LAB Minutes 10/19/202228.A.3
Naples, Florida, October 19, 2022
LET IT BE KNOWN that the LIBRARY ADVISORY BOARD met on this date at 10:00 a.m. in the
Headquarters Library with the following members present:
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CHAIR: Connie Bettinger — District 3
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VICE -CHAIR: Joan Hochschild — District 1 (re rnote)
SECRETARY: Joy White — District 4
Marjorie H. Gagnon — District 5
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Carla Grieve — District 2
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ALSO PRESENT: Julie Blatt, Branch Manager, Vanderbilt Beach Branch Library
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Karen Tibbetts, Library Administrative Support Specialist II
Chole Snider, Senior Librarian, Marketing
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Matthew Etzel, Program Coordinator
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Kim Spina, Acquisitions Librarian
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Andrew Meyer, Program Coordinator
Denise McMahon, Library Manager, South Regional Library
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Kenneth Assal, President, Friends of the Library
CALL TO ORDER
1) Grant LAB Member remote attendance (Motion & Approval)
• Quorum was met for this meeting, and was directed by Ms. Bettinger. Ms. Gagnon 04
moved to approve Joan Hochschild to remotely attend the LAB meeting. Ms. White N
seconded and the motion was carried unanimously. o
• Mrs. Cowser was out of town and unable to attend today's meeting. Julie Blatt will
report on her behalf.
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PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE r
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APPROVAL OF MINUTES
Ms. Bettinger announced that visitors are welcome to attend the LAB meetings and asked them
to sign in and complete a speaker form if they want to address the Library Advisory Board. She a,
also indicated the location of the room's emergency exits.
Ms. Bettinger asked for approval of the meeting minutes of September 21, 2022. One minor
correction was noted. Mrs. Grieve moved to approve the minutes as corrected. Mrs. Gagnon
seconded and the motion was carried unanimously.
AWARDS & RECOGNITION
1) Library Division Cheers for Peers Recipients for September
• Ms. Blatt shared the Kudos Wall listing the Cheers for Peers recipients for
September. She stated that 27 staff were recognized.
2) County Service Awards and VIP Certificates
• Ms. Blatt reported that the following employees were recognized for one year of
service: Patricia Cleary (MI) and Victoria Campbell (IM)
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• The following employees were recognized for 5 years of service: Michael Daigle
(HQ), Alaina Jackson (GG), Johanna Casares (EN), Joni Gonnelly (HQ), Julie Blatt
(VB) and Lisa Nuccio (EN)
• The following were also recognized for their years of service: Jean Farrar (HQ110
years); Bill Wilkins (AD125 years); Kelly Grandy (AD135 years)
• Eleven staff members were recognized with Values in Practice (VIP) Awards. Many
provided help with the cats that the Library is caring for on behalf of the Domestic
Animal Services (DAS).
• So far, the Library has assisted with the adoption of the nine cats they've cared for.
BOARD REPORTS
1) Report of Officers
• Ms. Bettinger asked about application deadlines for the upcoming LAB positions, for
Districts 1 and 3 with terms expiring in December.
• The LAB committee will meet briefly before the November 16 meeting to review the
applications, and will report their selections at the meeting.
• The necessary paperwork will be submitted to the County Attorney's Office for
process to the Board of County Commissioners, who will review/approve the
selections at their December 13 meeting.
2) Report of Committees
• Ms. Bettinger asked for approval of the draft updates of the LAB's By -Laws, Duties,
and Calendar
• Mrs. Grieve moved to accept the draft of the updated Library Advisory Board's By -
Laws. Ms. Gagnon seconded and the motion carried unanimously.
• Ms. White moved to accept the draft of the updated Library Advisory Board's
calendar. Mrs. Grieve seconded and the motion carried unanimously.
• Mrs. Grieve moved to accept the draft of the updated Library Advisory Board's
duties. Ms. White seconded and the motion carried unanimously.
