I'm sorry because I'm going to want to naturally look at you and talk, but I need to be pivoting and Yeah You got Kathy's message or not No, I didn't know Kathy Norma will not make it. I had already responded, but she's not able to make it back to the hotel She's not in town. No, she's in Arizona. She ran the meeting yesterday from Arizona I didn't recognize the windows, but I didn't know where she was like I came in So they'll come up on a separate window then it's be like I think so on the department head meeting That's what happens is you can see us in a window and then the others pop up As they speak, uh, they it sort of goes to them, right? Okay, sounds good. I'll be in the next Okay, that sounds good. So, um, how would how would I be able to Let them know that they can speak Because usually you can just call on them But and I will visually see them on this just like it's just like a regular zoom rebooks cube, right? Yep, and I said that to one of my young kids. I was like, oh, yeah, it's a rebooks cube and they didn't know Whatever I am not that old, but It's a slightly newer reference in the Brady bunch, which is right. I could have used that with an outfit show. Yeah Oh, so it's probably It's not good that I log in here, right because that'll have distortion So it's only going to be logged in here for us. So we shouldn't The zoom link that Debbie gave us. Oh, yeah, I would just use I wouldn't use it years in here Okay, I just wanted what one place that we were we had to use both because it wasn't No, you'll be able to see everything on the screen. So we should need that. I was I'm just coming up the The actual agenda. I mean, I I I do both as well. I had to take notes and I also got a text from Chris saying that she has to read the board meeting at four. Okay. Oh, yeah So does that mean we're okay. We should uh, we have nine members. Uh, quorum would be five So once uh, william joins will be six I did finally get Kathy's message. It didn't scroll up. Okay We don't really have Three people entered the room waiting Yeah I would think we'd want to join just to make sure it's working. I wonder if we Have to do anything I can't push our button on there I don't know. Otherwise, uh, There's a door stopper there if you want because we're gonna have a key little lock I know Oh, okay So Chris, it's good to see you. It looks like we have sydney and we also have uh, debbie and We are in a new room Um It's room number 305 and uh, uh, it's gonna be sort of we're gonna be having a zoom meeting and We'll see how that goes. I more equipment for me to try to figure out for a meeting And I think you're on mute right now Chris. So if you were trying to it's this crazy thing of trying to My classroom was room 300 Oh, there you go Was right next door that should that should give me a lot for this meeting right I do I don't know if you saw my text, but I do have to leave by four Yes, okay And I and I'm uh from what I've heard from Garrett It looks like we are gonna have a quorum with you leaving Kathy's not able to join us either, but I think we're gonna be okay Okay, it'll just we will find out right so are you traveling? You mentioned you're traveling right Monday. I go okay. Well safe travels to you Well when she came home she said and this was like two weeks before christmas the first flight only had 10 passengers And then the second flight had 30. So that's why I figured flying probably is easier or better Then driving all that way alone and through all the stupid weather we've been having right, so I'm gonna double mask this time though too right My sister-in-law just came back from uh taking both daughters to their respective Schools that everyone was wearing a mask. They were the only family that did a face shield as well and uh, but you know They didn't get any funny luck. They didn't feel strange at all It's just everyone's doing what they can to be able to travel in a safe way so Maggie said there was only one guy on one of the flights. They gave the stewardesses a hard time And they kept telling him no you need to wear a mask and he had it in his pocket But he wouldn't put it on until they said okay, then we're going to put you on the no flight Sheet oh and the mask came out Looks like it's Cheryl right? I think I love Cheryl and I wonder if this is the volume It seems to be I'm going to attempt to do this button. Oh sure And then it looks promising right? Oh, yeah. All right. You're fine. Okay, chris if you could speak again. I'm just playing with the volume Sure, um, I didn't get an agenda by the way Okay, mom Sydney's online. So she's heard you I'm sure Okay, I got the articles and I got all the financial reports, but no No agenda for some reason I'm learning new technology melissa. It's very exciting And just so you know, there's two screens. So you guys are like doubled up So if it looks like Garrett and I are doing tennis We've got two big screens of of All of you. So Just trying to see who else and it looks like we have melissa. We have chris here. Cheryl debbie Sydney and then we have someone who is We have someone at nine two whose phone number is eight eight nine 1927 I'm not too sure who that is if they could just unmute and tell us who you are You don't have to show us your face although we enjoy seeing everyone's faces We understand that sometimes that's not The easiest Hello, sherry And if um, if you are a library board member and you're at the phone number that ends in 12 97 I know that our city attorney chuck adams has stated that He would like for those of us As trustees to be visible in these virtual platforms. So uh, it might be that we have someone just joining us Off in the public. But I just thought I would mention that. Oh, now we've got kyle. Hello. Welcome almost at 259 Let's see who else are we waiting for Marcus I think And meg just now All right Meg is there. Oh welcome Meg I think the only person who we just have um Marcus and Kathy are not here. We know that Kathy is not correct You figure out who that number was Uh, I'll do one more problem. Um, uh, just uh Checking in for those of you who can hear me. Oh, I can't talk I'm hoping you can hear me. Give me a thumbs up. Uh, new technology here um I am just confirming we do have one person who has dialed in and that may actually be one of our trustees But i'm not sure because it just gives me a phone number And so if you have a phone number that is ended 12 97 so your phone number is 920889 12 97 if you are a trustee if you wouldn't mind putting on the visual so that we can Oh, oh, it's sherry. Okay sherry. You are like Okay, it's like we can't really hear sherry but um Okay, so thanks for solving the mystery for some reason sherry is here twice You're not allowed to vote twice. I'm telling you right now But we have her as a visual and we also have her in as phones. So I think sherry when you were Would like to speak you might have to unmute your Your phone dial in because that is the part that is not allowing you to um Have us hear you All right So I think it's star six or star seven to unmute sherry I think that's Oh, that's helpful Yep Oh, it's unmuted, but we're still not hearing you. Maybe talk closer to the phone Yeah, maybe talk into your phone. Maybe that would help as a symbol says that You're no longer muted, but What do we know? Sherry, are you muted on the phone itself as well because there's No Well, you maybe needs to be up I give up There you are. Oh, now I hear you All right, everyone. Um, I am going to go ahead and call our meeting to order. Uh, we do have a quorum um, I am going to uh put uh Garrett in charge of letting me know if other trustees show up because I have too many places to look at this meeting This day, you know, I wish I'm going to at the end.  So it's just I feel like I'm in the room now with 20 people instead But uh, I just wanted to let you know that Kathy Norman is not able to join us And it is our hope that Marcos Rivera will be able to join us shortly So at this time since we do have a quorum Can you please join me in the pledge of allegiance? Okay Pledge of allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands At this point in time with our Agenda at 1.3 public comment, uh, we do not have uh anyone here for public comment So we are now going to move on to 1.4, which is approval of our minutes and at this time If someone would like to raise their hand To approve our minutes from december 9th of 2020 So looks like kyle has approved The minutes is there someone who would like to second And chris has seconded. Are there any uh discussion points? All those in favor, please say aye Aye. Hi. Hi Any opposed? Motion carries. Thank you Next up 1.5 correspondence announcement and common counsel referral I just wanted to let all of you be aware that In january, uh mayor of vandestine did Put forth an appointment for the common counsel's consideration Of someone to fill a vacancy on our library board of trustees faith The matter Requires that he introduce it one meeting and then the common counsel gets to actually vote on the appointment At the next month. So in february I'm anticipating that we will have a new Colleague join us and his name is william bolson and as soon as it's made official I will be contacting him and walking in him and We will have an opportunity to meet him at our february meeting His term will be expiring April 19th of this year Because he is filling a vacancy And I don't think we have any other no Next 1.6 cool, so um this is uh This is this this one's probably going to be the more emotional one for me Of our meeting and it's to adopt the resolution and honor of the service of bernie markovich as the president of me public library trustees and president of me public library foundation And uh, I believe that all of you have seen the resolution in or doc and All of you. I know have your own personal wonderful memories of bernie and So he he lives forever more In all of our hearts and our minds and in our library and other wonderful shaborgan institutions And I I know With certainty that bernie is most pleased that this is the longest resolution I have ever seen come from me public library and it's quite fitting that it is an honor of Bernie markovich, and I'm sure he thinks it should be 10 pages long and he's probably right but Without further ado, I am going to go ahead and read their resolution and As I read