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Home My WebLink About2024-08-19 - Minutes -Fayetteville Fa Mountain St. Fayetteville, AR 72701 0 Public Library quest6.7000 uestions@faylib.org faylib.org Board of Trustees August 19, 2024 4 pm MINUTES Regular Meeting —Walker Room Trustees present: S. Overbey, S. Rodgers, A. Wilbourn, B. Park, R. Qualls, C. Davis Trustees absent: B. Bryan Staff present: D. Johnson, W. Fitzgibbon, T. Ball, C. Karnatz, C. Moody, S. Palmer, M. Taylor, C. Dennis, H. Robideaux, S. Edwards, K. Lehman, J. Akins, S. Herrera, S. Raines, L. Husband, K. Rolf, V. McMullen, E. Jones, J. Curry, C. Williams, J. Bunch, E. Ellis, A. Sherman, K. Eaton, B. Lee, D. Grundl, A. Workman, T. Ogle, C. Boland, K. Stevens, N. Smith, S. Allison, L. Park, M. Mullis, A. Taylor Press: L. Motley, S. Ryburn, D. Caruth Attorney: P. Elmore Benefits advisors: T. Setser, K. Kent Public: M. Rice, M. Terry, A. Jones, N. Linn, A. Linn, M. Scharfenberg, S. Doss, P. Gea, C. Hanna, S. Moore Our mission is to strengthen our community and empower our citizens through free and public access to knowledge. I. Call to Order: S. Overbey called the meeting to order at 4:00 pm. II. Roll Call III. Minutes: Approval of minutes from June 17, 2024: B. Park moved to approve the minutes from June 17, 2024. R. Qualls seconded the motion. All voted AYE. IV. Reports A. Key Upcoming Events: Highlights include Banned Book Week art reveal and reception, Story Times in local parks during the building maintenance closure, History of Fayetteville Square program, and True Lit festival with featured author Nic Stone. B. Mission Moment: M. Taylor, Manager of the Center for Innovation, spoke about Maker Faire NWA on September 7th. 40 Makers will be presenting, including recent graduates of From Maker to Market, students from Haas Hall, and the UA Robotics Club. C. Library Administration 1. Management Reports Fayetteville Public Library 401 W. Mountain St. Fayetteville, AR 72701 479.856.7000 questions@)faylib.org faylib.org a. Performance Measures: June and July are missing visit statistics because the gate software was malfunctioning. Room reservations have increased, and FPL has 300+ volunteers. b. Strategic Plan progress through July 2024: Board members were encouraged to read the Strategic Plan and reach out if there were questions. 2. Financial reports: As of July 31, 2024, Library Operations YTD collected $5,014,787 in revenue. This is 10% below target, with the difference driven by insurance proceeds for the roof fire. Library Operations YTD expenses, including encumbrances, totaled $5,028,329.Overall, spending is less than planned by 22%. Food Services dropped 5% in total net sales in June. YTD, there is a decrease of $40,794 or 24% compared to 2023's YTD net sales. This is primarily due to a decrease in catering and food sales. Events continue to perform well, with YTD net sales of $160,996 or a 4% increase from 2023's YTD net sales. 3. Informational a. FOIA report: P. Elmore, an attorney for FPL with Quattlebaum, Grooms & Tull, discussed how the Freedom of Information Act affected the FPL Board of Trustees and staff interaction with the Trustees. First - public meetings with Board of Trustees need to be publicly announced before Trustees can meet. For FOIA purposes, public meetings constitute one or more Trustee communicating via texts, calls, emails, messages, or in person. Best practice is for one Trustee to be present when discussing library business with a staff member. Documents given to a Trustee by a staff member must be informational, not decisional. Recommendations cannot be made to Trustees regarding voting choices. Second — members of the public are free to request public records that record performance or lack thereof of official Trustee functions in the Library. This does not apply to subjects that are unrelated to the Library. b. Bookmobile report: Three weeks of each month will have scheduled stops, with the fourth week set aside to make up for missing stops or community events. The Bookmobile visits many places including parks, apartment buildings, retirement homes, the mall, Boys and Girls Club, and the UA. The new vehicle allows for 18 stops before recharging. c. Act 372 update: On June 21, FPL filed for a summary judgement and has not heard from the Judge. d. Salary survey report: Discussed later in the meeting. r� V Fayetteville Public Library 401 W. Mountain St Fayetteville, AR 72701 479.856.7000 questions@fayl i b.org faylib.org e. Summer Reading report: SRC participants included 2,603 registrants, up 24% from 2023. Children read 1,527,594 minutes — over 3 years' worth of reading. Adults read 7,221 books. 