PRESENTATIONS
1) Report of the Friends of the Library (FOL)
• Mr. Assal reported that the Friends of the Library will be having their annual meeting
on Friday, October 21 at 2pm at the Naples Regional Library. All are invited to
attend.
Other important FOL event dates are:
o October 25 = Signature Series at Headquarters Library, 10am and 1 pm. This
series is available for FOL members only at no cost.
o November 3 = Author Spotlight Event at the downtown Sugden Theater, 2pm.
Tickets are available on the FOL website: members $48, non-members $58.
o November 12 = Annual Local Authors' Book Fair at South Regional Library,
10am-3pm. All are welcome. There is no charge to attend.
o November15 = Signature Series at Naples Regional Library, 10am and 1pm for
FOL members only at no cost.
o The Library's 651h Birthday Masquerade Event, originally scheduled for
November 19, has been postponed
o January 6 = FOL West Wing Gallery Author Event/Celebrating 65 Years! This
event will be held at the Naples Regional Library, 5-7pm. All are invited.
o April 1 = Author Spotlight Event at the downtown Sugden Theater, 10am.
Tickets for both the Nick Linn Author Lecture/Lunch Series and Nonfiction Author
Lecture/Breakfast Series events are close to being sold out.
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Connie Kindsvater and Arnie Rubin are working hard on FOL membership.
The FOL brochure is being redesigned into a bifold brochure and the bookmarks
are being updated.
The FOL's budget will be reviewed, and they will continue to fund the Library. This
information will be presented to the Library November.
2] Report of the Library Director
a. Staffing Update
• Ms. Blatt reported that multiple librarian positions are getting ready to post in
October.
• The annual salary with the new classification and pay adjustment is $58,912,
which should be more attractive to applicants.
• Selections for the vacant part-time positions have been made, and are pending
HR review.
b. General Operations
• Ms. Blatt reported that the Collier County Public Library offered SWFLN cards to
Lee County residents temporarily staying in Collier County.
• FY2023's budget has been adopted, and the library has begun opening up vital
purchase orders, for utilities and books.
• Early voting will be coming to Headquarters, South Regional and Marco Island
libraries.
c. Grants Update
■ Ms. Blatt reported that the grant coordinator assigned to the library took another
position in the county. However; the State Aid to Library Grant and ARPA
Grants are moving forward.
• Andrew Meyer, the Library's Program Specialist assigned to the ARPA project,
reported that they have tentative staff hired for the homework center. He's
awaiting the purchase order.
d. Hurricane Ian Update
■ Ms. Blatt reported that Mrs. Cowser wanted to ensure the importance of library
staff and buildings.
• Staff secured their personal property prior to the County shutting down at 3pm on
Tuesday, September 27.
■ 2417 childcare for first responders began at 7am on Tuesday through the end of
Friday.
• Library staff are generally assigned to assist at any elementary schools that open
during an emergency, however, the County only opened shelters at Middle and
High Schools
■ Most staff were assigned to either childcare, 311 call center or shelter operations
call center. Some worked overnight shifts and were provided meals and areas to
rest.
• Hurricane Ian minimally impacted the Library's buildings.
• The Library opened on Monday, October 3. Some staff continued to assist the
311 call center during the week.
• Matt Etzel reported that 64 library employees worked approximately 1100
emergency -related hours.
■ 38 of these staff members supported the 311 and shelter call centers or with
childcare services at the Emergency Operations Center (EOC) or South Regional
Library. These members contributed approximately 760 hours to these efforts,
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with the majority at the 311 call center (461.25 hours); childcare (171.75 hours);
shelter call center (129.25 hours)
• The remaining staff members and hours were dedicated to other emergency
efforts such as branch closures and reopening and coordination/administration of
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library staff and services during the storm.
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• When the Library closed at 3pm on Tuesday, September 27, the Collier County
Sheriff's office used Headquarters and Golden Gate Libraries as command
centers.
• On Friday, September 30, the EOC childcare moved to the South Regional
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Library. The Red Cross also set up an operations center at that location.
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• The week after the storm, South Regional also became a site to provide portable
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oxygen tanks.