just to think of the wonderful legacy that he has left left all of us This is a resolution in memory of the late bernie markovich and his many years of service to me public library whereas bernie markovich Was first appointed to serve the me public library board of trustees in july 1998 and he served for 11 years He was also appointed to the me public library foundation board in october 2000 And he continued in that role as president through december 2020 Whereas bernie markovich markovich leaves behind a legacy of volunteerism We think volunteerism of leadership and vision spanning several decades at me public library While serving as president of the library board foundation and friends of me public library And whereas bernie markovich united other community members and helping secure the financial future of the library Whereas bernie markovich helped lead efforts to utilize a combination of private and public funds To develop new public spaces in the library including the jerry blacks cafe The moss teen learning center and the hansom teen library And whereas bernie markovich worked to continuously maintain and improve the appearance of the library Along with furthering its goals as a cultural center through the addition of artwork both inside and outside the building including the installation of the ruben vegar collection And whereas bernie markovich recognized years ago that even though he would never personally embrace The crazy world of the internet He fully supported the necessity of me public library investing in its website digital resources automated check-in And checkout system and other technology so that the library services could be more efficient And meet the many needs of the residents of the city of shibuya This support has proved to be critical in the efforts of me public library being able to provide essential library services during this pandemic And whereas bernie markovich was a leader who understood the value of following his strong words of support with countless real action Ranging from choosing paint colors for the library Speaking at common council meetings to encourage fair budgeting for me public library Supporting the teen advisory board's recommendations for furniture and design recreating holiday decorations every year Thinking of new clever ways for community members to celebrate their support Working with the friends of me public library to create a menu of bountiful festive advertisers and dessert for the annual real-time celebration And extolling the power of the library changing lives and numerous handwritten personal notes and letters And whereas bernie markovich was one of the first to describe me public library as the gem of the city of shibuya and Utilize leadership talents and humor to creatively bring together the whole community in support of our treasured libraries And whereas bernie markovich was a tireless advocate and ambassador for me public library's mission of connecting people with ideas resources and technology to educate entertain and empower And now therefore be it resolved that the me public library board does hereby publicly commend bernie markovich On his decades of service and advocacy on behalf of the library His hard work leadership and dedication contributed to the excellent reputation That me public library enjoys in the community So someone like to make a motion to approve our resolution So kyle has made the motion with someone like to have a second Meg offering his second date any further discussions or additions? You know he's beautifully written Pardon He was beautifully written And you know, he's smiling right now. The only thing i'm sure he would really be Unimpressed with my boring white paper So So i'm going to make sure that this is actually put on very bright paper And maybe even have it add a little bit of dazzle and sparkle knowing him he deserves to have it remembered that way So, yeah All those in favor, please say aye I Any opposed Motion carries On a personal road, I wanted to let you know that I was invited to attend his estate sale and I found There are so many hidden talents and Of bernie, but he was incredible with needlepoint and creating beautiful works of art And so I actually found a piece That actually has his name on it. He didn't always put his name on thing He liked to be the mysterious You know artist But I I do intend to get that framed and there might be a way for us to somehow have it In the library so that people can kind of have a smile when they see it and think of him. So I'll share it whenever I finally get that framed and we can sort of enjoy it at the library So Moving on then to committee reports and I do know that uh, Chris I had shared just uh, just to let you all know that Chris, uh, will be needing to Leave us at four and I'm I'm quite confident that we're going to get Completed with most of the important aspects of our meeting prior to them But I just wanted to let some of you know if all of a sudden Chris disappeared It's not technology that's after out at since he's informed at the head of time So, uh, moving on to 2.1 review impossible action on payment of current expenditures including payroll specials revenues grants gifts and donations Between file and debbie. So so I turned that over then to kyle as chair of our finance Uh, thanks. Thanks debbie. I believe you were going to lead this one. Correct. I think debbie. Yeah, sure If you want I can do that kyle This is december 31st as of monday. There is still more expenses to come. I'm waiting for the last two Roles in december that have not been accrued yet I was told they are accruing that for me today so that I can get our adjustments It looks like from we're in pretty good shape considering The year we had um, I did recover 63 000 in covid expenses So that actually put a boost in our our financials for the year and We were lucky that we collected that much from the city So I will be doing a 13th month statement But right now I was looking at I will be able to put between 10 to 20 000 in our roof reserve Garrett and I did talk to daniella about renaming that reserve where they Marty would not name it roof reserve repair and she's agreeable to change that title for us So that future boards will know what that money is, you know being accrued for Other than that until I get all the final figures, you know, the financials are Are what they are and what I commented on them. We are over budget on some items You know somewhere is because of covid 19 and some are that were just over budget so And then kyle, did you want to do the donations or should I just mention the one? I'm trying to find my file. I apologize. Can you can bring it up to me? We did receive 15 000 from ruth d young coler again this year however for future years now her Nice and I believe it's a A grand niece will be taking care of that fund and we will have to file a grant every year now to apply for those funds And that's it for donations for the library for the The end of the year or so all right A file would you like to make a motion in regards to The payment of our current expenditures Yes, I would Move approval of payment of all outstanding expenditures as presented All right, is there a second? I'll second that Oh Nancy mentioned second any further discussion All those in favor, please say aye Hi. Hi Any opposed Okay Carried 2.2 Uh 2020 budget status report to date And that should be definitely the attachment that Debbie has on it. I assume that's Debbie again Yeah, Debbie if you would like to give us any overview that we should note with the financial report that you shared Yeah, and the banking fees We never used to get charged for those Nancy didn't but Marty started to so We used to have that as a cushion. We no longer have that and actually the The financial service fees went over the special parking assessment Because we had so much snow last year. We had budgeted 4 000 that was well over 6000 And the insurance fire I that really Increased and of course they did not let us know it was going to increase by that much Um, it went from Let me just find it The insurance went from 10 000 up to 16 almost 16 5 So of course when we did the budget for 20 21 We didn't have that figure yet. So I assume we're going to be over budget in 2021 on that but I'll definitely try to get that increase for 22 and then I already mentioned we got 63 895 dollars that I recovered from the COVID grant It was the COVID-19 road to recovery grant So all our expenses other than 154 dollars that we spent for COVID related expenses We actually got covered That included our new cubicles all the glass panels we put in I did get that paid from the recovery also and materials and supplies That went over because of some of the COVID expenses, but like I said the Money that we got from that grant offset those overbalanced Other than that, we're looking like I said pretty good. So Hey Thank you. Any questions are all for Debbie I always appreciate Your uh, you know summary that uh that accompanies the report Debbie So thank you for trying to help us understand finances during this really challenging COVID year. I just feel like COVID should be at the top of every single piece of paper that we produce in 2020 and 2021 20 years from now people are not really going to understand any of our financial decisions, I think All right, no further questions or comments Okay, then we are now going to move on to uh, 3.1 Me have a me the library annual report to the city of Sheboygan And so this is me the All of the city departments need to file a an annual report to the city council each year and so Uh, we've been doing that quietly this year was a little bit different because obviously COVID changed everything when we were shut down Um, as well as we were on um less open hours Open hours the public for the rest of the year since then and so I felt like we really needed to read kind of uh, I've been using a template the whole time for the last several years We sort of redid this whole thing. So uh, thanks to melissa As well as josh for helping write this but we started off with You know some of the key dates and then we went through And uh showed the metrics and the interesting part of the the process for me is that Each month we have metrics for the library board That you guys look at and we're judged on and the other departments don't really do that So this