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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2024-05-20 - Minutes -Fayetteville Fayetteville, Mountain St. yee tteville, AR 72701 Public Library questions@ questions@fayl ib.o rg faylib.org Board of Trustees May 20, 2024, 4 p.m. MINUTES Rescheduled Meeting —Ann Henry Board Room Trustees: B. Park, S. Overbey, S. Rodgers, R. Qualls, B. Bryan, A. Wilbourn Staff: D. Johnson, T. Ball, W. Fitzgibbon, C. Karnatz, C. Moody, J. Askins, S. McClure, K. Lehman, M. Terry, J. Curry, M. Hurley, S. Herrera, S. Raines, L. Husband Attorney: P. Elmore Public: M. Rice, J. Threet Our mission is to strengthen our community and empower our citizens through free and public access to knowledge. I. Call to Order: B. Park called the meeting to order at 4:00 pm. II. Roll Call III. Minutes - Approval of minutes from February 19, 2024, and May 13, 2024: R. Qualls motioned to approve the minutes from February 19, 2024, and May 13, 2024. A. Wilbourn seconded the motion. All voted AYE. IV. Presentation to Emeritus Trustee Hershey Garner: Postponed until June's meeting. V. Swearing in of new Trustee Barry Bryan by Judge John Threet VI. Reports A. Key Upcoming Events: Summer Reading Kickoff is June 1. The annual event sees almost 5,000 people attend and incorporates all aspects of the library. The program takes the entire year to plan, and all staff help with the event. Summer Reading Club encourages people to visit the library in the summer and sets students up for success when they return to school. Wild for Wednesdays features performances for kids every Wednesday, and Mountain Street Stage spotlights local musical acts each Sunday in the Summer. Author T. Jenkins Reid will be visiting on June 6. We are ticketing this event, and all 700 tickets were claimed within 12 minutes, with 300 people on the waitlist. The Handweavers Guild exhibit in the Lucky Day Lobby is worth a visit. B. Mission Moment: C. Karnatz, Director of Development and Marketing & Communications, reported the Foundation's recent and upcoming events and fundraisers: Library Giving Day yielded over $20,000 in April. The mini golf fundraiser Reading the Greens was presented by sponsor Century Bank of the Ozarks, and it raised $65,000. Summer Reading Club is supported by the Schmieding Foundation and the Dollar General Literacy Foundation. Mountain Fayetteville Public Library 401 W Mountain St. Fayetteville, AR 72701 479.856.7000 questions@faylib.org faylib.org Street Stage is supported by Adventure Subaru and Gerald Klingaman. Just over $20,000 has been raised toward fire recovery, with the goal to raise the full $100,000 insurance deductible. The Foundation is launching new FPL shirt designs at the Summer Reading Kickoff and retiring a few older ones. The Foundation will begin seeking sponsorships for Maker Faire and the Be(A)ware Halloween Event soon. C. Library Administration 1. Management Reports a. Performance Measures: Program attendance, library visits, and wireless users are up. Online views are up, which is likely due to increased streaming and the website remodel. b. Strategic Plan progress through March 2024: This item is included in the packet. In the interest of time, D. Johnson did not discuss highlights but invited questions. None were asked. 2. Financial reports: Revenue is around $1.7 million, which is as planned. Spending and income are as planned. Food services revenue is trending as it was last year but with a decline of approximately $30,000. The pause in catering services has caused a $19,000 revenue decrease, with a total operating loss of $37,000. Event Center expenses have decreased overall while revenue increased. Catering services have decreased to allow staff to focus on improving Deli revenue. Catering will slowly be reintroduced as the Deli regains its footing. 3. Informational a. April 14 fire: The general fire timeline is reported as follows: the beekeeper left around 1 pm, Facilities staff noticed smoke around 8:15 pm, and the Fayetteville Fire Department arrived at FPL at 8:30 pm. D. Johnson arrived at 8:40 pm, and B. Parks arrived at 9:15 pm. The fire marshal determined the smudge pot was the source of the fire and that it was an accident. S. Palmer received accolades from the fire department for his fire preparedness, and it was stated that his procedures prevented a possible $500 million loss. The event caused $590,000 in structural damage and $450,000 in contents damage, with the total amounting to $1.04 million. Our insurance policies have a $1,000 contents deductible and $100,000 structure deductible. Administrative staff are in various study and meeting rooms throughout the building until the administrative suite is repaired. They hope to move back into the administrative suite, minus furniture, by June 1. Staff showed great commitment to ensuring the library would be open to the public as Fayetteville Public Library 401 W. Mountain St. Fayetteville, AR 72701 479.856.7000 questions@)fc3ylib.org faylib.org quickly as possible. The bees will return, but the exact location is uncertain. The beekeeper has ordered flameless smudge pots in response to the incident. b. Act 372 update: We hope Judge Brooks will have a summary opinion in favor of the judgment by August 2024. If not, it may be Summer 2025. We are down to approximately $7,500 in the legal fund, which should be enough unless the State appeals the judgment. There is currently a similar Texas case that is expected to go to the US Supreme Court, which may affect the trajectory of this case. c. ARPA report: The Department of Economic Vitality published a report on the Level Up program in the CFI. Suggested areas for improvement: improve consistency of data collection, hire someone with an expertise in workforce development, improve relationships with industry partners, outsource case management, increase program marketing, partner with a coding academy, improve pre -apprenticeship program coordination with the City, refine program focus areas, and increase culinary program enrollment. Through