snow cones, popcorn and more!
Administrative Report
Presented by: Ed Goyda, Director and Jaime Bradshaw, Assistant Director
Collections
Baker & Taylor: There was increasing concern in the profession with our primary book distributor's viability. We had account setup underway with their competitor Ingram, but because of the rush of new customers, they were not anticipating having the setup done for our pre-processing (spine labels, mylar jackets, etc.) until January. In the meantime, we were handling processing in-house for Ingram and Amazon orders. We still had a few things to wind down with Baker & Taylor (the automatic orders for popular authors).
Hoopla: Discussion continued on the long-term fate of Hoopla. Several other Maryland counties, including both the other Regional Libraries, had dropped the service.
Kits: Our Brain Booster & Fitness Kits had been checking out more frequently. More supplies for fitness kits were ordered with the grant money, so both Crisfield and Princess Anne now had all five exercise themed kits. Another Move & Exercise Brain Booster kit was also purchased so each branch has one each.
Newspapers Database: We were continuing along with adding the remaining newspapers into the database.
Programs
4H Teen Cooking: 4H Teen Cooking would not be resuming after October's session due to 4H staffing and budgetary restraints. Library staff were considering resuming similar sessions in the spring.
Fall Festival: The Crisfield Library Fall Festival was quickly approaching! We currently had 20 vendors and were waiting for more. The library would be offering free hot cocoa and caramel apple bites, all free of charge. We would also have a hayride, face painting, music & more.
Physical Activity Grant: We had completed our physical activity programs with the funding provided by the Somerset County Health Department. August sessions had 40 attendees, and September 73. In total, from June to September, we had 222 in attendance.
Physical Activity classes would resume in the new year.
Community Outreach
Crab Derby Parade: On August 30, the library was in the Crab Derby Parade with a colorful float based on the Summer Reading theme, Color Our World. Andrea did an amazing job designing and constructing it with the help of staff.
Delmarva Shorebirds: Adri, Gabe & Laurie attended the Shorebirds Summer Reading Finale on August 24. Over 350 people stopped by our table. We also had Sherman come to our August ALL Visit and share a baseball story and take photos. We had 58 attendees for that event.
National Night Out: Adri, Ashley & Jaime attended Crisfield's NNO and Dani & Meagen attended Princess Anne's. In total, we shared library information with 386 community members.
Somerset Commons: Gabe & Jaime visited at the end of August to provide senior residents with basic computer skills assistance such as basic keyboard & mouse. They also visited at the end of September to demonstrate basic internet searching and email navigation.
Stars of Somerset: We won the following in Stars of Somerset:
- Favorite Place to Take the Kids: Crisfield Library
- Best Company 21-50 Employees: Somerset County Library
- Community Outreach: Somerset County Library
The reception was held at the Crisfield Arts Council on August 14 at 4:00pm.
Children Services
Children's Outreach: Adrianna, Andrea, Ashley, Dani, Gabe, Jaime, Laurie, and Meagen attended multiple community events in August including National Night Out, Shorebirds Summer Reading Finale, and the Open Houses at the 7 schools in the county. During these events, they promoted our programs and provided library swag to attendees. We spoke with nearly 200 families at National Night Out and the Shorebirds game and later reached over 1,000 people across all the schools combined. Adrianna also continued to do monthly Storytimes at the Princess Anne Kidz in His Hands Daycare.
Rock Creek Steel Drums & Janes Island: In August, we hosted our last 2 Summer Reading Performers. Attendance was lower with an average of 19 kids and 11 adults at the Rock Creek Steel Drums performance and 10 kids and 7 adults at the Janes Island performance. The attendees at the Drums performance loved learning how to play a song on the drums.
Summer Reading Finale: On August 16, we hosted the Finale inside both branches with face painting, snow cones, photobooth, and community painting activities. There were an average of 27 kids and 16 adults that attended our finale parties. They loved the community painting station where they added their handprint to one canvas and were able to color in an image on another. We announced the winner of all the prizes, but most were not in attendance. They were contacted after the party to schedule a pickup.
Stuffed Animal Sleepover: We hosted another stuffed animal sleepover program at both branches before school started on August 29. The attendance was low but the kids that attended had a blast. They picked up their stuffed animals the day after and had a booklet available the next week that showed what their stuffed animals had gotten up to when they spent the night.
