LAB Agenda 02/15/2023
COLLIER COUNTY LIBRARY ADVISORY BOARD
Wednesday, February 15, 2023, 10:00 a.m.
Headquarters Library – Hybrid Meeting
AGENDA
NOTICE: The public is welcome to attend Library Advisory Board meetings. Visitors will be asked to
sign in and briefly describe the purpose of their visit. If the visitor is attending to discover more about the
workings of the Library Advisory Board, s/he is welcome to stay for the duration of the meeting. If the
visitor has a specific purpose, the Chair will recognize the visitor during Public Comments to speak for up
to three (3) minutes. Additional time may be granted to the speaker at the discretion of the Chair.
Robert’s Rules of Order prevails. Silence cell phones and digital devices.
Call to order
1. Grant LAB Member(s) remote attendance (Motion & Approval)
Pledge of Allegiance
Approval of Minutes
Awards and Recognitions
1. Library Division Cheers for Peers Recipients for January
2. County Service Awards and VIP Certificates
Board Reports
1. Report of Officers
2. Report of Committees
Presentations
1. Report of the Friends of the Library
2. Report of the Library Director
a. Staffing Update
b. General Operations
i. Outreach
c. Facilities and Capital Projects
i. Building Improvements
ii. Immokalee Parking Lot
d. Grants Update
i. Update on ARP21-12-COLE
Public Petitions to the Board for Future Consideration
Public Comments on General Topics Related to the Library Division
Unfinished Business
1. 2023 Library Advisory Board Meeting Dates/Locations – DRAFT (motion)
New Business
Public Comments on General Topics Related to the Library Division
Adjournment
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Packet Pg. 706 Attachment: LAB Meeting Agenda - February 15, 2023 (24757 : Library Advisory Board - February 15, 2023)
Naples, Florida, January 18, 2023
LET lT 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:
Connie Bettinger - District 3 (Absent)
Joan Hochschild - District 1
Joy White - District 4
Marjorie H. Gagnon - District 5
Carla Grieve - District 2
ALSO PRESENT:Catherine Cowser, lnterim Library Director
Rosemary LaBarge, lnterim Assistant Library Director
Karen Tibbetts, Library Administrative Support Specialist ll
Chole Snider, Librarian l, IVlarketing
Matthew Etzel, Program Coordinator
Kim Spina, Library Manager, Acquisitions
Andrew Meyer, Library Program Coordinator
Susan Maunz, Library [\/anager, Naples Regional Library
Denise McMahon, Library Manager, South Regional Library
Julie Blatt, Branch Manager, Vanderbilt Beach Branch Library
Connie Kindsvater, Past-President, Friends of the Library
Dan [\/artin, Collier County Resident
CALL TO ORDERl) Grant LAB Member remote attendance (Motion & Approval). Ms. Bettinger was unable to attend today's meeting in-person or via Zoom.. Quorum was met for this meeting, and was directed by Dr. Hochschild. No motion or
approval for remote attendance was necessary.
PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE
APPROVAL OF MINUTES
Mrs. Cowser 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
also indicated the location of the room's emergency exits.
Dr. Hochschild asked for approval of the meeting minutes of November 16,2022. One minor
correction was noted. Ms. White moved to approve the minutes as corrected. Mrs. Gagnon
seconded and the motion was carried unanimously.
Awards and Recognitions
1) Library Division Cheers for Peers Recipients for November & December. Copies of the November and December Cheers for Peers recipients were provided
to LAB members.. Mrs. Cowser stated that 17 library staff were recognized in November and 25 were
recognized in December.