is a bigger deal For them because they need to come up with these five years worth of statistics On however their department is measured Um, but you can see as you go through the report some of our numbers And I was going to talk about that under 4.5 as well But you can see that under uh visits were actually at about halfway To what we normally have for number of visitors at the library Our physical physical materials checkout actually wasn't as bad as I would have assumed It was down by about a third but that shows that we had a lot of things going like curbside delivery We only missed a few weeks. Uh, we had curbside going pretty quickly And then people are still checking out a lot of items Um And also the digital stuff did go up a slightly as well. So that helped out with checkouts The next metric that we have in this report is the number of programs in classes that one really suffered this year Obviously since the pandemic started we could really only do virtual Programs so we're fairly limited in what we could do with that And then also internet sessions was down significantly. So Um, you know, those our numbers are way down. So I tried to explain that Yet explain why it's important Um, that we still offer these services. So like Many libraries right now our sides are closed throughout the state But it makes it really hard for such as if people are doing job searching right now to be able to if they don't have internet access It you know, obviously can't do that at the library. So it's really really important that we're open Um, and then on the back sheet I just had some of the highlights and achievements So I think we did a pretty good job this year of not only staying open but offering good services Um, the staff worked hard on just being agile as we learned What was going on with uh different levels of government what our what our guidelines were and And so looking ahead Next year again, I should say 2021 is a struggle as well because we don't know when Sort of things are going to open up a little bit more. So Um, at this point we're kind of in the same pattern. We were the second half of 2020 So we're just kind of looking ahead hope crossing our fingers and helping things get Opened up and and maybe the vaccine helps to change things a bit so but Since this was already turned in I don't know that we need to make a motion or anything is more just for information So I guess I'll open it up for those that had time to read it. Do you have any questions about it? All right, welcome Not a question. Uh, just, you know commending you Gear it in the staff, especially for finding ways for us to operate safely And serve our constituents uh in this time. I had actually I called me if I had a board member from Uh, Manitowoc public library who knew me reached out and said He'd been pushing for them to operate the way meat has and they're still closed and A big concern about folks having access to job resources and other pieces there in the role the library plays So I think it speaks highly to to the staff You know and and also just as a board member We deeply appreciate The service during this time knowing the risks and I know that everybody's being as safe as we can but You're providing a vital public service. It's not lost on us. So I just want to thank you for the work you're doing Thank you, pal I just wondered if the hot spots showed up on any of the reports from the internet or They're not in here. It wasn't as major of a thing, but we do we are offering 12 I think it's 12 hot spots now I'm not mistaken. Um, so it's a smaller metric. But yeah, that's an important part for those folks that like right now we I believe it's Restricted to about an hour a day. Melissa could correct me if I'm wrong, but we've limited because we don't have that many workstations So for those folks that need it for a longer period of time, they can check out a hot spot For a longer period of time. So it's been super popular. My understanding is those are Checked out pretty regularly there. There's very few times are on the shelf Yep, that's correct things most of I just see a lot of people parked in the parking lot too at night Yeah, we've tried to in fact chase our it person has put a Hot spot on the outside of the building to make the the west side of the building a little bit easier to use sit in your car if you if you can and Hook up that way to the internet So we do see people using that quite often anyone else Thank you for your comments and support and the good question Um, the number that I am just I am just so astonished by page two And I almost feel like I should we all should be wearing t-shirts that have 334,156 items were checked out in 2020 during a pandemic I mean more than a quarter million I mean that is just astonishing to me. Um, and I know that You know in a non-pandemic year the number was higher, but still 334,156 items were checked out in 2020 Which it just gives you a glimpse of how our resources and our services are so very much appreciated and needed by our Community so I think future reports that number could be in font like 40 and bold So everyone can truly see the How people are utilizing all right. Um, I also Had a chance to mention to hear it earlier that um, I really appreciate our library staff Continuing to demonstrate how to share the history of the moment that we're in And it would be really interesting to see if other departments gave a timeline of Uh, really impacted their ability to offer services and provide support to the community So I I really appreciate the first page. Yeah, that was something we talked about a little bit. Just uh, this is sort of a It's a historical document in a sense when we look back at that someday. Um, what what happened? Thank you for moving on to 3.3 covid service responses Uh 3.2, uh, the lot need library city capital improvement project And so for this one, I do I do need an approval at the end. Um So each year our normal year is the library Asked the city for help in funding some of its larger purchases And we're sort of down to our last major project which started even before I got here, which is the The restoration of our HVAC system and we now have a new chiller new boilers and all those Main appliances, but what we're doing then throughout the library is replacing the controls the the thermostats As most people know them and they're the old Air pneumatic type and we're replacing those with digital controls That'll actually be able to talk back and forth with these newer appliances and so We're halfway through that process right now our Top floor and our bottom floor have been done and we just need to get the middle two floors and so Originally when this is quoted about three or three to four years ago We were looking at approximately 66 000 per floor to have this whole project done now we're able With a newer quote to actually get this down to 80 000 for the entire project and the city has said that they're willing to try to put this together to put To put 80 000 out this year And 2021 and just get the project knocked out and that saves quite a bit of money for them next year as well So that's what we would like to do and that's the change This had been agreed upon by both side by not only the library board, but the The city last the last couple years. This is just kind of an update where we're putting the money together So that's really the change and just need to get an approval from the library board So with someone like to make a motion for the capital improvement across from of 2021 Our welterings made of motion. Does someone like to second? Press time seconds any further discussion? All those in favor, please say aye Hi. Hi Motion carries Next up 3.3 COVID service responses. I will turn this over to Library director So there's a couple things we wanted to talk about I guess the most pressing right now would be the mass mandate. We also wanted to talk a little bit about Perhaps reopening up the second and third floors, but if we could start with the mass mandate, I guess Knowing what's going on politically at the state level We're curious to hear what the board of trustees thinks about if the state were to drop The mass mandate it sounds like the as of yesterday from what the newspaper is saying the county Is not interested in creating some sort of a local county mass mandate so I have asked The city Todd the new city administrator And I have not heard back yet on whether the city buildings would be under some sort of uh citywide mass mandate But I've not got a response yet. So I thought it'd be helpful to have a conversation at this level To know what the trustees are thinking in case Todd decides that you know Every department can kind of do what it what it wants to do and I'm just I'm not sure yet of how that's going to go But I thought this would be a great opportunity to have a discussion And if I could just Add in Garrett and I have had quite a few conversations this week All of you are aware that the wisconsin state senate has already voted to repeal the Math mandate and today what was supposed to happen at the state assembly level Is that they were also going to take a vote? But they have instead decided to delay and not Discuss and vote on it today because they have been given some updated information that if they were to repeal the math mandate the state of wisconsin would then lose millions of dollars to help with Covid and I believe It also impacts potential food stamps. I mean there's there's a variety of pieces of patch So I think they are taking time to Learn a little bit more before they make the decision And when I talked with Garrett I I said that you know one of the interesting things with this is obviously You know the state can make decisions to try to keep people healthy and safe and then it's Then you can go a little bit smaller and the county can Determine whether or not what the state has if that is enough and whether or not they would like to add more And then the next level of the county decides To do something or not do something the city can also weigh in and then finally you get down to just our little group And you know, we are the border plus these in which we make policies for Our library and so that's why he had said it would be good to get a sense from our library board Because we don't know what the final decision would be But it would be good for