welcome everyone I'd like to welcome everybody back this is our first meeting
in quite a long while and I'd like to call the meeting to order the first item
on the agenda is a present is if there are presentations from any members of
the public do we have any presentations no we have no callers queued up for this
meeting and there are also no online comment okay thank you very much then
we'll move on to the second item on the agenda which is to consider approval of
the minutes of March 9th 2020 Cindy sent us those to remind us of what happens so
very long ago and I assume you've read them so may I have a motion to approve
the minutes of the March 9th meeting may I see a hand Laura approves them second
from Katie all in favor raise your hand please the minutes are considered
approved all right the next item is to receive an informational report and hold
a discussion regarding the Friends of the Denton Public Libraries Jennifer
will you present that report for us yes so the Friends unfortunately due to
COVID have had to cancel so many activities their regular quarterly
meetings for 2020 have been canceled they are trying to conduct a virtual
meeting to make plans for 2021 sometime later this month their book sales were
also canceled from the spring through the rest of the year for safety concerns
they did give us in 2020 they gave us $20,000 for 10,000 was for summer
reading challenge prize books which we purchased and now that the libraries are
starting to reopen patrons who participate it can pick up their prizes
and another 10,000 went to other facility enhancements such as there was
furniture in the teen room and a large bed scanner in for Emily Fowler Central
Library those items have come in in preparing for 2021 because there weren't
book sales at this time they are thinking that they should be able to
provide the library with $10,000 so we are trying to see what our needs might
be for 2021 we know we did have less participation for summer reading
challenge so we may have some books left over so we know that that will be
covered no matter what but we're trying to see if there will be any additional
that we could apply for any branch needs anyone have any questions for Jennifer
all right then let's move on the next item is receive an informational report
and hold a discussion about the Emily Fowler Library Foundation so the
foundation there's not much change there they provided fifteen thousand dollars
to go towards the nook park project at Emily Fowler Central Library and that
park project is coming to a close it looks stunning I highly recommend if
anybody wants to take a nice walk in this beautiful weather walk past there
and enjoy sitting down in that nature area and the plaques for recognition are
being put together I think that they are hoping to have those done before the end
of the month but I will have more information on that later but it is
moving along and that's the only activity that they've had so far
wonderful again any questions or for Jennifer or any comments about it Katie
um what plaques it's for a Rotary Club and the foundation of it is there
anybody else there were some individual donors and they had different donation
levels but there were some individual donors who gave a thousand or more and
they'll they'll be on that plaque also anyone else all right let's move to the
next item receive a report and hold a discussion regarding the delay of the
election of a president vice president and secretary of the library board so
per the library board bylaws traditionally in September nominations
for the executive positions are made and then the voting is happens in October
but because the council elections that would have happened in May were delayed
until November appointments can't be completed so we are delaying the
election until we get all the official appointments so it would be early 2021
before we have our final appointments and we'll be able to do elections for
the board that makes good sense because we just don't know who's going to be on
the board at that point right all right any questions or comments about that
topic seeing none receive a report and hold a discussion regarding library
phased reopening plans during the COVID-19 pandemic so I've got exciting
news we are slowly reopening so we are moving branches into what we are
calling phase three which is 30 minute grab-and-go walk you just walk in you
can spend a little bit of time browsing use the self checks to check out
materials it's first come first serve for computer access we do have some
tables available for people who need internet access if they're bringing
their own devices and so that's kind of our first tier of our reopening north
branch just moved to phase three on Monday so far it's been really
successful a lot of people using those computers and printers and a lot of
people walking in to update their cards because it's been a little while and so
that is exciting to see in South Branch will move to phase three on October 19th
and then Emily Fowler we're looking at early November but that exact date is
still being figured out because of the moving project that's happening right now
so once all three branches are in phase three at that point we're going to start
looking at banding hours because temporary hours for phase three are just
Monday through Saturday 10 to 5 that matches the current curbside service
north branch always has had a drive-up service window so that drive-up service
window will continue matching that 10 to 5 hours but as the other branches come
up their curbside service will cease just because they don't already have that
staffing to accommodate the additional pieces with that service interlibrary
loan services have been up for a while 3d printer requests and pickup would be
available and once any branches in phase three patrons can come and browse those
summer reading challenge prize book carts and pick their prize but prize
books also and we'll start adding hours and services back once all three branches
