LAB Minutes 05/15/2024Naples. Florida, May 15.2024
LET lT BE KNOWN that the LIBRARY ADVISORY BOARD met on this date at 10:30 a.m. in the
Headquarters Library with the following members present:
CHAIR:
VICE.CHAIR:
SECRETARY
Connie Bettinger - District 3 (absent)
Joy White - District 4
Joan Hochschild - District 1 (absent)
Marjorie H. Gagnon - District 5
Carla Grieve - District 2
ALSO PRESENT:Catherine Cowser, Library Director
Karen Tibbetts, Operations Support Specialist I
Matthew Etzel, Assistant Library Director
Denise McMahon, Manager, South Regional Library
Karla Hayman, Library Specialist ll, South Regional Library,
Cindy Ruddy, FOL President
PLEOGE OF ALLEGIANCE
APPROVAL OF MINUTES
Ms. White asked for approval of the meeting minutes of April 17, 2024. Mts. Grieve moved to
approve the minutes as written. Mrs. Gagnon seconded, and the motion was carried
unanimously.
Awards and Recognitions
I ) Library Division Cheers for Peers Recipients for April. Copies of the April Cheers for Peers recipients were provided to LAB members.
2) County Service Awards and VIP Certificates. Mrs. Cowser presented County Service Awards to the following library staff:o Karla Hayman- 10 years (South Regional Library)
Karla began volunteering at the library during high school and continued to
employment. She has moved up to a Library Specialist ll position.
o Debra Steiger - 10 years (Marco lsland Branch Library)
Debi was unable to attend today's meeting, and her service award will be
delivered to her.. Mrs. Cowser stated that there were no VlPs for Library staff for April.
BOARD REPORTS
l) Report of Officers - None
2) Report of Committees - None
PRESENTATIONS
I ) Report of the Friends of the Library (FOL)
CALL TO ORDER
1) Grant LAB Member remote attendance (Motion & Approval)o Quorum was met for this meeting and was direcled by Ms. White. No motion or
approval for remote attendance was necessary.
1
. Mrs. Ruddy apologized for the lack of representation at the last LAB meeting, and
thanked Mrs. Cowser for presenting the FOL report.. Mrs. Ruddy reported that the April meeting was the last in-person board meeting
until the annual meeting for 2024-25 on October 18, 2024 in the Rees Room at the
Naples Regional Library.. Longtime board members Louise Franck and Bobi Skaggs will be returning to the
FOL Board. Bridget Paterno was welcomed as a new Board member.. The FOL received a distribution from the closure of the Thomas & Charlotte Clarke
Charitable Foundation in the amount of $1 70,292.'l 'l
. Mrs. Ruddy reported that all ofthe speakers'series are finished forthe season, and
all were sold out for the final events, including the newest Author Spotlight Series.. She hopes to have final revenue numbers for these events to present at the next
meeting.. Authors have been finalized for the Nick Linn Lecture Serieso 1113125: Kate Quinn/historical fiction/ The Diamond Eye/The Briar Club
o 2117125 Presidents Day: William Kent Krueger/mystery/ The River We
Remember/Spirit Crossing
o 3l1ol25: Jamie Ford/historical fictioni Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and
SweeUThe Many Daughters of Afong Moy
o 3124125: Lisa Gardner/mystery/ Still See You Everywhere/The Other Daughter
. Authors have not been finalized forthe Nonfiction orAuthor Spotlight Series;
however, Mrs. Ruddy expects that the contracts will be finalized for the next
meeting.
. Although the costs forthe venues forthe Nick Linn Lecture and Nonfiction Series
increased, the FOL did not increase the ticket prices for these events.
o Mrs. Ruddy is waiting to hear from Patti DeGroot regarding the Signature Series.
. She reported that Mrs. DeGroot will not be planning the Local Author Book Fair this
year, and is hoping another FOL member will be able to do so.
. Mrs. Cowser stated that there has been some discussion to possibly having the
event at another time and/or location, as it requires several library staff members.
2) Report of the Library Directora. General Operationsi. Facilities & Capital Projectso Mrs. Cowser reported that the Library is focusing on the Golden Gate
Senior Center project.. Harvard Jolly Architecture is in the process of finalizing two plans to be
reviewed by the County to determine the costs involved.o lt was projected 34 years ago that the cost would be $5.5 million. James
Barton, who is on the Board for the Senior Center, will be talking with
Commissioner Saunders regarding funding for this pOect.. Mrs. Cowser added that there is COVID grant money that could help fund
the hardening of the building (widows, roof, code updates, etc.). Mrs. Cowser reported that she is getting prices on carpeting, and is
hoping to get the lmmokalee Branch Library's carpeting replaced soon as
there are lots of family programming held at this location.
ii. Programming
2
. Mrs. Cowser reported that the Library's annual summer partnership with
the Naples Botanical Garden will allow Library cardholders free admission
to the Garden June 10-16.o She stated that Library staff will be at this outreach event in the mornings.o Mrs. Grieve asked if they could use help from LAB members, and Mrs.