Garrett to have an understanding of what our thoughts are in regards to how We can continue to keep our employees of the library safe And healthy as well as the patrons that are choosing to come into our library healthy and safe So at this time anybody would like to share just their thoughts Are you welcome Yeah, my my view and quite vehement is that until the cdc says that masks are no longer necessary To reduce the transmission of covet 19 that we need to require masks in me public library for staff and patrons We've at the school district, uh, we had a discussion last night or excuse me Tuesday night about the potential of the lifting the mat of the Mask mandate and we were pretty adamant that all school buildings are going to remain Mask-required zones, um, you know, I I don't Given what you've stated Maeve I think the implications are too great for at least I would hope them to can the Legislature would understand it's too great for the state for them to try and play politics with this and remove that mandate But if that does happen, you know, we'll bear the consequences, but it means library. I don't want to put that on our staff Hey, thank you for your comments. I'm Nancy mentioned Meet has been able to offer the services and programs over the last year I would say mostly because of The mask requirement and offering those to patrons as they come in so it would seem Logical that if we want to continue to serve Um, the city and beyond then we should continue that policy Thank you I've just been reading that more and more people are being told to wear two masks now not the shield but just two masks so I'm not saying that the library staff should do that but just saying why would we go along with the other people in the um States things saying no masks when they're pushing for two so Any one else would like to share their thoughts Meg I didn't see your hand up Yeah, so like chris, I mean I think and like my colleagues on the board have said We are experiencing a time where we're also seeing a new More highly infectious variant enter the system. So I to Pull back on the requirement at this point when we know that an even more infectious strain of the virus is out there seems Unwise given the services we provide and the clients that we serve so At this time Garrett looks like you've heard from each person that we feel that We continue to trust your leadership in making ensuring that our library staff is healthy and safe during this contagious virus that is still amongst it and as meg mentioned there's more stronger strains of it that are already being Located in wisconsin That the force that we have put forward to keep people healthy and safe and requiring masks is one I think we are fully in support that we continue uh, and then echoing what kyle has said that until the cbc has Demonstrated with their knowledge of science and public health that it's no longer necessary To to wear a mask. I think it just makes sense that we follow that that level of guidance Did you want to Add to that just your thoughts about The the potential opening of the second and third floor Yeah, and that's the second part of this particular agenda item We have gotten a lot of feedback from the public that obviously they would they appreciate the fact we do like Some of the we select some of the materials and different subject areas for people And so on but there are people who want to go out and do their own selection and browsing and so on so In talking with our managers and the staff We would like to try to open the second and third floor back up in early march perhaps march 1st or march 8th And uh, and I kind of maybe I can let melissa speak of this I guess the reason we closed those down was that we were very concerned about staffing We had one particular person that did catch covet and then that person's co-workers Also had to be quarantined. So melissa's team took a pretty big hit all in one day You know and you lose a chunk of your staff for two weeks Essentially makes it super hard to to keep our services going. So that's why we Paired back We feel good right now because our staff has been very careful not only at work But at home we know of only a couple cases of of the 50 people are so that work there There's only been a couple cases. We've been fairly lucky or people have been careful So we're feeling good right now and I guess maybe melissa if you want to step in and Kind of talk about what you've talked with the rest of the staff and their feedback Sure, so as garret mentioned the the main issue really for us is staffing And being able to be nimble and flexible Should there be any infections among staff? Right now with our current service levels We feel like we have a really good balance of being able to offer the most essential library services to the public while also Keeping our kind of desk staffing flexible That allows us to have a bit of a rotation of folks working from home one or two days a week and then in the building the other days Which then limits staff exposure to each other So that's been really great. However, garret's right We've been hearing from patrons that they really want to be able to browse the stacks there's certainly a case to be made for Spreading out patrons more in the building is being a bit safer as well Even though we're not seeing huge numbers of people here all at once So I would say, you know, it's the staff opinion on it is mixed What we be looking at doing is going back to our like the sort of october early november service levels Um, which provided that our staff are healthy and able to come to work is something we can definitely manage Um, and we should still be able to do that with some of that work from home rotation and play um, it will be A little less flexible than we currently have but it should still allow us To have less people all in one work area at the same time Um, because really when it comes down to it, um Staff are more of a risk to each other really than the public is to staff We spend eight hours of our day together. So That's something that I'm I'm always keeping in mind as well Um, and in terms of the date I think it's nice to have this whole month to kind of Think about what that will look like get the floors ready for the public again Um rework schedules because that's a fairly time intensive process as well And I think it'll also give us a better idea of what things look like both with the mask mandate and also with the vaccine roll out Because that's another consideration in terms of staffing so, you know if We find out that Most of our staff are eligible to get the vaccine You know two weeks from now and they all want to get it as soon as possible Um, we may be looking at quite a few staff needing a day or two off depending on how they react to the vaccine So, you know, we could have that staffing issue as well again. However I do think that that early march is a good date to shoot for um, and That's kind of what we're working towards. Um Again, it will be dependent on all of these variables, but I think it's a reasonable goal at this point Anyone have any questions or comments? but my only comment would be that um Like any new business it would be good to have a quiet soft opening And it may not be in the best interest to announce that we're open march 1st or march 8th and just let it happen Organically, it'll be a nice surprise ever walks in and just because I there is so much I think Um Excitement about the possibility of getting into those lovely faces again But I could just see those first two days being so busy So that would be my only advice from from a retail point like this I'm a quiet opening and then you know and I'm sure all the right ones are going to be on instagram and sharing right away That they're there and my whole idea is trying to do it quiet won't work, but just a thought Any other questions or comments for melissa? Well, we we just await your Uh guidance and errors of whether or not those dates either one of them or a different date works best We we really do trust your expertise in your professionalism in making the best uh, healthy and safe Decision for when we can be back after full operation Thank you All right Anything else you wanted to add for code? No, I think that's it On on kovid. Okay 3.4. This is the one you've all been waiting for I'm convinced the trustee reading assignment alternative classification systems to the jewelry personal system So Sure, so I'll I'll just start us off melissa and and uh, well You know going back for many years actually that we had what was called the pit crew It's been renamed but we had a committee of people across the library who've really been Trying to figure out the how to make the the library user experience the best it can be Some people have found that the dewey decimal system Is pretty complex and hard to use and they they are intimidated by it And so for several years we've been trying different things relabeling books with different labels that are spelled out better and And reorganizing and so on but there's been for many years different options to the dewey decimal system And melissa has really been a proponent of trying to make it the user experience easier and so she Actually this came back came through from kathy norman who's not with us today But kathy was trying to pick up a travel book And she was confused because she's used to the dewey decimal system now And this is one of those areas that we're experimenting with a little bit And really what dewey does bad is they'll have some So for instance with travel you can have foreign language in a different section than the travel section And people if they're traveling they want those books together So what melissa and her team and Cheryl and others are trying to do is just make it easier for a person to Find materials. So I guess I'm going to turn this over to melissa and Cheryl as well I know this is kind of their really interesting area for them to try and make make it work better quite honestly Yeah, so um, I'll just start with uh, a little bit on the context, which I believe was shared with you along with the articles So as garret mentioned, um, the goal really with with trying out, um, these reclassification projects is to make Popular areas of the collection easier for patrons to find in browse And a common approach to to that is to use a word based