are up looking at adding our evenings of course the Sundays and eventually that
9 to 10 a.m. back and services such as study rooms right now those are closed
bringing back the meeting rooms probably in January things like that any questions
for Jennifer about that topic or a comment you want to make I would like to
just impose a little bit here that that I think your curbside service has been
wonderful I have had personally no slacking off of all the many books that
I need to read and I just think everybody's been cheerful about it they
have worked wonderfully well and I want to applaud you and all the your team
for may still continuing to make books and materials and information available
to us the public thank you the team I see thumbs up there yes yes I keep we
keep joking that they need to make sure that they're wearing their fit bits
because they're getting a lot of steps in that normally they don't have to do
so and and like I mentioned it for any patrons who want to continue with a
curbside service north branch has the drive-up window and that will all that
will always be available okay as I also gave for those of you who read the
newspaper gave a hug you know on Saturdays they do hugs and shrugs in the
paper and I gave a hug to Jennifer and her entire fantastic team for what they
have done to keep us informed in the public so I'll praise goes to them
they're amazing okay the next item on the agenda is receive a report hold a
discussion and consider recommending approval of the following Denton Public
Library policy updates the circulation policy so the circulation policy is a
policy that you all had already done and an update approval in February but this
summer we did Institute the books to go account type for Denton ISD students and
we needed to add that in there so that's the that change and then we did find a
an error that we had correct in one place but incorrect in another place so
we fixed that but those were the only changes and it's just for your review
and approval so we need to vote an approval of the change yes please all
right may I have a motion to approve the changes okay Laura may I have a second
and then we'll have a discussion dr. Jang seconded all right is there any
discussion of the motion hearing none all in favor please raise your hand all
right this is approved receive a report and hold a discussion regarding the
library departmental reorganization all right so COVID has been horrible across
the board but it has made us review some of our existing procedures and
efficiencies and what we can do better and one of the things we looked at as
part of the COVID as we were looking at everything all of our services as we
looked at doing a reorganization within the department to improve services
improve communication and efficiency within the department and so we've made
some changes I attached our new org chart in the agenda but we are bringing
back one manager per library branch and so Jess Turner is our new North branch
manager Kimberly Wells continues to be our Emily Fowler central library manager
and Stacey Sizemore is South branch manager and then we still have our
technical services manager Jennifer Reeves and within that reorg we also
kind of rearrange some of the processes we had circulation team leaders who did
the day-to-day operations of our circulation departments at each branch
and so we officially made them the supervisors they were already doing that
work and so now they are officially supervising their search teams we also
rearrange Carrie Montz the assistant branch manager at North branch is going
to oversee system-wide circulation to kind of work with the programming
librarians and make sure we are addressing topics and programming needs
across the system evenly she's also going to oversee the forge maker space
and we have some big projects coming up with that and she's gonna help get those
settled make sure it's running smoothly and she's also going to help us as we
are doing more and more grant writing we need a department liaison to work with
the city and the finance department make sure we are following the city's grant
policy and just making sure our grant management is top-notch so she's gonna
take that on for us also so some exciting changes it's gonna improve like
I said it's realigning us to improve services and and make us more efficient
good any questions for Jennifer or any comments on her topic all right then
let's move to the next one the one desk service model so this and the reorg go
hand-in-hand part of that is we also moved up our library assistant one
positions to be library assistant two positions traditionally the difference
was LA ones were circulation frontline and LA twos worked at reference and
assisted with programs and so what we found though is we have been sending
people kind of like ping-pong balls to desk to desk to desk and we wanted to
improve that service and to do that we needed to cross train everyone so we
needed everyone at a certain level so we moved all of the LA ones we promoted
them to LA twos we are coming up with a cross training program that we're going
to be doing this fall and winter so we are identifying some core services that
every single staff member in the library can help with if somebody walks up to
anybody any of us can look up a book we can check your account we can make edits
to an account so some basic things that previously we would have said oh go to
that desk come to this desk and we are combining forces into one service area
to also eliminate that back and forth physically right now we have we have
removed the north branch reference desk and the staff is working out of that
gigantic circulation desk so they the desk is enormous it can accommodate many
people many people so right now we're doing that as we get settled and as we
are able to find some funding we will get more specific service desk that will
be able to replace to better fit this model but for right now we're going to