2) County Service Awards and VIP Certificates
1
CHAIR:
VICE-CHAIR:
SECRETARY:
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Packet Pg. 707 Attachment: LAB Meeting Minutes - January 18, 2023 (24757 : Library Advisory Board - February 15, 2023)
Mrs. Cowser stated that no VIP certificates were sent yet, however, next Thursday,
the following library staff will attend a breakfast recognizing their years of service with
the County.o Brenda Rasch, Ml Branch Manager = 5 yearso Dana Abernethy, Mail-a-Book = 10 yearso Denise Gamache, PT Library Specialist I at NR = 10 yearso Karen Tibbetts, Library Administrative Support Specialist ll = 10 years
BOARD REPORTS
3) Report of Officers - None
4) Report of Gommittees - None
PRESENTATIONS
1) Report of the Friends of the Library (FOL)o Mrs. Kindsvater reported that the FOL Membership Committee is currently working
on the updated bi-fold FOL brochure.. The final proof should be ready at the end of the week.. Mrs. Kindsvater thanked Denise McMahon for requesting to keep the Become a
Member information in the brochure.. The QR code will direct patrons to the FOL site for credit card payments. The Signature Series held at the South Regional Library, and featuring a
reenactment of Eleanor Roosevelt, was a huge success with 267 people in
attendance.o Staff at the South Regional Library were able to accommodate the additional 17
people that came for this event.. The first 2023 Nick Linn Lecture Series event was held on Monday, and the first
Non-Fiction event will be held next Monday.. Both events are sold out with a wait list available.. Mrs. Kindsvater wanted to thank Vicky Bowles for all the pro bono PR work she has
done in promoting FOL events in the local newspapers.
2) Report of the Library Directora. Staffing Update. Mrs. Cowser lntroduced Matthew Etzel to those in attendance.. Matt began as a Library Assistant at the East Naples Branch Library. He then
moved to Naples Regional Library as a Library Technician. Last year, he
accepted a Program Coordinator position in the Library's Administrative Offices.. Mrs. Cowser reported that three new part time Library Specialist I positions at
EB, VB and lM have been filled, pending a January 30 start date.. A full{ime Library Specialist I position at lmmokalee along with two part-time
positions at Headquarters have been posted.. Multiple Librarian positions are vacant, and the Library has posted one youth
services Librarian position at South Regional and one public service Librarian
position at Headquarters with few applicants.o Mrs. Cowser will be discussing the issues the Library has been having with
hiring Librarians with the HR Director to see what can be done.. Lisa Nuccio, Branch Manager at the East Naples Branch Library resigned
recently and moved to Virginia.. The County is experiencing many resignations due to lack of affordable housing.
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28.A.3
Packet Pg. 708 Attachment: LAB Meeting Minutes - January 18, 2023 (24757 : Library Advisory Board - February 15, 2023)
. After 33 years, Karen Kocses, Youth Services Librarian at the Estates Branch
Library will be retiring at the end of the month.b. General Operationsi. Harry Potter statistics. The Harry Potter event was a great success with 107 in attendance.o The Library received a detailed note of appreciation of this event from one
of the attendees, which was posted on the Library's social media site.ii. Adult Programming January. The Library has scheduled 17 adult programs sponsored by the FOL
iii. Start Your Engines February 27rho Over 800 people attended last year's event
iv. Outreach lmmokalee Ag Days January 20th. Library staff are ready with their cowboy hats for this event, which is
attended by many schools.c. Library Statisticso Mr. Etzel provided printouts of his presentation showing statistics of the Library's
collection of printed books vs.digital e-books.. The Library spent approximately $540k on new physical books and $280k on
new e-books in FY 2022.o The digital acquisitions purchased were supported by $100k from the FOL and
$180k from State Aid money.. 28,000 physical books were purchased with 136,000 checkouts, which equates
to a 4.7 checkout per copy ratio.. 10,500 e-books were purchased with 139,000 checkouts, which equates to a
13.2 checkout per copy ratio.. On average, a digital book costs $26.66 vs. $18.53 for a physical book, however,
this does not include hidden costs such as staff labor, physical space/storage, or
risk of loss/damage.. With $100k in additional funding, the Library could purchase 3,750 more digital