classification system Instead of a number based one like dewey decimal So you're using kind of common language terms As opposed to a string of numbers The most common example of this type of classification is called bisac and I can't remember exactly what the acronym stands for it's something like booksellers international subject blah blah blah But it's uh the subject headings that are used in bookstores essentially So, um, I'm sure it's been a while since we've all enjoyed the inside of a bookstore But one of the things people love about bookstores is being able to just spend a few hours browsing You can very easily find material that matches your interests. It's very intuitive The drawback to that from a from a librarian perspective is that it's not as granular of a classification system So you can't get into a real detailed minutiae on Sub subjects if that makes sense So, um, but for the purposes of a public library, I think it can and has worked really well using bisac For popular collections The other side of the the kind of dewey debate is the legacy of dewey himself As being controversial as well as the Cultural bias that's inherent in any subject heading system The same is true for a library of congress subject headings and it's it's something that actually has been talked about a lot in the library world for many years about How we change the language used in subject headings to Make them more contemporary sort of this concept of decolonizing library subject headings To to have that make sense to people who are basically non-westerners So there's there's layers to this is what i'm getting at and Cheryl and I selected two articles that I think really capture both of those dewey critiques for you all to peruse and share your thoughts on so That's the kind of overview, but I'd love to hear what you all thought of the articles on any questions that you might have Does anyone like to share their thoughts? men I think one thing that would help me and I I understand the general framework But I guess I would love to hear maybe an example or two about how an alternative organizational model might You know provide some clarity for a patron as well as You know kind of address some of the the issues that were discussed in the the reparations article, for example So one example that we've actually used at me as garret mentioned is the travel section And it's at this point. It's hard to say how that's been received both because The second floor is closed and also nobody's traveling But we did think that that would be a good kind of test area because it is such a popular area of nonfiction Another example would be the the sort of areas of of dewey where To an individual unfamiliar with library classification, they might think that books on like say Child development pregnancy and Child nutrition maybe would be all together when they're in disparate subject headings. So a bisect Classification would have all could possibly have all those under one subject so you would find them all in the same place and of course as garret mentioned the Travel guides and foreign language being separate is another example of that And then the other collection we've experimented with is poetry Which had been part of nonfiction It has it's usually in the 800s in dewey And we felt like it's the type of collection that people probably don't think of as being nonfiction And that it might get more use be more visible people might check it out more If it was pulled out from nonfiction and labeled and shelved separately as a poetry collection I don't know Cheryl if you have any other examples you wanted to share Well, I thought the poetry was a Really good example because that's one of the areas where it was very much regionalized and this kind of Wiped that away a bit and really focused on the poet And then also brought together all of our Compilations of poetry, which which is nice The other thing I was going to say, you know Beyond the Decolonization Another usability aspect of this is currently with some of our Popular Subject areas such as weddings We have books And other materials just kind of What would appear from a patron's point of view have hazardly spread out Across our nonfiction Even though, you know for a person who's interested in Planning their wedding It should all probably be in one area So that's that's another collection that you know, we're looking at thinking about bringing the different aspects from the ceremony Sheet music flowers dresses, you know all of that into one area just because it's more usable to those people They don't have to Write down a long list and not that we don't like them to Browse through everything else, but let's let's be honest. They're looking for one thing Matthew In the in the library journal article, I thought there were good examples of combining The dewey system with what they call the book the bookstore idea and I like that and it just happened that the university of wisconsin at Madison on friday sends out something called the friday flamingo which I get and read and There are some fun things little quizzes blah blah blah in history But this came from the school of library and information sciences, which is now the eye school information school and this is What they wrote about a class and books The purpose of the class is to understand the book as an active technology that shapes peoples perceptions and cultures Rather than serving as a passive receptacle of them and that really, um, you know connected with the melissa adler and and and in part and The broader picture what you are talking about, you know, is it is it just a receptacle or or is it active? Yeah, that's great Any other questions or or comments? kind of welcome Yeah, I guess I I I approach this one more, um from a point of equity. I think in most of what you're getting at with um decolonization I think a lot about One of the best books i've ever read a read last summer It's by ebermex kendi and it's called how to be an anti-racist and one of the things he talks about there is um Ways that racist power embeds itself and and puts forward and the it appears itself often in Microaggressions, but also more outward aggressions, right? And I think that for a lot of our patrons, um, you know A good example is that books about the the faith of the native american populations is classified under mythology Right and the Dewey decibel system. I think if any of our patrons have walked in the library and found books about christianity or mythology They would be absolutely incensed Understandably so, right? So I think affirming the action in the statement we took earlier this year on equity And what does that look like and how do we better serve our patrons to me? This is a moral principle that we have to do better and In decolonizing you will the library and our classification system just better serve our patrons and also to You know make sure that everyone feels welcome and that they don't have to deal with issues of confronting their identity as a Um, you know other whatever status when they're coming to seek information to be served Yeah Thank you. Kyle. Uh, Nancy mentions In the article by adler, you know, she says we have to reject normality and and work for activism for social justice and that's what kyle is talking about and That that's what we've said Me libraries about also Any other questions or problems? They go away I'm curious about the implications of adopting a change on Staff time allocation for the project obviously to recode everything to recatalog everything Would that have to be done or would the the dewey number remain on it and another? Um cataloging guide be added to the book. How would that transition? Um affect, you know, just the processes at the library Cheryl do you want to take that one in regards to cataloging? Yep, I'd be happy to um, so yes, it does. Um Require reclassifying. Um, we're we're kind of approaching this project by project As far as is how we're applying these uh new classifications one of One of the things that I do as the support services manager is make sure that we are applying a sustainable um classification one that My staff don't have to you know, once once we get going and we understand and we have the language in place They don't have to stop and think every single time like, okay What do I have to do with this item? Right, I mean because we want them to be to a place where they're able to kind of quickly process materials uh The other thing i'll add is and and melissa and I don't totally a hundred percent agree on this right now, but um I'm kind of in the the the camp of you know This might not Be appropriate for every single area of our library. You know, we have some areas right now like uh history right where We just have a really a lot of depth to those collections and Our current classification using dewey allows us especially as the resource library to to have that depth and allow things to be um Findable for for those collections so what I want to And this is again my opinion, but what I want to declassify those and and apply bisac to all of our world war two books, ah Probably not because it it might be really hard for us to find uh those materials and and make possibly make uh Browsing a lot more difficult in those areas So we're really uh picking and choosing though the areas that we're attacking with this being very thoughtful about um staff implications Both in our for our Our reference librarians and for our catalogers and also um Thinking about what our goals are, you know, why are we doing it? What are we trying to accomplish? That's the message the library journal made reference to A six-week switch and then commented on large or small libraries or the collections rather so Where are we in the small to large collection thinking about? How much time it would take and and use of staff? Sure, um You know, that's relative Okay Um, I would say for our system. We are definitely um A larger library um Even for you know parts of wisconsin, I would say we're a we're a larger library, but certainly throughout the us and um The world there are much larger public libraries in us um As far as staff time, um Are you asking how long it would take to redo your entire collection? Well, I've just because the article Mentioned the six weeks, you know, I written it down myself That didn't seem like a lot of time to get