use what we have and stuff is going to be able to really help anyone and worst
case scenario if it's a very specific question or issue then they can go oh my
friend right here can help you and it's just one step away so better service
better communication more efficient it's going to help also with staffing levels
instead of having two people staffed at reference and two people at Cirque we
should be able to eventually just have two people at one service desk with
other people on call if things get busy but we think it's going to lend us a lot
of efficiency with that any questions or comments yes Katie you're on mute okay
I'm just curious was maybe you maybe you didn't even need it maybe everybody
already had it but did you also do make sure everyone's sort of equal in their
technology especially things that patrons ask about downloadables things like that
is that something that was across the board so that's something it's gonna be
in our training plan so everybody's gonna need to know how to help someone
print something off log into a computer and the basics of what our electronic
resources are so one example where there might be a handoff would be I'm having
trouble with hoopla and there may be you know stuff may be able to give an
overview but if it becomes too complex and if it's a traditional Cirque staff
member that's where they may do the transition to actually she's gonna have
a little bit more expertise on that topic and can help you same thing the
Cirque staff is going to handle the cash registers and so reference staff won't
be having to be trained or constantly have the void receipts as that training
process goes on so that's librarians with money you don't want to do that any
other questions or comments just raise your hand okay seeing none thank you we
will move on to the next reading nook Park at Emily Fowler Central Library so
it is almost done it is exciting I talked a little bit about that with the
foundation report I really recommend that anybody take a walk this weekend
through Quaker town and stop behind there we have seen people as they are
walking stop and enjoy the area it is planted out there's irrigation there's
lights it will it has a power spot so if we have a program or an event needs
power there there is an outlet there it's locked down normally but would be
open there and our favorite part is we heard word from facilities that they
were able to work with the historical Commission and come up with a plan for we
have an exit door at Emily Fowler that is very narrow it's an emergency exit
only that they are gonna be able to update and then provide an ADA
compatible access out there as opposed to going around the facility we don't
have a date on when that part is gonna happen I'm not quite sure but we did
hear that the plan for it has been approved and they're they're working on
it so that's just the icing on the cake for us that's fantastic being someone
who has trouble going all the way around wonderful wonderful thing you're doing
there all right any questions or comments about that for Jennifer right
then let's move to the next the fiscal year 2021 library department budget so
great news we haven't had any budget cuts which is wonderful we basically are
operating budget from 1920 has been rolled over we did get an increase of
$5,000 at Fowler for archival supplies and those are not cheap and that was
not funded prior and so we were able to get that that's an ongoing increase in
the budget and we were able to find some one-time cost items that we we are in
the process with we're updating the RFID technology the self-check machine's
smart smart shoot returns and security gates the RFP process is coming to a
close on that so we will be getting new technology for that we did lose and it
was a little bit of the reorg and this two FTEs one full-time librarian from
South one part-time la2 for technical services and one part-time la2 for Fowler
because of kovat and our reduced programming and there's just a lot of
reduction in service at this time things are in transition and then we're also
moving to that one desk service model we're very confident this fiscal year
will be fine and then we're going to readdress in the budget process for 21
22 and what we need to add back and request back for that questions and
comments
library grant awards so great news we've been asking for a lot of money and we're
getting some so we've received a Texas Book Festival grant for $1,000 to
replace board books at North Branch to replace what kind of books please board
books okay baby books they needed some upgrading so they're gonna get that at
Emily Fowler they're gonna get $2,500 from the Texas Book Festival grant to
replace worn youth teen and adult titles special collections applied for and was
awarded $24,820 from the TSLAC text treasures grant to digitize issues of
the Denton Record Chronicle they won that same amount last year and they
started from the beginning it was the early 1900s they got through 1938 so this
session is 1939 to 1954 and you tell me that dollar amount again $24,820 okay and
another question that's wonderful I've got one more to you oh that's not all we
also were awarded a TSLAC special project grant for $54,058 to move and
expand the forge maker space it's moving from its current room at North Branch to
a larger room it was the reference room at North Branch we're just flip-flopping
the two so it's gonna expand its size and that funding is for new equipment and
furniture for that room so we're gonna have some awesome stuff in there can you
be specific about some of the new materials that will be in there not the
furniture but yes we're getting a it's an engraving machine and that's that's
not cheap at all it's about $24,000 so it engraves everything from wood
glass to plexiglass all sorts of things it has a direct ventilation outside for
it as tabletop enclosed CNC carver a dual extruder 3d printer and what that
means is it can print two colors as well as a small 3d scanner and we're getting
