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05/04/2023 Library Board Meeting Minutes May 4, 2023 City of Clearwater Main Library- Council Chambers 100 N. Osceola Avenue Clearwater, FL 33755 e Meeting Minutes Thursday, May 4, 2023 10:15 AM Main Library - Council Chambers Library Board Page 1 City of Clearwater Library Board Meeting Minutes May 4, 2023 Roll Call Present 6 - Chair Donna Dennis, Board Member Kelly McLeay, Board Member Kelly Malizia, Board Member Rosemarie Kibitlewski, Board Member Helen Amburgey, and Board Member Timothy Promen Absent 1 - Board Member Andrew Lorenti Also Present - Jennifer L. Obermaier— Library Director, Nicole Sprague — Deputy City Clerk Awaiting Approval 1. Call To Order The meeting was called to order at 10:15 a.m. 2. Approval of Minutes Member McLeay moved to accept the minutes of the February 2, 2023 Library Board meeting as submitted in written summation. The motion was duly seconded and carried unanimously. 3. Citizens to be Heard Regarding Items Not on the Agenda: None. 4. Old Business Items 4.1 North Greenwood & Main Library Hours Status Library Director Jennifer Obermaier said as of April 11, 2023, the North Greenwood library has Saturday hours, 10:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m. Approval for an extra FTE was not approved for the change so the Main library is currently closed on Sunday's. The Countryside library is open on Sunday's. 4.2 Staff Vacancy Status Ms. Obermaier said there are eight vacant positions currently, all but one position is part time which is challenging to fill. She said the open positions are posted on various online job boards. 4.3 Main Library Renovation Status Ms. Obermaier said renovations are moving slow as there are a lot of moving parts. Penny Lane, a Beatles museum currently located in downtown Dunedin, is interested in moving to the Main library and expanding. Negotiations are ongoing with the legal agreement. Council still supports adding a cafe, to the Main library. Page 1 City of Clearwater Library Board Meeting Minutes May 4, 2023 In response to questions, Ms. Obermaier said Harvard Jolly Architect was retained to provide consulting assistance with the renovations. The second floor of the Main library is dedicated to the children's section. She said renovation plans would have to be approved by Council. Any future plans will revolve around an approved agreement for the Penny Lane exhibit and what a cafe would look like in the space. The Penny Lane exhibit would require about 5,500 square feet. The cafe square footage has not been decided and it will depend on who operates it. She said she would see if a stakeholder focus group would be permitted by city management. She said she reached out the city's special events staff to discuss parking at the library during Imagine Clearwater events once Coachman Park re-opens. She requested parking attendants to secure library patron parking during scheduled events. Construction on the new hotel slated for the old Harborview site will impact parking as well. The hotel will incorporate 50 city designated parking spots once complete. 5. Director's Report 5.1 Spring Programs Ms. Obermaier said in February the sixth annual Night at the Library event was held in honor of black history month and it was a huge success, every inch of the library was filled with people. Grand Rising, an event surrounding the history of black cemeteries was held in April and included artists, performances and story-telling. The annual Comicon was held in March with over 1,000 people in attendance. She said all branches had Easter programs scheduled. A Day of the Book/Day of the Child event was held last week at the East library, which is an event that celebrates children, families and reading. She said it was an active Spring and they are transitioning into the summer reading program that starts the first week of June. 5.2 Coachman Park Grand Opening Ms. Obermaier said the grand opening is a week-long celebration in partnership with Ruth Eckerd Hall with various programs and events scheduled. The celebration begins on June 28, 2023 and concludes with a July 4th celebration to include fireworks. She said it will be one of the largest shows in the area. 5.3 National Volunteer Week Ms. Obermaier said National Volunteer Week is a week before National Library Week and is an opportunity to honor and appreciate the volunteers, the library has 40 volunteers system wide. The volunteers Page 1 City of Clearwater Library Board Meeting Minutes May 4, 2023 love giving back and helping with tasks that staff does not have the opportunity to do. There are teen and adult volunteers, teens may start volunteering at age 16 and their volunteer hours are eligible for college credits and volunteer hours. 5.4 National Library Workers' Week Ms. Obermaier said National Library Workers' Week is an opportunity to honor the wonderful staff. She said staff receives many comment cards, calls, and emails about the wonderful staff and a day was taken to celebrate them to make sure they know they are appreciated. Comment was made that the Board is grateful for the library staff and the incredible work they do all the time. 5.5 National Library Week - City Council Proclamation & Presentation "1000 Books Before Kindergarten" Ms. Obermaier said National Library Week is a celebration on the importance of libraries. Libraries are going through challenges nationwide and she said she is grateful city council and city management support. A proclamation was presented at the last council meeting along with a wonderful presentation on the Early Literacy Program, called 1,000 Books Before Kindergarten. There were six little graduates in attendance who were honored for their accomplishment. A comment was made that that is how you create lifelong readers. 5.6 Outreach Events Ms. Obermaier said staff is focused on increasing community outreach efforts to be where the people are to promote all the services offered by the library. They set up tables at CRA events, partner with schools and various community events and bring crafts, 3-D printers, telescopes, etc. It is a great marketing opportunity and staff can issue library cards on the spot. In response to a question, Ms. Obermaier said there are about 80,000 active library card holders. She said door counts have been increasing since COVID. She said staff has promoted the digital resources that are available and said you don't have to be in a library to use the library. There are certain resources at all branches and users don't have to come to the Main library to use a 3-D printer or photo scanner, etc. 5.7 Citizenship Classes at East Community Library @ SPC Page 1 City of Clearwater Library Board Meeting Minutes May 4, 2023 Ms. Obermaier said the city partners with the Literacy Council of Upper Pinellas to offer citizenship classes. Every week there are classes and practice tests available and the city has had four graduates become citizens from this program. 5.8 Robotics Team and Competition Ms. Obermaier said the library sponsors a robotic team that practices year-round building and coding robots. At a competition in March, their teams came in first and second place. There is a trophy display case on the second floor showing all the successes. The dedicated staff work with the kids to build their creations and are so proud with their accomplishments. 5.9 Library Foundation Ms. Obermaier said there the Library Foundation has not met since the Board's last meeting. There is no update. 5.10Friends of the Clearwater Library Ms. Obermaier said there was no update but said they are trying to figure out where to have a book sale. The sales used to occur at the Main library, but the spaces used are currently occupied. She said people donate their personal libraries and it provides a lot of great material for sale at low cost. She said Niki Butcher was at the library in April for her book signing. There was a great turnout, and her exhibit was taken down yesterday. The new exhibit will be Clyde Butcher's Cuba exhibit will be installed on May 13, 2022 along with a smaller separate Cuba exhibit by various artists that will be in the Carnegie and Osceola galleries. 6. Board Members to be Heard Chair Dennis said there was an article in the March 26, 2023 Tampa Bay Times emphasizing how much local libraries have to offer, including museum passes, passport services, tools, seeds, etc. She expressed concern regarding a newspaper article about parental controls in the Hillsborough County library system. In response to a question, Ms. Obermaier said parental control of reading materials is a national issue, not a local one. Page 1 City of Clearwater Library Board 7. Adjourn Attest: Meeting Minutes The meeting adjourned at 11:00 a.m. Page 1 City of Clearwater May 4, 2023 `chair — Library Board