through an entire collection, but yeah I I don't I can't um, I can't judge that I think if we closed our doors and didn't allow anything to go out That would be doable in the real world though I would say it would take a lot longer if we were to try to do our entire collection. Yeah I mean, I think melissa we can speak to the Biographies weren't the the biographies were redone Just the relabeled basically And with our one cataloger that doesn't or does a lot of that collection I mean in It was a side job for her because she normally takes the new stuff and gets that into the system But I want to say they took like almost a year. Didn't it melissa so And that's not the biggest collection. So it's it would take us Much much longer than six weeks. So In fact that we couldn't even do it. We need more people So so we are really as Cheryl said kind of being picky and choosy about Which sections are giving us the most problems and and seemed like this would work well Some collections it just would not work well for Yeah, one popular collection that a number of libraries have tried this with is the picture children's picture books and The model they refer to it as neighborhoods So what they do is take all of the fiction and nonfiction picture books. Let's say about trucks or You know mermaids or whatever and put those all together So the neighborhood might be you know fantasy and you might find mermaids and unicorns in there And then the other neighborhood might be stuff that goes and you will find you know trucks and cars and bulldozers and things like that There's a number of libraries in wisconsin of comparable size to us including mana to walk who have implemented this and Um Speak very highly of it in terms of how children are able to interact with those books and find things themselves So I think that's really powerful and backtracking a little bit to kyle's comments and the whole move to decolonize uh subject headings broadly Is one that um is probably beyond the scope of what just mead can do But I think it's really important for For our staff for the board to be aware that this conversation is happening in the library world And to do whatever you can to advocate for that because Those the decisions on subject headings broadly have to to happen at kind of a higher level For us it's something as staff we can start talking about at the monarch system level um pushing them to to look into these things um and Go to conferences, um, you know be aware that this is something that's contested and and and being dealt with um one I did want to share um an instance that happened a couple of years ago um, this was specifically about library of congress subject headings and um an undergraduate student at dartmouth who um was A dreamer so a formerly an undocumented immigrant herself Found that the subject heading used by library of congress was illegal aliens Which is Not a term that um is generally accepted anymore She was really upset by this and so she worked with The college librarians as well as the american library association to push The library of congress to change the subject heading for the For the entire country basically and she was successful in that um The library of congress agreed that they would change the term they would discontinue using the word alien at all In reference to immigration However, the decision was overturned by the house of representatives. Um, this was in 2016 Basically saying that library of congress subject headings Had to match any Legal documents that congress put forth So when we talk about you know Sort of activism or politics in the library like these things actually are very much political like Like part of the political process so In that regard, I think It's important to be aware Of these things and to advocate wherever we can and certainly It's something that we can look at as sharyl mentioned doing in in kind of smaller chunks with our own collection We can have an eye towards That kind of decolonizing effort Any other questions or comments? Just want to share a couple of uh Of my thoughts one is um As all of you are aware with the budget cuts over the years Uh elementary schools no longer have librarians Uh, they tend to have a library staff person Uh, and when I was an elementary teacher every week There was a game that the librarian did with my second and third graders to learn the dewey decimal system So it was a skill that was just part of the curriculum You know all through elementary and middle school, etc Our students today in our community Do not have a dedicated person that is teaching them this classification system so that they can be fully independent in our library And and I and I don't think shabarga area school district is the only one I mean, I just think that is true for school districts all over that that Uh, is not really Viewed as an essential skill Uh, and then two, um It is something that several of you have already uh Reference, you know our whole goal with our library is to be a welcoming Place for everyone for anyone to come in and feel empowered to learn more about the world around them and We would never want to have any structure or any system in place that is somehow Communicating that you are not worthy or you are not equal as and so It was kind of horrifying for me to read the Really intense academic paper with an abstract and thank you melissa. I don't think I've written Something like that in quite a few years. I learned a new word nonce, which is temporary I'm going to use nonce all the time. I think coven should eventually be nonce But uh, you know, it but it was fascinating just reading this on a level that I just hadn't deep That I haven't really done any deep thought about how our library Organizes things because I love our library So I feel you do no wrong And so, you know just being reminded that there are still things that are in place that I am just not thinking deeply about And it and how that's communicating to others is really concerning to me. So I'm just really pleased that you're bringing this to our attention and uh, and it did take us I think more than six months to do the rfid stickers and all of the books and that was easy that was just a slap like we didn't have to think it They were all the same So I would picture that This type of effort is a multi-year process and I Expect that several of the categories are going to be nonce Because they're temporary and you're going to find new and better words to classify or group or arrange things. So Um thank you for for taking the time to educate all of us so that We are at a better place to explain with community members when they come in and they're perplexed why flowers are next to Appetizers or however, you're organizing it like which would say doesn't everyone want to do a wedding, you know That's what we are at the library. Um, and then my final point is the fact that people love browsing and bookstores because The discoveries you make they're all joyful and I In the doing system on the second floor I tend not to view that space is browsing it It's like not as comfortable like the first floor is very comfortable for browsing second floor I feel like I should have a quest And you know, I'm going for one thing only and the mere fact that if it was arranged in a way that It's more discovery and joyful to find things. I think it would change even the atmosphere on that floor. So thank you very much and with that Moving on to the official Director's report of the 2021 materials budget breakdown Very excited. Yeah, so the first couple are going to be melissa again Um materials budget breakdown. So the library board each year approves our Operating budget of which the materials breakdown is a part of Um, I've gotten the question from trustees and other people How do we figure out what the how much money to put in each section? So Over the over the years melissa has been working on this This is delegated to her and she does a great job of trying to break down based on circulation statistics Also, we have a product called collection hq which looks at all of our books as far as their age The publication date and how much they circulate and a bunch of other statistics And I know she uses that as a report as well And so I kind of let I guess melissa take over here and talk about that whole process that you use to put together the What each section of the library gets for its materials budget and also maybe you talk about personnel How you break that up as well, you know, you have a lot of people on that team now that do that work Sure So I did share a couple of screenshots with you and I'll kind of explain what what those are So as garret mentioned collection hq is a tool that we use for a variety of tasks associated with collection development It provides us with some really nice and easy to manage reports on the collection so we can get usage stats We use it for weeding selection suggestions, it'll tell you what areas Really granularly to what areas of the collection are overstocked or understocked based on how they're used Relative collection size we can use it for inventory management. So finding things that might be missing As well as we can look at items that have really high lifetime Circulations and inspect those maybe they're worn out and need to be replaced that kind of thing And it also has a really handy budgeting tool, which is what you see on the first page of that document So basically what it does is it takes our circulation And stock data for the previous year and then suggests How much money should be spent on each area based on how much is already in it and how much it turns over over the course of the year So how much it circulates And that then each year when I run that report will be readjusted based on what we Purchased the previous year what we might have weeded out of the collection the previous year So it is dynamic that way, which is really great Now if you were actually logged on to the site and viewing the full budget report You could click on different aspects of that and drill down for really granular information. So You could see not just how much It's suggesting that we spend in like the 600s in nonfiction But also how much of that money should go towards cookbooks versus gardening books So it's really helpful for the staff that do the purchasing to really get an idea of how they should