new clear front so glass front storage cabinets so all of the current things
that we have that nobody knows about connect people can see while they're
still secured and so we hope that that will help a mobile service desk because
we when staffing is in there currently there's no staff area and I think people
come in and think the staff person is a patron so we're getting one of those new
collaboration tables new computer tables and reservation software to make
reservations to use the equipment and that's for the grant and then on top of
that things that we have on hand are our current two 3d printers the computers
will move in there that are in the forge but we're also we've also gotten a t-shirt
press that we got from the the city had an in-house printing and graphics group
and now it's outsourced and they had that equipment so we we claimed it things
like a button maker a cricket vinyl cutting machine a large-scale laminator a
large format cutter we have a lot of requests from people who need to cut
poster board size things so some of those things we have on hand that we're
just gonna put out and some of them we're gonna add oh we're gonna move our dye
cuts at North Branch out there we use them but the public can too once they're
in the makerspace so it's gonna be from I've never used equipment or like you
you can be a straight-up beginner to an advanced technology person so it's gonna
have something for everyone that sounds wonderful yes wonderful any questions for
Jennifer or comments okay yay the DISD student books to go accounts yes so we
have been talking about this for a long time and it came to fruition this summer
it's a collaboration between Denton Public Library and Denton ISD as parents
or guardians registered their student through the online registration process
they could opt in to participate with this which would give their student
basically our youth courtesy card it would allow students to check out up to
three items at a time place three holds at a time use the computers and access
all of the online resources so they can download books they can do research they
can use Linda calm all of that and so parents who opted in and a huge amount
of people opted in we're gonna work on a little bit of our wording to clarify
what it was what they're opting into next year we think some may have been
confused that they were opting into Denton ISD library access so what we did
was we added a second level to activate the account and as of September 25th we
had 181 books to go accounts that were activated we have had a lot of families
fill out the form to activate and then we got to notify them guess what you
already had a card you just forgot here's the number and so there's quite a
few of those which that's great news too and so each week we get in you know
anywhere from 10 to 40 of those activation requests they seem to come in
clumps as teachers remind the students don't forget to activate your card and
then we'll see several from the same school coming through so it is it is
doing well we're gonna do another marketing push to remind community
members that if you opted in don't forget to activate if you'd like that but
it has been really helpful the majority have been from the south area kind of
bordering the Corinth and so it's really helped out those families who are
non-residents but they wanted their students to have access to library
materials questions or comments then the last item on the agenda the Emily Fowler
central library moving project this is so exciting and I can't wait for us to
open so you all can come in and see it we are completely revamping how Emily
Fowler looks on the inside not paint there's no hammers or nails happening but
when you come in to Emily Fowler of course there's first the circulation
desk and to the left is AV audio visual materials those remain towards the right
which was special collections all of that has moved upstairs and that is where
the computers will be going and eventually timeline to be determined
sometime in the next 24 months we're hoping soon but we aren't quite sure we
will also have conference room and possibly study rooms down there also but
definitely that's where the computers will be going and so when you go up the
stairs at Emily Fowler as you walk up the stairs immediately you'll see the
new teen area and just to the right of that is youth services and youth
services has a relaxing play interactive play area towards the back of that which
is very convenient it's right next to this the program room so as we have
story times families can play and go straight into the story time room it's
right there and then as you move further back upstairs it gets quieter and
quieter so we have study tables and then it moves into genealogy and where the
youth services shelving was before is adult fiction and nonfiction so the
theory was you're gonna see the most activity as you walk up the stairs but
as you move back it's going to be quieter and as we pull all those
computers together in a computer lab type formation those are downstairs so
they're quick and easy access they're right by the restrooms so for those in
and out customers it's not interrupting anybody who's studying upstairs and so
we think the layout is gonna help a lot it's also moved all of those rare and
precious historical items out of the floodplain area which Emily Fowler is
technically in a floodplain and we did not like having those items on the
bottom floor they are higher up now and much safer we don't have to do the
frantic moving everything off the bottom shelf every time it rains so that's
going to help a lot with that also all right questions and comments well we
certainly are going to get us out of here much earlier than your time
limitation thank you everyone keep safe and Jennifer will tell us when we need
the next zoom meeting together thanks again oh I need a motion no you're we
are adjourned I don't need a motion for that we are adjourned