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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2023-04-27 - Minutes -Fayetteville Fa a Mountain St. Fayetteville, AR 72701 4)0 Public Library 479,856,7000 questions@faylib.org faylib.org Board of Trustees April 27, 2023 1 pm MINUTES Regular Meeting —Art & Movement Room Trustees present: B. Park, S. Overbey, S. Rodgers, M. Sutherland, R. Qualls, A. Wilbourn, H. Garner Staff present: D. Johnson, W. Fitzgibbon, R. Duarte, C. Karnatz, T. Ball, C. Moody, S. Palmer, K. Lehman, J. Askins, S. McClure, C. Dennis, H. Robideaux, S. Herrera, M. Taylor, G. Allen, L. Husband, K. Serio, A. Taylor Legal: P. Elmore Public: M. Terry, J. Prince, R. Wilborn, E. Terry 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 1:00 pm. II. Minutes: Approval of minutes from February 20, 2023: H. Garner approved the minutes from February 20, 2023. R. Qualls seconded the motion. All voted AYE. III. Swearing in of continuing Trustees by Judge Beth Storey Bryan IV. Reports A. Key Upcoming Events: Highlights include "Parenting in a Digital Age" panel, Visiting Artist Laura Lee Washburn, bestselling author Brit Bennett, and the Summer Reading Kickoff on June 3. B. Mission Moment: Amnesty Week is the final week of April. So far, 130 billed items have been returned — about 2.5 times the normal return rate, equaling $2,411.98. C. Library Administration 1. Management Reports a. Performance Measures: Visits up 43% from 2022 and library attendance, study room usage, and Event Center usage have increased. In -person program attendance is rising as online attendance wanes. b. Strategic Plan progress through March 2023: Maintained regular FPL book clubs, art & movement classes, story times for children, and hosted events that partnered with SONA, TheatreSquared, and FPS. 2. Financial reports Fayetteville 40. Public Library 401 W. Mountain St. Fayetteville. AR 72701 479.856.7000 questions@faylib.org faylib.org a. Overview: Revenues and expenditures on track as planned. The building's property insurance was $40,000 more than anticipated. Food Services' net loss decreased to $13,000. In March, C. Leflar met with staff to discuss and establish operating goals to improve Food Services net income. The goals were to increase food prices, increase number of customers by 20% (or 140 tickets per day), decrease food costs by 10%, explore daily/weekly specials, and increase marketing efforts. b. Budget to actual through March 2023: Reflects the above overview. c. Balance sheet as of March 2023: No significant changes. 3. Informational a. Library Giving Day: $43,000 was raised. b. Reading the Greens: The event was a major success with $51,000 raised. Staff are considering making this an annual event. c. Audit report update: The audit report for 2022 was received and will be presented at the next meeting. The current audit is underway. d. Community Health Worker: D. Johnson is working with the NWA Council and UAMS to assist in a pilot program that will host a community health worker at FPL. This individual will assist the community and FPL staff. All services are provided by a Walton Family Foundation grant. If successful, the pilot will be replicated at other NWA libraries. e. Crisis Intervention Response Team: Certain Fayetteville Police Department officers have been trained to help and locate resources. Police will be called first in the case of an individual experiencing a disruptive crisis. This Response Team will help the individual with their specific needs and can assist the community health worker at FPL. f. ARPA workforce development: First quarterly report was sent to the City, detailing training for: skilled trades in VR, computer lab IT, and heavy equipment operation. The kitchen is preparing classes for workforce development. None of these classes are open yet, but applications have been received. g. USDA Grant presentation: M. Terry, food policy researcher at UA, presented information about the 12-month USDA Urban Agricultural Innovation Planning Grant, which was awarded to FPL. This grant partners with local organizations to create community culinary literacy and prevent food waste. Hopefully this project and grant will create an endowment effect for FPL and the community. h. New staff & recognition: Eleven new staff members, including 5 full-time staff and 6 part-time staff. Seven staff members are now notaries. IM Fayetteville Public Library 401 W. Mountain St Fayetteville, AR 72701 479.856.7000 questions@fayli b.org faylib.org D. Fayetteville Public Library Foundation - monthly report: New full-time assistant, K. Serio. Marketing will focus efforts on bigger FPL events. The "And Beyond..." campaign will launch at the end of May. E. Friends of the Fayetteville Public Library: Held two successful book sales; combined, the premium and general book sales accrued $2,400. Decorative improvements are planned to make the bookstore more inviting. F. Art Committee: Several art exhibits are on display, including the K-12 NWA Regional Art Show, Nick Hobbs in the Reading Room, and community -created art inspired by Diego Rivera's exhibit currently at Crystal Bridges. Old business A. Approve Community Needs Assessment (included previously): H. Garner moved to approve the Community Needs Assessment as presented by the Ivy Group. S. Rodger seconded the motion. All voted AYE. VI. New business A. Discussion items 1. New laws impacting libraries: Five acts are on the Library's radar, with the wording on some leaving them open to interpretation. Act 372, the "library obscenities act," is the most controversial and concerns the ability of a patron to challenge a book based on generalized definitions of obscene. Currently, the Board of Trustees is the final word on whether a book is reclassified or removed from