Current Programs: Adrianna moved the weekday for Princess Anne's Mother Goose and STEAM to Mondays in September. We had good attendance at MGOL and signups for STEAM. We were also continuing to offer Lego Club, Family Paint Night and Toddler Art Class.
Upcoming Programs: We had a busy month in October with all the Halloween themed events. We would be attending 5 Trunk or Treat events at various schools and the Crisfield Chamber Halloween Parade and hosting the Halloween Block Party at the Princess Anne branch. We would be hosting the local Girl Scout Troop again starting this fall with Adrianna and Andrea leading the program held once a month in Princess Anne.
Facilities
Princess Anne Alarm System: The Princess Anne alarm system had a cellular backup added.
Princess Anne Back Door: The County had replaced the back (office) door in Princess Anne.
Financial
Audit: The auditors were in during the week of August 25. We received the OPEB (Other Pension & Employee Benefits) report from the County's contractor on September 29. Once that was integrated, the Management Discussion & Analysis could be completed. We were anticipating the audit in hand by October 31 (when it's required by the State) and the presentation at the December Board meeting.
Library Services and Technology Act Funding: The State had the federal funding from LSTA in hand.
Staffing
Staff Day: CPR, AED, and first aid (re)certification were completed at our Staff Day on Tuesday, August 19.
Staff Day 2: We had been invited to attend Worcester's Staff Day on October 13, with Steve Albrecht presenting on strategies for dealing with challenging patrons.
State Library Resource Center: The SLRC Fall Conference had been scheduled for Monday, October 27 (virtual) and Tuesday, October 28, 2025 (in- person). This year's theme was centered around "Convergence: Technology, Equity, and the Future."
Professional Development: A list of professional development was provided.
Technology
Ewell Internet: For e-Rate purposes, the Starlink service in Ewell had been transferred over to Orbit Link. It was the same service using the same equipment, but Orbit Link made us eligible for the federal reimbursement.
Long Distance: AT&T was ceasing service this month. We were exploring other options for the near- term, but a switchover to Voice Over Internet Protocol would end up realizing cost savings in the long- term.
Mainland Internet: Our agreements with the State Library Resource Center, to allow them to claim the e-Rate reimbursement for the connections they provide in Crisfield and Princess Anne, had been completed.
Patron Notifications: Polaris's text notification option was, for all intents and purposes, depreciated. (It essentially used the same email-to-text methodology that spammers use, and the telecom companies were blocking that pipeline.) ESRL was reviewing other options. We had notified all patrons using it and switched them over to email.
Polaris Upgrade: ESRL would upgrade Polaris over the weekend of November 8, which should have had minimal impacts on operations, other than a mild improvement in receipt printing times.
Princess Anne Patron PCs: We had wrapped up surveys for the State grant, with 200 from guest pass users, which should have been sufficiently representative.
Windows 11: Security updates for Windows 10 had ceased. ESRL switched over our remaining devices (the Crisfield circulation desk and a few other staff devices) on October 2.
Vice President Holmes-Mayson asked for a motion to approve the Administrative Report. Motion was made by Tim Spillane, seconded by Janet Smith, and unanimously approved.
Governance
Advisory - Non-Profit Status: The IRS Form 1023-EZ for Recognition of Exemption Under Section 501(c)(3) for The Friends of Somerset County Library has been paid for and submitted.
Budget - Grants: For the sake of the auditors, we were asking that the Computer Grant ($11,817.30), through the Town of Princess Anne, and the remaining balance of the Health Department grant ($3,955.98) be added to both the income and expense sides of the budget.
Vice President Holmes-Mayson asked for a motion to accept the grant additions budget update. Motion was made by Karen Riggin, seconded by Lynn Lang, and unanimously approved.
