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Minutes 02-24-21 MINUTES OF THE LIBRARY BOARD MEETING HELD ON WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2021, AT 6:00 P.M. VIA ZOOM ONLINE MEETING, IN BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA Present: Marcia Levine, Chair Craig Clark, Library Director Dr. Stephanie Hayden-Adeyemo, Vice Chair(Arrived 6:07 p.m.) Jeannie Taylor, Assistant Robyn Boucard Library Director George Feldman Sarah Brown, Alternate Absent: Lindsay Karten Ace Tilton Ratcliff Elizabeth Sherlock Victor Gaud Cabrera I. Pre-meeting announcement from Craig Clark, Library Director At 6:02 p.m., Craig Clark, Library Director, read a statement explaining how the online meeting would proceed and how the public could participate. II. Call to Order— Marcia Levine, Board Chair Chair Levine called the meeting to order at 6:03 p.m. Roll call was taken. A quorum was present. Ill. Approval of Minutes — Meeting of January 27, 2021 Motion Ms. Boucard moved to approve the minutes as written. Mr. Feldman seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously. IV. Correspondence and Communications Vice Chair Levine explained she also sits on the Art Advisory Board. Their agendas contain Informational Items, which allows the members around the room to talk about what they have done related to the arts. She thought if a member visited a library or museum virtually or read any books, then would be a good time to announce it. Mr. Feldman commented he did not do too much in relation to the Library, but he thoroughly read the minutes. He noted there was a lot more circulation in the Library and the Library staff is very active. There has been quite a change since the Library opened and when all are COVID vaccinated, the Library will be the biggest thing to hit Boynton Beach, Meeting Minutes Library Advisory Board Boynton Beach, Florida February 24, 2021 putting the City on the map. Mr. Feldman loved the projects and 3-D activities the Library offers as another way to make a living. He was honored to be part of the Library Board. Ms. Brown explained she works in a library and they experienced a significant dip in circulation, but now they are back up and promoting electronic resources, like Boynton was. She was curious to learn how much of an increase in Ebook checkouts versus print books were compared to the library she works at. She is always reading something. V. Public Audience (Individual Speakers Will Be Limited to 3 Minute Presentations) None. VI. Chair's Report Chair Levine looked over the materials Mr. Clark gave the members to advocate for library funding and literacy. She likes libraries and announced her mind is expanded about libraries, library trends and it is not just books. She went to two other libraries in Boynton to compare them and had some thoughts. She now has several library cards including a County Library Card. What she liked about Boynton's Library is everything is accessible. The County library felt a little older to her. Vice Chair Hayden-Adeyemo agreed. Libraries are important to a community. VII. Unfinished Business: Staffing Update - Craig Clark Mr. Clark announced Naels Simonaire was promoted from a part-time to a full-time position and further noted Mr. Simonaire grew up in the Library as a child. Mr. Clark believes in hiring the Library's youth. He is good with the public and is so well-mannered and spoken, they promoted him and he started full time on Monday. His part-time position is now vacant and Mr. Clark was working on posting it. Once filled, the Library will be fully staffed. AmeriCorps Program —Jeannie Taylor Jeannie Taylor, Assistant Library Director, announced AmeriCorps is very busy. The regulars are coming and there are more and more inquiries coming. The Children's Librarian was conducting outreach with a community organization trying to get kids signed up for afterschool homework help. Things are going well. Career Online High School - Jeannie Taylor 2 Meeting Minutes Library Advisory Board Boynton Beach, Florida February 24, 2021 Ms. Taylor advised she has three students in the Career Online High School program, but no one in the prerequisite program. Two students finished the self-assessment and will hopefully enter the prerequisite program. The prerequisite program exposes the student to online learning and helps determine if they are comfortable with this style of learning. If so, she and Mr. Clark interview them for a scholarship. They recently had a student who was honest she could not adapt to style of learning. Generally, students are grateful for the scholarship. There is still a probationary period and students have to finish two classes within the first 30 days to keep the schedule. If they do not, the scholarship is revoked and given to another student. There are still a few scholarships left. The students have to be over 19, be a resident and have a Library card. Mr. Clark advised if the State should fund the program, the Library would assign 10 scholarships which would be available to county residents. When there are a few scholarships left, they are reserved for Boynton residents. Mr. Feldman asked about the requirements and what the Certificate looks like, what the Certificate is for and what it accomplishes. Ms. Taylor repeated the participant has to be 19 or older, a City resident and have a library card. When in the program, the students have to finish their High School diploma, which is a fully accredited diploma that opens more doors for them and they receive a career certificate. The students have eight categories to choose from, showing they have studied in a particular area. There are no further scholarships after completing the program. There are 18 classes to complete on the high school side. If the students had completed high school classes, those classes transfer over into the program. The student does not have to retake those classes. In the past, they had international students who started over and took all 18 credits. Vice Chair Hayden-Adeyemo commented a university will screen transcripts and put in information for the pre-requisite. Florida State universities require a transcript indicating they submitted the General Equivalent Diploma for 18 credits. If foreign language is not a requirement, and the student is non-traditional, they will be accepted. If the program is accredited and approved, which the Library program is, if the student wants to take advantage of the opportunity, they will get it, but funding is dependent on opportunities the federal government