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Meeting Minutes Library Board Regular Meeting September 19, 2023| 6:30 p.m. Basha Library Program Room 5990 S. Val Vista Dr. Chandler, AZ 85249 Call to Order The meeting was called to order by Board President Beth Brizel at 6:30p.m. Roll Call Commission Attendance Staff Attendance Board President Beth Brizel – Present Rachelle Kuzyk, Library Manager Board member Bob Lowry - Present Courtney Allen, Management Analyst Board member Michael McElhany – Present Chris McGinley, Basha Branch Manager Board member Arman Sidhu – Present Caryn Nall, Hamilton Branch Manager Board member Maria Munoz – Present Board member Alexis Merritt – Present Board member Karla Palafox – Present Unscheduled Public Appearances Members of the public addressed the Library Board with their concerns of library materials. Aubrey Savela, 632 E. Torrey Pines Pl., read excerpts from pages 102 and 116 in the book What’s Going on Down There?: A Boy’s Guide to Growing Up by Karen Gravelle, and page 166 from Gender Queer by Maia Kobabe. Natalie Cordova, 2440 E. County Down Dr., read excerpts from A Quick and Easy Guide to Consent by Isabella Rotman and requested the Library Manager to immediately stop purchasing these types of books. Riley Morgan,19124 E. Lawndale Pl, Queen Creek, read excerpts from the book Will Puberty Last My Whole Life? Real Answers to Real Questions from Preteens About Body Changes, Sex, and Other Growing-up Stuff by Julie Giesy Metzger. Page 2 of 7 Jenine Cortes, 1502 E. Kingbird Dr., Gilbert, read excerpts from the book Making a Baby by Debra Bruce/ Nancy Wilming, 18688 E. Oak Hill Lane, Queen Creek shared concerns that children are at risk of immediate exposure to prominently displayed books which are graphic and inappropriately labeled and marked for children as young as six years old. Alyssa Goncales, 21924 E. Estrella Rd., Queen Creek, is questioning the internet services at the library, not the books. Alyssa shared information on Arizona Revised Statue (ARS) 34-502, which states a public library that provides public access to computers shall deploy and enforce a technology protection measure to prevent minors from gaining access to visual depictions that are child pornography, harmful to minors, or obscene. Alyssa is looking forward to understanding what protections the Chandler Library takes to ensure that our children are not accessing age- inappropriate content and sexually explicit images on our library computers, and if those protections satisfy both the ARS 34-502 and the Children's Internet Protection Act. Carly Morgan, 19124 E. Lawndale Pl, Queen Creek, is disappointed in the library’s complaint process when a citizen has concerns with a book. Joseph Yang, 303 E. Tremaine Dr, requested the library board to consider a sub-committee that can review the books that are concerning to some. Andrew Adams, 880 E. Devon Rd., Gilbert, feels establishing a library public sub-committee to review book selection is essential to maintaining our library's integrity and relevance. Les Monkus, 3372 E. Gemini Ct., suggested the library remove books like It’s so Amazing! by Robie Harris and other age-inappropriate books. Consent Agenda 1. May 16, 2023 Library Board Meeting Minutes Motion to approve the minutes was made by Board member Munoz, Board member Sidhu seconded. Motion passed 7-0. 2. Chandler Library Board 2024 Meeting Dates Motion to approve the 2024 Chandler Library Board meeting dates was made by Board member Munoz, Board member Sidhu seconded. Motion passed 7-0. Briefing 1. Library Manager’s Report – Rachelle Kuzyk The Library Manager’s Report was provided to the Library Board in advance of the meeting for Board member’s review. Page 3 of 7 Board President Brizel inquired about the book vending machine at Sunset. Rachelle responded that the machine is not synching with the library circulation system. The vendor is working on improving and updating their platform so that it will talk suitably to our system. Essentially right now it will take items back in, but it doesn't properly process them for redistribution back out of the machine. We're giving the vendor a few more weeks to try to improve their product before we ask them to collect the machine. President Brizel asked if the vendor is not able to improve the machine, will the library order another one? Rachelle stated that we will investigate other options. Board president Brizel inquired on the turnout of the Contigo event. Rachelle informed the board there were almost 2,400 people in the downtown library between 10am-2pm on the Saturday of the events. The outside musicians and program providers were phenomenal. There were salsa dance lessons and a mariachi band. The library outreach team saw families who have never come to the library before. There were approximately 500 more people than the Diversity of Equity and Inclusions (DEI) outdoor event last year. It was a joint collaborative effort between the library and the DEI, and everyone was very pleased with the outcome. Board president Brizel inquired on the auto renewal numbers. Are the numbers on the report what we were expecting? Rachelle responded that we are pleased with the program, and we have had nothing but good feedback. Rachelle referred to the other library staff members at the meeting who can attest to that. Christopher McGinley, Basha Library Manager, feels it's a net efficiency for the community and it allows people to not have to go through rigmarole of renewing materials. Chris sees it as a benefit, it saves staff time and helps the patron. In terms of the numbers, Chris doesn’t know if we can ballpark them, but any increase in allowing people to spend more time with books and nurture those books we're all about that so it's overall a good thing. Board member McElhany inquired on the circulation of the games from the Board & Book café. Rachelle stated that the cataloging staff has taken approximately 50% of the games out of the cafe right now so that they can catalog and enter them into the system. Once that 50% is finished, they will take the other 50% so