Public Library Board November 18

Staff Presentations
The meeting started with a staff presentation from Amy Foster, branch manager of the Scheben branch of the Boone County Public Library (BCPL). (November’s meeting was held at the Scheben branch). She basically highlighted two programs the branch offers: a passport program and notary services. The branch can process passport requests including taking actual passport photos. The fee is $130.00. They had a one-day passport fair in January 2023 and processed 99 passports that day. They are proposing another passport fair day in 2025.

The other staff presentation was by a library consultant who discussed the library trustee and director roles. Essentially, the Board oversees the governance and operations of the library system, whereas the director manages the day-to-day operation of the library. The Board approves the annual budget, the annual tax rate and other revenue streams generated through grants, leases, etc. By statute the Board hires the director and approves the director’s staff hires. 

Public Comment
The public comment section was moved up from the end of the agenda. Three Petersburg residents attended, and remarks were made by Rosemary Mastin. Basically, the issue is that the BCPL is still interviewing staff due to the one resignation, and because the Chapin Memorial Library (CML) is understaffed, it’s essentially just operating as an express library. The residents continue to advocate for the “opening” of the library, fully staffed with restroom access, and also advocate the BCPL system pay the CML staff more as residents in the area pay taxes like other residents in other parts of the county.

Director’s Report
Executive Director Carrie Herrmann (CH) indicated there is a lot of engagement with the new Walton branch and many positive comments on the library services, staff, etc.

Acting upon a resident’s complaint regarding the lack of conservative content in the periodicals provided by BCPL, CH stated she took a “deep dive” to look at the library’s periodical collection. CH used four sources of bias service methodologies to measure the content of the periodicals and determined that 59% were neutral (cooking, architectural, crafts, etc.); 15% of the periodicals are considered centrist and balanced; about nine titles lean left and five lean right. CH therefore feels there’s no real issue with the viewpoints expressed throughout the BCPL’s range of periodicals. 

CH also advised the Board that there has been a national trend of public libraries being targeted with incidents of violence such as drug users, homeless, etc. Consequently, there has been some extensive training for de-escalation of potential violent incidents and other issues such as drug overdoses (which has occurred in the BCPL system). CH will keep the Board apprised of issues as well as ongoing training. One of the Board members also suggested it might be useful for the Board to undergo some of this training also. 

CH advised she and her staff are continuing the interview process for the CML staff opening.  The latest prospect declined their offer because he/she didn’t like the commute. 

Treasurer’s Report
About $1.1 million was received in the BCPL’s first fiscal quarter, most generated by the proceeds of the sale in September of the old Walton branch. Tax revenues will start coming in October and onward, so will reduce the expenditures overage experienced currently.

Policy Review
Two policies were presented for review—BCPL Board of Trustee Code of Conduct Policy and the Staff Code of Conduct Policy. President Jackson provided the Board with two different versions generated by the comments the Board submitted to him. The Board chose the more detailed version of the policy, which has a little more “legalese” in it. Motion to accept was passed. With regard to the Staff Code of Conduct, which will be placed in the employee manual, after some discussion the Board decided to table any finalizing motion for the next meeting to allow for further review.

Facilities Master Plan and Strategic Plan Review
There was a brief discussion regarding getting input on the next capital improvement project, the design/expansion of the Florence branch. President Jackson indicated he would prefer obtaining community involvement before consulting any architectural firms for their needs appraisals. This was approved by several other Board members and will be discussed further at future meetings, as the BCPL will wait for another 12 to 18 months before proceeding with any capital improvement project to give time to analyze the new Walton branch through several seasons. 

CML Ad Hoc Committee
Further discussion about the possible formation of an ad hoc committee was conducted. President Jackson and the Board agreed the ad hoc committee would be comprised of seven members: two members of the community, two from the Board, two BCPL library staff and one Boone County representative (especially since the CML is located in a County building), hopefully one of the commissioners on the Fiscal Court. CH will also advertise to request an RFP (request for proposal) from an independent consultant.