allocate their individual budgets It is just one tool that I use And it it serves as a great framework for getting started The main drawback really is that it it's just data for our physical collection and our E collection continues to grow and continues to get more and more popular. So there's Data and stats from from those things that I use as well to determine how much money goes into those resources But again this report from collection HQ is really helpful to me and to the librarians that do the purchasing For having an understanding of You know, what areas of the collection are are being used the most and how they should spend their money The subsequent pages then of that document break down The actual dollars that go into our various collection areas And we have I believe it's a total of 10 staff members that do purchasing for our collections. So You know, it's a lot of coordinating So having tools like this that makes sense to everyone that everyone can access and use really helps with that And we'll we'll also be getting a committee a collection development committee going next month To help work through some of this stuff, but that gives you kind of a snapshot on how The collections budget is allocated and the decision making behind it So if there's any questions, I'd be happy to answer Any questions from it? Thank you very much, Melissa. That was illuminating Melissa, do you want to do just go right into 4.2 then as well? Sure, so program updates Um, not a lot to report since we last met We have some a pretty good rhythm going with our virtual programs We kind of know now what works and what draws people in So those uh, little rev sessions continue to draw great numbers Alison Lohan one of our youth services librarians has been doing weekly live story times online that have a really great consistent following And she pairs that up with a take home craft kit that folks come into the library to pick up They take it home and do the craft during the live story time online It's very cool and then We do have a program starting up a new book club starting up in february that i'm really excited about It's our racial justice book series And that's going to be led by our municipal court judge natasha tory And it's cosponsored by the shabuigan diversity equity inclusion and belonging initiative and Judge tory and i work together to select the book titles. She wanted a mix of fiction and nonfiction titles that specifically address racism within institutions as opposed to individuals and then conclude the series with Ibram kendi's how to be an anti-racist that kyle mentioned earlier in our conversation And that book does offer Sort of an action plan basically for individuals around systemic change and activism around anti-racism. So It has been i've been kind of blown away at the response to it because most of our book clubs have you know A half a dozen to a dozen really dedicated members, which is great for a book discussion. Um, but this First session That will be held in february. The first book is evicted It filled 20 slots filled up within a few hours of it being posted And we have a wait list of an additional 10 people. So, uh Judge tory and i have been back and forth over the last few weeks Kind of trying to figure out how we're going to manage a book discussion with that many people But it's really fantastic that there's that level of interest and I think that's an indication that there's a real Need in the community to have these conversations. So i'm really excited about that and that will be second tuesdays at 6 p.m February through june And because it will be held over zoom you do need to register on our events page To get the login information And um, that's it for programs Any questions or comments? All right, I think it's phenomenal. Um, I'm just overjoyed. It's awesome My first question would be is there still room but you answered that with later your report. So Okay Yes, thanks. Um, I had just participated on a different book club Group that had 30 people on it and what the the team members did is just assigned to solve two questions And then put us in breakout rooms So we did get to have that that more intimate conversation in the setting Of the full group, but then, you know, then the groups could report out maybe one finding or something at the end So that seemed to work pretty well and the host used zoom to do that. So Yeah, and we are exploring that as an option. So it's good to know though that you've experienced it and it worked well Thank you Moving on then to support services. Cheryl. Did you have anything today for us? um, the only thing I have is uh So I believe we told this group that monarch Approached us and asked if we would take the extensive die cut collection um, if you're not familiar with die cuts, they are used to Um quickly cut out those fun shapes that you often see up in the the youth services department. Um They're put on walls or used for crafts things like that. They're used a lot in Public schools as well for the younger kids They asked us to take those over And they they delivered the collection to us. I believe it was uh early last week and we are in the process of Finding a home for those on our second floor behind the scenes reorganizing them and Incorporating them in some way into our imaginarium and we will also be the hub for Sending those out for resource sharing To the member libraries and monarch has told us that when we are comfortable to do so We can loan those out to the public as well. So that will be a nice resource for For our patrons. Great. Thank you. Any questions or comments? All right Moving on then to uh update on building projects. Yes, and so um Greg uh had It actually put an email from greg um into board docs a couple projects. I just wanted to mention we just Finished up. We've made good use of the second floor being closed. Uh They have finished painting almost the entire second floor. They just finished up now at the quiet study room It's a nice gray color. So next when we open up or if you wanted to get a tour I didn't come in there, but it definitely needed it in certain places. So it looks really sharp Also, we did finish with our update of all of our office furniture for the staff. So We you guys approved that in the late when the what the fall and that's all finally done It's been a lot of work, but um All everyone has now a new office furniture. So that's good. They have You know walls in between them and other staff So it's nice to have that separation right now. So that's it turned out really good um, and then lastly Our staff lounge has been renovated. So i'm fairly confident that it hadn't been renovated since the building was erected in 1974 it needed it and uh, it looks really sharp. Debbie's been doing most of the planning on that It's it looks really good. Um, we still have a little bit more furniture and some things to That's been backordered a lot of things of course right now are backordered when you try to order appliances and things like that But it's coming together And staff are starting to use it much more than they already than they used to And we're not even really uh fully there yet. So it's pretty neat to have that area finally redone We do have a few other projects coming up this year such as moving the local history room onto the second floor We still need to do some planning on that and then also we have some Areas like they even wanted to get our generator covered up um As well as some of the loading dock area. So we've got a few projects coming up yet To do and then we also you approve the HVAC controls Um, so that'll happen as well probably later this spring. So got a few things. We did have a really really busy 2020 So 2021 is going to start to taper off a little bit. So Any questions on any of those projects that are listed? the uh The generator that was given as a lovely gift by the Kohler company Many of you probably remember that the original intent of the placement of that Generator was to go where the old generator was the old space was and uh, We then found that that is not to code So that is why our grand entrance people have to just practically bump into a generator. It's just it's just in my My hope that that uh That our generator is a little more protected But there's a part of me that would love for like the art center to take on a project to whatever fence or Safety fence that we have around it that we add some artistic element. So there's a happier entrance For our for our library. Maybe a big metallic m or something. I don't know but I I I do You know struggle every time I go in our entrance that that's not the way we should be welcoming people and as Seeing a big generator right to the right. So I'm glad that there's going to be a plan to keep it Uh, a little more protected because it's kind of out there on its own. So thank you Um, and then in monthly statistics, we did touch on this a little bit earlier But just a couple highlights again the the gate count was down about 50 percent last year Um, which I don't think is too bad in what we've gone through and really Uh, you know, people are still supposed to be staying home even though A lot of people have moved on beyond that and their in their mindsets, but um, so I think 50 percent is not terrible We have the physical checkouts are down by about a third of the physical materials Um, but e-content did go up last year about 11 percent overall And then of course our programming is way down, which is um another reason the gate counts down So we're looking forward to getting um, the program is rolling again once we get that CDC guidelines changed down the road. So looking forward to the second half of 2021. Hopefully Any questions about monthly statistics Yeah, thank you. Uh, then moving on to 5.1 the monarch library system Nancy, do you have any update for us? Thank you. Um As you know, um, kimberley young has now been on board about six months as executive director of the monarch system and The the difference that that has made is that the Everyone who works for monarch is looking ahead and and able to move forward beyond just maintaining The services there. So um, she seems to be working out really well and And everybody seems to be happy with how efficient and informed and organized She is there Excuse me. The board did approve Cost of living salary increases. Those will