Employee Handbook - 11.2 Progressive Corrective Action: While standardizing procedures and templates for performance improvement, some of the intended procedural language was trending into areas that were policy matters. As such, we were requesting a revision to the policy, included in the packet, that:
- Increased specificity regarding the required action by the supervisor at each step of the corrective process;
- Created a formal Performance Improvement Plan at the written correction step;
- Added a final written correction before adverse action;
- Added demotion as a possible adverse action to mirror the existing Demotion policy;
- Added intoxication in the workplace as a possible reason to escalate past the typical step process, mirroring the existing Drug Free Workplace Policy;
- Removed "excessive absenteeism or any absence without notice" and "unsatisfactory performance or conduct" from possible reasons to escalate due to the former being considered a resignation and the latter being excessively vague; and
- Formalized a document retention requirement.
Vacation Leave and Compensatory Time: Moved the following paragraph from 6.6 Vacation Leave to 10.2 Separations with the addition of "and compensatory time". Upon termination of employment, employees would be paid unused vacation leave and compensatory time that has been earned through the last day of work up to the maximum accrual, provided that the employee provides sufficient notice as described in Section 8, Separations.
Vice President Holmes-Mayson asked for a motion to accept the Employee Handbook updates. Motion was made by Janet Smith, seconded by Jennifer Timmons, and unanimously approved.
Financial Policies: On annual review of the financial policies and procedures, we were requesting the following changes:
- Capital Asset Policy - Valuation of Donated Assets: Struck the name of a specific vendor from policy. o 4. An exception may be made to #3 if the item appears to be of particularly high value (e.g., full- color art book, "coffee table" book), making the default value unrealistically low. Assuming pricing as described in #1 and #2 was not available, staff would assign the suggested retail price from a vendor website (e.g., Amazon.com).
- Purchasing Policy - Purchasing Card: Changed to mirror June 2025 changes to the Credit Card Policy, including: o Changing maximum combined credit limit from $4,000 to $25,000 (the Credit Card Policy only lists the individual limits of $2,500 with the exemption of the Director and Bookkeeper) to account for the majority of collection orders and program supply orders going through the credit card, and o Modifying position list to include Assistant Director, change Branch Manager to Library Services Manager, and change Youth Services to Children's Services and Teen Services.
- Purchasing Policy - Emergency Purchases: Struck from "When there was a threat of significant disruption to normal operations that was not the result of poor planning ." on grounds that the poor planning was an employee correction issue and, at the point an emergency has arisen, not relevant to the need to resolve the significant disruption.
Financial Procedures:
- Payroll Processing: Modified "Branch managers would review timesheets" to " Director, Assistant Director and Library Services Managers, would review timesheets."
- Petty & Physical Cash: Added "$100 in a locked, secure location in Crisfield to be used to break large bills from the Crisfield cash register." to create a change -making cash supply in Crisfield to mirror the Princess Anne one. This also added said $100 Asset to the Chart of Accounts.
Vice President Holmes-Mayson asked for a motion to accept the Financial Policies and Procedures updates. Motion was made by Janet Smith, seconded by Tim Spillane, and unanimously approved.
2026 Board Meeting Calendar: The 2026 Board Meeting calendar was provided.
Vice President Holmes-Mayson asked for a motion to accept the board meeting calendar. Motion was made by Lynn Lang, seconded by Karen Riggin, and unanimously approved.
2026 Holiday Calendar: The 2026 Holiday calendar was provided.
Vice President Holmes-Mayson asked for a motion to accept the holiday calendar. Motion was made by Janet Smith, seconded by Tim Spillane, and unanimously approved.
Executive Session
Vice President Holmes-Mayson asked for a motion to enter executive session at 4:22pm, and roll call was taken.
Resignation of Holly Watkins, Library Assistant: Holly Watkins has resigned from the Library Assistant position at the Crisfield Library. We were reviewing schedule balancing and preparing to post a listing.
Vice President Holmes-Mayson asked for a motion to accept the staff resignation. Motion was made by Karen Riggin, seconded by Janet Smith, and unanimously approved.
Vice President Holmes-Mayson asked for a motion to exit executive session at 4:24pm, and roll call was taken.
Additional Business
Lynn Lang presented a community request for a curbside book return. Discussion followed and it was determined that no action was necessary at this time.
Adjournment
Vice President Holmes-Mayson asked for a motion to adjourn the meeting. Motion was made by Tim Spillane, seconded by Jennfer Timmons, and unanimously approved. The meeting adjourned at 4:30pm.
Respectfully submitted, Nora Hoffman Somerset County Library Bookkeeper/Admin. Assistant