that the entire collection is available to borrow. Board member McElhany inquired on the Summer Reading Program. How do we compare to other libraries? Our numbers show about 50% of finishers every year, is that common? Is there something that anyone's doing that we can be doing differently to help get those percentages up? Chris McGinley stated that comparatively in population, we’re higher than Scottsdale in terms of the overall numbers. Downtown and Hamilton were towards the top 10 libraries in the entire Maricopa County. Board member McElhany stated that the program's total engagement and attendance have climbed back up since the Covid years, but we're not quite back to the 2018/19 numbers. Rachelle feels optimistic that it's turning around. She feels 2022 was probably the first year that we came close to being fully operational post Covid. Board member McElhany stated that we’re still 1,000 less programs offered. Rachelle responded that we’ve switched to some more passive programming. Some types of programs that we picked up during Covid are programs that we've continued, such as the Grab and Go Kits, and some online access to programs. Plus, we've Page 4 of 7 re-evaluated efficiencies; offering 1,000 programs that only have four or five people in them is not as efficient a use of staff time as minimizing and selecting programs based on quality so that we're getting larger turnouts of crowds. Rachelle informed the board that she will get them all the numbers. Courtney Allen will add the County’s report to the next Library Board agenda. Board member Lowry gave an update of the Friends of the Library. The full year 2023 sales were 18% higher than the year before. The sales exceeded expectations due to increase on-site sales. And then we ended with a total of almost $90,000 for the Friends in sales. And the full year donations were 50% higher than the year before. Take a look the website that just went live two or three weeks ago, we finally have a nice full range of ways of getting involved with the Friends. eBay has taken off as a major source of sales of donated books with the profits being sent back to the libraries for programs and for events. Like Michael mentioned, the COVID time was difficult, but it is coming back very strong very strongly. Your Friends are in a good position. Action Agenda 1. 2023 Collection Policy Review Motion to approve the revisions of the Collection Policy was made by Board member Lowry, Board member Palafox seconded. Motion passed 7-0. The video of the July 20 Chandler City Council meeting was shown to the Board. The Board will hear a lot of what they've already heard in person tonight regarding the publics concerns of library materials. The Board has had a fair opportunity to get a sentiment for what's going on with library service and library collections, not just here, but around the country. And so, the Board has the revised collection management policy before them for consideration. Discussion 1. Board member McElhany would like to discuss the game room and the limitation on not being able to take the games outside the library. This has already been discussed in the Manager’s Report, but Board Member McElhany is inquiring on the time frame of when the games can be checked out. Rachelle stated that the games are almost 50% cataloged so they should be ready to be checked out by the end of the year. It's one of those tricky collections because so many of the board games have hundreds of tiny pieces and we are counting them all. It's going to be a combination of staff reviewing the contents and somewhat of an honor system, so if you take a game home and discover something is missing, please let us know. Fortunately, in some instances, if it's pieces, we have the 3D printer in the Makery so we can print new pieces, and some game manufacturers and publishers make replacement items in some instances. We'll just do our best to make sure that the games stay intact. The Friends supported the board game collection and I'm sure that if we started to see the deterioration of the collection that we could speak to the Friends and see if they will consider ongoing support. Board member Lowry added that lending games is not like books, the number of parts and moving pieces and things that can be lost inadvertently is enormous. He has no doubt that it's going to be a big hit to the community and knows there's Page 5 of 7 going to be some losses and can guarantee you the Friends will support whatever is needed. These games will not only engage families and children and give a place for game players to come to the library, but now they can take them home and enjoy it and I think it's worth the risk. Board member Munoz inquired on the Book & Board Café attendance. Rachelle stated that we’re waiting on a condensed sized circulation station to go into the cafe so that people can also do self-checkout in there. It's been backordered so we don't have all the equipment in place yet. Part of that is because we did try to roll out the game lounge in a timely manner so that we could use that empty space. It's only been a few months, but I think by the end of the year we'll start to have some statistics and we'll have everything fully able to circulate. During the Contigo event, the Friends had almost $400 in sales in the cafe for snacks, drinks, and used books. People are using the space. Board member Merritt and her friends and family have been in several times and oftentimes all the tables are full, and the game room is booked. The digital board game table has been so heavily used it no longer works, so we must replace it. But the Book & Board Café has been very well received. Board member Merritt is concerned there may not be enough games once patrons begin checking them out and patrons may lose interest if there are not many to choose from to play in the library. Rachelle responded that we could look into having a reserve collection if we know the 10 or 20 games that people frequently want to play in the library. We could have dual copies of those things. Rachelle feels those are all numbers that we'll come to understand as we get more time behind us in the cafe. Board member Munoz inquired if we would accept donated games. Rachelle responded that we have not opened that option up yet. The games may be donated with missing pieces or in bad condition. We’re not saying that we never will, it's something that we have to think about. 