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Minutes 01-25-23 Minutes of the Library Board Meeting Held on Wednesday, January 25, 2023, at 6:00 PM at City Hall Commission Chambers, 100 E. Ocean Avenue Boynton Beach, Florida Present: George Feldman, Chair Craig Clark, Library Director Thomas Devlin Marcia Levine Margaret Newton Absent: Ace Tilton Ratcliff, Excused Lindsay Karten Nicole Prado I. Call to Order— George Feldman, Board Chair Chair Feldman called the meeting to order at 6:02 P.M. Mr. Feldman called the roll. A quorum was present. Mr. Clark requested to hear New Business before Board Elections. Mr. Clark introduced Donna Sherrill, the new Research Librarian. He stated that she started with the Library about six weeks ago. Ms. Sherrill stated that she is from Michigan and was excited to be part of the team. She shared that she worked in a large library system for over 10 years and she worked in various departments in the Library. She said that she also worked in Jacksonville assisting students with research, and taught students how to use the databases and the online library. She advised that she worked for the Detroit Public Library for about 13 years and did a lot of research as an undergraduate. Mr. Clark stated that Ms. Sherrill was working on the Black History Month brochure and a display as well. Ms. Newton commented that she was the African American Studies Resource person for the school district before she retired, and that she would be happy to assist Ms. Sherrill. Mr. Devlin suggested that Ms. Sherrill check with the Boynton Historical Society for local information about Black History, Meeting Minutes Library Board Boynton Beach, Florida January 25, 2023 II. Board Elections — Board to elect Chair and Vice Chair Chair Feldman suggested that the elections be tabled to the next meeting. Motion Chair Feldman motioned to table this item to the next meeting. Mr. Devlin seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously. III. Approval of Minutes — October 26, 2022 & December 14, 2022 Motion Chair Feldman moved to approve both sets of minutes. Mr. Devlin seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously. IV. Correspondence and Communications Ms. Levine stated that she is on the Senior Advisory Board and she led an effort to create a Senior Resource List and that they needed a central repository for all this information. She advised that Eleanor Krusell, Director of Marketing and Outreach, and Laura Lansburgh, Director of Public Communications, took the list and Ms. Lansburgh will post it on the web. She explained that the list is accessed in many different ways on the web and it is a living list. She said that if anyone has information, they can send it to her and she will forward it to Ms. Krusell and Ms. Lansburgh. She stated that the information is available in Creole, Haitian, and Spanish and that they are trying to have a brochure printed and she will try to find funding to update the brochure every six months. She also mentioned that they attended the MILK Day of Service and they distributed the list and created a mailing list, which was sent to Ms. Lansburgh. She advised that she wanted the Library to know about the list. Mr. Clark stated that he will post the list to the Library's webpage. V. Public Audience (Individual Speakers Will Be Limited to 3 Minute Presentations) None. Chair's Report— Board Chair Chair Feldman commented that he reviewed the October and December monthly report and he noticed on the youth side versus the adult side, from October to December, that the adult visits decreased in December, but all the numbers are up significantly. Mr. Clark stated that visits are way above last year's visits. He explained that a lot of people were traveling in December, there was cold weather, and they were closed for 2 Meeting Minutes Library Board Boynton Beach, Florida January 25, 2023 the holidays, as there were four holidays, which would result in a decrease in adult visits, but that youth visits stayed consistent. Chair Feldman asked about laptop usage. Mr. Clark said that in December, adult laptop usage was 63 and teens was 144. He advised that there are time limits and that they use laptops and desktops because the Library has less room. VI. Unfinished Business: Staffing Update — Craig Clark Mr. Clark announced that they are in the process of hiring a Youth Services Supervisor to double as a Youth Librarian and that she is a great candidate and they hope to have her on board in a month to six weeks. He stated that he made a conditional offer for a Marketing and Outreach Officer and that the Library has been very short staffed because they had staff out for a variety of reasons. Career Online High School Program Update — Jeannie Taylor Mr. Clark announced that they just had three more people ask about the program this week and a graduate attended the last City Commission Meeting, and received a Certificate of Achievement. He said that the student completed the courses in four months and will be a nurse. He noted that one student was 99% done, there are one or two more students that are in the program. He opined that they likely heard about the program by word of mouth or the web, but one person had a relative go through program and some people learned about it through the Library's bi-monthly e-newsletter. AmeriCorps Program Update — Jeannie Taylor Mr. Clark said that he had no update, but stated that the intermediate ESL Class was going exceedingly well, as was the Afterschool Homework Program. Civil Air Patrol — Update — Jeannie Taylor Mr. Clark announced that Ms. Taylor signed on for the program and received the certificate and when they hire the Children's Librarian, she will get the information and go from there. Holiday Food Drive — Friends of the Library and City of Boynton Beach Mr. Clark announced that the Food Drive went well and they put together about 85 baskets of Thanksgiving food and a $15 gift card for recipients to purchase a protein. He advised that they fed a lot of people and it was a big effort involving the Friends of the Library and Staff. He advised that all the recipients were very thankful and Mr. Clark 3 Meeting Minutes Library Board Boynton Beach, Florida January 25, 2023 thanked the Friends of the Library for teaming up. He advised that they will start earlier next year and that the City issued a press release about it. VII. New Business Introduce Donna Sherrill, Research Librarian This item was heard earlier in the meeting. VIII. Library Director's Report/Statistics December 2022 Monthly Reports Ms. Newton stated that last month, a friend and she attended the Writer's Corner and it was magnificent. She said that all of the participants liked it so much that the idea came up to meet twice a month and it was approved. Mr. Clark stated that he has received good feedback about the woman leading the Writer's Corner. IX. Announcements Next Library Board Meeting — February 22, 2023 Mr. Clark stated that the Brown Bag series is every Monday and it is a nice program. He noted that a lot of programs fill up quickly. He reviewed the different programs and stated that the Library is closed on the 20th for Presidents' Day, X. Adjournment Motion There being no further business, Chair Feldman moved to adjourn. Ms. Levine seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously. The meeting was adjourned at 6:44 P.M. Catherine Cherry Minutes Specialist 4