provides. She thought if the Online High School will be an opportunity for the community, the Library should promote it. If they show data how many students were placed, they are more likely to receive funding. Ms. Tylor explained there are programs within the school district that students can complete, but people get to the adult age, the only options are GED. Mr. Clark explained the diploma increases the likelihood of employment. Boynton Beach High School has night classes and adult education classes that is fee based. The Library's program is free and it is a great selling point for the Library. Vice Chair Hayden-Adeyemo commented students can attend high school up to the age of 22.5 if they are in exceptional ed. She noted there are different programs and this was a different avenue for students to pursue. Adult Reading Club—Jeannie Taylor 3 Meeting Minutes Library Advisory Board Boynton Beach, Florida February 24, 2021 Ms. Taylor advised there are 92 people signed up, which is a little low, but it was a tough year. The participants read their 10 items and get a tote bag. The ability to sign up for the Club will end at the end of February. There was brief discussion this may be occurring due to patrons' attention being to other types of media. Ms. Taylor responded it was not, and they have found that a person who is a reader reads in multiple formats. Little Libraries Program —Craig Clark Mr. Clark announced the Little Libraries program launched two weeks ago. There are Little Libraries installed at Oceanfront Park next to the beach walkway entrance on the south side, one at Sara Sims Park, and one at Barrier Free Park on Congress Avenue. Ms. Taylor manages the one at Barrier Free Park, Mr. Clark manages the one at Ocean Front Park and Mr. Naughton handles the one at Sara Sims and there has been activity already. It is exciting to share books with the community. They created a little video about them to share on social media. VIII. New Business Chair Levine commented when the members list informational items, in their exploration of what they would like, they could add items to New Business. As the members visit new libraries and see new programs, they could be discussed under New Business. IX. Library Director's Report/Statistics January 2021 Monthly Report Mr. Clark explained Ebook circulation increased 109% compared to 12 months ago. Overdrive and RB Digital increased by 6% from 12 months ago. The Overdrive Magazines are not being checked out as much and he will speak with staff to market the program. Ms. Taylor thought patrons may not be aware it changed from RB Digital to Overdrive which can be found on an app which is called Libby. Circulation was up 26% overall from 12 months ago, adult circulation increased by 10%, young adult by 31% and juvenile by 75%. Staff is seeing more youth coming in for homework help with the AmeriCorp program. Patrons are returning, senior citizens, as they get their vaccinations are returning and some volunteers are beginning to come back. He hoped as more are vaccinated the Library would get super crowded. Ms. Boucard asked how the meeting rooms were being utilized. She noted it says there were reservations for 155 people. Sometimes when the meeting rooms were used, it was for tutoring. Mr. Clark responded the study rooms were mostly used to study and do homework; however, tutoring is not allowed to take place in the study rooms for the protection of the youth. The meeting rooms are just adult study rooms. Staff encourages the tutors to be downstairs in the Lobby where they are in the open and visible and not disturbing anyone. 4 Meeting Minutes Library Advisory Board Boynton Beach, Florida February 24, 2021 Mr. Clark pointed out Maddie Kjosa, Marketing and Outreach Manager, expanded the virtual adult programming along with Christina Graves, the Digital Librarian. He thought if one person gets something out of a program, it is successful. He thought all the Library programs were a success. He thought Ms. Kjosa did an excellent job with virtual programming, which is here to stay in some cases, depending on what the topic is. They are partnering with the Economic Development Department and Mr. Clark attended a meeting with them today with the Boynton Chamber and the CRA, talking about small business. They were surprised with the Library's online data bases they have for small businesses. They are adding A-Z data bases and another data base to create a business plan, which will be launched in a few weeks. They are excited about the partnerships because libraries are about economic development and there is a lot of value in what they have to offer to businesses. They are lighting the fuse for small businesses. The Library is partnering with the Small Business Administration (SBA) and they will do some programming for the Library. Mr. Feldman noted he went through the SBA program years ago and they had a lot of material. The Library has also been in touch with FAU as well. Chair Levine noted the CRA is only focusing on a few events. It was good to know they are interested in being involved with the business aspect. Mr. Clark explained David Scott is head of Economic Development Strategy. Since Mr. Scott came on board a few years ago, Mr. Clark has been speaking with him quite a bit on how they can partner and Mr. Clark feels the Library has a seat at the economic development table. Mr. Feldman thought it would revolve around the Library. Mr. Clark advised it is a team effort. X. Announcements Chair Levine announced the Pin Wheel Kinetic Art event is occurring. The Art Advisory Board, little-by-little, put the event together. They have a new Public Art Manager, Glenn Weiss, and they will have an amazing kinetic event on March 6th and 7th. The Library youth helped make kinetic pinwheels. Mr. Clark did not know how many pinwheel kits were received, but between seven and nine pinwheels were made so far. The pin wheels will be displayed in the Youth Library on Sunday March 7th, between 11 and 3 p.m. The docent volunteers will be trained on Friday and they can ensure people will be directed to the Library. There will be action all along Ocean Avenue from Federal Highway to Seacrest. There will be food trucks and beverage stations. It should be an exciting event. Next Library Board Meeting — March 24, 2021 —Via Zoom Meeting XI. Adjournment There being no further business, Mr. Feldman moved to adjourn. Ms. Boucard seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously. The meeting was adjourned at 6:47 p.m. 7 f f Catherine Cherry Minutes Specialist 5