Cowser asked for anyone interested to coordinate with Chloe Snider.o Mrs. Cowser reported that the FOL programming was fantastic this
season.o She added that more teens are coming to the Naples Regional Library,
with about 80 students per day.o She reported that the story times contrnue to grow at the Headquarters
and South Regional Libraries, and hopefully they can start up at the
Naples Regional Library once more staffing is hired.o Ms. White commented that the ping pong table at Naples Regional is a
big hit, and Mrs. Cowser added that another one may be purchased.o She added that she spoke with Cynde Decker at the FOL office regarding
purchasing additional furniture as well.. Mrs. Cowser reported that the May 4 Lego event was a huge success.o She added that over ten families participated in the event with Legos,
games and puzzles at the lmmokalee Branch Library.
iii. Staffing. Mr. Etzel shared a printout of the Library's budgeted full-time employees
(FTE's) from FY19 and projected for FY25.. The handout indicated the possibility of having ten fewer FTEs in FY2025
than FY2019.. He reported that in review, the Library needs to determine the priorities of
service in order to provide staffing in the right places.o Mrs. Cowser added that due to the increase in youth programming, more
staffing is needed to continue to provide those services.. At yesterday's Board of County Commissioner's (BCC) meeting, she
stated that a representative from Domestic Animal Services (DAS)
expressed to the Commissioners the need for funding for all Public
Services Department (PSD) Divisions.. PSD has been moving money among the different Divisions (DAS,
Library, Parks & Recreation, Museum, etc.). Most of this money is coming
from attribution money that accumulated due to the County-wide staffing
shortages.. Mrs. Cowser reported that of the Library's 96 total positions, it currently
has 24 vacancies.. She added that no eliternal new hires were added to the Library since last
JulY.. The Library was able to post some positions beginning in April, and she is
hoping that one new external hire will begin on May 20.o Several internal positions were posted and have been filled; however, the
positions they vacated have not been posted.o The staffing shortage issue is unique to PSD Divisions. The County Manager brought in ResourceX, which is a priority-based
budget system, and the Board of County Commissioners has brought in
their own consultant to review PSD.
3
. Mrs. Cowser reported that the hot spot devices offered to Library patrons
through Verizon will end once the current requests have been fulfilled.. She stated that originally 20 devices were purchased with a monthly cost
of $36/device.. To date, seven devices were not returned, and the Library is down to only
flve devices.. Mrs. Cowser stated that maintaining the devices took a lot of staff time,
and the grant funding that was hoped to offset the costs did not go
through.. The Homework Help Program at Golden Gate and lmmokalee Branch
Libraries will be having an end of program pizza party next week.. Participants will be awarded a box set of books of their choice, which is
funded by the grant for this program.. Mrs. Cowser stated that the Library is looking at a reduction of services or
hours. She will notify the LAB members with an update.. She added that Parks and Recreation have may open positions too, and
they've reduced some services, particularly the aquatic services as the
Fun 'n Sun Lagoon is cunently not operating.. Parks staff have been moved to other locations to provide services.o Mrs. Grieve asked about volunteers, and Mrs. Cowser replied that the
Library volunteers are mostly students needing to complete community
hours for high school requirements, and they generally only work
evenings and weekends.. Mrs. McMahon added that although the Library invests time to train the
students, many do not continue at the Library once they graduate.o Ms. \A/hite asked about the upcoming November elections, and Mrs.
Cowser replied that the Library is already working with the Supervisor of
Elections for the early voting sites at Headquarters, South Regional and
Marco lsland Branch Libraries.o She stated that programming will be limited at these locations during the
elections, as parking is limited.. She stated that the Library is a Voter Registration Agency (VRA) and is
responsible for recording and reporting quarterly with the State Elections
Office any voter registration applications that were processed at the
Library.o Ms. Tibbetts generates these reports and she recently received updated
information from the State Elections Office regarding the addition of a
new political party.. The Library has posted signs for the Summer Reading Program which will
begin on June '1. The theme for this year is "Adventure Begins at Your
Library" and Mrs. Cowser encouraged everyone to see the displays being
made for this event.o Mrs. Cowser stated that the kick-off events for the Summer Reading
Program will be listed on the Library's website.. Mrs. McMahon stated that the Estates Branch Library will have their
kickoff event on June 8 at 1Oam and will feature a mini petting zoo. South
Regional Library will have their kickoff event at 2pm on June 8, with the
mini petting zoo as well.
4
Mrs. McMahon is encouraging families to come to the library during the
heat of summer to engage with the Creative Play and Learning Centers
that were funded by the FOL.
She added that these play times will be added to the events calendar,
and parents will oversee these activities with their children.
PUBLIC PETITIONS TO THE BOARD FOR FUTURE CONSIDERATION - None
PUBLIC COMMENTS ON GENERAL TOPICS RELATED TO THE LIBRARY DIVISION -
None
UNFINISHED BUSINESS
NEW BUSINESS - None
PUBLIC COMMENTS ON GENERAL TOPICS RELATED TO THE LIBRARY OIVISION - None
ADJOURNMENT
There being no further business lo come before the Library Advisory Board, the meeting was
adjourned at 1 't :05 a.m.
Mrs. Cowser will update LAB members as to the format of the Library Advisory Board meeting
scheduled to be held on Wednesday, June 19, 2024, al lhe Estates Branch Library, 1266
Golden Gate Blvd. W., Naples, FL 34120.239.252.7311.
5
Connie Bettinger, Chair
Library Advisory Board