the collection; under the new law the Board is not involved, and the final word is given to an elected official. Ultimately, the Executive Director would be charged with a misdemeanor with the possibility of a year in jail. D. Johnson has contacted Kit Williams, the City Attorney, who along with V. Chadick will need to discern the law regarding FPL. The Library will craft a policy that book challengers will need to meet three criteria: live in Fayetteville, own a library card, and have a child under 18. The Act itself does not become law until 90 days after May 1. The Director of the Arkansas Central Library wishes to label Act 372 unconstitutional and strike it down with a lawsuit. FPL has been asked to be a plaintiff. H. Garner motioned that the Fayetteville Public Library join the lawsuit with CALS, ACLU, and other parties in opposition to Act 372 and become a plaintiff in the lawsuit. R. Qualls seconded the motion. All voted AYE. D. Johnson said there is a concern that if the Act is considered unconstitutional, public libraries will have decreased state funding. FPL could withstand this, but smaller libraries could not. The lawsuit will move forward even without FPL's name as a plaintiff. Attending staff were asked for their opinion, and some commented that they supported the Board's decision but were afraid of state retribution. Fayetteville 4). Public Library 401 W. Mountain St. Fayetteville. AR 72701 479.856.7000 questions@faylib.org fayllb.org H. Garner wanted to affirmatively indemnify the staff from retribution. H. Garner motioned that the Board of Trustees empower Fayetteville Public Library staff to engage with legal counsel to devise a mechanism to protect staff against retribution for participation in the lawsuit with CALS, ACLU, and other parties against Act 372. A. Wilbourn seconded the motion. All voted AYE. 2. Appoint Nominating Committee: R. Qualls and S. Overbey. 3. Appoint liaison to Foundation Board: S. Rodgers continued service. 4. Appoint liaison to Friends Board: S. Overbey continued service. 5. Appoint Board of Trustees Finance Committee: S. Rodgers and B. Park. 6. Approve USDA grant: This grant was awarded to the Foundation with FPL as a sub -recipient. A. Wilbourn motioned to accept the USDA grant and the budget adjustment to accommodate the grant as written. H. Garner seconded the motion. All voted AYE. 7. Authorization to obtain a qualification for auditing services: Every 5 years, FPL must revisit their auditing services contracts and implement a new contract with an audit firm for annual financial statement audits. FPL typically uses the same firm as the City, which has resulted in efficiency and cost savings. Instead of going through a time- consuming formal request for qualifications process and given that the City completed their formal process last year and rehired Forvis, staff wish to ask Forvis to present a letter of qualifications and a bid. If the Board approves their response, staff will rehire them for the next five years. S. Rodger motioned to authorize the Fayetteville Public Library to obtain a qualification for auditing services from Forvis. H. Garner seconded the motion. All voted AYE. 8. Events room rental policy update: With the recent Brave Books event, the events room rental policy has been revised. FPL reserves the right to refuse rental to organizations registered as a hate group with either the Southern Poverty Law Center or the Antidefamation League. H. Garner motioned to approve the proposed policy update to KT: Event Spaces. S. Overbey seconded the motion. All voted AYE. 9. Meeting Room rental policy update: Similar constraints have been instilled in the Meeting Room policy. H. Garner motioned to approve the meeting room policy KV: Meeting Rooms. R. Qualls seconded the motion. All voted AYE. 10. Alcohol policy & procedures: FPL is in the process of crafting a policy and procedures that align with state laws for alcohol control during events in the building. The Library will submit this first draft to V. Chadick to improve the language. 11. Schmieding Foundation SRC grant: FPL was awarded a $15,000 grant to the Foundation in support of the Summer Reading Program. This adds to the support from Adventure Subaru and the Walton Family Foundation. H. Garner motioned to accept VII h/lll Fayetteville Public Library 401 W. Mountain St. Fayetteville, AR 72701 479.856.7000 questions@)faylib.org faylib.org the $15,000 from the Schmieding Foundation for the SRC and amend the 2023 Budget to accept the funds. R. Qualls seconded the motion. All voted AYE. 12. Long -Term Revenue Committee: In 2015, the Board allowed Library staff to assemble a committee to analyze costs. D. Johnson now wishes to assemble another Long -Term Revenue Committee to look at the issues of FPL's reserves and how to address the debts, loans, etc. This has been discussed with S. Davis, who wants to participate. Other Committee members include J. Koenig, S. Rodgers, M. Rice, and C. Leflar, with additional members sought to represent the community. This Committee will be in communication with Development staff and the Foundation Board. B. Park motioned that the Board approve the Executive Director's establishment of a long- term revenue committee with a complete list of participants to follow. H. Garner seconded the motion. All voted AYE. Executive Session: H. Garner moved to go into Executive Session. A. Wilbourn seconded. All voted AYE. The Board went into Executive Session at 3:18pm. H. Garner moved to leave Executive Session. S. Rodgers seconded the motion. Executive Session ended at 3:39. No action was taken. Public Comment: None Adjournment: H. Garner moved to adjourn the meeting. B. Park seconded the motion. All voted AYE. The meeting adjourned at 3:41 pm. Martha Sutherland, Secretary Date