books driving an estimated 50,000 in additional checkouts annually.. Kim Spina is currently working with Catherine Cowser to request the movement
of funds in order to purchase more digital books.. Mr. Etzel stated that OverDrive provided a report last year that included 129
library systems that surpassed a one million checkout of digital books.r He added that the Lee County Library System was one of those listed in the
report.o Mrs. Spina added that the Library purchases individual titles for digital books
offered through OverDrive, and the limits for checkouts varies between the titles
and publishers.o The Library is considering uncoupling digital materials from its Sierra catalog, as
any searches for materials would only show what the Library has purchased, and
not what titles are available through OverDrive or Cloud Library.. Cloud Library offers over 70,000 unique titles with over 31 library systems
contributing to the collection.. This initiative would occur sometime after March during the summer.. Mrs. Spina added that Hoopla allows access to their entire library for download
on demand. The Library subscribes to what Hoopla offers, and does not
purchase individual items.d. Facilities and Capital Projects
J
28.A.3
Packet Pg. 709 Attachment: LAB Meeting Minutes - January 18, 2023 (24757 : Library Advisory Board - February 15, 2023)
. Mrs. Cowser reported that there are many new staff at the County's Facilities
Department.o Facilities recently painted the Naples Regional and South Regional Libraries.. They also installed new countertops at the Vanderbilt Beach Branch Library.. The Library is asking for the public restrooms at the Naples Regional Library to
be updated and the bathroom tiles to be steam cleaned. The staff kitchen and
bathrooms also need to be updated.. The Vanderbilt Beach Branch Library is currently getting quotes for painting and
interior drywall patching and repair.. The FOL have provided funding for Naples Regional's carpeting projects in the
Genealogy and Rees rooms. The reupholstering of chairs is being estimated.. Mrs. Cowser has sent numerous emails to the project manager of the lmmokalee
parking lot with no response as yet. Unfortunately, the parking lot is shared by
other departments, and is not library specific.o The last update indicated that the project was pending results of soil testing.e. Grants Update. Andrew Meyer reported that the first five-week session of the ARPA Grant
homework help program, which ended December 14, was successful with 81
students participating.. On average 21 students per day participated in Golden Gate.. On average 2 students per day participated in lmmokalee.. The second session ofthe program began on January 17 and will end in May.. Mr. Meyer added that the Neapolitan Family Magazine will promote this program
in their annual education issue which is published in February.. Mr. Meyer also provided copies of the Library's internal newsletter "Word of
Mouth" to LAB members.
PUBLIG PETITIONS TO THE BOARD FOR FUTURE CONSIDERATION - None
PUBLIC COMMENTS ON GENERAL TOPICS RELATED TO THE LIBRARY DIVISION - None
UNFINISHED BUSINESS - None
NEW BUSINESS
11 2023 Library Advisory Board Meeting Dates/Locations - DRAFT (motion). The Library Advisory Board members asked if they could review the meeting
schedule information and discuss at next month's meeting.
PUBLIC COMMENTS ON GENERAL TOPICS RELATED TO THE LIBRARY DIVISION
. Mr. Martin commented that the lmmokalee parking lot issue has been going on for many
months and was wondering what more could be done to initiate action on this project.
o Mrs. Cowser will reach out to the Director and Project Manager again and hopefully
provide updates at the next LAB meeting,
ADJOURNMENT
There being no further business to come before the Library Advisory Board, the meeting was
adjourned at 1 1:00 a.m.
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Packet Pg. 710 Attachment: LAB Meeting Minutes - January 18, 2023 (24757 : Library Advisory Board - February 15, 2023)
Mrs. Cowser will update LAB members as to the format ofthe Library Advisory Board meeting
scheduled to be held on Wednesday, February 15, 2023 at the Headquarters Library, 2385
Orange Blossom Drive, Naples, FL 34109.239.252.7311.
Conn e Betti nger,Cha
Library Advisory Board
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Approved by:
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Packet Pg. 711 Attachment: LAB Meeting Minutes - January 18, 2023 (24757 : Library Advisory Board - February 15, 2023)