2. Board member Merritt would like to discuss a quarterly library events calendar/document. Example: Hillsboro Public Library Programs Board member Merritt has joined different libraries and gets their emails, so she sees what different towns and cities are doing to publicize events. She is wondering if we could think outside the box because we are not able to get a calendar view with our software. The Basha library created a one-page sheet using an Outlook calendar to put in the youth room and at the desk for patrons which has been very helpful. Board member Merritt inquired if we could get a calendar on our website. Board member Palafox inquired if we used to have a calendar of events on the website. Rachelle stated that we did have something that's a little more user friendly than what's up on the website right now. We are exploring a platform that will convert the data into something that is more visually appealing. Rachelle loves the Hillsboro Public Library catalog that Board member Merritt brought from her travels, but we no longer have a library in-house marketing team, so we do not have the means to create that type of catalog. The promising news is that we did get our graphic designer back in the library three days a week so we can directly work with him on our needs. Community Services is down a Marketing Coordinator so there is no one in that role right now to reach out to. Rachelle has inquired what kind of bandwidth they have in order to produce something, even if it's not as extensive as your example. At this time, they are not Page 6 of 7 prepared to make a commitment until the Marketing Coordinator has been hired, but we are having conversations about it. At the very least, maybe we could get with the library branches that are doing a calendar or list to see what’s going on and post a PDF on the website. This would be very helpful so patrons can print out what’s happening at the branches. Rachelle will follow-up when she hears back from marketing. 3. Board member Sidhu would like to inform or review Chandler Public Library’s arrangement with Chandler Unified School District regarding potential blacklist/bans of print and digital resources available at Hamilton and Basha Libraries. For example: In the event of a potential objection or formal book ban by Chandler Unified School District (student, parent, employee, administrator, board member, etc) to an item on the shelves and/or in the online catalog at Hamilton and/or Basha, who ultimately maintains jurisdiction and final say over whether a resource stays in circulation at those libraries? If a formal book ban were to come from the Chandler Unified School District governing board, what (if any) impact would that have on a resource's availability to patrons at the Basha and Hamilton branches? Board member Sidhu is seeking clarity since there are two entities, Hamilton and Basha Libraries, that share the space with the Chandler Unified School District (CUSD). He asked if we had any insight on a general minimum memorandum of understanding or how the contract works with CUSD regarding the Basha and Hamilton branches? Rachelle brought copies of the Intergovernmental Agreement (IGA) between CUSD and the City of Chandler, which applies to the Basha and Hamilton Library, and she can provide the board with a copy. Essentially, the library staffing, operations, and collections fall to the Chandler Public Library (CPL) and the City of Chandler. The physical space; the facility, its maintenance, and safety in the building, falls to the principal and CUSD. An Arizona statute that was recently passed about school libraries and classroom collections, facilities that operate like these are exempt from that statute. It does not apply to libraries housed in schools that are also public libraries. Rachelle will provide Board member Sidhu a copy of the IGA. Member Comments / Announcements 1. Board member Palafox would like to reiterate how great the Contigo event was. It was her first time attending. She stated how much work it is to put together that large of an event. Rachelle stated that last year DEI hosted the event and the library was an event partner and so we participated in it this year. They asked the library to take the lead on Contigo this year so we were the primary partner. DEI worked with us and obviously we had community groups that also participated. I think it exceeded everyone's expectations, it was amazing. If you missed the large Contigo event Saturday, all of the libraries will have Contigo events happening through October 15. Some are large events, some are small storytimes, there are a variety. You can check with the calendar. We've had a lot of publicity. Board member Brizel inquired if the San Tan paper or any publicity was there. Rachelle responded that at times it was elbow to elbow with people so it was hard to tell, but if they were, they didn't Page 7 of 7 catch her. Perhaps the news caught someone else but she didn't run into any of the media. There were also several council members and DEI representatives. Board member Palafox stated that the Basha news media was there so if they have something she will share with the board. Calendar 1. The next regular meeting will be held on Tuesday, November 21, 2023, at 6:30 p.m., in the Hamilton Library Program Room, 3700 S. Arizona Avenue Chandler, AZ 85248. 2. The next Friends of the Library Board meeting will be held on Tuesday, October 10, 2023, at 1:00 p.m. in the Sunset Library Monsoon Room, 4930 W. Ray Rd. Chandler, AZ 85226. Adjourn Motion to adjourn made by Board member Munoz, Board member Lowry seconded. Motion passed. The meeting was adjourned at 7:34 p.m. ______________________________ ______________________________ Courtney Allen, Board Liaison Beth Brizel, Board President