still need other approval Um, kimberley will proceed with staff evaluations that hasn't been done for some time She was able to contact both, uh, amy vertel and jennifer chamberlain who Were, uh execs for monarch before she took that position, which is really good. And so She is working on a strategic plan for monarch that will look forward Five years. So that hasn't been done for some time and and that's good The office of monarch is going to stay in shabuigan out on the south side. There was discussion of moving it Clearly That that was just not a good idea, but it's going to stay there kimberley and talking with the person who owns the building got a really even Better financial agreement over the lease and so that went very well. They're going to do Some updating there. I think the carpeting The bookmobile is on the road It there were some mechanical things, but they're out there and as Several of you talked about before people are really happy that they can have that service A family or a person may go inside the bookmobile, but it is of course limited. So so that's also going on There was a billboard project late Through fall which had very good results about Encouraging folks to get a library card and On a side note only in wisconsin the billboard that was out I think on highway 23 got covered when corn grew so high that you could not read it and so The billboard company extended the rent on that billboard for one month after the corn was cut. So That's a good thing So the monarch system is active and I think it's healthy right now. Thank you. Any questions? Thank you for your update Nancy and That billboard story is going to be one that we remember for quite some time. So Thank you Moving on to the meat library Foundation, um, I can report that as all of you are well aware Bernie Markovic has been the president for many years and At our meeting this week the board elected to Support Kathy Norman as the new president she was the vice president and so she will be leading that foundation board which is uh, quite wonderful for the foundation as well as our board of trustees At the time of our meeting there was no trustee that shared That they were interested in running for the office of vice president So Kathy is planning to make a few phone calls So the trustees to see who would like to join her in the leadership of the foundation Um, the other thing that I can share is that there will Be at some point this year Uh, a regular annual appeal to supporters Of the library sharing with them With the library that accomplished during these challenging times And it's going to be a little bit unique in the letter in that they are going to be having a mother With young children share Her perspective of how the library has been so instrumental in helping her family During this challenging time So I will be sharing that letter with you later this spring And in looking ahead We don't think it's likely that we will have our annual yuletide celebration in you know in december of this coming year, but we're not That's where we are right now. We're not too sure Some trustees still want us to have a party Uh, however, most of them seem to recognize that this is just not a safe time for us to even consider that as an option Um, but I'm trying to think if there was any other detail The book festival that you did talk about The other piece that I will share is that our foundation has always been very supportive of the children and teen book festival That happens every october and as you're aware this past october it was canceled due to the concerns of covet and uh The board of the children and teen book festival has decided that Because right now is the time that they need to be offering contracts to authors and illustrators And they do all the work now to make this a very successful event in october They have already decided that they will not be having that event this october But rather they will use this time to really put together a blockbuster uh huge event for fall of 2022 And they will hope with the monies that they Raise this year will allow them to have a more stellar and more famous guest list of authors and illustrators to really have a fantastic return to that lovely event But uh, I think that's probably it Any questions or comments from the foundation? Uh, I wish I had tape for all of you everyone personal stories of bernie. We went around the room And uh, all I can say is that I think he would have been laughing the loudest. So, um I will try to see if there's any memorable ones that some people shared I'll share them with you in an email, but it was a great way to start the meeting And then uh friends of me I think sydney is still with us and I know she sent us a A report on board backs So I don't know sydney if you're able to join us Just asking those questions on there so, um I think I will just point out that there's a report from january 20th to 21 And uh, it looks as though they are hoping to have an annual book sale able to 15th to 17th And they have already uh plans sort of a backup date of may 20th to 22nd Uh, they did have some new, um Officers elected as some head for vote is the president hayley shirk is the vice president and margie season It is the treasurer secretary And uh, they will be sharing their annual report on their friend's page for anyone who would like to see more of those details So, uh, that concludes her report And at this time Future agenda items. We have discussion of staff committee structure for internal decision making Yeah, and so that um, you had asked about that made but how How do we get staff input on our decisions? And so We have kind of a robust We have as melissa has just a bunch of different Committees like she said the collection development committee. We have a programming committee We have a small committee on just about anything that staff want to get involved and there's No excuses. They can't get it involved in our decision-making process. So there's a lot there Um, and so we just wanted to talk about that and melissa and sherell have been putting together A flow chart of of all the committees and so on and they'll Uh, we thought it would be too much to go through everything this time We had a kind of a long agenda item the way it was. So we'll we'll try to talk about that next month Um, I could just go through all these names and then uh, we really wanted we do want to do the dpi inclusive services Assessment. So there's uh, that's really for a board to go through and it's got a lot of different Um check marks in there. It's a it's a pretty uh, and A long document to go through so that'll that'll be something we do over the course of a couple meetings. I assume um, and then finally now that the 850 money has been moved over to the Foundation and I just want to get feedback from the library board on how we want to go through procurement Because of course that changes now. We had a set of rules that we would go through with the city um, this sort of Allows us more freedom to do different things yet the city has reasons for doing those things as well And so just some feedback from you guys on On different things. When should I go to the board for a you know? When should I go to Bernie rom or things like that? Those are the sorts of of things that have changed now in our process for procurement So I just like some feedback So we could talk about that at a future meeting as well I think that would be helpful that we could also sort of have When we talk when we came up with the agreement that it would be helpful to have guidelines for future boards and future library Directors to have a clear sense of what are the proper steps that you go forward to be able to You know access That lovely donation that is now being managed by the foundation. So I think that would be most helpful Perfect. So it looks like our next upcoming meeting will be february 25th Uh, and I can't tell you where we're going to be. We might be in the comic council room. We might be Apparently in the municipal court But uh, most likely it will continue to be out there to That our meeting virtually So that we can stay healthy and safe it's wonderful to see all of your faces and Just really looking forward to sometime in the near future where we can actually all be together in A room together to have great conversation and share what your latest favorite book is. So So I'd like to make a motion to adjourn I will need a motion with someone like the second The second second it may go in and second it all those in favor, please say aye Aye Anyone opposed Motion carries take care of anybody and thank you for joining us today Thank you everybody. Thank you. Take care everyone Bye Bye Yeah, they have that for all of the meetings they have all screens up and it's just a duplicate. So I'm not sure If they had more people or something that sometime I don't know It must have been a reason for that I'm just glad that I looked on the page before I came here Yeah, yeah Nice, but you know How long will it delay and Will they just So, you know, I have called and left messages from every single business leader that was in that public service announcement And I'm calling and I'm saying with my hand that it's not even citizen and I I've seen this public service announcement and I'm I'm wondering, you know This is very concerning to me. I thank you for this, but I it's very concerning to me that our elected official Who is making the decision today is in that video and I guess I haven't been able to get a clear sense from his office What he is sharing so I've never I've never called Gary Donald. I've never called You know Genting just saying, you know I call to say thank you first for doing that video and then just Really concerned about Right Unbelievable, um And it's going to be a shame if they vote not to do it because of the money They should be doing it because they that they've listened to all the doctors saying No It shows the money is more important Well, there's also that perception too that They've already been able to show that People we've had it we've gotten it again. So it's just and in fact, there's this new variance that's coming out But what does that mean? Right, but I'm glad what we currently have is good with the English the written version, but the new one out of brazil they're not too sure and it's just like Science fiction thriller