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• Headquarters and South Regional Libraries opened on Monday, October 3. All
locations, with the exception of East Naples, opened on Tuesday, October 4.
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• Staff that worked during the emergency commented that it was good to see their
colleagues that work at other library locations.
• The debris at the East Naples Branch Library was cleared for them to open on
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October 11.
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• All Library programs were cancelled the week before and after the storm.
• Ms. Blatt shared an excerpt of the message that Mrs. Cowser wrote in the
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Library's "Word of Mouth" newsletter:
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"Retrospectively, we will all continue to review and analyze these recent events
in order to learn from them and better understand our own, the division, and the
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county's actions to situations in order to improve and ensure best practices in
emergency response. Would we act differently in the future? I can tell you this,
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the library division staff motivated me through my response and I consider it an
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honor to have worked with so many of my peers over the past two weeks.
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Together, we contributed at the branch level, division level, EOC Childcare,
shelter phone bank, 311 phone bank, clean-up and reopening. As a team, we
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have put in more hours and effort than I thought possible. 1t is wonderful to work
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alongside staff who are at the fop of their game and who smile along the way!
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e. Outreach Update
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• Ms. Blatt reported that any Outreaches scheduled during this time were
cancelled.
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• The Library will resume the Boo at the Zoo outreach event this weekend.
• The Library will also have other Halloween events
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• The three DAS cats that were at the Headquarters Library during the storm were
adopted within 3 days of the library opening.
• The Library recorded 1200 new cards during September's Library Card Sign Up
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Month.
• 205 patrons checked out the State Parks passes during September
• Several staff members participated in SWFLN's Staff Day event on September 9.
• Several presented posters on some of the Library's resources
f. Library 65' Anniversary
• The Library's Masquerade Ball scheduled for November 19tJ' has been postponed
due to damages sustained in the courtyard at Headquarters Library
g. National Family History Month
• October is National Family History Month
• Mr. Etzel shared the genealogy poster he created for the SWFLN Staff Day
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• He stated that the Friends of the Library has contributed $70k in support of
Genealogy resources
• Displays have been created for each branch to advertise these resources:
i. AncestryLibrary, HeritageQuest, American Ancestors, FamilySearch
• The Genealogy Dept, reopened in February after being closed due to COVID.
Since the reopening over 200 patrons have benefited from its resources and
assistance from staff and volunteers.
• In collaboration with the Genealogy Society of Collier County (GSCC), Marie
Overman, President of the GSCC, coordinates volunteer programs.
• Volunteers from the GSCC have donated nearly 300 hours of their time to assist
patrons this year.
• A Genealogy Basics Program facilitated by Marie Overman was held at Naples
Regional Library on October 11.
• More genealogy programming is scheduled for November 151 and 8m
• Currently the Genealogy Dept. is open by appointment on Monday -Thursday
between 1 and 3pm
• The Library has eight staff trained to assist with genealogy, and more staff are
being trained so that hours for these services can be expanded.
• Online resources are available at all library locations.
• At this time, Family Search Affiliate Library resources are available at the
Library's three regional locations (Headquarters, Naples Regional & South
Regional).
PUBLIC PETITIONS TO THE BOARD FOR FUTURE CONSIDERATION — None
PUBLIC COMMENTS ON GENERAL TOPICS RELATED TO THE LIBRARY DIVISION - None
UNFINISHED BUSINESS — None
NEW BUSINESS — None
PUBLIC COMMENTS ON GENERAL TOPICS RELATED TO THE LIBRARY DIVISION - None
ADJOURNMENT
There being no further business to come before the Library Advisory Board, the meeting was
adjourned at 11:00 a.m.
Mrs. Cowser will update LAB members as to the format of the Library Advisory Board meeting
scheduled to be held on Wednesday, November 16, 2022 at the Headquarters Library, 2385
Orange Blossom Drive, Naples, FL 34109. 239.252.7311.
Approved by:
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Connie Bettinger,
Library Advisory Luaiu
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