this program, we have learned more about our capacity as an organization and a better understanding of the public's areas of need. The program period ended March 31, 2024, and funds will expire in September 2024. d. USDA update: Grant funds'expired on March 31, 2024, and the final report will be presented at the next board meeting. This was an initial planning grant, and we applied for the program implementation grant in April 2024. We will find out if we have received the implementation grant around September 2024. e. Compensation Survey project: The compensation survey was initiated earlier this year. It has been nearly five years since our last compensation survey. We have compiled and submitted our compensation data, which is currently being analyzed by an outside agency. We hope to have more feedback at the next board meeting. f. Koha report: On March 41h, the library migrated from OCLC Wise to Koha and Aspen. We have continued to fine-tune the new system, but overall staff are pleased with how the new system is operating. Patron feedback has been overwhelmingly positive. g. HVAC replacement report: The replacement is expected to take place September 22 - 29, 2024. The cost estimate is just over $1 million. Extensive street closures will be required, which means the library will also need to be closed. We are planning to offer curbside pickup and DOC VII. Fayetteville Public Library 401 W. Mountain St. Fayetteville, AR 72701 479.856.7000 questions@faylib.org faylib.org hope to open some portions of the library. This project is being funded by a transfer from the City. h. Audit report: Auditors completed their onsite visit in early April. They will be returning to ask further questions soon due to new GASB accounting rules. i. Staff development & professional development: S. McClure and J. Curry presented at the Hot Springs library conference. D. Johnson and S. McClure attended the Crystal Bridges librarian convening. L. Husband and C. Henry graduated from Leadership Fayetteville. W. Fitzgibbon attended the Milestone Leadership Retreat. j. New staff & recognition: There have been 11 new hires since the last board meeting: 1 FT and 4 PT LSGs, 2 FT facilities staff, 1 PT accountant, 1 FT events manager, 1 full-time IT/AV manager, and 1 PT CFI generalist. We had 101 total, 76 full-time employees in February; now have 110 total, 81 full-time employees. D. Fayetteville Public Library Foundation report: The Foundation's Finance Committee is looking at their investment policies. The Foundation Board is buying lunch for staff next week to celebrate the success of Reading the Greens and to thank staff for their hard work in response to the fire. They are looking at selling artwork by Susan Morrison that was donated to the Foundation, as the contract expiration date is approaching. E. Friends of the Fayetteville Public Library: Premium book sales make more money than regular book sales. E. Bruce was voted to the Friends board, and the Board has developed a new process to recruit board members on the FPL website. Old business A. Appoint Bylaws review committee: A. Wilburn and R. Qualls will serve on the Bylaws review committee. VIII. New business A. Discussion items 1. Appoint Nominating Committee: R. Qualls and S. Overbey will serve on the Nominating Committee. 2. Appoint liaison to Foundation Board: S. Rodgers will continue service as the Foundation Board Liaison. 3. Appoint liaison to Friends Board: S. Overbey will continue service as the Friends Board Liaison. 4. Appoint liaison to Art Committee: B. Bryan was appointed to the Art Committee. Fayetteville Public Library 401 W. Mountain St. Fayetteville, AR 72701 479.856.7000 questions@foylib.org faylib.org 5. Appoint Board of Trustees Finance Committee: S. Rodgers and B. Bryan will serve on the Finance Committee. 6. Officer appointments: A. Wilbourn motioned to approve the new slate of officers, as stated above. R. Qualls seconded the motion. All voted AYE. 7. Budget Adjustment for Summer Reading Grant: Resolution to recognize and accept grant funds from the Schmieding Foundation for the youth and teen Summer Reading Program, as well as increase the 2024 budget for both revenue and expenditures in the amount of $15,000. R. Qualls motioned to approve the budget adjustment for the Summer Reading Grant. A. Wilburn seconded the motion. All voted AYE. 8. Budget Adjustment for Books & Bites: Resolution to accept grant funds from an anonymous donor designated for the Books & Bites program and approve amending the 2024 budget in the amount of $50,000. S. Rodgers motioned to approve the budget adjustment for Books & Bites. R. Qualls seconded the motion. All voted AYE. IX. Public Comment: J. Curry advocated for a stronger relationship between the Board of Trustees and non -leadership staff. Staff do not see a strong relationship with the Board and sometimes fear retaliation due to an incident with a former employee. M. Rice encouraged Board members to reach out more to employees by attending events and building individual relationships with employees. It was suggested that Board members wear name tags when visiting the library. B. Parks expressed encouragement for more staff to attend Board meetings. B. Parks asserted the seriousness with which the Board approaches personnel matters but there are limitations on how the Board can interact with one another and library staff. Board members agreed to be more available going forward and thanked J. Curry for his concerns. M. Rice encouraged the Board of Trustees to keep dialogue with the State Library Board open in the wake of recent events. Trustees need to reach out as individuals sometimes to the State Library Board to encourage the Board's work and advocate for libraries. X. Executive Session: B. Parks motioned that the Board go into Executive Session. The Executive Session began at 5:39 p.m. and ended at 6:06 p.m. Adjournment: R. Qualls motioned to adjourn the meeting. A. Wilburn seconded the motion. All voted AYE. The meeting adjourned at 6:07 pm. arry Bryn, �ecretary l Date