301 programs were held. f. HVAC replacement: Parts of School Street and Mountain Street will be closed to prevent public safety issues. Curbside pickup and an outside book return will be available. While the building is closed, there will be training and a benefits fair for staff. g. 2025 Budget progress: Budget discussions began in July and are in early stages of completion. Staff will present the 2025 Budget in November. Health benefits update: Discussed later in the meeting. L Deli update: New menu items, prices, and online ordering will be launched September 3. Currently, the Deli caters for small internal events. S. Rodgers suggested a financial breakdown of expenses in the next meeting. j. Oct/Nov Board retreat: FPL's strategic future and growth will be discussed with members of the Foundation, Friends, and FPL Boards. D. Johnson will send a poll for off -site meeting availability. k. Friends donation: The Friends Board donated $45,000 toward the deductible to aid fire costs. I. Staff & professional development: Several reference staff members attended webinar training; J. Curry and T. Ball were accepted in Leadership Fayetteville; C. Dennis completed the NWA Communities of Excellence program. m. New staff & recognition: YTD, 27 new employees were hired at FPL; since June, 9 employees have been hired in Facilities, Events, Deli, Circulation, and Youth Services departments. D. Fayetteville Public Library Foundation - monthly report: Staff needs $25,000 to meet the fire deductible. $67,000 was given in Capital Campaign gifts, leaving $2 million left to raise. Staff are currently recruiting sponsors for the annual BeAware Halloween event. E. Friends of the Fayetteville Public Library: There is a new overhead LED sign that indicates the bookstore's location. The premium book sale is in December. New business A. Consent items: B. Park moved to approve the following consent items as presented. R. Qualls seconded the motion. All voted AYE. 1. Approve 2025 Closed Days 2. Resolution updating the Accounting staff contacts 3. New Foundation Board Directors 191 Fayetteville Public Library 401 W. Mountain St. Fayetteville, AR 72701 479.856.7000 questions@faylib.org faylib.org B. Discussion items 1. Bylaws review: Changes reflect clarified syntax, with special attention to wording consistent with Arkansas code for the conditions of an Executive Session. R. Qualls moved to approve the changes to the Bylaws. B. Park seconded the motion. All voted AYE. 2. Acceptance of new health benefits: FPL is separating from the City's benefits in 2025. Monthly premiums will decrease with Cigna as the new healthcare provider. Dental, Vision, Life and Disability will move to Mutual of Omaha. FSA, HSA and Cobra will transfer to Consolidated Admin Services. An Employee Assistance Program will be added through ENI NexGen. R. Qualls moved to approve the new health benefits proposal. A. Wilbourn seconded the motion. All voted AYE. 3. Compensation study plan: Every 3-5 years, a salary survey has been done. Last salary survey was in 2019. Staff worked with SalaryCube, which boasted more comparative organizations and updated market information. The first phase of the compensation plan will address 45 Group 1 staff positions that were found to be 20% below market rate. This is unrelated to merit increases, which are done yearly after performance evaluations. Staff in Group 2 are 10-19% below market and Group 3 are less than 10% below market. Nine employees are above market. R. Qualls moved to approve the compensation study plan. S. Rodgers seconded the motion. All voted AYE. 4. Compensation policy: A formal compensation policy will address future staffing inconsistencies and practices. R. Qualls asked for clarification on transparency decisions. T. Ball explained that the policy outlines criteria for salary adjustments, including merit increases, and unusual circumstances where an employee needed to cover another who had unexpected leave. R. Qualls moved to accept the compensation policy. C. Davis seconded the motion. All voted AYE. Public Comment: N. Linn, a Fayetteville resident, discussed pay of part-time employees. The payment for PT staff is below poverty level with the hours making it difficult for a second part-time job. She touched on the FPL+ program and Arsaga's staff that deal with the public in those hours. She discussed the building expansion during Covid and the loss of funds from the Deli, the Teaching Kitchen, the CFI, and Art & Movement Room. The Compensation Survey did not say how much the raise would be and asked for staff to hear the full report. A. Jones, another Fayetteville resident, spoke about his disappointment in the Group 1 staff that were found 20% below market salary. He asked the Board look again at the salary survey. 0 Fayetteville Public Library 401 W. Mountain St. Fayetteville, AR 72701 479.856.7000 questions@faylib.org faylib.org M. Scharfenberg, another Fayetteville resident, expressed frustration about the survey findings of Group 1 staff. She requested the salary survey be held every 2 years. Adjournment: A. Wilbourn motioned to adjourn the meeting. R. Qualls seconded the motion. The meeting ended at 5:31 pm. rry Bryan(, Se,�retary Date